#theme: tragedy

[araekniarchive]

eve, after the fall (auguste rodin; bronze, 1883)

Mark Twain, The Diaries of Adam and Eve // Hozier, From Eden // Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber // Frank Bidart, The War of Vaslav Nijinsky // Eagles, The Last Resort // Anne Sexton, Words for Dr. Y

[howlingtothevoid]

Begging God to fix you!

(And other tales about religious trauma)

[hamletthedane]

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“This was always going to happen/She’s been dead since the beginning” in the tragedies of William Shakespeare

+ Bonus - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard:

[raayllum]

you can never control us.

[nabaath-areng]

The Warrior of Light was subsequently banned from the Leveilleur household.

[sideblogdotjpeg]

friend suggested hadestown wait for me as a naddpod c3 song. and. man. the PARALLELS. anyway heres calliope as orpheus

[adriles]

waking up in the middle of the night, gripped by unending sorrow, yelling, sobbing, punching my pillows, because i have forgotten to bury patroclus

[aethersea]

devastating to go into the tag for an obscure vampire movie I've been quietly obsessed with for years to find mostly gifsets of minor characters (played by big-name actors) and review blogs saying they didn't like it :(

@ everyone who made a post saying "I liked it :)" I am blowing you a kiss. everyone who made a lovely gifset or photoset of the cinematography I am tipping my hat. that one poster that said "bro did y'all just miss the Entire Message about class and race or???" I am shaking your hand with enthusiasm there was SUCH a message about class and race

anyway everybody should watch Night Teeth and revel in glitzy flashy modern vampires in LA with me

[plasma-studios]

had some thoughts about the Dreamtale twins + Cross in the typical UTMV setting

@zu-is-here my apologies for tagging you in such a long post, just wanted to hear your thoughts on this analysis! (cream brainrot go brrrrrr)

Cross is a foil of both Dream and Nightmare.

Let me elaborate; they all share a mistake (or at the very least a perceived mistake) made that ended in the destruction of their world and loss of their family. Dream and Nightmare with Dreamtale, Cross with XTale.

In Nightmare's case, his mistake drives him down a path of self-destruction when he's corrupted by the apple as he loses himself. This is paralleled by Cross' own self-loathing created by his own mistake in XTale's last timeline. This mistake drives them down a path of self-destruction, and it isolates them.

In Dream's case, he also made a mistake (or, a perceived one, be it unintentional neglect or ignorance of Nightmare's situation depending on the interpretation) that cost him both his world (Dreamtale) and his family (Nightmare).

However, although Cross is a foil of both, it is with Dream where he can find healing with because of one key difference between the aftermath of how Dream and Nightmare's respective mistakes, of the difference of how they emerged from their mutual tragedy.

2. The parallel between their tragedies

Nightmare's story was and is a tragedy. The story of XTale is also a tragedy. Dreamtale is in itself a tragedy, from Nim's departure fueled by paranoia of her peers to her dying alone because of it. From the very start it was a tragedy. Though the birth of the Dreamtale twins was indeed a hope born of Nim's death, they too suffered their own tragedy of the Apple Incident.

There we see a pattern. Tragedy, hope, then tragedy.

But after tragedy, is hope. And that hope in this iteration of the cycle is Dream. Dream is a representation of how kindness and hope can survive through tragedy. That no mistake is unforgivable, unsalvageable.

That concept of how no mistake is salvageable is exactly what a self-loathing Cross needs. Does he not have the tendency to hold onto his sin, his mistakes? And his self-loathing, self-blame. Dream's existence is a manifestation of the antithesis to what he believes himself to be: there is more to post-tragedy than pain, than regret, than shame. He still has the capacity to be kind. to love. He is still able to love, and be loved. He is not unsalvageable.

3. As such, Dream is Cross' penance.

Dream represents both how a sin/fault, no matter how disastrous or destructive, is the end of. Dream represents the hope that contradicts the very idea of self-blame and self-damnation.

If Cross' sin is hating himself, healing is his penance. Forgiving himself, his own mistakes, through the embodiment of a mistake repented for through kindness. Through Dream.

Dream is his penance for his sin against himself.

