#And there's not enough canon evidence to support that theory enough to really write it out in-genuine-but--

[avelera]

"Sometimes it's not that deep," aka, How to Write a Mystery (That's Actually There)

A good rule of thumb about predicting a well-written mystery is that other people are predicting the same things. Even better if a lot of other people, on their own, are analyzing the material closely and each, on their own, are reaching the same theories and conclusions! Yes, this can mean everyone's falling for the same red herring too, of course, but generally speaking, no writer is putting all that effort into writing a mystery only one person can solve.

The thing is, a good mystery should be predictable, but at varying speeds based on the attentiveness of the audience.

The most laser-focused readers (or viewers), the true Holmesian mystery-solving mystery readers with encyclopedic knowledge and a fine-toothed comb to go through the material, should be ahead of the characters trying to solve the mystery, but not so far ahead that the story becomes boring, ideally. Your mystery shouldn't be so predictable that it can be figured out on page one but, if a truly clever sleuth does figure out your mystery on page one, your story should also be good enough that it is still an enjoyable tale even if the audience know how it ends.

The attentive reader should figure out the mystery at about the same time as the main character. They should have the "Aha!" moment about two seconds before the character solves it for that little thrill of feeling very clever, which to authors is very funny, because if we're doing our job right, we didn't just set the clues for you to solve the mystery, we agonized over the timing of each clue's introduction just to make sure you got that little thrill of self-satisfaction at the moment we wanted you to.

The casual reader should figure out the mystery when the characters figure it out. They should get the enjoyment of seeing the mystery solved, and in retrospect be able to see the clues, but in the meantime have enjoyed their time nonetheless. It should be a good story on its own.

Now, this is relevant to fandom theory mongering because clues are not accidental. And there are usually a lot of them, if the author is doing their job. Yes, you should be able to analyze the costume colors to see that there are parallels between the green dress or whatever that the lead is wearing in this episode and how it's a call back to another episode and that means blahblahblah is going to happen, but, that sort of deep-cut, freeze-frame sleuthing is usually only in support of more overt clues intended for general audiences.

(Not to pick on any one fandom, but Ted Lasso S3 for example had a lot of Tedbecca shippers looking for hidden clues in the cinematography as their hopes faded for a canon confirmation of their ship. Alas, those didn't bear out, because they were not accompanied by textual evidence in addition to the subtextual evidence of how any moment now, these characters are going to stop dating and pursuing completely different people and actually hook up with or even verbally express confirmed interest in each other.)

Of course, a mystery can be tough to solve and be satisfying! It is sometimes even possible to solve those truly out there or even not yet fully supported mysteries that eventually turn out to be true (say, predicting a later book in the series before all the clues are even there from installments in the meantime). It can be really satisfying to correctly extrapolate from incomplete data before the author even intended you to see it or had figured it out themselves!

However, more often than not, the clues are deliberate and to assume you're the only one seeing them is probably a sign that they're not actually there.

A good mystery, a well-written one, should provide all the clues for the audience to solve the mystery on their own, within the text, even if the last few pages are ripped out. A good mystery is not a "gotcha". And a sign of a good mystery is that more than one person can pick up on all the clues because those clues are placed deliberately and yes, that requires a certain amount of sign-posting as well and in fact, one of the most fiendishly difficult things to do as a writer is strike the proper balance between sign posting your clues at just the right time to reward your attentive audience with enough data to solve the mystery just before the characters do, but not so early that they lose interest.

So, why is this important for fandoms? Because it's entirely possible to go down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole and convince yourself of stuff that's not there and then get really bummed when it doesn't happen. We're all guilty of this, myself very much included, especially in the largely subtextual world of slash shipping.

There's also real world exceptions and extenuating circumstances to my statement that a good mystery will actually provide the clues: like studio changes, dropped threads due to contractual complications, or a crowded writers room where not every idea gets pursued.

Plus, we've got the whole goddamn JJ Abrams-inspired mystery box bullshit run of television making creators think it's cool to pull one over on the audience and deny the clues they set up just to make a "twist" that no one predicted because it wasn't there, thus betraying the principles of a good mystery, and that also muddies the waters about how good mysteries should be written. (If you can't tell, I absolutely despise writers who pull this bullshit with the intent to trick their audience and they do not deserve any praise for being "clever" to just surprise people with an outcome that's not supported by previous text ala "rocks fall, everyone dies", ugh.)

But besides the damned mystery box crud, there are some good rules of thumb for determining if the clues you're picking up are real or not:

Is the subtext supported by text? Not "is her green dress backed up by a micro-expression glance you can barely see if you freeze-frame the show" but actually in the text. Does someone say, in dialogue, "Hey, we should go on a date," when you're reading subtext between two characters and can you be certain that the writers intended that text to be read the way you read it? One way to tell is if this sort of thing happens more than once, if there are more clues. Of course, there's also red herrings, etc, and hey, that's half the fun of a mystery, not all clues are Clues. But generally speaking, there's more than one clue for important stuff.

Is there evidence against your theory and have you considered it? This is basic Logical Thinking 101, of course, but only looking for evidence that confirms your theory and ignoring everything that doesn't will definitely convince you of some pretty wild stuff in a hurry!

Have you considered the genre of the work and whether it even has mysteries? Or is it, for example, a comedy which might address those "clues", most likely comedically, but might just as easily not even realize they were seen as clues?

But mostly importantly: do other people have this theory? Did they arrive to it on their own, based on the same text? If you are the only person with a theory and cannot use textual evidence to convince more than one person who is not of the same background as you (ie, convince your less-progressive dad that these two guys definitely want to boink based on the way they look at each other) there is a very likely chance you are stringing together disparate data points to match your desires, not the evidence. Bonus points if, seriously, you can convince someone who is of the same demographic as the content creators (writers, directors, etc.) that these clues are intentional. Most likely, your less-than-progressive dad has more in common with the thought process that went into creating the vast majority of content than your average Tumblr user does. (OFMD is the exception that proves the rule.)

As a final note, one thing it's very dangerous to do as a writer is introduce the idea of clues and a mystery without making your mystery air tight. Mysteries invite the reader to put their brain on high alert. It means they're looking for clues everywhere and even seemingly innocuous throw-away descriptions or the camera lingering on a random prop for too long can be misinterpreted and end up pissing off the audience who thinks it's a Clue.

You have to be so deliberate with a mystery, because it's not about just controlling the clues you release, but controlling the perception of the audience so they know what isn't a clue (unless it's a red herring, of course). That's part of why scifi author David Brin said all aspiring writers should have their first novel be a mystery, because it teaches you volumes on how to control your narrative and make everything intentional.

#maggie rambles #writing #writing advice #definitely not in response to some absolutely wild theories I've seen going about

[kazisgirlfriend]

Snake Girl Rayla?

The TDP fandom has always had headcanons that didn't really work out (such as Soren rather than Claudia staying loyal to his father), but the idea of Callum being some sort of "Snake Boi" seems to have stuck around despite having basically no support in canon.

This isn't to discourage people who like the aesthetic. People who think it would be cool if Callum was That Way. By all means, keep writing those stories, making those fanarts! Many of them are downright inspired, and represents a really interesting direction the story could have taken.

But "could have taken" is the operative term here. The traits that are associated with "Snake Boi" Callum (listed below) barely represent what his defining traits really are:

Obsession

Ambition

Temper

Ruthlessness

Selective Loyalty

There are, of course, shades of the above that ring true with Callum, as they ring true for most of the main cast. But it seems odd to single out Callum as the one who most exhibits these traits. Other characters who better exhibit, say, selective loyalty (such as Sarai taking a stance against hunting the Titan but ultimately sides with Harrow), are never recognized as such, let alone singled out to the extent Callum is.

Or they're based on interpretations that are dubious at best (Callum "turning against" Viren, a man he's never shown a particular liking to), or false at worst (Callum being the only one to actually want to kill Aaravos, despite the fact that killing him was originally Rayla's idea). So given all this, it's curious as to why "Snake Boi" Callum as an actual theory of who Callum is stuck around for as long as it did.

Then it hit me: much of this is really a projection, because there is a character who does exhibit these traits far better than Callum - Rayla.

Obsession

Rayla's obsession brings out the best and worst in her. She would obsess over what the right thing to do is ("I hesitate, think too much, get confused about the right thing to do"), but then also become obsessed over specific goals, first over killing Viren, then over the coins.

Ambition

All of the main character display some forms of ambition from time to time, but Rayla seems to have dispalyed hers at a much younger age:

At an age when most of the other main characters were just having fun and getting to be children, Rayla already chose her path. She wanted to be trained day and night by her mentor, despite her parents wishing that she have fun and grow up. To set aside a normal childhood and deciding on a career at that age, that takes ambition.

Temper

It should go without saying that it doesn't take much to set Rayla off:

So whether it's being mistrusted, being lied to, being rejected, being called weak, or just plain hungry, Rayla has a history of getting pretty angry.

Ruthlessness

I mean, c'mon, look at that smirk...

Or that death glare...

If that's not enough, here is what Rayla was planning to do with Claudia and Soren at the Cursed Caldera according to the novelization:

Selective Loyalty

Last but not least - selective loyalty. I think this is best exhibited by Rayla being willing to scuttle a two-year mission to kill Viren by saving her family instead:

But also by her insistence that "we can't save anyone," typically hinting at the belief they have to look out for themselves and their in-group before others:

But this is also hinted at throughout the series. She goes to save Pyrrah from Soren and Claudia, but doesn't express similar empathy for the humans in the nearby town that the dragon burnt down. Evidently, the bonds of loyalty are a strong influence on her actions.

So much so that in ToX this is Rayla's defining trait:

So on the one hand it's curious that Rayla's "most important value" is often assigned to Callum in some headcanons, but on the other I do get it. People want Callum to be selectively loyal, because that would mean he is selecting Rayla. That he's more loyal to her than he is to any pesky moral principles, that she's his ultimate value. What's more romantic than that?

But this does have the uncomfortable nature of being wrong: the truth is Rayla is the more selectively loyal one. She ultimately chose Callum over her quest to find Viren - doesn't get more loyal than that.

Conclusion

I don't write this to disparage anyone's theories or beliefs, but merely to point out what I think should be clear by this point: every single trait Callum is thought of having - temper, obsession, ambition, and especially ruthlessness - better describe Rayla. I'm sure people don't mean to project Rayla's traits onto Callum. It does seem to be done so in order to let Rayla be an uncomplicated hero with no moral issues, but in doing so I think people unintentionally ignore Rayla's best side.

Her obsession lets her stay on task. Her ambition shaped her into a great warrior. Her temper means no one can run roughshod on her. Her ruthlessness means she has what it takes to get the job done. And her selective loyalty means that when she says...

...she means it.

#tdp #rayla #soren #claudia #ezran #callum #rayllum

[nikethestatue]

Why do you think the fandom has become so divided? I mean I’m it it for elriel but if elucian happened I wouldn’t be devastated or anything and I’d still read the book. I don’t get how all this name calling, lack of reading comprehension my ship is better because of x y z even came about? Was it around before the 3rd ship entered the race or do you think it has more to do with the amount of time people have had to get so fully invested in a ship theyve lost all sense of civility. The thing with reading comprehension when it comes to yet to be written narratives is that it’s somewhat retrospective. Meaning if it turns out you were right u comprehended the txt correctly but if your wrong you didn’t. But this isn’t black and white because an author can drop storyline’s, change original storyline’s, retcon already canon events, have continuity errors etc and you interpreted it right but the author decided to take the storyline away from the original plan. But at present as far as I can tell the only things we know for certain because it was stated in actual canon is A) that elain and Lucian have a mate bond (wether this turns out to be a true mate bond or the work of a corrupt cauldron or something is yet to be determined) B) that elain is uncomfortable around lucian and isn’t open to the bond at present (altho obviously this could change if sjm wants to write that story) C) elains and azriels characters have a lot of interactions and there on page storyline’s are entwined with each other (he’s protective of her, her seeks her out, he didn’t hesitate to rescue her, truth teller all the stuff that came up in the bonus chapter etc etc etc) and this means something and D) Elain and Azriel are indeed attracted to each, but it was not stated in canon that he only thinks of her sexually, contrary to what some people say, there wasn’t enough on page information to make concrete claims like that (wether any of this will go on to mean something more is also yet to be determined) That’s why theories and txt analysis is suppose to be fun but it also needs to lean into canon, which is completely different than a headcanon which brings me to Gwynriel. There is absolutely and I can’t state this enough no canon evidence of gwynriel (wether they go on to be a canon couple once again is yet to be determined) but at the moment all “evidence” of this ship is based of of individual interpretation that has no actual canon backing. Thinking 2 people would be better together doesn’t make something canon, so this ship to me is a crack ship. I will say I think part of the reason the gwynriel ship is so present in social media is because the elucians decided to support that ship because it suited their narrative not because they actually think or care if they become a couple or not so it’s like 2 ships against one. If you took all the eluciens out of the equation I think the gwynriel ship fandom would be a lot smaller.

I think ACOSF happened.

It was a divisive book, needlessly so. It pitted the IC against Nesta and then Nesta with her 'found family' formed almost this separate narrative and a separate unit of girlbosses. And instead of unity, you have division in the fandom. Half of the fandom are older, Feysand-centric readers and then the rest are newer, Nesta-centric readers, who can pin all their hopes and dreams on Gwyn, who is single, straight, pretty and spunky. She is not some vision-seeing weirdo who likes flowers and cream buns. No! Gwyn is your generic, uncomplicated, easily digestible Miss Awesome. Nesta is mated and odd and too tormented, while Emerie would've been okayish, but now she seems to be no longer straight and she's got those ungainly clipped wings. (Let's not kid ourselves, there is plenty of misogyny and racism in this fandom). SO that leaves Gwyn and the last available batboy, who also had a monster cock apparently, the ubiquitous shadows and who is handsome and mysterious.

The relationship between the sisters isnt really resolved at the end of the book. It's fashionable to hate Elain even harder, because she was 'mean to Nesta' and because she is 'mean to Lucien'. So obviously such a revolting character cannot be paired with the handsome Azriel. But who can? Gwyn! Uncomplicated Gwyn, whom you are not allowed to critique in any fashion because .... SA!

And from there on, I think it just grew and grew.

Yes, there is no basis for the Gwynriel ship. But you dont need a basis, you just need access to others via social media, do a lot of posturing as an 'expert', highlight some random passages from the books, creating vague connections. and BOOM! you got a ship. And yes, the viciousness came with Gwynriels, who began acting like they were experts themselves and who descended on anyone who argued like a swarm of bees. They hounded numerous artists off platforms, others refused to even entertain the idea of painting Elriel art, they attacked people on every platform, they doxxed, they berated and insulted. 2021 was a crazy year.

Now they are all gone because they don't give a shit anymore. Other things came about that are more interesting.

The newer Gwynriels arent as psychotic or nasty. They'll argue, which is their right, but like they won't set your grandma on fire over Gwynriel. First Gen Gwynriels were something else. But so many people left the fandom in 21-22 because of the negativity, older fans, who were not into all of this.

There were a ton of Elriels, I remember, in 21-22 on here. Now, there is like me. And a few others, newer ones. From the OG group, there might be 10 left? Sad really, but it is what it is.

[thecagedsong]

Theories (Part III)

Last part for tonight. Oh boy.

3. The dragons will lose their powers, and be offered the chance to renew the vow and gain the powers back.

So, kinda weird how tied their powers are to Hiryuu’s shrine, isn’t it? Like, we’ve known for a while that they are stronger closer to the shrine, but that they collapse when something happens to the shrine is a bit .  . . odd. 

