#focus on who did it versus focus on what's done

[this-world-of-beautiful-monsters]

something about how ep 3 of lis1/lis2 ends with Max/Daniel using their powers in risky, extreme ways to do what they think is the right thing for Chloe/Sean, only for things to go sideways to an extent that leaves Chloe/Sean with a permanent physical disability. the main difference being that Max can erase the entire thing an hour into the next episode, while the Diaz brothers (both brothers) have to actually deal with the physical and psychological fallout from the incident and their respective feelings on it for the rest of the game.

like, what Max inadvertently does to Chloe is a smaller part of a larger plot involving the threats to Arcadia Bay and Rachel's disappearance--what Daniel inadvertently does to Sean is the plot all the way through. it's why he flees in a guilty traumatized panic (even if he can't remember exactly what he did until he sees Sean again) and Sean has to find him again while dealing with his new disability, thus setting up everything that happens in the fourth and final episode.

it's so clear in lis2 ep 4 that Daniel's guilt and trauma are distorting his perspective and making him vulnerable to Lisbeth, leading into his self-destructive quest for purification as an "angel." Max's own guilt is visible from the inside looking out, shaping her tangled efforts to save (or "save," depending on how you feel about the whole euthanasia shitshow) Chloe from her altered reality. meanwhile, Sean has to save Daniel from the longterm psychological effects of what happened during the heist before he falls too deep under Lisbeth's spell.

this bleeds into the way that both ep 4s are episodes about deciding whether to take a life (singular, unlike the mass death you deal with in ep 5). only lis1 deals with Max deciding how her guilt and love for Chloe should affect her decision about Chloe's euthanasia request, while Sean and Daniel are confronted with Lisbeth taking advantage of Daniel's guilt to abuse him and almost kill Sean, and have to decide whether to kill her out of wrath (because that "it was her or us" excuse is pretty much bullshit) and love for each other.

it isn't a question--at least not in this episode--of whether Sean's going to be allowed to live with how his life and body have been altered by Daniel's accidental actions, but how he lives. not to mention that while Max's decision about killing Chloe here may not affect her final decision to kill Chloe or Arcadia in ep 5, Sean's decision about killing Lisbeth/letting her die absolutely shapes how he and Daniel will live with themselves and each other and the world around them at his own final decision.

it's all just two dramatically different ways to deal with the same question of superpowers slipping out of control, and I don't know how to be normal about it.

[outsideratheart]

Fighting Talk (Alexia Putellas x reader)

A/N: based of this request.

England had beaten Australia and you knew what it meant.

Spain versus England in the World Cup Final.

On one hand you were incredibly proud to have reached the final but in your eyes you weren’t playing Spain, you were playing your best friends and the woman you loved most in this world, your wife. It is one of the first thoughts after the whistle had blown. It is a thought that you only allowed to run wild in you head for a few minutes because now was the time for celebrating not worrying about things that hadn’t happened yet.

“We did it skipper!” Lucy jumped on your back as you thank the fans for showing up.

“We sure did Luce”

The defender had been your best friend since the youth teams and to finally make to the final together was a something you once thought might never happen. The two of you talk about the past but soon get brought back to the present when a member of the team’s media team says you’re wanting for an interview with Fara Williams. Much to your surprise Lucy volunteers to do the interview with you. It made you suspicious but you put Lucy’s eagerness down to the fact that she wants to celebrate with Fara.

Within seconds of been handed a microphone you find out why Lucy wanted to do this with you.

“Look at that fan. She looks familiar, don’t you think?”

There stands Alexia doning a black cap in hopes of going unrecognised but you could pick her out in the crowd, it could be 50 people or 50 thousand people, you would always find her. The rest of the interview is a bit of a blur with you saying little to nothing instead choosing to focus of your wife who you hadn't seen since you left for England a week after the champions league final. You knew now more than ever that you had to remain focused but you wanted nothing more than to walk up into the stand, grab Alexia's hand and whisk her away to the closest hotel.

Before getting a quick shower you send Alexia a text message asking to see her and by the time you're done you have a response saying she is already outside the changing room.

"You did it. You're through to the final" Alexia congratulates you.

"So are you. I'm so proud of you Alexia, you have no idea"

Whilst your marriage was public knowledge, you still stood apart as people went about their way cleaning up the stadium.

You could feel the tension. The thickness that came from spending this much time apart. Alexia's eyes looked you up and down making her thoughts crystal clear, you thoughts were alligned but you knew there wasn't time to pursue the hunger you had for each other.

In small groups the England players leave the locker room, some of them giving the two of you privacy, others saying a quick hello and congratulations then there's Lucy and Keira who tease you mercilessly. They tell Alexia how you have been pining for her since the minute the plane left Spain and how you really needed to relieve stress, this was followed by a knowing look as if the meaning of their statement wasn't blatantly obvious.

"I wish we could have day, just one, just us before things get hectic" It saddens you to say because you know this is the closest you two will be.

"Come here" she pulls you into her arms "I'm going to see you in a couple of days and even though you will be wearing the England badge and I will be wearing spain's, we will still be us"

"The media is going to have field day with the press conference" you were already dreading it.

"Doesn't mean we can't have a little fun" you look up to see Alexia raising her eyebrows in a playful manner.

"Is that so?"

The spaniard hums in response before leaning in to kiss you. It was a feeling that you were desperate for and if the passion Alexia returned what anything to go by, she held the same desperation.

A couple of days later you entered Stadium Australia with two coffees in hand, one for you and one for Alexia. Truth is you were already running late by the time you left the hotel so why not pick up a treat for your wife. 

You can hear Alexia’s voice from outside the conference room. Instead of walking in and interrupting her conversation with a journalist who is a friend of yours as she works closely with Barcelona, you stand at the door and listen.

“You finally decided to show up. Clearly I am a much more affective alarm clock” Alexia says as you spots you.

“It’s not the waking up that’s difficult, it’s the whole falling asleep without you that I find hard”

The room breaks out in a unanimous awe. 

“That’s off the record of course” all of them agree “this is for you. Consider it an apology for my tardiness” 

“Apology accepted” Alexia takes a sip of the freshly brewed Australian coffee “this is really good”

“Of course it is. The cafe is round the corner. If you have some time after I can take you” 

“You hear that guys. Y/N Y/L/N is trying to charm her way into my head and distract me. She knows that I have training after this” the Catalonian jokes.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Alexia Putellas” you send her a wink. 

“Isn’t it Alexia and Y/N Putellas-Y/L/N?” One of the interviewers asks. 

You and Alexia revealed that you had had gotten married by posting a photo on Instagram to celebrate your 1 year anniversary. It was a well kept secret and the world only found out when you were ready, much like how everyone found out about your relationship. 

“Right now it’s Y/N Y/L/N vs Alexia Putellas. Captain vs captain. Balon d’Or winner vs Balon d’Or winner” 

“As you can see the the game might be tomorrow but the competition has already begun” Alexia says earning a laugh. 

“You both are joking around now but you have to know the seriousness of tomorrow’s game” you and Alexia share a look, you know the type of question that is coming “you are two of the best players in the world, have won the treble together with Barcelona this season. How do you prepare to go against one another on the biggest stage in football? How do you focus on leading your countries whilst simultaneously making sure it doesn’t affect your marriage? One of you will break the other ones heart tomorrow. ” 

The room grows silent. So much so that you could hear a pin drop. The smile that has been on your face since walking in had vanished and Alexia’s head dropped, her focus now on her hands that sat on her lap. 

The two of needed to gain control of the room again and Alexia didn’t want her time with you to be spent dreading what will be one of the best matches in your careers. You make the first move, you move you chair closer to Alexia’s and take her hand in yours under the table. It’s obvious to the journalists in front of you what you are doing but they don’t have any proof. You give it a quick squeeze, Alexia nods her head telling you that she will answer the question. 

