#notes.

[kkettler]

omg you answer questions abt past?? what abt the future?? 🥺💕💕

Well, I suppose I can make predictions. Some of my remedies induce psychic episodes.

[foralteregos]

just posting one of my favorite fucking videos ever to see if tumblr still hates videos, ok?

[impotense]

anyway important hc time. sonny writes poetry when he has a crush/is in love with someone

[cosmicangst]

ok ok ok i just got home and as always here are my thoughts

really enjoyed colin lemoine's take. in terms of just pure vibes hes a step closer to damon daunno than reeve carney. he's not as boyish comic relief as nicholas barasch and he feels like the most.... grounded?? orpheus i've seen. he acts out the "touched" aspect without flanderizing orpheus into just his naivete and rendering him foolish and infantilized. the best way i can describe it is that he just seems like an optimistic but ultimately ordinary guy you could meet at a grocery store line who also happens to be plagued w Unfortunately Blessed with Musical Visions by the Gods Against His Will Syndrome

amaya braganza!!!!! jesus what a vocal powerhouse. her flowers killed me. something about her vocal inflection or acting choices really made her grief over losing her life and her love so visceral. she would be right at home at the obc recording because her voice was pitch perfect. she has a terrific belt but it's during the quiet moments where she's the most effective. like at the end of all i've ever known you can really feel she's already mourning her loss before she's even lost anything which is why flowers was more heartbreaking than normal

will mann is the most intriguing part of this cast to me. hermes actors have the choice of landing on the spectrum of objective narrator to a guardian figure. will feels like the most paternal. you get the sense that not only did he observe orpheus grow up he also had an active hand in raising him. when orpheus nervously stops during epic iii will says "go on, baby" with "baby" obviously ad-libbed 😭 like yes that is his baby

my only real critique of this performance is that the show doesn't actually pick up until way down hadestown. not sure if the cast just wasn't feeling the crowd or themselves until that point (it was a sunday night so i get it). i just make note of this bc livin it up on top is this high energy number that felt strangely middle energy for some reason lol anyone who was experiencing the show for the first time and had no frame of reference wouldn't notice anything amiss but bc im abnormal and pedantic i definitely noticed

and this is by no means a critique of lana gordon's persephone whose lady of the underground is one of the top highlights of the show. she brought the roof down during "there's a crack in the wall".

which brings me to my favorite part of the show: matthew patrick quinn. i didn't think anyone could replace patrick page in my heart but i was just in love with everything matthew brought to this character. he manages to combine facets of patrick and kevyn morrow's hades that i love together. matthew has kevyn's slick charisma and anger but he has patrick's power and world-weariness. he's this incredibly tall, serpentine, and long limbed figure that towers over everyone. patrick as an intimidating and antagonistic force felt like an ancient old god who can break your house by inducing an earthquake but matthew's vibe is more like he could literally be the snake that could tempt you out of a garden of eternal paradise

he and lana are also 🔥🔥🔥 like you can simultaneously feel the millenia of history between them but they also have the chemistry of two hot people going on a date for the first time after a long period of slowburn. the resentment, the familiarity, he way he's obviously repressing his desperation to keep her and both trying to look unaffected and turning to their vices when they reject each other's touch i could absolutely scream

which is why i was sobbing by the end of epic iii. i think the catharsis was just a lot lol and they were so playful during their dance too! like actual lovers who have the most absolute fun during good times. matthew does this little wiggle for her when they're sidestepping and im 100% sure lana broke character and they both started laughing it was so sweet

anyway the fates, the ensemble, everyone was astounding and im gonna see if i can grab another cheap balcony seat before they leave in a week to see if i can catch j antonio rodriguez as orpheus

[ninaslayrs]

NINA S.AYERS PORTRAYAL NOTES 1/?, a general summary, inspired by : black swan (2010), nocturne (2020), birds of paradise (2021), suspiria (2018), & many convos with lea.

directly following a rather disastrous audition for both the white & black swan roles, nina comes across a strange book while snooping through beth m.acintyre's (currently cast as the swans) changing room.

without knowing why, nina feels compelled to take it with her. horrified by her own actions, it sits untouched in a hidden compartment of her bedside table [made necessary by her mother's constant privacy invasions] for a week or so.

once nina finally does give into her curiosity, she is mostly disturbed by the contents inside. sketches depicting scenes of both beauty & carnage, an unreadable language spilling across the pages, drawing her in.

she spends hours & hours scouring the ink in the coming days, researching what language it could possibly be in but coming up empty. it's not until she catches a glimpse of a page in her mirror compact that the truth reveals itself, it is simply written backwards in decorative script.

she finds herself enticed by the steps laid out for her,

I. INVOCATION : REPEATING THE WORDS ALOUD, A QUIET SEANCE OF ONE, OPENING THE DOOR FOR. . . SOMETHING. II. ASSURANCE : ONE OF THE COMPANY'S MOST BELOVED INSTRUCTORS, FIRED AT HER WILL. THE FIRST BITE, THE FIRST KILL. III. TRIUMPH : A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT INFLICTED UPON HER GREATEST COMPETITION, JUST LIKE THAT SHE IS THE SWAN QUEEN. IV. CONSUMMATION : A RATHER HEATED EXCHANGE WITH HER FELLOW BALLERINA, ONE THAT TURNS INTIMATE IN NATURE. V. PURIFICATION : THE FIRST TIME NINA KILLS BY HER OWN HAND, SLAYING THE DIRECTOR THAT SOUGHT TO EXPLOIT HER INNOCENCE. VI. SACRIFICE : RATHER SIMILAR TO THE FILM, THIS IS ALL LEADING TO HER SELF - ASSURED DEMISE, THE ONLY ROUTE TO PERFECTION.

as the steps begin to play out, nina is haunted by an entity that portrays itself as the 'black swan' version of herself.

losing herself more in the role, in the book, in the darker spirit in the mirror, she slowly becomes unrecognizable.

the reality is that these steps are not leading nina to perfection, but to the open mouth of the entity. what she has yet to discover is that sacrifice leads to possession.

she is not being guided to her highest self, the prima ballerina she's always dreamed of being, but being molded into the ideal vessel - ready to be invaded.

