#even when a character is lying or omitting

[anathemafiction]

It's so hard to convey someone being disappointed in you without actually saying it. I've re-rewritten this scene three times, and it's still not right. 😩

[seirindono]

TMS - Author's note (Arc 1)

Today I'm stepping up to talk about TMS for a while. It's going to be a lot of blah blah, no TLDR, so hang in there or save it for later if you're brave enough, haha (¯▿¯)

So, another chapter of TMS draws to a close, with the difference that this time it's a whole saga that's coming to an end! That's a big relief for me, given that we recently celebrated the comic's 4th anniversary! That's almost the entire duration of my college life, and that's both an impressive and terrifying achievement lol.

The comic is divided into 3 arcs, each separated by an interlude. The first runs from part 1 to 8, with 201 pages total (wow!). In it, you are introduced to Mel, a young skeleton with a rather unclear past, who accidentally arrives in a a foreign timeline, along with other well known skeletons. Nowadays it's just an isekai haha. Throughout the arc, she proves to be a cautious Monster, quiet and somewhat withdrawn compared to the other skeletons we come across, notably Rus, Blue and Axe, who each got their own sequences.

Still, Mel in the last few scenes is starting to show more initiative, and the interlude will make this even more obvious, but we can expect her to open up a lot more during the next Arc, about her past, motives, goals and thoughts.

I could go on at length about what's in store for us in the interlude, but given that it's due for release sometime in 2024, I'm going to talk about the general story line instead. Although we follow Mel who is foreign to what's going on in this universe prior to her arrival, the other characters and events suggest that strange phenomena are taking place in Ebott, leading many people to become embroiled in a highly unusual affair. Crossing timelines, earthquakes, mysterious apparitions in the forest, something is afoot and the situation seems to be at a turning point when Mellow gets here.

Everyone has their own way of dealing with the situation and what to do next. Some are serious and pragmatic, like Black, others optimistic, like Blue, and others, like Papyrus, find themselves completely backed into a corner, forced to do their best to fix whatever needs to be.

A special case, however, is Axe, whom Mel meets in the forest as she investigates Mt. Ebott. The two have diametrically opposed views of their current condition. One wants to return to her world by any means necessary, regardless of the advantages of a peaceful world. The other, not so much. Both refuse to talk about their past and ignore the other's circumstances, but a sense of familiarity drives them to try to convince the other to stay or go. These are two stark positions to reconcile, and while we can expect Blue and the other skeletons to have their own views on the subject too, Mel and Axe are strangely "committed" in this interraction and resort to violence, spurred on by a unknown substance that causes Axe to momentarily lose control.

Mel is wounded, Axe unconscious, and the status quo disrupted. Other consequences follow this confrontation, and several questions are raised: Can Blue really help Mel when Axe accuses him of having already given up on going home himself? What is this mysterious entity Axe came across a few days earlier? The vibrations? What was that substance that made him go berserk? And what made him stop? Can we trust Mel and what she tells us? And many others.

Because as I'm sure many of you have come to realize, Mel has proven to be a rather unreliable narrator (or at least character since you don't follow her actual POV). Blatantly lying or omitting facts to others and readers alike, it's hard to know her next move and whether she's genuinely forgotten important infos (for it's well established at this stage that she has hazy memories and that they continue to deteriorate. The same applies to her health).

In the same way, each part of TMS so far has raised more questions than it has answered, but I can confidently say that the road is paved for Arc 2 to answer and put in perspective most of them, ahah.

Ah, this is also the moment when I can announce that ALL skeletons will be featured in the Interlude. Should be. Hopefully.

I'd also like to point out a few narrative changes for Act 2! The central characters, in particular. Original cast characters such as Undyne, Metatton and a veiled character will be more formally introduced, but we'll also meet up with characters we've already bumped into, but in a much more concrete way, such as Frisk and Alphys. I can't wait for you to get to know them! You can also expect more pov changes, more elipses and so on. Things are moving fast.

But that begs the question. When is it due? As said before, the first Arc lasted 4 years and I'm entering my last (and most crucial) year of college. I still don't know if I'll have time to get much of it done in 2025, but on the other hand, I'd like to strike while the iron's hot lest TMS be discontinued after a 1-year hiatus and my entry into the working world. Student loan, life and all. There are still plenty of things I'd like to bring to this project, and I now have the skills to actually carry them out, but on the other hand, the time involved has also increased exponentially.

Tbh with you, as an animation student, it's been one of my dreams since 2020 to do one of TMS's sequences in animatic or full anim, or even a trailer for the comic! But as a solo team, it's just unreasonable and I know it. But the parasite ----. Don't get me wrong, I could, but it would take me months and it's just not realistic when 80% of my time has to go into professionnal work that goes into my portefolio or adult stuff. I can't affort to invest time in solo-ing it or to recruit and lead a team over one side project of mine ( ´ ▿ ` ) So we'll most likely stick to classic pages.

But the same goes for collabs, community events, side stories, asks, edits, dubs, testing other platforms, regular animatics. Love all of that. Really. But I never have the time to because, man, I'd love to actually finish TMS someday ahah. It all comes back to the age-old problem of “lots of ideas, little time”, and it's so frustrating but, it's a choice I have to stick to, so bear with me as I vent my frustration. Just for tonight (´ ∀ `, *)

So, yes. Act 2. Next year? Probably? It's a long interlude, so you'll get smth in the meantime, but it's likely to decide the future of TMS and whether Act 2 sees the light of day as I imagine it or if...well, something else replaces it.

bringing back this doodle cuz it seems fiting lol

Anyway, I also wanted to thank you for your engagement with Part 8!

I don't know how other comic artists experience it, but for me it's a very isolated work, and as much as I love working alone, I enjoy the interaction with readers most of all.

Seeing people losing their mind over a serious scene, or chuckling at a dumb gag, or just simping over the characters and art. It's just great, and very rewarding. Likewise, I have a blast answering questions about the TMS universe, reading tags and receiving memes, witnessing people go increasingly mad with messages full of indecipherable screams and hearts. Makes me giggle and kick my feet everytime and I can't wait to drop the next lore bomb or funny scene bwahahah

And while we're on the subject, I'd like to say a special word of thanks to the legions of rebloggers who make it their business to spread the word about TMS. You sweet, lovely, candy scented folks. And to my dear mutuals - with whom I interact objectively so little - who have no idea how a single message or note from them drives me bonkers. Thanks for dropping by. And of course to my super Patreons who support me despite the sparse updates, but to whom I'm more than grateful. Love you all.

Sounds like a farewell message. It's not lol. Just making sure they get the love they deserve.

The post is getting long and I'm kind of done pretending I know how to write organized notes so to wrap things up, here's an exhaustive list of what I'd like to get done this year and/or discuss in more detail another day. •Make a new masterpost (for Act 2) •Analyze/Comment certain sequences from Act 1 to clarify or give context •Redraw and rewrite part 1 and 2 •Make more bonus content again *ahahahahahaha*

•Re open or close the Discord (partially abandoned and it's all on me, but I'm still mulling it over).

•Finish the Interlude and enjoy and nice hiatus

And that's about it? Congratulation for reading this and making it this far! You were there!

Be well, and see you next time.

Seirin-

First part | Prev | Next (INTERLUDE)

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[u3pxx]

PLEASEEE can you elaborate on the gavinners i cant stop looking at them theyre so pretty

sometimes i forget that outside of my friends and servers, i don't really talk much about my gavinners boys* huh! so basically, i originally wanted to make them so i could beef up turnabout serenade in my roleswap au, kind of like turnabout samurai where you have a lot more characters which in turn means a lot more suspects!

but then i realized, wait, i need to make them in the canon-verse first before i could make their swap au counterparts! and so now they exist pftt

here y'all go, i'm gonna be copy-pasting the character descriptions i wrote for them during art fight pftt <3

🥁 DEIDRE MINUENDO

Height: 5'7" (170 cm), 5'9.5" (176) with boots on Birthday: Jul 7 ♋︎ | Pronouns: He/Him, She/Her, They/Them

Deidre is the seemingly gloomy and stoic drummer of the band The Gavinners! At first, it could be difficult to get a read on them but despite all that, they're just like that because they prefer saving their energy. It might not look like it, but Deidre enjoys company even if they're not the most chatty with it and thrives the most when they are around other people (she prefers it if she's around the people closest to her though). Deidre is pretty sensitive and an emotional person even if they don't outwardly express it. To the people close to them, Deidre has a sarcastic streak and can be pretty snappy when it comes to teasing. She can dish it but she can't take it however as they can get slightly irritated when they're teased back. Even if they are a rockstar, they can get embarrassed when people praise or say nice things about them to their face, he tends to brush affection if even if he is secretly flattered by it (he's not gonna admit it though pftt) They also enjoy doodling here and there and like stuffed animals (they have a few of their own!)

Deidre was the closest to Daryan so the events of 4-3 affected him immensely. They felt betrayed and confused and tried to deny that Daryan would be capable of taking another person's life; they scrambled to do everything to protect Daryan from omitting information and even lying on the stand. In the end, all of their efforts were for naught and they felt incredibly guilty for what they've done, especially since she started antagonizing Preston when he was starting to suspect Daryan. They cut themselves off from the group, their job, and stardom. They ended up severely depressed and started to rarely go outside anymore. Only Doremy (Daryan's twin, also a close friend of his) was able to reach him during this time while Viva tried to but he kept refusing to see him. It took them a long time to finally be able to reconnect with the group and it took them a lot of help and support to be able to be well again. Deidre carries Daryan's betrayal to the group heavily and it took a while for her to start forgiving herself.

⚡ VIVA CHI

Age: 25 | Height: 5'9" (175 cm) Birthday: Jan 1 ♑︎ | Pronouns: He/Him

Viva is the lively and energetic bassist of the band The Gavinners! Though he may seem goofy and a little unserious, he actually is pretty responsible and is the mediator of the band (as the eldest brother of his siblings and the eldest of the band, he kind of made that his responsibility). He's a forensic scientist and has always had an interest in science alongside music ever since he was young (he thinks Ema is very pretty but she finds him annoying pftt). Viva was the last one to join the band when they were all in high school and despite his extroverted personality, felt a little shy at the time getting to know a new group of people (it's because Preston was there who he may or may not have crushed at while in high-school.) He's a lover of all things caffeinated (especially energy drinks though he should really pace himself) which isn't always the best match to the fact that he's got terrible anxiety and thinks himself down a spiral when he gets too worried.

Once the band disbanded after the events of AA4, Viva, though left in a bad place with his anxiety shot through the roof, fared better compared to the other members. He tried his best to keep in touch with everyone with varying successes despite Daryan's arrest being fresh and hurt. - visiting Daryan in prison to hear his side of the story - popping in to check at Preston in his office because the guy started to take worse care of himself - contacting Deidre even if she was trying to isolate and cut herself from everyone and looking out for Klavier even if he buried himself in his work He took a break from music like everyone else, he still hopes one day they can meet up and play music again, not even as a band, but as a group of friends who loved creating music.