“We did win the treble so we know what it takes to be a champion, tomorrow will be no different. This isn’t the first time we have played against each and it won’t be last. It will be hard, I know we will make the other one work for it and it means that by the end of the match the best player will win” 

“I want to do right by Alexia but I also owe it to my team to be the leader they need. I wear this ring every day but my focus is on this team” you tap the badge on your jacket “and being crowned world champions. England are my priority right now but when it’s all over I will go home to her, always” 

You turn to see Alexia already looking at you with a soft expression. When a flash goes off you know that this photo will be the one shared around the world. 

“Depending on how you play tomorrow you might be on the sofa” the woman beside you jokes.

“After over a month apart we both know we are going to be in bed together the night I get home and the morning after that” you whisper. 

“Y/N!” Alexia scolds you as her cheeks grow red. Your wide eyes tells her you don’t think you did anything wrong “microphone” 

“Shit” you look out to the journalist. Half of them are looking anywhere but at you and the rest have smirks on their faces. “That last part is—“

“Off the record” a few of them say in unison. 

“Thank you” 

“Muchas gracias” 

The two of you answer a few more questions and keep it as light as possible. The media enjoy the way you go back and forth with each other. Alexia knows just what to say to get under your skin and you do your best to see how many times you can make her blush before the press conference is over. 

“What am I going to do with you?” Alexia asks as you walk the halls of the stadium. 

“Whatever you want baby” you look around and when you see the coast is clear you push Alexia against the wall and crash your lips together. You only had one thing on your mind since the insinuation of what is going to happen once the two of you are back in Spain. 

“Not here” Alexia pulls away but instead of stopping you move your lips to her neck, to the sensitive spot that you know drives her wild. 

She knew what was coming next and she knows she has to stop you. To do so she cups your face and moves your lips back to her own. It’s more than enough for you and when you hear Alexia’s muffled moans you know she is enjoying it just as much as you. 

By the time you pull away you are both out of breathe with your lips slightly swollen. 

“I’ll see you on the pitch Y/L/N” 

“May the best woman win Putellas” 

[m00nlight-ramblings]

Childfree Gale Headcanons

REQUEST: yes

Some Gale/Tav headcanons being childfree! Some light NSFW. Enjoy

Lots of weekend dates to things like farmer's markets, festivals, and activities within the community.

Spontaneous getaways that Gale always plans - sometimes for a week, sometimes for a weekend, maybe even a day. But he will organize something down to the tiniest detail, and is also very good at keeping secrets/surprises!

Lots of late night talks about whatever he is hyper-fixating on at the moment - your discussions will sometimes last until 3 AM about a book he is reading, or maybe even something you're interested in, in the moment.

Certified Cool Uncle Gale status - you two will happily babysit your friends' kids for the afternoon/evening, and you're always the favorites amongst your nieces/nephews (but you're always really happy to give them back at the end of the day).

Sometimes on a random Sunday, the two of you will spend all day in bed - never getting dressed, and switching between having sex, reading, talking, napping. Gale has obviously never been in a healthy relationship before, so some days he loves to revel in the love you two share.

You two don't have a designated date night, so sometimes when either of you don't feel like cooking, you'll go to the local pub or inn and relax for a few hours. Getting a little tipsy on ale on a Wednesday? Okay, sounds good!

Both of your are very active in the Waterdeep community - ever since you moved in with him, he made it a point to show you off and make sure that everyone knew who you were so you were comfortable in your new home. Because of that, the community surrounding you always feels warm and safe, and you often find yourself doing things together in different groups.

DINNER PARTIES - so many dinner parties. Gale loves to cook and you love to host, so you often have large groups of friends come over for dinner and drinks, with music and games. The dinner parties have become known throughout town as somewhat legendary, and they last very late into the night.

Your home is decorated with lots of not kid-friendly things (magical objects, sharp corners, etc.), but both you and Gale have curated a home that feels comfy and safe, as well as aesthetically pleasing for the both of you.

Tara in lots of sweaters and costumes. Since you're not dressing kids, you're dressing her (and she loves it, even if she won't admit it).

Lots of walks along the water before dinner, while the sun is setting, holding hands and chatting about your days.

There are lots of talks about your future together, and all of the adventures and vacations you want to take - faraway lands, and expensive dinners, and stories infused with the magic of love.

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, when you're both woken up by whatever, you find yourselves unable to keep you hands off of each other, and will make mind-blowing super loud love well until the sun comes up. Passionate, feverish, I-won't-be-able-to-stop-thinking-about-this-night-for-weeks kind. And then once that is done, you two are able to sleep in to recoup the energy spent.

Feeling like you're constantly in the honeymoon period together since there is no other person you need to focus on in your life.

"It's always going to be us," Gale says as he holds you, "The two of us, together. With you by my side, there's nothing we can't do...together. Us versus the world, my love. And we're just getting started."

------

What did you think? I love thinking of Gale as a boyf...he'd be the best partner in the world, I think.

REMEMBER: my inbox is open for requests, so submit something and I'll get to it! :)

[palomahasenteredthechat]

My thoughts on AQPDO

So, did this image appear in the actual film? Yeah, that's what I thought...

I loved it, and I was disappointed by it. This is long, so buckle in. Major Spoilers discussed below.

First, the outstanding: the performances. Holy hell. Lupita. Just...her talent is breathtaking. To sustain that level of intensity without overdoing it, I am simply in awe. Well done. I hope some attention is paid to her performance when award season rolls around. Ditto Alex Wolff. He did a LOT with so little screentime. Djimon too; they all were so, so moving.

Joe was so heartbreaking, and yet Joe's character is one of the things I am disappointed about, because I needed more. Not because I love Joe, but because the story needed it. I know there was a backstory that was cut, and to be honest I don't think that was necessarily a poor decision, but the issue is it was cut late in the creative process, versus in the writing, and that is where the problem is. More on that in a bit, but Joe delivered a sensitive and moving performance, and really understated as well. Not a bit of the cheeky Joe we have come to love so much that also I think pops out in Eddie and Michael occasionally. He was wholly immersed in Eric's reality and his energy complimented Lupita's so well; you can see how much they worked off each other. Dare I say she elevated his game. Another marathon performance and I can imagine how exhausting it must be to sustain that.

Second, Michael Sarnoski, hats off to you sir. The pacing, the way you put the story together visually, your heartbreaking script, just so well done. I hope they release the shooting script because I would love to read it and see the words (or lack of) that Joe and Lupita interpreted so movingly. I wonder if Michael has processed the death of a parent recently, because I felt so much emotion from this story. This film is about accepting the inevitability of death, while going through the five stages of grief, yet seeking to live fully regardless. Trigger warning: DO NOT see this movie if you are going through a rough time with someone who is terminally ill. It will wreck you. But this film is tragically, beautifully human. To deliver that story in a Hollywood big budget action film is a hat trick. Every actor in Hollywood who wants to grow creatively should be calling their agents asking to work with Michael Sarnoski right now.

Also, shout out to the production design people. They completely suspended my disbelief that the characters weren't in New York. Set design, lighting, like I could SMELL New York. Virtual production is getting so fucking good - we're well past the Unreal Wall vistas of the Mandalorian. If you ask yourself how A24 could shoot an Iraq war movie in the pastoral hills of England this is your answer.

Now, the not so good.

Go back and watch the first and second trailers and tell me how many of those moments were in the movie. Answer: barely any.

Map claw hand? We have to get out of the city? Gay couple? Old man turning off engine? Nada.

So, was this all misdirection in the marketing, making the audience think they were coming to see a summer action movie? That's legit, trying to get butts in seats, but I have a strong feeling Michael delivered a very different movie that was hacked up in the testing process. All of those scenes probably made the movie feel 'too long', and they had to cut them back to balance the action sequences with the emotional sequences.

The helicopters overhead spelling out THEY CAN'T SWIM probably came from focus group comments where someone was like 'why didn't the aliens just cross the river and start eating people in New Jersey?' (good point). But I'll bet you they wanted to give Alex Wolff's character a more significant death in regard to Samira's emotional journey, so they reshot the scene with the old man turning off the engine and had Alex do it instead.

Also, I get the strong feeling Eric showed up in the story much earlier in the original cut of the film, and the scene with Map Claw Hand illustrates that. The big question regarding Eric is why this random sad British dude gloms on to Samira and I'm not sure they answer that question in the final cut. Joe absolutely sells it, but it doesn't make sense and I suspect it's because it wasn't written that way.