Did they feel it when Yu-hon burned down the temple on castle grounds? Doesn’t seem like it. And their powers are derived from the dragon’s blood their ancestors drank, not King Hiryuu’s spirit. 

Unless King Hiryuu has been strengthening the diluted blood for years. 

If Hiryuu’s spirit has been making up the difference for diluted blood, that would explain why the farther they get from his shrine the weaker they get. Their bodies don’t have enough dragon blood left to sustain their powers. 

Zeno’s medallion protecting the dragons now fits that. A gift from Hiryuu, carrying his wish for the dragon brothers he loved to be well, putting forth energy to sustain them.

HOWEVER, the dragon gods still love Hiryuu/Yona. They demanded their avatars serve her. They cried over the wound on her back. They still need the avatars to help her out, particularly if she’s doing her job and acting as judge, jury, and executioner of those who abuse power. 

I think that when the shine actually goes down/medallion stops functioning, the dragon gods will appear before the four warriors again. They will make the same offer they gave the original dragon warriors. 

Do you understand how amazing that scene would be?

Not only would it be the perfect way to answer the questions the dragons have of “how much of my love for Yona is me verse the dragon god’s love” but their answers would showcase their own character growth. I might have to write a fic about that, but anyone who wants to can use these theories as a prompt for their own fanworks. 

Stripped of the dragon blood’s compulsion, they still all chose to drink. renewed to the strength of the original dragon warriors, they no longer need Hiryuu’s extra protections and can head into Kai and save the day. 

Out of my theories, I hope this one comes true. In evidence, I can only offer Jae-ha’s dreams in Xing about losing his legs and ability to go to Yona’s side as a premonition form the Green Dragon in an attempt to make sure Jaeha doesn’t refuse to accept the mantle of the dragon warrior out of spite. I don’t really have much else on this theory. But if you can think of some canon support, feel free to reblog with your evidence/response/thoughts.

thecagedsong

#Yona of the dawn #four dragon warriors #yotd #akatsuki no yona #meta #theory #only a little ranting

[singingwordwright]

The “EDI and Geth survive the Destroy Ending” manifesto

The goodies dropped on N7 Day of 2021 told a contradictory story:

On one hand, you had a cinematic video of Liara climbing a dead Reaper, which would indicate that the canon ending for ME3 was the Destroy ending, with at least one other dead Reaper in the background.

On the other hand, you had a poster released in which several figures were approaching a crater that resembled a Geth's head. Since the Geth (and EDI) are supposedly wiped out along with the Reapers in the event of the Destroy ending, these two things shouldn't be able to co-exist.

Then came N7Day 2022, which (when unscrambled) seems to have audio of Liara talking to some Geth. Again, this is in contradiction to the notion of Liara climbing a dead Reaper.

I've spent the last year trying to resolve this contradiction, and I believe there's a solid foundation for believing the Geth and EDI COULD survive the destroy ending, and that Shepard is mislead by the Catalyst when told Geth and EDI would also be destroyed if Shepard chooses that option.

These are my conclusions. (dun-dun.) 

Caveat Emptor: This manifesto is way past the point of relevancy to most fans of the franchise, I’m sure, and it’s quite possible someone has opined on this subject before me. But I’m a latecomer to Mass Effect and if that’s the case, I haven’t seen it. Pardon any lack of originality.

Furthermore, I have nothing more than a layman’s grasp of astro- and nuclear physics, and maybe a smidge better understanding of computer networking. I’ve got perhaps a journeyman’s knowledge of coding, in that I’ve taught myself enough to write a couple libraries to use as dependencies for apps I hoped to develop someday.

Finally, I have not read the Mass Effect books or comics. If these issues are addressed therein, I will have missed it. I probably have also missed a lot of Word of God input from the creators, as I don't follow them religiously. 

Let's proceed....

Watching a playthrough of someone else’s Mass Effect game recently brought back a lot of thoughts I’ve had about the Destroy ending, and the supposed destruction of EDI and the Geth alongside the Reapers. And I call bullshit.

Again, I’m sure that’s not a revelation; as beloved as EDI and Legion are, many, many people have declared that ending bullshit. But I come with receipts! Nearly every point I make from here on out is backed by canonical evidence in game. Sometimes that evidence is dependent upon Shepard leaning toward a particular morality. Beyond that, any supposition or assumption I make is clearly disclaimed as such and has at least a significant portion of the underlying rationale supported by in-game statements or events.

Before I begin, I will clarify that yes, I am aware of the Indoctrination Theory and have watched a number of videos about it, including the originals. While I’m not positive I believe the entire thing, because some of it felt like reaching (which I may be guilty of myself, herein) there are parts of it that make a great deal of sense to me and have no doubt influenced my thinking. As such, there may be some overlap between my theories and theirs.

PART ONE: The interoperability of EDI, the Geth, and the Reapers

Three disparate programming languages

As EDI herself points out when comparing her independent intelligence to the Geth’s networked intelligence, EDI and the Geth are two very different forms of AI. To wit, until after (and if) they survive Priority: Rannoch, the Geth aren’t “true,” fully-evolved AIs. We have multiple sources confirming this, most notably Admiral Shala Raan and Legion leading up to the final battle for Rannoch.

The Geth possess self-awareness, but can only function independently at a limited intellectual capability. Unless multiple Geth are networked together (such as Legion) they are really closer to VIs, except that they still possess rudimentary self-awareness.

EDI, the Geth, and the Reapers were created–by which I mean coded, since, as Legion points out, they exist purely as software–by different races and at different times. While the essence of any programming ultimately comes down to the ones and zeros (i.e. which bits are “on” and which bits are “off”), regardless of the coding language, it’s probable that EDI, the Geth, and the Reapers were all written in vastly different languages. IIRC, the Prothean designs for the Crucible are in base-12 math. Most likely, the math underlying the programming of each of these three different AIs varies one from the other at least that much or more.

For example: Quarians only have three fingers on each hand. So is their elementary level math in base-10 like ours, or base-6, which would account for their total number of fingers and therefore their most primitive tool for counting? And we’ve seen the Leviathan race that created the Catalyst. How did they learn to count in the primitive stage of their evolution? What is their mathematics–and thus, the base language of all their technology–built upon?

It’s possible the language in which EDI’s software was written may have been influenced by technology picked up from other races in the 30 years since First Contact. It’s also possible that the programming languages of those races may have been influenced by the quarians’ programming languages of a few centuries ago. If both of those conditions are true, it would give EDI and the Geth a minuscule chance of “out-of-the-box” interoperability.

It is also possible that the languages in which EDI and the Geth were written were, to some extent, derived from or influenced by the technological advances that came with discovering “Prothean” ruins and acquiring mass effect technology, which of course originated with the Catalyst and the Reapers. That allows for a minute chance that there is some limited interoperability between all three. But like any other language, programming evolves, or at least branches. The languages EDI and the Geth were written in may or may not be backward compatible with Reaper code, but it seems unlikely.

We don’t know when the quarians discovered mass effect technology, but we know it was long enough ago for them to be able to escape via the relays when fleeing Rannoch nearly three centuries prior to Mass Effect. It’s likely the Geth were created using quarian programming languages that are more than a century or two of evolution past the first influence of “Prothean” (i.e. Reaper) technology.

In other words, there isn’t much chance of out-of-the-box interoperability between these three kinds of software.

Remember that embarrassing snafu with one of the early Mars rover projects a couple decades ago, where the project almost entirely failed because someone assumed they were working with the English measurement system rather than metric, or vice versa? Yeah. It’s kinda like that. Precision in these matters is really rather important, and usually a little precision is lost each time one system is converted to another for compatibility.

EDI and Reaper tech

EDI herself, Shepard points out, incorporates “Reaper technology”, as no doubt does EVA’s platform that EDI commandeers. This would suggest that EDI has a greater chance of interoperability with the Reapers than she does with the Geth.

But we’re never told exactly what “Reaper technology” means. Does it mean she was written in Reaper code? Does it mean Reaper hardware was incorporated into her physical design, i.e. her hardware in the medical bay AI core and throughout Normandy? And to what degree? What portion of EDI is Alliance tech from the training facility on Luna in ME1, what portion of it is the other AI on the Citadel in ME1 (the jury is out as to whether that was included in material salvaged from the Citadel), and what portion was based upon Sovereign? 

I find the notion of incorporating actual Reaper hardware into EDI’s design unlikely, as doing so might pose a hazard of indoctrination to the crew of the Normandy SR2. We’re not sure anyone knows how capable of indoctrinating people pieces of a DEAD Reaper can be until the Derelict Reaper mission in ME2, and no doubt The Illusive Man would certainly have considered it, but as far as we’re ever aware, no one on Normandy ends up indoctrinated (with the exception of Shepard under the Indoctrination Theory). Therefore, I’m going to discount the possibility of Reaper hardware being integrated into EDI’s platforms. 

That leaves software. In which case, we have to ask ourselves, how much software would Cerberus be able to derive from the remnants of Sovereign?

Sovereign is a fully functional, independent, and self aware platform. Like Geth ships, it doesn’t need pilots and engineers and operators to keep it functional. We don’t even have proof of it having any caretakers, like the Keepers on the Citadel. Therefore one may surmise that user interface components on Sovereign would be minimal. Indeed, in the derelict Reaper, almost all the interfaces were ones the Cerberus science team installed.

I’d also call it improbable that Sovereign has anything along the lines of an AI core, because a) since Sovereign doesn’t need a crew for maintenance, there’s no incentive to keep the hardware centralized and accessible, and b) such a configuration would create a massive point of vulnerability where a lucky shot could take out most, if not all, of Sovereign’s processing power in one hit.

Conveniently for Cerberus, that probably also means Sovereign’s processing power isn’t contained in an AI core the size of Normandy herself (if not larger) which could prove problematic for secretly hauling it away.

So how is it designed? I can see two possibilities.

The first is that it has multiple, smaller processing nodes throughout its physical platform, similar to the way EDI says many of her processes are distributed throughout Normandy (though she still does have an AI core as well.)

The second is that those components all comprise the ship itself. There’s no reason to believe their hardware bears any resemblance to ours, even futuristic as ours is in Mass Effect.

The Catalyst–and therefore the Reapers–might not possess any notions about needing to build processors and memory storage as separate units and shield them inside an external casing. Without more data to say for sure, it’s every bit as likely that Sovereign’s processing and memory components are part and parcel of the shell and inner architecture of the ship itself, with most or every surface being the Reaper equivalent of a circuit board and/or data storage unit. This could certainly explain how the human proto-Reaper in the Collector base was already so functional when it was merely at an “embryonic” stage of its development.

If the nodes model applies, since we’re discussing a “ship” twice the size of a skyscraper, each of those nodes would still likely be quite massive and not easy to move, much less slip out from under the nose of C-Sec and the Council and the Council races’ in the aftermath of the Battle of the Citadel. 

The “every piece is a functional piece of processing and storage hardware” theory makes portability less of an issue, since any piece, however small, may contain fragments of Reaper code.

But even then, how would Cerberus identify which pieces of salvage are memory or processing units? How would they know what that looks like?

Are we to believe that Cerberus managed to:

Extract enough salvaged pieces to determine which contained code that they could analyze and build from

Engineer a way to interface with those components

Decompile and decipher the code stored in those components

Wrap that code in something closer to our own languages so that 

interoperability is possible, the way a C++ library may need, say, an Objective-C wrapper to be used in Swift.

in less than two years, and STILL have enough time to develop an AI as fully-featured and functional as EDI?

Cerberus, being a human-supremacist organization, might have borrowed from what advanced technology the Alliance had acquired from Prothean ruins and the other races, but it wouldn’t have involved alien scientists with hundreds or thousands more years of experience in working with the advanced technology we only just recently acquired.

The Geth and the Reaper code upgrades

Until ME3, there is no indication that the Geth incorporate Reaper technology in any form. The Heretics chose to worship the Reapers; they were not influenced by Sovereign reprogramming them. “A House Divided” is quite clear on this point: the Heretics came to a conclusion and followed it, full stop.

When the Geth actually DID integrate Reaper code, doing so merely enhanced the Geth’s abilities enough to enable them to function as fully evolved intelligences even when operating independently.

We get a bit of a contradiction at this point: on one hand, the Geth Server mission on Rannoch indicates that with the server cleansed of Reaper code, the Geth stored in the server will be lost. As Shepard says, it’s like wiping out a whole city. Taking the server offline also causes the Geth forces in space to go into a state of dormancy. They stop fighting the quarians and just hang there in space. But it does not seem to “kill” them. Legion asks Shepard if the Geth deserve to die just for defending themselves, suggesting that they’re not going to actually be “dead” until the quarians attack and destroy them.

I’m not entirely sure how to reconcile those two notions. Why did removing the Reaper code destroy the programs on the Geth server, but only knock out the ships and fighters in space? For lack of any better explanation, I consider it to be a plot hole. As such, I feel perfectly free to patch it in whatever way best supports my own preferences and agenda, which is to “save” EDI and the Geth in the Destroy ending.

Therefore, I’m going to hypothesize that removing the Reaper upgrades does not “kill” the Geth that aren’t directly networked in an affected server. The geth operating on mobile platforms can still function without the upgrades, but it will take longer for them to return to functionality because they need to be…rebooted? Perform a factory reset? Whatever.

Once rebooted, however, the Geth would only have the same functionality that they had BEFORE the Reaper upgrades. They would still have self-awareness, but reduced independent intelligence.

✴️TL;DR: Conclusion #1 We may safely conclude that whatever Reaper technology is integrated with EDI, her overall functionality does not depend upon it. Likely, it’s limited to being able to interface with Reaper tech, such as the Reaper IFF. And even that took at least a day or two to integrate. Possibly more, depending on when you played the Derelict Reaper mission and whether you had other other missions besides “A House Divided” to complete before the attack on Normandy triggered.

Furthermore, given textual clues, it seems probable that the Geth could return to some lesser degree of functionality after recovering from the removal of the Reaper upgrades.

PART TWO: How much of what the Catalyst tells Shepard is true?

When questioned about how EDI got the ship and Joker free of Alliance control when the Reapers attacked earth, EDI tells Shepard that she lied while posing as a V.I.. When questioned about this, EDI confirms that she has no programming constraints requiring her to provide accurate data.

If we extrapolate to assume that, similarly, the Catalyst surely has no safeguards against deception in its programming–how else could the Catalyst have done what it did to turn on its creators? How else could the Reapers be able to indoctrinate people into believing something that isn’t true?– everything it tells Shepard becomes suspect.

EDI also tells us that she has self-preservation priorities, and we see her choose to modify them. We can assume that, likewise, the Reapers–or more specifically, the Catalyst–values its own continued existence, and unlike EDI, it has no overriding priorities (such as Joker, whom she states she would risk non-functionality for.) Given that assumption, the Catalyst has motive to do everything in its power to induce Shepard to refuse the Destroy option. 

Including lying to Shepard.

The Reapers–and thus the Catalyst–know Shepard. They know that Shepard (or at least, iterations of Shepard that haven’t let the Geth die) values synthetic life. They know a peacemaker Shepard would consider sacrificing his/her/their own life preferable to sacrificing beings Shepard values. Depending on the choices Shepard has made, the Catalyst might also know that Shepard is anti-genocide.

Therefore, the Catalyst might conclude that if it presents Shepard with three choices–one of which involves being responsible for the genocide of not one, not two, but THREE unique synthetic races (EDI being a race unto herself, as the only one of her kind) and the others which only require Shepard to sacrifice their self, there’s a significant chance that Shepard would choose the latter. This doesn’t even require Shepard to be indoctrinated, merely to be a reasonably non-psychopathic person.

