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mdhwrites · 4 months

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I agree that Luz "inheriting" Owlbert would be a really good way to end her arc about palismen on the surface, but do you think it could also interfere with her arc about becoming her own witch?

Looks within the fathoms of Pandora's box. There is... So much that could be unpacked with this. I won't cover it entirely here but Luz's 'arc' of becoming her own witch actually is fraught with topics like where she gets her magic, what her magic says about her, how the show frames her at the end, whether or not she actually ever becomes her own witch, whether or not Stringbean even counts as an extension of that with how he was made, if that theme was actually important to the show, let alone when put against themes like found family, etc. etc.

I'm going to TRY and keep this mostly to a fundamental flaw in your argument.

Just because a craftsman uses their master's tools does not mean they will make the same things the master did.

Your argument says that Luz using a tool made by her to emulate someone else and make what they would (like... I dunno, Azura, who she quotes for her final lines while still having magic) is more herself than if she uses someone else's tools in order to make something that is truly unique to herself. That what a person does is less important than that which they use to do it. It robs Luz (and fucks over Hunter's arc from literally his second appearance) of agency in choosing what type of witch she wants to be.

Because, you know, if the palisman entirely decides the witch, are Gus and Willow now no longer their own people? They now must follow the paths that their palisman are okay with? The statement of intent helps but it isn't the whole person and also begs the question of if the statement even dictates the sort of person you are. Gus says he wants to be an ambassador to the human realm but that doesn't dictate if he'll do it with friendship, manipulation, tricks, illusions, etc. etc. which I would place WAY MORE importance on how he is an ambassador than literally the title of ambassador. Willow is similar. When she wants strength to protect her friends, is that to stop them being harmed from when they get into stupid situations or the power to be able to stop them from doing the thing in the first place if she thinks they'll hurt themselves doing something? And these two statements are awkward next to each other because one is a statement of morals and character while the other is just what they want to do in the future. Why are these both equally valid answers?

It's almost like it's really hard to boil someone down to a single sentence.

This is without getting into more abstract statements like "I want to be able to choose my own future." Cool. WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN AMITY!? That is actually just what Luz said that made it so she COULDN'T get a palisman so why did it work for you? Sure, it's nice to want choice but does that mean you intend to fight for other people to have that right? To become so powerful no one can dictate who you are? It's a meaningless statement without any further context and doesn't even have the morality or future plans that Gus or Willow had.

"I want to be understood," is the exact same. What does that say about the sort of person Luz wants to be, let alone what type of witch she wants to be. Worse yet is that Stringbean does react to the words but... Luz literally gave up agency with her palisman. She let Stringbean decide with no actual intent behind them. While nice for the meta theme of individuality and choosing your own way, it fucks over the ability for Stringbean to say ANYTHING about Luz, her relationships, her interest in what type of person she wants to be, etc. like that.

Worse yet, it's all tell, no show. How one uses their palisman should be way more indicative of who they are and the sort of witch they are than simply a single line said to them during creation, especially since people change. Circumstances change. The show even admits that having your entire world figured out at fourteen is not really a thing. It's part of why Luz doesn't make a choice or the like. Her statement is just a feel good one for her that entirely ignores the fact that everyone has shown her MOUNTAINS of understanding over the course of the series but apparently that wasn't good enough. Just one episode ago before that after all, she was forgiven for something she thought was unforgivable because her friends knew better than to think Luz would do something like this out of malice or on purpose. You know... Because they showed her understanding. But then we're told she needs MORE understanding.

Which one of these is more effective?

And hey, if the show really was worried that a palisman overrode who you were A: they wouldn't have given Hunter Caleb's palisman, let alone had Hunter absorb CALEB'S palisman because that kind of fucks his arc immediately of trying to be his own person. B: You can do something with that. We could have seen, even in just steps instead of a focused episode, that Luz and Owlbert struggle to work together at first because they are expecting different things out of each other. As the two show more understanding to each other though, accept who the other is, one of the other major themes of the show, they are stronger for it. There's enough familiarity to work together after all but they need to actually get in sync. Again, show this bond instead of just stating it.

