#based on a theory about the influences the two see in each other

[kenny311006]

@ghostflowerweek2023 I'll try to post some other playlists I've made for them all this week. I already post a Ghostflower playlist called "The Time Machine (Ghostflower's romantic tension)" in case anyone wonders *haha*

#ghostflower #gwen x miles #miles x gwen #gwiles #across the spiderverse #ghostflower week 2023 #the two's respective playlists #based on a theory about the influences the two see in each other #each one might feels like there's some story behind #well feel free to take it that way if you want #if not then just enjoy the melody #hope y'all could enjoy #Each playlist has a Vietnamese song since I'm a native to there

[lo-fi-charming]

so i've been keeping up with TMP as it's airing, which has been fun, it's actually really nice to experience this kind of story weekly since i came into TMA late and listened up to the s4 finale in like, a month or two. i've been enjoying the new characters and statements, and while i was worried i'd have trouble actively listening (my attention span/executive functioning can be really variable when it comes to podcasts), it's been surprisingly easy for me to actually listen to each new ep the day it drops publicly

all this to say im enjoying the show! but i've found myself feeling increasingly frustrated with a couple things i keep seeing when it comes to discussions of it

to me, it seems... there's been a pervasive reluctance to take TMP as what it is. and i do understand that. it'd be stupid to pretend TMP doesn't exist exclusively because of TMA and that show's success, that it's a successor that was pitched as being similar. it's a story being written by the same people (plus guests), in the same universe (roughly), going for about the same tone and maybe themes.

i just feel like it's a bit of a shame, though, that so many folks seem unwilling not to carry TMA with them when they're engaging with TMP

i don't know where or when it was said, but i swear there was a comment made by jonny and/or alex about how TMP will have some commonality with TMA in terms of world-building, but also, people who listened to TMA first may find themselves theorizing in the wrong direction because we're judging things based off what is no longer concrete, reliable information; things are going to work differently in the world of TMP, and since we have preconceived notions on what is relevant or how things work, that's going to influence how we engage with information presented in TMP if we let it. and that's not even considering the fact that they've been explicit in conveying the idea that TMP was written so you can experience it fully without having listened to any of TMA at all!

i'm very much someone who tries to engage with media on its own terms, largely taking things at face value until i'm given reason to suspect otherwise. that's something i'm trying my best to still do with TMP, even though obviously, i've also listened to TMA and am basing some of my thoughts and personal theories on what we know from that

but that's what i mean to say i guess, it's something you have to actively choose to do. and it feels like, just based on what i've been seeing in fandom spaces, that a lot of people are having a bit of an odd time with TMP because of a reluctance to do that?

i think the easiest way to explain what i mean is to point to a general acceptance, already on the level of fanon it seems, to interpret the computer voices as Our Jon and Martin (+ Jonah/Elias, maybe). now obviously we have the actual real world reason why their voices are present in TMP, because of course jonny and alex were going to come back as voices in the show in some way. and i 100% agree it's a perfectly logical conclusion to then interpret their inclusion as being related to Jon and Martin somehow. i'm personally very into the theory that it is in no way them - not in any way that matters - but specifically their voices that have been stolen (by the Web?) as a means to help spread fears in other realities. but that's really not how i've been seeing people play with the concept? it seems largely 1:1. and again, i totally understand where people are coming from with that - especially when you consider how it can be a super fun concept for horror and angst, or even just the fact that folks want an excuse to carry their favorite characters into this new show and still play around with them. i promise i don't mean to bring this up as a means of making anyone feel bad or like, chastised for interpreting things a certain way and playing in the space!

it's the biggest example of what i mean though, and was a huge point of frustration for me when we were first being presented with TMP. it's not just that i don't want the voices to be Jon and Martin proper (i am very into their Ambiguous End, i believe it's best to leave that as a space for fans to play in); in all honesty, i think it's kind of a shame and maybe even a bit boring (im sorry!) to be engaging with TMP this way

and it's not just stuff like that - i've been seeing a fair amount of people expressing frustration and feeling disappointed with how TMP is hitting, but i mean, i feel like that's inevitable when you're going into it expecting More TMA? i saw at least one person basically say "ive been waiting for it to make me feel the way TMA made me feel, and it hasn't yet", and i really just feel like that's setting yourself up to be dissatisfied! beyond the fact that we're only 5 episodes in and the story has barely gotten a chance to happen yet, a huge element of this new show is that it's being approached as a largely collaborative effort, it seems, with lots of guests coming in to help shape the story and more writing and plotting influence that isn't jonny

obviously it's fine to not be super into that! undoubtedly it's a question of taste. but you do have to acknowledge that that's the case and adjust your expectations accordingly, or else you're not going to have a great time

i really like TMA, i had a great time with it, but even if TMP is a sequel to its parent podcast, it's not the same thing - and personally, i don't want it to be! i do hope that's a sentiment that is able to be more widely felt by some fans as we gain more distance from TMA while TMP is airing. i just think more people would be able to enjoy it that way, and come up with more interesting theories and interpretations of things! but those are really just my own personal thoughts

#endlesschatter #tmagp #i just needed to express some of this #it's a bit tricky tho esp with the voices as jmart thing bc a lot of my buddies and pals are playing in that space #and i hate to sound like im vagueing or complaining i swear im not ;lskdjfljk it is truly so unserious in the end #it's just very much not my interpretation or desire to see canonized in any way #though i cant deny some of the arguments made in favor of that interpretation are compelling #and i mean if it's the case in canon! not like im gonna be mad at folks for calling it!! #might not be my favorite angle but could still be plenty fun! #but also yes yeah i just wrote a lot of words down just to say i think it might be nice. if. #the fandom at large didn't try putting a coat of TMA paint over TMP and interpreting everything that happens in a TMA-colored lens

[clairebishop6226]

SPOILER OF NIMONA (Netflix)

I have a theory, throughout the movie, Nimona is uncomfortable with Ballister's insistence on trusting Ambrosius, she notes that their relationship is based on much more than friendship and even the small comparisons to actions that the language of love should represent, but why out of so many people in the institution does she care so much about his influence?, two things, she knows how much he affects Ballister and is frustrated when she sees someone so similar to her running after someone who betrayed him, and that makes us takes the second thing, Gloreth, your friendship with her can have a lot of influence on how Nimona sees Ambrosius, it's impossible for her not to know they are distantly related since he is so famous, she felt a lot of pain when Gloreth betrayed her, the first and her only friend has dedicated her entire life to building a sisterhood destined to destroy her, she would have thought that Ambrosius would be no different, probably when she saw Ambrosius point a sword at Ballister, she remembered the moment when Gloreth chose to become her enemy, not to mention that we are not sure if they never saw each other again after the fire in the village, it was millennia of feelings of hatred and sadness.

#nimona movie #nimona #ballister boldheart #ballister blackheart #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister x ambrosius #Gloreth

[darkcircles4lyfe]

Life after NDE

Before reading, please see this post. It’s where I first explored the possibility that what we think we know about One for All is unreliable. It also ends with my own guesses about how Katsuki plays into it all. Now, with chapter 404, I can continue where it left off.

There are a lot of different tangents floating around here that I need to bring together for you, so let’s start with what came to light in this newest chapter. There’s a clear emphasis on Toshinori’s vestige form:

but did you catch the slight of hand?

How about now?

As soon as I saw the panels where Shigaraki talks about how the vestige is taking full form, I was practically shouting “OBJECTION” Ace Attorney-style, because they were a complete contradiction to how we were made to understand vestiges in chapter 304 (oh hey look, exactly 100 chapters ago!). Back then, it was suggested to us that Toshinori was special because of his quirklessness, that it allowed him to imprint upon OFA in a way that none of the other previous users could. In contrast, Shigaraki makes it seem like Toshi is no different from the rest. Like oh yeah, this is just how it works, they aren’t fully formed until they die, right? Hello?? No? I thought we were assuming the vestiges didn't have to do with actual souls, apart from Toshi? Given Shigaraki’s own brand of unreliability in his immature frame of mind, I found myself wondering: is he making an assumption, or is he letting slip a secret bit of information about OFA? Idk man, OFA wasn’t even doing this whole vestige thing until like a few months ago, so.

Either way, we can observe the change. As Toshinori’s lifeforce fades, he appears in OFA. I’m left with the simple observation that if he were truly different from the other vestiges because of his quirklessness, it would not have happened this way, since OFA doesn’t have Toshi’s own unique quirk factor to work with, but rather the other way around. You would have expected his vestige to stay the same, or possibly disappear altogether, since it was ostensibly exclusively based on the influence of a living consciousness.

That exception to the rule described in 304 never sat right with me anyway, and I’m not convinced that OFA contains mere memories of its previous users via their quirks just like AFO does. Sure, it’s nice and edgy to imagine that OFA/AFO are more similar than they are different, deep down. But poetic opposites are more interesting to me: AFO isolates by taking, while OFA connects by giving. Previous OFA users give themselves to their successors. One for All was “truly born” not when All for One tossed Yoichi a stolen consolation, but when 2nd extended his hand. There is something distinctly emotional and personal about that. Nana was right—it is kinda romantic.

Because Toshinori kept living, because Izuku has meaningful relationships, that chain of giving linked down through OFA was finally brought to light, like a circuit that’s being closed. At least, that’s how I see it. That’s pretty much what I talked about in my previous post.

Back then I also suggested that this theory of personal connection in some way explains Katsuki apparently having a vestige. Since chapter 403, where Toshinori describes his legacy as being embodied in both Izuku AND Katsuki, I was reminded of how Toshinori was gradually shown this over the course of the manga, as he came to understand Katsuki and his relationship to Izuku, how they are inseparable.

