unnatural-story-collector

[unnatural-story-collector]

What if there was an apocalypse but some people were really really in denial and optimistic and thinking everything will be back to normal soon?

Like they’d be foraging through the ruins of New York for supplies, shooting raiders in the face and saying “Man, this recession is really bad, huh?”

[unnatural-story-collector]

tumblr could do zepotha but tiktok couldn't do goncharov

[unnatural-story-collector]

The Cornetto scene is so funny and cute, but it also makes me feel so acutely for Henry. Like, there are moments in the book where I went 'oh, ouch, this poor guy's in love with someone he thought hated him' but, because it's from Alex's POV it's more hinted at earlier on than blatant (until later in the book)

But seeing the way Henry looks at Alex in that scene, even after he heard what he said to Nora? Mega ouch! He's so in love and he can't talk about it and he thinks Alex hates him and he still loves him and I just...

And he was keeping it together too! (Like props to him for being a bitch right back to Alex lol) And then Alex grabs his hand and you finally see that composure waver and, ugh, I’m going to need several moments

[unnatural-story-collector]

I did not understand this line at all. I can think of only two reasons:

[unnatural-story-collector]

whenever i see another tiktok girlie talking about how she wishes to have been a fangirl in 2010s i feel like a seasoned veteran overhearing a foolish youngin boasting about wanting to go to war for glory and adventure. you naive little idiot. you know nothing. you understand nothing. you weren't there in the trenches. i have seen things, terrible things. i cannot plug in my phone charger at night without being plagued by the visions of Him

[unnatural-story-collector]

On the topic of how way too many people are apparently offended that Obi-wan Kenobi is now canonically bisexual, it genuinely baffles me how many people still think lgbt narratives are unrealistic, especially in a setting like Star Wars.

You're telling me in a world where humans interact with hundreds of different sentient species all with their own cultural nuances and different biology and are able to coexist in relative peace, you think those same people give a rats ass about something as little as SEXUALITY? B u L L s H I T.

Maybe I'm biased because I myself am bisexual, but if I could walk out a door and almost get my ass beat by a giant sentient worm, who other people are fucking would be the least of my worries. Who I choose to fuck would be the least of my worries too. It's a vast universe. Time to experiment. WHO is gonna judge me, huh? An Ergesh, whose species reproduces by planting a seed from their bodies in a swamp called the Shoolbloorp, the "Land of Beginnings," during a special mating ceremony??

Perish.

[unnatural-story-collector]

anyway

[unnatural-story-collector]

Jedi Survivor minor spoilers:

The cutscene where Cal is GRINNING ear to ear while Merrin tells Bode she will need his blood to cloak the Mantis. And when Bode turns to Cal to confirm Is This Witch For Real? Cal's face drops and he just shrugs with a completely straight face.

Him being completely ready to follow her lead for the sake of a bit almost feels more intimate than the kiss 😭 his smile at her is burned into my brain, it's like he can't believe she's here and he gets to see her making jokes like this again. He looks like he's the luckiest guy in the world. No wonder Bode clocked Cal so quickly. I'm going to cry we were SO well fed.

[unnatural-story-collector]

“Wasn’t that game relevant months ago?”

“IT’S ALWAYS RELEVANT TO ME. NOW SIDDOWN AND LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THESE TWO.”

[unnatural-story-collector]

Would absolutely LOVE if people could stop bitching about Merrin “not being lesbian” and that they “made her boring” by putting her in a “cishet” relationship. And also that “it came out of nowhere”.

1) Merrin is pansexual. She is no less a queer character because she’s not exclusively attracted to women. She is still a queer woman, and if you disagree your biphobia is showing.

2) because Merrin is queer, her relationships are by default NOT hetero. Again, your biphobia is showing.

3) it was literally broadcast in JFO that there was some romantic tension between Cal and Merrin. Like, that’s not shipping goggles, it’s legitimately in the script. It’s not subtext. It’s text. Not sure how that’s “coming out of nowhere” but okay.

4) Merrin’s less interesting to you cuz she decided she liked green eyes and shoulder freckles? Really? You can disagree with her taste but that instantly erases everything else about her? That sounds like a you problem.

No one is obligated to like a ship, canon or otherwise, but you could at least NOT be biphobic dickbags when you’re complaining about it. I have to deal with that shit enough in real life. I don’t care if you don’t like her with Cal, but just SAY THAT instead of implying she’s not queer enough, or she’s boring because of it. That shit fucking sucks.

[unnatural-story-collector]

I just saw a story on AO3 tagged "pet p!ay"

TIK TOK MUST BE STOPPED BEFORE IT DESTROYS LANGUAGE

[unnatural-story-collector]

"you can't pick and choose what you like from canon" common misconception! yes you can

[unnatural-story-collector]

July 10, 2023 - (18:00 UTC)

The Archive is experiencing some issues (as many of you have noticed).

It looks like the Archive is under a DDoS attack causing the servers to fall over. Our volunteer sysadmins are working on countermeasures. Please be patient with us, we'll be back!