And thus, Dream is Cross' weakness because he is Cross' penance.

4. Because Cross is a foil of Nightmare, Cross is also Dream's penance.

Even if Dream could not save his brother from losing himself, at least he could save someone from their self-destruction. At least, this time, he could save someone from themself.

As such, Cross is Dream's weakness because he is Dream's penance.

[shesacarver]

im rlly hoping that . the recent return of blurryface era themes . means the next album is gonna sound sorta like blurryface

imo blurryface as a whole kinda gets Overlooked ? a lot of attention is placed on the fact tht its The album . its The pilots album … a lot of the less popular songs r overshadowed by stressed out and ride and tear in my heart

and like not that thats a Bad thing . all 3 are great songs . But . i think it gives off a false impression of the album … the songs r supposed to represent the bishops ,, who r quite literally the Most fucked up guys . it Should be a little bit scary . and i hope the next album sorta conveys tht better

i neeed the next album to sound dark and disgusting dude i NEED it to be heavy and menacing . i need it to sound like ritual music like polarize and message man . i need it to be aggressive like heavydirtysoul and lane boy . i need it to be absolutely tragic like goner . i need another joshler love song like wdbwotv . tyler joseph please do my wife ( blurryface ( album ) ) justice

[mechanicalchickens]

mitzi's pearl necklace as a microcosm for this whole mess....

it's a symbol of her life with Atlas and her relationship with him -- she sees it as a way that Atlas made her a 'a lady', made her feel like she wasn't 'tawdry' (note how easily she slips into reminiscing about the memories linked to it, even to Zib, who knows the story). Atlas probably purchased it with blood money. Once the necklace snaps, it's basically impossible to put it back together without covering yourself in gutter dirt, but she can't bring herself to let go. She eventually gets the physical symbol of the memories back(rethreading the necklace), but it's a hollow victory. It won't bring back Atlas, and it comes at the cost of collateral damage (rip virgil) and alienating Zib.

Mitzi, you can't go back! you can fight and scratch and claw but you can never go back! What you are searching for is not something that can be put back together. girl, you are looking back, and you are getting lost.

[absolutely-not-my-main-blog]

Everyone says they love a devastatingly painfully slow burn romance until I, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia—

[merrysithmas]

Obi-wan and Padme as willfully obtuse rivals

Saw this Take on reddit the other day (I know) but I thought it was so perfectly written and captured exactly the dynamic I always felt Obi-wan and Padme to have. I never saw them as friends (and frankly I don't think the on-screen text supports them as friends). They certainly aren't enemies! They share a friend, they share traits, they even share respect for one another - but they are not in league with one another, and importantly they share a subtle current of mistrust for each one another.

Obi-wan outright states he does not trust politicians, Senators in particular. Padme willingly marries a Jedi which is against the Order and Senate's codes of conduct, and blatantly lies to Obi-wan for years. Obi-wan never confronts Padme about his concern for Anakin despite his growing observation of Anakin's instability. They both prefer, in a way, to pretend the other does not exist. Compartmentalized.

Padme and Obi-wan represent, thematically, a dual influence on Anakin - one he must famously choose between Jedi or Senate (spoiler alert: he ends up choosing himself, Sith). It is worthy to note that they hardly ever interact themselves - this is done on purpose.

It is essential for the tragedy narrative that Obi-wan and Padme do not collide and rarely interact with one another. It is their own personalities which ensure this. Years of subtle feigned ignorance between them and purported respect coupled with disinterested avoidance.

The two are almost eerily similar in their delusions (Padme is naive, Obi-wan is arrogant - yet neither believe they are), they overlap almost constantly in Anakin's life, but on their own they rarely interact together. They stubbornly refuse, both knowingly and unknowingly, to ever truly confront one another about this dangerous tug-of-war they are engaged in with Anakin as, for lack of better term, the object of their desire. Yet they are not, emphatically, a love triangle. Anakin is the prize. The Jedi and the Senate are competitors.

