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bidisasterevankinard · 2 months

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Buck breakdown meta(+ a little bit of divorce 2.0 era)

“Did you know you were clinically dead for three minutes?” - “Bobby” from Buck’s coma dream or Buck’s part of the brain that always helps him to find the answers (6x11)

“Buck, you died” - Maddie(6x12), Bobby (6x14)

“You died, Buck” Eddie (6x12)

Before I started this meta I remembered these three (well, technically four but how you can see Maddie and Bobby said the same thing) times someone said in real words what happened with Buck, what exactly he experienced in his life, how he lost it. Because it wasn’t just “an accident on the job”(Buck 6x14), not even a near death experience Buck had in his life before(and not once), because Buck is indeed a good “friend” and “old acquaintance”(Buck 6x15) with death since he was born (as a donor to dying child) and not just “for a moment” how he believes. But I haven’t remembered Buck himself (not a coma Bobby), especially after he woke up and “started his healing” (the lyrics of the song right before we see Buck after hospital in 6x11) saying it. And I really thought aha, you sneaky boy, you haven’t really recovered as you never even said “I died”. But he actually said it once, but, to whom do you think he said it?

To his sister who raised him as a parent and said “Buck, you died”? No.

To his father figure who he knows was praying to God sitting in his room, thinking his another child is dying and he can’t AGAIN do something? To the man who was cradling him like a baby to put him on a gurney and wanted to take it easy on him in 6x14 because “Buck, you died”? No.

To his best friend, to whom he ran to hide from his sister’s fussing? To the man on whose couch he fell asleep seconds after sitting on it? To the man who tried hard to support him, how Buck supported him during his breakdown? No.

He said it to the woman he never met before (btw Natalia is cute and it’s not her bashing post. so DO NOT DO IT IN TAGS PLEASE), just a matter of factly, when helped her with her injury because he heard that she is “death doula”(but before it, he tries to say it in the other words)

But even to her he says it ONLY THIS ONE MOMENT. When they met again he spoke about his death experience in the pattern we saw before.

And this pattern is : “When i woke up,” “I woke up in a world” “I recovered” “accident on the job”, joking with Maddie, “it’s all a gift” or with Eddie not even himself in 6x12 talking about HIS death experience. With Eddie he asks about shooting, but Eddie makes it a conversation about “You died, Buck”.

Buck doesn’t like when people talk about death, showing him their grief, so he tries to talk about his new life. He jokes, or moves the conversation to the point of talking about his new life, new possibilities for him, about how he processes he is still here, but NOT HOW HE DIED. Buck refuses to process that he died. Yeah, it happened, he knows everyone grieved him, but he refuses to talk about how it changed him and others. He just wants to accept changes not to “act” like an “old same Buck”(Buck 6x15) for everyone, but to be a new Buck. And who is perfect to make him think about not his death, but about how many new experiences he can have, if not the person who is amazed by his death, who thinks it is “cool” he had the opportunity to experience it and get back, if not the person who never grieved him? Natalia wasn’t around to see him dead, she wasn’t the one who saved him. And Buck knows his family had to see him like that and act to save him, but he can’t think about it. He concentrates on good things, on being alive, on moving forward, to see “what’s next” for him. And he refuses to look and speak about what happened before it, to really move from it.

But I think we all remember how Maddie said that Buck is more than good at pretending that he is ok(4x4). Remember how in therapy he said “You said, I hide my true feelings from others. You might be right”, but then what happened? Oh yeah “new Buck 3.0” and him forgiving his parents for going to therapy with him. Because he hides it not just from others, but from himself too. Acting as Buck 1.0, 2.0, etc. Buck knows how to repress his feelings and move on to a new stage. How to act as a new Buck, not just for everyone, but for himself too. How to believe he is ok.

And he for years was mistaken or even hiding a lot of his feelings, so it’s not hard for him to play like he moved on. And on the way to make everyone, except one person who till the last moment (cemetery seen) tried to make Buck talk about his death. Who was the last person to say it to Buck, who used death, and died, in one conversation right to the point till Buck with his words “She sees me. like she really sees me for who I am and what I’ve been through. I think she might even see more in me than I see in myself” almost stopped him. He stops for a moment. Tries to play with Buck on his rules, tries to wait for Buck again how he did in 6x12, but tries one more time to make Buck talk about death.

“You cheated death”

But Buck speaks about life. About lightning. About his new life being a gift.

“My life could have ended right then and there,but it didn’t. That has to mean something, right?” (Buck looks at Eddie because even closing himself he still need Eddie)

“It means you are one lucky guy”(Eddie does’t not look at him)

“Yeah, well, I don't think I’m gonna get that lucky again.”

“We, maybe you don’t have to. Lightning doesn’t strike twice at the same place.”

“Which is why I have to make the most of every single moment. Because from here right now out it's all a gift”

And after that, Eddie, who thought he could give Buck the same “shoulder to cry on” and “sit with you” while you experience bad moments, stopped doing it. He looked at Buck and saw the man he saw, the man he thinks doesn’t need his help. Because Buck doesn’t look affected as Eddie expected him to be. Buck overplayed Eddie with his tires to prove he is ok. Eddie believed him. But also he heard that he is not that Buck needs to feel ok. He needs not that Eddie expected he would need (talks about his death and Eddie’s help), but someone else living with Buck his life and Eddie understood that Buck doesn’t need him at all.Not in the way he needed the man a year ago, crushing his room. And the feeling of loneliness he started to experience while he gave Buck time to come to him, before Buck pushed him away when he wasn't ready in the cemetery, just became all consuming. Because now Eddie believes Buck never needed him, how Eddie needs him. But the thing is, Buck needs him. He just pushed Eddie from him, because he feels that it’s dangerous to look at his death, because he doesn't want to be a burden, because he doesn't want to run in a circle of “someone loves me when I’m in pain” he did all his childhood. He doesn't want to experience love when he is broken, so he closes his death deep inside him, in a box. But we know how boxes explode if it’s too many things inside.

And let’s think that Buck has in his box: childhood of neglect, truck bombing, tsunami and embolism, well and shooting, ambulance hostage situation, Bobby shot, Maddie almost killed by Doug, the secret about Daniel being revealed, and then his real death. All it packed neat inside him, never spoken about. And after shooting we never heard him talking about therapy again. So Buck acts as a “new Buck” ALL THE TIME. Buck 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 it’s a proof. And he is just ready to be another “new Buck”, but others don't, because to see the new Buck they should fully grieve the old Buck. But Buck doesn’t want them to grief, he wants to joke and move on and that’s why he is feeling like he should stay “same old Buck”, act the same, but IT’S A PROBLEM. Because old Buck can’t help to mask the pain and fear from the death he experienced. Old Buck never looked at his life as a “gift”. This old Buck can’t help Buck to hide under this mask of everything being fine. And let’s nor forget how old Buck tried hard to find HAPPINESS. OLD BUCK WASN’T HAPPY. But the new Buck should be. He is still alive. His life has ended yet. But has he found his answer for happiness after death when Lev did it? No.

Buck's answer for happiness wasn’t shown, which means he tries to be happy, but he still doesn’t know HOW. And on the way he pushed his best friend from him, starting their as we call it in a fandom “divorce era 2.0”. Because it is what Buck does when he feels trapped (lawsuit waves at us). When Buck thinks he needs other things, not that others try him to do, speak about, heal properly before move on, not just “rush with his head first”, he pushes everyone from himself (yes yes boy with abandonment issue does it, but it is easier this way). In the lawsuit it was easier to blame Bobby, right now he ofc doesn’t blame Eddie, but he also doesn’t want Eddie to constantly talk about his death. So he pushed Eddie from himself.

So Buck can’t hide behind old, and new Buck is not something his family is ready to see, and it’s still an act. Buck is on the edge of breaking, and I’m sure in 7s it will happen. After Bobby's near death or maybe something else, but it will break him.

Now Eddie. Eddie, who already felt kind of alone, started his journey of trying to find someone who makes him feel not alone anymore. Who will make him feel enough. Because for Shannon, for Buck he wasn’t(at least it’s how he sees it).

That’s how he sees the cemetery. Buck pushes because Eddie is too much for him at this moment, because he isn't ready (something something “you need to move on. I did.” Eddie himself pushed Buck from himself when he wasn’t ready, but he thought if he would make Buck talk NOW Buck wouldn't break like him.) Buck wasn’t ready to be supported by Eddie, because he never was supported like that (Eddie wasn’t in a place to really support him after the fire truck. don't even start. Eddie was deep into his grief and “suck it up and move on” era to really support Buck on this deep mental level). But Eddie was finally in the place to give this support, and he felt like it’s not enough. So he dates, he meets Marisol. He opens himself to the world and new opportunities. Maybe even starting something serious in season 7, when Buck goes deeper and deeper in his own grief and pain of losing the life he had, of losing the part of himself, of not knowing who he is right now, how he should act.

Now we add Bobby’s and Athena’s water related near death experience and … BOOM. Buck is broken, a crying mess. Because he feels grief and fear of losing people he loves so hard, and he can’t imagine who they felt, and he can’t even say what the fuck is the answer to happiness. He doesn’t remember his death, but he remembers his coma, he remembers how he woke up, he remembers old him, but who is new Buck? To this we also add that he feels that his best friend pushed him away, not understanding he did it first(because he did it subconsciously trying to hide from his feelings).

Buck will break in season 7, because it's long overdue. He has so many things he never “allowed to feel it” before moving on. They can’t just stay forever inside him. “At some point that box is going to blow open. And take everyone around you”. Eddie was ready to support Buck and eventually in season 7 Buck would need it and Eddie would see that Buck needs him, he never allows himself to ask, to see what and who he needs. Buck always tries to look at himself through other people's eyes, still tries with Natalia. Maybe look at himself thought Eddie’s feel help him to see something new

Why I also see the possible divorce era 2.0 it’s because we started and continued 6s with domestic Buckley-Diaz scenes but scenes 6x13 Buck wasn't even talking about Chris. So I see it as a possible proof of divorce era, but after new stills I’m not so sure anymore

#yes it's 2k words. i'm not sorry #i could say more #buck will break in season 7 #911 loves parallels so I used moments not related to the Buck as talk about him relation to his arc too #buddie #evan buckley #eddie diaz #evan buck buckley #911 #911 abc #911 meta #911 season 7 #my 911 thoughts #oliver stark #911 on abc #911 speculation

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imakemywings · 6 months

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I am on the feanorians side of the silmaril debate and do see Dior and elwing as thieves. And I hope you dont see this as an attack i just want to explain my reasoning for the way i see it. But to me at least the stealing of the ships is an entirely seperate thing that happened, I know it happened because the silmarils got stolen in the first place. But it has nothing to do with the Dior and elwing part of the silmaril story. And thats why I dont bring up the stealing of the ships when talking about this

And I feel like Dior and elwing are thieves because they have the feanorians most treasured family heirloom and are refusing to give it back to them. And I think calling them thieves isnt exactly right because they didnt steal it from the feanorians and luthien and beren didnt either but it is wrong of them to not give it back. And the feanorians did first write letters asking to be given the silmaril back. The feanorians were wrong in kinslaying to try and get it back, but I do understand how they got to the conclusion to do so. They swore an oath to get it back and if they dont they will be in purgatory forever, so they really do have this need of getting it back even without considering the fact that its rightfully theirs to begin with.

As for for Dior and elwings part in this, I have more understanding for Dior than elwing. Dior is a new king and not well known to his people. And the silmaril to him represent a great deed done by his parents and their love for each other and I wouldnt be suprised if the silmaril was starting to become as important to Dior and his people as it was to the feanorians. So him not giving it away makes sense it has personal importance to him and giving it away could mark him as a weak king which is not something he needs. And it is also the fact that we dont know how much he knows about the feanorians oath and what it means he may know nothing at all about it.

Elwing on the other hand is completely different, I do not understand why she does the things she does at all. I will just be discussing the lead up to the kinslaying and not what happens during it, because I have read posts saying that her mental health may have crumbled during it and I do concede they have a point. But that doesnt explain any of the lead up to it. The feanorians ask for the silmaril and she tells them no and its like doesnt she realize that just like last time this can lead to a kinslaying, like does the thought even enter her mind and I dont understand how she could not see it as the likely outcome bu then she doesnt prepare for the eventuality at all. Its so puzzling to me, shes the leader and responible for the safety of everyone there but she doesnt seem to care about it. She doesnt even send her sons to cirdan were they would be safe from the feanorians. For elwing this has all happened before and she does nothing to change what will happen and it doesnt make sense.

So yea im on the feanorians side in this because the silmaril is rightfully theirs and while they did bad bad things to get them back i understand where they are coming from. Something i dont understand with elwing.

