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this definitely did aged

im getting increasingly concerned every chapter that passes without a mention of where maggie is. is she wrapped around in the tendrils like everyone else? is she drowning in margaret's liquid soot like patrick at the end of chapter 162? something else? where is she? how does she even feel about all of this?

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patrick when he has an unrequired crush on someone: it breaks my heart that i must take these feelings to the grave, but i'm still happy to see emilyko happy even though she doesn't seem to see me that way :)

patrick when someone has an unrequired crush on him: happening to be the object of margaret's romantic feelings must mean i'm actively causing her suffering and whatever is going on with her powers. it's my duty to redeem myself and save her by getting engaged at age 13

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really messed up that barbara was basically told "christopher's just living in another building now, where there's plenty of space to run with other adult shadows", as if it was her dog that had died instead of an entire guy

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@rosecorcoranwrites honestly, that is a possibility too. we haven't really seen anyone non-brainwashed unify, and i think it's implied that it'd fail due to the human resisting being consumed? but what if this happens instead. huh. you know i'm not dying on this hill but it's a good crack theory for sure.

at that point though might as well go all the way and have them either have a two-people-one-head situation or a total merge like fusion in steven universe where it's technically a whole other person.

the ''anthony killed christopher'' theory is very dark all of a sudden compared to these but hey, if they made it make sense, it'd be some quality shock value as well.

it's like a free-for-all thing, "what the hell is up with anthony?". we could take a million guesses and it could be none of them or multiple at once (because shadows house could make that work too).

you know the lore of a story is wild when there's a part of you that believes your crack theory might be true because of how crazy it is.

what if somehow chistopher did actually complete the unification process and is just pretending to be anthony for some reason?

is it satisfying? no does it make sense? no is there any foreshadowing for it? no are there reasons why it's 100% not true? also no!

maybe christopher just became a 'dissident' and since they don't want it to get out someone's literally escaped the manor (as far as they know), the adults would cover it up. that takes care of that contradiction of them saying he 'failed' (which is a lie anyways).

i don't actually believe it, i'm just so damn confused about what anthony's deal is that at this point anything goes.

he's obviously(??) on the 'good' side, but he's not even going about it an anti-hero way, he's just being as sus as possible for no reason.

he literally dumped his backstory on kate and then when she asked more questions noped out in the most overdramatic fashion, and he has the gall to go "she'll turn around and follow me someday"

girl YOU'RE THE ONE THAT LEFT HER ON READ WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT

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you know the lore of a story is wild when there's a part of you that believes your crack theory might be true because of how crazy it is.

what if somehow chistopher did actually complete the unification process and is just pretending to be anthony for some reason?

is it satisfying? no does it make sense? no is there any foreshadowing for it? no are there reasons why it's 100% not true? also no!

maybe christopher just became a 'dissident' and since they don't want it to get out someone's literally escaped the manor (as far as they know), the adults would cover it up. that takes care of that contradiction of them saying he 'failed' (which is a lie anyways).

i don't actually believe it, i'm just so damn confused about what anthony's deal is that at this point anything goes.

he's obviously(??) on the 'good' side, but he's not even going about it an anti-hero way, he's just being as sus as possible for no reason.

he literally dumped his backstory on kate and then when she asked more questions noped out in the most overdramatic fashion, and he has the gall to go "she'll turn around and follow me someday"

girl YOU'RE THE ONE THAT LEFT HER ON READ WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT

#shadows house #anthony #anthony shadows house #christopher #christopher shadow #christopher shadows house #shadows house spoilers #if i said something wrong i bingeread the whole thing a few months ago so that's the reason #i don't remember every scene perfectly

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portret of Barbie from "Shadows House" for my sis

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stupid edward and his convoluted plans to go from 2nd to 3rd floor. ever heard of something called a staircase.

#MAFKSLJs??

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Why I love Ricky and why it grinds my gears when I see somebody slander him. Essay by SunnySun (Part 2)

| Part 1 (Character traits and development) | Part 2 (Design and relationships) |

In part 1 we looked over the character development and all the traits Ricky expressed during the first arcs of the manga.

