#HES GOT SO MUCH TRAGEDY AND ITS PORTRAYED AND WRITTEN SO WELL

[losticaruss]

chronicles of narnia: prince caspian will forever be a tragedy to me, especially in the way the movie presents it. it opens with peter, desperate to return to the respect he deserves (or thinks he deserves), a fully grown man trapped in this child's, this stranger's body, still adjusting to the life he'd long since forgotten. he gets into a fight because it's natural to him. don't they realize who is he is? not selfishly (a little bit selfishly) he expects people, his siblings, the crowd, to be with him in battle. it's another battle to him, and edmund, lovely edmund, young edmund, edmund who was 12 and on the verge of death, edmund who loves his siblings the most one could ever love your own blood, is in the fray with him, and they fall back into the rhythm they were used to back home- back in narnia, and lucy and susan are screaming at them to stop, and edmund and peter see the soldiers coming home from war, and all they wants is to go back with them, and they understand how these soldiers feel, shell-shocked and distant and they want to fall into line with them, but they're kids and they're fighting other kids, they're not undisciplined, they're unadjusted. nothing changed but so did everything.

and they hop on the train and none of the pevensies want to talk about what happened and they end back in narnia and they're finally back in narnia they're home on the beaches of their home and it's a joy so grand that there's nothing they can do but go back to being kids- again, and they find cair paraval, and everything's gone- and the chessboard that edmund loved, the chessboard he played on when he first beat peter, is gone, there's nothing left of it, and they fall through the ruins like ghosts. here's the dining hall, the ballroom. remember this, lu? it used to be your bed. do you remember when you were so homesick you begged me to stay with you until you fell asleep? do you remember the way the garden bloomed in the spring? and they fall naturally in step into the dais, empty, not even the familiar sound of their shoes clacking against the polished floor. everything's gone now, of course it is. they knew how time worked in narnia, but it didn't happen to them. how could it move on without them? and they make their way into the lower floors, peter naturally falls into the trait of the leader, hes the first to forget the world they came from, but edmund, clever edmund, desperate edmund, brings a torch. he doesn't say how he packed it in his bag every day, how he packed it and prayed that they'd return. and everything is still there, in that room. nothing prepares you for seeing statues of your face- not your face, but what will be your face, what used to be your face- cracked and covered in moss. their crowns are there. everything is there. peters sword returns to his side, and it's the first time he looks complete since they left narnia. and they adventure- how much had changed? the trees are so much taller. how long now had they been gone? it was natural for narnia to have moved on, but they were meant to move on with them. peter tries to bring his siblings through his usual shortcuts, through an overpass, far from the well-trod paths that had cropped up since theyd been gone. he can't have been abandoned by his home, not so soon.

but he was. and there's a kid here, claiming to be the new ruler of narnia. who is he? he looks so young, and susan is looking at him and he's... looking back? and the civilians are looking at this stranger, this kid, like he's supposed to know what to do. had he even fought a battle? he rubs his beard- and is blocked by the bare skin of his chin (of course it's not there. he forgot.) and peter wants to be the bigger person, he's the high king, that's how it should be. but there are all these emotions he hadn't felt before- he thought, not in narnia at least. and he doesn't want to be the bigger person, he finds. stop looking at him like he should know what to do! he stands up to take over- his people forgot about him. he left and they forgot. and he sizes up this child as he speaks- high king peter of narnia, he says. the magnificent. and there it is, he thinks. the familiar look, shock, awe and- confusion? that's a new one- but not incorrect, as he realizes his situation.

he wants to be recognized how he used to be. the pevensies have returned to what they were, the warrior, the archer, the diplomat, the healer. and this new one, the one who wanted to be all four at once so desperately it made ed look wise. and finally- finally he gets his chance to shine, where he belongs, on the field, against The Enemy. of course, not how he'd like it, not in broad daylight, sword and armor gleaming, but it was the smart move. and he's filled with these emotions- not dread, or worry (maybe a little worry), but excitement, and everything is pounding in his head and the adrenaline- he forgot how good it feels- and he leads the army, his army. he's the warrior, the high king, and for a night, the people remember, they remember the golden age. and ed is brilliant, and peter can't help but grin with glee as he sees him pull of a maneuver that pete knows took months of training.

and then the hoards come and they're losing- they can't be losing, this was his chance! he's right, he's the king this was his chance to show them. and he cries for a retreat but it's too late- he was a fool, he watches his army, the army who trusted him, he watched them be slaughtered against the gates that had sealed their fate. he watched the blood spray and stain the metal, oozing between the stone bricks and he just stares. and it's all he can do and he wants- what does he want? to say he's sorry? to save them?

no- no, nothing like that. he should be in there with them. he should be gutted like the rest of them (a hero's death, not this cowards life). he went in too fast, too proud, he knows that. but to have these innocents follow him in willingly, blindly, and he's the one to make it out? it's unforgivable.

and then he's given another chance. a fight- a duel, to the death. he leaves the arena a victor, or he dies a martyr, and everyone forgets his sins of the night of the ambush. and he fights the best he can, he loses his helmet, he's injured and he can hear death whistling it's grim tune, and he almost doesn't pick up his sword, and he sees edmund, lovely edmund, young edmund, with hope in his eyes- with faith in his eyes, and peter knows, he certainly doesn't deserve the life he's been longing for, but he picks up his sword because his little brother, his little brother who almost died, whom he loves with all his heart and so much more. and he accepts it. he realizes he won't get it back, his golden age, but he can fight for edmund, for narnia. and he fights. he fights and he fights and he fights.

and when it's over he breaths the sweet narnian air, and he clasps the hand of caspian, another brother, not a blood one, nor a narnian one, but one of a deeper connection, deeper than any love, and he sees susan smiling. the pevensies and caspian are celebrated like kings, and the pevensies help caspian, still a child, overwhelmed with all this love, they guide him through it, preparing for the many days in the future when parades and celebrations fill the streets, and the people adore their rulers- their king.

it's their last time, he tells the others. once they leave, him and susan can't return. there's more on the other side, the other world, another way to return to narnia, to Aslan, and he doesn't share the fear in his heart. another way, but not this way. not through his home, where he's surrounded by it, drenched in it. not the same not the same, never the same again. they could stay, of course, says a foolish side of him. but not, they couldn't, it's stupid to say so. his mother- had he forgotten his mother so soon? she would go mad with loss. his golden age, it's come and past, and narnia moved on without him, and he steps through to the train station, not to his home, (no. he can never go home again.) and susan follows him, and she grasps his hand, a look shared between the two of them that she understands. and peter, one last chance to be the bigger person, he sees her loss and he squeezes her hand back. edmund and lucy they think they understand, and they grasp their elder siblings hands, and it's comforting, but peter and susan know, they know they won't understand, not until it's their turn, they won't know how empty it is, how lonely it is in this world.

so yeah. it's a tragedy

#whoops thinking about the pevensies. #haven't done an absurdly long essay on characters who's tragedy has worked its way into my brain and rotted it through in a while so #here ya go #the pevensies #the chronicles of narnia #prince caspian #didn't mean for this to be most about peter but #HES GOT SO MUCH TRAGEDY AND ITS PORTRAYED AND WRITTEN SO WELL #peter pevensie #susan pevensie #edmund pevensie #lucy pevensie #also used read more cause DANG it got long fast

[triviareads]

ARC Review of The Rebel King by Kennedy Ryan

Summary:

Maxim Cade and Lennix Moon Hunter are finally together after over a decade of near-misses. However, their relationship is tested by a kidnapping, then further tragedy that leads to a political situation that will have long-lasting implications for them, their loved ones, and the entire country.

My Review:

I finally got a chance to read the Kingmaker series leading up to its rerelease and I'm so glad I did. It really is a gorgeous series— very grand and sweeping in a way modern romances very rarely are: You have your Kennedy-esque family (no seriously, the way I SCREAMED when Max invoked Bobby Kennedy at the point in time he did) except Old Oil Money instead of New England patricians, you have two characters that should basically be mortal enemies because of what his family did to hers and yet they can't help falling in love, then you have this decades-long love story, the heroine is nicknamed the Kingmaker (which I am personally obsessed with; I love reading about a good kingmaker personality— both in real life and in fiction), and now the hero who is the Rebel King (the origin story is that his middle name is Kingsmen and his mom used to call him and his brother by saying "All the king's men" which.... if that isn't a reference to the book All The King's Men, I don't know what it is).

I deeply appreciate Kennedy Ryan's dedication to portraying Lennix's Native American heritage in a respectful manner— Kennedy consulted members of the Yavapai-Apache Nation and members of other tribes while writing these books. And Lennix's culture isn't just some background thing; it impacts how she lives, her ideals, and her politics.

Speaking of politics, I think regardless of your personal views, the political aspect of this novel is written in a fairly simple, approachable way that doesn't get too technical, and Kennedy seamlessly intertwines it with the romance. Do I think a lot of it was unrealistic? Yes, but the extraordinary political situation Kennedy sets up calls for an extraordinary solution so I rolled with it.

As for Lennix and Max's relationship, I am a fan of the overall trajectory in this book; a lot of authors tend to get lost somewhere along the way after the main characters get together, but Kennedy Ryan did a great job by not injecting petty drama or whatever, but rather, the turn the plot takes means there are lots of tough questions they need to answer about their future sooner rather than later. Also, reading them as a couple (which we don't see much of in the previous book) also reveals some interesting aspects to their relationship: Maxim is a lot more possessive over Lennix in this book than I thought be would be (and I feel like this goes beyond just as a response to the situation in the beginning of this book), and outside of the relationship, he becomes a lot more maverick-y, if that makes sense. Actually, in hindsight, Lennix is fairly steady in comparison.

The sex:

The sex scenes in this book were seamless and really fit into the plot well, especially considering the insane span of emotions both Lennix and Max (especially Max) go through during the course of this book. And who said sex in a committed relationship gets boring? Not these two. Standout moments in this book for me include a very emotional sex scene after a very tragic incident (which would probably constitute as a spoiler), a scene in their kitchen where Max is full-on sucking Lennix's nipples through her sweatshirt and the noises the make gets everyone in the apartment hot and bothered lolol, and of course, the rare contemporary romance butt stuff (for both of them!).

Overall:

Honestly, I'd recommend this book to anyone and everyone: romance readers in general, fans of political dramas, anyone looking for a diverse romance... you name it, I genuinely think this book has it.

Thank you to Bloom Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

#arc review #arc #netgalley #kennedy ryan #SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books #bloom books #contemporary romance #romance novels

[trothplighted]

I love the little snippets of the Marauders we've seen in your Grindeldore AU. It's like opening peanut butter and finding a hidden chocolate swirl. Great and unexpected. What do you think about the way Lupin was straightwashed in canon? How does that affect your opinion of Wolfstar as a ship?

oh yes, I very much want to talk about this

I don't know, really, how aware that JKR was that she queercoded Sirius and Remus. I feel like she had some awareness, because of the extremely homophobic way she treated Sirius in OotP (I'll elaborate on this in another post probably but it's upsetting, it's probably the most deliberately homophobic writing I've seen in a piece of written genre fiction from the last 40 years) and the way that it's a complete pivot from how he's portrayed in PoA and GoF, but nothing's confirmed. I'm not actually sure how aware she is that the entire wizarding world is very queercoded (a group of people with stores and bars and music that's distinct from the rest of regular society, they look the same physically but often dress in flamboyant or deliberately weird or gender-nonconforming ways, they have their own dialect of language and words that are distinct to their subculture, they're in a position where they have to exist on the fringes and undersides of the ordinary world) but there's a strong argument to be made for it as a read regardless of her intent.

despite not knowing I'm very happy to say that straightwashing Lupin was homophobic even though Wolfstar never got to achieve the full canonicity of Grindeldore, and there's sort of two ways to think about it. (one more parenthetical: bi men exist and have real relationships without being either straight or gay. the reason I don't argue for bi!Remus is because to my eye the coding is very clear that he's gay. Harry is probably bi, but that's another post)

from an in-universe/Watsonian perspective, my explanation for him marrying Tonks is that people do stupid things when they're grieving, they throw themselves into new ideas or new relationships and act in reckless and self-destructive ways, and this is an example. I think the reason he tried to run away from his marriage in DH is because he was basically having a psychotic break over marrying a woman and he had to get away, he had to leave, he couldn't stay. He was being hit with the full weight of what he'd done and that he was about to have a family and have a long-term existence with his wife and he genuinely needed to get out before he did something even more reckless. I also think that Tonks was similarly grieving the death of Emmeline Vance, but we're talking about Wolfstar here, so I'm gonna try to stay on topic.

staying Watsonian, I think too that this is evidence of a really fucked up, dysfunctional relationship built on love and longing but hampered by homophobia (it was the 70s and 80s) and by abuse and by trauma and by neither man really knowing how to communicate well because they weren't ever allowed to date or to exist out in the open. and I love it, for all its sadness! it's a tragedy, and I'm a Silmarillion scholar, I'm fucking here for queer tragedy, something something men as wolves and werewolves, the dog star and the hunting hound - I don't need this to be a happy ending. I can fix it in post to not make it homophobic.

however.

from an out-of-universe/Doylist perspective, I think JKR needed to marry Remus off.

in the hypothetical What She Did To Sirius post I'll probably talk about this too, so might as well start here, but the main thesis of this is that JKR became aware of reader feedback and fan culture in between writing books 3 and 5. GoF escapes her trying to compensate for her flaws and respond to her critics, but it's sort of the last time this happens, which is why it's probably her most-balanced book, though not her best-written. The Three Year Summer gave the world ample time to write and spawned a lot of influential trends and fan interpretations and tropes. Wolfstar shipping was in probably its true golden age thanks to "Lie low at Lupin's", and Cassandra Claire gave the world the (plagiarized) Draco Trilogy and forever changed how fandom interpreted Draco Malfoy. The HP Lexicon came into its own as the reference site complete with meta and essays and timelines. Fanfiction.net exploded, mainstreaming fanfic in a way it had never been before.

And JKR was aware of all of this, and started responding to it, in particular criticisms of the more childlike aspects of her story. She's a very insecure writer when it comes to kid lit, she doesn't truly seem to be happy she's writing it. Contrast Tamora Pierce, K.A. Applegate, or any other author working in the middle grade field, all of whom genuinely love their chosen career path. in particular she seems keen to really start punishing people for deviating from her ideas of gender norms. and it's not just men! Fleur Delacour spends an entire book being shamed for being too feminine, and made fun of by Ginny and disliked by Hermione, and Lavender Brown is vilified for her crush on Ron. we're well into JKR's "every good girl is a Cool Girl" phase, she's kind of a shite feminist. nobody gets away unscathed.

there's a much more solid argument to be made about things like "Harry doesn't tell adults anything in the early books and then he communicates with them and is dismissed or belittled" as direct responses to critics, but I think there's room for Wolfstar too: the book written while she would have been becoming aware of this ship (and there's no way she wasn't, Wolfstar was the slash ship of the fandom in a way that Drarry was forever playing second fiddle to) punishes Sirius for being a bad and untrustworthy person who's not a fit guardian for children and isn't safe to be around and ends with his death. Remus never mentions Sirius substantially again after OotP, focusing instead on James and (with his attempt to leave with the trio) feeding again into that really ugly trend in this series of queercoded men being presented as irresponsible and dangerous guardians and unsafe for children because they're selfish and care more about themselves than the Right Thing To Do. Albus also falls into this slot, the more overtly queer he gets the less good of a person he becomes. it's gross. it's really fucking gross.

but all of that was to say that Jo was in a position where if she didn't marry Remus off, people would keep on with the gay rumors. And TonksxRemus (also called Remadora sometimes) did its job of killing Wolfstar's continued presence as a mainstream pillar of the fandom, though the ship never died and has since developed a lovely second life. it's here for the long haul, and I couldn't be happier. I love this ship, I want to write about it. I'm infinitely more interested in them as adults than schoolchildren, but that's because I'm a disaster lesbian who's an adult, and they're sad old men with a History.

in that light they're not too different from Grindeldore, actually.

#wolfstar #troth's meta #replies

[dans-den]

My Top 5 Worst Shows of 2022

What's going on everyone? It's Dan here and were nearing the end of 2022 so much like every other degenerate online, I'll be giving my Top 5 lists. Starting off the list, I'll be giving My Top 5 worst shows of 2022 list!

Keep in mind, this is all subjective and just my opinion on what I've seen this year. There will be shows on this list you agree or disagree with and that's okay! are we clear on that? good. Let's begin.

