#and i choose to believe it was intentional to symbolize that he was accepting his place among the newsies

[doctorsiren]

Okay, doodle request:

Reigen meeting Serizawa before Claw got to him. Maybe helping him start leaving his room?

I had a lot of fun with this one. I wanted it to parallel the scene of Serizawa meeting Suzuki, and so pages 6-8 are directly referenced from the manga (just in a flipped format so it reads left to right like the rest of the pages) and I also referenced some shots from the anime (like the final panel of page 10). For the dialogue in those middle pages, I referenced lines from the unofficial English translation of the manga, the official English translation of the manga, and the anime. (I was picking and choosing which lines I liked better). I also had fun with the colouring, which is something I love to do in comics especially. It starts out with Reigen in a muted, paler, desaturated palette with no highlights. But when he meets Mrs. Serizawa (I gave the name “Azumi” because it means something along the lines of “safe home/harbour”), she’s much more warmer and saturated and she has highlights. Once she starts explaining her son’s situation, that’s when Reigen has the variation of colour as well as the introduction of some small highlights. Then, the colour palette changes in every panel after that point. Serizawa is done with a grayscale palette, with the only colour on him being the bright light of the TV screen (reflecting video games as his only joy and his escape from reality). As Reigen talks to him, Reigen slowly start to lose some of that variety and saturation (AKA hope) he got from Mrs. Serizawa until he goes grayscale as well when he thinks that Serizawa might know he’s a fraud. He decides to switch up his approach and actually open up, which is what causes the variations in colour to return. Serizawa stops being grayscale in the panel where Reigen reveals that he too is lonely. (He’s a gray-blue palette, but it’s not true grayscale). The next page is in bright colours as Reigen opens up and doesn’t lie, which causes Serizawa to have bright colour as well, since now there is light and hope. In the page after that, Serizawa’s colour fades until he is grayscale again because it’s him not believing fully and still having doubts, while Reigen maintains that bright colour. (Also silly Falsettos reference on that page). I have Reigen’s colours shift from yellow until he reaches pink which is the colour I just have assigned as His Colour (since his tie is pink). Serizawa gains colour again and he shifts from that muted dark blue to finally orange (which is his colour) as he finally accepts Reigen’s help. The light from the TV is no longer coloured, and is just white, because Serizawa now has a new source of colour in his life (that being a real friend.) It ends with them being in their normal palettes at a normal happy saturation, contrasting the muted colours of the start of the comic. With the umbrella, I still wanted to include it and give it a role in the story, but in a different way from how Suzuki used it. While Suzuki used it to directly manipulate and control Serizawa, Reigen used it as a way to open up a choice for Serizawa to either let Reigen stay or make him leave. He asks Serizawa if he can sit and stay for a while since it’s raining outside and he didn’t bring an umbrella, despite clearly having done so. And then I ended the comic with a shot of the umbrella to emphasize that point.

Sorry for the long and probably unnecessary explanation. I just really love explaining my intentions and symbolisms in my art. Yeah I just had a good time over the last few days doing this :) I thought it was an interesting idea and I couldn’t think of a way to reflect it better than in a comic (which was also partially inspired by this wonderful Ageswap AU comic made by @fend13th about Reigen helping Serizawa)

[good-beans]

this is so stupid but i always have fun imagining the milgram characters watching their own/others mvs and seeing their reactions, especially for MeMe

That’s not stupid at all, thank you so much for the ask!! It’s sooo interesting to think about! I planned on just posting this drabble, but the more I thought about it, the more I started jotting down headcanons for everyone 👀 Of course there’s the initial disbelief and shock that Milgram can really do what it claims, but once they accept that, they’d have a lot of interesting reactions…

Es gets to watch the video first, then the prisoners are free to watch their own in the privacy of the courtroom/extraction room/wherever. Other prisoners can watch them only with explicit permission from the video’s singer. No one is allowed to watch Undercover except for Es. At first they spend hours looking at those final frames of themself flinching from the camera, hoping to jog any sort of memories, but eventually they give up on it. While actually watching it, they don’t mind the murder silhouettes. While sleeping, however, it has triggered more than one nightmare.

Haruka: He thinks Weakness is very pretty – he’s amazed seeing himself on the screen and hearing his voice, knowing he’s not that good of a singer. Even before his innocent verdict, it gives him a huge surge of confidence. Once he gets to know the others better, he gives them mv permissions, then stares intently at their faces to see their reactions as they watch it. AKAA scares him a bit, seeing his own intense emotions on screen, and he only gives Muu permission to see it. When he’s alone, Haruka pauses the shots of his mother, just to stare for a while.

Yuno: Laughs at the symbolism her mind used in Umbilical. She’s never shied away from sexual words/thoughts, so it's funny the video was as tame as it was. She thinks the song is fun, and isn’t afraid to show the others and sing snippets of it around the prison. Some days it’s too emotional for her to get into it, but most of the time she tries to display a confident attitude about it. After Tear Drop, she’s satisfied with her anger and more overtly sexual images. If anything, she feels too exposed by the shots of herself looking more vulnerable/sad. 

Fuuta: He experiences a solid mix of embarrassment at the gaming theme in Bring it On and feeling a surge of pride that he looks badass in the knight’s armor. He’s worried the warden won’t take him seriously with the video game obsession, but he absolutely loves the song and thinks it portrays his toughness and ideals well. He’s less thrilled with Backdraft, everything about it unsettles and embarasses him. He’s thrown by the shot of crossing out his own silhouette – he’d had self-harming thoughts, but wasn’t quite ready to confront them so blatantly yet. Like Haruka, he can be caught pausing the arcade shot just for a moment before turning the whole thing off and storming away.

Muu: She has mixed emotions towards After Pain. She hates seeing herself look so weak and pathetic, but it gives her a lot of hope that her story will be understood. She misses her friends, and seeing them again is bittersweet. She closes her eyes at the moment of the stabbing – she’s only gotten the courage to watch it through her fingers once. She watches INMF once, then refuses to look at it again from shame/horror. Despite Haruka’s begging, she doesn’t let him watch it, either. 

Shidou: He asks Es what they saw in Throw Down. Upon finding out his family wasn’t in it, he chooses not to watch it. He believes he already knows all about his emotions and crime, so there’s no need to go through that pain again. He’s tempted to watch it when he’s confused about Es’ verdict, but still holds off. He does watch Triage when informed his family is in it. He spends hours in front of the screen by himself. Only after seeing that one does he watch Throw Down, though he’s still left confused about Es’ decisions.

Mahiru: Absolutely loves TIHTBILWY. She thinks it perfectly describes her situation, and that the song is very cute. She lets others watch it, and unlike Yuno, feels like singing it 24/7. It reminds her of her bf, and she thinks that’s very romantic. Similar to Shidou, she spends a lot of time watching I Love You just to look at her boyfriend. She shows it to everyone, just to show him off and talk about him, even if she does skip over the beginning and end each time.

Kazui: He is very similar to Shidou; he refuses to watch his videos until T2, assuming it would be too painful to watch something he already knows and wishes to avoid. Unlike Shidou, seeing Hinako is far too painful, and he regrets watching it and seeing her so happy on their wedding day. Though maybe he’s still waiting, and hasn’t seen any of the videos yet…

Amane: Magic makes her worry more than anything. She fears she’s poisoned by unnecessary vainness since so much of her video involves cute things, colors, outfits, animals, and is set up like a tv show. She’s also worried that Es and the others will really see her as a child because of how cute the whole thing is. She prevents herself from watching it too many times, but buried under all her fears, it gives her a surge of pride seeing herself so talented and pretty and the star of the show. Purge March only reaffirms her confidence in her crime – the video brings up some awful memories, but it shows her as a leader, a warrior, a hero! It brings her comfort and confidence more than anything.

Mikoto/John: The videos are distressing to both of them, and they spend all their time studying the others’ screentime. Mikoto watches in horror as John does things that line up with his spotty memories, and John panics seeing that his actions distress Mikoto more than they’ve reassured/saved him. John does end up watching his own scenes a few times – it feels incredibly good to appear in a way that Mikoto may finally notice him. He feels seen. Now, logically I think that MeMe would be the final tipping point in which Mikoto finally accepts the situation and his DID, but if I must stick to his canon denial, then I’d say he goes on a whole rant about movie magic andt the crazy things you can do with editing nowadays. He doesn’t have a good explanation on how Milgram found his home and knew so much about him, but he explains everything away as cgi or camera effects. Double manages to sway him a bit more, as he hears John speak so plainly to him. Just as the audience had some debate on who was apologizing at the end of Double, Mikoto and John wonder who is apologizing to whom. Though they both come to the conclusion it’s their own apology, they decide that if it was the others’, they’d accept it and forgive them.

Kotoko: She’s very pleased with Harrow, and is unashamed to show it to the others. Though she’d been able to watch a few of the previous prisoners’ videos, it still shakes her a bit when she realizes that Milgram really does have the tech to look deep inside her. She watches it just a few times – not obsessing over it, but not afraid either. Deep Cover, however, is a once-and-done sort of deal. She claims she’s not letting the others watch it because “they couldn’t handle such harsh but true criticisms about themselves,” but she doesn’t end up watching it anymore herself, either.

[kunikame]

the moon and her stars. - lyney

warnings : lyney has zero rizz (clickbait), i made astral references again im not sorry guys, not quite love at first sight but more the steps made towards it, gender neutral, fluff

w/c : 940

the saying "eyes are the window to one's soul" is, in lyneys humble opinion, about as true as it can get.

he would know.

while he performs his magic tricks, while he takes a stroll down the streets of fontaine– whatever leisurely activity you choose, he does it while staring people directly in the eyes.

of course he doesn't stare at one person the whole time, his own lavender gaze flies from one person to another sporadically, yet he never fails to discern the emotions hidden behind them.

are they happy? sad? having a good day? a bad one, perhaps? tired? surprised? excited?

he knows.

he watches childrens eyes light up with joy when he pulls their card out of his hat– he observes the couple arguing a few steps away, notices when the brunette's eyes shift from pure sadness to betrayal.

he sees.

which is why he also notices when someone lacks these qualities. if there is no joy, there is no shine– no life behind a person's eyes.

he wonders why your eyes seem so empty when your smile feels genuine.

perhaps you're like him, hiding burdens you desperately wish would forever stay locked up, yet you yearn for a companion to share your pain.

he has his siblings, but who do you have?

lyney approaches you one time (be it out of sheer fascination or simply seeking a change of pace, he's not quite sure) after an impromptu show he put on for some kids in the middle of the street with a singular white rose in his possession.

"hello there, you seem to be not quite enjoying the show tonight. may the great magician lyney be of any service, perhaps?"

he removes his hat with a flourish and bows, holding out the rose as an offering to you.

you lift your gaze from the book you were reading, surprised he took notice of your presence. upon noticing the rose a pleased hum escapes you, and lyney notices a fragment of what one might call 'entertainment' behind your gaze.

"did you know white roses symbolize young love and eternal loyalty, sir lyney? was your approach made with such intentions to be conveyed on this starry night?"

your tone is teasing and amused, and he is well aware of it, but whatever mirth you might be feeling doesn't quite reach your eyes, and so with a snap of his fingers and an elegant shake of the rose, he produces 8 more of them in an unarranged bouquet he hopes you will accept.

"not quite, i'm afraid. i was more so referring  to the symbolization of new beginnings, but if you so prefer i would not at all mind changing the meaning. or the color, if you wish," he says, brushing his hand over the roses, which have now turned a darker orange.

"'fascination', i see," you hum, "interesting choice. is there a reason for it?" you have now discarded your book entirely, giving the blond all your attention, as if hanging onto each word he says, yet seemingly not quite caring about any of them either. it confused lyney, but it fascinated him even more.

"are you aware of what people say about eyes?" you nod, inclining your head slightly, curiosity piqued, "they are the window to the soul. i've found that claim to be truthful until the day i first met eyes with you."

"is this your attempt at wooing me, sir lyney? i regret having to inform you it's not quite working."

"not yet, no. i simply wished to compliment you. your eyes are one of, if not the most beautiful i've ever seen. but, if i may be so bold as to ask, why must you suppress your emotions from being seen in them?"

your eyes flicker away momentarily and lyney pauses. perhaps he might lose this battle tonight.

"i do not wish for them to be perceived by none other than myself. i believe it's better– nobody can use my emotions against me this way."