Also, and call me crazy, but I think Joe is wearing a wig in some parts of this movie and not in other parts. It would make sense if there were significant reshoots based on early testing of the film. I wonder if the Alien Lava Tiki Bar (what...was that actually) scene was added later. Like, I get why Eric went up there- actually I don't, I think Eric would have been focused on getting the medicine back to her and wouldn't have taken a detour up scaffolding to follow I cat at all, but that's just me.

Finally, let's talk about the cat. Both Schnitzel and Nico are exquisite and enjoyable to watch, though how no one got scratched or bitten by a disgruntled feline is a mystery. We had a long debate about whether The Cat Represents Samira's Life, or The Cat is An Angel, or Fate, but ultimately we just went with KITTY and that made the story more enjoyable.

Samira is on a quest, to die on her terms, and once she accepts her fate, she sheds the things that no longer matter to her, and in the process gives Eric a purpose. The scene in the jazz bar was so moving. The final shot is also incredibly moving, and I hope the city was filled with the sound of music one last time, a beautiful elegy accompanying her soul to heaven.

Bravo.

[gigidragonbbxxx]

working with limits, a story

disclaimer: we are limitless. anything can be achieved with the power of the mind. this is to help people who overthink.

if a limit of yours shows up somewhere along the journey of manifesting a certain goal:

acknowledge it. do not repress. use it to pivot into your new story.

eg. I used think ____, but I know that's not true anymore. I am now ____.

my own story

my desired body is typically obtained in the gym with years of hard work and a dedicated focus on nutrition. I'm currently in grad school so I don't have time to workout like an IG influencer but I want to look like one.

Ordinary people would WEEP and stay in the same story of "its not obtainable!" while master manifesters smirk and say "LOL, ITS MY BODY NOWWWW"

I know that waking up with your perfect body is 100% POSSIBLE. Overnight subs/aff tapes + living in the end state + saturation to the max = fast asf results

so why wasn't I achieving it?

why was I manifesting money, attention, material things, etc. but for some reason my body was not changing?

I was meditating and doing some inner work when I realized that I had a serious weird rooted limited belief that

I had bad genetics and every woman in my family (both sides) have never achieved a flat tummy or a super toned body. So I was unconsciously always affirming that I could "never" look like that.

I thought great bodies could ONLY be achieved with hard work - which we know is soooooo untrue!

Instead of forcing myself to do a method I realized - I could work with my limit.

I was never truly "athletic" but I did run cross country/track in high school for 3 years. I fell off once I went to college and mostly did weird sporadic workouts but was never consistent.

Now that I've discovered the law and am freed from my old way of thinking, I said - okay let me play a little psychology game with myself, a little placebo.

my new placebo has been:

No matter what workout I do, the moment I step into the gym, I am losing my belly fat and getting super fast results every day.

Why do you do this Gigi instead of just sitting at home and affirming for your body?

Because I realized it would be easier for me to stay saturated/in the wish fulfilled/end state of having my perfect body just by physically forcing myself to be in a gym.

Let me clarify: I mostly walk on the treadmill, lift very very light weights, minimal sets, etc.

aka: most people would say I'm not doing enough.

But I'm a master manifester so I know that just deciding is enough.

I realized it was easier to visualize people saying "Wow she changed her body, it's because she goes to the gym now! She must've done a lot of work cause she got those results fast!" instead of "Wow she changed her body, idk how!"

Ever since I started going consistently and doing very bare minimum workouts - my body has changed way more drastically than normal limits allow.

I basically look like I've been working out for 6 months versus just the 2 I've actually been going.

My personal goal was fast results but gradual. If you want instant, please be my guest I am not limiting, I'm just sharing what worked for me.

I robotically affirm that lil placebo and it's changed my entire approach to manifesting.

I will see if I can post pictures of myself that will ensure privacy. Until then, just my words and encouragement.

Let me finish this lil post by saying: you do not need to do what I do. You can go ahead and do everything instantly. Everyone is different. I'm just sharing what worked for me, what helped me ease into being firm with what I wanted the 3D to reflect to me.

xx, gigi

[redhairedwolfwitch]

Away From Her Goalie - Clàudia Pina x Reader

A/n: next part in the Score A Goalie universe... enjoy! next one will take a while, it requires research:)

///

The UWCL final in Eindhoven was here. Barcelona versus Wolfsburg. Clàudia on the pitch, you watching from the stands. You hadn’t felt so anxious about a match since the Copa De La Reina final, Atleti against Real Madrid, a match that went from 2-0 up to Real Madrid to Atleti bringing it to 2-2, through extra time and into penalties. Atleti came out on top and you were unashamed to admit that you had shed tears of joy over Atleti’s victory.

You had spent your time after the league finished organising the stuff you had brought to Barcelona back in January, trying to fit what you needed for your plans after the final.

Both sets of plans, as Clàudia planned to help you with your move, before the two of you went on a small holiday to serve as a break for you before you were thrown into training for the NWSL with NJ/NY Gotham FC, a club in need of a strong goalie to maintain their position at number 1 in the table.

It was hard, but you no longer had your apartment in Madrid, moving your things into storage that you did want to keep, but selling a lot. Clàudia was keeping some of your stuff for your return to Barcelona, the plans being after the NWSL season was done in November, you would be able to visit whilst Atleti and Gotham sorted out the post-NWSL training you could do before the winter transfer window in January.

But your career wasn’t the focus right now, as you sat in the stands of the Philips Stadium, in Eindhoven, waiting. Pina was on the bench but the stadium energy was electric.

Wolfsburg may have scored two goals first, but you couldn’t help but think about the Copa De La Reina final, Atleti were two goals down before bringing it up to 2-2, taking it to penalties after extra time where Atleti won.

You did not want it to go to penalties.

The second half was different and you could feel it, Patri sending the ball into the net to take it to 2-1, then two minutes later, Patri sent the ball in again, the score going to 2-2. Rolfö eventually making it 3-2 but later shots were going wide.

Pina was finally subbed on for Mariona in the 79th minute, while Ana was subbed on for Caro at the same time.

You grimaced as Wilms fouled Pina, but it wasn’t long after that Wilms was subbed off. A clash between Bronze and Popp had all the attention on the sidelines however, as Ingrid and Alexia prepared to be subbed onto the pitch at the 89th minute. 7 minutes of stoppage time were added, your stomach twisting as you leaned forwards in your seat, watching carefully.

Popp and Paredes ended up with yellow cards after a collision almost looked like it would turn into a fight on the pitch, Alexia and Ingrid having been subbed on minutes before the seven minutes of stoppage time arrived. Tackles flew in with players dropping like flies and you couldn’t stop grimacing.

Eventually the minutes ran out, Barcelona being crowned champions of Europe as Queen’s We Are The Champions played across the stadium, the team swaying and Pina rocking the trophy like it was a baby.

She spotted you in the stands, grinning and waving as you waved back, jumping up and down in celebration.

///

The UWCL final was a flashbulb memory in your mind, and your fiancee’s as you sorted out your suitcases, the flight across the Atlantic amounting to more than 8 hours in the air, with Patri driving you two to the Barcelona airport.

“I will miss you, but I will miss your pancakes more.” Patri declared as she watched you travel with double the amount of suitcases as Pina, but the reasoning made sense.

You were moving countries for your career, your fiancee was helping you settle in first, but you were allowed a break before going head on into the NWSL.

A break that you were spending with Pina, visiting someone you hadn’t seen in almost a year. Jenni Hermoso, who currently resides in Mexico to play for Pachuca in the Liga MX Femenil.

Arriving at JFK airport, Pina pulled up her hood, whilst you dug through your backpack, eventually finding a pair of sunglasses and putting them on to obscure your face.

“Where do we go?”

“I was emailed instructions… we need to get the subway to…” you paused, looking between your suitcases, to your large backpack balanced on one of them, to Pina’s luggage, “we’re taking suitcases on the subway… great start.”

