#fantasy vs reality

[clairegregoryau]

Through the Looking Glass

From fairytale in Season 1 to stark reality in Season 2 of Our Flag Means Death- meta ported across from this Twitter thread by popular demand!

This thread contains spoilers for the entirety of OFMD Season 2

First OFMD S1 rewatch since S2, and holy shit, if you haven't done that yet... do that. A thing that it made instantly clear: they told us *all along* where this was going, but there was a reason we didn't see it. Because we were living in Stede's world then. Now it's Ed's.

I know that a lot of us have felt that the tone shift at the end of S2 was... jarring, compared to what's come before. This felt like a show that wouldn't go there. One where being run through was a temporary hiccup. We've travelled all the way from this to this.

But we haven't jumped there without a journey in between. And from the minute we started hearing about Blackbeard, the show never tried to hide what Ed's world and his specific life was like. Not once. In fact they told us over and over and over.

But Season 1 told us a lot of those things through song and story and fuckery. It blended reality with fiction.

Stede met the Blackbeard he knew through books and tall tales, and the real man was even more wonderful than he'd imagined.

We, along with Stede, were comfortable thinking that all those other tales were exaggerations and misrepresentations, and a lot of them very likely were.

The Ed Stede got to know was a person who was capable of whimsy and silliness and loved soft things and doing something weird. Yep, he was also capable of violence and rage, but when he was with Stede, he didn't feel it so much.

This was a vacation from that life.

To Stede he was absolutely lovely... oh, and also a bloodthirsty killer. And Stede loved (and loves) everything about him, and both of those things can be true. This is a perfect example of a spot where (in watching Season 1 without the benefit of hindsight) I assumed that everyone else in that pub was wrong, and Stede was simply trying to protect Ed's fearsome reputation by agreeing on the bloodthirsty bits. And I think from Stede's perspective that was largely true. I think that's how they wanted us to see Ed, through his eyes. Now, after watching both seasons, I think it wasn't the whole picture.

They told us, we heard it, we saw glimpses of it. But we (and Ed) were in Stede's run-away-to-sea fairytale the whole time. It wasn't until Stede left that we saw the reality- the Ed we knew had been, to a degree, a fictional character all along. I always saw this scene as Ed putting a bit of distance between himself and reality; it always felt like the Blackbeard of Stede's storybooks was the fictional one. But now it feels like the softer Ed that Stede knew was much the same- neither of them the whole story of who Ed was and is.

The one person who refused to live in Stede's fairytale was Izzy. I've seen people say it before, but he always gave off that vibe of the only human in the Muppets movie, or the guy who was in Black Sails while everyone else was in Pirates of the Caribbean. He saw the real risks clearly.

And in that light, the end of S1 has shifted an inch to the left for me, and I'm seeing it at a slightly different angle.

Izzy ripped away the healing Ed was doing, but in some respects he did it by tearing away the fairytale we'd all been living in, shoving Ed back into the Blackbeard story.

And that's where we pick up again in Season 2.

The fairytale reference came back in S2 in two notable places, those being Jim carrying that legacy forward in the darkest times, and in Izzy invoking the wooden boy against Ricky's efforts. Stede's made himself into a real boy. Ricky, nope.

Now that I've watched both seasons together, the tone shift doesn't feel so jarring at all, actually.

It feels like sliding through the looking glass, out of Stede's world, and into Ed's- a world that existed all along; we were just seeing it, la vie en rose, through Stede's eyes.

At the beginning of S2, Stede's gone, and we're seeing it unfiltered through Ed's reality.

But Stede wasn't lying when he said he loved everything about Ed. He made a promise to come back and find him- he went down into Ed's darkest place and reminded him that no matter how bad things got, there WAS someone waiting for him, ready to love him.

The contrast between S1's fantasy and S2's reality (excluding mermaids and actual bird guys and cursed coats) is stark, but it really is that.

We have the same settings, the same people, and very different ideas and outcomes at different times.

But it was always there.

Things do come back to a state of (precarious) balance once they're all together. Apologies are made, whether they're spoken out loud or through actions. Things go right, things go wrong. Healing happens. Izzy continues to have the steadiest, most real through-line in the story as he tracks toward redemption, finds acceptance, and to an extent finds himself.

Once again, I hate that they went here with the ending and I wish they hadn't. But it got a fraction easier for me looking at it not as a continuation of Stede's fairytale, but of the grounded-in-pirate-reality arc Izzy was always on, even while we lived in Stede's world.

