#and the best ships are the complex ones

[ghosdeds]

Soooo I just found this in my drafts funnily enough — I wrote it before the second season came out so I guess sometimes in late 2022/early 2023. Back when I was (foolishly) hopeful for season 2 and honestly I might make something out of it and get to writing.

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How, in my opinion, they can salvage the ‘call me Aleksander’ scene : flashbacks of moments between the Darkling and Alina that we’ve never seen before (the deleted scenes!!! More of Alina’s life at the Little Palace please thanks), prior to the unfortunate name reveal, shown to us one by one as Alina grieve for what could have been and for the man she’s come to almost love. Mal calling him by his name and Alina immediately snapping at him not to say it aloud, with us the audience realizing that she feels guilty over sharing this last confidence she’s gotten from him. The Darkling letting her know, very bitterly, that she’s made him feel .. human (not in so many words, ‘course), that he thought he’d finally found the one who’ll accept and understand him, his one true equal, that he believed for a second that he’ll never be alone again, and him looking back at her and telling her he’s been unfortunately mistaken, that it was a weakness on his part - I put my trust in a girl who cannot stand the thought of her own potential - and that he’ll never even think of trusting her ever again, with her yelling back that he never really did, did he, that his flowery words meant nothing because it wasn’t enough, that he’s never given them a chance, that he shouldn’t delude his actions for what they are to ease his own guilty conscience, and that she’s the one who’s never going to trust him again. And then we have the Darkling responding that she never did, either, because she ran off without hearing his side of the story. We see them glaring down at each other, the echoes of the proud, hurtful words barring them from adding more, then the Darkling disappears and she’s left alone with her dark thoughts. We get the ‘you betrayed me’ as well as the ‘all men can be made fools’ line from Aleksander. We get a ‘I was merciful’ moment from the Darkling, after he threatens Mal’s life. We get the ‘I want you to know my name, will you have it?’ line in a different way, maybe a ‘I want you to know my story, will you hear it, Alina?’ and him telling her about the events in the Demon in the Wood, and us being shown them, of course, and more - how he came to be an ever present member of Ravka’s court and the founder of the second army, how badly the Grishas were treated and are treated even now. I want him to tell her about his past lives. If he obviously trusts her enough to tell her the name tattooed on his heart, he trusts her enough to tell her all that’s happened to him, to make her understand that not all things are black and white, that it was for the greater good, for them, and when he realizes that she can’t see past his wrongdoings, we see his anger. How dare she judge him when she’s abandoned Ravka for a peaceful life with Mal? When she’s betrayed him?

Season 2 do not fail me I want the best angst ever written, please. Let Alina find out Aleksander destroyed Novokribirsk because they were actively trying to assassinate her and that he wasn’t lying on that front, it’s interesting to see her conflicted emotions at war. I want a lovers to tragic obsessive enemies. I want misunderstandings, with the frustrating realization that they’ll never talk about anything without making it worse. But I also want Alina to realize that the Darkling is the extreme, that what he is fighting for might have started as a good cause, but that he lost himself centuries-of-persecution earlier. I want her to learn from his mistakes. To see in him a version of herself that she might become, should she forget herself. Overall I just want to see her fight for her people and become BAMF. Ughhh so many thoughts

[milkamel]

Finally part 3! Gonna take a break after this one unless I have more ideas lol Anyway Smilk isn't the best example of how you're supposed to keep people you find endearing close-

[angelwishess]

Kyra’s Design & Symbolism

I just wanted to ramble about how I designed Kyra, and all of the tiny details behind why I did so! Hehe!!

Inspiration

First of all— Why did I base her on the Disney Princess Stereotype?

If you think about it, its honestly perfect. Someone thats based on the Disney Princess Stereotype, trapped in a school of villains and unable to escape??? Its hilariously perfect, and such a good way to poke fun at tropes. Shes quite literally the perfect “Damsel in Distress” , especially how shes always somehow involved in each and every overblot.