Furthermore, without this motivation, the Control ending makes NO sense for Shepard to choose.

I can sort of see why a non-psychopath Shepard might choose Synthesis, as it’s an option that requires no genocide, at least. But there’s just really no excuse for Shepard ever choosing Control beyond plain old bad storytelling.

From the very beginning of ME3, Shepard believes The Illusive Man to be wrong in his notions about controlling the Reapers. We’re not even given dialogue choices about this, and when we do have choices, even Renegade Shepard only gets to choose HOW to tell TIM “no,” rather than an option to say “sure, sounds like a great plan, sign me up!”

Shepard may have been supportive of Cerberus in ME2, may have told the Virmire Survivor that Cerberus was right, may have turned over the Collector base to Cerberus, but from “Priority: Mars” onward, Shepard is firmly opposed to the idea of controlling the Reapers. They know in their gut that TIM is wrong and destroying the Reapers is the right choice.

But then, after either killing TIM or inducing him to kill himself, Shepard gets a few words from this synthetic that they have no reason to believe, and suddenly it’s just “Whoopsie! I guess TIM was right. How embarrassing, finding that out right after I made him kill himself. Guess I’ll choose Control!”

Furthermore, Shepard knows The Illusive Man was indoctrinated. They can’t trust anything TIM was advocating for, because his will was not his own. Whatever he wanted is almost surely what the Reapers want. Shepard ALSO knows AI are capable of deception, because EDI told them so. So, unless Shepard is, indeed, indoctrinated, absolutely nothing about the Control option can be trusted.

Just as there is a such thing as Plot Armor, I find there is also a such thing as Plot-Convenient Incompetence (ask any Shadowhunters fan if you doubt the existence of this phenomenon), where an otherwise capable capable marksman suddenly can’t hit the broad side of a barn or defend their self from an amateur, or an intelligent character does the dumb thing for no reason other than TPTB say so. Shepard doing a 180 on choosing Control falls within this category. There’s just no valid excuse for it.

Even if Shepard is fully Renegade, the most likely option is that they just don’t care if EDI and the Geth die (assuming they’re still alive by this point) and thus, they have no motive to choose one of the self-sacrificial options. They’ll simply select Destroy.

In fact, the color coding of the options leads us to believe that Destroy IS the Renegade option, and Control is the paragon option (still doesn't make Control a logical solution, however, given everything Shepard has believed up until now.)

I suppose one could make the argument that Shepard wants power, but if Shepard’s existence as they know it is going to end, what good is that power? What would they do with it if they had it, and why were they so opposed to claiming it ten minutes ago when TIM was still yammering madly at them?

Moreover, whether or not they believe the Catalyst about the options they’re presented, a Shepard that has brokered peace between the Geth and Quarians KNOWS the Catalyst is wrong on one major point:

Synthetics and organics do not have to destroy each other. It’s NOT inevitable. Shepard has just finished proving it.

See, there’s this old saying about history and what happens to people who don’t learn from it. It’s entirely possible that the reason synthetics and organics have “inevitably” been destined to destroy each other is because the Reapers have been factory-resetting history every 50,000 years. No cycle has had an opportunity to learn from the mistakes older civilizations who have survived the development of artificial intelligence.

One might argue that Shepard could question if they would be proving the Catalyst’s assertion by selecting Destroy. But they wouldn’t, because regardless of the subsequent fate of EDI and the Geth, Shepard has proven that achieving peace and cooperation between organics and synthetics IS possible. EDI and the Geth, if they are indeed destroyed, will not be destroyed because of an inevitable war between them and organics, but because their destruction was an grievous side effect of eliminating the Reapers, who were bent on annihilating organics.

Furthermore, history will take the lessons of EDI’s willing cooperation with organics and the quarians mistakes and Shepard’s ability to broker peace between the quarians and the Geth forward into the future, and thus the cycle of organics and synthetics destroying each other may be broken.

And if not, well, that’s a problem for future generations to figure out. At least now there will BE future generations.

As for Synthesis, personally, I think it would take an incredible amount of confidence to make that choice for however many TRILLIONS of beings. Given the choice between sacrificing…what? A few million–maybe even a couple billion?...beings (who, unfortunately, are all synthetic) or forcing a metamorphosis no one consented to upon trillions of beings–including those same synthetics–it seems hard to rationalize why Shepard would choose the Synthesis option.

Especially since, again, the Catalyst is advocating for it, and the Catalyst can lie.

Finally, the fact that there are no synthetic races that have carried over from past cycles suggests that the Reapers don’t intend to let the synthetic races of the galaxy survive any more than they do organics. If Shepard choses Control or Synthesis and is wrong, EDI and the Geth will be destroyed anyway.

✴️TL;DR: Conclusion #2

Shepard has no reason to believe anything the Catalyst says, and a great deal of reason to mistrust any options the Catalyst offers them, as those options are likely to be in the Reapers best interest, rather than benefit to the organic (or possibly even synthetic) species of the galaxy. The Catalyst has the ability and motivation to try to discourage Shepard from selecting the Destroy ending, and Shepard has no reason not to know this and be able to draw these conclusions.

PART THREE: What does the Crucible really do, anyway?

Hearkening back to Part One, it’s established by Legion in ME2 that EDI, the Geth, and the Reapers are software. The platforms they operate on offer them mobility and the capacity to fight offensively or simply defend themselves, but their platforms are not what they are.

Therefore, whatever the Crucible does, it’s going to affect them as software, rather than as physical entities.

We’re told the Crucible is a “dark energy device” but given very few specifics.

IDK about y’all, but the word “energy” makes me think of something along the lines of an EMP. However, we’re not warned that it will make ALL software stop functioning, only synthetic beings. Ships, weapons, environment suits, even VIs, we have no indication that all computer-dependent technology is going to be effectively bricked (if we were, we would have to also consider the effect of the Destroy ending upon the vol and quarians, but clearly that isn’t the case.)

Even the Citadel and mass relays, which of any technology in the galaxy are most likely to share significant amounts of code with the Reapers, are merely damaged but capable of being repaired. That is, assuming you took the time to get your war assets high enough for an optimal ending.

Assuming the Catalyst is being honest about anything in this regard, the Crucible is a power source and the Catalyst directs its power toward…something.

(Side note: This calls into question the veracity of the Catalysts’ claims as regards Synthesis. I can see how the Crucible might enable Control–the signal would basically reprogram the Reapers to accept Shepard’s commands rather than the Catalyst’s–but how does energy result in the merging of organic and synthetic beings into a new kind of being? I’m no astrophysicist, but that one requires a significant suspension of disbelief.)

Moving on, however. How then, does the catalyst direct it ONLY toward synthetic beings and not any other kind of technology? Well, it would have to target something EDI and the Geth and the Reapers all have in common: Reaper code.

We may deduce that the “energy” functions more like a signal, or possibly even a virus, because it requires precise targeting. The only way to avoid bricking every bit of technology in the galaxy is for that signal or virus to specifically target Reaper code and Reaper code ONLY.

Additionally, the Citadel is required to create a targeted signal from the energy generated by the Crucible, and the mass relay network is required to boost and disseminate the signal. Which means we have to ask ourselves what does the Citadel and relay network do or possess to make this possible.

The answer: they were built by the Reapers, based on the Reapers own technology. They are able to target Reaper code because they are made using Reaper code. 

As we’ve already established in Part One, the integration of Reaper code in both EDI and the Geth is (or should be, if we’re disregarding inconvenient plot holes and applying logical thought to the matter) minimally invasive and the lack of it should not present an impediment to their functionality, aside from downgrading the Geth.

In the Citadel DLC, we see that EDI still functions even when cut off from the Normandy, where the greater part of her hardware exists. If she can still function even without the vast majority of her processing power, it stands to reason that she can function without the small portion of her code that is compatible with or derived from Reaper tech.

Will she function perfectly? Probably not at first. Much like her momentary glitching out if she rides in the car with Shepard to intercept the Normandy in the Citadel DLC, it’s likely she would be taken offline for a while to repair broken circuits and patch now-incomplete logic, which is likely why Normandy ends up crash landing on the unknown jungle planet.

But we’re told more than once that EDI is the ship, and the ship is EDI. The time when they could have functioned without each other has passed; EDI and the Normandy are now fully integrated. So the fact that Normandy is able to be repaired and takes off again suggests that EDI is also eventually restored to functionality, without whatever Reaper technology she may have initially had integrated into her systems. 

She may, however, lose her mobile platform, since that body is likely to incorporate MORE Reaper tech than her older code. This would explain why there are no slides of her stepping off the Normandy with Joker in any ending except Synthesis, and why she isn’t physically present in the scene at the memorial wall.

#bioware #mass effect

[boomerangguy]

You’ve proposed a headcanon that Korra is the granddaughter of Sokka and Suki. It’s an attractive idea, but it falls apart under scrutiny. If she was really **that** closely related to Sokka and Katara, the White Lotus would have investigated her sooner, considering her birthday coincides with Aang’s death. Katara of all people would have said something. She’d know the day, at least, and if necessary they would have thoroughly investigated to narrow down the time of day, just to focus their search parameters and make the new Avatar easier to find. Hell, she would’ve called Katara “aunt” at least once.

Korra must have been between two and four when they finally met her in the pilot, and it never would have taken that long if she were Sokka’s granddaughter. Being unrelated, she could easily be lost in obscurity among all the children born that day. You can blame bad writing or poor pacing if you want, it’s a fair claim, but even with that the available information just doesn’t support your theory. It’s not a headcanon, it’s an AU, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

On the other hand, if Korra has any familial connection to a character from the first series, then considering her father Tonraq and his brother Unalaq are essentially Northern Water Tribe royalty, it’s much more likely that she is distantly related to Princess Yue. This theory has more credence in the context of the series, and could feasibly be called a headcanon.

First off, I’d like to preface this response by saying: a) headcanons are headcanons—Senna being Sukka’s daughter is canon in my head, not in real life—and anyone else is free to accept this headcanon (as many have done long before I even joined the fandom), but obviously no one is obligated to do so, including yourself; b) a lot of things in popular media don’t hold up under scrutiny, including rather large plot points in ATLA (*cough* Aang’s chakra arc *cough*). Regardless, this is something that actually does hold up, and thus does not require an AU.

To be clear, this conversation is a continuation from the reply section of this post, but I’m going to rehash things I said there anyway. So here we go!

Korra as Sokka and Suki’s Granddaughter: A Legitimate Possibility in Canon

It seems to me that your issue with Senna being Sukka’s daughter can be divided into two points: (1) the near-instantaneous reincarnation of the Avatar Spirit would provide nigh-irrefutable evidence that Korra is the next Avatar, and (2) Aang’s death and Korra’s birth on the same day are too significant of an occurrence within one family to not be investigated further. So I’ll be refuting these points in order to reject your overall claim—that it’s impossible in the canon Avatar universe for Senna to be Sokka and Suki’s daughter and Korra their granddaughter.

(1) In order for the simultaneous death/birth of Aang/Korra (respectively) to be used to identify Korra as the new Avatar, it has to be knowable to the characters—it’s not enough that it just happened. So what would be required for the characters to determine this earlier? They (the White Lotus, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Senna, whoever else) would need the capacity and prior intent to measure the time of death/birth. Firstly, in terms of capacity, this means that there had to be someone present to record Korra’s exact time of birth. Considering Korra was likely born at home in the rural SWT (delivered by a local midwife or healer), it cannot be assumed that an exact time of birth was recorded as it might have been in a Republic City hospital. Can we be absolutely certain that Tonraq was checking the clock while his wife was in labor? Can we be certain that there was even a clock present at all? No, we cannot—simply because canon doesn’t show us any reason to believe so and it requires a great bit of imagination to say otherwise. Things become even less convincing with Aang’s death. Was his death sudden? In his sleep? In a place where no clocks or watches were at the ready? Again, we know nothing to indicate that the time of Aang’s death was properly recorded by (or passed on to) the White Lotus. But more importantly—to address prior intent—it’s clear that the White Lotus never aimed at using time of death/birth to pinpoint the new Avatar in the first place. If they had, why wouldn’t we have heard of it in TLOK? Korra’s heritage is completely unconnected to the WL’s plans and actions, and to assume that this strategy would have been used if she was Sukka’s granddaughter is to assume that it would have been used if she was not Sukka’s granddaughter. Yet, there is absolutely no evidence that the WL was concerned with this Avatar-identification method in TLOK. Therefore, we can safely say that Korra’s time of birth would not (and likely could not) have been used to identify her as the new Avatar.

(2) In your ask, you used the word ‘investigated’ more than once but provided no means by which an infant could be verified as the Avatar, even if the time of death/birth was known. If Sokka, Katara, or Senna were to inform the White Lotus that Aang/Korra’s death/birth occurred on the same day, what exactly can any of them do to ‘investigate’ this? The only methods of Avatar-verification shown in ATLA and TLOK are observing a young Avatar’s toy preference (Aang) and multiple-element bending (Korra). The former would not work since an infant cannot play with toys, nor would the latter since an infant can’t bend. Even if they waited a few months until Korra could play with past Avatars’ toys, what toys would they use? The ones at the Southern Air Temple that were no doubt destroyed when Sozin’s armies attacked 153 years earlier? There simply isn’t a way for the White Lotus to verify a wild coincidence that Aang’s grand-niece is the new Avatar (which is actually just as probable as it being any other baby). Korra seems to exhibit that she is the Avatar at a very young age already, and it is entirely unreasonable to assume that the WL or anyone else could determine this any earlier. And although I have not read the Kyoshi novels myself, I’ve heard that Avatar misidentification is something that happened when Kyoshi was young—someone other than the true Avatar was believed to be in possession of the Avatar Spirit and capable of bending all four elements. If that’s possible, then there really is no hard science behind verifying an individual as the Avatar before they show the ability to bend more than one element. No knowledge of death/birth-related coincidences can change that, either.

I was tempted to continue this response by considering the thoughts/feelings/motivations of Sokka, Katara, and Senna upon learning that Korra was born the same day Aang died, but this has already been long-winded enough—and it’s ultimately pointless since they’d have no way of determining that baby Korra is the Avatar. Maybe I’ll save that for another post, because it opens up some interesting side-discussions.

Any further asks about this headcanon—or any other Sukka-related topics—are always welcome!

#thanks for the ask! #unless you’re a troll #I hope you’re not #but I’m still glad I got to explain this #sokka #suki #senna #korra #sukka #tonraq #white lotus #avatar #atla #avatar the last airbender #the legend of korra #tlok #senna is a sukka baby #senna is sukka’s daughter

[jasontoddiefor]

Tyki Mikk is a Clone and I can (almost) prove it

Tyki Mikk is undoubtedly a fan favorite and yet we don’t really know a lot about him. For a character that was created with the purpose of being handsome (cf. D.Gray-Man Manga Volume 5, page 150), he carries a lot of baggage and has a rather unclear past. A theory that has haunted me since I read chapter 198 and has only grown in strength with the most recent arc is that Tyki is in fact a clone of Nea. As far fetched as this seems at start, there is quite a bit of evidence supporting this theory.

1) Tyki’s visible similarity to Nea (and Mana)

One of the first things Wisely remarks on when he meets Tyki is his similarity to “a certain man” (Chapter 187).

This similarity is picked up twice more in the manga. When Allen meets Nea for the first time (cf. chapter 198), he mistakes him for Tyki at first.