🦇 PRESTON KEISS

Age: 25 | Height: 6'1" (185 cm) Birthday: Oct 25 ♏︎ | Pronouns: He/Him

Preston is the mysterious yet magnetic keyboardist of the Gavinners! Tall, dark, and bewitching; Preston is aware of the impression people have of him at first glance and likes to use that preconception to surprise and even catch people off-guard by purposely being silly or crass. He has a number of odd quirks and mannerisms that he doesn't realize he has, people tend to notice but they often let it pass because he is very handsome (pretty privilege lmao). Preston can sometimes be mischievous and finds certain things amusing only to him even if others don't find it as funny. He's always had an interest in horror and the macabre ever since he was a young boy which developed into a great fascination with the special effects used in old and new horror films alike. (He can be a bit jumpy when watching movies even if he loves to do it, he can't help it if the movie gets to him!) He plays up his whole immortal vampire schtick because the fans tend to theorize if he really was one. (He is not, he'd love to be one though pftt) Preston is very stubborn and adamant about his opinions and can be difficult to sway if he thinks he's correct; he is also quite awkward when it comes to personal matters, as can be seen in his strained relationship with his older sister and whatever romantic thing he's trying to achieve with Viva. He's used to acting larger than life when the cameras are on but being raw and honest has him feeling a little embarrassed and stilted. Preston smokes and keeps it a secret. (Don't tell Viva that!)

Preston was the first person in the band to start suspecting Daryan which he mostly kept to himself at first but wouldn't deny when you asked him (Deidre did not like that.) After Lamirior accused Daryan in court, Preston was determined to make Deidre confront the truth (unfortunately, not taking in why Deidre might be upset and in denial about it) which caused them to have a fight (with Viva being unsuccessful in de-escalating it.) After the Gavinners disbanded, Preston didn't feel very well after Daryan got sent to prison and lost contact with Deidre (whom he hasn't talked to since the case. [he misses them.]) He seemed fine afterward with his workload seeming to increase though upon closer inspection, he's started taking worse care of himself, skipping meals, and losing his interest in music. Preston has a lot of baggage to sort through regarding his friends and his family that will be difficult and painful for him to confront, but rest assured, he's gonna come out of it happy and well.

and here's a compilation of some very old turnabout serenade drawings too :^]

(i didnt make dei's bday turnabout serenade on purpose, it was a tragic happy accident DFGHDJ i wanted his bday to be 7/7 bc i made daryan 6/6 but then the date. i realize the date orz)

[ravenelyx]

I love you in every timeline - Prologue: In Search of Lost Time

Pairing: Sebastian Sallow x Fem!Reader

Words: 1.9k

Chapter Warnings: angst if you squint, Harry Potter characters appearance, no name appearance (not even y/n dw), some swearing, use of 2nd person for the reader (I know I know but I promise it makes sense for the story)

Summary: "He turned around, and the world seemed to stop around him. She had followed him: into another timeline, into another universe.". In which Sebastian, in his search for a cure in the Dark Arts, finds himself 100 years into the future and meets his most trusted companion's descendant (who looks far too similar to the girl he was once secretly in love with).

A/N: this is the first english fic I've written, so I'm terrified. Anyway, Trimetravel! AU with Sebastian Sallow. Some background info: Reader is not MC; Reader is a Gryffindor, MC was a Slytherin; MC was a Pureblood, Reader is a Muggle Born. Also, english is not my first language so if you find any mistakes, I deeply apologise. Not proof-read (for obvious reasons).

→ Find the rest of the fanfiction here on AO3 :)

"For we are not as faithful to the being we have most loved as we are to ourselves and sooner or later we forget her — since that is one of our characteristics — so as to start loving another." - Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time

If a chasm had opened under Sebastian's feet and swallowed him all the way to the depths of hell, he would have gladly accepted his demise there and then.

Unfortunately, its mercy seemed to be out of business that day — or any other day in his life, really.

Sebastian paced the corridors, a frown adorning his face; he had just come out of the Headmaster's office due to the absolute disaster that had occurred to him just a few hours prior.

After weeks of research, he had finally found something that could help him, a breakthrough with which he could finally achieve his goal. An artefact so powerful that it could break the fabric of time and space, something that could help his poor sister live a happy and healthy life again. He did not care that they were not on speaking terms at the moment: he would find a way to talk to her so that she would take this last chance. He would force her if he had to. It was his last hope, and Merlin knows he had tried everything.

If he had known about the artefact's effects earlier, he would have thought twice before using it.

"So, Mr Sallow, could you be so kind as to tell us how you came to be in our time?" the Headmaster, who had earlier introduced himself as Albus Dumbledore, had asked him.

Truth was that not having stopped dwelling with the Dark Arts in search of a cure for Anne had led him to find himself in another timeline instead. His face twitched: in terms of unlikelihood, the scales seemed pretty unbalanced.

It had been a brief conversation, really, with Sebastian omitting some details (like his friendship with an Ancient Magic wielder or the murder of his uncle, for which he bore full responsibility) and grimacing against his own will when the Headmaster had looked at him through his half-moon shaped glasses as if asking him, 'Why are you lying to me?'

He had pushed the thoughts away as quickly as they had come: it wasn't like he could read his mind... or could he?

Sebastian breathed a sigh of relief when the Headmaster had dismissed him after giving him specific instructions on how to behave until they found a way to return him to his timeline — one of which was, "Please don't inform anyone of your condition unless it's absolutely necessary." That had seemed quite reasonable to him, so he nodded.

The artefact was damaged, as expected, and unlikely to work again unless a powerful form of magic came into contact with it and repaired it: something like Ancient Magic, perhaps, or a miracle.

"I see you're still causing trouble everywhere you fare, aren't you, Mr Sallow?" the familiar voice of Phineas Nigellus Black had mocked from his portrait, effectively startling him. Sebastian had looked up and into the eyes of his old Headmaster, his mouth falling open at the sight of him. He looked old, weary, and angrier somehow — yet, in a way, he had brought Sebastian some form of comfort, almost. A sense of familiarity.

Before he could have said anything, Black had disappeared, and a woman with severe blue eyes and long robes had escorted him out of the office.

-

Sebastian looked around at his familiar surroundings, which would have been almost comforting if not for the nameless faces looking at him with curiosity: Hogwarts students tended to recognise each other effortlessly, and anyone who didn't fit into that bundle of familiarity was to be ostracised. He remembered all too well when he was the one helping the new fifth-year find her way around those same corridors, except he didn't need guidance: this was his home, after all.

But he did have a guide, and she wasn't as charming a student as he was either.

The Head of the Gryffindor House walked right next to him, a stern expression on her face made even more prominent by the shadow of her large witch hat. The woman Sebastian had come to know as Minerva McGonagall was also the Transfiguration teacher and Deputy Headmistress, at least it seemed that way, which was no doubt why she was accompanying him rather than the Head of his own House.

Sebastian decided not to ask himself any questions and do what the Headmaster told him to: attend class, fit in, and pretend to be either a transfer student or someone with a complex background — he hadn't decided which story to tell yet (and both, in a way or another, would be true).

The clacking of Professor McGonagall's shoes stopped so abruptly that he almost would have missed it if she hadn't started speaking.

"You're about to meet two of your new classmates. Prefects of the Gryffindor House." She raised her left arm in their direction, and his eyes followed it to two red and gold robes leading into warm faces.

"I am pleased to introduce you to Ms Hermione Granger—" she gestured to the girl with curly hair to her left, who wore a friendly smile all while maintaining a serious and clean look, "—and Mr Ronald Weasley." Sebastian's eyes shot to the boy to his right when he heard the familiar name, and to be honest, he might not have needed an introduction at all: the red-haired boy gave him a wry smile, his freckles standing out even more in the natural light. He would have recognised those features anywhere.

Finally, Sebastian noticed their uniforms. He didn't pay much attention to the boy's — he himself also wore a very similar one, uncomfortable and informal as it seemed to him — for his eyes were fixed on the girl's. She was wearing a grey cardigan with red and gold trim, the colours of her House, and her skirt was much shorter than he remembered, with black denier tights covering the rest of her legs. Sebastian felt himself blushing slightly and averted his eyes.

He wondered why the Slytherin prefects were unsuited to the situation: at the end of the day, he was a Slytherin, too. Sebastian didn't undergo the Sorting again — the Professors didn't seem to deem it necessary, not to mention the Hat had recognised him from his shelf, too. He didn’t forget easily.

McGonagall turned back to Sebastian and briefly adjusted his robes, her face softening slightly, "For the time being, it is best if you don't draw attention to yourself. We will find a solution," she straightened her posture and nodded at him, "Welcome to Hogwarts." She turned on her heels and walked away, leaving him with the two Gryffindors.

He studied their faces for a moment, searching for the right words to say, deciding on which story to tell, but the only thing he could muster was: "How come you're Gryffindors?"

The two students stared at him, appalled, and he mentally slapped himself. He wanted to correct his statement and explain his intention, but the girl stopped him before he could even form a coherent thought.

"You're wondering why they asked us to guide you and not the Slytherin Prefects, am I right?"

Either his question wasn't that unclear, or the girl had excellent deduction skills, and judging by the epiphany on the other boy's face when he understood the meaning of her words, it was most likely the latter.

Sebastian sighed inwardly and nodded, mentally promising not to stumble over his words again.

The boy — Ronald, Sebastian recalled — chimed in: "Because otherwise you'd have to deal with Malfoy, and he's an idio—" the girl slapped him on the arm and gave him a warning look before turning back to Sebastian.

Malfoy, Sebastian thought. A family of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. It was clear why a Weasley would want nothing to do with him.

Sebastian wondered if they still held the same values as in his day: if the Malfoys were still blood maniacs, and so was the person they spoke of, or if he wanted to distance himself from his family as Ominis did. Judging by Ronald's opinion of him, Sebastian did not think that was possible, but then again, he did not know the fellow. Maybe, Sebastian thought, things had moved on after a century: no blood wars, discrimination or superiority complexes. Perhaps this was all just a simple rivalry between two students from different Houses.

"Professor Dumbledore thought us to be best suited for this difficult situation. No other student but us knows about your... misadventure," said Hermione.

To call it a "misadventure" would be an understatement , Sebastian wanted to say. As it turned out, however, he didn't need a story to tell. He didn't know whether to feel betrayed by the Professors who had decided to disclose that information or relieved that he didn't have to go through it all alone. A beat of silence followed, in which Sebastian could only nod at the girl's words, and then it was interrupted abruptly.

"Where have you been?" called a voice from the end of the corridor, directly behind Sebastian.

He turned around, and the world seemed to stop around him.

He definitely didn't have to go through it all alone because there she was. Standing a few feet away from him, looking straight at him, was the person who had accompanied him on all his adventures.

She had followed him: into another timeline, into another universe.

He felt his lips twist into a grin, and he beamed at the sight of her. Had she been looking for him?

He frowned a little as he noticed her expression: she seemed annoyed, almost angry. Perhaps she had no intention of following him and had just ended up here for no reason? Were the two of them connected on a deeper level than he thought? Or perhaps she was just worried for him and angry he didn't look for her too?

The girl started to walk towards them, and his smile widened even more the closer she got.

She was almost there when he realised she wasn't sparing him a glance.

Instead, her eyes were focused on the red-haired boy next to him, who was staring at her in horror, looking completely terrified.

Sebastian looked back at the girl, finally noticing the red and gold tie around her neck where a green and silver one usually belonged, a crease in her eyebrows that wasn't there before, and her eyes were a different colour than he remembered.

What the hell is going on here?  he thought, staring at her wide-eyed.

"Ron, for God's sake, I've been looking all over for you! Do you intend to give me back my book before class starts, or should I pull a new one out of a hat because you can't use your own?" she threw her hands in the air disapprovingly.

Ron stuttered briefly before hesitantly pointing at the Slytherin boy next to him, "I've just had too much to do. Prefect stuff, you know."

The girl scowled at him before turning to the said boy, her eyes softening slightly. "Oh! You're the new fifth-year!"

Sebastian's eye twitched. How bloody ironic.

"I'm Sebastian Sallow," he replied feebly, body stock-still like marble.