But for now, to rest a bit after me basically retelling the debut, I will tell you a little story which kinda fits into the reason why I never judged Ricky, even during his introduction.

(Besides me being a casual enough media consumer that I went “You are the character archetype that starts of as an asshole but is actually a tsundere sweetheart that will fall for either the MC or one of her friends” when I first saw him in screenshots for the anime.)

When I was in school, around the same age as our kiddos, I had a frenemy. Let’s call him Arty. If translating our relationship onto SH characters, he would be Ricky and I would be Shaun, but not quite. Arty was a rich kid with a lot of friends and fancy things he loved to brag about. And I was a normal girl who liked to draw during class. And he would pick on me constantly, to which I would bite back and so on until our respective friend groups would have to jump in to keep us from throwing hands. He was really annoying to say the least, but we were classmates so we had to get along somehow. That was until some things in my country happened and our now very small class of – at one point – 8 people just had to get along out of necessity.

I bit down my childhood grudges and tried to be kinder towards Arty, with small things like just greeting him in the morning. And he returned the same kindness back. Slowly we started to get along and by the 9th grade, after which I went to college, we were friends. And he even asked our mutual friend about how I was doing! The same person who would pick on me over everything when we were kids.

So when I first saw Ricky, I was reminded of Arty and decided to give him a chance too.

That’s not where the parallels end though.

What actually made me try and be kinder to Arty in the first place was thing that happened that week. I won’t go into detail, but he shared something personal with me, something he didn’t want to share with his friends to not seem weak in front of them. He shared something vulnerable with me – a person who constantly fought with him. Sounds familiar?

Ricky and Shaun had a moment like this too. The boulder scene, where Ricky literally cried and begged Shaun to look after his master thinking he will die. Thinking back on it, I think this is the moment that Ricky became my fave, though I didn’t know it yet.

The thing that solidified him as my son, however, is the FREAKING BANGS. Ahem, sorry. I guess this is the best time to talk about character design.

He looked like a generic richboy, though really cute with those downturned eyes and long lashes of his. Note here – downturned eyes are usually reserved for cute and innocent characters (Emi and Ram have those too), so just this tiny detail is already unconsciously bringing us to give him a chance despite the… less than stellar first impressions.

Malfoy wannabe – very strong vibe that fooled even characters in-universe (looking at you, Shaun). And it definitely fooled the readers, as after chapter 103 came out people were really freaking confused.. They were expecting some nobleman’s son, but he was just a little village boy with cute little bangs and a cute little vest. Imagine this was how he was from the start? While his initial personality would’ve given the same impression, just his bangs alone would’ve made him have a different vibe. Hmm.. emo rich-bitch?..

And if you know me, you also know how I feel about his bangs. I made a whole collage of just panels with them for hells sake.

Now with the personal reasons out of the way, let’s return to psychoanalysis, this time focusing on Ricky’s relationships with others.

As I mentioned, he tries to be condescending to everyone because this is what Patrick asked of him. He gets flustered very easily and tries to get the higher ground back by using the legendary “no u” card (which more often than not fails). In later chapters we see that he feels bad for making an off-hand comment about Emi and he’s happy to see that Ram is alive and well.

As Kate put it:

And while most people don’t concern him at all, two in particular are the most important to him – Patrick and Lou.

His relationship with Patrick is really highlighted during chapters 29-30, 66, 97 and 101. Patrick relies on Ricky, almost hides behind him, and is openly distraught at the thought of losing him. He calls Ricky “indispensable” and “exceptional”, asking for his advice and opinion often.

Ricky in turn is extremely loyal, going as far as to swear on his master’s name when accused of lying. He is willing to do anything to keep his master’s status high, going as far as to analyze every possible suitor for him (though we do meme a lot about his true intentions in picking Louise as the best option, lol)

They have a very trusting relationship, once again brought up in 97 and 101 (Patrick literally said “there’s no way Ricky is lying”).

And I would like to use this segment to once again bring up Morph-Patty protecting Ricky from other morphs bc it was extremely cute.

Speaking of protectiveness, Patrick also immediately stopped his argument with Kate in 97 bc he saw that it made Ricky really uncomfortable.