When Toshinori was inspired to pass OFA on to Izuku as he witnessed him trying to save Katsuki, he had no idea the two boys even knew each other. What he saw as a random act of selflessness was in reality a desperate manifestation of a connection that extended beyond memory, of osananajimi. With the eyes of traditional heroism, one could choose to see this as Toshinori’s fatal mistake, that he accidentally chose a successor with a “weakness” of personal attachment, but we all know that heroic isolation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. No, I think Toshinori made precisely the right choice.

This is going to seem like it’s coming out of nowhere, but bear with me: you know how we still haven’t been told how the first OFA transfer happened? I feel almost silly admitting this, but I think it absolutely had to have been done instinctually, because it’s just too damn specific. As in, they didn’t know what they were doing or what it would accomplish, but they did it anyway. As in. They moved. Without thinking.

Toshinori didn’t fully consciously understand what he was seeing when Izuku ran to Katsuki, but deep within OFA, perhaps he recognized something familiar.

What if, somehow, without knowing it, Toshinori gave One for All to two people? His conviction and intent to give it was inspired by Izuku’s connection to Katuski. Yes, the transfer is inherently physical, but it also relies on mental assertion. Plus, how we think the transfer works may also be an assumption (again, the first time it happened was probably on instinct). Let me break it down even more: Toshi probably thought, as he passed OFA on, “I’m giving it to a successor who has my same balance of heroism—save to win, win to save.” But, in reality, Izuku relies on Katsuki for that balance, as his image of victory. Therefore I think I can argue that their relationship is irrevocably bound within the pact of the OFA transfer. Maybe because Katsuki’s part of OFA is based on emotional connection, once that connection is reciprocated…

…the full extent of that dual transfer is awakened.

I understand I’m making a lot of logical leaps here, but there has to be some sort of explanation for the Katsuki we see at the point of his death, talking to Toshinori’s vestige. I used to think it meant Katsuki had a vestige too. But then why are Katsuki and Toshinori alone, and without Izuku knowing? Moreover, why didn’t Katsuki materialize from the metaphysical mist around Izuku when he died, just as Toshinori did here?

Here comes the other thing I realized in 404. The simplest explanation may be that Katsuki isn’t a vestige at all, but rather he was visiting the OFA interior just as Izuku has done in his sleep or in a coma. Because he’s not a previous user, he’s a current user. The sequence of Toshinori’s NDE (near death experience) in 404, the way it manifested externally around Izuku as something Izuku was aware of, rather than internally within OFA from Toshinori’s point of view, shows me that what happened to Katsuki was different.

A lot of us have been speculating that Katsuki “has access to” OFA in some form or another for quite some time now, but I think the way the idea is suggested in 403/404 is an important distinction because it specifies the mode of connection. To me, it matters that they have two halves of a whole given to each of them, as opposed to, “the chosen one + his sidekick with a little extra OFA boost.” This puts them on equal ground, and it implies that the closer they become, the stronger One for All will be against All for One. It promises that these two idiots who have been toeing around each other and leaving things unspoken for so long will have to really face the facts of their relationship.

One last thing: you might be wondering why the other vestiges apparently haven’t picked up on what’s going on and told Izuku. Well, Yoichi may have felt it? (Where has he been?) But also, Toshinori is the only one directly involved, the only one who realizes his legacy is carried by two. Up until this point his connection to his vestige self has been limited, sort of one-way. For example, he could tell the other vestiges about his research into OFA, but in return he could only faintly pick up on things, and only while Izuku was unconscious.

The time Toshinori spent as a full vestige was brief, but I’m sure it was enough to learn some things about where the shade of himself has been. Even if I’m wrong about everything else, I bet he can give us the answers now.

#bnha 404 #bnha 403 #mha #bnha manga #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #all might #yagi toshinori #midoriya izuku #Bakugou Katsuki #bkdk #bakudeku #dkbk #dekubaku #lin speaks #meta

[adyophene]

what if husker is only still a drunk bc alastor keeps him around booze? like he tried to be sober before the hotel but failed bc where alastor put him. and so now he thinks he can never get sober and it's what keeps him from heaven

also ur really cool

also it's like very late and I'm sleep deprived so sorry if this doesn't make the most sense

We actually think sorta alike! (and thank you!)

I'm gunna pop my reply behind a readmore, cause it ended up longer than I anticipated! Sorry if it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I too, am chronically sleep deprived! ♥

I have two theories on exactly this premise. One that is more what I imagine, mainly cause its simple, and even a bit silly, which is that, judging by what Mimzy says, it could just be that Alastor has had Husk bartend for him for a long time, and as a bit of a creature of habit, dragged him along to the hotel just because he wanted him there! That he knows the guy, knows he's good at his job, knows he's loyal despite everything, thinks he's entertaining to annoy(or that they're somewhat friends, depending on what 'word of god' you go with from the creators) and maybe even knows about that soft heart that Husk hides behind all the hissing.

The second theory is a bit darker/less charitable to Alastor, based on a few thoughts I had during my recent rewatch of the series. I started with the pilot, and noticed how dramatically Husk reacts to being offered just a generic cheap booze, and then how intensely drunk he starts off during the series proper. Like how we see in Al's initial commercial, where he actually blacks out completely. Or during some early dialogue where he's slurring he words a lot more than in later episodes? It did kind of strike me as either a 'binge drinking after not drinking for a long time' or maybe a 'get blackout drunk to not have to deal with being there' thing. Either way, being caused/facilitated by Al. While I've seen a lot of people discredit Alastor's motivations in 'wanting to see demons reach for redemption, and then fail miserably' as just being a front to a greater purpose, I think that both can be true. I think he's got a reason he's there, but also that he just really enjoys fucking with people.

I think he added the bar as an extra temptation to any hotel residents, but then also potentially to mess specifically with Husk and put him in an environment that would be both a good influence on him, and a terrible one. Literally put him in a place where he could have a support system if he wanted it, but be surrounded by one of his worst vices the entire time. Also, since Al and Husk are supposed to know each other quite well, I could see Al dragging Husk to the hotel because he'd know how stupid Husk would find the whole thing. Although, my theory would be less that Alastor providing booze is the reason Husk can't be redeemed, and more that Husk's self loathing is the reason he feels like he can't be redeemed. I think we'll learn about some shitty things he's done in S2, while at the height of his gambling addiction, and that he just doesn't/can't/won't come to terms with. Or something like that anyways!

Did that make any sense? I hope so. I don't usually write stuff like this.

#not art

[mimicha-arts]

Date: 09/10/23 Hm. Some thoughts, details, mostly speculation about ep 10 + things discussed over the last two months, it might be a bit chaotic ~ Don't take it too seriously, feel free to discuss. A lot of thing are open-end speculations, as we don't have too much detail about the lore and Lu Guang.

Spoilers for s2!

Twins - who killed Chen Bin?

I won't dwell too long on the exposition about the twins' abilities -the fandom's collective mind was right, who has what powers, how important physical contact is, why Qian Jing actually wears gloves. Really satisfying thing - twins are really attached to the theme of the “present” and do not physically disappear. May we say that the situation with the photo and the phone is confirmed? That it was Li Tianchen both times (unless there are any time jumps that we are not aware of). The main question, given the unpredictable factor, depends on how spontaneous the plan was. I think the timing is pretty fast, but in pure theory, I understand how everything could happen in such a short moment. Chen Bin was taken in control as soon as his phone conversation with Qian Jin ended. The following time was just enough for Cheng Xiaoshi to come to Lu Guang's room and all the characters discussed the current situation (Now it’s clear why Chen Bin’s behavior was so strange and there was a misunderstanding), at the same time Xiao Ma drove Qian Jin and twins to the hospital.

Xiao Ma left, he was waiting on the roof in advance - Chen Bin (possessed) left the room, went to the roof and gave the phone to Xiao Ma.

So...... Xiao Ma left him alone, and we now "know" for sure that he was not directly involved in his death - the one who threw him off the roof was Li Tianchen... Perhaps not. Yeah, this was the trigger for Li Tianxi - so there is the problem one, even if Li Tianchen was planning something behind Qian Jin's back, he couldn't predict his sister's reaction and that this situation would get out of control. Personally, I kinda think  that this happened to her at exactly this moment,  because she and Chen Bin knew each other personally (If Qian Jin continued to keep in touch with Chen Bin all these years, there is such a chance. Perhaps Chen Bin wanted his child to be a girl also because of Li Tianxi... I'm speculating) But did Li Tianchen really manage to throw Chen Bin off on his own, or did he lose control earlier? Because I think it's the second option, and Xiao Ma returned to the roof - completing what Li Tianchen couldn't do. > I've got the aftermath covered for you.

As I think, in the end the twins didn't kill Chen Bin - Li Tianchen lost control before that happened (which also gives extra time considering the count was in minutes - because Li Tianchen had to be at the hospital in the shortest possible time to pick up the phone from Xiao Ma coming down the stairs). So the real killer was Xiao Ma.

Anything is possible, of course, we will see. Although I still have a question. Did Li Tianchen stop following Li Tianxi because it was his only opportunity to pick up the phone/contact Lu Guang? Or was the spontaneity of the moment not so spontaneous and he had not planned to run after her in the first place? I still don't quite understand Li Tianchen's actions regarding Lu Guang. There is a possibility, based on his sister’s mental abilities, that having possessed Qiao Ling, Li Tianchen already knew about the abilities of both Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang - the questions in s2s1 were nothing more than catching Cheng Xiaoshi in a lie.

It's kinda confusing, but in the end it turned out that Li Tianchen "framed" his sister, because of which Qian Jin does not suspect betrayal from Li Tianchen. I also think about the possibility that Li Tianchen, if he actually killed Zhuang Shuai, he originally knew (through his sister's abilities) the real circumstances between Chen Nan and Zhuang Shuai, and this is what may influence Li Tianchen's real attitude towards Qian Jin all these 7 years. Li Tianchen cares about his sister a lot - it's not just his words, voice, and my own faith in the complexity of his character. Because Li Tianxi ended up in a fairly safe place, in an abandoned area, but it was an old shop that still had groceries and, surprisingly, electricity.

