#and of course life is strange

[asweetprologue]

i know probably nobody following me is even relatively in this fandom but I just finished s5 of the dragon prince and I gotta tell you. the canonical lovechild of the gay-coded villains was not something I saw coming

#OLD MAN YAOI MPREG REAL????????? #when he said OUR child I stg I have never been more shocked appalled and enthralled in my life #like it makes sense of course it was made from a joining of....... fluids......... #magic sex ritual tbh #and then to immediately divorce?? #I can't believe this shit #the dragon prince #tdp #viren #aaravos #viren x aaravos #viravos #they've always been strangely compelling in a deeply fucked up way but I didn't think the show knew that #they said we've given you 4.9 seasons of some of the best queer rep on tv #now get ready for the most toxic shit you can imagine

[aquickstart]

ok sure i'll talk about farleigh start. i'll talk about his tragedy of never being enough as it were and then having to deal with fucking oliver. sure. disclaimer: it's about class (and race) and the horrible reality of the rich. the horrible reality of living as farleigh.

another disclaimer: i'm white! and poc definitely pick up on everything i'm talking about here as it is, and better. i was and am specifically interested in farleigh vs. oliver but it's impossible to examine without considering race. definitely let me know if anything abt this sucks!

farleigh and oliver are similar. it's annoying because every intruder that is not himself is annoying, partly because felix's attention swaying from farleigh is dangerous; there is always a threat of being discarded, even if no precedent existed. the potential is terrifying.

but you'd think he's seen this before, every summer (if venetia is telling the truth) or at least often enough to learn to recognize it fast, so he should know this will pass. part of it is i think still the deep anxiety, and i think he hated every boy that was there before, and it is sort of routine.

but definitely a huge factor in farleigh's annoyance is the fact that he's a biracial (black for cattons, that's all they see) man in a white rich household. he's alert and exhausted all the time. of course he's angry at oliver, regardless of whether he's the first to crash at saltburn for the summer or the fifty-first.

but the important thing is this.

farleigh is very jealous of and angry and pissed at oliver because farleigh sees all the similarities between them. outsider, in financial trouble, whatever it is, in need of cattons; and yet oliver is preferred. and farleigh seems to be the only one to really consider it. felix does not pick up on the hint when farleigh brings up the birthday party vs. his mother. felix's clumsy "different or... anything like that" is as much about race as it is about class, of course. the "we've done all that we can" bit is felix absolving himself of guilt because surely they had, surely the mysterious collective cattons that he's not really part of had tried all they could do. to him, farleigh is different from oliver, because farleigh has been helped. felix is rich and white and twofold uncomfortable with farleigh, even if he's nice about it, even if he genuinely enjoys his company; he doesn't look too close at farleigh because he feels too guilty to come too close. and farleigh can't do anything about it. he can't nice himself into it. the fucking tragedy of him is that he's never enough in the world of the ultra-rich white, even if (especially because!) he's born into it.

farleigh is very pissed at oliver because farleigh also sees all the differences between them. you know who can be nice poor white enough to fit in? fucking oliver. felix says "just be yourself, they'll love you" when oliver first moves in. farleigh was also probably told the same thing, and felix also probably believed that farleigh could just be himself, but even if the cattons were magically not racist at all (impossible), it wouldn't make a difference to farleigh. he would still self-censor, keep in check, be in dangerous waters (because racism is not just about the individual, but about the system). we see that he'd won himself leeway by years of trial and error by the way he speaks to the family, but it's still within the boundaries of acceptable, built by the cattons. he's part of them because they allow it, and farleigh is very, very aware.

the annoying thing is oliver can be himself. like, truly, genuinely, he can just be. and farleigh can't help but envy that.

as a side note, oliver is obviously jealous of farleigh in the beginning as well, because regardless of the reality of farleigh's situation, he was born into it, and hence, at least in oliver's mind, has his position solidified. oliver's whole thing is unquenchable thirst and hunger for whatever and everything the cattons have (including themselves!). he wishes to have been a catton from birth. to oliver, at first, there's nothing farleigh can really do to lose it. and until he figures out the cattons completely, he can't help but envy that.

but i think farleigh senses something different about oliver early on. at least on the level of the text, we have "you're almost passing [for] a real, human boy", which is so important because farleigh is the first to point out oliver's weirdness. the next to do so is venetia in the bath scene calling him a freak, but it's too late. farleigh is too early.