And it is brought up a third time by Nea himself in chapter 225 when he says:

To which Tyki, or rather Joyd, has this wonderful reaction:

But more on that guy specifically later. Point being right here is that three different characters, or four if you want to count Road and Wisely separately, acknowledge that Tyki resembles Nea a lot, down to the man himself. How does that saying go again? Once An Accident, Twice A Coincidence, Three Times A Pattern? This is something that repeatedly gets brought up again. And this is without going into detail on how much Tyki resembles not only Nea, but said man’s identical twin as well. Just look at that dashing long hair!

And take this from chapter 158 as well

Pretty long haired boy Mana is nothing new as of chapter 218 and 219:

Another interesting point here is that Tyki is the exact same height as the Earl in human form! They’re both 188cm tall. Nea, on the other hand, is listed at being 177cm. This could just be that Nea unfortunately ended up as the shorter twin, or, we take into consideration what Mana tells Allen/Red in chapter 238:

He remembers being seventeen, which means that he and Nea probably weren’t done growing yet when the “Earl” corrupted Mana. (It also kind of makes everything about Nea more hilarious if you realize he’s just seventeen.) Tyki, however, is 26 when we first meet him and should be around 27 now. He is an actual adult and not bound to hit another growth spurt.

But to summarize the first argument: Tyki looks uncannily similar to Nea and Mana and the manga keeps pointing it out so we can assume this resemblance is important.

2) Cloning is possible in canon

Now the second point is just here to point out that we know cloning to be possible. Funnily, Tyki’s resemblance to Nea gets pointed out just before the Alma Arc, which very much deals with the concept of reincarnation – only there we have the brains of deceased Exorcists transplanted into youthful bodies.

However, it’s not as if something like DNA hasn’t been mentioned before. Specifically, it has been called “Helix of life” by no other than maybe-former-Bookman but definitely First-Nea-host Past!Allen in chapter 221:

So let’s assume that, in the aftermath of Nea’s “death”, PastA didn’t just wait around for Nea to wake again, but tried to find a vessel for him. Messing around with this helix, and whatever other dubious science and magic this world had to offer, and created a new body to host Nea. Except he failed, and the result is Tyki.

But if that is so, shouldn’t Tyki remember anything about that? Good question. Time for some more shady weird stuff about Tyki.

3) The Missing Years

In chapter 202, while the Earl is resting, Tyki talks to Road. I don’t speak Japanese, so I can’t verify which translation is more accurate, but I’ve found these two:

Now the official German one also goes with a similar translation as the second one here, implying that Tyki has been with the Earl for ten years. In any case, the fact that this decade at all gets mentioned is quite odd because it doesn’t match up with what we know of Mana travelling with Allen. Cross calls Allen a “ten-year-old brat” (chapter 208) when he looks after him. So between Mana travelling with Allen and current canon, only 6 years have passed – what are up with the other 4 that are supposedly within this decade? We don’t have a definite age for how old Allen was when he met Mana, but I’d say around 7 or older. That’s still not enough to fill out the decade they speak about here.

Now, presuming that it does in fact refer to Tyki staying with the Earl for that time, we’re either left with assuming that the Earl acted as a separate entity as we see in 218, or that Tyki’s memories are just flat out wrong.

4) Tyki Mikk’s Canon-Typical Ignorance AKA The Baby of The Family

The more often Tyki appears, the more we see how much he actually doesn’t know about the going-ons of the war, or even himself. This goes back as far as the Ark Arc in chapter 130 with the Earl pointing out that:

So this form is apparently something that all Noah of Pleasure can take on, a sort of second stage of awakening. Still, it feels significant that Tyki separates his life so much into “black” and “white”, “Noah” and “human”, going as far as suppressing a part of his Noah. It puts him in direct opposition to Skinn, who was more or less entirely consumed by his Noah memories. Though, perhaps this is also just a narrative ploy because a character with the ability to chose is, frankly speaking, fuck off overpowered and the only reason why Tyki isn’t constantly leveling battlefields is probably that he just doesn’t know how to apply himself.

Regardless, Tyki’s ignorance also becomes visible in chapter 187 again when he wonders about his Noah name:

Nobody else reacts like he does, even though the other Noah haven’t been awake as long as he has and also should have retained the same memory damage as Joyd after Nea’s murder spree. Yet Tyki feels a little like the baby of the family, still learning and growing while everyone else is already in the know, which can’t be too far from the truth if we look at chapter 225:

Wisely and Road definitely know that something went down and kept it from Tyki for so long for reasons. So besides Allen learning the truth sometime in the future, Tyki is also heading towards some kind of realization – and honestly, what better than the fact that the man who enjoys his freedom and roam so much, was artificially created?

Road could have manipulated his subconsciousness, his memories. It’s a miracle really that the Earl hadn’t had a breakdown around Tyki already given how much he looks like Nea. And if Tyki really awoke as a Noa a decade ago, then eh would have been right the age Nea was when he died. The Earl should have reacted in one way or another.

Other small details that don’t add up is a) the claim that Tyki and Sheril are actual brothers. They have different last names, which would imply that they are perhaps rather half siblings, sharing one parent, or maybe they just aren’t related at all in the first place. The other thing is that Nea recognizing Tyki’s face immediately after confronting Mana about his changed appearance just adds even more suspicion.

5) TLDR

Tyki is either a clone or something else messy went down because there’s no way that there’s a natural Nea and Mana copy running around who also just so happens to be a Noah. No way.

Thanks for coming to my  TED talk I’m never writing meta again this was a nightmare to post.

#tyki mikk #dgm #d gray man #allen walker #nea d campbell #mana d campbell #mana waker #road kamelot #dgm meta #long post

[spamtonology]

I'm always happy to encounter someone else who ISN'T a fan of the acid theory because I'm beginning to feel very alienated for not liking it. The theory itself doesn't even bother me as much as how fandom treats it as practically canon. It's almost as common as the fanon white-haired Addison Spamton now, so much so that fic writers don't even warn or mention it until it suddenly comes up, like, it should be ~obvious~ that that happened. Like, I wouldn't mind it if it wasn't *everywhere*.

Ah, the Acid theory, a popular yet controversial theory.

You are not alone in disliking it, I won't name specific people but a few others have also expressed their dislike of the theory, namely the fact it contradicts some previously established canon.

I will put another disclaimer that this in no way means people should stop writing or drawing anything concerning the theory, this would be policing on my part and my intent is not and will never be "stop having fun".

(There were a few posts some time back criticizing the theory, but I cannot find them now. If you have these posts please be sure to reblog with a link to the post!)

There are several reasons as to why the theory is problematic (side note, this is a word that has somewhat changed meaning thanks to internet culture, I am using the term here in its original sense: Open to doubt; debatable.)

At first glance the theory seems to have merit, considering the acid river sequence the player goes through, and the remarks Spamton makes in allusion to the acid river as he used to be an inhabitant of the mansion. That, and there is Queen's statement that the acid shrinks anyone who falls into it, further supported by Spamton's dialogue. It's easy to see why the theory becomes popular for this reason.

But, further examination into the game sees several contradictions: First, the acid does not have that much of an effect on Darkners, Queen can drink it just fine (it seems to have an inebriating effect), and I believe there's a line mentioning Swatchlings swimming in it unharmed but I don't know how correct that is.

Her "guests" shrink from the acid, but they shrink to about the size of a mouse, not to the size of a teenager, hence why they can fit in those tiny "villas".

Second, this applies to the above about Queen, there is a common idea that it was either Queen or Swatch that "threw" Spamton into acid. There's...no evidence to support that beyond the fact these two characters would have been present at the time. Furthermore, it is out of character for either of them to consider the act:

Queen is not cruel. She is strange, airheaded and has a playful attitude that often leads to mistakes being made and criticism from her civillians, but she is not cruel enough that she would dump someone in acid as an act of revenge/punishment. The fandom, weirdly enough, seems to want to make the Queen out to be more evil than she really lets on (or more than she really wants to be), all for making Spamton the victim and, often, Swatch as his savior. It's a very strange phenomenon in my opinion.

Swatch has a little less established character so the situation is more ambiguous, but they’re not especially violent enough to do such a thing either.

There is that other problem with the theory: using it to further angst plots and Spamton’s victim role in fanworks. Personally, I find it a little cheap when there are probably more creative ways you could portray his downfall. It also adds on to the phenomenon of needing to rescue and protect him from perceived ills, making him helpless in that situation re: ableism and treating him like a child.

The final reason the theory can be contradicted is that in the Japanese text, the line about burning is attributed into staring into something so bright it burned away at his eyes. This is personally a little more interesting to me than simply using acid, and it provides more creativity as to what could have burned his eyes out.

And, yes, I agree wholeheartedly on the untagged Acid Theory mentions, I do feel that it’s something that should be trigger tagged, and too many people in the fandom fail to do so.

I’ve run out of steam for now, unfortunately, so if anyone else wants to back me up, please do, thank you.

EDIT: @firethekitty has given me a post on evidence for the eyes burning away theory

#spamton #acid theory

[kybee1497]

Okay genuinely and not in a bitchy way.

people that dislike Bobby because he didn’t credit the boys. What did you want him to do?

Be like oh, I know I suffered a terrible tragedy that I’m still in therapy for 25 years later. My best friends all died on what was supposed to be the night of our lives and I’m alone now. I got back into music and I released music we already had been playing as a band under my new name. The music that we had been playing as a band that I’m the sole survivor of. This music was written by my best friend who’s dead now. Let me open myself up to being hounded by the media about the tragedy and my loss and 10 years from now I’m going to get invasive questions from reporters.

Like was he supposed to be “shout-out to my boy luke for writing this song for our band. He’s dead now, the rest of my band is also dead now and I’m traumatized. Anyways thanks luke, you’re a real one. No questions please.”

Canon: Bobby was close with his friends and band mates. They had inside jokes and Luke was hanging off Bobby just as much as he was the other boys.

Canon: Bobby stayed behind to flirt with Rose, they stayed close enough that their kids were close

Canon: Bobby released some of the bands music, he left at least unsaid Emily, bright and finally free, maybe edge of great I can’t remember. It’s logical to assume he only released the music the band was already playing/was on the demo

Canon: Trevor has a therapist that he can go to at the drop of a hat. Carrie is used to this. He panics often enough that it’s not odd that he’s flying off to visit his therapist all of a sudden, she just embarrassed that people are seeing him.

Canon: he loves and supports Carrie very much.

Canon: he never mentioned the boys to julie.

Canon: rose and Trevor were still close recently.

Canon: Luke and the boys felt betrayed that he didn’t mention them. Luke is mad about the music as he wrote the songs. Reggie is more mad about the money. Alex seems uncomfortable. They want to talk to him and confront him to see why he did it.

Canon: the boys are dealing with the trauma of dying and coming back 25 years later.

Canon: trevor and Carrie live in the hills, secluded where it’s safe and they have a hardcore gate to keep people out.

Canon: rose also knew about the boys and the music and she also never told Julie

Canon: Julie is 16, rose has been dead for a year, following this. The most recent Julie could have spent a lot of time around Trevor, she was 14-15 at the oldest. The trauma of losing his band and the technicalities of who wrote the songs aren’t really appropriate to discuss with a 14-15 year old, her mom knew, if she thought it was important she would have told Julie, and if Trevor had convinced her not to and she was uncomfortable, she wouldn’t have let julie be around him which there’s no evidence of.

Canon: Bobby was a 17 year old kid who lost his best friends, then went on to record the music the band had performed together. He has not obviously stated the songs were written by Luke in his conversations with Julie.

We don’t know why. We don’t know if it was strictly because it wasn’t something he wanted to talk about with a child as it’s a heavy topic. We don’t know if he didn’t want to bring up trauma and open old wounds? We don’t know if he got roped into a contract with a clause that he couldn’t talk about the band. There aren’t enough canon clues to understand what actually happened or his intentions.

There are two main theories

Bobby chose to profit off of the music his bandmate and friend luke had written. He changed his name and avoided all mentions of his past life. He is a liar and a cheat and the boys are right in their hatred of him and feelings of betrayal.

Bobby was a traumatized kid. He was probably taken advantage of by a cutthroat industry. He also probably didn’t want to discuss that with his daughters best friend, a literal child, or share his trauma and grief.

One of these theories is not any more canon than the other. It’s totally okay to not like Bobby, you don’t have to like any character, do what you want. But it’s not fair to act like you’re simply following canon and that your posistion as an anti is more valid and ‘canon’ than a stan.

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #bobby wilson #carrie wilson #luke patterson #julie molina #alex mercer #reggie peters #rose molina #jatp discourse #discourse

[filaree-flower]

Convoluted Jade Winglet headcanons?

I'm curious!! /gen

Noble anon and great friend, I am so glad you asked. This post will probably be long so <3 I'll put a tl;dr at the beginning.

Just a warning, in case someone hasn't read them - this will contain spoilers for the Jade Mountain Arc and Legends: Darkstalker!

TL;DR: The Jade Winglet is composed of multiple reincarnations of the Darkstalker: Legends characters. Moonwatcher is the reincarnation of Clearsight; Turtle is the reincarnation of Fathom; Kinkajou is the reincarnation of Indigo; and Qibli is supposed to be the reincarnation of Darkstalker, but Darkstalker never died.

So, this used to be a big theory of mine when the JM arc was still coming out, but I still cling to it as a headcanon. I just see so many parallels between the characters of these arcs and the Legends: Darkstalker characters. It's been a while since I've actually read those books, but I think my knowledge is still sound enough to write this. If not, who cares, I disregard canon anyway /lh. I am referencing pages on the Wings of Fire wiki pretty frequently as I write this, so props to those guys.

The background. Page 14 of Escaping Peril mentions that SkyWings have specific burial rituals, in hopes that the spirit of the dragon will be free and can be reincarnated into a SkyWing. Though this is FAR from being the definitive canon for dragon afterlife, this is the main jumping point for my reincarnation theories. It appears to be at least accepted in the SkyWing tribe that reincarnation is a thing that can happen to the souls of the departed.

Moonwatcher is the reincarnation of Clearsight. Personally, I always found a lot of similarity in their personalities. With Moonwatcher being the first prophetic (and mind-reading, but Clearsight's thing was prophecy) NightWing in centuries, it seems fitting that this is how Clearsight's spirit would return to the world. Her connection with Darkstalker was not like the one he shared with Clearsight (due to the age gap, ofc, and I am NOT a supporter of shipping the two in ANY capacity), but I felt I drew parallels between Moon's genuine trust in Darkstalker and Clearsight's. If I remember correctly, Darkstalker compared Moon's temperament to that of Clearsight a few times, though I can't be completely sure. Furthermore, Moon's evident involvement in Pantala now gives me more ground to support my funny little headcanon. Clearsight, as the """""""Founder"""""""" of Pantala as we know it, might find her spirit drawn to helping save the broken continent. This idea is also lightly supported by her starting a relationship in canon with Qibli but since I don't really care for that relationship, it's... much more of a backseat thing.

Turtle is the reincarnation of Fathom. After all, the first thing Darkstalker did upon emerging from the mountain was call Turtle by the ancient's name and promptly try to beat him up. That would pretty much confirm that they look super similar. Turtle is, of course, an animus and a member of the royal family--big whoop, that doesn't seem too uncommon in SeaWings. But personality-wise? I'd almost assert they're the exact same. Both fear their own power, both are nervous and easily flustered. And both end up challenging Darkstalker. If the wiki's right, they also go through similar arcs of learning that it's ok for them to be happy.

Kinkajou is the reincarnation of Indigo. This one took me the longest to think of and, yes, it is the biggest stretch. Indigo was a SeaWing, while Kinkajou is a RainWing (although, it appears as though the last known location for Indigo was the Rainforest, so... perhaps not as far-fetched?). But Kinkajou is tough--like when Darkstalker attacked Turtle, she jumped in to save him. And Turtle did have a crush on Kinkajou but that whole agitating love spell thing ruined all chances of that being smiled upon fandom-wise for a loooong time (thanks, Anemone :/). Anyway, Indigo always believed Darkstalker was up to no good, and then Kinkajou was the one who damned him to a fate of being a tiny rainbow hybrid dragonet with a singular fruit.

