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#to be equally invested
itspileofgoodthings · 2 years
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A Jonathan Byers Meta
I’ve been thinking so much about Jonathan Byers and I have some thoughts (again). (Feel free to reblog if you want but please be nice if you do so!) Jonathan is a person whose core trait, one of them at least, is that he responds so strongly to context and specifically to the kind of context he understands and wants, a trait of many oldest siblings I think. And in that context he can be so many things he is not necessarily in every area of his life. So much of that forward moving momentum he has in the first couple episodes of the show where he’s doing so much so powerfully is caused by it being a context he understands and has chosen to embrace and live out to the fullest- the context of him being the most responsible/capable member of the family. He loves Joyce and Will; he hates Lonny and is going to keep him away from his family at all costs; he considers himself the one in charge. And there is a softness and strength to that that feels absolutely luminous, that feels like nothing can shake it. And so as the show goes on and the lens widens to include more characters and perspectives it feels like Jonathan loses power/feels a little lost/drifts out of the center of the story. And for a long time I considered that a failure of the writers. They paid attention to him at the beginning, I thought, but then dropped him and that wasn’t his fault. But I rewatched Stranger things (seasons 1 and 2) this past spring and actually the thing I saw that surprised me is it makes sense on a character level that he loses that central ground and power so to speak because he is put into a context he no longer really understands or just as importantly doesn’t really want to be in. And yeah I’m talking about his dynamic with Nancy. His dynamic with Nancy in those first few seasons confused me the most and for the longest time because it began so powerfully and then felt like it veered off course. I loved it so much, shipped it so completely, and then lost interest as the show goes. And again I blamed that on the writers (in a way I still kind of do because they’re clumsy but more on that in a minute.) But I think there’s more going on on a character level.
The first beats of Nancy and Jonathan’s story feel so powerful because it’s actually part of that same context of compelling power in which we first meet Jonathan (and if you’re me fall in love with him fast). Will is missing and Nancy steps in to not exactly his place in Jonathan’s family but the position he occupied--and that’s because a) she is trying to solve a problem that is connected with Will’s disappearance, b) she needs help while doing so. Jonathan responds to that context effortlessly and powerfully. He joins forces with her and without any question or hesitation takes care of her physically when she’s in danger. It’s surprising and it’s moving and it feels at first like just an extension of that quiet competence and force of personality we witnessed in the first couple episodes but this time in a romantic context. But actually, it still isn’t romantic with him. It isn’t for him for a long time. Basically until the writers force his hand. And that’s because ---and this SHOCKED me when I rewatched the first two seasons a month ago, almost to the point of anger and quitting the show forever--the show never actually succeeds in establishing that he likes Nancy as a person! It’s clear that the writers intend the audience to pick up on that subtext (or I think it’s clear that that’s what they want) but they bungle it badly if so. The actual basic cues that would tell us Jonathan has a crush on Nancy and have us buy it as a believable emotional experience are missing. There isn’t a scene or even a moment where in any way Jonathan expresses any kind of romantic interest in Nancy at the beginning of the show. It’s not part of the establishing his character. His reasons for taking pictures at the party are muddled from the perspective the show is trying to force and it doesn’t work because all Jonathan has done is be vaguely polite to Nancy at school, caught her eye (quite frankly ACCIDENTALLY that one time), and disappeared down the hallway at the speed of light every time she turns around. She was far more intrigued than he was. The show gives us that moment with tears in his eyes where we’re supposed to believe (I think?????) that he’s so upset she’s with Steve but it’s incongruous and feels so weird and jarring you kind of have to throw it out. Because the show hasn’t done any work of telling us why that would be the case at all. No pining gaze! No mention! No conversation! The conversation they have in the hallway doesn’t communicate longing on his part, only a desire to be away from the cool kids. There isn’t even a time where someone else teases him about his crush on Nancy, the easiest way to introduce the fact of one character liking another. It’s not much of a stretch to believe that he hasn’t really thought about Nancy romantically at all. In fact it’s honestly a stretch to think he does. And there other reasons for his being there that make more sense--though I do think it’s bungled from a writing perspective. He misses Will, he’s out looking for Will, photography is his passion (lol), he doesn’t like the cool kids, he stumbles on their party “eh might as well take a picture and be the cool outside observer that he is.”