Number 5 is going to the limited Netflix series, DAHMER. (6/10)

Now right off the bat, I'm sure I'll catch major flack for putting a show like DAHMER on this list because it was actually quite popular for a fat minute. My real gripe with this show is because it's a piece of entertainment based around a real killer. I don't have problems with adaptations based on true events or people, but when it comes to basing them off tragedies or killers, I get real mixed on the subject. I feel as long as its done tastefully then it's fine, but with Dahmer it feels like the series glorifies him to an unhealthy degree and makes Jeffery Dahmer (at least in the show) likeable. It's similar to when Zac Efron portrayed Ted Bundy a couple years back and people found Bundy to be a charismatic and likeable guy despite that he was a real monster much like Dahmer. Now you can argue this is thanks for Evan Peters portrayal which I'll admit is pretty well done, but even so, it feels like the show and its story is making light of the events that took place especially when they exaggerate or alter details for the sake of the story. The show itself is alright, like I said Peters did a great job but the show itself is....meh. The show overall I'd give it a 6/10, but the events and person it was based off of leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth and feels that it altered more than it should have for the sake of entertainment.

Number 4 is going to another limited series that's on Disney Plus, Kenobi (5.5/10)

This show I had high hopes for and something everyone has been waiting for, An Obi-Wan Kenobi movie or series on his exile on Tattooine watching over a young Luke, but it turned out to be a real disappointment. Now I already reviewed the show back in the summer and gave it a 5.5/10 so if you want a full in-depth on why I dislike it go check that out. To summarize what I initially said, The show is basically pointless filler in my eyes. It doesn't really add anything to the story of Star Wars and we got glorified fighting scenes between Kenobi and Darth Vader which I felt wasn't necessary, they didn't need to meet. Another reason was the characters were all weak, the main bad guy or gal in this case was just poorly written and felt like her actress was just being over the top. Plus the Inquisitor was thought to be killed off so easily and this caused outrage in the fandom since he's a big player in Star Wars: Rebels. The shows saving grace was when they brought in the writer from WALL.E (I'm serious) for the last two episodes and it managed to salvage the series and actually make it entertaining, make the characters sympathetic and bringing the Inquisitor back to life. The show was just a huge mess, even worse than Book of Boba Fett. It is a real shame because I wanted to like the show, it had it's moments where there was something that could have been great if it was handled better. Unfortunately this is what we ended up with and it was a real disappointment.

Number 3 has to go to the Disney Plus original series, She-Hulk (5/10)

Now this is a show I knew was gonna be met with heavy dislike and major debate. I had no faith in this show and when I watched a few episodes...it further reinforced those feelings. To be fair, the She-hulk show concept could work well but the way it was executed here was just awful. It's no secret that the MCU has treated the Hulk like a complete side character throughout most the MCU's run in cinema and I find that to be a serious injustice since the Hulk is my favorite Marvel character (yes even more than Spider-Man though he is a close second). I honestly hate how they've treated him in every phase after the original Avengers movie and I thought with the She-Hulk series they'd at least give him some kind of reparation for it as this wise mentor since he's professor Hulk now. But NOPE! Jennifer just complains, telling him how she's gone through far worse than him and talks down on him writing off his struggles as nothing. That's what initially made her so unlikeable in the first place, she has this sense of entitlement and just because she's a woman it means her problems are always worse than Bruce's issues. Keep in mind Bruce has struggled with a dual personality he was unable to control for the longest time and even attempted suicide at one point where as Jennifer has mentally more control than he did so it just makes her character unlikeable. In the comics and other shows she's portrayed to be a real charmer and someone who is easy going but in this show, she's entitled, mean-spirited and shameless (in a bad way). I know this is meant to appeal to a more adult demographic since there's sex (Disney's closest thing to that), Twerking, and profanity. All of those could work for a She-Hulk show, but the writing and lackluster CGI/VFX (she literally looks like that one scene in Click where Adam Sandler's character makes himself look like the hulk) is what truly holds it back. It has it's moments with neat Easter eggs and Cameo's like Abomination from the 2008 Incredible Hulk movie, but it's not enough to save the show and all that I've said makes it a chore to watch than entertainment.

Number 2 goes to the infamous Halo TV show on Paramount Plus. (4.5/10)

My god I don't even know where to begin with this one....For starters one of the producers Steven Kane would go on saying that they didn't play or look at the games the show was based off of. Secondly, They ruined Master Chiefs character by having him remove his helmet in the first episode which is something he would have never done in the games, third it's just space drama when there's no covenant fighting, I could go on and on. I already review this show so if you wanna see that go ahead but yeah this show was just doomed to fail. I don't understand why they bother making adaptations of beloved video game franchises and give it to people who seem to hate video games and make it so generic and almost nowhere near what its based off of. Yeah they said that this is non-canon, but that's still no excuse to make a Halo Show and make it this terribly. Companies always do this where they make a generic show and slap a beloved IP just so people will watch it. They did this as well with the resident evil show on Netflix (which I've seen clips of and will not watch it ever). It's a generic zombie show and they slap the Resident Evil name on it just so it could generate some views. We've seen with things like Arcane, The Witcher, Cyberpunk, Cuphead, and Sonic that prove you can adapt video games into a great show or movie as long as you have the right team behind it and stay loyal to the source material while also making it your own. It's been proven yet there are still shows like Halo that refuse to give any effort into it or hand it off to the right team. The Halo show was hard to watch, the only episodes I genuinely liked were the first and last episodes because they were action packed battles between the Spartans and the Covenant, everything in between was just space drama. Unfortunately, the shows budget was limited so they couldn't give us a lot of the covenant, that's why their appearances were limited. Also I hate Kwan Ha (not her actress) she is the worst character in this god forsaken show and is baby sat by Soren who I felt was the best character in the show. I initially gave this show a 4.5/10 but I honestly regret that score now I felt it should have been far lower.

And now for the number 1 spot! The Worst Show of 2022 goes to....

Number 1 goes to Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder on Paramount Plus (1/10)

I've mentioned what has held back a lot of the shows on this list, whether it be bad writing, bad acting, low budget, horrible VFX and CGI, decent concept but poor execution, poor adaptation of a beloved property and even controversy because of real people. I've mentioned how all these shows have one, maybe two of these qualities...well this show has ALL OF THAT!

I know I gave my review of this show back in April, but I don't think I fully expressed all my reasons so I'll try to get it all out in this. First off, the concept of this show is just awful. This live action and animation hybrid idea can work if done with proper care but this show half hazardly puts it together with the smallest budget known to man like literal peanuts flicked at the production. The OG Fairly OddParents was done completely in animation which is far better because you're not limited thanks to animation being a far more flexible medium. The animation is so cheaply done and clunky like I've seen better flash animations from 2005 than what I'm seeing here in 2022 how is that even possible!? The characters are all weak like I do not like any of the main cast aside from Cosmo, Wanda, Jorgen, and Mr. Crocker only because they got the OG voice actors back for their roles and even Mr. Crocker's Voice actor actually got to play him both in live action and animated which I think was awesome but that's about the only positive thing I can say. The settings are so repetitive and uncreative, they literally use the same settings and just redecorate them slightly to be somewhat different. The writing is just poorly done and the acting is all phoned in like good god no one was having a good time. The VFX and CGI are done poorly due to the low budget like this is stuff I can make with a green screen, photo shop and my art tablet. But the worst part about this show is the man behind it, Butch Hartman. He was the creator of Fairly OddParents and was one of the best animators in the industry back in the 2000's and even early 2010's. He was truly one of the best but along the way he got greedy and arrogant. He had that Oaxis Kickstarter, he's been accused of plagiarizing art and commissioning it, and he's just become a real unhinged Jerk if I'm gonna be honest. He agreed to bring back the fairies and he did a shit job at it. It's clear he had no real passion or drive to make this show successful...it's just a shameless cash grab and a phoned in check for himself. It's a real fall from grace story here. Normally a series like the Powerpuff Girls or MLP are ruined because the networks take it upon themselves to squeeze every dime out of the existing property when the original creator departs from the show. Here, Butch comes back but just doesn't care about his IP enough to make it good, he only cares about money and this show has nothing to offer. This show is just a hollow shell of its former self and that's why I feel Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder is the worst show to come out in 2022 and possibly of all time.

There you have it folks! the worst shows of 2022 according to me! how many of you have I upset? How many of you agree with me? let me know! I'll be posting the Top 5 Best shows along with the Top 5 Best/Worst movies of 2022 and I'll post those throughout the week.

See ya!

#dans den #top 5 list #worst shows #2022 #reviews #dahmer series #kenobi series #she hulk #halo series #fairly oddparents fairly odder

[ppeachx3]

oh my god I love your work! for the ask... shadamy?

aw thank u! <3

SHIP IT.... SO MUCH.....

x

1. What made you ship it?

honestly its kinda funny because when i was little i didnt like shadow much because of how sonic x portrayed him (the chris scene and the attempted murder of cosmo made me kinda scared of him???) and i was a HUGE s0namy shipper

but recently i got back into sonic because of idw (despite shadow not being very well written in them i know) and as i started going back through sonic content i saw...... and i realized..... the potential...... the way shadow treats amy ESPECIALLY in shth that whole miracle of love dialogue has me in a chokehold.

x

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

i really love how their scenes together bring out some of their best qualities as characters! the usual points about amy's loving faithful nature aside, shadow just. the way he approaches speaking to amy in sa2 and ESPECIALLY shth is just so....

like to circle back to the miracle of love route for a sec (chokehold brain i know) shadow going out of his way to help amy with something that has literally NOTHING to do with anything going on in the plot compared to all the other missions in the game is just so. like. idk i love seeing this side of shadow that reflects his hopes from before the tragedy on the ark, the shadow who wants to help people just Because. and wants to help and do things for amy just Because.

x

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

i hate seeing things of shadow manhandling/grabbing amy because he's jealous about something. he wouldnt do that! and amy wouldn't fucking let him do that either! there are better ways to explore shadow grappling with feelings of jealousy, lets leave the unhealthy relationship stuff behind

#thank you for the ask!!

[srbachchan]

DAY 4926

Jalsa, Mumbai                   Aug 22,  2021                 Sun 11:05 PM

.. raksha bandhan .. and the thread of protection and love and care all weaved into this festive day .. tradition .. our wealth , our culture , our everlasting existence .. and the liberty of non biological relationships to be endorsed as well .. its the trust and the emotion of a brother towards a sister , and a sister towards a brother .. that binding lasts forever .. in love in understanding .. in the belief of the sanctity of the moment .. 

immersed in that culture,  comes the coming together , despite the protocol of the virus .. ably in protection and care , but respected in the feel of the emotion .. 

.. and the day passes in the glory of its presence ..

work starts early tomorrow and the readings of the experience with ‘Amitji’ and Alexa is heartening .. thank you all the Ef for your blessings and love and the effort made to subscribe .. I do understand that the overseas is still a vacant territory, but I shall enquire if there are any plans to take it , beyond the shores of the Country .. 

.. the responses that ‘Amitji’ gives are of course the very first in the making and there shall be additions as we go along .. each design for the next shall have to be creatively challenging, especially the poems and the readings of the works of Babuji .. they need to be heard in the graph and the grain of the recitation as the poet would have wanted it to be portrayed .. and that is what I intend to attempt .. some of the works have a huge story behind them .. coming from the incidents written in Babuji’s autobiography, and some from my own personal remembrances .. the ones that have remained with me from the very early years as a teenager and the accompaniment that, I had the privilege to give to Babuji during the multiple ‘kavi sammelans’ , the poetic symposiums , public events , to different cities around the Country, at times late into the night, and to return back home, for he had to report on his professional job early in the morning in the External Affairs Ministry and that was a trying condition for him .. 

.. for me it was the excitement of hearing his recitation in front of lakhs of people .. at times 100- 200,000 in far off rural areas - the love of poetry at its prime ! 

Sadly one does not see or hear this happening in todays times .. there is attraction among the younger generation I feel towards the written word and its deep and meaningful renditions , but it needs to be woken up .. to be made available ..

.. I played a few of the renditions that have been done with a slight base music to heighten the experience, to some of the young and their reaction was encouraging .. some of them in the field of the media and in the field of ‘the influencer’ were impressed and commented on my Father’s works by expressing that .. “ one doesn’t hear such writings anymore , and it would be a delight for the new generation to have this experience “ .. 

I shall of course continue to endeavour in this direction .. bring more of Babuji’s works to all .. and perhaps at times render a brief story or an English or simple Hindi translation to the inner meanings , wherever possible ..

I am no master of the language, but if the format is acceptable , I shall of course seek assistance from some of the generation that lived in the times and the glory of Babuji ..

.. and .. knowing the many among our own Ef that have a vast knowledge and sense of poetry and literature , seek your inputs as well .. 

 .. it would be a great recognition of the immense talent that exists within us in  the Ef family , but also bring forth the strength of our Family that has remained just, trusted, and loyal to the DAY from DAY 1 ..

.. there are creatives in my mind of the audio readings of Babuji’s autobiography, of his thesis in English Literature on WB Yeats .. his dissertation being on Yeats’ own love and study on Occultism .. an Irish poet rendering his impress on the occult - a very strong and persuasive presence in our cultural existence from the very early centuries , out lasting so many other beliefs, yet still being in prominent belief even today .. 

.. the rendition of the Gita that Babuji translated into the language and the style and grain of Tulsidas’s Ramayan, is the only one of its kind .. the Jan Gita .. and bring to all , its learning through some of the attempts made by our own Ef ..

.. the translation of Shakespeare’s 4 major tragedies .. Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello and King Lear .. in the language of the Devnagri script, yet in the graph of the original Shakespeare graph, tone and writing .. never been done before ..

.. the plays were staged in Delhi .. in the 50′s .. Maaji and I played in Othello .. in the presence of some very distinguished guests .. Macbeth too was staged ..

.. just a reading of some of the originals along with the translations would be an interesting listen .. 

Modern inventions and technologies have provided us this gift of rendition to be heard and read in the absence of the narrator .. 

SOUND AND VOICE AS I SAID, earlier WAS THE FUTURE ..

.. we wait with bated breath on the reactions to them in the early attempts with this gadgetry just launched .. but there are several other units of presents that are being considered, and they shall also be tapped , I hope ..

Technology changes with each breath that we are consuming these days .. 

One wonders where the World shall take us .. 

But wherever it does .. an attempt should be made to hold the tail of its presence and try to move with it .. 

Much like my bicycle ride from Delhi to Chandigarh , when I was travelling to join the Govt.College, Chandigarh - not having got admission in Delhi University , at first attempt .. later of course I got admission in KM College, Delhi University and finished my BSc, from there .. 

.. but that story is another latent write ..

enough for the DAY .. 

 रात्रि की शांति में समय हो गया है , जा 

दिनचर्या की धुंधली यादों को बटोरने का , जा 

कुछ को भूलेंगे , कुछ साथ रहेंगे हमारे ;

कल फिर झहुआ भर के संजोएँगे , जा 

~ ab 

अमिताभ बच्चन 

Amitabh Bachchan

[noa-ciharu]

Subaru for the character ask :) <3

Subaru my fav character ever <3 *cries*

First impression: when I first started the manga I thought he'd be another kind compassionate two dimensional protagonist without flaws. That impression lasted for about chap or two of course since Clamp wrote him so complexly and exquisitely. Around vol3 I figured out that's the type of protagonist I wanted to see more in media since readers clearly see how much he suffers due to his kindness, selflessness and empathy (it's realistic portray of those characteristics). Those traits are usually potrayed as something ultra positive and yes they sort of are, but everything has its yin to yang and Subaru is written humanly in that aspect as he displays negative side-effects of those selfless acts and putting others before himself. With that being said, vol7 ended me on first read and I think a part of me still hasn't recovered.

Impression now: he's so tragic it's unbelievable. Everytime I reread TB or X I always notice some additional layer of tragedy to his story. Also he's way more complex than I originally through. And way more flawed than it meets the eye. Of course, he didnt deserve nor asked for even a fraction of tragedy he got, but I doubt TB end and X would be the same for him if it weren't for his self-blaming tendecies, low self-esteem, passivity and guilt. Also how Clamp made one of their kindest character have the most selfish and self-destructive wishes. At first it wasn't clear to me how he went onto that path of self-destruction (instead of seeking revenge or trying to move on) but after analyzing his character for a while it actually became pretty clear how we got what we got in X.