and i like to think he clocks oliver too early because he sees the jagged edges that he recognizes in himself. i think that one other thing that farleigh envies is oliver's freedom to let go. freedom to let go is very similar to freedom to be, but not quite the same.

to be is about perception: farleigh knows he cannot fall out of line, but would like to, and oliver does not have to worry about it at all (i mean, he does, because oliver also performs for felix, but farleigh doesn't know that).

to let go is about the self: farleigh is too scared to even want what oliver eventually does, to even consider the possibility. oliver can let himself want. oliver can let himself act. oliver just can do things and want things. i'm not sure farleigh can.

and so in this scene, when oliver's wants and actions have landed him nowhere with farleigh, felix, venetia, the cattons, of course farleigh gloats. he can let himself do that, because if the cattons are slowly discarding him, farleigh can allow himself this one small victory. he's relieved because despite the dangerous similarities, oliver is, thankfully, not really the same as farleigh, right?

but like. this movie is a love letter to all things gothic. oliver is a white man. he prevails. the brief performance that oliver put on did eventually end up more effective than farleigh's lifetime of constraint. my heart fucking breaks for him to be honest.

the issue that remains is the fact of farleigh's survival. i like to think that oliver came to respect him. oliver is smart, but farleigh is clever. he picks up on everything oliver does (to refer back to the karaoke scene, farleigh immediately retaliates in the cleverest way, in the moment), and he's the only one to do so consistently (venetia, again, for example, comes close, but too late; oliver doesn't like that, there's nothing to work with). hence, stay with me for a little longer, the paradox: farleigh survives because he was never enough for the cattons, but he is very worthy of oliver's attention. in his own freaky way, oliver wants him. look at that.

so. farleigh. farleigh might come back. he always comes back. and i think oliver wants to try harder next time.

#saltburn #farleigh start #i think someone mentioned how the race commentary was fleeting in that scene abt his mom but i disagree #it runs thru the whole movie #because oliver is white and because they're pitted against each other #im not saying its the best commentary ever and also like the movie is not about it at all #but it's there and it's pretty prominent #also on a completely different note can we talk about how oliver correctly assumed everyone at saltburn desires him carnally #dude pulled all the bitches by being strange and off-putting. i mean i completely get it. completely get it. i'd fold so fast you've no ide #also while i was writing i realized that yes indeed both farleigh and oliver perform for felix and its so fascinating #and it works for oliver because of course it does because hes white #anyway! again! let me know if this sucks #in like any way at all #i needed a masterpost of all and every thought i have about farleigh #i think this pretty much covers it so i'll let it go now #HES SO. like do you UNDERSTAND #the DEFINITION of doomed by the narrative but i LOVE that he survives #as he SHOULD #emerald is so right. he does come back and quickstart just torture each other in that house forever. besties for life #god im gonna shut up now this is so horrendously long #mine #saltburn journaling

[shivroy]

chloeee

#life is strange #lis #chloe price #been playing it lately mostly for the backgrounds (LOL i want to be in oregon. and am not) #im not gonna say this on insta because i dont want to offend their tender hearts but good god the writing in this game sucks nards #its like funny. #chloe especially. girls who suck #in a way that is just like. so at odds with having a play experience thats good #but i sort of love her not in spite of the shitty writing but because of it #sometimes i gotta love a girl because her whole character is YOU SUCK you REFUSE to better yourself throughout the course of anything ever #bae! #im half attached to her and half like What is with you stop actually #also i love how dated the game feels now #every girls fashion........ every guy too you know what #art #digital art #texture #doodle #sketch #life is strange fanart #lis fanart

[sciderman]

Sometimes i remember a comics moment i randomly came across somewhere, where Sam Wilson mentiones a musical and Steve Rodgers says he doesn't like musicals, to whitch Sam goes "Guess that means you really are straight" and even tho i don't care about Cap America or the Avengers, the moment stuck in me for that quote by Sam. And like....Sci, any ideas if straight men actually don't like musicals or is that bullshit?

actually i think i know more gay men who hate musicals than i know straight men who hate musicals. i've had a drag queen stop me point blank when i was about to sing a barbra streisand song, and i know so many gays who pointedly hate abba. so based on my experience i think the inverse is true. most of the straight men i know are kind of impartial about musicals, but gay men? hate.

my theory is that a lot of gay men don't want to fall into stereotypes, maybe. but thaaaaat's just a theory! a gay theory.