Hey anon, I definitely don't see this as an attack; I do appreciate your reasonable tone here.

If you're interested in other more detailed explorations of Elwing and her motivations, definitely check out my Elwing meta tag, because others on on tumblr have done some great work there.

The point I think the other anon was making about the swan ships is that fans can be very quick to condemn Luthien and her descendants as "thieves" of the Silmarils, but say nothing about the Feanorians' theft of the swan ships. No, the events aren't related, but one is a much clearer-cut case of theft than the other, yet it's the one that's swept under the rug to attack those who stand in opposition to the sons of Feanor (SoF). But you're right, it's not relevant to discussing Dior and Elwing in relation to the SoF.

Luthien and Beren, at great personal risk, obtained a Silmaril from Morgoth. I think it's relevant to note that at this point, the SoF appeared to have no problem with Luthien having possession of the Silmaril. In fact, Maedhros takes heart from their success and by it is inspired to begin his efforts which culminate in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

First, let's recall Luthien's history with the Feanorians at the point that she and Beren depart Doriath after Beren is restored to life:

Luthien is aware of the Kinslaying at Alqualonde and the theft of the swan ships, actions of shocking violence by Elves against Elves, and the Noldor's part in trying to conceal it from her parents.

Celegorm and Curufin feign friendship with her when she encounters them on her quest to rescue Beren, only to then trap her in Nargothrond. Celegorm plans to wed her against her will, which strongly implies he also means to rape her, in order to force Thingol to open the Girdle to the Feanorians.

Celegorm and Curufin overthrew Finrod's chosen successor, Orodreth, and the Arafinweans had been friends of Doriath. She may or may not be aware that Celegorm used the oath to threaten the residents of Nargothrond, implicitly threatening violence against them.

After Luthien has escaped and rescued Beren from Sauron, she encounters Celegorm and Curufin again. Curufin attempts to kidnap her, and Celegorm then attempts to kill Beren when he leaps to her defense.

Celegorm openly makes threats against Thingol and Doriath.

So at this point, you can perhaps see why Luthien does not feel a lot of need to play nice with the SoF. From her perspective, they're pretty scummy people who are more than willing to commit violent acts against other Elves. At no point does Maedhros reprimand or punish Celegorm or Curufin for their actions, which as the leader of the Feanorians, suggests he doesn't think what they did was wrong. Why should she cooperate with them? They didn't risk their lives to obtain one of their Silmarils. If the Silmarils were as important to them as they claim, why haven't they tried harder? She and Beren, with far fewer resources, managed to do it.

Additionally, the Feanorians do not make any effort to reclaim the Silmaril from Luthien during her life. Possibly because she took down Morgoth (briefly).

"For while Luthien wore the Necklace of the Dwarves no Elf would dare to assail her..." (Of the Ruin of Doriath)

So she dies and the Silmaril goes to Dior, her son.

To Dior, the Feanorians are the unquestioned villains of his parents' story. These are people who openly threatened his grandfather's kingdom, who tried to force his mother into marriage and imprisoned her, who tried to kill his father. Sure, you can argue that they have an ancestral claim on the Silmaril--but cannot Dior also make that argument at this point? And what motivation does he have to cooperate with them? They do nothing to win his friendship, as they have done nothing to win the friendship of Doriath throughout their time in Beleriand. If Maedhros is such a formidable diplomat, why can he not come to terms with Dior?

"They [the Feanorians] came at unawares in the middle of winter, and fought with Dior in the Thousand Caves..." (Of the Ruin of Doriath, emphasis added)

Furthermore, to your point, Dior is a young king--and a mortal among Elves. Doriath is also recovering from the war with Nogrod; they are already in a vulnerable position, and with Melian gone, the Girdle is down, so they are far more exposed than they are accustomed to being and having to adjust to that.

So Dior does not relinquish the Silmaril, and rather than pursue the two held by Morgoth, the Feanorians assault Doriath, kill many Elves, throw at least two children out into the woods to die of exposure, and still fail to capture the Silmaril.

So Dior dies and the Silmaril goes to Elwing, his daughter.

Consider what the Feanorians represent to Elwing at this point.

These are Elves who have shown themselves to be unrepentant killers. We as the fans love to focus on the tormented regret of the Feanorians, but to their victims, they are simply killers. They committed slaughter in the Blessed Realm, for which they were exiled by the Valar, and for which they have expressed such regrets--except that they've gone and done the same thing here in Beleriand. They have threatened forced marriage, they have killed children, they have driven the Iathrim from their home and made them refugees. To Elwing personally, they are the murderers of her parents and the ones who dragged her brothers into the woods as children and left them to die.

What, precisely, might motivate Elwing to cooperate with them? So the Silmaril "belongs" to them--so what? They have tormented Luthien's line for generations now--the Feanorians ARE the Morgoth of Elwing's story. And she should give into them why? The Ring belongs to Sauron--should Frodo hand it over because it's his property?

Maedhros, who has apparently lost all diplomatic veneer, does nothing to show good faith or a desire to cooperate with Elwing. Instead, he writes with his demands, as he did with Dior.

The one thing--the ONE thing--that might make Elwing cooperate is, to me, solely to avoid another slaughter as happened in Doriath, as you mentioned. So in this vein, why doesn't Elwing surrender the Silmaril just to avoid trouble, even if she hates and distrusts the Feanorians? There are two things which are absolutely key to understanding this decision.

1.Elwing does not make the decision alone. Critics of Elwing often act as though she made a unilateral decision to withhold the Silmaril from the Feanorians--which is not the case. In fact, Tolkien writes that "Elwing and the people of Sirion" refused to yield the jewel under threat.

This is not an unusual response. Most people do not respond well to being threatened, and may refuse out of spite. Furthermore, these are people who were made refugees by the same people now making demands of them.

But more importantly, Elwing did not alone choose to keep the Silmaril. She and whatever Sirionites aided her in governing decided together that they would not give in to the Feanorians.

2. The second is that the Sirionites believed the Silmaril was protecting Earendil and the Havens. Remember that at this time, Earendil is seeking for Aman, to obtain the help of the Valar in defeating Morgoth. So not only is he the lord of the Havens at Sirion, but he is on a quest which is, to them, of critical importance. They need him to stay safe so that he can complete his mission and hopefully win Beleriand's rescue.

And to your point about Dior above--this Silmaril is effectively a family heirloom to Elwing as well.

The Sirionites are particularly loath to part with the Silmaril while Earendil is at sea--which makes sense, as he is a ruling lord of this city, and they believe his protection is somewhat dependent on their possession of the Silmaril.

But the Feanorians don't wait for Earendil to return to negotiate--they lay siege to the Havens at Sirion while Earendil is still away ("For the sons of Feanor that yet lived came down suddenly upon the exiles of Gondolin, and the remnant of Doriath" Of the Voyage of Earendil and the War of Wrath, emphasis added) and render the Iathrim virtually extinct as a people. Once again, they come down "suddenly" on another group of Elves and destroy them.

What the Feanorians do in the Havens at Sirion is so awful ("the cruelest of the slayings of Elf by Elf") that their own troops stand aside or even turn against them during the fight in an effort to defend the Sirionites; the Feanorians kill them too.

This, to me, tells us how far the Feanorians are from attempting any real diplomatic work here. They are not even considering the Silmarils that Morgoth still has; they have utterly failed to reach Elwing in a diplomatic or cooperative manner; they refuse to even wait until Earendil has returned so that he and Elwing can make a decision together, as joint rulers of this city.

Why doesn't Elwing fortify the Havens? We have no evidence that she doesn't. Only that it wasn't enough to stop the Feanorians. Why doesn't she send Elrond and Elros away? That poses its own risks--and she may believe they are safest there, as the Sirionites believe the Silmaril is protecting the Havens. It may be incorrect, but it is something they believe and they operate under that belief.

But even if you think she didn't do things she should have--does that justify the actions of the Feanorians? It's fine for them to murder because their victims didn't do enough to prevent them from murdering? You took our object so we can kill you for it now?

Putting all that aside for now, I want to jump over to the oath, because you mentioned something interesting about it:

They swore an oath to get it back and if they dont they will be in purgatory forever

Purgatory and hell do not exist in Ea. What exactly the Feanorians think their "punishment" for breaking the oath will be is unclear, whether it's just death without the chance for rebirth (as is the case with Feanor, and seems to be the most extreme punishment the Valar can or will enact), or something more. Clearly they put a lot of stock in it--but they also are not totally beyond the notion of breaking it. Maglor himself suggests after the Third Kinslaying that they should abandon the quest and plead their repentance to the Valar, but Maedhros refuses.

Maedhros seems to still believe they may suffer some punishment for breaking it--that Eru might actually hold them to the oath they swore. But Maglor counters with the notion the oath can be voided:

"Yet Maglor held back, saying: 'If Manwe and Varda themselves deny the fulfillment of an oath to which we named them in witness, is it not made void?'" (Of the Voyage of Earendil)

And of course, why would Manwe and Varda hold them to an oath which has caused so much strife, and which promises to cause more? Why should they desire the Feanorians to be held to an oath which causes them to murder and destroy other Elves? Maedhros refuses, still believing, or at least asserting, that some punishment by Eru awaits if they break the oath. Maglor somewhat grimly points out that given what they've done, punishment is their due one way or other other:

"'If none can release us,' said Maglor, 'then indeed the Everlasting Darkness shall be our lot, whether we keep the oath or break it; but less evil shall we do in the breaking.'" (Of the Voyage of Earendil)

Maglor acknowledges that they have done evil in pursuit of the oath and that they will continue to do evil if they do not choose to set it aside. Furthermore, that if they cannot be excused from the oath, they're likely to experience punishment either for breaking it or for the things they do in pursuit of it, so it's all the same in the end anyway. Yet Maedhros and Maglor instead make a free and conscious decision to continue their pursuit of the Silmarils.

They are a) well aware that they have done horrible, awful things trying to fulfill this oath; and b) aware that breaking it is an option. They choose not to. They have chosen not to this entire story.

And truthfully, even if they would be condemned to purgatory or whatever, it doesn't justify what they do. They chose to swear this oath, they have chosen to pursue it, and if they are willing to slaughter whomever they need to to protect themselves from the consequences of their own oaths, that still makes them selfish, wretched people who are willing to sacrifice anyone else to make sure they themselves stay safe.

Even if they were able to obtain the one Silmaril from Elwing, the oath is not fulfilled. Morgoth still has two. Everything they did to Doriath and the Havens at Sirion is worthless without the other two Silmarils, but they did it anyway; and even after the chaos wrought by their actions there, go ahead and slay Eonwe's guard after the War of Wrath to steal the Silmarils everyone else had rescued from Morgoth.

The Feanorians have done so much wrong that the Silmarils themselves reject them by the end. I don't know how else the narrative could make it clearer they are in the wrong. Tolkien implies that the oath was wicked from the very start, and always bound to lead the Feanorians into wrongful acts.

Lastly, I will point over at this meta I wrote a few months back about how if the Feanorians had obtained the Silmaril from Elwing, it would likely have doomed Middle-earth to Morgoth's rule.

In any case, I don't think anyone who escalates a situation to murder is ever in the right, and certainly not over something like property rights. If you can sympathize with the Feanorians about their perspective, you should be able to consider what the Feanorians are to the perspective of Luthien's line--and why they are not keen to work together with the Feanorians or give them what they want.

Not sure if you found any of this convincing, but I hope it's something to consider at least!

#asks #anonymous #elwing defense

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aspoonofsugar · 2 months

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hey! Good day :) here to ask a question!! I was wondering about your process for analysis, character analysis, theme analysis- do you just write or are there specific things you look for? I suppose I’m curious if you have an idea/general gist of what you’re doing or steps you take to do your breakdowns. I’m trying to do something similar out of interest and your works are simply fascinating to read. I look up to your writing a lot!

hello!! Can I ask how you started analysing shows, how you went about it? I’m learning literary analysis and trying to do the same for hunter x hunter but I find it infinitely harder to analyse shows. Especially since I most notably consider diction in literary analysis lol

Hi!

Thank you for your nice words anon(s) and yay! I love meta-asks <3<3<3

So, it depends on the meta. In general, I try to focus on a specific topic, which can be:

a character (arc + foiling between characters)

a theme

the use of a specific motif, when it comes to a character or a theme

These are my three favourite kinds of analyses, but there are other types, as well. For example, some people are really into plot theories/predictions. Others prefer to focus on characters from a psychological viewpoint. Some other writers like to use philosophical lens or to compare different works. It really depends on your preference.

My preference is mostly for thematic analyses. This means that my character metas too tend to use a thematic lens. So...

WHAT IS THE THEME?

