#maybe i should build anti-meta? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

honeybeezgobzzzzz · 16 days

Text

⚡ Amour

Amour: You have a long-standing history with Harrison Wells… and his many doppelgängers. From Eobard Thawne to Harrison ‘Sherloque’ Wells, you’ve had your difficulties to contend with and with the latest arrival of Harrison Wells, you are decidedly against falling for another blue-eyed devil. When the entire multi-verse is destroyed by anti-matter, and the only Wells you have to be concerned about is the barely tolerable Harrison “Nash” Wells, you might just finally catch a break. Not.

Warnings: Explicit Language, Explicit material (Unprotected Sex is a No No), Angst.

To Note: Eobard Thawne (in Nash Wells) x Female!Reader, Amour: a secret or illicit love affair or lover.

Word Count: ~5.5k

“So maybe I should start making you a fireproof suit as well?” Cisco probed, looking at your smoldering body and sooty face. Your eye twitched and both Barry and Caitlin gave you a sympathetic look.

“Barry had to spray me with a fire extinguisher, Cisco, a fire extinguisher,” You hissed at him before pinching your dirty forehead. “I get Barry needs material that isn’t flammable or combustible, but isn’t it common sense to make my suit fire proof too?”

“In my defense your power is moving things with your mind, not running at high speeds causing combustible friction.” Cisco muttered weakly, reaching for his slurpee and taking a long drink. “But I’ll get to it. You look like you spent a few too many hours in a tanning bed, set to roast.”

“Thanks for that,” You responded with a frustrated sigh. “Cait, do we have anything else to do tonight?”

“Not that I’m aware of. I was just about to head home,” Caitlin responded before glancing at Cisco. “Cisco is on babysitting duty tomorrow and should go home to sleep before he has to take care of the terror twins.”

“I’ll consider that payback,” You huffed while Cisco slouched in his seat at the mention of his cousin’s children he had said he would babysit. Barry rubbed the back of his head before disappearing in a red flash for a few moments and returning in his civilian clothes.

“I’m gonna head home. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” You waved goodbye before turning back to Caitlin.

“I’m going to close up shop and take a shower. You two can head home.”

“Are you sure?” Caitlin asked before her eyes glanced around. “Who knows where Nash is and I’d hate to leave everything to you.”

“Nash is doing whatever the hell Nash does,” You responded crisply, your lip curling at the mention of the wayward and unruly Wells that currently plagued the lab. It was widely known that the two of you didn’t get along. You respected each other and always kept your words polite, but you would never be caught in the same room voluntarily. “I don’t know and I don’t care, I just want a quiet night after nearly being cremated.”

Cisco and Caitlin both cringed at the thought.

“Yeah, I’ll definitely get a start on the fireproof suit,” Cisco mumbled as he stood up and shouldered his bag.

“I’ll bring in some doughnuts tomorrow,” Caitlin spoke up as she buttoned her coat. “You know you don’t have to sleep here… I have an extra bedroom.”

You waved her off.

“Trust me when I say you do not want me accidentally levitating your furniture while I am sleeping. It’s for the best.” Your nonchalant shrug didn’t seem to appease her. “I’ve been doing it for years, Cait. I’ll be fine. The lab is literally my home.”

With a few last goodbyes, Caitlin and Cisco departed from the lab, leaving you to your own devices for the night. You glanced down at your ruined jacket, which was hanging from your body in tattered black strands. This was definitely going into the trash. On your way to the wing of the lab that had been converted into your living quarters, you shrugged the charred remains of the dark blue jacket from your shoulders.

Tonight’s little outing involved a meta who liked to set things on fire. Barry could have taken care of him in a matter of seconds, but he was busy working on a building fire on the other side of the city. So you had been on your own for the first part of the fight, using objects to block the balls of fire he was hurling at you.

But then some pedestrian had started screaming, and the meta turned his focus to her. Long story short, he had thrown fire at her, and you didn’t have time to locate a non flammable object so you had used your body to shield her from the fire. You had lit up like a Christmas tree before Barry, who had finally run over to help, subdued the meta and found a fire extinguisher to spray you with.

So you were covered with fire retardant, soot, sweat, and burned clothing, and in serious need of a shower. Entering your makeshift bedroom, you tossed your ruined jacket into the bin before kicking off your shoes. At least those had survived tonight’s fight. You rather liked them. You stripped yourself down to your underwear and bra, chucking your charred clothes away.

Gathering a clean towel, you padded into the bathroom across the hall from your bedroom and started the shower to warm up the water. Setting the clean towel on the bathroom counter, you pulled your braid free from its tightly bound position.

“I swear I am going to have to wash my hair at least three times to get the smoke and soot out of it.” You grumbled to yourself as you looked at your ashen and sooty hair. With the water warmed up, you removed the rest of your smoke permeated clothing and stepped beneath the spray.

As predicted, you spent a good fifteen minutes washing your hair clean of ash and soot, and by then the spray of water had gotten most of the soot that clung to your skin off. Letting out a sigh, you leaned your head back and let the water pelt your face. There was nothing more relaxing than a good hot shower after a night to flinging objects around with your mind.

You had plenty of time to brood beneath the scorching water, mainly thinking about your life choices when it came to a man named Harrison Wells.

Let’s start with the first Harrison Wells, or better yet the murdering cockroach who took the real Harrison Wells’s place and then caused immeasurable damage to your heart. You had dated Harrison Wells for a few years and through the after affects of the particle accelerator explosion. His physical impairment hadn’t bothered you one bit.

Then you found out about the whole: I can walk, I’m not actually Harrison Wells, oh and by the way, I’m the meta you’ve been trying to hunt down. Talk about an eye opener in the way of “I’ve been sleeping with the enemy the whole time”. You had almost destroyed the cortex from your emotions getting the better of you.

Your friends had made a public service announcement: Don’t Make Y/N Sad, Mad, Irritable, and/or otherwise Flummoxed.

You had learned how to control your emotions better after that to avoid another potentially deadly incident. It was safer to feel nothing at all.

Enter Harrison “Harry” Wells from Earth-2. Gruff, snarky, scowled a lot, extremely focused on one thing. Get Jesse back. Naturally you were extremely hesitant, if not a little vehemently against getting to know him. That backfired, and you developed feelings again, only this time it was for an actual Harrison Wells.

Harry ultimately left to go back to Earth-2 where he belonged after Jesse was deemed safe, but not before replacing himself with another Wells. Bring in Harrison “HR” Wells, adorable, dimpled, funny, and man alive, did he make it impossible not to care. You had felt like you were on your way back to being healed. God, that man had been a miracle.

But HR died, and left you with yet another blow to the heart.

Now at this point you were pretty raw of emotion and felt very little. But fate, as it were, threw you yet another Wells to deal with. Harrison “Sherloque” Wells, a detective from Earth-221 with a charming personality, came into your life while you dealt with the Cicada problem. You really shouldn’t have been surprised that the man managed to get you to open up to him. He had a way with words. But you let him go because it would never have worked and Renee was waiting for him.

At this point in your life, love was hopeless and emotions were becoming pointless as all they ever did was hurt you further. Which brings you to Harrison “Nash” Wells, gruff, adventurous, and absolutely infuriating. You both held animosity towards each other but had decided that it was in your best interest to simply put up with each other and try to be civil. You avoided him. He avoided you.

It was difficult when you both lived in the lab, but you made it work. You were nearly emotionless and Nash was continually trying to redeem himself for what happened with his daughter on his earth. Morose showers for you and dark brooding for him.

Just as you scrubbed nonexistent dirt from your arm the lights flickered before turning off, and then a second later the back up red lights came on and an alarm started going off.

“You have got to be kidding,” You growled as you reached up and turned the shower off. Harshly yanking the towel from the countertop, you haphazardly wrapped it around your body and stomped out of the bathroom.

First things first was to turn the alarm off and get the lights back to normal, then you could troubleshoot why the lab had suddenly decided to glitch into emergency mode. Your bare feet left wet footprints as you headed the shortest way down the hall to one of the access computers. Coming to a stop in front of it, you tapped the screen, bringing it to life. Low-power mode flashed at you on the screen.

Swiping the notification away, you opened the lab’s main security and settings and pressed the button to turn the alarm off. Music to your ears. Letting out a relieved breath, you scrolled through the list of options until you reached the lights section. It only took a few more taps of your finger to get the lights to switch over to their normal setting.

Rubbing your damp forehead, you closed out the settings section and locked the screen. That was the second time the lab had had a weird glitch in the last two weeks, and this lab did not glitch. You were going to have to get Cisco to look more into this, but in the meantime…

“Nash!” You yelled out, taking a few steps back. Appearance be damned, you needed to know if Nash had been messing with one of his toys again, and inadvertently caused the glitch. If he was in the lab, he would hear your shouts. You only had to wait about ten seconds for the messy haired adventurer to appear.

Turning on your heel, you stared him down across the end of the hall. He blinked at you before looking you up and down. You sighed and pushed your wet hair back from your face.

“You got any ideas why the lab is acting up?” You questioned him. “Have you been playing around with an electromagnetic project again?”

“No,” He responded after a few moments, slowly starting to make his way over to you. “And even if I was, this building has electromagnetic shields in place, none of my projects put out enough energy to pass through the shields.”

“Well, that’s wonderful,” You sighed out in frustration, digging your fingers into your scalp. “More work to do around here. As if I don’t have enough to do already.”

He was only about a few paces from you now, his eyes lingering over your bare skin. You shifted your weight from one foot to the other while narrowing your eyes.

“Dream on, Wells,” You snipped at him underneath your breath before taking a deep breath and voicing your concern. “I need to know if the pipeline containment system is still stable.”

“The pipeline will be fine,” Nash answered shortly before his mouth twitched as if he was enjoying something.

“Great, and since I have you over here, you can put the filter in the bathroom back into place. It fell out… again.” You told him before turning around and walking back towards the bathroom. It was one of the few perks of having him around you could come up with. He could reach the filter in the bathroom that made sure that none of the electronics in the lab came into contact with moisture from the shower. You couldn’t reach it, but he could.

Walking back to the bathroom, you heard Nash follow and upon entering the bathroom, you leaned against the wall and watched as he easily reached up and clicked the filter back into place.

“Thank you, now get out.” Rather than his usual scoff, scowl, and prompt exit, Nash turned on his heel and set predatory eyes on you. Your internal alarms started going off. Something wasn’t right, but you didn’t know what. Then his head started tilting to the side, and his face morphed into one that sent shivers up your spine.

You knew that look, and it scared you.

Your hand flicked out, and you were immediately sending the soap bottle at his head, followed by the heavy metal plate that held a few bottles of lotion and creams. Eobard easily ducked out of the way and lunged forwards. Scrambling out of his reach, the metal fixtures in the bathroom started rattling as you pulled on every hard and sharp object you could see to send at his head.

You didn’t know how Eobard had managed to get into Nash, but you needed to figure out what the hell you were going to do.

Seeing as your smaller projectiles weren’t doing much damage to him, you went for something more substantial. You threw him. Sending Eobard crashing back into the bathroom countertop, you made a run for the bathroom door. Hands snagged you around your towel covered waist and yanked you back into a hard chest. You’re let out a screech of outrage and separated your bodies with your mind. Holding your arm out to keep Eobard back with your powers, you leaped for the door.

“I don’t think so, Queenie,” Eobard muttered before something cold was snapping around your outstretched wrist. Immediately you felt the pull of your powers disappear and whipping your head back, you saw a meta cuff dangling from your wrist and the very smug face of Nash.

“I can still throw a punch!” You hissed, bringing your other hand back and throttling it to his face. Eobard ducked to the side and grabbed your wrist, wrapping his fingers around it before yanking your arm across his body. He jerked you forward and your immediate reaction was to take a great big swing at him between the legs.

He might not have his speed while being in Nash’s body, but his reactions were still faster than yours. Eobard angled his leg so your kick was rendered useless. You tried to swing at him with your meta cuffed arm, but he swerved out of the way of that throw too. Next option, use his larger body against him.

You slammed your entire body weight into him, knocking him back towards the shower. Eobard grunted as you elbowed him in the stomach, and in return, you left out a small yelp when your towel slid.

No. You would not allow a towel to be the reason you didn’t kick Eobard Thawne’s ass.

Yanking yourself in his grip, you viciously stomped on his foot and twisted. It seemed that despite your self-defense training you could not beat out Eobard, and he seemed to quickly grow tired of your struggles. While you were still thrashing in his hold, you found yourself swung around and shoved up against the side of the shower. Squawking out as your towel slipped down, you watched in horror as the second meta cuff looped through a metal handrail and your free wrist was trapped with the remaining cuff.

“No, no, no, no, NO!” You gasped out as you harshly yanked on your wrists, ignoring the cutting pain the metal caused when it dug into your skin. Towel and nakedness promptly forgotten, your panic became all too clear as you fruitlessly and helplessly yanked on your locked wrists.

His body pressed up against yours and arms wrapped around your waist, holding you so you wouldn’t writhe and wriggle around. You felt his lips brush against your neck.

“Calm down,” He murmured softly in your ear, slowly brushing his fingers across your stomach. Your teeth sank down into your lip from his touch and despite how much you wished to buck him off and obliterate his face, you forced yourself to calm down. “That’s it.”

“Go to hell,” You hissed back.

“Still a spitfire, Y/N,” Eobard chuckled, breathing heavy from your struggles. Your own pants were joined with the rapid racing of your heart. You slumped in his hold and shot a scathing look over your shoulder. “Oh, don’t give me that look.”

“I have every right to give you this look. You are lucky I’m not trying to take your head off!” You snapped at him. “The only reason I didn’t snap your neck is because you are somehow in Nash’s body!”

“Yes, I’m quite curious why you didn’t go in for the kill the moment you realized I’m not Nash given your hatred for him.”

“I don’t hate Nash,” You muttered, your eyes burning with fury. “I don’t like him because he reminds me of everything I’ve lost and most of all, you.”

Something flickered in his eyes and he was soon reaching out to slowly push a clump of damp hair that had fallen over your shoulder, behind your ear.