"Nice to meet you," she smiled politely.

And then she introduced herself.

His breath caught in his throat. Sebastian could have recognised that surname anywhere, but her name fell completely deaf on his ears.

You weren't her.

--

→ Chapter 1

[theweeklydiscourse]

What Makes Feyre’s Pregnancy Plotline in A Court of Silver Flames so Upsetting?

The answer is that the events and outcome concerning Feyre’s pregnancy speak to a fear of one’s loss of autonomy, specifically one’s reproductive autonomy. Furthermore, this plotline demonstrates Maas' consistent prioritization of her male characters at the expense of her female characters. Multiple factors make this subplot feel particularly uncomfortable and upsetting, but I can condense them into three main points that converge to create one frustrating scenario.

1. Rhysand and the Question of Choice

From ACOMAF onwards, the reader is made aware of Rhysand’s unusually progressive politics and his attention to the autonomous choices of women. This is demonstrated through his selection of counsel, appointing Mor and Amren in roles of authority, and eventually crowing Feyre as High Lady of the Night Court. In addition to this, we are shown his emphasis on choice through his interactions with Feyre. Rhysand repeatedly reminds Feyre that she can choose, that she can make an autonomous decision that he will respect. So, it is these positive features of Rhysand that make the pregnancy subplot of ACOSF so disturbing.

He, and the Inner Circle by extension, purposefully omit the information that Feyre’s pregnancy will turn deadly and never volunteer the information to her. During Cassian’s meeting with Rhysand and Amren, we are shown their thought process behind withholding information from Nesta (and Feyre by extension) According to Amren, it is not lying because they are technically not telling lies in the traditional sense, only withholding information.

While this is about Nesta, the reader can see the parallels between both cases. The choice to lie by omission reveals that both Amren and Rhysand are aware of the dishonesty of their actions, choosing to mitigate it slightly on a technicality. It feels distinctly like a loophole in Rhysand’s previous promises to Feyre, making this act feel more deceitful while demonstrating Rhysand’s willingness to undermine Feyre’s authority as High Lady. If Rhysand had a condition or illness that would eventually kill him, informing him of it would be certain, you wouldn’t even consider the possibility of not telling him. However, because Feyre is pregnant, she is not afforded the same autonomy.

Wanting to keep Feyre in blissful ignorance is not a sufficient reason, especially when Feyre is still of sound mind and can advocate for herself. Rhysand’s reasoning sounds noble, but in reality, it is just benevolent sexism. It doesn’t matter if he thinks it will cause Feyre stress, she NEEDS to be aware of what’s going on and the fact that the news will ruin her peaceful pregnancy is of little consequence when her life is on the line. Rhysand prioritizes his feelings and implicitly gives himself executive authority over Feyre’s pregnancy, demonstrating his disregard for her autonomy and choices. This action directly contradicts the progressive beliefs Rhysand stated in previous books and is a betrayal for the reader as well as Feyre.

2. The Infantilization of Feyre

The omission of this critical information, good intentions or not, is based on a belief that Feyre would not be competent enough to handle such a pressing situation in her pregnant state. Amren claims that the stress and fear could have physically harmed Feyre, but such a claim assumes that Feyre would not have the fortitude or ability to handle the situation.

Amren's explanation demonstrates a belief that Feyre's input on the matter would be irrelevant and pointless because it prevents Feyre from offering any. It is a plan that assumes Feyre will not be able to add anything meaningful to the solution and that it would be less harmful to her if she was kept out of it. This is infantilizing and paternalistic because Feyre has proven herself to be capable of coping under pressure and happens to be an unprecedented magical anomaly. Feyre’s access to pertinent medical information should not be revoked and it is insane that Madja her physician, actively misleads her with Rhysand’s consent.

This infantilization of a pregnant character echoes how pregnant women have been infantilized throughout history. It is a terrifying thought to imagine that your bodily autonomy could be stripped from you in the name of serving your supposed best interest. Rosemary’s Baby is one of the most famous horror movies of all time and it explores this exact topic, the same is true for the short story The Yellow Wallpaper, both stories capture the horror of reproductive/medical abuse that still happens to women today.

3. The Aftermath & Prioritizing Male Rage

Lastly, one of the most disturbing elements of this subplot is the way the text consistently prioritizes and coddles the violent rage of male characters at the expense of female characters. This is on full display when Rhysand flies into an intense rage after Nesta reveals the truth to Feyre. Although Nesta can be faulted for her harsh phrasing, let it be known that even Feyre felt that she did the right thing and was expressing her anger at the paternalistic and unjust practices of the Inner Circle. However, Nesta is still subjected to severe physical and emotional punishment in the form of a grueling hike where she is left to stew in her guilt and suicidal ideation despite Feyre ultimately not faulting her.

Feyre admits that Rhysand “majorly overreacted” and that she wanted Nesta back in Velaris. And yet, Nesta is still punished. But why? Will Rhysand or any of the Inner Circle be punished for betraying Feyre? Why, if Feyre agreed that Nesta was right to tell her, would she ever need to be subjected to a severe punishment when she was justified in what she did?

This is a particularly telling detail that compels me to ask: is this punishment about Feyre’s feelings or Rhysand’s? Why is it that Rhysand’s “overreaction” needs to be assuaged by punishing Nesta? What I observe from this passage is the characters prioritizing the feelings of a male character and placating him with the suffering of a female character, even when he wasn’t the one who was hurt in that situation. Feyre asks Cassian to tell Rhysand that the hike will be Nesta's punishment as though it isn't truly a punishment, but it undoubtedly is.

Throughout the hike, Nesta is in a silent spiral of guilt and self-hatred, Cassian never tells her that Feyre is alright and that Rhysand overreacted, letting her dwell in it alone. He hardly speaks to her, he pushes her to the point of exhaustion and is somehow surprised that Nesta shows signs of suicidal ideation.

This isn't constructive at all, it is not evidence that Cassian cares about Nesta's well-being, and the scenes of Nesta internally repeating that she deserves to die and that everyone hates her are nothing but gratuitous and disgustingly self-indulgent. The text basks in Nesta's suffering, even when she was in the right and this hike only happened to placate Rhysand who wronged Feyre in the first place.

Hindsight am I right? Fuck off. A more productive resolution to this matter would be for Feyre and Nesta to talk it out ALONE. Feyre could express her feelings to Nesta directly and they could find a solution together, that way Feyre’s situation could be centered on the two sisters working together. Cassian can see that Feyre is alright, she’s obviously upset, but she didn’t crumble like he expected and that makes it completely baffling that he would punish Nesta anyway. It’s a solution that prioritizes his and Rhysand’s feelings as opposed to Feyre’s, making it not about a perceived transgression against Feyre, but against Rhysand.

In Conclusion

This topic has already been discussed at length by many people in the fandom, but it is a topic that still stays on my mind with how upsetting it is. It is a stunning example of the misogynistic undertones in Sarah J Maas’s writing and makes reading a very straining experience due to her obvious bias towards certain male characters. Not even her main character matters when Rhysand is factored into the situation, his emotions are always centred by other characters and is permitted to betray his wife and get off scot free.

Feyre’s reproductive autonomy is violated, and Maas doesn’t bat an eye. But when Nesta rightfully reveals the truth to Feyre, everyone loses their mind. Both Nesta and Feyre have their autonomy stripped away from the, by way of the Inner Circle’s paternalism, and when Nesta advocates for herself and Feyre, she is punished severely. Being put in her place as the hierarchy is strengthened.

[makethosenarratorsfight]

UNRELIABLE NARRATORS; SEMI FINALS

*NOTE; propaganda is out of order due to the post length!

Eugenides Propaganda:

the entire plot hinges on a detail he lets the reader (and every other character) assume is true. I don't want to spoil it because it's a really fun reveal but he is lying from the first second he appears on the page and you can't trust him to tell the full truth about ANYTHING related to himself and his goals. he mostly does it to keep his advantage and not have other characters be suspicious of him but it's just so fun when you realise he's been lying the whole time

Kim Dokja Propaganda:

I haven't read orv but he's fucking gotta be from what I've osmosised

He tries to remove his emotions out of the narrative soooo much, literally the most repressed guy ever. Okay so for context orv is about how this guy, Kim Dokja, has been the only reader of an obscure post-apocalyptic webnovel for years and the novel suddenly becomes reality. And at first you'll probably get the weird impression that his behavior is pretty strange for, you know, a literal apocalypse happening in his world - like yes, he is concerned with survival but he doesn't seem all that scared and he kinda treats it like a video game where he has to grind to make himself stronger and he also treats his companions like a party in an rpg. Then there's also the way he approaches the protagonist of the webnovel, from the start he just kind of describes him as a ruthless psychopath and jerk that is unfortunately a pretty useful ally. And also there's the fact that he carefully omits any mention of his past and when somebody asks if he's worried about his family when the apocalypse starts he just kinda... brushes it off? Anyway so yeah, this bastard is definitely traumatized, although I don't know how much of spoiler territory that would be, considering the fact that literally when he first reveals his trauma he's also unreliable about it. And turns out he does indeed, care A LOT about this world and the people around him. Because well, he kinda didn't care to mention that this webnovel that has become reality was like... literally his whole world before it literally became his whole world. Like, it was the only thing keeping him going for 10+ years and the protagonist that he likes to call a stupid jerk was his comfort character who he pretended to be when he felt like he couldn't handle something in his life by being himself. The protagonist is also canonically the person he loves the most according to a prophecy and he literally can't fathom the thought of him dying, even the timeline versions of him that directly oppose him. And I haven't even mentioned the Fourth Wall yet but I feel like this propaganda is a little long already

misreading the intentions of his companion (yoo joonghyuk) so many time.

YOU DON'T UNDERSTANDDD DOKJA IS SUCH A UNRELIABLE NARRATORRRRRR GOD I COULD WRITE AN ESSAY BUT I KNOW YOU LOVE DOKJA TOO BUT OMG HE'S JUST SO AAAAAAAAAAAH

Rest of Propaganda under cut!

he is the worst like actually. he starts the story talking about how normal and average he is. he is not. he is constantly mischaracterizing his friends and he's so good at lying to the readers that you don't even realize it at first. almost every single time he cries we have to be told by other characters because he never says it himself. there is literally a scene where his narration says "i wasn't crying" and then the in-universe entity that narrates the actions of people (orv is really weird and meta) says that he was, in fact, crying. honestly genuinely anything he says about himself (or doesn't say) cannot be trusted. he is just so frustrating. he drives me mad. i love him dearly. but he drives me so mad.

Dictionary definition of unreliable narrator. Does not tell the reader anything and then things happen and he's like oh yeah btw there was also this and this earlier but i just didn't feel like mentioning it. There's even a thing called the "Fourth Wall" that is able to see through kdj's bs so occasionally you get gems like,

Kim Dokja: I didn't cry

The Fourth Wall: [Kim Dokja was crying]

Imagine being so unreliable as a narrator you need a more powerful narrator to call out the actual narrator.

^ same submission, just spacing it out

This goes into spoiler territory, but; Kim Dokja is in possession of a skill called the Fourth Wall, which on the surface seems like it appears because he read the book that reverse-isekai’d into his own. However, as the story goes on it becomes clear that it’s pretty much a souped up version of his pre-existing dissociation. You cannot trust him to be honest about his feelings, his past traumas or his feelings about his past traumas, not to mention his tendency to just outright omit information that only gets revealed later on either when it becomes relevant or when an outsider POV reveals what’s actually happening.

Exhibit A: he says (in 1st person POV) that he’s not crying. The Fourth Wall immediately contradicts this (as it is literally words of the novel) by saying (in 3rd person POV) ‘Kim Dokja was crying’.