And because the writers didn’t give us a clear and unambiguous liking of Nancy from Jonathan as a starting point everything that comes after between them, even romantically or romantically-adjacent in that first season, hits differently once you watch it patiently and closely. It becomes clear that all of Jonathan’s care-taking of her is response not to her as a person he is romantically interested in, but response to context, to being the responsible one, the helper. He gets out her sleeping bag and puts it on the floor because he’s really not thinking with any part of his brain about how he’s in the room of the girl he likes. Because he’s not! He’s there as a larger part of the context the show established for him in the first couple episodes--his family, his role as caretaker. And of course that doesn’t mean that Jonathan couldn’t fall in love with her later just because the story never actually established that he liked her romantically when it thinks it does. Of course that could come later, come OUT of their interactions. but .... it doesn’t. It never really comes through. The most powerful part of their story together is the first part because it’s the only time in their relationship where Jonathan is moving with that characteristic firm decision making and competence. He’s very powerful when he’s saving her life. But everything else feels flat. And part of that is because he’s not a person who changes easily or very much at all. There are things about him that feel powerful and real and RIGHT and then there are things that just feel like him doing what the writers want him to do and those aren’t the same. Everything having to do with Nancy romantically feels like the second thing, like something the writers are making them do. The show even has to use Murray to get their romance actually jump-started because these aren’t really characters electrically drawn together. And so some of the stuff he says, the romantic stuff--it’s easy to handwave. And/or to find other reasons. And no this doesn’t have anything to do with shipping bias, though my shipping has been influenced by paying close attention to his behavior and actions. Because despite the power of Charlie Heaton in a gray sweater backlit by the red light of the darkroom with his hair falling over his face, nothing about it hits the way a Jonathan emotion should hit. And it should hit! The right stuff does! He’s brilliantly and truthfully acted and he’s layered and the right Jonathan moments SING. He’s not really a talker, not fundamentally, he doesn’t show his heart that way but in actions and only some of his actions with Nancy, the ones that really are just part of the context he’s comfortable with, really ring true. The point that I’m trying to get at is that when you look at those first few episodes really closely, emotionally there are only really three things that are actually--in character and in truth-- established about Jonathan’s heart. 
They are. One- he loves Will. Will is his person, his world, the center. The one he’s always going to protect first, think about first. Will tells us he doesn’t have friends and Jonathan protests it but that probably came from somewhere. His favorite person in the WORLD is Will. The context of Will’s disappearance highlights that so clearly of course but I think we’d see it even without that. The second thing is that he loves Joyce but he doesn’t particularly trust her judgment, considering himself more of an authority on what this family needs than she does. This establishes a distinguishing quality in him, a pickiness and choosiness and prickliness that is essential. He won’t love blindly and he certainly won’t let just anyone in. (When he says he doesn’t like people we should maybe perhaps believe him and not pass him off as a secret softie.) Joyce is part of his inner circle (I love their relationship a lot actually) but he is not uncritical even of her. This is someone who likes to keep people out because this is someone who doesn’t have endless patience for people and the way they do things. He wants things HIS WAY. His way is domestic and so is the context- he’s frying an egg and it feels so homey and good you want to say he’s a softie and a cinnamon roll- but it comes out of a character who knows what he wants. And the third thing, hilariously enough, is that he hates Steve! Somehow the Duffer brothers DO establish this in a far more convincing way than they establish him liking Nancy. He tells Nancy “he doesn’t like most people” and this is true but Steve is a little bit of an exception in a worse way, as the leader of the popular kids. He’s the figurehead for all that Jonathan dislikes and despises and wants to keep out of his inner circle. The fight that Jonathan and Nancy have in the woods feels far more about his disdain for the cool kids than it does about him really liking her and wanting to rescue her from that. The nerd lecturing the girl who wants to be cool and telling her she’s better than that is a stupid trope and one far less romantic than it thinks it is but because the show has established, intentionally or not, that Jonathan doesn’t really care about Nancy romantically all that comes through in a truthful way is that he doesn’t like popular kids. That emotion, that dislike and almost disdain that lives at Jonathan’s core, is expressed far more authentically than any warmth towards Nancy and it’s so telling that it’s that dislike that collides with the other strongest feeling of his life, loving Will, and leads him to half-killing Steve in the street. The warmest Jonathan ever acts towards Nancy is the warmth of context and the warmth of Will (in his absence) and when those reasons fall away you’re left with something curiously cold. And Jonathan, when he loves, is not a cold person. He’s not a chill person. And so watching him do things like give Will Nancy’s gift to him (a hilarious moment), make Nancy leave out the window (actually very dark and strange considering that Joyce knows they’re sleeping together), literally forget Nancy exists when Will comes back and it’s him and Joyce and Will again, ---you can try to tell yourself that that’s just how he loves. But it isn’t. Because we know his warmth in his hatred and in his loves. And for Nancy it really is just kind of “ehhh.” It’s indifference. 