Originally I was going to say here that Winter is the reincarnation of Arctic, but the more I thought about it, the less it fit and the less I could justify it at all. Seems like Winter is either a different or a new soul, after all. Good for him. Anyway,

Qibli, the one who should have had a used soul. This might sound weird, but bear with me. Qibli was not swayed by Darkstalker's promises, and Darkstalker is known to be viciously manipulative and convincing. Qibli turned Darkstalker down, Qibli stood against some of the best manipulation in dragon history. That's striking to me. Only someone who really knows the tricks would be so resistant, I think. And more than just that, Qibli was GIFTED with wording spells and I vividly recall him constantly wishing he were an animus, as though there was just a part of him he felt was missing. Except there was no animus soul to give him, because Darkstalker never died. And perhaps this was so much for the better. Darkstalker and Qibli are both witty, intelligent, and observant, but Qibli didn't end up with an old, dark soul--there was a new one required for his place, one that was able to survive and stay good-hearted in a place as vicious as the Scorpion Den with dragons as heartless as his relatives. A soul so similar to Darkstalker, yet without the treachery, was a key piece in defeating the ancient evil. Though I do headcanon that, had Darkstalker been killed, Qibli would have been the reincarnation of that soul.

----

So that's basically it, I think? Feel free to call my bluff or burn my crops for this, but I think it's a fun and neat thing to headcanon and think about based on 1 line of SkyWing culture lore that we got, lol. If you wanna ask questions or discuss, I am totally in.

Obligatory request to ignore any grammatical errors or typos, I finished writing this at 1:30 AM and I think I started at like. Midnight lol.

#wings of fire #wof #wings of fire winter #wings of fire moon #moonwatcher #clearsight #wings of fire clearsight #wings of fire darkstalker #darkstalker #wof darkstalker #wof turtle #prince turtle #wings of fire headcanons #wings of fire fathom #legends darkstalker #jade mountain academy #wings of fire kinkajou #kinkajou #wings of fire qibli #jade winglet reincarnation theory #fee speaks #asks #fee art #bc i threw in the funny little meme lol

[true-blue-megamind]

FAN THEORY SUPPOSITION SUNDAY: The Warden

SPOILER WARNING!  It’s still a thing, and, if you haven’t yet, you still need to watch Megamind.  (If you have seen it already, however, you need to see it again.  Because it’s awesome.)

Yes, yes, the post is three days late this time.  Real life has to take priority and such. So sue me.  (Don’t really do that.  LOL!)

For that same reason—or more accurately because this week has exhausted me—I will attempt to make this post shorter than usual.  We’ll see how that goes.  My money is on “not well.”  LOL.

Anyway, today we’re going to look at a subject that often divides the Megamind fandom: the Warden and his relationship with Megamind. There are several fan theories—I mean, suppositions—surrounding this, but I’m going to be focusing on a few of the main ones.

The first of these is that the Warden was actually a father figure to Megamind when he was young, allowing him to be raised in jail not out of cruelty or disinterest, but because it was the only way to keep him safe from shadowy government agencies that otherwise would have performed all sorts of experiments on the blue alien.  This both accounts for why a child would be allowed to grow up in what is clearly a high-security prison for dangerous adult criminals—something that, admittedly, needs some sort of explanation—and fits with widely accepted sci-fi and comic book tropes. (From Area 51 to mysterious “Men in Black” type organizations, fiction is full of government agencies created to study extraterrestrial life and technology.)  Some even go so far as to suggest that the Warden may have tried to adopt Megamind officially, but was blocked from doing so by these same entities. On top of this, such an idea also offers room to re-imagine the Warden as a much more interesting, complex, and sympathetic character.  Indeed, there has been some excellent fan fiction written about this pseudo-parental relationship.

Art: Fathers And Sons Day by tabbydragon

There is some evidence to support this.  The first is that, although the Warden behaves harshly toward Megamind in the “jail-break” scene near the beginning of the film, Megamind himself seems to be trying to engage in a playful exchange: pranking the older man, wishing him a good morning, and even teasing him.  While some say that this is simply Megamind’s personality as well as his determination to always appear indominable, others suggest that, perhaps, the blue man is trying to recapture a lost amiability between himself and the prison Warden.  It is possible that, when he was younger and less villainous, Megamind might have exchanged friendly jokes and greetings with the man in charge of the jail he called home.  It has even been suggested that the Warden is so hard on the blue man at the beginning of the film not because he hates Megamind, but because Megamind’s life choices have hurt and alienated his father figure. This idea finds some support in the facts that, when Megamind leaves jail to confront Titan, the Warden wished him good luck, and at the end of the movie, that same man seems genuinely happy as he watches the television broadcast of his one-time prisoner being named Defender of Metro City.  Finally, there is some evidence from the comics which, although not truly considered canon, as I’ve mentioned before, do offer some material for fan theories.  In the “episode” entitled Bad Minion! Bad! Megamind runs into the Warden in a bar, and the latter offers the former advice.  There is certainly a somewhat fatherly feel to the scene.

The second theory is exactly the opposite: that the Warden either did not care for or outright disliked the former supervillain.  Unfortunately, as fun as the Warden/Father Figure concept is, this second, darker idea has far stronger evidence to support it in the film itself.  (Try not to hate me, everyone.)  These clues range from the obvious to the subtle, but there are quite a few of them to be found.

During the first scene in which we see Warden interact with Megamind, he doesn’t behave like an angry, disappointed father—at least not a good one.  He isn’t merely surly toward Megamind; he is absolutely nasty. The Warden verbally condemns the alien, telling him that he’ll “always be a villain,” and essentially steals what he believes is a gift for the blue man, even taunting him by saying: “I think I’ll keep it!”  This hardly seems like the actions of someone who once felt any sort of affection for the extraterrestrial.  That same portion of the movie holds another clue as well: the screens monitoring Megamind’s brain activity.  Indeed, in original concept art for the film, the system appears both more invasive and more nightmarish.  It seems that, far from protecting Megamind, the Warden may have actually allowed him to be experimented upon.

Next, there is the newspaper article at the beginning of the title sequence, which bears the headline “Hometown Boy Makes Bad.” It’s hard to see what the paper says, of course, even if you bother to really notice it, but luckily for us Liz (Demishock) wrote a wonderfully thorough blog post which, among other things, provides a transcript of the “news story.”  In it, the Warden is quoted as referring to young Megamind as a born villain as well as abnormal.  

You don't know this kid. I've watched the little criminal since he was in diapers. This kid is just a bad seed. I've got experienced, hardened criminals in here who are afraid of him - I mean, have you seen the size of his head?…  It's not like he's a normal kid… I mean, have you gotten a good look at his gigantic blue head? I don't know where you come from, but where I come it's just not right.

Granted, there seems to be some truth to what the Warden is saying, as the article also mentions that Megamind, who can hardly have been more than seven years old at the time, has basically been put into solitary confinement for the safety of other prisoners following an unnamed incident, adding that the other inmates “refused to point fingers for fear of retaliation.”  (This fits with the fan theory that young Megamind would have had to both fight and develop a fearsome reputation in order to protect himself. You can read more about that in the post How Strong is Megamind?) However, the Warden seems to dwell a lot on the fact that Megamind looks alien, and he displays an obvious dislike for the young boy.

Finally, there is evidence hidden in the school scene, although it’s easy to miss. In an amazing two-part video series, Megamind: A City of Deception. YouTuber The Theorizer illustrates several hidden clues about Megamind’s early life and how it it led him to embrace villainy.  (I will very likely write another post going into more detail about that at a later date.)  One thing that The Theorizer discovered is a seemingly innocuous detail in the background during the popcorn scene.  Take a moment to examine the images below.  Look closely at the blackboard and you’ll see a paper cut out of a school bus.  Look even more closely at that and you’ll find something odd: the bus is full of crayon-drawn children except for one figure: an adult male, riding in the back of the bus, who looks suspiciously like the Warden as he appears at the beginning of the film. 

In a movie where so much attention is given to small things—I mean, seriously, the animation team actually went through the trouble to write a news story for a paper that was on the screen less than ten seconds—this cannot possibly be a coincidence.  (You can learn more about the artists’ amazing dedication to detail in my post What’s Hidden in the Animation?)  Although it is vaguely possible that Megamind, painfully aware of how much his appearance was despised, chose to draw the Warden’s face instead of his own, most fans believe there is a darker reason for this oddity.  

Think about it: the Li’l Gifted School for Li’l Gifted Kids is built close by a jail with a strangely similar name: Metro City Prison for the Criminally Gifted.   It’s clearly a small academy, yet the only two known aliens in the city—who, by the way, have extremely different social backgrounds—both just happen to attend there.  And now the prison warden appears to be somehow involved with the elementary school?  It’s bizarre.  Add to this the fact that the young alien adopted by a privileged family—a boy who possessed super-strength and laser vision—seemed inclined to be a bully, (as is made obvious by the kickball scene,) and a disturbing fan theory emerges.  Adults realized that Wayne Smith, the child who would eventually become Metro Man, might prove dangerous if left unchecked, and came up with a plan to turn him into a hero instead.  Wayne was showered with praise, conditioning him to seek public approval, but a superhero needs a nemesis.  The strange-looking, unwanted blue boy who’d already been labeled a criminal would have seemed like the obvious choice.  If this is true, then Megamind was purposefully, albeit covertly, groomed to become a supervillain from a young age, and the Warden played a major role in doing that.

So there you have it.  Two competing fan theories concerning the Warden’s connection with Megamind.  Both have some evidence supporting them, and there are fans who are firmly dedicated to one or the other.  Which is true?  Did the Warden care for Megamind like a son but distance himself when the boy turned to villainy?  Or did he judge and despise Megamind but come around to liking him when he finally realized what sort of person the blue man was deep down?  The fact is that those questions can be argued for hours on end.  No matter which of these suppositions you prefer, however, the mere fact that even a minor supporting character is complex enough to offer room for this debate speaks to the impressive amount of work and devotion that went into creating this amazing animated film.

#Megamind #Megamind movie #Megamind fan theory #fan theory #fan theories #fanon #Warden #the Warden #connection #relationship #relationships

[demonslayedher]

Ramble on the Limitations of Looking for KnY Interpretation based on Japanese Mythology

One thing I notice a lot in the Japanese side of KnY fandom theories is a lot of deep dives into religious and mythological reasons behind Gotouge's creative choices. It is super interesting stuff, and Gotouge borrows enough and does homage to enough that there is a clearly a solid knowledge base there. While I find historical details handy for interpreting the characters, ultimately, I find that the canon of demons and Breaths can be interpreted in a vacuum without relying too heavily on the uncanny coincidences lurking in deep dives. This isn't going to be a well-supported essay, this is going to be a ramble that may include a bunch of interesting nuggets. (And then she went on to ramble for 3249 unedited words...)

First things first: I'm a nerd. I like to say I broke the weeb scale a long time ago, but I'm not exactly a university professor or anything like that. That said, I do read a lot of stuff from experts who have jumped on the KnY trends to talk about how elements in KnY are taken from, say, the sword making traditions of the Okuizumo region that results in black swords or simply making comparisons to famous swords, or local legends of supernatural encounters that resulted in split rocks, or comparing specific oni with and the heroes who slayed them or at least comparing elements of specific characters to other famous oni legends, or that Hinokami Kagura is based on a specific Shinto legend and has 12 forms based on existing Kagura traditions, etc. And I love reading this stuff, because I wouldn't had learned about some of it without my interest in KnY leading me to those articles, or as I read it I cheer because they're making references to things I already (as a nerd) really enjoy and therefore it strokes my inner echo chamber bias, or I nod along and think, "oh, yes, why of course, that makes total sense, Hinokami Kagura must be based on the dance Amenouzume performed to enticed the Sun Goddess Amaterasu out of the cave, how silly to think it could be based on anything else" but I then also take a step back to think, "...but it also doesn't have to be." For as many similarities as there to existing legends, it feels to me that Gotouge made it a point not to make specific reference to any particular mythological or religious elements. As an example, Gotouge considered titles with reference to a Shinto fire god named "Kagutsuchi" but never made actual reference to any fire god (or sun god) by name in the finalized direction canon took. Granted, a lot of fan theorists have read into that, going so far as to say because Nezuko's fire powers she represents Kagutsuchi, Yoriichi represents Amaterasu, etc., but while I find the idea of borrowed elements makes for highly interested interpretation of canon, one-to-one comparisons really don't work for this series. By not invoking a name like Kagutsuchi in the title or otherwise, Gotouge succeeded in not being boxed in by the canon of any particular deity. (Granted, "canon" for mythology can vary significantly by whatever historical writings you're looking at, with standard interpretations going through many big changes throughout the centuries. It can be as loose as it is limiting, depending on what sort of historical/mythological/religious figure you're talking about.) I feel there's more evidence of this avoidance by never invoking Amaterasu as a deity, despite the emphasis on the power of the sun in slaying demons. Even looking back and trying to figure out who Akeno placed so much faith, it was only called a "god of sunlight" as opposed to a "sun god." It's as though KnY works with a generic approach to religion. Even if the use of Buddhist element, the Nenbutsu prayer is called such, and Himejima's repeated phrases are legit Buddhist practice, but there is a huge variety of Buddhist sects and practices and theologies, and throughout history, many of them didn't get along. Going back to Akeno and wondering if she might had been Buddhist, I went so far as to suspect she was influenced by Nichirin sect philosophy based on its emphasis on the "Nichi" (sun) representing Japan and incorporating Shinto gods into its philosophy, and for its likely influence in the Kanto area in Akeno's time period, and for its encouragement for the salvation of women and therefore popularity among women. I felt pretty satisfied that it was all lining up, but also, none of this is necessary for a quality interpretation of canon. If Gotouge wanted to say specifically what informed her religious conviction, then it would had been said. But that's not what was important, was it? What was important, and therefore focused on, was Akeno's feelings toward her son and wishes for his sake.