In short, the theme of a story is both:

the topic the story is exploring

the moral of the story, aka a phrase which summarizes its message

Stories explores topics through characters and plot, while the way the conflict is solved tells us the moral.

Some examples:

RWBY's main topic is humanity in both its weakness and strength and its moral is that victory is in a simple soul

Madoka's main topic is wishes and its moral is that it is worth to want things and to fight for them, even if it is painful

HXH is strange structurally, but its main topic is self-search, with its moral being that a person should not focus on the goal, but enjoy the journey

All of these messages and ideas aren't just things stated in dialogues (even if someone saying the theme helps). They emerge from the story itself.

RWBY's main conflict is about a destroyed world (remnant) surviving the anger of an evil witch (Salem). If humans let hate divide them, they lose. If they unite, they win. The main thematic question is then... can humans make the right choice? And the answer is that they can, as long as they remain simple souls (Ruby, but also Pyrrha at Beacon, Blake in Managerie, Yang in Mistral, Weiss with her family, JNR when they tag along and Penny in Atlas). The main message is that several people making the right choice leads to change. And that is humanity. This is why the characters keep being asked to give up their idealism and to embrace a more utilitarian way of doing things. And this is why every time they refuse and stick to their idealism. The conflict itself keeps testing their resolution.

Madoka's power system works through wishes, so the girls' powers and their backstories are all defined by their wishes and by how they relate to them. Madoka doesn't know what she wants. Homura's wish turns into an obsession. Mami makes a wish too early and thinks only about herself. Kyouko and Sayaka make a wish for someone else and have opposite reactions to their wishes ending poorly. Finally, it is revealed the girls' wishes are literally the force that keeps the world at balance. So, the plot, character arcs, conflict and worldbuilding are all about wishes.

HXH is made up of several arcs and each arc has its own theme. That said, the overall structure conveys the main theme. Gon's objective is to find Ging, but he keeps taking detours and getting engulfed in unrelated conflicts. However, the moment he meets Ging he realizes it is not his father who defines him, but rather it is all the people he met in his journey and his own experiences. Basically, HXH's strange structure conveys the main theme.

So, the theme (both topic and moral) should emerge by the characters, the worldbuilding, the conflict and sometimes even by the structure itself. In order to find it, one should start with the topic and ask themselves "What does the story really talk about?". The answer to this question will let you understand the theme as topic. The second step is to see how the story explores it.

DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW ON THE TOPIC

There are different ways a story can explore a topic. Still, the best stories have different perspectives clash with each other. Very often these different points of view are embodied by different characters.

Here are some examples, with some linked metas that explore the respective stories more in depth.

Madoka (topic= wishes):

Homura is determined to fulfill her wish no matter what

Kyubey is her opposite, as they are unable to wish since they lack feelings. This is why they need to recruit girls into creating energy through wishes

Madoka is in the middle, as she wants to wish for something, but doesn't know what

Mami, Kyouko and Sayaka all explore negative effects linked to wishes, which are connected to other secondary themes. Specifically, Mami explores the consequences of an immature wish, while Sayaka and Kyouko explore the selfishness/selflessness inherent in wishes

The conflict is solved through Madoka learning about the price of wishes, but still choosing to make a wish and to sacrifice her whole self for it. This ending conveys a specific moral: despite the pain and sacrifice that comes with them, wishes are still beautiful and worth it all. If Madoka had chosen to give up being a magical girl and had ended up the series without making a wish, the moral would have been the opposite: that a normal life is better than grandiose and dangerous dreams.

Monster (topic = the value of life)

Tenma believes that all lives are equal, which is why he chooses to save Johan as a child, despite being ordered to operate a far more influential patient.

Eva and Nina believe that not all lives are equal. In particular, Eva thinks that social status and importance in society influence the value of one's life. Nina instead believes that people who commit crime should be punished and lose their lives.

Johan believes no-life has value, including his own. In his words, the only thing all humans are equal in is death.

Here, the moral is conveyed through the Tenma/Nina vs Johan's conflict. Tenma is tested in his beliefs, but ultimately does not abandon them and ends the story by saving Johan. Nina instead is asked to change her mind, as she ends the story embracing Tenma's point of view.

RWBY - The Atlas Arc (topic = trust)

Ozpin lacks trust, as he is unable to trust others, no matter how loyal or dedicated to his cause they are

Ruby wants to "trust safely". She wants others, like Ironwood, to prove themselves to her before disclosing the truth to them

Ironwood is initially on Ruby's same page, but he spirals and comes to embody the "enemy of trust" aka control. He doesn't trust others, but wants to control them.

Oscar embodies trust, as he wants to trust Ironwood since the beginning. Even later on, he keeps on trusting people like Hazel and Emerald who are his enemies.

Cinder embodies another "enemy of trust", aka manipulation. She doesn't need to trust others to work with them, as she can use their feelings and wishes against them.

Penny embodies faith, which is a more extreme form of trust. She sacrifices herself and leaves the maiden power to Winter. She has no proof Winter will be able to save Weiss, Jaune or the relic, but she entrusts the future to her.

All these characters struggle with trust and its dangers. Some, like Ozpin, Ironwood and Cinder decide that trusting is too dangerous. Others, like Ruby, Penny and Oscar realize that to trust is the only way to move forward. Moreover, they learn there is not way to trust safely. As a matter of fact the moral of the arc is that "trust is a risk" and risks mean that things can end up badly. Still, not to take risk means to give up hope.

Hazbin Hotel - You didn't know song (topic= knowledge)

This song explores the idea of knowlege. The characters are after all in the middle of a questioning, which leads to several secrets coming out. Moreover, throughout it all the characters either admit or realize how ignorant they all are. The way they deal with this lack of knowledge establishes different thematic stances.

Charlie and Emily are both naive and ignore the darkest sides of their loved ones. Charlie doesn't know Vaggie used to be an exorcist and Emily has no idea Sera ordered the exterminations. Still, their answer to ignorance is to keep on questioning. They have no idea why only certain souls are admitted in heaven. Still, they think it is important to investigate the phenomenon and use it as evidence that there might be hope for the spirits in hell.

Lute and Adam don't know why some spirits end up in hell and others in heaven. Still, they do not bother to question it. So, Adam is caught by surprise by Charlie's question and has to improvise an answer. Not only that, but even later on the duo insist that Angel not being in Heaven proves he is unholy. And that's it.

Sera does know about the extermination, as she knows the system is unfair. Still, she refuses to question it and forbids others to do the same. She is the only one whose sin isn't ignornace, but knowledge.

There is no a clear thematic resolution to the question posed by the song. This is because the series is not over yet. However, the scene sets up the theme and the way characters will deal with it in later seasons will give us the moral.

As you can see, not only whole stories (like Madoka, or Monster) have themes, but also arcs (RWBY) and even episodes or scenes (Hazbin Hotel). That said, the way to go at it is always the same. Pintpoint the main topic and start investigate how the characters or the worldbuilding deal with it. You are gonna get several stances. The one which emeges victorious is the moral.

Let's highlight that the moral is not always embodied by the protagonist. For example, in the Madoka and RWBY's examples, Madoka and Ruby are initially at a loss and come to learn the moral by the end of the story (for Madoka) and arc (for Ruby). Similarly, Tenma initially does believe the moral, but doubts it throughout the story, only to be reminded and helped by other characters (like Nina).

In any case, the way the protagonist and characters in general relate to the main theme and to secondary themes is key for their arcs.

CHARACTERS AND THEME

When it comes to theme a character can either:

Believe the moral since the beginning

Not believe the moral since the beginning

In the first case, the character either stops believing the moral by the end (negative arc) or keeps believing the moral until the end (positive arc). In the second case, the character either learns the moral (positive arc) or doesn't learn the moral (negative arc).

In short, the story keeps challenging the character on their beliefs and they must either stick to their point of view or change it, depending if they believe in the moral since the beginning or not.

Exhibit A:

Charlie's belief that sinners can be redeemed is right. Still, in the beginning nobody else agrees with her, so she is challenged by the world around her. Her objective is not to lose faith in the Hazbin Hotel and to inspire others to change their mind too. Throughout her journey, she is bound to grow too. She starts as sheltered and naive with a simplistic idea of what redemption is. By the end, she will gain a deeper understanding of redempion and will grow as a result.

Exhibit B:

Eren's journey is about realizing what freedom (the main topic) is about. The problem is that he fixates himself on the idea that freedom means no boundaries, either natural nor humans. This leads him to embrace destruction and nihilism and to lose himself. In the end, the character who realizes what freedom truly is is Mikasa. She doesn't discard her bond with Eren, but is still able to make independent choices and to live as herself. In short, Eren doesn't learn the moral, hence why he spirals instead of growing.

Charlie is a protagonist who knows the moral and will grow with it in a positive arc. Eren is a protagonist who doesn't know the moral and never learns it. This is why he has a tragic negative arc.

These are just two examples, but there can be different combinations. By interrogating yourself on how characters relate to a theme, you get better a better understanding of their role in the story and of their overall arcs.

Still, how to find themes in a story? Luckily, each text is full of hints that are there for us to interpret them.

MOTIFS

Motifs are repetitive details within a story, which are used to communicate themes.

Anything can be a motif: a line, a musical tune, a specific imagery, an object. By repeating them in key moments throughout a narrative, they become symbols, which means they can lead to bigger metaphors and convey specific meanings.

In the song More Than Anything, dream is one of the main topics. We realize it because the characters keep mentioning it. At the same time, light keeps popping up. Lucifer summons light and throws it away, Charlie rememebrs a light show Lucifer imrpovised for her. Lucifer and Charlie start the song in the shadow and they end it in the light. This means that "light" is a motif throughout the song and by seeing how it is used we better understand the theme and the relationship between the two characters. We understand that light is a metaphor for dreams. Lucifer gives up on it, Charlie is inspired by it and eventually Lucifer summons it back as he has decided to believe in Charlie's dream. By looking at the way light is used, we can see that Charlie teaches Lucifer the moral that it is worth it to fight for dreams and not to give up on them.

In the CAA of HXH, gungi is a motif that comments both the topic of humanity and Meruem and Komugi's relationship. Their matches become a metaphor of monstrosity vs humanity, as humanity slowly conquers Meruem to the point he himself chooses to live and die as a human, rather than the King of the Ants. Similarly, Kokoriko symbolically becomes Komugi and Meruem's child, in the sense they give birth to this move and evolve the game.

Sometimes, their meaning is unique to the story. For example, gungi is a motif that makes sense within HxH and can't be brought outside of the series, as it is not a real world game. It only exists in that universe. Some other times, a motif can tie to bigger sets of symbols. For example, light and shadow are universal symbols that bring with them several additional meanings:

Good and Evil

The Jungian persona shadow

In the Hazbin Hotel song the first dychotomy doesn't fit, while the second one does. Initially both Lucifer and Charlie hide things from each other (shadow), whereas by the end they show who they are (light).

In short, to analyze a story, you should find its key motifs. They are hints to better understand the theme and the characters. Different stories will use different motifs and tie them to different wider sets of symbols. To find the right ones can help a lot in better understanding a story, as a whole.

Some examples:

RWBY uses fairy tales and alchemy as its main motif, so these two sets of symbols are the most useful to analyze the series

HxH is a shonen and uses its powers and fights to convey character arcs and themes, so to analyze one's nen abilities helps a lot

Hazbin Hotel is a musical series that takes inspiration from religion and mythology. So, it is probable that the best understanding of it will come from analyzing its songs and from looking into its religion inspiration

Of course this doesn't mean you should only use one motif to analyze a story. For example, you can use RWBY's semblances to look into the characters, as well. And there are some fairy tale allusions in Hazbin too. In the end, it is about using what best helps you understand a story as a whole.

What is more, there are general sets of symbols that can be useful in most stories, such as jungian archetypes. Finally, you might want to start from other aspects of the story itself, rather than theme or characters or plot. For example, you might be drawn to the world-building and realize it is used in a special way to explore the theme. Or you might be curious about character designs and see that they have their own symbolism (for example, I believe RWBY ones do and probably Hazbin Hotel ones, as well).

SOME PRACTICAL ADVICE

I have linked in the title of each paragraph, but this last one an article by @septembercfawkes. Her posts are great to better understand narrative structure and I found them enlightening.

I think the best thing you can do is to start with focused metas. Choose a scene, a character, a motif that intrigues you and start exploring it. It is better to start small and to narrow your focus, it would be easier to organize your article.

I usually outline the contents of the meta before starting to write it. Still, it sometimes changes as I keep writing.

It can be useful to write at the beginning of your analysis what you are gonna do. It will help you remember what the point of the meta is. For example, in my RWBY allusion meta or HxH nen meta, I always start with the motif I am analyzing. I summarize the fairy tale (even if many people know it already) and I explain what the character's ability is about. It helps organizing the flow and the contents.

