@hauntthenarrative / hauntthenarrative.tumblr.com
NOW CROWNED THE ULTIMATE NARRATIVE HAUNTER AS VOTED BY TUMBLR! 🎉🎉🎉
And a special mention to Laura Palmer, the honorary winner!!! Every character in the tournament, including many of those who got out early, deserved to be here and their fans fought hard, thank you everyone for following along and voting!!!
(For a full list of participants who were in this, you can find the full list of round 1 participants here!!)
(unsure why this is on your dash? if you followed lovecore-swag-showdown, freaky-fish-fshowdown, or doomed-bythe-narrative, that's us, we've just rebranded for the new tourney)
This is a tournament for guys who are just dudes. Dudes that are just sitting there. Average characters living normal lives, potentially in universes where that is extremely comedic. This is... the Just Some Guy Joust! Nominations are now open!
We are holding TWO tournaments this time! One for characters from established media, and another for OCs!
Rules for established media:
Rules for OCs:
Does Jidan from Tweeny Witches count as haunting the narrative? He only appears in person for a brief time but his influence is felt by multiple characters throughout the series. The most notable example is Arusu, his daughter whom he gave the True Books of Spells and taught everything she believes about magic when she was young.
First of all I'd like to say that we're in no way the arbiters of who is and isn't haunting the narrative, and the tournament is over and done with so if you're asking in an attempt to get him into another tournament, that's not happening
That being said, it does sound like Jidan is haunting the narrative based on our rules about it. But really, you should determine for YOURSELF if he is or isn't :)
Was Grandma Tendou from Kamen Rider Kabuto simply not popular enough to make it in, or was the fact that she didn't even get casted with an actress a dealbreaker for your tournament. (It appears I cannot type question marks so please imagine one here).
Hello! We were basing who got into the tournament based on 1. how many submissions they got, and also 2. how much we believed they fit into the definition of "haunting the narrative"
Grandma Tendou got only one submission, so she wasn't really in the running in the first place, since we had over 100 single-submission characters and not enough slots for all of them. Characters having an appearance wasn't something we took into consideration (some of the characters we did include were from podcasts, a medium which doesn't have official appearances. We used the podcast cover art as opposed to a character picture, if I'm remembering correctly)
Sorry 🙏 I'm sure she haunts the narrative very well though!!
Time to celebrate the best trope ever made. We'll make our best dead, queer, and fictional characters brawl it out!
Submissions are here and are open until Monday, October 16th, 11:59PM EST. Please reference the nomination guidelines on the submission form before voting. Good luck!
Other tournaments list under the cut.
Haunting the narrative means that the character’s absence heavily impacts the plot. They’re not present or active in the story when their influence is most strongly felt, whether they’re alive or dead!
Chara / The Fallen Human has won!!!
Do you like Miku? Do you like anime figures? Well this is the bracket tournament for you! Together we shall decide which Miku figure is the best of them all!
Rules:
-The figure must be of Hatsune Miku (duh)
-I can make an exception for non Miku figures if they are cosplaying as Miku (ex. this toro inoue miku figure or Hello Kitty x Miku figure/keychain)
-For simplicity sake, all variations of the same figure will compete as one.
now that the rules are out of the way...
Need help finding Miku figures to submit?
Try using MFC or MyAnimeShelf
Inspired by:
@tournament-winners-tournament @namedafterflowerstournament @hubrisbracket @toxic-yuri-poll @battle-of-the-bowlcuts @victimsofyaoipoll @ultimate-word-tournament @hauntthenarrative @canonmisogynyvictimstournament @top-teacher-tourney @jerktournament @generic-anime-boy-bracket @generic-man-in-suit-battle @gemstonenametournament @princessandknightfight
which character has the most hubris? the most pride and arrogance? the most tragic downfall? the most melted wax wings? who does this classic trope the best according to the tumblrinas? scientists (the tumblrinas) find out.
submissions will close either after 2 or 3 weeks, (september 8th, possibly extended to september 15th) or until we get 100 submissions.
tagging some tournaments we were inspired by under the cut for reach, feel free to ignore !
Haunting the narrative means that the character’s absence heavily impacts the plot. They’re not present or active in the story when their influence is most strongly felt, whether they’re alive or dead!
I'm so glad the two characters I was rooting for the most made it to finals! Honestly they're evenly matched in my opinion so either outcome is alright with me so rather than focusing on one of them I think I will be comparing the two and letting people choose which they think is a more interesting way to haunt the narrative.
Caleb:
The injustice of his murder lies at the heart at all the following tragedies within the story.
His lack of agency within the narrative explores the effects of revisionism. There's so much we don't know about him or what he did during his life because his story is told by his murderer and by speculating historians.
Whilst his absence and the injustice of his demise haunts the story somewhat tangibly/directly there's most notably a counterforce that haunts the narrative coming from the actual Caleb. He created Flapjack who still shares his ambitions (to love and protect those dear to them) and who lovingly watches over and protects not just Hunter but his friends and families as well. His love for the Demon Realm is reflected all throughout the story in very small or subtle ways and its his descendants, literal and adoptive, who finally get their justice in the end. He represents everything that Belos was fighting the whole time, despite just being a ghost at this point, and that's what makes his way of haunting the narrative unique.
