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licncourt · 2 years

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I've only read the first trilogy a decade ago and while swimming around book fandom for the last couple of months i've come accross different opinions regarding Lestat post QotD. I've also heard that AR massacred his character in Tale of the Body Thief.

How would you describe Lestat's character arc post QotD? Is there even a character arc? Does he finally get to mature a bit and work on his issues? Does it happen off page? Did he get lobotomized like Louis and Armand?

God this is such a hard question, especially when it comes to a character arc because yes, there is technically a discernable arc for Lestat, but the problem is that it was entirely unintentional and the opposite of was AR seemed to be going for.

The first book after QotD is the best example of this I think. It starts off really strong with Lestat struggling to cope with the effects of Akasha's abduction and the changes to his body, as well as a bittersweet but well-written look into what his relationship with Louis is like at this point in time.

Unfortunately it goes completely off the rails after that. It's hard to say that Lestat is wildly OOC because he's really not. Most of what happens feels pretty authentic to someone with Lestat’s personality dealing with trauma through the lifestyle and moral lens of vampirism. He's manic and self-destructive and vacillating wildly between lashing out at loved ones and total emotional dependency.

The issue becomes some of the plot events themselves and how they're handled. This books is pretty notorious because it really ruins the growth Lestat has experienced up to this point, most pressingly by making him a rapist in both a human and vampire sense.

If this had been played as a reaction to his own assault and a fucked up attempt at taking power back and "embracing" evil to cope, MAYBE this could've been spun into at least some kind of existential horror narrative about cycles of abuse and becoming the evil that you hate, but the tone, the context, and AR's real-life opinions on these issues make it clear that this is just the author's idea of "what men are like" (it literally says that in the book).

This is really the first step in Lestat transitioning from what he is in the trilogy into a messed up male power fantasy for Anne Rice that lacks any kind of self awareness, nuance, irony, or character consistency. From this point on, this macho character completely eclipses the Lestat we knew before as AR turns him into something unrecognizable.

This progresses across the rest of the books (with very brief glimpses of the "real" Lestat that are just enough to add insult to injury). If she had written him as putting on macho playboy persona as an act to deal with his own fear and trauma and vulnerability, it might’ve worked (although it still would've gone on too long). Instead, this is completely unironic, a full change of character with no explanation given as AR started to project her own ideals onto an established character.

By the end of the series, he's clearly happier, but it feels hollow because he's also not himself. He's magically not traumatized anymore, he's a prince who's the perfect masculine ideal and everyone fawns over him as a god. It feels like some desperate fantasy TVL Lestat would have had instead of reality.

He's definitely more mature and suddenly able to commit to Louis and make "good" choices, but we never see how he got there or what changed. There's no healing process shown and no reason for any of the changes. It's jarring and confusing and you're happy for him, but unsatisfied. Sure, things are better for him, but his character is far less interesting and a lot more unlikable so you can hardly be excited for the good stuff.

So basically AR turned Lestat into accidental existential horror over the course of two decades and then popped him out the other side as an alpha male with an eight pack and a crown.

#poor lestat #guy didn't deserve that #trilogystat my beloved #honestly i just ignore the 90s and 00s and then cherrypick from the 10s to create a lestat arc that doesn’t suck #answered #vc #lestat de lioncourt #meta

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emeraldracer · 2 years

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I'm reading domestic violence discussion and I've finished the boby thief yesterday, so I want to show you something.

The tale of the body thief spoilers, obviously, dv talk and violent quotes from the book. Also long post.

I've seen people telling the rape scene explains the dv one, but I don't think so. There are some other passages closer to the end.

After Lestat returns his body he sees Louis again and he is pissed off because Louis abandoned him when he asked for help. I actually believe ep5 was inspired by it and what comes after.

But then:

I guess that's what everybody is reffering to as a proof that he wouldn't do it (you are welcome to add things, I haven't read the whole series).

But. Several pages later there is chapter 33, where he looses his marbles with David, his human friend/lover (he was only tender and respectfull before). Lestat turns him into vampire against his will. And it's pretty ugly.

The dialog before:

I'm not saying the words about not harming Louis are necessarily a lie, because yes, he is a different character and Lestat's feelings for him and Claudia are their own, however I with all honesty can't exclude the possibility after this.

He chooses violence here because he can't stand to be generous and leave David alone to live his life even if it'll be possible for them to spend time together. In short, he is a selfish bastard. He knows David will grow old and he'll have to eventually let him go, that's what triggers this whole scene. Ep5 ending is essentially the same situation, only it's somewhat worse because Lestat definitely wouldn't have Louis's attention after he and Claudia left, he would loose it immidiately (with humiliating aftertaste).

If that's what writers saw as a blueprint of Lestat's behavior in such situations, it's clear why they went to such length with showing violence. That scene with David is fucking traumatizing, I have no idea how he forgave him so fast (a few days, week at most, show!Louis is an example of self-care in comparison).

#amc iwtv #rants #lestat de lioncourt #david talbot #louis de pointe du lac

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canonicallysoulmates · 1 year

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You know when the ending is so bad it ruins the whole book?

That's how I feel about Tale of the Body Thief.

Disclaimer: I will be talking about the last chapter of this book so trigger warning for talk about rape. I will give a second trigger warning before I talk about it so if you want you can read the rest of this post and stop there or if it's triggering you can skip this whole post, and I recommend also skipping the book.

The first half I liked just fine, I have a whole separate post about it but basically, I felt very 50/50 I didn't care for the plot but there were some things I found interesting. At the time I would have given it a solid 3.5 stars. Then I got to the second half

Turns out the interesting stuff is only in the first half.

I don't know what it is about how this is written but I just don't care about the plot like I want Lestat to have his body back and I'm glad he does get it back but I'm not sucked into the story, and at first, I thought this was due to me already knowing that he does get his body back but then I remembered that I went into QOTD knowing quite a bit about it and the story still managed to pull me in and I got invested. That did not happen here. I'm deducting points.

I hate that Louis didn't help Lestat. I get that it was in character but I hate it. Not gonna take points away from it because of this but I will, however, take points away because of how fucking annoying I found Louis in that scene. I am on Lestat's side when it comes to burning his house down because he was practically begging Louis, trying to make him understand how horrible this experience has been for him and how much he hates the body he's in, and Louis is not listening and acting as if Lestat doesn't know what he's talking about! It annoyed me on a personal level, and with that, this book has made me annoyed at both of my favorite characters. I'm taking points off.

I don't care much for David, and I borderline don't care for even the friendship aspect of his and Lestat's relationship. This book really wants to sell me this couple, and I'm not buying. I saw more chemistry between Lestat and Gretchen which was a sweet brief romance albeit a bit weird because of the whole tending to a sick guy in the hopes he'll be nice and take your V-card thing. I'm not holding this against the book in the sense of taking points away from it but it did affect my enjoyment of it.

Before I keep tearing into this book the sex scene between Lestat and Gretchen was unintentionally funny to me because "I let my hand slip to the little doorway" I can't take this seriously, "and I felt her open petal by petal" this is why I stick to ao3 for all my smutty needs.

By this point, the book is sitting at a 2.5, Lestat has annoyed me once again by not realizing that David was not David and this was literally me with every page I turned

Then I read the final chapter and this plunged from 2.5 to 1.5 that's how much I hate David's transformation scene.

Once again, trigger warnings for mentions of rape.

I hate this moment for several reasons, the first and most obvious one being that Lestat forces himself on David. David is struggling, he's fighting back, he's trying to run away, he's telling Lestat no and asking him not to do this but Lestat does it anyways, and it would have been bad enough if he had grabbed David, bit him and turned him but he prolongs it, he drinks some of his blood he lets him go then captures him again this happens like three times with each time David trying to stop him. This person who was the only one there for him during his time of crisis, this man who Lestat is supposed to love so much he not only violates his bodily autonomy but he prolongs the horrible experience playing with him as a cat does with a mouse.

And I understand that Lestat is capable of doing horrible things, I get it it's a part of his character but this is also a character that it has been established was traumatized by having his own bodily autonomy taken away and being forcefully turned into a vampire. I would argue that we see part of this trauma in the first half of this very book because one of the reasons Lestat wants to be human again is that he wishes he could go back to when he was safe in his childhood home with his dogs before he faced the wolves, caught Magnus's attention and was turned.

To make it worse you have him thinking "Yes, fight, fight me as I fought Magnus. So sweet that you are fighting me. I love it. I do." What the fuck. Again, this is a character who has been on the other side of this type of traumatic experience.

And to make it, even more, worse, this is the second rape scene in this book. Because earlier in the book when Lestat was a mortal he forced himself on a waitress. Both scenes were unnecessary, one was more than enough, why two? why?

And after he forced himself on the waitress he felt bad because he knew he had done something horrible and yet here he is doing the vampire equivalent to his best friend. And this whole thing comes out of nowhere because yes, Lestat has been wanting to turn David for a long time but up until this point no matter how painful it was for him he had been respectful of David not wanting to be turned.

I cannot wrap my head around him doing to someone he cares about the same shit Magnus did to him.

This book could have had such a lovely ending if it had stopped at Lestat lighting the candle, and if Rice wanted David as a vampire it could have been done in so many better ways sincerely when the show gets to adapting this book I hope it either completely changes or completely disregards this last chapter. The only things I really want to see from this book to the show is Lestat being haunted by Claudia, Mojo, who is the best part, and possibly Rue Royale being restored.