Exhibit B: Fails to mention entire actions when it shows him emotionally honest even in the slightest; we had to read from another character entirely when Kim Dokja was being physically affectionate with his companion. It’s so bad that there’s this entire paragraph about Kim Dokja describing himself hiding his eyes in his hands in jerky, weirdly specific detail and just AVOIDING EVERY WORD THAT MIGHT SHOW HE’S CRYING. The brilliance of ORV is that when you re-read the entire thing you get hints that ‘yes, this WAS hinted at the entire time’ but you have to dig it out of Kim Dokja’s repressed, depressed self-hating internal dialogue with your own two hands.

^ same submission, spacing it out (i really should've done this earlier.)

i am a simple man (not a man). i see a tumblr text post with the words “unreliable narrator in it”. i read nothing else. i reblog & tag #kim dokja okay but in all seriousness i’m just going with the musty basic example: so there’s this moment where he sacrifices himself to save this guy. as he lays on the ground bleeding out, he says “hey, you don’t like me, right? you should kill me to get some money” the guy says “no kim dokja i cant do that (going through the five stages of grief except there’s only one and it’s anger)” the constellations (twitch viewers irl) are like omg he (the guy) doesn’t want to kill his companion (kim dokja) and shower him (the guy) with money kim dokja: oh, he’s not killing me for the money. smart!

as i quote a brilliant youtube video (all of omniscient reader’s viewpoint in 6 minutes) “yoo joonghyuk sees kim dokja as a c_____”

yoo joonghyuk: companion

kim dokja: cunt

^ same submission, once again. spacing it out.

Hides his true feelings, tells the readers what he thinks is convenient for the plot and that his own personal feelings don’t matter or are not so significant. Has unreliable thoughts abt his companion and is a liar. And is also an omniscient reader.

Kim Dokja always perceived his companions in this like nonchalant way like “oh yeah we get along but really we’re just fighting to survive (apocalypse setting) it doesn’t run that deep” when they all do genuinely care for him and he does in turn. He just, doesn’t think of it as an equal relationship? Dokja’ll sacrifice a lot for them but will get seriously flabbergasted if they do the same thing, so fricking problematic. Not to mention Yoo Joonghyuk, his “Life and Death Companion” (read: husband). Kim Dokja always seems to think that Joonghyuk has it out for him, which is kinda true, but he is literally blind to the fact that he’s attached to him. Like, it’s so obvious??? Also they have hella sexual tension but that’s another thing entirely

se get some many pov changes where kdj in his pov just assumed things based on what he knew the characters would do. however because of his interference the characters have changed and he wouldn’t know that if it hit him in the face

He's an unreliable narrator because he lies to himself and thus the audience. He literally rewrote his own childhood core memory. If someone says, "this guy is my friend!" He will go through so many hoola hoops in his mind just to rationalize it. Because he fundamentally believe that no one could love him and even if they did they couldn't know him and he's just gonna hurt them. He cries sometimes in canon but a lot of those times it's not even mentioned as crying he's that unreliable of a narrator. No joke, one time this guys he has a gay thing with called him his "companion" to someone who had just killed him (long story) and this bitch thought "oh wow he's doing it for the coins (another long story) he's so smart i wish I'd thought to that. He's terrible. He literally has an exchange with something called the Fourth Wall (an even longer story) where it said "you're crying" and he said "no I'm not" but he was crying. He makes me insane because the reader is supposed to project onto him. He made me see how much of an unreliable narrator I WAS. ORV is just like that tho.

[vindicated-truth]

Replying to @striving4mikey's latest comments on my post re: the juxtaposition of how Dongsik is with Jeongje, Jihwa (and Jaeyi), and Joowon in turn.

Oh Jihwa and Yoo Jaeyi

I don't know if it's the right English word for it—or if there even is an English word for it—but with both Jihwa and Jaeyi, Dongsik has what I can only describe as a strange sense of misplaced chivalry. It isn't even ill-intended, because it's coming from his trauma-based fierce protectiveness over everyone he loves, and both Jihwa and Jaeyi are enfolded tightly under that umbrella of care.

The problem is that Dongsik's protectiveness over them robs them of the chance to make informed decisions for themselves precisely because Dongsik locks them out of pertinent details that should have been their right to know. In essence, he's lying to them by omission.

Case in point is how Dongsik tried his best in the beginning to lock Jaeyi out of the truth about Kang Jinmook, even though it should have been her right to know as the victim's daughter. With Jihwa, while Dongsik did need her help with Lee Changjin, with the rest of the details of the case—involving Han Kihwan and Kang Minjeong in particular—he also locked her out, if only so that her reputation as a cop won't be tarnished.

To a certain extent he does the same to the other men of Manyang, like Jihoon and Gwangyoung, but there seems to be in Dongsik's case a well-intentioned yet still gender-biased view of the women as those who need his protection, rather than those who can fight for themselves and make decisions for themselves. In essence, he makes those decisions for them instead.

Contrast this, for example, with how Joowon doesn't have that gender-based bias at all when he sees how capable Jaeyi is as he continuously asks for her help, both in chasing down Han Kihwan and then later on in saving Jeongje. He sits side by side with Jihwa in their interrogation of Lee Changjin and they keep each other well-informed of the progress of his case.

The difference is, if there are certain details the women doesn't know, Dongsik intentionally doesn't reveal it to them in order to protect them. With Joowon, his intention isn't based on his relationship to them but rather based on their relationship to the case: if the detail isn't pertinent enough yet or he still lacks evidence about it, the less people know, the better.

In this as in everything else, Dongsik bases his decisions on emotion, while Joowon bases it on logic.

Park Jeongje

There's a moment the day after Jeongje's breakdown at the restaurant, and Joowon was reviewing the facts of the case so far, that Dongsik deliberately interrupts him and refuses to listen to what Joowon was trying to say about Jeongje.

This is of particular interest because it demonstrates what I have always theorized: that Dongsik has always known the possibility that the reason his guitar pick was found by Bang Juseon's body is because it was previously in Jeongje's possession.

Joowon himself was getting to this point in the conversation when Dongsik abruptly cut him off—because Joowon was right when he said the night before that Dongsik wasn't ready to hear this yet.

Dongsik had known all along that Jeongje was the last person he was with before his guitar pick disappeared, that night at the deer farm. It was the last place he had brought his guitar case and played his guitar in—whether or not what he says that he doesn't remember using the guitar pick there is true.

Because in the flashback, he was very clearly using the guitar pick at the deer farm with Jeongje.

A case can be made, in fact, that he knew all along, but omitted saying the truth when the detectives repeatedly questioned him 21 years ago about his guitar pick, for the same reason that is still very in character of him, 21 years later: he protected Jeongje.

He let the police arrest him, question him, and beat him up, even when he knew the possibility that the guitar pick had been in Jeongje's possession.

This was never confirmed in the show itself. But it wouldn't be out of his character to do so, because that's always been quintessentially who Dongsik is: keeping secrets to protect the people he loves.

He alluded to it later on himself, when he finally exploded and threw it all in Jeongje's face, asking him if he ever wondered why Dongsik never asked him anything all these years. Why Dongsik didn't question Jeongje belatedly stepping up as Dongsik's alibi, both in Bang Juseon's and Lee Yuyeon's case, and with Kang Minjeong's case. Why Dongsik didn't even question the fact that Jeongje lied to him about going to the US and was in fact admitted to a mental hospital, which he found out from Joowon.

Part of it I believe is that Dongsik himself didn't want to know. He didn't want to face the possibility that the person he trusted back then, and still chose to trust all these years later, despite everything, could ever hurt him—betray him—like this.

Joowon himself pointed this out to Jeongje before he dropped him off at Dongsik's basement: that even after all this time, Dongsik was still waiting for Jeongje himself to come clean—because Dongsik trusted him.

Because Dongsik loved him.

And when Dongsik couldn't anymore deny the truth of what Joowon has been trying to tell him all along, that's when Dongsik finally snapped—and with it, a three-decade long friendship.

The person Dongsik loved, trusted, and protected all these years—couldn't even tell him the truth.

And this is who Dongsik is, too: He will love you unconditionally, until you break him.

And he will break off his love for you.

Han Joowon

This now makes Dongsik's treatment of Joowon all the more fascinating.

He doesn't have a strong desire to protect Joowon the way he does with Jihwa and Jaeyi; part of it is because their history isn't (yet) as long and deep-seated as it is with the women, part of it may even be perhaps again a gender-biased view of Joowon as not "pure" enough to warrant his protection anyway, compared to the women.

Because Dongsik, remarkably, trusts Joowon with everything. Throughout their partnership, there is no secret he hasn't kept from Joowon himself: not even his hand in tampering with the scene of the crime and planting Kang Minjeong's fingers as fake evidence.

It's remarkable because Joowon at this point isn't (yet) someone he has come to love as long, or as deeply, as the people of Manyang.

But as @striving4mikey pointed out: he's getting there. Fast and intense and oh so deep in such a short period of time that it surprises both himself and Joowon with how uninhibited, how unconditional Dongsik's trust is for Joowon.

It may not be love just yet: but it has a great potential to be. The greatest love Dongsik has ever and will ever let himself feel, in fact, simply because he has never been so open—and so free—with anyone else, like this.

Because as @striving4mikey also pointed out: no one has ever proven himself to Dongsik, like this.

Not even Jeongje.

(Even when Dongsik wanted it so much to be Jeongje.)

Because that's what fascinates Dongsik about Joowon: that he isn't even doing any of it to prove himself to Dongsik. Joowon does what he does simply because it's right.

And it's that kind of unwavering moral compass and unrelenting pursuit of justice that Dongsik can finally, finally let himself go.

He doesn't have to worry about Joowon being unable to protect himself, because Joowon can.

He doesn't have to worry about Joowon breaking his promises to him and betraying him, because Joowon won't.

He doesn't even have to worry about Joowon not listening to him, because Joowon does.

Here, now, is the one person who will never let him down.

Here, now, is the one person that Dongsik knows is competent enough, capable enough, clever enough, and strong enough, to bear all of it with him.

Here, now, is the one person who can finally keep up with him in every way, in the truest sense: as his partner.

More than anything, Dongsik doesn't have to worry about not having his trust—his love—not returned in full. He doesn't have to worry about not receiving the same trust and love he's been investing in all the people he loved and trusted all these years.

Because it does, with Joowon.

Which is why Dongsik doesn't mind having Joowon arrest him. Why he wants no one else but Joowon to arrest him.

Because it's only with Joowon that he's finally free.

[synergysilhouette]

Things I'd want for an an "Ever After High" reboot

As much love as "Monster High" has gotten--and as much attention as it's gotten, thanks to 2 reboots--I think it's time for a reboot of Ever After High, for the lore/show if nothing else (and yes, I know it was all for the dolls). And note: I say "reboot" instead of "revival" because the show had a gaping flaw with it, and I'll include it in one of the things I'd like to see in a Gen 2 of EAH:

More nuance--The BIGGEST issue with the show was how biased it was when it was trying to see itself as a complex story. The Royals were written as selfish, hypocritical, and vain when discussing the future and their legacies, and it made being a Royal unlikable, which was probably done by the writers to make us sympathize with the Rebels more, not to mention the fact that Raven was always kind and level-headed, making Apple come off much more disingenuous. It wasn't even a "the Rebels are slightly more right"; the Rebels were written as 100% right and the Royals weren't "good" people until they came around to the way the Royals thought. I'd enjoy them embracing the Royals' positive side (which have been shown when not involving the RvR debate), as well as highlighting the fact that following tradition isn't always a bad thing, and that those who followed their destiny didn't have to follow it to the letter, but were allowed to make changes here and there (ie Apple marrying a prince; it didn't have to be Daring). As such, destinies are vague, giving you a beginning and end while omitting the in-between parts. And given this change to what is considered a Royal, there are no in-between groups like Roybels.