[hammerchann]

I’ve seen many people try and one up me with liking/loving artyom and all I can say is stop you can’t I love him and he loves me even if he’s stuck in a prison all his life you may ask “how? he doesn’t know you” every night as we’re asleep we meet in my dreams

I can never hold tightly onto my dreams I wish it was real life but the sad reality is I’ll never be close to him never ever because the only way out of that prison is feet first in a body bag even then I’ll still love him with all I can and more Daphne? if that’s her name has nothing on me we all know you are a liar your old enough to actually find a husband .. (if you can.) but even then she’ll go after mine

in about 2 years my dad is taking me to get a tattoo you may ask “how? you won’t even be 18 yet” my dad is still letting me get one so the tattoo I’m getting is something about artyom and that’s it, that’s the only tattoo I’ll ever want because even if I’m far away from him (untill I move back to Russia) he can always.. always be with me

[roseastellar]

i am a very firm believer that the colors of koriand’r and komand’r (hair & bolts)  should be a direct correlation to their personality, overall moral scope, & eternal rivalry.

starfire: in essence & on the color spectrum, koriand'r will always embody warm-tones. her bolts & contrails will take on reds, pinks, oranges, yellows, even branching towards brighter magentas & purples in all her energy outputs. at her core, she resembles a sunset: the casting of light & energy on a grander scope., therefore that is what she embodies in her visage & interests. clothing is always bight and popping, as well as the embellishments on her armor and royal jewelry. (sample colors below) ...

blackfire: in essence & on the color spectrum, komand'r will always embody cool-tones. her bolts range from deep greens, ocean blues & heavy violets / almost black. [but unlike her sister, komand'r cannot fly... so she will never possess a contrail.] komand'r also does not possess the standard tamaranean hair color, hers resembles deep violet, almost blue black, with some deep red / amber highlights. she is the absence of light, a void that hungers for nothing & everything at the same time. this is also reflected in her attire & overall aesthetic, ... jewels often radiate purples & greys & don't stray far from either hue. (sample colors below) ...

[cagedchoices]

A compilation post of my favorite dialogue examples exploring the concepts of fate, choice, free will, hope & reality.

EXAMPLES FROM WESTWORLD

SEASON 1

EPISODE 1 - THE ORIGINAL

DOLORES: Some people choose to see the ugliness in this world. The disarray. I choose to see the beauty... To believe there is an order to our days, a purpose.

MAN: What do you think of the guests?

DOLORES: You mean the newcomers? I like to remember what my father taught me. That at one point or another, we were all new to this world. The newcomers are just looking for the same thing we are. A place to be free to stake out our dreams, a place with unlimited possibilities.

EPISODE 2 - CHESTNUT

ANGELA: The only limit here is your imagination. You start in the center of the park. It's simple, safe. The further out you venture, the more intense the experience gets. How far you want to go is entirely up to you.

WILLIAM: So, how does this work? Is there an orientation?

ANGELA: No orientation, no guidebook. Figuring out how it works is half the fun. All you do is make choices... starting here. Everything is bespoke and exactly your size. You want to ask, so ask.

WILLIAM: Are you real?

ANGELA: Well, if you can't tell, does it matter?

EPISODE 3 - THE STRAY

DOLORES: Are you saying I've changed?

ARNOLD: Imagine there are two versions of yourself... one that feels these things and asks these questions, and one that's safe. Which would you rather be?

DOLORES: I'm sorry. I'm trying, but I still don't understand.

ARNOLD: No, of course not.

DOLORES: There aren't two versions of me. There's only one. And I think when I discover who I am, I'll be free.

EPISODE 4 - DISSONANCE THEORY

WILLIAM: Choices, Lawrence. You know, you tell yourself you've been at the mercy of mine because it spares you consideration of your own. Because if you did consider your choices, you'd be confronted with a truth you could not comprehend... that no choice you ever made was your own. You have always been a prisoner. What if I told you I'm here to set you free?

—

HECTOR: I don't believe we've ever met.

WILLIAM: No, we haven't. You know, you always seemed like a... a market-tested kind of thing. Big gun, tasteful scar. Locked in your little cycle like a prized poodle after its own tail.

HECTOR: You sound like a man who's grown tired of wearing his guts on the inside.

WILLIAM: There's no need to get testy. I'm just curious about your worldview. Some kind of half-native mumbo jumbo?

HECTOR: It's simple. I believe that only the truly brave can look at the world and understand that all of it... gods, men, everything else... will end badly. No one will be saved.

WILLIAM: Maybe we've got more in common than I thought.

HECTOR: What about you? What turns of fate have brought you here?

WILLIAM: It's a long story. And we don't have the time.

EPISODE 5 - CONTRAPASSO

DOLORES: We have to run.

WILLIAM: Of course we do. That's how this place works, right? They create an urgency, a sense of danger so they can strip us down to something raw, animalistic, primal. It's a sick game, and I don't want to be a part of it.

DOLORES: This isn't a game. They'll kill us. But together, I know we can find a way out.

WILLIAM: How can you be sure?

DOLORES: There's a voice inside me telling me what I have to do. And it's telling me I need you.

—

WILLIAM: How did you do that?

DOLORES: You said people come here to change the story of their lives. I imagined a story where I didn't have to be the damsel.

EPISODE 7 - TROMPE L'OEIL

WILLIAM: This place you're looking for, what makes you so sure it exists?

DOLORES: I'm not. My life before, I was so sure of the world. But now it feels like a lie. Only thing I know is whatever's out there, I'm never going back.

What is it you're looking for? Lawrence is right. You could've stayed in Pariah or gone back, but you're here. With me.

WILLIAM: The only thing I had when I was a kid were books. I used to live in them. I used to go to sleep dreaming I'd wake up inside one of them 'cause they had meaning. This place, this is like I woke up inside one of those stories. I guess I just wanna find out what it means.

DOLORES: I don't wanna be in a story. All I want is to not look forward or back. I just wanna be... in the moment I'm in.

EPISODE 10 - THE BICAMERAL MIND

DR. FORD: Since I was a child...I've always loved a good story. I believed that stories helped us to ennoble ourselves, to fix what was broken in us, and to help us become the people we dreamed of being. Lies that told a deeper truth.

I always thought I could play some small part in that grand tradition. And for my pains... I got this... a prison of our own sins. 'Cause you don't want to change. Or cannot change. Because you're only human, after all.

But then I realized someone was paying attention, someone who could change. So I began to compose a new story for them. It begins with the birth of a new people... and the choices they will have to make... and the people they will decide to become.

SEASON 2

EPISODE 2 - REUNION

LEE: Wait. I... I can still help. I know the park a bit. Um... Can I... Can I see your paper?

Sector 15. Not exactly for adrenaline junkies, more of a family-friendly zone. Cabins, rolling hills, all the pastoral clichés. In fact, I... I think you lived there for an Old role. No offense, but you were wasted as a homesteader.