#sci speaks #i'm trying to understand the gays. they are a mystery to me. #i've seen a lot more toxic masculinity coming from gay men than i have from straight men. #i think it makes sense. they have less women in their lives. so they reckon with a lot more masculinity. more dick measuring. #also gay men have some of THE most unhealthy romantic relationships i've ever seen in my life. #this isn't a blanket statement on everyone but just from what i've seen. it's such a strange pattern i've observed. #lesbians? healthy. straights? usually healthy. gay men? universally a tire fire that makes me say “if you hate each other so much ??” #“why are you together??????????” #i have never met a cis gay mlm couple in real life that was healthy. every single one of them made my eyes widen in horror. #i want them to be healthy. please treat each other better. #the number of bitchy bitchy fights i've seen between mlm couples in public that make me so terrified #but i know mlm relationships in general are usually less... affectionate than wlw relationships. even and especially friendships. #just an observation. #i hate to say that there is a definite difference between amab vs afab experiences when it comes to relationship dynamics but. #of course there is. there is. as much as i want to say gender and sex do not matter. it really does. #it makes a difference. it does. #which is kind of why i'm glad i was born in the body i was. when people say “trans means you feel you were born in the wrong body” #im like.. i don't think that's true. i don't think that's true for me. #i wouldn't be me if i wasn't born the way i was. and i want to be me. but i'm a boy. i'm a boy but in the body that i have. #my body is still a boy's body. because i live in here. #sorry this went off on a tangent. #but yeah i know my brain would be different if i was amab. and i don't want all those other issues. #i think the only reason i'm so peaceful and serene is because i'm afab. and afabulous. #i see cis guys and im like.. yeah i don't want what you got. #once again! lucky to be me! i'm lucky. im lucky i have a vargooba. thank fuck for that! #couldve been so much worse off. could've been born with a dick and would be fighting for my life right now.

[tennessoui]

omg time traveler ahsoka au! she gets obi-wan to leave the order for satine in the hopes that he’d be weird with someone else but anakin gets sent on a mission to mandalore and wow there’s this handsome duke he has to look after. what a shame he’s married and definitely wouldn’t leave his wife for this jedi he feels immediately weird about

hmmmmmmm this is one of Ahsoka’s closest attempts because obi-wan’s personal sense of loyalty wouldn’t let him cheat on his wife, and he’s spent so long building a family and a life on Mandalore that he would never toss it aside to be romantically involved with a kid (read: 22yo) that he doesn’t even know even though he feels a very strong pull towards him….obi-wan is adept at lying to himself

It gets easier to lie to himself when he realizes that Skywalker is also married, though secretly…..it offends part of Kenobi, but that’s just because Skywalker is making a mockery of the Jedi order with his secret marriage!! Kenobi is no longer a Jedi of course but he still has great respect for the Order!!!

That’s the only reason he feels so strange when he thinks of Skywalker’s marriage even long after Skywalker and the senator he was guarding as she came to a celebratory feast on Mandalore leave again.

(Ahsoka tenses on her reset button as anakin makes his way back to mandalore a few months later, but they’re being….normal…this anakin requests to study ancient mandalorian and Jedi texts that are housed in the capital city and it’s weird because he’s never really cared about history but he’s being very…respectful….and master obi-wan is also being very respectful if a little stand offish….he accompanied him down to read the texts and they spend hours down there together but as far as Ahsoka can tell there is nothing inappropriate happening —she has gotten very good at telling when something inappropriate is happening between her old masters—they really are just…talking and reading and they’re being…sort of weird…but sort of normal….it’s the closest they’ve come to the original timeline in fact…Ahsoka relaxes on her reset button)

War breaks out anyway of course and obi-wan lasts only a month or so after anakin is pulled to the front lines before donning an old beat up and anonymous suit of mandalorian armor and flying to fight with him. The Duchess of Mandalore offers no comment. The official story is that her husband is sick in bed from a nasty case of Flafu flu. No one knows that it’s the Duke of mandalore in the red armor, supporting Skywalker’s troops.

Ahsoka wonders if Anakin knows, up until the moment some droid gets a lucky shot in and obi-wan goes down on the battlefield and anakin levels an entire field of droids to get to him looking half out of his mind with worry and rage….then she knows he knows and maybe that he’s always known

She’s tensed up over the reset button again, but after obi-wan’s been seen to by the medic, anakin sends him back to his wife on mandalore and, miraculously, after 2 years fighting to be by anakin’s side, obi-wan…stays, but he looks so beaten down over it, so without half his heart, like he’s suddenly aged 20 years and lived in a desert for all of them. But he stays.

