#combeferret

[oatmilque]

omg 1, 2, and 7 for grantaire (im being greeeedy)

YAY GRANTAIRE THANK U SM

off the top of your head: notes for characterization? what are the most essential traits of this character to you (personality traits, important connections/dynamics, voice)?

grantaire MUST be a merry little nuisance. bit of a scoundrel. he's got to be annoying and antagonistic and sexy with it.

i feel like any grantaire diatribe has to have slightly too many mythology references. the more obscure the better. especially when he's really in his cups

he has a certain lyrical manner of speaking and a verboseness that really makes him stand out from other typical drunkard characters so it rly should be highlighted!!! CELEBRATED

and i always think of grantaire as highly physical and tactile aside from when he's drunk. i think that's the only time he'd be slow and oafish but otherwise he's warm, energetic, the kind of person to slap ur knee during a fit of laughter

2. adjacently—do you think fandom does the above traits justice? why or why not?

I WISH

grantaire is such a fun and tragic character so it's not my fave when he's portrayed as just one or the other!! idk i feel like if he's sad he's gonna be making jokes abt it and if he's in a jovial mood he's going to say some off putting stuff but lightheartedly.

7. do you have particular niche takes on this character? defend those takes. (openly controversial takes are permitted, but also: hyper-specific headcanons which you believe in and no one else has considered enough to disagree with yet. pick a hill to die on.)

BEAR GRANTAIRE. he's big and broad and hairy and hot. messy curly hair. long lashes. stubble.

very musical. sings a lot jokingly in conversations but also i think modern grantaire would absolutely play guitar and piano, he just probably can't be assed to practice much unless inspired (by enjolras usually). yes this is inspired by the ? video

service top grantaire :) i think he's also very. liberal w his affections. in general. he's here for a good time!!!!

sometimes i forget that grantaire is never described as having drawn or painted enjolras in canon. it's integral to their dynamic to me. he has an amount of enj art that borders on absurd. but besides that i think he also draws the amis and random animals and good meals. but for the most part he draws enj because few things inspire him so much

[oflosechesters]

for anyone curious, the following meta and the elaboration below are in relation to this post. i posted this to another blog of mine, but i felt i should share it on my personal as well.

okay, i actually genuinely don’t wanna shut up about the significance of miracle because it’s possibly one of the most redeemable qualities of the spn finale. it’s actually really important, even if you don’t like the circumstances surrounding it.

at first i just sort of went off about it in some tags:

#this is the only good thing about that entire finale #it is the one thing i actually loved from a meta perspective in terms of dean's archetype #so i gotta have the puppy snuggles on the blog i'm so sorry #other than that this is largely a finale free blog lmao #i actually have a Lot of feelings about dean being given a dog #and naming the dog miracle #am i gonna end up writing meta about a dog? possibly #in broad strokes: dean has always been the archetype of a soldier #but never once has he been allowed to be a veteran #the dog very much is representative of that #it's very commonplace for veterans to have emotional support animals #dogs in particular #the way miracle launches into dean's arms after dean's just woken up is indicative to me that it's commonplace #likely after nightmares #which means that (for me) dean's PTSD is being subtly addressed #which means when i retcon the disaster of a finale for my portrayal miracle is absolutely staying #spn 15.20

but there’s so much more to it than that. 

the thing about the dog, if we’re staying within the context of the canon, is that this is a dean who has lost everything (keep that wording in mind, because we’ll be coming back to it). the war is won, and he's come home, but the cost was high. we also know that dean has canonically suffered from PTSD since the end of s3, though it’s not always been explicitly addressed in the following seasons. regardless, it's an aspect of his character that is widely established and recognized.

much like in s4, and after the purgatory storyline in s8, dean’s PTSD is shown to manifest itself largely through substance abuse, anger management struggles resulting in bouts of extreme violence, and nightmares. it’s a thread throughout the narrative whether it’s consistently addressed or not. more importantly in terms of the dog: dean is never allowed to heal, because the war wages on.