While KnY's worldbuilding feels richer with all the clear religious influence, the details are not actually important. If anything, I feel like Gotouge dove into the heart of the elements of, say, Shinto mythology, and played those core elements up. It's different, yet still familiar, to take sun-associated elements and used them in a way that serves the story without being boxed into existing traditions. The sun is clearly important, and once you start looking for it, you find subtle recurring references to it. Like, Akeno's name? The "Ake" is one way of writing "red," and there are all sorts of uses of other ways of writing "red" throughout the series, in everything from the sand used for making Nichirin blades to the way that Haganezuka calls Tanjiro an auspicious "red" child with a very rarely used kanji. Our commoner main characters, though, just use regular old ways of saying "red" when referencing Tanjiro's appearance without thinking deeply into it, like there's something special right in front of them but they don't recognize it. Similar to how something as special as Sun Breathing was hidden right in front of them in Hinokami Kagura, with a name so generic and simple that it's entirely unsurprising that the Taisho era Kamado family would interpret it as "fire god." The very lack of limiting real-life details is what allows Gotouge to sprinkle these deep touches around, cover them up with branches and leaves, and then sit back and wait for readers to stroll through and invitingly pleasant looking field and then trip and fall down a rabbit hole. This is also what I think gives Gotouge the freedom and malleability to work with the sun in a way that serves the story, especially in ways that tie it to fire. While I don't think there's strong ties for this is general Japanese culture, the way canon is written implies a close tie between fire and the sun as being a very closely related element, hence the influence on the Kamado family, Tanjiro's appearance, his suitability for Sun Breathing based on a history of tending fire for careful charcoal burning, and Tanjiro and Nezuko capability as demons to overcome the sun. Here is where I go into a bit of a tangent about the purification element. This, again, is not strictly tied to any particular Shinto canon (and Shinto does place heavy emphasis on purification), but instead is an example of Gotouge getting to the underlying heart of a lot of common religious elements. Fire is associated with spiritual purification in everything from Buddhism to Catholicism, it's very easy to apply Nezuko's fire abilities as something which burns away something evil (demon poison) so as to purify something good (human flesh, or even other physical substances). Maybe lesser known, but very deeply entrenched in Japanese culture, is the purification element of charcoal. While it may be known around the world for soaking up undesirable elements and therefore used in everything from fish tank filters to treating food poisoning, in Japan, there's a bit of a spiritual side to it as well. For something so closely tied to the way of life for citizens throughout hundreds of years of history for everything from cooking to heating the home, it's unsurprising that quality charcoal would receive as much emphasis as good water and rice. Japanese charcoal is especially known for not producing undesirable smoke or odor, making it appropriate for use in a lot of settings. Charcoal farmers have often not just been that; they've been caretakers of the forest. Keeping the right trees, at the right sizes (both for use as charcoal and for how you pack it together when making charcoal), and in the right numbers to ensure you have stock for coming years, requires management of the forest. (Other tangent side note: many of the other names in the Kamado family are references to plants. Sumire both has the "sumi" sound of charcoal and is the word for violet, Kie is in reference to hollyhock, Nezuko is in reference to red beans (and the asanoha pattern of her kimono is in reference to hemp leaf, an

auspicious symbol of strong and quick growth), Takeo is in reference to bamboo (ironically bamboo can be a problematic plant for charcoal farmers, because it may spread too fast and take resources from other trees--stop stealing all the takuan pickles, Takeo!), Hanako is in general reference to flowers, Shigeru is in general reference to (plants) flourishing, and maybe by the time they got to Rokuta they gave up and said "he's our sixth child, let's just call him 'Six-Boy', lolz." BUT I DIGRESS.) That means the Kamado family not only had careful management of fire in the actual days of charcoal production, but of a wide variety of natural resources to ensure the trees were healthy. Natural weather phenomena, clean water, pest control, minerals from rocks getting into the soil, hmm, so many elements to pay attention to. Hmm. These sure sound a lot like other Breaths. And Breaths all stem from Sun Breathing. That means there may be certain elements of Sun Breathing that have been emphasized in each of them, but none of them encompass so many qualities of the natural world. The natural world which Yoriichi saw with such clarity than nature accepted him with open arms, practically, in how well animals took to him. Sun Breathing, while especially using that all-important purification aspect of sunlight which burns evil demons, is like an all encompassing embrace of nature. While being closely tied with fire is hugely important, there's more to it than just flames. While Shinto is very much so closely tied with nature (the extent to which this is emphasized may vary from shrine to shrine, scholar to scholar), what I see in KnY is a clever use of emphasis on spirituality in nature as opposed to emphasis on Shinto mythology. And I think that was a smart move. While stories based more directly on various theologies, mythologies, and religious ideologies often use those building blocks often wind up having very creative takes on them (even and especially with the confines of them), ultimately, the story of KnY is whatever Gotouge wants to do with it, and it does not seem guided by the specific conventions of more specific religious elements. But again, those deeper elements are still everywhere. You know what color Japanese charcoal burns? It's a gorgeous jewel tone red, spanning many of those rare shades of red Gotouge make reference to. And, in wider Japanese culture, red is the color of the sun (as opposed to how other cultures may represent it as yellow or orange or white or so on). (Not as exactly a KnY tangent, just personal: Japanese charcoal is so freaking pretty, I had no idea until I saw it used in the tea ceremony at parts when guests crowd around to enjoy the sight of it as the host prepares it for boiling the water. I can stare and stare and stare, it is so so so so so pretty, but also this element of the ceremony has gotten rarer both as many places have made a more practical switch to electricity, and tea ceremony quality has gotten more rare both due to fewer producers and due to beetle-related damages to the trees used, and I will always state HOW DISAPPOINTED I am that Kanata and Sumihiko are not out there raising charcoal, because charcoal is precious and I'm always so terrified of wasting charcoal in my practices because its so precious, but seeing the amazingly beautiful burn of the charcoal is absolutely one of my favorite elements of the ceremony and this of course gives me an extra soft spot for Kamado Tanjiro BUT I DIGRESS AGAIN, I TOLD you this was going to be a ramble, but SERIOUSLY IT IS SUCH A GORGEOUS RED).

So anyway. My point is, as interesting as incorporating outside elements may be, I don't find them necessary in interpreting KnY's canon. Even if it takes tons of Taisho Secrets to do so, Gotouge presents the details necessary, and that's more than enough to work with. After all, despite all the care taken in historical details in building the setting, KnY takes place in a fictional universe, it can make its own rules when it comes to things that don't actually exist in our universe. Demons, for example, follow a chronology and power system with sources and limits that is unique to a this universe, as tempting as it is due to general cultural familiarity, it does not call for a one-to-one comparison with existing demon legends. Breath as well, as a power system, is very interesting. Again, this is because it has a lot of basis in core concepts of real life physical and spiritual training. It's presented as a method available to anyone who can pick it up, not drawing on a mystical outside power or summoning the actual superhuman elements of nature. Other stories that present their power systems like that are well and fine, but when it comes down to it, this is a story about mere humans doing everything in their limited power to wave swords around and defeat creatures that seem so likely to outpower them. This is a common, relatable basis of stories throughout history, and a lot of analysis I've heard of KnY's success says that it shows how classic this story structure is. Many Japanese demon stories have their origin in epidemics, and some people suggest that the world looks for hope in stories like KnY in times of seemingly insurmountable crises like coronavirus. I think that's an oversimplification of KnY's success, but again, because of Gotouge's use of core cultural elements, it can be applied easily. OKAY BUT ON THAT NOTE we can do some really interesting digging if we want. : D Gotouge does make some highly specific references, included religious ones (granted, not in ways that impact the plot). The example coming to mind is the Seventh Form of Thunder Breathing, the "Flaming Thunder God." In Japanese, this is "Honoikazuchi-no-Kami," the name of a lightning deity who had a very, very brief mention in the Kojiki and who appeared among a handful of other lightning deities named in reference to other aspects/phenomena of lightning, like the sound or the rumble through the ground. Honoikazuchi is not so much the lightning itself, but the fires started by lightning. Stick with me a bit longer, I'm building up to something here. You've probably heard of the twelve animals of the Chinese (poorly translated as) Zodiac, right? Well, the system is way more complex than that, and really, if you want complexity, skip Japan and go dive straight into ancient China. I laugh and cry at myself for having a graduate degree in Chinese studies, the extent of my knowledge is is pitifully small, I know nothing, nothing. Suffice to say, China has its own five element system of water/wood/metal/fire/earth, it's more a philosophical application than a more physicality-based four element system popular in the west (fire/water/air/earth, why hello there, Avatar), with attributes of these elements assigned to every about anything through Chinese culture, from medicine to, you guessed it, the Zodiac animals. Japan saw all this and said "cool, we'll do that too" albeit their sort of mixed and matched a bit and made their own take on it in Onmyodo. An Onmyoji, who keeps track of, like, really any other-worldly matter you might have on your hands as a Heian noble, is someone who is paid to know all this stuff (it was very likely an Onmyoji who told the Ubuyashiki clan, "yeah, you got an evil family member to blame for your curse, squash him"). Yours Truly is not an Onmyoji and therefore will not attempt to go into more detail, save the one that a handful of Japanese theorists in the KnY fandom love to bring up: The Boar is a water sign. This means that, especially in Shinto practice, boars are considered an animal that protects against

fire, hence, a lot of practices to protect against fires were done on days of the Boar, in the month of the Boar, etc. So? So-o-o-o-o-o? You see it? You see it??? Boar = Water, Honoikazuchi = Fire, Inosuke and Zenitsu are basically foils to Tanjiro? Yes, yes, see it, yessss??? Deep dive Kamaboko theory, yes?????? Hahahaha. Naw. It's just a fun coincidence. ^_^ Again, I find these details completely unnecessary, for we are already given so many details in canon to work with on its own, and I think Inosuke and Zenitsu as foils to Tanjiro works entirely well simply based on their personalities, not because of any supernatural elements that require a high level of nerdery to have any hope of appreciating. Besides, once you start reaching too hard for cultural details Gotouge might have used and clinging too tightly to those ideas, there's likely something in canon to make it doubtful. For instance, Inosuke more widely presented as a king of the forest who wears deer and bear hide as well, and the fanbook state that Beast Breath is considered a likely offshoot of Wind Breathing. Even if we rely more strictly on historical detail, there's still the question of, say, what one of the basic Breaths, Thunder Breathing, even was when it was but a thunder inspired sword form not necessarily powered by Breath, you know, back when swords were longer and it would have been harder to make the fast draws katana would later be better suited for. Maybe they called it Thunder because it was practiced by swordsmen who stomped around really hard, and then when they added Breath technique, they figured out "oh dude, we can use our strong legs to go fast"??

Those are the kinds of things I find more fun to play around with in interpreting canon by bringing in little outside details, because as a work of fiction, there are already so many fun details to work with already even when treating it in a vacuum. But, giving Gotouge extensive and subtle use of cultural elements, especially core elements, it sure makes a lot of outside details applicable. Which is all to say, it's all super interesting, and I think the more people realize these things, the deeper they read into it, to an extent more than canon calls for. As much as I like it, and as much as I've enjoyed pulling outside elements in to fanfiction (like Kagutsuchi and lightning god tidbits), ultimately, if Gotouge thought these things were necessary, they'd have been included. Since they are not, I try to stick to canon details and Word of God-touge in answering Asks (lolz, I didn't plan on becoming a meta blog, it just kinda happened). BUT ALSO, JEEZ, I AM SO EXCITED IF PEOPLE TAKE A DEEPER INTEREST IN JAPANESE CULTURE BECAUSE THEY LIKE KIMETSU NO YAIBA, YOU CAN HAVE SO-O-O-O-O-O MUCH FUN PLANNING A TRIP TO JAPAN AROUND KNY THEMES, DO IT DO IT DO IT, GO TO YAGYU AND POSE IN A TANJIRO HAORI AND STICK YOUR SWORD IN A SPLIT ROCK, THE LOCALS THERE LOVE IT, DO IT but also like maybe learn about the tea ceremony and appreciate how beautiful the charcoal is with me k thx bye

#kny fandom theories and meta #sooooorta #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer #am I a Pillar or a Demon? #neither #I am but a nerd

[fincalinde]

What do you consider essential traits/habits/personality for writing lxc?

This is a really interesting question. Part of the fun of fanfiction is seeing all the different directions a character can be nudged in without violating their core traits, so 'essential LXC' is something I've thought about in depth.

I could list some of LXC's more obvious traits here, like the fact that he's kind and gentle and treats everyone around him with respect. He is very supportive of his loved ones, and respects their choices even when he worries about them. He had a lonely childhood but despite having only one or two friends in adulthood seems content with a few close relationships and doesn't seek out further friendships. He has a playful sense of humour that comes out with his close friends and family, e.g. his teasing of LWJ and NMJ, and his little teacher-student game with JGY. But instead I think I want to dig into his underlying principles and how they should be accounted for when writing him.

LXC is a peacemaker, but he seeks compromise in an active way rather than in a passive 'both sides' way, and the times at which he steps back and chooses not to intervene are the times when he judges that his intervention would make the situation worse. He is a good, kind person and his reputation and the opinions of those close to him bear that out. But there's also a lot going on behind LXC's gentleness and kindness that needs to be accounted for. Specifically, that when his options narrow he is capable of making hard choices.

LXC spends a lot of time listening to others: we see it in the source material, and we're explicitly told by the narrative that it is extremely unusual for him to interrupt anyone. This isn't just because LXC is a lovely polite person. It's because he wants to understand others. And that's not because he wants to get to know everyone, since as established the only close relationships he has in canon are with his brother, NMJ, JGY and to a lesser extent NHS. But LXC is very, very interested in motive and context. While consequences obviously matter to him, he also places huge weight on intentions. And in order to know someone's intentions—well, you have to listen to them. All this comes to the surface during the temple sequence, in which we get a really good look at what LXC thinks and how he behaves in a scenario where there are no good options.

There's no disputing LXC's goodness, but when writing him I do my best not to depict him as too naive or oblivious when faced with difficult decisions. He spends almost the entirety of canon lacking key information through no fault of his own, but once he is presented with an indication that there might be something wrong he actively seeks evidence and investigates. He is accused of naivety by JGY when he suggests that JGY could simply have broken off his engagement with QS and avoided that particular pitfall, but that is during what can definitely be described as a stressful moment, and I wouldn't necessarily take it as a definitive statement on LXC's naivete or lack thereof. Yes at the temple LXC is grappling for other courses of action that JGY could (should) have taken, but that's his initial kneejerk reaction to some pretty horrific revelations. For example, when JGY points out that LXC's proposed alternative (not marrying QS) would have led to disaster, LXC acknowledges this and accepts that JGY had to marry her. Where JGY is able to put forward a logical assertion as to why he committed terrible acts, arguing that they were the least bad of a litany of bad options, LXC is able to accept his reasoning.

This is actually one of my favourite things about LXC: he is in theory prepared to accept anything as long as the justification is convincing enough. When JGY lists all of his supposed crimes and says to LXC that LXC knows him and knows he wouldn't have done any of those things without a good reason, LXC relaxes. At this point LXC believes JGY has orchestrated not only mass murder, but patricide, fratricide, the murder and dismemberment of his sworn brother, the suicide of his sister-wife, and also the infanticide of his own son (some of these untrue or ambiguous, but this is the info LXC currently has). And yet LXC's reaction is not 'there is no possible justification for this'. He is ready and willing to hear JGY out, because if JGY truly had good intentions then that changes everything. It's not a pass to immediate trust and forgiveness, but for LXC it is absolutely crucial.

And we do indeed see LXC agreeing with much of JGY's reasoning. His main source of distress by the time of the temple is the needless cruelty of the patricide and the needless mass murder attempt at the Burial Mounds; essentially, it lies where JGY cannot or does not justify himself to LXC's satisfaction. Where JGY is able to lay out a case that he had no other options, LXC is right there with him. He might not be happy about it, but he follows JGY's reasoning. That's what I think is vital when writing LXC: there is a certain naivety to him in that he finds it impossible to come up with drastic solutions of his own accord (see above and his unworkable suggestion re: JGY breaking off his engagement to QS), but if they are outlined to him and he is logically convinced as to why it is the best of a list of bad options, he will be on board. So LXC can be written as committing or endorsing quite terrible acts if they are placed in a context where the alternatives are worse.

That's what happens the moment LXC stabs JGY, in fact. In that moment, according to all the information LXC has, to follow through on his promise and kill JGY is the option that will cause the least amount of pain and damage overall. He doesn't put JGY's life or even his own devastation over doing what he believes to be the best thing for everyone else.

So, when I'm writing LXC, I'm constantly asking myself the same questions LXC asks himself in canon: what is the kindest thing to do here? Is the kindest thing to do nothing? Is the kindest thing, in fact, to do something awful—as long as it's less awful than any of the alternatives? As long as I'm satisfied I can answer those questions, then I feel like I'm generally on the right track.