She ran away without her old toy fox. I also think that this is the same toy from her childhood that was sewn up, given the condition of the fox. The only person who could find her and return her fox is Li Tianchen. There is still a lot to be revealed here.

The question remains. Where's the phone? I don’t think that Liu Xiao is in contact with Li Tianchen now, it seems that the promised meeting has not happened yet and Li Tianchen pursues purely his own goals. Obviously it needs to be a safe place, but probably still "visible" and accessible. Still a lot of speculations! Just a though. But what if? Inside the fox toy.

Li Tianxi's drawing - blue ability

The interesting thing is that Tianxi drew Lu Guang. Initially, this seems fine in the context of s1ep11, attack towards Lu Guang, but Qiao Ling or Cheng Xiaoshi were not drawn, and Lu Guang himself had red eyes. Such a thing should not have happened since the original plan in s1e11 was to hurt Lu Guang, not possess him. From the time Lu Guang was injured until Li Tianxi escaped, about 12/13 hours passed, most of which Lu Guang was unconscious, so I can't figure out where is a "window" for possessing. I don't know how to understand this part yet. Unless Li Tianxi simply used Lu Guang as an “example” and did not include any subtext.

Another thing: it is possible that the twins do not perceive the physical pain of the person they are possessing. There was a scene with Xiao Li, who explained that a person, purely technically, cannot strangle themself due to the physical reaction. But, again, I didn’t have that experience, sooo, idk.

In my understanding, Li Tianxi probably did not cry from physical pain, but rather from this entire terrified situation, from what her brother was doing and/or the thoughts of Lu Guang himself.

Since she uses her abilities with Lu Guang's photo to determine his condition, I also have one thought, since I am sure that we still don't know anything about Lu Guang's "real current blue abilities."

Considering that not only photographs have become key moments in the narrative, drawings also play this role, I think it’s time to mention one strange moment that is connected with Lu Guang. I still have a lot of questions about why Lu Guang, closing one eye, used his abilities not on the part with the photo, but on the back part, with the drawing. Was it an animation error, or… Technically, is it possible to use abilities on any images at all? Now that we know abilities aren't tied to photos, yes, in theory.

Anyway. We still don't know how much the "blue" ability can vary - but what if Lu Guang, much like Li Tianxi, can sense a person's "state" in the current, at least whether a person is alive or not, through a photo or image.

Because, well. Let's go back a little. The Doudou's case. Since s1 I've been wondering. Could Lu Guang have known in advance not details, but the simple fact that Doudou was still alive and the case would not lead to a dead end?

Considering Cheng Xiaoshi's mental state, their quarrel, the absolute unpredictability of what could happen to the child that day or later, how could he objectively propose this case without knowing that the child was alive, after these three years? I just find it interesting.

Innate ability - ability to take it away

I also think, we can confidently say, using the example of twins, that abilities must be innate + have a first activation trigger. Can they be activated separately, or must a trigger situation occur for both at the same time? So far it remains unanswered. Twins do not have the ability to take away abilities from others literally, and in fact, Tianchen's words simply meant that he wants, with the help of his sister, possess Cheng Xiaoshi and experience his abilities.

But. Who really knows about the possibility of taking away abilities? Lu, fucking, Guang. Of course, nothing is said directly, but I'm more than sure for now, based on his reaction and response.

Considering that he did not know about the existence of twins, does not suggest in s1 that the killer in theory could be a person with abilities, I will write a rather wild thought. This does not apply to some abstract carriers of abilities, I don't think Lu Guang has ever met other people like himself and Cheng Xiaoshi in the past - so his knowledge that the ability can be taken away - refers specifically to his personal experience and Cheng Xiaoshi. What if the ability to "take away" an ability is not an actual ability, but refers to the death of the ability's bearer?  In fact, to the death of Cheng Xiaoshi in the past.

So if Xiaoshi's death was the moment when Lu Guang "inherited" his abilities and was able to rewind time, could this be pretty interesting? We've never been shown their "overall color coding" as green, although the visual elements very often use green instead of yellow. Also, for Li Tianxi (blue) and Li Tianchen (red) we've seen the purple/magenta visuals a few times already.

Moreover, we already had an interesting implication that Cheng Xiaoshi himself received abilities only after meeting Lu Guang, at the same time (同時). Lu Guang was said to be the bearer of the ability (超能力者）, which somewhat… May imply that Lu Guang already had the ability when they first met in the current timeline. But, again, I'm not sure if it's reliable

I'm not ready to write the entire RGB/CMYK theory right now. I'll have to think about it carefully, but if the parallel realities/rewritten timeline theory will be finally confirmed, mark my words. Let's leave that for the next post, as well as the possible interpretation of his other already shown abilities related to cameras, recording information and sketches-like POV. Anyway, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out that Lu Guang’s original color coding is not even yellow, but green, and Cheng Xiaoshi’s is blue.

I have a lot to say, but I think it's best to leave that for another post. Either their abilities were activated due to the power of love in the first place, lol.

Posters Besides Starry, starry night there are some interesting things, but I don't understand them too well. These are my guesses, my understanding is very shallow.

1. One of the poster with 海燕和黑色闪电 refers to the "The Song of the Stormy Petrel", written by Maxim Gorky. Up above the sea's grey flatland, wind is gathering the clouds. In between the sea and clouds proudly soaring the Petrel, reminiscent of black lightning. 2. 春深似海 - spring (love?) is like the ocean, is a chengyu from 兒女英雄傳 (The Gallant Maid), novel by Wen Kang. 3. 声色俱厉 is also a chengyu, stern in voice and countenance. You can check a part of 《語林》 here, what it refers to, I hesitate to take responsibility for conveying the meaning in context, but I found it VERY interesting. Correct me, if I'm wrong! The rest is too blurry for me, maybe I'll come back to it later. XƎTЯOVerthink I made a separate post about this, you can see it here, the episode with the theater/stage is extremely close in essence to what we see in XƎTЯOVerthink. I wonder if we will understand the whole context of the many dead Cheng Xiaoshi just in these two weeks :)

We have so many implications that nothing can be rewritten, and at the same time, time is already broken, and Xiaoshi is being challenged for the second time whether he is ready to rewrite everything just for Lu Guang. The level of this tension is SO noticeable it's terrifying.

Xiaoshi and his abilities I think his actual plan was pretty smart, even if it didn't work out well due to other circumstances - and we're getting into some very dangerous zone where "diving" almost borders on the topic of teleportation, so the use of abilities is more and more closer to the context of the present, not the past.

Personally, I think. that the photo (which Li Tianxi looks at) has nothing to do with this - this photo on the phone was needed specifically for Li Tianxi’s abilities. Considering Xiao Li's phone, they should have used a remote CCTV feed, so that they could create a "save point" and move it around. So, maybe it's not "diving", but like respawn on the same spot.

Technically, Cheng Xiaoshi's abilities are limited to diving into the past - but we don't know this for sure (and what opportunities does he have for “cheating”), since all the information we have comes from Lu Guang, and he's an unreliable narrator. As we remember from episode 2, Lu Guang himself could use his abilities to “view and track” in the present time. Not in the past.

The Tunnel When I did the analysis on Starry Starry Night, it was added that the tunnel scene, if this is the reference for OP, has an obvious feeling - to go on the path to a dream, where the end is ... the end of everything. And now we actually have a tunnel and rails as part of the narrative and the location, amazing.

Time is already dead. I already wrote that in s2 something strange happens with time. Dates are gone, years are gone. Even the twins' files never included a year of birth, although we can calculate it. The moment that made me think that everything was WRONG from the beginning was the Xu Shanshan phone from the previous series. There are no dates anywhere on the phone screens, but our timeline is the end October, maybe the beginning of November. Only her phone still has some dates. And the photos at the bottom are dated as "today", yesterday", and the previous ones… May(五月). And April(四月). Like. Xu Shanshan didn't take pictures for half a year? Doesn't sound right.

But apparently? Time is unimportant. At all.

Because. Everything literally vanished. Year? 0. Month? 0. Day of the week? 0. Hour? 0 Time is truly dead.

Thank you my dear @wrathyforest without you  I don't know if I could take this road ~ I'm pretty sure I'm wrong about a lot of things, so I just keep having fun and playing bingo. I just want to see how wrong I am about everything ~

#link click #shiguang dailiren #link click spoilers #link click s2 #mimicha.lc #2 episodes left #I don't even know where we're going

[eggplantlilly]

So, wow…I think I’m a little heartbroken over that ending guys..fhjy ramblings after the cut..

I truly didn’t think kipperlilly was that conniving..like I thought she hated the bad kids in a way that we knew would be wrong but under the lenses of modern high school bureaucracy would show that capitalism/standardized tests/student loan debt/etc. and the way people feel they have to tear each other down to succeed was the true enemy.

I thought that the party was influenced by the corrupted rage god or possibly aligned with whatever chess game sol and galicaea are playing, but that it’s their party, their friends, so of course they loved Lucy and of course they tried to make Buddy comfortable.

I thought that since kipperlilly hated Riz since freshman year, of course it was something small and silly ossified into something large and unyielding.

But as we get closer to the end and see more of the rat grinders I think I’m absolutely wrong. To sacrifice your own cleric? The betrayal of trust is unimaginable.

Current, galaxy brain, paranoid theories now:

We seem to be lining up multiple gods who fall in two tracks - sun/bounty (Sol, Ankarna, Helio) and dark/cold (Galicaea, Cassandra, Ruvina)

We’ve heard about the games they play in domains and the fact that no one wants to share..but also that so below so above, I think there is a human enacted and god enabled conspiracy by a pair of unnamed gods trying to streamline the domains. Think of the conflict in Galicaea.