It was pretty interesting and fittingly cliche. It feeds into the whole “damnsel in distress, captured by the villlain!” Cliche, and it kind of pokes fun at the fact many stereotypical princesses in media usually find themselves in unsavory situations, and need to be “saved”.

I will continue to expand on this more— but I also wanted to make it obvious that Kyra does not belong at NRC.

I wanted to make sure she stands out somehow, just to make it obvious that Kyra does not belong here, and was never meant to be at NRC in the first place.

A princess in a school of villains… Its just too funny of a concept to pass up!

General Design

Like I said earlier, Kyra was designed with the goal to stand out. To make it obvious that she doesn’t belong at NRC at all, and be the complete opposite of most of the NRC cast.

Kyra is meant to oppose NRC itself. She goes against what NRC represents, and the student body itself as “villains”.

A magicless student in an academy for mages, a foolishly selfless and (mostly—) humble girl surrounded by prideful students, a representation of light in a place that is a place of darkness as the “Villains’ World”.

Kyra is meant to stand out not only as my technical “MC”, but also to represent and have her as a symbol for change at NRC. With her arrival to NRC, and through the events of the main storyline, Kyra obviously has an effect on everyone she meets, and somehow I wanted to make sure that when you see her, it was someone you’d never forget. Not just from her actions, but from how memorable she is in general.

Even her name, Kyra, was purposeful. Depending on what language you check, it has different meanings, but every one of them suit her perfectly.

In Greek, the origin language for her name, it means “Queen”, “Ruler”, “Lord” or “Lady”; yet in Japanese it can mean “Glittering” or “Shiny”.

And in many other languages, Kyra has other meanings.

“Sun”, “Far-Sighted” and “Throne” in Persian, “Beam of Light” in Sanskrit, “Leader Of The People”, “Beloved”, “The One People Look To” in Russian, and “Beloved”, “Precious”, “Valuable” in Turkish.

I could go into detail on how all of these meanings fit her perfectly, but this post would get too long HAHAHAH

While Kyra is meant to oppose the NRC cast in some way, she was specifically designed and written in a way to directly parallel Malleus. I will make a post talking about how and why, and when I do I’ll link it Here!!

In a nutshell: Kyra was designed with the intent of being a contrast to NRC itself. She was designed and written in a way that is meant to set her apart from the cast, not only as the technical “MC” as my Yuusona, but also because of what shes based on.

But !!! She is also meant to be a physical representation of change at NRC. Of new beginnings, and love.

Color Scheme

Besides Pink and White being my favorite colors (SHHH IGNORE THAT FACT FOR NOW!!) — Kyra’s color scheme is actually meant to parallel Malleus. Like I said before, they are direct parallels personality and lorewise, and I wanted to show their parallels even through their designs.

Black and White are obvious opposites; Pink and Green are also directly across from eachother in the color wheel!

Buut, its also meant to parallel Disney Villains in general! Like I mentioned before, she is meant to parallel NRC and, by extension, the student body. See, one of Disney’s favorite things to do for their villains is using a bright green when animating scenes with their villains.

Soo, it was just too perfect and fitting to pass up!

That, alongside the main color for NRC being black, gave me the perfect idea. It fits so well, as the symbolism of both the colors pink and white perfectly fit Kyra’s entire concept! Her color scheme is not only the opposite of Malleus’, but also the colors commonly used for Disney villains in general.

White being a famous symbol of purity and innocence, and hints to the naive, innocent, sheltered princess stereotype.

Pink being a famous symbol for femininity, love and compassion. It is also very affiliated with princesses.

Furthermore, white also symbolizes perfection, honesty and beginnings.

Uniform Design

Oh lawwdd here we go… *cracks knuckles*

Kyra’s uniform is, again, supposed to somehow represent how she doesn’t “belong” at NRC despite wearing the uniform. Its heavily customized, and also represents her love for fashion and her desire to express herself.

Kyra’s uniform is mainly inspired by two kinds of fashion. Lolita fashion and Himekaji fashion!

Her sleeves are inspired by Lolita fashion, while her cropped jacket, innershirt and skirt are all inspired by Himekaji, a Gyaru substyle!

