#framework arc

[yellow-yellow-jacket]

let me yap about the framework arc. please let me yap about the framework arc-

[toastytrusty]

thinking a lot tonight about my favorite hickey interpretation which is that he is essentially a failed religious fanatic. to Me it is so much more compelling if he genuinely reveres the tuunbaq. he doesn't want to dominate it, he wants to worship it, or exist alongside it. he is deep in delusion and truly believes he has a genuine connection to it. he thinks that if he sacrifices the remaining men he has under his control to it, the tuunbaq will accept him as a follower. he has always believed himself separate to britain and its empire, an exception to its corruption. he believes that using the imperialist system to get away from the imperialist nation he hates makes him different than those who use the imperialist system to carry out explicitly imperialist endeavors. he thinks his past actions are inconsequential, thinks his resentment exempts him, thinks denouncing britain and allowing the tuunbaq to kill his crew will win him the respect and acceptance of this godly creature. but it doesn't. he isn't different. the pain he has caused for his personal pursuits is just as damaging as pain caused for grander, imperial pursuits, and is in fact the same thing. he is just as much a force of destruction as anyone else, just as much a target of the tuunbaq's rath as anyone else. perhaps more than anyone else. he lived his life hating britain, yet he still exhausted his endless quest for connection and purpose within the british framework before looking outside of it. he thought crozier saw things the way he did, recognized the same things he did, and he played the imperialist game as he saw it to be (abusing native people), attempting to chase that connection. but when crozier came up lacking and he came up brutalized, he stopped trying to find it there. he thinks instead that the tuunbaq sees him, recognizes he is different in a way crozier never did, can give him the soul bonded Purpose that he so deeply craves. he is genuinely mystified by it, sees it as so much larger and holier than anything britain has ever offered, and thinks it respects him the same way he respects it. tuunbaq killing him is much the same as crozier lashing him. he committed acts of violence to appeal to both of them, thinking it would win him their respect and admiration, only to end up as a subject of their violence in return, because he isn't what they want and he is never able to truly connect with people in the way he wants

[azuresins]

Every day I wake up and every DAY it's not April the 5th........

[mosswolf]

i absolutely know that she will be paired off with one of the boys probably imminently because that's how robin hobb conceptualises life BUT in my heart thymara aroallo rights okay. she doesn't want to settle down!! she just wants to vibe!!!!

[bacchuschucklefuck]

LIVING for your ponytail Yugi he’s so cute 😭💖

thank u! i hold dear in my heart the way yuugi is like a little plushie that wants nothing more than to die a noble death

[outer-edges]

as badly as i lose my mind to daisy & coulson i hope everyone knows i feel exactly the same about daisy & mack. the way their relationship progresses from mack being scared of her and saying "we're the ones that need protection from her" to being her partner in everything and her saying "when i need someone to watch my back, he’s the person i want" is SO important. like i would say her relationship with mack is easily one of her most meaningful.

[stellaluna33]

Another reason (besides many others that I've talked about before) Logan's "you're just like the rest of us!" spiel in Season 7 rubs me the wrong way is that I think it doesn't fit with the dynamic ASP set up for Rory and Logan to have. Because Rory ISN'T like the rest of them. And that's always been part of her appeal to Logan. ASP said that the core of Rory and Logan's relationship was about having fun and "avoiding reality," and while it's obvious how that applies to Rory, I think the same is true for Logan as well. And it's not just the partying, it's Rory specifically that's an escape for Logan.

This is related to the general theme that Rory is "caught between worlds" and can't quite fit neatly into either one, and in Season 5, when Rory starts to really want to try on her grandparents' (and Logan's) world for size, it's made clear that she doesn't quite belong. Logan first objects to starting anything with her because she's "special" (how flattering)- and while yes, that has a lot to do with Rory being perceived as a "relationship girl," it's also framed as being different from the culture he's used to (Honor's friends, whom he's "known forever," are a case in point). And when Logan does decide to try a more serious relationship with Rory and brings her home to dinner, it turns out that his family doesn't approve. Rory's not REALLY "one of them," it turns out. She's tainted by association with her mother, and she's too "middle class," essentially, because she wants to work for a living. Logan is upset by this, but being with Rory afterwards becomes a Little Rebellion.

In "Vinyard Valentine," we find out that Logan has been playing house with Rory while he was supposed to have been at an important business meeting his father had arranged for him. We also find out that the trip across Asia Logan and Rory have been planning cannot actually happen at all, because his father is planning to ship Logan off to London immediately after graduation. And Logan knew this the entire time. He was simply choosing to pretend that he could make his own plans.

This theme is continued into the Revival, when we find out that Logan is engaged to a woman his family approves of, but is avoiding thinking about it by having an affair with Rory. Both of them are using each other to escape reality, but reality comes anyway. Logan can pretend he can be with Rory, can wistfully think about "what-ifs" and "might-have-beens," but in the end, he knows that he's not going to fight to make it real. He had his Little Rebellion, but he's not going to fight against his family's plans. I think it's crucial to emphasize that he could if he really wants to, but in the end, while he may love the idea of being with Rory, he doesn't love her enough to be willing to leave it all behind. And if Rory was "just like the rest of them," he wouldn't have to.

[starheirxero]

I cannot describe just how feral your "It runs deeper" au makes me.

I am positively in love with it, please give us more-

-Stardust

OH?? MY STARS???? I'M ALSO FERAL ABOUT MY OWN AU AAAAA!!!