I think they wanted Lucy to switch to be both a follower of warmth and cold and when they murdered her they only counted the dark and always planned on killing Buddy (the last stand just accelerated it) as a sacrifice.

I think at least some of them intentionally killed Lucy (new thought for me as I was sticking to my surely the rat grinders loved her as we love her)

For a while I thought they might be using the devil’s honey in the cloud machine for a large area effect but I can’t imagine the sheer amount of honey you’d need based on Gertie’s baklava comment.

Maybe it’s my background showing but I wanted Buddy to see the metaphorical light and become more nuanced. I wanted him to have the room to grow.

I think the devil’s honey is going to be used to make people think the Bad Kids killed him and that’s why there is the worry about Fig and Bobby Dawn.

For real though the rest of the battle? The Bad Kida at their finest! No one went down, they fought connected and inspired and like a well oiled machine. If kipperlilly saw that I hope she was rattled. I hope she saw them pass something literally no one has before and realize their accolades are not empty and she’s going to have to get up earlier in the morning to get them.

Beautiful episode though, the last stand really showed their experience in all the best ways and was just really enjoyable to watch!

#kipperlilly copperkettle you disappoint me #dimension 20 #fantasy high #fhjy #fantasy high junior year #d20 fantasy high #d20 #lucy frostblade #d20 fhjy

[acre-of-wheat]

Everyone ready for an unhinged theory about The Gales from Willow 2022?

So obviously they’re a dark mirror for our protagonists, and they function like a lot of teams of baddies in media-- they tie up each character in combat scenes by either having skills that subvert what the heroes are good at, or are simply just better at the same skills the heroes have.

Have a fast and dexterous fighter like Kit? Throw the Scourge at her and it overpowers anything she throws at it. Have a knight commander in full armor? Toss the Lich at him and have it bamf out of existence every time he swings his sword at it.

But I think there’s more to them than being battle foils for the characters. When Elora and Kit are hemmed in by the Gales and Airk, he tells them that the Gales are, “not what you think they are.”

So much of Willow has to do with the past, and choices, visions and alternate futures, recursions and cursed blood. I think that the Gales actually are our heroes, from a time when they gave into the Crone’s temptations.

Spoilers under the cut.

The Lich / Graydon Hastur

There’s a lot going on with Graydon.

First, his scar. I think it’s pretty obvious that there’s something magic going on here, and my guess is that it is a seal meant to prevent whatever possessed Graydon in the first place from popping out again.

I’m going to hazard a guess that whatever is still inside him is where his magic comes from. Magic apparently comes in several colors, but it does seem to at least partially relate to who is casting it, and what the spell is.

Willow and Elora’s natural colors are green, which you can see in the training montages and in Elora’s battle with the crone. Red appears to be pretty obviously bad.

Something happens to Elora’s magic color when she casts a Nekotic spell the Crone taught her though. The color turns darker, and goes blue.

Graydon’s “natural” spell color seems to be purple, and it doesn’t change based on what he casts, even when he fights the Crone and uses a spell that sounds very Nekotic.

I think it’s only a matter of time before the influence of the Wyrm makes Graydon’s spell work go fully red.

I also think his scar/seal is spreading. During the trek across the shattered sea, Graydon begins to learn magic. We know from Willow that magic takes a toll on the body, and we see that a bit with Graydon during a conversation with Elora.

She tells him not to scratch at something, and Graydon pulls his shirt aside to look, very carefully not revealing what it is. It’s worth noting that this is not on the side that he was injured on, so it’s not that “acting up.” Instead, I think it’s the seal spreading as he uses more and more magic, thinning the line between him and whatever possessed him.

If the scar continues to spread, perhaps Graydon might come to look like the Lich that we know-- covered completely in scar tissue.

The Doom / Jade Claymore

This is the one that initially got the gears turning, and all because of the weapons involved.

Throwing stars are only used by two characters in the show, and it seems like such an odd choice. Not daggers, axes, or javelins, but throwing stars. The Bone Reavers and the Tir Asleen knights don’t seem to use them, so they’re not a cultural practice that Jade might be familiar with. They aren’t used in the original movie either. Jade uses them once in battle, and then once during a training scene which doesn’t seem to have any story significance other than to remind us that she has them.

The only other character to use such a distinctive weapon is the Doom, when attacking the silt sleigh.

Because we’re talking about weapons, it’s worth noting that the Doom dual wields metal whips. Until the last episode, the only one of our heroes to dual wield her weapons is Jade, when she uncouples her sword from its staff/sheath

Speaking of distinctive, the Doom’s dark metal face plate is pretty unique, but we do know another character who wears a face mask into battle-- a battle that took some of Jade’s innocence with it.

I also really like the symbolism of the Doom’s first fight being with Kit and Sorsha, the very people Jade is most adamant about protecting.

The Dag / Kit Tanthalos

This one feels like a fairy-tale curse. What does Kit’s dream mother offer her? Freedom, a chance to go wherever she wants. In the usual wicked twist of irony, why not make that freedom both symbolic and literal by transforming her into a bird creature? Rootless, homeless, chasing after who she used to be and the girl she used to love.

The Scourge / Thraxus Boorman

This one doesn’t have much to go on--  they’re both tall, beefy dudes? The only thing that might be symbolic is that we know Boorman would rather jump off the edge of the world than have an intimate conversation-- what better way to avoid intimacy than to have a spiked cage around your head?

#willow #kit tanthalos #jade claymore #elora danan #graydon hastur #thraxus boorman #willow spoilers #willow 2022

[where-theres-smoak-2]

LOKI 2X4 SPOILERS!

I'm putting my Loki theory cap back on now that I've watched ep 4. I mean talk about a cliffhanger. But I can't help but wonder what will happen next. So obviously I turned back to the trailers and earlier episodes looking for clues and I now have a theory. I hope it's one that makes sense but I have a habit of rambling when trying to explain how my brain works, so apologies if that is the case. But anyway on to the theory.

I know the initial reaction to have to that last scene is to say well obviously they aren't all dead, there's still two episodes left. I said that too when I first saw it, but I actually do think everyone in that room apart from Loki died at that moment. However I do think we are still going to see them again.

From the trailers we know that there are more scenes of Loki time-slipping that we haven't seen yet, despite that problem supposedly being fixed in ep 1. But they used the loom to fix the time-slipping, so I think that as the loom is destroyed Loki's time-slipping will come back.

I think a big clue as to what is going to happen can be found all the way back in ep 1 and its largely this moment that I've based my entire theory around. It's the scene where Loki time slips into the past whilst talking to Ouroboros.

I actually think Ouroboros is very significant, the symbol of the serpent eating his own tail causing its destruction and rebirth at the same time, this idea that the end is the beginning and time being circular. They bring it up in this episode when talking about Victor basing his work on OB's and OB basing his off of Victor's.

In that scene in ep 1 we learn that by talking to OB in the past Loki was able to have a direct influence on the future, its played off as a funny scene, but I actually think its really important.

So, getting to the point, I think just as the loom explodes killing everyone left in the TVA, Loki will time-slip away. I think he will then end up being pulled to all the timelines that our gang were stolen from.

There are these shots from the trailer that show B-15 as a doctor, Casey as some kind of workmen in an underground tunnel looking place and then Loki time-slipping outside of a power sports shop that is selling jet skis. I think each of these are showing the lives that were stolen from B-15, Casey and Mobius. There is a quick, blink and you miss it shot of Mobius on a jet ski in a featurette that was released and he is wearing a blue jacket with the Piranha logo on it, so it looks like he works there, which explains his fascination and love of Jet Skis.

I have two theories about what might happen when Loki interacts with the gang on their own timelines. Either he will just straight up tell them all what is going to happen, their minds will later be wiped by He Who Remains but those memories of that conversation will still be there and Sylvie will be able to access them when the time is right.

The other theory is that maybe Loki is the one that takes Mobius, B-15 and Casey from their timelines and then hides them amongst the other variants stolen by He Who Remains, knowing that later they will become his allies, essentially creating sleeper agents within the TVA from the beginning.

Either way I am sure that we are going to see their past lives which I am really excited for.

It also looks like Loki will end up time slipping back to the past TVA. We get a few shots in the trailer showing Loki there. This one where he comes across himself reading the TVA guidebook:

And this one where he seems to be a prisoner again:

The one where he is a prisoner again I wonder whether that's him travelling back to the TVA he was at in ep 1 before they all had their memories wiped, only this time he lets them capture him so that he can talk to Mobius and explain what is going to happen.

The other possibility is that he goes back to the events of season one when he is first arrested and warns them then.

I think Loki is going to meet our gang several times over the timeline and each time will have to explain what is going to happen like a loop. There is a clip in the teaser trailer where Loki is talking to someone about how he has been time-slipping and he says its hard to explain again. Then as the trailer comes to a close it shows the same shot and Loki repeats the word 'again.' Really creating this idea of time looping and events repeating themselves.

There are also those shot of Loki and Sylvie outside Mcdonalds that we haven't seen yet. I think that for Sylvie this will actually be the first time she will see him, so he travels back further and meets her on hiss own this time, whilst for him they've had those previous interactions from ep 1, 2 and 3, for Sylvie he's just popped up out the blue now, if that makes sense.

There are also shots of them talking in what appears to be a bar where she is wearing the same clothes as the unseen McDonalds scene. So maybe after he finds her, again, he convinces her to go to the bar with him to talk and that's why when she asks him what he really wants he replies that he wants to save his friends, because for him they were killed when the loom exploded and he is hoping by communicating with past versions of them he can change what will happen. It's like Sylvie said when Loki told her that he had seen her at the TVA and that it was the future it was going to happen, she replied 'Is it? Because that sounds alot like the future has already been written and we both know it hasn't, I made sure of it.' Again letting us know that the 'future' we just saw where the loom explodes can be changed and isn't set in stone.