Where does that leave us? We're not going back to the fairytale, but we're not going to be living in Black Sails for S3, either. We've hit a fusion point where S1 ended with each of them going to separate, miserable homes, but S2 ended with them in the same place, ready and willing to make a go of it.

Season 3 is going to give us their world, together.

I LOVED the moments in this season where the deep emotions were in balance with the silliness I've always adored about this show. Eps4-6 were wonderful like that. Clearly we're not done with drama, either, but like Ed and Stede, I think we'll find a middle ground.

Anyway in conclusion, a rewatch of S1 after S2 somehow made me love the first season even more, which felt impossible? It's now gained /even more/ layers of depth than it had before. No matter how you feel about S2 I think it's worth that rewatch.

Adding one more bit of clarity for myself: I think we got a bit (intentionally) seduced in S1 by the idea that the Ed of the storybooks, the Vampire Viking Clown with the nine guns, was a version of him that others saw, when Stede saw the REAL person who 'worked' for Blackbeard.

In hindsight I think it's clear the Ed Stede go to know was also not the complete version of himself- the reality is, there's a whole spectrum between the two, and they've landed in the middle of it now. Ed intentionally leaned into the unlovable Kraken image to protect himself.

It very much didn't work, just like being just... Edward hadn't worked to protect himself, either. This season has been very much about pulling those two extremes together and finding all the parts that make up Ed overall (another thread on that here on Twitter, which I'll also shift across to Tumblr soon!)

And I think one of my favourite things in S2 has been seeing the way Stede SEES that- he knows what Ed's done, everyone's told him, but he still loves Ed. sees his trauma and how it affects him, and believes he's a good man regardless. He IS lovable; he's not forever broken.

And together, they can heal.

#ofmd #our flag means death #gay pirates #ofmd meta #unreliable narrators #fantasy vs reality #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 spoilers

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

Fantasy vs Reality

#haha #tim just keeps winning #dead #fantasy vs reality #chenford #chenfordedit #tim x lucy #tim bradford #lucy chen #melissa o’neil #eric winter #love #gif #gifs #gifset #the rookie #4x22 #5x21

[imaginationfanstar]

Philip’s Juxtaposition

You know what’s ironic to me? Philip says that the Boiling Isles and the inhabitants of the Demon realm have “warped [Luz’s] sense of reality.” Ha! that couldn’t be any further from the truth.

Living in the demon realm and interacting with everyone on it has actually helped Luz embrace reality for what it is. For better or worse. She wanted to be a hero, well had to face all the dangers, sacrifices, and heartbreak that come with it. She wanted to learn magic, well that certainly wasn’t as easy as she thought it’d be.

Her magic along with everyone else’s doesn’t just come from thin air by chanting a spell or waving a wand around. In place of a magic bile sac she had to work extremely hard and practice patience to discover and learn how to use every one of her glyphs.

She wanted to make friends well she had to try and acknowledge the difference between an actual person and a fictional character along with the scenarios that come with them. In the second episode she whole heartedly embraced the trio of yes men who sang her praises as she embarked on a fake quest for a wizard, but her real friends aren’t like that. They’re weirdos just like her with real personalities, opinions, and interest. They themselves had their own problems and made their own mistakes. Sometimes Luz’s enthusiasm to follow a fictitious narrative put her friends in danger or hurt them in some way and she had to own up to that.

In the end what she told her mom is true. She’s learned so much from the Boiling Isles and it’s helped her grow into a strong, mature, and dependable young woman. In return she’s helped to improve the lives of everyone she meets.

Philip on the other hand is a different story. This man’s time in the Demon Realm has all but driven him to insane because he has chosen to relentlessly pursue a complete and total fantasy of his own. He has decided it’s his destiny to destroy all of witch kind, return home triumphant and to be appointed Witch Hunter General. In reality he’s wasted 400 years in a world he hates only to return to one he doesn’t recognize all while he himself is unrecognizable.

It’s like Luz said he’s barely human anymore. Philip has been alive a lot longer than he should be. To sustain himself he consumes palisiman souls which give him the ability to transform into a monstrous entity. Then proceeds to convince Hunter and many others that this is because he was cursed by “wild magic.”

He killed his brother because he literally couldn’t accept the fact that his brother had changed and come to embraced the Boiling Isles. Instead, he proceeds to create Grimwalkers. Clones of his deceased brother in the hope that he’ll mold them into what he believes to be the perfect witch hunter. Only to murder them over and over again. Never fully acknowledging his guilt or that he may derive some sick sort of pleasure from doing so. Instead calling it Justice for a repeated betrayal.

