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mulders-too-large-shirt · 4 days

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s1 episode 6 thoughts

this was definitely my favorite episode so far! i really enjoyed it. i thought the concept was compelling and well-executed. i'm a sucker for unsolved cases involving paranormal evidence as a trope.

now within the first 5 seconds our duo walked into the screen i once again noticed that mulder is physically incapable of keeping his hands off the small of scully's back. i am simply noting this fact and certainly drawing no conclusions from it!

he put on his glasses for a split second and it was a very good look. but then of course they were spy glasses! classic trickster. also loved his insistence he's not a liar but instead "a willful participant in a campaign of misinformation" very fox coded for a guy named... fox

he also did NOT have to pull her in like that for the fingerprint reveal on the glasses but. this is becoming a recurring motif. they Will be touching.

in referring to the idea of psychokinetic powers scully compares it to the book/movie carrie. we love a well read queen! she seems like she would read the book and THEN watch the movie and talk at length about the differences.

upon reaching the door of the potentially psychic girl, mulder displayed his bountiful social skills by asking if they could come in and then not waiting for an answer at all. i love a man who is off-putting.

(for those who have been around in this fandom longer than me: was mulder initially seen as a cool guy? because to me he is deeply nerd coded)

also when scully reached back for his hand while she was looking through the records...... yeah. side note i wish those contraptions were still easily accessible! it's become a pain to access microfilm. bring it back. and let them clasp hands.

mulder casually saying that only one man has faked his death and that man is elvis is not acknowledged at all so i want to acknowledge it here. he also did an elvis impression while saying this. again. did the kids think this man was cool.

when scully came in with the emotional play, telling the girl that she has to use the spectral evidence to take down the man that killed her loved one, i was shocked! even more so when she told mulder that it was more important to bring justice to the case than find evidence of paranormal activity. i'm team scully here. i like that they stepped away from making her just the Logic and Facts queen. give her some emotions as a bonus! we CAN write complex female characters if we set our minds to it!

mulder is soooo funny wanting to see the liberty bell after all of that... truly never beating the nerd allegations (i assume that he was paranormally influenced in this decision due to the repeating ben franklin quote shown as significant to the murdered man, but still. this is very funny. his Tourist Mode Activated)

and last but not least, the girl that was the guest star for the episode looked so much like my friend i was shocked. perhaps this contributed to my high ranking. that is Literally the power of friendship!

#also would being an fbi agent mean knowing how to develop film for the job?#or was that a “mulder does photography” reveal #i have done my hours in a dark room and know it is a grueling task so respect is given either way #juni's x files liveblog #the x files #txf

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ryqoshay · 2 years

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UW - A Perfect World: Somnial

Flagship: N/A Starring: Karin, Kanata Rating: G Words: 652 AU: A Perfect Dimension (?) Fandom: Love Live Nijigasaki Parent Fic: Unstable World Time Frame: ??? Event: Promptober 2022 Event Source: Idol Fanfic Heaven channel on Discord Prompt: Somnial

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Author’s Note: Bonus 2nd entry for Oct 24th

Summary: Karin seeks a solution to her insomnia

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Somnial? Karin read the sign.

What kind of name was that? And what was with the cutesy motif of the sign? Softly glowing violet light against a neutral background. And the letters were surrounded by simple icons of fluffy sheep. It made Karin tired just looking at it.

But maybe that was good. Emma had recommended she come here to cure for her insomnia. Wait, both of those words had somn in them. Maybe somnial meant getting sleep, the opposite of insomnia?

Well, whatever. Karin pushed through the door and shuffled into the shop.

The lobby area was… soft. That was the only way to describe it. Couches laden with pillows lined the walls and the gentle smell of lavender and… chamomile? floated in the air. Even the plush rugs looked comfortable enough to sleep on. Perhaps Emma was on to something.

At the back of the lobby was a small desk, atop which was a tousled mess of light brown hair.

“Uhm… hello?” Karin said tentatively as she approached. No response. “Hello?”

“Yeah, yeah… I hear ya…” A drowsy voice drawled before a pajama-clad arm rose up. “Go ‘head an’ take your usual spot.” The hand motioned in the general direction of a nearby door.

“But this is my first time here?”

The head popped up. “A new customer?”

Cute. Was Karin’s first thought as her gaze found amethyst… no, the woman’s eyes were too soft to compare to solid gemstones. Her bedraggled appearance was oddly adorable as she pushed herself to a sitting position, not seeming to notice or care as her pajama shirt slipped off her shoulder.

Well, cute… but not as cute as Emma… maybe…

“Welcome to Somnial.” The woman greeted. “Where I make all your dreams.”

“Come true?”

The woman laughed lightly and shook her head. “No, silly. Kanata-chan literally make dreams here.”

“Oh…”

“And you look like you could use some good ones.” Kanata? stood slowly. “Come, let me show you my wares.” She beckoned Karin follow through the door. “Oh, before I forget, your name?”

“Karin. Asaka Karin.”

“Oho…” Kanata paused and gave Karin a thorough look over. “You’re the one Emma-chan sent. She should have warned me you were so… dashingly lovely. Perhaps Kanata-chan’s dream could come true.” She laughed at her own joke.

“I… uhm…” Karin could feel heat in her cheeks.

“Anyway, let Kanata-chan find something that will help Karin-chan stop needing to hide the bags under her eyes with makeup.”

She’s already jumped to using chan? Wait, she could see those under my eyes? Damnit, I need to pay better attention in the morning… Did Emma see them too? Why didn’t she say anything? Geez…

“Let’s see…” Kanata roamed through several displays of sleep aids. “We’ve got some wonderful teas and lotions and bath salts, oh and plenty of incense.”

“I’ve tried those kinds of things.”

“Well, then we can go the high-tech route. If you have an adaptor, I can run one of many programs designed to help you sleep.”

“Mm…” Karin felt herself sneer.

“There are also magic and psionic solutions, ranging from simple hypnosis to more powerful commands. Oh, I know…” Kanata picked up a wand. “Sleep spell. Simple but effective. No side effects unless you have an aversion to the arcane.”

“Uhm, Emma mentioned I could try things here?”

“Of course!” Kanata smiled. “You can use Room 3. I rent in 90-minute intervals, as that is the typical length of a full sleep cycle. You need to reach REM to enjoy your dreams.”

“Can I try one, then add more if I need them?”

“Absolutely.” Kanata then opened the door and handed the wand and a slip to Karin. “Once you’re settled, read this phrase. I’ll come by to check on you after.”

“Thank you.”

“Dream well.”

Karin climbed into an exceptionally comfortable bed, read the phrase. And slipped into the best sleep she had in ages.

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Author’s Note Continued: Not the messed up background I gave Maki and Nico here in the Paragon dimension. But that doesn’t mean I lack plans...

#Konoe Kanta #Asaka Karin #A Perfect World #Love Live Nijigasaki #Promptober 2022 #fanfic

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musiconanironingboard · 1 year

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19 January 2023: Cruel Country, Wilco. (2023 vinyl issue of 2022 dBpm release)

Wilco has a chequered history with me; when Belleville, Illinois, group Uncle Tupelo split up and its leaders created two new bands, I declared that it would be Jay Farrar’s Son Volt that would get the crown of greatness and not Jeff Tweedy’s Wilco. Though that first Son Volt album (Trace, 1995) was fantastic, this prediction could not have been more wrong. I saw Wilco perform in 1995 in one of their earliest gigs, and that was all I needed to see. I let quite a long time go by before I bothered taking them seriously. My brother became a huge fan based on their second album Being There (1996) and its followup Summerteeth (1999), putting both on his list of greatest albums of the decade, and only then did I give in. I went backward, got those albums, and then moving forward I declared the band’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002) and A Ghost Is Born (2004) the best albums of their respective years. From there it became a slippery slope of disinterest and irritation with a string of Wilco albums that I found dull at best. My brother got so disinterested in them that he gave me his copy of their 2012 album The Whole Love, which I hadn’t bothered buying. My Wilco interest got piqued yet again by that album, and I’ve carried on acquiring all subsequent Wilco releases to the present day, including large, deluxe reissues of the band’s first few albums (well, the reissue of their ’95 debut A.M. is a single disc with bonus tracks, but the next three have received super-deluxe editions). I’ve also kept faithful to buying Jeff Tweedy’s solo releases, at least up until the point of his 2021 concert set Live is the King, which I refused to buy because its parent album, the studio set Love is the King, is so colossally boring that I’ve concluded Tweedy really needs an editor or someone around him who doesn’t act as if every move he makes is the work of a genius. Tweedy is no Prince, but he’s a bit higher up the food chain than Robert Pollard of Guided by Voices, but all three musicians managed to reach a point where they seemingly operate(d) in an echo chamber of acclaim. I could go on, but let me conclude this editorial by saying that Wilco’s new album Cruel Country is every bit as dull as Love is the King. In the old days, I would have just stopped buying their stuff the moment I caught wind of this one’s boringness, but at this stage I sometimes carry on with a musician much longer than I need to. And not only did I find this album boring when I played the double-vinyl set you see pictured here, I knew going into it that I thought it was boring, for last year I bought the ridiculous “Pre-Release Limited Edition” double CD of Cruel Country when the band rushed it out for a Record Store Day event. If you read my post about that purchase, you’ll see that was I irritated even then, swore I wouldn’t re-buy the album when it came out with proper artwork, and then admitted I knew I would be doing it anyway. I have only myself to blame. I do like the album marginally better than when I heard it last year, but I’m really struggling to give it the requisite minimum of spins that I give every one of my music purchases, even duplicates. I need to hear it one more time and then I can file it forever if I so choose. Will I buy Wilco’s next album? Let’s not talk about that now.

Above are the front and back covers. I will say that the artwork on this release is ornate. The lace doily motif you see on the front cover continues with the opened gatefold that you see below. The song titles are “stitched” in there, but it’s fairly illegible even when you’re holding the album right in front of you. (I put stitched in quotation marks because I’m confident this is computer art, but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe some maniac really did stitch this giant doily.)