Not only that but Luz is portrayed as someone who helps bring in others. That she theoretically helps people in bad situations find a place where they can be themselves. Taking in a palisman who no longer has a use would actually be a great follow up to that part of her character and a more explicit version of that hypothetical theme than what she does with most of the other characters. Instead, she is one of two Hexside members who gets to make their palisman (unless Amity didn't I guess). The only one who customizes specifically to her, in theory since she doesn't. Why didn't she take one in? Give them a place instead of leaving them as an outcast?

Unless we want to say that's not a part of who Luz wants to be. That that's on accident, which does feel accurate to a lot of what Luz does on this topic. That's also an inherent issue with her statement. "I want to be understood." It is an inherently selfish one. One that asks others to show endless understanding... Even if she doesn't have to. After all, she's allowed to lie, ENDLESSLY, break her word and act behind people's back but the one time Eda does that, for Luz's safety? Luz doesn't show her ANY understanding. Doesn't give her even a chance to explain or talk. Instead, she gets into a fight with Eda. That plus her statement seems to imply that Luz being her own witch is... Selfish. Self serving. That who she wants to be as this mythical figure is for herself.

The final part of TOH doesn't help with it either. An older Luz should have had a real statement for what she wanted to study. "I'm choosing X because of Y goal." Instead her goal is just... Magic. To do as much as she wants. Actually putting it to use? Who needs that? That's actual work and having to make decisions instead of being an eternal student. Of having to take a title beyond just 'witch'.

This still isn't even all of it. Siiiiiigh.

What's worse is that even the action of Luz trying to give Stringbean their own option in this is the facsimile of compassion. Sure, she let it be up to her but... Couldn't you come out already? I know I left you in an egg because I refused to be open and honest with you and make an actual bond but come on, stop making me sad because you're not awake yet. After all, Amity even has to comfort Luz about the fact Stringbean hasn't hatched. If Luz actually gave a fuck about the thing's agency... She would just grin and bear it because that's part of allowing someone else to make a choice: Dealing with the consequences.

Luz, and to some extent the show, didn't want those though. Instead, they wanted a couple nice lines that make NO SENSE in context but sound really nice to the people projecting onto Luz. Because they TOLD us nice things, they stopped caring about what the actions were saying.

And actions will always speak louder than words so no, I don't think Owlbert would have gotten in the way of Luz defining what sort of witch she wants to be. No worse than Stringbean did at least.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house #luz noceda #Palisman #Stringbean

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galebrainrott · 7 months

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Gale x Durge Brainworm

I know everyone loves Durge x Astarion/Gortash BUT HEAR ME OUT!! Durge x Gale/Gortash. And yes I'm biased because I love Gale but here are my thoughts!

PS. These are my headcanons so that I can write about Durge x Gale/Gortash. I'd like to remind everyone that headcanons/meta/fanon is just for fun and to not let any fan interpretation ruin your favourites.

SPOILERS FOR ALL OF BG3

Gortash and Durge

A lot of the details between Gortash and Durge are shrouded in mystery, but we do know that Durge had enough affection for Gortash to beg for forgiveness. And that, at the very least, Gortash saw Durge as an equal.

In my reading of their relationship (For my Durge x Gale/Gortash), Gortash's role in their relationship is that he was the one initiating. Initially, because Durge would've been a good ally. Whether or not that turned into real feelings is up to you.

In my fic, he definitely has real feelings for Durge but this results in controlling/manipulative behaviours because Gortash doesn't know any other way to conduct a relationship.

And my Durge would have zero relationship experience so not only are they confused, they have a hard time seeing Gortash's actions as wrong.

In this way, Gortash/Durge would mirror Mystra/Gale with their power imbalances.

Gale would help Durge to reassess their relationship with Gortash. This happens after Gale's astral sea -> Mystra confrontation sequence.