"why would anyone do such a thing?"

your eyes meet his then, and the world stops. everyone around him disappears and suddenly it's just you and him in this bubble universe you've created– or perhaps you haven't created it, it was simply made for you. you are the center of it and lyney has to fight to find his place (he chooses the one that's closest to the sun– to you). may he crash and burn if he has to, if the universe decides he's meant to, he simply wishes to be as close as you let him. 

if the eyes are the window to the soul– or to put it differently– to the heart, then lyney is certain what you see in his is the adoration he holds for you. even though he doesn't quite know you yet, you fascinate him to no end and he will not stop at the ends of the universe– he will go further and further, as far as his legs carry him, to know everything about you.

he has come to agreement with these feelings of his, they are the reason he chose to approach you in the first place.

he is, however, rendered speechless when your eyes suddenly seem filled with an affection and longing he can't say he's been looked at with before.

"you tell me, sir lyney. would you do such a thing?"

you smile at him then and may the god of justice strike him down where he stands lest his words are lies, but you put the moon and all her stars to shame.

"to you? never."

ੈ✩₊˚TAGLIST : @sscarchiyo @arkangelee @chrronoir @sleepypengwin @yakshalea @kazemiya @menhwa-pdf @mikctp @gabirii @solxima // ask/comment to be added/removed! (if you're in bold i can't tag you)

[orenji-iro-no-sora]

Thoughts on TGCF book 1.

Vol 1 | Vol 2| Vol 3| Vol 4| Vol 5| Vol 6| Vol 7| Vol 8

*Spoilers*

Xie Lian's crush

I finished the first book and at this point Xie Lian might as well be sighing, giggling, twirling his ponytail and kicking his legs. He is so charmed (I don't blame him). It's funny that literally in bottom of a deathly pit, he's worried that he's too comfortable in Hua Cheng's princess hold. MXTX protagonists really have the worst timings for gay epiphanies. (Does it count as an epiphany if you're still oblivious?)

Body in abyss, isolation, friendship, and reverence

While they did say that Xie Lian learned that when body is in abyss, the heart can't be in paradise, I think he still managed to find tiny moments of paradise with Hua Cheng. And isn't that life?

Xie Lian has been extremely lonely all this time which contributed to him being attached to San Lang quite quickly. Also, Hua Cheng's sincerity shines through even in a disguise so immaculately created. Xie Lian is smart and figure things out easily, he's able to perceive Hua Cheng for what he is, irrespective of what others say about who he was. Their friendship is something that he holds dear; he values Hua Cheng's company.

Him being able to tell that Hua Cheng is the only one who ever called him 'His Highness' out of genuine respect instead of sarcasm also shows how aware he is of other's harsh sentiments towards him.

However, I do believe that even though it may be idealistic to accept and focus on the positive, Xie Lian as deep as he has been in the abyss, carries a troubled heart. His desire to forget his own suffering, embarrassment at his own actions, even when they stem from right intentions is a proof that he sees himself as someone who failed at all levels.

Instinct to protect

This idea is brought up again and again but Xie Lian is helpless in his desire to save people. First, as the commander who "died" saving Banyue, facing demotions and ridicule yet trying to protect civilians at the border, protecting is his way of showing that he cares. And he cares... alot. He is instinctual in his love. He didn't need to protect San Lang (from the bite, from the pit) especially when he knew that he's Hua Cheng yet he acted before thinking. Someone who's as calm and collected as him falling to his knees, screaming from the edge of pit really demonstrates how much he care about San Lang (to the point of irrationality, atleast by his standards).

Saving the common people, parallels to morality in real life

While he acts embarrassed of his foolish (yet brave) dream of saving the common people, it's something he's still striving for. Despite feeling self conscious and disappointed that he could not live up to his words, despite his strong belief in his own misfortune, despite his poor self confidence and lack of support, despite still not knowing the answer to how to save people, he's still doing it. He's still brave.

Xie Lian is also a perfect example of how people who choose morality and ethics in life are often treated by the rest. MXTX often makes her characters pay the price of taking a moral stance. There's a strong culture of self serving in the Heavenly Realm, officials want to extend their influence and climb the ladder. They carry disdain for Xie Lian, thinking him naïve for wanting to do something fruitless and selfless like striving to save the world. Hua Cheng carries admiration for the exact same goals.

Heavenly Realm, to me, is a reflection of society, where people are worshipped for their accomplishments, elevated to a godly status for their fame and influence, even when they have acted mostly in self interest. Service to community is not desired, even laughed at. There's an acceptance for certain doom and no initiative to change it.

Banyue: symbolism for young adult cluelessness

When state preceptor Banyue asked Xie Lian how to save the people, he expressed remorse at his inability to answer her. Banyue feeling like she had been a failure because she hadn't figured out life in 200 hundred years is such a parallel to how it feels to be a young adult having no idea what you're supposed to do in life and slowly wasting away with the time passing gradually out of your control.

I always thought being an immortal would take away the pressure of time, but I guess nothing can save us from this commodifying mindset, trying to find value and reason for existence. Even ghosts want purpose. Even deities do.

Ambiguous conflicts and nuanced feelings through Nan Feng and Fu Yao

One of the things that I really liked was that both the major conflicts in the story, that of Xuan Ji and Banyue vs Central Plains, were ambiguous in terms culpability. Who's to blame? Every party involved was responsible and in case of the war helpless in their own need for survival. Another parallel to reality.

Similarly, Nan Feng and Fu Yao's feelings towards Xie Lian were also nuanced. They "volunteered" to help him but carried anger and resentment towards Xie Lian, towards themselves for not supporting him back then, admiring him but also condemning him at the same time. I'd love to see how it'll all play out, I'm sure Xie Lian knows who they are and I want to see how he'll deal with it all. Emotions are often nuanced and complicated, you can love someone but dislike them, you can fear someone and still crave them and this juxtaposition of complicated feelings is something I really enjoy in fiction (and hate in real life).

Stereotypes and expectations

Tremendous Masculinity. XD

It might be a gag, but it also shows that even deities do not wish to live up to any expectations people may have of them. Often what is believed is not rooted in reality at all, and heavenly officials are powerless and unable to control people's beliefs about them.

Worshippers' ideas about gods also contributed to Xianle's downfall. Xie Lian was not invincible, that was his crime. That's why, later Xie Lian constantly denied Puqi people that he cannot offer wealth or a wife or a child to anyone. He won't make promises he can't keep.

Hua Cheng's name

Finally, I'm not sure which idea I like better: Hua Cheng being his real name, destined and fated to seek and hold flowers, or Hua Cheng being his fake name that he chose to live for Xie Lian, that he chose to find meaning in him.

Either way, I'm looking forward to learning more about who he really is.

Final Note- Ruoye is so cute. It's a band but it's cute.

I am sure my ideas are bound to change as I proceed with the novels but for now I'd say the first book was really enjoyable, a good mix of horror and action and fun interactions. Onto the second one!! <3

[slitheringghost]

Unweaving Canon Lily Evans: Parallels to Voldemort

To illuminate what JKR was doing with this dynamic, alongside several other dynamics across the text, and how she wove in Lily as Voldemort's symbolic sister the same way Voldemort and Harry are "brothers", see my meta “And Cain Repented Not Of What He Had Done”: Harry Potter As Retelling of Cain and Abel

*Note: not necessarily accepting the narrative's (or Dumbledore's) exact judgments in all these quotes (i.e. reactions to very different childhoods, etc.; but working with the general concept of them as foils and choosing different paths, which is relevant wrt Lily’s experience of violence at and post Hogwarts during the war). Further fic recs, and notes on characterization are at the end. Much of this is to be elaborated in future metas, so excuse some of the loose threads here.

1. Muggleborn

Harry turned to the back cover of the book and saw the printed name of a variety store on Vauxhall Road, London. "He must’ve been Muggle-born," said Harry thoughtfully. "To have bought a diary from Vauxhall Road..." “You live in a Muggle orphanage during the holidays, I believe?” said Dippet curiously. “Yes, sir,” said Riddle, reddening slightly. “You are Muggle-born?” “Half-blood, sir,” said Riddle. “Muggle father, witch mother.” "No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me," said Harry abruptly. "I don’t know myself. But I know why you couldn’t kill me. Because my mother died to save me. My common Muggle-born mother," he added, shaking with suppressed rage. "She stopped you killing me." (CoS) - “I am here, as I told you in my letter, to discuss Tom Riddle and arrangements for his future,” said Dumbledore. “Are you family?” asked Mrs. Cole. “No, I am a teacher,” said Dumbledore. “I have come to offer Tom a place at my school.” (HBP) “And will it really come by owl?” Lily whispered. “Normally,” said Snape. “But you’re Muggle-born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain to your parents.” “Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?” (DH) - “There he showed his contempt for anything that tied him to other people, anything that made him ordinary. Even then, he wished to be different, separate, notorious. He shed his name, as you know, within a few short years of that conversation and created the mask of ‘Lord Voldemort’ behind which he has been hidden for so long." (HBP) “I can’t pretend anymore. You’ve chosen your way, I’ve chosen mine.” “No ��� listen, I didn’t mean —” “— to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?” He struggled on the verge of speech, but with a contemptuous look she turned and climbed back through the portrait hole... (DH)

2. Magic

2.1 Controlling wandless magic before they knew about magic

“It’s... it’s magic, what I can do?” “What is it that you can do?” “All sorts,” breathed Riddle. A flush of excitement was rising up his neck into his hollow cheeks; he looked fevered. “I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me. I can make them hurt if I want to.” His legs were trembling. He stumbled forward and sat down on the bed again, staring at his hands, his head bowed as though in prayer. “I knew I was different,” he whispered to his own quivering fingers. “I knew I was special. Always, I knew there was something.” “Well, you were quite right,” said Dumbledore, who was no longer smiling, but watching Riddle intently. “You are a wizard.” Riddle lifted his head. His face was transfigured: There was a wild happiness upon it [...] “His powers, as you heard, were surprisingly well-developed for such a young wizard and — most interestingly and ominously of all — he had already discovered that he had some measure of control over them, and begun to use them consciously. And as you saw, they were not the random experiments typical of young wizards: He was already using magic against other people, to frighten, to punish, to control.” (HBP) - “But I’m fine,” said Lily, still giggling. “Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do.” [...] Lily had picked up a fallen flower from the bush behind which Snape lurked. Petunia advanced, evidently torn between curiosity and disapproval. Lily waited until Petunia was near enough to have a clear view, then held out her palm. The flower sat there, opening and closing its petals, like some bizarre, many-lipped oyster. “Stop it!” shrieked Petunia. “It’s not hurting you,” said Lily, but she closed her hand on the blossom and threw it back to the ground. “It’s not right,” said Petunia, but her eyes had followed the flower’s flight to the ground and lingered upon it. “You’ve got loads of magic,” said Snape. “I saw that. All the time I was watching you..." (DH)

2.2 Unsupported flight

Voldemort was flying like smoke on the wind, without broomstick or thestral to hold him, his snakelike face gleaming out of the blackness — He was gliding around the high walls of the black fortress — No, he was Harry, tied up and wandless, in grave danger — — looking up, up to the topmost window, the highest tower — He was Harry, and they were discussing his fate in low voices — — Time to fly... [...] — and he rose into the night, flying straight up to the window at the very top of the tower — [...] — as he forced himself through the slit of a window like a snake and landed, lightly as vapor, inside the cell-like room — A metal heart was banging outside his chest, and now he was flying, flying with triumph in his heart, without need of broomstick or thestral (DH) - There was undisguised greed in his thin face as he watched the younger of the two girls swinging higher and higher than her sister. “Lily, don’t do it!” shrieked the elder of the two. But the girl had let go of the swing at the very height of its arc and flown into the air, quite literally flown, launched herself skyward with a great shout of laughter, and instead of crumpling on the playground asphalt, she soared like a trapeze artist through the air, staying up far too long, landing far too lightly. “Mummy told you not to!” Petunia stopped her swing by dragging the heels of her sandals on the ground, making a crunching, grinding sound, then leapt up, hands on hips. “Mummy said you weren’t allowed, Lily!” (DH)

(Given he calls himself "flight from death" at 15, I assume Tom could do something similar to Lily as a child, and his flight in DH the fully trained version; possibly Snape's is the same innate ability but showed up a few years later than Lily's that they trained together, or some learned variation with a spell/ritual.)