Placed in the middle of the gatefold, but not attached, is a large, fold-up set of perforated postcards. These postcards, on their obverse, contain lyrics and credits. Below I have shots of the set, first the both sides of the unfolded cards, and then various shots of them being unfolded. I’m sure numerous fans take this as a nod to the ’90s mailing list Postcard from Hell, which started as an Uncle Tupelo list and then evolved to be a Wilco/Son Volt hangout. The list was named for Uncle Tupelo’s 1991 song “Postcard.” I know tons of fans who are constantly talking about the glory days of the list. And good lord; unlike most listservs from all those days ago, this one seems to still be active: https://www.postcardfromhell.com/

Below are both sides of LP one’s inner sleeve. Some of those poses feel a little corny to me.

Next are both sides of LP two’s inner sleeve.

Next are both sides of LP one, followed by a shot of the opaque red vinyl.

Next, the same for the opaque white LP two.

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floriannas · 3 years

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What Exactly Gothic Is

(Let me preface with trigger warnings, because Gothic makes a point of delving into dark themes: murder, abuse, racism, homophobia, incest, ableism, misogyny)

I have seen certain posts about what the definite characteristics of gothic fiction are that, I hate to say...felt either incomplete or inaccurate. And that has bothered me enough to make my own post about, at the very least, my understanding of this genre.

Some things to get out of the way:

Gothic does not have one fixed definition. It is fluid and nebulous, and while all literature reflects its society, genre changes massively depending on where it was written. Canadian Gothic is not Welsh Gothic is not American Gothic. Victorian Gothic is not contemporary Gothic is not Regency Gothic. Nineteenth century British gothic is often in response to the drastic technological changes of the industrial revolution. Welsh Gothic has a lot of focus on the disenfranchised and the coal mining industry. Where and when your WIP is, and where and when YOU are writing it, is going to define it.

We cannot talk about Gothic as a genre without talking about the racism that much of it is rooted in. We cannot ignore Charlotte Bronte’s dehumanising description of Bertha Rochester, a creole woman. We cannot ignore that Edward Hyde’s physical description is less ‘white’ than Henry Jekyll’s. We cannot ignore Heathcliff’s identity as a racially ambiguous villain. We cannot ignore just how bigoted in every way Dracula is. We CANNOT ignore the whiteness of much of the ‘feminist’ gothic literature, either. This is something you must be aware of if you're writing Gothic - it is not integral to gothic fiction but as I will explain, the traits of the genre lend themselves to antagonising marginalised groups.

Gothic is not just gothic horror. It can be horror, but it is still a genre in its own right and the horror is not mandatory.

This post is about gothic as a literary genre. I will not be talking about Ostrogoths, Visigoths, gothic architecture or art, and - for once - I’m not talking about the Goth subculture either, the two actually have almost nothing in common.

Some frequent, though not all required, characteristics of the gothic (this is NOT a checklist. I cannot stress that this is a genre purposefully WITHOUT a clear definition):

Familial trauma - the ending of family lines (the presence of the aristocracy is common in Gothic, this trope perhaps most blatantly depicted in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher), hauntings - not necessarily literal but metaphorical. There’s often a secret, or some kind of terrible incident that has been covered up, amongst a family that is inevitably unearthed. Marital trauma is very common - as seen in Jane Eyre with the original ‘madwoman in the attic’, the mystery surrounding the titular character in Rebecca, the secret room of The Bloody Chamber, the murdered husband being literally unearthed in House of America.

The setting is everything in Gothic. It often has a presence enough that it is a character in its own right. Key things about the setting is that it’s typically old - or at least old enough to have a turbulent history - and typically remote, ‘feral’, in amongst nature and separate from civilisation. The latter is very often executed in a racist and/or xenophobic way in Gothic classics. Think very critically of what is considered ‘civilisation’ and what is not. Dracula being a novel about white Christian Britons being threatened by an Eastern European vampire? Don’t replicate that. You will also see the ‘sublime’ (see below) here, and motifs of decay (which can be linked to the ending of a family line easily!), and themes surrounding imprisonment and escape. Gothic fiction loves pathetic fallacy - whether a storm, fog, rain or bitter cold, the weather is absolutely there to set the tone.

Repression. This can be of a trauma, but repression of sexuality can feature too. I have seen it asserted that homoeroticism is a key component in Gothic, and while it can feature, I would not say entirely agree, for a number of reasons. There is often a focus on ‘taboo’ sexuality, a categorisation which places LGBT people with taboos such as incest (which features often in some forms of Gothic). Homophobic tropes such as the predatory gay villain (e.g. Dracula’s obsession with Jonathan Harker and Mrs Danver’s obsession with Rebecca) are fairly common, and a general treatment of homosexuality as immoral or depraved especially older texts, so let’s not act like it’s always been a LGBT friendly genre. Something either hidden away or repressed that is then discovered is a huge, huge, component to most gothic fiction.

Misogynistic gender dynamics are often present: the combination of a young, vulnerable and innocent woman with an older male ‘Byronic Hero’ type love interest is common. The Victorian template of ‘bad’, ‘promiscuous’ or otherwise ‘improper’ woman reaching a sticky end is well loved. And then there’s Poe’s sinister obsession with ‘beautiful dead woman’. Don’t forget the intersection of ableism and misogyny with the ‘mad’ women like Bertha Rochester and Miss Havisham (though Eleanor Vance of The Haunting of Hill House is a sympathetic antidote of this trope.) The way women are written is something I’d very much like us to move beyond.

The sublime: this is everywhere. That something, especially the wilderness, is beautiful and massive enough to be incomprehensible.

Doubles or doppelgangers. Often as a ‘darker’ reflection of the protagonist - such as the hero and villain having close parallels, or the heroine as a foil to her husband’s mysterious dead first wife. It doesn’t have to exist just in this way, but the motif of the doppelganger is one Gothic fiction likes a lot.

‘Otherness’ or monstrosity. ‘Otherness’ and ‘Othering’ is something that is a crucial part of literary theory - what the narrative deems strange, unfamiliar, not like us, and so most depictions of monsters will also be Othered. Considering how almost all of the time in the Western literary canon this is a vehicle for racism, please think critically. Frankenstein’s monster has a more nuanced approach to what society defines as strange, or monstrous, how monstrosity is created, and self fulfilling prophecies.

Cultural anxiety. This is by no means unique to Gothic but the genre is shaped by what the society of its creation is afraid of. This - like Frankenstein or The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - can be scientific advancement and new discoveries we do not yet understand, but the problem arises that for a lot of Western Gothic this has been marginalised groups.

The Uncanny. As found in various forms of horror - same with the fear of the unknown, but often in Gothic - that something resembles something else enough to recognise at least what it ‘tries’ to be, but not enough for it to be truly familiar. This is a really effective way to make any person, place, or thing unsettling.

I think I’ve covered most of my notes - please take my first bullet point into consideration as this will inevitably be a bit UK centric. The thing about gothic is that it doesn’t really have one fixed meaning, so you have a lot of freedom. Bonus: if you want to read a really good gay feminist Gothic short story, ‘The Resident’ by Carmen Maria Machado is one of the best pieces of fiction, ever.

#writeblr #gothic writeblr #racism tw #incest tw #misogyny tw #homophobia tw

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a-slut-for-smut · 3 years

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Rivamika Sicario Spy AU prompt

Hey y'all- im seeing all these awesome sounding RM prompts that I had to share my own! So i recently rewatched Sicario (Spanish for assassin) by Denis Villeneuve and it is honestly its a movie i will slut for until my end of days. Masterpiece in cinematography (see above my fav shot- soldiers disappearing into the horizon at dusk, God bless Roger Deakins), acting, SOUNDTRACK (RIP Jóhann Jóhannsson) and visual storytelling- relying a lot on the subtext of the scenes to convey the story/emotional beats rather than actual dialogue.

If you haven't seen it yet, I IMPLORE you to do so. To say it was an unforgettable experience is to say the least although fair warning, it explores VERY dark and violent themes.

Now to the prompt- ive been about this spy-AU concept for a while (@alienheartattack got my smut coming, cant wait!!) where Levi is a hardened veteran agent of sorts and Mikasa is a idealistic rising star at a competing spy agency that have to join forces for an intense mission. I can't write for shit so its probably easier to convey it using the subtext of this scene in Sicario. Here Levi is a cold, shell of a man who understands how the game is played, with "a lot of past in his past". Mikasa is a capable, morally principled agent struggling to play by the rules (as she was taught from a young age) but to find that there are none. Here is the scene where they just finished said mission (don't mind my slutty cinematography comments i cant help it):

Mikasa stands on her balcony, lighting a cigarette, relaxed with curtains swaying in gentle breeze.

*Love this shot through the curtains in the foreground, softens the frame just lovely

A sudden voice disturbs her reverie, putting her at instant unease. She cautiously enters to find Levi waiting with a pensive look on his face.

*Love this zoom on the door, feels like her reflection is an added bonus to the shot

Levi makes a proposal which goes against all Mikasa's principles, morals and very being. She is overcome with the gravity of the proposal, visibly crumbling. Levi understands this and reaches out for her hand but hesitates for a moment, before gently caressing and holding her hand

*Love how soft this gesture is, it really does seem to comfort her

She refuses despite this, shaking her head no. This is an unacceptable answer for Levi, and deliberately demonstrates it is not a request

*I just love how he is also shrouded in darkness, while her frames are always so well lit. This is a running motif in the film

Mikasa is overwhelmed and in a state of emotional shock. She cannot stop the tears from falling to which Levi gently wipes away while caressing her face. Mikasa is stunned by the gentle gesture given the violent implications of her current situation. She looks deep into Levi's eyes and his cold façade flickers ever so slightly

*the juxtaposition of hard and soft gestures...SO PERFECT

She agrees to the proposal under threat, to which he leaves, telling her "this is the land of wolves, and you are no wolf". She digests all thats happened, charged with the weight of his words she grabs her gun and runs to the balcony, taking aim. Levi seems to sense this, and stops in his tracks

*in the full scene, you see a whole range of emotions splayed across Emilys face. She deserved all the awards

Levi slowly turns to her, waiting, almost daring her- accepting that his fate lies in her hands

*again hes shrouded in darkness and she in the light *chefs kiss*

Mikasa hesitates, the rage visibly washing away as she slowly lowers her gun. He gives her one last, long lingering look before turning and walking away from her, forever.