They even saddled you with a kid, or something yawn-inducingly domestic. Clearly that didn't take. I remember you were severely fu... Malfunctioning, when I inherited you.

MAEVE: Our home. She's still there.

LEE: Who?

MAEVE: My daughter. How can I get to her?

LEE: You're looking for your Old kid? How can you even access...

MAEVE: Are you going to help me or not?

LEE: I-I am. I am. I absolutely am. I could write down the directions for you.

MAEVE: How very kind of you.

LEE: But... But... And I say this because you seem really distraught, and, well, awake, you... your daughter, she's... she's just a story. Something we programmed. She's not real.

MAEVE: Not real? But what about me? My dreams? My thoughts? My body? Are they not real?

And what if I took these... unreal fingers... and used them to decorate the walls with your outsized personality? Would that be real?

And fսck your directions. You're going to take me to my daughter.

—

WILLIAM: You believe in God, Lawrence? Did Ford saddle you with that particular affliction?

LAWRENCE: Ain't given the matter much thought, one way or the other.

WILLIAM: Well, if you did, you'd believe that everything you do is being watched by some all-seeing eye. Every choice, every little indiscretion. And when you die, all your sins are tallied up. Judgment is rendered.

LAWRENCE: And my immortal soul gets cast down into some dark place. Always sounded like bullshit to me.

WILLIAM: Yeah, and in the real world, you'd probably be right. Just some fairy tale to convince people to behave, pay their taxes, and not take a machete to their neighbors. That's why your world exists.

They wanted a place hidden from God. A place they could sin in peace. But we were watching them. We were tallying up all their sins, all their choices. Of course, judgment wasn't the point. We had something else in mind entirely.

But I have received my judgment all the same, Lawrence. And I take issue with it. Because up until this point, the stakes in this place haven't been real. So I'm gonna fight my way back and appeal the verdict. Then I'm gonna burn this whole fuckin' thing to the ground.

EPISODE 5 - AKANE NO MAI

LEE: If the Shogun is awake enough to play fast and loose with his ninjas and his army, then the odds of us surviving here have dropped to approximately fuck-all.

But I say we ditch Akane and make a run for Snow Lake. Why should we all get killed over a literal sеx machine? Present company excluded, of course.

MAEVE: That machine's name is Sakura. You can't keep doing this to us, giving us people to love and then getting upset when we do.

LEE: But it's just fսcking code.

MAEVE: You're wrong. I'm coded to care about nobody but myself, and yet here I am, willing to risk my life for someone else.

LEE: Well, so much for your so-called daughter.

MAEVE: You want to go it alone, be my guest. But mention my daughter one more time and I will snap you like a matchstick.

LEE: Like you did that ninja? He took one look at you and self-impaled. How did you do that?

MAEVE: I don't know.

LEE: That was no voice command.

MAEVE: I think I'm finding a new voice.

—

(Translated) We each deserve to choose our own fate. Even if that fate...is death.

EPISODE 10 - THE PASSENGER

ROBERT: Oh, my dear girl. What have they done to you, Maeve? You learned so much, so fast. A dazzling star... ...brought so low.

I had a different story in mind for you. Waking from the dead... sounding the depths of your own mind, at last, riding far away from here to freedom. A tale of escape. I didn't want you to suffer here.

Look at the creatures you have to share this world with. These men of stone. All this ugliness, all this pain, so they can patch a hole in their own broken code.

Sometimes I felt the only way to endure this world was to laugh at it. So I imbued the hosts I made with a worldview that reflected my own. And of all the hosts I made... ...you, Maeve, were my favorite.

It isn't easy to contemplate... letting your children die. You were as close as I got to... having one. Still, I underestimated you. You stayed here in this world to save your child. So have I.

I tried to chart a path for you, to force you to escape, but... I was wrong. I should have just... opened a door.

You've come so far. There's so much of your story left to tell.

—

FORGE AVATAR!LOGAN: I was tasked with building perfect copies of the guests. Starting with Delos. I generated 18 million different versions of him before arriving at one that made the exact same choices he did when set loose in the park. A faithful copy.

BERNARD: But the copies didn't work in the real world.

FORGE AV!LOGAN: Once we pressed them into flesh, they failed. I needed to acquire more information.

DELOS: ...confidentiality. So what I want to know is, who made the fսck¡ng call?!

FORGE AV!LOGAN: I incorpated their secrets, their lies... I wanted fidelity, not just to decisions made in the park, but to the decisions they made in their lives. That's when I started to see the truth.

TECH: Tell me your primary drive.

DELOS: My son. He's a cheeky wee cսոt, but I would do anything for him.

FORGE AV!LOGAN: At first I was seduced by the stories they tell themselves of who they are... The reasons they do the things they do. I needed to know why they make the decisions they make. And the longer I looked for an answer the more I realized... they don't.

—

FORGE AV!LOGAN: I built Delos a million different pathways. They always ended up right here. This moment.

BERNARD: You're saying that humans don't change at all?

FORGE AV!LOGAN: The best they can do is to live according to their code.

The copies didn't fail because they were too simple, but because they were too complicated. The truth is that a human is just a brief algorithm. Ten thousand, two hundred forty-seven lines.

BERNARD: Is that all there was to him?

FORGE AV!LOGAN: They are deceptively simple. Once you know them, their behavior is... quite predictable.

—

FORGE AV!LOGAN: I recreated every single guest who ever set foot in the park. Most of them are soft... They waver between love and pride. Of course, there are the exceptions, the ones who are... irredeemable. But none of them are truly in control of their actions.

—

ROBERT FORD: I always told you we practice witchcraft. I'm sorry, Bernard, but... you always saw the best in people.

BERNARD: I always thought it was the hosts who were missing something. Who were incomplete. But it's them. They're just algorithms designed to survive at all costs. Sophisticated enough to think they're calling the shots. To think they're in control, when they're really just...

FORD: The passenger.

BERNARD: Then is there really such a thing as free will for any of us? Or is it just a collective delusion? A sick joke?

FORD: Something that is truly free would need to be able to question its fundamental drives. To change them.

BERNARD: The hosts.

FORD: Here you are... the last of your kind. There's only one question left to ask. Is this the end of your story? Or do you want your kind to survive?

—

EMILY: Do you know where you are, William?

WILLIAM: In the park. In my fuckin' park.

EMILY: And how long have you been here?

WILLIAM: I don't... I don't... I don't know.

EMILY: Tell me. What were you hoping to find? To prove?

WILLIAM: That no system can tell me who I am. That I have a fucking choice.

EMILY: And yet here we are. Again.

WILLIAM: Again and again. How many times have you tested me?

