#fandom: the dark tower (film)

[david-talks-sw]

How the narrative framed Mace Windu, back in 2002

So there's this 2002 book written by Marcus Hearn, edited by J.W. Rinzler, titled Attack of the Clones - The Illustrated Companion. It was released a month before Episode II was released.

AKA, before EU material and anti-Jedi fanon could publicly reframe the meanings of the film... and before more recent narratives could reinterpret the character of Mace as a robotic, protocol-worshipping stickler who never bends the rules (when evidence shows he's anything but).

So how does Marcus Hearn - "untainted" by all the above factors, armed only with the Prequel films and their screenplays - frame the character of Mace Windu?

MACE & ANAKIN

Fandom: "Mace hated Anakin from Day #1 and never trusted him. Mace was probably jealous as he always thought he was the Chosen One, not Anakin!"

Attack of the Clones' - The Illustrated Companion:

"Jedi Masters Yoda and Mace Windu lead the High Council in rejecting Qui-Gon's application to train Anakin, 'He is too old,' concludes Mace Windu. 'There is already too much anger in him.'

Hearn explains that the problem with Anakin wasn't that he was just too old, it's that because of that age he had become too filled with fear and anger to a point where taking on the Jedi training would be twice as hard for him as it already was for everyone else.

Hearn doesn't chastise Mace for this initial decision. On the contrary, he adds more context to it by using a line from the screenplay to explain where Mace is coming from.

He also goes further into Mace's view of Anakin throughout the book:

"[Mace] over-estimates Anakin Skywalker, paying little credence to Obi-Wan's protestations that the boy is too confused and disturbed to be dispatched on a solo mission."

"The Jedi Council is aware of Anakin's exceptional skills, and Mace Windu believes Anakin may fulfill the prophecy that says a being will one day bring balance to the Force. But Anakin still has a lot to learn…"

He's basically stating that Mace believes in Anakin, but that doing so is a mistake. Which, to be fair, considering how things turn out for Mace and the Jedi... is kinda true!

Mace's problem with Anakin is almost the opposite of what most of the fandom projects onto him.

It's not that he dislikes Anakin, on the contrary, he holds Anakin in too high of an esteem and is overlooking Anakin's glaring flaws because "hey, Anakin's the Chosen One. He's got this!"

That's not the only flaw Mace has, according to Hearn.

MACE'S (and the Jedi's) ONLY REAL FLAW

Fandom: "Mace and the Jedi had become too emotionally detached, they had lost touch with the common folk by spending too much time in their ivory tower. They focused so much on being selfless that they forgot how to care, they've become a bunch of elitist, righteous sticklers for protocol who care more about upholding laws than actually helping the people those laws are meant to protect!"

Attack of the Clones' - The Illustrated Companion:

"Although he is a senior member of the Jedi Council, little in Mace Windu's experience has prepared him for the looming threats of the dark side of the Force and Count Dooku's Separatists."

"Mace Windu's faith in the Jedi to protect the Republic is admirable, but it also blinds him to the true scale of the growing menace. He is aware that the dark side is growing, but still allows himself to be too easily reassured about the Separatists' ambitions. [...] Mace fatally misjudges Count Dooku, refusing to believe he could be behind any attempt on Senator Amidala's life. 'Dooku was once a ledi, he tells Padmé. 'He couldn't assassinate anyone. It's not in his character.'"

"Mace Windu's strengths are, in many ways, qualities shared by the Jedi Order as a whole - he is an accomplished diplomat and a fine swordsman. Such skills have served the Jedi well in their role as the galaxy's peacekeepers for a thousand generations. But such skills are not enough to save the Jedi from their own complacency, and the tumultuous changes that threaten to wipe them out forever."

Hearn perfectly grasps what the Jedi's only real flaw is, in George Lucas' intended narrative: they were unprepared, complacent, they were blind... and now they're stuck playing catch-up.

But when he's saying that, he's not blaming them for it. Because this flaw doesn't derive from some sense of elitism or superiority... it is an inevitable consequence of their qualities.

They've managed to stay out of politics as neutral diplomats... ... but that makes them vulnerable to the Sith's plot, which primarily takes place within the political arena, where they have no control or experience.

They are painfully aware of the corruption in the Senate... ... but as a result, they're too quick to trust the Separatist's talking points as well-meaning and genuine, instead of seeing the movement for what it really is: greedy big business trying to become the government.

They trust and agree with Dooku, believe in what he publicly stands for (after all this man used to be one of the wisest and kindest members of the Jedi Order, Mace's friend, Yoda's Padawan, etc)... ... but as such, they are blind to his true nature, that of a treacherous Sith who'd stoop to orchestrating assassinations.

The Jedi have their guard up, knowing that there's another Sith Lord still out there, orchestrating in the shadows... ... but they can't really find him, because the Dark Side has clouded everything, so only darksiders are able to sense the possibilities of the future! Them serving the good side is screwing them over, in this situation.

Flaws such as being too trusting or being unprepared, letting your guard down because you've established a 1000-year-peace, are flaws that kind, noble characters such as the Jedi are bound to have.

They may be flaws, but they aren't faults. And considering the way he describes Mace and the Jedi, it's clear Hearn grasps the nuance.

MACE'S RELUCTANCE TO JOIN THE WAR

Fandom: The Jedi joined the war out of arrogance, they thought they could swashbuckle their way through the problem and win, instead they didn't realize that they lost the very moment they joined.

Attack of the Clones' - The Illustrated Companion:

"Mace Windu believes in the Jedi as keepers of the peace - not as soldiers - but there comes a point when he reluctantly realizes that it is time to take affairs out of the realm of diplomacy."

Mace and the Jedi didn't want to start a war. If you read the script for Attack of the Clones, Mace and Bail keep grasping at straws to not engage with the Separatists up til the very end.

But when you consider that...

the Geonosians are about to execute Obi-Wan without a trial,

and the Separatists leaders have been unmasked as a coalition of unscrupulous corporate assholes who are willing to plunge the galaxy in chaos just to make more money.

... at some point, the Jedi have to come to terms with the fact that Separatist leadership (and Sidious) won't accept diplomacy because they want a conflict. A conflict will make them all richer. And the Republic, well, they're just dying to go to war too.

So the Jedi go save Obi-Wan and capture Dooku, hoping that in doing so, the conflict ends before it begins. They succeed in the former goal... but fail the latter one.

The Clone War has begun.

From there on, the Jedi are drafted to lead the war. Which is why - as Hearn points out - Mace was so reluctant to take action in the first place. The Jedi are ambassadors, they are not built for war... and now they've been forced into one.

Mace is by no means a perfect character... but he's someone doing his best. Just like Obi-Wan, just like Yoda, and all the other Jedi.

Overtime, Windu's character has been dumbed down to either "that one angry black man" or "the dogmatic emotionless dick who hated Anakin"... and I really think that that's not what we were meant to see him as.

The way Marcus Hearn (who also wrote The Cinema of George Lucas) refers to him is a much more charitable interpretation of how others (ahem Filoni ahem) do, nowadays.

[cantstoptheimagines]

On Display (Finnick Odair, Peeta Mellark | The Hunger Games)

Summary — The pollen of a strange flower leaves Peeta and Finnick in a haze. As a result, you’re used before the eyes of Panem.

Warnings and Other Tags ➳ Smut (threesome; sex pollen; oral (female receiving, brief male receiving); penetration (vaginal, anal); double penetration (vaginal, one vaginal and one anal); object insertion (anal); public sex and exhibitionism since they’re being filmed in the arena; breeding kink; spanking; bondage (Reader gets tied up with a vine); brief primal and hunter-prey king; brief knife play; potentially free use; slight spit kink; tons of cum).

Notes ➳ Word Count is 4,190. ➳ Reader uses feminine pronouns (she/her). I envisioned the Reader as being from District 5, but I don’t remember if I actually mentioned that or not.

FAQ | Masterlist | Fandoms | Requests | Coming Soon | Schedule  

Peeta and Finnick were anything but quiet as they followed you through the thick, green foliage of the arena’s jungle. Katniss had sent the three of you to ‘find more food’, but you were convinced that she only wanted rid of the two young men who trailed behind you.

Understandably so, in your opinion. They were loud and Katniss needed time to herself, two things that did not coincide. Still, you wished you had gotten Johanna as a partner, but she had disappeared with Beetee in the blink of an eye.

Behind you, Finnick twirled his trident with a confident grin as he and Peeta spoke to one another. He was a show-off, dramatically swinging the weapon until one of your ankles began to sting from a strike of cold metal.

You groaned, nearly toppling over in pain from the hit. Finnick didn’t even bother to look apologetic as he received glares from both you and Peeta.

“Sorry,” he chuckled halfheartedly.

“Would you stop messing around?” you rolled your eyes. “You two are gonna scare off every animal within earshot. It’s no wonder we haven’t found anything to hunt yet.”

While Peeta conceded to your request, Finnick decided to give his trident another whirl, “Sweetheart, you need to—”

A sudden wave of golden specks burst into the air, sending both men into coughing fits. You looked down to find that the sharp prongs of the trident had pierced the center of a rather large flower and couldn’t help but laugh at Finnick’s mistake.

It was bright purple at its torn center, which continued to spread the golden dust throughout the air. Red petals sprouted from all sides while thick vines anchored it to the ground. It was unlike any flower you had ever seen before.

You chuckled, examining it for a few seconds longer before your attention returned to the two men. Expecting to see embarrassment and annoyance radiating from Finnick and Peeta respectively, you were met with something else instead.

Their eyes had gone dark, pupils blown so wide that their colored irises almost disappeared. They both glowered at you, chests rising and falling heavily, almost as though they were struggling to breathe.

Your heart suddenly began to race when you felt the air shift. The tension between the three of you could be cut with a knife if it had to be.

Fear coursed through your veins as Finnick’s grip tightened around his trident and Peeta slowly pulled out a sharp knife. One step forward from each sent you bolting into the jungle.

Heavy footsteps followed. You didn’t even bother to look back, running blindly through the foliage. Your heart pounded uncontrollably as you did your best to escape. The sudden turn in your allies left you startled.

But nothing could compare to the fear that filled your stomach when a hand yanked at the collar of your wetsuit. Back hitting the ground, the wind was knocked out of you.

Both Peeta and Finnick towered over you with dark eyes. They admired the way you gasped for any semblance of air as tears welled up in your eyes.

Finnick tossed his trident aside, pulling you up by the front of your wetsuit with a grin. Everything went by so fast — the feeling of being forced back against Peeta’s chest, his knife to your throat, so Finnick could pull the zipper.

Your eyes widened when he exposed your skin. He tugged at the wetsuit until it pooled at your ankles and you’re made to step out of its confines. He wasted no time, immediately indulging himself. He palmed at one of your breasts while wrapping his lips around the other.

“Wait—! Ah! Finnick!”

Behind you, Peeta groaned, still holding his knife to your throat. Heavy pants rebounded off your shoulder as his free hand wrapped around your body to pin your wrists against your stomach. A thick bulge pressed itself against your ass, but you could do nothing to stop it.

You cried out as Finnick kissed, licked, and sucked your nipples. An occasional slap sent shockwaves down your spine.

You were still in a state of surprise, tears breaking through and streaming down your cheeks as you tried to comprehend what was happening.

Finnick stopped, but only for a moment. He ripped up a thick vine and tied it around your wrists, giving Peeta a bit more freedom to touch you.

Finnick returned his focus to your aching breasts while Peeta’s hand, no longer needing to contain your wrists, began to explore your available flesh.

He journeyed down your warm body until he found what he was searching for. His fingers suddenly pinched your clit and ran over your folds.

“Peeta,” you whimpered, unable to even think anymore, completely at the mercy of both men.

He shushed you, pressing the blade of his knife flush against your throat in order to remind you of your place, “Be quiet. We’re just gonna use you for a bit. You’ll have fun too, don’t worry.”

