#rich narratives...

[croszukis]

nick drives the bus

[lorephobic]

“the class commentary in saltburn was shit” WHAT CLASS COMMENTARY???? NOT EVERY MOVIE WITH RICH PEOPLE HAS TO OR SHOULD HAVE CLASS COMMENTARY. EMERALD FENNELL KNOWS VERY WELL THAT SHE IS NOT THE RIGHT DIRECTOR FOR A MOVIE ABOUT CLASS COMMENTARY WHICH IS WHY SHE DID NOT WRITE A MOVIE ABOUT CLASS COMMENTARY.

[notmoreflippingelves]

Actually going insane over the implications of Jason asking Dick to be the Robin to his Batman in Battle for the Cowl.

Like I initially took it at the purely surface-level of Jason wanting a partner in the general sense. Which made sense, it's a huge responsibility and a lonely one so an assistant/sidekick/partner seems a no-brainer if you can get one.

But then I really thought about it, because Jason is not asking Dick to be his partner in the general sense; he's not even asking Dick to be his Nightwing. He's asking Dick to be his Robin.

And they both know exactly what Jason means: "Be the light to my darkness. Be the smile to my scowl. Be the hope to my fear. "

He's saying "Be 'Robin'; be the embodiment of Love and Justice and Goodness. Be the exceptional person that you have always been. Be the slightly-less exceptional person that I was when I wore your colors. Be the person that I was in the process of becoming and might have been (or might still be), if only Joker hadn't clipped my wings."

He's saying "I am prepared to become vengeance, become the Night. And I will go further than Bruce ever dared to, because it is what is needed. I will be the necessary evil. But you don't have to be. If Batman is Gotham's curse, Robin has always been its blessing. I will be the brutal punishment to our world, and I am asking you to be its incandescent gift."

He's saying, "Be for me, what we were for Him. Be my anchor, my comfort, my hope. Remind me what it's all for, why it's all worth it. And remind yourself as well."

He's saying "Be 'Robin' again--for both of our sakes."

[lunarharp]

impromptu comic about agott and her art

[bree-paints]

This chapter was peak dynamic for them. Back when Yuji's biggest grief in life was his slime? Apparently?

[monkeeyuri]

people always forget that the point of death note is “the japanese legal system is bad and the death penalty doesnt work” and not “boy gets a notebook that he can kill people with”

[souryam]

so interesting to me that people use the prophecy and harry being born to defeat voldemort as this idea that jily was predestined to exist, as if the things that made it possible for harry to have the hability to defeat voldemort did not all came down to snape loving lily so much he risked his life to ask voldemort to spare her which made her able to sacrifice herself and in consequence gave harry the love protection necessary to defeat voldemort. there were probably dozens of men and women that defied voldemort 3 times, so many babies born at the end of July. even the potters were an arbitrary decision, as we see with the longbottoms existing. but there was only one Lily and one Severus

[bklily]

Tell me, do you actually like the idea of Adrien not being born the normal way, or are you just willing to accept it. I, personally, am not willing to accept it.

You mean the fact Adrien's a sentimonster? Cuz I was probably aboard that train the moment the first theory appeared

I love the sentimonster storyline it's one of my favorites in miraculous. It's poetically yet tragically entangled in the narrative, it had this build up over multiple seasons, it gives new context to a lot of Gabriel's actions and to top it off it's a hilarious ice breaker towards someone that hasn't seen the show

"yeah I watch miraculous ladybug it's my favorite show of all time the male lead is a chemically engineered magical baby born from a broken peacock jewel that ended up killing his mother. He dresses up as a cat"

Sorry but this is a pro sentimonster household 🦚🪶

[omegalomania]

we are such a fucking tragedy, you and i

[bluespiritshonour]

I think the real reason Zuko is my favourite is because he started out as an antagonist. And then became a protagonist.

I love the tortured character. And I love the dark and edgy aesthetic—but purely as that, an aesthetic.

The problem, however, is that that aesthetic comes with the brand of male characters that are never narratively challenged. They're the poster children of cishet men with power in real world and they're just uwu wet kittens.

I know certain parts of the fandom treat Zuko like that—but that's not what canon did. The narrative doesn't brush his wrong doings under the rug—which is where we come into the antagonist aspect. It's because he starts out as a bad guy, the narrative never has to defend him—his whole deal is that he was wrong.