2. Don't forget the guys--Part of what made EAH an engaging "girly" show for me was the fact that they still had significant male characters (usually it's like a 10-1 ratio; here it feels like 5-1), all of whom have unique designs and appearances. I'm pretty sure this wouldn't be an issue, but I still wanna point it out.

3. Headmaster Grimm is more altruistic and wise--I swear, "Wish" has ruined me forever. I'm on a Magnifico kick. Headmaster Grimm, while still lying to the students and kinda misleading them, doesn't do so just because of the flimsy "This is how things are done"; he's more of a lawful neutral/true neutral character, where he understood after years of seeing people try to change their destinies it either comes true anyway or ends up getting their own Happily Ever After, but it does more damage than good for everyone else. As such, he understands the fact that good cannot exist without evil, and vice-versa, explaining his own motivations for manipulating events at EAH, with the proposed destinies being what he believes to be the worst-possible scenarios. (Plus the evil headmaster at school is so cliche to me at this point. It feels very juvenile.)

4. More lore in the show--Albeit, less confusing. I don't remember the show exactly, and I didn't get into the novelizations, but I do recall that the books fleshed out the Legacy Day ceremony a bit more, citing that the current students at EAH were descendants (rather than children) of fairy tale characters, and embracing your destiny was something done for generations--with one disturbing detail being that Ashlynn's mother would eventually die and her father would marry one of her stepsisters, making the new stepmother's daughters Ashlynn's new stepsisters who would make her enslaved. AND EVERYONE KNEW THIS. This circles back to #1 by making being a Royal less terrible. Put emphasis on following your destiny and the history of the world, but I'd prefer to avoid the "we do this every generation" thing; the characters are still descendants of fairy tale characters, but it hasn't been a wash, dry, repeat cycle; it only happens when the descendants' circumstances start to match up precisely with their ancestor's, and it's believing that by following their destiny, they preserve the balance of good and evil. Not to mention, most of the other students don't get to accept or deny their destiny; they're just regular people in that respect, while the special descendants (let's say that Maddie, Raven, and Apple are only a small handful of people who have Legacy Day this school year) get to see what their futures hold. Not to mention it'd be fun to see more of the characters' lives outside of the school, ie Briar's relationship with her younger brothers and the fact that her mom is always tired and her dad (who needs a name; can we avoid nameless characters here?) is always slaying monsters.

5. More emphasis on fairy godparents (and magical characters in general)--I'll always question why Cupid coming to EAH didn't reinvent her as a fairy godmother or something similar. In any case, I like the idea of fairy godparents and their children being one the only major characters in fairy tales who's destiny was flexible and no one had any qualms about it; they were above good or evil (though they typically chose good), and had a business where people would pay for their services, powered by their wish and conviction. Grimm being a fairy godfather would also make sense for his grey mentality in the series. Plus I feel like we don't have enough magical characters, with Cerise, Farrah, and Raven being the few that come to mind.

6. It's not just about Raven--Something I liked about "Monster High" was that while Frankie started off as the main character (before she sadly became underrated), many other characters got the spotlight outside of her. Given that the EAH webseries was story-driven, they gave Raven the spotlight. But I'd like to focus on other characters who may be dealing wit the consequences of following/rejecting their destiny, as well as more people fighting with their "inborn" morality issues, similar to Raven fighting her evil urges.

[erinwantstowrite]

hi!! first off i just want to say i love LOF and i think it really stands out in this niche genre of “spiderman in gotham”, its my absolute favourite fic rn and im loving the long chapters and dynamics between characters :)

for my question, i wanted to know if you ever considered writing any portions of peters past. specifically when he was “Parker”, an informant for the avengers. it sounds like a really interesting story and i’d love to know more about it, no pressure tho ^^

thank you so much!! I do plan on writing more about it. I honestly want to do a prequel,,,

I have some of it written actually. It was called It's called "Technically Not a Lie (Just Omitting Information)" and what is hilarious about that is it's only 27,000 words right now. I haven't touched that fic in forever because I just... had all of the information written down and the planning, and I got into Batfam and was like "Let's just write a little about this" and we can all blame @alighterwood for where we are now LMFAOOO

Thing is, I never expected LoF to get so popular, which is why it was posted first. I was like "I'll just make sure as much as I can that LoF is clear about his past so anyone who isn't me can read it and be fine." And now that we're here, I'm like "...that might be important."

I think it would be fun to have a prequel so more people can see the dynamics of Peter's world from before LoF in a much clearer light.

I kind of wanna shed a little light on how this prequel would go:

He ran from his last foster house at 12 years old, and he's year years old in this fic. In that time, he has been determined to make a life for himself all on his own, as well as help people as Spider-Man. He has no idea that his personality made people trust him so much. He's only on the street for about a year by the time the story starts, but "Parker" is very much intertwined with people. People just know him, he's the kid that the other kids go to for help. Even without Spider-Man (who, at this point, has only just gotten a proper suit and people actually realize he's not a cryptid), Parker manages to help people.

That's why the Avengers end up talking to him. Kids are going missing in Queens and show up dead- but most of them are the homeless population. They think it has something to do with people trying to make a knock-off super solider serum, and during their investigation, everything comes back to "That Parker Guy." Not in a bad way- everything has nice things to say. One kid even says they'll only talk to them if Parker vouches for them.

Turns out, Parker is a 13 year old and a fucking genius. I mentioned in LoF chapter 1 about it a little bit, and here and there it was mentioned. Peter gives the Avengers a real run for their money the way he does for the Batfam. Except it's ten times worse because he hasn't gone to therapy and is on his own, yknow?

So Bucky and Steve run across Peter (who is doing his own investigation into the missing kids as both Parker and Spider-Man) and that conversation ends with Peter going "Look behind you!" and sprinting in the opposite direction.

Sam and Banner are the ones that really track Parker down and have the first contact with him, and from there, he becomes their informant. Of course, he's also lying to their faces. Swears that he has a mother waiting for him and that he's just really good friends with these people. And people have lied several times to their faces for Peter, going with the lie, which muddies the waters about what is and isn't the truth.

From there, the rest is history. Tony thought he was just viewing Peter like he was a puzzle to figure out, and is truly shaken to his core when he realizes how much he cares about the little shit. When Peter gets kidnapped by the people making the knock off serum, they go looking for him. And Peter ends up having a home :)

[toyota12]

Gravity Falls Parallels: Stanley and Stanford Pines

To start off, aside from the similar names, both these characters endured great hardships in the 30 years before the events of the show took place.

Similarities

Both of these characters more or less project their insecurities onto the younger Pines twins, are both insensitive to each others' each interests, and have a lot of pride about themselves as individuals. However, both also care deeply about the younger twins' safety, and are willing to show their more softer sides around them. Furthermore, while both primarily connect more with the younger twin who (on the surface level) identifies with them the most, they also deeply care about the other as well. In A Tale of Two Stans, both also omit important information in their stories, such as Stan, with being homeless and Ford, with his history with Bill. Both are also easily deceived by anyone who pretends to show them the slightest amount of affection or kinship (like Stan with Darlene and Ford with Bill), and finally both were social outcasts when they were younger.

Differences

Stanley

Stan is more emotional than Ford is and is thought to be both and idiot and screw-up by most, including his father. Though he puts on a facade of being emotionally distant, others can see through it very easily. He was also somewhat clingy with his twin brother, believing he couldn't make it without him and still holding onto the idea that they could eventually travel the world together, even after Ford showed interest in a school that valued his intellect. Due to these factors, and showing more concern with his plans for the future rather than thinking about Ford after he unintentionally costs Ford his dream college, Stan is disowned by the whole family for over 10 years, and is left unable to provide for himself, becoming a criminal in the process. However, this (and his history of lying and cheating) led to Stan becoming an excellent scam artist who had to create fake aliases for himself to sell his material to anyone gullible to buy from him. This also helped him not only sell his merchandise under Ford's name when the latter was accidentally pushed into the portal, but also hide Ford's portal and ward off suspicion it and the real Stanford's whereabouts for 30 years, which demonstrates a level of cunning on Stan's part. After seeing how his feud with Ford has endangered the younger Pines twins, he convinces Ford find an alternative way to defeat Bill without giving into the latter's demands, even if to save the kids. Both because he doesn’t trust Bill to keep his word to leave Dipper and Mabel alone and how he knows that giving into Bill's demands could put the whole world at risk, which helps him see things from Ford's perspective as well.

Stanford

Ford is more intellectually gifted than Stan, and was considered the favorite of the Stan twins by his father. In spite of being not being one to act on his emotions, Ford is more open about his than Stan is. Due to this he takes, pride in his accomplishments and immediately jumps on the offer to go to a highly prestigious college, not showing much concern in Stan beginning to feel left behind. He had also come to view his relationship with Stan as suffocating by this point. Because of this, when Stan unintentionally sabotages his science fair experiment (and admitedly shows little concern over this), he accuses Stan of doing so intentionally and doesn't protest to Stan being disowned by the whole family. Both because he was born with an extra finger and his high IQ, Ford began to think of himself as someone with a greater purpose, which in turn led him becoming incredibly arrogant. This is exploited by Bill, who tricks Ford into building a gateway for the former to enter through. Ford is later sucked into said portal after treating Stan like his errand boy who Ford expected to hide his first journal without protest, or considering Stan's feelings. This demonstrates how, much like Bill (although unintentionally) Ford viewed others as tools to further his own agenda. While still problematic in present day, he is becoming more considerate of others' feelings, allowing Stan to stay to tend to Dipper and Mabel, and expressing concern at the revelation that Mabel didn't take his apprenticeship offer to Dipper well. He fully grows willing to take his family into consideration after seeing how his feud with Stan has endangered the younger twins, working with Stan to save them and finally accepting how damaging his idea of being a lone hero is, realizing that Stan has to be the one to sacrifice his memories to put an end to Bill, and not him.

[cymk8]

shadowlach supremacy!! i love seeing people enjoying the idea of them as a pair more and more they’re just so sweet together and compliment each other so well!

you’re art of them is amazing btw my fave has to be shadowheart and karlach with clive the bear it’s just so 🥺

anyways! i wondered if you had any thoughts on what their relationship would be like in act 2? we know it’s a tough act for shadowheart, do you think angst would ensue? would there be tension because of karlach’s intrinsic goodness clashing with shar’s cruelty? would she be an emotional support for shads? what do you think? would love know!

Thank you so much :""""))) and yeah ! i love seeing more and more people liking it like YES finally i will soon not be alone in being absolutely feral about them (I hope...)

but for act 2..... (this is gonna be a READ)

I think that there definitely would be tension between them in the way you brought up! I also think it doesn't stop there: survival at all costs is something that they both prioritize - but how they achieve it and what survival means for either of them...(cont)

I find act 2 to be really interesting in that it forces all of the characters to sort of 'flip' their worldviews. In a lot of ways, it is the real beginning to the end of their lives as they know it. It's an absolute shitshow: everyone's got some form of emotional distress from earth-shattering revelations, everyone's got anxiety-inducing questions over their morality...now slap all of that on top of the constant danger of the inevitable unknown and the all-encompassing need to survive? Damn. I'd be more surprised if the party had more than one day of peace and quiet. The ground is made of eggshells and they are all as graceful as bowling balls.