These negative aspects to their characterizations propels the Tragedy Narrative with Anakin/The Chosen One as the McGuffin forward. Neither the Jedi nor the Senate are willing to see the truth about Anakin, and both keep their intentions with him secret. Like Padme and Obi-wan, the Jedi & Senate never wanted to admit Anakin's fate might be multifaceted and linked to many different power structures, so instead they seek to direct him on their own.

Anakin as the Chosen One was essentially the harbinger of a message: the Order and Senate need to be dismantled and refurbished. They were corrupt - the same as Padme and Obi-wan (as figures in a Tragedy). But neither side could admit that.

Padme marries Anakin secretly and intends to take him away from a life of service (when she knows he is deeply conflicted about this, & she marries him when he is struck with unstable grief over Shmi), and Obi-wan is seemingly very aware the Council does not trust Anakin and is keeping him on the outside because of fear of his abilities (when he knows Anakin desperately wants to know the truth) - both of these things intend to direct Anakin, unknowingly. Anakin isn't getting what he needs in either direction, nor is he providing it. Nor is the Force - stuck in limbo between these two forces of "good" which are shutting out Skywalker from himself and each other.

Neither Obi-wan or Padme ever consider confiding in one another about this for years, nor does the Jedi & the Senate. It's because they do not want to. It's because deep down they do not trust each other, and importantly, they do not trust each other with Anakin. Despite pleasantries with one another, that mistrust is always there implied in the narrative. The only place Anakin overlaps in this realm is the War.

The war ending is almost unfathomable - because who will "win" Anakin? Anakin enjoys being a general in the War because he can fight for both the Jedi and the Senate, beside Obi-wan who is, ultimately, his true friend despite the struggle, and for Padme as a princess ideal on a distant planet. With the Jedi who he desperately wants to be (though they shut him out) and for the ideal of the Senate (but not truly having to deal with its realities). He is his happiest during the war - though it is an temporary balm, an illusion of inner peace.

Obi-wan and Padme orbit Anakin, each with their own gravitational pull -- Anakin is obsessed with and bound to Padme because of his trauma regarding Shmi (not, arguably, because of genuine selfless romantic love), and Anakin is duty-bound and desperate for Obi-wan's approval (despite, truthfully, having ideas and aspirations way outside the Jedi Code and Order). His fate with both of them is on a collision course for destruction from the get-go.

In the story, neither Obi-wan nor Padme end up being the final keeper of Anakin (Luke and Leia). Padme's death can be looked at as a narrative choice to show that Anakin's and Padme's relationship was founded on unstable principles (Shmi). Yet, he could not leave his soul in the hands of the Jedi (Obi-wan) either, and so destroyed them. Anakin's soul, the Chosen One, ends up in the hands of Bail Organa of Alderaan and the Lars family of Tatooine.

In the end, the children need protection from Vader. Vader of course represents the instability in both systems of Good (Senate and Jedi) and the Sith taking advantage of that. How the powers of Good can easily fall to the powers of Evil when they are divided, secretive, and especially when they seek to control for their own self-gain. I.e. Padme marrying Anakin, and Obi-wan being unable to admit Anakin's mistrust of the Jedi was founded.

Obi-wan and Padme are forced to finally confront one another upon Anakin's destruction. They are forced, in a way, to admit they played a part in it - specifically. The fact that Obi-wan essentially becomes the twins' defacto parent becomes all the more poignant because of this. Obi-wan and Padme, for lack of a better term, become one another's problem at last.

Obi-wan and Padme's dynamic is extremely interesting, and they do see one another as intellectual equals, even admire one another for their skill, but this admiration falls very quickly to their subtle mistrust of one another.

In the end, in OWK, it's obvious Obi-wan fondly recalls Padme with more than a little regret. He recalls a woman, who like him lost everything (and more, her own life!). In the kids, Luke and Leia, he sees hope for a better government (Leia) and a better Jedi order (Luke) - an answer to the mistakes of two parallel but unconnected people - Padme and himself.

The fact that the children are twins is a hopeful sign the future of the galaxy will be in harmony, not opposed to one another, as with the symbolism of he and Padme.

Leia and Luke are miraculously, as per the Force, a chance to redo both the Senate and the Jedi - a gift that could only be possible as the children of the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker.

The person they both loved wrong and lost.