Favourite moment: tough one because every great moment with him is when he's suffering somehow. So let's say when he got angry at cult leader in TB for trivializing and justifying student being injured and bullied. It's rare to see Subaru angry and when he is it's always A+. I think even Seishirou was like 'this was intresting, you're rarely, if ever, angry'. Also I loved last chap of TB, one where he's older. That tragedy of entering adulthood beaten down and spirit broken - I think that's something sadly alot of people can relate to.

Idea for the story: I wrote things and few fics before so here's another fleething idea: somewhere in that 9 year skip, a client asks Subaru out, and since he has no logical reason to refuse, agrees. Plus it might cure his "heart sickness" gradually, he thinks. Nothing special happens on the date, chitchat and pleasantries. Subaru doesn't hear from guy for a while. Then few weeks later, he runs into guy's work college- finds out guy died; heart attack. Oh well, too bad. Few months later some other client asks him out thus another date. Same chitchat, nothing special. Week later Subaru finds in newspapers that guy died from heart attack as well. Coincidence. Few months pass by without an incident. One late night, client offers to drive him home; he initially refuses but once that man points out trains are no longer functioning since it's close to midnight, he agrees. They stop for a drink on a way. Except for one sided flirting and parting hug, nothing happens. Few days later Subaru finds out guy's been murdered in cold blood in Shibuya. He tells himself it's a coincidence. It rings as hollow inside his head. A year passes by. One night some acquaintance talks him into going on a date. He initially refuses, for guy's sake as well. Man is persistent and in the end Subaru gives in; he didnt agree on it, but got kiss on cheek. Oh well, not to make a fuss of something so minor. He hates how his heart skips a beat when he sees next morning yet another death in newspapers - stabbed by unknown object, hole in middle of the chest; his own clenched in response, it wasn't in terror or repulsion, but in hope. Today another one tried to talk him into going out for couple of drinks. Twisted and depraved of him, but Subaru can't help but wonder in which part of Tokyo this one would end up in.

Unpopular opinion: I've often saw things like 'why you're dressing like that in X Subaru??' and while yea, he's not dressing as attention-grabingly or fashionably (up to Hokuto's standards) as in TB, his outfits arent bad? Like, at all, they're actually rly nice and easy to blend in the crowd. And that's actually a whole point, he doesn't want to draw attention to himself and maybe dressing in same way as when 16 reminds him of his dead sister. I'm aware that is because of comparison of how he dressed in TB and how toned down his outfits are in X but still.

Favourite relationship: I'll never be over seisub. It ruined shipping for me, no ship will ever come as close (closest ones are other clamp ships, kurofai, fuukam ect. maybe too hannigram long time ago). All the tragedy, the metaphors, the two sides of same coin, the parallels, the "it's not about how I feel about you, but how I don't feel for anyone else", how they basically ruined themselves. How they're clearly for one another yet always doomed somehow since they themselves are the greatest obstacle to their own relationship. In this essay I will - *cries*

Favourite headcanon: he'd be kinky af, even Seishirou would be taken aback by some of his desires, nobody can convince me otherwise this may even be canon for all I know: Hokuto sometimes used him as dress up doll. Not to humiliate or something similar but to measure her own creations (since they were teens of same height and built even if opposite genders) and see how they'll look. Subaru gladly helped her with that; felt delighted at prospect of making his sister happy. Few times they even swapped clothing and went out cross dressing as one another to see who would notice. Ofc it was Hokuto's idea. She managed to pull off Subaru's personality (but had to hold back with retorts and jabs 100 times in mere hour), but everyone wondered what happened to 'Hokuto' to make her so compliant and docile. Teachers in school were more than happy tho at 'Hokuto' being quiet for once.

#asks #thanks for ask 💕 #subaru sumeragi #tokyo babylon #sorry this turned out to be so long ;-; #i can't shut up about him apparently

[sleepless-in-starbucks]

Hi could you talk more about why youd recommend not watching ww84?

Sure!

warnings for under the cut: spoilers for WW84 and a bit of the first wonder woman; i only saw WW84 once a few days ago + it’s been a hot sec since i saw the original so if i get a few details wrong i apologize

tl;dr with no spoilers: WW84 is a poorly executed movie that insults its viewer with its messy and self-proud plot, bad character/relationship portrayals, and offers a personal slap in the face to a majority of its audience in their various discriminations, generalizations, and plot points.

the first point is the racism, made well by the post i reblogged here, (edit: found a second post that goes more in depth here) so i’d just suggest looking at that for that matter

next is just How they portray wonder woman in this one

i really appreciated the way the first movie portrayed diana because they did very well in keeping true to her Amazonian raising and life while still clearly showing she was a woman

when i say this i mean that a lot of media has a tendency to either make women who are very fem and keep to traditional gender roles or women who more or less shun femininity and attempt to largely fulfill only male gender roles

diana in the original is a warrior, strong and fierce, but still a woman, not trying to shun that or anything. she wears styles that suit her while still being woman’s styles (she doesn’t force her way into a suit), she talks of and addresses her womanhood proudly and without issue, etc

i want to note here i have no issue with female characters who act extremely masc and reject femininity- i love them tbh- but it’s important to remember that it’s not inherently against womanhood or anything to be a strong fighter who doesn’t stick to every stereotypical social gender norm

and the first wonder woman movie shows this very well

WW84... oh boy

first of all, wonder woman’s changing outfits every other scene. even between scenes where it makes no sense! i’m not saying she can only wear one set of clothes but Geez this was too much

not to mention an entire scene dedicated to her helping steve pick a fashion look? i understand this was to highlight the ‘80-ness of the movie, and it would’ve been fine if it seemed diana was helping him pick a period appropriate look, but it was clear she was trying to help him pick a ‘fashionable’ look which. wonder woman? from the island without a sense of popular outfits or fashion? what?

and the amount of focus on her wearing high heels.... ugh

i’m not saying you can’t have a badass woman who also likes social gender norm fem things but it felt clear that wasn’t what they were going for

wonder woman in the first movie liked practical fashion and not only were many of her outfits not that, her high heels? one hundred percent not practical

it didn’t fit her character and felt horribly out of place, clearly just the producers / directors / whoever going ‘oh, wonder woman is a woman how can we show this? fashion! high heels!’ and i hated it

(warning: imma be jumping from thought to thought as they bump into each so uh... enjoy the train-of-thought style of flaw informing)

and starting at the beginning like.... wow that scene had no purpose

wonder woman cheats in a competition and is punished for this by losing it in the end. except. this is stupid for two reasons

as the audience is shown she didn’t cheat on purpose. she made a mistake, lost her horse, and made a strategy to get back into the race despite this. honestly? i thought the story was going to be a lesson in ingenuity in the worst looking situations. but it wasn’t, which is bad storytelling, because the lesson is then based on a point that isn’t even that true

it is literally Never important again later. unless you count what was going on with the wishstone as ‘cheating to victory’ which i dont. that’s not even what the villain did. he wanted to take over the world. there’s no victory there you get without cheating. wtf. why did that message even happen

going into the actual story we meet the cheetah pretty quick, when she’s still whatever-her-civilian-name-is

and the cheetah... she’s such a bad villain

she doesn’t have the same backstory as she does in the comics

in this one, she uses the wishstone- which is a whole ‘nother thing in and of itself- to wish to be like diana, because ig being smart as hell but social awkward as hell too is so bad you need to desperately wish to be someone else? i hate that trope, but onwards-

she gets that, but in exchange for not only diana’s likable personality she also gets her wonder woman powers (and she loses her glasses, because pretty and cool means no glasses, right? /s), she loses her kindness bc of the rules of the wishstone- in exchange for your wish, it takes smth u care about a lot from you; for her, it was her kindness

this makes her villain! just because she lost her kindness. yep. honestly not a good look regarding all those people out there who are low/no empathy and can still be wonderful nice people but i digress

at one point she complains about why she needs to keep her power rather than go back to being just Her and i fucking wanted to scream

she has like. half a dozen degrees, clearly a couple of friends even if she’s awkward, and she’s got a life that was perfectly okay before she made the wish. as someone who is also socially awkward as hell, it infuriated me to here her acting like it was the fucking end of the world she couldn’t be more extroverted or whatever. there are ways to work on that!!! the movie trying to convince the audience she had a legit reason to not un-wish her wish (for the good of the entire world) was stupid and insulting

also her transformation between ‘looks human, wearing cheetah-pattern clothing‘ to ‘humanoid with cheetah fur/skin/appearance’ literally just. happened. for no reason. that was stupid

y’know what else is stupid? the wishstone. it was clearly just a plot device, and a poorly executed one at that. it isn’t even consistent in how it works

and they did a whole side thing with like. how it had the language of the gods written on part of it and it appeared in random locations across history around the time of great tragedies and,,, that was it???

they never explored the divine connection??? who planted it or why??? how it location traveled or anything????

like i said. poor plot device

i move on now to steve

oh boy steve

he’s brought back to life by diana’s wish on the wishstone, but... it causes him to come back in someone else’s body, quantum leap style. this is. weird. and is never ever addressed by him or wonder woman except once in a throw away comment. like. diana and steve kiss and are implied to have sex while steve is in someone else’s body and neither of them seem to care. this is not good!!

and then his relationship with diana? HORRIBLE

in the first movie they were barely starting to fall in love, only barely a couple even if that. more importantly they were friends, and that night he died diana didn’t lose a potential lover so much as she lost her first non-Amazonian friend

but WW84 portrays their relationship as if they were not only already a couple, but one close enough that even after forty years since steve’s death diana is still completely and hopelessly in love with him to the point that she’s literally hanging off his arm as soon as he’s back and making love that very night

it plays again once more into the misrepresentation of wonder woman’s character (how stereotypically hollywood female to fall over herself at the sight of her love interest) and it wrecks their relationship, which had been a lovely friends-who-could-be-more

what they should’ve done was focus on that friendship, build it back up after the long gap for wonder woman, and then started to rebuild that possible romance (and tear it down at the perfect moment... right when steve had to go again... ah that would’ve been lovely)

but they wanted to go in full-haul on the romance and it just felt. wrong and weak to me. diana’s refusal to consider giving up her wish (to get her powers back and save the world) is bc she doesn’t want to let steve go again, which makes more sense in the context of a first and true friend rather than a hastily slapped together love interest

steve’s character was generally good tbh but the way he played into the story? bad

moving on... the main villain of the movie? sucks. he’s just. fucking awful

despite a motivation being given that he wants to have money, he launches into wanting to take over the world for no real reason. he takes advantage of people for this and almost destroys the world he wants to rule for it. the main reason he stops this is for his son, who up until now he largely ignored and didn’t seem to care that much for outside of basic obligations. and the movie dares try to make him sympathetic by throwing in the fact he grew up poor and was bullied and not liked which i HATE

lots of people are/have been poor. lots of people are/have been bullied (myself included). that does NOT justify them DESTROYING THE WORLD TRYING TO TAKE IT OVER. can it be used to show the audience why he does what he does? yes. but to use it and clearly try to make it a reason to hand-wave-away what he did? NO. FUCK NO

also fucking. y’know how wonder woman took down this villain? she talked to him and the world. she gave a stirring speech while she laid slumped against a wall, not injured, just too weak to beat a bit of wind. she talked and she looped her lasso around his leg so she could talk to the world to to convince them to give up their wishes

once again... the mischaracterization

in the first movie, wonder woman gives a stirring speech while fighting Areas. it’s done in her battle, beating the god of war up while reminding him of what she stood for, who she was, why she would keep fighting for a broken world

it was BEAUTIFUL. it was MEANINGFUL. it was BADASS but SINCERE

this was weak. and it clearly wanted to be more than it was

the whole movie wants to be more than it is- it wants to have an important meaningful message like the first movie, about wishes for the self and war and the world and whatever. and it wants it so badly it does it horribly

the message is ham-handed yet messy and unclear and not right. it doesn’t make sense, and it feels poorly plotted. the movie thinks it’s more than it is and that makes it very hard to watch

and to finish my rant off... WW84 lied to its audience

did you see any ads for WW84? i did. they were bright, vibrant, funky music, stunning moments, action and intrigue. i was thrilled for a movie like it

the actual movie isn’t that

it’s not nearly as action filled, it’s not as ‘80s-focused as it leads you to believe, some of the most prominently featured moments barely matter

the lightning swing? pointless, as at that point in the movie wonder woman’s learned how to fly and does it for no reason but the trailers

and that cool suit? introduced in a random myth for no reason halfway through the movie, brought in at random with no explanation, only there for show and the trailers

WW84 is not the movie is lead people to believe it was, and the movie it is is poorly executed and insulting to a variety of peopler/minorities

if you’re gonna watch it, pirate it. i can give you a link. just don’t give dc your money or your legit views for it

#that got long #but what can i say? im passionate about my bad movies #and ww84? #that was a bad movie #if anyone wants clarification on smth let me know #wonder woman 1984 #ww84 #ww84 spoilers #the cryptid speaks #lost in the fray

[pokelolmc]

10 Danny Phantom Episodes with Good Concepts that Sorely Disappointed Me: “The Ultimate Enemy” (Part 2)

Alright, here I am, everyone—part two of my critical analysis on “The Ultimate Enemy”, and how its faulty writing let down a good episode idea. For those stumbling across this for the first time, I am in the process of composing an analytical list of ten Danny Phantom episodes whose concepts I liked, but didn’t like the execution of. “The Ultimate Enemy” is the first on this list. Due to the size of my complaints with the episode, I’ve split my arguments into multiple categories across multiple posts; I highly suggest you start from the beginning with part 1 here before moving onto this post. It covered the main introduction, and Category A of my problems with the episode: the plot points that were primarily irrelevant to Dan’s character.

For those of you continuing from the first part, I apologise for this part being overdue. I proposed I would edit and upload part two roughly a day after part one, but those days dragged on due to constant re-editing and problems with my mental health. Parts three and four shall probably take longer than a few days to edit and upload as well, as I discovered arguments in the essay that needed massive overhauls before posting. I can guarantee they’re coming eventually (the whole thing essay is fully written, point-wise); I need to rework and trim the fat off some paragraphs.

Without further ado, this post will take a look at everything I’ve chucked into Category B—my issues with Dan’s characterisation, and how what the episode showed us about who deserved responsibility for Dan contradicted what it told us about how Dan was created.

(Also, because of my saltiness seeping in when I was writing, my captions for the images got a little too snarky for an analytical essay, but I am too tired of re-editing this section to remove them. Hopefully, they’ll serve as humour; if not, I apologise.)

1. The episode incorrectly portrayed Danny as the only one responsible for Dan’s existence, and for the wrong reasons (the wrong events in the timeline). Upon scrutiny of the actual sequence of events that led to Dan’s creation, the direct responsibility for Dan’s birth was either an even split between Danny and Vlad, or slightly more Vlad’s fault (depending upon the interpretation of the event that did actually cause Dan).

(Spoiler alert: No. No, it was not.)

The episode initially chose to establish Danny cheating on the CAT as the cause for Dan’s existence. While this was partially, indirectly true (since it set up the chain of events that led to Dan’s creation), it was not the event that directly caused Dan—yet, the episode treated it as a highly important tipping point, close to the point of no return that led to Dan. Looking at Dan’s backstory from the information Future Vlad gave (as dubious as it was), and working backwards, it was clear that Danny cheating on the test was not the vital “point of no return” by any means. Neither was the explosion at the Nasty Burger, for that matter (which the episode treated as the point of no return after Dan cheated on the CAT in Danny’s place, which required the episode to postpone the narrative stakes of preventing Dan’s creation to the Nasty Burger fight).

(Well...not exactly--it didn’t ruin Dan’s future, but it did ruin Danny’s. There’s a distinction.)

Kick-starting the entire chain of events that set up the eventual moment of Dan’s birth was not synonymous with directly creating Dan, and blaming the causality for Dan’s existence on Danny cheating (the leap of logic that “Danny became evil in the future because he cheated on a test”) or even his loved ones dying at the Nasty Burger was incorrect.

To demonstrate the argument, I’ll shift to an in-universe hypothetical:

Imagine yourself in Clockwork’s shoes: an “evil future version of Danny” has been created, and you have to prevent Dan’s existence by searching through the events that led his creation to find as many openings between key events as possible, in order to change one and subsequently avert all the events (including Dan’s creation) that followed.

To lay it out in full, the chain (separating the events based on intervention windows) was as follows: (1) Danny cheated on the CAT -> (2) Mr. Lancer met with Danny’s parents at the Nasty Burger to discuss it -> (3) they (including Sam, Tucker and Jazz) died in the Nasty Burger explosion -> (4) a grief-stricken Danny went to Vlad in Wisconsin -> (5) Danny requested that Vlad numb his emotional pain -> (6) Vlad split Danny’s ghost half from his human half—only for the ghost half to immediately pull out Vlad’s own and fuse with it into Dan.