Himekaji is actually her main inspiration, and I have a few different reasons! Though, one is just because it suits her perfectly, theres one other!

“Himekaji” when directly translated, is “Princess — Casual”. And Kyra IS a princess trying to act casual and hide her royal background. Its a funny little way to hint at something, but its a fun fact I love about Kyra hehe

Furthermore, both Lolita fashion and Gyaru fashion are alternative fashion styles meant to fight back against the usual beauty standard and societal norms! Both are styles meant to represent dressing up for fun and for yourself, and not for others.

Lolita Fashion~

Additionally, Japanese culture emphasises the importance of motherhood as a “sacred mission” and discourages women from pursuing a career as it distracts her from her main task of motherhood and running the family home.

Thus girls and women who wear Lolita are rejecting the societal expectation of low-importance careers and homemaking in favour of a fantasy in which they can “fulfill their own sense of princess-like aesthetic beauty” and avoid growing up in a more mundane world.

Lolita fashion appears to be a rejection of societal expectations in favour of a luxurious, responsibility-free life.

Hehe, get it? Kyra was told her whole life her only purpose in life was to be beautiful and get married. She lacked any sense of identity other than the one that was forced upon her— and now, she dons a sense of fashion that is deeply rooted in fighting against those exact same ideals!

Gyaru Fashion~

The term “Gyaru” In Japan is usually used to refer to young women who are cheerful, sociable, and willing to convey their feelings and emotions through actions such as adopting trendy fashions.

The fashion subculture was considered to be nonconformist and a rebelling against Japanese social and aesthetic standards during a time when women were expected to be housewives

Also!— Gyaru girls in particular, are often associated with a carefree and rebellious spirit, challenging traditional Japanese norms of appearance and behavior. This ties in very well with Kyra’s own views of living, and which is why I made her main style lean more towards Himekaji, yet still made sure that there are hints of lolita fashion in her outfits, too!

In short— both of the fashion cultures I took most inspiration for with Kyra’s style both were created with the intent to rebel against what was expected of women in society.

Its kind of silly, but I thought it’d be a really fun way of representing who Kyra is and even hinting parts of her backstory through her uniform!!

Coffin Symbol

Man I really need to remake this😭😭

You might be thinking— “A dove? Isn’t that kind of random??” And, yes, thats what I thought too at first.

But, the thing is, even if Kyra’s character began as being inspired by the Disney Princess Stereotype; Kyra herself has her own story. And if I gave her a symbol that resembled her background and status of royalty, that would just completely throw away her entire character.

While Kyra may be royalty, during the course of the storyline she is actively trying to get away from it. Of course, it will always be part of her, and you can’t erase the past. But she strives to be more than just her beauty, and more than just her status.

And so, I decided to give her a symbol that represented who she truly is perfectly. A symbol of who she is and what she believes in.

Birds in general are a famous symbol of freedom. Something that is vital to Kyra’s character development and beliefs.

But ! I decided on a dove specifically because it represented her own beliefs the best, but also her role in the main storyline.

The dove has always been a famous synbol connected to the heavens. But it is also a symbol of peace, inner tranquility, harmony, purity, as well as love and freedom.

Personally, have always seen doves as a symbol for a new, prosperous era. The dove is the perfect symbol for Kyra! Freedom, love, and rebirth is everything she values and believes to most.

Similarly, ever since coming to NRC she's brought with her a new era of renewal. Spreading love wherever she goes whether people realize it or not, her effect on others is undeniable!

Honestly, the reason I chose the dove is also because of the story from the Bible with Noah’s arc.

Genesis 8:6-12: After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark.

He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

This story is why the dove in her symbol is specifically holding an olive branch! The dove being the symbol of the coming of a new era after a great disaster, isn’t it fitting?

Anyways— Another reason that I have is that, again, I wanted her to somehow act as a parallel/opposite to the NRC cast. While NRC is represented by a raven, I simply thought it’d be fitting for Kyra to be represented by a white bird.