*you see the million thoughts/emotions running through her head without a single word before lowering her gun in the full scene

AND THEN THEY SMASH Yep, thats the prompt! Sorry for the long ass post. Here is the full scene but I would say you are robbing yourself and to just watch the film.

Edit: I cannot imagine for the life of me any other AOT ship that could fit this prompt without the characters being OOC. Its Levi & Mikasa's very character traits, the dynamics and the sheer intensity of their relationship (the potential at least) that made me fall so hard for this ship.

#i LOVE this film #RM prompts #rivamika #sicario #denis villeneuve #roger deakins #cinematography

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king-maven-calore · 3 years

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Hii,

You once said that you were a theatre kid so I was wondering: if you have to choose a musical song for our RQ characters what would that be? (please justify your answer)

Ps: hope the next two months gets better luv, manifesting good vibes only.

*insert Kim K "I've been dropping hints" jpeg on the off chance someone would ask this* and I can't believe it worked!! 😂 come here and let me hug you!!

Mare: Naughty from Matilda. It's a very cheeky, irreverent song, and I find that despite it being sung by Matilda, it's not naive at all. I think it perfectly fits Mare's attitude about wanting to fight the Silver rule, small or big it didn't matter, but she felt like she had to.

In the slip of a bolt, there's a tiny revolt The seeds of a war in the creak of a floorboard A storm can begin, with the flap of a wing The tiniest mite packs the mightiest sting! Every day starts with the tick of a clock All escapes start with the click of a lock! If you're stuck in your story and want to get out You don't have to cry, you don't have to shout!

Mareven: you asked about character songs but honestly the best part of musicals are duets 😍 and hell if this bit doesn't fit the Mareven dynamic, Our love is god from Heathers, because at first glance it looks like a cute declaration but then it turns out JD literally wants to burn the school down 🥴

You are the only thing that's right About this broken world Go on and cry But when the morning comes We'll burn it down and then We'll build the world again Our love is God

Maven: The twisted desire to be loved, the loneliness, the destruction, the angry pain of Maven's character are encompassed in Meant to be yours from Heathers 🤧💔 (kill me)

I was meant to be yours! We were meant to be one! I can't make this alone! Finish what we've begun! You were meant to be mine! I am all that you need! You carved open my heart! Can't just leave me to bleed!

Or Superboy and invisible girl from Next to normal, in terms of how he feels in comparison to Cal in his father's eyes... and in general

Superboy and the Invisible Girl Son of steel and daughter of air He's a hero, a lover, a prince She's not there

I've been waiting to point this out forever!! Marecal vs Mareven: Heaven's light - Hellfire from the Hunchback of N.D.!! The transition from a "sheltered" man in awe of a woman who made him feel a glimpse of the love he yearns for, to the dark baritone of a man who wants to either own that same woman or watch her burn

So many times out there I've watched a happy pair Of lovers walking in the night They had a kind of glow around them It almost looked like Heaven's light

(...)

Don't let the siren cast her spell Don't let her fire sear my flesh and bone Destroy Esmeralda And let her taste the fires of Hell! Or else let her be mine and mine alone

Cal: A bull-headed warrior prince looking for a purpose, trying to return to something (the crown) that can't exist anymore? The impossible dream from Man of La Macha 😭

That one man, scorned And covered with scars Still strove with his last Ounce of courage To reach the unreachable The unreachable, the unreachable star And I'll always dream The impossible dream

Marecal: Tonight from West side story!! mostly bc of the vibes and because of the whole walking home together at night and it becomes a turning point in life. A timeless motif I adore with everything that I am, that can be traced all the way back to fairytales 🥰. "Strangers in the night falling in love" my beloved

All day I had the feeling a miracle would happen I know now I was right For here you are And what was just a world is a star Tonight

Bonus character songs bc this post got out of hand: Farley, every single Enjorlas line from Les Miserables, no explanation needed. King Tiberias - I don't understand the poor 😁

#ask #thank u for providing the excuse to jam to musicals #and talk about it lol #musicals #songs #marecal #mareven #RQ characters #long post #red queen series

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kinda-just-chillin-here · 4 years

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Greek Mythology and Julie & the Phantoms

My first watch through of Julie and the Phantoms (JATP), I noticed a few similarities and parallels to certain myths within Greek mythology. On my million rewatches, I paid more attention to see if there were others. This post is all my observations of the parallels, as well as a few possible theories for season 2 the writers could follow for certain storylines. This is a ridiculously long read, I apologize.

**Disclaimers:

There are spoilers, so if you haven’t finished watching for the first time yet, don’t read this.

The content in Greek myths can vary depending on the source. This is largely due to the fact they are just super old. So some of the myths might be slightly different. I did my best just to compare to the gist of the myth.

I’m going to refer to Luke, Reggie, and Alex together as either Sunset Curve or the boys to save space.

I apologize for any typos and mistakes; midterm season has left me with an empty head.

1. Orpheus

Obviously a major motif in the first season is the Orpheum. Orpheum literally means House of Orpheus.

Background information of Orpheus:

His mother is Calliope (muse of epic poetry), and depending on the version of the story, his father is either Apollo (god of the sun, healing, music, medicine, archery, and poetry) or King Oeagrus of Thrace.

Orpheus was considered to be one of the greatest musicians. He had a “divinely gifted voice that could charm anyone who heard it,” no god or mortal could resist his music.

Let’s look at some of his myths.

Orpheus and Eurydice:

The basic summary of this myth is that Eurydice, Orpheus’ wife, died after being bitten by snakes while running away from a man, Aristaeus, or a satyr (depends on source) who wanted her for himself. Devastated, Orpheus began singing sad songs until he was advised by nymphs to go to the Underworld and bring her back. After singing to Hades and Persephone, they agreed to let Eurydice return to the main world. However, they warned him not to look back before they both entered the light of the surface. He happily began his trek back to the surface. When Orpheus reached the exit, Eurydice in toe, he turned around to see her, anxious to make sure it wasn’t a trick, that she was really there. Only, Eurydice was still in the Underworld, she hadn’t crossed over yet. Orpheus turning around when he did, caused Eurydice to remain in the underworld.

So who’s who?

Julie = Orpheus (talented musician and desperate to save their love from the Underworld)

Sunset Curve = Eurydice (dead and trapped)

Caleb = Aristaeus and Hades (wants Eurydice/Sunset Curve for himself; controls the place the dead are)

Hollywood Ghost Club (HGC) = The Underworld

How do they relate? Stand Tall (s1e09) is where it all goes down.

Like Aristaeus, Caleb is pursing Sunset Curve because he wants them for himself (and Caleb is also threaten by the power they have).

Caleb has the boys trapped in the HGC, just like Eurydice in the Underworld.

Julie had to deal with the idea the boys died (again) when they didn’t show up before the performance. At first she couldn’t, she ran out until she had a sign from her mom, telling her to go on stage. You could argue this sort of parallels the nymphs telling Orpheus to plea to Hades, or that it parallels Orpheus on his journey back to the surface after Hades agreed.

This is where Julie and Orpheus differ. Julie goes onstage, fully believing in the sign from her mother; that even if the boys don’t come, she can do it. The lyrics of Stand Tall are pure genius. “Keep moving on, never look back.” That’s exactly what Julie does. Unlike Orpheus, Julie doesn’t look back. And the boys appear, no longer trapped by Caleb at the HGC. Julie breaks away from the Orpheus formula and wins.

@multifandomterrors wrote an essay on how it relates too! She has three theories of how it fits and I definitely recommend you check it out!

Bonus reasons Julie is Orpheus:

Orpheus joined Jason and the Argonauts. When the ship was approaching the Sirens, Orpheus saves the crew from death by playing his own music, drowning out the Sirens’ Song. Likewise, Julie is able to save the boys from Caleb. You can argue that her singing Stand Tall acted as a beacon, beckoning the boys away from Caleb and back to her, saving them in the process.

This one is more of a long shot but oh well. Orpheus is said to have a “divinely gifted voice that could charm anyone who heard it,” that no god or mortal could resist his music. The boys say that Julie has “the voice of an angel.” Throughout the season, as soon as Julie starts to sing, people are generally drawn in, even Carrie by the end.

Onto the next parallel...

2. Lotus Eaters

As soon as the slightest idea of the boys missing the dance was hinted at I knew it was going to happen because ~formulas~, but once they got to the HGC, I had a strong feeling it was going to be a Lotus Eaters situation.

Summary of the Lotus Eaters:

In The Odyssey, Odysseus and his crew encounter the Lotus Eaters. They do as their name suggests, they eat the peculiar Lotus flower. When the lotus flower is eaten, those who eat it are “overcome with a blissful forgetfulness,” and want to do nothing more than stay where they are. The crew mates had to be dragged back to the ship, otherwise they never would have returned to their duties. The most well known adaptation of this is probably the Lotus Casino in Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, where the characters spend days/years there, only thinking it was a few hours/days. It’s a time warp per se.

So what’s what?

Hollywood Ghost Club = Lair/island of the lotus eaters (everyone there appears to have no other worries in life)

The music & dancing = Lotus flower (sucks everyone in)

How do they relate?

Once Caleb starts performing, Sunset Curve are sucked in. Eventually, they are overcome with a “blissful forgetfulness” and forget about Julie and the dance. They only get sucked back out once Caleb mentions it’s the witching hour.

Alex literally says “This place is some sort of time warp.”

When the boys try to leave, the dancers and then Caleb try to reel them back in.