“So we go from central station and get a connecting train to New Jersey…” You went over the instructions, passing Pina your sunglasses as you found your hat, almost amused at the Atleti logo on it but you were pretty sure someone had recognised you both whilst on the subway already.

///

“This should be it. The club arranged something close to the subway so I could get around without a car.” You explained, putting the key in the lock and almost celebrating when it turned and opened the door.

Wheeling all the suitcases inside, you headed over to the windows as you heard your fiancee speak, “es pequeño,” as she locked the door behind you both.

“Un poco,” agreeing with her, but it was a studio apartment with a tiny kitchen and windows that let in a lot of natural light, the view of the city presenting the hustle and bustle of New Jersey as you gazed out at the busy road full of cars.

“It feels very… New York, New Jersey… I don’t see a bat signal though.” You joked, peeking through the blinds like you were looking for a way to summon Batman.

“Gotham.” Pina rolled her eyes playfully as she snickered at your joke, walking over to the window to have a look.

“Suppose I should unpack something. Can’t leave it all until I’m back from Mexico and you’re on a flight… back to Barcelona.” Meeting your fiancee’s sad gaze, you held back your emotions as she reached for your hand.

“What am I doing? Moving nearly forty thousand miles away from you for a few months in the hopes my goalkeeper career isn’t just sitting on a bench until I retire then get stuck trying to become a goalkeeper coach? I’m sorry, you deserve better.”

“No. I deserve you. We deserve each other, and we both deserve play time, but I want you too.” Pina declared, her hand cupping your cheek as your face softened from where it was scrunched up in sadness, trying to hold the tears back.

“I want you too, and I want to play minutes. You are the only person who has put me first in a long time. You’re it for me, mi vida, our souls are together, even when our bodies are so far apart. I want to come back to you, marry you, and never leave you again, unless you don’t want that-”

“I choose you, remember? And our bodies are not apart yet.” Pina smirked, leaning in to press her lips against yours, before pulling away as you smiled.

“You’re right. In fact, I think our bodies could be a little closer.”

///

It took a little while to get your stuff unpacked, the two of you heading back out to travel from Hoboken and ending up in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan.

“I’m sorry you’re missing Ibiza this year.” You apologised over dinner/lunch (the timezone difference threw you two off), but your fiancee shook her head, pointing out that she was getting to spend time with her fiancee, in a new city before heading to another new city for a few days and seeing Jenni again after so long.

“I missed you in New York last winter.” Pina rationalised, smiling at you, before avoiding eye contact with whoever was behind you as the two of you were recognised.

“When do Atleti and Gotham announce your loan? People are recognising us from Barcelona.”

///

The flight to Mexico was nowhere near as long as the Transatlantic flight from Barcelona, the two of you bringing a lot less luggage too as you both looked to find Jenni and whoever she had brought with her to pick you both up from arrivals.

“¡Hola mis bebés!” Jenni cheered, pulling you both into a hug when she spotted the two of you approaching.

///

Your time in Mexico came and went, revealing the engagement to Jenni and how you were going to be on loan to NJ/NY Gotham until the end of the 2023 NWSL season. Jenni’s reaction included how you did not ask for her blessing, before she was congratulating you both and hugging you for taking a big step in your goalkeeping career.

Now you were staring out of your tiny studio apartment’s windows, watching the sun rise and trying to hype yourself up on your first day with Gotham.

///

Atleti and Gotham posted their posts first. Atleti revealed you had been sent on loan to NJ/NY Gotham for the rest of the 2023 NWSL season with good luck.

Gotham was a little more excited for you, using a photo array of shadows to tease your arrival, the shadows even resembled Batman before the final reveal of you in the Gotham goalie kit, the shadows made to look like the Bat Signal through the use of the spotlights during the photography session.

You were the next one to post, announcing your loan with a repost of the photo of you in the Gotham kit, with Bat Signal shining onto the dark background behind you, followed by photos of New York and New Jersey you had saved from when you and Pina were exploring around the two states.

Your previous posts consisted of photos of you and Pina hanging out with Jenni in Mexico, throwing people off online who thought everyone would be going to Ibiza, whilst leaving fans speculating as your engagement rings were spotted in one of the photos.

‘Sorry I’m not Batman, but I’m here to protect Gotham.’ Your caption was cheesy, especially with the bat emojis that Pina copied into her comment, along with a heart and flame emoji reminding you of the early days in your relationship.

///

[inbarfink]

Okay, after that last lil goof of a post, I started to have some more Thoughts about Tak…

I’m pretty sure I’ve already talked at length about how Zim is, in actuality, perfectly competent on paper. He’s technically got all the skills that Irken Society value, but his extreme personality flaws (especially his ego, his inability to assert threats and his pettiness) override any usefulness he might have and make him the incompetent laughingstock we all know and love. 

And I think, in a way… Tak is actually very much the same. It’s kind of the same core concept but with the skills and abilities being turned way up and the flaws being a lot more subtle. So she generally manages to be a lot more genuinely competent - but these are still the same core flaws that brought on her downfall.

Tak insists that her plan is not a matter of revenge, she’s trying to frame it like Zim’s just kinda in the way of her practical, impersonal scheme to become an Invader - but, like… I think she very clearly just doesn’t want to admit she’s seeking revenge against someone as pathetic as Zim. 

Now there is a discussion to be had about, like, wouldn’t it have been more worthwhile for Tak to grab a more valuable planet from the get-go, versus the consequences of ‘stealing’ a planet from an Actual Real Invader, versus the number of planets that must be out there, versus whether any of those planets are viable for any number of reasons, versus the potential consequences of removing Earth’s vital importance to the Irken Empire as A Thing to Keep Zim Too Distracted to Ruin Everything Again, versus the possibility the Tallests will just let out all of their frustrations about that unto Zim whom they already hate and not the taller and more competent Irken who just gave them snacks…. It can kinda go on forever, is the point. 

So I don’t necessarily wanna focus on the question of whether Tak should’ve chosen Earth for her Snack Plan or not - instead I wanna point out that Earth is just a really really big place. There doesn’t seem to be a reason why Tak had to set up her plan in the same city Zim lives in, or why she had to enroll in his class, or ‘date’ him. The only real reasons seem to be that she wanted to personally torment Zim for a while, and that was worthwhile enough for her to put her plan at risk. 

And it’s not just that she placed the nexus of her plan within walking distance of Zim. I mean, she did probably need to disable his base - and maybe you can say that enrolling in Zim’s school was her attempt at assessing his threat level before her plan kicked into full gear. But even so, the conclusion of this little round of espionage was that Zim was so much of a non-threat that she quite literally went up to his front door to inform him of who she is and what she is planning

If Tak just built her Magma Pump/Evil Weenie Stand on the other side of the world, or even just didn’t tell Zim that she’s an Irken out to steal his gig - Zim would have had no idea what’s going on until it was far too late. but instead of keeping that element of surprise, Tak literally walked over to his base to explain to him everything that she has done and is planning to do. She would’ve explained basically everything if not for Zim’s own hysterics. 

Look at this insistence! She was trying so hard to tell Zim her entire damn plan! And why? Because she was just thoroughly convinced that this clownish buffoon could not possibly be a threat to her. And because this was an essential part of her revenge. Due to Zim’s rush and destructive nature, she was trapped in her room and forced to watch just how callously Zim ignored her cries for help

And she wants to replicate that sort of feelings for Zim

So for her revenge to feel complete for her - she needs Zim to know who she is and why she’s doing it, and he needs to know what’s going on so he can watch on helplessly. And so for the sake of her revenge, she added a bunch of incredibly stupid steps in her plan - but hey, it’s no big deal! Zim clearly is far too incompetent to do anything about her plan by now, right?

And, like, the majority of what Zim had to spend his time on during the episode was actually figuring out what is Tak’s plan is. If Zim was just a little less hysterical when Tak came to visit (which isn’t unthinkable. Zim’s emotional state is pretty capricious) then maybe he could’ve defeated Tak much more quickly and thoroughly. Even disabling Zim’s base didn’t seem to do much considering it was at least partially operational by the time her plan actually came to fruition. She might’ve also underestimated the tech at his disposal or maybe just his repair skills. 