There were things I liked, so I can't say it's all bad, but ultimately, I can see why this book is so hated. I, too, hate it.

#totbt #tale of the body thief #tvc #the vampire chronicles #lestat de lioncourt #totbt negative #mine #maybe also lestat's chair in louis house i would like to see that too #non spn

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pearlposts · 1 year

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the funniest part of tale of the body thief for me is that Anne clearly thought about how much it would traumatize a vampire if he had to take a shit and I love that for her

#tale of the body thief #lestat #anne rice #poetic literature

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crazykuroneko · 2 years

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Some highlights from the last podcast on Season 1 with Assad Zaman, Rolin Jones, and Mark Johnson:

- Assad Zaman basically said Lestat is good in showing theater of love, while Arman is more tender, but very desperate in receiving love.

- Rolin Jones said he saw such a different of Lestat in IWTV and TVL onwards. He decided Lestat in TVL onwards is the Lestat, but he had to learn to reach that. Basically saying IWTV is Lestat's third attempt to find his companion who is challenging and will make him learn to not repeat his mistakes.

- Rolin's funnily referring to Lestat/Gabrielle thing in the book 😬

- Rolin said TVL is coming in S3. "You won't see Lestat speaking for himself until S3"

- "I want to load up Louis with as many as contradictions" poor meow meow Louis

- Rolin explaining Jacob's (he has so much humanity) and Sam's (oh this guy wants this SO hard!) auditions with very funny descriptions

- IWTV show plot is actually stretched into two seasons due to the request from above given their situation back then.

- Rolin confirmed the Lestat's balcony scene is basically him saying I love you Louis. It's his favorite scene.

- "The tagline for the show should be memory is a monster"

- "Who had the most traumatic entrance to this world as a vampire? It's Lestat."

- "The first interview is very important HA HA HA"

- On how far they want to go with the series: "The reason I wanted to do the show is Season 3, The Vampire Lestat." Rolin mentioned Tale of the Body Thief and QotD as well, but not yet figured out how to do them.

#interview with the vampire #iwtv #assad zaman #rolin jones #mark johnson #the vampire lestat #the vampire chronicles #Spotify

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itssleepyrabbit · 4 years

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hi! wow i super love your art and i don’t have enough dabihawks in my life 🥺 was wondering if you had any fic recs for them?? 💕💕

aah thank you so much!! 💕💕 💕💕

BOY IF I DO HAVE!! alright buckle up this might get long (most are fluff and SFW~ i’ll put a NSFW warning but be sure to look at tags in all of them!!)

Bed I made (lie in it with me) by silverwordswrites

“Touya is in desperate need of a plus-one for his brother's wedding and Keigo is infinitely curious about the man who he was sure used to hate him in college.”

-- the summary says everything and honestly it’s one of the most romatics dabihawks fics i’ve read.

On-going

He Doesn't Love Me by Fatally

“Dabi doesn't love him. He's accepted that thorny truth, swallowed it down and let briars grow in his chest, drinking down his blood like water.Or: The one in which Hawks settles for pining for his entire life and doesn't realize Dabi's been staring at him the entire time, too.”

-- I love pinning Hawks with a burning passion.

Completed

sweetheart, is that you? by fuckendeavor666

“dabi and hawks say i love you (without actually saying i love you) in five different ways.“

-- This is my absolute fave dabihawks fic

Completed

Deck the Halls With Boughs of Folly by DrAphra

“In which the League has acquired a new fancy mansion -with all the heating and food and plush beds they could possibly need - but they still prefer to spend the day out in the wilderness with just each other. Plus Hawks.“

-- Honestly all Aphra’s dabihawks fics are more than worth it but this one has a special place on my heart.

Completed

fuck, im so young - orphaned

“Todoroki Touya writes poems.

Words upon words of heartfelt confessions, letters of sing song fantasies, syllables of feelings he never got to say out loud.

When Todoroki Touya hits sixteen, he burns himself to death.

When Dabi hits twenty four-

He meets Hawks.”

-- i don’t know how to explain but this fic it’s pretty

Completed

Feathers and Feelings by Toboe1087

“Hawks keeps leaving feathers on his pillow, and Dabi's about had it.

(like hell he'd let anyone else have them, though)”

-- Dabi preening Hawks feathers is a blessing

Complete

(this is not a) swan song by bittermoons

“"Who's your favorite, then?"

"Hawks." Touya doesn't miss a beat. "Definitely Hawks."

"What? Seriously? How come?"

"He has his flaws, but at the end of the day, he's trying to do good. It's something he always strives for. Dabi, on the other hand...if it weren't for Hawks, he wouldn't be a hero, that's for sure."

[Or: How a secret is revealed, and what comes afterwards.]”

-- Adorable no quirks AU with manga artist Touya and oblivious Keigo! Another author i adore pretty much all dabihawks works.

Completed

You can't trap the sky in a bottle by thyandra

“Letting Toga organize the accommodations for their trip might have been a mistake. This particular truth becomes obvious to Keigo as he opens the door of his hotel room for the first time. There, staring back at him mockingly, is a single, king-sized bed. It’s only by virtue of all the years spent perfecting his poker face around his adoptive parents, that he manages to keep his face straight. At his side, Touya clicks his tongue. “They must’ve given us the wrong key.””

--(no quirks AU) I really love they way Dabi and Hawks are written here i can’t express it in words and so so much pinning

Completed

A Tale as Old as Time by EloFromMars, Gotcocomilk

“Dabi and Hawks are hit by the most improbable Quirk: both are yeeted in Fairytales land and have to rely on each other to get out of this.“

-- this was such a fun read omg

Completed

A Romance Written All Over Your Body by minatsukinoamayo

//NSFW mind the tags!//

“Hawks is assigned to infiltrate the League of Villains in order to expose them. Hawks usually never fails a mission, but Keigo usually never falls in love, either.A story of how Hawks falls from grace to become a villain, because hero society has failed them all.

5 times they're not in a relationship and 1 time they are.“

-- you know those fics you say “one more chapter” and it’s 3AM

Completed

it caught spark in your eyes by youareoldfatherwilliam

//Mature - Implied Sexual Content//

“Keigo’s quirk is powerful, but sometimes it comes with unintended side effects.

Or: A 5 + 1 fic of five times the more…instinctively bird-like parts of Keigo’s quirk took over accidentally during his relationship with Dabi, and one time it happened entirely on purpose.“

-- I was screaming about this particular fic on twt the other day pls give it a read if you can it’s so so so good! Any fic that has Hawks with bird traits has a special place on my heart

Completed

The Others by threesipsmore

//Mature - 2 sexual scenes, nothing too explicit but they’re there//

“"Skeptic's starting to think he’s more important than me,” Toga sneers, an acidic edge to her voice. “Making decisions on his own, sending out birdie without even talking to me first.”

She’d simply acquiesced to cooperating with Skeptic, but from day one the complaints had never stopped. In this tiny room layered with sushi and cakes, Dabi was forced to listen to her whining.”

-- You go birb, you get that man

Completed

Equivalent Exchange by inexchangeforyoursoul

“Keigo blinks the blurry oblivion away from his eyes, although some part of it is oddly stubborn and to stay indefinitely. There's three things he's certain of: first, he’s alive. Second, just by looking at the bed and windows he can tell this is no villain hospital or torture room. Third: something feels wrong. Very wrong.

The silence… is deafening.

xxx

To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.

If so, what of a bird that has lost its wings?”

-- i had so many feelings reading i can’t physically explain them to you also PINK HAIR DABI PINK HAIR DABI

Completed

dabi's 5-step guide to being a better parent than endeavor by twinkfrankenstein (orphan_account)

“A little voice inside his head whispered spitefully about how this was no place for a child, and how he was making a mistake and would only traumatize the kid, yada yada. He responded with an equally spiteful-

“Fuck off, its not like I planned to do arson today.”

(or: how Dabi becomes a good dad just to spite his own, realizes he kinda sorta maybe likes Hawks for realsies, begrudgingly admits the League cares and finally comes to terms with his protective side. Not in that order.)“

-- this legit made me laught out loud idk what else tell you

Completed

The Todoroki In-Laws by aphrodaisyacs

“Over 10 years after the fight against the Paranormal Liberation Front, Rumi, aka the part-time hero Miruko and the proud wife of one Todoroki Fuyumi, decides it would be an awesome idea to create a groupchat with the significant others of the other Todoroki siblings.

Maybe things would be easier if its members weren’t two Pro Heroes, a former one and a rehabilitated villain, but…Honestly, where’s the fun in that?”

-- this is not dabihawks focused but it’s so funny pls

Completed

With Being Petty Comes Consequences by CursedUndead

“"When we were saying fuck pro heroes, I didn't think you literally meant FUCK them," Tomura grumbles, kicking over an empty beer can.

"Pretty judgmental for someone fucking a pro twice their age," Touya says.

Tomura squints, and says, "Ten years is not twice my age."

Or, after spending Enji's money, Touya is forced to babysit for the number 2 hero to pay him back. Touya makes it his life's mission to fuck his new boss.”