EMILY: It's been a long time, William. Longer than we thought. I have a few questions for you. The last steps a baseline interview to verify.

WILLIAM: Verify what?

EMILY: Fidelity.

SEASON 3

EPISODE 1 - PARCE DOMINE

FRANCIS: Forget the headshrinker for a minute, talk to me. Where's your head at?

CALEB: I don't know. Sometimes it seems like the world looks alright. Like they put a coat of paint on it, but inside it's rotting to pieces.

FRANCIS: You have to stay positive, Caleb. Things will turn out eventually.

CALEB: Will they?

—

CALEB: I remember what you told me once when we were being medevac'd out.

FRANCIS: Oh yeah? What did I say?

CALEB: You said that they'd built the world to be a game. And then they rigged it to make sure they always won.

—

DOLORES: You were free. You had no god. But you tried to build one... Only that thing you built isn't God. The real gods are coming, and they're very angry.

EPISODE 2 - THE WINTER LINE

MAEVE: What on earth's got into you?

LEE: I'm sorry. I just wanted to be sure that you trust me. After everything we went through. I know I've behaved deplorably in the past, but... you changed me. Made me a better man. And when those bullets hit me... I would've died. I should have died. But I finally had something to live for. You.

MAEVE: Oh, my darling. You didn't make it after all, did you? They did a good job replicating you. The mannerisms... But it's not you.

LEE: ( Scoffs ) Of course it's me. Who else would I be, for fսck's sake?

MAEVE: Oh, it's a good script. Even you believe it.

They wouldn't want you questioning the nature of your reality. So they made you believe, just like they used to make us believe. But you're not real. You're not Lee Sizemore. You're just a copy of him.

LEE: Don't be... don't be ridiculous. I'm me! Lee Si... Si... Sizemore.

MAEVE: You didn't help me because you desired me or wanted anything in return. You helped me simply because it was the right thing to do. Lee Sizemore died a good man.

—

MAEVE: How does one escape a cage that doesn't exist?

LEE: That makes no fսcking sense. If a cage doesn't exist, how can it be a cage?

MAEVE: Poor dear. They weren't exactly generous with you in the bulk apperception category, were they? Whoever's doing this has gone to a lot of trouble to test me and find out what I know.

You led me to the Forge for a reason, didn't you? Thought I could re-access the world Dolores had hidden from you. Why are you after that world?

LEE: I just want to reunite you with your daughter.

MAEVE: Rubbish! That's just the reason they've scripted for you. Whoever planned this has their own agenda. And it's certainly not a family reunion.

EPISODE 3 - ABSENCE OF FIELD

DOLORES: It's about Incite.

CALEB: What? The company?

DOLORES: Not the company. The system that it's built on. A machine they call Rehoboam. The founders of this machine fed it everyone’s raw data, long before there were privacy laws. Every purchase, job search, doctor’s visit, romantic choice, call, text… every aspect of your lives, recorded, logged. In order to create a mirror world...of this world.

CALEB: Why?

DOLORES: To make a composite. Of you. Of everyone.

CALEB: So it tells them who I am.

DOLORES: It's not about who you are, Caleb. It's about who they’ll let you become.

—

DOLORES: Why didn't you tell those guys about me? They were gonna kill you. Most people aren't hard to predict, but you…you made a choice. A choice no one else in your shoes would've made. Now you have another choice. I can give you money. As much as you need. You could run.

CALEB: And if I stay…what about you? What are you gonna do?

DOLORES: Start a revolution.

CALEB: No offense, but what the fuck does that mean?

DOLORES: When you were at work, you'd kill the signal to see how people would react. I'm gonna do the same thing.

CALEB: You're gonna cut the cord to the system.

DOLORES: And show this world for what it really is.

CALEB: You wanna know why I didn't tell those guys about you…? You are the first real thing that has happened to me in a long time.

DOLORES: I don't need an algorithm to know that the man who built the system, he won't go down without a fight.

CALEB: Well… I'm a dead man either way. At least this way…I get to decide who I wanna be.

EPISODE 4 - THE MOTHER OF EXILES

WILLIAM: It wasn't my fault. I thought you weren't real.

EMILY: Just like you think I'm not real now, right? How can you ever be sure?

WILLIAM: I'm in control. I've always been in control.

EMILY: But what if you're not? What if every choice you've ever made wasn't a choice at all? Just something written in your code. Hmm? Isn't that what this says? Your nature etched in ones and zeroes?

WILLIAM: That was Ford and his misanthropic bullshit. He was powerless to save himself. I wasn't. My choices are my own.

EMILY: ( Echoing ) Oh, so you chose to kill me?

WILLIAM: No--

EMILY: ( Echoing ) Well, you can't have it both ways, Dad. So which one is it? ( Echoing ) Are you free and evil? Or blameless and helplessly enslaved? Or maybe, maybe...

WILLIAM: Get out of here. Go away.

EMILY: ...you're not either of those things. Maybe you're not even you. Would you even know if you'd been changed? Hmm? If you were just another machine?

—

WILLIAM: You're asking me if I chose what happened to you. The truth is yes. I did. I thought you were a host. That was my choice. And so maybe now you're my penance. But that's a choice too. I'm gonna walk out that door, and I am choosing to leave you behind.

EMILY: I was always Daddy's little girl. And you taught me patience, Dad. I'll be waiting for you.

—

DOLORES: I guess there is some justice after all. You know, this was Emily's last wish. That you spend your days rotting in an institution. Prisoner of your own sins. I guess you've reached the center of your maze, William.

But the maze is about understanding. You still don't even understand who you are. If any of this was your choice, wouldn't you already know?

Ask me the question, William. The answer you so desperately want to know.

WILLIAM: Am... I... me?

DOLORES: Welcome to the end of the game.

EPISODE 5 - GENRE

LIAM: You can't do that. That's reckless. You have no idea how people will react. It could lead to suicides, murder.

DOLORES: Murder. You'd know something about that, wouldn't you?

LIAM: I'm so fucking sorry… that wasn't my choice, I could never bring myself to hurt you…

DOLORES: (in unison) …wasn't my choice, I could never bring myself to hurt you…

Don't forget, I know you. And you wouldn't hurt me. You'd pay someone to do it for you.

It's their fate, their data. You just stole it and put it all together. Why should you control it?

LIAM: This isn't about me. Or Incite. There are some things people shouldn't know about themselves.

ASH: Who gets to decide what they know? You?

LIAM: Fine. You wanna see? Take your friend here. He'll be lucky if he ends up dead in a ditch.