You gasped when one of Finnick’s hands moved behind you to grope your ass. He then took it a step further, running his fingers between your cheeks in order to tease your puckered hole.

“Soon,” he muttered, kissing a trail down to your pelvis. “Want to eat your pretty pussy first though.”

He spread your thighs apart, nudging Peeta’s hand away with his nose. He took a deep whiff of your pussy before kissing your clit.

No more time is wasted. Finnick’s tongue lapped at you and he moaned at your taste. You didn’t expect any of this, but you couldn’t stop pleasure from swelling within your stomach. And the thought that some of the flower’s pollen had possibly affected you as well crossed your mind for a brief moment.

“Finnick!” you moaned. “Please, need time! Let me think!”

Peeta busied himself with marking your neck in dark bruises, using his lips and teeth to damage your warm skin, “Cunts don’t need to think. Only need to open up for us to fuck nice and deep. And that’s what you’re gonna do.”

Finnick’s nose, pressed into your slick, took in your wet scent as his tongue continued to taste your pussy. It’s shoved as deep as it can go within you, hungrily lapping at your inner walls.

He pulled away with his face covered in your sloppy essence, and grinned up at Peeta, “You need to taste this. It’s fucking good.”

Peeta quickly tossed his knife onto the ground, deeming it unnecessary. He was far too eager to try you out for himself.

Finnick rises to his feet while Peeta sinks to his knees. You’re traded between them like an object, now chest-to-chest with Finnick, who wraps his arms tightly around your body. He palms at your ass and spreads you open with a chuckle.

Meanwhile, behind you, Peeta almost thanks Finnick, who, by spreading you, provided him with a full view of both your holes.

Peeta dives in and your mouth falls open in surprise. He was much more desperate than Finnick, exploring both your pussy and your tight asshole without a second thought.

He tongues and slurps at your pussy like it’s an oasis, nails digging into the flesh of your thighs to keep you still. You’ve turned into a moaning, squealing mess and every bit of it leaves Finnick laughing in sick amusement. He even began grinding your hips down onto Peeta’s face, who happily took the extra weight in stride.

Everything is so overwhelming that you almost missed the quiet whirl of a camera. You spot the glint of a lens seated in the bark of a tree, steadily zooming in on the three of you.

“They—! Ugh!” you gasped. “They can see us! Hold on, they’re watching! Wait, wait!”

“Let ‘em watch,” scoffed Finnick. “We’re not giving up a pussy we just caught!”

You go to respond, only to interrupt yourself with a moan. Peeta had shoved two fingers into your pussy, stroking your wet walls at an indescribable pace. He continued tasting you without a care in the world, moaning at the delicious tang of your entrance.

“Gonna fuck this hole so full,” groaned Peeta, still slurping and licking and tasting your slick. His words were muffled against your twitching clit. “Gonna breed you so many times. Over and over until your pussy is out of room and can’t take anymore. Then we’ll start filling your ass just the same.”

“Tastes good, doesn’t it?” asked Finnick, and then he wrapped a hand around your throat with a grin. “Better than any meal the Capitol has ever given me.”

“So good,” said Peeta, voice muffled by your leaking pussy. “Wanna fuck it.”

“Get up then,” replied Finnick, “so we can start filling it up.”

Peeta groaned again, “You go first. Wanna eat her ass for a bit. Gotta open it up anyway.”

Finnick’s wetsuit is shoved down to his ankles in mere seconds, exposing his hard, throbbing length. He lifted you into his arms without any effort and wrapped your legs around his waist. His cock is then pushed inside your dripping entrance just as Peeta’s fingers are removed, leaving you to shriek and squeal against him as he rocks you on and off his aching length.

Beneath your hovering body, which is held firmly in place by Finnick’s strong hold, Peeta took his chance. He palmed at your ass and spread you from below, dedicating himself to tasting and fingering your tightest hole in order to work you open.

With a harsh slap to your skin, Peeta groaned, “Gonna be hard to fuck this ass. It’s so resistant.”

“Not the hole we need to cum inside anyway,” huffed Finnick, before he swallowed your gasps with heavy kisses.

“Would still be fun to try out,” laughed Peeta as he pushed a thumb inside, resulting in another gasp falling from your lips. “Bet it’s never been used before.”

Panting into your neck, Finnick replied, “Do what you want. My cum is going in this pussy for now.”

Peeta nodded and then, before you knew it, his tongue was worming its way inside your ass. His nails formed crescents in the flesh of your cheeks as he indulged himself.

The intensity of it all left you shaking and moaning uncontrollably. Your eyes fluttered as your gaze tried to avoid the whirling lens of the camera that continued to zoom in on your sweaty figure.

You could only imagine the expression on Caesar Flickerman’s face. One of both horror and excitement for how this would change his show’s ratings. Two tributes using the body of a third for their personal pleasure had probably become Panem’s biggest scandal within a few minutes.

“Fuck! Ugh!” grunted Finnick, still rocking you on and off his cock. “Gonna cum! Gonna cum! Take it! C’mon, take my cock and cover me in your leaking pussy!”

He cursed upon feeling his tip quiver inside your wet walls. His cum flooded your insides, white ropes shooting deep into your womb, as he groaned.

Balls pressed flush against your weeping entrance, a white ring formed at the base of his length. Peeta quickly left your asshole behind in order to clean up the new mess between your legs.

His tongue ran over your pussy as well as Finnick’s balls. He swallowed as much of the combined mixture of cum as he could.

He then steadily kissed along the expanse of your back until he stood behind you. His chest was flush against your skin as he unzipped his wetsuit and shoved it to his knees.

“Room for me?” he asked, not even waiting for an answer before he began pressing his tip against you.

You wouldn’t be surprised if the other tributes knew your location now as a series of loud cries fell from your lips. The feeling of Peeta shoving his length into you to join Finnick in his rough use of your pussy was almost too much.

Your entrance was stretched beyond belief as it tried to accommodate the two large cocks that wanted to share your wet pussy. Neither Peeta nor Finnick seemed to mind though, both of them groaning at the tight squeeze of your body.

Finnick held you between them, your legs still around his waist, giving Peeta the opportunity to reach around and fondle your tits. Both men eagerly began thrusting in and out of your pussy, each with their own rhythm.

“Taking us both so well, aren’t you? Always knew you’d have a slutty pussy. Sucking in two cocks at once like a whore,” laughed Finnick, digging his fingertips into your flesh. “Should’ve used you when we first met. Could’ve made you my personal cum dump to relieve myself whenever I wanted.”

You whimpered at the thought. Stuck between them, you could do nothing but listen to Finnick’s dirty rambling.

He continued, “We would’ve been on every cover of Capitol Sex Magazine, you bent over with my cock in your battered pussy, all swollen, leaking so much cum that your skin would be stained with it for days. Imagine it, everyone in Panem getting themselves off to images of you being stuffed full. Guess that’s what they’re doing right now since they’re watching your pussy get bred on live television, huh?”

“Shit!” gasped Peeta, turned on beyond belief by Finnick’s disgusting words. “Be quiet! Ah! You’re gonna make me cum already talking like that!”

“Do it,” moaned Finnick. “Cum in her pussy like she deserves.”

Peeta’s cock twitched inside your clenching walls. Endless streams of white cum made their way inside your pussy. Peeta shoved himself so deep that the mushroom-shaped head of his cock met your cervix, making you squirm.

“Oh, don’t try to escape us now,” hummed Finnick. “We’re just getting started! C’mon, let’s show everyone what her pussy looks like before it’s ruined.”

They both pulled out, leaving you dripping with their combined releases. Peeta seized control of your torso while Finnick held your legs, both of them working together to carry you towards the camera that had been filming everything.

Finnick spread you open for the lens with a wild gleam in his eyes. White, creamy cum escaped your pussy little by little. The Capitol citizens were probably discussing how every facet of your body could be used for the pleasure of others as your fellow tributes showed your hole off for the world to see while all you could do was whimper.

“Yeah, fuck yeah, look at all that,” chuckled Finnick, admiring your quivering, oozing pussy. “Sloppy little thing, isn’t she?”

Peeta huffed and nodded in agreement, “She’s messy, but she’ll just have to get used to it. I’m not even close to being done.”

“Here, get her on the ground,” demanded Finnick. “Wanna shove her face in the dirt while I take her.”

They manhandled you into a new position, laughing at your pleas, “Need a few minutes! Can’t go again yet! Please—! Ah!”

Face down, ass up, and completely vulnerable, you’re pulled back onto Finnick’s throbbing cock in no time. Your hands, still tied together, did their best to find a lifeline, only to clutch tightly onto a bundle of leaves when nothing else can be found.

One of Finnick’s hands pinned you down by the back of your neck while the other landed in the dirt next to your head. He pounded into you without remorse. The air filled the sounds of wet, slapping skin and heavy pants.

Peeta, meanwhile, had gone back to the tree that had the camera seated in a knothole. Finnick watched, mouth open with uncontrollable moans, as Peeta safely removed the camera with a satisfied smile.

“Now Panem can get up close and personal,” he said, holding the camera so it had the perfect view of you being fucked into the ground.

Finnick laughed and allowed Peeta to continue. As Peeta offered the best views of your rough treatment, you cried out with each of Finnick’s mean thrusts.

His hips collided with your ass over and over again. His balls kissed your pussy each time, slowly covering them in your arousal.

“Ah! Ah! Oh! So deep, Finnick! You’re so—! Ugh! So deep! Too much!”

His cock twitched inside you, releasing another load of cum before either of you could comprehend it. His cum frothed around his cock, creating a white ring at the base, as it leaked out of your throbbing, swollen entrance.

Finnick pulled out before quickly trading you for the camera, capturing the moment Peeta buried his cock back into your aching pussy for another turn with your sweaty, whimpering body.

“That’s it,” laughed Finnick, cock already hardening again between his legs. “Fuck that thing real good before filling it up.”

Peeta whined, fingertips digging into your hips as he used your pussy for himself. He rammed in and out of your squelching entrance. A combined mixture of their cum dribbled out of you, encircling Peeta’s length as his thrusts remained unrelenting.

He hunched over your back and then wrapped his arms around your stomach and chest. He panted against your skin, fucking you like an animal in heat, bruising your ass with every move of his hips.

“Pretty little pussy, so pretty,” he moaned, pinching your nipples in order to pull a few more babbling cries from your lips. “I want to know where the Gamemakers found those flowers. I’ve never been so hard for so long.”

“We need to take some back to the others,” said Finnick, stroking himself with one hand while the other brought the camera closer to your rolled back eyes. “I’d love to watch Katniss eat this slut out while Johanna shoves a few fingers down her throat.”

“Gonna—! Ugh! Oh!” exclaimed Peeta, hips speeding up. “That’s it! Do you like taking this much cum? Huh? You like taking my load? Here, you can have another!”

He received no response other than your uncontrollable moans. His cock sank into you once, twice, three times more, before gushing white when the tip met your cervix.

“Oh, Peeta!” you cried, tears of pleasure streaming over your skin. “Ah!”

He kissed the skin of your shoulders before loosening his grip. With a sigh, he pulled out of your wet entrance. He spread your ass wide enough for him to admire the way his and Finnick’s combined loads dripped out.

He pushed as much of their cum back into you as he could before leaning down to kiss your other hole. After licking a long stripe over your tightest entrance, he patted your cheeks gently, “Time for your ass to take on a few rounds. Who’s first? You get to pick this time.”

“Oh no, she doesn’t. I’ve got an idea. I say we give the audience a few close-ups,” chuckled Finnick, before gesturing to the camera in his hand. “Let’s put this in her ass before we have a go at it. So everyone watching can see it before and after she’s left gaping.”

Peeta kept you spread open from the back. You were almost completely out of it when the cool shell of the camera was pressed against you.

Both men delighted in your shrieks of both pain and pleasure as they worked together to push the camera inside your body. It was rectangular in shape and a decent size lengthwise, but not so big that it couldn’t be shoved inside your tight hole.