The next is not directly Greek mythology, but distantly related:

3. Disney’s Hercules

The story in Disney’s Hercules isn’t exactly what the myths of Heracles are. It’s Disney, so of course the stories are romanticized and changed significantly. First of all, in the original myths, Hercules is really named Heracles, and Megara is nothing more than Heracles’ wife that ends with a tragic story.

In the movie, Hades wants Hercules dead since he is the only one that can ruin his plan to take over the world. He enlists Megara (or Meg, whose soul he owns) to get to know him and find his weakness. As Meg gets to know Hercules, they fall in love. Hades uses this as Hercules’ weakness, and once he outs Meg for working for him, Hercules is emotionally defeated. However, he still gives up his power for 24 hours, as long as Meg remains untouched by harm. Of course that doesn’t happen, and Meg dies while saving Hercules. Her soul is returned to the Underworld, and Hercules journeys down there to save her, even though he might die doing so. Except he doesn’t; he saves Meg, and it’s happily ever after.

So who’s who?

Alex = Hercules

Willie = Meg

Caleb = Hades

How does it relate?

Like Hades wants Hercules dead, Caleb wants Alex (and the boys) under his control because they are too powerful. He’s threatened by them.

Even though Willie didn’t mean to bring the boys into the mess with Caleb, he still did (no hate, I love my son). Willie acts as Meg in this situation because Caleb still uses him to get to the boys. Caleb gets to put his stamp on them.

Willie, just like Meg, decides to not help Caleb anymore, though he’s still stuck. He cares about Alex, he doesn’t want him to be stuck at the HGC like him forever; he doesn’t want Caleb to own Alex’s soul. So, Willie helps Alex and the boys with their plan to crossover.

In Stand Tall, right before You’ve Got Nothing to Lose, Caleb appeals to each of the boys’ weakness. Caleb says “Everything you want, including Willie, is right here.” Just like Hades uses Meg against Hercules, Caleb uses Willie against Alex.

Potential Season 2 Willex Storyline

The parallel to Hercules and Meg isn’t finished. Alex hasn’t saved Willie from Caleb yet, and Caleb hasn’t been defeated yet. We don’t see Willie after the Willex hug in Stand Tall. I think it’s safe to assume that Willie is not safe from Caleb, especially since he helped Sunset Curve escape Caleb’s curse. There’s a lot of things that could happen. One of my assumptions is that Caleb is going to use Willie as bait to lure Alex back in. Another is that, like how Hercules goes to the Underworld to save Meg’s soul, Alex is going to actively choose to return to the HGC to try to save Willie from Caleb.

And the last parallel to Greek mythology in season 1...

4. Cheyenne Jackson

He plays Hades in Descendants 3, a Disney movie, meaning he’s the same Hades as in Hercules.

Caleb Covington, you could argue is the “king of the dead” in JATP

That’s it, that’s the parallel.

Possible Season 2 Storylines

Cephalus and Procris (I’m not as familiar with this myth, but it basically goes like this)

Cephalus and Procris are happily married and very in love with each other. One day, the goddess of dawn, Eos, kidnaps Cephalus because she wants him to herself. Depending on the version you read, Cephalus either sleeps with Eos, or he doesn’t, but regardless, his only concern is how much he loves his wife, Procris. Eos finds that annoying, and plants the idea in his head that Procris is cheating on him when she releases him eight years later. Cephalus returns to Procris, disguised as another man, to see if she would remain faithful. A disguised Cephalus continuously brings Procris presents, and slowly, Procris is swayed by the mysterious man. When Cephalus reveals himself, Procris runs away, ashamed, and joins Artemis’ hunt. Eos wins essentially. She get’s Cephalus... until Procris returns, trying to make amends with her husband. He takes her back, but not long after Procris hears rumors that Cephalus has been unfaithful. She follows him on a hunt, hiding behind a bush. Cephalus hears a bush move, and thinking it’s an animal, he shoots, killing Procris. In the end, Eos still wins as Procris is no longer in the picture, and she could theoretically be with him. Expect Cephalus exiles himself and Eos is never seen again.

How could this apply to JATP season 2?

Julie = Procris

Luke = Cephalus

Caleb = Eos

Caleb-Possessed-Nick = Disguised man

Since Caleb possessed Nick at the end, I assume his plan is to get Julie to pick Nick, thus pushing Luke away from her. Caleb wants Luke and the boys to himself, and as long as Julie is in the picture, that won’t happen. As Caleb-Possessed-Nick tries to flirt and get closer to Julie, Luke will see this and get jealous. His jealousness could lead to tensions between Julie and Luke, making the band a bit awkward, maybe even a big fight that pushes Luke to think about joining Caleb, or at least isolating himself where Caleb would have easy access. I think it would be a very loosely applied parallel, but the idea of Caleb working to cause a rift between Luke and Julie to get Luke by himself is a major possibility. Regardless, Caleb-Possessed-Nick is going to get in the way of Luke and Julie’s slow burn pining for each other.

A General Thought Not Related to Greek Mythology

Regardless of what the writers end up doing, I think Caleb’s best plan would be to target the boys individually; like the continuance of the Hercules parallel with Willex and potential Cephalus & Procris parallel with Juke. I don’t know how he would isolate Reggie, maybe something with his family, but targeting the boys one-on-one would be the most strategic move for Caleb. He could even get super manipulative with it. He could say something like “Alex already agreed” or something along those lines to try to persuade the boy he is talking to.

Additionally, I don’t have any theories on where Carrie and Julie’s relationship may go, but i’m looking forward to a Carrie redemption arc. As far as where Bobby fits in, I read someone’s theory that Caleb may approach him, offering to help keep his reputation as Trevor Wilson, if he helps deal with the boys somehow. I’m sure there’s a potential greek myth that fits a potential Bobby and the boys storyline, but out of the ones I can think of right now, there aren’t. Betrayal is a huge theme in greek mythology though.

Anyway...

While the original target audience was kids and the show probably wasn’t meant to be this deep, as a screenwriter myself, I find it super useful (and fun) to parallel classic stories and myths when I write. It can add a sense of nuance to the story, especially when done right. I hope the writers (assuming at least the Orpheus and Lotus Eaters parallels were intentional) continue to parallel the season with some form of myth or classic story, only to then completely flip the ending.

If you actually took the time to read ALL of this, my god, I applaud you, you amazing human. Thank you so much for reading it. I’d love to hear what y’all think or what theories y’all have as well!

#julie and the phantoms #julie and the himbos #jatp #julie molina #madison reyes #luke patterson #charlie gillespie #alex jatp #owen patrick joyner #owen joyner #reggie jatp #jeremy shada #caleb covington #hollywood ghost club #carrie wilson #trevor wilson #dirty candy #flynn jatp

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raayllum · 2 years

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do you have like a list that explains which poetic tags line up with each motif/parallel? (like "it was just red", "i'll be your slaughterhouse", etc.) i'm interested in them but i can't always tell what each tag refers to :) sorry i wish i was better at figuring this stuff out lol.

Yes I do! Those are typically my foil relationships (which my masterpost here is a little outdated) so a guide, if you will

Ezran and Claudia: home is the first grave

Harrow / Ezran + Viren: dead kings and consequences

Harrow, Sarai, and Viren: tragic trio

Rayla and Harrow: paying the price

Sarai and Claudia: queens of katolis

Callum and Claudia: callum x claudia

Rayla and Claudia: raydia

Callum, Claudia, and Rayla: where can i put it down?

Rayla, Soren, and Claudia: would you love me more if i killed someone for you

Soren and Rayla: sorayla

Rayla and Callum: every separation is a link

Callum, Viren, and Aaravos: wouldn’t you want to tell it kinder if you could

Viren and Callum: it was just red

Viren and Rayla: the one who ruined me; i did it myself

Rayla and Aaravos: not at home with the dead or the living

Viren, Rayla, and Claudia: why it ends why it always ends

Viren and Janai: things we lost to the fire

Callum/Rayla and Viren/Aaravos: i'll be your slaughterhouse

Runaan and Viren + Claudia: practical uses

Bonus actual motifs (which rn are very Rayllum centric but I'm sure I'll branch out further in the future):

Storm motif

Ghost motif

Cliffs motif

Reaching motif

Orpheus and Eurydice motif

Hope this helps!

#masterlist #masterpost #thanks for asking #i just. really love foils #the-heart-of-my-mystery

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taylorswiftdiscographyrate · 3 years

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#100-91

100. White Horse (6.881) Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 2.7

Just barely scraping into the top 100 is Fearless’s track 5! White Horse is one of the only Track 5s to get the single treatment, the only other one being Delicate (unless you count The Archer being a promo single). This song won Grammys! 2 of them, to be precise - Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. And yet, here it languishes at number 100. Shame on us.

Highlighted comments: @corneliaavenue: “I think this is her track 5 that aged the worst” @yourivysgrows: “Another amazing track 5″

99. I Wish You Would (6.900) Highest score was 9; Lowest score was 3

Finally, we enter the double digits! This song has some excellent storytelling with the very classic Taylor motif of 2am, and yet it’s never really gotten a huge amount of love from the fandom. While it’s hard to really pinpoint any song on 1989 as being “the most slept on”, since the whole album dominated pretty much the entire year after it released, but if we had to choose one song, this would probably be a big contender.

Highlighted comments: @yourivysgrows: “One of the most forgettable on 1989 ??”

98. Tim McGraw (6.953) Highest score was 9.25; Lowest score was 5

Her debut! This is THE song that introduced Taylor Swift™ to the world. If you’ve been a fan since this song was released, you have bragging rights and you should absolutely use them. There’s just something so timeless about this song, while I don’t consider it a favourite of mine, I enjoy it every time I listen to it.

Highlighted comments: @onceintwentylifetimes: “Timeless classic.” @tobesolonely: “literally her best opener” @itspeterlosingwendy: “good song, makes me nostalgic”

97. Afterglow (6.963) Highest score was 11 (@na-smetisti); Lowest score was 3

The second-most slept on song of the Lover era. This song tackles a fight with a partner, and the resulting apology Taylor makes for starting it. It’s a nice song, and it got almost no acknowledgement from Taylor (I think it was mentioned in one interview? I can’t really remember and I can’t be bothered to go digging for it). If LoverFest had actually happened, this was probably going to be the song that got the cut. You all know its true.