“And stop touching me,” You added venomously, trying to jerk away from his touch. “I’ve already had to deal with enough Wells wrecking my life. I don’t need you messing it up further when I’ve finally gotten things settled.”

“I’m not here to cause you any more distress, Queenie.”

“Then why are you here?” You hissed as your cheek was pressed against cool shower tile.

“That… is an excellent question.” Eobard spoke out before you felt his forehead press against your back. The man himself couldn’t even answer that question, which only grew your confusion. Why was he here, and what did he want? Eobard drew his hand over the curve of your hip, his fingertips stroking your skin like it was the finest silk. “I think… I’ve missed you.”

“You do not get to come in here and say that, not after all these years.” Your voice was now quiet and strained, maybe even choked. Anguish was stabbing at your heart like a knife and you knew whatever he had to say would probably be cruel and hit you like bullets, adding to your already disparaged state. Miserable and alone.

“I’m sorry, Y/N, for every slice of hurt that has ripped at your heart, for every moment I stole from you when you could have been happily living with someone else. I was selfish and only focusing on what I wanted. I never wanted to hurt you—”

“Well, you did,” You cut in viciously. Eobard sighed before lifting his head and placing a kiss on your shoulder blade. He was slow with his movement, pressing his lips firmly against your skin and inhaling the scent of coconut from the shower gel you had used to rid your skin of smoke. He moved up an inch and repeated the slow and agonizingly pleasurable kiss. The meta cuffs jangled as your fingers curled into tight fists and you sank your teeth into your lower lip.

The rough material of Nash’s shirt pressed into your skin as he pushed his body further against yours. With every gentle touch and brush of fingers, you could feel your body getting laxer. How traitorous was your body being at this moment? In essence, very.

“You were never a joke or distraction,” Eobard murmured against your shoulder, now moving his hand up your stomach. His fingertips brushed the curve of your breast and through that electric touch you felt him draw a line with a finger. “You were never a toy or a companion,”

Your stomach muscles clenched as the scruffy jaw of Nash scraped against your neck and lips started nibbling on your neck. Your breathing was heavier now and even had a hint of tremble to it from work-roughened hands caressing your body. You let out a shuddering breath that betrayed what you were currently feeling. Eobard was no fool and he would know that you were still just as reactive to his touch as you had been when you were dating.

“You were mine.” Those three whispered words sent a bolt of electricity straight through your body and caused you to let out an incredibly soft whimper you could not control. “And that was all I truly wanted.”

You found it difficult to breathe with all the intense emotions that came welling up, bursting from your shriveled and damaged heart.

“Stop it,” You breathed out as torrents of hurt, combined with longing and suffering, overwhelmed your damaged being. You teeth clenched together as hot tears welled behind your tired eyes. “Please just stop it, I can’t do this again.”

You were practically begging now, an all-time low for you, but you were too hurt and defeated to care. Your body fully slumped into an awkward half kneeling position on the icy floor. Did everyone take pleasure in yanking your heart around on a leash? Or was it just a Wells/Thawne thing?

“No.” Eobard’s simple one-word answer was deafening, and cut through your body like an ending stroke. Your eyelids closed and released more tears that had been clinging to your eyelashes. The hot droplet raced down your skin before dripping from your chin. But before the little drop could fall to the floor, a finger caught it and brushed away from your jaw. “We need to address this. Who did you fall in love with, Y/N?”

That was the million dollar question now, wasn’t it?

Your lips trembled as you pressed them together. Who had you truly fallen in love with? One name came to mind, and it was not the one you were expecting. While you were mulling over that name in your head, Eobard brushed his thumb across your damp cheek ever so gently, lovingly caressing your skin, and prepared to catch any more tears that might streak down from your lashes.

You opened your eyes, honesty reflecting in both your eyes and heart.

“Eobard Thawne.” His name came from your mouth in a dead whisper, like the very action of uttering his name would bring down the world. You waited for a reaction, some sort of retaliation like laughter, a smirk, or even a snort. He never once mocked you or laughed, instead choosing to press his lips against the side of your head while fully embracing your body to his.

“I fell in love with Eobard Thawne.” You spoke again, your voice stronger this time, as you opened your eyes and stared at your trapped wrists. “And I don’t know what to do with myself because of it.”

“Who said you had to do something?”

“You are joking, right? I’ve spent the last three years surrounded by Wells’ that didn’t stick around or keep their promises. Can you please just leave so I can get back to my pathetic life now that you’ve made me admit my darkest secret?”

“You aren’t getting it, Y/N,” Eobard said, yanking your towel completely from your body and pressing his body flush against your naked one. You stiffened when he settled a hand on your stomach and the other above your right breast. “I don’t intend to let you go ever again.”

“And what about Nash? It’s his body!”

“I asked, and he said yes,”

“Do you always have a comeback?”

“Usually, I enjoy being ten steps ahead.” Your head twisted around while a scowl bloomed on your face.

“And to think I nearly forgot how insufferable you sometimes—“ He was leaning down and cutting you off with his lips before you could finish huffing out your berate. Silenced by lips. He always knew how to shut you up. It had worked then, and it certainly worked now. He could make blood rush to your face like none other. You had always been an open book to him, and he could read you like he had memorized your pages. Just like how he knew to twist your tongue with his so you couldn’t think, bit at your lips until you were whining. Eobard knew you better than yourself. You were getting an uncomfortable crick in your neck from twisting your head like this, and it became apparent when your neck muscles twinged and you pulled back with a wince.

“Are you going to behave?” Eobard questioned while dragging his fingers across your body. You sent him a scathing look over your shoulder.

“You’re the one that got me worked up. If you don’t finish, then I’ll misbehave.” You snapped over your shoulder, making a point to tug on your captured wrists.

“Just for that attitude I won’t give you the satisfaction of going slow.”

“Not like you have much of a choice. You are in Nash’s body,” you retorted back, reminding him of the ever present obvious. He lacked his speed.

He only released one of your wrists from the meta cuffs as he yanked you up and shoved your body up against cold tile. You splayed your hands out on the icy surface with a small grunt, not particularly appreciating the manhandling, but far too distracted by the electricity that was now running across your skin just from his touch.

You growled underneath your breath at the smile that tugged at the edges of his stupidly hot mouth. Shooting a scathing look over your shoulder, you were soon letting out a gasp when one hand descended on your breast and the other floated down to wiggle itself between your legs. Arching into his touch, your head dropped back while breathing heavily in anticipation. You didn’t have to wait long. When Eobard said he won’t go slow, he wouldn’t, and not having his speed made no difference.

Eobard only let his hands have their pleasure for a few seconds. He, after all, was a calculating man who knew patience often won out. He knew he would have other chances to torture you with slow, methodical touches. But right now, you were fairly sure that all the two of you wanted to do was to fuck all of your frustrations out of your bodies so you could have a non-sexually charged conversation about what to call your relationship.

With quick and smooth actions, you could Eobard stripping himself of Nash’s clothes. Leaning your forehead against the slightly wet tile, you took a few deep breaths as slowly, inch by inch, Eobard started pressing naked skin against yours. So close. So hot. So perfect. He was exactly what you wanted. Exactly what you needed.

“You sound so needy,” He breathed in your ear while giving you just a hint of his controlling personality by thrusting his pelvis against your backside. “Did you allow anyone else to touch you, Queenie?”

“Stop being a teasing bastard and just fuck me already!” You howled at him. He sharply yanked your body to his, holding you there as he brushed his lips against your ear.

“Answer the question.” He demanded.

“No one!” You cried out, your body trembling with intense need and jacked up on adrenaline. “I haven’t been with anyone since you!”

“Not even the other Harrisons?” Eobard probed. Your scowl was back on your face, along with impatientness.

“What do they have to do with this?” You hissed out, your nails curling to sharp points.

“Answer the question!” Eobard was more forceful with his demand this time, snaking one hand around your waist and up your chest to grab your neck. “Did you let the Harrison Wellses touch you?”

Letting out a heavy gasp at his hold on your neck, you shook your head in urgent response.

“Use your words, Queenie,”

“No! No one has touched you but me, okay!”

“And it stays that way.” You didn’t have a chance to question why he was suddenly being so possessive when you hadn’t been in a relationship in years. Eobard was kicking out one of your legs and slipping right into your quivering body. You shuddered in place, and while lips descended on your neck to attack your skin and set deep possessive marks, Eobard set a rough pace that sated both of your hungry desires.

Fingers were gripping your neck, occasionally applying just enough pressure to briefly make breathing difficult. A hand was holding your hip in a slightly painful grip that only increased the pleasure that was picking away at your mind. Teeth were grazing your neck. You were nearly overwhelmed and lost in euphoria that made your head swim and your knees weak.

The meta cuff still locked around your wrist jingled as you dragged your fingers down the tiled wall with a whimper. You were so hot now, dizzy, and with your heart beating as fast as it was, your brain was threatening to shut down. Letting out a throaty moan, you pushed back against the repeated action that nearly pinned you to the wall.

That earned you a delicious grunt from Eobard. He released the spot on your neck which he had been tugging on and tightened his grip on your neck a little more. You started gasping for air.

“I never knew you liked it so rough, Nadia.” Your strained gasp that came next only had him chuckling further against your ear. Eobard pushed your head back to run his lips along your jaw. “You need to accept that I am the only one who will make you feel this way.”

He slammed into you so his cock brushed up against a certain spot in your body that had your entire body jerking from an erotic zap of pleasure that ran from your toes all the way to your fingers.

“Who will fill you just right,” He did it again, and you started scratching at the hand around your neck, your lungs burning from the lack of oxygen. “Who can draw these delicious sounds from your throat?”

Your nails dug into his wrist, futility trying to pry it from your throat. Eobard’s neck thrust nearly sent you over the edge, causing a burning fire to flood your veins until you were squirming against Nash’s hard body. With your nails raking hard tile and tanned flesh, your eyelids started to flutter, and your lips parted in a soundless whimper. Just as little specks of light glittered at the edge of your vision, Eobard made one last territorial demand.

“I am the only one allowed to make you feel this.” He released your neck, allowing oxygen to flood back into your airway just as the crippling fire reached its peak performance and set off a chain reaction that left your legs boneless and fingers twitching. Legs folding beneath your body, muscular arms held you up as heat and wetness ran down your inner thighs.

While you were wheezing and dangling in a haze of delirium, Eobard held your body close to his as he growled his own pleasure. Heat which has been leaving, suddenly flooded your body again. You twitched once more, rasping out a puff of air as lips buried into your neck.

In your semi state of shock, you were vaguely aware of Eobard swinging your body up into his arms and moving throughout the labs. It was only when you were dressed in underwear and one of your oversized shirts you had stolen from Eobard when he was pretending to be Dr. Wells that you were fully cognizant of your surroundings.

You were laying down on your bed in your makeshift bedroom with blankets partially covering your aching body. Blinking, you shifted your hurting body while groping for your phone. Your fingers found it and looking at the screen, you saw it was just after one in the morning. You let out a groan and flopped back against by bedsheets. So much for getting out frustrations and then having a proper conversation.

“We were supposed to talk about this,” you mumbled quietly, your throat feeling a little raw.

“No, you wanted to talk about this,” Eobard, who had been doing what he did best, lurk, said as he emerged from the shadows in fresh clothes. “I made myself perfectly clear, you don’t seem to grasp the fact that you are mine.”

“They aren’t going to like this.” He gave you that Wells smirk that had always got you hot and bothered along with a half-hearted shrug.

“Who says they have to know?”

Date Published: 8/5/21

Last Edit: 8/5/21

Eobard Thawne Masterlist

The Flash Masterlist

#eobard thawne x y/n #eobard thawne x reader #eobard thawne #the flash x reader #the flash

5 notes · View notes

gothamghostwhispers · 4 months

Text

Hello ooc introduction! Last updated 4/12/24

I’m Coolcat101s (that’s where I follow from) I’ve been rping on and off for over a decade now, but this is my first time rping in the dc community. My response speed and length varies but I’m online often. I’m primarily a mobile user.

Much like dc canon the ‘canonical’ (for lack of a better word) nature of any given story line is decided by vibes especially since this is a crossover friendly blog I figure this approach will help make things mesh best so if I ever have plot holes or contradict myself maybe that was a different continuity

Along that thought line while there are plots happening and time passing, because rping takes time I won’t say there’s like a set matching timeframe if that makes sense? comic time logic you know? Sometimes a day takes 3 panels and sometimes it’s 3 issues.

It can take people a while to reply I get that ^^”

Posts are in character unless otherwise specified, but some posts are meant to be things that happen in the “real world” the stylistic chooses should make these posts obvious but I like to practice writing with my ocs so expect those sometimes

I am okay with shipping/flirting with Artem I think it’s fun ^^ but be aware that they are pretty oblivious to many things

I’m okay with violence in rp but I’d like a conversation before we do anything that would need a content warning

Same with more suggestive content, conversions first, probably using a red/yellow/green check in system in the tags

Minors can interact but be mindful! Muse and mun are the same age (You should really be mindful anytime youre in a mixed age group but that is sometimes forgotten by many in online spaces) I tend to keep things pg 13 and anything not would be tagged as ‘suggestive’. Any minors caught interacting with anything tagged as suggestive will get one warning in case they didn’t read this post but after that you will be blocked if it happens again

Im crossover friendly but only for content that I know if I don’t know it Artem will act confused and will wrap it up to multidimensional shenanigans causing worlds to temporarily touch or whatnot. ( known crossovers that I’m chill with: Danny Phantom, Miraculous Ladybug I’ll add more as I come across them I guess)

Artem was a self insert at one point but they became their own thing after rotating them in different scenarios so now they’re their own oc

Ongoing arc(s):

Power suppression arc (hiatus kinda, abduction interrupted so might be done)

Magic experiments

Completed arc: abduction arc

Bread boy arc

-4’11 blue eyes, hair is naturally brown but they keep it blue

-birthday June 11th (whatever year makes their age match mine in whatever continuity also their chart isn’t mathematically possible but it’s what makes sense for them)

-they’re agender and pan/demisexual, also polyamorous in theory but single in practice

They have a boyfriend

-went to college on a full Wayne scholarship, they have a bachelors in English with a minor in folklore

-job hops between restaurant and goon positions

-the first goon they ever worked for was calendar man when they were 17 and they currently work under riddler, penguin, scarecrow, and ivy

-they get robbed a lot because they have a resting smile and generally give the vibe of an easy mark when not hanging out with scary people (subsequently they hang out with scary people often)

-lives in a building owned by Red Hood but it’s debatable if they know that

-Forcibly outed as a meta publicly during the abduction arc

Artem also has an easy time learning instruments and perfect pitch but they don’t equate those to a meta ability (it is linked to their power though)

-has a cat and an aloe plant

-soft spot for kids

-Artem is a witch but doesn’t have much time to study, does small spells though

-grew up going to an anti meta church/cult

-Joker killed their mom in front of them when they were 16, they aren’t really the killing type when at all possible so they don’t seek vengeance but they avoid him at all costs and will not work with him

— any joker rper, I’m cool with rping but it would be violent and grief filled so like before starting that rp dm me so we can have guidelines

This post will be edited as needed

#whispers

3 notes · View notes

lonespektr · 7 months

Text

OCTOBER 14TH (day late) HORROR WATCH

Something in the dirt (2022)

This is Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead if you haven't heard of these guys strap the frack in.