tl,dr; the show thinks that it’s telling a convincing love triangle for sure. But because they don’t establish liking Nancy as a person as part of his character early enough and because he isn’t a character whose fundamental traits change or change easily they don’t actually build a convincing enough romance. It’s because Jonathan is a person who responds to context, even the wrong one, and because Nancy has her own journey and insecurities to work through (a different meta) they stay together for a long time. But it isn’t satisfying and it doesn’t work because it doesn’t actually strike deep enough in Jonathan’s heart. It’s not a context he really wants at his core. If he falls in love it’ll have to be with someone he wants to allow right into the very center of his life and heart and right now he’s not interested in anyone being in that place except his family. And so because he’s kind of stuck in this situation (of his own choosing, I’m not absolving him of that) because Jonathan likes routine and to keep doing the same things and is not self-motivated in the most powerful way to be able to get out of this romance—-he drifts to the edges and stops really doing anything interesting at all. He starts doing pot, won’t go visit Nancy on her spring break etc. He’s not really the boyfriend he could be in any way because I think fundamentally he doesn’t want to be. And the show may put other words in his mouth about this, I kNOW that the show doesn’t completely agree with everything I’ve written here. But it seems to me the only true way to read him in light of what he actually does and how different it is when he’s acting with his whole heart and when he’s not. 
#jonathan byers#stranger things#thanks for coming to my ted talk#don't know if i should tag this as j/ncy? don't want to clutter the tag#anyway i think charlie heaton knows this and is playing it that way#for reasons unknown#though i always kind of think one of the actors in a love triangle always knows when it isn't really them and withdraws their character#jonathan through charlie heaton's portrayal is not fighting for nancy#as emma said once he simply won't finish the emotional beats that would sell it#he could have had a pining gaze in the car at the end of season 1 but he didn't want to#he could have watched nancy and steve make out with jealous longing but actually he leaves at the speed of light#and it's not HURT that makes him do so. he's just gone#jonathan hates high school and also steve. is indifferent to nancy but will use her for his purposes. and loves will#i'm telling you it is the absolute a) funniest b) tRUEST reading of his character#anyway love triangle stuff always works like this. you simply can't keep three people in a romantic space and expect them all#to be equally invested#it's not going to happen. the magic of storytelling won't actually let it. there is no 'both sides' in love triangles#because romance is a two-way street#one of the three doesn't want to be there!#actually steve is the only one who genuinely loves here. nancy is on a girlboss journey and needs to UNCOVER her love for steve#which right now is just a liking that is very right but hasn't examined#anyway very funny that jonathan would hate steve#very right that steve actually has romance at his center and core#he has no family!!! no context!!!! not even really any friends!!!!!!!!#romance is the lifeline back to goodness for steve. family is that for jonathan but because it's his first context#it's easy to lose and take for granted which is what he HAS done which is why he hasn't really grown.#i love jonathan he needs to get his shit together in season 5. come save will idiot!!!! he needs you#ANYWAY THANKS FOR READING
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segernatural · 5 months
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sure it was a perfect storm of a pressure cooker but i promise destiel was about destiel
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oneluckydragon · 7 months
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We'd both been so excited for it-- to change, to grow stronger, to pass another life-changing milestone on our adventure together. But after I evolved, it took weeks before Sora could even bring herself to look me in the eyes. It went unsaid between us, poisoning our hearts like a cold, bitter curse and haunting every intake of breath. Although, the worst of it all... was that even without words, we both knew why it hurt so much.