And as I start discussing the relationship between Ricky and Lou, I must admit, in the name of fair analysis, that I am a shipper. However, for this part I will not be using the shipping glasses, only my regular prescriptions ones. Got it? Got it. Let’s go, we’re almost done.

They didn’t see eye to eye at first, with Ricky still trying to go by his master’s wishes and Lou being… well, pokerfaced af. But then chapter 29 came along and started shifting everything. As I mentioned, Ricky was genuinely concerned when Lou fell and cut her leg, going as far as to bandage it for her. (Making her ask “are you worried about me?”) After that, if you notice, he closely follows the map and checks every unsturdy looking thing before they move forward.

Also something something crush something something faces so freaking close something something thank you animators for bonus 3 seconds if you know you know

Then there’s the shear-giving scene, more on this one later, it’s really important. What I will say for now, it’s Lou thanking Ricky for helping her, despite her mistress’ thoughts on the matter.

After that they both are brainwashed to hell and back. But then comes a funny little wrinkle: revelation of chapter 103, that not only did they know each other before abduction, they were that one couple that’s not together yet, but everyone knows it will happen sooner or later.

So this, combined with Ricky falling for Lou again jumpkicked the breakdown of his brainwashing, eventually leading to ch.97. She is directly tied to his “humanity”.

And now we arrive at another question the user that pissed me off into writing this asked: “What is Ricky’s purpose?”

Well, one is obvious – continue to support Patrick. But what does this mean for the story? If every character has a purpose…

Just looking at the humans, Emilyko is the heart, Shaun is the brains and he shares strength aspect with Lou, and Ram is the inside-woman. What does this leave for Ricky?

Well, this might be a stretch, but hear me out. I think both blondes are the heart. And while Emi takes care of the bigger picture, like turning enemies into friends, Ricky is more focused on helping the ones already on our side. Namely, his closest two people.

I can hear you scoffing at this, but once again, let me finish.

In chapter 102 Lou says this about feeling like a human again “Even though I understand the situation, I think I haven’t actually felt it after all…”

What does it mean to be human? To do something for yourself, not dictated by your shadow-master or even against their wishes.

But wait, Lou has done it already. Twice.

Once, when she gave up her shears as thanks for helping her get to her shadow.

And another time, when she asked for a flower, even though “faces” shouldn’t talk.

Why did she do it? In her own words:

As she is tied to him getting his humanity back, he is tied to her. And I strongly believe that just like the previous two times, he will be key in helping her feeling human again.

But hey, this is just my dumb take. Only Somato knows for sure and all we can do is wait and see.

If you read this to conclusion you are something else, have my respect (unless you are the user that pissed me off into writing this. I doubt anything here made you actually think.) Ahem, yeah, I’ll go back to doing something actually productive-

Who am I kidding, I’ll just sit there waiting for any comments on my needless essay, lol

TLDR: There is none. If I could summarize everything in a few sentences why would I’ve written this?

Ok, here you go: I love Ricky because reasons.

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Why I love Ricky and why it grinds my gears when I see somebody slander him.

Essay by SunnySun (Part 1)

Memes aside, in this essay i will look closer at Ricky’s character, his growth, relationships with others and even design elements that make him appealing to me. “To me”, as in the reason why I’m even bothering writing this shit is because I felt personally attacked by a comment of a fellow discord user, stating that the they “[don’t] see how anyone can like Ricky”. And as I am a prick who doesn’t like feeling personally attacked, I felt the need to dedicate my time to explain the reasons in fine detail, even though let’s be honest why the hell would that user even bother reading my longass psychoanalysis of a character they hate.

I am a grown woman so I will just outright say it – I’m writing this mostly to make myself feel better and to feel superior next to the person that offended me. And if this brings some points of discussion along the way (if anyone actually reads this, lol) so be it.

With this loooooooooong introduction out of the way, let’s start actually talking about my son.

| Part 1 (Character traits and development) | Part 2 (Design and relationships) |

Firstly, let’s look at how his character progressed throughout the 95 chapters that we’ve known him.