[unnatural-story-collector]

I learned that Jedi with the psychometry ability, if they become dark side users, can get into someone’s head and rip out memories. I know Cal wasn’t using the dark side in his final battle with Dagan, but did he use a version of the ability when he caused a force hallucination to use the fear he knew was in Dagan’s mind? The force hallucination wasn’t limited to affecting only Dagan but it affected Bode as well and showed Bode his fear of losing Kata, so it doesn’t seem like a honed ability but still a powerful one. It seemed like that was the first time he’d used the ability (since he didn’t really know exactly what it was after he used it), but when he was injured by Dagan you can see he centers himself, seeming to try to focus on using the ability. Is Cal the only Jedi with psychometry who also has the ability to cause force hallucinations? It’s very fascinating to me but I don’t know enough about Star Wars lore.

[unnatural-story-collector]

I really need to vent about how much I like Cal and Merrin's dynamic in Jedi: Survivor cause they've quickly become probably my favorite canon pairing in the franchise.

I absolutely love that this relationship is built on the basis of friendship, respect, and a genuine mutual understanding of each other. From gameplay comments and conversations, Cal is very clearly so enamored with Merrin and literally everything about her. I know it's become a bit of a joke how clearly into her he is but he just thinks she's the most incredible being in the entire galaxy and it's honestly the sweetest thing. The writers could have very easily made his connection to Merrin a weakness or had it where it made his struggle with the darkness harder but I adore that they allowed him to be completely smitten with her and presented it as a strength. It's refreshing not only in Star Wars but in media in general, at least in my opinion. Love being presented as a positive asset is something so deeply missing in media nowadays - especially romantic love. Far too often in this day and age, love is presented as a weakness or something that will only bring you down, so I respect the fuck out of this writing.

Oops, this got really, really long so I'm putting the rest under a cut. It's kind of spitfire, so I apologize if it feels random.

I love how their first kiss is Merrin basically making a split-second decision where she realizes she doesn't want to die without kissing him at least once even if it runs the risk of making things awkward should they survive. Is it cliche as fuck? Absolutely, but it works so well in this instance. Cal being so dumbfounded, gawking at her like a fish, trying to process what the hell just happened that BD has to remind him they're literally about to die is the best thing too.

I appreciate that Cal is so obviously hesitant about giving into any sort of romantic feelings for Merrin because, of course, he would be due to his upbringing. He's pushing so hard against it to the point that he's even completely reluctant to so much as discuss it with Bode when they're on the Lucrehulk. Personally, I don't think Cal is oblivious to their potential feelings for each other. I've never been a huge fan of treating Cal as completely naive. He still might be a bit emotionally stunted, sure but he's lived 10 years outside of the Jedi Order at this point. I think he's hesitant to talk about it because first of all, it's really none of Bode's business but also, if he talks about it, he has to admit it, and if he admits it, that makes it real, and if it's real... well fuck, now he has to do something about it either way which is exactly what he's trying to avoid. I think he's trying to stay as neutral about it as he can until he gets to a point in the story/his arc where he decides he actually wants or feels ready to make a decision. Bode almost gets it out of him too before they're interrupted. The progression of Bode's questioning during that mission is something I actually find really interesting but that's a different topic.

Many people have pointed this out but Cal smiling so brightly while Merrin is clearly freaking the fuck out of Bode is just the cutest thing. Not only because he finds such humor in her scaring the shit out of people for fun when he of all people knows it's a running joke but he also goes along with the joke any chance he gets. He does this even when she's not around. People will be freaked out by her and he still plays along and it's not even like, "Yeah, I know, she's fucking scary bro," it's more like, "Yeah, I know, she can wake the dead, isn't it amazing how scary she is!" Someone else already pointed this out in another post but that feels almost more intimate than any kiss they share. His attraction to her encompasses all sides of her including those that many people find incredibly terrifying and I find that so endearing, he wouldn't ask her to change for anything. He's the only person who genuinely isn't freaked out by her in the slightest but not only that, he finds that side of her to be so incredible. Also, Cal being so blase with Bode about his obvious attraction to Merrin a mission prior and then having the most blatant sexual tension with her in front of Bode in the next scene is peak comedy, I don't care what anybody says. Like, Cal, honey, you just spent the entire previous mission trying to convince Bode (and yourself) there's nothing there and/or you're not pursuing it, so you're not doing yourself any favors by looking at her like that, standing that close to her, and speaking to her with the cadence of a lover bro.