Highlighted comments: @yourivysgrows: “She's beautiful”

96. the lakes (6.981) Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 3

I firmly believe that this being a deluxe track with a delayed release harmed its standing amongst the fandom. Had we had time to digest this alongside all the other folklore tracks, I’m sure it would be a lot more loved. It uses a lot of big words, and that can be intimidating!

Highlighted comments: @corneliaavenue: “I'm glad this was a bonus track, the tweet line ruins the entire song for me” @yourivysgrows: “I never reach for her ??”

94. This Love & I Almost Do (6.997) This Love: Highest score was 9.5; Lowest score was 3.4 I Almost Do: Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 1

Another tie! This Love is poetry. Literally poetry - it started out as a poem that Taylor wrote back in 2012 (we even got a sneak peek at its original writing in the Lover journals!). The slow and atmospheric production really fits the lyrics - that being said, while I love this song for that reason, I suppose I can understand why others might dislike it.

Highlighted comments: @yourivysgrows: “Dreamy as hell”

Now, let’s talk about I Almost Do. This used to be my least favourite song on Red - I still like it, just as I like every song on Red, but it was the one that stood out the least for me. So, while it has grown on me since, it’s not a great surprise to me that it didn’t rank particularly highly here.

Highlighted comments: @leadinmeon: “this song has good lyrics but i always think abt the "ooooowooooowooo" at the start of the bridge and it's a bit cringe” @liabilitys: “one of my fav songs but v underrated”

93. hoax (7.016) Highest score was 9.5; Lowest score was 4

There is something about the lyric “stood on the cliffside screaming ‘give me a reason’” that is just so haunting to me. We never quite worked out what this song was, did we? Or if we did, then I missed the boat somehow. Someone fill me in please <3

Highlighted comments: @yourivysgrows: “I actually like this one a lot”

92. The Moment I Knew (7.056) Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 1

The storytelling! The storytelling! The Moment I Knew is a song that slowly, slowly reveals itself as it goes on. Cast your mind back to the first time you heard this song, and that final chorus came in and dropped the bomb of “Happy Birthday to you”, and you finally have the full picture of what went down. Her birthday party! How could you not show up to her birthday party! It’s hating Jake Gyllenhaal hours.

Highlighted comments: @leadinmeon: “it's weird i used to relate so much” @yourivysgrows: “Fuck Jake Gylenhaal part 25″

91. Ronan (7.106) Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 1

This is Taylor’s saddest song for me, no contest. I’m not going to say anything more about it, because Ronan is not really the type of song that invites critique.

Highlighted comments: @tobesolonely: “for how she incorporated Maya's blog posts as verses to give her writing credit” @itspeterlosingwendy: “sad but good”

#results

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mellifluousscheherazade · 4 years

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literally nothing is gonna change my mind about this- rant

I feel like I can meet half-way with people on pretty much any interpretation they have concerning A&C’s scenes or T&C’s scenes because they are (as I’ve said before) as close to the mark without actually hitting it type of vague (imo)

BUT

I am drawing the line on Hollow. That song is definitely about Aerith. I might bend a bit with the idea that this song is about Aerith and Zack but only slightly. The song being about Tifa is an interpretation that, although you can make, is only slightly convincing for portions of the song.

The lyric-“I would be lost, drifting alone. Floating up high, time after time. And there you'd be, shining brightly. Your smiling face, to guide my way” is perhaps the only line I could see attributing to Tifa and her later role in the lifestream but I believe the rest of the song doesn’t hold up that conclusion or it does so poorly.

I’ll even give them the second stanza but no more. The “reach out to me” in another time would have rang out clearly towards Aerith (as hand reaching imagery is a Cloud and Aerith motif- as paid homage to in AC when Aerith suddenly appears to Cloud in battle) but seeing as SE is intent on subverting our expectations when it comes to these two pairings (drawing parallels with both couples through the use of imagery that’s a conversation to be had another time I can see how reach out to me can also apply to both girls but the remainder of the song really doesn’t uphold a Tifa perspective.

The next part of the song is blatantly most telling.

Was it all a dream? Will I never know? Foolish and blind, to everything. Had I realized, had I thought it through, would you be here, in my embrace?

I think most people seem to gloss over how retrospective this song is and how it doesn’t make sense for Cloud to say “had he done things differently, would you still be here?” for Tifa because Tifa is ALIVE after all is said and done. Whatever Cloud could have done differently, Tifa is still around for Cloud to embrace if he wants to.

The song uses this type of retrospective language throughout the rest of the lyrics

“once more” “this time” “this time for sure”

It’s not language I see being about Tifa because again, she still smiling at him in AC, still by his side, still around to answer questions that Cloud might still have about his broken past, about the time in the lifestream, about his trauma.

And Cloud ends the song by admitting that he will never know- the truth behind their tears or their sad smile- because that person is gone.

What really nailed the whole thing for me was that

“Was is all a dream” uses a leitmotif taken from the song that plays when you visit the Temple of the Ancients in the OG game. The Temple of The Ancients is the last dungeon/place of interest Aerith participates with the team before she dies. It’s an important part of the game I think and the part I believe Cloud laments the most- had he been stronger perhaps Aerith wouldn’t have felt the need to go stop Sephiroth on her own. On a more surface level, dreams/apparitions/visions what have you, have now more than ever, been confirmed to be particular Cloud and Aerith imagery.

I’m just really not convinced nor impressed with the interpretation that this song is about Tifa and this is after trying really hard to see it in a C&T perspective and feeling like it wasn’t holding up. It also doesn’t really hold up for Zack (but it only slightly does cuz he’s dead but I have a hard time seeing Zack smile and cry mysteriously at Cloud and Cloud wondering if he had done things differently-but like he was knocked out cold for most of the time he was with Zack so what could he have done exactly- Zack would still be around in Cloud’s embrace lol )

BONUS: The fact that this song plays with Cloud and Aerith are on screen and practically no one else is really telling but you don’t even need that EXTRA confirmation because it’s probably the most obvious/easy to understand thing SE has put out in years.

RANT: I don’t get how so many C&T shippers are like “well whatever! Cloud might have loved Aerith but she’s dead so Tifa it is” and then we get a song about a person clearly no longer being with us and everyone is like OMG TIFA. *sigh*

#clerith #if interpreting this song was an English assignment I would give everyone an F #spoilers I guess #I just needed to get this off my chest lol

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the-a-j-universe · 3 years

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Alright, cool. I finally have a guaranteed length of time that should be long enough to go through all of these, so let’s do this. I know the plan was to have me address each ask one at a time but that didn’t work out lol so I’m just doing it all at once. I’m also turning it into a post so anyone who wants to can follow along with my journey.

I’m also gonna copy/paste the text of the other asks instead of screen capping them because copy/pasting is faster lol.

I’m gonna put a pic of each one here, give my thoughts, maybe a goofy rating (I dunno), and then pick my favorite. Just so y’all know.

* Tanawy's entry n.1 in the Dragon Quest monster showcase: the all-time classic Slime. When asked to design the Slime like the standard goop monster they usually were, Toriyama said "no" and a legend was born, now cute slimes are more popular than the disgusting goop depiction. Its cousins and variants are numerous and some are very different from one another so as a bonus here the criminally underutilized Mottle Slime and its evolution the Mottle King Slime.

See, I don’t even need to look this one up. Here it is:

But let’s be real, you guys didn’t need to see an image of this dude either. I love this thing. I never went through a period where I thought of the grosser oldschool slimes. This thing has always been what’s come to my mind when I here the word in an RPG context. Which, considering my zero experience with DQ, really speaks to this thing’s popularity. I am actually going to remove this one from consideration, though, for that reason. I just have too much of a bias towards it. I know it too well, and all variations seem to be equally great. It’s a 10/10, though. Truly iconic.

Get the rest after the cut!

* Tanawy's entry n.2: Originally a boss monster, here is the Golem. While not the sharpest tool in the shed, these brick-made guys can be quite loyal, with a child-like personality, downright adorable (I will never forget you Goldirox) but their strenght in battle must not be underestimated. And since St. Valentinus is around the corner here a Chocolate Golem variant as a gift. Friendship chocolate mind you, from a dude to another 😄

I like this guy. He reminds me of a couple oldschool Yugioh cards. They’re all bad cards, but I’m nostalgic for them so that help’s this guy’s chances. I don’t know that I buy him as a threatening boss, though. He seems more like he’d be your big stone pal.

The chocolate variant is absolutely adorable.

8.5/10 overall for both.

* Tanawy's entry n.3: Here are two members of the Machine Family, first the Killing Machine. These relentless hunters are merciless and they are constantly upgrading, so models with different modifications are plenty. They even come with garden sprinkles. Then there is the Mecha-mynah, who puts a different spin on the mechanical Cuckoo-bird motif. Careful these guys have razor-sharp wings and they selfdestruct when cornered.

Alright, not so much for the second one, but the Killing Machine also reminds me of, like, a half dozen Yugioh monsters. Did Kazuki Takahashi just like ripping this franchise off or something? Either way, these are both good designs, but they don’t really work for me that much. They’re a little...plain? I guess? I guess I like my machine creatures rougher and with more detail. 7/10.

* Tanawy's entry n.4: Next are my deepest fears (exaggeration) if they were real; the Waspion, half wasp half scorpion, and the Claw Hammer, Half hammerhead shark half metal scolopendra, all nightmare. Continuing with the caravan of creepiness, here is the Bona Constrictor, just get it away from me. This next one, when i saw it for the first time i yelled "WTF is That?!" here is the Ulcer, a walking awful pile of rotting flesh.

I am NOT a fan of the Ulcer. That thing’s ugly, and not even in a fun way. 0/10.

I like these other guys, though:

The Waspion is literally just Gligar from Pokemon, but aside from that I like animal/creature mash-ups. And the Claw Hammer is a pretty unique one. 9/10 for the whole lot.