Like some sick joke, I had become the spitting image of him.
Ya'll know that feeling when you [Hero] try to evolve into a Leafeon to be closer in spirit to the best friend you lost [Grovyle] because you miss him so much it physically aches, but instead you end up looking like the guy you trusted/adored that betrayed/tried to kill you and your girlfriend? Cause damn it hurts.
Anyways ever since I replayed EOS and evolved at Luminous Spring I've had thoughts about what Sora's reaction would be to Echo's evolution into Umbreon. And lemme tell you that it's an emotional roller coaster. To say that Sora has complicated feelings about Dusknoir is an understatement, and Echo isn't so happy about it either since she had put her faith in him. They've got a lot of trauma to heal.
But to add to that, I like to write about my girls in my spare time when I'm not drawing cause it's fun, so maybe I'll post some little blurbs sometime if anyone is interested?? Hm. Yeah might do that eventually, we'll have to see.
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midnight-in-town · 2 years
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Weirdly enough, I’m with Twilight on this, not necessarily on the setup possibility, but on the idea that Melinda’s fishy and that, maybe, she figured out who Yor was (Anya’s mom/Loid’s wife) as she initially invited her to come along. 
After all, the main theme of this story is about fake identities, lies and deceiving others. Since the Desmonds and the Forgers are clearly mirroring each other narratively speaking, as the antagonists vs main characters, it just wouldn’t surprise me if Donovan and Melinda were as untraditional, as a married couple, as Loid and Yor are. 
Let me explain: until two weeks ago, almost no reader really thought Melinda would appear any time soon nor that she would be as relevant as she’s turning out to be. Why is that? Because Sensei had a lot of fun so far writing a story in which Berlint’s high society is depicted as very traditional (with the men having the important jobs while women... idk, take care of the house or go shopping?).
Of course, that’s something the made-up family of Loid, Yor and Anya only pretends to live up to, as they subvert all these tropes with pride. For example, Loid is the one who cooks and sews, Yor is the strongest character in the whole series and Anya’s on a whole other level of "gifted”. 
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That’s why I just wouldn’t be surprised if the Desmond family only pretended to be on the same level of “traditional” that the rest of their peers expect them to be, only for Melinda to weigh as heavily in the plot as her husband (if not more!). 
In other words, sure, Donovan Desmond is the head of an ultra nationalist conservative party, but does this mean Melinda was just introduced to play the dutiful wife act?
maybe (after all, WISE has nothing on her and she does sound lonely, with most of her friends being from before she was First Lady)
but maybe not because that’s only a cover that she deceives others with, as she plays a big part in her husband’s war plans or in an entirely different business
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If the ladies are actually stronger and scarier than their husband in this series, then Melinda is a real foe we’ll have to watch out for, as a good match up for Yor.
Stay tuned, this chapter was insane lmao.
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fallenstarzz · 4 months
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You know what? The Foxes DnD Nights would be INSANE.
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emry-stars-art · 9 months
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tell us about the royals au!!! (im on my knees. please.)
Ohhhhh my friend you have started me on a RANT I hope you’re ready!!!
I don’t know that I’ll ever actually write it so I’m not too worried about spoilers, and the wonderful people in my dms (which are still open btw) bouncing ideas with me are always going to come up with great ideas so I’m putting WIP in big red letters, things are subject to change! But for now, some ideas. Most of what I have will be under the cut, but if you want to know more about a specific part/have any questions please I’d love to chat :D will link to the art/posts I have so far!