Redemption

I just love the angst and the hurt/comfort that I can create with a good aligned Durge and their bf Gale.

Imagine if the Alfira scene was written with a bit more pizzazz. Durge wakes up, Alfira gored beyond recognition. They panic, which wakes up the camp.

Astarion/Lae'zel/(Act1)Shart are like oh you killed someone, what's the big deal.

Gale, seeing Durge's obvious panic, goes up to them like what happened?

Durge backs away, stay away from me! I'm afraid I might hurt you too.

Then Gale comforts them as if they're a scared, hissing cat.

During the feral Durge scene, Gale ties them up then casts sleep so that they can basically sleep it off. Does it work? Dunno! But it's the thought that counts.

Oh, the possibilities are endless.

TW : Talks about suicide below

Self-sacrifice

I won't write about this much because it's a sensitive topic for me but both good!Durge and Gale have this idea that them dying is A Good Thing Actually. It's not. I think they should both live.

ANYWAY THAT'S ALL THANK YOU

#gale bg3 #gale dekarios #bg3 #bg3 gale #gale headcanons #enver gortash #bg3 gortash #bg3 durge #durge #durge x gale #gale of waterdeep

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banamine-bananime · 2 months

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the forum werewolf game ever. of all time: day three

Start reading here!

Church:

Vic:

Church:

Remember the wording of Caboose's action was such that, if the action succeeded, Church would wake up with a vague memory of nightmares if he were village. Caboose has, effectively, gotten firm mod confirmation that Church is village.

That is, if he rereads his action submission, takes a breather, and hauls himself out of de Nile.

Caboose:

Church:

Caboose:

Church:

Okay so I see we’re dealing with the consequences of lying for no good reason by lying for no good reason more.

Caboose:

Sheila:

I dunno Sheila, can we?

Church:

If the first lies don’t work, TRY MORE LIES.

meanwhile, in Church's role PM:

back on the public thread, Church isn’t doubling or even tripling down anymore, we’ve dug ourselves into at least triple digits by this point:

The Meta has a theory:

Church, for some reason:

Also Church: *spends ten pages having the weirdest breakdown possible* Whatever. I’m cool with whatever. I don’t care. I’m fine.

Let's leave the blues to their Blue Team Issues and check in on the reds. Never getting enough screentime smdh.

Lopez is shocked he wasn't murdered, for no apparent reason other than it seems like something that would be in line with his luck, I guess.

Grif picks up on Doc’s player counting her posts:

Doc immediately shows-not-tells the reason why:

Ah, post restrictions, my beloved.

Donut reacts (hater):

Lopez reacts (last glimmer of hope that someone will be able to speak comprehensible Spanish):

Okay Tucker wakes up and starts posting so we're back to Blue Team Issues.

Tucker immediately tries voting to kill Church, then remembers:

Church is like TUCKER c’mon buddy let’s kill Lopez don’t you want to kill Lopez with me??? Tuckerrrrr c’mon man

Tucker:

Church:

Tucker:

Sheila:

Church says… uh…

🫨

Churpez wasn’t on my bingo card for this game. No further comment.

Lopez has further comment, though:

As does O’Malley:

(Context: Church’s player used to have her vulpix avatar holding a whip in reference to her aggressively interrogative play-style)

Next: day 3 part 2

#red wwersus blue

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outlikethat · 9 months

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fic stats game

Rules: Give us the links to your fics with the most hits, second most kudos, third most bookmarks, fourth most comments, fifth most words, and your fic with the least amount of words.

Open tag accepted from @runawaymarbles

Being as I’m primarily a podficcer, I’ll arbitrarily use slightly different metrics for some of these.