I have never fully understood any one of their films without at least a second watch

... maybe synchronic

Already on tilt

OCD?

Looks like a morel mushroom but with spikes??

Do not expect an explanation

Ok well guy apparent derelict no furniture sleeping on floor daylight

Helicopter

No subs are

Oh they are okay

The two have been lead actors in their films more than once

Neighbor meet and greet

Divorcee tells him that the apt had been vacant for a decade

Told a big bloody fib about a death

Doesn't explain the vacancy like that's even creepier man

Said something else weird and drove off on a scoot scoot

It was a squirrel omg

Shot of the electricity meters

And a bunch of other things in quick sucession power lines etc then chimes

Ok interview suddenly

Meta about their films lolz

Somebody died

Guy friendship makes me seeth with envy and wrench my clothing

They are best friends now,?!!! U movin furniture??

How??? U just met??? That could be a serial killer an asshole! That's a literal stranger

I hate men

They are chatting like they have known each other for years (they do)

Fish story

They both at each time appeared wary of the other at least

sharing wifi??

That is a STRANG-ER

Behold the promise LAN

First uh tension

Kinda told him after he helped gotta kick u out

Except rolled right into compassion AA convo

Lol 😂 till he said ok cool

Lol housewarming plant dude why would u think he brought a rando plant to a new place obviously

His grandma runs a nursery

Already talking weird, cult vibes

The prism crystal piece he found on the ground just started floating and prisiming

Divorcee saw it and honestly told the new move in guy who was already trying to kick him out but graciously instead of doing the whole wait until it happens later bs as divorcee is leaving it happens again

And unlike the white men they are the bolt out of the apartment

They are literal shots of the text of what is being said randomly interspersed cut into the dialogue

Fights keep passing over head

Three birds just hit the divorcee guys door , dead

They agree that they have to document legitimate supernatural stuff and get rich/ successful

Youth shelter person comes to pick him up

Dude pretty sure that's his PO and he's court mandated

Back to interviews

New guy had stashed the birds in a cardboard box just to make sure they weren't just knocked out

One bird was gone when he went back to check

Lord of heat coming from the closet

Anti title drop??? Cute

This is very meta

Debate about titles they are both rejection sensative like prickly about critiques

He said i guess it waits for you (new guy) but the first time we saw it it was only the divorcee

This is very nope at this juncture

They are tooling up, my Internet is very slow

The chimes are Russian nesting Dolls

Address the obvious P.O.

He said he's on the sex offender registry for peeing in public

The thing is actually moving ( i should clarify it looks like the og big ass crystal ash trashs

Although it's obvious cut in half orb and prismy

They have digital and film cameras

They may have a shot

The geometry of magnetism - rando book that divorcee knows

Lol why was it written in esperanto i mean obvs why but 😂😂

Oh the weird shape that prsim makes is on the cover

Lol divorcee just asked do i sound unhinged and new guys like oh no nono psychologic breaks are totally different 😂😂😂

Lol he just yelled at the paper weight if you are a ghost do something

Now they are like??? Not a ghost

Coulda told you that boys it's very scientific

It's scientific because this is your film and you always do science shit 😂😂

The guy says he has seeing the symbol all over town now

Most of the shots were of old buildings that symbol would have been there for years

Lol new guy said u goin dan brown on me

He's like no man it's just a math thing like the fibbinocci sequence

When a rectangle expressed as a ratio

(how the fuck does one do that #dyscalculia)

It is that irrational number

Lol he said this better not be about Stonehenge 😂😂

This dude is smoking inside like a fucking 1950's film JEEBUS

the whole time there's s discordant plunk in the sound track

(They do this)

This is the third time he has crossed the threshold out of the room and it drops the new guy im googling their names cause im getting irritated

John and levi

The city scape looms large

Planes sirens

They are both a hot mess

Door knob to hot closet that never shits is shaking

Pause for the cause

(the cause being my bedtime)

Gonna switch to something with a better signal and finish that first

OMG wtf the light refractor is floating why was it in the closet?

Omg plot point i couldn't hear

Gravity?

Soil samples (documentary)

High chromium

Earthquake

Wait is the inside of the closet glowing

Now the light is communicating with them

Quartz deposit

More meta

Why did you play youselves reenactment

I love that's is just a series of conspiracy theories

I read this ted talk, i saw this reddit post

Cyotes again

Ace

Pulling random unexplainable things weaving them together

Snake skin

Just random things

Found an old ass recorder like old ass

With sacred number tape on it

Pythagoras

The rose croutons?

Dream logic

Numerology crystals

City planner 1908

Like full ideas of reference

Literally just picked up a rock at 1908 coordinates that had a strip of paper with w website in it

The guy with hx of mental illness ace is uh keeps trying to back out - John new guy

Crystal resonates with sound

There's the symphony conspiracy theory

The crystal almost fell on his head when he was asleep but did why do you sleep in that room with it

Let alone the apartment at all

Levi

Not they are full on literally every single idea of reference

Now they are talking about simulations after seeing a glitch in the stop crosswalk

Mind control cat parasites - which i just heard about

This month

The phenomenon is dried up

John wants to leave as planned

The levi guy made up a bunch of shit and broke in somewhere told john some kies starting to fabric stuff

Lol this tablet was used to design the city

Now my plant is alien in nature ,(from my own grandmas nursery)

Eat the cactus fruit

Inside the cactus fruit is morse code!!!!!!

Here they are

Lol he's been lying from the jump even about the book

Coordinates

Old ass radio on a loop

Redacted script

Very convenient

John tried to do another idea of reference but lim? Levi shut him down

About his spearfishing

Radiation?

Old ass raio

Levi in an effort to fabricate more stuff erased the original stuff

Melted the hard drive

Just when john wanted to go again

The phenomenon started back up

And the guy keeps digging into his criminal history

Even then he wants him to stay

They are fully fighting and dragging each other

Oo literally dragged his sister into it then when he broke he smiled

Like a sicko

It's a full scale read fest very intense

WHILE THE MOST PHENOMENON THAT HAD EVER HAPPENED IS HAPPENING

and they are ignoring it fighting each other

There's an earthquake and not they are drawing a truce

Levi is floating the crystal went high and cracked

John ? Was floating too?

But off the balcony???

Fin

#graywatchhorror23 #something in the dirt #honestly I'm old and after my event i got too tired #as a treat i picked Moorehead and Benson

0 notes

narutakijune · 3 years

Text

About ATLA Relationship Arcs

So, this is me, finally trying to write some meta after lurking in my little tumblr corner for months! Hi!

Although I’ve tried to tag properly, if you are a Kat*anger and just want to enjoy your favourite couple in peace, this might not be the post for you. I am not trying to bash characters but I do have a lot of critical stuff to say about the writing.

Anyway, you have been warned and here is my story about my personal first Atla experience: I watched the show this year for the first time, and after the end of Book 1 I decided to look up spoilers, because after what happened to Yue, I wanted to make sure that Zuko and Iroh would be ok. So I knew what was going to happen: Kat*ang endgame and absolutely no Zutara at all. Still, by the end of Book 3, I was convinced that I had read wrong - that there would be an epilogue with a different ending or at least that Aang would only get together with Katara post-show- in that Korra series or something - because anything else wouldn’t make sense- right?

….

After I got over my shock and surprise, I went online and found out about that decade-long aggressive passionate ship war and how even the showrunners got involved.

And then I really worried that I might have missed a few points. Apparently ”Aang and Katara were the DNA of the show”, according to the creators themselves, and “Zutara could never have happened”.

Another popular anti-ZK argument I found was: Why do you always go on about Katara and Zuko? Just look at Zuko and Aang! They are the hero/ anti-hero and each other’s foils, their relationship is much more meaningful!”

So I tried to find out what it was that I apparently couldn’t see.

(Another disclaimer: I love analysing stories (like many Zutarians apparently) and this will get long and rambly. If you get bored to tears when people start talking about “narrative structure” you will probably not like this.)

Talking about narrative structure, I do believe that, in order to let your story, your characters and their relationships really shine, a good basic structure is important. There should be a recognizable development and individual parts of the story that build upon each other and lead to consequences and change, until there is a completed arc - because it is all about the journey that takes you to a satisfying ending, right? So that’s what I tried to do, with my personal Kat*ang vs. Zutara take, I tried to look at the structure and development of their relationship arcs.

The argument that threw me off track for a while is that compared to Aang and Zuko, Zuko and Katara’s relationship is not supposed to be that relevant for the plot. After all, Zuko is the foil, the anti-hero, the deuteragonist to Aang, who is the hero protagonist.

This is all true of course. But then why is it that in every finale, Zuko’s main opponent (and later ally) is not Aang but Katara? Why is it that their sun/moon, red/blue, fire/water dichotomy is so obviously highlighted?

I think one reason why Zuko and Katara are paired off so frequently in the story - as opposite elements, as opponents and as allies - is that they BOTH are Aang’s deuteragonists. While Zuko also acts as antagonist and Aang’s foil/mirror, Katara takes over the more traditional deuteragonist role of confidant / best friend/ narrator.

Protagonist Aang is what connects them, although they are on opposite sides: Both need Aang because he represents their hope to save their world. Very simply put, Katara protects him, so he can make the world a safer place again, and Zuko wants to capture him, so he can go home and be safe again. That rivalry between them is already established in the first episode, even before they meet each other: Katara, who hopes that the Avatar will return (as she tells everyone in the intro), and Zuko, who seems to be obsessed with finding him for more sinister reasons.

And just to make sure, I am not talking here about the characters’ feelings and emotions! This is just about the abstract roles they have been assigned within the narrative.

When regarding Zutara’s special connection to Aang and their rivalry with each other, it makes absolute sense to stress their “same but different”ness as well, visually and metaphorically: Red and blue, fire and water, sun and moon, arguably Painted Lady/Blue Spirit, and, when you put into account their story arc, also Oma and Shu.

With this basis, which puts them together and sets them apart simultaneously, their relationship already becomes very dynamic and interesting, even before you consider any romantic potential.

And here’s another thing, Zuko and Katara also have their own story arc within the main plot. Although they don’t have many scenes together before Zuko joins the Gaang, when they do meet there is always a new shift in their relationship and in quite a few cases their interactions are important for the main plot as well. If you just look at their “end fights” at each book’s finale, there is an obvious and consequential build-up, like any decent story arc should have:

Book 1 starts with Zuko as the powered-up enemy and Katara as the weak newbie waterbender. Both are battling over Aang. At the end of Book 1, they are finally established as equally powerful fighters but still fundamentally different (You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun!)

In CoD at the end of Book 2 happens the next step: they realize that they are not different at all! But Aang still doesn’t represent the same for them and they end up on opposing sides of the war again.

In the Book 3 finale, when Zuko has completed his own (anti-) hero's journey and Aang represents the same “hope” for both of them, they do not only join forces: Their “same but different”- traits make them such a uniquely suited match that they are even able to save each other’s lives during their fight with Azula (who in turn happens to be Katara and Zuko’s antagonist/mirror/foil).

And in addition to their own story arc they even get an individual recurring theme, which also appears in every book whenever their relationship status changes: The lost mothers, especially Katara’s mother.

In Book 1, Katara’s necklace (the symbol of Kiya) plays not only a major part in two of Zuko’s capture attempts, it is the reason for their very first one-one one encounter in the story.

Their first friendly connection in COD in Book 2 happens because they start talking about their mothers. And in Book 3, their final reconciliation (sealed with a very cathartic hug) happens after their life-changing trip which is, of course, all about Katara’s mother.

Again, I am not even trying to analyse their characters and motivations within the story - there are many metas that have already done that much better, more detailed and with screenshots. This is just dry structure and tropes and themes. But I think people recognize and connect with a well-structured arc, even subconsciously, which is one of the reasons that makes Zutara such a compelling couple. They complete and contrast each other, their relationship dynamic constantly changes, builds up, falls apart, reconnects. Such a setup is the perfect playground for a lot of creative takes on what-ifs and alternative scenarios and of course, shipping them romantically is extremely tempting - think of all the possibilities! It’s no wonder that the Zutara fandom is still so active decades after the end of the show. And it’s also no wonder that the Zutarians are known for “over-analysing everything”. You can only over-analyse if there is anything that gives you enough food to analyse to begin with. Which brings me to

KAT*ANG

I just go right to the top and take the quote from Br*yke themselves:

Kata*ng was in the DNA of the thing from the start…. [Zutara] was just dark and intriguing.