The war ends eventually and the Jedi triumph. Ten years later, leia runs through Anakin’s study with an old red helmet over her head as Luke runs after her, playing war. anakin gently takes it off her and sets her on the ground. He cradles the helmet though in battle worn hands, but thankfully before either of them can ask, padmes speeder arrives and they shoot off to go welcome their mom home - anakin stays for a second longer, just staring at the helmet with such a naked expression of wistfulness longing heartbreak and acceptance that Ahsoka almost wants to turn away. Before she does she sees anakin touch his forehead to the helmet’s once before rising and putting it away, turning instead to go greet his wife

and it leaves Ahsoka with such a WEIRD feeling in her own heart that she’s pressing the reset button before she can think it through because she wants them to be apart and she wants the Jedi to win the war and everyone to get their happy endings but…but not like this…not if they’re not happy….she gets 1 reset where she gets to be selfish ok she’s gone through thousands now probably.

#asks #obikin #time traveler Ahsoka au #a marriage of minds and a whole heaping load of what ifs and almosts #obi-wans marriage to Satine is never the same because she can’t forgive him for all the fighting he willingly waded into #and they both know he only #did it because his pet Jedi was in danger #obi-wan says there’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to help a friend #but they both know anakin was hardly just a friend #meanwhile Padmé #knows less than Satine because she never really saw them #interact #after several years of emotional agony because anakin knows he fell in love with obi-wan whole #they were fighting together and maybe even before that even though they never broke their vows to their wives #he finally tells Padmé that the red mandalorian was obi-wan Duke of mandalore #most of the significance of that is lost on Padmé because anakin kept his Jedi life and his personal life so far apart #she thinks it’s strange the Duke #of mandalore would fly out to fight with anakin but she’s grateful of course #and decides the war makes strangers of them all

[worstloki]

@theofreakingbell pointed out that Thor 1 is basically an isekai for Thor and I've been thinking about it since. it really does meet the criteria. Thor getting banished to New Mexico, America, was an isekai setup.

#imagine playing Thor in modern day America as a straight isekai storyline #like bro is asking how this strange world's patriarchal system works and how these microwave magics made food warm #Thor like the only link back to my world is my hammer #Thor like did this world summon me as a hero and living the fantasy genre isekai life #since he came from a magic fantasy world of course he gets isekai'd to a normal life on earth #bruh

[whyficat]

One of my favorite scenes in the game

#life is strange #life is strange 2 #lis #lis 2 #sean diaz #daniel diaz #said scene being the end of episode 4 of course #probably my favorite ep overall despite me getting Sean beat up probably every opportunity in my playthrough :(

[arcadiabaytornado]

Joyce's grief about William was just an unhealthy as Chloe's.

When we discuss grief in Life Is Strange, Chloe's grief over William is often the focus. It's angry and raw, turning her bitter toward the world and making a deep wound in her heart that is bleeding her dry. And because of that, we don't talk about Joyce. A woman who seems to have moved past the death of her husband and is now in a healthy mindset.

But Joyce has the same wound. She lost her loving husband because she committed the fatal sin of asking for a ride home from work, and along the way, she lost her daughter too.

Mostly by her own hand. She dug the grave where her and Chloe's relationship would rest until a body filled the dirt instead of a broken connection between parent and child. Her grief was deep and stung so much that she couldn't look back, even for the sake of her child. She had to move forward and look toward any light she could find. And when she saw David, she clung to his glow. Not realizing she was a moth drawn toward an open flame instead of a flower growing toward the sun.

Joyce's grief is unhealthy because she can't fully face it. We see it in her relationships with men and how she rids herself of William's things. And even though she tells Max that Willian's gift was the memories he left behind, she struggles when going through a photo album with a girl who no doubt scratched open her forcibly closed wounds.

Joyce never wanted to fully face her grief, while Chloe looked toward hers and couldn't turn her eyes anywhere else. Because of that, their relationship was added to their families' death toll, and they lost each other without reconciling. Chloe ends up recovering from her grief not with her Mother but by looking at Max as they drive out of Arcadia Bay. While Joyce is forced to heal as much as she can when grief slaps her once again across the face, and this time she can't look away from her child's grave.