Most hits: The MOST most hits (not counting Crown of Thorns, which I won’t, because it’s a multivoice juggernaut) is tentacular Good Omens fx-fest Pale Tendrils, by Anonymous. Understandable — come for the tentacles, stay for the witty writing and my unabashedly gleeful porn-formance. However, the secondmost hits is more interesting, because what the fuck. The hits on Only the Third Story in this Forsaken Fandom Whose Title Does Not Begin With If, by seekingferret, have been steadily climbing since I posted it — without at all a corresponding number of kudos, and no comments. It’s a highly meta If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler / 1/0 / 2666 by Robert Bolano Yuletide story, and while I like it a lot, I do not know what this unprecedented click rate means, at all. At first I thought it was bots, but I locked it down and the steady hits — sometimes ten or more per day — continued. Yeah, I dunno. Couldn’t happen to a more apt bunch of fandoms though.

Second-most kudos: What a Way to Make a Living, by attheborder, a Good Omens story in which Crowley, at a loss without his hellish assignments from Downstairs, becomes an Uber driver. Or, what if Crowley had ADHD? Includes “freelance chickens”, one of the most difficult phrases I’ve ever tried to record coherently.

Third-most words: Well, I thought I could go for “third longest,” and then realised that (because, unlike some podficcers, I don’t keep a detailed spreadsheet of my creations with word count, finished length, and a whole lot of other fascinating statistics, and AO3 doesn’t helpfully sort by podfic length tag) this was more work than I was willing to go to, especially on my phone, since I don’t feel like crossing the room and sitting in my office chair again to use the real computer.

So, third longest, ish, maybe, since Sansûkh isn’t finished yet (and anyway, I’m only counting multivoice and group projects when I feel like it, but also this is one of the times, kind of) is Once There Was, Once There Wasn’t, 2022’s Pod Together project from The Sentient Hive. This is a queer playable interactive game inspired by fairytales from around the world, with four different interlinked storylines. Hive projects are some of my favourite things to work on; most of what I did for this one was art, but I also read the Witch. This is approximately 6-7 hours of content. You can read the stories and listen to the audio on AO3, or play the complete, gamified Twine version with interactive puzzles on itch.io.

Fourth-most comments: Good Omens again (surprise surprise), equestrianstatue’s A Kind of Magic. Another very funny piece, because I have a Brand, with some of my personal favourite cover art — the idea for it made me laugh out loud when it occurred to me, and I still think it’s very funny. In a graphic design kind of way.

Fifth-most words: Hm. The sort-by-length thing just isn’t on, is it? Howbout first thing from the bottom with five comments? That might get us into some of the more obscure delights at the bottom of my catalogue… oh. ahahahaha! Not a podfic! This ancient and breathless little number, A Gamble in Darkness, is the backgrounder I wrote for my Toreador character back when I played in a vampire LARP. Well, it does have a few nice turns of phrase floating in the sea of purple prose.

The first-from-the-bottom podfic with five comments is He Who Is Made of Iron, a gently atmospheric Queen’s Thief piece mostly about tea by EternalLibrary. I recorded this very quickly during a rainstorm; it’s an unadorned and simple reading of a nice little story.

Fewest words: An obvious one — it has no words at all. (🌚🦋) 🧑🏫 is the all-emoji translation of Don Marquis’ the lesson of the moth, in collaboration with @olive2read. Includes text-to-speech audio for the full absurdist experience! This one is another personal favourite.

I’ll continue with tagging anyone who wants to do it. heck, if you do have a spreadsheet, use different stats!

#tag memes #fic stats #good omens #the queen's thief #vampire the masquerade #the sentient hive #fairy tales #tentacles #if on a winter’s night a traveller #that one podfic with all the hits; what the fuck continued #don marquis #archy and mehitabel #let me read you a story!#reccing my own podfic

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crystalelemental · 8 months

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Sync Pair Retrospective - Halloween 2022

I feel like this event was weird. I dunno, it just didn't feel that engaging to me? It's hard to explain.

Halloween Allister Allister came out second, but I'm talking about him first, because I once said he was the worst support released last year. It's been another year now, and...yeah actually, I stand by it.