I also do think that the loom exploding is going to have other consequences though if these shots are anything to go by:

It looks like the timelines are all going to start turning to spaghetti and just start disentegrating away. Sylvie is again in the same clothes as the Mcdonalds and bar scene so I think maybe at first she rejects Loki and refuses to help, like she did when Loki came to her in ep 2, but then seeing this goes to him realising how serious the situation actually is. This effect kind of reminds me of that episode of What if, and the Multiverse of madness with Dr Strange and the melting around them because he messed with time too much. Like everything is just slowly melting away.

But as I said there is this theme of time looping that was in the trailers and in the first part of this season, so obviously Loki is going to manage to get the gang together for a second time and hopefully this time it will go differently. We know they are all going to end up back in the loom room as there is this shot of the whole group there and where Loki is, for some reason, holding a microphone like he is going to make an announcement.

So in an attempt at a summary, the Loom exploding will be a bit like a reset. Loki will go back in time and then work to change how things turn out in an attempt to make sure the Loom doesn't explode and find the version of the timeline where he can save his friends and where they are successful at stopping the Loom's destruction.

#loki series #loki #loki season 2 #loki spoilers #loki season 2 spoilers

[alpaca-clouds]

Some more Nocturne Theories

Alright, with the new trailer out, let me theorize a bit more. Please note, before I start: I also take into account meta information we have about the series, like the writers involved and such.

Let me first talk about Richter. Now, the new trailer confirms two interesting things. First: He is once again the last Belmont, so presumably the rest of the family is dead again - or at least he is under the impression that it is like that. Second: Yeah, he definitely is able to use magic.

So, let me talk about the "last Belmont" thing. Because of course this is a bit strange if we assume that the first animated series is canon to this. Mostly because it leaves just open the question of the village of Belmont. To be perfectly honest with y'all there is some weirdness about that either way, because if you ask me, it is still weird to see the French Revolution happen as is, based on the fact that technically speaking the "sharing of the knowledge" should have changed history a ton.

But besides that... It does make me wonder, how Alucard fits into the picture. Because other than with CV3 he obviously does not end the series on "Yeah, gotta take a 300 year nap. Peace!" with him staying around with Trevor and Sypha and the village. And a part of me has just assumed that he would remain a guardian for the family. But... well, that is the question, right? Because we so far do not see him in the trailer. We know that Callis is in the cast voicing him again, but there is most certainly a reason why we do not see him. It is either an active decision to keep something from us - or he only shows up in the very last episode, which could be possible, too.

The second thing is that he is able to use magic, but he does not use magic the way Sypha does. Now, some have speculated that Juste is his father (who in the game canon is the most magically gifted Belmont there is). I am going to disagree with that assessment for one simple reason: It would make him an incest baby. Julia, who we know to be his mother, is a Belmont. And as long as they do not change the rules for the Vampire Killer, she is of Belmont blood, because she carries the whip.

Given that he also is gonna be a descendent of Sypha, him having magic is nt really so weird - what I find more interesting is that it is so very different from the magic that we see Sypha and in Nocturne also Tera use.

Now, so far the big question with Annette is, how her background ties into the plot. Because we see in the trailer, that she and Edouard are looking for Richter. And this is where I am very certain that her entire backstory plays into the story. Because here is the big thing: Based on the fact that 3 out of the 4 writers on this series are Black - and the fact that in the old series also worked in Isaac's Blackness into the story.

We know that Annette is a runaway slave from the Caribbean. While I think it is not explicitly stated anywhere, it is very likely that she comes from Haiti, just because the Haitian Revolution and the French Revolution intersected so much.

Now, why is this interesting? Because from everything we see, the entire conflict does seem to be a conflict of class and possibly also about colonialism.

Do not make the mistake to think, that colonialism did not play into the French Revolution. It did. It had everything to do with each other. It was not the only influence, but it was one of the things that lead to the Revolution happening. Again, there is a direct connection between the French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution.

The fact that Edouard is Black as well, might play into this, too. My current theory for him is that he is probably only quarter or even an eighth Black, because with the right parentage that would actually give him some privilege within society - and he needs some, because otherwise he would not sing at the opera of Paris.

The other thing about Annette is her magic though. Because it seems unique. I am fairly certain that she is an Earth bender. What we see her manipulate within the trailers is earth and metal. And it is interesting what the background to this powers is.

Also: I am still wondering what is going on with the Fleur-de-Lis tattoo/branding on her hand. My best guess is, that she was actually property of the French royal family, before she escaped. It is the one thing I can think of.

To be honest: I do not have a lot of theories about Maria. She seems so far the most straight forward of the characters and also the most straight adaption from the game material, featuring the exact kind of magic we know her to use in the games.

What I do wonder, though: Are they going to explain her magic? For one, it is a kind of magic we have not seen within this canon before. But also: Why the hell is she summoning creatures from fucking East Asian mythology?

In the games, that originate with Japan - and especially Rondo of Blood, whcih includes all those anime hommages - it seems a lot less weird, as in the more... well, "grounded" seems the wrong word. But definitely less anime world of the series.

(Especially considering that in the games she then evolves into a fucking ninja. Like... I love my SotN, but that is just weird, right?)

Now, one interesting aspect is, of course, that the trailers so far meaningfully keep from us, that Orlox is gonna be on the side of Richter and Co. In this church fight scene he saves this dude (more about the dude in a moment) from what seems to be vampire cultists. We know that because through the leaked images we know that those skulls are Orlox's magic. But the trailers really do their best to keep from us, that Orlox is on the heroes' side.

The fact that they made Orlox indigenous and have this Indigenous vampire fight on the side of our heroes makes me once again think, tht the political landscape of the time will somehow play into this.

The old series is very agnostic towards the politics of the times. Sure, you will find just two or three simple mentions of some things, but in general: Castlevania on Netflix could theoretically take place at any time between like 1450 and 1500 and it would not make a ton of difference.

With Nocturne being set in the French Revolution, which in itself was a political event, this obviously has to change.

Now interesting is the colors this nice dude is wearing. White cross on black ground, which is the colors of St. Piran, an Irish saint. Now, this is interesting, because these colors at the time were worn by Cornish people rebelling against the British crown. And yes, some of them were involved in the French revolution, in the hope that if the revolution succeeded, the French could help them tople the British monarchy.

This finally brings me to Drolta. Because with her I am also so very certain that it is more than it seems going on with her. Simply because everything we see so far does speak for a classist/colonial conflict taking place. With most of the vampires we outright see being aligned with the French upper class. And yet, their leader is a Black woman, who clearly serves Erzsebet.

There are shows where I would just shrug and assume that this just is "we chose some random characters to be Black because diversity" (which would be fine), but from all we can see so far - and also based on Castlevania handling Isaac as well as it did - and especially with the mainly Black writing staff... I do not think it is that easy. I do think her Blackness is gonna play a role.

What role that is... I do not know. My gut feeling is, that it is either her trying to serve Erzsebet in a hope to get recognition in this vampire society that very much mirrors the historical class structures... Or that she actually does have some connection to Annette.

But that is just gut feeling.

I do think, though, that she is gonna be a fucking interesting character.

One big thing that is also still a question is, what is going on with the monsters here. Given the dialogue with Richter: "What are they?" - "I don't know, but I bet they can die." I am going to assume they are not night creatures. Because I am going to assume that Richter would recognize night creatures.

The running theory is, that they are vampires. After all, in the games it is a common occurance that vampires change into a more monstrous form during the boss battles. But again: It would stand to reason that if this within this universe was common, Richter should know about it, right? (Or Tera, for that matter.)

So, I am going out on a limb and say: I think the ritual with the branding allows them to change shape. Or, maybe, even forces them to change shape after a while, allowing Erzsebet to control them.

Oh, by the way, one thing that is interesting about the second trailer: Outside from a few very short things, all the sequences we see seem to be from only four action scenes:

One taking place on a graveyard overseeing the city

One taking place on a plaza within the city

One taking place in a church (Notre Dame, maybe?)

One taking place in the dungeons

So, yeah, there is a lot that is being hidden actively. Which makes this whole speculating thing so much more fun. xD

#castlevania netflix #castlevania #castlevania nocturne #richter belmont #maria renard #erzsebet bathory #annette castlevania #theory #speculation #history #french revolution

[arogustus]

Splatband Analysis - Bottom Feeders

(Disclaimer: This analysis in based on what I get out of looking into the character descriptions we have of the splatband characters. If you disagree with what I say, that is fine, we are all beheld to our opinions. Just don’t be a jerk about it.)

From my favorite band to their dedicated rivals, the Bottom Feeders. Like Ink Theory, they too got a fair amount of art to them, including a White Day art piece that shows them hanging out with other bands and shows off some character details. Be prepared to see that pop up a lot, considering the fact it contains three bands in total. 

Starting off with the band wide analysis, they’re all stated to be from outside of Inkadia, somewhere up north. The celtic rock and some of their fashion choices make it pretty clear they’re from the Splatoon equivalent of Scotland. They seem to have moved into Inkopolis at some point before their Turf War debut, as a lot of info we get from them gives the impression that they live there, or at the very least spend extensive amounts of time in the area. They also have their own record label to stay independent.

The band is a chaotic bunch. They’ve nearly broken up multiple times (mostly due to Finn), their performances vary based on their mood, and considering the White Day artwork, physical fights amongst each other is common enough that no one is really interested in stopping them. Still, they’ve toughed it out together to the point they’re evidently still together by Splatoon 3, so despite their fighting, they do try to stick together. And also have the same last name? (Bottom in Japanese, Feeder in English.) It’s most likely to be a shared pseudonym they took up for band reasons. Or, considering the Scottish influence, a clan name? Needs more research in this area.