Its also a way for me to once again poke fun at stereotypes. Ravens are commonly seen as bad omens and “evil” in media, while doves are much more praised and beloved and commonly related to the heavens.

Buut !!! There is more !!! Continuing on my raven - dove symbolism…

Ravens are often symbols of death, while Doves are symbols of rebirth.

If it wasnt obvious already, I really like it when there are parallels within themes and characters WHAHAHAHA

Kyra herself is going through a period of rebirth and renewal throughout the main storyline. She is slowly discovering herself and the life she wants to lead, thus beginning her new, personal journey of life.

While she helps others— they help her, too. Without even realizing it.

Kyra’s character development focuses on Freedom, Love (romantic, platonic, self-love and familial—), Rebirth/New beginnings, Inner peace, and Hope in spite of a terrible past. Remaining full of love and hope regardless of the situation, and slowly coming to terms with who she is as a person.

HOLYY YAAPP😭😭 I put in a little TOO much thought into Kyra’s silly self methinks… only for me to mostly post only crack about her LMFAOOO

@screamintoad since I yapped to u abt this before hehe …

[dewwshi]

he may be the better swordsman but we all know who wins the wrestling matches

(psst i'm on bluesky now i guess?)

[stripedstarsblueflags]

we seriously need to start reevaluating what constitutes a “ship war” because here i would’ve thought it was wars between the fans of certain ships but nothing i repeat NOTHING any f1 rpf fan can create will come even close to the efforts the ships themselves are taking to outdo each other

[gophergal]

Honestly one of my favorite ship dynamics that I never see folks talk about is where they're just... Orbiting each other like satellites. A deep closeness, but not quite something explicitly romantic. Everyone around them has conflicting opinions on their relationship, but they never label it. Heartfelt declarations of trust, love, and friendship are non negotiable

[stygianheart]

I think one of my “favorite” things is when people misinterpret what it means to be aroace. Watching people so clearly not understand the complexity behind the spectrum of aromatic and asexuality and then proceed to say they “stand with” aroace as an ally is so hilarious to me. Especially when they use this to start bashing on a perfectly fine ship, especially because said ship gets in the way of theirs.

Aroace does not mean no attraction. The plastered poster face for it is people who don’t feel ANY types of attraction, but that does not mean everyone. Aromantic people can date and fall in love. Asexual people can fuck. Aroace people can do both.

Yes, aroace rep IS needed. But we still have it via Luffy—just because Luffy kisses someone (hypothetically) doesn’t mean we just yeeted the aroace label off of him. He is STILL aroace. You know who else is aroace? Bon Clay, for one. Zoro as well. Yet I don’t see people screaming that shipping Zoro with someone completely erases the aroace label, now do I?

Ugh, I’d totally make a whole ass essay about this, but it’s half till midnight. It’s just. Been on my mind for a few hours and I need to say a little shit

[starflungwaddledee]

if starstruck Dee gets a comically large bow then Marc should have the comically large eyelashes

i was actually thinking that they both already have bows and eyelashes. consider: the ol' switcheroo

[cuntmand]

this was kinda the worst episode out of the entire series tbh simply because of the pacing. i liked the episode, but it was all over the place. they tried to tie in all the lose ends in 50 minutes, and that just wasn’t possible. louis being imprisoned, then released, losing his mind, recovering, AND burning down the theater and killing santiago, all in the span of like 5 minutes, the whole louis/lestat/armand scene, daniel exposing armand, loumand divorcing (that was so underwhelming, esp after 2x05, like, i needed these bitches to have a proper verbal argument, i needed them to be AT EACH OTHER’S THROATS), armand turning daniel (offscreen, cause they didn’t have time to get into all that, cause like… no way it was that simple lol there were too many devil’s minion hints throughout both seasons), louis flying to nola, reuniting with lestat (they have far too long and complex a history for it to be resolved so quickly, it would’ve been far more meaningful had it been done right), daniel publishing his book (compiling, writing, editing, publishing it AND selling 4-5 million copies must have taken a lot of time, so time jump, i guess?)… just by typing this out, it’s too much, way too much to cover in a single episode. the hectic pace left me unsatisfied and it also left a lot of room for plot holes (no more unreliable narrators now, cause the interview is done). idk i think they really should’ve split this into two episodes, at least. one of the things that i really admired about this show was the pace. in season 1, they managed to cover 3 decades in the span of only 7 episodes, while simultaneously showing us what was happening in dubai in 2022, and it never felt rushed. season 2’s pacing was still amazing and satisfying, up until this episode. idk man… i hope this doesn’t happen again, cause it really left a bitter taste in my mouth, and it was the finale, so my expectations were high.