It made you wonder if the Gamemakers had anticipated something like this whenever they originally put the flowers in the arena.

Finnick pushed the camera into you before pulling it out again. He repeated the cycle, covering it in your slick, with a loud laugh, “Wonder what else we could put inside her. She’s taking this thing better than I expected.”

Peeta spit onto the camera, pupils blown wide, as it disappeared in and out of your ass, “The hilt of my knife is pretty long. How big is the handle on your trident?”

“Big,” chuckled Finnick, slapping your ass when you squirmed a bit too much. “We can do that later though. I wanna see what this ass feels like when it’s squeezing my cock.”

Peeta agreed with a smile. His warm hands ran over your skin. One pressed down on the back of your neck while the other groped your ass.

The camera was pulled out of you in an instant. Finnick placed it on the ground near your head, allowing it to focus entirely on your pathetic, drooling expression.

“Giving everyone the best view,” he grinned, and then he moved to kneel behind you. “Ready for my cock? Who am I kidding? I don’t need to ask that question. You’re gonna take it either way.”

His length roughly breached your hole before you could even comprehend his words. He sank deep into your ass, heavy balls slapping against you with each move as he began thrusting in and out of your clenching hole.

Your mouth fell open with a silent scream. You’re exhausted eyes stared back at you in the reflection of the camera lens. You nearly cried at the thought of your expression being shown to the entirety of Panem.

Next to Finnick, Peeta stroked his own length, occasionally slapping it against the swollen flesh of your ass. He groaned upon feeling his cock twitch in his palm, “Gonna cum again. Think I can put it inside her? I’ll be quick.”

You’re easily traded between them. It only takes Peeta a few moments to shove himself inside your ass, pounding his hips hard and fast until cum once again bursts from the tip of his cock.

Quickly as it happened, you were given back to Finnick, who immediately pushed himself inside you again. A toy being shared.

“Look at us loading you down with our cum,” he chuckled, pressing a hand against the newly formed bulge in your stomach, aching and stuffed with their releases. “You haven’t even done it once. Just been taking it like a good girl, haven’t you? We’ll change that soon, I promise. Ugh!”

He rutted into you as his cock let go of another wave of cum. He groaned loudly, head falling back in ecstasy. His pace didn’t falter in the slightest, but only increased. His pelvis struck your ass with every thrust and grunt that escaped him.

“Since I’m in her ass,” he sighed, fingers digging into your sweaty flesh as his gaze moved to Peeta, “you wanna use her pussy for a while?”

You didn’t even hear Peeta’s response, any thoughts or awareness of your own being left entirely at their mercy. Each of your senses had become too drowned out by the pleasure coursing through your body for you to understand their conversation.

Next thing you know, Finnick pulled you up by the hair. Left to cry out in pain, more tears began streaming down your cheeks until Peeta slipped beneath you and you’re dropped unceremoniously onto his chest.

You’re in a confused, whimpering haze, pinned between the two men as a second cock is stuffed inside you. Peeta sighed happily as he took control of your pussy while Finnick cared for nothing but your tight ass.

“Oh! Ah, ah! Peeta, please—! Finnick, ugh!” you sobbed. “Finn—! Peeta—!”

Everything turned into a blur of sweat, tears, and cum as they both laughed at you. Two cocks railing your messy holes wasn’t helpful in letting you know whose name to call out.

“I can’t—! Ugh! Ah!” you whined. “Too hard!”

“Damn right, we’re too hard!” hissed Finnick. “Don’t know how long it’s gonna take for our cocks to go down. Feel like I could fuck your ass forever.”

Hiding away in the crevice of Peeta’s neck, you whimpered and squirmed between them. A knot grew within your stomach and tension took over your core, a wave of pleasure preparing to overwhelm your senses.

“Tightening up, aren’t you?” moaned Peeta, gripping the back of your neck with a large, warm hand. “About to cum again. Do it with me.”

“Me too,” panted Finnick, spreading your cheeks to watch their cocks disappear in and out of you. “C’mon, sweetheart, cum for us. Your pussy’s earned it.”

Your climax took over, forcing both of them into their own. Each of you gasped, shuddered, and moaned at the pleasure you offered one another.

Peeta and Finnick dumped their loads inside you without a care. Your entrances clenched and fluttered around their lengths as your slick gushed out of your body, covering both of them in your satisfied release.

For a moment, everything seemed at ease. The humid jungle air was filled with nothing but quiet gasps and tired groans. The light swish of a sponsorship parachute interrupted the peace that had taken over. The small, silver package slowly descended until it touched the forest floor.

If you had paid it any mind, you would’ve tried your best to collect yourself, Peeta, and Finnick for a quick escape. But the opportunity was missed when the package fell open, covering the three of you in another cloud of golden pollen, as dozens more fell from the sky.

[taranida]

Tom the Poet or Tom the Filmmaker

I would like all my theories to have evidence that back them up. I’ve come from fandoms where things said are a cute thing, worth considering, but solid theorising comes with quotes, screenshots, counting toes and following the writer’s pattern of three hint and foreshadowings before the big reveal. Therefore, I’m going through the first game yet again to collect all this information and put it in something coherent, something I will be happy with. I hope that the waves of my research will carry me to the proper essay with all the proofs necessary on every statement I’ve made in my first pinned post.

But there are still questions that have no answers as far as I know. One of them: why Tom Zane was made into a filmmaker and by whom?

In Control’s AWE the cutscene where Tom and Alan meet is a toned-down version of their encounter in Room 665. Alan asks if Tom is the Tom, the poet and the diver and Tom replies that it was just a beloved character in his old film. They have the same conversation at the start of Room 665 in Alan Wake II.

Alan seemed always forget that he (or someone else) changed Tom’s identity to filmmaker, still convinced that Thomas Zane he encountered at the start of his journey was a poet and a diver. First, when Tom-the-filmmaker was introduced, I thought that Alan forgot who Zane was and what he learned about him (I wouldn’t put it past Alan: he forgot many things he wrote, even his birthdate somewhat slipped his mind — in 2010 or in the Dark Place; the guide for the first game states that he’s 31, when the statue near the Parliament Tower claims he was born in 1977), but in both cases he kept insisting that Tom was a poet. So, the opposite is true: Alan forgot that Tom now is a filmmaker.

But why is Tom made to be a filmmaker? Even the second game insists that the Tom was a poet: Cynthia notes this in her journal, marvelling at why everyone thinks that he was a filmmaker; even the boys of Old Gods of Asgard say “you need him [Tom] to write the ending,” “art, like Tom’s writing” and “it’s Tom’s story we are dealing with, he’s gotta be the one to rewrite it”. And they are the only three people who knew the real Tom Zane and have some credibility in what he really was: a poet or a filmmaker.

The boys, of course, are a discussion on their own; Tom and Alan are interchangeable in their heads, they might talk about Alan the writer, hence “write, writing, story, rewrite”, but Cynthia has no such issues. She never mistook Alan for Tom, she loved Tom her whole life, devoted to his wishes and for sure wouldn’t mess such a big part of his identity in her head.

Then we have This House of Dreams, where we can read poems, some of them are by Thomas Zane and the Bright Presence shows Samantha that he was indeed a poet. Let’s add Jesse Faden into the mix, who as well, remembers Thomas Zane being a poet and even recites one of his poems in Control’s recordings. She still believes he was a poet somewhere around 2019, judging by her words about her needing to be in New York soon. Only in AWE DLC when she hears Tom claiming he’s a filmmaker, she changes her mind. But at this time, she’s already in yet another Alan’s story, her beliefs shaped by his writing (or by the words of her therapist and this vision of Tom and Alan; take your pick).

So, the question remains: why was Tom made a filmmaker?

My belief here is that Alan (or Scratch — do not confuse with Mr. Scratch) had no need of a poet. In This House of Dreams we see two sets of poems: one is by Thomas Zane and another is by Alan himself, in Control’s AWE Alan also claims that he wrote poems, and what value can Tom-the-poet add to Alan’s attempts to escape? A filmmaker on the other hand, as Tom says in AWII, can make a companion piece for his manuscript. Hence the filmmaker, the auteur.

As a side note. I do believe that the real Thomas Zane never makes his appearance in any games, first we see the Bright Presence possessing the body of Tom, then we see yet another Alan’s face in the Dark Place, that takes shape of what he believes Tom Zane was, and this part of Alan becomes a filmmaker at some point in his journey. After all, as the real Tom once wrote:

When you’re lost You’re lost in your own company

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV Trailer (me losing my freaking marbles - YOLO) Pt1

I'm just going frame by frame thru AMC'S BEAUTIFUL new IWTV trailer. But I had to split this into 2 parts cuz Tumblr won't let me post 30+ pics.

We've already seen Lestat's Theatre portrait on fire (burn, bish!) but the TRANSITION they made here is DISGUSTING--they know what they're doing!

Lou goes from thinking about setting the Theatre on fire (nervously/uncomfortably rubbing his chin, my poor baby), to another scene of him chainsmoking and staring sadly off into the void. I'm assuming it's the 1970s interview, cuz we see Afro!Lou in the same shirt when he effs up BB!Daniel a few minutes later.

AND they said Louis's "stronger, and harder, too," during ANOTHER closeup of Louis chainsmoking. Pyromaniac du Lac LIVES.

Then we get that INTERESTING exchange with Loumand about Oldmaniel:

Armand does NOT like this interview, no ma'am! What are you tryna hide?! 🧐

The fandom legit already MADE THIS JOKE too! XD

The parallels with Loumand enjoying watching movies together (NO CLAUDIA 👀)--and Loustat enjoying opera & movies together.

Loumand as a happy old married couple--I mean it, Rolin: what TF happened between the 1970s interview, the year 2000, and 2022, to make Louis' mental state get SO DANG BAD!?

Armand seems to be implying that 1970s SanFran wasn't where he failed Louis, but 1940s Paris when he burns the Theatre--but I'm seriously wondering if something else went down, cuz LOOK AT MY BABY. BLOOD TEARS. I cannot.

This hollow, fake smile Claudia gives when Loumand walks into the room; wearing makeup & an adult hairstyle tryna look grown--I wonder if this is the same night she joins the Theatre?

Lou & Claudia--he just gives her The Eyebrows, not saying anything (but Armand looks WAY too smug ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)); and we know Armand AND Claudia can EASILY read his mind way better than he can read either of theirs.

Louis calls her "a spark in the dark," right before they cut to the bombs falling all over WWII Europe with flames everywhere--including all over her face--foreshadowing her ashes to ashes, dust to dust. ("Rigged to burn," Louis said in S01E03.)

Did they get hit by bombs, or fall into mine fields?! Jfc. (OR maybe they were sleeping underground, in the earth, and woke up in a battlefield--GOD.) And this must be the same scene where Lou eats the heart--we see Claud throwing limbs around--are they scavenging bombed up corpses?

And the flame in the photographs Louis takes, which she's been tearing down--figuratively in the other teaser, and literally here.

Claudia finna GO OFF! (I HAD to make this one a gif, to see her wrath in MOTION 🤌)

EAT that racist French White, Claudia, PLEASE. Colonizer Capital--Paris SUCKS!

LOUIS DE POINTE DU LAC, ladies and gentlemen. U_U

You're one of a kind, sweetie--that's why the whole Theatre was tripping, cuz Lestat's "coven" in NOLA didn't look ANYTHING like how all other vampire covens worked. Lestat & Louis & Claudia were a FAMILY. They lived like humans--or as close to human as possible. Plus they were painfully weak, with none of the Dark Gifts. They weren't living like monsters--at least not on the surface....

In the other teaser I thought this dirty heifer who attacked Louis was a revenant, but if she's in the Theatre then this must be Alessandra or Eleni (which means a Rhoshamandes name drop!? 👀💀)? Please random dude please be Benedict. 🙏 I need more TVC cameos!

I'm wondering if this was part of a performance when Madeleine & Claudia were part of the Theatre, not during the Trial? OR this is AMC's recreation of the film version with the naked lady--"so we can eat people."