2.3 Potential Legilimency

Riddle had frozen, his face expressionless, but his eyes were flickering back and forth between each of Dumbledore’s, as though trying to catch one of them lying. (HBP) “Did you make that happen?” “No.” He looked both defiant and scared. “You did!” She was backing away from him. “You did! You hurt her!” “No — no I didn’t!” But the lie did not convince Lily: After one last burning look, she ran from the little thicket, off after her sister, and Snape looked miserable and confused... (DH) “Prove it,” said Riddle at once, in the same commanding tone he had used when he had said, “Tell the truth.” Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. “If, as I take it, you are accepting your place at Hogwarts —” “Of course I am!” “Then you will address me as ‘Professor’ or ‘sir.’” (HBP) “Maybe once I’m there — no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I’m there, I’ll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!” (DH)

(the word “persuade” often used to refer to force via Legilimency) Mirrors the language around Dumbledore - who I assume is Legilimizing Snape in this scene, as he'd hardly trust a DE’s word without it, and makes a very specific accusation to manipulate Snape without Snape bringing it up (possibly Snape's opening up his mind on purpose). Similarly, Lily - said to be looking up at the canopy - brings up Snape's home life, then changes the subject when he starts to get agitated to something that makes him happy (talking about magic) that they've already talked about (despite this as only the 2nd/3rd time she's speaking to him), so she could be feeling bits of Snape's emotions throughout that scene, hence reacting so strongly when he drops the branch.

“How are things at your house?” Lily asked. A little crease appeared between his eyes. “Fine,” he said. “They’re not arguing anymore?” “Oh yes, they’re arguing,” said Snape. He picked up a fistful of leaves and began tearing them apart, apparently unaware of what he was doing. “But it won’t be that long and I’ll be gone.” “Doesn’t your dad like magic?” “He doesn’t like anything, much,” said Snape. “Severus?” A little smile twisted Snape’s mouth when she said his name. “Yeah?” “Tell me about the dementors again.” (DH) “Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?” “No — no message — I’m here on my own account!” Snape was wringing his hands: He looked a little mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him. “I — I come with a warning — no, a request — please —” [...] “If she means so much to you,” said Dumbledore, “surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?” “I have — I have asked him —” “You disgust me,” said Dumbledore, and Harry had never heard so much contempt in his voice. Snape seemed to shrink a little. “You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?” Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore. (DH)

2.4 Disillusionment/Invisibility

It would not do for Snape, or indeed anyone else, to see where he was going. But there were no lights in the castle windows, and he could conceal himself… and in a second he had cast upon himself a Disillusionment Charm that hid him even from his own eyes. And he walked on, around the edge of the lake, taking in the outlines of the beloved castle, his first kingdom, his birthright… And here it was, beside the lake, reflected in the dark waters.

(Lily implied as having the same ability to be explained in another post)

2.5 Conquering death

“No one knows how he survived that attack by You-Know-Who. I mean to say, he was only a baby when it happened. He should have been blasted into smithereens. Only a really powerful Dark wizard could have survived a curse like that [...] That’s probably why You-Know-Who wanted to kill him in the first place. Didn’t  want another Dark Lord competing with him." (CoS) “I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it.  My curse was deflected by the woman’s foolish sacrifice, and it  rebounded upon myself. Aaah... pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing  could have prepared me for it.” (GoF) “I, who have gone further than  anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal — to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked... for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it.” (GoF) “Certainly,” said Voldemort, and his eyes seemed to burn red. “I have  experimented; I have pushed the boundaries of magic further, perhaps, than they have ever been pushed —” (HBP)

Lily creates blood wards to protect her sister // the only other time we (explicitly) see a blood ward is outside Voldemort's Cave protections, protecting his mother's locket

4 examples of sacrificial magic, 3 Voldemort's, 1 Lily's - in CoS Tom is killing Ginny to gain a body; in GoF the "flesh blood and bone" rebody potion; and obviously horcruxes; Lily's sacrificial magic). Lily does sacrificial blood magic using a parent's sacrifice; LV does sacrificial blood magic using a parent's sacrifice (father's bone, blood of the enemy, etc). Twice when Lily's sacrificial magic comes up between Harry and LV, Voldemort's in the process of doing his own sacrificial ritual and also in the midst of a "rebirth" (in CoS and GoF)

"This is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it" // LV's own to counter her magic - "I knew that to achieve this - it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight - I would need three powerful ingredients."

The only time "magical traces" are (explicitly) mentioned are LV seeing the traces of Lily's protective magic on Harry // and Dumbledore seeing the traces of LV's magic in the Gaunt house and the locket Cave (symbolic Gaunt shack), both horcruxes related to his family and to Merope

"His mother left upon him the traces of her sacrifice..." (GoF) "I stumbled across the ring hidden in the ruin of the Gaunts’ house [...] He hid it, protected by many powerful enchantments, in the shack where his ancestors had once lived (Morfin having been carted off to Azkaban, of course), never guessing that I might one day take the trouble to visit the ruin, or that I might be keeping an eye open for traces of magical concealment." (HBP) "How did you know that was there?" Harry asked in astonishment. "Magic always leaves traces," said Dumbledore, as the boat hit the bank with a gentle bump, "sometimes very distinctive traces. I taught Tom Riddle. I know his style." (HBP)

LV invents a concentrated dementor potion to symbolize Merope's murder in the Gaunt home and Dumbledore takes 13 sips in that cave (12 of the Drink of Despair, 1 of Inferi water) // when LV gets close to the house where he murdered Lily, it has the effect of a concentrated dementor on him and Lily vanquishes him for ~13 years (13 1/2 inches is also LV's wand length) - Lily described like a dementor in the memory of the Potters' deaths (to be elaborated in future metas)

"So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted.... I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul into her..." (CoS) “If it can, the dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself... soulless and evil.” (PoA)

LV (more or less) kills Dumbledore who he can't beat in a duel with a curse that strengths with time // Lily kills LV who she can't beat in a duel without a wand and with obscure magic

Priori Incantatem (elaborated here) // Merope's locket // Resurrection Stone :

And she came… first her head, then her body… a young woman with long hair, the smoky, shadowy form of Lily Potter blossomed from the end of Voldemort’s wand, fell to the ground, and straightened like her husband. (GoF) Out of the locket’s two windows, out of the eyes, there bloomed, like two grotesque bubbles, the heads of Harry and Hermione, weirdly distorted. Ron yelled in shock and backed away as the figures blossomed out of the locket, first chests, then waists, then legs, until they stood in the locket, side by side like trees with a common root (DH)

Likewise, the shades out of the Resurrection are implied to be Lily's soul, creating those versions of James, Sirius, and Remus, the way the locket creates Riddle-Harry and Riddle-Hermione.

Lily's protective magic burns LV in front of the Mirror of Erised // Merope's locket horcrux with Riddle's eyes through mirrors burns Harry, the Dark Mark's burn (elaborated below)

2.6 Dark Arts, DADA, Potions, inventing spells and potions (extrapolated for Lily via Snape)

3. Childhood memories

Both show immense joy and wonder at magic, Snape and Dumbledore play similar roles: acknowledge them as unusually magically powerful, explain the laws of the wizarding world to two Muggleborns pushing boundaries before either even knew any existed (Snape, who ignores many of those laws himself, coming from a different angle than Dumbledore). Also note that we are meant to question Lily being too pure to end up in Azkaban - because she's implied to have ended up there, in a way, in a state similar to LV's imprisonment in Albania (to be elaborated).

“At Hogwarts,” Dumbledore went on, “we teach you not only to use magic, but to control it. You have — inadvertently, I am sure — been using your powers in a way that is neither taught nor tolerated at our school. You are not the first, nor will you be the last, to allow your magic to run away with you. But you should know that Hogwarts can expel students, and the Ministry of Magic — yes, there is a Ministry — will punish lawbreakers still more severely. All new wizards must accept that, in entering our world, they abide by our laws.” (HBP) “...and the Ministry can punish you if you do magic outside school, you get letters.” “But I have done magic outside school!” “We’re all right. We haven’t got wands yet. They let you off when you’re a kid and you can’t help it. But once you’re eleven,” he nodded importantly, “and they start training you, then you’ve got to go careful.” [...] “Tell me about the dementors again.” “What d’you want to know about them for?” “If I use magic outside school —” “They wouldn’t give you to the dementors for that! Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff. They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You’re not going to end up in Azkaban, you’re too —” (DH)

- Riddle stared from the wardrobe to Dumbledore; then, his expression greedy, he pointed at the wand. “Where can I get one of them?” (HBP) Lily had picked up a fallen twig and twirled it in the air, and Harry knew that she was imagining sparks trailing from it. (DH) - "I’m not mad!" "I know that you are not mad. Hogwarts is not a school for mad people. It is a school of magic." There was silence. Riddle had frozen, his face expressionless, but his eyes were flickering back and forth between each of Dumbledore’s, as though trying to catch one of them lying. "Magic?" he repeated in a whisper. "That’s right," said Dumbledore. (HBP) Then she dropped the twig, leaned in toward the boy, and said, "It is real, isn’t it? It’s not a joke? Petunia says you’re lying to me. Petunia says there isn’t a Hogwarts. It is real, isn’t it?" "It’s real for us," said Snape. "Not for her. But we’ll get the letter, you and me." "Really?" whispered Lily. "Definitely," said Snape, and even with his poorly cut hair and his odd clothes, he struck an oddly impressive figure sprawled in front of her, brimful of confidence in his destiny. "And will it really come by owl?" Lily whispered. (DH)

3.1 Alienation from the Muggle world/family

(to highly different degrees, but outsiders shows up as connection even in dynamics where the specifics are very different - Tom using Ginny's alienation from her brothers, Dumbledore and Doge, etc)

“I don’t — want — to — go!” said Petunia, and she dragged her hand back out of her sister’s grasp. “You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a — a —” [...] “— you think I want to be a — a freak?” Lily’s eyes filled with tears as Petunia succeeded in tugging her hand away. “I’m not a freak,” said Lily. “That’s a horrible thing to say.” “That’s where you’re going,” said Petunia with relish. “A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy... weirdos, that’s what you two are. It’s good you’re being separated from normal people. It’s for our safety.” (DH) “He was a funny baby too. He hardly ever cried, you know. And then, when he got a little older, he was... odd.” […] “He’s definitely got a place at your school, you say?” “Definitely,” said Dumbledore. “And nothing I say can change that?” “Nothing,” said Dumbledore. “You’ll be taking him away, whatever?” [...] “I don’t think many people will be sorry to see the back of him.” (HBP)

4. Brilliant students

Prefects, Head Boy/Girl, Slughorn's favorites, charming, charismatic, good-looking, well-liked but with few close friends

"Brilliant," he said softly. "Of course, he was probably the most  brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen [...] Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts [...] Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here." (CoS) "You shouldn’t have favorites as a teacher, of course, but she was one of mine. Your mother," Slughorn added, in answer to Harry’s questioning look. "Lily Evans. One of the brightest I ever taught. Vivacious, you know. Charming girl." (HBP) Riddle laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn’t suit him. It made the hairs stand up on the back of Harry’s neck. "If I say it myself, Harry, I’ve always been able to charm the people I needed." (CoS) - "Your mother was Muggle-born, of course. Couldn’t believe it when I found out. Thought she must have been pure-blood, she was so good." (HBP) “I don’t know that politics would suit me, sir [...] I don’t have the right kind of background, for one thing.” A couple of the boys around him smirked at each other. Harry was sure they were enjoying a private joke, undoubtedly about what they knew, or suspected, regarding their gang leader’s famous ancestor. “Nonsense,” said Slughorn briskly, “couldn’t be plainer you come from decent Wizarding stock, abilities like yours. No, you’ll go far, Tom, I’ve never been wrong about a student yet.” (HBP)

- "I forgot," lied Harry, Felix Felicis leading him on. "You liked her, didn’t you?" "Liked her?" said Slughorn, his eyes brimming with tears once more. "I don’t imagine anyone who met her wouldn’t have liked her... Very brave... Very funny... It was the most horrible thing..." (HBP) "As an unusually talented and very good-looking orphan, he naturally drew attention and sympathy from the staff almost from the moment of his arrival. He seemed polite, quiet, and thirsty for knowledge. Nearly all were most favorably impressed by him." (HBP)

Lily as Ideal of a Gryffindor with a Slytherin streak (like Harry) vs. Tom as Ideal of a Slytherin

Then Professor McGonagall said, "Evans, Lily!" He watched his mother walk forward on trembling legs and sit down upon the rickety stool. Professor McGonagall dropped the Sorting Hat onto her head, and barely a second after it had touched the dark red hair, the hat cried, “Gryffindor!” (DH) “Well, the start of the school year arrived and with it came Tom Riddle, a quiet boy in his secondhand robes, who lined up with the other first years to be sorted. He was placed in Slytherin House almost the moment that the Sorting Hat touched his head." (HBP) "I used to tell her she ought to have been in my House. Very cheeky answers I used to get back too." [...] "I was Head of Slytherin," said Slughorn. "Oh, now," he went on quickly [...] "don’t go holding that against me! You’ll be Gryffindor like her, I suppose? Yes, it usually goes in families." “You’d better be in Slytherin,” said Snape, encouraged that she had brightened a little.

