#soooo yah

[fatcatlittlebox]

Yay!! It’s more meta time! I had previously wrote short metas about the bond between Sauron and Galadriel and the creation of mithril as a corresponding metaphor. And interestingly enough, the showrunners JDP and McKay were proud to highlight it in their interviews. And the reason I want to bring this up is because if the writers are so keen to highlight it, it’s not just because they are proud of its cleverness. It’s because it reveals something about the characters’ psyche and portends what will play out in their future.

Let’s start with Galadriel and Sauron’s joining when she first made the proposal. I think the minute she uttered those words, “Bind yourself to me”, it was as if she primed the cosmic milieu that would spark the alchemy of their connection. She was the missing piece, Valinor’s purest silver and gold. And the actions and accidents that happened during the events on the Sundering Sea were the other necessary ingredients of that merging. And I agree with Morfydd that most of it was by chance. But not all of it.

Choices were made. Galadriel extending her hand in compassion and trust to someone who had (in her mind) already proven less than worthy. Halbrand/Sauron forgoing self-preservation to save his great adversary. These were offerings made and placed in the crucible — true creation requires sacrifice. The storm is the force that coaxes these two hostile entities, these elements together. The lightning signifies the serendipity and rarity of their pairing. The whole scene is one of electric chaos.

But that element of chance is an absolutely critical ingredient. Galadriel is a being used to wielding strength and power and is suddenly rendered the opposite. Sauron is a creature of order and control and, at that moment, has none. These circumstances of nature or divine providence had stripped them bare and it was only in this state would these two immortals be drawn to each other. Note that many of the shots in this scene emphasize how these two Middle Earth juggernauts are so small compared to the wide sea. And the shots include birdseye views of them from seemingly 10000 feet above, suggesting that others’ eyes are watching. Are they watching their handiwork? Is it a test? Or are they watching with bated breath the union they didn’t predict.

As I have said before, their joining was a confluence of unexpected variables and choices: namely, Galadriel was not expected to choose Sauron and Sauron was not supposed to choose Galadriel. And those elements of chance, luck (bad or good), and anomaly are highlighted especially in season 2. Because after Sauron is rejected by Galadriel, he tries to recreate that alchemy, metaphorically and interpersonally with Celebrimbor. He falsely believes that it is something that he can control.

First, he comes to Eregion in his Halbrand form, low and humbled, and is immediately rebuffed. This is the first ingredient and it is rejected. The "alloy" here is off to a bad start. Then Sauron tries to force their meeting together: not at all like how he met Galadriel which happened because of a storm at sea. So Sauron conjures up a storm of his own. And I think he cast that spell as you can see here:

His eyes turn black and clouds immediately start churning and gathering overhead. This storm is artifice, an imitation. Celebrimbor and Sauron's partnership is already being formed with hollow filler. It is not genuine.

And if you look at the above gif, which is Galadriel's vision of Sauron in the same scenario, there is a subtle but noticeable difference. The horse is not in the foreground as it is when Sauron casts the spell in the audience's real time. There, the horse is in focus and at his shoulder. I think this is meant to signify Sauron invoking the memory of Galadriel. We know that Galadriel is represented by a horse frequently and is often conjured in Sauron's visions where Galadriel's presence is felt. In this scene, the horse is present again and is right there next to him. He's thinking of her.

Later, Sauron quickly abandons the "Halbrand" form and assumes the glamoured ruse of a noble elf. Many people disagree but I think when Sauron was Halbrand with Galadriel, this was the most honest, "purest" form of himself he had taken in ages and is the reason why Galadriel (the gold and silver here) was drawn to him. It was that "rightness" as I had mentioned in previous posts, that allow her soul to embrace him. To meld and intertwine. And we can debate whether or not Sauron was a corrupted element that hence produced a tainted bond. But for the purposes of this metaphor, I don't think he needed to be perfectly good. He only needed to be true to himself. And in that moment, that brief, impulsive, unforseen moment, he was. He was Mairon and it was captured and intertwined in an everlasting connection. And just as quickly, the window closed. In all the relationships he had before this and since, he has never been able to reproduce it.

The second season, I believe is meant to contrast that. As Annatar, there is nothing true or genuine he offers. It isn't real. This alloy is not going to take. It is destined to fracture. And you can see that. Because as he grows in power, his control over others, his control over his environment and even himself starts coming apart. The audience sees that manifest in his repeated failures at forging the 9 rings himself. Even when Celebrimbor is able to complete the rings alone, the results are flawed and the connection between Celebrimbor and Annatar immediately breaks and withers like the lies and illusions they were founded with.