Dan’s existence being the result of (what was essentially) a disastrous line of falling dominoes made his origin more sinister, but also highly easy to prevent (at least, without taking into account the mess caused by the story’s poorly thought out use of time travel, which I’ll explain later in section C). After all, the more complex a system (the more elements necessary for a system to successfully operate and achieve a desired result), the more weak spots it has—as meddling with one part can affect all the other parts and lead the entire operation to fail.

Utilising any of the intervention room between the events in “The Ultimate Enemy’s” alternate timeline would prevent Dan’s entire existence. The only event, therefore, that could be labelled the direct cause of Dan’s existence was the event that immediately resulted in Dan’s birth, and the most dire pivotal point—which rendered Dan inevitable—was the event directly before that. The event of Dan’s creation itself (or the cause of Dan) was event number six—the removal of both Danny and Vlad’s ghost halves using the Ghost Gauntlets, and their subsequent fusion with each other. The event which led to this—event number five, which was Danny’s request for Vlad to remove his emotional pain—was the direct catalyst for the procedure, and therefore the important “point of no return” leading to Dan that the episode tried to make Danny cheating on the CAT (and once that was over, the act of losing his loved ones) out to be. (Technically speaking, it was one of possibly two options for the event upon which Dan’s existence truly hinged—number four was also a likely candidate).

Danny cheating on the CAT was not the cause of Dan (even if it set the eventual stage), because there were numerous ways to interfere after the incident of Danny cheating the CATs and still prevent Dan from existing. Clockwork could’ve interfered between events one and two, by changing Mr. Lancer’s parent-teacher meeting location to anywhere safer than the Nasty Burger, so no one died (he could’ve utilised Jazz to sway Mr. Lancer, perhaps—it’s safe to assume Clockwork was aware of her knowledge on Danny’s secret, and she was the one Mr. Lancer approached about Danny cheating). He could’ve interfered between events three and four—had Danny’s loved ones still die at the Nasty Burger but convinced Danny himself not to go to Vlad. He could’ve popped in between events four and five and convinced Danny, right after moving in with Vlad, to not ask for a way to numb his emotional pain. However, Vlad proved to be a dubious source in the flashback of Dan’s origin story, and was typically too much of a wild card, so preventing Danny from moving in with Vlad at all is likely the safest option.

Ergo, either event four or five should’ve been treated as the important point that led to Dan’s existence. On top of that, Vlad’s role in event six proved he was partially responsible for Dan’s creation, but the rest of the episode outside of the flashback neglected this fact in favour of pushing the “Dan was all Danny’s fault” message.

(Begin Vlad’s unreliable narratorhood in 3...2...1...)

However, Future Vlad behaved like an unreliable narrator of the “Dan’s creation” flashback, so his explanation of events shouldn’t be taken at face value. Assuming the basic outline of events was trustworthy, however, the episode indicated to us that Vlad was roughly equally as responsible for Dan’s creation as Danny. He conceded to Danny’s desire to escape his emotions and responded with the halfa-splitting operation that caused Dan’s fusion.

He stretched the reality of the event to Present Danny when he exaggerated the delivery of some (if not most) of his narration lines in the flashback. It was most blatantly clear in the line where he inflated his importance to Danny after the tragedy, “With nowhere else to go, you came to me—the only person left on the planet who could possibly hope to understand your situation.” He verbally emphasised the words ‘me’ and ‘possibly’, and the phrases “the only person left on the planet” and “could possibly understand” were hyperbole in their own right. Another was the line, “No more painful human emotions to drag you down,” where he spoke the italicised words with overt disdain for Danny’s emotions. It could be interpreted simply as Vlad’s typical habit of speaking in a dramatised manner, rather than trying to make himself look good to Danny by stretching the truth. However, even if choosing to interpret Vlad’s delivery as the latter, he still skewed his recount through vagueness and omission in the literal content of his narration (when linked to the visuals that ran alongside his lines).

According to Future Vlad, Danny asked for his emotional pain to be taken away; and Vlad removed his ghost half to “[honour] [his] wishes,” while the shot changed from Vlad’s sympathetic face at the grieving Danny to the procedure with the Ghost Gauntlets. Future Vlad never explicitly stated whether it was Danny or him that decided removing Danny’s ghost half was the course of action to take, Vlad only explained that Danny “wanted to make the hurt go away”, and then the shot cut to Vlad removing Danny’s ghost half with the only explanation that he was acting in accordance with that wish.

On top of not explicitly saying whose idea it was, (though, with Vlad’s knowledge and experience with halfa research far exceeding Danny’s, it was almost certainly his) the episode did not explain how his logic leapt from “remove Danny’s emotional pain” to “remove Danny’s ghost half”, which was an insensible method to solve Danny’s problems.

The “no more human emotions” line indicated that his intention behind the procedure was to remove Danny’s human emotions, yet he knew that the procedure entailed removing Danny’s ghost half.

It made no sense, in universe, for Vlad to competently assume that removing Danny’s ghost half from him would work to remove an emotionality rooted in his human half (the episode overall, by the way Dan referred to human emotions and sentimentalities as a “humanity” he gave up, implied that it intended to frame the emotional attachment to Danny’s loved ones as part of his human half). If it could be chalked up to an external fault, like the lack of clear research into the procedure’s outcome, and not Vlad’s failure to realise the logical inconsistency, the episode needed to give evidence of this. Without that information, the only feasible assumptions were either that he wasn’t making any sense in-universe, he was supposed to be sensible but the episode’s writing didn’t make sense, or he had an ulterior motive for convincing Danny into going through with the operation. Either way, it was yet another part of Dan’s creation that Vlad was responsible for, not Danny, and the episode’s message was illogical to contradict this.

Through potentially exaggerating his sympathy for the alternate Danny in his verbal intonation, and blatantly failing to mention the details of why he chose removing Danny’s ghost half to fix a “human” problem, Vlad told his version of Dan’s birth in a way that would minimise his moral fault in the incident to Present Danny. His only logically feasible motivation for this was to hide further moral accountability for Dan’s creation than what we already saw in the face-value version of the flashback.

To summarise this entire sub-category of arguments, the episode was wrong to pin Dan’s existence on Danny cheating on the CAT (and even on losing his family, as the second half of the episode changed gears to), rather than his desire to remove/escape his emotions (even if the deaths resulted in the pain that he wanted to remove in the first place, which I shall explain later in Section D). It was also mistaken to portray Danny as the primary cause of Dan, rather than acknowledge that Vlad was equally (if not more), responsible than him.

Additionally, the fact that Vlad, as an in-universe character, tried to minimise his moral role/accountability in the physical causality of Dan’s creation by skirting around the truth in his retelling was something that the episode itself should’ve acknowledged or called out, through more reliable information from a third-person or other characters’ perspectives such as Danny, Dan’s or Clockwork’s—but it didn’t.

2.  On top of physical responsibility for Dan, the episode was wrong to pin Danny with the moral blame and identity of Dan. It treated the two of them as essentially the same person, and portrayed Dan as just a Danny from the future who turned evil because of a combination of Danny’s potential evilness (potential to do “selfish/evil” things) and tragic circumstances. Considering Dan’s backstory, it made no sense for Danny to be the sole owner of either Dan’s immorality or identity/personhood.

Dan’s backstory told us that physically Danny wasn’t solely responsible for his creation, but the rest of the narrative still deeply connected Dan to Danny alone by treating Dan as what would happen if Danny let his pre-existing moral flaws take over him—that Dan’s villainy (or evil nature) came from Danny.

Clockwork referred to Danny Phantom as “grow[ing] up into the most evil ghost on the planet” in the cold open (which, given that Dan was a product of a fusion, was blatantly false.)

“The Ultimate Enemy” attempted to build up the idea that Danny had the potential for evil, and that Dan was him realising his own evil, in the scene where the trio entered Clockwork’s lair. As they watched Dan’s carnage through the observation window, Danny excitedly admired Dan’s Ghostly Wail, completely oblivious to the seriousness of the situation, and Sam called him out for not reading the room.

(Though, Sam’s condemnation of Dan’s villainy was extremely underwhelming—calling a world-destroyer and (presumable) mass murderer just “kind of a jerk” in a snarky tone did not do the severity of Dan’s actions any justice.)

When they confronted Clockwork, Danny scoffed at him to find just “one” evil thing he’d done. The shot then immediately focussed onto “examples” of Danny’s “evil” in the time window—first, Jazz finding out Danny was going to cheat the CATs (which, as established in point one, was not as morally significant as the episode tried to portray it—that shall be further elaborated later in Section D). After Tucker sassed at Clockwork, “[I] bet you can’t find two!”, the time window changed to Dan standing atop his destruction in the alternate future, and Clockwork replied, “How about two thousand?”—implying that Clockwork was referring to what Dan did in the future as at least part of the (supposedly numerous) evil things Danny did (or would do). This made no sense unless the episode was implying that Dan’s immorality was Danny’s own. However, this implication was incorrect, leaving Clockwork to state that he had seen countless instances of Danny Fenton/Phantom being evil with no valid examples to show for it whatsoever.

Dan’s atrocities had no weight as examples of Danny’s morality flaws due to the fact that Dan’s evil was not primarily Danny’s to begin with, creating a feedback loop of invalidation; evidence for the argument was invalid because its own validity was dependent on the validity of the very argument it was supposed to be supporting.

(Danny, despite the episode’s reluctance to be fair to him with its accusations of his “potential villainy”, was actually justified in asking this of Clockwork. You know there’s something wrong with your story when your self-centred, short-sighted teenage protagonist is righter than your supposedly all-knowing Master of Time in this situation.)

(Cheating on a test is not evil, Clockwork, try again.)

(Nope, sorry, Dan’s evil is not Danny’s “evil”; your argument is invalid.)

(I typically put the “improvements/fixes” part at the end of each point, but for the sake of its direct relevance to the aforementioned example, I’ll put it here to avoid structural confusion in the essay:

“The Ultimate Enemy”, for some reason decided that its reason/foreshadowing of Danny’s potential for evil had to be self-contained; ironically, almost all (sans a small few) of the episode’s examples of Danny’s moral flaws weren’t “evil” at all, and they would’ve been far better off using actual events of Danny showing potentially villainous traits from previous episodes. Danny may have been justified in asking Clockwork to name one evil thing he’d done, because that accusation had no basis at that point, but Clockwork’s response should’ve been to show previous instances in the series where Danny took advantage of others with his powers.

For example, imagine if in the episode, when Danny demanded, “Name one evil thing I’ve done!”, Clockwork’s time window had switched to moments like the end of “Maternal Instincts”, where he manipulated Vlad into lowering his guard, or his acts of overshadowing Dash for petty revenge in “Splitting Images” or “Reign Storm”? Not only were they more legitimate examples of morally corrupt characteristics—tricking people for his own gain/victory and abusing his powers to the detriment of others—it would’ve given such a significant episode in the series more continuity with the previous ones. In fact, the examples in two of those previous episodes resulted in Vlad pointing out that Danny was becoming more like him, as a way to use Vlad’s relationship as Danny’s nemesis/character foil for the sake of tension. “The Ultimate Enemy” could’ve used those examples in its own narrative to turn Dan into a proper payoff of this long-term build-up of Vlad’s whole “We’re not so different, you and I” thing going on with Danny.

Also, it would add to the thematic irony of Dan being a fusion of Danny and Vlad’s ghost halves, if that aspect of his backstory was not altered in a rewrite of TUE.)

Vlad owned Dan’s evil nature equally as much as (if not more than) Danny because Dan was also half-Vlad. However, the episode neglected to acknowledge this outside of a few seconds on Dan’s birth in the flashback. While explaining the scene of the two ghost halves fusing into Dan, Future Vlad’s most honest lines of narration (because they straightforwardly confessed he was morally accountable for Dan to Danny, and thus had no motivation to be a lie) explained that, “My [ghost half’s] evil side overwhelmed you”. This implied that the reason Dan turned out evil in the first place was that Vlad’s evil took over Danny’s mind during the fusion.

Given that we trust Vlad’s line, Vlad (or Plasmius, as Vlad’s ghost half) deserved most of the accountability for Dan’s lust for destruction and lack of a moral compass, not Danny. So, calling Dan “Danny’s evil future self” was only accurate in the literal sense of “this is what remained of Danny’s mind/existence in the future—his ghost half—even though it’s only a part of a larger fusion with another ghost, and this fusion is evil”. Dan was not a warning that “Danny was going to turn evil”, because Danny was not the primary source of Dan’s villainy.

In regards to overall personal identity, rather than just morality, Dan was also not “Danny’s evil future self” on account of the fact that he was not “Danny’s future self”, period. He shouldn’t have been an “older Danny” (or essentially the same person as Danny but older and evil), according to his backstory’s statement that he was half-Phantom, half-Plasmius. Yet, for some asinine reason, Dan only identified himself personally as “Danny” for the duration of the episode (without mention of Vlad).

After travelling to the past under Danny’s guise, Dan referred to Danny’s bedroom and face in the mirror as his own.

(Whoops--another image where I goofed the subtitles, this time in formatting...and MS Paint’s lack of layers makes redoing it an unnecessary pain. Sorry about that.)

When he met Sam and Tucker in the future, he explained his cold response to seeing them again as a result of “[surrendering his] human half a long time ago”. His singular human half. Not plural…because even Dan himself wanted to pretend that he wasn’t half Vlad, for some reason.

Perhaps it could be chalked up to people behaving differently in different social contexts; in that case, it was understandable that—even if he was part-Vlad—his Danny-side and memories influenced him the most in front of Danny’s friends…but that alone didn’t justify him stating that he only had one human half as a fact. The only other option that made in-universe sense was that it was a deceit/falsehood on Dan’s part, and therefore knowingly untrue. Perhaps Dan didn’t want to admit that he had more than one human half to Sam and Tucker—because he was not obliged to divulge that information to them—or that he preferred to mentally distance himself from Vlad’s human half because the latter was still alive, and separate from Dan. However, it was still untrue to link Dan and Danny together as people, but not Vlad, with the idea of only owning Danny’s human half.

The assumption that Dan was a future, evil Danny in person (and not also part-Vlad in person, or a new person from either of them entirely) implied that the fusion resulted in Plasmius’s mind giving his evil to Danny’s and then disappearing into the aether. It implied that a fusion of two people resulted in a powered-up being that was solely one of them psychologically, in order to purport that Danny (or, at least Phantom as his ghost half) was still Danny in sense of self for the last ten years in the alternate future. This contradicted the more logically valid implication that Plasmius’s mind or identity still existed as a component inside Dan, and Dan was at least both Danny and Vlad mentally.

Vlad explained in the flashback, “[Vlad’s] evil ghost half mixed with [Danny’s].” The general interpretation of “mixing” implied that the two ghost halves merged together into a new being and their traits and minds blended together. His identity should, theoretically, be either a half-and-half joining of the two halfas, or a whole new person with Vlad and Danny’s ghost halves as mere fusion ingredients. Ten years of existence and experience after the initial fusion would also, theoretically, give Dan enough time to develop this new mixed mind into his own individual sense of self beyond who/what either of Danny or Vlad were as people (prior to the ghost half fusion). In that case, Dan was not Danny’s “future self” in identity, and had little reason to identify Danny’s face, room and family as “his old [life]” (or, at least his only one). 

The next most obvious theory (about Dan’s psychological makeup as a fusion) is that one half was more dominant than the other during the fusion, leading to Dan to become primarily just one of them in identity. That dominant one had to have been Danny, based on how Dan identified himself in the episode, but that wouldn’t make sense. Phantom taking full control of the fusion and assimilating Plasmius into himself required that a grief-stricken fourteen year old was somehow capable of winning against a more experienced forty-something in a battle of minds, thoroughly enough to the point of absorbing the latter. Considering that Phantom was mentally weak enough to be the one “overwhelmed” by Plasmius’s evil (a single facet of Plasmius’s larger mind) almost immediately, that hypothesis seems unlikely. The notion of Phantom overwhelming Plasmius in the fusion to gain dominance, and Plasmius being the one to overwhelm him to turn him evil, contradict each other. Ergo, Dan being a mix of both Phantom and Plasmius was the most likely (and sensible) outcome of the fusion.

In that case, the episode was thoughtless and inaccurate to treat Dan as “Danny’s future self who became a villain”. Dan was not inherently linked to Danny in either the majority of his morality or his identity, due to the part Vlad played in Dan’s creation, and his mental component in Dan’s fusion.