5. They Even Look Something Alike

Just as this is pointed out for Voldemort and Harry, and Voldemort and Snape, in DH it's Voldemort and Lily that look alike and are revealed as reflections - and Lily as Voldemort's symbolic sister the same way Voldemort and Harry are "brothers".

5.3 The Same Eyes

And all of a sudden, for the very first time in his life, Harry fully appreciated that Aunt Petunia was his mother’s sister. He could not have said why this hit him so very powerfully at this moment. All he knew was that he was not the only person in the room who had an inkling of what Lord Voldemort being back might mean. Aunt Petunia had never in her life looked at him like that before. Her large, pale eyes (so unlike her sister’s) were not narrowed in dislike or anger: They were wide and fearful.

The barman grunted. Harry approached him, looking up into the face, trying to see past the long, stringy, wire-gray hair and beard. He wore spectacles. Behind the dirty lenses, the eyes were a piercing, brilliant blue. “It’s your eye I’ve been seeing in the mirror.” Dumbledore’s long silver hair and beard, the piercingly blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles, the crooked nose: Everything was as he had remembered it. And yet... Dumbledore was wearing his familiar, kindly smile, but as he peered over the top of his half-moon spectacles, he gave the impression, even in newsprint, of X-raying Harry He met Aberforth’s gaze, which was so strikingly like his brother’s: The bright blue eyes gave the same impression that they were X-raying the object of their scrutiny, and Harry thought that Aberforth knew what he was thinking [...]

The burn of Lily and LV's eyes through the mirrors is repeated in the description of their eyes, and additionally both Snape and Lily's gaze described like LV's:

Voldemort’s expression did not change. The red eyes seemed to burn in the firelight. Slowly he drew the Elder Wand between his long fingers. But the lie did not convince Lily: After one last burning look, she ran from the little thicket (The Prince's Tale, DH) His red eyes fastened upon Snape’s black ones with such intensity that some of the watchers looked away, apparently fearful that they themselves would be scorched by the ferocity of the gaze. (Dark Lord Ascending, DH) “I’m just trying to show you they’re not as wonderful as everyone seems to think they are.” The intensity of his gaze made her blush. (The Prince's Tale, DH)

Likewise in OoTP, Voldemort (when Harry is in his head) and Snape described as having slits for eyes (Other Death Eaters - Lucius and Bellatrix - described similarly via their hoods - "her mad eyes staring through the slits in her hood" etc); then in DH, it's only Voldemort, Nagini (symbolic Merope), Harry, and Lily described with slits for eyes - Harry in the Malfoy Manor mirror, face blurred like LV’s in HBP, unrecognizable as himself and Draco unable to look at him (it's significant that Hermione's the one to make him look like LV - see this post); the same mirror LV’s in front of with slits for eyes tormenting his DEs, and Draco and Snape (parallel to Lily and LV and the Mirror of Erised in PS); Lily while looking at Snape in his memories:

Was this why Dumbledore would no longer meet Harry’s eyes? Did he expect to see Voldemort staring out of them, afraid, perhaps, that their vivid green might turn suddenly to scarlet, with catlike slits for pupils? (OoTP) “He was possessing the snake at the time and so you dreamed you were inside it too...” “And Vol — he — realized I was there?” “It seems so,” said Snape coolly. “How do you know?” said Harry urgently. “Is this just Professor Dumbledore guessing, or — ?” “I told you,” said Snape, rigid in his chair, his eyes slits, “to call me ‘sir.’” (OoTP) A cracked, age-spotted mirror hung on the wall in the shadows. Harry moved toward it. His reflection grew larger and clearer in the darkness... A face whiter than a skull... red eyes with slits for pupils (OoTP) Harry let out a hastily stifled gasp. Voldemort had entered the room. His features were not those Harry had seen emerge from the great stone cauldron almost two years ago: They were not as snakelike, the eyes were not yet scarlet, the face not yet masklike, and yet he was no longer handsome Tom Riddle. It was as though his features had been burned and blurred; they were waxy and oddly distorted, andthe whites of the eyes now had a permanently bloody look, though the pupils were not yet the slits that Harry knew they would become. He was wearing a long black cloak, and his face was as pale as the snow glistening on his shoulders. (HBP) [...] his face shone through the gloom, hairless, snakelike, with slits for nostrils and gleaming red eyes whose pupils were vertical. He was so pale that he seemed to emit a pearly glow. The huge snake [...] rose, seemingly endlessly, and came to rest across Voldemort’s shoulders […] its eyes, with their vertical slits for pupils, unblinking. (Dark Lord Ascending, DH) Harry clutched at his excruciatingly painful face, which felt unrecognizable beneath his fingers, tight, swollen, and puffy as though he had suffered some violent allergic reaction. His eyes had been reduced to slits through which he could barely see; his glasses fell off as he was bundled out of the tent Harry was facing a mirror over the fireplace, a great gilded thing in an intricately scrolled frame.Through the slits of his eyes he saw his own reflection for the first time since leaving Grimmauld Place. His face was huge, shiny, and pink, every feature distorted by Hermione’s jinx. His black hair reached his shoulders and there was a dark shadow around his jaw. Had he not known that it was he who stood there, he would have wondered who was wearing his glasses [...] yet he still avoided eye contact with Draco as the latter approached. “Well, Draco?” said Lucius Malfoy [...] “Is it? Is it Harry Potter?” (Malfoy Manor, DH) Lily’s bright green eyes were slits. Snape backtracked at once. (The Prince's Tale, DH)

In HBP, only Morfin, Tom Riddle, and Harry are described as remorseless; in DH only Harry, Voldemort, and Lily are described as pitiless:

“So you smashed my prophecy?” said Voldemort softly, staring at Harry with those pitiless red eyes (OoTP) Harry could see it happening. He watched Voldemort’s white, snakelike face vanishing into darkness, those red eyes fixed pitilessly on the thrashing elf (DH) “Slipped out?” There was no pity in Lily’s voice. “It’s too late." (DH) --- “This discussion is getting us nowhere,” said Ogden firmly. “It is clear from your son’s attitude that he feels no remorse for his actions.” (HBP) “Didn’t you tell them, sir, what he’d been like when you met him at the orphanage?” asked Harry. “No, I did not. Though he had shown no hint of remorse, it was possible that he felt sorry for how he had behaved before [...]" (HBP) “He told her to get out of the way,” said Harry remorselessly. “He told me she needn’t have died. He only wanted me. She could have run.” (HBP) “— Kingsley and Mr. Weasley explained it all as well,” Harry pressed on remorselessly. “Once I’m seventeen, the protective charm that keeps me safe will break, and that exposes you as well as me.” (DH)

5.1 Halloween, 1981

In the scene where he goes to murder the Potters - LV and Lily both enter through a door ("identical movements"; the Veil described as an "ancient doorway" - because sin is crouching at their door), both sneaking up on the enemy they're about to kill, and while Harry and James are described as "black-haired", LV and Lily have their faces covered ("matching hairstyles"; and because I show not your face but your heart's desire), and identical laughs - because the laugh that for six books were told was LV laughing as he killed Lily wasn’t him laughing, it was Lily laughing. (Explanation/closer analysis of this scene to come.)

“Nice costume, mister!” He saw the small boy’s smile falter as he ran near enough to see beneath the hood of the cloak, saw the fear cloud his painted face: Then the child turned and ran away And he made less noise than the dead leaves slithering along the pavement as he drew level with the dark hedge, and stared over it A door opened and the mother entered, saying words he could not hear, her long dark-red hair falling over her face. Now the father scooped up the son and handed him to the mother. The gate creaked a little as he pushed it open, but James Potter did not hear. His white hand pulled out the wand beneath his cloak and pointed it at the door, which burst open. He was over the threshold as James came sprinting into the hall.

5.2 The Mirrors

“How did you get this?” Harry asked, walking across to Sirius’s mirror, the twin of the one he had broken nearly two years before. - Behind both of the glass windows within blinked a living eye, dark and handsome as Tom Riddle’s eyes had been before he turned them scarlet and slit-pupiled. (DH) A woman standing right behind his reflection was smiling at him and waving. He reached out a hand and felt the air behind him. If she was really there, he’d touch her, their reflections were so close together, but he felt only air — she and the others existed only in the mirror. She was a very pretty woman.She had dark red hair and her eyes — her eyes are just like mine, Harry thought, edging a little closer to the glass. Bright green — exactly the same shape, but then he noticed that she was crying; smiling, but crying at the same time. (PS) - Then a voice hissed from out of the Horcrux. “I have seen your heart, and it is mine.” [...] “I have seen your dreams, Ronald Weasley, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all that you dread is also possible...” [...] “Least loved, always, by the mother who craved a daughter... Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers your friend... Second best, always, eternally overshadowed...” (DH) “It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible." (PS) - “Ron!” he shouted, but the Riddle-Harry was now speaking with Voldemort’s voice and Ron was gazing, mesmerized, into its face. [...] “Presumption!” echoed the Riddle-Hermione, who was more beautiful and yet more terrible than the real Hermione: She swayed, cackling, before Ron, who looked horrified yet transfixed. (DH) He tore his eyes away from his mother’s face, whispered, “I’ll come back,” and hurried from the room. (PS)

Lily's bright green eyes look at Harry from the Mirror of Erised; LV meets Harry in front of that mirror (there was a face, the most terrible face Harry had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake // The evil face was now smiling); LV describes Harry's parents' deaths and especially Lily's death/sacrifice; then Lily's protective magic burns LV in front of the Mirror of Erised when he tries to touch Harry.

Riddle's dark eyes that gleam red look through the mirrors in Merope's locket, the dark twin of the Mirror of Erised (the connection also implied in it being Tom’s mother's locket and the only horcrux to have a mirror; and Ron coming with Harry to the Mirror of Erised and destroying the locket); Merope's locket horcrux burns Harry - right after he and LV see the full memory of Lily vanquishing him, after trying to kill him.

I show not your face but your heart's desire // The locket showing distorted faces of Ron's "family" - not their real faces but his heart's fears

Voldemort screamed “SEIZE HIM!” and the next second, Harry felt Quirrell’s hand close on his wrist [...] and to his surprise, Quirrell let go of him [...] he looked around wildly to see where Quirrell had gone, and saw him hunched in pain, looking at his fingers — they were blistering before his eyes [...] “Master, I cannot hold him — my hands — my hands!” And Quirrell, though pinning Harry to the ground with his knees, let go of his neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms — Harry could see they looked burned, raw, red, and shiny. “Then kill him, fool, and be done!” screeched Voldemort. Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, but Harry, by instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell’s face — [...] Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering, too, and then Harry knew: Quirrell couldn’t touch his bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain [...] - “I couldn’t get the Horcrux off you [...] It was stuck, stuck to your chest. You’ve got a mark; I’m sorry, I had to use a Severing Charm to get it away. The snake bit you too [...]" He pulled the sweaty T-shirt he was wearing away from himself and looked down. There was a scarlet oval over his heart where the locket had burned him. He could also see the half-healed puncture marks to his forearm. the figures [....] swaying over Ron and the real Harry, who had snatched his fingers away from the locket as it burned, suddenly, white-hot. [...] while the contents of the locket rattled like a trapped cockroach. It would have been easy to pity it, except that the cut around Harry’s neck still burned. (DH)

Harry's curse scar likewise described as burning and scorching - all echo the Dark Mark's burn: "Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord [...] When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to [...] Apparate, instantly, at his side [...] We both felt the Mark burn.”