Now where do we go from here? Now that Galadriel has been impaled by Morgoth's crown and Sauron's blood now mingles with hers, what will become of their connection, this "alloy" they had formed? We have to look at what will come of these 9 rings and what their effect will be on those that bear them. They are also poisoned with Sauron's blood and we already know what happens in the book. This will be his fated Achilles heel. Because he can't help but try to control what he can't. The bond between him and Galadriel was unique because he was not the hand that coaxed them together. He was not it's smith. In trying to grasp control over it, over her, over what he was not meant to instead of recognizing his greatest accomplishment was achieved by surrendering to the forces greater than himself, he will be destined to lose it all. A strong alloy requires balance.

[raddestrose]

This secretive plotter guy sure is… secretive

I GUESS

idk

[randomboiplush]

so I designed cyber au ghost, but in the dream no more ending

The main au takes place after the embrace the void ending

So I thought I would design their form after this ending

[arudoe]

cloud watching ✨

[kitkatstu-dies]

Productivity 27/100 [11/29/2024]

Wrote more of my research paper & chemistry essay (Both need to be done by Sunday, and I am procrastinating)

Thinking of changing my major to med lab sciences -> I actually completed more of that degree than my own? The classes I need are still open so I can switch still :)

Finished physiology notes -> need to study them for the exam on Tuesday

[talxns]

gonna share some headcanons on specific ways that i think bruce changes behaviorally, physically & psychologically after taking in lil dickie (and touch on how it leads to his codependence)

bruce eats more “indulgent” food.

before taking in dick, bruce was incredibly strict with his nutrition. he was single-mindedly focused on performing optimally and that extended to how he ate and trained. food was strictly about the energy it could provide him and he thought little of how it tasted. during this period of time, bruce is the leanest and fastest he’d ever be as batman.

dickie is brought under his wing and there is a shift nutritionally. alfred is making sweets, and bruce is now taking a cookie (or two) from the tray, since dick is sitting with him and crunching on one. dick is offering him animal crackers in the car and bruce is not going to say no. dick wants ice cream and when bruce takes him to get it and dick asks which flavor bruce wants, bruce concedes to a small scoop. dick is hand feeding him his french fry order on a roof during a reconnaissance mission. bruce finds eating enjoyable again.

bruce puts strong focus on strength training

bruce always did strength training. but now that he has robin, he is training with heavier weight to account for however much dick weighs at any given point + his equipment. he wants to make sure that he’s able to be just as effective in case he has to carry robin around, and so he incorporates that into his training regimen.

bruce’s flexibility increases

dick encourages bruce to stretch much more often, something they do together, which improves bruce’s flexibility and lessens his instances of injury. additionally, he carries less muscle tension.

he gets more sleep

bruce has had trouble sleeping his whole life. for one, he’s not sleeping enough to begin with. when he tries to sleep he has insomnia. when he manages to fall asleep there is a high chance of having unpleasant dreams. when he can’t sleep he gets up and does things like research or training. the lack of sleep makes him (surprise) more susceptible to injury and illness. it negatively affects his concentration and memory. it makes him even surlier than usual. the only way bruce gets a “good” nights rest is collapsing from exhaustion.

and then he takes in dick. and dick is absolutely crawling in bruce’s bed. because now, dick is struggling with those same issues: insomnia, nightmares. and he is not used to being so alone at night and lacking physical reassurance. both of them are getting the delicious oxytocin they are deprived of and it increases their sleep quality exponentially. it’s much easier to fall asleep again after a nightmare when you’re being held or at least feel the presence of another next to you. and they can both cry against each other and be vulnerable and let their emotions out if they need to.

he learns to enjoy life outside of the mission

bruce did not “waste” his time with “unproductive” things like watching movies or playing games. that is, until he had dick, who wanted to have fun, as a child naturally does. dick wanted to watch movies, he wanted to play games, he wanted to spend leisure time. and bruce finds himself, surprisingly, enjoying those leisurely moments very much. this is how we get version of bruce and dick who do everything together. they are playing chess together, watching tv together, playing sports, playing games, reading poetry, studying, learning about the world around them, etc etc. bruce is able to take his mind off batman and relax. this is the kind of thing alfred is talking about when he says how good dick is for bruce (and the sleep thing!)