And if Tak somewhat underestimated Zim’s threat level, she sure as hell dismissed Dib's threat level completely. I think the implication is that she only hanging out with him to get more information on Zim and to torment Zim some more

And all of their interactions are dripping with condescension, she’s not even the least bit worried about having this human who discovered her secret. I mean, she already sees Zim as a total non-threat - obviously she’d have even less regard for the person who’s been repeatedly failing to stop him. Especially if there’s also a bit of this Irken Supremacy mindset that’s playing a factor. No way a stupid human child that has repeatedly failed to stop the Worst of the Irken Empire could be a threat to her, right????

And Gaz… oh man, Gaz. I mean, I’ve been going on about how Tak has underestimated Dib and Zim’s threat levels and they’ve proved her wrong by defeating her. But let’s be real here, Gaz is undoubtedly the one person most responsible for defeating Tak

And she barely registered on Tak's radar as anything but ‘Dib’s little sister’. She didn’t even think of her as a factor. And that was her downfall. 

And thinking about this…a lot of fans love to speculate about how Tak’s story arc would’ve continued had the show’s run been not cut so short. And I guess I think it would’ve been very interesting to focus on the parts of Tak’s character which mirror Zim. I mean, she has just been thoroughly humiliated by the Irken she dismissed as a joke and two human children. Her ego is more bruised than ever and now she’s even more focused on revenge

So I think it would’ve been a compelling and darkly ironic arc for Tak to have her gradually… Zimmify. The more she keeps losing to the two Biggest Losers in the Galaxy (and also Gaz), the more she becomes frustrated with Zim, the more she becomes obsessed with getting her revenge and proving her superiority and the more she clings to her ego and to the idea that the main characters can’t, shouldn’t be threats to her…

the more she gradually becomes just as pathetic and irrational as her most loathed enemy, Zim. Until she is a shadow of the hypercompetent badass we met in her introductory episode. Zim basically drags her down to his level through his ability to be so loathsome and so frustrating and so pathetic and yet still find a way to survive and win. Until the dignified and competent would-be Invader we first met is nearly unrecognizable.

You can even play with stuff with Tak’s Ship or some other gizmo she could’ve put her brains into - who would retain her original level-headedness compared to what the Real Tak has become....

[starsreminisce]

Everybody knows, without a doubt, that if Lucien just met Elain and was generally polite to her and then she got the mating bond with Azriel, he would NEVER be sneaking around trying to have sex with her in private. He would NEVER challenge Azriel for a fight to the death. Even if Elain was being distant with Azriel, he wouldn’t get involved because a mating bond tops everything.

The funny thing is that Lucien has addressed this specific scenario with someone who is mated, Feyre.

Every second was the ringing of my death knell. I’d primed everything to fall; I’d long since stopped feeling any sort of guilt or doubt about my plan. Not with Alis now safely away. And yet—and yet— “You don’t act that way with Feyre.” A silk-wrapped threat. “You’re mistaken.” “Am I?” Twigs and leaves crunched, as if she was circling him. “You put your hands all over her.” I had done my job too well, provoked her jealousy too much with every instance I’d found ways to get Lucien to touch me in her presence, in Tamlin’s presence. “Do not touch me,” he growled.

Yes, Feyre described Lucien as having lost interest in female company now that he is mated. However, he never treated Feyre as anything more than a friend despite who she was with. Even when he was comforting her during her "nightmare" and how he treated her afterward.

I hauled myself into the canvas tent when the fire was dying out, the space barely big enough for Lucien and me to sleep shoulder to shoulder. His red hair gleamed in the faint firelight a moment later as he shoved through the flaps and swore. “Maybe I should sleep out there.” I rolled my eyes. “Please.” A wary, considering glance as he knelt and removed his boots. “You know Tamlin can be … sensitive about things.”

Lucien stayed platonic toward Feyre, even when there were implications that there could be more, which Feyre used to her advantage in ACOWAR as part of her plan to destroy the Spring Court. Since we don't have Lucien's POV, it's clear that he could see the glamoured tattoo on Feyre's other arm, yet he kept a respectable distance while still attempting to repair their friendship.

Elain doesn't want a mate. Her whole arc is going to be a man vs. fate conflict.

And who better suits her to navigate this than someone who had no reason to believe he had a mate versus someone who had waited 500 years for the bond to snap?

It would make for a better rejection story if Elain and Az were mated and Elain rejected it, as both of them actually had something to gain from it. Azriel could move past the idolization of having a mate, realizing it's not what it's cracked up to be, and focus on someone who is much better suited for him. Elain could end up with someone who loves being out in the sun as much as she does, who would enjoy attending social events, and who has wandered into courts, making friends with the sons of other High Lords.

SJM did envision a world where Lucien and Elain were not mated, and she said Elain was the one who surprised her.

SJM could have kept Lucien as a close friend of Feyre's, as she did with Dorian and Chaol to Aelin or Bryce with Flynn, Ithan, and Tharion. Perhaps every scenario she thought of had Lucien and Elain drawn toward each other, or every scenario ended with Lucien and Elain together regardless of who their initial mates were, so she decided to mate them from the beginning.

And every book after that shows the devastation and consequences of not being with their mate, particularly in the face of uncertain death.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

WKA, in your infinite wisdom, please tell us who has done the very best hand work in bl this year

Ok first of all, I asked for nice questions, SHAN. NOT evil, personal attack, make me choose questions.

There have been many many many great hands in BL this year, and my categorization for them depends on what exactly we are looking for within them.

I wrote the most essays about hands for La Pluie, who I do think did hands extremely well when it comes to demonstrating character's. Patts changes in pressure and sensation versus Tai's fingers being stiff in their first make out session, and then Tai changing it up a bit in their sex scene now that he's had some practice. Patts' thumb wiping cum from Tai's lips, etc. and that wasn't a show that I would say had heavy focus on hands, just good work that I noticed mostly going on in the background.

gif from @wanderlust-in-my-soul

In terms of some of the best subtle ones, I would say Sing My Crush, which had some excellent hand work, and precisely a million screen captures, but were ones I didn't really notice while I was watching it.

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

In terms of shows that have had a hand focus, the fucking oil scene from I Feel You Linger in the Air was a perfect demonstration of hand work. There are so many shots of hands in this show and every last one of them is absolutely stunning. Removing Yai's tie, massaging Jom's eyebrows, the way the lesbians hold hands, it's all incredible.

gif from @pharawee (using the only hand moment in the oil scene that will most likely not get this post flagged mature lmfao)

And then I will give a shout out to Moonlight Chicken, both for the absolutely beautifully shot scene of Heart and Li Ming's hands climbing up each other, thumb to pointer finger. But also because sign language is a language of hand movement, and sign language is such a vital part of the story.

gif by @firstkhao

Another currently airing one that I think uses hands well is Only Friends, which similar to La Pluie doesn't feel like it is actively trying to do a ton of hand close ups, but whose use of hands is brilliant for how it demonstrates character. For example, how often Boston points directly at people because he's fucking rude, but Mew can't point directly at Top when he's fighting with him.

gif by @btwinlines [i know objectively this is not as strong of a hands gif as the others in this set, but I legitimately cannot find any other gifsets that shows Mew fighting with Top, and this gif does show that Mew points down and to the side of Top, which I love for Mew still not being able to be fully rude.]

Finally, special shout out to Man Trisanu in Step by Step for possibly my favorite hand moment of 2023, which happens in Ep 7, Pat is crying and Jeng starts to reach out to comfort him, realizes that touching Pat is not appropraite, and pulls his hand back.

gif by @pharawee

OH GOD AND OUR DINING TABLE HAD ONE OF MY OTHER FAVORITE SMALL HAND MOVEMENT MOMENTS, WHEN YUTAKA FOR A MILLISECOND REACHES HIS HAND BACK OUT TOWARDS MINORU'S IN EP 8.

gif by @forcebook

And if you wanna know what hands I thought were the hottest this year from a show I'm not even watching.