The more you analyze the better you become at it, so it is just a matter of starting :)

Thank you for the asks, I hope this was helpful and not too much confusing!

Have a nice day!

#writing #meta-asks #asksfullofsugar #anonymous #sweet anon

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brianllamawrites · 3 months

Text

Love Bites (Vampire!Sherloque Wells X Reader)

A/N: Buckle up because this is a long one! I've re-read and re-written this so many times, I really hope it's okay lol. I never know what to put in terms of warnings, but as the title suggests, there is vampire biting and (probably medically inaccurate) blood loss in this fic. Also, sorry if the French is bad, I used several online translators but I can never be sure how accurate they are.

Word Count: 5255

Tagging: @ageless-aislynn @khayrrilrainxwells @mcbenson25 @yetanotherwells (Feel free to message me if you want to be tagged in anything!)

There was a metahuman running rampant throughout STAR Labs. You weren’t sure how they got in, what their powers were, or what they wanted, but you knew they were very angry and were determined to let everyone know about it. The moment the security alarm went off, the poor few of you who were still around at five in the morning had scattered, hoping it would be harder for the meta to track you all down. Being the only one around with powers, Cisco took it upon himself to hunt the hunter. You had all tried Barry’s phone but there was no response.

Sherloque ran off before you did, and before your survival instincts had the chance to kick in, you decided to go on a secret hunt on your own. You had suspected something was off with him almost immediately. Sure, the reason why he attracted your attention in the first place may have been the way he looked at you when he first arrived, but no amount of winks and little smiles could hide all the weird things you noticed. He refused to leave the building until after the sun had set, kept far away from windows and mirrors, and acted so, so strangely whenever someone was bleeding. You tried to ignore it at first, but it was all too coincidental for it not to mean anything. After months of research and spying, you came to one conclusion:

Sherloque Wells was a vampire.

Okay. Vampire was a strong accusation. It was why you hadn’t told anyone yet. Why you were stalking him through corridors whilst a criminal was threatening everyone's lives. You just couldn't help yourself. Too many vampire novels, Joe would say, but after years of facing metahuman after metahuman, you longed to get your hands on something supernatural. And it was just an added bonus that the supernatural thing you had found was a Harrison Wells doppelganger. It was as if the universe had gift-wrapped him for you – that is, if he turned out to be a friendly vampire of course. You hadn’t decided on what you were going to do if he was secretly evil. Probably scream, get bit, and then die, unfortunately. Although, the getting bit part didn’t sound all that bad – not if it was anything like the novels you had read, anyway.

Sherloque turned the corner into the lounge and you paused at the doorway to eavesdrop. A few footsteps here. A few footsteps there. A few… Nothing. You held your breath and edged as close to the doorway as you could without being seen, but it was like no one was in the room at all. Just pure, eerie silence. Peeking your head around the entrance, you took a brief glance around; the room was large and open, there were no hiding places, and there was no Sherloque Wells.

Against every cell in your body shouting at you that it was a bad idea, you took a deep breath in and crept into the lounge. Your footsteps filled the room with a solitary echo. The city night lights spilt through the giant windows, pulling you out of the dark and towards the soft glow. Drawn towards the window, with the skyline catching your eye, you could feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Something– Someone was watching you.

You span around. Darting your eyes all over the room trying to follow the shadows that flitted in your peripheral. There was movement. A lot of it. You could feel it in the air. But god forbid, you couldn’t see a single thing. You started to shuffle backwards and attempted to control your breathing but it was a fight against your lungs that you were already losing.

Your back hit something cold and solid, and it was not the window. Fingers grasped your arm and jerked you around.

“Hello chérie."

Yanking your arm away, you stepped out of reach and narrowed your eyes at the man in front of you.

“Sherloque.”

“It’s not very sensible to follow me when there’s a criminal on the prowl.”

Slowly, the detective began to circle you, like an animal stalking its prey. There was a look in his eyes that sent a chill down your back.

“Then again,” he continued, “something tells me it's not the criminal that has your attention, is it? No. You’ve had your eye on me ever since I arrived, studying me just as I study the case of Cicada. I’m afraid your interest has not gone unnoticed.”

The detective stopped right in front of you and leaned in, you could smell the bergamot on his breath.

“So, my curious little cat, what conclusions have you drawn from watching me?”

You wanted to take a step back. Or at least, you should’ve wanted to take a step back. The thought had definitely crossed your mind. However, the moment his icy blue eyes captured yours, you were fixated. You couldn’t even want to think about running away no matter how hard you tried.

God. Okay. You never intended this to be a big confrontation, but it was happening whether you liked it or not. Right here. Right now. Ignoring the croak in your voice, you mustered up as much confidence as you could and said what needed to be said.

“I think you’re a vampire.”

The phrase made Sherloque’s lips involuntarily widen into an indulgent smile.

“You think?” he teased.

“I know.”

He paused before replying, letting himself appreciate your firm tine. “And do tell, what exactly makes you so sure?”

Words fell out of your mouth, toppling over each other in a big, bumbling mess. Amongst the babbling you managed to get out some kind of accusation.

“Y-you don’t– You don’t have a reflection.”

“And?”

And? And… Shit. The more you tried to think, the harder it was to conjure up any of your memories. It was like that damned smirk of his was chasing away all the evidence you had collected over the months, and not in the usual flirtatious kind of way. He huffed, amused at the panic that had settled on your face – he was enjoying this too much. You weren’t sure what kind of mind games he was trying to play with you, but you weren’t going to stand for it.

“Stop it!”

His eyes glimmered.

“Stop what?”

“That stupid thing you’re doing with your eyes. You’re hypnotising me or something with your vampire powers. I know it.”

Sherloque innocently placed his hand on his chest. “Moi? Never.”

“Sherloque,” you warned.

The detective took a step back and the fog in your brain had been lifted. You could finally think clearly again, enough to see the two sharp fangs pointing out of Sherloque’s wide grin. Finally, you thought. Finally, something supernatural – and you figured it out without anyone else's help.

Sherloque leaned back against the window, folding his arms and softening his gaze. “You know,” he started, “I knew this was going to happen.”

You rolled your eyes. “No you didn’t.”

“I hoped this was going to happen. As I said, I've noticed your interest and it is… mutual.”

“Mutual? In what way?”

He shrugged. “You have a sharp eye for details, a master detective appreciates such a thing.”

“Uhuh, is that all?”

“Tu as un beau sourire que je ne peux pas quitter des yeux.”

“You know I don’t understand French.” You crossed your arms, hoping he wasn’t mumbling an insult.

Sherloque hesitated; a myriad of confessions lingered on the tip of his tongue. You were brave enough to confront him, but he wasn’t sure if he was brave enough to confront his own feelings, after all, he didn’t exactly have the best history with falling in love. Five Renee Adlers. All women who he once loved. All women who hated the shit out of him. He couldn’t stand the thought of you hating him like that.

A loud bang echoed down the corridor followed by heavy footsteps and shouting – one of the voices being recognisably Cisco. The footsteps soon stopped, but you both knew neither of you were safe standing in the middle of a big open area.

Your attention darted to the corridor, back to Sherloque, and then over his shoulder. The twinkling lights of the night skyline had diminished and the horizon was growing lighter and lighter by the second. He didn’t have to question you, the look on your face combined with the prickling feeling on the back of his neck told Sherloque everything he needed to know. You shifted your weight from one foot to the other.

“What do we do now?” you asked, watching the detective stiffen his back.

“What do you want to do?”

“For starters, I would like to leave this room alive.”

Sherloque scoffed. “Is that what you think of me? A murderer?”

“No! But–” you took a step forwards “–vampires need to drink blood right?”

“Oui, the longer you go without it the weaker you become, but a vampire can go many years without consuming blood before dying. And I can assure you, a well-experienced vampire can acquire more than enough blood without killing.”

Sherloque’s eyes were on yours, but you were positive that all his attention had moved to your neck. If he wanted to kill you he would have done it by now, but that didn’t mean you were completely safe. The others didn’t know about Sherloque’s secret for a reason, and now that you knew, you were a threat to that reason, and something had to be done about it.

The top of the sun began to peak over the horizon and Sherloque dropped the smug, in control act that he was playing. Quickly, he took your hand and took a step towards the door, hoping you would follow. You held his hand tightly and didn’t move an inch.

“Ma chérie, I cannot stay here,” he said desperately.

He could have yanked his hand away and left. He could have pulled you off your feet and dragged you out of the room if he really wanted to. But no. He wanted you to come with him, and he wanted you to come willingly.

“I will not harm you, I promise.”

There was no glimmer in his eyes. No tricks being played. You glanced at the sun rising and a part of you wondered if Sherloque would let the sun burn hum just so he could stay with you a little longer. Your stomach grew uneasy at the thought of watching that happen. Turning back to the detective, you nodded and let him lead you out of the room, away from the harsh rays of light spilling through the windows.

Trying to avoid running into the metahuman problem, you avoided loud noises coming from the lifts and found yourselves in one of STAR Lab’s many abandoned, windowless storage rooms. The lights had yet to be changed into LEDs like the rest of the building, but to your surprise they had no trouble turning on when you flicked the switch and filled the room with a gentle, orange glow. There wasn’t any furnishing, nowhere to sit down, nothing to hide behind. It was a long, empty, concrete box with Sherloque standing at one end, and you at the other.

“I know vampires are supposed to be pale,” you said, “but now that we’re in proper light, you look really pale.”

"Oui. It has been a few months since I last fed." You could feel his eyes on your neck again. "It has been taxing."

“Then why haven’t you found a uh– meal?”

“I may not be human, but I would like to consider myself not a monster.”

“You haven’t found anyone willing.” You bit your lip and averted your gaze. A terrible idea wormed its way into your head. A terrible, stupid idea. The kind that you would read about in your beloved vampire novels.

“Non, not on this earth.” Keeping his eyes on you, Sherloque made his way to the middle of the room. “Not yet, anyway.”

You took a small step towards him. “I suppose you’d be quicker at catching Cicada if you were at full strength, right?”

The detective smiled softly at you. He didn’t need any vampire powers to know what you were thinking. “Ma chérie, if I took enough blood to be at my full strength, you would be very ill for a long time.”

Feeling like a silly teen trying to charm your way into trouble, you took a few more steps closer, just out of arm's reach, and flicked your eyes back up at him. “Then I’ll be in need of someone to take care of me.”

Sherloque hummed as he considered your offering. Oh yes. He could definitely take good care of you. And it would certainly give him more time to think up a charming way of telling you how he truly felt about you.

“Very well, mon amour. I promise I shall take care of you, afterwards,” he said as his eyes darkened with hunger. “If you are sure?”

“I’m sure.”

It all happened so quickly. Before you knew it, Sherloque had closed the gap between the two of you, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you so close against his chest that you swore, even if he didn’t have enhanced senses, he could hear how fast your heart was beating. He cupped your cheek gently and tilted your head to the side, eyeing up your warm veins. Leaning in, his chilled lips pressed against your hot neck, sucking the spot he had decided on. He lingered, letting his teeth graze the tender bruise he made.

You shuddered feeling his hot breath, and for a split second, you felt those survival instincts of yours telling you to run. Momentarily, you closed your eyes and buried those feelings, trying to focus on Sherloque instead. His nose brushing against your skin. His arms squeezing around your side. His hand on your jaw with his thumb stroking your cheek. Knowing that there was no turning back now made your insides fizz with anxious excitement.

He pulled back just enough to look at you, as if to ask for your permission one last time. You could feel your heart thumping in your head, so loud that if you opened your mouth, you were sure it would be the only sound that would come out. Clenching your jaw to keep yourself composed, you gave Sherloque a reassuring smile. Yes. You have my permission. He smiled back and his eyes glimmered. Just like it happened in the lounge, a foggy haze blanketed your mind, making everything feel like a dream. You didn’t think getting your blood drunk would be painful enough to warrant hypnosis, but you weren’t going to complain about a little bit of supernatural painkiller.

Even under Sherloque’s spell, you could tell that something changed in his eyes. The soft, cold look was overcome with lust, and his lips spread open, revealing those two inhumanly sharp fangs of his. Once more, the vampire leaned into your neck.

You gasped as his teeth pierced your skin with a painless, but sharp pressure. Despite the hypnosis, there was still a small part of your brain that was alert and trying to send you signals that something dangerous was happening. No matter how much you tried, you couldn’t stop from instinctively flinching away, but Sherloque pulled you back, holding you so tightly that you could barely wiggle. Once you were secure in his grip, he continued.