I think this whole thing happens because people (writers included) confuse protagonists and heroes. Your protagonist can be a jerk, but you have to narratively hold him accountable for that. Whether you redeem him or not.

But they never do that! Because that would mean your protagonist was never a hero!

Well, you wrote him to be a jerk, of course he ain't a hero. Why are you trying to bend the narrative to accomodate him when you didn't set him up as such?

In Zuko I had all the characteristics I like in that particular genre of character, without undue apologism. He's wrong and the narrative doesn't shy away from it. Eventually he gets better.

Honestly it's refreshing...

I like that we got this character archetype, because let's be honest, Zuko is a character archetype—but we didn't have to see it through a male-gaze. I call it male-gaze because these kind of characters are always men.

[lunarharp]

shirahama-sensei reminded me she has a thing for the teacher from pokemon s/v so i randomly went off on an au where qifrey is the professor. etc

[babybells123]

There is something so beautifully anvilicious about these quotes;

" I am a bastard too now, just like him. Oh, it would be so sweet, to see him once again. But of course that could never be. Alayne Stone had no brothers, baseborn or otherwise." (AFFC, Alayne II)

"The dream was sweet . . . but Winterfell would never be his to show. It belonged to his brother, the King in the North. He was a Snow, not a Stark. Bastard, oathbreaker, and turncloak . . ." (ASOS, Jon V)

Both Jon and Sansa are yearning for Winterfell and the feelings/memories/family associated -but both are intrinsically restricting themselves based off of their bastard status. The notion of Sansa being the only Stark (and character) to transition from a high-born noble lady to a baseborn bastard cannot be overlooked. (And then of course, the notion of Jon being the only Stark (and character) to transition from baseborn bastard to lord commander, cannot be overlooked.) Jon has risen to the top whilst Sansa has lowered to the bottom.

She (GRRM) makes the comparison to Jon herself, meaning that GRRM makes the comparison himself. this isn't something interpreted by fans - it is right there, explicitly within the text.

Sansa's desire to reunite with Jon is "sweet," it'd be almost like a dream come true. Jon's "dream was sweet" as well. But "Winterfell could never be his" and seeing her brother once again "of course, could never be" (possible).

And then later on in the text, Jon is offered the chance to become Jon Stark, and have Winterfell in name. Thus his decidedly unsubtle desire (that he dismisses as an entirely impossible dream) is fulfilled by Stannis' offer, even though he eventually rejects it in truth "Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa."

There is also the quote that precedes Jon's "sweet dream," where he fantasises about a beautiful little romance with Ygritte; showing her a flower from the glass gardens, feasting her in the great hall, bathing in the hot pools, and loving beneath the heart tree. This dream is directly connected to Winterfell and is obviously sexually + romantically charged.

So whilst Jon's desire is partially fulfilled (even if he doesn't accept it) can we possibly assume that Sansa's simultaneously unsubtle "that could never be" may also be fulfilled? Since GRRM seems to really be beating us over the head with how 'that could never happen' from Sansa's internal monologue "no one will ever marry me for love" is reiterated multiple times (just you wait sweet one!) and Sansa desiring to reunite with her brother who she has modelled her bastardry after, who is supposedly the only brother left to her, is immediately dismissed by Sansa because she's accepted the fact that she'll never be with her family again, (and that she shall never encounter true love).

The connections only keep connecting!

So to summarise:

Jon & Sansa both have "sweet" dreams/desires that connect to Winterfell/family.

Jon's dream is sexually/romantically charged, involves a red-headed girl, and establishes Jon's suppressed desires as actually romantic.

Both Jon and Sansa are bastards in these contexts.

Both Jon and Sansa woefully dismiss these dreams/desires as impossible as "that could never be" and "it could never be his to show."

Jon's desire however is later offered on a silver platter by Stannis Baratheon, to which he mulls over and states that he "has always wanted it" (to be his). Though he later refuses Stannis' offer on the basis that "Winterfell belongs to Sansa" - twice over he says this.

Jon 'giving' Winterfell to Sansa is in direct contrast to Robb (Sansa's image of an honourably idealistic older brother) flat out rejecting Sansa's claim on the basis of her marriage to Tyrion.

Jon thus establishes himself as the only character who respects and protects Sansa's claim. Who does not abuse or exploit it. (Even though he was given the opportunity for it and it's been his innermost desire since childhood.)