[skybristle]

REBLOGS > LIKES [tags appreciated!]

💫"and when harmonia shines, atlas beholds her"🌙

[ocs co-owned with @c0okie-th0ughts :3]

[likeastars]

Bear with me- BEAR WITH ME A SECOND OK?

Episode 63's preview:

Literally every Romeo and Juliet painting ever:

I'M GONNA START BITING NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME

[karniss-bg3]

Where do you think Kar’niss got his sword? It’s a very nice sword. Not just some off the rack gear. And named as well—-

*drags palms over face* This effin’ SWOOOORD! It has haunted my nightmares since Kar’niss’ corpse first dumped it into my Tav’s lap. I’ve dug and dug and dug and I’m left with more questions than answers. Knowing my luck there is some obscure text or throwaway dialogue somewhere I’ve missed that might lend me a better clue. Damn you Baldur’s Gate 3, you’re too bloody big.

So, I began to write out this big blob of text going into the history of drow weaponry, hues of metals, in-game model comparisons, the stats on the damn thing, and so forth. I was out here looking like this guy for two hours.

Truth is, it’s really difficult to pinpoint the source of Kar’niss’ weapon. Not because there aren’t clues, but because Larian reuses longsword models so much that looking at the weapon alone isn’t solid enough. I almost came to the conclusion that it was an original drowcraft sword pre-1370’s DR until I discovered another sword model that was identical and not tied to drow at all. That and if it was truly a drowcraft weapon forged via faerzress methods then Larian would’ve changed the rules on how they worked. Which makes sense. It’s a fun bit of lore, but it would be a pain in the ass for a game mechanic. Who wants their badass weapons destroyed or losing all magical abilities when you leave the Underdark?

“ME ME ME,” said no one.

The only thing I can say for certain is that it is a drow forged weapon because it carries a buff that only activates if a drow elf is wielding it. It also seems to be perfect for a drider since it also has ensnaring strands, an attack that does 1d10 slashing damage and possibly enwebs the target. This works in conjunction with the added 1d4 poison damage to restrained targets. The swords description may hold the best clue of its origin:

“The trauma of becoming a drider is quickly set aside with a cold arachnid dispassion. This sword follows that disturbing trend - a replenishing poison gland is built within, deployed only against trapped opponents.”

This description and the name, Cruel Sting, lead me to believe the weapon...was a gift.

Imagine Kar’niss fresh from his transformation. He’s dazed, in pain, lost and alone. He’s been exiled from the only home he’s ever known and has lost favor with the Goddess he’s worshiped from birth. His future is uncertain and how long he has left to live is even less so. His mind is shattered, the incoherent thoughts his only remaining company. He hears frantic footsteps approaching from behind him and his already broken heart shrivels more. His kin have come to finish the job, to put him down, so enraged by the offense he caused Lolth. Weak and struggling to keep himself upright he turns to make a last stand, to show strength in his final moments, to die with some level of honor.

His resolve melts into confusion when he sees who is sprinting toward him. The individual would be unknown to us, but well known to him. A childhood friend? A lover? A confidant? Or perhaps someone he fought alongside faithfully for many years. Regardless of whom has arrived a strong bond is present between them. They approach and peer at what Kar’niss has become. Their face twists, a brief flash of sorrow betraying their features. Yet they cannot let it remain, nor are they able to stay with him for too long. Instead, they unsheathe a sword they brought with them, hurriedly holding it up to Kar’niss. Naturally he flinches at first, expecting the blade to pierce his flesh. The strike never comes, rather the new comer pushes it toward him with urgency, expecting him to take it.

Hesitantly Kar’niss complies, taking the hilt in hand and admiring the beautiful drow craftsmanship. He frowns, his eyes lingering on the one who brought it to him, too stunned to speak.

“It will protect you, Kar’niss,” they said in a hushed tone. “...Goodbye, and good luck.”

Kar’niss could do no more than stand there as their former companion darted off quick as a shot, not willing to run further risk of being seen with the newly transformed abomination. He clutched the sword close to him, the last connection he had to the life he lived before. It would forever act as a reminder of everything he has lost, the cruelest sting of them all.