#and that as foils of one another

[merrywaanderer]

fascinating, how, at the beginning of s2, lord beelzebub shows up and offers crowley forgiveness for his treason, and a hefty promotion, in exchange for gabriel.

but gabriel is in aziraphale’s bookshop, and if hell got ahold of gabriel, heaven would immediately look to aziraphale as the offender.

so despite how much crowley hates gabriel for what he did to aziraphale, and how dire the punishment is for harbouring gabriel, crowley doesn’t do as hell bids, because his love for aziraphale is far greater than his hatred for those who have hurt his angel, and greater than the horror of being erased from the book of life. instead he immediately thinks of aziraphale — “aziraphale, what have you done.”

but when the metatron offers aziraphale power and promotion, aziraphale agrees.

crowley views great power as inherently corrupt. aziraphale believes he can use great power to change the world, to change heaven, for the better — for crowley.

so when aziraphale says to crowley, “i forgive you,” he’s letting him go, because his desire to see crowley happy is stronger than anything else, just as crowley’s desire to see aziraphale safe is paramount, no matter the cost.

if you love him, let him go.

they’re saying the same words, but they’re speaking different languages.

#this is just an interpretation #but i love how those two events mirror each other #and that as foils of one another #aziraphale and crowley would always make different choices under such dramatic circumstances as these. #oh my heart…. ouch #good omens #good omens spoilers #good omens 2 spoilers #go2 spoilers #go 2 spoilers #aziracrow #t rambles #also… the ‘great power’ thing… sound familiar? try lord of the rings 🥺

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Assisting Acquaintance Acquired.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #wen ning #wei wuxian #Ignore how Wen Ning's hair looks here because I messed it up. Let's pretend he just sported a different hair style for a brief moment. #I am not exactly great at consistency but I am trying very hard to work on that (immediately messes up again). #Absolutely *love* how Wen Ning clearly remembers and admires WWX...who does *not* recognize him. #This is the best day for Wen Ning and it means *nothing* to WWX. A painful one-sided crush made worse. #It is bittersweet to realize that we care about someone more than they care about us. Sometime we pour love into a relationship- #-with someone who just can't reciprocate. It isn't always a conscious things either. Some people just aren't aware we care. #And painfully - so painfully - You can't make them aware. No act of kindness or gift or self sacrifice will make someone care about you. #You can martyr yourself for someone and they will continue on unchanged. #I think a lot about the parallels between WN and LWJ. Not foils - just reflections. A theme repeated. #People who give so much of themselves to someone who doesn't have the capacity to give any part of themself away. #I will die on the hill of 'Wen Ning would be the love triangle romance if that trope wasn't being avoided'. #And to be honest - thank the stars above that is the case. I do not know any good love triangles in media. #We are skipping some of the sad Jiang Cheng content because I really want to finish season 2 before May. #Sorry JC emo moment lovers...I'll deliver another time.

[bbnibini]

I find it so painfully heartbreaking that Solomon just...laughs off all the derision, the name-calling, and possibly even did "evil" things on purpose because it's expected of him at this point. (He had not always been like this as Thirteen pointed out before). There was a time when he was "innocent". When his soul sparkled. When it resembled the kind of soul everyone in these god forsaken (pun intended with spite) three realms seemed to associate with the ever loved MC. He's just...worryingly carefree. And because he's like that, he feels even more of a tragic character to me.

Sometimes it even seems that he himself would seemingly make up excuses on why he's hated. Oh, it's because I'm a sorcerer this. I might have won a war against Devildom single-handedly this. I have forgotten. But maybe, I did something bad, that. Hon, you were doing that to SURVIVE. You don't have to be a faultless person to deserve compassion. You don't have to be MC to deserve to be loved.