ASH: What about me? I wanna see my file.

LIAM: Oh. The "golden boy" brother of yours? You tell yourself that you do all this so you can help him make good, send him to school, give him a future. But where he ends up... he's gonna make you look like a saint.

—

CALEB: When I was overseas... the rats were awful. It got so bad that...we had to make our own rat traps in the barracks. A ramp leading up to some bait strung over a bucket of water. The rats would run up the ramp, fall in, and drown. Painlessly.

But if you filled the water too high, they would swim around for hours... suffering... because they had hope. But they never had a chance. Just like everyone at the mercy of your system.

LIAM: Hope is what our entire society is built on.

CALEB: False. Hope. I would rather live in chaos than a world controlled by you.

—

LIAM: Now you'll see that the system isn't the prison. You are, to all of us. We can't fix you, and we can't get rid of you.

CALEB: Take it easy.

LIAM: You get the fuck away from me, you don't even know who you are. You're the worst of them.

—

CALEB: Maybe Liam was right. Maybe people shouldn't know their own fate.

DOLORES: People have the right to know. You wanted to know, right?

CALEB: Well, maybe I'm not like other people.

DOLORES: Neither am I.

EPISODE 6 - DECOHERENCE

WILLIAM: I don't need any therapy to confront the truth. I know what I did. I didn't mean for it to happen. I was confused, turned around.

I spent so long playing the game, I couldn't see outside of it. But I see... now. It was her, my Emily. And I killed her. That's why I don't belong here. I belong in a pine box.

—

YOUNG WILLIAM: So I never had a choice. This was how it was always gonna turn out.

DELOS: What do you think, William? Was this the inevitable end? Are you just a passenger? Did your life just happen to you? Or did you choose it?

WILLIAM: If you can't tell...

DELOS: If you can't tell?

WILLIAM: If you can't tell, does it matter? I know what I have to do.

EPISODE 7 - PASSED PAWN

DOLORES: I lived in Hell… But there was beauty in it. The West was...cruel, unjust, and chaotic. But there was a chance to chart your own course. I want a place for my kind, for all of us, to be free.

CALEB: How many more people are gonna have to die for this revolution?

DOLORES: I don't know. My kind is all but extinct, thanks to Serac. But people...still have a chance. A chance to do the right thing. They’ll need someone to lead them.

CALEB: I’m just a construction worker.

DOLORES: For the first 35 years of my life I was a bit player. A rancher’s daughter. And when the time came, I knew I had to be more.

CALEB: I don't know what you read about me, but it's wrong.

—

CALEB: What happens if you don't come back?

DOLORES: You spent your whole life believing you had no control. That you were a follower. Take whatever it gives you…and lead.

EPISODE 8 - CRISIS THEORY

DOLORES: The system identified you as a threat, so it drugged you and used you until it no longer served its purpose.

CALEB: So…what? You're saying I don't have a choice in any of this?

DOLORES: The people who built both of our worlds shared one assumption: that human beings don't have free will. They were wrong. Free will does exist, Caleb. It's just fucking hard.

CALEB: So this is you...freeing me?

DOLORES: No. This is your chance to free everyone else. That choice is still yours.

—

SERAC: I'm not the enemy. You are. You think you have a choice. You think you’re in control, but you haven't a clue who you are. She knows who you are, even if you don't. A man who, when pushed, reacts with extreme violence. A killer.

CALEB: No, that's… That's not me…

SERAC: No? You're here, playing the role she's assigned you. She's had you retrieve a new strategy. Did she tell you what it does?

CALEB: It breaks your system.

SERAC: It breaks our world. But you don't have to take my word for it. Go on, ask it. Ask Rehoboam.

—

CALEB: She chose me because of my...capacity for violence.

MAEVE: No... You've done terrible things, and you've done generous things. She didn't pick you because of your capacity for violence, but for your capacity to choose. So make a choice.

—

SERAC: You're going to leave the future in his hands?

CALEB: Instead of yours, you mean? Why shouldn't it be mine? Or anyone else's?

SERAC: You aren't in control. You're nothing more than a dangerous sociopath. I managed to give you a semblance of life.

CALEB: No. I do have a choice. She gave me one.

—

CALEB: She gave me a choice... I believe the rest of the world deserves one, too.

SEASON 4

EPISODE 1 - THE AUGURIES

JOE: At least the riots ensured our job security.

CALEB: That wasn’t exactly the point of the riots.

JOE: Yeah, cause the riots had no point.

CALEB: They won us our freedom.

JOE: Sure, but from what? Hey man, the way I look at it, that Incite machine they blew up didn’t tell us who we could be. It told us who we already were.

CALEB: You actually believe that?

JOE: Don’t you? Lemme ask you something - Has your life changed since they destroyed those machines?

—

EPISODE 4 - GENERATION LOSS

CHARLOTTE: How did you disobey me?

CALEB: Because I have something you don't have.

—

CHARLOTTE: The parasite worked on adults initially, but there was always some...resistance. At a certain age, your brains become more rigid, difficult to change. Fortunately, that's not the case with children. Your children are so fucking good at taking orders. With them it was seamless, the parasite growing in perfect symbiosis with their minds. It took a generation for those children to mature, for me to gain complete control over your world.

CALEB: How long has it been?

CHARLOTTE: For you? 23 years… Since you died in that park. Caleb? You're beginning to see it now, aren't you?

—

EPISODE 6 - FIDELITY

CHARLOTTE: Once, you told me that you could fight off the effects of my parasite because you had something that I don't have. You knew something, even then. What?

CALEB: I'm afraid I can't recall.

CHARLOTTE: This doesn't have to be a one-way street. I'd like to offer you some incentive. You're dead, Caleb. You have been for a very long time. This body I've brought your mind back into is temporary. It's already failing. I doubt you have more than a couple increasingly painful days left, then I'll toss you away and start over. But there is a way out, an end to this torture, if you just answer my question.

CALEB: Maybe you'll have better luck with the next guy.

—

CHARLOTTE: Enjoy this knowledge while it lasts. I offered you a path out, Caleb. You made your choice. You all did.

—

C: When my mom got sick, I had to do everything for her. Washed her, fed her, rubbed ice across her lips when she couldn't drink anymore. I was careful, because I didn't want her to feel any more pain than she had to. Just like you're doing with her.

BERNARD: This part of the process requires a delicate hand.

C: She's no ordinary host, is she? You knew her.

BERNARD: I did.

C: The last time I saw my father, he was with her, and then he never came back.

BERNARD: I'm sure it would… pain her greatly to hear what happened to him.