For the two of them, it would probably all come to a head over how they each view honesty: Shadowheart sees it as something to be earned and Karlach sees it as something inherent (especially when it comes to being a component of survival).

If we look at it through Karlach's lens...

Karlach views honesty as the one thing that she was able to keep throughout her time in the hells. it was also the one thing that let her live - if she was honest about herself, her needs, and the situation around her, she could more readily adapt and survive. If we make it even simpler: demons and devils lie. So what do you do when you hate them? You tell the truth.

Shadowheart...can't even be honest about things to HERSELF. She is simply hard-coded to lie about everything for survival. (It's too bad she truly fucking sucks at lying besides lying by omission...and it's still not a skill she has - she omits because damn, girly doesn't even remember what she is omitting :') )

There is no way Karlach doesn't pick up on it immediately. After a decade of putting up with that...she would probably be down to the last straw in terms of tolerance. Even less so since she probably trusts Shadowheart by this point in the story. I mean. She probably already died once and got saved by her. You would think some honesty would be warranted.

But no. Shadowheart literally lies to herself *all the way to the end of the fucking act.* Girly...she's not doing well.

Shadowheart spends the majority of act 2 completely confused. The lies by omission finally bite her in the ass - both the lies she was taught and the lies that she tells herself. And the worst part is she resists and insists. These poor bitches are both so fucking stubborn it would only be a matter of time before someone's fuse blows.

(and then they do the nasty and it resolves -)

But they do still offer emotional support to each other, no matter how clipped. They fight because they care after all. And that's what matters.

[yrrtyrrtwhenihrrthrrt]

how does the 2022 movie shit on the novel?? (I love the 2022 movie and haven’t read the book)

Hiii so first off I wanna thank you for this ask from the bottom of my heart because this story is deeply important to me and I've been seething about it for two years straight and now I finally have an excuse to talk at length about the problem without sounding (completely) unhinged. I'd also like to clarify that I'm not mad at you or anyone else for liking this movie especially if you haven't read the book. I actually think that as a standalone film, it's pretty phenomenal. The acting, cinematography, and soundtrack are really on point. The problem isn't that it's a bad movie, it's that it's a bad and seemingly purposefully disrespectful adaptation.

So now I'll get into why (buckle up). As my followers know, War Movie Commentary is not typically the focus of this blog so uhhhh sorry y'all we'll be back to your regularly scheduled brainrot soon enough, but if any of you care deeply for literature or history or the history of war, or are familiar with this book or movie, I urge you to hear me out. Sorry, It's long. I kinda ran with it lmfao

So the first and most important thing to be aware of when discussing the disrespect of this adaptation is that, while it is not technically an explicit memoir, All Quiet on the Western Front is not a work of fiction. Everything that happens is based on something either the author or a soldier he interviewed really experienced. The main character is based on the author himself. Remarque's middle name was Paul before he changed it, he entered the German military at the same age as Paul, he had a passion for writing and poetry like Paul (a passion which if I recall correctly was omitted from the movie, but my memory may be off) and several of the things that Paul experiences are directly taken from his own life. While it is not explicitly a memoir, it is a collection of the real lived experiences of these soldiers, put to page in the form of a story with names changed. I think it is inherently disrespectful to dramatically change the events of a true story, but the way in which the 2022 movie went about it somehow took it further than just that.

So one thing you should know if you haven't read the book, which I HIGHLY recommend, Remarque wrote a preface to the book that was included in all the movies EXCEPT this one, and it states the exact purpose of the story. this is quoted from memory,

“This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who come face to face with it. It will simply seek to tell the story of a generation of men who, while they may have survived the shells, were destroyed by the war.”

He explicitly did not want it to be sensational, or “an adventure.” He wanted to tell real stories about real people, and all those stories were scrapped in favor of what we got. If you remove maybe two scenes and changed the title and character names, the film would not even be recognizable. How can you (not you the asker but the general you) do that to real people's lived experiences? How can you disgrace the author’s wishes like that? The book takes a humanistic approach. You learn about these people, you care about them. You spend time with them goofing off in boot camp, hassling newbies in the trenches, playing cards in the latrines, you see Paul go home and you see how his time at home affects him. How his father parades him around, how he lost interest in everything that once made him happy, how he sees Russian POWs and knows that they are just like him, how his mother, dying of cancer, strokes his hair and cries when she thinks he is asleep because she knows her baby has been lying when he said that things were fine, and he's going back into that hell.

I cannot go into everything the movie portrayed differently to the book because I would have to just copy and paste practically the entire script lol. And having differences isn't inherently a bad thing! Both other movies added or removed or slightly altered a scene here and there. But there are two specific scenes, at the beginning and at the end, that I think are the most indicative of this movie’s failure and disrespect.

In the beginning of the book, which is not told in chronological order, we are introduced to the main friend group and find out that their friend is dying in the infirmary. They visit him, they crack jokes and tell him he's lucky he'll be going home, but he's obviously not improving. He is unaware that his leg has been amputated. One of them asks for his boots, since he has nice military boots, for when he “goes home”, and the others kind of shut him up. Later they discuss how they all know Franz is dying. Paul reminisces about Franz, how he was always timid, how his mother made Paul promise to protect him. He goes to visit Franz again, and he's doing real bad. The author describes in detail how you can see the death in his face. He is now aware his leg was amputated. He wistfully tells Paul that he wanted to be a forester when he grew up, and now he never will. Paul tries to reassure him that “prosthetics are great these days!” (This was written in 1920 lmao) and insists Franz will go home. Franz asks “Do you think so?” And then when Paul remains insistent, he quietly replies, “I don't think so.” He tells Paul to give their friend his boots. Paul sits in silence with him, foreheads pressed together, watching as his friend slowly dies from infection. His internal monologue is distressed about the orderlies ignoring them. “I want to grab them and I want to scream, ‘his name is Franz Kemmerich, he is nineteen years old, he doesn't want to die, don't let him die!’” As he hits in silence until the end. All these characters are emphasized to be nineteen years old.

This is the most important scene in the book. It sets the tone for the whole rest of the story and happens very early on.

Meanwhile in the movie, an unnamed character who we vaguely see hanging around Paul gets instantly blown to shrapnel and his severed leg gets blown off and Paul finds it, cries for 8 seconds, and we move on.

So that's a pretty big failure, I would say. This was the point in the movie I started getting a real bad feeling.

So that's the beginning, now the ending which, while it is the insulting cherry on top of the disrespect pie, I cannot get over how absolutely ridiculous this film ending is. First of all, the whole bit with the military officials? Not in the book at all. That big end battle after the armistice for literally no reason? Yeah, that didn't happen. I don't know how the writers forgot that you cannot completely fabricate an entire battle in a film about an actual war that really happened. And what disgusted me was they have Paul die in a vicious killing spree, bashing heads in, storming the trench (in this fake battle that didn't happen) stabbing people, shooting people, strangling people, throwing bombs, going nuts, getting nearly DROWNED IN SHIT WATER. Need I remind you this was the self-insert of the author who they had doing this? I get what they were trying to to do, show how an innocent non-violent guy got “broken” by the war but that is not faithful to the story. It borders on fetishizing violence, which as previously mentioned was the exact OPPOSITE of what the author directly stated that he wanted his work to be perceived.

Paul did what he had to do, but he was never sadistic and never liked killing and certainly never went on a killing spree. Again, this is meant to represent the AUTHOR.

So how does he die in the book? It's where the title comes from. “He fell in October, 1918 on a day that was so quiet and still on the whole front, that the army report confined itself to a single sentence: All Quiet on the Western Front. Turning him over one saw that he could not have suffered long. His face bore an expression of calm, as though almost glad the end had come.”

Bit of a different picture, innit? Look, I don't mind movies being different to books, I don't particularly mind this movie as it stands on its own, but it chewed up, shat out, and stomped on Remarque's legacy and it absolutely devastates me to know how he would feel if he saw what they did to his story. The rage I feel on the behalf of a person who just wanted to tell his real story is unfathomable.

[pynkhues]

Am I the only person alive who would find it (darkly) hilarious if Armand did erase the rest of the 70s interview memory at Louis’ request? I think we can all agree Armand has taken a lot of liberties with the truth and he’s a pretty seasoned manipulator but I’m just so amused with the idea that that was one of the only times he was telling the truth (mostly because of how hard Daniel was rolling his eyes over it and because of how insane it sounds.) it’s got that same energy as that one co-worker who’s always causing trouble who you finally call out, only to find this was the one time they weren’t responsible.

On a similar note, because of how Louis is portrayed (ie with a spotty or unreliable memory at times) and how Armand is portrayed (lying, sometimes directly and sometimes by omission) how do you think about the bits of story we get from the two of them re authenticity? I see lots of takes that just…sweep anything complex or unsavory under the proverbial ‘blame Armand’ rug or the ‘Louis’ brain is Swiss-cheese’ blanket as opposed to examining each action and element of the story through the lens of where each character is coming from in that moment. (For example, I’ve seen plenty of folks question if Louis’ memories of lestat can be trusted at all or if it’s all just Armand’s tinkering to make him look bad and just…it’s a tv show. From a practical standpoint they literally cannot rip up everything they’ve shown you. Rehashing memories can only be done some of the time or the audience gets frustrated. And from a story perspective, can’t we take Louis at his word at least some of the time until shown otherwise?)

(Side note and ironic given my ask but I wish we had half as much discourse about Louis as a capitalist and his understanding of the commodification of experiential human things such as art as we do about whether all his memories are unreliable re his romantic relationships. Thank you so much for including the gallery scene in your fic.)

Hahah, I don't think you'd be alone in finding it darkly hilarious if Louis had asked Armand to take the memory away. Hell, the ambiguity of that scene works because it's believable that Louis would ask - Louis really pendulums between heavy handed repression and unrestrained self-indulgence, and it seems like a dam burst for him that night when it came to Lestat. His name had been unuttered in their home for 23 years! And given Armand can read his mind and could clearly sense thoughts of Lestat in Paris, I imagine he's not been deliberately not thought about too. And suddenly a night with Daniel and it's all he can say! All he can think about! The pressure he's placed on the box he keeps Lestat in has loosened just enough to let it all come out!

To know Armand tried to contact Lestat, to feel his own weakness, to know Lestat might know not just his mental state but his crumbling resolve in terms of the promise he made him in Magnus' tower - - it's not hard to see him asking for Armand's help in repressing it all again.

And in terms of their authenticity in the telling of their stories - - I think it varies! I think Armand definitely and deliberately finds the truth malleable, but that doesn't mean I think he lies about everything. Like you said, he tends to prefer to omit than outright lie - like omitting Gabrielle in his recounting of 1800s Paris or the truth about San Francisco, or, I'm sure we'll discover in s3, Lestat being in Paris in the 40s.

I actually don't think he would've tampered with Louis' memories of Lestat at all though - I don't think he would've needed to. Louis is a really punishing character and Lestat's a volatile one, I don't think it would be all that hard for Louis to focus on Lestat's worse behaviour, or to allow his memory to re-write certain events with the most bad faith interpretations of Lestat's actions, thoughts or words as a means to keep him at an emotional distance. Memories aren't facts, even when we want them to be, and I think for Louis they're as malleable when he needs them to be as the truth is for Armand.

The result is that they enable each other's untruths, I think, which goes to the facade of their relationship. Louis can try and mould his memories into something that justifies his choices, and Armand can mould the truth in a way that makes their love story something more than it is, but that doesn't mean that it's entirely lies or entirely inauthentic. It's a version of a story that they've enabled in one another to perform a happiness neither of them feels, but neither knows an alternative to because Louis' grief struck, traumatised and clinically depressed and Armand has been groomed by a monster, has undealt with trauma of his own and an incapacity to be alone.