#sailuncharted #ask #roquen meta

[adventures-in-a-world-of-fiction]

In Stargate SG-1, there are a few occasions where people make reference to Daniel having been discredited in the academic community for saying the pyramids were built by aliens. He isn't shown to argue with this. But in the Stargate movie, Daniel never made any such claims. We get a little bit of a lecture in which he claims that the pyramids were older than is generally believed (10000 years instead of 5000 years) and that a discovery made by someone else was fraudulant. At no point in the canon does he mention aliens - but one of his hecklers mocks him by suggesting that if the pyramids weren't built by the people who are believed to have built them, maybe it was aliens.

So in the canon that we see of Daniel's academic career pre-Stargate, he has a couple of theories that are presumably supported by evidence given that in this universe there really were aliens involved and the coverstone over the Stargate is revealed a few scenes later to be 10000 years old. So he had a couple of credible theories that happened to go against the mainstream, but was ridiculed as if he'd made claims about aliens.

Why?

One possibility is that others, like the heckler in the lecture, mockingly suggest that maybe he thinks aliens did it and someone else misreports it as Daniel saying it was aliens, and then it spreads from there.

Another possibility is that maybe he got associated with other people who did claim aliens. We know his grandfather made public claims about having been teleported to see aliens. It would be easy for someone to make that connection and suggest that Daniel is following in his grandfather's footsteps.

But an idea I like, that I have absolutely no canon evidence for whatsoever, is that Daniel ended included in an ancient aliens documentary programme. Maybe they just quoted his work, or maybe they reached out to a young academic and offered to pay him for some interviewes about his research. Frequently, less-than-honest documentary makers can include someone credible for solid credentials to make the claims made elsewhere seem more reasonable. So Daniel might have been interviewed going, "We have reasons to doubt the standard dating because of this evidence, this evidence, and this evidence." And when asked who really built the pyramids then or why, he might answer, "We don't know. There's not enough surviving evidence from the time, etc." And then someone else is interviewed going, "Maybe it was aliens." And the producers of the documentary cut the interviews together so that Daniel's reasonable and evidence-based claims are followed up by outlandish claims in a way that makes it seem like Daniel also agreed about the aliens.

And immediately after the documentary, Daniel's credibility is in tatters and he's trying to distance himself from it by pointing out that he never said aliens. He loses his grants and his apartment because no one wants to publish his papers even though he's just trying to back up the more reasonable points that he actually has evidence for to dig himself out of the hole.

And Katherine is looking for someone to bring into the Stargate program and she finds someone who's got the right expertise, and who actually backs up his work with solid research, but who no one's going to believe if he starts spilling the beans about the government investigating ancient writings.

Then he disappears from the face of the Earth for a year and has no way to argue against the stories about him believing in aliens that are still circulating. When he comes back and sees the ruins of his reputation he just thinks, "Screw it, there really are aliens." He stops trying to argue that he never made those claims and he just accepts that he's going to be the guy who claimed aliens built the pyramids for the rest of his life, but he doesn't mind now because one day the Stargate program will be made public. One day, he will be known as being the guy who was on the front lines fighting aliens because of his ground-breaking theories.

So when he encounters his former colleagues who make jokes about him and aliens he can think, "I personally killed Ra and Thor is a buddy of mine, I don't need to defend myself against you," and lets the comments slides.

But it must be interesting for all the new archeaologists who get brought into the Stargate program. You start a new job and it's all top secret and you fill out a bunch of forms promising never to say anything, and then the guy who you made fun of on academic forums for believing in aliens walks in and starts giving you a briefing. I imagine Daniel really plays up the, "Ha, ha, told you so," on occasion, when the new hires were particularly mocking of him in the past. "So, the pyramids really were built by aliens and if you want to apologise for anything you might have previously said, this is my favourite brand of extremely expensive coffee and I need a volunteer to do this boring catalogue work for me."

[fellowstrangetownappreciator]

Curious and autistic-coded

Hello there! April draws to an end and with that I think it’s high time to hurry up and write this. What does April have to do with anything, you ask? April is the Autism Acceptance Month. So what better month to do this?

Unfortunately I didn’t make it. I failed. It’s already 1. 5. when I’m posting this. But at least I tried to deliver on time.

In this mini essay I’ll present my case about why I think the Curious brothers from TS2 Strangetown display autistic-coded traits and my personal takes on it.

It’s basically your average headcanon post but with a funny top hat!

0: Preface: What do I mean by “autistic-coded”?

When a character is coded as something, it means that they have traits that are associated with the demographics in question to make the consumer knowingly or not link the character with the demographic, although the character's "label” is never explicitly disclosed.

In the nutshell, it means that there are canonical reasons to read the characters as autistic, although you won't find the word "autism" anywhere in the game nor in the developer's commentary.

In this particular case I do believe that the developer may not even be aware of the code, as there is no evidence to suggest otherwise. If there is, I’m not aware of it and I would be happy to learn.

So, let’s start!

1: “The white male who is very good at science”

Unfortunately autistic representation in pop-culture has a long history of being rather straightforward in which traits the characters often have. This stems from the belief that autism is “a boy’s disorder” (that’s why some autism charities to this day use blue in their symbols). Among popular examples of autistic-coded characters are Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper and Death Note’s L and Near. I’m sure you can think of more but you’ll find that most of them are men and either explicitly white or racially ambiguous white-passing. They also tend to be gifted in tech, logic or other science-y activities.

There’s nothing wrong with that! Nothing wrong with being an autistic with those “stereotypical” characteristics and there is nothing wrong with people being represented. What is wrong is the monotony and afab people/people of color being underrepresented which leads (among other factors) to harder access to diagnosis and resources for those people in real life. But! That’s a topic for a different day. (and not for a simbrl, mind you)

Back to the Curiouses! I just wanted to say that autism in media is traditionally associated with characters whose gender presentation, race and interests align with theirs. Those characteristic thus make a very convenient template for autistic-coding.

2: Inconsistent performance, huge gaps between strengths and weaknesses

Pascal, Vidcund and Lazlo are very skilled Sims by default, extraordinarily even for their age. Pascal has a skill maxed while his younger brothers both near maxing theirs.

But as you can see in Pascal’s default skill panel, apart from Creativity, all his other skills are extremely low, 0 points for Mechanical, Body and Charisma, 1 point for Cooking and Logic and his second best skill, Cleaning, has only 3 points. The same situation can be observed in Vidcund’s and Lazlo’s, except their strong suits are Logic and Cooking respectively.

Huge discrepancies within performance in different cognitive areas is a common trait found in those on the autism spectrum. We’re often talking extremes here and the scale of the difference is the defining factor. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, it’s just in neurodivergent people those tend to be unusually noticeable.

I think that skills, simplified as they are, are the closest The Sims has to possibly simulate that because they track the character’s performance and expertise in different areas and allow comparison. In real life, of course, this comparison is not nearly as possible and exact, nor desired, but for all our analysis-loving enthusiasm, here we’re still talking fictional characters.

3: Struggle with social cues

It is widely known that one of autistic traits are difficulties with processing social situations, picking social cues and successfully replicating socially desired behavioral patterns.

But these three are Sims, are they not? They cannot possibly display this trait, since they’re programmed the same way as others.

Yes and no.

It is true that there is no specific in-game feature that would allow Sims to behave with explicit neurodivergency in mind* but with the right combination of traits they can simulate behavior that really hits close to home for neurodivergent players.

*at least not in TS2, TS3 has traits that simulate some possible neurodivergencies but their names tend to be rather... ableist unfortunate and they’re not relevant to this post since they’re not autism related, and even if they were, we’re focusing on TS2 exclusively

Let’s take look at Lazlo here. He is, indeed, a playful soul. He likes to goof around, tell jokes, make others laugh. And since he’s very close to his brother Vidcund, close enough even to Tell Dirty Joke (an interaction that needs quite a high relationship to unlock), he autonomously does just that.

And oh boy, does Vidcund disapprove.

From my personal experience playing them, their relationship usually takes quite a hit from every cheeky joke Lazlo throws Vid’s way. They usually autonomously repair it very quick but it happens often.

But that’s a standard behavior. Vidcund’s very serious, he doesn’t take well to jokes.

No. I mean technically yes, Vid is definitely a grumpy old plant dad but, at least in my game, he tends to accept Lazlo’s jokes. All kinds of them, actually, except for the dirty ones. And Pascal, who technically has even lower Playful points (0 in comparison to Vidcund’s 4), doesn’t seem to mind Lazlo’s poor attempts at grown-up humor.

But! What is it that makes Lazlo try still? What drives him to attempt to make Vidcund laugh with a dirty joke over and over again? (and fail?)

I my interpretation, Lazlo doesn’t do that on purpose, he is just really poor at evaluating “dirtiness” of a given joke and frequently misinterprets Vidcund’s cues. The animation of a dirty joke being rejected even supports that as Vid doesn’t signal his discomfort with any exaggerated easy-to-read facial expression until Lazlo gets to his punchline.

No only that but as I mentioned, the invisible lines between spicy and too vulgar are often hard to thread. I can recall many times I thought I was saying a witty quip on an “adult” topic and was met with awkward silence or someone shushing me because “that’s not how you speak in public”. I can well imagine myself in Lazlo’s shoes.

A situation of social cues being misinterpreted or ignored can be observed also in Vidcund. Programming-wise, those are just his low Niceness and extreme Shyness showing but combined they again paint a picture of a very neurodivergent-looking behavioral pattern.

He often behaves like the concept of politeness or social rules doesn’t exist because the combination of the aforementioned traits makes him come off very blunt (lecturing and shoving telescope-peepers with no warning whatsoever) and distant (having a high chance of rejecting simple small-talk socials).

(That’s Jasmine Rai casting the “Summon Vidcund” spell.)

Yes, I am fully aware that it makes a stronger case for him being an a**hole than autistic but... there’s no reason he can’t be both. Not all autistic people are sweet cinnamon buns, all personalities you can think of can be neurodiverse and, for some their neurodiversity can even amplify their inconsiderate ways, as I believe it is the case with our dear grouch Vidcund.

4. Their bios

“No matter what happens, Pascal believes there is a logical explanation for everything. In his free time, he practices home psychoanalysis and collects conspiracy theories.”

(that’s how I imagine practicing psychoanalysis looks like, sorry Freud)

“Serious and exact, Vidcund strives to fit the universe into a nice tidy package. He has an unnatural fondness for African violets.”

(let’s collectively pretend those are African violets)

“Not as studious as his older brothers, Lazlo got his degree in Phrenology. He likes to call phone psychics and spends hours trying to bend forks with his mind.”

*error: screenshot of Lazlo bending forks not found*

(but here he is hanging out with Erin Beaker, the closest thing to “calling phone psychics” you can actually do in-game)

Both Pascal’s and Vidcund’s bios point to a pattern-focused worldview with a strong emphasis on rationality as the center-point that anchors the way they understand the world around them and build their principles on. This “pattern-ization” of thinking is a common autistic trait, with rationality being a popular theme because emotions tend to be difficult to access and asses for many of us.

Lazlo’s biography is an outlier. But it still has something significant in common with those of his brothers: All three of their bios allude to a potential special interest of sorts.

Special interests as an autism-related term are very specific, in-depth and long-term hobbies or areas of expertise that make an autistic person happy and they tend to go to seemingly exhausting lengths, often at the cost of other areas of knowledge and most likely the person’s ability to talk about anything else for a long enough time. (a loving hyperbole, no disrespect meant) Mine are my characters and cats. An even more intense but a short(er)-term passion is called a hyperfixation.

Them potentially having a special interest is yet another possible autistic-coded feature.

5. Wait. Why does it matter?

Right. What does it matter if a Sim (A SIM) (or two or three) is autistic? What do I hope to achieve, pushing my autistic Curiouses agenda down your throats?

I got to write a long rant-piece about some of my favorite TS characters and I feel like I can finally die satisfied.

Apart from that and me sharing my happiness of finding some good pixels I can relate to, it is a matter of representation.

Remember by the very beginning I wrote how most of the representation our community gets in media tends to be just a one specific type of character?

And how the Curious brothers seem to fit the stereotype to a point?

There is something I omitted, something I saved for the last on purpose.

The role. The role in their story, the role in the society the piece of media portrays.

We often see neurodiverse, autistic or autistic-coded character as children, students, villains, lone savants, victims in distress, comedic relief sidekicks, either very vulnerable and needing protection, or detached and having their role defined only by their academic prowess or their special interest/profession.

What we rarely get to see them as, are... parents.

That’s what many of us autistics are or plan to be someday in the future. The dogma around autism has started to dwindle relatively recently and there are little to no examples of autistic adults being the care-givers for once in the media around us.

The Curious brothers are just that. They are chaotic, they are eccentric, they can be a little too much... but they are dutiful and loving fathers/uncles to their little aliens they raise.

They make it work. Even if they face difficulties, even if they don’t exactly fit the standard.

“Sometimes, a family truly can be three brothers raising alien babies, and it’s beautiful.”

It encourages us to define family by love rather than traditional structures and it shows us that portrait of a functional neurodiverse family we need to see.

And goodness, is it a powerful sight.

#the sims 2 #the sims #ts2 #simbrl #pascal curious #vidcund curious #lazlo curious #autism acceptence month #headcanon #actuallyautistic #autistic curiouses agenda #please someone take tumbrl from me

[thatasianstereotype]

Fuck. I’m Gay.

I’ve been reading a lot of ml salt fics lately (mainly @unmaskedagain which is a literal goldmine of saltiness). And getting into the Damienette ship. Marinette really does deserves better (Fuck Canon) but so does Adrien. He is not a “sidekick”. Chat Noir and Ladybug are partners = equals. So I decided why not write a fic where Adrien gets his own happy ending in the form of a grumpy assassin-turned-vigilante that loves animals more than people. 

Somewhat of a crack writing where creative liberties were definitely taken. 

.

.

.

Lila Rossi is a bitch and everyone knew it. Well, by everyone, Adrien means himself, his good-amazing-make-pastries-for-him friend Marinette, his maybe-not-really-sure friend Chloe and his-not-that-close-really-classmate Nathaniel. 

Yeah. It was a small number. 

But Lila is still a bitch. 

Anyway, Lila’s lies and manipulations have disturbed the status quo and not in a good way. She ended up making the majority of the class fawn over her like she was a perfect goddess and not a pompous-temperamental-hormonal teenager. Teenagers were prone to be gullible; he can understand his classmates being inclined to believe her. But this was utterly ridiculous (man, Chloe is rubbing off on him). No. You know what’s even more ridiculous? Ms. Bustier letting Lila get away with it. She doesn’t even stop the class mistreating Marinette who claimed she was a bully just because of you know who - Fucking Lila Rossi. The audacity of that bitch and her bitchy followers, am I right? 

Growing up he watched the tv shows and the animes. High schools always had their drama but he thought that was to get some plot going on. He didn’t think it was an actual thing that happens in real life. But he was proven wrong. Françoise Dupont High School had their drama and it was way worse than what he watched on screen. 

The worst part was that he couldn’t get away from Lila. Or he’ll be pulled from school (Fuck you Dad). He had to sit next to that bitch and listen to her drone on and on about things they both knew she didn’t do, about things she promised to do for her ever gullible followers friends. And couldn’t say anything against it if he wanted to stay in school. But even his discreet questioning didn’t do that much. It got some of the class to think something’s possibly fishy with her stories but not enough to think Lila was evil. So he just gave up. Because what was even the point? 

He was distancing himself from Alya and Nino. He couldn’t really be friends with people who thought Lila held the sun and moon. They didn’t hang out as much as they used to and he made excuses when they did invite him to stuff. Lately, he was making outrageous excuses - like he had to take his cat to the vet even though he didn’t have a cat - to see if they caught on. They didn’t. It was fun but he didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad about that. But feeling sad-depressed-pain over it was a bitch so he decided to take his victories as they come. 