Not taking the Love thing or Lily as inherently pure literally but - the prophecy says LV would "mark him as an equal"; Dumbledore says "love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign [...] It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good" aka Lily marked Harry as her equal (evidently it left some sign, per LV seeing traces)

6. Personality traits

6.1 Curiosity, Cunning, Manipulation

Skilled at using people's weaknesses against them:

Slughorn pulled himself out of his armchair and carried his empty glass over to his desk as the boys filed out. Voldemort, however, stayed behind. Harry could tell he had dawdled deliberately, wanting to be last in the room with Slughorn. (HBP) Lily glanced toward her parents, who were looking around the platform with an air of wholehearted enjoyment, drinking in the scene. Then she looked back at her sister, and her voice was low and fierce. (DH) “You didn’t think it was such a freak’s school when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you.” Petunia turned scarlet. “Beg? I didn’t beg!” “I saw his reply. It was very kind.” (DH) She dropped her voice. “And you’re being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow, and James Potter saved you from whatever’s down there —” (DH) Lily blinked. “Fine,” she said coolly. “I won’t bother in future. And I’d wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus.” (OoTP) "Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you’ve just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can — I’m surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it." (OOTP)

- The text draws a very deliberate parallel between her, Tom Riddle, and Harry (and to an extent Dumbledore) regarding their cunning and manipulation in HBP - i.e. Slughorn calls Lily charming, charismatic, says that he used to tell her she ought to have been in Slytherin, which means she has Slytherin traits (cunning, ambition, resourcefulness, a disregard for rules) and which sounds like the kind of thing he'd say specifically when she was displaying those traits - akin to when Slughorn tells Tom Riddle that he'd "like to know where he gets his information", that he's "more knowledgeable than half the staff" and has an "uncanny ability to know things he shouldn't".

- Lily calls Snape an affectionate nickname ("Sev") three times. Lily addresses people by name a lot, it's a part of her speech patterns; but it could also be read as having a slight manipulative edge to it - the way Harry and Dumbledore use "Lily Evans" to manipulate Slughorn and Snape, and LV uses names to simulate intimacy (especially given Lily uses Snivellus later, and if Lily's using Legilimency on Snape in this scene - "Severus?" A little smile twisted Snape’s mouth when she said his name - she'd be extra aware of it).

- Not super difficult to fake given Lily could do magic at Snape's house, but the Dursleys not knowing Harry can't do magic at home implies that Lily hid the Underage Magic rule and kept up a lie to likely all three of her family members for a while; like Harry threatening Dudley ("it was only their terror that he might turn them all into dung beetles that stopped them from locking him in the cupboard [...] Harry had enjoyed muttering nonsense words under his breath and watching Dudley tearing out of the room as fast as his fat legs would carry him.")

- Sneaks into Petunia's room with Snape to read her mail - she has the same curiosity and penchant for solving mysteries and sneaking that others have (i.e. parallels Harry reading Filch's mail in CoS). Her knowing about the Prank, dynamic with Slughorn and Bathilda Bagshot (gets the same "best kept secret" info out of her that Rita Skeeter gets using Veritaserum) may also imply this trait.

Rulebreaking and Bravery

“Yes, I speak it,” said Riddle. He moved forward into the room, allowing the door to swing shut behind him. Harry could not help but feel a resentful admiration for Voldemort’s complete lack of fear. His face merely expressed disgust and, perhaps, disappointment. “It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Snape could no longer contain himself, but had jumped out from behind the bushes. Petunia shrieked and ran backward toward the swings, but Lily, though clearly startled, remained where she was. Snape seemed to regret his appearance. A dull flush of color mounted the sallow cheeks as he looked at Lily. “What’s obvious?” asked Lily.

“Of course, if you would rather not come to the school, nobody will force you —” “I’d like to see them try,” sneered Riddle. (HBP) “Let me? Let me?” Lily’s bright green eyes were slits. Snape backtracked at once. (DH)

- "Lily, don't do it!" "Mummy told you not to!" "Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!" "But I'm fine" She only obeys when Petunia appears genuinely freaked out ("Stop it!" Petunia shrieked / "It's not hurting you").

- Lily laughs and takes a selfie while James runs after Harry; thinks it's hilarious when Harry breaks Petunia's vase; goes on "little excursions" under the Cloak while in hiding; goes "I'm not sure he'd be pleased if he knew!" wrt Bathilda spilling Dumbledore's secret then proceeds to gossip to Sirius about it.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Uea and Red

I don't have a fancy intro for this so lets just get right into it.

Uea is red. We know Uea is red. I know Uea is red. But there is just something about the red on Uea that feels wrong. That I am having trouble wrapping my mind around. Maybe it's just that the color choice doesn't match well with James, but I'm going to choose to analyze it as an intentional part of the show instead, because fuck it, we ball. Because you see, it isn't all of the reds that I have trouble believing, just one specific shade.

So what red do I have a problem with?

The bright red. Uea's main red. Unfortunately :(

There is just something about it that makes it feel...fake? to me.

But, as I said, there are plenty of moments in the show where I wholly accept, understand, and associate Uea with red.

So when do I buy into Uea Anol The Red Rascal?

In lighting like this:

In clothing like this:

(I do consider pink to be a red since it has red in it.)

(This last image is from the after-credit scene of Cutie Pie where Net and James cameo as King and Uea).

In King's sheets:

All this to say that there are times when I completely see Uea as a Red Rascal, but I needed to figure out what it was about the main red that always took me out of that mindset. What was it about the main red that made me feel like it was a lie?

And after reading @respectthepetty's commentary on a previous thread : "Uea wearing a blue shirt in the past could very much symbolize him trying to not be himself." it really got me thinking.

That red is too saturated, too vibrant, too loud for Uea. At least in my opinion. Because while RTP is also correct and Uea "has been shown to be more spontaneous, attention-getting, and dominant" that is really only true when Uea is being sexual. When it comes to sex, Uea is the more dominant person. It is Uea that initiates/asks for the first sexual encounter with King, it is Uea who sets the (truly low bar) rules, at every point of the sexual relationship he has with King, Uea is in control.

But the same can't be said for non-sexual situations. In social situations, in matters of day to day existence, external personality, etc. King is the far more outgoing person. At the office King is the one who gets all the attention, he is more openly flirty. And while Uea gets his share of attention in the office, he does not reciprocate it the way that King does. Uea is quiet, Uea is reserved, and that's doubly the case when Uea is triggered. Unless he is actively re-living the moment, he dissociates or retreats in to himself to process his own emotions. When Uea's mother asks him for tuition in Episode 1 and he starts thinking about all his other stressors, he doesn't say a word, he just returns to the karaoke room and starts drinking:

At the hospital he folds in to himself, he barely puts up a fight, the only time he really even says "No," is when King starts reaching for his own wallet:

When King sniffs his neck the way his stepfather used to, Uea retreats to a hallway to hide. At no point does he offer any explanation (and to be clear he doesn't have to, he's allowed to keep it secret)

Honestly, the only way anyone in Uea's life probably has any indication that Uea is going through so much is from physically witnessing it themselves (King seeing Uea freaking out in the dark, King seeing Uea submissive in front of his mother, Jade protecting Uea from Pock, King rescuing Uea from Pock).

So to have such a bright and vibrant red for Uea feels wrong, it feels like a lie to me. Mostly because Uea's daily personality is more passive and restrained compared to his more open and demanding personality in the bedroom. I believe Uea as a Red Rascal when his reds are darker and muddier (the red-browns) or lighter and more subtle (the pinks). Uea's bright reds make me question his color-coding far more because it is so strong a color. (To be clear here this is not me saying I don't think Uea is strong, just me saying that he is too quiet for the bright reds).

And it got me thinking more about when and where Uea wears the bright red colors and where he doesn't. And it always seems to be in moments of anxiety.

When Uea wears bright red:

At the very beginning of Episode 1 when he is introducing himself to the audience

When he goes with King to get tested for STIs

When he goes home for his birthday.

These are all anxiety inducing moments.

Uea is making a first impression on us the audience, he's trying to gets us to see what he wants us to see. He is trying to convince us that what he is telling us is true. That is ordinary. The literal first words in his opening monologue are:

"I'm just an ordinary salaryman. I'm nothing different to others, but there might be one thing different...I don't like being around people in the office,"

Three minutes later, we get the truth:

Uea may seem like an ordinary salaryman on the outside, but he has been horrifically abused and is struggling with navigating trauma that is far outside what I would call "ordinary". Guess who picks up on the issue? King.

STI testing is the same thing, Uea is worried and King says as much:

And anyone who has seen Episode 4 understands perfectly well the anxiety Uea must be feeling at the prospect of going home. Because well...

#pransdaddarktimelineedition

And we know one of Uea's coping mechanisms is sex. He can't find the words to talk about his feelings properly so he tries to push them down, and distract himself with pleasure. If we want to look at the bright red as anxiety, Uea usually has something white on as a cover. His anxiety is there but he is trying to hide it.

But at King's he takes that white sweater off, tries to fuck his feelings away, but the anxiety is fresh, he hasn't regulated his emotions enough yet to be convincingly okay, and King #greenflagextraordinaire once again notices Uea is not in an emotionally secure enough place to proceed with sex.

And sure, you can argue that Uea wears these bright reds while he's one on one with King, and there the bright red can't just be anxiety, and we could also argue that every color has positives and negatives and the same could be said for the bright red. And to that I say, sure, but the one on ones with King are as follows: King snaps Uea out of an active trigger, King and Uea discuss starting a friends with benefits situation, Uea shows up to King's apartment on short notice after having a breakdown. None of these moments are what I personally would consider stress free.

Compare that to when Uea wears more muted/subtle reds:

The first time he meets King in a bar, (this is actually the brightest red that he wears that I can actually believe for Uea, and that's because it is a darker red than the other three firetruck red shirts.)

The day after he's shared a moment of connection and trust with King in the hospital after sending his mother home.

When he has forgiven King for accidentally triggering him without King knowing and is ready to re-initiate the FWB.

In the pool with King, when King asks him if he likes the sea and Uea replies "Kind of, but I preferred the calm one,"

Even the red lighting is different, the first red light is brighter and more intense, and that's because Uea is under time pressure to make a decision about whether or not to start the FWB deal with King. In the warmer post-coitus light of the second lighting photo, Uea is incredibly relaxed, almost drowsy, and is being asked to answer honest questions about why he agreed to be FWB. He's not anxious here, he's calm, and as a result Uea and King get to bask in a richer, deeper, less harsh red light. We can interpret the same information from King's sheets, with Uea being happy and relaxed and cuddled by King.

And even when we finally get King in red:

It's still not as bright as Uea's more purely red outfits (ie not the red-browns or the pinks). And naturally because King is still hiding something we've got to trap the brand new red color with all that black.

ANYWAY all of this to say I have figured out what is off-putting to me about the bright red, what makes me feel like it's a lie. IT'S BECAUSE IT IS A LIE!! Or I guess, more accurately, it's an over-compensation. Uea is red, but his trauma and his pain has made that red less vibrant. If respectthepetty is right, and let's be honest the Parent of All Tumblr Color Theory is always right, then Uea wearing blue at home was his way of suppressing his true self.

And if that's the case, then the separation he has from home, because he is no longer living there (since he's still in communication with his mother and therefore cannot fully be separated), has allowed Uea to stop hiding his true self, and embrace the Red Rascal he is. BUT because of his trauma, because his response to trauma seems to be more on the flight and freeze side of things, he is more prone to submission in the face of environmental triggers. When he can no longer simply ignore his mother's text messages, he will try to get his Mom to take a taxi, then give her money, and then resign himself to going to the ATM rather than actually fight her. When he sees his stepfather again, he will run to the dining room rather than engage, he will try to run to the kitchen, when he is stopped he will beg, quietly so as not to make a scene, and then he will run, and run again. (I want to be clear here, Uea does not need to fight, he is doing everything right, and he's doing the best that he can.)

When Uea is faced with high anxiety situations, he needs reminders of who he is. And those reminders need to be bright, and they need to be loud, because they need to be able to break through his initial panic and ground him. So he wears the bright red to tell himself and tell others fundamentally who he is:

A Red Rascal

And funnily enough, this bright red shirt Uea wears at the end of Ep. 4 is the only bright red shirt so far that doesn't bother me. It seems to fit him better than the other bright reds do and that is probably mostly because the loudness of this shirt is mitigated by the shadows on the front darkening the overall color and back of the shirt being washed out by the light rather than intensified by it. Or possibly because the pattern breaks up the color in a way that doesn't make it even brighter. I feel like the solid white stripes, and the solid white jacket from the examples above make their reds almost neon.

Here though, Uea is drunk and being hit on by a stranger. I don't think our boy is coping very well with the realization that he might be falling for King and so the Anxiety Red comes back. But it's not as In Your Face Bright Red as the others, and that's because he's not in as high stakes of a situation here. It's just hinting to me of potential inner turmoil on Uea's end, and since I haven't read the book I have no idea if Uea is contemplated fucking up a good thing and trying to end it because he doesn't think he is deserving of good things.