Dude doesn’t even go by his original name. He had to change it after he got run out of every town on the Boiling Isles. Most likely due to some crime or misdeed he committed. Then proceeds to force a connection with Luz by psychologically torturing her into addressing him by his given name.

Even Hollow Mind shows us just how warped his mind really is. There’s a grand looking hall of memories that hides and embellishes the reality. But hidden under the veil we see just how eerie and dilapidated his mind truly is. Even his inner self is a juxtaposition. A child playing pretend. Philip has not (read: will not) accept reality for what it is and disregards anyone who tells him different. I’m interested to see what consequences come of this debilitating mindset.

#the owl house #toh meta #meta analysis #owl house #philip whittebane #emperor belos #owl house spoilers #the owl house spoilers #luz noceda #toh hunter #hunter toh #grimwalkers #palisman #caleb whittebane #fantasy vs reality #toh #toh analysis #character analysis #character arcs

[mashithamel]

“What are you doing here?”

“Alanna told me you were going through the arches. I came as fast as I could.”

#fantasy vs reality #pulling my heartstrings #you both might be really good for each other at this moment #she would send you back to moiraine #you might understand what she’s lost #wheel of time #wot spoilers #nynaeve al'meara #lan mandragoran #wot on prime #wot show spoilers

[horizon-verizon]

GRRM is literally against Brexit:

“I think Brexit was a mistake.

Putting aside the specifics of the situation, and taking a long-range look, I think history shows that we do better when we join together into larger political units that embrace diversity, rather than building walls and breaking into smaller units. Alexander's empire was better than the squabbling city-states of ancient Greece that preceded it (a pity he did not live long enough to make the union with Persia permanent, and twice a pity that his successors broke it all up into smaller countries to war on each other). The thirteen American colonies were wise to join together into one large country, despite their differences, than they would have been as thirteen small ones. The nations of Europe have been fighting each other for centuries; joining together into one great multi-national nation represents real progress.

Eventually I do hope we will be one peaceful world, like the SF writers of my youth once predicted. Terra, Old Earth, call it what you will. We're all human.”

https://href.li/?https://grrm.livejournal.com/504703.html?page=2

Stannis: This talk of Seven Kingdoms is a folly. Aegon saw that three hundred years ago when he stood where we are standing. They painted this table at his command. Rivers and bays they painted, hills and mountains, castles and cities and market towns, lakes and swamps and forests... but no borders. It is all one. One realm, for one king to rule alone.

Davos: One King means peace.

A response to this post by jackoshadows that I reblogged.

Well, we know in many ways how the show departed from GRRM's vision, so not really a surprise, not huh?

#asoiaf asks to me #brexit #fantasy vs reality #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #english history

[rustbeltjessie]

If I squint hard enough, through the dust that’s collected

in every corner of this room, the glittered dust of the years, I can see my former self beyond the looking glass, some other day, some other where. Courtney appears behind me, her face floating over my left shoulder, a luminous and lovely moon. She pouts collagen

lips, slicks on a dark purple. Port-wine-stain purple, bruise- purple. I think of that other dead rockstar girlfriend, spun clouds of bleached hair, whom everyone loved to blame for their favorite junkie’s demise. I’ll never be Barbie,

Courtney says. Barbie doesn’t have bruises. I was better at being the fantasy, back then. She says, A man I loved once told me I was so good at selling the fantasy and then got mad when people bought it. He was an asshole, but he was

right about that. I tell her about the boy who read my online diary and said—I dig your words and your style, but why would you want the world to know everything about you? Kinda makes you feel like a rockstar, huh? He ended up falling

in love with me— Of course, the world has only ever known as much of us as it chose to see, the men have only ever seen what they wanted.

—Jessie Lynn McMains, from "Courtney Love Takes Off Her Celebrity Skin" (as appears in The Girl With the Most Cake)

#jessie lynn mcmains #my writing #poetry #excerpt #courtney love #relationships #fantasy vs reality #the girl with the most cake

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

"Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of this astounding universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy.”

-- Carl Sagan

Despite an infinite universe to discover and explore, fantasists from the devout religionists to the nebulous “spiritual” can’t wait to go somewhere else.

#Carl Sagan #one life #spiritual fantasy #fantasy #fantasy vs reality #reality vs fantasy #religion #religion is a mental illness

[howifeltabouthim]

Dead and imaginary people played a larger part in my quotidian reality than the living did. I lurched backward to recover shreds of memory and forward to fashion an imaginary future.