If you read this quote and then start watching the show, I would (grudgingly) agree that:

Aang and Katara understand and complement each other really well. Aang gives her the chance to have fun and go on adventures and in turn, Katara is his fiercest supporter from the very beginning, something that he really needs after he lost all his people AND has to find out that the world thinks the war is sort of his fault. In turn, the journey to the North Pole is as important to Katara as it is to Aang, because it is her dream to learn waterbending properly. That’s what she literally says when Sokka & Co try to banish Aang: (Sokka: Where do you think you’re going? Katara: To find a waterbender. Aang is taking me to the North Pole.) In that way, they are friends who give and take equally and are equally taken care of. They even have the last Airbender/ last Southern Waterbender status that connects them. The few times they have a fight, Aang does something in the end to redeem himself (perform some heroic feat) and Katara sees that she is right to believe in him.

Aang has this very sweet crush on her and it will be very sweet and wholesome when Katara will return his feelings at the end of their adventure after he has hit puberty. On the other side, there is also some heavy shipbaiting with Zuko: I save you from the pirates. The betrothal necklace. June and her excellent shipping taste. But in the end they are enemies, they barely know each other and, come on, it would be too dark and intriguing! There is no real threat against friends to lovers Kat*ang, the soft heart of the story. It’s very straightforward and there are a lot of simple “the hero saves the day” scenes for Aang but that’s fine! It’s not really my kind of ship but that’s not the point, it works for the story they want to tell.

End of Book 1.

In my - probably harsh- opinion, everything you really need to know about the Kat*ang relationship has been told by this point. If you want to be really mean, already by Book 1, episode 3.

That explains maybe why many (not all! but many) pro-KA arguments sound as if their shippers have not watched Book 2 and 3 at all. The Book 1 synopsis also perfectly sums up Bry*ke’s quote above. But then Book 2 and 3 are still there and I don’t know what happened but it seems as if they somehow decided that the Kat*ang story does not need any new and lasting input. Maybe because they were afraid that too much new development and change would stray too far away from their original Kat*ang vision. But there are still 2 more books and more adventures and Kat*ang somehow has to be kept apart until the finale.

So the tension in their potential romance is based largely on the question whether or not Katara will return Aang’s feelings. In general I don’t have a problem with that will-she-won’t she-technique. It works well in books where the love interest is not a POV or in shows/ movies where the love interest is not one of the main characters. But Katara is not only the female lead but also arguably the narrative voice of the whole story! As a result, this kind of writing makes Katara look as if she doesn’t have any agency in their relationship, which is not surprisingly a very popular anti-KA criticism.

Additionally, since her dream - learning waterbending - has been fulfilled by the end of Book 1, the relationship work becomes a bit one-sided. Of course Aang is the hero and his journey is the heart of the story. But in order to highlight their special connection it would have helped to give Katara another personal agenda, which Aang could have supported in some way. She is still the last Southern Waterbender and he the Last Airbender but this is not really explored in the Kat*ang relationship. And her other personal agenda, her mother, is already reserved for the Zutara arc.

Instead, in Book 2 and 3 the Kat*ang story is somehow all over the place. Of course there is new conflict and a few romantic scenes as well. But obstacles are either introduced too late or just dropped when not needed anymore, conflict is not resolved and their flirty, romantic moments never lead anywhere- and if they do, they lead to more conflict that is not resolved (yes, I am looking at you, EIP Kiss!).

Take for example Katara’s very sudden argument that they cannot be together now because there is a war going on. We hear her saying that for the first time in the very last episode (EIP) before the 4-part finale. That is too late to have any impact! That she has these kinds of thoughts was never even alluded to before. Not once.

Or the pattern Aang runs away/ is flaky - Katara is upset - Aang comes back and does his hero thing - Katara is relieved. In regards to their relationship arc, nothing changes here between Book 1 and the finale, only the stakes for Aang’s heroic performances get higher.

Or Katara being the one who is able to calm Aang down when he cannot control the Avatar state (which, in my personal opinion, is neither romantic nor healthy). This is also connected to the problem with the seventh Chakra, that Aang needs to let go of his attachment for her. I will be angry forever with how they wasted this for a possible relationship development! That Aang has to decide to either do his duty or save his forever girl (because let’s be fair, he did try to let go and only ran when he had the vision of Katara in danger) - that’s a fantastic setup!

But no, it doesn’t have any real consequences for Kat*ang at all. Instead there were only half-baked attempts – Aang does lie about his failed practice with Guru Pathik but the ultimate reason why his chakra is blocked is Azula, not his decision to run. Aang does try to let go of Katara for a little bit but then Azula shoots him. Nothing in Book 3 shows any change in his feelings that could have been a result of his instant let-it-go. If anything, he gets weirdly obsessive - which could have been used as a side effect of his blocked chakra but – again, no, nothing happens.

I suspect the whole thing was just introduced to create temporary drama for poor Aang, but it is never explained why Katara holds him back, what aspect of the attachment is blocking him or what would happen if he did let her go. Maybe they tried to make a statement about how love is more important than Avatar rules – which would have been fine but it’s also never properly explored. Instead, as soon as that plot point becomes inconvenient it’s simply dropped like a random rock™.

Compare all that to the Zutara arc, where both characters’ feelings about each other are always very much in the open, and where every interaction causes lasting effects in their relationship. Yes, it is unfair to compare that to Kat*ang, because up to the end of Book 3, Zuko and Katara almost never meet, while Aang and Katara spend almost every episode together – of course they cannot do meaningful things all the time. But on the other side, with Kat*ang, there would have been a great chance to show a subtle, gradual build-up instead.

It also doesn’t help that the Zutara arc seems hellbent on sabotaging every romantic moment Aang is allowed to enjoy:

There is Kat*angs first maybe-kiss in the dark before the background of the Oma and Shu legend. But it does not lead anywhere. Instead, Zuko and Katara almost reenact the legend itself in the Book 2 finale as two real enemies to almost-friends, including a glowy rocks-backdrop and the right costume colours, just so nobody misses the message.

In Footloose The Headband, Aang and Katara have a really sweet dance together, and everybody can see how they almost intuitively know each other's moves. This could be a great hint on how well they will fight together in the finale. But is it plot-relevant? No, because the final tag team is Katara and Zuko! While Aang gets paired off with random rock™.

Then there is Aang’s riding off to battle- kiss in DotBS, which Katara is not even allowed to enjoy, because keeping her feelings vague is apparently more important than character development at this point. It is the only romantic moment that gets mentioned again, but in a way that sinks the former cute and wholesome ship into the deep ocean, and the reason is - Aang is jealous of Zuko!

If all of this was only done for the sake of shipbaiting, then it really went out of control at some point.

In the end, the showrunners still had their reasons to choose Kat*ang, maybe because that corresponded more to their own vision, and there are still enough people out there who agree with them. Which is absolutely fine! In the end, what matters most is how you personally connect to the characters and nobody needs to defend their personal taste. But the typical anti-ZK claim, that all the Zutarians with their crazy analysis and rambling meta essays are reaching and delusional and that they desperately try to construct something that isn’t there, is not only a very lazy argument but simply not true.

And I’d claim that in spite of the canon choice, Zutara is technically the better written relationship. By far.

#zutara #antikataang #anti kataang #anti-kataang #atla critical #atla writing critical #long post #atla meta

226 notes · View notes

yjwhatif · 2 years

Text

#MoreYoungJustice #RenewYoungJustice #SaveEarth16 #YoungJusticePhantoms

With the second half of the season starting up on the 31st (which is barely even March btw - they might as well have said it’s back in April - they got my hopes up…) anyway, I thought I’d share some of the random things that have popped into my head at some point or another during the series… emphasis on the random. Now these are not exactly ‘theories’ because I absolutely do not expect most - if not any - of them to actually happen, they’re just fun little random ‘what ifs’ that I have little to no logical reasoning for thinking up… also, I’ve been trying to write up a Zatanna/objectivity post that’s just not going well and kinda pissing me off…

SO, here’s something random and pointless instead…

Wyynde is some kind of direct descendant of Arion — and no I don’t mean in the way all Atlanteans are supposed to be descended from Arion… I think… honestly I don’t know what I mean, but Wyynde is connected to Arion — somehow… 🤷‍♀️ (Also they do kinda look like each other)

Dolphin is a daughter of Vandal Savage — I’ve thought this since like the second time I watch s3 and I don’t know why — I just did… Moving on…

Traci and Jaime will break up because of the Dr Fate situation — now I’m not even doubtful on this one, I think that insecurity induced fate puppet sequence highlighted the chance that their connection might not be as strong as it maybe was in s3 and now on top of any problems they may be having, Traci has agreed to host Fate for every 4th week of her life - which is a major adjustment anyway without even factoring in relationships and other obligations. It’s something that needs time and patience to get used to and basically I don’t think it’s gonna end well… which isn’t necessarily a bad thing - relationships end and I don’t think they were ever an endgame couple.

Traci’s not gonna remain a Fate host — this is kinda explored in the Zatanna post I may or may not have given up on… but, basically I think Traci is gonna struggle the most with adjusting to Fate and the full extent of what the sacrifices entails - after all she doesn’t really seem to think about anything before saying yes to Zatanna’s proposition — maybe out of a sense of loyalty, or to prove herself for others instead of for herself. Also if she does stop being a host, it should be shown as a really strong moment where she’s finally deciding her own path for herself - instead of going along with what she thinks others expect of her to please them.

Mary’s Shazam form (and maybe all magically two-formed beings) is linked to some kind of ghost dimension and that’s how Granny was talking to her in the last scene — Granny was seemingly talking inside Mary’s head - like - how and why - Gretchens maybe had a few mentions so far but she’s played no part in the plot so far - so why turn up now interacting with a character she never had a relationship with… Unless it’s Anti-Life Equation related? I want to know!

Brions ‘Markovia Welcoms Meta-Humans’ shtick will cause trouble for the MHYC — Like what if Ed’s hopes for more buildings never happened and they lost a load of funding thanks to the outing of Lex and Gretchen as baddies - what did they do with all new metas - who’s funding the Centre now? And if there isn’t the space or freedom to create a safe and positive experience for all these teens then why wouldn’t those teens consider going to a place where they are welcomed - a whole country where they’re welcomed and who’s king is even an ex-Outsiders meta as well. I can just see Ed trying his hardest to convince these teens that you can’t trust Brion, but they don’t really trust Ed anymore because he keeps promising things like better facilities that have never materialised because they don’t have the funding - so they don’t really care what he says - and he’s faced with the genuine threat of watching these teens they did so much to saved walk straight back into danger — all because of money. It would be so interesting to see Ed now having to deal the frustrations of being denied what’s needed because of funding and politics, whilst also essentially becoming the one making empty promises and preaching safety to the teens under his watch — reflecting how he and the other Runaways viewed STAR Labs and its staff when they were there. (I’ll be honest, I could still do a full post on this one)

Kaldur is overdue a serious emotional breakdown — dude has been through SO MUCH and remained a rock throughout it all — he’s got to crack at some point… everybody had a breaking point and I feel like Kaldur’s is on the horizon… Also, fun fact, I had planned to do a Kaldur post on this topic after my zatanna post, but because that never got finished, the Kaldur one never really got started — so I figured I’d just tag this on here instead… Who knows, maybe the fates will change and I’ll actually get both posts written and posted before s4B starts up again… I honestly doubt it, but I guess we’ll see.

I don’t trust bearded Kaldur — I don’t really know why, I just don’t… And that’s it.

Thanks for reading if you did, I appreciate your time.

LB 💛

Also, I’m just gonna put this here because even though it’s not plot related, it is technically a ‘random thought’ I’ve had about the show and I don’t really know where else to put it… so it’s going here…

9. I think there is a contractual reason why Bart cannot be depicted as an LGBTQ+ character in the show — So, I watched this video the other day where it mentioned that Marvel had a number of guidelines on how the character of Peter Parker/Spider-Man can be portrayed by Sony - one of those rules, regarding his sexuality, basically saying he can’t be anything other than straight. Now these were the restrictions set during Andrew Garfield’s time as the Amazing Spider-Man, so whether the characters still legally locked into only being straight - I don’t know, but it got me wondering if that’s what’s going on with Bart. Does dc have a specific rule in their licensing agreement for the character of Bart Allen that explicitly states that Bart can only be portrayed as a heterosexual male…? It wouldn’t surprise me if so — it just annoys me.

Seriously, if we do get a season 5, the one thing I want is for this stupid restriction to be gone because there is absolutely no validity in it at all.