---

And for a total tangent, shout out to the purple in Ep. 3 after King and Uea's first night as official FWBs. I love when red and blue combine ;)

Ok, I have nothing else to say on this matter at this time. Thanks for listening, and as always if you made it this far, please collect your invisible Participation Medal.

TL;DR: Uea is a red rascal, but only when he is wearing muted red tones, not when he's wearing actual red. Shhh, I know...but it makes sense in my head

[transdimensional-void]

So early in the first book Jessica and Leto discuss hanging the painting of Leto’s father in the dining hall and Jessica doesn’t want it there because it’s distasteful for her but Leto gets all “he’s the great late Duke of the grand house atreides” yada yada and says this

Which I felt was a very insensitive thing to say to the woman who was always insecure that he didn’t marry her and second, he loves her. More than that, it distinctly shows the feudalism so entrenched in their society by way of the painting and Leto conveniently never marrying just to keep his “options open” and that is so… and then Herbert being a total misogynist is so on brand.

And then someone said that is an example of Leto being funny and joking with Jessica.

What do you think? because now I feel like I really overthought this lol

i think jessica's reaction makes it clear that, from her perspective at least, that was no joke:

"She held her face immobile, nodded."

throughout the passage, we see jessica suppressing and controlling her emotions several times, so it's obvious here that she's keeping herself from showing how she feels about his "joke."

from leto's perspective, i don't think he was necessarily laughing either. he's certainly being wry. but it's more a case of whistling in the dark, in my opinion, perhaps even lashing out with the intention to hurt. a few paragraphs later, he thinks this:

"Ah-h-h-h, my Jessica, would that we were somewhere else, anywhere away from this terrible place — alone, the two of us, without a care."

this is in response to the realization that she was holding back what she really wanted to ask him when she asked him about his dinner plans. she'd just been thinking about how badly she wanted to influence him to abandon the entire arrakis enterprise but that she refused to use her bene gesserit powers to manipulate him into doing what she felt was best.

there's this ongoing tension between leto and jessica. he holds all of the social, political, and economic power in the relationship, but she has these basically superhuman abilities that could fully take him out any time she wants. but she chooses to submit to him anyway, because she loves him. and the thing is, leto knows that she holds back. she forces herself into the subservient position that is required to uphold his power.

i think leto feels that he is just as trapped by the feudal societal structures they live in as jessica is. as his thoughts later on show, he knows full well that he is wronging her by refusing to marry her. but he also feels he has no other choice, due to the knife's-edge political situation they live in. leto choosing not to marry jessica is not an isolated decision but merely one link in his overall political strategy, a strategy that jessica doesn't fully support but submits to nevertheless.

i think you're right that his words in that moment are insensitive. i think they are born of the anxiety he feels from the unresolved tension in their relationship. from his point of view, he wears this albatross of heritage and duty around his neck (note how they are having this conversation about a portrait of his dead father and the taxidermied head of the bull that killed him, complete with his father's dried blood on its horns), and she won't just accept that that's the way things have to be. jessica first thinks that she could use her abilities to make him budge about moving these disgusting items somewhere other than the dining room. then she thinks that she could use her abilities to make him abandon his plans for arrakis. the two things she wants to change are, in this way, explicitly linked: symbol and reality.

jessica could make everything go the way she believes is best, but instead she does her duty as a duke's concubine and submits to his will. leto's comment hints that if he had married her, she might have to stomach even more unsavory duties. perhaps he truly believes that leaving her as a mere concubine makes her freer in some sense. but i think what his comment reveals most is that he feels hurt by her inability to fully place her faith in his decisions. he's lashing out, prodding at the sore point on purpose.

it's telling that he brings up the word "duty" in that moment. that's really what this conversation boils down to: they're both chained by the sense of duty their society has imposed upon them, and it introduces an unresolvable tension into what otherwise could have been a happy, harmonious relationship.

tl;dr: no, you aren't overthinking it. the person who made that comment is underthinking it.

[curtsies-from-princess-ashlyn]

Who says we have to let it go? (a season 4 reflection)

As promised, I finished rewatching the show in full one more time, so now I will finally put my S4 thoughts to paper (or screen). Coincidentally, this is also the day that the series finale would've dropped if S4 was released weekly, so it feels fitting to write this today, anyway.

Even after the initial Rina fog has lifted and excitement has died down, season 4 still remains my favorite season. While it has plenty of issues with plotting (certainly more than s3 or s1), it absolutely nails it thematically. The season explores the importance and consequences of vulnerability, and the power of seeing others as they truly are (as I mentioned in an older post, it's all about vulnerability and authenticity), and every main character's storyline so beautifully contributes to those themes in unique ways. There's also a really interesting dynamic between looking to the future and holding onto the present being explored this season, and I think the glamor of HSM4 (a hollywood movie) and the humility of HSM3 (a high school play) are symbolic of each respective idea. There's actually a lot I want to discuss about each character's relationship with both HSM4 and HSM3, and how it succinctly shows their internal feelings about their futures, but maybe that's for another time. Anyway, Tim has said his intention for the show's thesis is to find people who see and accept you for who you are, but this last season goes so much deeper with that concept, emphasizing the necessity of letting yourself be seen and known, too. This can be through letting your walls down, letting your flaws and struggles be seen, choosing to forgive those you love and take a second chance, or boldly speaking what's in your heart. Nearly every original song this season touched on this theme in some way, which really emphasizes the thematic cohesion of this season.

This leads me to the music, which is the best it's ever been in the show. Every single one of the originals is so good, and I love that there was also (finally) a showtune in a traditional musical theater style ("Over Again")! However, the score is what really stuck out to me this season (HUGE shoutout to Gabriel Mann, the scorer of the show). I do think the scoring of S3 really started to assist with telling the story by including more recurring leitmotifs (I think the return of the Rina cue helped), but the score of S4 really leans into this aspect of storytelling, especially in the final 2 episodes. There's leitmotifs to represent Shallow Lake, a magical motif from "Dreams Don't Die" to represent the magical and fleeting nature of high school theater, countless variations of the Rina cue, and I'm pretty sure there's even a recurring leitmotif established for Kourtney (I have to go back and listen for if it's used beyond her scenes).

Another thing that really stuck out to me was how well each episode was written. I think overall, there are leaps between some episodes that don't feel natural, but the story of each episode is well constructed and executed. There's genuinely not a single episode this season that I would say is boring or pointless... certainly some plotlines throughout the season turn out to be, but the episodes themselves are solid. Unfortunately, some of the plotlines this season feel like they end really abruptly, which did feel jarring on a first (and second) watch. I do believe Bart Johnson when he said some stuff for HSM4 was cut, because I was surprised at how little the OGs were in this season. Same can be said for Dani's storyline, which really felt superfluous in the end result. I hope that there's a showrunner's/extended cut released of this show someday, because that would probably fix those issues.

Overall, with this being the last season, it had the most important job of closing the show out in a truly complete way. I really believe it competently did that job, and I think how it finished the growth of the lead characters is what makes it conclusion so poignant. Everyone will have their opinions on how the show handled certain characters, but how Ricky and Gina (and even EJ, to a lesser extent) were handled in this last season absolutely tells me these writers knew what they were doing with these characters. The last series finale I watched that concluded character arcs so resolutely, with such tremendous humanity and truth, was Lost (Jack Shephard's arc is one of the most complete and profound I've ever seen). Gina Porter has always been a character I related to deeply, and that final season really made my connection with her even more personal and heartfelt. I actually have experienced healing of some wounds of my younger self witnessing her story, and I see how much more growing and healing I still have left.

So, what's the sum of my thoughts on season 4? I wouldn't change a thing! Ok, that's not necessarily true, but I still love it as it is. It was the funniest season (seriously, every single joke was hilarious), it was the most heartfelt, it was thematically rich, and it helped me say goodbye to the wildcats, while still holding onto hope for a bit more.

[kitkatt0430]

it is interesting to me how Captain America's shield is also being used as a metaphor for the super soldier serum at times in this show (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier)

Sam who has neither the serum nor the shield at the moment proposes that maybe he should have destroyed the shield

Karli who has the serum but not the shield thinks the same

but the shield is a symbol of power (and symbols are power in their own right) and the serum is power - both are dangerous in the wrong hands, and Karli is unwilling to admit hers are the wrong hands. If she can't have the power the shield represents then she resents and fears it and wants it destroyed. But Sam sees the damage the power can do and actively does not want that power - whether it's the shield or the serum. That said, what Karli wants is ultimately a good thing but she has allowed the power to go to her head, causing more problems than she solves because of her extreme methods - methods she seems to choose because she has the power to do so, not because she genuinely believes they're right.

John doesn't handle power well. He's a soldier who is at his best taking orders, not giving them. And so when he is given power - the shield - or takes it - the serum - the path he follows becomes one of good intentions and poor decisions.

But eventually Sam picks the shield up and takes the power it represents, even though he would not accept the serum. Both are forms of power that can bring out the best and the worst in people - recognizing that this power isn't going away any time soon, Sam accepts the responsibility that comes with the shield recognizing that while the decision to bear the shield is a personal one, the outcome ultimately can't be about him. And that by putting his personal discomfort over accepting the responsibility the first time, he bears some responsibility for what happened after.

I think that's probably why I like Sam as Captain America better than the person MCU Steve Rogers became over time. Sam understands the weight of responsibility has to come first.

[ac-liveblogs]

BNHA "I'm Almost There!" Catchup

I'm allllmost up to date on My Hero Academia (Bakugou just died) and it's... hmm.

(I decided to catch up once it started trending every other week due to Certain Plot Developments, watching the anime before switching into the manga.)

This is an... interesting series to think about.

BNHA spent a lot of time being a mid-to-okay series that didn't really dip in quality, but had a hard time excelling after the sports festival. It got to a really bad point where the most exciting thing happening was the Hawks/Endeavour storyline and it was struggling to keep Deku (let alone anyone else) relevant to the narrative (burdens of being chained to a high school).

None of the League of Villains were particularly fun or memorable characters for the longest time. It was really hard to care or get invested in them outside of the potential of what Dabi's arc might bring. I was pretty surprised when Shigaraki kept popping up. But while the series wasn't particularly... exciting, it became a real slog in seasons 3 to 5. It was meticulously setting up a lot of plot threads to all pay off later, but that didn't make watching them get laid out very fun.

The end of season 5 really changed things though. The LoV's picked a fight with the Meta Liberation Army and like, suddenly, Shigaraki, Toga and especially Twice were interesting characters. Man, I cannot believe it took 5 whole seasons for me to like Shigaraki. I should have always liked Shigaraki. He just... abruptly decided to start being cool at the end of season 5. And then AFO decided to be the main villain again. Screw this guy.

Season 6 was really good. All the plot threads that got laid out suddenly started paying off. Didn't especially matter that there was a lot more focus on the pros, because I'd never gotten super attached to Class 1-A anyway. I'm particularly impressed with the way Bakugou and Deku's arc has started paying off; there's a lot of very intentional symbolism and parallels in play with them that I expect will continue to stack up over time.

BNHA is a very meticulously planned series - unlike something like One Piece, where I'm pretty sure Oda just leaves himself loose plot threads that he can choose to pick up later if he wants - but. Hmm. I kinda feel that for as well as the plot is planned out, the characters end up missing out in exchange.

Deku & Shigaraki are foiled as All Might/OFA and AFO's successors respectively, both learning to be the ultimate "hero" and "villain" over the course of the story. Because of that, Shigaraki largely failed to have a strong impact on the story until right before the final handful of arcs. This is also why it's kind of disappointing that AFO refuses to properly leave the story and let Shigaraki take center stage - choosing to focus on OFA vs AFO rather than Deku and Shigaraki as the "next generation" severely kneecapped Deku's Main Antagonist and any dynamic he might have with him.

While I think Bakugou and Deku's relationship has been developed quite nicely, Bakugou never... actually got any fights that make me think he kept pace with Deku prior to the War Arc. Or is even as Hot Shit as he's supposed to be. Because Shigaraki/AFO seem to be a shared nemesis for them and Bakugou's storyline is mostly internal growth, he never got anything equivalent to Deku's fights with Stain, Overhaul or Chisaki. Part of Bakugou's arc is accepting he wants to catch up with Deku but man, my guy needed to achieve a little more before that becomes believable. I mean, there were the movies, but. Come on. (todoroki and uraraka have the same issues)

While Deku inheriting the powers of the previous users makes thematic sense when paralleled against AFO if you consider Deku the culmination of their ongoing war against him, that aspect of his power came out so late in the game that it feels unwarranted and unearned. It's also disappointing, given that "being creative with what you have" is part of what made the limitations quirks have interesting, and Deku as a protagonist seemed explicitly designed to do exactly that.