2.5.A notable counterpoint, for the sake of not one-sidedly flipping all of the fault for Dan onto Vlad:

To be fair—as the idea of solely blaming Vlad would also be inaccurate to what Dan’s origin story showed—I should acknowledge a piece of evidence explicitly indicating that Danny still contributed some of his own darkness to Dan’s villainy, albeit less than Vlad. Once separated from his human half, Phantom ripped out and fused with Vlad’s ghost half of his own volition, all with a malicious grin on his face.

However, there was no clear motivation or reason for the separated Phantom to fuse with Plasmius (the physical cause of Dan that Danny/Phantom could be blamed for) —in fact, it made no sense for there to be any premeditated intention for Phantom to fuse with him, since he couldn’t have known that fusion with another halfa’s isolated ghost half was even possible at that point; it was an untried, never-seen-before method, hardly likely to mentally occur to Danny in the first place. Phantom resorted to attacking Vlad, stealing the Ghost Gauntlets and pulling out Plasmius for some unknown reason, but ghost-half fusion could not have sensibly been it. The Gauntlet attack simply demonstrated that Phantom took ill-willed pleasure from the act of hurting or depowering Vlad. After removing Vlad’s ghost half, fusing with it was the second step. Danny could be held responsible for his ghost half explicitly harbouring malice/potential evil in the attack (and his ghost half’s response to being removed was part of Danny’s responsibility in Dan’s creation), but that wouldn’t explain the crucial next step of the fusion itself.

This is where my ideas for potential improvements for the story of “The Ultimate Enemy” come in, as the exact extent of Danny’s contribution to Dan (in physical responsibility and mentality) wasn’t entirely clear—outside of this explicit evidence of Phantom’s facial expression. This uncertainty leaves the room for a do-over of the narrative to ask a lot of questions about how physically and morally accountable for Dan’s birth and evilness Danny actually was.

We could assume implicit evidence that Danny had some sort of inner darkness which contributed to Dan, even if only the minority, from the possibility that his grief at the loss of his loved ones (as well at helplessness at not being able to do anything to save them, and low evaluation of his own worth as a person) led to buried malice, anger and a desire for power to compensate.

Based on how splitting halfas apart worked in “Identity Crisis”, it made sense that Phantom had a sense of hostility and motivation to hurt Vlad once separated from Danny in “The Ultimate Enemy”. When Danny was split in half the first time, the halves took on the mental characteristics of the whole Danny’s momentary intents and desires. When Danny wanted his ghost half to do all the hero work so his human half could have the time to have fun, his ghost half took on an exaggerated hero personality and his human half an irresponsible teenager personality. Assuming this logic consistently determines the split halves’ personalities each time, and the fact that Danny’s desires in the alternate future revolved around escaping his emotional pain, it was logical that one of the split halves inherited a condensed majority of Danny’s pain (in this case, the ghost half), while the other half (the human one) was innocently blind to most of Danny’s grief and self-hatred—and that the suffering half acted out aggressively or malevolently as a result.

However, since we could logically assume that fusing with Plasmius was not the initial reason Phantom removed him from Vlad (and we assume the fusion was a spur-of-the-moment decision that occurred to him afterwards), why did he remove Plasmius in the first place? Was he intending to spite Vlad after all the grief he caused Danny in their rivalry? Was it a sense of inferiority telling him to tear Vlad down from his superior position? Was it to avoid letting Vlad stay a possible physical threat to Danny? There is such a large gap here, one could brainstorm countless possible motivations.

Furthermore, if that only covered his motivation to remove Plasmius, then what made him decide to fuse with him? Was he attempting to possess Plasmius as one ghost half trying to possess another for some reason? Was it internal panic? Was it a hunger for power pushing him to seize the opportunity that opened up? Why didn’t/couldn’t Plasmius fight Phantom off in the fusion scene?

These questions could be explored if the story of “The Ultimate Enemy” was redone. Present Danny, the Danny whose point of view we saw the episode from (rather than the Alternate Danny) hadn’t experienced the Dan future himself, so he didn’t know what was going through his alternate self’s head (human or ghost) during Dan’s creation. How much of it was his fault? How much of it wasn’t? How did he fill in the holes in the story Future Vlad told to him based on his own insecurities, and what did he blame himself for?

For that matter, why not get present Vlad wrapped up in it too? Have him take responsibility for what is HIS. If not, the episode should’ve at least acknowledged that Dan was not entirely “Danny’s evil”, and made it clear that he was cleaning up both his and Vlad’s collective mess by himself. If the message of the evil future self being Danny corrupted to the side of evil was so necessary for the episode, then simply remove the fusion plot entirely from Dan’s origin and have Danny become a villain by his own moral corruption. It weakened the impact of the future-self villain being a warning of “what the hero should avoid becoming” by having the main character only become evil by fusing with an already malevolent character.

3.      The Observants’ conclusion that they had to kill Danny to save the world from Dan didn’t make sense, due to Vlad being primarily responsible for Dan’s evilness—but the episode, instead of acknowledging this inanity, actually reinforced the opposite.

Having now established that Vlad was half (if not more) at fault for Dan’s evil than Danny, the plot to kill Danny in the episode lost any of the ground it had to stand on.

(Nope...no, he didn’t have to.)

It was illogical for the Observants to assume killing Danny was the best way to stop Dan from existing when killing Vlad would equally achieve this (not to mention that either of these options were overkill, in the presence of the intervention methods mentioned in Section A). Without Vlad, Dan could not exist either. Eliminating Vlad would stop his continuous crimes against both worlds, and let Danny live to continue doing the good he’d done. After the events of “Reign Storm”, a large part of the Ghost Zone knew that Danny had saving Amity Park, and the entire Ghost Zone, under his belt—if an entire wasteland civilisation like the Far Frozen came to worship Danny for his victory against Pariah Dark (as shown in season three’s “Infinite Realms”).

(For that matter, where were the Observants hounding Clockwork to get on Vlad’s troublesome ass when he tried to steal the Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage in “Reign Storm”, if Pariah Dark was so dangerous?)

If they were being somewhat rational, it was possible that they chose Danny as Vlad’s less powerful counterpart, and an easier target—even though they delegated the task off to Clockwork because intervention wasn’t their job, and they clearly acknowledged Clockwork’s power and competence to some degree. The Observants openly referred to Clockwork as the master of time while shirking their responsibility for fixing the future onto him, so whether or not killing Vlad would be too difficult for themselves would be irrelevant, since they made it Clockwork’s problem and became backseat commentators. Though, Clockwork would’ve probably foreseen Vlad’s importance in Danny’s emotional growth as his nemesis and also kept him alive anyway—but from a purely logical standpoint, it made little sense to execute Danny over Vlad, if they ever needed to kill anyone at all.

To be honest, the episode could’ve used the invalidity of the Observants’ plan to paint their incompetence more, expanding on Clockwork’s disdain for them and how he told the audience they “just observe”. However, to do that, the episode itself would’ve had to actually portray the Observants’ plan (not just the Observants themselves, but their actual plan to kill Danny itself) as nonsensical. The episode never did, however, as it had Clockwork—the character portrayed as bolder and wiser than the Observants—reinforce their proposition as worth trying and go along with their request for Danny’s demise. He sent two ghosts to attack Danny (although the fight with Boxed Lunch was more of a moral test about giving Danny the CAT answers, rather than an attempt on his life, Danny “failed” that moral test before Clockwork sent Skulktech after him—so, the latter at least counted as a potential hit on Danny) to the extent of attempting to kill Danny himself on the last attempt. That Clockwork went along with the Observants’ plan showed that the episode saw the plan as reasonable, despite its illogicality.

(While there is a possible argument for Clockwork’s knowledge of how the episode would end—insinuating that he knew Danny would never actually end up dying—justifying why he went along with the plan in the first place, the next section of the essay shall tackle that. Since Clockwork is the Master of Time, and the issues with his character were heavily intertwined with the effects the time travel lore had on the plot, that shall be addressed in Category C, the section covering the mess created by the time-travel in the episode.)

...actually, that just gave me an idea. You know what would be interesting, if a little too much to content to stuff into the narrative? Having an Observant character distinguished as their own individual, who doubts the other Observants’ unreasonable decisions and becomes a rogue element to the rest of the council, directly intervening in the timeline themselves. The rogue Observant could abandon the council of Observants to side with Clockwork, and characterise Clockwork by having him change his globalised impression of the Observants to understand this new, non-conformist one as an ally. Or, perhaps the Observant plays a more compassionate foil to Clockwork, choosing to himself save Danny’s life from the ghost attacks Clockwork sent after him?)

#danny phantom #danny phantom analysis #danny phantom essay #the ultimate enemy #danny fenton #vlad masters #dan phantom #the observants #danny phantom clockwor #time to get into one of the longest sections of this essay hoo boy #I apologise for the verbosity

[hunenka]

Hi! If you feel like it, I would love to hear your thoughts about how Dean's ending should have gone. I haven't watched the show much for years, so I'm not sure if there was actually a consistent dream/goal Dean wanted to achieve outside of being a hunter with Sam, or if his character was so butchered/written so inconsistently that he had no clear goals? I liked the open ending of 15x19 and honestly I would have rather the series ended there!

Hi, and sorry for such a late reply! I've been sitting on this one for a long time, trying to come up with an answer, but I always ended up just sort of despairing the way the show ended, how many things went wrong.

For me, there are two types of a "right" ending for Dean -- from a storytelling perspective and from a Dean!girl perspective.

Storytelling-wise, Dean's story has always been a horror/tragedy, so anything other than a sad, even cruel ending wouldn't feel right. Dying on a random hunt, after surviving so much, feels appropriately tragic to me -- but not the way they did it on the show. It would have to be portrayed as tragic, as a life of a good man who is finally free being cut way too short because life is cruel, and even the simplest, run-of-the-mill hunt can turn deadly. Which is what makes hunters heroes.

They would have to show how much Dean's absence is felt, not just by Sam, but by so many others. How much Dean's changed people, and changed the world, and left it a better place. How even though Dean died a hunter, he was so much more than that -- a brother, friend, mentor, a geek, an enthusiastic child who loves to have fun and loves to help others have fun, a man who always tries to fight for what's right. Not just an appendix to Sam, but a character and a person in his own right.

From the perspective of a Dean fan who wishes him well, I'd like to see an ending where Dean is happy. Where he is content with who he is and what he does, knows his worth, and lives with his loved ones without being their doormat.

And while Dean has, several times, imagined a life where he would quit hunting and just sit back on a beach somewhere, realistically I can't see Dean quitting the family business. Not as long as monsters are still out there. And even if the supernatural was somehow gone, Dean would still be helping people somehow. A firefighter, a rescue worker... Like he said, his peace is helping people. So I think he'd still live a dangerous life, and maybe even die prematurely when saving someone.

The problem though is that on SPN, death isn't the end, so the real question is what happens after Dean dies. And here, frankly, I can't imagine any ending that I would find satisfying.

Hell would be awful, of course. Purgatory (if Dean got turned and then died) might mean a reunion with Benny, and Dean did enjoy the purity of Purgatory, but that says more about how horrible Dean's life had been at that point than about Purgatory as an ideal final destination. Heaven is dull and boring and unsatisfactory -- both the original "best moments on an endless loop" version and the supposedly improved version we saw in 15x20. Because once you start thinking about it, it falls apart as well. (How does it work? No conflict, nothing to overcome, no obstacles and no triumphs... Just everyone being together and happy? And is it even compatible for everyone? E.g., is Bobby with his wife or with Ellen? Or both? Are John, Mary, Kate and Adam -- now joined by Dean and Sam -- one big happy family?)

Back when the Empty was first introduced on the show, with Billie threatening to send the Winchesters there the next time they die, I thought that paradoxically, the Empty might be the best resting place for Dean, because it had a sound of a true finality. A place that is truly the end. Like it's... nothing. No consciousness, no form of existence, just nothing. And I think the only way Dean could truly find rest would be just that, because as long as he'd be "there" and conscious in any way, he'd want to do something, to fight, to make things better. (Of course, once we actually saw the Empty, I changed my mind on this.)

There's one possibility for Dean after death that I would like and find believable -- Dean becoming the new Death. His relationship with Death (in all its incarnations) has always been pretty special. He's the one to wield Death's scythe repeatedly. He killed Death two times. But more imporantly -- he's been schooled by OG Death (and Tessa) on the importance of balance back in 6x11, and I believe Dean might be the right person to maintain balance in the universe. The way Billie wanted to, before they randomly made her into a villain.

Anyway -- the more I think about it, the more I realize what I'd really want to see boils down to one thing -- the show respecting Dean as a character. Acknowledging his immense worth, his sacrifices, his courage, his kindness, his compassion. His impact on the world. (And not in a "before dying, Cas randomly babbles about how great Dean is" way, because no matter what Cas said, his actions and words towards Dean in the past years have done nothing to support that view. He's been all about Jack and only rolled his eyes at Dean and called him stupid, so this sudden last-minute change of heart is not believable at all.)

Tl;dr: Dean deserved an ending that would honor him in all his complex, complicated, multi-layered glory, instead of erasing years of character development and turning him into his early season 1 self where he can't seem to even fathom existing on his own, without depending on Sam.

Oof, this got long!

#spn #my text #dean w #dean deserves better

[dweemeister]

Elmer Gantry (1960)

Upon the publication Sinclair Lewis’ novel Elmer Gantry in 1927, an eruption of outrage ensued. The novel, a Juvenalian satire of evangelical Christianity in the United States, drew invectives from evangelical groups and high praise from literary circles. Despite its popularity among American readers, Elmer Gantry’s content long prevented American studio executives from even considering the film adaptation rights. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), from 1934 until 1968, enforced the Hays Code, a guideline for censorship, on all films made by the major American studios for theatrical release. Here is what the Hays Code says on religion – this section was never amended for the entirety of the Code’s existence:

No film or episode may throw ridicule on any religious faith.

Ministers of religion in their character as ministers of religion should not be used as comic characters or as villains.

Ceremonies of any definite religion should be carefully and respectfully handled.

The 1960 film adaptation of Elmer Gantry, released by United Artists (UA), directed and written by Richard Brooks, and featuring one of Burt Lancaster’s most electric performances of his career, violates the second and third part of this section and, arguably, the first as well. By the late 1950s and early ‘60s, enforcement of the Code was beginning to wither – boundary-pushing non-American films (which were exempt from the Code), television, and evolving behavioral and cultural norms in the United States contributed to its eventual demise. One of the beneficiaries was undoubtedly Brooks, whose output around this time – including Blackboard Jungle (1955), The Professionals (1966), and In Cold Blood (1967) – reflects the relaxing standards of Hollywood’s self-imposed censorship. Of the films Brooks made in this period, Elmer Gantry might be the most complete, excoriating, and cinematic.

Elmer Gantry (Lancaster) is a garrulous, ruthless, and ambitious con man who invokes Scripture to hock whatever he is selling. His shtick is effective, as his energetic sermonizing tends to break down the resistance of most. One day, curious about a traveling evangelist tent show passing through town, he encounters Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons). Gantry, taken by Sister Sharon’s virginal piousness and her fairness, convinces Sister Sharon’s assistant, Sister Rachel (Patti Page), to join their traveling group. Sister Sharon is impressed by Gantry’s – or “Brother Gantry” – orations, and she adjusts her own sermons to complement his. Where Gantry decries the congregants as sinners, Sister Sharon promises salvation through repentance. As time passes, Gantry’s presence in this itinerant ministry becomes the talk of the Midwest and Great Plains. Sister Sharon and Gantry begin to attract new congregants and onlookers’ horror, alike. The sermons become increasingly theatrical, writes the cynical big-city newspaper reporter Jim Lefferts (Arthur Kennedy), who is torn by his admiration of Gantry’s façade and his revulsion for hucksterism. Meanwhile, sex worker Lulu Bains (Shirley Jones) – who once knew Gantry when he was aiming to become a minister – is about to make an unexpected reentry into his life.

Character actors round out the cast of this motion picture, including Dean Jagger as Sister Sharon’s manager, Bill Morgan; Edward Andrews as businessman George F. Babbitt; and John McIntire and Hugh Marlowe as two reverends. Rex Ingram (1936’s The Green Pastures, 1940’s The Thief of Bagdad) cameos in an uncredited appearance as the preacher of a black congregation.