Siri Hustvedt, from The Blazing World

#in the ballroom of my mind #world of my own #fictional characters #imagination #fantasy vs reality #stuck in the past #memory #maladaptive daydreaming #quotes #lit #words #excerpts #quote #literature #siri hustvedt #the blazing world

[squirrilous]

#the amazing digital circus #tadc oc #pomni #lmao #fantasy vs reality

[polybabygirlbunny]

I got a new follower today and this was in their profile. To some people, this is a role-play fantasy. To some, they really believe this. Not that women can CHOOSE to be submissive at home, but that women SHOULD be submissive at home. This I find repulsive for so many reasons, not the least of which, it completely ignores queer relationships which often do not fit this model in any way. I am submissive, but I chose it. I wasn't forcibly put there. Anyway, this person got blocked because I couldn't tell if they were having a Tumblr fantasy or really believe this shit. And they had no age in their bio. 💖

#fantasy vs reality #dynamic #personal #feminism

[redeyeflyguy]

Wonderful Things That May Or May Not Be Wonderful And just this past month, the continuation of the story was released as Epithet Erased: Prison of Plastic and it’s pretty spectacular. Not as an animation, this time, it's an audiobook narrated by the creator, Jelloapocalypse a.k.a. Brendan Blaber with all the characters fully voice acted which is still pretty sweet. As for the story itself, it doesn't have as many creative uses of superpowers and some parts do drag but it absolutely makes up for it by having everything that was awesome about the first series and more. More fun, more laughs, and more FEEELS as we bear witness to the story of a home broken by tragedy and of two sisters at odds with each other, one forced to bear the crushing weight of reality and the other callously retreating into fantasy. There are some powerhouse moments in this tale and it makes me hope that it will continue on into the future. Audio book, animation or other, I don’t care. Epithet Erased is still wonderful and Prison of Plastic is specifically #wonderful. Also, Giovanni is still Best Boi.

#wonderful #epithet erased #prison of plastic #jelloapocalypse #audio book #soundbooth theater #anime campaign #fantasy vs reality #just say no

[tiny-dragon-of-art]

Peaceful Fantasy vs Vicious Reality

#my art #traditional art #marker and pen art #dragon #snake #rainbow #monochrome #fantasy vs reality

[crybabyzine-subtext]

"Understanding knowledge as an essential element of love is vital because we are daily bombarded with messages that tell us love is a mystery, about that which cannot be known. We see movies in which people are represented as being in love who never talk with one another, who fall into bed without ever discussing their bodies, their sexual needs, their likes and dislikes. Indeed, the message received from the mass media is that knowledge makes love less compelling; that it is ignorance that gives love its erotic and transgressive edge. These messages are often brought to us by profiteering producers who have no clue about the art of loving, who substitute their mystified visions because they do not really know how to portray loving interaction."

bell hooks, all about love (2001)

#love #all about love #bell hooks #relationships #fantasy vs reality #love irl

[wannabe-british-fangirl]

~ books read in 2022 ~

#21: Questland by Carrie Vaughn

“Okay, Professor Cox, so yeah, what I want to do is show that Moby Dick and Pokemon are both symbolic of rampant capitalism by portraying the inherently destructive nature of the relentless pursuit of abstract consumerism.” The kid took a gasping breath and seemed relieved to have gotten all that out at once.

#2022 reading list #book aesthetic #book moodboard #questland #carrie vaughn #books #fantasy #sci-fi #the intersection of fantasy and sci-fi #fantasy worlds #built from scratch #fantasy vs reality #quests #so many fandom references #lotr #dnd #litrpg #tw: guns #tw: school shootings #main character has PTSD about guns

[horizon-verizon]

🔗 LINK to Martin's Telling of the Age of Majority in Westeros

#asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #grrm #asoiaf writing #westerosi society #westerosi culture #westerosi age of majority #external link #fantasy vs reality #asoiaf maidenhood #asoiaf virginity

[thekingofwinterblog]

So just a tiny detail.

In the actual photo, Sasha is happy, but furrowing her brows in a way that could mean a lot of things.

In Marcy's mental image of her photo, Sasha instead has the eyes furrowed in a way that completely changes her mood from happy, to awkward and forced, because she can't believe that Sasha would ever be happy just spending time with her, and even for something as simple as taking a picture with her, Sasha is forcing herself to spend time with Marcy.

#amphibia #sasha waybright #marcy wu #anne boonchuy #picture #fantasy vs reality