37 notes · View notes

balillee · 3 years

Text

my unpopular dsmp opinions, some of which genuinely should be popular

c!dream has crossed the moral event horizon and is irredeemable. once you cross that threshold, you're no longer a 'morally grey' character.

pre-recorded, heavily produced lore killed the lore. it was cool, sure, but you completely misunderstand the magic that the smp had when people watched it initially. the story is improv and that's how we like it. we can tell the cc's have lost interest in it, you can admit that to us, we'll understand, just stop lying to me.

c!dream's pov isn't necessary to understand his character or his motivations. if you've watched literally any c!primeboys stream he's basically spelled it out for you.

i don't understand how fans can dislike l'manberg or have claimed to be against it since the beginning. i honestly don't get it. what's so bad about wanting your own spot where you make your own rules and skirt accountability that has been used to technically oppress you before - and, before someone who never saw the earlier streams tries to disagree with this, the og l'manberg crew were imprisoned for shit that everyone else on the server was practically encouraged to do. also, what do you have against fun and happiness?

i think some of you forget that 'hybrids' aren't a thing, discounting c!ranboo. there's no piglin hybrids, c!techno is just a pig. there's no avian hybrids, c!phil is just a man with wings. there's no creeper hybrids, c!sam is just a creeper who's indecently exposed from the hips down. canonically there's no hybrids, and therefore no hybrid discrimination. people ran with that concept too much.

the loss and the fanon rewriting of the early lore up until pogtopia has ruined fandom perception of c!dream and the og l'manberg boys. c!tommy is more morally white than you think he is, and c!dream has always been a villain - he massacres and he kills and he destroys and he schemes and he always has broken his own rules. no wonder the boys wanted their own space after how they were treated.

i think ranboo oftentimes forgets his own lore. he brings stuff up that c!ranboo may have done, such as exploding the community house to frame c!tommy, holding onto Cat, and it goes absolutely nowhere. we've gotten all of these developments in his story but they have never been expanded on, and we're nowhere closer to figuring out his relationship to c!dream and what his other side is and honestly i see no hope that we'll be any closer to knowing even by the end of the year.

your characters don't all have to be morally grey for the story itself to be morally grey. this is fiction - some people can be nothing but evil and others can be nothing but good. being purely good or evil doesn't mean that you're one dimensional, either.

c!dream apologists have ruined c!dream for me. he's not a good person. how about you let me enjoy a villain for who he actually is, rather for than your percieved woobified ragdoll you pass off as c!dream.

the story was better when there was a central writer. it was brilliant back when wilbur wrote it to be that the environment drives the characters and the story, and it was really good in early s2 up until techno's execution day when it was more character driven. since then, the amount of autonomy people have over their characters without any central 'director', as it were, has been a detriment to the story overall. there needs to still be one overarching figure or director or writer.

not everyone is a main character. just because they have a pov, doesn't mean they're a main character. some characters have such little impact on the overall plot and describing everyone as a main character oversaturates the story and makes some characters seem more important than they are.

the egg lore had so much potential up until it didn't. all that built up threat that we were expecting and we still don't even know what the egg wants really other than just controlling people. does it hatch?

genuinely, if there's no major plot developments by the end of the year (and let's be honest, it's a very big possibility at this point), a few of the more prominent members of the server should do a podcast style stream talking about where the story would have gone, because at least then we would have gotten somewhat closer to a conclusion.

c!techno is a villain and an asshole and a bad person. he stops caring for people once their interests don't align with his or if they look at him funny. he makes meta-jokes about his own tyrannical and oppressive nature. stop taking that away from him. he's a bad person. cc!techno does a fabulous job portraying that in a comedic manner and the balancing of him being a deeply flawed person with deeply flawed morals and ideas with his comedically-portrayed stubbornness and lack of willingness to hear out opposing viewpoints is incredible. i want to like characters who are arseholes for the sake of being arseholes, and who refuse to take into account the hurt they've caused either out of self-righteousness or because they don't care, so let me. he's the anti-peacemaker, LET ME HIM ENJOY HIM FOR THAT!!!!

i think tommy and wilbur's way of doing lore is my favourite. relies heavily on improv, voice acting, sprite acting and facial expressions. really shows off the acting props and they pull off the emotional moments well for the insanity of the creative medium.

i'm not a fan of fan-music. i find songs about media i'm into difficult to listen to. coincidentally i'm also not a fan of shit like slam poetry or live music/musicals/pantomimes.

the death of l'manberg killed people's motivation to go on the server casually. i've talked about it more in depth before, but destroying what was a central, driving environment for the story killed momentum and motivation. imagine in an episode of she-ra, the princess alliance just nuke the freight zone and all of the members of the horde just have to deal with it. that would be shit.

until season 3 has some momentum, i'm counting the end of the smp as january 20th. that had a conclusion. season 3 has... whores, technoblade and tommyinnit. that's about it.

i wasn't a fan of the development of c!tubbo joining las nevadas. i preferred snowchester and the walled city conflict. give c!tubbo some backbone and some badassery. also tubbo where's the fucking nuke bro if you're shelving that plotline just tell us on like an alt stream what the plan was i beg

add like 2 or 3 new people to the server so that michael mcchill has someone to talk to and so that there's something always happening on the server. it gives the og's more motivation to return if things are happening in and out of canon and it'll help with momentum, and who knows? maybe they can write their own story/stories.

i really think that c!sam is an underrated character. he's multilayered, extremely interesting, and the dichotomy of his loyalty to his job and how far down the rabbithole that's taken him versus the genuine love he has for his friends that drives him to do what he does out of wanting to do right by them is brilliant. i don't talk about c!sam enough.

STOP HAVING FUCKING VILLAIN ARCS!!! I'M FUCKIN SICK OF IT!!!! i want to see more characters who see everyone else being absolute selfish, abhorrent cunts and go 'if nobody else is going to be a good person, i fucking will'. GIVE ME SOME MORAL WHITENESS!!! IT'S INTERESTING AND MORALLY GOOD CHARACTERS ARE FUN!!!

let tommyinnit build cobblestone towers. everyone bullied him too much for how ugly they were and the one he built outside of the prison looked genuinely really nice. it gives the boy something to do.

i'm a fan of the revive book and the canon lives system. don't ask me why, but i think it might just be the morbidity of it. it adds to c!dream's god complex persona, and i think the fragility of death itself is a really fun concept. not enough fan cc's have made connections with that and c!mumza, and it could make for cool fanfic.

ranboo your house is fucking ugly. it's an eyesore

c!niki, and to some extent now c!jack and c!fundy, are boring me and ruining my mood. i think c!jack is the closest to being an actually interesting sympathetic villain, mainly because nobody else seems to realise that c!niki is a villain. not a good one imo, but she's a villain. c!jack just has the problem of starting a new project over and over and over and over again and because of the slow in momentum for the primary cast, there hasn't been a lot of recent development for him.

not really a dream smp opinion, but if philza went full geordie accent, i would love it. i want him to, in canon, say shit like 'me n ye' instead of 'me and you' and use geordie dialect. i want him to be physically unintelligible because it's funny.

i don't really know what's up with c!foolish but i think he's a dumbass. he had a while to think about c!q's proposal and then changed his mind about joining the guy to admitted to letting him die just because. moron

i wish there was more c!eret lore. i wish he was an actual king with an actual kingdom and actual subjects and royal advisors. c!eret is far too fucking cool to be the king of nothing and nobody. fatten up the kingdom and the castle with people who work with c!eret, and don't just make it tyrannical and dictator-y to prove the point of the server's 'anarchists'. make it a healthy working environment, please - if you want moral greyness, have 'anarchists' who claim to care about the welfare of the server oppose a kingdom of happy people under a fair and just ruler because their ideologies clash.

the server needs more characters who oppose anarchy in more peaceful ways, or passively wish for systems to be a part of. i think a chaos vs order conflict ending only in mutual understanding where everyone understands that they should just leave each other alone would slot nicely into the story that's been created so far.

you need to have watched all of the previous arcs to understand the story. i've seen people argue that they don't need to know about earlier lore to understand the prison, but that's the equivalent of only watching the final season of pretty little liars and expecting to understand the context of what's going on.

some characters aren't that morally grey. some characters, take c!tommy for example, are definitely on the whiter side for the morality scale, he's just an asshole. he's abrasive and rude and a dickhead but he also doesn't agree with terrorism, he's patriotic, he strives for a better world, he's apologetic, but he's also a fucking BITCH.

you can add onto this if you want, but not if you're a c!dream apologist. nobody likes your opinions

#dream smp #dsmp #esclaposhitpost

79 notes · View notes

some-triangles · 3 years

Text

ON THE GRADUATION OF HOLOLIVE 4TH GENERATION’S KIRYU COCO

Some context is going to be required here.

Hololive is a group of virtual youtubers, or vtubers. This group is run by Cover Corporation, a talent management agency, and is organized along the lines of a Japanese idol group, meaning that new members are added in batches (referred to as “generations“ here but generally called “classes.”) There are between five and seven generations in Hololive’s Japanese branch, depending on how you count, two in their Indonesian branch, and one in their English branch. There was also a Chinese branch, at one point, but they all graduated.

Graduation: when a real life idol reaches a certain age (23 or so, usually) and is deemed too old for the business, she “graduates” from her group, with great ceremony, and has to figure out what to do with the rest of her life. But virtual idols don’t age. They could go on forever, or at least as long as the person playing them can do the voice. Nonetheless, graduations do happen - one member of the fifth generation resigned shortly after her introduction following a doxxing and harassment campaign, and the Chinese branch quit en masse after one of the Japanese Hololive members referred to Taiwan as a country. That member was Kiryu Coco: Yakuza, drug dealer, guerilla filmmaker, edgelord, bilingual comedian, host of the weekly Reddit Shitpost Review, and, fundamentally, an anime dragon woman with enormous tits. (Her horns are real, but her tail, she lets us know, is a plug-in.)

Coco announced her graduation yesterday. She will be the first established member to leave the group. It came as a shock; sure, there had been a difficult period following the Taiwan incident when mainland Chinese trolls were invading her streams and spamming her chat (the community referred to these people as “antis”, hilariously,) but that had blown over, for the most part. We knew there had been conflicts between her and Cover management over some of her more risque material - she was constantly pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable for an “idol”, or, frankly, for a female public figure of any kind in Japan - but she was so integral to the community, building bridges between the generations and the different language groups, refining and amplifying and in some cases inventing the running gags that were integral to the identities of so many of her colleagues, and, in general, working more hours than a human being should to make Hololive a success. Burnout is of course a big deal with streamers but Coco so rarely let her fatigue come across, and it’s not even clear that that’s what happened here. Coco is, most likely, going on to bigger and better things.

Except “Coco” isn’t.

A Hololive vtuber is a weird gestalt entity, composed in part of the affectations and backstory and design created for the character and in part of the personality, real life and real history of the performer. We know that Coco’s real mother is sick and had to go back to America for treatment, because Coco tells us what’s going in her life, except she says that Mama Dragon has to go far across the sea and Papa Dragon is staying home; this blending of reality and kayfabe (a term in general use among english-speaking Hololive fans, tellingly) reminds me of pro wrestling, where the best characters and storylines make use of real personalities and events and rivalries to give them their charge. In Hololive as in WWE the company owns the character, but if a performer leaves WWE we know we will probably see them again soon enough. They’ll be under a new name, but it’ll be the same person with the same face and the same moves and the same personality - maybe tweaked a little to avoid a lawsuit, but close. With vtubers, though, it’s a different story. There is a person called Kiryu Coco with a voice and a face and friends and a history and on July 1st there will be a big farewell concert streamed live over the internet and then that person will cease to exist.

And that’s weird, right? I had enough of a parasocial relationship with this fake person that when I went to my discord to be sad about her imminent departure I had legitimately forgotten that she was a big titty anime dragon lady and that I was going to get roasted the second someone googled her. She’s just Coco in my brain, and I know that the woman who performs that role isn’t actually about to be erased but part of me insists that I’m awaiting an execution. That part of me - the part that had me writing “but what if cartoons were real and had feelings though” stories when I was in high school - is doing backflips about it. I can’t figure out the meta here. Does this entity have a soul? Does it live in a certain streamer who also goes by KSON, or somewhere else? Will it haunt the giant statue of Cover CEO Motoaki “Yagoo” Tanigo looking sad that Coco built in Minecraft as her last great contribution before her departure?

Whatever she is and wherever she’s off to, she will be missed, and I will hear her cheerful “good morning, motherfuckers!” on the wind.

#long post #coco kiryu #a bunch of stuff I wanted to fit in here but couldn't #the actual intersection of hololive and pro wrestling as fake mongolian and enormous nerd the great o-kahn has adopted oozaru subaru's #'sheep-killer' backbreaker and the announcers are now calling it as such #and the way that the proportions of kayfabe and reality vary from character to character #from fake toddler luna and horror movie cliche haachama on one end to kureiji 'I piss like a pulse cannon' ollie on the other #and that doesn't even account for traits the audience invents and projects on the performer #who usually adopts them out of self-defense

110 notes · View notes

tenderflint · 2 years

Text

the matrix resurrections is a difficult film to critique because it is almost an anti-film, a film that didn’t want to be made. a film that said fine, fine, we’ll take all your goddamn money and we’ll use it to give you a great big multi million dollar middle finger and build great big multi million dollar soapboxes from which we’re going to talk shit about you and everything you stand for. and i don’t necessarily grudge them this, it’s fun and it’s meta and it’s clever and it’s also incredibly heavy-handed, but again, need it not be? if it functionally exists as a subversion of what it was meant to be (ie a money grab, flaccid fan service, etc), if it uses those heavy-handed and self-indulgent instruments to instead say fuck you, we’re going to be loudly and explicitly gay and trans and anticapitalist and say so in stilted fourth-wall speeches about literal binaries and choice and franchises and the literal actual warner brothers, why shouldn’t it? does it make for good film? no, but can we expect that of it, in any iteration? what exactly should we expect from the fourth matrix movie, and why? on what grounds can we be disappointed? maybe i’m just grasping for a way to defend a movie that was simply mediocre, maybe this is just a flawed critical lens that doesn’t actually bear any fruit. but it begs the question: how can a movie that didn’t want to be made be judged on the quality of its existence?

#merry christmas ari is writing thinkpieces on an action franchise #i don’t know if this uh makes sense per se #i’m literally fresh out of the theater #i did enjoy myself. i did also get so bored at times #during which i drafted this post in my head #the matrix #the matrix resurrections #ari rambles

21 notes · View notes

imbellarosa · 4 years

Text

Let’s Talk Calm-ly about Two Loves

OR: When you’re a grown man who writes stories for a living, you definitely wrote your own weird bedtime story, too.

The TLDR here is that H has taken one specific listener around the globe, notably to Tokyo and Jamaica. He quotes an old Victorian Poet who was an awful human but who’s lasting legacy is the phrase “a love that dare not speak its name” which is - you guessed it - a reference to queer love. He also is super excited to spend what seems like the foreseeable future with this listener and has bought a little house with a garden of daisies with them and it’s very sweet and domestic. Anyways this is a wild time and it’s all under a cut because it’s...really a lot.

Anyways I think the people I owe thank yous this times around to are @queenlokibeth who had to listen to me scream about this for a while, Astrid, who screamed with me when this came out, and “M” who convinced me to finally get to work in this fandom. And, of course, all of the lovely people tagged below who’s work I used to build my argument.

1.) Who Wrote “Dream With Me”?

Well, not H, or so the story goes. Two other people (Steve Cleverly and Sanj Sen) did! I mean, right, okay, for a while I was like...that seems like an odd choice for a man who didn’t want to hand Two Ghosts over to his own band because it seemed too personal. He wrote on every song in both albums’ he’s released thus far, because he seems to be passionate about telling the stories he wants to tell (even if he won’t tell you explicitly what they’re about). But for a while, I was totally going with the flow there, and the rest of this analysis would still stand: the writer of this story definitely referenced a poem by Lord Alfred Douglas and Harry’s own songs.