#Anyway the fact that Joyce can't face her grief while Chloe can't move on from it makes me insane #That's a bit of a simplification of course but that's the best way to describe it in the Tumblr tags #life is strange #lis #chloe price #joyce price

[shroomlightruins]

Jimmy telling grian to do and say 'weird' things and cleo and etho just. Not reacting whatsoever and going along with it is like my favorite thing ever

#they are of course besties with bdubs the 'yes and'er himself #the zombie dance bit where etho joined in IMMEDIATELY killed me #no hesitation. no questions. only the bit. #but i guess i should have seen this coming from the love bdubs day thing #life series #talking #secret life spoilers #theyre becoming like one of my fav groups in the series their vibes are incredible. very chill and deeply strange

[cutielatias]

❤𝑫𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒍 𝒊𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔 💥

#life is strange 2 #lis2 #daniel diaz #some daniel icons that i did on an icon site(i also did his older versions/& ep4 and did sean too but i didn't like how turns out) #so gonna be just daniel! #geez this is old i did this on hmmmn…2020?(yeah it was on 2020) #posting this already so that i can take off from my tablet #The daniel's are ep1 ep2 ep3 and ep5 (my fav one was the ep3 one of course haha)

[niightfiend]

Some Higurashi sketches 🌟✨

#been playing the visual novel #it’s literally so good sobs #personal #drawing #art #sketch #doodle #Higurashi no naku koro ni #Higurashi #Rena ryuugu #Rena ryugu #keiichi maebara #mion sonozaki #god although I really don’t like the newest manga arc #I wanna do a fix it fic about them being older. but at the same time I wanna do a western version of Higurashi too #I know it would change a lot but I’m interested in an AU like that #also life is Strange AU bc of course but who said that

[secondbeatsongs]

replaying Life Is Strange, and hoo boy, I was not prepared for the emotional impact of seeing what it was like to be a teenager/young adult in the early 10s

I remember it all too well

#lis #life is strange #personal #I'm older than Max #so it doesn't track exactly #but still. this is. wow #remember when facebook was still a social media platform that millennials used? #remember when it was ten years ago and people used different words and wore different clothes? #well. some people wore different clothes #I don't think I've upgraded my wardrobe in a while lol #but yeah this is. a wild experience #I'm enjoying it but it's a bit bittersweet #and not just because of the plot of the game #2013 is gone and we can't get it back #but this is like visiting it just to say hello #it's not exact of course - this came out in 2015 and was written (presumably) by not-teenagers #but there's a lot of weird nostalgia here

[earthenterran]

"Do you think there's a point when you've been acting so much that you don't even have your own personality anymore? You're just whatever you think other people want you to be."

anyway RACHEL AMBER video I love her and she deserves happy content.

no dark room scenes in this video.

subtitles are available for the dialogue.

(do not remove caption)

#rachel amber #life is strange #lis bts #chloe price #amberprice #bc of course theres amberprice in this #ironically i couldnt get the kissing scene in but its still rather gay so im a fan personally #lis bs #my stuff #my vid

[lilbitofmac]

Stephen’s got his hands full this Halloween 🤭✨

A big ol’ Happy Birthday gift for @harpywritesfic!!! She and @darkkitty1208 both wrote vampire Stephen fanfics on AO3 to celebrate, and so, y’know, I had to 1-up them by bringing in werewolf!Tony. =w=

#this was absolutely just a birthday gift and totally not me self-indulging no of course not #HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN HARPY!!!! #I hope you had a fabulous day and may these boys bring you some joy ^w^ #ironstrange #doctor strange #stephen strange #tony stark #iron man #marvel #mcu #my art #furry art #i have only every drawn furry art like twice in my life so hopefully it’s not too noticeable LMAO

[blackwell-academys-airdrop]

Chloe: I keep getting bullied because I'm in a wheelchair. What should I do? Max: I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe you should stand up for yourself?

#this of course takes place in the William Lives timeline #max doesn't even realize what she's just said until two weeks later #incorrect quotes #life is strange #lis #chloe price #max caulfield #queue

[baseballboots]

If I had a nickle for everytime one of my favorite medias plays a sick club beat before doing catastrophic emotional damage i'd have THREE nickles... thats too much loose change

#these beats are bumping but theyre hurting #the grotto podcast #life is strange #you may disagree but I think the end of the world party is close enough to uhh the rest to count #and of course #w.bg #my beloved