Armand finna GO OFF! But WHERE TF are his FANGS!? That's my ONE major gripe with this show--I'm so sick of seeing these stupid acrylics everywhere but no FANGS.

Then the trailer immediately tells me to STFU, LOL. XD

Lelio Rising. Lelio Falling. (Ooooo--the Tower Scene should be SPICY)

Then they use the "script" line to transition to The Trial, when Armand forced Lestat to be scripted! 😭 DIABOLICAL! And I LOVE this frame--it's giving me Oppenheimer when he was walking through the stands as everyone applauded him for dropping the bomb & he was PTSDing. (I had to make a separate post just for this brainworm.)

So Dan's finished the interview and this is his editor. (OR, even spicier, this dude's from the Talamasca, and Daniel's broken the NDA & fled the penthouse?) But chile, ain't nobody scared of LDPDL. 🙄 Daniel should be well aware by now that Louis snapped in the 1970s, sure, but he's not the REAL threat in that house, Mr. Mediocre Star to a 500 Year Old Vampire. Unless they're talking about LESTAT? 👀💀 WHERE TFC IS HE IN 2022?!

What in CHRIST'S NAME is coming out of his effing NECK? 😱 It was SQUEALING, like a KOCHON.

Louis slinging blood at the Sea of Galilee Armand stole for him, LOLOLOL.

Louis effing Daniel up--"you were disrespectful!" I wonder if BB!Dan crying was when Armand was busy stalking him when he was drunk AF & dying of alcohol poisoning.

I LOVE THIS. Louis is the center of it all--"It's you and me. Me, and you." 😭💔 Said over and over--Louis and Lestat, Claudia, Armand, and Daniel (and even Santiago U_U).

[socialistexan]

As I wrap up my Doctor Who full series mega marathon watch through (and also listen through with the missing episodes audio available as audiobook), I wanted to do a little write up on each Doctor to highlight that each Doctor is worth watching in their own right despite their reputations.

Right now I'm going to start with one of my imo the most underrated Doctor, the one of which my personal opinion improved the most, and the one who runs the full gamut of episode quality: the 7th Doctor

All scores are out of 10; scores are displayed as: my personal score (rank) [reddit average score (rank)]

Overall Doctor Score:

7.51 (4/14) [7.24 (6/14)]

Season ratings:

Season 24: 5.75 (40/41) [5.78 (41/41)]

Season 25: 8.00 (5/41) [7.58 (8/41)]

Season 26: 8.78 (1/41) [8.38 (1/41)]

Highest rated story:

By me: The Curse of Fenric: 9.4 (7/339) [9.0 (15/339)]

By fandom: Rememberance of the Daleks: 9.3 (10/339) [9.1 (12/339)]

Personal favorite story:

Ghost Light: 9.0 (22/339) [8.6 (30/339)]

Most Underrated story:

Paradise Towers: 7.4 (160/339) [6.5 (216/339)]

More under the cut, including full score spread and detailed thoughts

I think it is fair to say that I am higher on the 7th Doctor than most

7 was the victim of the sins of his predecessor's production team's failures (I stand by Colin Baker did a good job with what he was given), which meant short seasons and lower budgets.

I'm not sure if it was the fact that the production team was free over expectations or that the reduced production order forced them to only pick the very best episodes, but once the stylings of the previous era have been shaken off (metaphorically shown by the arrival of Ace and the departure of Mel)

Ace is one of the best companions the show has ever had, and far and away the best post-Sarah companion of the classic era. Her unique and likable personality, intersting backstory, and active role she plays makes her one of the most enjoyable and human companions. She also has some great queer undertones and while it is not explicit on screen (it was 1987-89), behind the scenes it is confirmed Ace is bisexual.

7's first season is not quite as bad as it seems by its low rating. I personally am very fond of Paradise Towers, which I feel is an underrated camp classic. It has very surrealist quality that makes me almost think of David Lynch. It's hampered mostly by the budget (parts feel like they're filmed in a community center) and a random and weak crab monster that went from cool to awful.

In that same campy style there the also incredibly underrated Happiness Patrol. I greatly enjoyed this serial for its unique design and stellar tone that feels almost more like a surrealist stage play with some heavy queer undertones with Ace.

Speaking of queer undertones, there Ghost Light. I am fascinated by this serial, from the cross dressing and gender and sexuality stuff, to the Victorian stylings, to the gorgeous mansion sets, to the spooky story, to delving into Ace's character and backstory. I have thought about this story every day since I first saw it. It might not be everyone's favorite story, but it is mine.

Overall, I really, really love 7. He's a great Doctor who really leans into both the humor and the darkness of the role at the same time. McCoy did a wonderful job as the Doctor, and I really wish he had been given at least one more season. I wish I could have seen what this show could have become were it allowed to continue on the trajectory it was on into the 90's.

[liminal-zone]

courage, dear heart

i wrote a thing! 

AO3 fic link: atomic blonde

fandom: Narnia/LOTR crossover | ship: Susan Pevensie/Éowyn, background Haladriel

rated: mature | tagged: crossover, canon compliant, pining, Gender Politics with Clive Staples and John Ronald Reuel, post The Horse and His Boy, bittersweet

Summary: It’s not the first time a power beyond understanding ripped Susan away from her home to fight in another world’s war. And in this strange country, she will find her courage.

Set as Frodo becomes the ringbearer, set after Susan returns from Tashbaan and the Battle of Anvard is won.

a/n: Written for @thenarniaficexchange 2023 for @syrena-of-the-lake. Is this fic just a string of references from all seven narnia books, at least five lotr books, various narnia and lotr films, a lotr tv show, Churchill’s “we shall fight on the beaches”, and Shakespeare? Maybe so.

Two canons in a blender, my favorite scene in this is when the Dark Lord Sauron comes to Queen Susan in her dreams to take her apart and finds something he didn’t expect. And my heart aches to answer an unanswered question in the fic about magicked memory loss and the Problem of Susan, perhaps in a sequel. 

Excerpt:

Her hands are dirty from drawing the circle, fingers burned from the blue fire.

The bright magic ring she wears is cold, very cold; cold as the bottom of the sea. And it sings of power, not of the flesh, but over flesh. The power of the Unseen World.

In her mouth is the language spoken before the dawn of time. Before the Deep Magic was written. Before the Sun and the Moon were made. “Call her up.”

*

It’s quite sudden – the searing sound in her ears and then a great pop – and she’s no longer riding alongside her sister in the wilds of Galma but in a strange, alien land.

She stills her horse, and is surprised to find it not the dumb Galman beast who was a pleasure to ride along the sands of the ocean, but a great stallion fit for a warrior of renown. The shabby islander saddle is now richly ornate, covered in symbols she does not recognize. The windswept sea of grass smells sweet; rich earth beneath and a warm yellow sun in the endless blue sky above. Massive forests and towering mountains in the distance, and far off to the south, clouds of smoke. No recognizable landmark of any kind.

This curious little girl from Finchley has experienced travel between worlds before, but she does not quite remember the first time. Something about a mother who loved her and a great stairwell and the numbing horror of nonstop destruction; all faded in memory and deemed unimportant, lost. She is now queen of a great country; taller than her brother, the High King, and a remarkable beauty sought by highborns across the known world. Her raven-colored hair and red lips, haunting the dreams of many. Her gracious kindness, a balm to her loving subjects once subjugated by winter and a witch.

More importantly, she still remains curious.

For she is Susan, by the gift of Aslan, by election, by prescription, and by conquest, Queen over Narnia under the High King Peter, the Lady of Cair Paravel and Protector of the River Rush, Blessed by the Radiant Southern Sun, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Lion, Daughter of Eve, the Gentle.

And this strange country, unknown to her, is Middle Earth.

*

Her magical horn came with her, tied to her belt. There is no hesitation as she raises it to her lips. Father Christmas had said “–wherever you are–,” so she blows it, calling for help in this alien place.

The full velvety sound rings out across the grassy plains, ringing up through the nearby mountains and reaching forests unknown and reaching foreign ears in their towers of stone. (Perhaps even reaching the power that brought her here.)

A rider appears in the distance. Susan narrows her eyes, considering if this is friend or foe. She only has a dagger and her wits, which may be enough.

It is a warrior with a shield on his arm. He rides a white steed and golden horse hair flows out of his helmet. He shines bright like the famed white stag and Susan feels an intense urge to chase this rider at once, to put an arrow in his heart and drag him to the ground.

To demand wishes? Perhaps. The urge is unknowable.

But no: this is no white stag, nor a magical creature of any sort.

And Susan does not yet know that this is no man.

Susan called for help, and help has arrived in the form of Éowyn, the Lady of Rohan.

*

It is a cautious meeting and neither dismount.

The rider’s gaze is appraising, obviously noting Susan’s foreign dress. There’s the uncommon length of her raven hair, adorned with the lush island flowers of Galma. The dagger and white horn at her side, and the ease in which Susan is managing a stallion. The queenly posture; a regal confidence undoubted. (This is learned behavior. Pevensies can trace their lineage to poor fishermen in East Sussex and poorer soldiers from Normandy.)

Susan’s assessment is this: the young rider is a dangerous warrior, lithe and well-knit in frame, made all the more queer with his open courtesy to a stranger.

“What country, friend, is this?” Susan asks.

The rider tilts his head. “This is Rohan, my lady.” His voice ringing out clear.

And what shall I do in Rohan? Susan thinks, miserably.

“Are you in need some assistance, my lady?” the rider continues, a look of concern in his gray eyes. A pause. “I am Dernhelm, at your service.”

*

Dernhelm listens to her tale and “strange sorcery” is his response. He thinks a moment before: “Have you experience with witches?”

Susan gives a smile, but it is a bitter one. She knows more than some about witches.

After Susan explains, Dernhelm nods. “The way I see it is this: you have appeared here through magic, for what reason, I cannot say. And you have appeared in Rohan, for what reason, I cannot say. You are no servant of the Dark Lord, there is something true and honorable about you.” He stops there for a moment before a continuing in a most peculiar tone. “The wizards have no interest in queens; what is a woman to the affairs of air and earth? So, the Lady of the Golden Wood, she must be behind this and her reasons could have promise in them.”

“The Lady?” Susan echoes quietly. There are hags that called Her “the White Lady.”

“She is a great sorceress. An elf-witch of terrible power who dwells in Dwimordene.” Dernhelm looks grave. “It is said that all who look upon her shall fall under her spell and are never seen again.”

Susan shivers, thinking of the horror of Jadis’ castle. Of Tumnus’ look of terror, frozen in stone.

Dernhelm continues. “My brother believes she is a myth, and–” he pauses as if pained by a memory unspoken. “My king’s advisor says webs of deceit were ever woven in Dwimordene.” He raises his chin, and his eyes are shining bright. “But I believe differently. There is an old, old tale of this elf-witch helping my annointed forebear, the first of our kings. I choose to believe that tale. I choose to believe that in our time of need, the Lady came to our aid. High honor to protect the king and his men, and dread magic too. And perhaps, perhaps if she is behind this, she can be reasoned with and you can return home. Should you have the courage, you seek her out.”

“Then I shall go to find this Lady of the Golden Wood,” Susan says. “If you will take me there, sir. For I do not know the way.”

The man sucks in air and holds it a moment before: “For this journey, you have my sword, your grace.”

[deliahscrush2003]

beta reader here!

beta & alpha readers wanted for fic projects will beta in exchange!

Hey everyone!

For those that don't know me, my name's Lou (she/her) and I have recently gotten back into revamping the numerous fic projects I had in my vaults and trying to get back into my writing again.

I have put out this post to say that if anyone is also in a similar situation with their own fics, I am offering my fellow fic writers to beta & alpha read fics in exchange for coming on as an alpha or beta reader for my own projects.