Love in Translation

gif by @aejeonghae

Like, excuse me?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[zombeebunnie]

Trembling Essence:💙Script progress + Updates💙

Hello and welcome new followers, long time no see! I was very busy most of this month, but I am back and ready to continue from where I left off on the game! This game development post might be a bit long but I tried to condense everything! :]

"How are things going so far?":

It's going slow and steady! I haven't been able to do too much these past few weeks, however, I wrote a few parts out before I got too busy and couldn't do anything else.

I want to be very careful when it comes to spoilers but, based on your choices, some of these areas will give off immersive cozy/homelike vibes that really express Noah and the player(Y/N)'s view towards each other. In the old 2023 script I was very new to writing so the small semi-hints of romance weren't the entire focus compared to the horror aspect but there's a better balance between both genres now and I'm still aiming for a meaningful slow burn versus it just being all over the place. :] I liked writing them a whole bunch which lead to a lot of these taking place in the mid/end of Day 4+, they just need to be placed in specific areas that call for it. With that being said, it felt really comfy adding key details about Noah and creating meaningful sections in the game. I was even going to draw out some of the unseen script/scenes but I believe the best thing to do is give deeper lore from the [Extended Demo] first. Even though my writing style has improved I still have to fix the multiple pacing issues I wrote last year.

"Playtester's advice":

I wanted to continue working through Noah's backstory but I kept having moments where I'd get sidetracked into wanting to fix up the start of the game again. Eventually, I talked to my play testers about it and they gave me a few encouraging pointers.

To help keep my process at ease, I will fix the beginning of the game when I take breaks from writing up Noah's backstory. :]

I talked about this during early 2024 but the start of the game that leads up to the cabin is still getting reworked. I was able to get some of it fixed for the [Extended Demo] but I wasn't done. Things are still up in the air but, I will say that I have a better view of everything than I did before. :] Another priority that needs fixing are the backgrounds! I've improved a lot on drawing and they need to be optimized. When you first start up the game, you wake up in a holed out tree in the swamp with the choice to leave this area and possibly end up in the forest. I was going for a very immersive form of symbolism that only a few noticed but, I believe I can do a better job about this. Unfortunately I don't have any new backgrounds to show right now but maybe next week I'll have some finished up! :]

"Art process/Noah's sprite sheets":

As far as Noah sprite sheet goes, it's still in sketch mode.

I didn't draw anything since I was gone so I need to do a few warm ups before I get to them. There are some old drawing prompts I wrote down and old sketches that I never got a chance to doodle so hopefully I can get to them at some point with some attached lore. :,]

My Q&A / Ask box has been reset!

Thank you to those who have sent in asks in the past, unfortunately they all disappeared except for 1 while I was gone. I have no idea what happened but I can only guess it just got reset.

If you have any questions about Trembling Essence/Noah feel free to ask or resend them in here please. This makes it easier for me to see and answer accordingly! I would really like to hear from you guys!

This is all I have to share so far, Thank you to everyone for the continued support and patience while I was gone! I was ready to accept the interest for this game to fade out and coming back to see that it didn't happen makes me happy, I really appreciate it. :,]

[gffa]

HI LUMI 7,8 and 22 for Obi-Wan and Ahsoka If it's not too much? I hope you're well 🫶

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like? Obi-Wan Kenobi - There are actually a lot of things I like that fandom does when it comes to Obi-Wan (so many great time travel fics, so many fics that explore the balance he has between being a troll versus genuinely caring about and helping people, so many fics that explore his love for the Jedi), but I think my favorite thing is that the majority of fandom seems like it went, "Yeah, Anakin Skywalker is the central character of that guy's life." Whatever tone that takes, it's one of my favorite things about Obi-Wan Kenobi as a person, that he chose to dedicate his life to Anakin and no one meant more to him than Anakin, to the point that he couldn't see the truth depths of Anakin's fault lines, that he had to literally see Anakin murdering children to believe it, that even when he let Anakin go, he never was willing to turn his back on Anakin. Even when he knew it would mean his death, he left the choice in Anakin's hands, because that guy was so fundamental to who Obi-Wan Kenobi was. Fandom often explores that through a myriad of ways, whether funny banter when they were younger, heartbreaking fic as Obi-Wan has to try to process all the feelings while on Tatooine, sweet reunion fic when Obi-Wan helps him over to the other side in the Force, or alternate universes where things went better. Anakin is foundational to Obi-Wan's arc as a character and I love that so much of fandom reflects that, in such a myriad of creative ways! Ahsoka Tano - I love that fandom has embraced that Ahsoka is often a disaster, that too often she gets put up on a pedestal of perfection to the point that it erases her actual personality. But when I come into our corner of fandom, we're all shrieking in delight when she does something dumb because it makes us love her more, it highlights that sometimes she makes amazing decisions, that she's a compassionate and wonderful person, but that she can also be hypocritical at times, that she takes decades to get over Anakin's betrayal, that she can have complicated feelings about the Jedi, but that ultimately she loved them and she would have gone home to them, that she is allowed the space to be a complicated, fascinating, interesting character. 8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise? Obi-Wan Kenobi - Answered here. Ahsoka Tano - I dislike it when some in fandom don't actually seem to care about Ahsoka as a character and what she is actually like and just use her as a weapon to bash on the Jedi. Like, I can't and won't stop anyone if they disagree with my interpretation, there's room for us all, but I really dislike it when she's used for what feels like mean-spirited beating on characters that never actually did half of the stuff fandom accuses them of. It's a disservice to her character just as much to cut out her warmer feelings, to use her as a mouthpiece rather than focus on who she is and what she believes. I dislike it when fandom makes her perfect at the expense of other characters, like I am ALL FOR Ahsoka being amazing and incredible, let female characters be amazing and incredible!!!, but if it can only be done by making everyone around her terrible, then I'm not sure that actually says anything about how good she actually is. I also really dislike it when fandom thinks that Ahsoka could have saved Anakin on Mustafar, because the whole point was that Obi-Wan and Padme couldn't do it and they really were trying, the whole point is that Anakin was choosing this, he was choosing to become Vader, and to say that Ahsoka could have saved him at a time when the entire story was that no one could, it breaks her character and the narrative, like let her be amazing on her own terms and in her own way, let her story be her story, rather than subsuming her into Anakin's story! (This is why that episode of Ahsoka worked so well for me, because he became part of her story, rather than the other way around and it worked so well there.)

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to ths character? Something you don't like? Obi-Wan Kenobi - I like it when authors can balance that Anakin is the central figure of Obi-Wan's life, but that he is allowed to have his own reactions about what Anakin has done. He's allowed the space to be angry, to need distance for awhile, to need to work through his feelings about Anakin's betrayal of everything they stood for and his friendship with Obi-Wan, that Obi-Wan doesn't need to put aside his own feelings immediately to go support Anakin. Ultimately, Anakin is someone that Obi-Wan will always want to support, but I think he should be given space to sometimes struggle with getting there because, you know, baby murder is a hell of a thing to swallow down without chewing on it first! Ahsoka Tano - I love when fic explores Ahsoka's relationships with other characters WITHOUT the expense of how Anakin is the central figure in her bigger story. I sometimes feel like Anakin is the only person she's ever allowed to interact with, when TCW went out of its way to show her having important relationships with Obi-Wan and Plo and Yoda and Luminara and Asajj and Rex and more. So I love it when fic can explore those other relationships, too, because it makes her connection with Anakin feel so much more interesting, that she has this huge collection of people she's connected with and he still is the one that is most firmly lodged in her heart! Also, my kingdom for more Ahsoka & Mace interaction fic where there's debris between them, but they clearly care about each other and are both deeply good people and are connected through the Force together.

[acourtofthought]

I saw a lot of post about elriels trying to give lucien's traits to azriel but have anyone noticed how they also try to assign azriel's negative traits to lucien?