The fangs pulled away, but the lips stayed put. Sherloque licked the blood from your neck, and as soon as it reached the back of his throat, the months of thirst he endured hit him all at once. Suddenly he couldn’t help himself. You were too good. The licking turned into desperate sucking which caused the two of you to stumble. With your back hitting the nearest wall, you let out a whimper and grabbed a fist full of Sherloque’s wavy hair to steady yourself. Usually, the detective was very particular about how his hair looked, but right now he was far too drunk on your blood to care.

You weren’t sure how long it had lasted, but finally, Sherloque pulled away. The moment his arms left you, your legs buckled. Your vision was unfocused and Sherloque was a blur, moving quickly to catch you and softly sit you on the floor. His arms felt much stronger than what you remembered. Kneeling in front of you, he pulled off his scarf and wrapped it around your neck, tying it just enough to stop the bleeding – he’d see to it medically when you were properly safe. Seeing your glazed eyes trying to focus on him, Sherloque cupped your face with both his hands and gently guided your attention towards him. You wanted to rub your eyes, but your arms felt impossibly heavy to lift, so you settled on blinking until your vision cleared up and you could actually look at the man in front of you. His pupils were dilated, his once-pale skin was flushed with lively colour, and his lips were wet and red, stained with blood that smeared down his chin.

“Hmm, you… You look…” you mumbling trailed off.

"Just relax chérie, you won't be able to function normally for a few weeks. Best not to force it."

A door a few corridors away slammed, followed by Cisco shouting. The noises echoed painfully in your ears as they grew closer to your hiding place.

“I can say for certain,” he stood up, whipped out a handkerchief to clean his face, and then straightened his clothes, “you’ve given me more than enough blood to deal with our intruder. Wait here. Once I return, I shall get you home and take care of you, just as I promised.”

You wanted to object to being left alone, but with a smile and a wink, Sherloque left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

A few minutes passed and the sound of the intruder stopped. You waited for Sherloque to come waltzing back to you, but all you received was silence. A few more minutes passed, and you grew restless. It shouldn’t be taking so long. You made yourself wait a little longer, but the silence was torture. He really should be back by now. A few more minutes and… No. No more minutes. No more waiting. Sure, you were too weak to walk, but you weren’t a damsel in distress, you weren’t going to just sit still in an empty storage room all by yourself. Using the wall, you pushed yourself forwards onto your hands and knees and slowly shuffled towards the door. Your head spun as you moved, but you carried on, determined to find out what was going on.

Aside from Cisco, no one knew what the power the metahuman has, so for all you knew, Sherloque could be in danger. Or maybe Cisco was being overpowered and he was in danger. Or maybe everyone was in danger and you were their only hope of survival. Or maybe everything was perfectly fine and you were worrying about nothing. You really hoped the latter was true because you didn’t need a detective to deduce that you weren’t going to be much help in a fight right now.

You reached the door and strained to lift your arm. Curling your fingers around the door handle, you used your weight to gracelessly heave it open, narrowly avoiding the door swinging into your face. The corridor was dark and empty. No Cisco. No handsome detective. Struggling for breaths, you managed to lean yourself against the doorframe, thrilled at your small accomplishment. You let out a huff, eyes growing tired of staying open. Wherever your dashing vampire was, he better come back for you soon, and he better not be injured.

The hypnotising thing Sherloque did had started to wear off, making you hyper aware of your arms and knees aching, and your neck stinging like hell. Vampire romance novels never mentioned how much being bitten would feel like… well, like being bitten. Something told you that there was a lot about vampires that vampire romance novels don’t mention. For example, it really sucked to wait for what felt like a million stupid years for one of them to come back for you.

A loud look over here kind of cough snapped you out of your miserable thought spiral.

Your head shot up, the movement causing your stomach to swirl and turn, but you were too overwhelmed and excited to care. Finally! Sherloque walked over to you and crouched by your feet. He was a lot less easy to focus on now, but still just as nice to look at.

“Hello trouble. I found Cisco and we put the metahuman in the pipeline. He is dealing with the mess that was made, and I have come to finally take you home–” Sherloque looked at you, then at the open door, then back at you with an amused smile. “Je suis désolé. Was the wait too long for you to handle?”

You opened your mouth, but the back of your throat was too dry to make a quip. Oh. That��s right. The grand trials and tribulations of trying to speak. You swallowed and spoke with as much determination as you could muster.

“You,” you started, your voice hoarse and sore, “were gone–”

“Oui. But I returned, just as I promised.”

“Gone f-for hours!”

Sherloque knitted his eyebrows and frowned, looking down at his pocket watch. He turned it to face you.

“No. I was gone for approximately twelve minutes.”

Suddenly, the detective’s hands were all over you. Face. Shoulders. Neck. Sherloque wasn’t a doctor, but you sat as still as you could and let the man carry out his examination. He promised to take care of whatever state he had left you in, but a part of you was still hoping that your state would be more breakfast in bed and less hospital gown. You attempted to take a slow deep breath, trying to make yourself as calm as the face you were looking at seemed to be, but what you ended you with was shaky and abrupt.

Sherloque stopped and sweetly held you by the shoulders – you could feel the new warmth of his hands through your clothes.

“You’ll be just fine.” His voice was soft and soothing. “I’ll get you home, make you something to eat to get some strength back into you, maybe make some tea to help you sleep– Hey. Hello? Chérie, look at me.”

You didn’t even notice it at first, but everytime you closed your eyes, it was getting increasingly difficult to open them again. With all your aches and pains, you were beyond exhausted. It would be so easy to close your eyes and drift off–

“I need you to stay awake for me,” Sherloque spoke in a slightly raised tone to keep your attention on him. “You can sleep as soon as I get you in bed. But until then, I need you to keep your eyes open. Okay?”

You mumbled that you’d try your best, and then the next few moments were a complete blur.

Sherloque had gotten you home… somehow. The details didn’t bother you, you were just happy to finally be home. Sherloque didn’t spare any time to start living up to that promise he made. He attentively tended to your wound, helped you change into pyjamas, and ushered you to bed. It wasn’t until after you had devoured his homemade soup did you lie down to sleep.

You tossed. You turned. You were exhausted beyond all means, but no amount of closing your eyes and hiding under the covers was helping you to fall asleep. Tor-ture. Grumbling, you rubbed your eyes and sat up. It wasn’t that long ago that you were struggling to stay awake. Penance from the universe for finding pleasure in aiding a vampire perhaps? No. He may have been smug, but Sherloque was a good vampire – Your vampire.

“Everything alright?”

Speak of the devil. You looked up at the detective leaning against your doorway and pouted.

“Can’t sleep.”

“No?”

“I know it’s the middle of the day, but my room is more than dark enough with my curtains closed. It’s like I'm too tired to be tired,” You said. “How does that make sense?”

“I bit you. There must still be adrenaline in your body.” Sherloque strolled over to sit by the side of your bed. “Your brain is still in fight or flight mode, bien-aimée, you need to relax.”

“Bien-ahh, uh–”

“Bien-aimée.”

“Bien-aimée,” you slowly repeated . “That’s a new one. What does it mean?”

Beloved.

Sherloque turned his head to look out the window and hummed.

“Maybe I will teach you some French when you get better.” He quickly kicked off his shoes and turned back to you. “But for now, you need to relax and you need to sleep.”

The detective swiftly slid under the covers. You opened and closed your mouth, deciding not to protest, and instead shuffled to make enough room for Sherloque to sit comfortably next to you. For once, you were glad for your small double bed; the lack of space pulling the two of you together, making Sherloque putting his arm around you feel like a natural advancement – the kind you had been trying to hype yourself up to make ever since you got home.

Somehow, asking a vampire to bite you was less nerve wracking than trying to cuddle up and relax with one. At least when you were running around STAR Labs you had adrenaline and the imposing threat of being hunted by a metahuman to motivate you. Now that the waters had settled, there was nothing to mask the fact that you had just ran head first into some kind of relationship with a detective vampire from another earth who you were half assuming was going to kill you when he found out you were investigating him.

You leaned into Sherloques side, rested your head against his shoulder. Perhaps it was better not to think too hard about these things. It wasn’t exactly like you were looking to get married the next day, just some good company and some well needed sleep. Feeling Sherloque relax under you, you closed your eyes tight, focusing on his thumb softly rubbing against your arm. The tiredness was really catching up to you now. With the cool, calm darkness granted to you via your black out curtains, and the warm embrace of your duvet wrapped around you and Sherloque, falling asleep no longer felt impossible.

“Relax and sleep,” you mumbled, “I think I can do that.”

Sherloque rested his head on top of yours, listening to the slow rhythm of your breathing. Why on earth he decided to get in bed with you was beyond him. He was so desperate to change the subject that he didn’t give himself time to think about what he was doing. Idiot. Whatever happened to avoiding another Renee Adler situation? They had all moved on but the memories of them – or more so, the memories of the mistakes he made with them – stuck to him like chewing gum in hair.

With a deep sigh, Sherloque closed his eyes. You weren’t her. You weren’t any version of her. But that didn’t stop him from assuming he’d screw things up with you like he had done over and over again with Renee. There was a chance that she and him just weren’t meant to be, but there was another, greater chance that any relationship with Sherloque just wasn’t meant to be – the latter scared him more than direct sunlight ever could. He hoped to God that you were feeling relaxed because inside his head was far from it.

To save your sleep schedule from becoming vamperic, you had planned to sleep until the sun had risen again, but it was quarter to midnight when you woke up. You almost weren't sure that you had woken up as you had to pry your eyelids open from deep sleep only to be met with darkness. Sherloque was lying flat on his back and you were still by his side, head still on his shoulder, limbs half sprawled out over him. All your joints ached and the pressure in your head persisted – perhaps it was a good thing that you woke up in the dark because oversleeping left you just as groggy as you felt when you got home.

“Beloved.”

You flinched. It made sense that the vampire next to you was awake during the night, but he was so still and you were so sleepy from waking up that it never got close to crossing your mind. You angled your head to look up at the outline of Sherloques Jaw.

“Huh?”

“Bien-aimée,” Sherloque said gently, staring at the ceiling. “It means beloved.”

The words tingled as you repeated them in your head. Beloved. Beloved. Beloved.

“Sherloque,” you breathed, “have you been calling me pet names this whole time?”

“Perhaps.”

It didn’t take vampire night vision to see the guilty, smug smile on his face; you bit your lower lip to hide a similar, bashful smile from appearing on your own. Sure. He noticed you noticing him. He took a liking to you. He flirted, bit, and then slept beside you. But it never occurred to you that he had been pining for you far longer than you had been for him. Not trusting the dark to conceal your flustered expression, you turned and smushed your face into Sherloques chest.

“Bien-aimée,” he said gleefully, squeezing his arms around you, “my fondness for you is not new information.”

Despite the tiredness and Sherloques chest muffling your voice, your laugh was undeniably embarrassed. “This. Whole. Time. Sherloque. Why didn’t you say anything?”

The pressure of Sherloques arms slightly loosened, and you were once again thankful for the dark hiding both your face from him and his face from you. Whatever he was thinking of, it wasn’t good, that you were certain of.

Renee. He had to get over it. You weren’t another repeated, doomed relationship. You were new. You were brilliant. And right now you were his and he couldn’t give that up, not for people who lived on different earths and didn’t even understand him properly.

Your heart was beating fast, and Sherloque couldn’t stand feeling his silence weigh you down any longer.

“A relationship with a vampire isn’t an easy one,” he finally said.

“No relationship is.”

“But especially with me.”

Taking your time as to not worsen your headache, you propped yourself up on your elbows so Sherloque could see your face.

“I’m not one to back down from a challenge, whether it’s supernatural, investigative–” you looked at the uncertainty in Sherloque’s bright, blue eyes “–or emotional. I’m strong enough to work through anything, and I’m sure you are too.”

Your eyes had bags but they were full of so much more life than they were when he first brought you home. If he wanted you to carry on looking at him like that, he’d have to move on. He would move on.

“My dear, if you believe I am strong enough–” Sherloque smiled at you softly “–then I am strong enough.”

“Good.”

You smiled brightly and leaned forwards, capturing his soft, warm lips with a kiss.