-- this only has 4 chapters but i know it’s going to be one of my faves

On-going

The Truth series by AmethystUnarmed

-- Hawks gets hit with a truth quirk and starts to be actually free by the power of love, friendship and a bit of crime <3

The last entry is on-going

and if we sit and count it up it's really not a lot by sincerelysamedt

“Hawks finds a bento box in his messenger bag and almost cries.

"Is that a loving wife bento?"“

-- please PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD READ THIS ONE /sobbing noises/

Completed

steal your heart by darlingest

//Mature//

“When infamous thief Hawks announces that he is going to steal the heart of Endeavor's son, everyone expects him to prey on Shoto Todoroki - nobody suspects Touya to be the actual target.“

-- Villain Hawks and civilian Dabi are my guilty pleasure and this one it’s so soft too i’m- djsahfdjkfhadf

Completed

darling, thank god it’s this universe we’re in (and you can annoy me as much as you please) by juurensha

“ Todoroki Rei divorces Endeavor and moves all four of her children into a small apartment next to a boy with wings as red as the hair of her eldest son. “

-- This was one of the first dabihawks fics i ever read and, to this day, i come back to it when i feel i need the extra burst in happy feelings and check their other works too! Honestly all are such a good fucking read

Completed

#ask #faerie-fang #this is not even half the fics i love #i can always show more but i was afraid of bugging again djsfhadf #honestly check ALL this authors you're not gonna regret it #fic rec #dabihawks

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delusionland · 3 years

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eugene write-up:

-n-b trans man, ironically, he’s been using a certain potion that comes specifically from the dark kingdom to give him his LUXURIOUS extremely well-taken care of moistruized conditioned facial / body hair, along with his deeper voice. he never had top surgery but the potion acted as a kind of puberty blocker bc Magic Why TF Not, and he’s been taking it since shortly before he changed his chosen name from ‘eugene’ to the more androgynous ‘flynn rider’. (when he goes back to eugene---it’s an understanding not of the name he was ‘born with’ but instead an understanding of the child he was when he first picked that name for himself. the child that wanted to be an accountant and that wanted to take care of his fellow orphans forever and Adopt All Of Them and be a good father.) like t, eugene has to take this potion every day, but at this point it’s just a part of his self-care routine. (it does, however, taste rather unpleasant. potions usually do.)

-lance is his brother but they’ve both betrayed each other more times than they can count. it takes a LOT for them to be able to trust each other AND love each other during tangled the series, but they do eventually.

-eugene has issues with women, relationships are usually born of need for attention on their part and saftey AND validation on eugene’s own, which leads to toxicity like what you see with staylan. eugene LOVES women tho, loves impressing them, loves being around them, loves flirting with them, and has a specific type when it comes to men---men who own their sexuality, and are kind of intense and scary. eugene honestly falls in love pretty easy and canonically can over a period of days---you just have to be an extremely intense person who is Nice to him and shows him attention. if you want to be his NEW DREAM, though. well, you have to see him as a person and not just the jokes & the charm & the grumpy pushing-people-away-but-really-begging-them-to-think-you’re-cute-and-worthwhile-ness.

-eugene is extremely vain and fucking loves self-care, but he has a very low sense of self-worth bc he never feels ‘chosen’ due to being abandoned, due to being an orphan. this makes it hard to cope with his dad----plus, his dad doesn’t know ANYTHING about him and assumes he’s a woman and a princess, even tho he does say some shit that makes eugene’s heart melt about how he ‘always wanted a son.’

-eugene is extremely, extremely smart and extremely, extremely accomplished as a thief. he has been ALL over the disney universe, he knows an insane amount about the world at large, he has maps of everything (and is a very good map maker), hideouts everywhere, he speaks a bajillionty languages and dialects, he’s smart and he’s brave he just has enough common sense and foot-in-mouth disorder and love of jokes and comedy and being ‘the cute silly one’ that he OFTEN ends up playing the fool, because he would rather be the smoldering cute boy than the mastermind thief & manipulator who canonically hurts & traumatizes people---bc, wouldn’t you?

-eugene is really bad with money lol he gets money, he immediately spends it all on self-care items and new clothes bc he doesn’t know when someone is going to take it from him. he’s extremely particular about the fineries and the possessions he does have---and while he IS a theif, if you take something of his without asking, eugene will be extremely distrusting of you in the future bc of his own trauma.

-eugene’s new dream wasn’t just rapunzel, it was the idea of having a HOME and a place to belong. eugene wasn’t just in love with rapunzel---he was in love with the idea of a family, a person, a fairy tale romance where at the end he got the castle and the love and the princess, u know? he’s wanted his whole life to belong somewhere, and with rapunzel, he felt like. he could be MORE than flynn. he could be eugene, he could be accepted, he could be loved, and he could be safe in that love without it being taken away from him.

-for this reason and the host of rapunzel’s own issues---rapunzel and eugene don’t start out ‘together’ in the beginning of tangled the series. they start off as non-monagamous dating ‘friends.’ eugene doesn’t want her to have to marry the first person she’s ever met---and eugene, also, doesnt’ want to feel like he’s disappointed her if he’s not as good as she expects.

-at the end of the series, eugene does NOT become a guard. he becomes king of the dark kingdom, and opens up the kingdom to orphans everywhere, going back to his real dream as eugene---adulty adult dad shit of accounting and city management. he still sees rapunzel, often, but HER dream has ALWAYS been to explore the world, and she does so with cass who has become a knight. eugene has ALREADY explored the world and gone on all his adventures. he doesn’t need to do it again (except to make ammends, maybe). so he’s happy in the dark kingdom, every time rapunzel comes back <3

#ch: eugene #hc: eugene #fandom: tangled #fandom: disney #fandom: tangled the series

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viktuuriangstbang · 5 years

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Viktuuri Angst Bang 2019 - Masterlist

Here is the extensive list of the incredible and angsty works created for the Viktuuri Angst Bang. Thank you to all our beloved participants for seeing to the success of this event.

If you participated and you do NOT see your work here or have found an error, please email corrections to [email protected].

Open the ‘Read More’ to check ratings, warnings, tags, and summaries.

The Affair by Clarinda. Art by DyeingDoll.

Danse Macabre by AurumAuri. Art by Bectara

By Chance One Turns by Louciferish. Art by Izzyisosaki.

Bound by you by KuraiOfAnagura. Art by R-Tengu.

Our Time, Gone Forever by AJ Wolf. Art (1,2) by Elianthos.

Body of Evidence by Revampired. Art by Eli Grey.

And all pieces fall right into place by cottonee. Art by mferret9.

Faceless by allollipoppins. Art by Heavy Henry.

embedded in my chest (and it hurts to hold) by Ace of Japan. Art by Baph.

Can You Hear My Heartbeat? by SchalaDresdan. Art by Bectara.

you're with me (not someone else) by Adrianna99. Art by Kathe.

Conventionally Yours by Songbirdsara.

I See the Light by black_tea_blue_pens. Art by Bectara.

The Cost of Winning by Daffy. Art by Diem.

Find me in me (Act 1) by LenaLawlipop. Art by Clarinda.

When We Collide by topcatnikki. Art by Clarinda.

Under the Midnight by Mazarin221b. Art (1, 2, 3) by Elianthos.

Genie In The Bottle by PaintingWithWords. Art by smolkristen.

All That We Hold of Heaven by Kazul9. Art by Purin.

Appalachian Harmony by Heavy Henry. Art by cupromantic.

over the oaks by owlishann. Art by Hecate Mist.

The Truth About Agape by Kastuuki. Art by Purin.

Red Cuffs of Fate by Gabzjones. Art by Cerisebio.

strange as angels by astudyinrose. Art by Bullsfish.

The Brightness of Gold and Silver by Katineto. Art by Ace of Japan.

Drag Your Soul to Shore by LinneaKou. Art by Baph.

Trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday by Briapia @briapia95. Art by DyeingDoll.

To Love And To Honour (Esp version) by Midnight_Luna. Art by Caramel.

When You Really, Really Miss Me by cleverlittleradiator. Art by Caramel.

Sing to me like steel by Ravensmores. Art by Impatvish.

Pleurosis by SnarkyBreeze. Art by rettlecake.

Whiskey Lullaby by Rae. Art by Andi.

*Summaries are trimmed to fit better; please visit fics on AO3 to view full details. **Chapter counts are as of January 16th.

The Affair by @clarinda0110 . Art by @dyeingdoll

E, 20k, Complete, Series. Canon AU - real world. Yuuri sits down to be interviewed for a retrospect of the career of Viktor Nikiforov. He has quite a story to tell.

Danse Macabre by @aurum-auri. Art by @bectara.

E, 110k, Complete. AU - serial killer. Warnings: Violence, Non-con. When Yuuri finds himself in the clutches of an infamous serial killer, everything he thought he knew suddenly is called into question.

By Chance One Turns by @louciferish. Art by izzyisozaki.

M, 90k, Complete, Series. Canon divergence - Kid fic. In 2011, Victor Nikiforov disappeared from the world of figure skating. Desperate to send money home, Yuuri looks for a job in the US. (...)The last thing he expects is for Victor to be the one who opens the door.

Bound by you by @kuraiofanagura. Art by @rtengu.

M, 4/5, WIP. AU - historical arranged marriage, omegaverse. Warnings: Violence. Victor was so much weaker than this omega. Because he was escorting his brother Yuri to marry the love of his life, Yuuri, the alpha prince of the land of the Red Sun.