* Tanawy's entry n.5: Beef or chicken? Why choose when you can have both? Here is a heavyweight of the Bird Family the taurine Bullfinch. But dont forget your vegetables, or else they might turn into these Plant family monsters, the eggplant Woebergine, the bellpeppers Capsichum and the cucumber Cruelcumber. Also, meet the Peahooter, these guys pelts their targets with arrows taking advantage of their higher ground.

Okay, we’ve got another mash-up creature here in the form of the Bullfinch, but I’m not feeling this one as much. It’s worth, like, a 6.5/10, maybe. The Woebergine and the Peahooter are both pretty interesting. The Peahooter is kinda cute in a weird way and the Woebergine is delightfully derpy. They both deserve approaching an 8/10. I’m not really feeling the Capsichum at all though. They get a 5 or a 6/10.

* Tanawy's entry n.6: Who doesn't like a good dog? Well maybe not these guys from the Beast family: the Chainine who will ensnare their preys with their collars, the Putrefido, who is no longer alive, the Abracadabrador, who will eat your bones, the Crocodog, a levitating (yes this thing floats in the air) dog-crocodile hybrid and finally the Jackal Ripper (long lost relative of Wolverine or just imitator? More at 11 on the news)

Hey now. That’s not really fair to the other entries. Every one of these dudes:

Is a very GOOD BOI. I think I like the Abracadabrador the least. He’s a little too un-dog-like compared to the others. 6.5/10. The Chainine and the Putrfido are both the perfect blend of cute and weird. I like them a lot. They get 7.5/10. Jackal Ripper is a badass 8/10. He’d be cooler if he was wearing jeans. I LOVE the Crocodog, though. 10/10. Perfect. He just looks like a friend, but he also looks like he could kill my enemies. Which is what I like in a monster.

* Tanawy's entry n.7: Here is a taste of Japan with the Boppin’ badger, the most Tanuki-like monster you will ever meet; Then these guys don't need consent to give everyone within their reach a smooch, here is the Lips. Also, beware of these horses of the underworld, the Equinox where they probably hangout with these other lovely fellows, the Hellspawn. Speaking of which here is the demon Teeny Sanguini. Cute eh? Not when it evolves in the Bloody Manguini. Thankfully not everyone of them does that.

Okay, you can’t fool me. That first one is just a regular animal.

Jokes aside, though, I’m not really feeling this bunch unfortunately. The Hellspawn just reminds me too much of mutant can Steven, the Lips is a little boring, and the Equinox, while I like the wordplay in its name, and while it’s cool in principal, is too busy. I’m just not feeling the designs of these guys overall. 4 or 5/10 for the whole lot. Though the Teeny Sanguini is closer to a 5 than a 4.

* Tanawy's entry n.8: There are two species of monsters, the Pips and their cousins the Conks, who constatly imitate the classic classes of the humans, like warriors or priests, but this time the little rascals have gone a little farther and here they are copying the DQ8 4 main heroes in the Trodainian Conklave, the DQ4 heroes in the Zenithian Conklave, the hero of DQ1 and the 3 heroes of DQ2 in the Alefgardian Conklave and the hero of DQ3 with 3 other companions in the Aliahanian Conklave. Cute.

Okay, I love the idea of these things. They’re cute, they fit right in with the general aesthetic of the franchise, and they have a ton of personality. I’m not gonna post pics of all of them because there’re so many, but they deserve ~9/10 collectively. They’re very good.

* Tanawy's entry n.9: Not enough dragons? So here's three: what do you get mixing a T-rex, a dragon and a vicious axeman? An Hacksaurus that's what! Then the Drakulard. Don't be fooled by their mole these portly fellows mean business. Another chubby dragon, the Jargon: dragonic masters of the clay containers, these guys URNed their right to use jar puns and they will make sure you remenber it, even if they have to crack your pot.

Okay now these are more what I was thinking when I heard the title Dragon Quest.

I like the Hacksaurus the best outta them. He just looks nice. They’re all good, though. They fit the art style perfectly, and resemble each other just enough that you buy them all being related creatures. 8/10 overall, though the Hacksaurus is a little above the others, with the Jargon being a barely at the bottom of the barrel. Or the jar I guess.

* Tanawy's entry n.10: The only story entry in this showcase, because just look at him, it's the only DQ big baddie (at least in english) to actually call themselves "the Demon Lord" It's Orgodemir, specifically it's true form which is the first photo you find in the gallery at almost end-page. Let me just tell you this, Orgodemir is a d*ck of the highest level. The brain it's actually an eyelid for a giant eye by the way. Happy Nightmares.

HAHAHAHA. I know there are other forms for this guy, and this is probably not the reaction that anyone who played the game would have, but I just can’t take this guy seriously. He looks like Edward Cullen with bat wings. HAHAHA. 8/10 ‘cause it made me laugh.

* Tanawy's entry n.11: And lastly, in a category i like to call "I can't belive these are real", its the Funky Ferret; yes he and his cousins do exactly what the image shows. And the almost copyright-infinging Owlbear, yes they did not even try to distance themself from D&D with this one (ok they have a variant but is not saying much). There were others in the last category, but since they REALLY did not age gracefully to the modern standards of "acceptable" i prefered not show them.

I love Owlbears, they’re just such iconic fantasy monsters at this point, so he gets a solid 8/10 rating by default. It’s a pretty original take, too, focusing on the cuteness potential of the creature over the badass potential. I like that.

The Funky Ferret, though...

With a name like that this guy coulda been so cool. But he’s just a pretty generic design blended with a fart joke. What a bummer. 3/10.

And there we have it. Probably not exactly what you were thinking but I hope you like it. I don’t hate any of these guys. Some are more boring than others, but there’s something neat about each of them. I like the ones that take badass ideas and make them cute while remaining intimidating best out of all of them, and I think the Crocodog does this best with the Hacksaurus as the runner up. Crocodog is definitely my favorite of these, though. He gets the Best Good Boi award of Bestness.

Orgodemir gets an award, too, though, the “made AJ spit out his rum and Coke laughing” award. It’s not the most coveted, but it’s something.

I know this is a long one, and y’all may not want to reblog, but what do any of my followers think of these funky dudes? Leave a comment on this post or reblog with your answer in the tags!

#long post #my dumb thoughts #dragon quest #monster showcase #trademark

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bbq-hawks-wings · 4 years

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If your interested, I also mentioned that Apollo was the god of oracles and prophecy. And there was that prophecy about Endeavor bringing everyone's demise in the form of Dabi :) even if he wasn't mentioned by name, we know he's the 'darkness' Endeavor's light will summon. And to fit in with that more, Dabi killing Endeavor will erase him from the narrative, which is like the dreams he was having.

(Continued) If Dabi = Apollo, and to Apollo, Hawks were his messenger birds then hmm whatdya think? *nudge nudge* He! Knows! The! Thing! Horikoshi is probably mixing a lot of stories. Someone once wrote that Icarus fell all the way down to Tartarus, but I can't find any source for that. We know he drowned at sea, but is there anything written on what happened after in detail or is that it? I'd also like to mention, while we're on the topic of myths.

(Continuing) Hawks' eyes are similar to the eyes of Horus/Ra are they not? His eyes are a big deal in the manga, and Ra is known as 'The Hidden One' Now we know Hawks is always hiding himself behind his feathers, there's at least three specific panels of him doing that. The MOST INTERESTING part is that Ra has many names, and one is secret, because knowing that would mean having power over him. (Applies to Dabi too in a way tbh.) but! We're thinking of Keigo Takami here ;)

(Last part) And Dabi held the power over him when he shouted it out and made Hawks lose his cool there. Bonus: Horus lost his left eye in a war with Set, and Dabi's foot was on Hawks' left eye and burned it. - anon from Foxy's tags.

I am VERY interested in the extended/multiple myth angle, particularly in regards to Hawks, Foxy anon. (Thanks for dropping by to talk, btw.) I've read everything over that you've sent, and if it's okay, I'd like to review your thoughts and chime in at the end with my own. I'm going to do it under the cut, though, because this is going to get long. Lol

I absolutely agree with you that Dabi is likely either a front-runner or the main agent of darkness summoned by Endeavor's light. The concept of the prophecy was introduced in canon, and I don't doubt Horikoshi plans to explicitly bring it up again. Considering Dabi's supposed dark connections to Endeavor's past he's a prime candidate to knock Endeavor out of the sky. When you combine this with the fact that Dabi's hair is black while Touya's appears to be snow white with the character for "light" spelled out in his name, it's hard to believe Dabi won't have some major role to play in this prophecy. The thematic idea that Apollo/Touya, as this more symbolic role than anything, in the background gives Hawks this prophecy to pass on about the incoming darkness is also not unlikely.

I'm not so sure the Hawks = Horus-Ra angle tracks as cleanly, though. Still, I'll follow your thought process first and give it the benefit of the doubt when discussing it before adding my thoughts. I'll be referring to Horus and Ra as the same entity as from my cursory research they were occasionally combined into the same deity and both share some nominal similarities with Hawks. Please also note Egyptian mythology is not my strong suit, and it has its own complexities I'm unfamiliar with. I'm only working with what I know and can research on the surface.

The note about his eyes are fascinating considering the fact that the Eye of Horus and the Eye of Ra are both major, destinct parts of the Egyptian mythology as well as having their own separate symbolic meanings and power - The right Eye of Ra representing the sun and having associations with aggression and destruction while the left Eye of Horus, representing the moon, was associated with healing, sacrifice, protection and wisdom - even being referred to as "the all-seeing eye."

Yet as potentially rich and interesting this angle is, I'm not entirely sure it's close enough to canon to stick.