French translations:

Ma chérie: My dear

Moi: Me

Tu as un beau sourire que je ne peux pas quitter des yeux: You have a beautiful smile that I can't take my eyes off

Oui: Yes

Non: No

Je suis désolé: I'm sorry

Bien-aimée: Beloved

#the flash fanfiction #sherloque wells x reader #harrison wells x reader #x reader

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theswordwizard · 3 months

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screenshotting for use instead of forcing them to see hella tags but as someone who has a constant background of narration around special interests going on in their head which eventually will start to run out of "canon compliant" possibilities and start experimenting with crossovers: this is why I struggled for a bit to do a coherent plotty crossover between daredevil and nbc's hannibal. this is another rambling "for me and literally two other people with my interests and way too interested in meta-compliancy" post:

basically: daredevil and nbc's hannibal have conflicting main themes in ways where they don't as easily synthesize into a new coherent theme. nbc hannibal basically amounts to: what does it take for a person to become a 'monster,' or otherwise transform into a version of themselves that would be a terrifying stranger to them previously. and it sort of frames it as... not necessarily a power fantasy, but it frames trauma as something powerfully transformative. you become a version of yourself that can survive/thrive/take control in the hell you've ended up in. you will surprise yourself what you are capable of doing when it's your only option. but at the same time, its a sort of "succumbing" to your situation.

daredevil is almost antithetical to this. matt's whole thing can kinda be summed up as "even after everything, it's still you." you can go through any amount of trauma and still be able to recognize yourself after. you can stick to your principles even when pushed to the limit and come out alive, and being able to do so is important. he IS his principles, and even though he constantly falls short of himself, his struggle is a definitive trait of his. whenever he starts to abandon his principles is always tied to him losing his sense of self.

he cannot win (in the long run) if he abandons who he is, even if it's only an internal struggle. it's especially prevalent in the comics where basically whenever he abandons his principles he has a bit of a flip-out and tries to abandon "matt murdock" entirely, and then struggles to maintain whatever new identity he takes and has a whole identity crisis/mental breakdown. his strength is his stubbornness and refusal to remain fallen from his standard of self.

so obviously, one of these themes need to bend so far it breaks when put together. put matt in range of the BAU/Hannibal's house and its the big book vs thin book meme. in part because matt's biggest struggles in his narratives are against structural violence and systems (not to mention... the smells...). "there's this one evil guy causing 90% of the problems" is again basically antithetical to matt's narratives, or are at the most just his weakest plots.

ALSO, a lot of the murders in hannibal get treated as combinations of three categories (by Hannibal, who I would say has the most Thematic Influence over the show): 1) they basically deserved it and they were better off being dead in whatever form than alive (mason, mischa's killer), 2) what the killer gained from their death was more important than their life (sorta the case of melissa, her death being the photo negative so will could understand the ripper), 3) their death was important to the killed person, they were only able to ascend or transcend something in their death (many of the ripper victims and general murder victims.)

Basically "agreeing" with Hannibal, or adopting his viewpoint, (or basically being 'seduced' by the story) requires viewing deaths in those three ways. It requires a sort of dissociation with the reality of a person dying in any practical matter. any death becomes metaphor and symbolic, and the symbol is more important than the ending of life, it transcends it. this also doesn't rock with matt's themes.

even if you go serial killer AU matt's relationship with violence, and the temptation of committing murder, is based around practicality. it's that killing would technically be the most efficient way of stopping someone from hurting other people ever again. it's how he could cut through the red tape and financial security that protects fisk or fisk's stand-in, the way they've manipulated systems of supposed justice to hurt people (and specifically innocents), and just end it for good. obv in cases where that does happen (by his hand or others) it again leans into the fact that there is no single bogeyman that can be killed to stop evil or whatever. if fisk dies, there is a replacement to that power vacuum, if matt steps into that role to try and control it, he fails miserably.

hannibal approaches the seduction of murder with: and it's actually awesome? while daredevil approaches it with: it won't actually help you, and it won't fix anything. you will only destroy yourself. both of the (shows at least) fixations on catholicism also have parallel approaches with hannibal encouraging you to become your own god and daredevil reminding you that you aren't. will is basically betrayed by his friends and community while matt is consistently supported by his.

ultimately, nbc hannibal is very metaphorical and artsy and pretentious (i say lovingly) while daredevil is like. How Would Superpowers Effect The Local Law Economy.

#i almost made this also about why alternia AU for daredevil would be based #but this is way too long already #and i kinda wrote a bit about it in a prev post #but basically it transforms the theme of 'how can systems of justice that tend to fail still be used to help people'#into 'what if your only system of justice was inherently evil'#WHICH IS AWESOME #daredevil #hannibal #posting this without rereading any of it i already spent too much time on this #no read more Read My Post Boy #varcahs speaks

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lunar-years · 8 months

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would love to hear your thoughts on the team bullying/forgiving jamie in s2, in particular what you disliked about it. imo i think sam’s treatment was harsh but not at all undeserved, while others like colin and isaac were a bit twisted considering they fully participated in the prick-ish behaviour in s1. and the whole led tasso bit was entertaining to watch, but it really reveals how problematic ted’s hands-off approach to conflict can be. to the point where ted refuses to refer jamie (and later on isaac) to speak with sharon, and never fully acknowledge’s each player’s feelings.

There was a really good meta I saw on this topic the other day that i cannot for the life of me find in my tags to link here. But yeah, there are definitely things I disliked about it! For me it's less about the players than about the leadership & Ted. I actually think the players reactions/responses mostly make sense. It's a bit weird, like you said, that EVERYONE suddenly hates him when half the team was literally participating in and/or endorsing him in season 1 (remember that episode where the team is split into two factions and one of them is Jamie's? lol. Like it wasn't even just Isaac and Colin participating in the behavior, it was half the team). However I can see that their opinion of Jamie might have changed given distance and their own growth.

Also, we don't really see any instances of Jamie publicly bashing his old team apart from singling out Ted and Roy, but apparently at one point he was off calling Colin a jaundiced warm to his hometown newspaper, so yeah I can see why that might've left a lingering bad taste in his mouth. Also the boys have gotten used to Richmond without him at that point, and it HAS been a much better environment, so I think it'd be easy to overlook that they were actually sort of starting to like him at the bonfire the night before he went back to Manchester (which was ultimately only just one night), in favor of focusing on all the times he was made the locker room worse. Also, there's probably a bit of misplacing their hatred for their past selves onto Jamie because it's easier to shift that blame around a bit than accept their own culpability in the bullying. Just like it's easier to blame relegation on Jamie, because he's there to blame, then on their own shortcomings in the game. Is it a bit unfair to Jamie? Sure. But it's realistic and I don't mind it.

Actually the only one I'm a bit ??? about is Dani, because he was absolutely getting along with Jamie in Two Aces even despite Jamie's prickish exterior. Dani hadn't even been around long enough to be negatively impacted by Jamie's effect on the locker room culture so? what gives? I also don't see him bandwagoning on just because everyone else hates him (which does make sense when jan does it hahah). So it's very weird to me that he holds as much of a grudge as everyone else, lol.

The biggest issue for me is (once again. woop.) Ted. Because he didn't want to get rid of Jamie in the first place. He was in fact IRATE when Jamie was sent away, and got into his first real argument with Rebecca over it, that's how upset he was. So why is he soo hesitant, suddenly, to let Jamie come back? His whole speech to Jamie at the Crown & Anchor makes me uncomfortable, because the whole "You burned a lot of bridges" thing doesn't even add up to the real reason Jamie was sent away and totally dismisses the progress he had already started to make before leaving. It seems to reiterate that Jamie was sent away because he'd been Bad and Done Something Wrong. Sent away after he'd in fact had a significant breakthrough with the team. No wonder Jamie is confused. Ted is crossing all kinds of wires and it's ??? Not to mention that he tells Sam Jamie isn't coming back, then brings Jamie back seemingly without even pulling Sam aside and explaining to him circumstances have changed, Jamie is coming back, and why. It's one thing to have told Sam and then change your mind. It's another thing for Sam to tell you he's upset at you for withholding information, explain that's not the case, then go and do the thing you JUST assured Sam you wouldn't: not consult the team re: Jamie. Idk, the whole thing rubs me the wrong way.

Ted having a conversation with the team beforehand, explaining why Jamie is coming back, would've already gone a long way to help Jamie, instead of just springing him on them and throwing him to the wolves. Led Tasso was typical hands-off Ted problem solving, and it's a funny comedy show bit but not exactly an appropriate workplace solution, is it? I might not mind it so much if it wasn't the start of a pattern of behavior where Jamie needs help, asks for help, and then is like...ignored or gone around or "acknowledged" and not helped. it happens with his return to the team, it happens with Roy refusing to coach him, it happens with fucking Zava. And it's extremely annoying that the team leadership fails him specifically again and again. ugh.

Re: Sharon/therapy and referring the boys, that one is soooo mixed up in ted's own mental health stuff I'm willing to give it a pass. of course Ted's not to going to refer players to see her when he doesn't see what she does as helpful and doesn't respect therapy as a possible tool/solution.

#ted lasso #ted lasso critical #ch: ted lasso #jamie tartt #richmond himbos #asks

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steddielations · 10 months

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Fic Masterlist & Nav

Indelicate on Ao3 • Writing Tag • Twitter

Steddie Ficlets • Headcanons • Moodboards

Fic Rec Tag • Joe Tag • ST Meta Tag

Incorrect Steddie Series • Hit Posts

Trouble Looks Good On You (E, wip)

🍒 Steve keeps accidentally awakening Eddie’s new kinks.

A Cup of Good Intentions (T)

☕ Wayne gets suspicious about what really happened to Eddie when he notices that Steve Harrington keeps taking his mugs.

Melt Me On Your Tongue (E)

🫧 Eddie's never had a Steve before.

I Wish I Knew You Wanted Me (T)

🧣 Steve finds out why Eddie likes wearing his clothes so much.

Bleed Me Dry Before You Go (T)

❤️‍🩹 Eddie refuses to cry in Steve Harrington’s kitchen.

Lay All Your Love on Me (E, Steddie Dads Series)

🩵 Steve and Eddie have baby fever.

Summer Baby (T)

☀️ Steve’s never really had a birthday, so Eddie gives him one.

My Favorite Form of Loving (T, Steddie Dads Series)

📚 Steve and Eddie’s daughter is starting school, and their four year old is the only one being an adult about it.

You're The Right Kinda Madness (T, Steddie Dads Series)

🎃 Steve and Eddie are determined not to ruin Halloween for their daughter again.

Until We Fall (T, wip)

🔐 It starts with a drunken night and a plan that Steve can’t remember making, but Eddie sure does.

Dream Boy (T)

🎸 Steve goes to see Eddie’s band play and finally finds what he’s been looking for.

#finally made one of these #no one make fun of my old posts and fics that wasn’t me #steddie #rueswriting

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desultory-novice · 9 months

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I will 1000% ask about how your Meta-Knight ain't got no common sense :D Please, explain in detail.

Before I start, I want it to be known - Meta Knight is among my top favorite characters. He WAS my favorite character before I got hyper-attached to the tricksters.

That said, I do not put him on the same pedestal most of the rest of the fandom (??) does. And I mean that lovingly. I'm all about having as many different interpretations of characters as possible. So if everyone else's Meta Knights are the smartest member of the main team, that's cool!

But I didn't grow up with the anime, where Meta Knight was the mentor and holder of the only braincell. I grew up with Kirby's Adventure where Meta Knight flings his mercenary group at you while also throwing you Invincibility Candy like he's meme Tuxedo Mask! And he's doing all this AFTER having been entrusted with a piece of the Star Rod by Dedede to stop Dream Land from being consumed by the literal incarnation of Nightmares!!

...Very responsible. :nod nod:

And Revenge of Meta Knight! As can be pointed out, Meta Knight is close enough with Dedede to be entrusted with a piece of the Star Rod and the secret of Dark Nebula's sealed treasure chest, but somehow, in-between these two events, he just randomly decides to START A COUP?! And it's because he thinks random military action will make the Dream Landers abandon their lazy ways!

I really don't think highly of the Return to Dream Land novelization but there's a scene early on where Kirby and Meta Knight are trying to talk down some enemies "peaceably" but the second one of them makes a single misstep, Meta Knight draws his sword like it's a fork at an all-you-can-eat buffet and immediately wants to DESTROY these two goons just because someone said the word "fight."

This one is more of a personal interpretation, but I laugh every time when fighting Meta Knight in Kirby's Epic Yarn because it just feels like every time you snatch the CLEARY EVIL sword away from him, he just grabs the next one without even thinking! (I mean, more likely it just takes him over while he's still fighting off the possession, but I can't imagine Meta Knight would refuse a sword even if it was labeled "Massively Evil - Do Not Touch.")

And he builds the Buddy Fight Tower with Dedede. I want to emphasize that. That wasn't Dedede saying he wants to build a 99-floor tower to fight Kirby and Meta Knight trying and failing to stop him. No, you can bet Meta was on board the whole time. The end credits make it clear they were always in this together.

He's Dedede's Sworn Partner. Not his Smart Partner.