However, I then read this fun quote from the Co-founder and CEO of Calm:

“Well,” he said, “The the Harry Styles one is interesting because that came purely from Harry Styles himself...we took the approach of creating a sort of musical epic poem – he doesn’t sing, it’s spoken with poetry, but there’s a sort of musical sound bed to it and it’s pulling on things and themes that Harry’s fans really adore about him and associate with him. So his story was driven really by him – we really created a concept around him.”

- Chris Advansun, July 7th, 2020 via @hlupdate

And I thought, hmmm. This does not sound like a project that he was not involved in creating. From this point on (July, 7th 2020), I began to think of it as a three way co-collaboration between him and the other two authors. But this confused me a bit, because there was largely a nonreaction from the fandom. I was waiting for an actual transcript, because I always fall asleep to these meditation stories, but it was being referenced to as some sort of Y/N fic, which was...honestly not what I expected, but also not implausible, thanks to the ~lovely~ image this man has had since the age of sixteen. But also, twitter seemed to be concerned by other things at the moment, and no one was analyzing the story. .

In fact, I messaged a friend the day that this story dropped, because it had been kind of a shit show day on Twitter. Rumors were sort of flying about everyone and everything: had Liam shaved his head? Was he engaged? Had he and Maya broken up? Were Zayn and Gigi engaged? Had they broken up? Did Niall have a girlfriend? (this one was true lol). Were Elounor engaged? Were they pregnant? Had they broken up??? My personal fav was the bald Liam rumor, which he promptly put to rest in LP Act 1 by...having a huge mane of hair.

So then I thought - huh. Why has today looked like this? I’m not saying that there aren’t days that twitter goes wild because of boredom, because there definitely is - the articles about secret meetings in Italy that are coming out this week (8/12/2020) are proof positive. So that definitely does happen, but it doesn’t usually happen on the days that there’s a lot of content. And maybe I’ve just been starved for content in this fandom, but I would consider a 40 minute video quite a bit of content.

Then the transcript dropped. I’m using two as references - this one on Wattpad and also @carl-and-pearl ‘s version here (thank you so much for the transcript!!). We’re going to get into a more detailed description of what’s going on in the story, but the first thing I recognized immediately is that it was first person POV. I knew that going in, based on the number of Y/N jokes going around on twitter. Then I read it aloud, and I realized that it read like a letter. Like an experience specific to the writer and the reader. And while that’s not super uncommon to write about an experience from the author’s POV - I listen to a podcast called Nothing Much Happens: bedtime stories for adults which has a similar concept - I thought it was odd that they were trying to include both the author and the listener. I completely understood why the y/n jokes were pertinent. But at the same time, it felt like something had snagged in my mind - like a particularly annoying splinter.

The conversations I was having around this story - completely based on the content, concept, and my own instinct - was that this story contained specific references to one person. I thought that it did read like a love letter, and that most identifying features would have been taken out, but the essence remained. Which, once I thought about it, was something that H excelled at doing. Think about Sunflower Vol 6 and Adore You and Canyon Moon and even Watermelon Sugar and Golden. Ask yourself, What do I know about the person they are about? They have skin that browns, they have a secret, they have mesmerizing eyes, they’re willing to dance in the kitchen with him (to dancehall), they have a belly, they’ve been through hard times, they’re witty, they have an accent, and they have lips. I know - super specific right?

So the splinter grew into a thorn - what was I missing? And then - when I was looking for something completely different - I stumbled upon this old interview Harry did with Zach Sang and the Gang Show back in 2017. For context, he was being asked about Sweet Creature. As you can imagine, it’s hard for people to believe he wrote such a beautiful love song when he hadn’t ever really had a long term relationship (two hearts in one home?? Who did you move in with, you can imagine them asking. When did you have time?). So what did he have to say about this?

"In my opinion,” he explained, “I think most songs are written for one listener. Maybe there's one thing in there that only they'll notice about them.... It's so much easier to say something in a song than it is to say it to someone and I think it's really amazing to be able to communicate through that and be able to wrap up everything that you want to say in three and a half minutes and say it in a song."

- HS, May 3 2017

By this time, please believe that I was screeching. Seeing this felt like he put into words the exact feeling I had about “Dream With Me”. It felt like a nod to someone that I didn’t know, which made the story hard to listen to, tbh. Although, I will say that when I did finally listen to it, it knocked me out and gave me odd dreams so. Once was enough for me haha!

So my new operating theory is exactly what Advansun said: I think that H was the primary writer/the driving force behind the story. Because of the references I’m about to run through, because it feels like the way he tells stories, and because they admitted to him being more involved than they originally claimed. That’s going to be how I write the rest of the analysis - under the impression that H had a direct hand in the story that was being put forth. However, I think that the analysis itself would stand whether or not he wrote any of it. It would just be a more tenuous reflection of him than I believe it to be.

2.) How Do I Love Thee? In Two Ways.

Before I jump into the story, let’s talk a little about the poem that I want to compare it to: Two Loves, by Lord Alfred Douglas. Let’s be clear this is not at all a defense of who Bosie was - he was a terrible person, particularly in his later years, when he’d converted to Catholicism and turned his back on his younger self, and his partner, Oscar Wilde. He was violently anti-Semitic, and turned his back on his own community. I want to get this out of the way because I very much believe that we should examine artists for who they are. That is, after all, what I am trying to do here.

But his poem Two Loves has often been used - much to his disappointment, I’m sure - as an exploration of queer love in Victorian times. A line that I will be exploring more deeply in a second was in fact used against Oscar Wilde in his trail for indecency . He attempted - unsuccessfully - to explain it away, but it was too blatantly about their relationship for even the British Victorian society to ignore. I really, really recommend a read of this poem, because it is - despite it’s author - a good piece of work, which explores the themes of shame and love and longing between two men in that time.

I’m going to start with my own background, as someone who’s analyzed fandoms before. I first came across this poem in the Sherlock fandom, with this analysis by @the-7-percent-solution, when I was running in that fandom, and she explains the poem brilliantly in just a few lines. I’m going to take a little longer to run through it, but if you want a concise explanation and a brilliant meta, I encourage you to run to their blog and check it out. That fandom taught me most everything I know about catching symbols and recurring themes and “clueing for looks” and I love it desperately, still.

But we’re here to talk about this fandom, so on with the poem! Essentially, the poem outlines a dream the speaker had: In his dream, he’s standing in a field with flowers - beautiful ones of all kind - and he meets this young man with clear blue eyes and bright red lips and they kiss a bit and have a picnic, and it’s all lovely. If you think I’m kidding, I’m really not. Please, read it for yourself.

Anyways, after they did they did the whole picnic thing, the speaker and his date go on a walk in this field, where they come across two figures. The first is described as,

“...fair and blooming, and a sweet refrain Came from his lips; he sang of pretty maids And joyous love of comely girl and boy, His eyes were bright, and 'mid the dancing blades Of golden grass his feet did trip for joy; And in his hand he held an ivory lute With strings of gold that were as maidens' hair, And sang with voice as tuneful as a flute, And round his neck three chains of roses were.”

- Two Loves, 1894

The speaker, however, was drawn to the second figure:

“He was full sad and sweet, and his large eyes Were strange with wondrous brightness, staring wide With gazing; and he sighed with many sighs That moved me, and his cheeks were wan and white Like pallid lilies, and his lips were red Like poppies, and his hands he clenched tight, And yet again unclenched, and his head Was wreathed with moon-flowers pale as lips of death. A purple robe he wore, o'erwrought in gold With the device of a great snake, whose breath Was fiery flame..”

- Two Loves, 1984

Of course, the speaker immediately asks the second man who he is. The second man says, “My name is Love”. The first man corrects him quickly:

“ He lieth, for his name is Shame, But I am Love, and I was wont to be Alone in this fair garden, till he came Unasked by night; I am true Love, I fill The hearts of boy and girl with mutual flame.”

-Two Loves, 1984

The second man sighs and acquiesces, “Have thy will. I am the love that dare not speak its name.”

It was, of course, this last line that really gave the meaning of the poem away. It was the line that was put to Oscar Wilde as proof of a romantic relationship, it was the line that went down in history as a way to refer to queer love, and it was the line that first stuck out to me when I was reading “Dream With Me”.

The reading here is clearly that “Love” is the love that is acceptable to society - easy, sweet, and cherished. “Shame” is the love that happens in secret - beautiful, alluring to the speaker, passionate, anxious ( as can be seen in the clenching and unclenching of his hands), and proud. He refuses to call himself as anything but what he is. The first man may call him Shame, but he refuses the name, and instead, offers a qualifier to his own descriptor. He is still love, he is just the love that can’t be spoken about.

3.) Walking in Golden Fields of Sunflowers

Now let’s talk about “Dream With Me”. I’m ignoring the first few stanzas (from the line “Have you ever wondered” to “What the two of us can find”.) because those are pretty standard introductory paragraphs to a guided meditation. So we start with the line “Let’s travel now to moonlit valleys...”.

I’m going to do the same thing I did with “Two Loves” first. I am going to describe literally, in general terms, what happens in the story. Warning, I change pronouns from “they” to “you” because the whole thing confuses me, but note that I’m always talking about the speaker and the listener:

So after doing the standard intro, the speaker and the listener take a walk through the woods enjoying nature, particularly the grass, the trees, and the blue sky above. You’re already clearly in love. Then you’re magically on a raft, with cherry blossoms all around you. If you want a good visual for that, here’s a site that has pictures from a boat rental in Tokyo where you can snuggle on a raft in the Chidorigafuchi moat. And then suddenly it starts raining, and they (you) watch the rain for a hot second, and then the scene magically shifts again, and you’re under a porch (although I guess it could be the boat rental’s porch. They do usually have covered areas).

Kind of furthering that theory, they then lounge by the shoreline, skipping stones and hanging out, looking at the snow capped mountains. In case you’re curious, because at this point I sure was, you can see mountains from certain areas in the city of Tokyo.

Anyways, then it’s snowing, and you’re magically in a cabin, just chilling by the fire, and you fall asleep again. You wake up somewhere else.

Where are you now? Well, you’re on a tropical island filled with palm trees. As an American, my mind immediately jumps to the Caribbean, but I suppose it could absolutely be in the Mediterranean as well. The island has white beaches, mangroves, a turquoise ocean, and a gorgeous, peaceful atmosphere.

If you’re curious as to what a mangrove looks like - and I certainly was - they are a group of trees and shrubs that live in the coastal intertidal zone and Jamaica is doing a massive restoration project involving primary school children to regrow this vital part of their ecosystem. More interestingly, there currently exist no mangrove forests in the Mediterranean, so my initial feeling that this scene would take place in the Caribbean was correct. On that note - again, because I was curious - Jamaica has gorgeous white sand beaches with turquoise oceans.

But I’ve gone off topic again! After you’re minds are “in tune” once more (trying to find a heartbeat, anyone?), you reappear in a meadow, with beautiful flowers of all kind, where you are now walking hand in hand through a field of sunflowers, which give the feeling a “warm and golden hue”. Then you come across a little farmhouse with daisies poking out (clearly I have no way of locating this anywhere in the world, but I assume that the UK has both sunflowers and daisies). It’s an empty house which was loved and left because of the passage of time, which inspires my favorite line in the poem: “ The thought of passing time inspires/A feeling that grows stronger”. It’s just...really sweet to me.

So, of course, they do what anyone would do when they come across an empty farmhouse, they go inside. And there, they begin to fall asleep, reflecting on all they have just seen, referencing other scenes of the poem: “ Moonlit valleys, Burdened forests, Gazing at the ocean. Summer meadows, Tranquil sunsets steeped in emotion”.

The next few stanzas are just going to be copy-pasted, and then I’ll go into them a bit, but this is the end of the poem, so they’re the final reflections;

“The tenderness we feel When we are close Two minds as one Surrounds us and connects us But we’ve only just begun.

For now we dream together Of all there is to follow. And know that sleep will keep us safe From now until tomorrow.

Maybe all the memories That we’ve gathered here tonight Are all dreams now remembered Or wishes in plain sight.

No matter what They’re with us now. For this night and forever. And every time we close our eyes They’re yours and mine to treasure.”

- HS, Dream With Me, via @carl-and-pearl

And that’s it! The literal story, in short, is that you started in a forest, then went to Tokyo (maybe) and then Jamaica (perhaps) and then back to a field of sunflowers and daisies in the UK (which is also a guess, it could be Italy or France or Idaho for all I know, but let’s call it an educated guess).

4.) My Dream Journal

So now that we know what happens in the story, how do we interpret this? Well, There are a few lines in the poem that I want to draw your attention to: the first takes place in the first part of this story, when you’re still in the forest. This is, I must say, the most direct reference to Two Loves in the whole poem/song/story. Both works are describing a walk in the woods with your loved one, and, in a fun reference in the middle of the story, Dream With Me says

The shimmering reflection Shows us smiling from above. But what we think But dare not speak is L-O-V-E love.

-Dream With Me, 2020

Remember that line I mentioned before? I am the love that dare not speak its name. Right, so that’s almost a direct quote. It also has a really fun nod to “I Would” (Would he say he’s in L-O-V-E?/Well if it was me then I would), but I digress.

This first part of the narrative, I feel, really sets up what the rest of it will look and feel like, in the same way that “Golden” sets the tone for Fine Line. (You didn’t think I was going to make a post about Harry and NOT mention Golden, did you?? If you did, I’m disappointed!!). So let’s take a look at what’s happening, and the language he’s using to describe it.

One of the best things about this poem is how vivid it feels. Of course, I’m about to argue that it’s vivid because it was based in reality, but let’s talk about the sheer amount of detail he uses to describe the place he’s walking through. The valley (canyon lmao) is moonlit, the grass and the leaves make mosaics of green, you’re walking by the heather (the symbolism of heather is good luck, admiration, and protection), the sepia sunlight breaks through the trees.