Finn and Tangle are the stars of the show here, getting some pretty meaty descriptions compared to Jawn, Blow and Muruta. The two are clearly the driving forces behind the band, with the rest simply being along for the ride for their own entertainment. At least it seems their rivalry with Ink Theory is something they agree on, as their performance in ZAPP Square was made particularly electrifying when they performed against each other. 

Finn 

Finn is a tropical betta fish, and their description embodies much about the species to a T. They’re stubborn, they butt heads constantly with their bandmates to the point the band has nearly dissolved, is willing to outright fight them as seen in the White Day artwork (Tangle is the main victim, but Muruta is also unconscious), and is the main instigator of the Ink Theory/Bottom Feeder rivalry (Both bands use traditional instruments to bring attention to more classic genres, which they seem to view as infringement on their territory.) The betta fish is notoriously aggressive and territorial, so it all matches. Curiously, Beika’s tweets imply they’re female despite having traits of a male betta (in fact, the behavior I mentioned is specifically in regards to them). Maybe they’re trans, or fem presenting? Or maybe Beika is wrong. I’m sticking to they/them until we get some more official sounding confirmation.

Despite this aggression, they do have some positives. their motivation is to bring attention to traditional styles of music to the world, so it's something they care about deeply. Despite all the mentions of the band nearly dissolving, it still exists in Splatoon 3. In fact, they actually have a collaboration with recently debuted band Riot Act in the song No Plan Survives (Kikura seems to have stolen Beika’s idea for the collaboration), which implies that, for all their aggressive tendencies, they’re fully capable of getting along with other people. The Splatoon Twitter itself states they came together harmoniously despite mostly doing their own thing. 

Tangle

Tangle, the seaweed man himself. Currently the only sapient algae we have in the series, with everyone else being a sapient animal. He’s quite the oddity to even himself, since learning that he talks via the strings of his body rubbing together came as a surprise to him. Stuff like that isn’t focused on, but it’s not the first time a splatband character with some oddity to them went uncommented (Kagi’s skin color, Namida’s disconnected eyemask), so who knows if his nature as a sentient algae is also considered unusual in the world.

Onto personality, he’s described as a rebellious young man (does that make him younger than his fellow bandmates?) who’s dissatisfied with the state of the music scene. He thinks the music of the time has gotten voguish (read:Popular and mainstream), and wants a return to more straightforward styles. A commonality between him and Finn, it must be how the band was formed, considering they’re the two with the strong feelings about music, and him being the leader. Not that the others seem to like him that much. They consider his songwriting to be terrible and are apparently pretty harsh about it, something we will never be able to hear for ourselves since we can only hear funky squid (or seaweed in this case) sounds. At least he really enjoys singing in general, since the exciting avenue he discovered from learning how he talks is that he can sing out of his feet. What would that sound like?

Also Finn is fighting him in the White Day artwork. And judging by the others' reaction to them (read:ignoring it), this is a common occurrence. 

Blow Bottom

Blow, along with Jawn and Muruta, got stuck with the short descriptions. Finn and Tangle are clearly our main characters of this band, but it doesn’t mean there’s nothing much to pick out from what we got. Like his fellows, he doesn’t particularly care about the band’s sound, he’s just here to have fun. Considering the utterly exhausted and apathetic look he’s giving to Finn and Tangle’s little spat in the White Day artwork gives the feeling he simply finds the unnecessary drama exhausting, like it’s not at all worth his time. Being a dad must do that to a person. Speaking of, he’s a dad (DILF Material certified), specifically to an only daughter. He cares about her a lot. 

He’s also part of a rainmaker team with Ryu Chang and Kuze, Underpass Bass Drum. He plays it in his free time, though according to a little tidbit regarding the event in the Deepsea Metro called the Low Water Party, a rave where several people are implied to have died… anyway, the team showed up to the event and apparently performed (one of them played double bass, no mention who it was), so they evidently do music together too. No word outside of that on what their relationship is, but it seems they get on well enough to perform together.

Jawn Bottom

I can’t tell if the two dots are his eyes or his nostrils… anyway, Jawn doesn’t care much for the music and is more in it for the fun than anything. Likes motorcycles and meat, a real manly man here. But he’s apparently fine playing games with kids, he’s seen playing chess with Paul in the White Day artwork while completely ignoring the fight happening right next to them. Though judging by the sweating, he wasn’t expecting to be losing so hard. 

Muruta Bottom

Muruta is in it for the fun over the ideology of music Tangle and Finn espouse. He likes cute girls. Not much to pick out from that, but the White Day artwork has something interesting. See there in the corner, blurry and super close up? That’s Muruta, unconscious, implying he got involved in the fight between Finn and Tangle. Hard to say why he’d be there, but the best guess is he tried to break them up. Those two seem the most likely to be at odds with each other, so it would make sense the reason for his knockout is he tried to get involved to stop them but got knocked out.

—

That’s the Bottom Feeders done. Now, just to answer this, I’m all over the place when it comes to using their names because I have my preferences. Sometimes the english localized names are actually good in my eyes. I just pick and choose which ones I like. Anyway, see you next band!

#splatoon #splatbands #splatband analysis #bottom feeders #finn bottom #tangle bottom #blow bottom #jawn bottom #muruta bottom #my work

[dsknsktest]

Limbus battle for Dummies

In the following, I will try to explain the Limbus battle system as good as I can. As you might've seen, this is a turn-based game, but before y'all leave: this isn't turn-based in the way you might think. You 'share' your turn with the enemy. Both you and the enemy will act at the same time. Sort of.

This will digest regular combat. I will probably make a post about Abno combat later. This is also written with an audience in mind that has not played the previous game, so no knowledge about that game's battle system is needed.

Before the battle

Before you actually go into the fight, you will be able to choose the members of your team on the field. The amount of members allowed in depends on the level. Those not on the team will contribute with their passives that can activate alongside those of your fielded ones.

Battle command

In combat against anything but Abnormalities, you command your Sinners by forming a chain from the left orb to the right orb you see. This is what I call, 'Skill Linking'. When you reach the end, you can start the battle and see the results of your Skill Linking. The fight will go from left to right, so those leftmost on the board will act first, etc. The order is determined by their speed values (which you can see above their portraits and above their sprites). This really is just a number that determines the order, don't think too much about this. By default, they will attack the foremost enemy first.

The Skills are not colored for no reason. Should you manage to connect multiple Skills of the same color, then you will activate Resonance. This increases the damage you deal - even more so when you connect 3 of the same color in a row, in which case it's named Absolute Resonance. Start out by just thinking of it as increased damage, the exact percentages I don't really have up-to-date info on. Resonance can also activate passive abilities.

When Skills are used, they are turned into a resource that matches their color. You keep track of this resource at the right side of the screen. This resource is important in the activation of E.G.O.

After Skills are used, new Skills will fill their column to fill the void. Skills are randomly selected from their own kit. You can't use a Skill again until you've used the others first. When you have used their entire kit, they empty the bag and put them in (again, randomly chosen).

As battle continues, a new column will be added for a random Sinner. This allows them to act twice. In the image above, note the column next to Yi Sang.

When enemy and ally meet - or not... (Or: On Clashes and Attacks)

Every attack is either Blunt, Slash or Pierce. Enemies and allies have different resistances to them. This should be easy. An enemy can be weak to Slash, but be normal to Pierce attacks. This can be utilized to both attack the enemy's weak point, and to prevent an attack to a Sinner's weak point.

Now to the meat of the theory.

Coin flipping and Clashing

Gear up, because if you don't pay attention, this will seem gibberish.

Every time anyone attacks, a coin is flipped to determine its result. You will also be able to hear the result. There are two types of bonuses: Positive (+) and Negative (-) ones.

If the coin lands heads, the Skill will get power added if it's a Positive bonus. If it's not, then power is subtracted. You get nothing extra if you land tails. The outcome of a coin landing influences the following ones (if there are any left).

Each Skill has its base damage, which will be your base number.

When anyone attacks someone without the target having an attack set in that slot, it'll be one-sided. When ally and enemy target eachother, the two will engage in a Clash. I said before that the default targeting is for the enemy nearest to them; so naturally, they will end up meeting now and then.

When you clash, you roll all of your coins into one big number. All your bonuses you may or may not get (depending on the coin flip) gets added into that number. Naturally, the one with the higher number wins. The loser gets 1 coin removed from them. In the image above, you can see the enemy losing 1 coin.

For example: you start out with 3 as your base power, with 3 coins, and a +3 bonus if you roll heads. You do so, so now you're on 6. Then you roll tails. You have 6 again. You roll heads again. You're now on 9. All these numbers are added: 6+6+9 = 21, which is your final number.

Should both you and the enemy still have coins to flip, you go through the motions again. This clashing ballet, however, is not eternal as the dancing will stop when either you or the enemy runs out of coins or either of them gets their attack canceled (more on the latter below). The side that can still move will continue to attack and also gains an additional bonus based on clashes won. You really, really want to win here, but this should go without saying.

AoE Skills

AoE Skills damage multiple enemies. (I put that in for the people who didn't see that coming.) One will be the main target, others will be the sub-target. Said main target will (in normal combat) be determined by the 'range' of the skill itself. Think of it as in how in Magia Record, the Magia have different ranges.

Each AoE skill has a max amount of enemy 'attacks' it can target. Certain 'attacks' it targets though, will take up more 'space' in that amount.

Fail an AoE in a clash, and you fail all clashes against those targets. Be careful.

Doing anything but attacking?

But what if you DON'T want to attack?

Listen, I know it's very enticing to keep attacking. But sometimes you just gotta...not do that.

Defense is purely a reaction. It doesn't have any set target, so they can't cause clashes. They protect against incoming attacks (according to their times of usage).

To defend, you can either Guard, Evade, or Counter.

From left to right: Defend, Evade, Counter.