I know I've made some comments about Meta in Amazing Mirror too in regards to the treatment of Dark Meta Knight. One possible interpretation I put forth, based on DMK's crazy pause lore is that Dark Meta Knight has been around for mu~ch longer than the plot of KatAM and yet Meta Knight thought it was cool to just keep a lid on the whole "parallel universe with my blood-thirsty combat-crazed doppleganger running around. Oh yeah, he can also LEAVE said parallel universe at will and has power over prismatic light and can split things into four but again, no need to warn anyone about that. I'll go off to smack him around myself and not tell anyone."

Meta Knight is kinda cringe. He's a big, huge dork. He thinks he knows what he's doing but he doesn't. You know how he likes books? And likes to read? So he's smart?!?

I point you to the Sweet Dreams, Kirby book where Meta Knight shows up with a friggin' encyclopediaat some UNGODLY hour of night and asks Kirby - KIRBY - if he WANTS TO READ WITH HIM!!

No wonder Kirby doesn't grace that with a response.

Meta Knight is... kinda dumb. I'm sorry~! I love him as much as the rest of you do. I really, truly do. But he's a silly bat...

As for Marx's placement, to re-iterate what I wrote in the tags, Marx may have thought to wish on a planet-sized pocket watch to be able to do mischief all day long with no consequences, but at least he kept his plans to himself. He didn't linger around and get all chatty and give reasons for Kirby or the others to get suspicious.

He followed Kirby discretely, waited until THE perfect moment, backstabbed (back-kicked) Kirby into space and made his wish. Marx would have won if not for the Sparkle Stars saving Kirby's life AND providing him with a ship. And that was damn well nearly a deus ex machina save!

After Marx gets blown up and turned into meat spaghetti, the next time we see him, he's suddenly all playing nicey-nice with Kirby and friends! "Look! I'm a good guy now! Mwee hee hee!" But it's because he knows that Kirby can and will defeat him if he acts up. That Kirby will defy all logic to do it. As he has before.

...Marx learned his lesson FAST. Thus, why I judge him smart.

He is terminally silly though.

#Kirby #Meta Knight #Marx Kirby #Dess Text Post

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norcumii · 1 year

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SPOILERS AHEAD FOR D20′S NEVERAFTER

(This was started the weekend after the finale, then my spoons ran away for awhile. -_-; Hopefully this is coherent anyways, even if late.)

I have been...struggling with this season of Dimension 20. As we’ve gone from episode to episode, I keep coming back to the issue of foundational rules – not in the sense of mechanics of world-building, but the thematic underpinnings and models. You’re telling a story about stories. We have these elements of horror and free-will; themes of consumption and corruption; cycles and multi-verses.

And I haven’t been able to tie it all together. My metaphorical wall-chart of photos and string has been an unending tangled mess (and my brain staunchly refuses to stop fixating on Aesop’s Mouse and Lion, aka the mascots of Disney and MGM so obviously that’s been a heel-turn of Capitalism waiting to happen >_>). After the finale I just sat there blinking for a bit, feeling like that certainly was a thing that had happened, but what did it all MEAN?????

There wasn’t anything that felt wrong with what happened, but there wasn’t any narrative logic I could grasp, no themes to tie things together other than “things are better now and what people chose for themselves” which is...nice, but vague enough to be unfulfilling. I couldn’t find anything to the Adventuring Party episode to help, so in growing frustrating I went browsing through the related tags on the tumbls.

This deceptively simple post broke me because it explained matters so well. It’s trauma. The whole season, all the horror and meta themes are about trauma. Suddenly all the oddly shaped puzzle pieces I couldn’t stop pawing at fit.

This is why the dark times began in the first place. People worried so much about trauma that they managed to traumatize themselves. Look how Sleeping Beauty’s vines literally smothered her in an attempt to protect her. All these population centers withdrew from each other, borders closed between the various kingdoms, and thus people pulled away from the potential for community support – everyone was left to struggle and fall on their own.

It wasn’t what I originally thought, some nebulous fear of fear itself inevitably leading to the darkside nonsense, but instead how we isolate ourselves into our little echo chambers – each person caught up in their story and their story alone. How we become mired in those events/trauma until one’s entire life is framed around That Horrible Thing What Happened At One Point In My Life.

Which in turn addresses the Authors – as a storyteller myself, I was mighty uncomfy with the presentation of the Authors as a unified bloc of uncaring eldritch horrors from beyond that only wanted the suffering of their playthings. I couldn’t figure if I was picking up on the wrong vibe, or if this was one of those learning moments where “if you’re uncomfy that might be ‘cause it hits too close to home and you need to sit with that for a bit to chew it over” or whatever. With the trauma context, it makes sense. On the one hand, the Authors are the external force: just like the characters, they’ve been corrupted by the fear of the Dark Times, and thus spreading that to their creations, which spread it back to them, etc. On the other they are very much an internal force: when we are traumatized, we tell ourselves stories to contextualize what happened. That can be done in a healthy way – this is one of the reasons we tell stories to begin with – or one can become mired in that narrative, telling and retelling it while fixating on the worst parts (that fear of the Dark Times thing again) until all that one sees is the worst iteration.

Which is why there was the multiverse aspect, and why each one could/did get worse. For that matter, it addresses the evolution of Pib’s minis, which baffled me when they were revealed. He begins as the dapper rogue, then becomes the hardened stray, then the scared little cat. Trauma wears at people, and oftentimes the immediate reaction is to withdraw, to be emotionally distant and appear tough – Rather like Zac’s choices on how Pib changed between incarnations. From there its so easy to get ground down further, into something so tired and hurting that it’s difficult to expect anything other than to be hurt further. Or look at Rosamund, increasingly isolated by her briars, which are choking her as they “lovingly” work to protect her from the big bad scary world – until she is puppeted by them.

Honestly, a lot of character choices make a lot more sense. Ylfa’s separation, how she believed that “the girl kept holding the wolf back.” The Stepmother’s everything, exemplifying that old saying about how “hurt people hurt people,” and a classic example of how easy it is to repeat generational trauma, especially when you don’t have a model for other ways to approach matters. The princesses’ utter nihilism, the exhausted desperation to just have the suffering stop. The fairies as the well-meaning but misguided faction endorsing placating the/a source of trauma to keep things from getting worse is all too familiar of those caught up in traumatic cycles but want to exercise some, any kind of autonomy. Meanwhile look at how Rapunzel grew able to lash out at literally everyone, and how she was utterly honest without ever needing to be truthful. How so many people just needed to rest in Mother Goose’s book, to get some reprieve from the relentless cycle of trauma (and how it helped them, and in return helped the party).

This explains the horrible Worst Case ending that was mentioned in the Adventuring Party: the Stepford Wives society of terrifying seeming-perfection crystallizing everyone into a semblance of how Everything Is Fine, Nothing Is Wrong, and no lessons are learned, no changes can be made, and the core is often rotting away unseen. All too often, society pressures us to pretend trauma didn’t happen, or that it wasn’t so bad. (How many times have you heard that PTSD is only for military folks, or those who survived massive natural disasters or whathaveyou?) The lesson we internalize is to pretend that all is peachy-keen, no problems whatsoever, and when that happens the trauma is never addressed. One can’t heal if all your energies are devoted to keeping up the facade of an idyllic existence. To be stuck in that cycle is indeed pretty apt for the worst end of a horror season.

Of course, this leads to the big question: what makes the players different? HOW did they manage to break the cycle? By literally crafting a new narrative – by allowing EVERYONE to make their own, new narrative, to shed the weight and burden of generational trauma. Some of them, like Pinocchio, had already internalized their own story – in his case, that meant taking up the terrifying responsibility of autonomy, taking up his own strings and destiny. Pinocchio learned and understood his story, stepping forward to not be ruled by his past experiences – like Gerard, choosing to leave his humanity and stop chasing the old goals that everyone said he should desire. Even though they both grieved the loss of that goal, and all the ramifications of leaving those hopes behind – even as it meant accepting the scars and changes it wrought upon them – it helped them and others in their stories break out of the cycle of trauma.

Stories are doorways to other places – sometimes a temporary haven in someplace better, where no matter how bad things get, there is a ‘happily’ at the end of it. Sometimes they’re models of how things could be horrible, and we can learn how others deal with grief/tragedy/horror – so we in turn can acquire those skills and life lessons. Vicarious experiences can help mitigate/understand trauma, and somehow, without me even noticing it, this season leaned wholeheartedly into it.

I think I need to rewatch it all through that lens, and tbh? I’m looking forward to it.

#dimension 20 #d20 #neverafter #neverafter spoilers #spoilers #meta #analysis #thinky thoughts #stories #story telling #trauma

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godtier · 3 months

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so i wasn't gonna make a separate post about this but @sapphire-weapon had a post (that i reblogged a few days ago) in which someone mentioned that they think it was a missed opportunity in RE6 for jake to not have spoken to wesker. i had a p long conversation with sirea about it and my thoughts about that sentiment, but it was also nearly 3 AM my time when that happened so i dunno if i was even articulating my thoughts properly lmao

and yes... this is technically a meta post and i know i said i was gonna do the mmx meta post first... but this one isn't gonna be nearly as long (i hope) and i gotta get the brainworms out before i die

(quick edit note: i reworded the list item below from saying he was "likely a drug addict" to "likely a recreational drug user" because i feel like that better encompasses what i'm trying to get across

(another edit note: i made another post regarding jake's usage of drugs that stemmed from this post! it's marked as mature bc of drug usage, so it won't show up in tag search. if you're interested in that, look here!)

so the idea that wesker being alive in OG RE6 would have brought an opportunity for jake's character is kinda, imo, antithetical to the purpose of jake's character in the first place.

when we meet jake, we know a few things about him, right off the bat:

he's a mercenary

he's likely a recreational drug user or at least heavy/risk-taking user

he doesn't give a fuck about anything but making money

his whole character journey is going from this selfish, money-focused dickhead to someone who actually cares about doing something good, just because it's the right thing to do. at the start, jake refuses to simply give his blood away when sherry mentions needing it for a vaccine. no, he wants a cash payout. 50 million dollery-doos for a pint of his blood. by the end, he lowers the price to a mere 50 dollars. one could argue that was symbolic and he actually didn't care if he was paid or not, but that's neither here nor there.

but why was he like this? because his childhood was shite; his mother was sickly, he had no father figure, and by 15-ish, jake had to learn how to hustle to keep food on the table. and by "hustle" i mean "do a bunch of mercenary work and killing people." and when shit went south with his little group of mercenaries (their entire group was sold out by a heel-turner), jake basically went "fuck alla y'all" and lost all sense of conviction or morals.

during the game, he expresses his bitterness for his father, wesker, pretty clearly. even though his mother still loved wesker, tried to raise jake to respect him despite never knowing him, it didn't matter to jake. he hated that guy. well, really, who doesn't?

we're not gonna talk about excella rn ok

jake's entire character arc is built up around this hatred as well as a subconscious fear of becoming his father. the fear part doesn't show up until later in the story, after he and sherry were captured by the Big Bad's organization. they were both experimented on for several months, during which jake overheard the researchers talking about his father, wesker. this gives jake a sort of "explanation" as to why he is the way he is; he takes the "nature" side of the nature vs nurture argument.

ofc sherry scolds his ass and basically tells him "grow up and take responsibility for your actions."

and here's the thing... this fear, narratively, works just fine without wesker being there.