Halloween Allister feels very much like SS Wally, in that sense where he was ultimately held back for having a new trait. Ghost Rebuff was supposed to be a huge deal, but Ghosts...don't really love this guy. They can get along, but the bad speed tends to hinder more than help, given how gauge limited many of them already are. His immediate +3 crit for the team is nice, but defense is only relevant sometimes, and his Ramp Up is incredibly slow acting. He's a pair that thrives more in Gauntlet, especially as a soloist given his passive recovery, but his CS performance is highly suspect. This has not significantly changed.

The completion of grid expansions did provide Allister with two F2P partners in Agatha and Shauntal. Agatha's stalling technique via Hypnosis allows Allister to take a little longer with the Ramp Up to get her where she's going, while Shauntal's speed boosting trainer move meant gauges were less of a problem. Neither was an ideal fit. They worked well, but were far from exceptional. NY Dawn was effective enough, further improving physical bulk and doubling his Ramp Up buff. But the trouble with Allister is that if he's getting Ramp Up, he's not applying the rebuff, and then what is he doing? You need approximate self-sufficiency, but the only two with that, Anni Lillie and Renegade Cynthia, are pretty slow and gauge hungry. So he often fails to give them what they need.

Allister hasn't really changed. If anything he's gotten worse, as other fast-acting crit buffers jump in. NC Calem does the same +3 crit with the right grid, and offers a huge boost to Atk with some Sp Atk in the same action, while having two types of field effect. Palentine's Mallow does the same Def/Crit with high personal healing and Ramp Up gimmick, but with special defense drops on her main damage attack instead of the type rebuff, making her more broadly applicable. Frankly, if it weren't for the rebuff, Variety Agatha would've put him out of a job permanently as far as offensive support goes. The kid started out pretty bad and arguably got worse. His only real niche at this point is a Gauntlet Solo count few care about, and the rebuff that doesn't see much use. That'll save the meta.

Halloween Iris So with that you may think hey, Iris has Poison Zone, and Poison is a rough time. I guess she's the better pick. Great news! She's the worst Zone setter! It's not even close!

Iris' Zone exists for herself. Hyper Beam spam is at least decent, despite her low special attack, and she can do okay at clearing on-type content. Though off-type reveals how bad the special attack really is. Her only other utility is Acid, which she needs 3/5 to make a 100% AoE chance to debuff special defense. That is a lot of investment for an effect Lucian wildly outperforms at 1/5, girl. Zone is carrying you, and frankly, it's not worth it given how bad Poison damage really is. It's incredibly had to justify Iris.

The introduction of new damage dealers was also a double edged sword. Yes, Emma and Oleana could use the Zone. But they're physical, and new CS parameters with the 12.5k meta meant you didn't want to attack with both types of damage, so oopsie doodles, using Iris is not using someone who does literally nothing but Zone, or trying to let her contribute to damage by re-allocating points to more punishing conditions. Emma had an easier time with Looker than Iris. And Oleana had a rebuff that she slapped on right away to ensure Toxic, effectively replicating Iris' utility, then adding Venom Drench and Pep Rally 2 on Move Gauge Boost to the mix. Oleana wasn't so much a good partner to Iris as her replacement. It wasn't Zone, but it got the job done better. The only real partners Iris has received as Drasna, who has Poison as secondary, and Petrel, who is a 0.4% chance to happen on a limited banner he's sharing with four other targets. Good luck with that!

Iris is not in a great position. Poison is starting to seriously pick up as a damage type, but they're all physical. And while Iris doesn't contribute much, she prefers special. Which very, very few competent Poison-types are. Iris is still waiting for the special Poison type of her dreams, that has competent DPS and is easier to access and everything. Personally, I'm hoping it's Halloween Lusamine and Nihilego this year. But given how the year has gone for me personally, I'm not confident.