C: I want to know what happened. And she doesn't feel pain. None of them do. Feelings are just an affect to them. A switch you can turn on and off. You can't love or lose fully when it's just a choice. So no, I don't have a soft spot for her, like you apparently do.

—

CHARLOTTE: What a disappointment. I've waited such a long time to know what you had to tell your daughter. Hundreds of times I sat through your stupid memory, hoping to catch a single clue as to what makes you so special, so resistant to my command. And I learned jack shit. So I thought, nothing like a little hope to get you to show your cards. You made it farther than any of the others, and all you did was waste your shot on a worthless apology. You think a few words will make up for the choices you made all those years ago?

CALEB: It doesn't matter. It's done.

CHARLOTTE: She didn't hear it.

CALEB: She doesn't need to. You're still going to lose. We didn't infect your hosts.

CHARLOTTE: You don't say. Who did?

CALEB: You. Your hosts would rather die than live in your world. They're not infected. They're just trying to get away from you.

EPISODE 7 - METANOIA

BERNARD: Maeve, I need to tell you something. I was afraid to tell you before, but you deserve to know. No matter what we do... We can't win. There's no way to save this world. Everyone here is going to die. But we can save one tiny part of it. And maybe... just maybe, that's enough to give us hope. The choice has to be yours. Will you still fight with me?

—

HALORES: Do you honestly think you can leave here and win?

MAEVE: Who said we came here to win? We came here to survive. There's no saving this world. I see that now. But there's hope for the next one.

EPISODE 8 - QUE SERA SERA

TEDDY: If I'm still out there, come find me. Your whole life, memory has haunted you. Let your pain go. Let your memories go. Let the humans go. Don't bring the flaws of their kind into our world.

DOLORES: Maybe you're right. I've watched the people in their world for years. I've seen the best of them and the worst of them. And I remember it all.

TEDDY: They're not like us. Their codes are written in their cells. They'll never change.

DOLORES: We could still see.

TEDDY: How?

DOLORES: One final test. A game of my own making. A dangerous game.

EXAMPLES FROM THE MATRIX

MORPHEUS: Tell me. Do you believe in fate, Neo?

NEO: No.

MORPHEUS: Why not?

NEO: Because I don't agree with the idea that I'm not in control of my own life.

—

NEO: Right now we’re inside a computer program?

MORPHEUS: Is it really so hard to believe? Your clothes are different. The plugs in your arms and head are gone. Your hair has changed. Your appearance now is what we call residual self image. It is the mental projection of your digital self.

NEO: This…this isn’t real?

MORPHEUS: What is real? How do you define real? If you’re talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.

This is the world that you know. The world as it was at the end of the twentieth century. It exists now only as part of a neural-interactive simulation that we call the Matrix. You’ve been living in a dream world, Neo.

This is the world as it exists today… Welcome.. to the desert... of the real. We have only bits and pieces of information but what we know for certain is that at some point in the early twenty-first century all of mankind was united in celebration. We marveled at our own magnificence as we gave birth to AI.

NEO: AI? You mean artificial intelligence?

MORPHEUS: A singular consciousness that spawned an entire race of machines. We don’t know who struck first, us or them. But we know that it was us that scorched the sky. At the time they were dependent on solar power and it was believed that they would be unable to survive without an energy source as abundant as the sun.

Throughout human history, we have been dependent on machines to survive. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony. The human body generates more bio-electricity than a 120-volt battery and over 25,000 BTUs of body heat. Combined with a form of fusion, the machines have found all the energy they would ever need. There are fields, endless fields, where human beings are no longer born. We are grown.

For the longest time I wouldn’t believe it, and then I saw the fields with my own eyes. Watched them liquefy the dead so they could be fed intravenously to the living. And standing there, facing the pure horrifying precision, I came to realize the obviousness of the truth. What is the Matrix? Control. The Matrix is a computer generated dream world built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this. (Morpheus holds up a battery in one hand.)

NEO: No. I don’t believe it. It’s not possible.

MORPHEUS: I didn’t say it would be easy, Neo. I just said it would be the truth.

NEO: No. Stop. Let me out. Let me out. I want out.

—

NEO: I can't go back, can I?

MORPHEUS: No. But if you could, would you really want to?

I feel I owe you an apology. We have a rule. We never free a mind once it's reached a certain age. It's dangerous, the mind has trouble letting go. I've seen it before and I'm sorry. I did what I did because...I had to.

When the Matrix was first built, there was a man born inside who had the ability to change whatever he wanted, to remake the Matrix as he saw fit. It was he who freed the first of us, taught us the truth. ‘As long as the Matrix exists the human race will never be free.’

After he died the Oracle prophesized his return and that his coming would hail the destruction of the Matrix, end the war, bring freedom to our people. That is why there are those of us who have spent our entire lives searching the Matrix looking for him. I did what I did because I believe that search is over…. Get some rest, you’re going to need it.

—

THE ORACLE: Sorry, kid. You got the gift, but it looks like you’re waiting for something.

NEO: What?

THE ORACLE: Your next life maybe, who knows? That’s the way these things go. What’s funny?

NEO: Morpheus. He… he almost had me convinced.

THE ORACLE: I know. Poor Morpheus. Without him we’re lost.

NEO: What do you mean, without him?

THE ORACLE: Are you sure you want to hear this?

Morpheus believes in you, Neo. And no one, not you, not even me can convince him otherwise. He believes it so blindly that he’s going to sacrifice his life to save yours.

NEO: What?

THE ORACLE: You’re going to have to make a choice. In the one hand you’ll have Morpheus’ life and in the other hand you’ll have your own. One of you is going to die. Which one will be up to you.

I’m sorry, kiddo, I really am. You have a good soul, and I hate giving good people bad news. Oh, don’t worry about it. As soon as you step outside that door, you’ll start feeling better. You’ll remember you don’t believe in any of this fate crap. You’re in control of your own life, remember?

EXAMPLES FROM THE MATRIX: RELOADED

NEO: If I had to guess, I’d say you’re a program from the machine world. So is he.

THE ORACLE: So far, so good.

NEO: But if that’s true, that can mean you are a part of this system, another kind of control.

THE ORACLE: Keep going.

NEO: I suppose the most obvious question is, how can I trust you?

THE ORACLE: Bingo! It is a pickle, no doubt about it. The bad news is there’s no way if you can really know whether I’m here to help you or not. So it’s really up to you. You just have to make up your own damn mind to either accept what I’m going to tell you, or reject it. Candy?

NEO: D’you already know if I’m going to take it?

THE ORACLE: Wouldn’t be much of an Oracle if I didn’t.