We first met Ricky in ch.17 where he immediately came of as an arrogant prick willing to do anything to get a good standing with higherups. Though arguably, other “dolls” in this chapter – like Barbie and Belles - don’t give a good impression either. (From a writing perspective it’s done so we can get attached to Shaun and Ram easily, using this contrast to see them as “good”)

Next time, we get to see what we think is the route of the problem – Patrick enabling such behavior, wrongly thinking that it will help him get ahead of others, which is quickly disproven during the debut.

While we’re at it we also see some traits of Ricky’s personality – he’s confident, quick-thinking and yes, arrogant, leading more insecure and unsure Patrick, who heavily relies on him (more on that later). This also ironic, considering the name "Ricky" literally means "powerful leader".

After the Shadows are gone, we have more chances to get to know him. And while most people focus on him being a prick to Emi (which he is, not gonna dispute that), there’s also another thing – insecurity. He does what his master told him – looks down on others, but as soon as something unexpected happens he gets flustered and bites back with whatever insult he can manage to get the higher ground, so to say. Sometimes failing miserably (thank you Emi, you absolute queen).

Another thing we find out about him is during choosing the object sequence. He overthinks a lot, plotting out everything and trying to choose the best option, which makes him and Shaun not that different, which is then highlighted by their constant bickering.

(Him thinking over every possible detail also comes back in chapter 66, when he analyzes who would be the best suitor for his master)

After that point, every time he tries to be condescending it fails immediately, so he stops doing it after a bit. (somewhere around ch.27)

Chapter 29 is a big one, highlighting both of Ricky’s most important relationships – with Lou and Patrick, more on them later. For now I will mention other traits that he expresses during it: he’s genuinely concerned when Lou fell and cut her leg (despite being a tsundere about it) and outright expresses his loyalty towards his master as well as worry for him.

I must also highlight the fact that he was humbled by what Louise said. It did hurt him, clearly, but we know he was able to get over it and not do anything stupid, showing great control over his emotions (for a 12 year old it’s kinda a difficult thing, I say that as a teacher).

Then we have the turning point, after which most people get on the “he’s good” side – the boulder, showcasing once again Ricky’s loyalty to Patrick as well as ability to trust others, even the one person he constantly fights with, if it means his master will be safe.

Aaaaand after that he’s completely mindfucked up until chapters 94 and 97 when he starts slowly breaking out, more on which later.

Let’s review what we have so far: starts of as an arrogant prick, but drops it after nobody responds to it. Insecure, easily flustered, has a need to feel superior, leader, quick-thinking, overanalyzing, careful. Caring (hidden by tsun), loyal, helpful, has great control over emotions (most of the time), puts trust in others (which majorly comes back into play during ch.97 along with overthinking)

These were just core traits, I didn’t even touch the relationships yet! That is for part 2.

#him and patrick are my favorites #and so is every other character but shh #i need this here anyways

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Emilyko fan club ヾ(*´∀｀*)ﾉ

😔🙏✨

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naw cause this line hits so hard

#.....so many possible implications #<- i know it's so vague

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that's interesting! i interpreted it as him starting a somewhat cult around christopher (or more of the idea of him as a martyr figure), but who knows what this guy is doing, he might be trying to take revenge on all shadows for all i know and is using/tricking lewis.

spoilers for the new chapter but is that Anthony pretending to be an integrated Christopher to the other shadows???? Love it to bits. The more we find out about whatever fucked relationship they have the more I want to know

#shadows house spoilers

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I don’t necessarily love the crush subplots in Shadows House. Realistic part of being 12, sure, but there’s so much other stuff going on it can feel like an unnecessary soap opera element.

That said, I do like how they’re a kind of indicator of the Shadows and Faces becoming distinct. Patrick owning his conciliatory, peaceful urges and turning away from Ricky’s ambitions comes tied up with him liking Emilico. Lou separating from Louise’s mind-control is shown through her budding flirtation with Ricky. Ricky calming down a bit and doing things for himself and not for his imagined version of Master Patrick comes with his crush on Lou. John’s love of Kate is revealed to be something that was a part of him before he even manifested as a Shadow, it’s fundamental.

Because a crush is a deeply personal, deeply embarrassing, impulsive part of human nature, it’s a sign that a character isn’t under control of the House. And this is why I think that Shaun views Emilico as a little sister

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huh