You know what it kind of sounds like? Sweet Creature. You’re about to roll your eyes at me! I can feel it! But listen, okay?

“Sweet creature Running through the garden Oh, where nothing bothered us But we're still young I always think about you and how we don't speak enough”

Which, to be honest, sounds like what they’re doing. They’re walking through the garden in the sun, not daring to speak about the Love that he (they both) feel, and instead refering to it in veiled Victorian terms.

And then we head to Tokyo! I know that you’re about to ask me why I think it’s Tokyo versus...idk, anywhere else? Well, for one, he went to Tokyo (to let it go) publicly in 2019. He was there for a few months, and there are some great pictures of that time:

Look! Here he is with his club owner friend and his dog, and a fun red bandanna! But let’s be honest, the dog really steals the show here. But wait! there’s more! More dog content, too!

This was on Jan 31st, 2019, and he’s taking the dog for a walk! Very cute! If nothing else, he spent a lot of time with dogs in Tokyo! And the city fits the description of the story. So I feel rather comfortable with my interpretation that this first date is a memory of this trip - or another - to Tokyo.

So what did “you both”do in Tokyo? Well, chill on a raft while the cherry blossoms flutter around you, clearly. You also refocused your purpose. What did he do in Tokyo in 2019? Well, he took time to think about and write songs for the album he was about to go record. Kind of like refocusing on what’s next, right? And then, in the story when “you both” had time to think amongst the lake and the water and the rain and the moon, and you’d come to the conclusions you needed to, you left. What did he do when he did the things he needed to? Well, he left, too.

And where did he go? Well, in real life, I suppose he went to do his job. But, in the story, you’re meant to be falling deeper and deeper into sleep, so it’s sort of like traveling backwards, you see? Like counting down to one. So you end up on this island with turquoise ocean and mangrove forests. I’m calling this Jamaica. Why? Well, the description fits, for one, down to the four types of mangroves that exists within its ecosystem.

And - probably the biggest reason - I can place him there, too. Here’s him in 2017:

I added this picture because the water around him....looks rather turquoise, doesn’t it? Kind of like he’s enjoying his time on a tropical island by the beach?? Oh, and here’s another one!:

The red bandanna makes a comeback!

So what are you doing in Jamaica, according to the story? Well, you’re hanging out, basically. Enjoying the beach and each other, of course! What else? To be exact, “[Your] thoughts dovetail and unify/ In tune two minds together”. I’m so glad that you’re tuned like an old guitar now! Congrats! Really happy for you!

What was he doing in Jamaica three years ago? Why, he was recording his first album, or so the story goes. I’ll tell you something: finding press for that album was literally the most difficult part of this whole analysis. I got a fair bit of the tattoo roulette with Kendall Jenner, and some things about Carolina, but the interview with Zach Sang took me like an hour and a half to find again to link. The fact that a lot of it has been buried is...not great, for posterity purposes. He’s going to want that one day.

But I’ve gotten off track again! We gotta go back and finish our story, right? What happens now? Well, this does:

hahahaha okay, I’m really sorry, but I had to. I’m not, actually, making it up though! According to the story:

“ As minutes turn to hours We drift off somewhere new. And visualize a stairway To a door we now walk through”

- Dream With Me, 2020

So maybe Louis was just...demonstrating for you.

Anyways! Where do you walk out to? A golden field full of sunflowers. You walk for a minute, then come across an old house with daisies popping up out of the garden. And that’s where the story ends. I guess you’ve made that farmhouse feel like home.

Now to the little reflection he does on the outro. The lines I want to bring your attention are: “The tenderness we feel when we are close two minds as one surrounds us and connects us but we’ve only just begun” and “Maybe all the memories that we’ve gathered here tonight are all dreams now remembered or wishes in plain sight.”

Let’s talk about the first sentence first. In the context of finding a home that could be a shared home, and a future, this is very much an “end of the story, beginning of our lives” sort of thing. You’re back from all over, and it’s time to settle down, and see what’s next.

And now the second sentence. I think this is the one that really drives my point about this story being a collection of memories he has - that’s what he calls it. The story is “gathered memories” that might also be called “remembered dreams” (think of how people say of vacations, “oh it was a dream!”) or you might call it “wishes in plain sight”. This feels in line with the rest of the story. In this stanza, he’s sort of letting you in a bit. If I’ve read this right - and I really think that I have - he’s giving the larger context for the story. It’s a collection of memories he’s had with someone he loves.

5.) Cool! Can you prove it?

I mean, I’d argue that if you read this far, I have proved it, but let’s make some more links, shall we? This was called a “muscial epic” that was “driven by him”. I’d argue that if I know my Victorian literature (thank you, Sherlock!), then he definitely does. Then there’s the fact that he quoted it, so. That did happen. And he knows what it means. And even if he didn’t, there were two other people on the story. Someone was more than capable of catching that one, and the fact that they didn’t speaks to intent. They want you to think of that phrase when you read this poem. They want you to think of that walk in the woods while you’re going on this one.

And, as for my assumption that this is for and about one person, well. Think about it. He said that he writes his songs for a single listener. I’m not saying it’s the same listener each time, let’s get that right, but it is always just for one person. With that, and with the assumption that he’s been involved in the writing of this story, I’d say that the same rule applies. He went with someone to Japan and Jamaica (J^2 haha). And, if I had to guess, it was the same person.

Why, you ask? Well, for one, if that weren’t the case, then this poem would no longer be for one listener, it would be for multiple. And, for another, imagine how awkward it would be to listen to it with his current partner and have to explain “oh, yeah that was the super romantic vacation I took with someone else” . And, I suppose that because I think that attitude of “refocusing” and “dovetailing” and “tuning” and getting excited about imagining all of the tomorrows with your partner speaks to a long term relationship breathing easily, you know?

I’m also going to argue that describing the aura around the house as “golden” was intentional, especially when paired with the location - in the middle of a field of sunflowers. Those are both direct references to his songs. And those two songs are particularly linked by the number 28. The third song that features 28 is Fine Line the song, but that’s a different story. Anywho! “Golden”’s bridge just repeats the word ‘golden’ twenty eight times (if you go here , you can count the bridge) and “Sunflower Vol. 6″ ends the song with 28 “boops” (believe me, I wish I was making this up. I’m not.). So then, once again, you’ve linked a story to two already linked songs.

And, even if you don’t buy the intentional repetition, they’re linked another way, aren’t they? The color scheme and the sun symbol. Sunflowers were named because of their sun-like appearance. They turn to face it. They symbolize loyalty and adoration. And then, of course, the sun is - say it with me - golden. And it - like the person in golden - waits in the sky, beautiful and dangerous and constant. And here that symbol is, in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. At home.

This whole story feels like you’re taking the time to find that heartbeat that you think you might have lost, and sort of coming back to a space where you understand that this is what you want, now and forever. It feels like finding a home that could be yours forever, and it feels like walking through some of the moments that remind him of that.

It really is rather lovely, if you think about it, especially since he has a tendency to attribute “home” to people rather than place, in his songs. So it’s like. Going all around the world and always being at home.

#harry styles #calm #dream with me #two loves #honestly man #im happy for you #but ewww #be less sappy please #i mean #SOME OF US DONT HAVE THAT YET HAROLD #hahahaha i think im funny #long post ts #idk how else to tag this but im really proud of it #okay now i'll do the penguin song #promise hahaha

552 notes · View notes

jyndor · 3 years

Text

Rogue One Meta: Bookends

You know what I love about Rogue One? Well, a lot of things. The anti-fascist message, the characters, the found family trope, the soundtrack, how pretty the whole movie is... there is just too much to like about it. But one thing that really gets me going is how neatly the movie ties in its beginning with its ending.

Let’s do a recap.

So in the beginning, we skip the usual Star Wars crawl and get straight into the action: little Jyn runs to her parents, the family packs up what little they can grab, Lyra calls Saw to alert him to Krennic's approach, Galen asks Jyn to tell him that she understands that whatever he does it is all to protect her. She says she does (she doesn't, of course; she’s EIGHT) and they hug it out. Lyra takes Jyn off to go hide in their little bunker before she changes her mind, she gives Jyn the kyber necklace and then leaves Jyn to try to save Galen, etc etc. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.

We all know that when Lyra tells Krennic that he will "never win" and is killed while shooting Krennic, Jyn sees it. We know that Jyn hides in the bunker for a long time, long after her lantern dies out, until Saw is able to rescue her.

We know this just as well as we know how the movie ends: Krennic finds Jyn on the top of the tower, she knows she is about to die so she tells him that she brings her parents' revenge, that he has lost and he snarls at her, monologues like a villain always has to do, aims his blaster and-

Cassian shoots him before he can pull the trigger. Jyn transmits the Death Star plans, Cassian stops her from wasting time on Krennic, they definitely don’t make out on the elevator, and then they go sit on the beach and cuddle while they wait for their deaths. It’s very cute and very sad.

We know that Jyn is Galen and Lyra's weapon, their revenge for the violence that Krennic did to them personally as well as for what the Empire has done to the galaxy. It's personal and political, as most things are. Rogue One makes this very clear - the personal is political (btw the radfem who coined that phrase can get fucked tyvm).

It’s actually always been how Star Wars works. We would care about Alderaan’s destruction, it’s a terrible thing, but we feel so much more connected to it because of Leia. The Empire oppresses every day people, but when we see Owen and Beru’s charred corpses (and Luke’s grief) we feel more about their deaths than if we didn’t just see them sitting down for a meal together with our protagonist. The Clone Wars is so effective because we care about the characters and see the war through their eyes. Politics is personal.

At the beginning, Galen is resigned to being taken by Krennic and working for the Empire against his will. It's why he sends Lyra and Jyn to safety, because he knows that they will be used as hostages to force him to complete the Death Star (and Lyra says as much). But Lyra obviously isn't willing to give her husband up without a fight (and she's also not willing to let the Empire get any closer to building a 9/11 times 100). It’s both political and personal.

Lyra’s heartbreaking act of resistance creates the narrative framework for who Jyn will become in the film but also for Cassian. In fact I would argue that Lyra's fridging sacrifice is just as important to the structure of Cassian's arc as it is to Jyn's. Don't buy it yet? Okay, look:

Lyra hits Krennic in the shoulder but it's just a graze, and she gets shot first so whether or not she's any good is irrelevant. Cassian is a soldier and a sniper. She also doesn't have the element of surprise on her side like Cassian does. She's a civilian, he's an officer who grew up in the rebellion.

But Cassian doesn't hit Krennic in the chest or the head, which he clearly could do. Perhaps it's because he doesn't have the time to fuss with his aim because he makes it up to the top of the tower just in time. Or maybe since he's really hurting, like Lyra, he doesn't have the focus that he'd need to kill the motherfucker.

Cassian hits Krennic in the shoulder just like Lyra (although I assume given how Krennic falls on his face it's not a graze).

Lyra walks so that Cassian can run.

None of them - not Jyn or Cassian, certainly not Galen or Lyra - gets to kill Krennic; none of them matters as much to Krennic as Krennic himself does. He's a textbook narcissist, so of course he is his own downfall in the end. It’s infinitely more satisfying to see him regain consciousness, look up at his creation and watch it aim at his head, and it would be to see Jyn or Cassian kill him. Cassian gets to tell Jyn what Lyra no doubt would have liked to tell Galen - "leave it" - and then walk away arm in arm without sparing Krennic another thought, and Jyn gets to finally outgrow this childhood phantom.

So much has been written about how Cassian Andor does not let Jyn Erso down. It's adorable, hilarious and also heartbreaking to see him in full Jyn Panic mode for most of the film. In the novel he's clearly attracted to her (he is a POV character so we get to read about Cassian's fixation on her need~ and how "neither pity nor pragmatism" explains why he's saves her on Jedha, and how when he looks at Galen, Cassian sees Jyn's eyes lmfao okay we get it she’s pretty). According to Chris Weitz and Gary Whitta (in the ign Rogue One commentary) they were originally more romantic but over time that dynamic got dialed back (and they said they're sure some of that got filmed so show me tHE ELEVATOR TAPES MOUSE).

But I don't think Lyra and Cassian mirroring each other has to mean Cassian loves Jyn in the same way that Lyra loves Galen. Love takes many different forms - even romantic love. What isn't up for debate is that Cassian is the only person in Jyn's whole life who does not leave her behind. No one who cares for her wants to leave her - not Galen, Lyra, or Saw; not the Pontas in the extended content, not even the rest of Rogue One - but Cassian seems to comes back from the dead for her.

Which is exactly what Krennic sarcastically says about Lyra when she comes running up to them.

In this case Galen doesn’t think Lyra is dead but he has no idea what she’s dealing with. He hopes she’s hiding away with Jyn, which is why he tells Krennic that she died, but he’s just giving them time to hide away. For Galen, Lyra might as well be dead because he doesn’t think he’s going to see her again. But when she comes “back from the dead” he feels horror because he knows it won’t end well, that she won’t just go quietly.

Jyn thinks that Cassian has left her just like everyone else. So when he comes back, it’s like a revelation for her. In the novel, Jyn thinks that Cassian looks "as beautiful as anyone" she has "ever known" and after she rushes over to transmit the plans, she smiles up at him "like a child." Hell, the minute she sees Krennic get shot, she thinks that “her nightmare is over.” Which makes me think about how eight year old Jyn never gets the chance to smile up at Lyra like that. In her eyes, Lyra doesn't really protect her from the man in white, and neither does Galen. Saw does but then he abandons her when he worries people will use her as a hostage against the Empire. Galen, Lyra and Saw do try to protect Jyn from the Empire, but the steps that her parents take (all three of them) are to hide her, or to leave her.

In Jyn's eyes, that isn't protection the way going on the offense is. That is also the thesis of her speech to the Council - appeasement and hiding away from evil does not stop evil from harming innocents, these are not ways in which people can resist occupation and oppression long term. It makes sense coming from a former insurgent; to her, nothing but direct action is going to make a difference. And she would know - after Saw leaves her, she does take part in some minor actions (according to the expanded lore) but mainly she’s in hiding, looking out for herself and coping with the trauma of being abandoned by all of her parents.