I have noticed that many in the fandom gloss over Az's negative behaviors because the focus is always on who he'll have the best love story with. They only think on how he'll be by the time he gets his HEA (something that has yet to happen) rather than what we know of him right now versus Lucien who they love to tear apart for things that happened how many books ago now? Without bothering to consider the nuance that existed for every decision Lucien had to make. Or how Lucien was also a victim in those moments. Az tortures to the extent it made Feyre uncomfortable, starts fights in High Lords meetings, says if Lucien kills Graysen "good riddance" and doesn't hesitate over saying he'd defeat Lucien easily in what we know can be a fight to the death despite us knowing Elain is bothered by cruelty. Lucien avoids violence whenever possible and never threatens Graysen or Az (if he's aware of Az's behavior towards Elain). Az argues against Feyre and Rhys's orders in SF then broods when he doesn't get his way. Lucien keeps on helping wherever possible and carrying out the requests he's given without complaint. Lucien did try to speak to Tamlin about how Feyre deserved to train. When Tamlin's power harmed Feyre, Lucien confronted him "What have you done" yet we were not given a scene where Az stood up to Rhys for keeping the baby a secret from Feyre or where he spoke out about it being wrong to keep the swords a secret from Nesta. He had no issues on speaking out against Elain searching for the Trove though. E/riels do swap the personalities of the characters. They try to make Elain more like Gwyn and they try to make Az more like Lucien. It's actually kind of funny when you think about it. There's clearly something about those characteristics they like and could have in a mated pair when they're doing their best to force it between Az and Elain.

[syrupsyche]

This chapter was an INCREDIBLE look into Valjean's mind, which we haven't entered into since his backstory all the way back in Digne.

I wanted to compare this chapter of self-reflection and the agony of choosing between two paths to another very similar chapter: Javert Derailed. Reading (and rereading) both chapters made me realise that though both are exploring the same moral dilemma, much of Valjean's reflection is him speaking to himself, placed in quotation marks as seen below:

"Where do I stand? Am not I dreaming? What have I heard? Is it really true that I have seen that Javert, and that he spoke to me in that manner? [...] What is there in this incident? What will the end be? What is to be done?"

//

"it is God who wills it; I can do nothing against the will of God, [...] It is settled; let things take their course; let the good God do as he likes!"

Compared to Javert Derailed:

Where did he stand? He sought to comprehend his position, and could no longer find his bearings.

What was he to do now? To deliver up Jean Valjean was bad; to leave Jean Valjean at liberty was bad.

//

This new chief, God, he became unexpectedly conscious of, and he felt embarrassed by him. This unforeseen presence threw him off his bearings; he did not know what to do with this superior [...] But how was he to set about handing in his resignation to God?

Not even in his final moment do we get much of Javert's actual, word-from-mouth, thoughts. These are all the narrator's speech; Javert may have – for the first time in his life – actually reflected on his actions and philosophy, but his inability to vocalise them therefore indicates his inability to internalise it, therefore leading to his demise.

Those quotes above also parallel (and contrast) eerily. "Where do I stand?" versus "Where did he stand?", Valjean's complete devotion to God versus Javert's shying away from Him. Both chapters even focus on the stars:

...the terrible cup which appeared to Him dripping with darkness and overflowing with shadows in the depths all studded with stars. (Tempest)

//

The darkness was complete. It was the sepulchral moment which follows midnight. A ceiling of clouds concealed the stars. (Derailed)

Tempest ends with a sky full of stars, Derailed ends with none (a concept that translated pretty well over to the musical ver.) All these subtly hints at Valjean's and Javert's differing mindsets and decisions, as well as their impact on themselves.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

You’ve mentioned how boring the Avatar movies are despite how visually stunning they can be (I can’t help but agree.) How would you rewrite it to be a more interesting?

Can't be done and not for the reasons you're probably thinking.

The Thing about James Cameron

To get into this, we have to talk about James Cameron as a director.

Now, I say this being a large fan of The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day, as well as generally liking Aliens and Abyss.

But generally, the focus of James Cameron's films is not the story or the writing: it's a new cutting-edge technology he wants to develop and try out and or a particular setting. The story is presented as an excuse to do these things and is paper thin at best.

The focus of Titanic was the ship itself, the exact timing of its sinking, seeing all of the ship (both upstairs and downstairs) both before and after the sinking, and to aid that along we get this story of Jack and Rose where they run around the ship like lunatics so we can see everything.

Abyss, similarly, is exploring the concept of a setting at depth and the technology needed to produce such a film.

Now, what also ties into this, is that Cameron has a few tropes he really really really likes in films that aren't that... deep I guess I'd call them. Generally, in any Cameron film, you can count at least one (usually more) of the following:

US Marines (Good or Bad or Both)

Evil Corporations/Evil Rich People

A Surprisingly (!) Good Scientist/Science/Robot People

An Uncomplicated Action Hero/Heroine

An Uncomplicated Love Story

In the case of the Avatar series, Cameron had thought up this fictitious world Pandora, the native people there the Nav'i, and wanted to push both CGI as well as 3D to the limit (notable is that Cameron did 3D for these films in a way films generally don't, in that he did actual 3D where most '3D' films just have two cameras for stereo. This is why Cameron's 3D looks so fucking good and is actually worth seeing in theaters versus other 3D films which are eeeeeeh watch it at home). And, as usual, what we see is a story written in such a way to show off the setting, the made-up culture of the Nav'i, and the technology used to produce the film rather than the story in and of itself.

So, in the first film, we get a story that hits all the usual marks for Cameron. Through Jake's adventure, we get to explore Pandora and see all the things Cameron really wants to show off to us, we also get all the tropes Cameron usually loves: an uncomplicated love story, evil corporations, US Marines, surprisingly good scientists who seem bad at first but then are misguided, and a dumb uncomplicated hero.

In this case, it's just the plot of Dances with Wolves (almost to a tee) but uh... more blue.

(The second film is even worse in this respect, as well as just as a film, as Cameron now wants to show a new part of Pandora, the ocean but uh... has no reason for the characters to be there so has to make something up that doesn't make much sense or give the characters much to do.)

The trouble is where this works for Cameron in other films (Terminator and Terminator 2 were great in that they didn't need to be complicated, the setting and special effects provided what we needed for great films), in Avatar we're hampered by a plotline that has both aged and that we've seen before, and by a script that's... just not good.

But the point I was trying to make is that Avatar would not exist without Cameron. This isn't a case where you hire a new director, new screenwriter, new anything, this is Cameron's vision and there's really not much wiggle room in that without dumping out everything Cameron wanted.

The best someone could do is rewrite the script to make the lines more catchy/memorable/quotable without changing the plot.

(Caveat, again, I think Cameron is great when he's great. What he does well he does very well, and he has made some fantastic as well as very entertaining movies. However, sometimes, it just doesn't work out.)

Back to the Question

So, to 'fix' Avatar you have to have a script Cameron would like, one that shows of Pandora in the way he wants, and with the uncomplicated characters he generally likes.

Trouble is, that is Avatar. I can think of no way to produce what Cameron would have wanted beyond what Cameron himself did. He was involved in every step of that movie and it shows.

And again, to make it better or different is to make something that never would have happened as, well, it's not Cameron.

Long story short, you can't have Avatar without Blue Pocahontas in Space.