Our Time, Gone Forever by @ajwolf84. Art (1,2) by @bowldeepfannish.

T, 5/6, WIP. AU - Archeology, time travel. It's the archeological find of the century and Viktor still can't quite believe he's a part of it.

Body of Evidence by @revampired. Art by @unicornsovermyrainbow.

E, 44k, Complete. AU - Jack the Ripper, omegaverse. Warnings: Violence. Lost and alone upon arrival in London, omega medical student Yuuri is rescued by and befriends a famous local prostitute, Victor Nikiforov.

And all pieces fall right into place by @v-katsuki. Art by @mferret9.

M, 4k, Complete. Canon divergence - after Barcelona. After the Grand Prix Final, Viktor and Yuuri go separate ways for the rest of the season. They try to make their long-distance relationship work while both prepare to win a gold medal.

Faceless by @allollipoppins. Art by @snarkonice.

T, 1/10, Hiatus. AU - Werewolf, soulmates, dystopia. Warnings: Violence. A beast roamed the streets of Hasetsu come nightfall and preyed on all whose face it looked upon. (...) A new disappearance gives Yuuri an opportunity to get to the heart of the problem, and face his own - not without consequences.

embedded in my chest (and it hurts to hold) by @theliteraryluggage. Art by @anonbaph.

M, 105k, Complete. AU - Artists are millennials, hanahaki disease. In which Yuuri falls in love, then falls apart, one petal at a time.

Can You Hear My Heartbeat? by @schaladresdan. Art by @bectara.

M, 7k, Complete, Series. AU - Androids, temporary character death. In this world, androids are commonplace. At 18, people of this world can choose whether they want to be ‘transferred’ to an ‘transfer androids’ or not when their human bodies die.

you're with me (not someone else) by @iwritebetterthanispeak. Art by @mandolinearts.

G, 2k, Complete. Canon divergence - Injury. Yuuri falls on the quad flip. He and Viktor end up kissing anyway

Conventionally Yours by @songbirdsarawrites.

T, 10/11, WIP. AU - Artists. Yuuri Katsuki is fascinated by charming young artist Victor Nikiforov when he encounters him behind an artist booth at a convention. Nearly two years later, with a table of his own, Yuuri gets the chance to meet his hero.

I See the Light by black_tea_blue_pens. Art by @bectara.

T, 15k, Complete. AU - The Little Mermaid AU. Warnings: MCD. Victor is the Crown Prince of the abyss merfolk. In order to escape from his work and obligations, he makes trips searching for something. He discovers the surface and a young boy who likes to dance at the beach.

The Cost of Winning by @narcissuspseudonarcissus. Art by Diem.

M, 1/10, WIP. AU - Fairy tale curses. Warnings: Violence. Everyone on the continent of Bayuria could see the storm clouds on the horizon as they watched the King of Leroy stripping his lands of resources, and his people of their dignity.

Find me in me (Act 1) by LenaLawlipop. Art by @clarinda0110.

M, 5/6, WIP. Canon divergence - suddendly supernatural elements, character study, isolation. I was at the banquet, wasn't I? At Sochi? My head hurts a little bit. I think I need to get up and figure out what's going on. It's... probably for the best.

When We Collide by @topcatnikki. Art by @clarinda0110 .

M, 24k, Complete. Canon compliant - post series, relationship problems. Days laid in bed with their fingers twined and their lips connecting had turned into hurried kisses to the cheek as Yuuri rushed out of the door. Hours of conversation late into the night had become muttered 'goodnights' and waking up to empty beds.

Under the Midnight by @mazarin221b . Art (1, 2, 3) by @bowldeepfannish.

E, 2/5, WIP. AU - Fortune teller, magical realism. Yuuri Katsuki is a ballet teacher by day and fortune teller by night. Thing is, he is actually a real fortune teller. Into his strange little life he's built for himself walks one drunk figure skater, getting his fortune told on a dare.

Genie In The Bottle by @paintingwithwords. Art by @smolkristen.

E, 5/14, WIP, series (3). AU - Epidemiology. [Zebras among the horses followup] Things are going well for Yuuri Katsuki. But danger looms on the horizon, as it always does for someone in his line of work. When people start getting sick, Yuuri must race to find out what has been set loose... and if there's any way of stopping it.

All That We Hold of Heaven by @kazul9. Art by Purin.

T, 20k, Complete. AU - Fallen angel. Falling—the act of it, the emotion of it—means a lot of different things to different people.For Yuuri, it means everything.

Appalachian Harmony by @snarkonice. Art by @cupromantic.

Not rated, 15k, Complete. AU - Apalachian trial. Warnings: MCD. Newly sober and almost forty, Viktor Nikiforov realizes that he has to make a change. Never a fan of half-measures, he quits his job in corporate law, rents his swanky Manhattan condo to his younger cousin and takes off to hike the Appalachian Trail.

over the oaks by @owlishann. Art by @hecate-mist.

T, 27k, Complete. AU - Spacetrip, time travel. Books have always called Yuuri, ever since he was a child. So when he gets the chance to answer the call, he does, even if it implies crossing the milky way in a tiny spaceship with Victor Nikiforov —the man Yuuri has been pining after since they met— by his side.

The Truth About Agape by @kastuuki. Art by Purin.

M, 2/7, WIP. AU - Superhero, temporary charactter dead. Looking at the picture in the newspaper, the superhero is carrying Victor in the most cliché way they could ever find themselves in: a bridal carry. It has become an iconic photo and the city just ran with it. Everyone loves a good love story, even if it’s not entirely true.

Red Cuffs of Fate by @gabzjones. Art by Cerisebio.

E, 38k, Complete. AU - Crime and police, soulmates. It was his first job as detective; hunting down the ever elusive Mercury, a thief who got his kicks from simply getting away with the crime. Yuuri had gotten close. Really close. And then he noticed the mark of the soulmate bond on his hand.

strange as angels by astudyinrose. Art by @bullsfish.

M, 1/?, WIP. AU - Just like Heaven AU, apparent MCD. Yuuri has a traumatic fall, and he's absent from the rest of the series. After Victor's fifth straight title at Worlds he feels strangely despondent, so he decides to leave St. Petersburg. The first night in his new apartment, he's haunted by the ghost of a beautiful Japanese man he's never met before.

The Brightness of Gold and Silver by @katineto. Art by @theliteraryluggage.

M, 7/16, WIP. AU - Royal, medieval monastery, omegaverse. After the death of his husband the king, Viktor—childless and powerless—finds himself relegated to a small convent far removed from the royal court and its political games. As he struggles to adapt to convent life, he begins to notice how desperately he desires one brother's compabullsny—even to the point of sin.

Drag Your Soul to Shore by LinneaKou. Art by @anonbaph.

M, 36k, Complete. Canon divergence - supernatural, curses. Just before Katsuki Yuuri advances to his first-ever Grand Prix Final, the skating world is sent reeling when a stranger destroys Viktor Nikiforov’s life in more ways than one, resulting in him being banned from competing and gaining the hatred of everyone he knows.

Trade all my tomorrows for just one yesterday by @briapia95. Art by @dyeingdoll.

T, 1/?, WIP. AU - Kyoukai no Kanata AU. The youmu stops and Viktor, vision blurred and confused, notices something he never thought he would see again. A sword, slightly curved to the back, red, and clearly made of blood is emerging from the youmu’s front. He knows who that kind of power belongs to, but he can’t bring himself to believe.

To Love And To Honour (Esp version) by Midnight_Luna. Art by @caramel-draws.

T, 1/?, WIP. Canon compliant - Disney's Coco AU. Warnings: MCD. On the day of the Obon, Hikari Katsuki'll have to embark on a journey without precedent to the Land of the Dead, uncover the secrets that shattered her little family and find the real reason why her father never let her go near a skating rink.

When You Really, Really Miss Me by @cleverlittleradiator. Art by @caramel-draws.

M, 2/4, WIP. Canon compliant. Warnings: MCD. In which Yuuri dies, Viktor lives, and he's not the only one left to deal with the aftermath.

Sing to me like steel by @ravensmores. Art by @impatvish.

E, 2/2, Complete. AU - Hospital.

“I just know I’d hate myself even more if I didn’t tell you.” Victor’s voice is surprisingly hesitant as he wipes his face, hand still resting softly in Yuuri’s. “If- if I didn’t ask if there was still a chance.”

“You killed people Victor.”

Pleurosis by @kingfisherunion. Art by @rettlecake.

T, 1/?, WIP. AU - Hanahaki.

Viktor doesn't take Yuuri up on his offer at the Sochi banquet, but someone else does. Depersonalized, depressed, and doubting that he'll make it through another season of marketing himself to an uncaring public, Viktor finds himself ill at Worlds, and nothing he does seems to help. When Yakov takes on a new skater, Viktor's health takes a turn for the worse and he's suddenly faced with a dire choice.

Whiskey Lullaby by @justrae2010. Art by Andi.

E, 8k, Complete. Warnings: MCD.

The divorce papers had come through a month later. Yuuri didn’t come back.

Victor needed a drink.