Defend is simple. It's a shield (based on an amount of HP) that protects against incoming attacks. It reminds me of a certain skill in a certain other game I can't name here, but it works like that. The amount of shielding HP is set and not influenced by anything like passives or any status effects they might have.

Evade is trying to avoid to be attacked entirely. This is also fairly easy to understand. If you roll a higher evade number, then congratulations, because you've succesfully evaded that attack. The upside of this is, I think, that if the enemy has nasty shit that activates 'on hit' (no matter whether it deals damage), you will be able to avoid those effects. The other upside of this is that, if you win, your evade is 'stored' so you could possibly dodge multiple attacks. If you're lucky.

Counter happens after you're attacked. Out of the three Defense types, only Counter has a color like the Skills do and can generate resources (and engage in possible Resonance). From what I see, it's exactly what it sounds like - a counter-attack, a retaliation.

Sitting ducks are tasty!

Did you notice the yellow lines in the health bars? Those are Stagger tresholds. If anyone takes damage past the yellow line, they will be rendered Staggered. I can best describe it as, being rendered a sitting duck. Your damage resistance is all set to Fatal (x2.0, I assume) and you can't attack. If you get Staggered in the middle of a Clash, then yeah, you lose either way from that moment on as you will stop doing anything but taking damage.

Stagger lasts until the end of the turn. Breaching multiple tresholds can further increase damage, but not the duration. Even so, Staggering the enemy is a perfect way to really get to pop off any battle.

Remaining Sane

Unlike what it seems like, your Sinners do have a certain amount of Sanity. It's a number that ranges from 45 to -45, and can be seen in the blue orbs on their portraits. You enter each battle tabula rasa, at Sanity 0 (Sanity amounts is carried over in Story and Mirror Dungeons, the only occasion where it is).

Sanity fluctuates depending on the course of battle. Should a Clash be won or enemy be killed, then Sanity goes up. Should allies die, then Sanity goes down. Think of it as becoming more hopeful and positive, or progressively crazier and desperate.

Positive Sanity increases the chance of coins landing on heads, and the inverse is also true: Negative Sanity causes more coins to land on tails. As certain Sinners gain a negative bonus on Heads, you may take this into consideration.

Enemies, except Abnormalities, have this Sanity, too. When they're at low Sanity, they will Panic. It's not explained what this is, but it will make fighting against them easier.

The Master of this emotion...

Now on to my favorite parts of the battle system, which are...

E.G.O Skills! These are your Magia/Ultimate Skill/etc. They cost an amount of resources (the one that you gain by using Skills, remember? You will be able to check which you need) and take a toll on the user's Sanity. They, however, are very powerful and they can be viewed as equipment. Yes, you read that right - in contrast to most 'Ultimates', they come with their own set of Resistances and can make weaker Resistances strong. This is advantageous, especially in prolonged battles.

These skills can, should you have the resources, be used anytime, anywhere. They can be used when Sinners are at low Sanity. Should you do that...

E.G.O can go wrong and Corrode. This will result in a different, usually stronger attack. The closer the Sinner is to negative values, the larger the chance is that this happens. You might be wanting to keep Sanity levels low to get more damage out of E.G.O. - if their Sanity isn't the lowest of the low, then they will continue as normal, after all... The bad thing is, that when Sanity is absolutely in the gutter, then the Sinner themselves will remain stuck in their Corroded state, and paint the City red with anything that moves, regardless whether it's ally or enemy. It's Doppel on steroids, essentially (as well as sorta kinda how it should work there, lore-wise).

With all of this, this has become quite the long post. I hope it's still readable enough (also because English isn't my mother tongue) to be digestable. And, finally...

#limbus company #projmoon #long post

[nova-lightz]

Cherry Magic & Colour Symbolism

I swear there was a post about this that I reblogged, but for some reason, I can't find it anymore??? So, I'm going to make my own post inspired by the original while also adding some of my own thoughts.

Adachi is usually surrounded by yellow/warm colors when in environments he's most comfortable in; for example, his room!

Once Kurosawa starts to influence Adachi's life, he becomes enveloped by cool colours, mostly blue. Either that or warm and cool colours appear on/near Adachi in tandem, like the scarf Kurosawa lent to him. It's blue and white (cool) and also has a bright red stripe (warm). There's also the completely blue pajama set Kurosawa gave Adachi when he slept over at Kurosawa's apartment. At that point, Adachi was fully immersed in Kurosawa's presence.

Here's an instance where we see how the colour symbolism is used to convey the state of Adachi's and Kurosawa's relationship. I find this shot really interesting because the warm wood of the front door and cabinets perfectly block in Adachi on the right while the left side of the shot is made up of blue and white, which blocks in Kurosawa. While the two guys are distanced equally apart from each other by the dining table, the narrow space of warm colours on the right is overpowered by the wide space of cool colours on the left. The background reflects how Adachi is feeling during episode 2, overwhelmed by Kurosawa's affection.

In the movie we pretty much see the exact opposite happen once Kurosawa moves into Adachi's apartment! Kurosawa's blue bed has now replaced Adachi's and there are various blue objects scattered around the living room. They all work together visually signaling to the viewer "Kurosawa is sharing this space now". Adachi's signature yellow motif is still the most prominent though, cause the apartment was originally just his.

In this shot, unlike the one in Kurosawa's dining room during episode 2, we see a pretty much equal distribution of yellow and blue! Adachi is in his very-much yellow half of the shot while Kurosawa resides in the kitchen which has a very blue tint to it, while this shot makes thematic sense (it is showing how Adachi's and Kurosawa's relationship is finally balanced) it also works to reinforce characterization. What I'm saying is, of course, the blue space that represents Kurosawa is Adachi's kitchen, KUROSAWA LOVES TO COOK!!! IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!!!

Now, I can point out and analyze colour theory in Cherry Magic screenshots all fucking day, but I actually have a question I want to pose to people because even I don't know what would be the best fitting answer. The thing that has got me stumped is, in the context of a sun/moon dynamic, who would be the sun and who would be the moon in this relationship? I wanna draw fanart based on the sun/moon trope and I dunno what to do.

Is Adachi the sun because he's literally represented by yellow/warm colours or is he the moon because the moon is associated with shyness, going with the flow, and being "the supportive one". Is Kurosawa the moon because he's literally represented by blue/cool colours or is he the sun because the sun is associated with charisma, leadership skills, and liveliness?

Kurosawa's also described by Adachi as "blinding" multiple times, so that makes him sound like he has sun energy, BUT HE'S FUCKING ASSOCIATED WITH BLUE ALL THE TIME, AND BLUE IS A NIGHTTIME COLOUR!!! I DUNNO WHAT TO PICK!!! HELP!!! SOMEONE, HELP ME PLEASE, I JUST WANNA MAKE CUTE FANART!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

#cherry magic #adachi kiyoshi #kurosawa yuichi #ive never been this conflicted about something in MY FUCKING LIFE

[thelunarfairy]

Hi, I recently went through a lot of your theories and analysis posts (sorry for the spam of like 🥲😅) it’s just that, THEY’RE JUST THAT GOOD, I love the passion and attention to detail that you have in your analysis, reading about predictions and analysis of moments, or characters actions or reactions, base around situations it’s my favorite aspect of this fandom, I EAT THAT STUFF UP, so just Thank you so much for sharing them, they’re so interesting and entertaining to read 💕🛐💕

And I was wondering, if it’s not to much to ask, do you have any theories or analysis base around, Mitsuba, Kou and/or the dynamic of those two, or one of the two, with each other, by themselves, or with Tsukasa, it’s just that I really love those three characters, and I was wondering about your perspective from them, if you want to of course, anyways, take care, sorry for the spam and love your post 💕❤️💕☺️🌹💕

Awww how sweeeeeet 🥺🥺 🥺🩷 you made my day happier, thank you for your kindness, I'm really very haaappy >.< Hahaha I love this fandom too, all of us together to unravel the mysteries of JSHK 😼

So, about these three, I've been thinking about some possibilities, because I like to analyze the character's role in the plot, why is he there? What is his objective? What difference does it make if he exists in the plot or not?

I've been thinking about Mitsuba, he appeared in the story with a very simple objective, but what was his role in the main story? What will affect if it disappears or not? Given how important he is by appearing many times, returning to the story again after Mitsuba 1.0 was destroyed, the appearance of his mother, and how he is well connected to Tsukasa and Kou, two important characters, I assumed that he is the key to something we don't yet know.

We should also mention that Mitsuba is gaining development, Tsukasa is helping him get stronger, but why? Since Mitsuba has a connection with Kou, I thought of some possibilities.

Maybe Tsukasa is using Mitsuba to manipulate Kou in some way. Kou is from the Minamoto family, the family of exorcists, he is one of the members who are apparently more tolerant of supernaturals. See, Kou started out in the story wanting to exorcise Hanako, but in the end he ended up becoming his friend, from then on Kou started to rethink whether supernaturals are bad or not. He argued with Teru about it, and later he advises Nene not to give up on Hanako (when she found out a little about his past)

Then he meets Mitsuba, who coincidentally was near his locker when he first appeared. The rest you already know. What it implied was that Tsukasa was angry because Mitsuba wasn't doing what he wanted, so he wanted to mold him. We see that Tsukasa takes Mitsuba's essence, it seemed like he knew that Mitsuba was going to "die".

So he created another one, not for nothing. There is some reason, Natsuhiko was also trying to manipulate Kou, he actually succeeded. Now Kou knows how to become a supernatural and is thinking about it seriously. Maybe Tsukasa wants Kou to stay away from the Minamoto family and help the supernaturals.

What if Kou is responsible for unsealing Hanako? Wasn't it his grandmother who sealed him in the first place?