So the one person who not only gets her mission off the ground, but who also vanquishes this monster who has been haunting her since her childhood is Cassian. He ends what Lyra begins.

But Jyn doesn’t end what Galen started. She continues what he started, just like Bodhi (who basically functions as Galen’s adoptive son you will not convince me otherwise). I started this essay talking about beginnings and endings in the sense of a story’s structure, but Rogue One in the larger context of Star Wars is neither a beginner nor an ending - it is just one generation (that of the prequels) passing on the torch to the next generation (the original trilogy). In politics there are no beginnings or endings, there is just (hopefully) generational progress in struggles.

The whole movie can be summed up in one scene:

But just because it can be summed up that way doesn’t mean it should be. Of course, John Knoll got the idea for the movie based on the scroll in ANH so it makes sense that Rogue One’s characters ultimately are just a footnote for the rest of the galaxy. But for us, the audience, when Luke destroys the Death Star... well, now there is even more weight to that moment. Now we understand what got sacrificed to get those plans, who died and how and why. (That doesn’t mean we need to make a movie about these guys getting butchered by Darth Vader. You don’t need to explain everything.)

Like Leia and Alderaan, this family we meet makes it even more personal. Rogue One is just as much about family as it is about standing up to oppression. It's a Star War, those are like the main tenets of any Star War. Not to quote a meme and make it serious, but maybe the real Star War is the family we found along the way.

#rogue one #meta #jyn erso #galen erso #lyra erso #cassian andor #edits #star wars #this is a perfect movie don't even @ me #flashing lights #flashing gif #like lots of violence in the gifs lmao #was this just an excuse for me to quote the novelization?#no it wasn't but... i mean #no living mothers in star wars #shocking that omera is still alive js

150 notes · View notes

hithelleth · 3 years

Text

Shadow and Bone S1

Okay, FFS, I've been trying to meta for a week but my brain has been mush from the heat and everything.

I was spoiled (did it myself, intentionally) both about the show and the books and the author's opinions and I’m not sure whether I would have liked it better if I hadn’t spoiled myself or even less. I’m leaning towards the latter.

So I've been trying to clarify my mixed feelings and I think I’ve come to the conclusion that what I liked is fandom/fanon + some elements/parts of the show. But on the whole, it was so-so.

(BTW, the books were on my TBR, but I decided I’m not going to read them. I am not here for LB's BS.)

I need to give a shout-out to thank @electricbluebutterflies, who made me ship the ship before I even started watching the show for the second time (the first was bellarke. Oh, boy, do I (or should I say we) have a TypeTM.) There were other people who ‘helped’, but you were the first I saw posting about it on my dash. ;)

(Hmm, I should probably refrain from comparing bellarke and darklina, because that will end nowhere near well. (Or maybe I will in another post if I feel particularly masochistic.))

Anyway, I was bothered by stupid last names’ endings even before watching the show, because LB apparently didn’t take two minutes to google it, or maybe she decided to turn them around for a ‘twist’. Eh.

LB’s world-building also felt cheap and lazy; she basically just copied things from RL and camouflaged them with different names (and badly at that: I mean Ketterdam is obviously Amstedam, Fjerda Finland, and by her own confession Ravka Russia ) while leaving RL attitudes/issues (anti Asian racism being in particularly blatant) intact (with added ‘unique’ feature of prejudice against Grisha, who are basically just a spin on witches, so not so unique at all.)

Also, Slavic ‘representation’ left me lukewarm.

I suppose since nowadays it is distasteful (for white American authors in particularly) to use POC such as Black, Indigenous, and Latino people and their cultures for exoticism, us Slavs are fair game. Oh, well. I guess I should be happy we are no longer portrayed only as gangsters and prostitutes.

But, like I said, the visuals were pretty.

I love Darklina, but I think there’s been better meta than I could write already written about both Darklina and the Darkling, so I’m not even gonna try (though I did unload quite a bit in back and forth messaging with @vesperass-anuna) and rather reblog some.

I also really liked Helnik, except the end. It’s perfectly reasonable that Mathias came to the conclusion that Nina played him for revenge, but I did not like his back to ‘you evil witch’ reaction. I guess it’s also reasonable, but it is not the only possible reaction for him, it is what LB chose and that (as other things) says something about her writing.

Mathias is supposedly Fjerda’s best tracker, so he shouldn’t be dumb as a doornail (though it is canon that he’s very prejudiced and apparently he doesn’t grow out of it (so far.))

The other option for the ending would be that he figures she got her vengeance over him and be like, ‘fair enough, I deserved it.’ (Because he does.) It’s been done in other shows and came across much better than the self-righteous first option. And let’s not get into that if it was two men, LB would probably go for the first option, because when a man gives his enemy a taste of his own medicine, it’s lauded, but women are for some reason supposed to be above it, to be ‘better’. Fuck that.

I really liked the crows and would love more of them (but, like I said, I’ve been spoiled about the books, apparently the crows duology also ends badly so I’ll stay away from it.) And I also low-key ship Kaz and Inej (there wasn’t enough of them to do it high-key). Well, there wasn’t enough of the crows, period. They are really intriguing characters and I hope S2 explores them more.

That’s it, I think?

I’m going to stick with fandom/fanon.

#wow i've finally managed to write it #Shadow and Bone #shadow and bone meta #my meta: shadow and bone #more like #notes to self #so i don't forget #i'm going to start reblogging pretty things #just so you're warned #;)

25 notes · View notes

kim-ruzek · 3 years

Text

The unit beyond Hank Voight: or how Intelligence should look if/when Voight is written out

Finally, part two. This was very fun to write and I'm glad I actually did it before season nine airs (I'm cutting it late I know!!!). I've had how I'd want the show to do this in my head for the longest time-- although, I'll say, I technically get to the root of this further into the meta, after the second header. So if you don't want to read it all and just my general thoughts, you can just skip on down to that! But I hope you read it all!

In this fandom, as a whole, no matter what ship or characters are our faves, we've all be debating whether or not it's right to still have Voight as the lead, or if they should write out his character.

If we break it down, take out all the nuance and the external and internal factors, I say yes. But if we don't, it's much more complicated than that.

I watch Chicago pd primarily for Burzek, that is why I decided to emotionally exhaust myself with a new show. But I liked that it was set in Chicago, and it lent into all the bad/darkness of Chicago, and not just on the streets, but the cops (even if they can and should do better there, because it's still very much on the side of bad cop propaganda).

And like it or not, Voight is a big part of that. People call him an anti hero, and by definition, he is, but I struggle to like addressing him as such. But the way that he is, his characterisation, it is woven into the very essence if the show, into the unit, into their dynamics and group chemistry.

This is why it's a complicated matter, that should Voight be written out is not a simple question with either yes or no as the answer. Or, at least, not just a yes or a no.

Taking Voight out of the unit isn't like taking out Jay or Kevin, or any of the others. The other team members are easily replaced. Of course, their specific dynamics and chemistries will never be replaced, it's a sign of a badly written character and storyline if it is. But they are, in the grand scheme of things, replaceable. It is as easy as having Jay transfer one episode and introducing a new detective the next. (The only other exception, I should mention, is Trudy. You get rid of Trudy and you'll just get a desk sargeant as a replacement, with none of that chemistry in any way).

Voight is different. He's the lead-- and leads are always harder to move out a show without it crumbling-- and he's the literal leader of the unit. Every dynamic within the show is interlinked through Voight's character even if Voight has no impact on the dynamic. And so you can't just write him out one episode and then introduce a sparkling new sargeant the next-- especially if the sargeant is a pre-existing character.

A lot of this fandom wants Voight gone asap and Jay as sargeant immediately after. That's just unrealistic and honestly it would be a bad move on the show's half to do so. In general, I don't want Jay to be sargeant. Not even for the reasons I'm about to list-- well, not just them-- but for personal ones. However, if it's in a few seasons time, I'd be more up for that, if the show gave time to improving his character-- even if I'd still grumble to myself about it!

As I said, removing Voight's character and immediately replacing it would already be a bad idea because of how much the show's dynamics are mixed up in him. Jay being the replacement would fuck this up even more, because he's already got his own dynamics with his unit.

Jay is definitely a leader type character. He was brought in to be. I could see him being a sargeant, and he's definitely the 'big brother' of the unit, even if they're all around his age. He definitely can have a clear head and is tactical and has that aura that people would be comfortable following his lead.

But he's also ignorant, impulsive and selfish. People say he'd make a good sargeant because of his morals-- but they're very much surface level morals. It's actually why I can see what drew him to joining the military, not just that want to leave, but he's clearly got a good-bad black and white line drawn in his head and this is what makes the military attractive to him.

Jay always thinks he's in the right. And technically, on the surface, he is. But he misses the nuance and he gets very caught up in his black and white view. This is what also makes him impulsive. He mentally, clearly, orders people into the good and bad categories in his mind and then he's pretty rigid in them-- jumping to conclusions.

He's got a good heart, but he doesn't take much time to stop, think and learn. Like with the racial issues prevalent and blm, he's only got a surface understanding and he does not make any effort to get a deeper one. Mainly because he doesn't realize-- because he thinks a lot of himself, in his black and white view. He is "good" and he cares that people suffer and therefore he thinks he understands.

He does not.

Say what you want about Adam-- and I'll be leaving my own personal biases out of this-- but even if you say he has a worse understanding than Jay, he's better because he makes more of an effort. He gets that he doesn't understand, and he's brash and vocal when he shouldn't be, but he also listens. And he tries to learn, he really, really does.

Jay doesn't. And Jay's also from canaryville. He went to Catholic school, Catholicism was clearly very prevalent in his life growing up. His father was an emotionally closed off man. He went to war. He's got his own biases but he's got this basic understanding and thinks that's that.

It's not. And it's barely okay with his current position in the unit, and it would be definitely not okay if he was their leader. Especially if he did what the greater part of the fandom wants, and leans on Hailey. Which let's face it, he would, because Jay doesn't think he has anything to learn and what he may think he does he thinks he can do it on his own, that he doesn't need to ask Kevin for guidance.

And yeah, Kevin is "only" an officer (and I'll get back to this point). Jay's got the higher role. But Kevin has been a black man, living in Chicago... Oh yeah, all of his life. That trumps promotions and titles, especially when Kevin has also been a cop for a lot of his adult life and has raised two kids in this racially charged city.

And then there's the fact that-- and most of this is because the show refuses to show the team bonding-- he's actually quite isolated from the team. We rarely get to see his supposed friendships with them, and this would affect how he can lead them and how they can follow. The dynamics would be off and it would be filled with conflict and, at times, be like a herd of sheep without their shepherd.

So, Ree, you ask. How should the show move on from Voight?

The show has been incredibly short sighted when it comes to Voight. He's been a problematic character from the literal start, and now we're reaching a point that a lot of the fans want him gone. And since the most vocal are the upstead and Hailey stans, I do believe the show will be thinking of ways to do this.

In my opinion, this should've been built up from season five, from when the reform storyline began. Instead, the show just shaved some aspects away from Voight's character.

He has changed a great deal, has grown a lot. I don't see what happened with Roy as a sign he can't change, because everyone's journey has back and forths. Especially when Voight likes to have control when people are hurting his family, he sees himself as their protector, but not as a bodyguard, but as an executioner.

And so I think the show will do two things to eventually write him out-- either promote him, or have him retire. But even this isn't simple and needs a lot of build up and work.

The show should've seen that Voight's days are potentially numbered and set up things so it's easy to slot his exit in place. For example, they should've kept consistent with having a captain in the precinct, even a lieutenant. This would have pre-existing roles for Voight to slot into easily, so they can still have his character around but let other characters get promotions or take on more work.

This would also help set up for retirement. Because even if he just retires as a sargeant, we already have other leader characters in the show for the others to bounce off-- instead of just introducing someone new. This would also help a sargeant Jay storyline, because then he'd have bosses to report too, making it very much seem that he is just the next link in the chain and would help balance out those dynamics.

Although, in a way, I don't blame them for not having foresight in season five. For other reasons but also-- because back then we also had Antonio and Al. We had a more layered and diverse unit. Instead, now we have the dad and the five children. Antonio would've made a good next sargeant, especially if we introduced a lieutenant role. Because I can see him aiming higher and helping to groom Jay into his replacement. Especially if Al was still around as a nice wall to bounce off, although it'd still be okay if we didn't.

Antonio would also be a good stepping stone because he had well developed relationships with every member of the unit. Well, apart from Hailey, but if they went down this route, they could've nurtured a dynamic there.

It would've also helped if they replaced their characters when they wrote them out. I get why they didn't. Al leaving made the partners even numbered, Rojas was after Antonio. And I wonder if covid affected their ability for season eight. But it's still the massive problem-- they keep trimming the fat, when it's unnecessary and not believing that maybe they should fix that.

And of course. They're all young. Even when they did bring in others, they're still young. And officers. And that would be okay, if they actually bothered promoting Kim, Kevin and Adam.

The unit's dynamics and feel is already off because of the lack of diversity in characterisation, race and age. And the show is doing nothing to fix this, and Voight should not leave until they have. Especially when against popular belief, history actually shows that Voight doesn't like blank slates, but people whose core characteristics fits what he wants his unit to be.

So: what does life after Voight look like? Well, hopefully, a more racially diverse group, with more age differences, different dynamics and friendships explored, Jay (and Hailey) being called the fuck out on their biases, more out of unit bosses dynamics to stop it being so insular and a happy ending exit for Voight. Because let's be real here-- Voight is not going to be written out by going to prison.

Even if he deserves it because one-- the unit would not survive that and they'd be repercussions for all and two-- realistically, as he was in prison once, the brass would not let this happen because how it would reflect on them.

In this day and age, they'd rather force him to retire quietly than publicly admit they got him out of prison and now is putting him back in. It may not be right, but realistically, they'd cover their ass first.

#ree has thoughts #that no one asked for #chicago pd #hank voight #jay halstead #<- bc i talk A LOT about sargeant jay

14 notes · View notes