Elmer Gantry never feels like a 146-minute movie, as it moves through its scenes with fervorous pace thanks to some excellent performances and crisp filmmaking (more on both later). Brooks’ adaptation covers less than a quarter of Sinclair Lewis’ novel – Lewis allows its plot to unfold over the course of several years – and takes liberties in deleting or rearranging characters and plot points to fit neatly in a movie adaptation. Like the novel itself, Brooks’ adaptation ends without clear moral or narrative resolution – albeit at an earlier point in the novel. The character of Lulu Bains does not reappear in Lewis’ novel until after the events depicted in the film. To provide Elmer Gantry, the character, with the immoral backstory lost on a moviegoer unfamiliar with the novel, Brooks integrates Lulu into this film adaptation. On a surface level, that appears to deprive Lulu of her own characterization, agency, and backstory, but Brooks allows the character (and Shirley Jones) the space to portray and develop her complicated feelings – a stew of trauma, bitterness, and love – for her current life station and towards Elmer Gantry.

Reverential low-angled shots from cinematographer John Alton (1951’s An American in Paris, 1958’s The Brothers Karamazov) during the revivals make Sister Sharon’s tent seem cavernous, a fabric cathedral without need of stained glass, marble statues, flying buttresses. Looking slightly upwards at Sister Sharon’s of Elmer’s faces (at times with a Dutch angle), the film elevates the two above the masses listening intently on what they have to say, imbuing their scenes with striking imagery that draws the viewer’s attention. The decision to shoot the film in the 1.66:1 screen aspect ratio – wider than the Academy standard, but not as much as the widescreen standard sweeping through American filmmaking at the time – constricts the audience’s peripheral vision, forcing one’s focus on the speaker’s body language, rather than any miscellaneous activity occurring behind or to the side of the speaker.

As for the speakers or, should we say, actors, there are stupendous performances across the ensemble. For his turn as the eponymous lead, Burt Lancaster, known for his vigorous performances, provides Elmer Gantry with vigor aplenty. Modeling his performance off of the behavior of baseball outfielder-turned-evangelist Billy Sunday, Lancaster struts around the tent during revival meetings, his upper body animated in conversation and salesmanship outside those meetings. Even in stillness, Lancaster’s physicality swaggers, brimming with euphoria – his most private moments abound in sexuality molded by what his character might call the love of God. Even Lancaster’s haircut appears to be defying gravity more than usual in Elmer Gantry. The sweat on his brow, within the 1:66:1 frame, feels as if it is about to seep through the camera. As he delivers his lines, Lancaster masters the complicated beat – accelerating with certain turns of phrases and strategic pauses for emphasis – and wildly varying volume of Elmer’s sermons. “Love is like the morning and the evening stars,” he intones as Gantry (that is his signature quote), somehow making us believe in such bromides and other simplifications he sells to the revival’s attendees.

Jean Simmons, as Sister Sharon Falconer, is a clear-eyed minister who nevertheless falls – or, perhaps, “seduced” – for Brother Elmer’s pontifications. In her own way, Sister Sharon Falconer is as ruthless as the man who wheedles his way into her company. Simmons, retaining her British accent, speaks like a patrician but, as Sister Sharon, reminds all that even the poor, the downtrodden, the sightless, the hard-of-hearing can know the munificence of Christ. So different is she from Gantry that when the latter begins to aggressively court her, the scene elicits squirms. Not because the scene is poorly acted, but that Simmons and Lancaster (with assistance from Brooks’ screenplay) have developed their characters so masterfully that Elmer’s pretense-free seduction feels straight from an Old Testament story that invariably incurs God’s wrath. Their characters convince themselves of their mutual love, even though Gantry is probably incapable of loving and Sister Sharon cannot view love outside how she might interpret it through the Bible.

In the aisles or the congregation’s peanut gallery are Arthur Kennedy and Shirley Jones. For Kennedy, as the reporter Jim Lefferts, this is a dress rehearsal for the similar but more biting role of Jackson Bentley in David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Like Bentley was to T.E. Lawrence, Lefferts views the work of Elmer Gantry and Sister Sharon with a cynical lens but, to some degree, each finds a professional need for the other. As Lulu, Shirley Jones crackles with a sexuality essentially nonexistent in American movies at this time. Upon Lulu’s introduction, she tells her fellow sex workers her past experiences with the minister now stealing newspaper headlines:

LULU BAINES: He got to howlin’ “Repent! Repent!” and I got to moanin’ “Save me! Save me!” and the first thing I know he rammed the fear of God into me so fast I never heard my old man’s footsteps!

With this suggestive language that would never have been tolerated by the MPAA a few years earlier, Jones delivers her lines with shamelessness, slightly colored by a modicum of romantic trauma that reveals itself later. Jones is not in Elmer Gantry long, but her presence, her character’s raw contradictions deepen the tragedies that seem to follow those entranced by a former seminary student now returning to preaching his idea of gospel.

André Previn’s unsettled score to Elmer Gantry leans heavily on brass dissonance and rhythmically complex string runs in the few instances where there is no dialogue or diegetic music. Though not used often, Previn’s music lays bare Gantry’s motivations of lust and profit, a man devoid of internal meaning and one who craves sensation. There are moments throughout the score where it seems like a Coplandesque Americana sound is begging to burst free. But Previn, more than capable of composing such music and considering the narrative to this adaptation, knows better than to let those tendencies escape. The raving strings and blaring brass bury melodicism, which is left for the jazzy interludes that accompany Lulu’s scenes (jazz at this time was considered scandalous by many Americans). Previn’s score might not suit those longing for free-flowing motifs, but the technical skill required to play, let alone accomplish the musical phrasing he intends, some of the passages he writes for Elmer Gantry are stunning.

Earlier in this write-up in reference to the Hays Code, I mentioned that Elmer Gantry villainizes and makes comic characters out of religious figures, in addition to portraying the events at Sister Sharon’s revivals as debauched, deceitful. But does Elmer Gantry “throw ridicule on… religious faith”? Probably not, although those who despise religious belief in and of itself might disagree. Given Sister Sharon’s modesty and her less-fiery diction early in the film, probably not. Brooks does not expand upon what Sister Sharon’s congregation looked or sounded like in the months of years before Elmer Gantry’s arrival. Instead, Brooks’ movie targets individuals seeking to make economic and personal empires of organized religion – and Elmer Gantry, whose ravenous pursuit for money and women, is the man to defile Sister Sharon’s ministry. Only once he ingratiates himself to Sister Sharon, Gantry begins to emphasize what sounds suspiciously close to the “prosperity gospel”, which broadly states that faith in God and religious donations will lead to material wealth and physical wellbeing. The prosperity gospel is not scriptural. But it is a central tenant of numerous evangelical traditions.

Like Oral Roberts, Billy Graham, and the Falwell family, Elmer Gantry is the byproduct of the United States’ Third Great Awakening, which also resulted in Prohibition and the State of Tennessee’s decision to prosecute John Thomas Scopes for teaching human evolution in a public school. Sinclair Lewis, like Richard Brooks and his cast for Elmer Gantry, warn of profiteering “prophets” that remain a fixture of American life. From the mid-1950s to the mid-‘60s, the major Hollywood studios were prioritizing epic movies such as Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956), William Wyler’s Ben-Hur (1959), and George Stevens’ The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) – spectaculars intended to check the perceived threat of television to moviegoing. A film like Elmer Gantry that disparages religious ministers – even unethical, villainous ones – released during this time was nothing less than a landmark. Adapting a work by one of the great American writers of the twentieth century, Richard Brooks, with no small assistance from a cast topped by Burt Lancaster, results in a venomous film including one of the great characters of American film history. The book is almost a century old and the film is just past its sixtieth anniversary, but Elmer Gantry’s power endures. Elmer Gantry’s dialectic continues, even with evangelical Christianity akin to the homilies of Elmer Gantry supposedly on the wane.

My rating: 10/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Elmer Gantry is the one hundred and sixty-fourth feature-length or short film I have rated a ten on imdb. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL).

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

#Elmer Gantry #Richard Brooks #Burt Lancaster #Jean Simmons #Arthur Kennedy #Shirley Jones #Dean Jagger #Patti Page #Edward Andrews #Sinclair Lewis #John Alton #Andre Previn #TCM #31 Days of Oscar #My Movie Odyssey

[meandmyechoes]

The more I think about Dark Disciple, the more I find something odd.

[28th March 17:46]

I keep referring to it as a ‘favourable experience’, and there is no question the writing is what made me fall totally head over heels about quintress, but I also just, can’t?

I mean, yes. It’s very passionate, dramatic, scenes and gestures I can only dream of. But I also, don’t really see it in that ’omg they totally belong together here are my sixty headcanons of them’ sense?

I am very involved in the pairing, but also don’t really, actively ‘ship’ it — like the way it was an open book with Rhayme or Latts Razzi (since it’s the same author that indoctrinated me to Captain Rhayme). I could imagine them being happily ever after and silly shenanigans and slow-burn. But the concept of a quintress fairytale ending is so wild. I can only ask how much it is tainted with my personal view on relationships.

I know the plot leaves little room for “the future” and fed us well on all tropes possible. But, it just never occurred to me to put them in any other clichés or invent a missing scene.

Winding up, I don’t think their relationship is "weak", but it’s very motivated by circumstances and once you take that out of them, you are a little bit lost. For example even during the illicit affairs month, I… can’t really propose one date that does not seem tonally insensitive. (I can think of them being cloak dorks and Vos bringing her to ice-cream, that’s it, after a long hard moment) Really, all I possibly want is that sweet, sweet angst and canon is already there so I have no complaint.

It’s just… I don’t really get why it has to be the two of them that fall for each other. I understand why they did, and I believe it— Perhaps it’s much more a physical attraction thing that I don’t really have personal experience with.

I don’t know if quintress classify as slow-burn because 10 chapters still seem a little quick in the grand scheme of things. (aside: I’m quite disappointed Ventress wasn’t doing much in the last quarter of the book.) My point is, they do feel a little bit puppet to tropes, and while it’s deliciously written, there’s not much potential outside of canon. And that lack of inspiration makes me grimace a little.

[3rd April, 01:39]

I’ve scrolled through the dd tag and let the book sank a little. I am better articulated to talk about the sexist criticism now.

It’s a romance story, and when I judge it by that (lower) standard, it ticks the boxes. However, it might be a weakness as well, due to the projectability of the heroes. And yes, the whole assassination is dumb. Yet, tcw has been consistently this dumb at us. The last two times when she’s more rooted in the dark she failed, sent Savage and failed, so she’s gonna do it again with Vos… after she put down her desire for revenge. right. and surprise! Our “assassination” plan is to find Dooku and duel him directly. right…

I’ve read a review that says the romance takes away from the plot. However, the romance IS the plot. The book IS supposed to revolve around the two of them. I do agree them becoming begrudging allies then partners is a more unique approach, more rewarding as foils as well. but I guess a romance is easier for the conventional to process ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

With the “Ventress lose agency in falling for Vos”. Now, I can’t dictate how each of us buy into their physical attraction and chemistry (or lack thereof), and there’s no denial that a conscious human being is making that choice for the fictional character, I think the stance on this topic varied person to person from the above two factors, which are very different starting points.

I kept Katie Lucas’s foreword vividly in mind while reading. She said this is a story about people seizing chances to rebuild. That there’s always a choice. Cliché as it is, I believe ~the power of love~. I believe there exists someone you’re willing to sacrifice everything for, to overlook everything for, to forgive - to love them, warts and all. So, yes whether you think Ventress loses her agency to the romance, or if that’s a conscious choice on her behalf, is swayed heavily by how much you buy that they are the one.

[10th April, 10:30]

Yesterday I’ve been thinking a bit more about this. I do love this ship, I just don’t believe they’d be two people who find each other again and again in every life time, in every universe. That’s why, as magnificent as fireworks, it also won’t last.

To explore this, it’s not entire impossible for quintress to separate peacefully after this incident, but would that cheapen the build before? The entire motivation of dark!Quinlan hinges on his vision of their future. And say, Ventress did saved him and survived. How would he balance being a Jedi and his feelings - that’s publicly exposed to the Council? (sidenote: i really don’t like Ch. 27 where a bunch of old men are questioning their love life, but uhhh yes, I’m a sensible person!) For now, I’m seeing another Obi-Satine situation. And honestly how bad that an outcome is. It’s not like Ventress died for her war crimes! The show gave her a full pardon! So Idk man. Why can’t she leave him because she loves him and she exiled herself and they never see each other again WHY NOT FILONI WHY NOT.