#rant #the more i play and read about nb solomon the more it feels like he's a worst case scenario foil to MC #and it's ridiculous maybe to feel this way but seeing how everyone dotes on mc and just panders to them without question no matter #especially with meaner dialogues #make me dislike the mc to some extent #what good will raising up one character do in exchange of dehumanising another? #i couldn't put a finger on this feeling before #but i think that's also why im so burnt out with this game #the more everyone loves me as the mc the more it becomes so apparent how unfairly solomon was treated #and how everyone ESPECIALLY HIM just rolls with it #sweetie please be angry. please complain. please hate me in some way #but no he just keeps loving and supporting the mc #in game in fandom this man can't catch a break #wanna gatekeep him fr /s #this has just been brewing in my mind for a while. i don't really wanna hear discourse or arguments that's why i put it in the tags #I just need a place to vent my frustrations with this game #obey me #obey me nightbringer #obey me solomon #spoiler mention #he's imperfect and flawed as all humans are and he deserves to be loved irregardless

[brother-emperors]

spartacus and crassus :)

this is actually a rejected panel from a much longer comic I’ve been fucking around with on and off for awhile- I had plans to do a long form spartacus comic for a long time, I just keep missing the last book on my research list in second hand stores 😔 I always have money when the last copy sells out aughhh

anyway! I might call crassus my girl in the group chat, but I’ve actually spent more years wishing that spartacus got to run crassus through on his sword and then read the fate of rome out of his entrails. ALAS. on that note, isn’t it kind of interesting how spartacus’ funeral games for crixus turn roman order upside down and feel like both a foundational sacrifice and a curse? isn’t it kind of fun how crassus will not die in rome, and neither will pompey, who came in like a vulture to take credit for crassus’ work? (it’s VERY fun)

Plutarch, Crassus

#Spartacus and Crassus have a very specific kind of narrative foil dynamic with each other that I find extremely compelling #Team spartacus bc I love to see rome eat itself like the horrible machine of violence that it is #and then cower in the face of what it created #That one doc that dramatized the starting spark was spartacus not being able to turn away from a Roman soldier #raping another gladiator. That’s what it all comes down to. Christ #Team crassus when the cast is just Romans because oh you are weird. Crassus you are so fucking weird. What is happening there. #BLAH anyway. panel rejected bc the scene needed to be bigger. grander. more bodies on the ground #Spartacus still get to call him a dog tho. Tahol Crassus! Tahol!!! #usually I have more to cite. Like. Most of my gladiator stuff is backed up on a flash drive! but guess what is not compatible with #An iPad. My flash drives. Bc I literally only use this for drawing work 🥲 also reading/researching on a screen like this is hell #spartacus #marcus licinius crassus #spartacus tag

[kosalus]

i was just a kid, how’d it get like this?

you can get this as a print here!

#i have no idea what an infernal engine is supposed to look like so i made it vaguely heart shaped and some inspo from avernus machines #another piece that i wish i had a gold foil print of #i think a gold foil on the borders and the engine would look really cool #mayhaps one day #karlach #karlach cliffgate #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #baldurs gate fanart #bg3 fanart #my art #dungeons and dragons art #dnd #dnd art #larian studios #ttrpg #digital art #digital painting

[57sfinest]

calling harry a “can opener” was SUCH a good play for so many reasons i think about it every day.

in the context of his work, it makes him a tool. as many people have pointed out, including martin luiga, part of the hdb tragedy is that he simply cannot leave the force, and his superiors know that and are using it to their advantage. no matter what happens, even if harry hated every nanosecond of every bit of the work and wanted to leave, he can’t and won’t leave. they can leverage anything they want against him and then reel him back in with a facade of kindness when they “allow” him to keep his job, as long as he does what they want him to. the 41st knows he has this inexplicable talent with people and they use him for it. he’s a cop: that talent can be used in so many awful ways, to push so many different agendas. and they won’t even be his own. a can opener has no particular desire to open a can, aside from maybe the satisfaction of fulfilling a purpose. a can opener has no agency, it’s just a tool for someone else to use to get what they want. and he’s learned to be okay with being used as long as it means he gets to stay. his complacency with this system makes him guilty even if he’s also being harmed by it.

but in the context of his personal life you kind of... flip it. the people around him are going to be opened up whether they want to be or not, and it’s terrible for his relationships. it’s shown that the questions, the prying- the can-opening- it’s become inextricable from who he is as a person. it’s like he doesn’t know how else to communicate, except it’s hardly communication when you’re just ripping people open. he’s invasive as all hell, although whether he means to be is debatable. he’s the kind of person that wants to take things apart to see what makes them tick. he dissects people, but really that’s too delicate of a word for what he does; if he doesn’t get what he wants right up front, he’ll abandon all subtlety and go for brute force. if he can’t get your screws loose he’ll just smash you on the ground and pick through your pieces until he’s satisfied, and if what he did to you isn’t fixable? oh well, there are other cans to open. 