Basically that's it, Tsukasa seems to be trying to convince Kou that supernaturals are good, and his coexistence with Hanako and Mitsuba can guarantee that. Natsuhiko didn't let Mitsuba be close to Teru, but they allow him to be close to Kou, Sakura even suggests that Mitsuba should befriend him.

This is no coincidence.

If Kou thinks the supernaturals are good, he will hardly want to exorcise them (as he was unable to do with Mitsuba) besides, it can be used to remove Hanako's seal and probably for some other purpose. We didn't see what Kou talked about with Natsuhiko when the separation happened, but he seems to be being influenced a lot.

In short, I think this is an interesting possibility.

About the dynamics between them hahahaha Tsukasa and Mitsuba look like brothers who fight all the time. Tsukasa is the troublemaker younger brother who sometimes hits his brother and is hot-headed, but soon they are having fun together. Other than that, Tsukasa usually takes care of Mitsuba, especially after the separation. Tsukasa has his way of taking care of things.

Kou's relationship with Tsukasa is still lukewarm, the sealed Tsukasa has all the anger and resentment that Kou can offer because of what he did to Mitsuba, and the resentment is so much that he became very suspicious of the baby Tsukasa, he was harsh with him, even I felt sorry for how he was treating the baby, he relaxed a little after he found out what little Tsukasa did in the past.

As for Mitsuba and Kou hahaha the controversial relationship. The mixture of love and tantrums. It's a relationship that develops extremely slowly, very slowly. These two are almost always fighting over something stupid, Mitsuba is very tantrum and really likes to provoke and irritate, hahaha Kou follows his rhythm.

I think it will take even longer for these two to turn this friendship relationship into a romantic relationship, if that is the case, there are a few factors I can mention. But as this answer is longer than I expected hahaha I'll leave it open, if you want me to go deeper into Kou and Mitsuba's relationship, just ask me :3

I answered another Asks talking more about this, if you are interested, click here and here

Anyway, thank you again for your kind words, thank you very much, hahaha and thanks for the likes! XD 💕

I hope you liked it, thanks for the ask! ♡

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #hanako kun #toilet bound hanako kun #amane yugi #hanakokun #tbhk #jshk #aidairo #jshk spoilers #yugi twins #yugi amane #jshk mitsuba #mitsukou #sousuke mitsuba #kou x mitsuba #tbhk kou #yugi tsukasa #tsukasa yugi #mitsuba sousuke #kou minamoto #minamoto kou

[vanira-01]

Rei and Kazuki: Do they have the potential to be lovers?

Every time I see posts about how Rei and Kazuki are actually in love, and the hints surrounding that, I go "sigh, you foolish shippers and your desperation to prove that your ship is canon", even though I myself ship them too. I'm just not the type to give myself false hope over something that I want to be true but is unlikely to be.

But now that I think about it, you guys are kind of right? I watched episode 9 today and every time I saw Kazuki reacting to something that had to do with Rei, I couldn't help but think "wow... he really cares about him, huh?"

Based on what we know about Kazuki, his personality's changed a lot from what it used to be before he met Rei. And although he is in general a loving person, the way he feels about Miri and Rei is undoubtedly special. It is the way you would feel about your actual family members.

There is no doubt that both Kazuki and Rei do love and care about Miri as if she's their own daughter. But what about the way they feel about each other? Their relationship with each other isn't explored much since they are of the same sex, and the slightest thing that could be interpreted as romantic, will likely complicate the promotion of the series and negatively affect the viewership of it.

That, however, doesn't mean that we as fans can't have our own speculations or theories. And as long as they're based upon what we've observed from the series, rather than personal feelings, I believe they're worth consideration.

I am not going to comment on neither Kazuki nor Rei's sexual orientation as there is no evidence to suggest that they're anything but straight, or in Rei's case, asexual. 😅😂 But a lack of sexual attraction isn't necessarily a lack of romantic love. Love can be purely emotional and then eventually evolve into a sexual attraction, just like it can be the other way around. In other words, how love is experienced differs from person to person.

Whether or not Rei and Kazuki are actually sexually attracted to each other is arguable. Because although there is no actual evidence we can use to argue in favor of this, one could argue that due to what I mentioned in two paragraphs ago, they could actually be sexually attracted to each other, but that attraction is just not portrayed on screen. And the hint for that sexual attraction would be the romantic attraction that one could argue they have for each other. Personally though, I don't believe Rei to mentally be in a place to be sexually attracted to someone. Kazuki clearly is, but I have no reason to believe he's bisexual.

We haven't seen Rei show that many feelings that can be interpreted as love for Kazuki, but it is undeniable that he cares about him. If he didn't, he would've protested whenever Miri calls the three of them a family. He would've also not tried to defend Kazuki when his dad was accusing him of being a bad influence. And judging by how relaxed Rei is around Kazuki, it's clear that he trusts him. And that isn't something somebody as guarded as Rei would feel towards someone. Regardless of whether Rei has any sorts of romantic feelings towards Kazuki or not, he considers him to be family. And that means he loves him.

As for Kazuki, it is more than obvious that he deeply cares about Rei and has thought of him as a dear friend from the very first time they had met. And that friendship has now evolved into something more meaningful: a "familyship". There is nothing that we can use as evidence to suggest Kazuki romantically loves Rei, but how proud he feels of Rei after he does something as simple as making onigiris, the way he feels happy for Rei and smiles at him whenever something good happens for him (e.g. Miri enjoying the not-very-fancy onigiris he's made), the way he's ready to care for Rei as soon as he learns he's sick or injured, the way he was just as excited as Miri to throw Rei a birthday party (i.e. make him feel happy and appreciated), the way he always reassures Rei whenever he feels unconfident, etc. all suggest that he absolutely loves him and thinks of him as family.

So I don't know if I can agree that they're coded lovers, or even that they would have been lovers had the world not be so homophobic, but one thing I will always agree with is that they love and care for each other, just like two parents should. I'm not one to believe that it should be required for two people who are raising a child to be romantically attracted to each other and that that somehow makes them more competent parents. And if that is one of the messages the show is trying to convey, that parents of a child don't have to be romantic partners to be good parents, then I think it's a beautiful message.

However, given how much chemistry Rei and Kazuki have, and as I've discussed in this post, how much potential their relationship has to be a romantic one, I find the fact that they're not (and very likely won't be) canonically together to be disappointing.

What are your thoughts?

#buddy daddies #kazuki kurusu #rei suwa

[archetypesanalysis]

I love all the analyses you've done. Especially Crosshair as I always found him to be a complex character.I would like to know your opinion of Crosshair in this third season and what did you think of him? Also his closeness to Hunter, since they've been talking they seem to be together all the time.

Now that I remember, I've seen fic where Hunter and Crosshair are described as lovers and it's funny because reading your analysis I remembered a story where Hunter gets drunk and gets involved with 2 Twi'leks and Crosshair upon seeing the mess on the boat angrily tells him he's not going to clean up his mess.And in other stories where they are together but are always fighting and arguing.Or in others where Tech and Crosshair do things on the sly and Hunter only tolerates Tech's because when it comes to Crosshair he reproaches them.I'm not saying they're canon or anything, but as written coincidences go, they're fun.

Thank you so much! Yes, Crosshair is a complex character, and I can't believe that I have written so much about him.

I am going to write an analysis of The Bad Batch season 3 after the series finale. Right now, I think Crosshair is on the right path as he is growing beyond his four main archetypes.

In "Shadows of Tantiss", once he takes a leap to escape Tantiss with Omega despite not knowing what's ahead clearly, he is starting to move beyond his Apollo archetype.

In "A Different Approach", Omega teaches Crosshair that violence does not always solve problems (something an Artemis person must learn, which is how to take down the Calydonian Boar). Of course, Crosshair does teach Omega to be more assertive and not let other people take advantage of her (a useful Artemis trait for a Persephone person like Omega).

As Crosshair reconciles with the Bad Batch, especially Hunter, he is "recycling" his Hera archetype, and this happens after "The Return" (winter has finally passed as Crosshair leaves the Outpost). Hunter defends Crosshair from Howzer, showing that he does care about Crosshair, which assures Crosshair's Hera archetype. When Crosshair talks about how loyalty should go two ways in "Extraction", it shows that he has grown beyond his Hera archetype - able to make wise decisions after getting out of an abusive relationship with the Empire.

In "Bad Territory", Crosshair learns meditation, which is a healthy method to deal with his emotional trauma. This helps him to move beyond his Poseidon archetype - channeling his destructive emotions through creative and calm methods.

Based on my analysis, Hunter has the Zeus archetype while Crosshair has the Hera archetype, which may explain why they are so close to each other (I do not do clone shipping). They support each other, yet they will argue with each other a lot. Those stories that you have mentioned do match this dynamic of theirs (and Tech with Hunter's favouritism).

They all may seem like "written coincidences", but I interpret it as archetypes existing in our collective unconscious. Carl Jung did travel to places in India and Africa where the people had never had western influences, and he found that many of their myths shared the same archetypal patterns as those western myths. He believed that archetypes are universal and they exist in our collective unconscious. Even though we may come from different places, have different cultures and have different experiences, the same patterns can be identified, taking on various forms, just as Joseph Campbell has stated in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

I do believe these archetypes already existed in the Bad Batch, be it obvious or subtle. These archetypes are later expanded by the fans through various interpretations in the forms of headcanons, fanarts and fanfictions. They may not all be canon, but it's certainly fun to see. Besides, it helps me to explore human psychology and reaffirm Carl Jung's theory of the collective unconscious. Sometimes, by looking into how a person interprets the Bad Batch (along with what they like and don't like about them), I can figure out some interesting things about their personality, which leads me back to the archetypal patterns.

#the bad batch #tbb #star wars #archetypal psychology #archetypes #the bad batch analysis #tbb analysis #the bad batch season 3 #tbb season 3 #the bad batch spoilers #tbb spoilers #the bad batch crosshair #tbb crosshair