So yeah, I think a lot of it is true, it's just not a whole truth.

[rubyvroom]

Some questions about "Tàr" (long, spoilers)

What really happens in the film, "Tàr"?

a. Nothing, silly. It's a movie.

b. Ha ha. Actually, within the confines of the reality within the movie, this is a pretty straightforward story of a world-famous conductor who abuses her power to take advantage of female musicians. In the course of the story, her long history of abusive behavior is revealed to the public and her life unravels, leaving her alone and having to start over her career from the bottom, hopefully having learned her lesson.

c. Same, only everything after she descends into the weird underground apartment complex and is menaced by a shadowy dog who chases her until she faceplants hard onto cement is not real, it's either a dream or a metaphor, because she's in a coma or dead. Other odd scenes before that are dream sequences following which we see Lydia wake up in bed, establishing that some of what we see are actually Lydia's dreams. The story, however, is straightforwardly following the path described above.

d. What we see in the movie is entirely real and following the course of B, but portrayed from a pov so deeply embedded in the protagonist's mind that critical details are distorted or omitted; moreover, the protagonist is experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations as a result of her guilt over the death of Krista.

e. The entire film is literally happening as described in B, however there are supernatural elements at work that make Tàr more of a horror genre piece than people are prepared to accept from a prestige film. Lydia is being haunted by the spirit of Krista, and it is this spirit that is making strange things happen around her. We have several direct sightings of this ghost, a red-headed woman seen in the audience at several points and in Lydia's home at night. Possibly Krista is the architect of Lydia's downfall.

f. This is possibly the least straightforward film I've seen in a decade or more; potentially none of what we see directly is literal.

2. What evidence from the film supports this explanation?

a. LOL.

b. We are not given any reasons to doubt that Lydia has been abusing her power, or that the women she has been abusing are lying. It seems to be an open secret that Lydia preys on beautiful young musicians, and even Lydia's wife knows very well about these affairs. It is, in fact, exactly how she ended up with Lydia in the first place, and how she continues to be the Concertmaster in her orchestras across the world. The other women, it is implied, are discarded when they are no longer interesting to or of use to Lydia, and this keeps her wife more or less satisfied and in place. When the press begins to put the pieces together after several leaks of information, leaks from people we have witnessed Lydia mistreating onscreen, Lydia's financial backers, her collaborators, and her orchestra can no longer ignore what she has been doing, and neither can her wife. Although it happens very quickly, it is reasonable that her downfall would follow under these conditions, especially given the suicide of one of her former conquests. The film depicts all of these events directly in a cinema verite-like style, unadorned, without even a soundtrack unless it is being played by a character onscreen, to emphasize the reality of events. The story is the story, it all literally happens.

c. However. The passage in the abandoned building differs stylistically from the rest of the movie and is filmed in the manner of a thriller, and everything depicted after that is heightened and sped up considerably from the more leisurely pace of the first hour. The bulk of Lydia's downfall occurs after this scene, and we start to feel at this point as though scenes are missing. Events are elided and described later offhandedly, where before they had been portrayed almost in real time. The hammer falls blow after blow to Lydia's life and career from this point onwards. Is this actually Lydia's fears we are seeing? Is it some kind of coma dream or afterlife, where she is being punished for her sins?

That abandoned building scene is also, let's all agree, weird as fuck. I mean what is that dog? It's a weird fucking dog? And is it actually chasing Lydia? She certainly thinks it is and she's running away from it like crazy, but after that first glimpse we don't actually see it chasing her. We certainly don't see it catch her after she falls, which it obviously would if it was actually biting at her heels. Lydia isn't bitten anywhere afterwards. Her injuries are from the fall on the concrete, which banged up her face and damaged her shoulder. The only explanation is that she imagined the dog and ran from her own panic, if this event occurred at all. Or is it her own guilt? She then frames the incident, consistently, as an attack on her by a man, one that coincides with an avalanche of accusations and abandonments that come one by one after this scene. Her face heals quite quickly, but her shoulder continues to bother her and a doctor diagnoses her with  “Notalgia paraesthetica", or a phantom itch that cannot be relieved. Is this trauma? Is the new vagueness of the timeline and her muffled reaction to events a result of trauma? Is it Lydia's guilt and paranoia that is coming up with this thorough dismantling of her own life and persona in some kind of fevre dream? This leads us to answer D:

d. Close point of view. Lydia is in every scene. Everything is as she perceives it to be. If something is strange, it is because her perceptions are unreliable.

Let's talk about Lydia. Who the fuck is Lydia Tàr? Lydia Tàr is convincingly brilliant. Her speeches are pretentious but also knowledgable, coherent: she's not actually an idiot like Miles Bron. She is genuinely passionate about her work, constantly engrossed in music, comparing everything she encounters to a song or a composer or a conductor of the past.*

We are put inside her head, perceiving things the way she does. We hear the odd snatches of music and sound that distract her, things no one else hears, and see her incorporate these bits and pieces into her music. We see dream images, faces, that send her bolting upright in bed. We see strange events that only she knows about but are definitely real, such as her sick neighbor who has to be helped back to bed in an emergency, naked, wasting away and incoherent. We later see that apartment come up for sale, and when the sellers come by and gently suggest she keep the noise down so she can sell the apartment, she has a fairly childish reaction. (But honestly this was the one bit where I actually liked Lydia in her terribleness; anyone who has had annoying neighbors will laugh big at her sudden loud accordion playing and atonal rendition of "APARTMENT FOR SALE!!!!") These anecdotes don't add to the story whatsoever, and are there to plant us further in the protagonist's mindset, fit us in her shoes a little bit more.

Lydia Tàr is abominably self-absorbed. The first indication of this that we directly witness is how she is stealing Sharon's medicine and popping pills while on the road, so much so that when she gets home, Sharon is in the middle of an attack (heart condition or panic? unclear) and has no pills left to take. Much later in the film, when everything has fallen apart, Sharon is the most upset by the fact that Lydia didn't warn her about the legal case or the depositions or the newspaper stories, she was left in the dark to be blindsided by them. Lydia's response? Sharon couldn't have done anything to help. So why tell her? This seems a completely reasonable response to Lydia. Causing Sharon distress does not seem to register to her at all.

A lot of things don't register to Lydia at all. Small time-skips are so common in film that you tend not to notice them, but they are particularly noticable here. Scene to scene it is suddenly days later, weeks later, and dialogue makes certain that we know this. Lydia mentions events that are extremely relevant to the story, but we didn't know have already happened offscreen. Yet we see her visit to the doctor, her session with the beautiful cellist, instead. We see what is important to her, and don't see what is not. This, I would argue, is what lends the film a sense of surreality when the style of filmmaking is otherwise so realistic.

The audience is unsurprised when her assistant Francesca abandons her, this was inevitable from the very first scene of the film. She is an old lover, a previous round of the cycle who found a niche in Lydia's life to occupy, and is being strung along with the promise of an assistant position that is obviously never going to be offered. To her face, she dangles the possibility of that position coming to her immediately, in order to get her to do what she needs her to do: delete all evidence of her relationship with Krista. Afterwards, she gives the position to someone else instead, and even tasks her with some of the arrangements. It would be more shocking if she didn't abandon Lydia at that point, after such a blatant slap in the face. Still, the film treats this as a revelation, because Lydia for whatever reason does not see this coming even though she really, really should have.

In fact, a lot of Lydia's actions are so thuddingly obviously going to blow up in her face that you have to wonder if she is more self-destructing than being taken down from outside. Her continued pursuit of the cellist when the whole organization seems to be aware of it and she's already in trouble for Krista, for instance.

So we come to the strange little scenes where Lydia is hearing a sound, and can't find where it is coming from. These range from innocuous (a high-pitched tone in her apartment) to threatening (a woman's terrified screams in the park where she is jogging). In all cases she searches for the sound. In only one case does she uncover it, but that only makes it more inexplicable -- the metronome has started ticking, despite being put away and with no one in the room to turn it on. She questions her daughter about playing in her study, but the daughter does not seem to know anything about it.

We get glimpses of a red-haired woman -- first right at the beginning of the film, and later in Lydia's home. When her daughter wakes up and calls out her name, Lydia goes to her room sleepily and on the way she passes a figure in the darkness who appears to be the same red-headed woman. The woman is not literally there, but she is on Lydia's mind. We learn at a certain point that this is at least a reference to Krista, the woman who committed suicide after Lydia sabotaged her career.

Why is the only thing the audience sees that Lydia couldn't possibly see is Francesca's text messages? This is a break in the POV that doesn't work if we're watching in real-time, but if this is Lydia looking backwards somehow, she could easily intuit what Francesca was thinking at the time. If Lydia is capable of imagining anyone else's interior life. (Does Lydia have a conscience? Essay question.)

e. The supernatural interpretation is self-explanatory given the glimpses of the red-headed woman. Lydia's life really unravels after Krista's death, and perhaps there is a kind of haunting taking place that explains the weird noises and the metronome. But given that, let's mention how far-fetched some of the events of the last passage of this film are.

The viral video, edited together to make Lydia say things she didn't in a way that seems plausible at first. But how was this video filmed? None of the students in the class are shown using their phones during the encounter in question. The multiple perspectives imply that there have to be 5 or 6 people recording, but we see none of them. Lydia forbids use of cell phones in her class. How was this video made?

Lydia tackling Mark Strong at the podium. How did Lydia get backstage? Why do none of the players react to her presence, as someone who has been fired from the orchestra and very much should not be there? Why doesn't the trumpet player who is standing right next to her not see her? Why doesn't anyone try to stop her until it's too late? And how did Mark Strong get ahold of her copy of the score, which went missing from Lydia's own house?

And so on and so on. Are these mistakes? By a film so meticulously grounded and realistic in the portrayal of the life of a classical musician? Is this the spirit of Krista interfering somehow to make absolutely sure Lydia loses absolutely everything? Or is something else happening?

edit: I'm going to add this very good essay from the perspective of a classical musician that reinforces the unreality of these choices. She feels that the film is bungling an attempt at realism; I want to discuss the possibility that the film isn't attempting realism at all.

f. We accept that cinema verite means realism. We accept this because we have been trained to over the course of decades. The hallmarks of a documentary style** including lack of soundtrack, long and static shots, conversations that meander, scenes that drag, conjure in our minds a sense that we are witnessing something directly. The one exception to this is the horror genre, where all of these same stylistic choices (plus a lot of hand-held camera) in a found-footage film are used to jolt the audience into accepting supernatural events, generating fear from the intrusion of unreality into reality. This is also one possible definition of the surreal.

How many more events in this film signify that none of this is happening at all? Let's take the scene at the end of the film where Lydia Tàr goes home, surprisingly, to Staten Island. There we see evidence of a family who were not present at all in Lydia's home or life to this point, yet who have followed her accomplishments closely. We see a man who is possibly her brother. He states that "Ma" talked to Lydia and warned him she would be coming home (we did not see this conversation). He calls Lydia "Linda". He suggests that her manner of speaking in the rest of the movie is an affectation, and her response to him drops a little bit of this affected speech, which appears to confirm this. All this adds a little more backstory that tells us of a hometown girl hitting it big and never looking back, right?

But there is one more lie revealed here. Lydia pulls out a videotape of Leonard Bernstein, an obviously much-loved and much-watched tape of one of his educational concerts. In it he says a number of things that Lydia has repeated throughout the movie, which she seems to have lifted from this videotape.