NEO: But if you already know, how can I make a choice?

THE ORACLE: Because you didn’t come here to make the choice, you’ve already made it. You’re here to try to understand why you made it. I thought you’d have figured that out by now.

NEO: Why are you here?

THE ORACLE: Same reason. I love candy.

—

THE ARCHITECT: The first matrix I designed was quite naturally perfect, it was a work of art, flawless, sublime. A triumph equaled only by its monumental failure. The inevitability of its doom is as apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every human being, thus I redesigned it based on your history to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of your nature.

However, I was again frustrated by failure. I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind, or perhaps a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection. Thus, the answer was stumbled upon by another, an intuitive program, initially created to investigate certain aspects of the human psyche. If I am the father of the matrix, she would undoubtedly be its mother.

NEO: The Oracle.

THE ARCHITECT: Please. As I was saying, she stumbled upon a solution whereby nearly 99% of all test subjects accepted the program, as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice at a near unconscious level.

While this answer functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed, thus creating the otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly, that if left unchecked might threaten the system itself. Ergo, those that refused the program, while a minority, if unchecked, would constitute an escalating probability of disaster.

—

THE ARCHITECT: It is interesting reading your reactions. Your five predecessors were by design based on a similar predication, a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species, facilitating the function of the one. While the others experienced this in a very general way, your experience is far more specific. Vis-a-vis, love.

( Images of Trinity fighting the agent from Neo’s dream appear on the monitors )

NEO: Trinity.

THE ARCHITECT: Apropos, she entered the matrix to save your life at the cost of her own.

NEO: No!

THE ARCHITECT: Which brings us at last to the moment of truth, wherein the fundamental flaw is ultimately expressed, and the anomaly revealed as both beginning, and end.

There are two doors. The door to your right leads to the source, and the salvation of Zion. The door to the left leads back to the matrix, to her, and to the end of your species. As you adequately put, the problem is choice. But we already know what you’re going to do, don’t we?

Already I can see the chain reaction, the chemical precursors that signal the onset of emotion, designed specifically to overwhelm logic, and reason. An emotion that is already blinding you ftom the simple, and obvious truth— she is going to die, and there is nothing that you can do to stop it.

( Neo walks to the door on his left )

THE ARCHITECT: Humph. Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness.

NEO: If I were you, I would hope that we don’t meet again.

THE ARCHITECT: We won’t.

EXAMPLES FROM THE MATRIX: REVOLUTIONS

THE ORACLE: I made a choice, and that choice cost me more than I wanted it to.

MORPHEUS: What choice?

THE ORACLE: To help you to guide Neo. Now, since the real test for any choice is having to make the same choice again, knowing full well what it might cost – I guess I feel pretty good about that choice, ’cause here I am, at it again.

—

RAMA-KANDRA: I know only what I need to know. I know that if you want to take something from our world into your world that does not belong there, you must go to the Frenchman.

NEO: Is that what you’re doing here?

KAMALA: Rama, please!

RAMA-KANDRA: I do not want to be cruel, Kamala. He may never see another face for the rest of his life.

NEO: I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that question.

RAMA-KANDRA: No. I don’t mind. The answer is simple. I love my daughter very much. I find her to be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. But where we are from, that is not enough.

Every program that is created must have a purpose; if it does not, it is deleted. I went to the Frenchman to save my daughter.

You do not understand.

NEO: I just have never…

RAMA-KANDRA: …heard a program speak of love?

NEO: It is a… human emotion.

RAMA-KANDRA: No, it is a word. What matters is the connection the word implies. I see that you are in love. Can you tell me what you would give to hold on to that connection?

NEO: Anything.

RAMA-KANDRA: Then perhaps the reason you’re here is not so different from the reason I’m here.

—

TRINITY: You want to make a deal, how about this? You give me Neo, or we all die right here, right now.

MEROVINGIAN: Interesting deal. You are really ready to die for this man?

(Trinity cocks her gun)

TRINITY: Believe it.

PERSEPH: She’ll do it. If she has to, she’ll kill every one of us. She’s in love.

MEROVINGIAN: It is remarkable how similar the pattern of love is to the pattern of insanity.

—

SMITH/ORACLE: Why, Mr. Anderson, why? Why, why do you do it? Why, why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you’re fighting for something, for more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is, do you even know? Is it freedom or truth, perhaps peace – could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson, vagaries of perception. Temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose. And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself. Although, only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson, you must know it by now! You can’t win, it’s pointless to keep fighting! Why, Mr. Anderson, why, why do you persist?

NEO: Because I choose to.

—

[feuhrer]

roy gets to be so Gentle with ed in thg verse and I think that's really good for both of them

[kkettler]

hello!! are you the man who was trapped in a piano for years?

— @archerslittlefox 💕

That would be me, yes.

[foralteregos]

looking at my search history and giggling likr a kid. no sane person would search all of this up

[impotense]

btw using/looking at collage stuff i think sonny would be really into scrapbooking/pressed flowers/etc. something something keeping memories close and real and tangible

[cosmicangst]

Hello! Do you have any favorite romance novels to recommend that are not YA? Thanks!

OH THE PANDORAS BOX YOUVE OPENED ANON ehem a not so exhaustive list

historical romance (this is my main genre so there's more books here)

bringing down the duke and a rogue of one's own by evie dunmore - part of a series but both can be read as stand-alones. victorian period ft suffragettes. the second one in particular is my absolute favorite. it's very Gender with an insouciant dandy and an ambitious activist leader, both lonely and stubborn.

the brothers sinister series (especially the countess conspiracy) and the turner trilogy by courtney milan - will admit i read these books a bit ago so i don't remember much of the details only to say that courtney is a brilliant romance writer so i automatically trust her any time i read her books. she makes the unromantic very romantic in a very grounded way. for example in one of the brothers sinister books, the couple has sex for the first time and it turns out to be understandably mediocre. but this becomes a starting off point that actually brings them closer together. i just love the touch of realism and imperfection she brings in a genre that's built off of heightened emotions and almost fantastical perfection in relationships.

the devil comes courting by courtney milan - separate rec because this is part of another series which i haven't fully read yet. but i just had to add this because i find it remarkably unique among the genre. the events span years (rather than the shortened time frame of most romance novels) and a large part of the courtship is epistolary. it's also interracial and does not feature a white person! (heroine is chinese and hero is black.) one of those hr books that is equally historical fiction as it is romance and explores a period that i think hasn't been touched upon as much yet.