(since this got obscenely long, pls continue below for the actual explanation lmao)

jake eventually comes to the conclusion that yeah no it's definitely up to him to not become wesker, not his genetics. he does this without wesker being there. that's the entire point of his character journey. in order for an interaction with wesker to even matter or have any sort of impact on jake's character arc, his character arc as a whole would need to change.

see, imo, wesker being there diminishes a lot of the power of that journey. in the game, he isn't there for jake to scream at, to question. all those thoughts in his head that might be circulating around, like why he left his mother, why he did what he did, etc, cannot be answered. this is not a bad thing in a character arc as this is shit that happens to people all the time. people don't always get the answers they may want from family members because those family members are dead. they have to learn to move on without those answers or they have to rely on people who knew that person to fill in the blanks. this is what jake already does in game. he has to rely on sherry, and by a smaller extent, chris, to fill in those blanks for him.

but we as players, observers of the narrative, already know the answers to some of those questions. why wesker did what he did, primarily. anything else is only pertinent to jake and him knowing those answers doesn't change anything for his character arc as it is.

if wesker was there in the game, what would that even add to jake's narrative? a scene where jake yells at his dad? asks him "why did you leave?" when wesker wasn't even aware that he had a kid in the first place? remember: wesker had no fucking idea that he had a child. there would be no reason for wesker to even believe jake in the first place. sure, there could be a scene where he goes "well i'll be damned, ig he really is my misfired chromosome," but... then what? what does that add?

you could argue that wesker could use jake, maybe try to manipulate him into doing shit for his plans, but... that wouldn't work with the way jake's characterization is mapped out. his entire characterization would have to change for this to work in a satisfying way.

jake already hates wesker without ever meeting him. he would not willingly participate in anything wesker offered to him. he already knows that wesker nearly destroyed the world multiple times and had a hand in destroying an entire city. even if jake has no moral compass at the start of the game, by the time he learns about what wesker really did, who he really was, he's already showing that he does have one, it was just dormant up until that point. he's clearly disgusted by what wesker did. what foothold would wesker have that wouldn't immediately result in it just falling flat?

given how wesker is, i could see him perhaps belittling jake, maybe saying "wow you suck for being my spawn," or something during a fight with the intent to rile him up. would that work? no, not narratively nor not in the way jake is characterized. again, jake doesn't want to be like wesker. why would insulting him and saying he's not "as good" as wesker expected him to be motivate jake or even anger him? it shouldn't, because jake doesn't want to be anything like wesker. if anything, it may annoy him, but that's kind of a lame reaction, right?

if anything, the most i could see culminating out of this would be jake standing over wesker after he's defeated again (because it's resident evil and obviously wesker can't win) and having a "wow idk what i was worried about" moment. that's it.

but he doesn't need that. having a scene like that cheapens the weight of him figuring that out himself, without wesker there as "proof."

because the point of his story, of his character arc, is that he figures that out on his own (and with the help of sherry and the events he witnesses) because he has to. he doesn't need wesker there to spoon-feed that to him. he figures that out by working with sherry, by seeing the effects of the C-Virus on everything that it infects. wesker being an abstract entity in his life is enough, because the frustration of not seeing him, not being able to put a bullet in his skull himself, fuels the rest of his journey.

this is where i think that people who make these observations or criticisms (primarily those who think that jake's character would have been improved if wesker was there) need to understand the difference between what's good for a character as a person and what's good for their arc.

interacting with wesker would be good for jake as a person, in that he would no longer need to wonder about it. the answers would be spelled out for him, and he wouldn't have to do any wondering about the what-if. he wouldn't have any doubts left that he'd need to untangle.

but in doing that, it cheapens his arc; it would do more of a disservice to it, imo, than anything else. it would make his journey more formulaic and boring.

it would also clutter up the already cluttered narrative of that game. you have him not only struggling with his heritage, struggling with the fear of becoming his father, struggling with needing to be the "savior" by giving his blood, struggling with his moral compass, but now also struggling with seeing his father for the first time in person?

it makes his arc top-heavy. in that scenario, you could easily replace him with another, completely new character who has zero ties to wesker and the story wouldn't change in any meaningful way. the reason why it works the way to does now is because wesker is already dead. it creates that internal conflict, that internal frustration, that jake has to learn how to deal with since he cannot take that frustration out on his father in-person. he has to make peace with that struggle in other ways.

now, that's not to say there aren't ways that adding wesker into the story of RE6 that don't disrupt that balance. primarily, when it comes to a potential RE6 remake, the writing team can (and hopefully will) rework aspects of the entire game to make the plot more streamlined. this could include adding wesker in and redoing jake's characterization and character arc entirely.

this would be the only way i could see it working out. if jake's entire motivation was changed, his entire backstory was tweaked, then wesker being around could probably work! an interaction between them could be made to make sense and not bog down the rest of the plot as a result.

sirea also mentioned to me in our conversation that adding wesker in to RE6 remake could actually help streamline the plot and i do agree with that. she mentioned that all of the main characters have a tie to wesker in some way, which is absolutely true. having him there would neatly tie their campaigns together in the plotline and make the game as a whole feel less disjointed and messy.

this is especially true when we consider there are 4 fuckin campaigns that all run alongside one another and intersect at random points. it gets so fucking difficult to page through and figure out when certain things happen in the plot. you'll see them happen in order in chris's campaign, for example, then you go start leon's campaign and have to start over again and try to remember what happened at the same time during chris's campaign and so on.

now imagine that not with just two campaigns but four. it gets gross quick. sure, there are parts where the characters run into each other and that helps ground a general timeline in your head, but as far as time elapsed... it's so fuckin hard u guise

there's a reason why it's so hard to summarize the plot of RE6. it's because there is just so much going on in that fucking game.

anyway, that's my rant/sort of meta analysis about why i think wesker didn't need to be in OG RE6 and probably would have made jake's entire arc stupider than it already was

#resident evil #resident evil 6 #jake muller #albert wesker #meta analysis #pls don't look at me i only write posts about characters no one cares about #stay tuned for my meta analysis on HUNK next #(may or may not be serious about that)#(also this post is the epitome of tl;dr)#(u been warned)#text post

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fromtheseventhhell · 10 months

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IDK if it's exactly what you wanted but your recent post about Mirri came "in time" for what I've seen.

Here are some screeshots of tags from this post

To me it seems like they try to critique the writing but as always, tend to blame the character. Plus, they sprinkle some lies (that Dany forced Mirri to save Drogo, that she refuses to engage with history), they project onto GRRM (that he wants to critique violent intervetionism with her), they ignore his statement about the "white saviour" accusations (which fair, you may not find them satisfying but still, take his intentions into account), they take away acountability of what the slavers did (bc THEY turned Slaver's Bay into a "hole of death" and was that long before Dany arrived) and not saying why "she allowed slavery to continue", which is a convenient way to frame her as immoral because after the masters of Yunkai attacked Astapor, and because "gently born" people, anticipating the struggle in Meereen, ask her to let them sell themselves back into slavery :

"My queen?" Daario stepped forward. "The riverside is full of Meereenese, begging leave to be allowed to sell themselves to this Qartheen. They are thicker than the flies."

Dany was shocked. "They want to be slaves?"

"The ones who come are well spoken and gently born, sweet queen. Such slaves are prized. In the Free Cities they will be tutors, scribes, bed slaves, even healers and priests. They will sleep in soft beds, eat rich foods, and dwell in manses. Here they have lost all, and live in fear and squalor."

"I see." Perhaps it was not so shocking, if these tales of Astapor were true. Dany thought a moment. "Any man who wishes to sell himself into slavery may do so. Or woman." She raised a hand. "But they may not sell their children, nor a man his wife." (ASOS, Daenerys VI)

I mean, she does this because she wants to respect their choice and she makes sure no one is forced to be enslaved. I don't think she should have allowed it but I understand why. It was not out of mallice. (here is a meta about how she is not a slaver X , X )

Plus the tendency to blame Daenerys fans for pointing out how the situation with Mirri was grey, that Mirri indeed killed Rhaego, but they can defend Mirri and acuse us, Dany stans, of being racists and whatnot.

Ironically my post was about conversations on Twitter (I know) where people were demonizing Dany and I found out this post was actually what started it all, so my post was unintentionally a response to this one. I'm gonna talk a little bit about this conversation and the overall conversations about racism in this fandom but I don't mean it as a direct reply to OP's post. The only thing I have to say specific to their post is that it does stand out to me that they acknowledge the issue with Mirri's writing, which is that it's part of a trend with how characters of color are written, but they fail to actually talk about said characters. Their main point isn't even about how Mirri is handled, it's on the subject of Dany's whiteness.

The thing about discussing racism in asoiaf is that it's a more complex and nuanced conversation than a majority of people are willing to have. Often times it just gets devolved into justifications for disliking a specific character and this was the same attitude people had towards the show. If there's racism in the writing, then that's a factor that affects how the entire series is written, it doesn't just reflect poorly on a single character. People definitely act like that's the case though.

On the subject of Mirri and her treatment, it's rare that people discuss her character without using her as a means of bashing Dany. The screenshots you provided highlight this. We're supposed to believe that Mirri's actions towards Dany are justified and that Dany's actions towards Mirri are racist solely on the basis that Mirri is a WOC, but it's not that simple (Also note that it's always "Mirri was right to do what she did" but they never talk about what specifically she did, which was force the abortion of a 14-year-old bridal slave. Somehow saying exactly what happened doesn't make her as sympathetic). What makes the writing racist isn't the situation itself, it's the idea of characters of color being disposable in service of white characters' arcs. But this situation is often talked about as an isolated event, in a vacuum. The logic applied just doesn't work. If race is such an important factor, why was Mirri right to kill a child of color over a prophecy she was ultimately wrong about? There are plenty of racist connotations in the "brute" narrative surrounding POC, specifically men of color, but people eagerly justify his death because of the hypothetical harm he could've caused. They also completely ignore that the prophecy wasn't about him, so the justification is that a child of color can be murdered if people assume they'll cause harm. There were also the others in Drogo's Khalasar that Dany couldn't help because of her situation. Eroeh suffered a horrible fate before her ultimate death, but Dany would've conceivably been able to help her if she hadn't been incapacitated. So does the fact that Mirri's actions harmed other POC, and not just a white woman, factor in at all? Or are we not supposed to care about them because they are, however positively, associated with Dany?

That also leads to the question of what exactly would be the right way of handling this situation. Dany's whiteness is the biggest criticism but her being a woc would come with its own racist connotations. Dany's life of poverty and being sold as a slave would've had other implications when contrasted to the other primarily white, high-born female characters. So what would've been a better way of handling the Dothraki and other people of color in this series? Whether Dany is white or not, the problem isn't solved. Somehow that's never a conversation being had, despite the number of people who supposedly care so much. It also seems as though Dany's suffering, and only Dany's suffering, is considered justifiable through her whiteness. If Dany had been the one to die instead, it still would've been a child bridal slave being killed. How is that the "better" option for people supposedly concerned with racism and misogyny? With almost any other female character their suffering is never justified regardless of who is causing it.

There is just...a different set of standards people have for Dany than they have for any other character. Someone brought up the point that Robb's part in the war caused incredible violence to the smallfolk, yet he is considered one of the noblest characters in the series. We see firsthand the devastation the Northerners are responsible for through Arya's POV, and many women and children specifically are harmed. We hear about countless women being raped and killed from the fallout of Robb's actions but somehow that's not Robb's responsibility. On top of that, there are plenty of smallfolk who have actively anti-North mindsets. Robb, who isn't trying to bring about systemic change or actively focused on fighting for the smallfolk, isn't responsible for the damage he causes them. Dany, who is trying to overthrow a violent system built on subjugating people, is the most evil character in the series because she interacts with characters of color more than anyone else. But then...people seem uninterested in discussing privileges and harm caused when it isn't related to bashing Dany. It's damn near taboo to refer to certain characters as classist, even when that's how they're written.

If you want to discuss racism in the series and fandom though, let's do it! Let's talk about the depiction of the Dothraki vs. The (white) Wildings and the difference in nuance and empathy they get, let's talk about how the current generation of Starks benefit from colonization and the eradication of the children of the forest (who are very much indigenous-coded) and how that's not framed as a bad thing, let's talk about women of color who are already being enslaved before Dany was sold to the Dothraki, let's talk about Alayaya + the senseless violence she faces and how her pain is used to give Tyrion angst, let's talk about the various background women of color portrayed as sex workers and how that could play into the jezebel trope, let's talk about lack of prominent characters of color outside of Dany's pov, let's talk about how D&D wrote a former Black slave dying in chains, how they portrayed the slaves exclusively as people of color despite slavery not being based on race in the books, let's talk about how they played into the Dothraki's racist writing and portrayed Dany's people as "scary foreign invaders" that the North looked down on, let's talk about how everyone justified the Northerners (and Sansa specifically) being scared even though Dany came to help, let's talk about how people in the fandom were laughing at Missandei's death and saying she deserved to die for being "rude" to a white woman, let's talk about fandom's habit of portraying Jon and Arya (considered the uglier, feral starks) as dark-skinned in comparison to their "white" siblings, let's talk about how the hotd writers made characters Black and then diminished their roles and importance, let's talk about how routinely characters of color are ignored and turned into props by fandom, LET'S TALK ABOUT IT! But no, the only capacity people are interested in talking about racism is when they can use it to bash Dany.

TL;DR/summation: There's nothing wrong with having good-faith conversations about racism in the series or disliking a character because of it. The issue is that that's rarely what happens. Instead of having constructive conversations about race, the pain of characters of color gets turned into props and given no nuance outside of that.

#ask #mikastormborn #fandom nonsense #pro daenerys targaryen #daenerys targaryen #this got very long but who cares lol #I'm just so tired of the fake activism in fandom and the double-standards #either talk about racism or don't #using poc as props against a white women is the very racism you're claiming to care but I guess it's fine if Dany antis do it #mind you there's a real racist white woman that part of this fandom worships but I'm supposed to clutch pearls over Dany #considered not tagging her but honestly want to minimize the chance that certain crowds see this

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