[familyabolisher]

I’d love to hear more about the terrible thing at the edge of the lake! It’s really well written, and idk if i was just projecting or if you’re so skilled that you made it clear that Anthony lived his childhood as a girl without ever really saying it. Genuinely, i don’t know how you did that.

lake story commentary under the read more >:)

yeah i mean, as you say, the crux of this story is that our narrator is a trans man. i threw in a handful of clues that gestured towards the fact:

the name being the very first thing we learn about him, and the fact that he takes pride in it (& feels the need to share that pride with his "audience"). it's a chosen name; he is a pretty pretentious guy, and he wants us to see the artistry behind it. the story closes with him telling us that he "[has] been Anthony Misha Cohen ever since" he entered the lake; with what the lake represents in the story, this is him telling us that he decided to transition.

that the dead fox "made no advances" on the dead rabbit, and "thus disproved that claim to all of Nature’s predispositions being wholly ineluctable"; this is, of course, a gesture towards biological determinism. anthony points it out to us because that's what he's trying to focalise in telling this story. a lot of the piece is about agency versus inevitability, what we do and what is done to us. in the end, he chooses to act rather than be acted upon, which is how he is able to articulate his transness.

that one of the body parts thrown up by the lake is a severed breast; ha ha, top surgery, etc. looking at this more broadly, the narrative focus turning to these individual, isolated body parts ("Ought the lake to have thrown up a whole human body for my taking? It never did.") was intended to speak to a sense of alienation induced by dysphoria.

to speak a little more broadly, the story is in part about finding yourself coming into conflict with narratives of "coherence," which is to say, normativity, and (as i glossed in the second bullet point) about agency vs. subjectivity. i like to read the lake in the passage from streetcar that i referenced as representative of what lies outside the limits of heteronormativity; if you don't know, this specific passage has blanche describe the time she accidentally caused the suicide of her gay husband by revealing to him that she saw & was disgusted by his sexual relationship with another man. when he shoots himself, he becomes a 'terrible thing at the edge of the lake,' and i'm caught by his being, specifically, a 'thing'; for the rest of the play, he & his death come to metonymically stand for the essential failure of heterosexuality & sexual normativity that leads blanche to eventual ruin. he ceases to be a person and becomes a piece of metonymy; a signifier of the possibility of queerness, and the social paradigms that such a possibility threatens to rupture. this slots in well with my interest in spatial demarcation in fiction as a process of marking the boundaries of hegemony; all of streetcar takes place in one apartment, and who can and cannot live comfortably within the borders of the apartment aligns entirely with who can and cannot live comfortably within the borders of heteronormativity. compare apartment to lake; if the 'thing at the edge of the lake' is allan grey, and is therefore the possibility of queerness, then the lake itself is the repository, in a sense, for everything that sexual normativity & hegemony fundamentally cannot absorb.

& that's what anthony's lake is! ofc we're talking about transness in my story, but i'm playing around with the same essential idea of something that exists through its abjection & its absence, made sense of through its presumed impossibility. & it sets him at odds with his family, none of whom can see it. long before he can put words to what he wants, he has to live with the physical presence of the lake, & how that presence moulds his interfacing with the world even as he is the only person able to "see" it. as i said, i'm playing with the idea of spatial zones as standing in for discursive ones; the lake represents the marginalised, peripheralised forms of gender + sexuality by which sexual normativity + hegemony has to make sense of itself, and anthony lives with a heightened awareness of their existence before he has the language or the frameworks to properly recognise them. similarly, even people who cannot "see" the lake (for whom sexual normativity is naturalised such that the lake's "function" can become, in effect, background noise) can read this accidental departure from the norm into his affect.

& this idea of course brings us to the eyeball which provokes what is discursively figured as transition. i wrote this as an inversion of blanche's "I saw! You disgust me!" - when blanche "sees," queerness is no longer a distant & peripheral construction shoring up her understanding of heterosexuality without her ever having to confront it, but is instead in her immediate vicinity, and her response is to set off the chain of events that restore allan to "the edge of the lake" and to metonymic signifier. when anthony is "seen," by the lake itself, the world made possible by the lake is -- again -- no longer distant & peripheral, but immediate, and confrontational ("nothing but the water to distinguish it from me") (this is also why i referenced clare quilty, and vladimir nabokov/vivian darkbloom -- lolita doppelgangers strike a similar chord to this moment!). unlike blanche, his response to seeing and being seen is to finally admit to himself that the world represented by the "lake" is the world to which he wishes to belong. it's important that this is a conscious and deliberate choice -- throughout the story, it's always possible for anthony to remain, essentially, an unhappy girl, and to grow up into an unhappy woman. he tells us as much -- "But there were practical reasons for which I between the ages of eleven and twenty-one felt that I could not merely become that which I anticipated so fervently. If the lake were to take me—as I was certain it intended to do—I for so long committed resolutely to the idea that it had to be a happy happenstance, a fortuitous accident by which I could willingly and joyously forfeit all agency in the matter. I lasted so long in this state." anthony knows, at some level, what he is, but he spends a long time trying to make sense of it without having to act. when he is finally "seen," he acts, and this to me is a useful way of thinking about transness; not as deterministic inevitability, but as an expression of gendered agency.

i don't want to break it down sentence-by-sentence because i feel like that takes a lot of the fun out of reading it, but i hope this commentary was helpful -- i love this piece, i was dying to talk about it.

[goodqueenaly]

What kind of rights - if any - would a divorced noblewoman have in Westeros? In the case where a husband wants to set aside an infertile wife who hasn't done anything wrong personally, would the ex-husband be required to make sure she was provided for or that her honour isn't damaged, or would she just instantly stop being his responsibility? Likewise, is there anything requiring the woman's birth family to take her in again, other than worrying about optics?

A couple things.

Number one, we have no idea of the extent to which divorce - as a separate concept from annulment - exists in Westeros. When commenting on the issue, GRRM merely said that "divorce simply isn’t common”, but did not elaborate. Is divorce a legal remedy for Westerosi married persons, and if so, by what means can married persons seek divorce? (Let’s not even get into the question of whether these rules apply equally to followers of the Faith versus followers of the old gods versus followers of the Drowned God.) Therefore, it is completely impossible to say whether a Westerosi man could even divorce (again, specifically divorce) his wife, much less what would happen to either party in such a scenario.

Number two, even if we just focus on annulment (which definitely does exist in Westeros), we have almost no idea on what grounds Westerosi married persons can seek such a remedy. The only confirmed reason why a Westerosi annulment can be granted is non-consummation, though given the example of Tyrion and Tysha (whose marriage was definitely consummated) it’s very probable that there are other grounds which can secure a legitimate annulment - we just don't know them all. Therefore, we have no idea whether “a husband [who] wants to set aside an infertile wife who hasn't done anything wrong personally” could even do so, much less what would happen to either party even if such an annulment could be granted. (Again, I’m not even going to begin to touch on how the various faiths of Westeros might differ on this point.)

Number three, we have virtually (more on that in a moment) no examples of a successfully obtained Westerosi annulment where the parties were both aristocrats and went on to live (separate) aristocratic lives. (I don’t count the historical example of King Garland II Gardener, given that we have no idea how he legally justified “putting his own wives aside to marry Lord Lymond’s [i.e. Lymond Hightower’s] daughter” nor what happened to these (unfortunately typically nameless) ladies afterward.) Tywin very pointedly, very specifically did not give one iota of a shit what happened to Tysha after he arranged for that marriage to be annulled (and for Tysha herself to be gang-raped). If Aegon V had any conception for what he planned to do for (or with) Jenny of Oldstones after he had the marriage between her and Prince Duncan annulled, we don’t know yet what those plans might have been. Moreover, Viserys I shut down the idea of annulling Prince Daemon’s marriage to Rhea Royce, while Jaehaerys I and Alysanne vocally resisted Rogar Baratheon’s attempt to annul their marriage in 49 AC, so there is not much to glean from these examples on what might have happened to the brides involve. 

Now, we may learn much more about how the Faith and greater Westerosi society treats formerly married persons in TWOW and in Fire and Blood Volume 2. With Lancel having taken the vows of a Warrior’s Son, Amerei is no longer Lady Lannister. Jaime just barely touched upon this point in AFFC - leaving Amerei at Darry “weeping softly at the dissolution of her marriage whilst letting Lyle Crakehall console her” - though his troubled observation of “the hard looks on the faces of her kin as they stood about the yard” may suggest that the Freys will have more to say in the future on how they (and indeed the rest of the world) think of Amerei now that she is no longer Lancel’s bride. Littlefinger, of course, plans on marrying Sansa to Harry Hardyng, and I think will cite the (well-known) fact that Sansa’s marriage to Tyrion was never consummated to have the local religious authorities of the Vale declare Sansa to be as she was prior to the Tyrion marriage - that is, a highborn maiden fit to be wed to Harry. Too, on a historical level, Baelor the Blessed famously had his marriage to Daena dissolved - and while Baelor himself thereafter imprisoned Daena (as well as her sisters) for the rest of his life, we don’t yet know how the rest of Baelor’s court saw Daena after the news of the dissolution.