#viktuuri angst bang #viktuuri angst bang 2019 #Yuri on Ice #YoI #YoI events

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likewaterintodryearth · 7 years

Text

Send me a character & I’ll answer the following about them! : Attolia Irene from the Queen’s Thief

general opinion:

I’m tongue tied and paralyzed even trying to begin to do justice to this profile of Irene because she is my most favorite fictional character of all time. I hang off of every sliver, every bit, slight mention, and mere allusion to anything that has anything to do with her, in canon and head canon. I am here on earth to unlock my own ‘Queen of Attolia’ and so in her the character’s growth and unveiling, I feel as if I am living a part of me that has yet to come on the physical timeline and has always been encoded in my DNA. For lack of better words, I feel Irene like Costis does, in the fanfiction story, “Dance Me to Your Beauty” by Oshun

( https://archiveofourown.org/works/8883880 ) ...he missed no slight tightening of her lips in irritation or quaver of uncertainty. He noticed her every soft inhalation or straightening of her shoulders whenever a courtly function ran on too long. The times he had detected faint lavender circles under her eyes, he obsessively wondered what prevented her from resting well... I love her brokenness. Her vulnerability so tightly, elegantly hidden by power and strength. Two seemingly contrasting ideas are so equally real in Irene. I love the tears that she won’t shed. I love Eugenides for kissing her so softly that they are coaxed to fall. I love her every hesitation. I love the time and patience it takes across multiple novels for her to finally thaw and unveil herself as the good, kind, sweet, thoughtful, sensitive, moral, merciful person that she is. I love how Eugenides draws such tenderness out of her after a lifetime of being almost broken by the demands placed on her to fight for her life and her people. I love how Eugenides and Irene are so clearly the same soul after the most traumatizing, polarizing events imaginable unfolded between them, stuff only two halves of one soul could overcome together through each other’s love. I love how great their fear is of each other and yet their love for each other is even greater and how they always ultimately choose that love over the fear. Irene is the very symbol to me of how nobody, none of us, is truly how we appear on the outside. She is my daily encouragement to Look and See beyond the masks, the petty annoyances. Irene is my shining hope for the world around me where everyone hides behind a mask and guards their softness and sweetness and vulnerable nature carefully as they try to navigate a world still tempered with predatory harshness.

fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: Well this is a given. She’s the Queen of Attolia, the perfectly gorgeous, to the point where she seems ethereal amidst mere average humans. I find it more compelling to explore Irene’s personal relationship with her beauty, which she refers to dismissively, flippantly as “just a mask” when Phresine prods her about how time’s a ticking and she’s still single (in QoA). Irene sees her beauty as a convenient tool, a necessary weapon and means to power, power not born from selfish ambition or greed like it is for many men, but an innate instinct to fight for her own physical and moral survival and that of her country. I find myself acutely aware of how although she owns it fully and maximizes its use, Irene does not revel in her own beauty, that it is a tripled edged sword to her. I don’t find Irene to be at all vain about her superior aesthetics in the way that Kamet is vain about his talents. In fact, it’s clear to me that she feels shame for how her beauty is the only thing that can people can see in her to the point where it reinforces an image of herself that she knows not to be her truth and yet she cannot escape it. The mask that grows heavier to bear, with each passing day that it leaves her feeling old and exhausted. The infamous exchange from TT, where she flushes deeply when Eugenides tells her “You are more beautiful, but [the Queen of Eddis] is more kind.” just screams of shame. Which just makes me love her more and want to hug her... which she would probably not let me do because she is “slow to trust” and so I hope that Eugenides hugs her and holds her close and helps her feel safe, on all of our behalf.

Irene would be the first one to tell us that being beautiful does not bring her any closer to happiness, in the way that all the wealth in the world could neither buy it. However subtle, I feel this to be one of MWT’s most potent intended messages to counter the soul crushing weight of all the patriarchal, hegemonic, one dimensional fairy tales foisted upon us since days of old that try to tell us that the value of the feminine lies in appearance alone. get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang hogwarts house: Irene has so many layers, is so multidimensional that I’m sure she embodies all of the houses at once, especially as she awakens to her own divinity. However, if you want me to answer this question based on more initial impression, she’s melancholic, ruthless and goth-y, so Slytherin. Just as I say that, I’m not fully comfortable saying it because all the nefarious bad guys are slytherins and I want Irene to be surrounded by people who will help her feel sheltered and nurtured after a lifetime of having to pretend that she doesn’t long for and need both of those qualities in the people around her. I don’t think she was able to recognize it in herself until she got a chance to be those things for Eugenides after she crippled him because she was afraid of what he would and could do to her while she slept surrounded by an inflated palace guard immune to nothing... but him. gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff best quality: Her jealousy and envy of the Queen of Eddis. Although it didn’t amount to any pleasant exchanges for the two queens or to good international relations, I’m intentionally putting it under “Best Quality” because it shows that Irene longed for the balance between masculine and feminine the Helen was fortunate to have her entire life. It shows that Irene longed for Truth. I love that despite her lady-like and feminine outward appearance, Irene would also have loved to learn how to use a sword, fight her own battles, ride a pony as a child, swim, hunt and basically “run wild in the mountains” as Helen did. A lot of girls and women I know are perfectly satisfied being “girly,” don’t even think to question the binary masculine/feminine construct, see nothing wrong with the limitations of their gender-body assignment, and never think about how they are unconsciously imprisoned by them.

worst quality: Nothing. Irene is perfect in my eyes. I feel her sadness, her ever-increasing joy, the beginnings of real laughter, her rage, her strength, her endurance, her patience, her fear, her boldness, her shyness, her wisdom, her child-like responses that she suppresses, how when she says she feels old, it’s because she feels tired and sad. I don’t find her scary. I find her to be scared. It’s interesting to note, I teach English to students in Korea and they’re always confusing “scary” with “scared” and in Irene’s case, the two are actually interchangeably one and the same. ship them with: Eugenides, of course. He is her perfect match, her twin flame, her twin soul, her divine counterpart, her split soul, her other half. He is the god to her goddess. He Saw her when nobody else did. He saved her as she saved him. I also love the idea of Costis being equally in love with both of them and both of them welcoming him into their bed and their intimate lives. Again, my main influence is “Dance Me to Your Beauty” by Oshun (fanfic link above). Just as much as I love the idea that Eugenides and Irene saw Costis’s future with Kamet and set them up together in a unified divine pairing of comparable high vibration. brotp them with: I love Irene and Helen’s begrudged, cautious woman-to-woman, peer to peer friendship. I love when Irene caves to Helen in QoA: and tells her she likes her even when she didn’t think she would. I love that Helen is willing to give Irene another chance. I really feel like Irene didn’t truly mean to be awful when she “poured vitriol” into Helen’s ear at Helen’s coronation; perhaps there was a little ego in it but Irene was honestly sharing herself and yet I also understand how Helen, having never known Irene’s neglect and abuse, perceived it as more negative than intended. Irene pretty much gives the same advice to Sophos years later and he actually takes the advice with reasonable success. I love that Irene routinely accepts Helen’s advice on how to “handle” her husband. I love the moment when Irene comes to Helen’s aid one of the few times it’s actually Helen who’s in need of support, when the fact that she’s in love with Sophos hits her like a pile of bricks too late. I adore that Helen so fully accepts Irene’s support, by holding tightly to her. In how Irene took Helen’s hand in that moment, I feel like Irene was also apologizing for how she’d treated Helen for all those years previous.

I also brotp Irene and Sophos. I love how it’s clear that as she’s still learning how to have functional, trusting friendships, how she looks to Eugenides for guidance and she’s clearly in awe of Gen’s close friendship with Sophos, shown through the softness of her voice whenever she asks Gen about him... I love how even in CoK, she’s still thawing and really, in her own rigid, chilly way she’s generously pouring her heart out to Sophos by offering him everything she knows about ruling a country to him on their walks. And Sophos, needing the reassuring warmth that he receives from Helen to be confident in himself, doesn’t fully understand how Irene is reaching out to him and remains scared of her. I sense that after the miscarriage undoubtedly shatters Irene into the billion pieces that are necessary for her to fully begin again, healed and anew, that Irene and Sophos will have their own close friendship that won’t be so stressful to Sophos. I brotp (ship?) Irene with Costis! I love the idea of Irene and Eugenides being willing to share their bed with Costis occasionally, and Costis alone because of his “confounded, asinine, patron sense of honor”.... because there’s something powerful about trust being so strong within a primary relationship that both partners can open themselves to loving and allowing their significant other to love a third person without jealousy. Being that Eugenides and Irene are otherwise both “very jealous people,” that they would trust Costis, and trust each other with Costis.... the thought, the fantasy of all of them together leaves me breathless. And not to leave Costis as always second in line, the third wheel, through their masterminding, Kamet enters Costis’s life for the best and the pairings reach a satiating equilibrium. I brotp Irene and Kamet, because in a different way than Eugenides and Irene are exactly alike, Kamet and Irene too are exactly alike. They seem to have an already established, comfortable connection with each other. They are astoundingly, heart achingly similar in their histories of abuse, enslavement and profound mistrust.

needs to stay away from: I dunno. Nahusaresh? That seems to be handled. I appreciate that Irene knows how to flirt in the regular, benign, basic-bitch kind of way (she learned it from Chloe) and then totally bends Nahusaresh over with it in deception, cunning on the level of her husband, yet in a manner all her own. In contrast, the way she actually flirts with Eugenides is completely fatalistic. misc. thoughts: I love that it’s clearly stated that Irene wasn’t necessarily considered immediately beautiful or graceful as a child or adolescent. I love that her earth-shattering, goddess-evoking beauty was something that she grew into and her regal grace was something that she practiced. I love that she was a quiet, shy, awkward girl in stunning contrast to the woman she had to become. Although she grows out of the awkwardness, I get so vividly that the real Irene is STILL quiet and shy even when Attolia is commanding, enduring, regal and not to be fucked with.