Chloe had left the school earlier on. Her mom wanted to spend one-on-one time with her daughter (Yeah, Audrey is better at being a mother here). She was completely out of this drama mess. And Nathaniel kept his head down to not paint a target on himself. 

His only consolation and ally in this whole mess was Marinette. His darling angel. His sunshine incarnate. His own goddess (not like that bitch Lila let’s get one thing straight). 

When he was feeling overwhelmed (which was a lot), he spent it at her house. They spent it discussing fashion, trash talking Liar-la and the sheep class, playing video games, and making/eating the best baked goods in all of Paris. If he wasn’t at his photo shoots or at school, he was at her house. And with how often they spent time with each other, it wasn’t long before they accidentally revealed their alter egos to each other. 

(The class’ Everyday Ladybug was actually Ladybug. How amazing is that! Isn’t Marinette the absolute coolest?!) 

Since they outed themselves to each other, they had to give up their miraculous. And new heroes had to be chosen. As the guardian, Marinette decided to give the Ladybug miraculous to herself and the Cat one to Adrien. And make them the superheros of Paris. 

(Just when he thought that Marinette couldn’t get any cooler) 

They both collectively decided that being friends were for the best and put away their obsession crush over the other far far away. Now they were best friends-almost siblings. Oh who was he kidding? He was an honorary Dupain-Cheng. Marinette and her parents said so. And who was he to deny the goddess? 

All was well. 

Until he met this gorgeous boy with raven black hair and piercing green eyes that made him question everything in life. 

Like fuck. His life wasn’t hard enough already? 

.

It was a slow patrol. Just stopped a few petty crimes. No akuma tonight. He wasn’t really expecting much to happen.

Mari said patrolling regularly gives citizens a sense of security and it helps if one of them were on scene if an akuma does appear. 

He didn’t mind. He loved running on the rooftops and feeling the wind in his face. After some time, he stopped and stood on top of one of the tallest buildings. Just soaking the view. The peace and serenity of it all. Seeing the glowing lights of his beloved city. Seeing the Eiffel Tower standing tall and proud. 

(Forget school. Forget Liar-la and her hoard of bitches) 

This was his city. This was why he fights Hawk Moth with Ladybug. They had something precious to protect. 

He was done patrolling the regular routes and all his schoolwork was already finished. He could go to sleep but he didn’t feel that tired. And he really didn’t want to go back home. Mari shared her theory on his dad being Hawk Moth. She had really good reasons and a plethora of proof. If they could switch miraculous, why couldn’t he and Mayura - most likely Nathalie? Which would explain how Gabriel got akumatized.

After all her support with dealing with Lila, he was way more inclined to believe her even without the evidence. But those things just made him more wary of his dad. And he wasn’t too stoked on spending more time than what he can get away with with the guy. Because his dad being Hawk Moth explains why he wants Lila (his strongest supporter - Chameleon and Oni-chan, anyone?) close and makes Adrien play nice with her. And anyone who enables Lila’s bitchiness is on his enemy list. 

Anyway, he was out here to enjoy the good mood not think about evil bitches and evil dads. So he sat himself down and enjoyed the sights. It was more calming than you would think. 

He heard cars blaring and even a dog barking. The slight breeze felt nice. The moon was pretty bright tonight. The stars too. There was a lone couple walking through the park. There was also another teen in black running on rooftops a few buildings away. 

Wait. 

What? 

He blinked and looked again. Huh, there was another teen in black running on rooftops. And it was not a hallucination. 

What the actual fuck?

He was instantly on his feet, baton already in hand as he raced across the roof to reach said stranger. 

“Hey!” 

But because he was the lucky owner of the unlucky miraculous, the moment he said that, the guy was about to jump off a building to presumably roll onto the next one like Chat was watching him do beforehand. But his call made him lose focus and Chat watched horrified as the guy slipped and started falling into the alley. 

Oh fuck! Mari was going to fucking kill this dumbass kitty!

He hoped to everything that Mari thinks is holy that he makes it in time. Extending his baton, he used it as a huge Pogo stick to basically catapult himself towards the stranger and wrapped his arms around him as he braced himself for the full weight of hitting the gravel at this height and speed. But he wasn’t that that concerned. His suit protected him from the majority of the injuries that would’ve occurred if he wasn’t wearing it. It hurt but it isn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Remember earlier? He takes his victories as they come. 

This was not the smartest of ideas, he’ll admit. Mari had the brains to be honest. But it wasn’t bad if he say so. And he does say so. 

He rolled over and immediately looked over the stranger that was remarkably unharmed in this whole mess. 

And oh.

Oh.

The stranger was taller than he was with a lithe and lean frame. He had raven black hair that complimented his tanned skin and gorgeous green eyes that pierced through him, making his heart do funny things. 

He was not expecting him to look as hot as he did. He wore a simply black t-shirt and jeans but he looked like a fucking Adonis, what the fuck.  Even the moon shone down on him, highlighting his handsome features even more.  

He shook himself of those thoughts and focused on what was more important. “I’m so sorry. Are you alright?” 

He was rudely pushed away, but he didn’t take offense. He did cause the guy to fall after all. 

“Do not touch me.” (What kind of accent is that?) “I’m fine. You are truly a moronic imbecile of the highest accord to yell like that. And what are you even supposed to be? Some kind of knock-off Catwoman?” 

At that, Chat looked at Hot-And-Sexy weird. “Are you new here? I’m the superhero Chat Noir. I protect Paris with Ladybug.”

“You’re joking.”

“I know I come off as the goofy hero because I make purr-fect puns all the time but I’m not joking about this.” 

He took out his phone to show the foreign (since he’s obviously not a Parisian) stranger the akuma attacks and Ladybug and Chat Noir being a dynamic duo, saving Paris and beating Hawk Moth. Ok, he showed the stranger a lot of stuff. Sue him. He gets to brag about his Princess. And himself too.

“I never heard about this before.” Hot-And-Sexy (he has got to come up with a better name) said afterward. “3 years this has been going on? Why didn’t you ask for help from the Justice League or other superheros?” 

Chat shrugged. “We tried. But they said we’re obviously pulling a prank and making this all up. So we stopped asking for help.”

For some reason this made Hot-And-Sexy angry. “They ignored your plea for help and left you to fight for yourselves?”

“Pretty much, yea.” 

“You and Ladybug are children.” 

“Excuse me? Are you doubting our ability to protect our city?" He was not apologetic at the sharp edge his voice took. Forget looking hot. How dare he? The audacity really. 

Hot-And-Sexy shook his head. “I’m not. I know some child superheroes who are adequate at their jobs and a few who are remarkable like Robin in Gotham. But the majority of them had adult mentors to guide them. From what you’ve shown me, you and Ladybug had no one. You were left alone to fend for yourself with essentially no help.” 

He never thought of it that way. But hearing it like that made him think: Fuck Adults Who Chose Children to Fight Their War For Them and Fuck Hawk Moth For Putting Them In This Position In The First Place. 

You know what. Just to clear all his bases - Fuck Everyone But The Dupain-Chengs. 

Chat couldn’t help but shrug, not quite knowing what to say to that. “Life is a bitch, I’ve come to find out. But enough of that. Why were you running on rooftops anyway?”

“It calms me down.”

Relatable. 

“Is...Is your tail moving?” 

“Huh?” He looked behind him to see his tail was indeed moving lazily. “Yeah. I’m called Chat Noir for a reason.”

“May I touch them?” Chat was used to people (usually kids) pulling on his tail to see if it was real (It was). And it really hurts because they usually rough. Not that he blames them. Kids don’t know any better. Still, he usually says no when people ask. 

But Hot-And-Sexy had such a sincere expression that he said yes. To his surprise and delight, Hot-And-Sexy was extremely gentle (Can this guy be anymore perfect?) and it felt nice to be petted like that. Curse his touch-starvation (again Fuck you Dad).

Hot-And-Sexy was apparently fascinated by his ears and tail. 

“Are you a meta?” He noticed how Hot-And-Sexy’s voice turned softer and fonder (or was he imagining that?).

“Nah. I’m fully human. I just got powers to transform into this.” He looked down at his phone seeing that the time was nearing 2 am.

“Have you suffered any injuries from your stupid stunt?” 

“Hmm?” Chat looked back at him before gesturing to his body. “Don’t worry. I may not look like it but I can take it.”

He can practically feel Hot-And-Sexy rolling his eyes. “What an utter dolt.” 

But there wasn’t any heat behind it so he didn’t take it to heart. 

“Thanks, babe.” 

“That was an insult.”

“And I’m taking it like a compliment.”

Chat stood up and stretched his limbs. Hot-And-Sexy doing the same but dusting off his clothes instead.

“So, uh, need any help getting home?”

“I am perfectly capable of finding my own way, thanks.” 

“Ok. Have a nice night.” He was about to leave when he was caught off guard by Hot-And-Sexy staring at him for a good few seconds, making his limbs freeze in place at the heavy attention.

Before he said. “You should try contacting the Batfamily in Gotham about Hawk Moth. They’re used to dealing with weird things. I’m sure they won’t turn you or Ladybug away.” 

Chat was a bit distracted by how intensely those green eyes focused on him, making his heart beat faster and his cheeks turn a vibrant red. 

He was so screwed. 

He used his baton to shoot himself up so he can run on rooftops, hurrying to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. 

.

“Mari! I think I’m gay!”

“It’s 2 in the morning, Chaton. Go to sleep and we’ll talk about it in the morning.” 

.

After a good night’s rest (and thank everything that was right in the world that today was a weekend), Adrien told Mari all about Hot-And-Sexy. And yes, he did call the stranger that out loud. His everything-that-actually-matters sister simply took it in stride after giggling a bit. They spent the majority of the day discussing emotions and everything that came with that bundle. 

Before he finally came to a conclusion. 

He is definitely gay (He liked girls but not like like them). And most definitely had a crush on Hot-And-Sexy with the pretty green eyes. 

Good news: He is no longer having a sexuality crisis. 

Bad news: He is going through an emotional crisis. 

Like dealing with these feelings that is making his stomach flip flop over and over again? The only one he ever had to deal with was the one he had on Ladybug and that (he talked with Mari about it months before. She was amazing with these emotional matters) was more of a hero-worship crush than anything really romantic. 

And his crush on Hot-And-Sexy was so much more. 

.

So it’s been about 2 weeks since he encountered Hot-And-Sexy. And he still haven’t figured out what else to call him. But the nickname was growing on him. 

(He also told Mari about asking the Batfam for help but she was a bit apprehensive after the disastrous attempts of convincing the Justice League. He shrugged, trusting her opinion and left it at that) 

Anyway, Lila was being her usual bitchy self. Father was being non-existent like always. Mari was his only source of sanity at school. And Hawk Moth was being a bitch. 

Because of course, the day before they have a huge test, he decides to akumatize someone (in this case, a businessman who was really unhappy with getting fired) and cut in on study time. And this akuma took a while to defeat. Guess he drew a lot of strength from his burning hatred of the failings of the corporate world. 

And just yesterday, a teenager who was upset at being grounded got akumatized and terrorized the city for 3 hours before Ladybug could purify her. It did however confirmed her fears. Hawk Moth was getting stronger. It took longer to defeat his monsters. They needed to find him and ended this fast. 

Adrien landed on Mari’s balcony and slipped in her room, crashing on her big comfy bed, de-transforming on the spot. Plagg sleepily floating and laying next to him on the pillow. He was so tired. And photo shoots and school drama were not helping things.

.

For the record, he was not at all expecting to see Hot-And-Sexy in a bookstore of all places. 

He was so engrossed in looking through the latest Boku no Hero Academia manga (can’t wait until Season 5 comes out) that when someone touched his shoulder, he was not proud to admit he squeaked a bit.

He turned around and his eyes widened his surprise. 

“Hot-And-Sexy!” 

It was indeed the Adonis Adrien had a huge crush on. Today he was wearing a white t-shirt paired with a blue denim jacket and black ripped jeans. Wow. He really can make anything look hot.

No. Bad Adrien. Don’t let him know you actually have a crush on him.

And oh fuck. Hot-And-Sexy was staring at the blonde and Adrien tried not to let himself get flustered. He has a very intense stare. For all he knew, Hot-And-Sexy stares at everyone like that.

Calm the fuck down, heart. You too brain.

He raised a handsome eyebrow in amusement. “Excuse me?”

Adrien felt himself burn with embarrassment, his face turning bright scarlet. No wonder he was fit for the unlucky miraculous or was this just a side-effect? Note to self, ask Mari about this later. 

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t get your name last time. And I just started calling you that in my head. Cause you’re really hot and you have pretty eyes.”

Fuck mouth! Why won’t you stop talking! Please for the love of everything that makes Mari a BAMF stop. Stop digging further into the hole of embarrassment! Abort mission! Abort!

“When did we meet?”

At that, he blink a few times. Oh fuck. He was not Superhero Chat Noir. He was Civilian Adrien Agreste. Mari was definitely murdering his dumbass tonight. Lightning please strike him down right now. Where was an unlucky lightning strike when you need it?

After a few seconds of his horrified silence, Hot-And-Sexy chuckled (he had such a nice laugh). “You are extremely lucky I already figured out your alter ego beforehand, Chaton.”

Before Adrien could even unwrap that statement, he held out a hand and had a dangerously sexy smirk on his face. “My name is Damian Wayne. Would you care to get a cup of coffee with me?”

And Adrien nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak. He can deal with the superhero thing later when he can think straight (hah!) and is not distracted by Damian’s beautiful smile and alluring green eyes and perfect everything.

.

Guess what?

Ya Boi got game.

(At least, he likes to think he does)

After a successful coffee date (was it a date? Please let it be a date), they exchanged numbers (cue internal squealing) and met up a few times afterward to hang out.

Apparently, Dami was here on business to deal with something for Wayne Enterprises.

“Aren’t you 17?”

“Father believes in preparing us when we’re young.”

Dami was amazingly sweet. Arrogant and pretentious with a stick up his ass but sweet. He treats stray animals with such reverence that Adrien’s heart melt every time he sees it.

It was an added bonus when Damian scorned Lila with cruel words and disgusted looks when she tried to cut in Adrien and Dami’s date(?)/meetup(?)/spending-time-together event.

She cried and whined afterwards and Adrien has to endure his father’s lecture. But it was totally worth it.

Oh yeah. Mari was not pleased that he accidentally outed himself to a civilian. But nothing that a couple of sad kitty eyes can’t fix.

“You are so lucky you’re cute, kitty-cat.” Mari grumbled but she was smiling. “I just need to have a good talk with him on the importance of secrecy.”

.

That day Damian Wayne learned to fear a certain Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

.

It was 2 weeks later when Adrien woke up to a package next to his futon in Mari’s room. When he opened it, he saw the Butterfly and Peacock miraculous inside.

There was a card beneath it. And in beautiful cursive script read: 

I dearly hope you enjoy my courting gift, mon amour. Allow me the honor to formally ask you out on a date. I look forward to hearing favorably from you soon.

- Damian Wayne

He couldn’t believe it.

“Mari! Damian likes me back!”

“Chaton, I swear. It is 2 in the morning.”

Next

#ml x dc #ml salt #ml salt fic #lila rossi salt #marinette deserves better #but so does adrien #adrien deserves better #adrien agreste #sexuality crisis #gaydrien #adrien agreste x damian wayne #adridami #oneshot #how the fuck did this crack idea span 3K words #apparently I'm down with this ship