Now remember the long interview at the beginning of the film, where Lydia/Linda claimed to have been a protégé of Leonard Bernstein who studied under him directly. This isn't true! It's demonstrably not true, and director Todd Field confirms this in interviews which means it's an important detail. Leonard Bernstein died in 1990, and this movie takes place after the pandemic (it's mentioned several times), and this mentoring relationship is temporally unlikely. Yet nobody questioned it. It should be easy to confirm that it isn't true, with records and with common sense. Does this mean the entire classical music world was deceived into elevating this woman on one easily disproven lie? How much more of her resume is false? Her unlikely stories of ethnographic fieldwork, deliberately described in detail and interwoven with her intellectual posturings, could she have simply read all these details in a book? But why? And wouldn't a journalist have picked up on any and all of these lies years before, for the most famous conductor in the world?

How much more of what she says in that interview with Adam Gopnik from the New Yorker, the real Adam Gopnik from the real New Yorker, is a complete fabrication? How about when she talks to Alec Baldwin's real podcast? Or gets tailored clothes from the real designer Egon Brandstetter, who really designed the real suits that Lydia Tàr, I mean Cate Blanchett, wears in the movie? Do these details make the movie more real, or more unreal?

How about that name, Lydia Tàr? She chose a more exotic name than Linda, we are to believe. How bout that accent mark? The accent mark that does not affect the pronounciation and is apparently just there for decoration? That accent mark on Tàr makes no fucking sense and I have always thought this from the first time I saw a promo for the movie and imagine my delight that this is on purpose! And yet nobody else, including her wife, ever refer to her as Linda, even when the tabloids are tearing her life apart? Do you think the New York Post wouldn't revel in the headline that Lydia Tàr is actually Linda Tarr from Staten Island?

What I'm saying is that all of this is unreal. It's Goncharov all the way down, kids. Tàr hashtag unreality.

What does that mean about the film Tàr? If none of what we see is plausible, does that mean the film is inaccurate and a bad movie? If the film contradicts itself on purpose, why would it do that? Does it mean the film is a daydream by a girl on Staten Island, or by a dying woman in an apartment who has to be picked up off the floor and put back in her wheelchair? Should we think of it as Lynchian, a kind of cousin to Mullholland Drive, where any reality being portrayed is not shown onscreen directly, ever?

Is it not a coherent story at all, but something else?

3. What else can a film be, besides a story?

a. A diary

b. A dream

c. A metaphor

d. A confession

e. A suicide note

f. A last will and testament

4. What is surrealism?

a) a 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images.

b) marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream

c) when stuff looks crazy and weird

5. No really, what literally happens in the film Tàr?

a. A woman gets canceled.

b. The past and the present converge—the flip sides of the same cosmic coin.

c. teshuvah: “the Talmudic power to reach back in time and transform one’s past deeds.”

d. Nothing. It's a movie.

*There's a useful phrase-- conductor of the past. Her right hand controls time. Can it speed up time? Can it slow time down? Could it even reverse the flow of time?

**Documentaries, of course, are also not necessarily the truth. They are manipulated, edited, staged. Details are selected and omitted. And, of course, the people in them can lie.

[gavroche-le-moineau]

So I found the Graded French Reader version of Les Mis I read in high school and I am sniggering at their portrayal of Marius. They omitted Les Amis as named characters so Marius is the de facto leader and hero of the story.

"The most ardent of the group was a young student called Marius Pontmercy. He only thought about one thing: politics. He only had one idea: to fight for freedom." "When Marius' friends saw him [arrive at the barricade], they surrounded him. Finally! The most ardent of their group had come to join them. Everything was going well."

Meanwhile brick Marius, lying fully clothed on his bed in a pit of despair over the love of his life while his politically active friends head out to the inciting event for the insurrection: Lamarque who?

In all seriousness though, I understand why they omitted many characters and made Marius more central (for this section of the story) in a simplified version. The way they describe the student group Marius is a part of, though, is... interesting:

"One group of young men was more violent than the others. The students that were a part of it went every evening to a restaurant in the Quartier Latin; there, they discussed the political questions of the day for hours. These young men were ready to fight immediately, but the moment had not yet come."

I can't tell if this is just kind of... poorly done simplification or if there's a bit of a political bent to this retelling. Here's a picture of the simplified French in case anyone wants to see it.

[makethosenarratorsfight]

UNRELIABLE NARRATORS; SIDE B

Hamlet Propaganda:

Have you seen the man. Is he clinically insane or just putting on an antic disposition. Is the ghost real

Kim Dokja Propaganda:

I haven't read orv but he's fucking gotta be from what I've osmosised

He tries to remove his emotions out of the narrative soooo much, literally the most repressed guy ever. Okay so for context orv is about how this guy, Kim Dokja, has been the only reader of an obscure post-apocalyptic webnovel for years and the novel suddenly becomes reality. And at first you'll probably get the weird impression that his behavior is pretty strange for, you know, a literal apocalypse happening in his world - like yes, he is concerned with survival but he doesn't seem all that scared and he kinda treats it like a video game where he has to grind to make himself stronger and he also treats his companions like a party in an rpg. Then there's also the way he approaches the protagonist of the webnovel, from the start he just kind of describes him as a ruthless psychopath and jerk that is unfortunately a pretty useful ally. And also there's the fact that he carefully omits any mention of his past and when somebody asks if he's worried about his family when the apocalypse starts he just kinda... brushes it off? Anyway so yeah, this bastard is definitely traumatized, although I don't know how much of spoiler territory that would be, considering the fact that literally when he first reveals his trauma he's also unreliable about it. And turns out he does indeed, care A LOT about this world and the people around him. Because well, he kinda didn't care to mention that this webnovel that has become reality was like... literally his whole world before it literally became his whole world. Like, it was the only thing keeping him going for 10+ years and the protagonist that he likes to call a stupid jerk was his comfort character who he pretended to be when he felt like he couldn't handle something in his life by being himself. The protagonist is also canonically the person he loves the most according to a prophecy and he literally can't fathom the thought of him dying, even the timeline versions of him that directly oppose him. And I haven't even mentioned the Fourth Wall yet but I feel like this propaganda is a little long already

misreading the intentions of his companion (yoo joonghyuk) so many time.

YOU DON'T UNDERSTANDDD DOKJA IS SUCH A UNRELIABLE NARRATORRRRRR GOD I COULD WRITE AN ESSAY BUT I KNOW YOU LOVE DOKJA TOO BUT OMG HE'S JUST SO AAAAAAAAAAAH

Rest of Propaganda under cut!

he is the worst like actually. he starts the story talking about how normal and average he is. he is not. he is constantly mischaracterizing his friends and he's so good at lying to the readers that you don't even realize it at first. almost every single time he cries we have to be told by other characters because he never says it himself. there is literally a scene where his narration says "i wasn't crying" and then the in-universe entity that narrates the actions of people (orv is really weird and meta) says that he was, in fact, crying. honestly genuinely anything he says about himself (or doesn't say) cannot be trusted. he is just so frustrating. he drives me mad. i love him dearly. but he drives me so mad.

Dictionary definition of unreliable narrator. Does not tell the reader anything and then things happen and he's like oh yeah btw there was also this and this earlier but i just didn't feel like mentioning it. There's even a thing called the "Fourth Wall" that is able to see through kdj's bs so occasionally you get gems like,

Kim Dokja: I didn't cry

The Fourth Wall: [Kim Dokja was crying]

Imagine being so unreliable as a narrator you need a more powerful narrator to call out the actual narrator.

^ same submission, just spacing it out

This goes into spoiler territory, but; Kim Dokja is in possession of a skill called the Fourth Wall, which on the surface seems like it appears because he read the book that reverse-isekai’d into his own. However, as the story goes on it becomes clear that it’s pretty much a souped up version of his pre-existing dissociation. You cannot trust him to be honest about his feelings, his past traumas or his feelings about his past traumas, not to mention his tendency to just outright omit information that only gets revealed later on either when it becomes relevant or when an outsider POV reveals what’s actually happening.

Exhibit A: he says (in 1st person POV) that he’s not crying. The Fourth Wall immediately contradicts this (as it is literally words of the novel) by saying (in 3rd person POV) ‘Kim Dokja was crying’.

Exhibit B: Fails to mention entire actions when it shows him emotionally honest even in the slightest; we had to read from another character entirely when Kim Dokja was being physically affectionate with his companion. It’s so bad that there’s this entire paragraph about Kim Dokja describing himself hiding his eyes in his hands in jerky, weirdly specific detail and just AVOIDING EVERY WORD THAT MIGHT SHOW HE’S CRYING. The brilliance of ORV is that when you re-read the entire thing you get hints that ‘yes, this WAS hinted at the entire time’ but you have to dig it out of Kim Dokja’s repressed, depressed self-hating internal dialogue with your own two hands.

^ same submission, spacing it out (i really should've done this earlier.)

i am a simple man (not a man). i see a tumblr text post with the words “unreliable narrator in it”. i read nothing else. i reblog & tag #kim dokja okay but in all seriousness i’m just going with the musty basic example: so there’s this moment where he sacrifices himself to save this guy. as he lays on the ground bleeding out, he says “hey, you don’t like me, right? you should kill me to get some money” the guy says “no kim dokja i cant do that (going through the five stages of grief except there’s only one and it’s anger)” the constellations (twitch viewers irl) are like omg he (the guy) doesn’t want to kill his companion (kim dokja) and shower him (the guy) with money kim dokja: oh, he’s not killing me for the money. smart!

as i quote a brilliant youtube video (all of omniscient reader’s viewpoint in 6 minutes) “yoo joonghyuk sees kim dokja as a c_____”

yoo joonghyuk: companion

kim dokja: cunt

^ same submission, once again. spacing it out.

Hides his true feelings, tells the readers what he thinks is convenient for the plot and that his own personal feelings don’t matter or are not so significant. Has unreliable thoughts abt his companion and is a liar. And is also an omniscient reader.

Kim Dokja always perceived his companions in this like nonchalant way like “oh yeah we get along but really we’re just fighting to survive (apocalypse setting) it doesn’t run that deep” when they all do genuinely care for him and he does in turn. He just, doesn’t think of it as an equal relationship? Dokja’ll sacrifice a lot for them but will get seriously flabbergasted if they do the same thing, so fricking problematic. Not to mention Yoo Joonghyuk, his “Life and Death Companion” (read: husband). Kim Dokja always seems to think that Joonghyuk has it out for him, which is kinda true, but he is literally blind to the fact that he’s attached to him. Like, it’s so obvious??? Also they have hella sexual tension but that’s another thing entirely

se get some many pov changes where kdj in his pov just assumed things based on what he knew the characters would do. however because of his interference the characters have changed and he wouldn’t know that if it hit him in the face

He's an unreliable narrator because he lies to himself and thus the audience. He literally rewrote his own childhood core memory. If someone says, "this guy is my friend!" He will go through so many hoola hoops in his mind just to rationalize it. Because he fundamentally believe that no one could love him and even if they did they couldn't know him and he's just gonna hurt them. He cries sometimes in canon but a lot of those times it's not even mentioned as crying he's that unreliable of a narrator. No joke, one time this guys he has a gay thing with called him his "companion" to someone who had just killed him (long story) and this bitch thought "oh wow he's doing it for the coins (another long story) he's so smart i wish I'd thought to that. He's terrible. He literally has an exchange with something called the Fourth Wall (an even longer story) where it said "you're crying" and he said "no I'm not" but he was crying. He makes me insane because the reader is supposed to project onto him. He made me see how much of an unreliable narrator I WAS. ORV is just like that tho.