I am literally ALWAYS overjoyed to share what I can about IRD, it's such a passion project of mine you have no idea!!! So here's some KC concept art + my insanity about one of Eclipse's scenes + and actual snippet of (potentially) one of Bloodmoon and Lunar's interactions :3

[lovevalley45]

i’m like done with most of the major projects i have to turn in for finals so im looking at the revisions my professor has offered for my paper on epic n like. i do need to ask if its worth my time to basically rewrite this whole paper when i got a 90/100 but like… am i doing it for the grade or for the love of the craft

given i wanna do it before next thurs i think the answer is the grade but its also for the craft

[girlvinland]

I think at some point I’d really like to adapt my DS OC stories into some kind of larger one where they’re all put together, and maybe like, distance it from fandom in general so it can be its own standalone thing?

[hesgomorrah]

btw i think it's important that you all know trapper john md has a character that starts out as a frank clone and then actually gets a character arc. and it rules i love him

[timeskip]

SO. What I'm getting from Ange's fight to believe in "white witches" against "black witches" that maybe I'm not supposed to be getting, is that in episode 3 Beatrice DID unlock more and different power by believing in love and protecting people and HAPPINESS. Like, the witch Eva is the symbol of the black witch (even as in Ange's eyes she's only taking that form because Ange still hasn't forgiven Eva...) and she was created in episode 3 from Eva's rage, pain, and desire to destroy everyone. And in that episode, Beatrice was able to keep going despite her power being taken from her... using the source of magic that is "love" as opposed to sadness and rage.

When Ange calls Beatrice "not a real witch" she's echoing a lot of what gets said in episode 3. But in that case, Beatrice faked being a "real" witch in ep3, as opposed to her true self here who is being called a fake. But maybe part of it was real in ep3, and it gave her a power that was able to fight against Eva Beatrice... theoretically?

And yet she still didn't have the love that would allow her to revive Sakutaro!! It was Ange's love that put this into motion, trying to protect Maria's love and happiness, to stop the burden from being placed on her shoulders!!! Because Ange understands Maria in a way that Beatrice doesn't, because Beatrice constructed the Golden Land to be with Maria and Maria alone, to create a universe where she doesn't have to face her inability to create the world she wanted through the game with Battler (because Battler doesn't remember his sin? Maybe? Time will tell)

In any case, Beatrice IS a witch, she DOES have magic, but she's unable to understand love so all she can do is use her rage and sadness to fuel what she's doing. At least that's how I interpret it at present.

Meanwhile, Ange can 'see' magic differently, because she's given so much love and empathy even to her enemies. She wants people to respect Maria's happiness, all the things her Onee-chan did to stay happy despite her circumstances and not push her pain onto other people... because witches like Eva Beatrice can't understand happiness of that sort :') But Ange's journey has been one of coming to understand this, and to understand what she has to do for both herself and for Battler...

I got to the scene where Ange lets herself die just to tell Battler she's his sister and that he needs to come home and I'm SO SADDDDD AAAAAA I ACTUALLY THOUGHT SHE'D STICK AROUND ON THE GAME BOARD FOR LONGER :( But it was a beautiful, painful scene... I'm technically not done with it but I'll finish it soon :(( Oh Ange... she may never be able to get Battler back, but she loves him. She STILL loves him.

[franticbindings]

A Great Power

If you are on this quest then you likely have some capability that sets you apart from the average person; this could be a magical or miraculous ability, a mundane skill or even just a surplus of some resource. This thing that you can do (or have) almost always has the potential to be misused; it would be dangerous in the hands of someone with ill intentions, or if it was used recklessly, or it might be that the only thing at stake is that you might waste some chance or opportunity.

You could be a powerful psychic, have been given the opportunity to make a wish, have recently won a bunch of money or be trying to decide how to grow your business. This quest is more about exploring what you should do with what you have, rather than what you can do. You are on this quest if you are trying to figure out what the right thing to do is or have a reason for your convictions to be tested.

There is someone important that you are going to meet while you are on this quest, or someone you know will become important in a new way; this is your Foil. This person probably has a capability similar to yours, and has already decided how they think it should be used. They might try to sway you to their way of seeing things, but at the very least they are interested in seeing what you will decide. If you already have some idea about what you want to do, then there is something contrasting about their philosophy; if you think that you want to be a hero, they could be a villain but I think it’s just as likely that they are a different kind of hero or decided being a hero was too much work or responsibility. 

If you don’t have an idea where this quest could be going, then there is something that daunts you about the path your Foil has chosen to walk; something about it is transgressive or it would demand something from you that you’re not sure you’re willing to give.

Major Goals

You can earn 5 XP towards this quest when:

You meet your Foil; a rival, antagonist or love interest who has a similar capability as you but has a different perspective on how it should be used

You tell someone, or someone tells you: “We’re not so different, you and I.”

You use your capability in a dramatic way and it has serious unintended consequences

Quest Flavor

1/chapter you earn 1 XP when you…

encounter an object being used for something other than its intended purpose

object to something on moral or ethical grounds

ask someone for advice when making a decision (or imagine doing so)

end up in a goofy or embarrassing situation because of your capability

repeat something that was said to you

encounter your Foil in an unexpected situation

[synestheticwanderings]

shitty photo of a cool infographic

[wavebiders]

the blindspot re: Orym is very fair! he was mostly just some guy to me until that moment in ep 34 (and after that point, when i finally went back to watch EXU), and even then i didn't rlly start rotating him in my brain so intensely until Team Issylra arc as well

He just got so overshadowed by all the crazy shit going on with the rest of the party that I just never stopped long enough to really think about it! Even in episode 34 I was too distracted by the Laudna of it all to fully register what was happening with him lmao

I should do an EXU prime rewatch of my own soon, I feel like there's a lot of stuff about this lil guy that I missed

[monsternobility]

fallout series has been making me think abt alice again. still dont know what im gonna do abt charon's plot resolution