As a beta & alpha reader, I am willing to not only check for grammar, punctuation, spelling and formatting but also:

identify weaknesses in the plot.

identify pieces in the story where engagement was high or lacking.

identify points in the story where clarity is needed.

help develop characters (both oc & canon)

canon check pieces of information (for canonverse/compliant fics)

|| if you have specific needs, feel free to check with me ! ||

As a writer, I am looking for someone to help with:

identifying inconsistent tense.

identifying where engagement was high or lacking.

identifying points in the story where clarity is needed.

writing relationship development (platonic/romantic)

editing plot structure and fluidity.

writing descriptive settings.

identifying monotone or repetitive parts of the story.

Most importantly, I am looking for people who can approach my story as both a reader passionate about the fic and a writer/editor passionate about helping improve the story.

My projects are also multi-chapter (150,000) and usually part of a wider series (minimum of 3 parts) ; therefore, I am open to working on fic projects that are of equal length!

The fandoms that I write and will read for are:

Fairy Tail, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Game of Thrones/House of Dragons (TV), X-Men (movies), Teen Wolf, The Last Kingdom, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, Harry Potter (fuck JKR tho), The DC Animated Films/Young Justice, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Walking Dead (universe), Scream (movies), The Vampire Diaries/The Originals, The 100, Glee, Pretty Little Liars, Percy Jackson, Criminal Minds, Wolfblood, The Chronicles of Narnia, Outerbanks, The Maze Runner, Grey's Anatomy, Tower Prep, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, FATE: The Winx Saga, Stranger Things, Star Wars, Resident Evil (Gameverse), Power Rangers (the movie), The Hunger Games, Five Night's At Freddy's, Pacific Rim.

The fandoms that I have as WIP right now are:

Teen Wolf, Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Chronicles of Narnia, The 100, Game of Thrones.

The rest of the fandoms listed are in the worldbuilding process, which I also welcome help with if anyone is interested in bouncing ideas back and forth and fleshing out each other's fics!

This is the link to my Ao3 if you want to understand my writing style.

if you're interested in one of the projects I have for these fandoms (as a beta or just as a potential reader), send me a DM or a ask!

The type of fics that I enjoy writing/reading are (with consideration that Ao3 is my primary writing platform):

M-E Rated (For that reason, I prefer to work with 18+ betas)

Plot-heavy but with a well-written romantic subplot (requirement)

Specific tags/plot I enjoy/write: Time-travel, Fix-It, Canon-Divergence, What-Ifs.

Canonverse fics.

Both OC (has to have the potential of good development, though) and Canon Character-centric fics.

Found family, healing from trauma, redemption arcs.

Crossover/fusion fics (where the original fandom is set in the universe of another fandom)

Zombie-Apocolypse fics.

Dark twists on characters, plots, and the wider canonverse.

-

The type of fics that I steer clear from or don't enjoy reading/writing:

G-T Rated.

No romantic subplot at all (I am a romantic girly, sorry to say)

A Mary Sue OC/Reader-Insert or Mary Sue plot.

Reader-inserts.

Established Relationships (unless I can read the build up first)

Specific tags/plot: P*dophilia, Incest (outside of canon-typical), Mpreg, Omegaverse (only under special circumstances).

Modern AUs, Human AUs, No Power AUs.

No Comfort, No Happy Ending, Major Character (Permanent) Death.

Character bashing (I do read fics that bash, but I find it hard to beta for them only because I like to discuss characters objectively - but there are exceptions, so feel free to check)

Anything that attempts to glorify or justify racism, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, xenophobia, ableism, sexism, bigotry, abuse, r*pe or anything even remotely similar.

(feel free to check with me tho, I am open to discussion of everything except the bottom dot point)

Because I believe beta reading to be an experience that should be enjoyable and insightful for both the reader and writer, I am open to :

Discussing any ships, character arcs, or plot points that my betas personally wanted to see in the show or are very passionate about (read: this does not mean I will change my entire story but that I am open to possibilities)

Analysing and critiquing any of the above media (read: NOT BASHING, but genuine analysis of how different media were handled to apply to our own form of writing)

Giving out and receiving fic, tv, movie and book recs to aid in inspiring each other during the course of our writing, but also to support our fellow writing community!

Even if you're not interested, please repost so it can reach those who are!

[autisticwriterblog]

Fandom 50 Post 17

My fifteenth piece of Alan Wake 2 meta. This one is about Initiation 8.

Initiation 8: Zane’s Film

What happened in this chapter?

Once he leaves the TV studio, Alan resumes his plan to visit Zane so Zane can hopefully point him toward a murder site. When he investigates Zane’s room at the hotel, Alan finds it empty except for a projector pointing at the wall.

Turning it on, he watches a video of himself and Zane; Alan holds Zane at gunpoint, whilst a bloodied Zane is tied to a chair. As Alan threatens to shoot him, Zane explains that Alan had stopped writing, so when Scratch showed up and offered to write, Zane jumped at the chance to escape the Dark Place. But when they were finished, Scratch took Return and abandoned him. Alan says that the manuscript and Scratch are still in the Dark Place, and Zane says that Alan can catch him—and when Alan finds him, Zane wants Alan to kill him with no hesitation. After Zane mentions a murder site in his cinema, the footage starts to flicker, grins appearing and disappearing from Alan and Zane’s faces as they swap places and then back again in a very confusing way, which results in Alan shooting Zane through the head. He takes a ticket for Nightless Night from Zane’s shirt pocket—and the footage ends.

After watching the confusing video, Alan leaves the hotel. Noticing the bright lights in the distance, Alan heads towards them. Eventually, he locates the cinema, using the ticket to grant him access. He progresses through the cinema, using the plot board to change his surroundings as he encounters echoes of Casey investigating the Cult of the Word. On one memorable occasion, Alan uses his lamp to light the lamp being held by an image of Zane on the film screen, which is yet another example of the meta weirdness this game does so well.

Zane’s lamp shines light on the wall and reveals a door, letting Alan explore the alley outside the cinema. As he learns more about the cult, Alan climbs up the building, finding himself on the rooftop of the huge cinema. On the roof, Alan learns about the cult’s Grandmaster from a cultist who kills himself in front of Casey in an echo, which should allow Alan to reach the projection booth of the cinema.

Back inside, Alan heads to the projection booth. To get there, Alan interacts with a door on the screen in the cinema, which takes him to another location. Inside, he finds himself in another endlessly looping location, like back at the subway tunnel and hotel. Each time he goes through the loop, Alan hears Casey shouting at the cult, losing his mind more and more with each loop. At one point, Alan comes across a man wearing a deer mask and tied to a chair. The man speaks with a Finnish accent and bears a striking resemblance to the actor called Sam Lake who Alan met at Door’s show. He keeps telling Alan not to stab him with a knife, and when Alan goes to locate the knife, the man escapes and runs away.

Finally, Alan reaches the projection booth, where he finds the corpses of two police officers strung up, one with a moose skull on his head. When Alan approaches, the moose head disappears, and Alan sees another vision of Saga Anderson. He tells Saga that he wrote her into the story as the hero, and even with communication difficulties, it’s clear that Saga isn’t happy about her family being involved in the story.

Once again, Parliament Tower appears outside.

My Thoughts

On the way to the hotel, you can listen to an echo where Casey describes Zane as “an esoteric bohemian with a hard-on for acts of cruelty performed in the name of occult nonsense” which made me laugh the first time I heard it. Both because it’s such a Casey thing to say, but also because I love the way James McCaffrey delivered the line.

Another thing that made me laugh is if you hang around after watching the film in Zane’s room long enough to see the video start again and Zane come back to life because he was only acting being dead—and Alan’s reaction is a hilariously delivered, “What the fuck?” which I imagine summed up the confusion a lot of players felt.

The first time I played this chapter, I remember getting lost and not knowing what to do to progress the chapter, which made me frustrated and soured it for me. But I’ve replayed the game three more times since then, and once I didn’t get myself lost (which is very much an issue with my sense of direction rather than game design, because I get lost in basically everything I play—and real life) I grew to love this chapter. The cinema has such a cool atmosphere and a creepy aesthetic at the same time, and going into the theatre and seeing all those shadows just hanging around in there terrified me.

The whole story going on with the characters in the echoes found throughout the chapter is really interesting. The police officers – who have the same voice actors as Mulligan and Thornton but totally aren’t them – have been dumping bodies for the cult to work their way into their ranks, whilst a cultist – who, again, isn’t Ilmo Koskela despite having the same voice – who’s being pursued by Casey eventually takes his own life because his ‘role’ in the cult is done. The Cult of the Word is clearly a real cult, dangerous and not caring for the lives of its members, as opposed to the Cult of the Tree in the real world, which is just a clever marketing campaign by Ilmo to keep people away from the lake. Interestingly, Ilmo is the leader of the Cult of the Tree (well, joint leader with Jaakko), but in the Dark Place, his counterpart in the Cult of the Word isn’t in charge, instead just a member who would kill himself because the cult no longer needs him. I can certainly see why @koskela-knights was fascinated enough by this whole topic to write his Echoverse series.

[dontirrigateme]

Made by the amazing @ronald-speirs (my sister wrote this part, but I've seen your stuff and I agree so I'm leaving it). And thanks @1waveshortofashipwreck for the tag

Favorite place in the world you’ve visited?

Mt. Etna. When I was little (like, 3rd grade) we lived in Sicily, and one winter my brother and I wanted desperately to play in the snow, but it hadn't snowed where we lived in a long time. So we took a drive up Etna until we saw snow, where we stopped and spent the day playing around in it. (It was later that there was a horrible eruption that caused a bad earthquake where we lived, but I sleep like Nixon so I was dead to the world throughout the event.)

Something you’re proud of yourself for?

Making it through fire academy. Other than playing basketball one year in childhood I had never been very athletic, but I was out there doing bleacher runs, blackout drills, and climbing ladders to drag giant hoses to the top of buildings with the rest of them. I'm driven by the desire to not make an ass out of myself in front of others, and somehow I was able to do all those things, and ultimately participate in a live burn at the end of the program.

Favorite books?

Making my way through the books written by and about the troopers, so I gotta go with Band of Brothers. But my other favorites are anything by Kurt Vonnegut, the Dark Tower series, the Black Company series, Les Miserables, Moby Dick, Practical Demonkeeping (and almost anything by Christopher Moore), Hitchhiker's Guide...I'm sure I'm leaving some out, I love to read (Dick Tracy and Flash Gordon mostly...I couldn't resist).

Something that makes your heart happy when thinking about it?

.........band of brothers. Specifically my background characters. Specifically Smokey and McClung.

Favorite thing about your culture? About being American?

When did you join the HBO War fandom? What was the first show you watched?

It was a long road.......it came out when my family was stationed in Japan, so I didn't really know about it until I moved back. Streaming wasn't a thing then, so I would catch parts here and there, and I eventually figured I had seen the whole thing. Spent a long time thinking that people overreacted to it and that it was overrated. But I'm also leaving out one thing: that I am stupid. Figured my sister would appreciate having seen it, and suggested we watch it. I realized at the end of the first episode just how stupid I am.

Have you read any of Easy Company’s books? If so, which ones were your favorite?

I have a growing collection, but work often gets in the way. I've only read Ambrose's Band of Brothers. I've also read the Smokey portion of A Company of Heroes by Marcus Brotherton.

Favorite HBO War character and your favorite moment with them?

Have I mentioned how much I love Smokey yet.... One of his best moments (I think) is when he meets with Roe in Bastogne in his foxhole and gives him the morphine, tells him where to find scissors, and about Toye's boots.

Also McClung. And I love "ask him to dance, doc." The battle on the outskirts of Carentan has to be one of my favorite parts of the series though.

Do you make content for any fandoms, if so; what sort of content?

Just some gifs so far. I do like to write, but I've never dabbled in fanfiction.

Favorite actor/actress and your favorite film of theirs?

Russell Crowe and Michael Fassbender are the ones where I'll pretty much watch anything as long as one of them is in it, even if it's bad (like Jonah Hex...horrible movie, but worth it to see Fassbender's little villain character doing his little tee-hee leprechaun laugh through all his scenes). I'll also watch almost anything with Emily Blunt, she is fantastic and a hilarious human being.