the physical effects

bruce gets bigger. he gains weight after he takes dick in. but it’s not all fat (there is a healthy level of fat, he’s not a dehydrated bodybuilder, he’s got a tummy) but a lot of it is packed into muscle that he is focusing his training on, especially as dick grows and gets heavier and bruce is compensating for that still, into dick’s teenage years. bruce has gone from lean to bulk. not quite a “dad bod” but he is noticeably bigger. he still retains his agility from frequent stretching.

he is healthier overall, with less injuries and instances of illness. the dark circles under his eyes are less pronounced. he smiles and he laughs more often.

he also probably gets his first few gray hairs during dick’s first proper year as robin out in the field.

most importantly, more than the behavioral and physical aspects, the most important thing that changes within bruce after taking dick into his life is:

appreciation for his own life and an active resistance to death

bruce was passively suicidal in his first years. he would jump into fights he wouldn’t be assured he’d make it out of. he’d make leaps he wasn’t sure he could make. he was sloppy and careless with his own life. he did not value himself.

he probably has a harrowing revelation one night after needlessly risking his life when he sees just how agonized dick is over it. he sees that fear of losing a loved one in dick’s eyes. and he realizes that he must live, because he is important, he is needed, and he is loved. despite all his self-hatred and flaws, he cannot deny it when he sees dick. and so! a novel appreciation and respect and reverence over himself previously never fathomed.

and so….

these are huge reasons why bruce was so nervous and upset about even the THOUGHT of dick leaving for college. he would absolutely, unquestionably miss dick. but he must have been aware of all of these improvements that dick brought to his life, behavioral and psychologically and emotional. and he is insecure because he knows that once dick is gone he will revert back to passively suicidal, surly, insomniatic, depressed and anhedonic. he isn’t going to keep eating indulgent foods if dick isn’t there. he isn’t going to watch movies or play games by himself. he does not believe himself able to continue these improvements because he has tethered them to dick, it’s all conditional, it’s whether dick is there or not. and that’s where we see this co-dependence to dick coming from bruce.

i think this is why when jason is put in front of him, bruce takes him in. because he is a child in need because he misses how life was with dick. because it was a vast improvement psychologically. and he doesn’t want to go back to how it was before he had dick

[arch-my-backula]

i forgot how much i love drawing my glorious blue eyed king

[cconfusedkat]

Uaaaghgyhg nevermind i still feel like shit goosenight i guess

[fullsunstrawberry]

WHY WOULD SHE TEXT ANTON WHEN JENO’S DICK PRINT PIC IS ON HER PHONE OMFGGGGGG she’s stressing me out😭😭😭

i am not a strong solider, i would fold IMMEDIATELY

[tanjir0se]

WHY DIDNT ANYONE TELL ME HOW FUCKING GOOD MOB PSYCHO 100 IS

The themes. The writing. The HUMOR?!? The character driven narrative. The ANIMATION holy shit it’s so fucking genuinely STUNNING the fight choreography the staging the lighting the effects it all HITS so fucking sweet and right.

And best of all, Reigen Arataka, the biggest Cringefail Babygirl loser bitchass Boywife to ever play the fucking game. Kinda need him tbh

[boldymoldedcheese]

straight up getting into new stuff and looking into the fandom of said stuff before i finish the stuff and getting sad when i spoil the Big Happening that changed a generation or sum shit

[duskstarskies]

sooo happy how bbh has grown into his own person now… he grew his wings.! being a bbh fan in 2019 was like fighting a war everyday he was catching strays left and right. like it was so painful u couldnt watch his saturday munchymc streams without getting overwhelmed w how much bs was happening… or maybe that’s just yt chat. (dsmp twitch streams were meh) qsmp rlly got him to branch out and become like a better person who wasn’t attached to the sides of someone else. before, he always felt like he was either attached to skeppy or dream team and he wasn’t allowed to be his own person. and w dt, they always put him at the short end of the stick bc hes easiest to “get mad” which was :////. ik he was in on the memes and skeppy trolls but it gets to a point . idk. the fandom reaction around skephalo changed so drastically aswell i feel, it makes sense bcs 2019 they knew each other for around a year at that point (not that long + omg they did NOT establish boundaries w each other) vs now-ish where they play into it soooo much more. like so much…lowkey still can’t believe skephalo is just universally accepted as real. also very happy he finally dropped dream like bbh has been defending that freak (derogatory) since like 2016 MY MAN IS FREEEEEE

[cinnamonisclown]

Uuuh TK gifted Cinna one of her hats in RP I'm in

[workaholsh1ts]

I really wish they really had done more with Jillian like this 🤣

[izzypaw]

debating taking easier classes next semester so i can draw more...