In a way, this further conveys Jon as Sansa's unspoken, subconscious hero who is protecting her interests and instilling all those heroic ideals (such as the Janos Slynt situation) - though she does not realise it and has accepted that "there are no heroes" at all. But Jon is the true hero, hiding in plain sight.

So, whilst Sansa believes there are no heroes, Jon fulfils those ideals. Whilst Sansa believes no one will marry her for love, Jon exists as the embodiment of all the chivalric, romantic ideals that she's so desperately wanted.

Can we now assume that Sansa believing that she will essentially never see Jon again as entirely anvilicious as she will in fact see Jon again?

GEORGE I'M IN YOUR WALLS.

[sophfandoms53]

MMM ‘KAY ANYWAYS

[khattikeri]

i don't think enough people talk about how the backbone of nie huaisang's plan hinged heavily upon jin guangyao's low birth, and the jianghu's willingness to dogpile on such people.

nie huaisang is upper class. he's specifically stated in the novel as behaving more like the idle rich than like a distinguished second young master of one of the five great cultivation sects, but he's still an heir by birth. even if nie huaisang had been more openly caught, who would do anything to him?

wei wuxian notices that bicao's testimony was bought with a few shiny baubles— that nie huaisang was the one who bribed her with a nice bracelet for her testimony. he intentionally kept his own sect half dead, barely afloat for years, just to keep up the guise of an incompetent loser!

but the only actual consequence he's faced for such poor leadership that probably hurt a lot of common folks in his territory over 13 years is that people think nie huaisang is an annoying, useless crybaby. nie huaisang has a level of protection from consequences that jin guangyao had to fight much harder for (and that jin guangyao ultimately never truly got).

nie huaisang knew his own class and social position extremely well, and he knew how most people of that position behave and think. he was more than willing to use this in his revenge.

we know lan wangji is the type to use his wealth and position to do good for others. nie huaisang is the opposite— he's the type to use his wealth and position for himself and his own personal goals.

and this wasn't just something that started after his brother died! avoiding responsibilities, never carrying his sword, ignoring the fact that he wasn't honoring his sect or ancestors the way others wanted… his underground ring of selling porn as a teenager even got him out of the worst part of the wen indoctrination camps, because he bribed the wen cultivators overseeing everyone else.

my point is, nie huaisang is self-aware enough to know he doesn't really ever do the "right" thing! at no point in the story does he delude himself or others with grand ideals of how one ought to behave. he doesn't care.

unlike almost every single other upper class cultivator in the story— jiang cheng, jin zixuan, nie mingjue, lan xichen— who all think of themselves as righteous in a way, who are always able to justify their thoughts and actions, rarely if ever able to conceive of those thoughts and actions as flawed or wrong... nie huaisang KNOWS his own selfishness.

like lan wangji, nie huaisang recognizes that his class can easily be used as a shield to do whatever he wants. while lan wangji at worst uses this nifty privilege to silence people he doesn't like, refuse to explain himself in inconvenient situations, and bring wei wuxian along with him everywhere, nie huaisang uses it to shirk his duties for decades and tear jin guangyao apart in revenge.

jin guangyao being the son of a prostitute automatically amplifies bad rumors around him. bringing to light his incestuous marriage and the gruesome way he murdered his upper class father, however deserved, is obviously going to impact him in a way that someone higher class wouldn't be as hurt by. combining that with a final lie to get his sworn brother to stab him in a flash of doubt, and well...

is that good or righteous or just? no, of course not. nie huaisang doesn't spend any time pretending that his actions were conducted based on morality, or that he "had no choice".

nie huaisang just wanted to destroy jin guangyao, and damn did it feel good to finally do it.

[deimosatellite]

watching in real time as the media devotes whole sections to describing the "privileged upbringing" of the alleged suspect to try and spin it as hypocrisy. dear lord it is not just one rich person killing another rich person for no reason . do they understand how mask off this all is like YIKES like. do not fall for this shit

[mcnyoom]

Currently thinking about will going home for one (1) day and going to the next game with an icon and cross fully out. Reminds me of a guy I knew in college who busted out an icon when his parents came to help us move and then never wore it again. Fully left it in that house when we moved out.

Thinking about the bonkers parallels of Will&Mack being under the yoke of an overbearing but well-meaning parent with very specific expectations. But Will gets to be across the country from his and unlearn/derealize that at whatever pace while mack Cannot Escape. Probably can’t even articulate that he wants to.