[quietwingsinthesky]

sometimes interpreting media through a shipping lens enhances it, on occasion even beyond the author’s original intent, but sometimes, you do have to accept that your ship was not in the heads of anyone making the source material and trying to force it to fit into evidence of your ship will severely hinder your ability to discuss the actual text.

[mercedesssssss]

this entire scene in 6x01, from Jane asking to talk to Van Pelt and Lisbon privately to Jane chasing Lisbon out, trying to get her to stop, is SO IMPORTANT for them as a ship imo, so let's talk about it.

this show has predominantly been about Jane's journey to find red john, and he has along this journey slowly opened himself up to Lisbon and has let her in more and more. Him telling her the list of suspects in and of itself is a big step for him. On the surface level, you might think that Jane getting upset with Lisbon is (entirely) because it could endanger his hunt for red john but I think it actually portrays something entirely different.

Jane is not upset at Lisbon simply because she told Van Pelt and because red john will know about the traces, he's upset because he knows red john will know BUT its not rly simply abt knowing the traces exist, but WHO had those traces put in place. Jane KNOWS this endangers Lisbon and he can't stand it. He's WORRIED.

"He will lead you wherever he wants to" "You are out of your depth" "I told you, tell no one, I told you!" These are all quotes from their argument that surface level sound maybe controlling, hence lisbons response (and she was right for what she said too!) but in actuality there is something entirely different going on at the center of this argument. This is a man who knows the killer he is hunting through and through, and he knows what this could lead to. He cares so much about Lisbon, the thought of something happening to her is truly what drives this conversation. You see her tell him off and you see the look on his face. It's not a look of anger, of betrayal, it's the look of a man who is WORRIED and SAD.

You SEE that look linger when she storms out. He just stands there. Simply just stands there for a few seconds.

Then he looks to Van Pelt, and yells "WAIT!" and runs after Lisbon. He literally runs after her outside, yelling her name, trying to get her to stop.

To stay.

And he watches her drive away with THIS look on his face. Enough said.

This is SO!!!!! important!!!!! This also shows how it's so much deeper than the surface level notion it's just about her "betraying his trust" or about red john. He didnt want her in danger. He didn't want them to fight. He didn't want her to be mad at him. He didn't want her to leave. Everything they said during their argument, THIS was what was underneath that but everything was misconstrued and we know their communication skills were not *always* the best. There was so much going on during that conversation and that interaction that was unsaid.

This was a conversation about betraying trust that was REALLY about worrying for someone you care about so much without being able to say it outright.

& it was BEAUTIFUL.

[688199]

me explaining how genzo’s love for megumi is much deeper than what meets the eye

[thatgirlwithasquid]

i engage with media in probably an objectively weird way cause any plot things that happen i give 110% suspension of disbelief, i fully put myself in the characters shoes and feel the stakes of the world, i will cry when characters i dont even like die. HOWEVER. this willingness to be the audience the writing is hoping for does not extend to shipping. about 80% of the time when i can see that a film or show or whatever is guiding me towards a certain pairing i just go ‘nope. no thanks. im gonna decide to like the most narratively improbable ship instead and spend all my time for my first watch imagining scenarios where they could work!’. and i love doing it.

[sawpaingsheadband]

.

[ari-shipping-stuff]

ive been reminded kosakatsu exists and now im inconsolable

[mcyt-rarepair-tournament]

*walks up to the mic* Sashannarcy from Amphibia

tbh, sometimes the “platonic explanation for this” is the more interesting one