(In this au I’ve been referring to Neil as Nathaniel at first and then Abram (hello names as a plot device), and everyone else right now is some version of their name)
Kevin and Nathaniel were raised at Evermore castle, Kevin to be in direct competition to Riko/see which of them might claim the throne (not thought out yet), and Nathaniel as the Moriyama’s attack dog, born and raised to take his father’s place as such. The two never met in person, but Nathaniel knows and recognizes Day because of course he does, and Day knows the name Wesninski means a very, very dangerous person. Essentially the top assassin on the continent.
But as we do, Day decides he can’t/won’t handle the treatment anymore, whatever the last straw may be, and runs off to Palmetto in a kind of desperate chase of the stories his mother used to tell him when he was little. He knew she loved that kingdom. Somehow he finds Wymack - the twin’s royal advisor - or Wymack finds him, and once Wymack realizes who this kid is and has reason to believe he’s not here on Evermore business, he puts Day’s incredible talent and training as a tactician/commander to work as his pupil.
Meanwhile Nathaniel is still at Evermore, mistreated and learning from his own failures and mistakes until he’s nearly as good as his father at the family business.
I don’t know how long Nathaniel plans it, but he either plays the part for long enough or his skill is so undeniable that when the Moriyamas have plans for the Palmetto Kingdom, they send him and one other accomplished fighter to kill the king. Nathaniel goes quietly and decides he’s not coming back if he can help it.
So instead of killing the young king, Nathaniel’s panic has him turn on his partner at the very last second, stopping them just before they can get to the king. He takes them somewhere far away and does what he does best, leaving no one to report back to the Moriyamas. From then on it’s a waiting game to see how long the family will wait before they send someone after him.
Day’s followed them, and Nathaniel turns around from the body and sees this man he hasn’t seen in years, alive and safe away from Evermore. It’s as elating as it is crushing - because Day heard his partner call him by name, and there is no way Day will ever let a Wesninski walk away alive. Not if he knows what’s good for all of them.
Except Day doesn’t kill him, even when Nathaniel asks him to. (Better Day than Riko, Nathaniel knew that even when they were all stuck at Evermore). Instead, he takes Nathaniel back to the twins/Wymack, gives him a little bread, and they sit until he can pry out an explanation. (See the comic of this first meeting here.)
Day and Nathaniel spend most of their time together because Day refuses to let Nathaniel out of his or Wymack’s sight until he proves not a threat to the royal family, which proves an issue because between Andrew’s rotation of personal guards (he never gets along with them well enough that they stay/aren’t fired) Day is Andrew’s guard, which sometimes means Nathaniel is stuck a lot closer than Day would like. But after a long, long time, Day and Wymack decide Nathaniel was serious about the whole “runaway” thing and isn’t playing spy (maybe there’s some dramatic event/Nathaniel protecting a twin that convinces them or maybe it’s just a lot of little things over time). Andrew, after a rough spat with the latest guard, is again in need of a new one. Finally Day just asks “is there ANYONE you could possibly pretend to get along with that can do the job” and Andrew knows Nathaniel is dangerous he just doesn’t know exactly how or why (but oh he is curious) so maybe he just straight up says. “Wesninski.” And Day has to go “…. Fine.”
So boom. They knew each other superficially before, but now Andrew and Nathaniel are spending most of their time together and miraculously - no arguments. No spats. Day thanks the gods there’s no physical altercations (that’s probably what got the last guard fired so quick). Nathaniel is just a mystery with shady ability to tell the truth and Andrew can’t help his curiosity. Good old fashioned andreil :D
From here the timeline becomes essentially nonexistent, I have no idea when these things happen in relation to each other but so far they’re all things I like and want to include!