by the series finale, the war is won, but the cost is castiel’s life. what does the dog have to do with castiel, you ask? more than you might first think. i don’t want to get too deep in the paint, so i’m going to focus primarily on 13.01, dean’s grief arc in early s13 in general, and some key aspects of s15.

returning to the concept of being left with a dean who has lost everything, i want to point out a choice of dialogue in 13.01. the following is said during a scene of mourning, after they’ve lost castiel, and dean is left to wrap his body for burial.

dean [voice breaking]: we’ve lost everything. and now you’re gonna bring him back. okay? you’re gonna bring back cas.

this scene is the beginning of a several episode long grief arc where dean is depicted classically as a mourning widower in terms of cinematography (viewed on bended knee from above, distant and distraught after the death scene itself at the end of s12), and is then shown to slip into apathetic suicidal tendencies. his substance abuse reaches such a low that he quite literally drinks himself to death, but death will not take him, despite his wishes. he rages at sam for being able to move on so easily, in 13.03, patience:

dean: and what about cas? sam: what about cas? dean: he manipulated him, he made him promises, said, “paradise on earth” and cas bought it. and you know what that got him? it got him dead! now you might be able to forget about that, but i can’t!

the grief arc firmly establishes castiel as being representative of dean winchester’s hope, and the will to live. this is reinforced throughout s13 – s15, as it is further mirrored in later episodes, such as in act 3 of 15.09, the trap, in which sam is shown alternate futures. in every future where dean has lost castiel, he is shown to have lost his hope, and his will to continue on.

dean: no, sam. it doesn't matter. sam: what are you saying? dean: what i've been trying to say for months. it's time... time to stand down. sam: you want to quit? what's happened to you, dean? ever since— dean: ever since what? we lost pretty much everyone we’ve ever cared about? ever since the mark made cas go crazy? ever since i had to bury him in a ma’lak box? ever since then?

these follow an old tradition within the writing of spn that can be pointed at as early as 5.04, the end (“cas, too?”): castiel is always singled out apart from the rest. castiel, an angel, who saw worth in dean when dean couldn’t see it in himself. an angel who became his best friend, and loved him when dean couldn’t love himself. castiel, who saved him the moment they met, and saved him in death, as seen in 15.18, despair. given everything preceding this, it’s evident that this is not a small loss for dean. when they lose cas, dean loses the will to go on.

in losing cas that final time, cas’ confession — his assertion that dean is full of love, not anger — finally seems to break through. when fighting the main antagonist of s15, he is called “the ultimate killer.” at one time, dean would’ve agreed with this. but after cas’ confession, he denies it, and firmly says, “that's not who i am.” because that’s not who cas fell in love with. point being: castiel’s sacrifice affects dean enormously.

at the end of all things, when dean crosses the threshold from soldier to veteran because the war is won, he has a dog and he names him miracle; which harkens back to a scene when dean indirectly referred to cas as ‘his miracle,’ because truly: who’s been performing miracles in dean’s life over the past 11 seasons? the name holds a heavy weight and bears a large significance in the face of his loss.

by the end of s15, we now have a dean that is allowed to rest, and in resting, he is allowed to begin to heal. and the thing that is representative of this crossing of the threshold from soldier to veteran is giving the veteran an emotional support dog. that dean names miracle. something that is saving him, day by day, even in small ways. it’s just not only important for dean's development and healing after finally making that transition, it’s also the lasting influence castiel still has, even in death. it’s absolutely heartbreaking, especially when one considers how many of dean’s nightmares, stemming from his PTSD, canonically revolve around losing castiel — as is shown in early s8 through the purgatory storyline; therefore it is not incongruous to assume similar nightmares would crop up after the events of 15.18. and we’re shown this.

the dog jumping into bed for cuddles after dean wakes up is just so telling. but the way dean wraps around the dog, clinging? it’s the most telling.

granted, there is every possibility that i am giving the show too much credit (as it’s been shown we, as fans, are wont to do). but the concept of death of the author was quite literally pushed into the narrative of s15, and i personally like to think that no matter what else happened in 15.20, certain things remain significant and have bearing on the story, even if unintentionally so. that’s sort of just always been spn’s way of doing things.