Favorite quote/s that you wish to share with others?

So many by Kurt Vonnegut, but I'll just put two:

"If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you're a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind."

"We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane."

Random fact your mutuals/followers don’t know about you?

I had a bearded dragon named Ichabod years ago. And I still love that name for a lizard.

If you’re a writer, do you need a beta reader (say yes so I can be your beta reader 🤭)?

If I ever start writing again, then yes. 😊

Three things that make you smile?

Anything band of brothers (obviously)

my remote-controlled tank (which I did not expect to love so much)

Facial muscles

Any nicknames you like?

You can call me anything and I won't care. If it's an insult I'll probably just wind up more confused than offended.

List some people you love to see around on tumblr!

I can't even think of all the people I see around here, but of course my sister @1waveshortofashipwreck, also @executethyself35, @love--persevering. And the ones I see around like @panzershrike-pretz, @dustyjumpwjngs, @blood-mocha-latte, @ewipandora, @cody-helix02, @blueberry-ovaries, @grumpy-liebgott, @hanniewinnix, @kafka-ohdear, @malarkgirlypop, @whollyjoly (i'm sure i'm leaving some out, sorry....)

What would you do during a zombie apocalypse?

Finally have a job I like probably. Not like I have a crowbar, axe, jacket with a thousand pockets, and combat boots hoping for something to happen...

Favorite movie?

So, so many. The 12th Man, Four Lions, The Nice Guys, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Professional, Headhunters, the Full Monty, anything in the Mad Max franchise, Death of Stalin, Tremors, District 9, the Right Stuff, Children of Men, Suddenly Last Summer, Banshees of Inisherin, Dunkirk, 1917, Fury, 28 Days Later, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Drop Dead Fred, Sicario, Lars and the Real Girl, Casablanca, Three Kings, the Great Escape, the Fifth Element, Hud, Stand By Me, Tucker & Dale vs Evil, Evolution...I could go on

Do you like horror movies?

Yup. 28 Days Later is up there in my favorites. The Descent is an EXCELLENT horror movie for anyone that hasn't seen it (and has made it this far down my rambling answers). Ravenous isn't very well known, and it's not perfect, but it's fun and weird. Stir of Echoes is an unconventional horror movie, but an excellent one-off story. Slither is a fun one with a decent cast (Elizabeth Banks, Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker, among others).

No pressure tags!!

I'm just gonna copy and paste the people I put up in my answers. Sorry if you already did this, but enjoy another tag: @executethyself35, @love--persevering, @panzershrike-pretz, @dustyjumpwjngs, @blood-mocha-latte, @ewipandora, @cody-helix02, @blueberry-ovaries, @grumpy-liebgott, @hanniewinnix, @kafka-ohdear, @malarkgirlypop, @whollyjoly

[cinnabun-faerie]

FFXIV {May 2022 Masterlist}

✧Group HC & Reactions✧

F!WoL singing Girls/Girls/Boys (Lyna, Minfilia, Y'shtola, Ysayle)

WoL buying a house in Ishgard (Aymeric, Estinien, Haurchefant, Lucia)

WoL being taller than them (Aymeric, Emet-Selch, Estinien, Fandaniel, G'raha Tia, Thancred, Y'shtola, Zenos)

Sick WoL (Aymeric, Urianger)

Miqo'te!WoL who bunts & purrs subconsciously when they're around (Ardbert, Artoirel, Erenville, Gaius)

Worst moments ffxiv character could confess to the WoL / Asking the WoL to marry them (Haurchefant, Emet-Selch, Urianger)

Fandom Dads - He escorts you down the aisle (Barbatos, Edmont de Fortemps, Estinien, Lucifer, Shota Aizawa, Simeon, Thancred, All Might, Urianger)

Special Threesome HCs (Zenos x Reader x Fandaniel)

They comfort the WoL after they receive some bad news (Emet-Selch, Urianger)

Antagonists & the films they'd choose for movie nights (Emet-Selch, Fandaniel, Hermes, Zenos)

How they'd protect their beloved WoL if they met someone who made them feel uncomfortable (Artoirel, Aymeric, Estinien, Haurchefant, Hythlodaeus, Urianger)

How they’d handle the Ishgardians' negativity towards genderfluid!WoL

WoL that absolutely loves picking fights with others for the sake of thrill or battle glory (Alisaie, Alphinaud, Estinien, G'raha Tia, Thancred, Urianger, Y'shtola, Zenos)

WoL gives them a flower crown (Alisaie, Alphinaud, Estinien, G'raha Tia, Thancred, Urianger, Y'shtola)

Tank!WoL is reckless yet protective of their S/O (Alphinaud, Urianger)

✧Solo HC & Reactions✧

G’raha with a Miqo’te WoL S/O

Crystal Exarch realizes that the WoL is using his old bow he left behind when he sealed himself away in the tower

WoL misses Alphinaud so much that they pay him a visit in Garlemald

Estinien Proposal HCs

Aymeric Proposal HCs

WoL finding out Y'shtola can purr

Artoirel Proposal HCs

Alphinaud Proposal HCs

Whenever Miqo'te!WoL and Y'shtola sit together, their tails unconsciously wrap around the other's

Haurchefant Proposal HCs

G'raha Tia Proposal HCs

Emet-Selch playing Neath Dark Waters for the WoL

Y'shtola Proposal HCs

Alphinaud reacts to an Asexual WoL

With a demisexual lover who confesses to their crush, who doesn’t care/is using them

Alphinaud with a sick S/O

Fandaniel Proposal HCs

Zenos Proposal HCs

Urianger Proposal HCs

Thancred Proposal HCs

Gaius Proposal HCs

Erenville Proposal HCs

[magnusmodig]

VI TALKS ABOUT THOR/MCU / @chenshixianyou / ACCEPTING !

╰┈➤ 🔥 + brodinsons relationship (how it is portrayed either in canon or fan-portrayals, you pick)

||. I don't have many bad things to say about brodinsons in canon, that is for absolute sure. At least, I don't as far as 2011-2013 brodinsons goes. And Infinity War brodinsons. That said, I do have some nitpicks with Gag//na.rok's version of the brothers– which boils down to that they are not the same dynamic as expressed in the original three films. (Yes, I do count AVENGERS as the 2nd brodinsons film, bite me.)

As far as canon goes, Gag//na.rok does a couple of things wrong, but off the cuff the first thing that burns my biscuits is the bold claim that Loki has always had a habit of physically assaulting Thor for funzies. What started off as an improv by Ch//ri.s became a meme throughout the MCU fandom, and then from there a fanon with the brothers. It's a funny gag, I will give it that, genuinely. I chuckled when I first saw it. But having done such deep dives into both brothers in preparation for this blog in particular, I can say with absolute certainty that there is no way in hell that Loki was ever going around hurting Thor for the heck of it and I can prove it with not one but TWO meta. The first and ONLY time that Thor gets stabbed by Loki is during AVENGERS at the top of Stark Tower, and it was deliberately done on Loki's end. Thor actively stumbles out of surprise and shock that he was just harmed by his own brother— someone he once fully believed he could trust to the world's end, and whom he cherishes deeply, mind you— and is so disturbed by Loki's action that he is continues to stumble and stagger after the fact. Not because the dagger did any lasting damage to Thor (although it did draw blood, which is part of the point I'm about to elaborate on), but because it was his brother's hand who dealt the blow, and the stab itself was a symbolic gesture of severing sentiment.

(Also, because I'm sure some people will assume I'm miscounting, no Loki does not stab Thor during the Svartfalheim heist in THOR: THE DARK WORLD. It is an illusion from every moment onward after Thor and Loki share the following lines: L: You still don't trust me, brother? T: Would you? L: No, I wouldn't. Everything after that, from the moment Loki pulls out his dagger, was a ruse that both brothers were actively engaged in and had consented to. At no point is Thor caught off guard by Loki's theatrics, because the entire scene features the brothers attempting to trick Malekith (which they succeed in) to destroy the Aether (which they do not succeed in). If anything, I would go so far as to personally suggest that the brothers had designed equally elaborate schemes in the past that included similar theatrics, given the ease with which they pull this ruse off. And I say that with confidence because it is plenty clear that the brothers interactions, from the moment that Loki is released from the prison cell, and including the entirety of the escape on the Dark Elf ship, harkens back to a time long before the brothers had experienced their falling out. THOR: THE DARK WORLD does its job in showing us that the brothers, despite everything, still work well together, and they share an innate chemistry and brotherly bickering during their various adventures, including the quest to rid Jane of the Aether.)

To review the actual scene in question, I have gathered screenshots from the movie (and timestamps.)

It's important to remember 1 key detail about the brothers, and 1 key scene that ties into the moment of the Avengers tower, and that is the cliff scene, and that the brothers mostly talk in subtext.

Yes, they are talking about the overall Chutari invasion that Loki is spearheading in New York City at the exact moment in the context of which they are speaking to one another...

TO THAT END, I need to establish one other key component to fully understand the true weight behind their dynamic:

Thor and Loki's feud throughout this film has nothing to do with Earth, the threat to Earth and very rarely ever is outside of purely objective, logistical potential for harm and intergalactic war.

It's what sets Thor apart from the other Avengers from start to finish; it is what makes him the outsider. The other Avengers consider Loki an enemy. Some of them even hate him. Thor does not. He actively defends Loki and clearly loves him dearly. ("[Loki's] brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him. / "Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother." 00:53:37-00:53:47) The other Avengers see Loki and other aliens as a threat to humanity to be warded off. Thor, the resident alien of the group, obviously is testament to the polar opposite of that hot take, says as much. He knows that Loki is currently acting as the rare exception, not the rule. ("Why is S.H.I.E.L.D. building weapons of mass destruction? / "Because of people like him." / "Me? [...] My people want nothing but peace with your planet.")

There is ALSO the entirety of their opening scene together to keep in mind before I go through the Stark Tower conversation:

THE CLIFF SCENE (00:44:44-00:47:07)

T: I thought you dead. (in reference to Loki tossing himself into a black hole at the end of "THOR") L: Did you mourn?

THESE LINES IN PARTICULAR set the tone for the entire conversation. Please keep in mind that this is their first conversation since their falling out, and while I can't go into every facet of the emotional damage done to the bond between the two brothers (and especially the trauma done to Thor...), what I will say is this: the last time that Thor saw Loki was when Loki threw himself into the abyss of space to be torn apart by a black hole, and this was done RIGHT IN FRONT OF THOR'S OWN EYES after an equally traumatic banishment experience. There are A LOT of emotions going on there, and it's easy to forget that in place of much of Loki's dialogue in this scene, and for the reason I'm going to highlight right below.

T: We all did. (subtext: I did [note: Loki doesn't catch the subtext.])

This is when the brothers slip from literal meaning and into subtext, and begin to bob and weave between the two. It all starts with Thor's inability (or unwillingness, depending on how you want to read it) to speak his heart plainly to his brother. Loki asks "did you mourn [me]?", and Thor diverts from "I" (personal) did, to "We" (impersonal) did. He is actively distancing himself from the topic of grief and the mourning he experienced after Loki's "death"... but it's about as close as Thor will ever get to admitting that he, personally, mourned for Loki, and mourned deeply for him.

He then attempts to continue the distancing/deflecting with the following line, although we don't know what he was going to say to finish the sentence.

T: Our father—

L: (interrupting) —YOUR. father.

Loki interrupting this is rooted in his personal grievances towards Odin. These are grievances I will not be touching on for the length of this meta as they are virtually irrelevant to the topic at hand. Just know that in interrupting Thor here, he does rob Thor of his ability to continue to distance himself from the situation... but he also robs Thor of his ability to express whatever he might have expressed about his grieving if he had been allowed to continue.

Either way:

T: We grew up together. We played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?