1) there’s plenty of games and competitions at Palmetto, we love a good tussle, and Nathaniel usually does quite well - he’s not good at playing fair, but his underhanded methods are not technically illegal and usually he can use his preferred weapon - dagger rather than sword. He does well except for the one time an opponent accidentally says/does something that was constantly said or done to Nathaniel while “training” at Evermore, and he comes back to Andrew and the tent he watched from in the beginning of a panic attack. Andrew doesn’t know anything about Nathaniel’s past at this point, but he knows a panic attack when he sees one. In trying to talk him through it, Andrew realizes that yes Nathaniel is scared of being hurt, but he’s more afraid of hurting others. Nathaniel won’t let Andrew call him by name, he flinches every time Andrew says it. After, Andrew asks what he should call him instead, and Nathaniel finally asks to be called Abram.
2) Balls! Masquerades! Abram doesn’t have many outfits, he wears the regular issued uniform to every event. Andrew will not stand for this. Abram always wears clothes that cover him fully, which is fine, Andrew can work with that. He’s still seen Abram in a tight shirt or two. So he commissions one of the most knowledgeable people in the court (we’re thinking it might be Allison, she’s a noble but she’s great with textiles/embroidery/etc) and gets Abram a new outfit. It still covers him, its still protective material, but it looks better. (Find Abram in a corset here). Andrew handles it totally normal and rational in his head when he sees Abram actually wearing it of course.
3) Day probably assumes for a little while that Andrew and Abram have got a more or less normal guard/charge relationship, even thinking it’s slightly antagonistic considering this is Andrew we’re talking about. (This doesn’t fit the timeline, but here’s a mini comic of one of Day’s misunderstandings hehe)
4) king Aaron! He became king at 18/20/whatever age we decide this universe deems old enough because he is in fact the elder twin here. I imagine their parents have both been dead and gone for at least a few years at this point. Dan is Aaron’s guard and she and Abram hit it off great as coworkers and friends. More on the uncertainty of the twins backstory later. (Drawings of Aaron and his queen Katelyn here!)
5) the angst. The Moriyamas should have heard from the Wesninski boy months ago - something somewhere went wrong. So, naturally, they go to collect their property. If they get away with it, we can imagine how it goes. What I don’t know is if the twins, Day, and Wymack know for sure he was kidnapped or if they have a little nagging in the back of their head that wonders if he’s only run away from the castle or if he’s run back to Evermore with everything he’s learned.
When he’s recovered, Day doesn’t let Andrew too close too often for a while. If Abram forgets where is for even a second too long - waking up from a nightmare, having a flashback - it’s long enough for it to be fatal to whoever might get too close to Abram. It’s already almost proved fatal for Andrew, after Abram played normal so well that Andrew let it slip - he forgot Abram was taken back to Evermore for them to finish making him into a thoughtless weapon, and they’d nearly succeed. He wakes Abram too quickly and ends up extremely lucky Abram recognizes both his voice and the way Andrew didn’t call him ‘Nathaniel’ or ‘Wesninski’. There’s really a huge amount to possibly be covered about this point so I won’t go into detail here - but if you like hurt/comfort you know where to find me 👀
6) the biggest thing we haven’t figured out is Andrew. Either he was kidnapped at a young age and only recovered in his teens, or the elder King Minyard didn’t much care for his second son. Though I’ve always liked the idea of Mr. Minyard being a good man who died shortly before the twins’ birth and their mother just couldn’t handle the grief or knowing that the twins look like him. Anyway a lot of the twins’ issues after both of their parents are dead are the advisors or other people around them that try to take advantage of their youth and inexperience for their own gain, without realizing that both Aaron and Andrew have had to grow up much too fast, each for their own reasons. They can usually see right past the tricks. It’s why they both trust Wymack so much - he’s one of the few adults that are truly there to help them, and not make decisions for them.
Im sure there’s more I missed, but this is long enough as it is lol. People have asked about the Trojans/Jean in this au, and I’d love to include them! My brain’s instinctive response is that Jeremy is some sort of high end noble/royal of a faraway kingdom, and Jean (always last to leave the nest, im so sorry baby) somehow gets over there, but I don’t have an idea of his or anyone else’s roles yet. Renee could even still have a hand in him getting there if we really want.