[luntfontanne]

This whole thing is horrifying. I also have been Extremely Online for twelve years, so I’ve made all the mistakes, I’ve been there. One issue I find that people don’t talk about is that there’s a big push online to be open, to talk about mental health, all that stuff. HOWEVER, kids don’t realise that does NOT mean them. I think kids get swept up in it and think if they don’t tell people about their intimate mental health details that they are somehow lying or being fake. An adult choosing to share some of their PTSD triggers can be empowering for the sake of acceptance, but a minor sharing personal details can NEVER be empowering, they don’t have the capacity to give informed consent to that kinda thing.

oh yeah i fully agree! i’m pretty open when it comes to talking about mental health and trauma and stuff here, but that’s only because i’m in my late 20s now and i’ve Been Through It. if i can help people who are still struggling with things i spent years working through on my own and save them that pain, then i’m willing to share those personal things about myself even if it opens me up to some awful shit in my inbox. but if you are a CHILD, you should not be doing this. you do not owe anyone details about yourself. your one and only responsibility is to protect yourself.

what you said about the fear of being fake or lying is definitely true for mental health but also a lot of other things as well—so many kids these days feel like they have to come out publicly otherwise they’re living a lie, even if their living situation is unsafe and coming out puts them in danger. you’re not guilty of perpetuating heteronormativity by staying in the closet as a teenager living in a homophobic family oh my god… there’s a reason the closet exists. it serves a purpose and that purpose is literally survival. please protect yourself.

anyways even in the replies of some of the posts i made today, there are some kids who are upset at me for like… being condescending i guess? idk they’re saying oh there really isn’t anything to worry about and just generally acting like they’re invincible and they’re grown and should be free to share these things, but you are absolutely right, they just don’t have the capacity to fully understand all the potential ramifications of their decisions online. there’s a reason we voice concerns about these things—it’s not some hypothetical fear or paranoia, it’s because we’ve literally already lived through them.

[just-antithings]

I’ve ALWAYS been more than happy for people I don’t otherwise agree with following me. What’s more likely in them changing their opinion; following people that provide them an echo chamber, or following someone like me who may provide them an alternative perspective?

De-radicalizing people is a hard job but I’m glad that you’re trying to do it.

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

@combeferret replied to your post ““We don’t want the audience to ever know whether...”

WHAT is this a real quote?!?

I wish it wasn’t! But it is https://variety.com/2021/tv/features/jared-padalecki-transitioning-supernatural-walker-producer-1234876420/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Also notable:

The idea came to Padalecki in his Vancouver trailer after reading an op-ed by a law enforcement official who walked away from duty rather than submit to separating migrant kids from their parents and putting them in cages, as was being asked of him. “I thought, ‘What an interesting person who struggles with what they are bound to do by duty and what they think they should do by their own moral compass,’” he explains.

This is so... bad. That’s not an interesting person. That’s the bare minimum of being a decent person. That’s just a person who wasn’t horrible.

Imagine looking at fascism and being like....... wow this cop gave up being a cop (what a sacrifice! what a moral dilemma! imagine giving up being a cop! whoa!) because he didn’t want to put a three-year-old in a cage because he also had a three-year-old child. So empathy. Much interesting. Wow.

[seatsbythepit]

when someone suggests a powerpoint night in the gc and suddenly the opportunity you hold really is mighty

[witchofeindor]

combeferret replied to your post: Is there an option to block someone’s posts...

Yeah, unfollowing

Lol no, it’s not someone I follow, but ppl I follow reblog stuff from her and I just don’t want to see those stupid ass posts, that’s all

And otherwise those ppl who reblog things from her are ok so I don’t really wanna unfollow them, I just don’t want her posts on my dash

[seatsbythepit]

everyone's favourite killer