I love that the second Cal walks onto the Mantis after killing Rayvis, she instantaneously picks up on the fact that something's wrong. Literally instantaneously. You can see her face drop the moment she sees him. She just knows something happened. Her ability to read him insanely well is something that is introduced very early on in the game, most noticeably in the campfire scene, and it stays consistent over the course of the story. The following conversation they have is honestly one of the best moments between them in the entire game. It's this type of conversation I've been wanting to see with a Jedi and their potential lover since Revenge of the Sith. He is so open with her even in a somewhat roundabout way about his genuine fear of losing himself and while the conversation is not explicitly about their relationship, the implication is still there and she 100% picks up on it, especially since he wonders aloud why Santari didn't see the change in Dagan before it was too late. Instead of shaming him for his reservations or calling it ridiculous or anything else she could have said at this moment, she instead decides to possibly help curb those fears and give him some comfort regarding it. She goes on to basically tell him in so few words she knows what she's signing up for and is willing to cross those bridges with him if they come. It's a great difference between Cal and Dagan. Though it's never outright stated that Dagan and Santari were in love, I feel like it's... pretty heavily implied, or at least he was definitely in love with her (was I the only one who read it that way??) but whereas Dagan demands that Santari talk him away from the darkness and seems to almost expect her to, Merrin herself plainly offers to do it with no prodding on Cal's part. It doesn't seem to be a burden Cal wanted to put on her, not something he was inherently expecting of her but she willingly offers, it is her choice, she wants to carry that burden with him. While she does seem maybe slightly annoyed by his hesitancy regarding their relationship to each other, she is also so incredibly patient with him while he's stewing over what he wants to do. It's beautiful. As a side note, "A shared dream is not so easy to wake from," is such an amazing line. Seriously, I want merch with that quote on it.

I liked that going through with the relationship was Cal's choice in the end. Merrin didn't push it, she didn't pressure it. She let him bring it up and come to her when he was ready and if that meant potentially being rejected by a man she very clearly adores, so be it, and I have no doubt she would've respected that choice if that's what he'd wanted. I know a lot of people seem to think he only makes this decision due to Bode's questions earlier but it really seems to be a combination of multiple things that lead to this. Bode picking his brain definitely got him thinking about it, maybe more than he wanted to, but I do think the other big part of Cal being willing to go forward with it at this moment is his confrontation with Dagan that, while an illusion, did cause him to come to grips with his own mortality in a way. "How does it feel knowing you're about to die. That your life meant nothing." As Cal says, Dagan uses an extremely powerful force hallucination based on fear here, so while losing himself to the darkness might scare him, his life being completely meaningless is what he seems to fear the most. Cal's journey throughout Survivor encompasses many things but one of them revolves around feeling aimless and finding a purpose, preferably outside of being a hired weapon that will surely and slowly consume him. It's what everyone consistently tells him: find a home, settle down, embrace happiness because it's fleeting, the path you're on is not healthy and will consume you otherwise...etc. His decision here to give in to his romantic attraction to Merrin is a culmination of all of these interactions and conversations he's had throughout the story, how they've influenced his line of thinking, and him coming to his own conclusions regarding what he personally wants and at this moment, when things are finally, calm and everyone is in a good place with a plan going forward, he personally decides there's no point in living up to the expectations of the Jedi when the Order doesn't exist anymore and wants to see where this could go.

I love the fact that when Merrin witnesses Cal's darkness in the ISB, it's made abundantly clear that she's just as afraid of losing him as he most likely is of losing her. I do think a major reason why she was able to talk him down at the moment is that he fundamentally understands what it feels like to lose everything and everyone, your entire livelihood. That is what they first bonded over and it's something that keeps them bonded in the saddest, yet most profound way and he would never want to add himself to the list of people she's lost. She's also doing exactly what she said she would. In an instance where again, she reads him like a fucking book, she can tell just from his responses on the intercom that he's losing himself and is guiding him back. She immediately went to rescue him as she says. No question, no argument, nothing, she simply does it. She made him a promise and she kept it and in that moment, he promises that she won't lose him, he won't allow it. This is a fundamental difference between Anakin and Padme's dynamic and Cal and Merrin's. While Anakin's love for Padme quite famously ends up extremely selfish in an "I would lose myself to ensure you're not ripped away from me" type of way, Cal and Merrin's dynamic is leaning towards a more selfless, "I won't allow myself to be lost because I can't let that happen for your sake," type of way and god damn it, I love it.

There are several interactions they have in gameplay that I'm lowkey peeved weren't included in cutscenes and one of them is when Cal returns to the Mantis after all but demolishing the ISB, they have this really short but great interaction where Merrin says that if he ever feels that way again, he needs to tell her. She doesn't even ask him to do it, she all but demands it, "If you feel that way again, you will tell me." She's demanding communication from him regarding the darkness and he doesn't fight this demand at all. He agrees to respect this request and I fucking love that from both of them. I will genuinely be kinda upset if we don't get a moment like that in the next game.

I like how their kiss after they've successfully navigated the abyss is kind of their first kiss inverted but instead of "omg we might die, I need to kiss you" it's more "holy shit, we survived, I need to kiss you," but instead of Merrin initiating, now it's Cal. I'm probably reading too much into that but whatever, it's cute.

This isn't about any one part in particular but I do love that it looks like the headcanon so many people had regarding Merrin most likely being quite physically affectionate is turning out to be true.

...I think that's enough for now lol I might add on some things later

Apologies for any typos and thanks for indulging my rambling if you got this far.

[unnatural-story-collector]

L I S T E N

[unnatural-story-collector]