#sync pair retrospective #halloween allister #halloween iris

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agnol117 · 10 months

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Series I, Part IX

SCP-045 - Atmospheric Converter

I don’t know how to feel about this one. I might actually be too dumb for it, because I read it twice and still only sort of get it. I think it could theoretically ruin the world by converting parts of the atmosphere into water and table salt, but I don’t have enough of a grasp on chemistry to fully understand how severe of a threat it actually is.

5/10

SCP-046 - “Predatory” Holly Bush

This one’s pretty cool. I like both versions of the document. The idea that it tricks people into coming to it is pretty neat, and the idea that there’s some debate about whether or not it’s predatory is actually pretty funny. All told, I just find this one to be fun.

7/10

SCP-047 - Microbial Mutagen

I think this one is neat. I especially like that it doesn’t actually affect humans, but rather works on viruses and the like, and can potentially make them more deadly. It’s good.

7/10

SCP-048 - The Cursed SCP Number

Okay so this one is very funny, but I’m honestly unsure of how to rate it. The problem is, like 036, it’s not really an SCP? It’s more of a meta joke about SCPs? I dunno.

-/10

SCP-049 - Plague Doctor

049 my beloved

I really like this one. Partially because I love the plague doctor aesthetic (I have several plush plague doctors), partially because I love like, pre-modern medical horror (like Bloodborne and Pathologic). But also because the whole vibe here is great. 049 isn’t trying to be actively malicious (maybe it is in some of the tales, but again, I’m not counting those for this project). It’s just a perfect example of what TV Tropes calls blue and orange morality. It is aware of a Pestilence that only it can sense (or it thinks it’s aware of this pestilence, it’s unclear), and it’s trying to save the world from it. The fact that it can’t properly explain the Pestilence, or that the Pestilence may not even exist, isn’t really it’s fault.

10/10

SCP-050 - To The Cleverest

The vibe I get from this one is like, a fairy. You hold onto it, and if you’re nice to it, it does nice things to you, like clean your office. If you do mean things, like abandon it or try to destroy it, it tries to destroy you. It’s cool.

8/10

#jill rates scps #scp #scp foundation #scp 045 #scp 046 #scp 047 #scp 048 #scp 049 #scp 050

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indigovigilance · 6 months

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On that reblog game (I hope thisnis allowed, cause I think we are mutual, but now I am not sure!!), you strike me as Aziraphale :)

Yes we are mutual, or at least I see you in my feed all the time and we contribute to the same threads, so we certainly have the relationship that you can inbox me!

Thank you so much! I take this as a high compliment. I think I aspire to be an Aziraphale, even if I do not always fulfill on that promise. I am always reading, if other people's meta counts as reading (yes it does), and I have a heart bursting with love and somehow a massive vocabulary does not do me any good in my attempts to express it. And I love sweet things, like the Good Omens meta writer community <3

I dunno about yellow, though. Not my favoritest color, although I do use a lot of sun imagery in my fiction, so...?

#ineffable fandom

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c4rdsharp · 1 year

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meechi. alright, this isn't effectively a meta about it, but i've been thinking so much about the Baccano! immortals and their flavor of immortality. I think what gets me about them in particular is the very sense of community the rules of immortality uphold. by nature, immortals can't lie to other immortals about their identity ; they are forced to say their true name whenever they are in an earshot of another immortal. this was a rule implemented specifically so the immortals can find each other -- it could be seen as a caveat, but if truth be told, it is very much a mercy and a necessity for these immortals so none of them end up lost and alone in the world.

while it is true that immortality comes at a cost of loved ones dying before yourself, the Baccano! immortals are often turned in group settings! the liquor of immortality is, by nature, something meant to be shared with others, and this sharing is often in conjunction with some form of celebration ( the alchemists on the Advena Avis were celebrating their discovery & knowledge of it, the immortals turned in 1930s did so during Firo's induction ceremony, etc. ) It cultivates both a sense of camaraderie and an ecstasy towards life itself. Not all the immortals stay in groups, of course, but the happiest and most fulfilled ones are those who prioritize the living as a whole ( and that includes themselves ). The immortals in Baccano! are meant to be a tight - knit & intimate community by nature of the fact they are so rare and so long - living. No one else could share the experience of immortality save for those who are immortal by nature, which is a very small group to begin with ( but way more than you are actually aware of ).