Chara:
In pacifist and neutral routes, Chara's death similarly kickstart everything that happens thereafter but this is more directly because of their actions and decisions, their death being a lot more complicated. Their family is still alive to give you bits and pieces of their story and you see the way grieving them has shattered not just their family but also the entire underground. Their absence, what isn't known about them or their motivations, haunts just as much as their presence did.
What makes these routes unique for Chara is if you believe that the 2nd person narration in Undertale is told from their point of view and that they reside within Frisk to some capacity (a theory I adore personally and accept as canon even if it technically isn't.) There's something so beautifully haunting about being guided through the underground, their old home that they loved so much they'd die for it, by simple narration. Little things about their emotions and opinions show through once in a while, they quietly foster a relationship with Frisk and pass on their determination.
In genocide route, honestly I think it's less that Chara haunts the narrative but that you, the player haunt Chara by creating their narrative for them. They too have a lack of agency but in this case it's literal, they're a video game character, they cannot control their actions until the game allows them to defy you. Aftwards they stop haunting a narrative and start haunting you specifically. It's an exploration of RPGs from the perspective of the player character, it goes beyond having a narrative and being a direct communication between you as the player and Chara as your vessel.
What the choice boils down to
Assuming you're not just picking your favorite out of the two (which would be completely fair to do) and want to pick who you feel haunts their narrative more affectively the decision boils down to
Do you think the win belongs to a traditional but masterful take on a narrative haunter or to something that, while sometimes technically falling outside of what's normally considered narrative haunting, takes advantage of its medium and explores something new. Either decision is valid and they're both worthy.
Haunting the narrative means that the character’s absence heavily impacts the plot. They’re not present or active in the story when their influence is most strongly felt, whether they’re alive or dead!
Chara sweep!!!!!
Chara haunts the narrative, the protagonist, the antagonist, the antagonists parents, and the very ground you walk on
Now that the tournament is nearing its end, I just wanted to thank you for hosting this! This is the first time I was invested enough in a tumblr tournament to make propaganda, which was a lot of fun. Plus, my blorbo losing to Jackie is what finally made me watch Yellowjackets, and I ended up loving it!
Thank you for enjoying the tournament!!!! And I'm glad you found a new show to enjoy as well!!!!
Haunting the narrative means that the character’s absence heavily impacts the plot. They’re not present or active in the story when their influence is most strongly felt, whether they’re alive or dead!
caleb embodies the themes of toh so so well. the feelings of not belonging in your birth place, of not fitting in, of feeling isolated from your family for what makes you strange, and of being punished for your weird traits. he finds a place where he feels safe and at home and where he belongs, and he's punished for it. what makes him such a good ghost is that he's just so human. just a guy who made mistakes and just wanted somewhere he could be himself, where he could grow and change without judgement. and his brother couldn't handle it. him haunting the narrative so much is completely accidental on Caleb's part. he didn't set out to be a hero. he just wanted to be accepted. and we'll never know how HE felt, we'll never know his side of the story. but at the end of the day he is the heart of the story: someone who wanted to be understood, who found a place he felt loved and was punished for that. just like him, luz found that. and luz was able to do something he couldn't:
keep that home. she got knocked down to rock bottom, and unlike caleb? she chose herself.
we all know luz foils belos, but she foils caleb too.
caleb is the heart of the owl house's narrative.
Haunting the narrative means that the character’s absence heavily impacts the plot. They’re not present or active in the story when their influence is most strongly felt, whether they’re alive or dead!
Hey friends! This is FINALS!
Let’s do a TOH sweep! Let’s help Caleb win!
Please reblog, share with friends, and ask everyone you know to vote and support your favorite character for this tournament.
We can do this!
Caleb doesn’t say a single line in the show and haunts it through those who knew him and even then through his love of magic— his narrative haunting is a literal treat for paying attention to the details in the background. His haunting asks you to search, think, and read between what you see of him and what you learn from the story’s themes.
I will write the ultimate propaganda post shortly. Caleb isn’t in your face about the narrative haunting but he parallels the Titan. He parallels Luz. He parallels and he haunts in reflections.
Caleb is just an ordinary human who becomes a pivotal and essential tragic character where if he hadn’t went to the demon realm with Evelyn or dared to break free from the path of life he was in, our story wouldn’t even happen.
So vote for Caleb if you like narrative haunters that let your diverse cast shine while rewarding an attentive audience who gets to investigate without being handfed the story.
I am late to this but seeing this seems to be nearing the end I just wanna share one of my favorite haunting narrative.
Casey from Night in the Woods.
Shout out to Casey from Night in the Woods!!
Haunting the narrative means that the character’s absence heavily impacts the plot. They’re not present or active in the story when their influence is most strongly felt, whether they’re alive or dead!
This poll has made me finally start watching the owl house : D I've been meaning to watch it for a while.
Glad to hear!!! Now you too can know how much that narrative is haunted :D
Haunting the narrative means that the character’s absence heavily impacts the plot. They’re not present or active in the story when their influence is most strongly felt, whether they’re alive or dead!
Caleb Wittebane has won!
The finals will be between Caleb and Chara from Undertale!
The final poll will be out at 1 pm EST tomorrow!