and he’ll use it for personal gain: we already know he is (was?) manipulative. once he knows how you operate, he knows how to make you keep him. he can yell or he can cry; he can threaten you or he can threaten himself; he can be completely suffocating or he can withdraw completely; he can be an incorrigible liar or brutally honest; he can present himself as a threat or a joke or a talent. he’s a chimera- that’s why he’s got this inexplicable magnetism, even when people know they shouldn’t like or trust him. fidelity of character means nothing to him. he’ll be whatever he needs to be as long as it gets him what he wants. the can-opening is just his way in.

#disco elysium #harry du bois #and it works on us the audience as well! #look at how many different versions of harry there are out there. each tailored to our individual preferences #we exaggerate and minimize his traits according to what we want to see. he's can-opening us too! #it's just like. of course his job will frame the can opening as a positive thing #but it's honestly one of his worst traits. or at least it is when he doesn't keep it in check #there's nothing wrong with wanting to understand people but the way he goes about it is harmful to everyone including himself #he's doing it because he has ulterior motives like 99.999998% of the time #this is mostly about pre-martinaise harry but i have no doubts that post-martinaise harry can go right back to this btw #a lot of us prefer to think of harry as drastically improving after martinaise which is great and i'd like to hope he does but. #it's also good to consider the overwhelming possibility that he will go right back to being a total shithead #and that may be completely unintentionally! which almost makes it worse! #ALSO. this is part of why kim makes a very good foil #for the most part kim will stonewall anything he doesn't feel like sharing #harry needs to respect boundaries and by god does kim have a lot of those (affectionate) #HOWEVER kim is definitely susceptible to the can opening as well #wait okay i have another post idea. #anyway thanks for reading. as always feel free to add and share thoughts! #kiwipost #hdb meta

[varyathevillain]

you know what I really like in season 2? how Jim Jimenez, who was not exactly part of the comedy in S1, which was most probably the reason why Blackbeard got them into the new crew in the last episode of S1... is now hamming it up as much as they can.

they used to be the silent support (posing as literally silent, mute) of the crew, someone who'd be on the fringes of both conflicts and comedic situations. and then, when Jim realises what exactly the good old days were to them, things they miss, the stories Stede told... they re-enact the wooden boy story the best they could. bring up the "toxic environment" to Izzy, refuse to let good things go, don't run from them, kiss Archie when she allows, ham it up with jokes and needlings, have a curly moustache drawn onto them and are the life of the party, and then Jim's the one to help Olu out with his new romantic partner. you'd think S1!Jim would be called "nosy interferer"? personally, wouldn't think so.

as much as we call a certain other character "person amongst Muppets", Jim Jimenez had also escaped their own genre, of "Hispanic revenge thriller", into queerness and acceptance of it wholeheartedly. with Jim being themselves, nonbinary and poly and breaking as many stereotypes as they can.

#Jim Jimenez #OFMD S2 #OFMD S2 spoilers #OFMD spoilers #OFMD #Our Flag Means Death #Varya rambles #one - it also adds to the narrative of genre switching within the story and how it affects OFMD #two - they're a narrative foil to Izzy Hands who ALSO. as a younger queer. helps him out in various ways #bringing up the toxicity. cutting his rotting leg (symbol of attachment to Blackbeard and that lifestyle). being supportive #and THAT is why in s2ep6 THEY are the one in center of the frame looking up at Izzy when he sings in the last scene #fuckin superb!! also like. healthy poly relationship showing that it's alright to shift them or let go #which might be another narrative foil if we ever get that Steddyhands wink wink nudge nudge #text post