Thor and Loki, despite being masters of speaking in subtext, have a shared habit of taking one another literally. When Loki says "I am not your brother" / "Odin is your father", Thor is taking Loki's meaning as something akin to "I am disowning you, Thor Odinson, very specifically, and I want nothing to do with you." As you can imagine this is an extraordinarily painful thing to hear, especially when BOTH BROTHERS were lied to about Loki's blood heritage for their whole lives, and Thor actually found out much later than Loki.

The most important thing to keep in mind here is that Thor is defending their bond as brothers. In that way, he is also defending the love they share. They grew up together. They played together. They fought together. They loved each other, because they were - and still are - brothers. Does that mean nothing to Loki? THAT is what Thor is asking here.

Loki is ... a prat and a dollop-head in this scene. I'll save a full scale line-by line + 2011 context meta for another time, but it's also worth nothing that thunder strikes multiple times throughout the length of this conversation and they are at the following intervals:

L: He did tell you my true parentage, did he not? (thunder rumbles. aka: yes, he did.) L: I remember you tossing me into an abyss (thunder rumbles. The thunder continues during:) T: So you take the world as recompense for your imagined slights? (aka: Thor is taking Loki's words to literally mean the black hole, instead of Loki's jealousy being 'an abyss'.) L: And you are doing a marvelous job of [protecting the humans and Earth] (Loki is taking a pot shot at Thor's insecurity of being a worthy, protector king here. Maybe I'll talka bout it in another meta...) L: I have grown, ODINSON! (Thunder rumbles. Loki is yet again distancing himself from Thor as a brother.)

T: You give up the tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!

The brothers continue their argument. Notably, they are still talking to each other straight and without subtext with these lines. (For the uninitiated, they're arguing about being worthy to be king and what that entails which... is an entire meta that I really should discuss at some point...)

Thor then weaves the literal into the subtext of the conversation that Loki has been avoiding this entire time, which is their bond, their brotherhood, and Thor's grief.

T: You come home. (subtext: with/to me.)

Thor does NOT plead. He does not beg for anything, to anyone. Still here he is, pleading with his brother to come home. Why? Because Thor wants him to come home. THOR misses him. THOR wants him back. This is his heart's desire, and Thor is FINALLY making this conversation expressly about himself - about THEM - even if he doesn't say what's unspoken.

You, my brother, come home to me.

Silence.

This time, Loki DOES catch the subtext. He understands. It's why he is so, SO silent here; it's why he stares the way he does. He wasn't expecting Thor to plead with him over sentiment. He certainly wasn't expecting Thor to care enough to want him back.

So, this time, Loki pivots. Loki turns it into something far outside of himself. Loki makes it impersonal.

L: (about tesseract) I don't have it. (subtext: I won't/can't come home to you.)

Loki rejects him, and Thor understands Loki's meaning, but he misunderstands that from Loki's perspective, he feels himself far too neck deep into his own ambitions to turn tail now. It would be a disgrace on his honor, and Loki does not believe that he is truly welcome back, no matter what Thor says.

This all fuels the TOWER SCENE later on. (1:46:52-1:47:42)

T: You think this madness will end with your rule?

One again, the brothers are in conflict, and there is a literal text and a subtext. Overtly, they are speaking about the Chutari invasion and Loki's part to play in it, but make no mistake in believing that that's what this conversation is about. It is STILL about coming home, and it is still about them and their bond, because while Thor is fighting for Earth's safety.... I really do believe he's fighting for his brother even more than that. (yet another meta for future vi to worry about... Thor, bless him, is not an impartial being and he can't surrender his personal attachments for any cause. It's his most selfish trait, and his greatest strength but I digress.)

L: It's too late! (subtext: it's too late for us/for me [to go home to you].) L: (resigned) It's too late to stop it.

Remember that their conversation at the Stark Tower is a direct continuation of their conversation on the cliff. So when Loki says "it's too late", he isn't just talking about the invasion. He can stop that if he tries to. If anyone can, it's Loki, the greatest sorcerer in all of Asgard. Loki means it's too late for them. It's too late for HIM. It's too late for him to come home after everything he has done up to this point. (I'd imagine he may also be talking about the events of 2011 but that's neither here nor there.)

As you can see from Thor's expression, Thor is in tune with Loki's true meaning. He knows Loki is talking about himself. Hence:

T: No. We can. Together. (subtext: No it isn't too late for us. I want you to come home.)

We can fix this. We can go home, together. It is not too late for us. You can still give up this poisonous dream. I still want you to come home.

There's a long pause in which Loki stares at Thor exactly like on the cliff, and then he gives a weak smile and that is when Loki stabs Thor in the abdomen with a tiny dagger. It's enough to make Thor stagger, because Thor isn't expecting it. Thor is reaching out with arms wide open towards his prodigal brother, and once again, Loki rejects him. And to make it clear that Loki truly believes it's too late for him (something even he deeply regrets, btw. He's crying in this scene.), Loki does the one thing that he has NEVER done, and draws Thor's blood in combat. He actually WOUNDS him, and he does it by his own hand.

This is not something he had done before. Ever. Period. In THOR (2011), they sparred, but Loki was not going out of his way to actually harm Thor. (If anything he was trying to goad Thor to harm him.) And when Loki snapped Thor's neck with the Destroyer, nearly killing him, that was not done by Loki's own, personal hand, physically and in person. It's also possible that Loki wasn't actually intending to kill Thor with the Destroyer, especially given even Thor forgets his own limitations as a mortal being.

BUT THIS? This was deliberate. This was personal. This was done entirely by Loki's own hand, of his own volition, and in a way that neither he nor Thor can ever take back or pretend was a mistake.

L: Sentiment.

And so in this way, Loki is trying to rid himself of his sentiment; his lingering love for his family and especially his brother. And, in another way, he's likewise telling Thor that his sentiment won't save Loki; all that they share, all that love, all that sentiment is worthless. Because in Loki's eyes there is no saving Loki.

Loki can't go home to his family, he has fallen too far. (and yet, he still loves them; he too is filled with sentiment.)

T: You give up the tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream! You come home. L: I don't have it.

^^^ A screenshot of Thor's reaction to the dagger in question. It's small, it clearly does very little to Thor. It barely has any blood on it, but it did draw blood nonetheless, because Loki can get close to Thor, Loki knows Thor's weaknesses, and Loki knows Thor's sentiment.

It is after Thor throws this dagger - this manifestation of their bond's slow disintegration - onto the floor of the tower that Thor finally commits to protecting Earth as his number one priority... even if doing so and ignoring his sentiment continues to pain him and cripple him greatly.

Thor stumbles (1:50:25-1:50:40)

He isn't stumbling and staggering because the dagger did damage to him. He's stumbling and staggering because of who did it, and how much that person means to him. Thor has been betrayed, his heart has been broken, and while he knows without a doubt that he must stand against Loki and beside the Avengers to keep Earth safe from his own loved one... it comes at a great cost: sentiment.

This is also why the quintessential Avengers circling shot ONLY happens after Thor has the Tower moment with Loki, because then and ONLY THEN is Thor actually on the same page as the rest of the Avengers.

So, no. I don't think that Loki would have ever in a million years have stabbed Thor before that point. Not for a joke save the (apparently canonical now...) one time, and certainly not as much as fanon likes to say he would have. Thor trusts Loki implicitly. Loki is the only person in their Asgardian group who can effectively and consistently rein Thor's impulses in. They are a perfect match for each other; two sides of one coin. And Loki's betrayal would not mean as much to Thor in this scene if Loki had ever caused Thor physical harm (meaning: enough to draw blood) before AVENGERS' Tower Scene.

[to-fanartists-with-love]

Below are the main tags by medium and under the link to the tags, all the fandoms I've posted about in alphabetic order. The fandom and the characters that appear are tagged too but you're gonna have to look into my blog search function. You can also search the tags by canon art, gif, collage or doujinshi (for fancomics).

anime (aka. all animation bc I'm too lazy to modify the tag with the proper name)

alien stage, blue eyed samurai, code geass, castlevania, link click, mawaru penguindrum, mononoke, puella magi madoka magica, shojo kakumei utena, trigun stampede, yuuri on ice

book

all for the game, all of us villains, a song of ice and fire, bartimaeus trilogy, captive prince, dark rise trilogy, edas, greenwing and dart, harry potter heptalogy, kane chronicles, kingkiller chronicle, kusuriya no hitorigoto, les miserables, long live evil, nine worlds, omniscient reader's viewpoint, percy jackson universe, silmarillion, the scholomance, the folk of the air, the locked tomb, the raven cycle, the vampire chronicles, villains series, wheel of time

comic

dc universe

danmei

bing an ben, erha he ta de bai mao shizun, golden terrace, liu yao: the revitalization of fuyao sect, modao zushi, mo du, mozun ye xiang zhidao, tian guan ci fu, tian ya ke, qiang jin jiu, qian qiu, scum villain self saving system, yuwu, zhen hun

film

dune 2021, star wars, the handmaiden

manga

akatsuki no yona, banana fish, berserk, bleach, blue lock, blue period, boku no chikyuu wo mamotte, boku no hero academia, bungou stray dogs, cardcaptor sakura, death note, detective conan, d.gray man, dungeon meshi, eroica yori ai wo komete, fullmetal alchemist, hetalia, hikaru ga shinda natsu, hikaru no go, hunter x hunter, jibaku shonen hanako-kun, jujutsu kaisen, kaze to ki no uta, kuroshitsuji, magic kaito, naruto, one piece, pandora hearts, poe no ichizoku, ranma 1/2, rg veda, shaman king, showa genroku rakugo shinjuu, spy x family, soul eater, tsubasa reservoir chronicle, uruwashi no yoi no tsuki, vampire knight, vanitas no shuki, witch hat atelier, xxxholic, x/1999, yugioh, yu yu hakusho

original art

tv show

dark 2017, dead boy detectives, house of the dragon, interview with a vampire, nirvana in fire, the untamed, wheel of time, word of honor

video game

genshin impact, persona 5

webcomic

girl genius, homestuck, tower of god

Enjoy! And remember it's always nice to like, reblog or comment if you loved the art!

[fandomtrumpshate]

Counting down the hours - a numbers update!

Since the update yesterday evening, THIRTY more creators have signed up for another THIRTY EIGHT offers … including a signup for Goncharov, NINE new write-in fandoms, and FIVE more folks willing to work in any fandom.

Sherlock has managed to tie up fifth place in the listed fandoms, sharing the spot with Teen Wolf. And the tenth spot is now a 4-way tie between Merlin, Original Work, The Sandman, and The Witcher.

Under the cut is a list of the Unlisted Fandoms with just one write-in. A single sign up would bump them up the list. A handful of signups can completely shake things up.

Signups close TONIGHT at 11:59 PM Pacific.

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[icarus-suraki]

Book asks!!

11. What book(s) have you read more than once?

13. What very popular book do you dislike/refuse to read?

21. What book needs to be a movie?

(11) What book(s) have you read more than once? Geeze, there's a lot. But, since tomorrow is Bloomsday, I'll say that my favorite party trick is to say I've read Ulysses, and I've read it more than once. ("And they all moved away from me on the bench there, with the hairy eyeball…")

Besides that, Catcher in the Rye (still waiting for my assassination assignment), Fahrenheit 451, Slaughterhouse Five, A Wild Sheep Chase, City of Bohane, Night Watch, Godchild (manga), I've probably reread books in chunks but not cover-to-cover, I'm forgetting a lot, and I'm currently rereading Out by Natsuo Kirino.

I also had a lot of children's books read and reread to me, but that's sort of a different question?

(13) What very popular book do you dislike/refuse to read? Pretty much anything by Donna Tartt.

Like, I've read a lot of popular books that I've hated but I've read for professional reasons to understand what they are, why they're popular, who might like them, &c. I've read the entire Twilight series, I read 50 Shades of Grey (so Twilight fanfic), gimmicky cozy mysteries, New Age schlock, evangelical Christian inspirational fiction, chick lit, chick lit: beach edition, straight-up romance novels… And that's been really useful professionally.