Now I’m lamenting more what could’ve been with the two arcs. In Filoni’s original sketch, Aayla and Maul were involved. Man, that could’ve been the dream.

~~~

Part 2: [26th April, 15:15]

It has been… a month, since I finished Dark Disciple and I feel like it’s time to conclude all the thinking this book has made me do.

On the wider reflection about attachment and the Jedi Order, I still have to do more reading on it from other sources to form a concrete opinion. This theme won’t be touched on in this post yet, but I cannot shake how intriguing it is to compare “falling” in love to falling to the dark side. The temptation, and the submission to their emotions, the irrationality, the newfound curiosity, it all incites. Very curiously, it was Anakin Skywalker who commented that one is “blinded by love”

Okay, so what I’ve been scratching my head off the past two weeks is how I look at the romance between Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos. How would I define it?

Now this is as much as an exploration of how I view romantic relationships. Well, I’ve decided it wasn’t “love”, it was an “affair”. It was an affair because it’s a rush of passion, it’s a secret, it won’t last. Before I chop my own head off for bluntness, I mean it in, of course they are hopelessly in love with each other, that’s the exact premise of why it moved me so. But it wasn’t a complete relationship, wasn’t a healthy, sustainable one by any objective standards. Then, that’s the exact contradiction. Oh to throw caution in the wind with you, or to build a future with you?

Both are things I want a lot, and the ideal is of course one after the other. What quintress had (in the end) is definitely not something I’d want for myself, but it’s so fantastical, it’s alluring, just like the concept of falling in love - opening up yourself and trusting another person, is - it’s risky. That’s why it’s a sweet, sweet drug.

I’ve been so angry at all the red flags in this relationship. Reading this book, getting into both of their shoes, yelling NO like their best friends. But ultimately, what they had is unique to them and I can’t influence it in any way. Re-reading, I find myself holding myself back at all the places I was furious about going ‘You are smarter than this!’. Because it’s a tragedy, and the beautiful (I guess) thing is they chose each other.

The other day something on the dash inspired me to really think about ship dynamics. I, unashamedly admit, I’m VERY into Obi/Quin/Ventress in any and all combinations. *cough* I will not explain further.

I do accept the premise and I did discover they share quite a bunch of traits, but it confused me a while what made them cross the boundary, and it was, physical attraction (that the book was selling so hard I was blushing hot). I love them both a lot, and I would like to date them both, and I can see myself in either of them. Again comes the contradiction, is it a good thing to have characters so easily projectable, or do I want to see myself in more complex characters like them?

I probably lost quite a few cars stalling this train of thought. And I've been a canon apologist since forever. This book brought me a lot of emotional upheavals and a lot of food for thought. It brought me down to reflect on my romantic worldview and sexuality because I have nothing better to do. It totally challenged me as a writer and it’s just a really good novel by its right, regardless of the absurdity that is The Clone Wars. It’s a lot of firsts for me. And I really should find something better to do.

[26th April 16:00]

I must address that I got spoiled of the ending and the first and second half of the book probably went through some big changes.

If I cried for this book, it’s score would be even higher. And I’ve been so obsessed with discussing the relationship, without shedding light on the characterization, which is definitely an unfortunate side effect. Then it occurs that quite possibly the second half (26-42) deviated even further from the script than the first? It doesn’t have concept art or blocking, plus possibly (heavily) edited to omit correlation to other arcs. My major complaint for the second half is Ventress doesn’t do much and we know NOTHING about Vos, even though he is given screen time in the book. my, I just wish Ventress punch him harder and drag his idiotic mess back to the light sooner.

And to criticism about it being their ‘toxic’ relationship being portrayed as ‘true love’, well, it really depends on how thoughtful the reader is, right? I think if the reader is able to notice all these red flags and gave their own interpretation of the relationship and its outcome, it’d’ve been an educating experience. There’s what for the reader and what for the characters. They don’t know this ‘love’ is destroying them, and what kind of message is it sending? What ‘love’ depicted in the book is true then? I have my answers, and I hope every reader comes to their own as well.

#dark disciple #sw reading #clean version #i yell 'EXCEPT THE FLIRTY PART' every three scenes

[firefield]

David Bowie - Reality (2003)

“The thing, probably, that keeps me writing is this awful feeling that there are no absolutes. That there is no truth. That we are, as I’ve been thinking for so many years now, fully in the swirl of chaos theory.” DB, 2003

I always learn new things about David Bowie whenever I listen through his complete discography chronologically, and this run through is no different. As I get close to the end here, I’m reminded how much less I know about these later works, due simply to the fact that they have existed for a much shorter time, and my experience with them is more limited. “Reality” rocks more than I realized on release day, especially coming off the heels of “Heathen” with all its layers and mystery and subtleties. An empty house afforded the opportunity to really crank this one up, a vinyl pass, and CD pass, and finally the 5.1 surround sound edition - and yeah - DB said he wanted a simpler sound, and wanted a record that could be translated into a live show easily and effectively and he got that in spades.

As with all his post-80’s work, and especially his post-heart attack material, “Reality” embraces the darker and more cynical side of DB’s many characters - from the irony of the album title with album art portraying a very cartoony space-man Bowie looking about as unreal and non-Reality as possible and still be recognizable - to DB’s insistence that he made a “positive!” record despite themes of aging and death, loneliness and anonymity, geopolitical strife, day-in-day-out mundanity and the creeping threat of urbanization to nature. Regarding the subject matter of Reality he told Interview Magazine, “This is probably a period when, more than any other time, the idea that our absolutes are disintegrating is manifest in real terms. Truths that we always thought we could stand by are crumbling before our eyes. It really is quite traumatic.”

I read quotes like that and I think, for a guy that is largely known for (and criticized for) his ability to synthesize the past and his surroundings into something entirely David-Bowieingly unique, he certainly shows skill at synthesizing the future as well. Beyond things like financial chicanery like Bowie Bonds and the impact of the internet on the creation and distribution of music, Bowie often hit at the very essence of what unites as well as divides.

The seeds of this malleablity of truth that DB describes had been planted in my country during the civil rights movement and the tragedy of the Vietnam War, but began to flower and bloom after the 9/11 event - affecting Bowie’s home turf and his family profoundly. Heathen is prescient, Reality is a little angry about things. DB took time to specifically say what Reality was not: it was not an angry album, it was not a response to 9/11, it was not his “New York Album” - but then he’d spend just as much time gently walking back those claims, almost wondering aloud if it was, in fact, all of those things and more. He speaks around this time about how naturally writing music came to him. Unforced, calmly. I think this “flow” is why you can glean so many little contradictions about Reality and it’s intentions and meaning. He’s letting it happen, not dictating the plot; the tensions of that city and that moment in time allowed to mold and shape the work. Polar opposite to the Heathen recording environment at Allaire Studios in the Catskill Mountains, Reality was recorded in the cramped Studio B of Philip Glass’s Looking Glass Studios in NYC and both those disparate studio choices impact their respective products acutely.

Reality is Bowie’s most “hands-on” record since Diamond Dogs, employing all his multi-instrumentalist abilities, and it’s also one of his most thoroughly demoed. Most all of Reality was demoed out in Studio B by DB and Tony Visconti playing all the instruments, with Mario McNulty (the same engineer DB would later trust with the posthumous reimagining/re-recording of Never Let Me Down) as studio assistant. According to Tony, he had a feeling that many of these “demo tracks” would not ever actually be re-recorded, so they were laid down at a useable fidelity. Consequently, much of the demo material survived on the final album. The band brought in for final overdubs was chosen with the live show in mind specifically. This was a smaller, tighter unit of BowieLive veterans and by all accounts recording was smooth and productive.

New Killer Star opens the record, and is also Reality’s debut single (that contained one of his more surprising B-sides, Sigue Sigue Sputnik’s ‘Love Missle F1-11’) and is a spectacular Earl Slick led hazy, woozy guitar statement.

This is followed by The Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso - recorded in 1972 but delayed until their 1976 debut. This track mimics the space occupied by the Pixies cover Cactus - the second track on Heathen - DB pulling tracks from his past that he enjoys and placing them where they give the record momentum. Quite a different interpretation if you have heard the original - DB took liberties with both the lyric and the arrangement and it’s a cool little track.

Never Get Old follows and addresses the common theme of time and aging in DB compositions…. (Cygnet Committee, Time, Hearts Filthy Lesson, Changes, Fantastic Voyage, and many more) and the composition itself references much of his past in Space Oddities countdown, the elongated guitar strands of Heroes, bits of melody from Crack City, the four-walls-closing-in sense of Low and some of Hunky Dory’s ominous moments. A pounding live favorite.

…and seamlessly right into The Loneliest Guy. Anyone who saw the Reality Tour knows the captivating power of this piece, and it’s honesty and fragility was one of a few reasons why I thought this would be DB’s final album.

Looking For Water. Man, I *love* this song. It’s one of my favorite vocal performances on Reality and would certainly end up on my list of “underrated DB songs” were I compelled to make one. I like repetition in music, and it’s hypnotic and mantra-esque qualities - and this is one that always gets a significant volume boost.

She’ll Drive The Big Car - a supercool stab of Bowie sash and swagger, and a killer vocal performance, masking some seriously sad lyrics. Bowie manages to sound defiant, tired, funky, deferential, sexy and soulful all in the course of a single song. He’s such an effortlessly great singer, that’s it’s easy to become so accustomed to it that you almost miss it. It’s just “him.”

The exceedingly sweet “Days” fits nicely with all of Realities reflections, and has for me become a song I pay much more attention to since we lost the man to cancer.

Fall Dog Bombs The Moon is one of DB’s most overtly political songs, and was apparently written very quickly - under a half and hour - and directly addresses the Iraq War and the profiteering involved. Relatively bleak with murky lyrics, it’s a interesting and unique DB composition.

Try Some, Buy Some is just beautiful and I think one of Bowie’s most interesting and genuinely heart-felt covers (along with Waterloo Sunset, also from these sessions.) The inspiration to do this song comes directly from the 1971 Ronnie Spector version and the impact it had on him personally. DB seems to be absolutely sincere when he claimed that he had completely forgotten that it was a George Harrison composition until he sat down to work on the album credits.

Next up is the sizzling rocker Reality that has one foot in Tin Machine and one foot in The Next Day. Love Earl’s guitar sound here. Like New Killer Star, the guitar layers in this one sound amazing on the 5.1 surround mix.

Ahh yeah. Another in an amazing number of fantastic Bowie album closers. I’ve made it a point in my life to quit ranking art into “good/better/best/sucks categories and hierarchies and see art as an experience, not a competition. My friends know this about me, and consequently tease me and attempt to prod me into breaking this creed. Under unrelenting pressure to name a “favorite David Bowie track” I named Bring Me The Disco King.

I could give many reasons why this would be the one…. The repetition I mentioned earlier, here found in Matt Chamberlain’s drum loop (interestingly snagged from ‘When The Boys Come Marching Home,’) the overwhelming sense I had when I first heard it that this was DB’s final record, the sense that the threat of jazz that had always pounded on David’s door in his chord structures and harmonies had finally broken down the door… the very tangible sense that this was a composition that had already had a long life but stayed tucked into the shadows by its unsatisfied creator, only to be given life and light on this great album after it had been stripped down to almost nothing - simplicity being the sought after key to its finally being allowed to soar. If it’s not already obvious, I think this song is magnificent. Literally. The fact that David knew it was deep inside there, he just had to mine it out over the course of a decade or so is extraordinary.

Couple of thoughts about a track that didn’t fit well on Reality but made it to bonus/B-sides…

How cool is his cover of The Kinks Waterloo Sunset? In the years after his death, when I feel that loss in my heart, it’s Waterloo Sunset I turn up to 11 and allow it to yank me back out of that murk.

“People so busy

makes me feel dizzy

but I don’t feel afraid

as long as I gaze on Waterloo Sunset

I am in paradise.”

[mc-critical]

I see you’ve read/seen a lot of interpretations of this story. I am only familiar with Magnificent Century, Falconer’s book and Kadin, written by Bertrice Small, whose books are very enjoyable if you don’t take them seriously. It makes me wonder, how do the depictions of Hürrem and Süleyman’s story you’ve read compare to each other?

Heh, I haven't seen/read all that much in its entirety. Aside from Magnificent Century, I've read Pavlo Zagrebelny's novel, Colin Falconer's book, Demet Altınyeleklioglu's "Hürrem", have watched "Hürrem Sultan", the Turkish 8-episode long miniseries aired in 2003 and am familiar with the brief summaries of some early plays of Hürrem's story, described in "Roxelane in European Literature, History and Culture".

As works of art, I enjoy all of these for what they are. There is stuff each of them did right and each of them did wrong in adapting this story in their respective formats. I understand the corners some of them had to cut (though Hürrem Sultan 2003 cut way too many corners), I understand (most of) the compromises they did in order to present their own themes and voice.

Say, Colin Falconer's book truly is a satire that I could never take seriously in terms of Hürrem and Süleiman, but it did something no other interpretation did plausibly enough in my eyes, and that is: showing precisely how Süleiman fell in love with Hürrem and fell out of love with Mahidevran. We got a decent presentation of what he likes in both of them and what does Hürrem have more of. Now, is it also because she somehow dares to enjoy sex unlike the other girls, aside from the other obvious traits of hers like giving good political advice, playing instruments and making him laugh? Yes, of course, because it's "The Sultan's Harem" by Falconer and I expect nothing else. But the process was at least gradual enough and we had enough of his feelings presented and enough chamber scenes that contrast both of them for me not to question it at all. With the other interpretations, something was missing for me - it was all either very forced and plot-convenient (like in DA's book, where Valide loved Mahidevran and YET, wanted to introduce Hürrem to SS and THEN telling herself she played no part at all in SS's falling out with Mahi, we also had Mahidevran that is very extra and taking no crap at all, beating her maids with a stick every time she got angry, and THEN we have her saying that she was never once jealous, never this temperamental since Hürrem, which is very unbelievable in her case, AND we have SS saying that he has never felt joy since the death of prince Mahmud from the book's equivalent of Gülfem, which... then what were you doing with Mahi for so many years, you unbelivable hypocrite?), either very sudden and not fleshed out at all (like in the 2003 series, where we had a literal 1 year time-skip the second after Hü entered the harem and then she went to SS's chamber and.. that was basically it, they became pretty much inseparable since then.). To be honest, Pavlo Zagrebelny hits way more marks in this, compared to all these examples, but the way the beating happened and its part of the falling even more in love process is... less than stellar. MC's problem is that the reasons he fell in love with Hürrem were far more implicit than explicit until.. season 4, basically, these precious scenes where they laughed together were reserved only for the first earlier episodes and then the "concubine arcs" came, which also did a lot to blur their "amazing love". The plays at least take the standard approach (love at first sight after Hü being presented to Valide and/or Hü winning him over), but yeah, Falconer's take takes the cake here, despite of all the negative implications.

All these interpretations aren't that big on historical accuracy, since while they follow the same framework, they are more than willing to detach from the known facts and/or chronology when the plot, themes and character motivations demand it. Pavlo Zagrebelny placed Bayezid's execution way earlier, when Hürrem was alive, for her tragedy to become even more heartbreaking. DA had Hürrem have an affair with a wealthy merchant in the name of Frederick (which happened.. a while before Selim's birth, of course, so there was some doubt Selim was Frederick's...) and Iskender Pasha's (their equivalent to MC Iskender Celebi) wife be infatuated with Hürrem. Hürrem Sultan 2003 for some reason had Mehmet be sent to Amasya instead of Manisa. Which is the most historically accurate?? Probably none. Hürrem 2003 and Pavlo Zagrebelny's book are pretty up there, however, because Bayezid's execution was the only time I recall they did some change, but I could be wrong. (at least that was the only glaring, major change) Hürrem Sultan 2003 was more of a documentary series than a serial drama, tragedy or the like and we could say it is more accurate in comparison to the others, but for its own 8 episodes it doesn't stand out as much. But, oh no, don't get me started on the plays, because they're more ridiculous than even Falconer. Like the one with the outrightly soapy twist where they have switched the children, so Mustafa turns out to be the son of Hürrem (she's even called Regina there!), but Hürrem learns it only when she had already played her part to kill him. Those are truly peak comedy! 🤣 The harem titles are a mess everywhere, though. And no version of the story, Zagrebelny's aside, gave Hürrem's haseki title the gravitas it got historically, with Mahidevran even being a Haseki both in the 2003 series and in DA's book, so fans, this isn't Magnificent Century's invention, thank you very much.

The portrayal of the various characters mostly depends on which side the writers are on and where they want to put nuance. Pavlo Zagrebelny, with his work being rooted completely in Hürrem's favor, has the rest of the characters aside from Süleiman very antagonized to mirror the toxic Ottoman system Anastasia (yes, Hü is Anastasia Lisovska there) has found herself in, but I think they're nuanced enough to be realistic, unlike the satirical caricatures and one-dimensional archetypes Falconer cooked up. Demet Altınyeleklioglu had more than decent characterization overall, despite of some failings here and there. (like her Mahidevran being a mixed bag that is guilty-pleasure material, Ibrahim's motivations being too vague at times, regardless of his depth and their Hatice being.. Aybige 2.0, which is also 2003 Şah Sultan, by the way.) Hürrem Sultan 2003 had a problem with this, because of its more documentary nature. It only shows the historical events in depth enough to say "Well, that happened!" and nothing more. Is it because they had to compress time or rush stuff when the show didn't succeed as much as they expected it would? Is it because they found themselves lacking time to flesh out the characters and put them through arcs post-E05? It is because they didn't want to touch the issue of Mustafa's death yet, so that's why it happened so ridiculously and came out of absolutely nowhere? Nobody knows. Still, I think Magnificent Century succeeded to have almost everyone get a glimpse of spotlight, while these interpretations were more focused on one particular story, giving much less attention to everything else.