[difeisheng]

qiao wanmian and di feisheng's first appearances in the present-day narrative are mirrors of each other, orbiting the presence of li xiangyi and li lianhua. episode 5 introduces them both in the same way, stepping back into li lianhua's life while he watches from out of sight. di feisheng emerges from seclusion, qiao wanmian meets xiao zijin in yucheng. and what other information this episode gives us about these characters is the inverse of what we would've expected. where we assumed qiao wanmian might be the ex-lover, still mourning after ten years of missing li xiangyi, the first thing we (and li lianhua) see is that she's happy with someone else. it comes to be more nuanced than that, but the first impression we get is that qiao wanmian has moved on. di feisheng's first moment he gets by himself, meanwhile, is him drinking his grief over li xiangyi's absence away. he has jinyuanmeng bowing to his feet and and a tremendous amount of power in the jianghu he could use against anyone, yet here is, seemingly, above many other things, lonely.

the next arc serves to reinforce this idea, that where qiao wanmian by normal genre conventions should be the one who couldn't get over li xiangyi, it's di feisheng who continues to cling onto his history with him instead. during the liansanjiao's trip to baichuanyuan and pudu temple, we see qiao wanmian trying to work through her lingering emotions about li xiangyi over and over, and eventually (thanks to li lianhua's intervention) achieves some kind of tenuous closure on that part of her past. all of we see of di feisheng, on the other hand, is him becoming increasingly obsessed with what he views as unresolved events, until he finally chokes li lianhua against a wall to interrogate him about it. mysterious lotus casebook swapped what might be more typical framing of these characters. qiao wanmian is not a sad figure waiting for her sweetheart to return, but someone who realizes she was more attached to what he represents than to him, and in finding him as a person manages to become friends in this new life of the present. di feisheng isn't someone who moves on from an existence measured against li xiangyi and finds a new way to define himself, but rather a person who wound up isolated and frozen in time for ten years after losing him, and still struggles to leave their relationship behind or allow it to evolve.

tl;dr the real jilted lover of li xiangyi by the choices of the story is di feisheng, not qiao wanmian

#hi i know i've said this before but I HAVE RECEIPTS NOW #this was gonna be a section of di feisheng gender meta but i've been keeping this to myself for months and needed to scream #some of y'all insist that the narrative rivalry over llh is qwm vs fdb but why would you pit two bad bitches against one another #when the real parallel/foil is qwm and dfs #mysterious lotus casebook #feihua #li xiangyi #qiao wanmian #di feisheng #mlc meta #ashton originals

[claireverlasting]

Look, I like sweet fluffy healthy relationships as much as anyone else, but the fun thing about Patrochilles and Enjoltaire is that they’re so fucked up, that’s literally the point

Will I still reblog pretty fanart and read the modern/reincarnation au where everyone is happy? Sure, it’s good for the soul, but they are so much fun when they’re doing the whole Symbolism Thing, it’s fucking great please continue

#they’re so unhealthy together they’re soulmates they didn’t cherish what they have they can’t live without one another they love each other #and #it’s completely one sided they hold hands they’re narrative foils they complement each other #these two ships can pack so much Stuff between them #put them in a jar and shake it violently #achilles #patroclus #patrochilles #the iliad #troy story the series #enjolras #grantaire #enjoltaire #exR #les misérables

[lesbiradshaw]

one of my favorite things about bradley is that while he so desperately wants to be like his father— enough so that he spends so much of his life trying to emulate him through style, music, profession, etc.— narratively he really is more like maverick. maybe not in the exact way that he flies, because we all know maverick is notoriously a daredevil while bradley is decidedly not, but even that has its own parallels with how ice and jake upon introduction immediately point out the flaws in their piloting styles (i heard that about you. you like to work alone. / that’s just you, ain’t it? waiting for just the right moment that never comes.). their methods are different, but both on the ground and up in the air, the two of them are always competing with a ghost. fathers that they can barely remember, whose legacies one way or another made it difficult for them to make it where they are in their careers— even though their fathers are such major motivators for why they chose aviation in the first place. they both have spent a lot of their lives on their own because of that and when it comes down to the final mission for each of their movies, they’re both shown being doubted as the right fit— once again by ice and jake (it’s nothing personal…but with regard to maverick…is he the best pick? / he’s not cut out for this mission. you know i’m right.). at the end of the day they manage to pull it off, but they have to overcome the obstacles that have plagued them for a majority of the movie. it’s not just the obvious scene callbacks that tether them as characters, it’s who they are at their core.