Class 1A is so underutilised that the idea of them being the Next Generation of heroes feels like a bad joke. MHA takes them being kids in training pretty seriously... until it's time for the war and suddenly Deku, Bakugou and Todoroki are incredibly strong combatants capable of keeping pace with OP terrorists. Tokoyami as Hawks' mentee is cute, but Tokoyami is never as relevant as Hawks is, and he certainly isn't keeping pace with The Important 1A Students. Also, Kirishima... yeah. Despite being billed pretty strongly, I think he's Done now, which, narratively, is pretty uneven.

It doesn't really feel like Todoroki Shouto matters. He's the springboard for the Endeavour and Dabi storyline, but as soon as MHA shifts gears to focus on that it never really stops - so now it feels weird Endeavour isn't the one fighting Dabi and the Final Conclusion of the Todoroki storyline feels like a fight between strangers. I like Endeavour and find him very interesting, but him becoming a sympathetic character removed him as Todoroki's personal antagonist and Todoroki just... never recovered from that.

Despite Shouto feeling like he doesn't matter, only the storyline he's connected to, he's completely superseded Uraraka in terms of screentime. There's been a lot of opportunities to include Uraraka that have been ignored since the Sports Festival, so the idea that Toga is her Personal Nemesis She's Going To Beat In A Fight is a bit... lol, especially given how much of that revolves around Deku. I was grateful to see them gain an extra dimension to their relationship right up until the fight between them actually started. It really does not help that the Deku/Uraraka storyline always plays, like, third fiddle to Deku+Bakugou in major and Deku+Todoroki in minor.

...etc., etc. MHA has a pretty tightly planned story, but since every arc leads directly into the planned finale and allowances haven't been made to make much use of the. uh. hero academia students, i ended up in the weird position of enjoying the war arc but not really caring about most of the pieces at play in it. Maybe if MHA had had more disconnected arcs against random enemies that didn't really go anywhere but allowed the characters time to grow and level up it wouldn't feel like the final arc arrived before the principal cast was ready to be in it. Most of them not really being very combat oriented doesn't help. I understand this is all meant to be a "trial by fire" early initiation, but the gap is still hilariously large.

Anyway, Bakugou is dead, and I'm aware that he'll Be Back Soonish, so I'll be curious to see how any of this sticks the landing. I get the horrible feeling Horikoshi will be forced to construct relationships between designated hero/villain pairs during the final climactic showdowns which... sigh.

Also, I don't like most of BNHA's OP/EDs, but the background OST is so damn good. It's really really good. Seriously

[fantasyinvader]

If you think about it, Edelgard's story can be summed up thusly. Edelgard was born an Imperial princess until her father's attempts to consolidate power resulted in a civil war, Edelgard being taken to another country for her own protection around the same time her mother was exiled. Her devout uncle tried to save her, but then he was killed and she was taken back to the empire where she was experimented on and watched her siblings be murdered by the guy who killed her uncle and replaced him. Said guy then proceeds to gaslight Edelgard to turn her fury on his ancient enemies through Edelgard's father, which Edelgard accepts.

Her dedication to this twists her retainer to the point he pushes her to work with the people who experimented on her and killed her siblings, while he himself kills his father due to Edelgard's origin story. They find a man who snapped and killed his family to protect his mother and sister, turning him into a serial killer under their command. They sacrifice a friend, her being killed and her body being stolen by the people who experimented on Edelgard, and we can piece together how Edelgard's influence ends up being toxic to those who side with her during the war. Byleth's character growth is undone, Ferdinand no longer challenges Edelgard instead becoming more like Hubert, Dorothea is accepted by the nobility she hates as Edelgard's reforms oppress the masses, Bernie joins the war out of fear rather than leaving her room for 5 years because she refuses to support it, Caspar gives into bloodlust rather than following his gut to do the right thing leading to him potentially going berserk in other countries while leading the Imperial army after the war, Hanneman supports Edelgard's definition of merit despite it not only going against the original intent he tries to live up to but is representative of the moral decay of the Empire...you get the idea.

Yet whenever Edelgard or Hubert run smack into the reality of the situation, they reject reality. They've been a party to so much crap they can't justify their course if they were to acknowledge they were lied to. Edelgard retreats into lie and lie, all self-serving, while Hubert does not want to think about the truth. Even Jertiza seems to have his foot in reality more.

In the end, Edelgard dies at the hand of her teacher or step-brother. Someone who tried to teach her (look at the parley for Dimitri), but she refused to listen instead clinging to her own narrative. Edelgard could not reform because she rejected the truth, resulting in her death as a villain. Yet if she were to win she goes on to be a tyrant according to her creators but toned down in the translation, so the truth is meant to be important here.

Which begs the question, how sympathetic is Edelgard? She clearly got screwed over by TWSITD, but at the same time her rejection of reality is used by her to justify those she makes into victims. It's ultimately why she has to be stopped, and I think that's the point. Reality is a harsh mistress, and while Edelgard can believe she's in the right the facts don't line up with her interpretation. She's essentially tilting windmills as an Emperor rather than a wannabe knight errant. The Don Quixote lord if you will.

Which does fit with the Buddhist symbols thrown around. Dimitri outright calls the player out on following the path of the beast in the Japanese text, meaning a path of among other things ignorance or delusion. Edelgard, as said above, can’t survive in reality, which is a lot more complicated than the world she thinks exists. She needs her delusions in order to survive, and chooses to die at the end rather than face facts.

[asherlockstudy]

I’m excited to read any thoughts you have about the new R&L video!

Thank you! 🥺 I was actually unsure whether I would make a post about it or not, but how can I say no now hehehe I also delayed the answer hoping Ear Biscuits would illuminate some darker, unclear parts, but they didn’t.

The new video is lighter on the symbolism (its premise is symbolic but the details are less so) because of the inclusion of other, almost certainly unaware people. These people inevitably make the video less precise in its intention to be an allegory, because they have their own way of reacting to the situation, particularly Brian the exorcist. For example, I believe the part where they meet Brian in his studio and everything that happens there bears no symbolism at all. They just found the situation too weird to not include it in the final edit of the video. Furthermore, the longest part of the video is a dice game based on luck which makes it certain that many parts could deviate significantly from the symbolic premise.

The symbolism is almost certainly their struggles in their romantic pursuits until their marriages, with the shadow of the religious preachings always inside their minds. The church and their involvement with it is Brian. Brian does not want them to play D&D (have sex) unless there are the right circumstances, no magic, no violence (no homoerotic, not before marriage).

It’s interesting how in order to get into this game, they stress the most fundamental thing they have to do is to change identities and roleplay, and they ask Brian to accept that they will be using other characters. This might symbolise some insincerity in the way they were getting involved romantically with people in their youth.

Rhett’s character is a human warlock. From D&D Beyond:

A warlock is defined by a pact with an otherworldly being. Sometimes the relationship between warlock and patron is like that of a cleric and a deity (…). Warlocks are driven by an insatiable need for knowledge and power, which compels them into their pacts and shapes their lives. This thirst drives warlocks into their pacts and shapes their later careers as well.

So, you see, this paints Rhett perfectly. This is about Rhett being an - once dedicated - missionary and driven by his intellectual and spiritual concerns. His character’s name, Dothan, means “law”, “custom”.

Link’s character is a half man - half elf rogue. There is a duality here. From D&D Beyond:

Walking in two worlds but truly belonging to neither (…) Some half-elves live among humans, set apart by their emotional and physical differences, watching friends and loved ones age while time barely touches them. Others live with the elves, growing restless as they reach adulthood in the timeless elven realms, while their peers continue to live as children. Many half-elves, unable to fit into either society, choose lives of solitary wandering or join with other misfits and outcasts in the adventuring life.

I see two ways this can relate to Link. He often describes himself as a man-child. And then it could also be that he is uncertain in his sexuality, neither here nor there. At this point Link constantly speaks about the importance of accepting and loving your unique self, even if you feel like a misfit.

As a rogue, according to D&D Beyond:

When it comes to combat, rogues prioritize cunning over brute strength. (…) Rogues have an almost supernatural knack for avoiding danger.

Interestingly, his character’s name, Anwir, means “liar”.

Link adds more to his backstory, making his character to actively seek his elvish father in order to take revenge from him. Link as Anwir also goes through a wild rage at which he screams he has to see this adventure to the end and not become like his father. For those who are relatively new to Rhett and Link, know that Link added this element to his character straight from his own experience. Charles seems like a lovely dude and he and Link get along very well and happily but this is a recent development. Charles was not a good father during Link’s childhood. He left his mother and saw Link rarely. Link went through severe feelings of paternal neglect and abandonment during his childhood and adolescence. Link and his mother were actually taken care of by Charles’ parents, if I am not mistaken, and yet Charles wasn’t there in Link’s everyday life. Link has spoken many times in the past about how terrified he was as a young man that he would become like his father and would not become a good husband and dad. A lot of his self-beating up in his youth was because he did not want to be like him, which might suggest that deep inside he had solid reasons to fear he could end up being an unreliable husband or father. Link speaks much less about this now that his relationship with his dad has warmed up more than ever. I believe Charles has softened with age too.

Their co-players symbolise Christy and Jessie. A tall blonde and a short brunette. The tall blonde being a Druid, AKA a magical priestess very close to nature. The Druids considered trees sacred. Christy is obsessed with plants. Her character’s name, Emaris, means “industrious”.

The Brunette, Xalia, is a Tiefling Paladin. Tieflings are creatures with a partly demonic ancestry which however are not evil themselves. A Paladin is a knight committed to some holy quest, to justice or to a pure deity. So we have a character who is fighting for the good and for justice even though they have questionable or dual origin. The real, historical Paladins were knights in Charlemagne’s court by the way. Jessie has some French ancestry, I think. The duality in this case is unclear to me (some pages on the internet say she was raised by her mother, which would make her similar to the duality of Link’s character) or, who knows, it could be a sexual implication as well, and anyway Rhett has said Jessie had her very own journey of processing herself after their alienation from the Church. But she is a very warm and friendly person, undoubtedly interested in justice and doing good, just like Xalia. Xalia is an invented name, probably meaning something like “follower”, “compromising” or “God’s messenger”.

It is clear by now that the characters were chosen neither randomly nor lightly. Rhett and Link clarified both women are seasoned and established players. What I do not know, as I also haven’t watched the MS extras, is whether those characters are genuine characters these women play or they were given to them for this video in specific. Rhett and Link however said that the players were informed beforehand about the peculiarities and what was expected of them and were ready for it.

There’s also Lemar who is there as a dungeon master. He’s a real dungeon master. I don’t think there is any underlying significance in him. He must have been useful in helping them making all the connections they wanted (finding suitable players, characters, challenges etc). BTW he seemed like a great dungeon master and person.

Dothan and Anwir are partners travelling on one horse. Lemar says only that they had visions - demonic according to Brian - before they enter a small town. They don’t talk about the visions again in the final edit of the game so I wonder what the point was. My guess is visions = fantasies. Dothan and Anwir reach the small town and go to the inn, ready to mingle, as maybe the visions have been piling up.

Rhett and Link are awkward in their initial interactions with the two women, mostly due to Brian, probably like their adherence to the preaching was making their romances harder.

The first challenge they have is confronting five guys who want to steal and eat their horse. I am not sure whether there is a symbolism in this. Link leads in the confront… and in the awkwardness. Rhett names his magic “chemistry” and then does a silly illusion trick on the guy. The blonde woman sprays poison at him. Link goes on a rage about how he must not be like his father, steals the man’s sword but then his hit falls flat. My bet is that there is a symbolism in all this though but for me it is clearer on Rhett’s part.

Game-Rhett: I have a confession to make to the group, okay? That is, I can do magic but it’s not technically magic, it’s chemistry. I mean it looks crazy, it’s all fire and things but -

The Brunette shows understanding and acceptance.

Commentator!Rhett: I thought it was pretty clever, coming up with a way to always explain magic as some natural process but… is this tricking the demons? Are the demons like “he’s about to cast a spell…? Oh no, it’s a chemical reaction. We’re cool, God.”

To me, this sounds very much like Rhett’s explanation of how in his very hormone-driven puberty he was trying to have sex without having actual sex in every way possible and he had ways to justify every time how it wasn’t “actual sex” without a particular toll in his mental and spiritual well-being. It is interesting though that the enemies are all men. We don’t see the brunette interacting with them (Jessie was underage when everyone else was an adult), the blonde repels them effectively (Christy was a tough cookie very determined in her Christian upbringing), Rhett of course calls his magic chemistry and does a trick (raging wanking, foreplay and just constant self-manipulation that everything is all right) and of course Link wants to full-on attack but struggles and fails. Again, this is a dice game so I don’t know how much of it was random or edited, but the first challenge could be their temptations before marriage.