So I’m still writing snippets and drawing over here lol but i promise I don’t bite if you want to talk :D
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do you think that somewhere, deep deep down inside heather, shes kinda into p!noah? (apologies, i’ve just seen the alejandro connection with p!noah and i was trying to stuff alenoaheather in with it)
anyway, ur b pfp messed me up when i was looking for u through who i follow and i was kinda just chanting ophe until i found it TT-TT
I think, deep deep down inside, Heather has a lot of introspective re-evaluation to do before she can even consider admitting to herself that she likes someone. And she's iconic for that. That doesn't stop her from forming crushes on people, mind you.
As for liking p!Noah? Well, (as a Noaheather Enjoyer myself) a lot of Heather's potential romance partners, in my mind at least, stem from the connections she can/does make with them. She's slow to open herself up to people, and really prickly, so for her to have positive feelings for someone else is a novelty. (*cough*gray-aro Heather real*cough*)
If Heather was able to foster some sort of rapport between herself and p!Noah, let's say by offering him something akin to an alliance (since it's only strategic to have a wildcard like Noah's turned out to be on her side- keep your enemies close and all), and see behind the many layers of crazy and deceit? She'd probably have a sense of begrudging respect for him, at least. It takes smarts and dedication to keep up a ruse like his for so long- Heather herself couldn't keep up the "nice girl" act for more than a few episodes- and she knows that Noah's deceptively smart.
Maybe that begrudging respect could blossom into more? Who's to say.
Maybe p!Noah also respects Heather's ruthlessness and cunning, since she was able to scheme and sabotage her way into the final three on Island. She's interesting, and Noah appreciates people who are interesting.
The main drawback of liking someone as eccentric as p!Noah is, as we saw with Izzy and Owen in canon, Heather would need to be able to keep up with him.
Obviously, Noah's not nearly as hyper and fickle as Izzy is, but he's just as impulsive and detached from reality. Heather can appreciate his cleverness and craftiness all she wants- if she can't deal with his callous madness, she'd have very little luck in trying to romance him.
The B pfp was an impulsive choice on my part but I'm not sorry for it because B deserves more recognition for literally carrying his whole team for the first few episodes. I do apologise for any confusion though!
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started watching A Murder At The End of the World and i'm only like 4 minutes in rn but oh my fucking god, they already did the impossible, they made synthesizing a literal audience not only not annoying but actually intriguing and effective. holy shit.
#james talks#james watches stuff#a murder at the end of the world#if you're new here or have never consumed any media: synthesizing a literal audience is one of the most annoying things anything can do#it is at best distracting and at worst condescending and grating bc it assumes and assigns audience reactions and interpretations#and it also REEKS of a lack of faith in the material itself to be able to speak for itself#most of the time it's done for no real purpose and the few times it has a narrative purpose it's done awfully#even a movie i ADORE like SCREAM (1996) was not immune to this.#the one single flaw in that movie to me is Kenny repeating the 'behind you' joke. not only is it not funny the second time but it's—#synthesizing the audience by making the characters an audience to the same movie as us and telling us how we should be reacting.#another movie that tries to do this and fails miserably is like Halloween: Resurrection which tries to make some commentary—#on media as exploitative entertainment and the audience as willing participants and equally culpable in the continuation of trauma but the—#execution of it is absolutely horrible and that's even beyond how bad the rest of the movie is.#every time the characters are watching the same media or there's an actual audience in the media it's literally never gone well—#at least as far as i have experienced. but this is the first time a literal audience in anything has actually worked bc it's like—#right in the opening and it's the audience actually getting invested in the story so THAT audience responding the same way actually WORKS#actually borderline genius tbh
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sepulchritude · 2 months
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I was collaborating with one of the trans guys at work about him giving a cultural competency training about transness, like we had a whole 2 hour conversation hashing out exactly what he’d want to discuss, but then he had to quit bc of life troubles 😭
But the whole reason we started working on this was bc another trans staff member requested it due to hearing some not great stuff from other staff 😭
So we need to have this training, and also I need someone to give any training that month bc I’m partly in charge of scheduling this stuff, but we don’t have anybody to do it anymore
….Which means I have to do it myself 😔
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pebblezone · 1 year
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I don’t want a manga reprint I want him
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frevandrest · 6 months
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Why are Girondins so annoying?