I love that in a similar way that MWT organizes our six protagonists in perfect contrast with each other, three light skinned (Irene, Sophos, Costis) three dark skinned (Eugenides, Helen, Kamet), three masculine and male bodied (Eugenides, Costis, Sophos), and three feminine and/or female bodied (Irene, Helen, and Kamet-- clearly a feminine energy in a male body... e.g. Godekker referring to him as “pretty.”) she also subtly has a yin-yang balance going on in each character’s athleticism/physical abilities. I see this as being the three who seemed to be at ease and capable inhabiting their bodies from the beginning vs. the lesser athletes who had to grow into their athletic abilities later on: On one side, Eugenides, Obviously. I mean, the one-handed handstands, the master duelist, leaping across rooftops, for fucks sake! Enough said. The more subtle of the three, but I feel still deserves this category: Helen, a trained soldier since childhood, in stance and skill, “not quite as dangerous as a male soldier twice her size,” but alarmingly close. AND OH MY GOD COSTIS. I will never, ever forget how that scene in TAT where he stealthily breaks the necks of the slavers and then catlike, sets to work undoing their chains, kills multiple soldiers with one stone (as Gen can), muscles rippling at every turn, stealing from mountain lions, reading how strong, strapping, competent a soldier and survivalist Costis is was nothing short of ecstatic. These three all probably know how to swim (even Gen with one hand). On the other side, the lesser athletes, the ones that had a learning curve learning how to be comfortable and capable in their bodies: Sophos who was mediocre or downright wimpy at most things physical for a good part of childhood, luckily puberty was generous to him and enslavement was strengthening. Sophos turned out admirably, or at least passably strong, capable and competent, shooting a pistol, shoveling dirt, building walls. Oooh my mouth was watering when MWT described how his shoulders had broadened from the hours of fieldwork. Helen might possibly be better at fighting a battle than him (or maybe he was just being humble when he was talking about how he was waving his sword around trying not to cut the ears off his own horse, lol)... And I don’t even need to say anything about Kamet, who keels over like a flower at even the most remote of physical demand, who has to be towed along in shallow water, Kamet needs no explaining here. And then Irene.... the disadvantage of being genetically inclined to being built like a supermodel is the initial growth spurts are jarring... she occasionally gets “ungainly with hesitation.” Categorizing Irene on this side is probably more because as an Attolian female, her culture kept her chained to a loom and denied her the chances to explore her physical potential until much later in life where she learned to ride and hunt on horseback and use knives and shoot pistols. Like Sophos, I imagine Irene ended up perfectly competent, but the learning curve was longer for these three (and even Kamet gets whipped into shape on his journey across the empire). However, someone needs to teach Irene and Kamet how to swim... I know this is insanely long but I just could not stop! and I thought about cutting it into pieces... I might still to make it more manageable, yet there’s something satisfying about letting it all flow forth until it doesn’t and seeing the thought process as complete. @amuseoffyre @artfrostedleaf @goatfoot-of-attolia @hamiathiesgift @hamiathesgiftexchange @gaycostis @eddisian @eddis-attolia-sounis @shebsart @mander-draws @november-branches @queenofattolia @queensandkingsofattolia @fuckyeahqueensthief @queensthiefobsession @queensthieffanfiction @ladyvoh @eediis @eddisianrchive @goatfoot-of-attolia @go-to-bed-eugenides @survivablyso @eileenpotter @throwaninkpot @bookaddict7342 @ibmiller Please know that if I tagged you in this... it’s because I know you to be passionate about the Queen’s Thief in some way and I hope to invite in the kind of dialogue about this extraordinary saga that so fills my soul. (whether be it by reblog posts, or rapid fire one on one messaging) Please consider any of the above to be prompts or I would gladly converse with you about anything else ... this is the kind of stuff I live for and I can hardly believe that there is a like-minded tumblr / sounis livejournal community that also lives for it.

#queen's thief #queen of attolia #king of attolia #conspiracy of kings #thick as thieves #qtappreciation #eugenides-and-irene #eugenides-x-irene #irene-of-attolia #attolia #attolis #gen #megan whalen turner #character analysis #my fictional loves

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moonmonogatari · 7 years

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{ ALSO since there are some changes happening, I’m going to answer all of these just to get things rolling? It’ll be long so it’ll be underneath! }

01. What does your character’s name mean? Did you pick it for the symbolism, or did you just like the way it sounded?

{ It is indeed symbolic! Kaguya-hime, aka Princess Kaguya, is the infamous moon princess from the story “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter”. Hence her given name aha~ “Toudou” means “eastern cave”, which relates to her reclusive nature… her alias of “Bamboo Cutter” also comes from the story! }

02. What is one of your character’s biggest insecurities? Are they able to hide it easily or can others easily exploit this weakness?

{ She doesn’t view herself as someone who fits in. She’s always been an outsider, and it scares her. She plays it off with her usually carefree mask, but in reality, she’s terrified of being left all alone... }

03. What would be their favorite physical trait about themselves?

{ She actually does find herself very pretty! Despite the several instances of cutting and dying her hair, testing makeup, playing with lots of clothing styles...huh...maybe she doesn’t like herself...? }

04. What are their favorite traits about their lover? (one psychological and one physical)

{ OHHH her crush you mean? His positive and carefree attitude always gives her hope. As for physical...what doesn’t she like?}

05. Are they sexually confident or more of the shy type?

{ Not really no aha. Romance is nice though~}

06. Do they have any hobbies that their lover finds unusual, odd, or otherwise annoying?

{ stop with the lover stuff shhhh She crafts a lot! All kinds! She’s also really into videogames and stretching. She likes to keep her body flexible???}

07. Is there a catchphrase or sound that they tend to make a lot (likely without being aware of it)?

{ “Pipopaaa!~” usually when doing something she finds cool on the computer. }

08. What is, perhaps, their biggest flaw? Are they aware of this or oblivious to it?

{ She lies. Lies, lies, lies...but she can’t stop. It keeps her safe. She’s well aware of this though, but isn’t sure how to be honest with herself.}

09. Do they have a favorite season? What about a favorite holiday?

{ She doesn’t have a preference! Whenever the sky is clear enough to watch the sky, really. She isn’t a fan of super hot weather though… Tanabata is her favorite holiday! }

10. Is your character more feminine or masculine?

{ Feminine! }

11. What is something that would make your character fly into a rage?

{ It’s pretty hard to get her that angry...usually she just smiles and simmers behind your back... }

12. Is there some particular talent, skill, or attribute that they simply could not give up?

{ Without computers/technology, she’s useless. Or, so she believes. She needs this. }

13. What are your character’s sleeping habits? Heavy or light sleeper? Blanket stealer? One that always rolls onto the floor? Pushes their lover onto the floor? Sleep talker or walker?

{ Heavy sleeper, though, she doesn’t get to sleep much. Her own fault. Blanket thief all the way. Constantly rolling. Sleeps quietly. }

14. Do they live alone or with family? How do they feel about their family/roommates?

{ She no longer lives with her birth parents and has instead been taken in by the Nakamura family. Honestly, she loves them much more than her real parents. }

15. Is there a certain person in this world that they cannot stand? The very mention of this person’s name makes them tremble with anger or fear.

{ Not yet?~ }

16. Is your character the athletic type or more of a couch potato? What are some sports/games that they like?

{ COUCH POTATO, but she’s surprisingly pretty flexible and limber...}

17. Does your character have dreams of getting married and/or having children?

{ I wouldn’t say “dreams”, but, it would be nice one day...}

18. What kind of home would they want to live in? Where would they place this abode?

{ She can stay just about anywhere! I mean, she’s stayed overnight in her office before so... }

19. Would your character be the kind to get into fights? (physical or verbal) Would they be a good fighter or cave in rather easily?

{ She loves to tease others to make herself feel superior, so, that’ll cause some problems likely. It wouldn’t be smart to actually fight someone who’s connected to cops though...even if she totally deserves it. Kaguya can’t fight but she WILL hack your info and ruin your life. }

20. Does your character like animals? What are some of their favorite animals? Would they want pets? What about mythological creatures?

{ SHE LOVES THEM. Dogs are great, but she loves rabbits due to their connection with the moon. She had pet dog, who’s death she blames on her parents, and has a hamster now! She likes the concept of mythical creatures? }

21. What is one of your character’s biggest fears? How would they react when dealing with this fear?

{ Existential crises. She gets shockingly deep and usually cries... }

22. What kind of tattoos, piercings, birthmarks, freckles, and other such unique physical features do they have?

{ Just ear piercings! }

23. What is your character like when it comes to school? What subjects are they good/bad at? Do they get in trouble a lot or are well behaved?