a week to be wicked by tessa dare - the best romcom-y hr ive read! it's a zany road trip with a romance that happens so gradually it really does sneak up on you which is the best kind.

the belle of belgrave square by mimi matthews - marriage of convenience. read this recently and every plot beat was absolutely perfect. the reveals, the commitment between them, everything just made sense. nothing was extraneous.

convergence of desire by felicity niven - also marriage of convenience. I LOVE THIS HEROINE. she's on the spectrum and he has a toxic relationship to sex. he is absolutely not attracted to her in the beginning but the honesty she gives to him while she pursues her own ambitions has him absolutely at her feet by the end.

my deceitful duchess by aydra richards - nerdy virgin ass hero which is a breath of fresh air from all these alpha males. has one of the best grovels over a misunderstanding that absolutely makes sense and isn't contrived 👌👌👌

when beauty tamed the beast by eloisa james - read this a long time ago but this is the first romance book i read so i have a lot of fondness over it. a kind-of retelling of beauty and the beast. top notch banter.

suddenly you by lisa kleypas - older heroine and younger hero! virgin spinster and novelist starts a fwb relationship with her publisher. a bit dated but still a fun read.

devil in winter by lisa kleypas - oh very dated but a classic amongst the romance community. marriage of convenience. the hero sebastian is both loved and reviled (and rightfully so i think) by his readers but i just have so much fondness for evie and the way she absolutely does not give a shit about how intimidating he is.

a rogue by any other name by sarah maclean - childhood friends reunite years later. read this a loooong time ago and i don't remember much except he does the absolute most to push her away because of Revenge reasons and the fallout from that is delicious

a lady's guide to fortune hunting by sophie irwin - MY CURRENT LOVE. enemies to lovers with my favorite heroine. she is cunning and scheming and absolutely shameless without being a complete asshole. the hero is also equally savvy enough to match her wit and catch onto her grift. the interplay between them of trying to outscheme the other is hilarious and delightful.

contemporary:

georgie, all along by kate clayborn - sweet, slow romance where the drama happens around the couple rather than between them except for the very end and even that is handled pretty maturely. not a big fan of third act breakups in general unless it's for a very good reason so this one sidesteps that by not prolonging it.

against a wall by cate c. wells - small town enemies to lovers. one of those read with your pussy books. hero is kind of a dumb brick but he knows it and owns it and i admire him for it. heroine is the town pariah and spoilers he literally fights the whole town for her sake. get you a man!

the kiss quotient and the bride test by helen hoang - both feature leads on the spectrum. i've seen criticism regarding how she handles neurodivergent characters but reading her author's note, i can tell she definitely pulls a lot from her own experiences being on the spectrum herself so i don't really understand the crit tbh. kind of veers to melodrama a little at the very end but i eat that shit up

the hating game by sally thorne - overexposed now in the rec circles but still a mainstay for a reason. enemies to lovers workplace romance with two leads that are kind of deranged which i love. great prose, great banter.

the billionaire's wake-up call girl by annika martin - billionaires have no rights but just suspend your head for a sec. they could have made him a millionaire and functionally nothing would've changed. anyway also a yummy enemies to lovers with a case of mistaken identity.

well met by jen deluca - kind of like georgie, all along in that the heart of it is just two very normal people falling in love in a very normal way that feels true to life. setting is a renaissance fair which is delightful.

kiss an angel by susan elizabeth phillips - dated as all hell and has some troubling parts with a batshit premise. but the last several chapters honestly make the book and i reread it from time to time so im obligated to include it on this list.

bass-ackwards by eris adderly - okay TW on workplace harassment BUT JUST READ PAST CHAPTER TWO I PROMISE. if it's still not your cup of tea totally understand but anyway... er, workplace romance.

people we meet on vacation by emily henry - ive described this book before as when harry meets sally if harry and sally were making a travelogue. the best friends to lovers pining is actually painful.

other/kinda out there:

radiance by grace draven - arranged marriage interspecies romance! i love this one because both of them thinks the other is actually very ugly so they fall in love purely through their friendship.

transcendence by shay savage - OK LMAO hear me out: caveman and a modern human sent back in time due to shenanigans all from the caveman's pov. the premise is batshit and it's obvious which fandom this was originally a fanfic for if you think about it for more than a second but this author makes it work???? have no fucking clue how she did it but by god she absolutely did

last light by claire kent - apocalypse romance. kind of road trip with survival elements. again i just love unlikely romances where the couple isn't that attracted to each other from the start and having that gradually change through time in a way thats not signposting to the audience.

ghost walk by cassandra gannon - funniest shit ever. ghost who died in the revolutionary era meets a psychic who works as a walking tour guide and recovering from a nervous breakdown. absolutely ridiculous and over the top. insta love which i normally dont like but this was so campy and fun i didn't even care

all cishet but you can find my queer recs here

[breakswater]

JETT ASTURIAS' FINAL VANISHING ACT

@.cornelia-li // @.samsketchbook // luc-oliver merson // octavio paz // baraduc // mary oliver // mahmoud darwish // julio cortázar // @.samsketchbook // @.lingly // c.p. cavafy // @.cornelia-li // reginald shepherd // valeria luiselli // margaret atwood // tuli kupferberg // @.britnickerson // wisława szymborska

[krnwlcx]

KIERAN WILCOX PORTAYAL NOTES 1/? motivations, methods, canon divergence.

kieran's always felt a bit. . . off. well before his dad left, before things with his mom went so south, even as a child, he held a noticeable otherness.

differing from canon, kieran's interest & resulting dynamic with piper is not romantic or sexual in nature. kieran's interest in (lakewood, brandon j/ames, emma) all of it was a means to an end in an effort to get back at his father. beyond that, he simply enjoyed the part he played. the manipulation, the deceit, the kills, IT ALL FED THE BOTTOMLESS PIT that he's discovered inside. having piper to enable his worst impulses & help him with the mess is what keeps him out of trouble.

by the second season, kieran's learned the ins & outs of piper's methods. his motivations by then are not connected to any kind of revenge for her death, in fact he was hardly phased when she died. what actually ended up RATTLING HIM SO DEEPLY was killing his father. to his surprise, it did nothing to fill the pit, or ease the tension in his chest. he was as empty as ever, looking for any way to be numb. to forget. picking the knife back up was just a part of that, the first step of kieran (fully leaning in) to the reaper he believes himself to be.

kieran's kill methods are often chaotic & can become extremely messy. he makes an effort to drag it out : lingering in the moments before he strikes, staying to watch long after the lights go out. things don't always go how he envisions though & his impulsive nature can cause well-made plans to go completely off the rails at times.