The next challenge is the one in front of the 4 evergreen trees (as many as the players) where there is a portal, a breakthrough in other words. While Rhett and Link acknowledge the portal is enchanted or demonic, they all know at this point that they are definitely going through the portal and so do the two women. Rhett first sticks his arm in the hole, because of course he does, which produces a snake ring in his finger, and the two ladies follow without much concern. This is a challenging task, once more, for Link. He is afraid but, in his words, he does not want to be left behind alone and he doesn’t want to be like his father (initiating and then abandoning marriages and families). Once they are all through the portal they link arms in a friendship circle (or marriage circle, I would say).

The world beside the portal is hostile though. They fall deep and a giant demon appears. Rhett is compelled to use the ring and summon a snake. With his snake (with whose symbolism they can’t be entirely liberal because Brian restricted them) he manages to constrict and immobilise the demon. Then Link does his sneak attack and gives the demon a very big hit. While Link praises himself for this, Rhett reminds him that it wouldn’t have been so easy for Link if Rhett had not bound the demon first. They kept on fighting the demon until it is defeated. Link dangles from the demon’s nipples, shrieking his victory over the demon and his father, whom he has now proven to surpass. Once they are done with the demon, they all four hop on that one horse and go on about their lives together.

Rhett and Link congratulate each other over this exhilarating experience. The video ends with a sense of success for all four of them. Before the end though, Brian burns the dice with which Rhett and Link played the game, at the fear of demons lurking there. The end is very abrupt, with a final shot on the dice burning, without proper or gradual closure like in the Dig A Hole video, and to me it looked very intentional. It gives off a feeling that although the video ends in a good note, this all-is-well success won’t last forever.

PS: As a last note, because I can’t stick it anywhere else, in his solo ear biscuit Link had revealed that the video would be about “a year” but apparently he was actually talking about the next video, the upcoming one. Unless it was about the year of their marriage but there is no reference to any year whatsoever in this video so I guess the year is going to be the third one.

[fieldsofwax]

Why TVD is the most meaningful vampire story & Delena cures the curse of vampirism

I believe all of TVD's lore goes back to the fear off loss of loved ones- Elena has guilt that her primal/dark nature (vampiric) caused the loss of her loved ones (her parents died after picking her up from a rowdy house party), causing her to pursue vampirism (she says she liked how Stefan would 'never die,' like her parents did) which means eternal unchanging love. She fears all that has come with her vampirism because she fears abandonment. Damon felt his humanity caused the loss of his love Katherine (in trusting Stefan with her secret), and pushes away love & his humanity out of fear of abandonment. But, he eventually chooses to become human to be able to love Elena fully. they both sacrifice the promise of eternal and unchanging love despite their fears of loss. their love taught them to accept change as the truest form of love-and that the eternal and unchanging is a false kind of love. To love one another even as they both change, for all that they are, and change one another. Therein, their love imo broke the doppelganger/original vampire spell that started with Silas and Amara (its intention was to preserve their love forever) as the doppelgängers of them did not choose one another (Stefan & Elena) and they chose to love through acceptance of death and letting go of the desire to preserve it. I see them being endgame as symbolically curing vampirism, and this is also why I think their children will have the cure in their blood, carried on through them. This is such a deeper message than people realize, a spiritual take on love- it doesn't fetishize immortality but celebrates humanity (unlike twilight).

[bottomlessabyssposts]

why'd you decide to make mike a child of hades? could u talk more about it??

Hello Anon !!! 

OKAY Listen I am obsessed with Hades!Mike so it will be my pleasure to explain it ! 

First !! I wanted to create conflict. Being a child of one of the big three is HARD, but even harder when it’s a child of Hades ! Hades was and is still feared by many, and often misunderstood in his own myths ! Which brings us back to Mike, whose intentions are often misunderstood as well ! “Why am I the bad guy ?”, making him seem like an asshole even when he’s not trying to be, when he’s trying to be the best he can while still having crushing expectations pushed on him !

He’s also the black sheep of his own family, and being a child of Hades will also make him the black sheep of the camp. The Freakiest freak amongst other freaks, you know ? It’s as if he was a crow, a symbol of bad omen, and with what happened to Will, I’m sure he’d believe it even harder. It also works as a way to isolate him, because he’s the only one apart from the Byers (with El later) to just know that Will is still alive. But he just can’t explain why, and that frustrates him. 

Because he’s a child of Hades, he inherits some powers, such as shadows (shadow travel, you know all that), necromancy… But he hates it at first ; first and foremost because it reminds him of Will’s possession and so for a long time, he can’t even look at his shadows. He feels immensely guilty because if he has similar powers, he should’ve been able to help him. Mike hides his feelings by repressing them so no one would see them, and even hides his true self. He chooses to live in the shadow rather than accepting the light, because he thinks he’ll never be able to have it. 

His powers aren’t as useful as everyone else’s (or so he thinks !), and he’s absolute shit at using them anyway. In Mike’s head, he might as well be a human, because the only thing he’s good at is knowing if someone’s dead or not. And this gift is directly tied to his love towards his friends. That’s the only thing that can calm him, knowing if his friends are still alive. 

Also, with his new “status”, and his overall new solitude, he has seen everyone thriving in their new cabins, having new siblings and friends and having fun. While he’s all alone in his cabin. This is another reason why he hates being a child of Hades. Because being that doesn’t give him anything ; he can’t build things out of thin air like Dustin, he can’t control dreams like El, he can’t be a prodigy at anything related to arts like Will, he’s definitely not as tough as Lucas or Max, and not as smart as Nancy. (this one stings) He’s just the same Mike, but with shadows. He’s closer to the MindFlayer than he is to his friends, if we speak powers.

I imagine also his shadows being a reflection of his sexuality, and how he wants to present himself to the world. Accepting his shadows and what he thought was “bad” (reminds him of the MF) and even “dark” and “isolating” can actually be something useful, something that is an integral part of him and isn’t going away. He learns to accept his shadows and his sexuality, and sees that in the end, it’s not so bad. 

[jalebi-weds-bluetooth]

Hi, I have been wondering about the scene of Khushi’s fantasy of comparing the two men in her life. Was she considering a future with Shyam seriously or was it just because their match was fixed. Dis Khushi ever accept Shyam as her prospective life partner ( before the revelation)? Why was she devastated at her broken engagement? Why was she in dilemma about Shyam’s intentions when he tried to prove he is bullied by Anjali? i am trying to understand the nature if their relationship

Hello Anon,

Ooh an analysis of Shyam and Khushi’s Relationship but from Khushi’s perspective! Interesting.

Of course she considered Shyam very seriously - her family had almost done everything to fix her alliance with him and Shyam even pseudo proposed at that point (lighting up the Gupta house in fairy lights and all).

And after their engagement she accepted him formally as her life partner but was dying on the inside and treated him like doomsday.

With her returning the key to Arnav, she gave up everything she felt for arnav. Yes it symbolically hit her that Arnav wrapped her finger and was about to put the ring - but she was practical enough to not let any dreams come up from that.

However Khushi was always uneasy about shyam. I think she realized that he didn’t really protest to this rushed engagement as much as he was saying and felt he was duplicitous in some way. And that this man probably might not be as nice as he seemed - you see her aggressively begin to question every statement he made, carefully assess every single action Shyam did.

Her gut told her something about him was off - and she didn’t share it at all with her family (for obvious reasons) - but neither did she dismiss her instinct.

I love the dream sequence because she was really imagining her future with what the society told and what her heart did. And Shyam was sweet, caring and loving - anyone would be happy to marry him! Arnav was rude, teasing and had a slight touch of passion.

And it’s so beautiful that even without the evil Shyam is, Arnav is her true suitor because he is Khushi’s choice. Her desire. And that is such a beautiful conflict because for a moment neither is the villain nor the hero.

The only thing that mattered is who the heroine wanted.

Khushi was devastated because she gave up so much to marry Shyam. Her anger and pain did stem from the fact that she didn’t listen to her instinct. She nearly married him for her father. She was ready for a future with Shyam - whatever that was. You see the weight of an arrangement of marriage is that even if you don’t have blind love for the man, that relationship ends up meaning a lot for you.

Shyam violated her trust, her family’s trust and made a mockery out of everyone. So it broke Khushi to pieces.

She never speaks of love because she never loved Shyam. But she did trust him.

And Shyam was a piece of shit. Khushi just knew never to believe anything what Shyam did ever apart from knowing he’s a weak terrible man. However she never knew the depth of shyam’s cruelty, so she was confused by why a man married to one of the most powerful families in Delhi would commit bigamy in the very same city.

What information was she missing?

Shyam tried to fill that gap in knowledge by putting it as if he’s in an unfulfilling and financially abusive marriage but he doesn’t realize the deep trust Khushi has in Anjali.

And while Khushi initially has dilemma over what she is seeing because logically Shyam being in a terrible marriage and choosing to live outside gives some answers to the reasoning behind his actions, she also trusts Anjali and goes with her gut instinct because that was right before and is probably right again.

Best,

- Jalebi

[artist-issues]

Okay, far be it from me to act like I could do a better job than Tennessee Williams.

EXCEPT THAT I COULD. Anybody could, with any kind of moral compass. 

What SHOULD have happened is Stanley should have tried to rape Blanche and Blache should’ve killed him with that bottle. She had enough parallels in her character to that of Norma Desmond for that to be a believable action for a lying, self-deluded, self-satisfying, cougar of an alcoholic woman. 

Then she should’ve kept descending into madness. Then Mitch should've come in, seen the evidence of everything (Stanley’s intent-to-rape guilt, Blanche’s killing him) and told that to Stella. And THEN Stella, with the newborn, should've suddenly accepted, like the freakin SEARCHLIGHT TURNED ON THE WORLD, that a) her husband was a monster and b) her sister is a monster. 

And then Eunice goes, “let the doctors take your crazy sister away, you and the baby come live with me.”

But heartbroken, yet clearsighted Stella would say, “‘No, I’m going with her. I’ll take care of her.”

And Mitch (who’s still hanging around in kind of disgusted fascination,) would continue his self-righteous train of thought and be like, “‘What? But didn’t you hear me: it’s all true, she really did stay at the Flamingo, and she really did get involved with a 15 year-old. And she’s crazy.”

And then Stella would look him dead in the self-righteous useless thuggish eyes around that humongous nose and be like, “‘I know. I always knew, deep down, but I didn’t want to believe it. [insert some line about keeping things in the shadows] But the fact is, even when I see her as she is, I can still love her. So i’m going to take care of my sister. Come on, Blanche, honey, we’re going to be free of this place after all.”

And then she takes crazy Blanche by one arm and carries the baby in the other, and the two of them step over Stanley’s stupid pig corpse, and they join the doctors peacefully at the door and drive out into the New Orleans sunshine.  Before the ending, the whole movie was using light as a symbol, this threatening thing that Blanche had to hide from, because she knows if people see her, not just her fading beauty and advanced age, but if they really see her and all her wrongdoings, they won’t help her. She thinks showing people the truth will end in something bad, and it does: Stanley keeps smashing her over the head with harsh truths and judgements, and when Mitch finds out the truth he abandons her and tells her she’s no good. There are plenty of characters who keep banging the “"Truth-is-Dangerous-and-Will-Leave-You-Unloved” gong.

What they needed was for Stella, another character who, like Blanche, hides from harsh truths, to grow past that. And in that growth process, she could've taught Blanche, even as a crazy broken shell of a person, that not everybody who learns the horrible truths about you will abandon you. It would've worked two ways! Blanche could've learned that the truth was the new start she was looking for with her sister’s loyalty and shelter, and Stella could've learned that real love isn't lust; it's choosing to acknowledge the bad and help anyway.

Because you know what? The consequences of broken people being seen as they really are should not, in fiction, be cruelty and more cruelty. You can punish monsters, and you can kill monsters, but if you have the chance to represent the light of truth shining on monsters as something that ends in love and redemption, you should take that chance every time. Not leave the world more arbitrary and cruel than you found it. 

And certainly not expect me to believe that a character who spent the whole movie refusing to believe anything she didn’t want to believe would stick to a commitment…to live ten steps above her rapist husband as if she’ll never see him again. Honestly. What a freakin ending fumble.