My first objection starts with his proposed equivalence to Ra who is considered king of the gods and creator of all things as well as the personification of the sun itself. Imo, this is just too lofty of a position to accurately attribute to Hawks. Despite losing the sweet "bird of prey" aesthetic, I think Thoth would probably be a better fit as the god of the moon and writing, particularly as he restores the Eye of Horus. There's also the issue of which eye is burned and the significance of them - seeing as Hawks' left eye was burned, which according to this theory would be the Eye of Horus, it would make more sense for this to read as Hawks losing his motivation to work for those more selfless, positive qualities that up to this point have defined his character and leave only the Eye of Ra, the more destructive and violent tendencies, to reign unless some other character embodying Thoth restored it for him.

This premise of the right and left eyes on its own is positively dope and has a Shonen series begging to be made of it. However, I find it too far removed from the proven inspiration of HeroAca so far to be much more than a neat thought exercise for our purposes today. At least for the moment it would make sense to stick closer to the Greco-Roman angle we have at the moment, especially considering how closely tied together Dabi, Endeavor, and Hawks canonically are. If the Icarus story is meant to be the case as well and we wanted to flesh out Hawks individually more, I could see an angle that keeps the bird motif as well as the consequences of Daedalus/Endeavor's hubris directly impacting him as well.

Nevertheless, with the Egyptian aspect set to the side for now and sticking to our speculation around the Icarus myth for the moment, I'd like to posit that if Horikoshi is actually intending to take the larger mythos around Daedalus to explain the dynamics of these characters Hawks will be playing the role of one or two myths outside of merely acting as Dabi/Icarus' tattered wings. It requires some creative liberties to work; but nothing I'd consider too outside the realm of reason to break it.

Long before the tower, and even the birth of Icarus himself, Daedalus had an apprentice - either Talos or Perdix depending on the source. This apprentice was brilliant - even more so than Daedalus himself - and looked up to him to emulate him in his admiration of him. Though in this myth Daedalus commits the upcoming crime himself out of jealousy of his apprentice, if we tweaked it to mean "due to Daedalus' jealousy, Talos/Perdix was pushed out of a tower to his demise" the angle still works depending on the direction the manga takes. Athena - goddess of wisdom, and interesting in the context of HeroAca, the clever, noble, and positive aspect of war - looked on Talos/Perdix with favor and before he could be killed by the fall was transformed into a partridge who, remembering his past life, never soared or climbed to high places again and only nests close to the ground.

Like the other roles it's a stretch, and we really don't have enough canon material to work with to prove it either way, but a couple of notes in particular gives this theory enough merit for me to keep tucked in the back of my head as we go on.

A more direct, cause and effect relationship with Endeavor should he actually be playing the role of Daedalus.

The specific note of admiration and subsequent betrayal leading to the younger's downfall due to the previously unknown envy of the older.

If this myth pertains to events that have already happened in the manga (i.e. the fall of Talos/Perdix was Hawks' "adoption" by the HPSC) the low-dwelling partridge transformation fits not only because of Hawks' humble and wary nature but because of the symbolic blessing of Athena in particular being the catalyst for the change.

If this is meant to be indicative of events that will happen in the future (Hawks' burned wings, the epiphany about Endeavor, etc) it still works whether Hawks gets his wings back or not. In the case he doesn't he will be a grounded bird, though far from useless and still radiant; and if he does it leaves open the opportunity to squeeze in another myth - that of the Phoenix - instead of the partridge which ties in much more strongly with the theme of transformation and rebirth while keeping with the bird motif as well as ties in Endeavor's personal trademark of fire. This second ending also has the potential to work thematically whether Hawks forgives Endeavor or not depending on the interpretation - the Phoenix rises again reborn despite the fire, or the fire itself gives the Phoenix new life to soar again.

In this case, both Perdix and Icarus fall from high towers due to Daedalus' hubris - the first lured there out of false pretense through no fault of his own and the second out of desperation and even mania to escape and live his own life; but notably, while Icarus loses his wings and falls to his doom, Perdix reaches the ground safely and continues on to live on transformed as a new being.

Again, this is all speculation, and Horikoshi can crush our dreams completely with a single chapter release, but the thought experiment is fun even if I wasn't sure every myth brought up quite works with the canon revealed to us so far, and I get the added bonus of learning about new mythologies I might otherwise not have looked into myself.

Thanks for dropping these in my inbox, anon! I know I may have shot down the Egyptian myth part a bit in regards to fitting with canon, but your points make for killer AU potential! Are there any other characters you see as having parallels to Egyptian gods - other AUs I’ve seen have given Dabi the role of Anubis, for example? I'd love to hear more!

#she speaks #bnha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #mha spoilers #spoiler!dabi #spoiler!hawks #dabi is icarus

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fmdjoosungarchive · 3 years

Text

location: bc & gold star buildings, studios

date: april-may 2020

word count: 1409

warnings: of the paras this one references major & seasonal depression the most, but it’s not in depth descriptions

tldr; verification for sung’s song nosedive. partial everything. sung writes a song about the big d (one that’s not his * * *), and wants to recruit features from people that he knows understand that struggle, which ends up being @durifmd and @fmdaidynn

crafting this album meant that, to the last moment, sung needed to be working on the production. every song needed to work together and flow perfectly, to create the kind of sound sung wanted. two exceptions weren’t as strict, being the first and last songs. they were bookends.

that didn’t meant sung wasn’t going to try to make them similar anyway, even if the point was for them to be different enough to stand out a little. nosedive stood out, maybe less than happiness did, but it stood out nonetheless. being that it was the first song sung ever completed, of the songs that made it onto his final tracklist, that had a lot to do with it. most of the songs that were chosen had been written, or re-written, later in the process so that they fit together under the concept he’d come up with. nosedive didn’t have a need to be completely reworked, and sung liked it too much to let go of it.

and that was why, minutes before he had to send off his version of the final tracklist for approval, sung was still working on fine tuning the productional elements of the song. he’d had one idea that he couldn’t shake, in the shower that was meant to be used to distract himself from the impending due date. sung had run out of the bathroom with his hair still sopping wet, to rush to his computer for as much time as possible. by then, his face and neck had about ten different lines of water that had dripped down from his hair, but sung really didn’t care, not enough certainly.

he needed this last change. earlier in the process, it was something that had crossed his mind, but it was so brief that within a few moments, he’d already forgotten. but it was a great idea, and one he’d been utilizing in small bits here and there throughout the album.

audio panning.

the first time sung heard audio panning in a song was the first time he felt asmr. finding out that asmrist also did audio panning in their videos was a whole other tingle-ful monster he came to unravel -besides the point. with time, sung had come to see how much more powerful audio panning could make a song feel, in adding to immersion. and if he was going to be late to a deadline, it was going to be for this.

and, in a positive light, worrying about this meant not worrying about any other changes he’d made on songs. bonus.

he relaxed the sound during their vocal and rap lines, just to come back full force throughout the song, like a motif. although, really, the entire song was part of a motif, as the album was. nosedive was meant to set the tone for the entire album, and introduce the general concept of what the album would talk about.

sung could remember his fear over that, as if it was still happening in the moment. back then, he hadn’t decided what kind of album direction he would go in, if anything at all. having a concept as involved as this one wasn’t on his mind at all at that time. however, he had ideas. from his best guess, it seemed like gold star might have wanted an album around winter time, and winter was known for ballads. sung wasn’t. however, in his own writing, in what mattered most to him of the songs he’d put out so far, sung wrote about sad things pretty often. of course, he enjoyed songs about love, and enjoyed writing songs about love, but that wasn’t what was the biggest thought on his mind during winter. sans christmas.

winter was the most difficult of seasons to sung and many people, including those he saw every single day. it was a shared struggle amongst the general populous. sung knew that was something he could talk about, and if he was going to write an album for winter, it was something that he should talk about. that didn’t come without fear, though. starting a concept that once felt so grand and impossible brought a lot of fear with it.

weirdly enough, approaching duri with the idea, asking for a feature from him, helped. it was someone that he could share the burden with, not only in writing the lyrics, but in the entire concept he’d started crafting. working well together as people was also a help, because it didn’t take more than a session for them to plot out the basics of both of their parts.

...both, because sung had realized part of the way through that the song still didn’t feel complete. he could have written a second verse for himself, but the bridge would work better if it was a back and forth, with someone who didn’t have vocals that would blow him out of the water any day of the week.

a couple of days later, when the fear of rejection had passed enough that sung could send out something as simple as an email, he messaged aidynn. the two of them weren’t close as people, but sung liked the other man well enough in the time they had had together. even if he didn’t like aidynn, he’d have put on a polite and loving smile, for daisuke, just like he did with andy. thankfully, that wasn’t the case. from the most genuine place in him, sung knew that aidynn had struggles like he did, like duri did. and so, he sent off a message.

aidynn responded in the best way sung could have imagined, with a verse of his own, and after a few back and forth messages of little changes, sung felt secure in the song he’d created with two people he’d like to call friends.

he liked, too, that one of aidynn’s lyrics mentioned one of the same phrases that he did in another one of the songs on the album. for as different as the composition had come to be from the bulk of the album, it still housed references to the rest, just like each chapter held tidbits of one another.

sung wasn’t sure he’d make something so cohesive again.

when making nosedive’s composition, he hadn’t been thinking about how to be cohesive. he focused only on making something that sounded good to his ears, and could house the kind of message he wanted to spread.

he started with a simple beat, snapping and clapping onto his own body. it didn’t make for the cleanest of recordings, especially the claps, but it was doable for that minute. then, he hummed. the thought crossed his mind of picking up another artist to be doing this for him, especially when he naturally started humming into notes his vocal chords strained to try to reach. sung ignored the thought for then, thinking it might be best to, i don’t know, have a song, before asking someone to join on a song.

with a basis for a melody, maybe for the chorus, sung tried to create an actual beat, from a mix of digital instruments, and the same snapping he’d recorded before. the snapping wasn’t bad at all, production-wise. with it, he added the line of waving sound that flowed throughout the song, and later ended up being put through an audio panning reverb.

and from there, trouble hit in being so busy, that sung handed the song off to another producer to keep working on for him. by the time it came back to him, with a new beat inlayed, and lots of smaller additions, including a short moment of violin, sung had decided that this was going to be at least an option to take the album into. he could plan for several versions, sure, and if he was going to start one, it would start with this.

that motivation pushed sung into overdrive to finish the composition within the day, which was a big feat considering he had to drive to a violinist to add onto what the other songwriter had started with. after the audio panning, that might have been his second favorite part, and it was all thanks to someone else.

when it came to music, sung was largely a lone wolf, but sometimes, only the best results could come from letting others in. maybe he could send duri, aidynn, and that songwriter baskets of food from his mom.