#could make a whole post off icemav/hangster parallels alone likeee #you’re everyone’s problem. you’re not flying fast enough. i’m sorry. you give em hell. #you can be my wingman anytime. bullshit. you can be mine. chalked yourself another kill. that makes two. #i cant believe people are trying to rewrite history about maverick and jake being the tethered ones #their personalities dont need to be exactly the same for them to be tethered #as oomf said they share the same arc and ice and jake both have the same position in that as well #ice and jake aren’t just their rivals; they’re foils that represent the path to the navy maverick and bradley were unable to take themselves #anyways #icejake mavbradley r soooooo important to me i could think about them all day #icemav #hangster #sereshaw #top gun maverick #tgm #bradley rooster bradshaw

[sparkysxi]

not to alien on your stage but do you think luka hallucinating hyuna while singing ruler of my heart like how mizi was hallucinating sua?

not at the end when hyuna is actually there doing a rescue, but during the song itself

#anyway luka and sua are narrative foils isn’t that insane??? #they both sang one another’s songs for the anniversary album sooooooo #alien stage #alnst #alnst luka #alnst hyuna #alnst mizi #alnst sua

[galedekarios]

The whole astarion/durge thing makes me so mad because you'll also get people saying it was just because he had more parallels with durge's story than the others or something which is. Simply not true, I think you could draw brilliant connections with all of them. Especially Shadowheart like not being able to have convos about pasts with evil cults or even idk amnesia struggles is insane to me. It's right there😭

i feel you.

it's not only a) wrong because we know that at least part of the reason this happened is because ast*rion was prioritised by larian, with the lead narrative designer admitting as much.

which, to be quite frank with you, is another can of worms considering the context here. they were part of a fan discord as a big fan of the character they ultimately ended up prioritising so before being hired by larian - making some truly questionable (in hindsight) remarks there, too.

and b) you could literally find parallels between any and all of the character if you truly wanted to. they are all connected to some degree. a fight for autonomy, themes of abuse and escaping said abuse, of finding themselves, etc.

#it's also why i strongly dislike a subset of shippers being like 'they're narrative foils!!111!!!' #like yes #that is the point #*all* of the companions can be used as foils to one another #vg: baldur's gate 3 #series: baldur's gate #bg3 critical #larian critical

[comicaurora]

thoughts on the ship crustables?

terrible name

#oh shit where'd all this tender emotional subtext come from #next thing you know they'll be cradling one another in their arms- ah wait #whose bright idea was it to pIr off the tiny angry hurting one with the tall compassionate foil #aurora #asks #in adventure fiction a bridal carry out of danger is third base and a kiss is like eighth

[yieldingtides]

LCB 08: White Melville's Roses

Rare as a coffin on sunset.

#lcb ishmael #limbus ishmael #watercolor #illustration #limbus company #this one is more a visual pun and a foil to another character coming up soonish

[sarmaril]

Codywan is to me two people who have given everything for all their lives for everyone else, their needs of two not taken into account against the needs of the many, who see this mirrored in someone else.

Someone that not only understands that, but someone who isn't asking of them anything except to share the burden, find peace, understanding, safety, the chance to be vulnerable with someone who just wants them to be happy and loved through it all.

#codywan #tat. husbands is so important to me because it shows that cody #whose trivia tells us over and over again was close to obi-wan CHOSE obi-wan as the one of the first things #he could chose for himself #the delicous duty/devotion goes both ways #to the greater good and to one another and thats why it shreds its the tension between the two #to me its like an anidala foil but thats a post for another time #sw

[myobsessionsspace]

#Tin Foil Hat: Jikook

I have questions…

The ‘J’ is for your name. The placement was to be in line with the crown.

So why don’t you mind covering up the crown with rings?

Why do you mind separating the ‘J’ from the ARMY, the M is for ARMY, which are in line with each other letter making ARMY. Why the extra attention to not have a ring as a barrier, separating J from M?

Just questions, I don’t expect answers…just questions 😏

Hmmm

🖤🤍

#Tin Foil Hat: Jikook #Jungkook #j.m #JM #Jikook #Kookmin #Minkook #I know someone with a two Korean syllable name #one syllable starting with J #the other syllable starting with M #I know someone who also knows that person #and their name starts with J #how convenient that a truth can still be a truth #and also have another truth #no lies being told #hmmm