Aside from Falconer's take, I liked all the Hürrems in the fictional interpretations I have read /seen. As I said, DA's Hürrem is perhaps the one I could see as the historical figure - both nuanced and realistic. She has been taught haremly manners back in the Crimean saray AND engrained in the life of the wild animals in the forest before that since the age of 14/15, which creates a juicy combination of wit, charisma, lost innocence and character depth. Her motivations are particularly interesting - what is driving her her personal determination to be remembered for what she is and what she does, not what she used to be, which is an empowering catalyst to her will to survive. We see how she does all these little steps to get to the top, detaching from her past as a result, and that is shown throughout the whole story, unlike in Magnificent Century, and she wants to do it, unlike Pavlo Zagrebelny's character. This determination of hers to become something remarkable is moved by all the trauma she had experienced and she constantly has to fight with the belief that one could never go past where they've come from. She, like Meryem Uzerli's Hürrem, is both emotional and smart. Honestly, her hypocrisy and the ways in which she manipulates could get to my nerves and I can't really root for her, like MC or Zagrebelny's Hürrem, but she truly is a fascinating character. Zagrebelny's character is also very sympathetic, with her getting higher and highter positions, but never forgetting where she came from, never forgiving them for taking her childhood away from her. Her story is probably the most tragic one right from the start, since the more she rises in the hierarchy, the more she remembers her own background and this palace truly feels like a cage for her, taking so much of her strength to keep it all together. I feel the funny side of her character is focused the most on out of all the interpretations, because of the numerous scenes she laughs (also because she feels cold and that's the only way she knows how to diminish it and lighten up the mood in the cold palace) and because the very first thing the harem remembers her with, is her laugh that contrasts with all else. Her ambitious hatred for Süleiman could be very overplayed, especially near the end, but I let it slide because it works more often that it doesn't. (and the most powerful poem in the book wouldn't have existed, if it weren't for her hatred for SS!) Hürrem in the 2003 series is fine, but underwritten, like literally every other character there except Valide Hafsa, but she is harmless enough and her best moments are with SS and that's a rare and precious thing to have. The plays have Hürrem portrayed mostly in extremes (with some nuanced takes here and there), but the ways some of them establish her character can be very unique and imaginative. (like the one in which they did that through an in-depth interview with her!)

Süleiman is... there, but that's to be expected, since these aren't his stories. The most fleshed out Süleiman is of course, MC Süleiman from our beloved Halit Ergenç. Whether we like him or not, he had a well-developed character arc and was very well written and deconstructed. Next to him is probably Zagrebelny's SS, but outside of his love for Hürrem, I feel he is characterized more through descriptions of his historical campaigns and of his actions for the state than dialogue. The others weren't as memorable, but I give 2003 SS props for not acting like a total douchebag after the beating.

#magnificent century #ask #minetteskvareninova #i could go on and on for all the characters #but that would turn out way way too long #btw i don't remember the exact names of the plays I refered to #because gosh that book has summerized soo many

[equalseleventhirds]

my interpretation of aligning with a fear is that it's the way that trauma impacts you. i get the feeling you're not interested in anything i have to say vis-a-vis tim's characterization, so i won't get into that, but my understanding of avatars/avatar powers and becoming one wittingly or unwittingly is that it very rarely, if ever, has to do with what someone wants or their own happiness, and everything to do with trauma. tma to me is in part a story of the monsters trauma makes of us.

imo it varies from avatar to avatar; jude willingly chose the desolation, mike went in search of the vast after rejecting things that had traumatized him, peter was raised to it and embraced it, simon loved the sky, etc etc. i’d agree that avatarhood is not necessarily a major choice, but it can absolutely play a part.

if the thing that traumatizes you first and biggest has claim to you, jon would be a web avatar. martin would have gone the way of corruption. melanie might have gone stranger. basira would be desolation, or dark, or hunt. but what they all wound up aligned with was eye, because eye managed to get its hooks in them and make them work for it, not just be its victim.

according to the story, what actually got tim in its clutches (for as much as the entities hold true, which, they don’t, and inasmuch as ‘avatar’ is a thing, which, it isn’t, but putting that aside) was the eye. it claimed him and trapped him against his will; the direction he was going was eye avatar, bcos that’s what he was aligned with, bcos that’s what got its hooks in him.

and, lbr he probably hated that just as much as he hated the stranger! becoming a full-on eye avatar would have been torture for him just as much as the stranger! because my original point was that tim would hate and at least try to reject any sort of avatar status at all. he might not succeed, but he’d try.

saying that tim could, theoretically, in an au, become so victimized by the stranger that he was pulled in unwillingly to be an avatar of something he hated? yes, obviously. technically, theoretically, anyone can be forcibly made into an avatar of anything (as tim himself points out; there are no rules, there’s nothing you can do to keep yourself safe, bad luck just happens bcos an entity decides yeah, that one, for funsies, might as well).

insisting that tim would be stranger and stranger alone bcos of his characterization (which like, saying that i don’t want to hear about tim’s characterization... come on. i love tim’s characterization. i’ve written essays about it.) or his storyline is dismissive of other ppl’s readings of the text and their own headcanons and aus, and also had absolutely nothing to do with my original post, which was saying that making tim or ANYONE an avatar of ANY entity is a tragedy more than it’s about ‘cool powers’ or even, to an extent, which entity you personally think they align with, and it’s more interesting and true to the text than not addressing that tragedy.

i do also disagree that tma is about the monsters that trauma makes of us. if that was the case, it would not be so fucking careful about how it portrays victims of trauma. not everyone with trauma in tma is a monster (georgie, for one; gerry; martin). not all of the monsters have trauma (elias... mostly elias. also simon). jon, forcibly made monstrous, refuses to become the monster those who made him want him to be; he sees what he is becoming and actively chooses to fight back.

tma is not a ‘monsters are good’ story (there are some stories that say ‘trauma makes us monsters and as monsters we are more human than those humans who hurt us’, which are pretty cool stories (mabel does this!), but not THIS story), it’s very firmly ‘monsters are bad’, and so to say that trauma makes people monstrous sets up a really really bad narrative that jonny has not done. jonny works so hard to be sensitive about trauma that this reading of tma actually actively upsets me.

imo, tma says true monstrousness is complicity in a monstrous system, and even those forced into the system can struggle against it while they try to survive it.

#fandom wank #i am against 'trauma makes you strong' but i am also so MUCH against 'trauma makes you evil' #also the line between avatar and victim is wibbly #but more than 'what scares you most' is just. 'what gets its hands on you firmly enough'. #like otherwise what is the POINT of jon becoming THE eye avatar when he was firstly traumatized by spiders??? #i think we have extremely different readings of this show #and i don't think you're going to win me over to yours like. at all. #which it sounds like would be necessary to come over to your stranger-tim-only camp #tiefling-queer

[jacks-jester]

Arthur

[Arthur Fleck x Soulmate! Reader]

Words: 2,698

Warnings: Some slight angst, Arthur being self loathing 

A/N~ This is my first time writing for Arthur so hopefully I did a decent job portraying him. He’s such a complex character whom I relate to and empathize with greatly so the thought of tackling him in my writing was always a bit scary. I love him with everything I have so hopefully that shone through in my writing. I plan on writing more of him in the future so I should become better at writing him as time goes on. Enjoy~

Arthur

A name written in simple font on her wrist, a name of regal yet simple elegance, a name not too common in Gotham, a name y/n had traced a least a hundred times since it appeared on her wrist at the age of sixteen, a name and person the girl had come to love with her entire being despite never meeting the person behind the name. Y/n knew whomever this person was, there was already nothing she wouldn’t do for them. She couldn't help the feeling of pure, childish giddiness she was flooded with every time she caught a glance of the name.

It had been 8 years since that name had appeared on her arm, the inscription not fading in the slightest since the day it had appeared. Y/n would describe herself as an average person, with average looks, living in below average conditions. She hated, despised, loathed Gotham and all the people within it. This city was the type that crushed hopes, crushed dreams, and crushed the people searching for an escape. Gotham wasn’t a place where you simply left, once you were in Gotham you were stuck- well unless you were part of the elite few. 

Some days y/n was surprised she even made it through, everyday sapping more and more energy from her. Every day was the same routine for her, surrounded by the same toxic and selfish people who inhabited the city. Wake up, brush your teeth, get dressed, maybe eat breakfast if you had the time, catch the bus, work a 12 hour shift, take the bus home, ignore the catcallers and harassers during the ride, get home, eat dinner if there’s any food in the fridge, sleep, repeat.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

You cursed yourself lightly as you got into the bus, you had missed your normal bus so you had to take the next available one. Your body ached profusely as you took your seat in the worn out, rotting cushions of the city bus. Despite the disgusting conditions of the bus seats, even they felt comfortable in comparison to the long day of work you had just finished. Your muscles were bunched and tired, straining with every tiny movement you made as you adjusted yourself in the seat. You couldn’t help it as you leaned against the bus window, your body lurching ever so slightly as the bus began moving away from the bus stop. 

You had unintentionally zoned out for most of the ride, your eyes only flicking away from the window at the sound of a child laughing happily across the isle from where you sat. Laughter was something that was becoming more and more rare in Gotham so the sound immediately drew you out of your own mind. You couldn’t help the soft smile that made its way to your lips as you took in the sight before you. A man was playfully playing with a child who sat in front of him, making different faces to evoke laughter from the small kid.

The man seemed ethereal, pure, everything someone would never expect to find in Gotham. His hair was a shade of almond brain, small areas of hair turning honey in color. The late evening sun reflected of his irises which were the most beautiful shade of emerald, his skin was pale but suited his complexion perfectly, he was lanky and thin, his clothes hung off of him but made his form that much more endearing. He had deep-set lines around his mouth and eyes, as though he had smiled and laughed more in his lifetime than most people in Gotham could imagine. There were small patches of greasepaint that clung to the sharp edges of his face, though they made him seem that much more surreal and beautiful in the golden sunlight.

Your attention was taken away from the man as a sharp voice rang out from in front of him. You watched with silent confusion as the woman shouted annoyances at the man who had only been trying to play with her kid, which she so clearly ignored. When he tried replying she only yelled once more, causing the man to visibly deflate in front of your eyes, his hands bunching up in his lap. You watched him for a moment as a frown formed on his face, coughs beginning to emit from the his throat before pained laughter began bubbling up from inside of him. It was clear he was trying to force the laughs back, his whole body tense as he tried covering his mouth.

Your eyes were glued to him, concern lacing your gaze as the woman began shouting at him again which only seemed to worsen the panic he was experiencing. You watched as he fumbled helplessly for something within his mustard jacket, eventually producing a small laminated card which he handed to the woman. The woman glanced at the card for moment before tossing it to the side, the small piece of parchment and plastic fluttering down to the floor- landing right beside your feet.

You didn’t hesitate for a moment before picking up the small card, reading the print which explained the condition the stranger had. You could feel annoyance run through you as you read the last bit of the card, KINDLY RETURN THIS CARD. You let out a sigh picking up your work bag, slinging it over your shoulder before making your way to sit beside the man whose pained laughter resonated through the bus. You hesitated a moment as you took him in: his eyes were pinched shut, mouth clamped over his mouth, body hunched as his body shook from the forced laughter. 

Eventually reaching out you gently tapped him, holding the card out. “I believe this is yours?”

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Arthurs day had been a long one, between a shift at Haha’s and a session with his social worker, he was exhausted. He found himself gently rubbing the writing on his wrist as he sat on the city bus, his body raked by painful laughs after a stressful encounter with the woman sitting in front of him. The writing on his wrist was slightly raised from the skin around it, the black ink writing out the name of his soulmate. Arthur didn’t believe in that stuff, he was thirty-five and still hadn’t found his one. Most people found their soulmates within 5 years of the name appearing: he had been waiting nineteen, nearly twenty years to find his. He supposed it was just his luck, or his soulmate was avoiding him after finding out what a sad excuse of a man he was. Either way it only reaffirmed that his life was a tragedy, everything always going wrong for him.

He could feel the familiar burn in his lung as laughter continued to bubble out of his throat at an alarming rate, his throat turning sore and hoarse as the laughter persisted. Arthur tried his best to ground himself as he gently thumbed the lettering on his arm, his eyes closing securely as his other hand clasped over his mouth to no avail. He was shocked when he felt the seat next to him shift slightly, a soft tap on his arming following soon afterwards. His eyes hesitantly flicked open, quickly meeting gentle e/c eyes which swam with warmth and empathy. He tried his best to suppress his laughter, embarrassment flooding him because of his predicament. 

Arthur did his best to force out a thank you, his shaky hand reaching out and taking his card from the young girl that sat beside him. He mindlessly shoved the card back into his pocket, his breathing labored though his laughs slowly lessened, eventually only a few spare chuckles coming out. His nervous gaze eventually flitted up to the girl sitting next to him, expecting to find a harsh or uncertain gaze. He was surprised when he noticed the friendly smile on her lips, her gaze not seeming uncomfortable in the slightest. He mustered out a small quiet sorry to the girl as he composed himself, his leg bumping up and down anxiously.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Y/n found herself smiling softly at the man who sat before her, his breathing evening out as the laughter subsided, eventually dying down completely. “No need to apologize.” She looked at him for a moment, noting the anxious bumping of his leg as he averted his gaze away from her. “Are you alright?” Arthur couldn’t help the dry, quiet laugh that escaped his lips out her question. He couldn’t help but wonder if anyone was alright these days, though the attention she was giving him felt nice, for once someone looked at him as though he was a real person worth conversing with and worrying about. He nodded, his fingers still brushing the name on his wrist. 

Y/n grinned at him, nodding in response to his answer. She sat there for a moment her gaze landing on him as they sat in a comfortable silence. She watched as the bus finally approached her stop, the girl hesitantly standing to get off. Something magnetic drew her to the man she had just met, her whole body craving being next to him for a reason unbeknownst to her. She let out a sigh, tossing a smile Arthur's way. She held her hand out to him gently, “It was nice to meet you, I hope we’ll run into each other again...” She let out a small laugh at the realization she had just come across. “I just realized I never got your name.”

Arthur looked up to her for a moment, confusion in his eyes as his brows furrowed. She wanted to see him again, and for the first time he could tell she was genuine when she spoke. He couldn’t understand why this complete stranger had decided to sit beside him, be kind to him, and go as far as to try and befriend him. He held his hand out and shook hers lightly. “I-I’m Arthur. Arthur Fleck.” Y/n could feel her heart freeze up, her vision tunneling as his words met her ears. She knew there were more people named Arthur, but something about his whole persona pulled her in, his name reaffirming her craving for this stranger. 

She eventually refocused, her eyes meeting his as she decided to speak up. She spoke her next words carefully, hoping to catch any reaction she could from the man sitting before her. “Arthur. I like it, it suits you. I’m y/n.” His response was almost immediate: his hand tensed around hers, his eyes becoming laced with alarm and confusion, his throat closing up as he could feel another laughter attack brimming within him. This had to be some sick joke, right? She saw his name, she had to of, he didn’t have a soulmate, he didn’t deserve one. All these thoughts rushed through his head as he reeled from the information just given to him.

Y/n felt her nerves stand up as laughter began bubbling from his throat once again, the laughter picking up in volume as his breathing became erratic from sheer panic. Her attention was pulled away as she heard the yelling of the bus driver, “Last call. You back there quiet down or get off the bus.” She swore to herself as she looked to the quaking man before her, his shoulders shaking due to the laughter fit. She gently placed her hand under his arm, urging him to stand. “Come on Arthur.” She felt him stand up alongside her, though she doubted he knew exactly what he was doing.

It didn’t take long for them to exit the bus, the two of them taking a seat on the bus stop bench, Arthur trying his best to calm himself down. Y/n’s hand was gently placed on his back, comforting stroking up and down as she quietly spoke reassuring words to him. In all honesty, she had no clue what she was doing or if it was helping, but she wanted desperately to help him. After several minutes of pained breathing and laughter, Arthur was able to calm himself down, though his mind was still reeling at the words he had just heard escape the young girls mouth.

Y/n eventually pulled her hand away, fiddling with her fingers as she tried distracting herself from the seriousness of what had just happened. She had met her soulmate, after 8 years of waiting for this day. She let out a small laugh, trying to calm the uneasy silence surrounding the two of them. “You know, I thought my soulmate had to be avoiding me or something. I’m well over the five year mark, I assume its the same for you.” Arthur looked at her nervously, his eyes flicking over her as he caught his breath, after a moment he took to shaking his head. He returned to his previous position: his body hunched, his face buried in his hands, his foot tapping sporadically. “I-I don’t have one. I c-can’t.”

Y/n could hear what he had said, her smile falling as well as her excitement. She sat there quietly for a moment, her gaze occasionally flicking to the man beside her. She pulled up the sleeve of her cardigan gently, revealing the black print on her left wrist. She hesitated for a moment before moving her wrist towards him, “This is your name, isn’t it?” She watched closely as his head lifted up ever so slightly, his expression being that of a kicked puppy. She watched as his eyes focused in on her wrist. He didn’t think as he reached and gently touched the lettering on her wrist, wanting to ensure himself it was really there, not just his imagination.

Y/n couldn’t help herself as she smiled softly, his touch sending an electric pulse through her. Everything about this, about him, felt right. Y/n reached her right hand up, gently cupping Arthurs jaw, making him look at her. She grinned warmly as she made eye contact with him, “I’ve waited a long time to meet you Arthur.” She watched as his disbelief and nervous expression morphed into one of understanding and awe. For the first time Arthur truly felt seen, she was looking at him- not through him, not past him, truly at him. Arthur swore it was the best feeling in the world, her warm smile was quickly becoming his new favorite thing. “You’re real?” He asked the question more to himself than her, but she answered regardless. “Promise.”

He watched her for a moment more before feeling his lips quirk into a small, real, smile. His eyes were quickly filling with tears, though these were the happy kind, the ones that weren’t painful as they cascaded down your cheeks, instead acting as a reminder that this is real and good. Y/n smiled his finger gently brushing over his cheekbone as he looked into her eyes. Eventually Arthur did the first thing that came to his mind, pulling the smaller girl into a tight embrace. Y/n smiled gently as her eyes closed, her arms enveloping the skinny man she’d come to recognize as her One. His embrace was inviting and comfortable and everything she had dreamed it would be when the moment came.

She smiled gently at him as they pulled apart, his green gaze meeting her own, the two lost in each others eyes. “Arthur, if you don’t have any plans for the night... Would you like to come to my place?” He looked to her for a moment before nodding, “I’d like that.” Y/n smiled as he agreed, her smile widening into a grin. “Great! I’m just up the street a ways but we’re within walking distance.” Without another word, the two were walking down the street towards her apartment, no words uttered between the two. They couldn’t tell what lied ahead, and there were many things still yet to discover and discuss, but for now they were taking the moments as they came. It was rare anyone in Gotham got a break, or a happy moment so they were set on enjoying it while it lasted.

END NOTE~ I’m still not entirely happy with how this turned out. I feel like I didn’t entirely capture Arthur in this, seeing as he’s a very complex character. I wasn’t sure how to end it so apologies for the abrupt ending. If anyone has pointers for Arthur and how to write him, the criticism and help would be appreciated.

#arthur fleck #joker x reader #the joker x reader #phoenix joker #joaquin phoenix #phoenix joker x reader #phoenix!joker #Phoenix! joker x reader #joker 2019 #arthur fleck x you #arthur fleck x female reader #arthur fleck x reader #soulmate #soulmate au