But I just cannot fuck with Donna Tartt--and my reasons are so petty: the Dark Academians were so all over her dick some years ago and being pretentious about her novels and whatever whatever and 1. it reminded me of when I was young and pretentious, which made me cringe in remembrance and recognition and 2. if that's the fanbase, I don't want to join.

So at the height of The Goldfinch fandom, I'm over here pointedly not reading it, even when colleagues and patrons are like "I was so sure you would have read it!" It's because I wear black turtlenecks, right?

And now I just have a grudge lmao.

(Vine voice: 21) What book needs to be a movie? 90% of the time, movies based on books just disappoint the hell out of me. Like, you have to really separate book and movie--sometimes you, the viewer, have to separate them; sometimes the director or writer does that, like in the case with The Shining and The Shining. Both very good! But they aren't really the same thing. Same thing with, like, Naked Lunch: that's two whole different stories with weird connections between them. And, maybe a controversial opinion, but the mood in Inherent Vice (book) and Inherent Vice (movie) were so wildly divergent that they were two different things too. And, yeah, I was disappointed by the Dark Tower movie, but I think a lot of people were.

Like, you lose a lot when you try to make a book into a movie. You have to take a book that has good imagery and good dialogue and good characters but which won't suffer when you lose the narrative/authorial voice. And voiceovers don't always make up for that.

Since I'm rereading Out, that would probably make a good horror/thriller movie, since it's about a group of women coworkers who cover up a friend's murder of her abusive husband and it just spirals out from there, but I would prefer it to be made in Japan by a Japanese cast/crew/director.

I dunno, I don't really have a book(s) that would be great in film adaptation. I tend to get nervous when a book-to-movie adaptation is announced lmao. I was nervous from 1999 to 2019 while rumors of James Cameron's Battle Angel movie swirled--and then it turned out to be Not Great At All. So it goes.

Ask me things!

[serpent-of-hope]

A Defense of Frodo - The Curse of Invisible Illnesses

SPOILER WARNING: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers, and Return of the King books and extended edition films.

Fandoms can be divisive communities, but the one thing every LOTR fan will near universally agree on is the Samwise Gamgee is heroic. When it comes to Frodo Baggins, however, modern opinions can get a little mixed. So today, I want to offer a defense of Frodo, if you will. Or perhaps more accurately, I want to offer a possible reading of the characterization of Frodo, and of the one ring, from the perspective of lived experience with PTS, mental illness, and other invisible, chronic conditions. 

First and foremost, I want to acknowledge that, as I understand it, the characters of Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee were informed by Tolkein's own experiences fighting in the First World War. Tolkien ranked highly within the military as a direct result of noble standing in Britain, despite the fact that, by his own admission, many of his less-wealthy compatriots were equally or more competent or qualified than he was. Tolkien wanted to portray this dynamic in the relationship between Samwise, the gardener, and Frodo, who is given the title of Ring Bearer because of his family ties.  

I also want to start by noting that I firmly do not believe that Tolkien intended to use the ring as an allegory for mental health. It is quite clear that the ring represents power and its ability to corrupt those who wield it. No one desires a mental illness, nor would most consider such a malady precious to them, nor would anyone kill to gain a mental illness. Instead, I am comparing what it means to be a ring bearer to carrying a burden no one else can see or feel, but that you struggle with and feel incapacitated by nonetheless.

I would also like to preface that the parallels I will draw here are based solely on my own experiences with chronic depression. I do not presume to speak for all people struggling with mental illness as everyone experiences symptoms differently. I also know that many other invisible illnesses follow the same trends. 

Specifically, for our conversation today, I want to focus on the themes of darkness, weight, and numbness. For me, depression manifests as something physically weighing me down, too heavy for me to lift. So, when it comes time for me to complete simple, vital tasks - basic hygiene, getting, water or food, change clothes, or even the herculean task of leaving the house, I can't. Because the world itself is too heavy, and I'm not strong enough to lift it off me, and begin to feel drained quickly when I do. This weight, for me, is coupled with a sense of numbness. Whatever the world is asking of me - emails, my job, replying to my friends, brushing my hair - it is too much, and I stop feeling able to care if it gets done or if there are consequences. In counterpart to this numbness comes the side effect of rumination. Brains that aren't healthy like to dwell and circle around problems of their own creation. Often this means wallowing in feelings of shame and guilt, though it can sometimes manifest as resentment to the world and to others. What is comfortable, and brings relief, is darkness and the ability to lie down and succumb to it. To pull the shutters tight against the sun and the outside world, to stay in bed, and to try and sleep to escape the refrain of "you are bad, the world is bad, everything is bad."  Then, of course, there is the sadness, the trademark of depression. Less sadness, per se, but the feeling that you will never be happy again, that everything is lost and hopeless. That you'd be better to give up.

We know that Frodo struggles with feelings of grief and pain from the Morgul wound he sustains on Weathertop, as well as from the stress of the journey and the loss of members of the Fellowship. These feelings all compound Frodo's struggles with the Ring.

Tolkein frequently refers to the ring and Frodo's responsibility as Ring Bearer as a "burden." It is called a burden at multiple points by multiple characters, usually when Frodo wishes the ring was not something he had to bear or when other characters are pitying his responsibility.  This wording is deliberate. The other characters do not and cannot understand what Frodo is going through, but they know it is something terrible that they would never wish to experience. They know that it means Frodo needs help and extra care. Mental, invisible, and chronic illness can also readily be described as a burden. One that no one else can take, that they may not understand, but that they want to help and support nonetheless.

In the films, because we are not privy to the inner struggles of Frodo's mind, this burden is communicated to us through one key image: weight. In Peter Jackson's take on Fellowship of the Ring, we see the ring given a physicality to its presence. When Bilbo finally has the courage to let go of the ring and leave it with Gandalf, he drops it to the ground. The ring doesn't bounce or tink when it falls; it lands flat with a heavy thud. When Frodo wears it around his neck, we see the angry, raw marks where the ring has been pulling him down and chafing at him. In trying to give a physical form to an invisible burden, the creators gave it weight, something that is common in my, and many others’ experience of Depression.

The ring plagues Frodo. He cannot sleep. He cannot eat. He becomes despondent. When Frodo gazes into the Mirror of Galadriel, we learn that he has been ruminating. He sees in his mind's eye his failure, the burning of the Shire, the destruction of Middle Earth, and the Death of his friends. He is spiralling around negative thoughts that convince him of his failure. These are all symptoms of Depression, and it takes a great deal of strength and energy to keep going when you are fighting your own mind and your own conviction of failure.

Please consider this quote from The Return of the King:

“No taste of food, no feel of water, no sound of wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or star are left to me. I am naked in the dark, Sam, and there is no veil between me and the wheel of fire. I begin to see it even with my waking eyes, and all else fades.”

―J.R.R. Tolkien,The Return of the King

A common side effect of mental, invisible, and chronic illnesses is that once you live with them for long enough, they become comfortable, and it becomes difficult to remember what life was like before. For my experience with Depression, at the very worst of it was a sense of hopelessness that made it impossible to remember what it was like to be happy, what it felt like to do the things you love, or even what the things you love are anymore. This feeling is reflected exactly in Frodo's sentiment of being naked in the dark while all else fades.

In response to this burden, Frodo resolves to break from the Fellowship. He wants to protect them from what is to come and himself from the harm they may do him. This, too, is a common experience of mental illness. Self-isolation is the desire to lock down and stop connecting with people. It happens for many reasons, but the main ones are a desire for self-protection from the emotional harm others may do us or to protect others from seeing our own rapid decline, believing that pushing them away will keep them safer and happier in the long run. But like many who have had these experiences, Frodo learns that he cannot do this alone. He needs help.

This is where Samwise comes in. Soft, supportive Samwise Gamgee. Samwise is aware that Frodo needs support to make it to Mordor, but I firmly believe that Samwise alone could not have carried the ring any better than Frodo could. The task of fighting an invisible and unrelenting force in one's own mind is utterly different than fighting Orcs or Men or Gollum. One just looks more heroic because it is more obvious and more cinematic.

Let's look at one of Samwise Gamgee's most heroic moments - the moment he lifts Frodo and carries him up the side of Mount Doom.  In my life, my loved ones have on numerous occasions expressed that they wished there was something they could do or say that would make it better. That there was a magic ShamWow that could suck the sadness away. But there isn't. When we see Samwise scoop up Frodo in this scene it is easy to scoff at Frodo, to say, “How weak is he! He can't even climb a mountain, but this guy can do it while carrying him and the ring!”

But understand this: the weight of the ring is known only to the bearer, and to the bearer, it is insurmountable. The strength of Sam to physically lift his friend, while heroic in every right, is incomparable to the strength required to carry an inner burden, whether that be the weight of mental and invisible illness or the weight of the evil power of a dark lord.

There is one last quote I would like to draw your attention to:

“How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart, you begin to understand...there is no going back. There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep, that have taken hold.”

―JRR Tolkien

As with any chronic, mental, or invisible illness, there is an after. There is a point where the worst of the burden has subsided, and you can begin to find a semblance of normalcy again. But that after is not a return to the normal of before. It is a period where the old version of your self-identity has died, and you are left to cobble together a new existence, one that is not the same, but still good, and forever touched by this pain and grief. This is something we see clearly in Frodo's story. He doesn't get to return to the Shire and resume his own life. He returns changed with new outlooks, new understanding, and new pain. He gets a happy ending, but not the one he would have wanted for himself at the outset of the story.

It is easy to proclaim that Frodo is weak. Compared to our other heroes, he constantly needs help, he has a negligible kill count, and in the end, it is only through intervention that he accomplishes his task. But Frodo is nevertheless strong and brave. It is just that his struggles are neither cinematic nor the kind we have come to expect from our heroes. His fight is quiet and invisible.

So when we take this understanding and empathy and reflect on our day to day world, I want to call attention to those carrying the burden of mental, invisible, and chronic illness. Their stories never end with tossing their illness into a volcano and then saving the world. In fact, they are largely ignored and forgotten. But, as Tolkien has written, "deeds will not be less valuable because they are unpraised." These are courageous and heroic stories. It takes strength to go on every day while fighting an invisible evil force. Somedays, we don't win. But the strength and courage to try and keep trying is worth celebrating.

[timelostobserver]

PEOPLE ID LIKE TO GET TO KNOW BETTER

Tagged by: @lilitophidian & @cast-you-dxwn Tagging: Anyone~

• ALIAS / NAME: Nova

• BIRTHDAY: December 22

• ZODIAC SIGN: Capricorn

• HEIGHT: 5'1

• HOBBIES: Art (Digital art Specifically), TTRPGs, roleplaying (duh), and Video Games (Usually on higher difficulties/Hardcore ect)

• FAVOURITE COLOUR: Red and Purple

• FAVOURITE BOOK: The Dark Tower by Stephen King

• LAST SONG: Wildfire ; HOYO-MiX · Jonathan Steingard · 宫奇

• LAST FILM / SHOW: If Youtube videos count, I watched a deep dive into Gemini Home Entertainment. (I like analog horror...)

• RECENT READS: Nothing at present.

•INSPIRATION: A lot of things inspire me, from various media to even watching others engage in fandom content. But in general, music tends to be my biggest source of inspiration.

• STORY BEHIND URL: It stems from the RPC fandom I entered upon converting this from a Minecraft Ask Blog into a purely RP based character. The fandom was Kimetsu No Yaiba (Which I still do btw, I just got some massive HH/HB brain rot) and was based around the fact that Hades had well, time powers. 'Time-Lost' ect.

It now serves as a good catch all url for all three of my OCs now~ I see no reason to change it.

• FUN FACT ABOUT ME: I'm honestly pretty boring but uuhhh.. I make a webcomic, it's been going for almost 10 years now, completely solo~ Actually working on the lineart for the next page of it right now! (Updates weekly and all that jazz.)