Lmao, Robespierre, is that you?
Seriously, tho... Not sure why (if?) others find them annoying so I can't comment on that (I have some ideas, but I can't speak for others). Personally, I am not an expert on Girondins so I don't focus on them so much. I don't think they were "the best option" (not with the whole "protect propertyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!1111" shit that they had going on), and I disagree with a lot of stuff, though I do think some of them had some based takes.
But honestly? I am mostly annoyed at today's (mis)understanding of Girondins and flop takes that come with it. They are somehow remembered as these level-headed, "good" revolutionaries who want change but through democratic TM and not violent means... When they are the group who advocated for the fucking war that claimed hundreds of thousands of people (and also messy bitches who attacked their opponents - they were not somehow above that stuff).
Look. I love learning and researching frev. I like it even when the content is difficult or when I disagree with historical people. It's just so interesting to me. But I have a short patience for flop takes about frev that are just factually incorrect but try to sound profound (or, worse, like activism). Bad "feminist" takes are there, but also a lot of bullshit and misinformation about other things. Liking Girondins is often not about Girondins at all - it is about criticizing Montagnards, which is often based on incorrect info (biased Anglo takes, Thermidorian takes, horribly inaccurate online takes, etc.) If one wants to hate frev/Montagnards/Robespierre/whoever, be my guest, but at least be correct about it. Unfortunately, Girondins attract a lot of bad/incorrect takes precisely because of their reputation as "good" revolutionaries, which means people interpret them through today's lens, which in turn makes it very, very annoying to read.
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androidtrashfire · 1 month
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I just think we as a society moved on too fast from Shane from the L word
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flowerflamestars · 4 months
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Effloresce snippet
Buried in hinterlands long abandoned by high fae, shrouded in a magic so thick it had changed the land and stilled the day: what their foremother had called Mist for the fog, an estate large enough for an entire royal court, trapped forever in the same night and day of late harvest season. A lost, cursed, forgotten kingdom. It was as safe a place Lucien could imagine. If it hadn’t been within the boundaries of the Court of Night. “I could make even better wards out of Rhysands bones,” Lucien murmured, curved down to her temple, before pressing a kiss to her soft skin. “But it will feed and house a damned nation, given the chance.” They’d be a nation, too, if they survived long enough. Honeysuckle sweet, smoke stinging dangerous, Lucien breathed in the grounding, perfect scent of her right up until it changed. Gold and bone. Moss and blood. Eyes cracked open, there it was- the crown of Autumn, shining alongside twisting vermillion ribbons in her curling hair, like it had always been and always would be a part of her. “Elain.” She didn’t startle, but the bond burst like a door, Elain responding to Lucien’s panic like it was her own. He didn’t- couldn’t- Lucien simply picked up her hand and molded it, careful not to burn himself, over gilded bone, pollen teeming into the air. She shook her head. Met his gaze with more question that horror. “I didn’t call it.” Fire flared, a quick crackle of crimson light, the single leaf it carried falling on phantom wind directly in front of her. Smoldering, it burned nothing it touched, fire only further illustration to the single word punched through green. RUN A dozen, a hundred, tree fall itself a wrongness in Lucien’s heart, green leaves and red leaves and crunching oak, a forest filling the air, the entire empty hall, piling on benches, covering stone: RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN-
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peridyke · 2 months
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I think the average unknowing onlooker would not expect nier to be as gay of a series as it is I know that I did not. I mean it makes sense because the setting generally invites it but im not used to stuff being gay if I didn't find it by intentionally searching for queer media.
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ace-of-d1am0nds · 2 months
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ran my first session of vampire tn and it went so well!!! my friends r so invested in the game and we are genuinely so into it im so happy
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frenchtwistresistance · 8 months
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youtube
@trillscienceofficer
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