{ She was quiet and got her work done; studying and learning come natural to her. She wasn’t well-liked by anyone though, including her teachers.}

24. In their own words, how would your character describe what their lover is like?

{ STOP- }

25. Is there something traumatic from your character’s past that greatly affects them even to this day?

{ Her first confrontation with the law. The interrogation and anything involving her case scares her still...even if it did bring her to where she is today.}

26. What is their lover like sexually? How do they feel about their lover’s quirks, needs, etc?

{ S T O P }

27. If your character was going to get arrested, what would be the most likely reason for it?

{ She technically already has been? Hacking. }

28. If your character became a celebrity, what would they be famous for?

{ She hopes, for something related to space. She loves space more than anything on this planet... }

29. What is one of the most courageous things your character has ever done for a loved one?

{ Not sure! She’d do anything for them though, even if it’s risky... }

30. When it comes to the arts (music, film, theater, etc), what does your character like?

{ She loves shoujo manga and idolizes a certain doujin author. For videogames, she likes rhythm and puzzles. }

31. Would your character be the kind capable of killing? Would they enjoy killing or only use it when necessary or, perhaps, refuse to kill no matter what?

{ Though a bit apprehensive about how things would turn out, Kaguya is absolutely willing to kill if it will help her reach her goals. Seeing as her overall outlook on humanity has diminished, it doesn’t bother her much…that being said, I’m not sure if she could kill someone directly? She’d likely find some sort of sneaky way to indirectly cause their death. }

32. If your character’s lover offered to take them out on a dream date, what would they want to do?

{ Whatever he wanted to do! }

33. If your character wanted to be alone, where would they go?

{ Locked up in her office. She has a “DO NOT DISTURB” sign she made herself that’s freaked most of the others out. Maybe the arcade? }

34. Does your character have favorite foods? (breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks, etc)

{ SNACKS. Anything you can find in a konbini, she can be seen scarfing down constantly. She’s also a huge fan of Asako’s croquettes. }

35. Is your character afraid of death? If they got to choose how to die, how would they want to go?

{ Yes and Yes. }

36. Does your character have any medical conditions? Are they serious or minor? Do they affect their day to day life?

{ Do mental illnesses count? Because at this point in her life, she absolutely has some serious depression problems that kick her every day. She won’t take any medication for it or treat herself, because she’s just accepted that so long as things stay the way they are, she will always be like this… }

37. What are some of your character’s pet peeves? What are some things that annoy them or disgust them?

{ Misunderstand space, think Pluto is a planet, talk about the way she dresses, like certain videogames... }

38. What kind of weather does your character like? Cloudy skies, rainy days, sunshine, etc?

{ Clear skies, obviously! …but she does enjoy rainstorms when she’s extra moody… }

39. When people look at your character, is there some assumption they might make about them just by appearance? Is that assumption correct?

{ That she’s up to no good. They’re right. }

40. Does your OC have any guilty pleasures they enjoy? Hobbies, past times, music, etc that they wouldn’t want known by others?

{ Otome games. She’s played Mystic Messenger to completion and swears 707 is the ideal man-- }

41. Does your character’s family affect your character in any way?

{ She tries to act her best for the Nakamuras, not wanting to trouble them any more than she has. Sometimes she slips up and gets into fights with Nakamura though...}

42. Is there anything in your character’s past that they regret, haunts them, or they wish they could change?

{ Possibly all of it? She’s not sure...she just wants to be happy, and she isn’t. }

43. Does your character have a switch that changes aspects of their personality whether they are around friends, family, etc. Is there someone who gets to see their true self?

{ Kaguya wears a mask almost 24/7. Nakamura-san was the first to see her break down to her true self. She’s slipped up around close friends before... }

44. Is there a particular event that would emotionally devastate your character?

{ Being rejected. }

45. Is your character the kind to hide their true emotions or do they wear their heart on their sleeve?

{ VERY HIDDEN. }

46. What is some random affectionate thing that your character always does to their lover?

{ I SAID STOP }

47. Is your character outgoing? Would they be the leader of the friend group, or the quiet one that gets dragged along?

{ She’s somehow both of them? The outgoing part is mostly faked, but, she enjoys it from time to time. She’d much prefer to be dragged along, if she’s honest... }

48. Is there anything in particular that would ignite your character’s jealousy? Or does your character not get envious?

{ SHE’S A VERY JEALOUS GIRL HHHH. You name it, she can get jealous over it... }

49. What is something that your character has nightmares about? Are these frequent? Do they heavily affect your character’s mood?

{ She has nightmares a lot, but, of nothing specific. The kind of random nightmares that leave you thinking “wtf” and just make you feel bad. }

50. If your character confessed love to their crush, boyfriend, girlfriend, etc, what would they say?

{ SHE’S WORKING ON IT AHHH- }

#*oc info*

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historyofthebatman · 8 years

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50 Tales for 50 Years: A Celebration of Barbara Gordon: 1996 - Oracle: Year One: In the publication "The Batman Chronicles", several stories in each issue would feature Batman, his allies or his foes in a unique tale or origin. In issue 5 from June 1995, John Ostrander, co-creator of Barbara Gordon's persona Oracle, wrote this persona's origin story, illustrated by Brian Stelfreeze and Karl Story. The tale picks up in a hospital days after Barbara has been shot by The Joker (originally in Alan Moore's 'Batman: The Killing Joke). As Barbara keeps reliving the horrific event, when Batman visits her in her room, Barbara tells him her biggest frustration other than this new disability: she was used by Joker as a pawn just to get the attention of Batman. When she is brought home by her father, Commissioner Gordon, she begins to fall into a deep depression. But soon she decides not to continue to be the victim and to utilize the skills she acquired even before she was Gotham City's Batgirl. As she begins her online life and computer hacking, she also takes on one of her father's cases without his knowledge, tracking down an online money launderer named Interface. When an altercation with the thief enters real life and she is confronted on the street, she decides after being knocked out of her wheelchair she wants to learn how to fight to get stronger. She then discovers a man named Richard Dragon who teaches her mind and body the art of Escrima. One night in a dream, Barbara is in Delphi, Greece and is met by an oracle. When Babs asks who is she now in this stage of her life, the oracle lets her know she has never lost herself and can move forward as strong as ever. Taking this vision to heart, Barbara decides to name herself Oracle but not use it as a mask to hide behind like the cowl she wore before, but to reinvent herself. In a matter of weeks, Oracle finds Interface and has to turn herself into the police once Babs has her mind (which is linked to a computer) locked into a program. The story ends with Barbara happy with how far she has come since the traumatic experience and she feels like a whole person once again. ✌🏼️💛💜📖🎨🎉

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thegloober · 6 years

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Bright Wall/Dark Room October 2018: A Story with A Ghost in It: On Family, Trauma, and Hope in Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak

by The Editors

October 9, 2018 |

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We are pleased to offer an excerpt from the latest edition of the online magazine, Bright Wall/Dark Room. The theme for their October issue is “The Uncanny,” and in addition to the “Crimson Peak” essay by Kate Horowitz below, they’ll also be featuring pieces on “Annihilation,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Step Brothers,” “Minority Report,” “Birth,” “Nocturnal Animals,” “The Swimmer,” “A Serious Man,” “Stoker,” “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” “Yolanda and the Thief,” “Gattaca,” and “Nocturnal Animals.” The above art is by Tony Stella.

You can read our previous excerpts from the magazine by clicking here. To subscribe to Bright Wall/Dark Room, or look at their most recent essays, click here.

I used to have a t-shirt with a cartoon of an axe murderer on it. The killer clutched her still-dripping weapon in one hand, a man’s severed head in the other. She wore a polo shirt and an expression of abject horror. OH NO, read the caption. I’VE BECOME MY MOTHER.

The joke is that the killer needs to reassess her priorities. The joke is that a woman in golfing attire has removed a man’s head from his body. The joke is that we can’t outrun our roots. The joke is that buckets of blood are her birthright, that this violence was inevitable.

On its surface, Guillermo del Toro’s film Crimson Peak presents the same story. The tale of creepy British nobles (Tom Hiddleston and a gloatingly-villainous Jessica Chastain) luring an American heiress (Mia Wasikowska) to their haunted mansion hits all the major gothic horror notes: the gauzy nightgowns, the poisoned tea. A little dog trotting curiously down a darkened hallway. Dark legacies. Axe murder.

But all of this is beside the point. On this subject, del Toro has been quite vocal, both personally—“Crimson Peak is not a horror movie,” he insisted in interviews—and through his plucky hero, the heiress/writer Edith Cushing. Her novel is not a ghost story, she explains to a patronizing publisher. “It’s more a story with a ghost in it.”

We’re meant to chuckle, here; it’s understood that Edith’s defensive pedantry is del Toro winking at his own reflection. Yet the distinction still matters, because this really isn’t a story about ghosts. It’s about learning to listen to them.

All three of the film’s central characters faced gruesome trauma as children. Edith was visited by ghostly visions of her mother’s blackened, decaying corpse; Sharpe siblings Thomas and Lucille endured far, far worse. Young Lucille bravely bore the brunt of her family’s violence, but no child’s body could possibly contain it all. Her impulse to protect her little brother twisted into something terrible. The horror began to surge forth from her. It didn’t stop.

These are, of course, extreme cases, the awfulness aggrandized for dramatic effect. Technically, trauma is any experience that makes a person feel unsafe and overwhelms their ability to cope. That might be extreme violence like military combat or sexual assault. It might be an accident like a car crash, or sustained stress like chronic pain or emotional abuse. Too much happens too fast, or for too long.