#fmdverification #i like that i started towards the later songs started for the album and im finishing with the first he finished #depression tw #I DID IT #FUCKING #HAPPINESS #HAPPINESS BRINGING ME ALL DIS HAPPINESS RN #this album is such an important part of sung #writing verifs sucks bc effort and thinking but part of me is happy i did it #because i and whoever dares to read these too many paras can feel the album deeply #thru sungs perspective #okay now i need to finish his album cover #i have like five days fook #im always working on deadlines in famed lmao #self para #era: happiness

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42eyeballs · 4 years

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a continuation of the biblical parallels ive found in tma but it got way too long

Bereshit starts with the beginning; God calls the (added) expanse Sky... and there was...a second day... and God saw that this was good. And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation..." The earth brought forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants of every kind... and God saw that this was good. (1:8-12) An inverse would be a change in sky (look at the sky. It’s looking back) to show the end of the world (the apocalypse), and if fear is to be taken as a type of sustenance surely then the mention of vegetation of every kind would be akin to the ritual of which brought all the Powers through to the new world at once (180), creating a fertile land full of fear to devour.

It is noted that the world was created before Adam was placed into it (2:8)! Creating a slight shift in timelines for their beginnings, paralleled by Jon staying within the cottage for his chrysalis, staying there until he emerged as an adult insect (?). Insect imagery aside Adam was created and placed into his Eden as a full adult, as so is Jon. “This place wishes to be our tomb. But the Eye does not wish that. No, the Eye wishes instead that it be my chrysalis.” (162) Which has an implication that it was always meant to be a stage to pass through, similarly there are interpretations that the Garden was always meant to be an intermediary stage humanity was meant to grow out of (along with a few other things). If there is the cottage, there is the Garden; if there is the world outside of Eden, there is the world wracked by the apocalypse.

The cottage is this false artificial refuge from the other parts of the world. Eden was this prison of everything the couple may have needed. 162 describes the cottage as a place “deep in the heart of fear, where [they] trap [themselves] and claim that it is safety… a rotten sanctuary of lonely companionship” and yet is small enough that “the one [Jon] loves is always near, so close that refuge sometimes feels a prison.” Eden is a sanctuary where the only one to talk to and lean on is a lover; the world will rage on but this small bubble will never change, just wait for when they are ready.

There’s also an interesting inversion with Eden being given to have this motif of having been created and alive, all of which from the perspective of the setting is very passive, and the Extinction being active in its creation; it will seek to create a lifeless world. Some interpretations suggest it might replace us with something new - that can then fear annihilation in turn, which has a similar flavor to Spinoza’s idea of a substance that desires only it’s existence - said substance only wants to be itself, it wants to be eternal. Such is inscribed into it’s very being, and yet there are different modes of the substance that exist differently. Oliver calls himself a death prophet, and says he has knowledge of death but not an understanding of what to do with it or why (121); Jon who watch[s] and know[s] and understand[s] none… listen[s] and hear[s] and [does not] comprehend (160) is a fascinating parallel in structure of Spinoza’s idea of prophets that are gifted with knowledge but not understanding - knowledge that is gifted to them via some mode of the substance.

There is also a period of time before the creation of Adam and the giving of life to him, and if we are to take research Jonathan as being in his insectoid egg, and archivist Jonathan as being a sort of larva that has yet to reach adulthood in his chrysalis, then this is the period of larvae. He is alive but not fully peaked in his awakening as an avatar. He does not yet see and is not yet fully living as such; the shift being when he shifts in his hospital bed and begins to breathe again (121), a parallel to when God blew into Adam the breath of life, and man became a living being (2:7). Jon, about two months after living again, takes out a bone, specifically a rib, specifically specifically something he won’t miss, for an anchor (131), and jumps into the Buried. Why specifically a rib? It is the same bone as the one God took out of Adam to bring him Eve (2:21), though she had not a name until after they had already left the Garden. Adam had all the world’s array of animals and wild beasts to choose from and yet none were a fitting partner; the Hunt has an affinity towards predatory animals, one could say wild beasts. This is where Daisy fits in. Martin had not yet been brought to Jon yet at this point, and slotted between the place between being Alive and Partnered is Daisy who is not his wife and who is not his partner and who is, or was and will be, a wild beast (2:19-20). Martin, who has very aptly been called Jon’s actual anchor to humanity, and Jon’s actual anchor out of the Buried, placed dozens of tape recorders (132, 134) on top and around of the coffin, waiting for Jon. There is no hard evidence that says that without Martin's actions, Jon could not have found his way out again, but there is the implication because he does lose the presence of his rib while in there, only to be reunited with it after Martin has placed the recorders. This actively associates Martin with being Jon’s anchor instead of the rib, swapping their places. A bone for a person.

Jon goes into the lonely for Martin, and is able to find him and, more than that, bring him back (159). They are together despite the Lonely saying that to live is to be alone. They are together, and they link living (as opposed to surviving) to loving (be it in whatever form it may) (159), similarly there is God’s statement of how it is not good for man to be alone (2:18). Martin can be heavily associated with an Eve persona now, and he continues the role in the cottage by giving Jon the statements.

God said not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and bad (in some translations); Jon, as soon as he knew what the statement was, knew it was bad, knew he did not want it, he knew he should not read it. Statements have been written to become more equivalent to food as the plot goes on, accumulating into this final statement, this final fruit of knowledge, where the world then goes topsy turvy and flips on its head. This is where there begins to be a massive inversion of the parallels, not a diversion but more of an opposite in sides. If Adam were to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge, his “eyes [would] be opened and [he would] be like diving beings,” (3:5), same goes with Jon and his statement, but Adam was also told if he eats the fruit, he would gain the ability to die (2:15-17). Jon wouldn’t gain the ability to know good and evil, he already had that, however little he may have used it. If anything being so close to such a source of power made it harder for him to determine what is good, and what is evil (171, 174, 166, etc.), along with the added bonus of not really being susceptible to death, but oh does he gain raw knowledge.

Eve, of course, is told to eat the fruit by a snake, and Adam eats the fruit that Eve gave him; interesting then that Elias puts his false statement in with real ones to be delivered to the cottage (the fruit in the Garden) for Martin to give to Jon (Eve to give to Adam). This also equates Elias to a snake which is wonderfully appropriate. There’s also this small line where Basira said that she would just send a bunch of statements because she wasn’t sure which ones he has already read, not that big of a line but it does imply that there was likely some statements that he had read, and at least one that he hadn’t (Elias’); there was also likely two trees of which Adam has not eaten from, until the end, the tree of knowledge, but there is also a tree of life. In reading the statement, Jon invokes the line “I am to be a king of a ruined world” (160); Adam was meant to rule over and master what filled the earth, the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, all the living things, but his world was meant to be one of joy and prosperity, and this carries over onto Jon who does see beauty and wonder in the world that is.

Adam and Eve aren’t immediately cast out, they first hide themselves from what they have wrought upon them; Jon too, hides from what was wrought upon the world, until he doesn’t and he is filled with hatred and anger. Eve, too, was filled with anger and enmity for the snake, which presumably Adam shared but the text isn’t specific, but Martin was already ready to leave if not angry. So God banishes them from the Garden, to “till the soil from which he was taken,” (3:23) and on one hand this is to make it so that humanity cannot have both the knowledge and immortality, but it also acts as a way to say that humanity has grown enough to leave the house of their childhood, that Jon is ready to leave his chrysalis. The banishment from Eden is also the destruction of Eden, as it no longer has anyone to tend to it, as was Adam's original purpose; Eden, being the only place Adam ever was, his whole world, then being destroyed, even if he was not able to watch it actively happen. Elias, too, forces Jon to destroy the world he has lived in (180), and he passes out, only being able to see the result of him reading the statement. But more so, Adam and Eve were afraid after they knew (3:10).

They walk through the door of the cottage, and the gates of the Garden, into the world that is now theirs to do with what they will. Adam and Eve have death slowly approaching, but it is not here yet because despite what most translations say, they do not immediately die, death, and the End, is very patient (121). And the biblical couple propagates, and births Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel, and is cursed to become a ceaseless wanderer on Earth, which interestingly is what Jon is doing, slowly wandering towards the Panopticon, but Cain is also marked, so as to allow for him to wander without fear, without being killed despite what others (what others I don’t know) may want (4:12). Jon, too is cursed with life, and he cannot likely be killed by just anything, but the curse says nothing about hurt, which is where how Daisy could hurt him makes sense (179) despite what he might have intuitively thought.

Time goes on, and God regretted what she had made, and her heart saddened (6:6), which is right before the Flood. If we stretch to say that the plot will continue to follow this path, and it may due to it being said that if there were a removal of the Fears the Earth would go back to normal, similarly to the Floor getting rid of all but a few select humans.

This leaves the questions: who plays the role of Abel? It may well be Lukas, but I’m not sure as Abel also carries farm animals including sheep and perhaps cows as iconography, but he was also meant to be the second of a pair to Cain; if the Flood is to happen, who will be saved? Who will be left to die? The nephilim already have some kind of divinity, which has been sprinkled around with the Fears and Jon and God, but where do they lie?

One last thing to mention is the usage of the Torah as a way to store stories, as an archive of the history of a people if you will, and archivist[s]... care about compiling experiences [and] collecting the fears of others (180). Records of fear and records of strength in face of adversity. Jon is an archive of fear, but he may well also be an archive of love and strength.

#tma #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #playing the role of adam and also cain maybe #martin blackwood #playing the role of eve #i have more to say but it doesnt fit into the narrative of this

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