Which is to say: trauma befalls everyone at one time or another. But not everyone develops post-traumatic stress. The difference between someone with PTSD and someone without is not, experts say, the nature or severity of the event, but whether the person in question can regain a sense of safety, and process what’s just happened. We need social support in order to soothe our activated nervous systems. We also need to physically release our panic-fueled energy. Sometimes that looks like fighting back. Sometimes it means running away.

Family violence is often bound up in secrecy, creating a closed system that normalizes dysfunction. Children born into these systems may be trained from birth to accept abuse, no matter how it might hurt them. They may be taught that destructive behavior—others’, and, often, eventually, their own—is an ugly fact of life rather than a decision. They may be told that it’s unsafe to leave.

A stranger tried to abduct me when I was 17. I was lucky; I realized what was happening just in time and ran. It would happen again a few years later, and I would begin to wonder, because how could I not, if everything my mother had said when I was a child was true. If I really was too cute and little! for my own good. If venturing outside alone was inviting violation. If it really would be better to stay in the house, no matter who or what else was in there with me.

Trauma psychology is still a young field; our understanding of what trauma is and how to treat it is constantly shifting. Many psychologists argue that post-traumatic stress is not an illness but a healthy response to unbearable circumstances, that aftereffects like panic attacks and hypervigilance are survival mechanisms activated by a body under siege. These practitioners believe that the focus of recovery should not be suppressing a person’s so-called symptoms, nor erasing a traumatic event from their memory. It should be helping the traumatized person pay attention to what their body is telling them—to help them finally find their way to safety.

Crimson Peak’s Edith seems to know this instinctively. Raised by a loving father in a warm, sturdy home, Edith is equipped with the resources she needs to carry on despite her losses. She grows into a compassionate and courageous woman. This doesn’t mean that she is not haunted wherever she goes. It means that when the ghosts appear, grotesque and terrifying though they may be, Edith does something extraordinary: she asks the moaning phantoms what they want. And, when they tell her to flee, she heeds them.

Thomas and Lucille spent their early years locked in an attic. They never once knew safety or a parent’s love. They also never developed Edith’s uncanny talent for seeing the dead. Unfortunately, this doesn’t spare them from being haunted. The red riptide of their past drags them endlessly toward a red horizon. They do a lot of very bad things. They can’t conceive of doing anything else.

When Thomas and Edith first meet, he is mystified by her wild ideas about free will. He devours her story-with-a-ghost-in-it while she’s still writing it.

(reading): This fellow Cavendish, your hero.>span class=”Apple-converted-space”>

THOMAS: There’s a darkness to him. I like him.

THOMAS: Does he make it all the way through?

EDITH: It’s entirely up to him.

THOMAS: What do you mean?

EDITH: Well, characters talk to you. They transform.

EDITH: They make choices.

THOMAS: Choices.

EDITH: As to who they become.

The Sharpes set a marriage trap, and lovely Edith gamely wanders in. She does not share her wealthy, protective father’s distrust of her suitor. She also does not doubt the accidental nature of her wealthy, protective father’s sudden death.

Thomas brings his new bride home to desolate Allerdale Hall. The Sharpe family home is in a state of literal collapse. Snow and dead leaves fall softly through room-sized holes in the rotting roof. A pit of liquid red clay oozes beneath the house like an open wound.

At first Edith roams the halls too freely, disturbing the mansion’s deadly stillness. The house’s ghosts shriek and snatch at her with their mangled hands; Edith holds out an open hand in return. She listens to what they have to say. Cracks appear in Lucille’s chilling composure. This is not how it’s supposed to go. Thomas’ resolve wavers. Crimson clay bleeds through the walls.

But before long the poisoned tea does its work, and Edith’s bright eyes dim. Even as the ghosts accosting her grow more insistent, escape becomes harder to imagine.

EDITH: I have to leave. I have to get away from here.

LUCILLE: Edith, this is your home now.

LUCILLE: You have nowhere else to go.

Yes, is the answer. I do.

A moth is not the opposite of a butterfly, nor a refutation of it. The differences between them—genetically, aesthetically, behaviorally—are infinitesimal compared with all they have in common. And a blonde woman is not the opposite of a brunette, even if the brunette murders people. They are both human, and haunted, and falling apart. By the time this is all over, they’ll both have blood in their mouths.

My heart is tender, as Edith’s is, and as Lucille’s was, once. And like Lucille, over the years I did more than my share of damage.

These days, I feel most like Thomas: scarred and remorseful, stepping hopefully over the threshold.

“Trauma is a fact of life,” writes psychologist Peter Levine in his book Waking the Tiger. “It does not, however, have to be a life sentence.”

Survival often comes down to chance or privilege or luck. Being born into a safer body, or family, or world. Realizing the danger you’re in before it’s too late to run. Being able to run. Having someplace safe to go. Finding the right self-help book or support group or therapist or meditation or medication or poem or prayer or all of the above. Deciding on a whim to listen to an album or watch a TV show that ends up saving your life. Meeting someone who says, Why are you doing this?, which is another way of saying, You don’t have to do this, which is another way of saying You get to choose what kind of person you become. Realizing that they’re right.

When my realization came, I knew I had to tell my mother. I sat her down at my dining-room table, took a deep breath, and started weeping. She pulled me into her lap and held me tight. I was 33 years old.

I told her that I was making some big changes in my life. I outlined for her the size and shape of my dysfunction. She was silent for what felt like a long time. When at last she spoke, it was through a pained smile. “Well,” she said, “you certainly come by it honestly.”

Del Toro may disagree, but to me the climax of Crimson Peak is the moment Thomas��passive, tormented Thomas—makes the improbable decision to escape with Edith, and his sister, if he can.

THOMAS: We can leave, Lucille, leave Allerdale Hall.

LUCILLE: Leave?

THOMAS: Think about it. We can start a new life.

LUCILLE: Where?

THOMAS: Anywhere. It doesn’t matter.

I won’t claim that Crimson Peak has a happy ending. Lucille dies, and Thomas dies too, horribly; our curses and demons don’t give us up easily. Still, the last moments of Thomas’ life are brave ones, and his fleeting afterlife is expended helping Edith escape. The ghost of Thomas Sharpe bids his wife a loving goodbye—and then, at last, he leaves.

The axe murderer t-shirt eventually went to Goodwill. It wasn’t that my sense of humor matured; if anything, the older I get, the harder that horrible cartoon makes me laugh. What changed was my willingness to dress myself in violence. We can’t control what happens to us, or the stories we’re born into. But we don’t have to live, or die, or kill, inside these bloody houses. We can leave, Lucille. We can leave.

Previous Article: Scott Wilson: 1942-2018

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Source: https://bloghyped.com/bright-wall-dark-room-october-2018-a-story-with-a-ghost-in-it-on-family-trauma-and-hope-in-guillermo-del-toros-crimson-peak/

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mrmichaelchadler · 6 years

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Bright Wall/Dark Room October 2018: A Story with A Ghost in It: On Family, Trauma, and Hope in Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak

We are pleased to offer an excerpt from the latest edition of the online magazine, Bright Wall/Dark Room. The theme for their October issue is "The Uncanny," and in addition to the "Crimson Peak" essay by Kate Horowitz below, they'll also be featuring pieces on "Annihilation," "Rosemary's Baby," "Step Brothers," "Minority Report," "Birth," "Nocturnal Animals," "The Swimmer," "A Serious Man," "Stoker," "The Killing of a Sacred Deer," "Yolanda and the Thief," "Gattaca," and "Nocturnal Animals." The above art is by Tony Stella.

You can read our previous excerpts from the magazine by clicking here. To subscribe to Bright Wall/Dark Room, or look at their most recent essays, click here.

When Thomas and Edith first meet, he is mystified by her wild ideas about free will. He devours her story-with-a-ghost-in-it while she’s still writing it.

(reading): This fellow Cavendish, your hero.>span class="Apple-converted-space">

THOMAS: There’s a darkness to him. I like him.

THOMAS: Does he make it all the way through?

EDITH: It’s entirely up to him.

THOMAS: What do you mean?

EDITH: Well, characters talk to you. They transform.

EDITH: They make choices.

THOMAS: Choices.

EDITH: As to who they become.

But before long the poisoned tea does its work, and Edith’s bright eyes dim. Even as the ghosts accosting her grow more insistent, escape becomes harder to imagine.

EDITH: I have to leave. I have to get away from here.

LUCILLE: Edith, this is your home now.

LUCILLE: You have nowhere else to go.

Yes, is the answer. I do.

My heart is tender, as Edith’s is, and as Lucille’s was, once. And like Lucille, over the years I did more than my share of damage.

These days, I feel most like Thomas: scarred and remorseful, stepping hopefully over the threshold.

“Trauma is a fact of life,” writes psychologist Peter Levine in his book Waking the Tiger. “It does not, however, have to be a life sentence.”

Del Toro may disagree, but to me the climax of Crimson Peak is the moment Thomas—passive, tormented Thomas—makes the improbable decision to escape with Edith, and his sister, if he can.

THOMAS: We can leave, Lucille, leave Allerdale Hall.

LUCILLE: Leave?

THOMAS: Think about it. We can start a new life.

LUCILLE: Where?

THOMAS: Anywhere. It doesn’t matter.

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