As such, immortals will converse the most with other immortals ( by proxy of living for the same length of time ). They share experiences, they gain knowledge, and in turn communicate their findings to those who may need the enlightenment. Sometimes there isn't, sometimes there really is no answer, but they can all say so definitively and each would have their own unique way of obtaining that truth.

Then, we get into the mechanics of immortals devouring other immortals. Even if the act itself has been weaponized against them, it is still an incredibly intimate way of gifting 'death.' The immortal who devours inherits the devourees memories & feelings, their knowledge already -- it becomes a part of the devourer's own. As such, it could be viewed that person becomes a part of them and is, therefore, a real & true last resort. You'll find that most of the immortals in Baccano! don't really like to devour other immortals and often find other ways to cause them torture if they really dislike them. It's far too personal a killing method, and not very easy to shake - off. You have to live with that for eternity, so you have to make it count ( and it also promotes a sense of community as well, because you then truly know an immortal, the life of another person, and it's very personal nature is often reason enough to not do it for a lot of them ).

It's just, i dunno. There's something so bittersweet to this aspect of Baccano! immortals. They never have to suffer the ennui of being alone in the world as one of their kind, and as a result, still value life & feel the sorrow of an unexpected loss. Their numbers & sense of community keep them human & anchored to reality, never to be cast adrift again. And, if one of them does end up walking alone, there will always be an immortal who can call them back . . .

#( out of character. ) hold my cards i’m projecting #( hc / meta. ) i’m all talk with a thorn in my side.#// hey what is this? idk but god i have a lot of feelings about this rn

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daja-the-hypnokitten · 1 year

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9, 17, 32, 43

9. How do you feel when you hypnotise someone else?

Who am I hypnotising? And what tone are we going for? I've had times where I've felt powerful enough to control my partner's reality for a while, and times where it's been entirely about care and love and I"m just overwhelmed by the trust my partner is giving me. But it's often power rush that I adore, and it always gives me a sense of deep, powerful connection. Which is why I'm picky about who I hypnotize, outside of basic practice.

Basic practice is more of a ... science-y, thoughtful space, "does this work? how?" sort of feeling.

17. What are some post-hypnotic suggestions you particularly enjoy (for others or yourself)?

oh, gosh, but where to start? There are so many *fun* ones! And I know you know a number of them, love :P But for people who aren't my partners: Things that make me *notice* a change - maybe automatically responding to a trigger, like a call and response phrase. Things that lead to futile resistance. But also - I have a suggestion with a partner where I can say "feel me..." and then describe something. It started as a "hey, we're long distance, and we're both super kinesthetic, so this will let me show you affection in the ways I default to, even from entirely too far away." Like, I can tell her to "feel me kiss your cheek" and she will. It's the best for a long-distance relationship. ;)

32. Describe your biggest fantasy involving hypnosis?

... I suppose it's only fair that you're asking me this one, huh, love? Gosh. I don't know that I have a "biggest" fantasy in the sort of way that a lot of folk have a "I've had this fantasy for ages" way. For me, it's often more a "what have I been talking about with a partner that would be fun to do, but we can't yet" thing. But hm. Actually. I think right now a big one on my mind is a desire to craft another brainwashing file for a lovely partner and putting her in it and just watching her melt at my every word to do ... I dunno what yet, it's really knowing that she could take the brainwashing helmet off, if she *wanted* to, but my voice is just too much of a temptation for her to resist. I'll have to put thought into what I would want to do with that sort of file, though.

But no, most of my fantasies come from the dynamic I have with a partner, and what I want to do *with them* - it's so much about connection for me!

43. If you make hypnosis content, what’s your favourite piece of content you’ve made?

I don't make tons of content, but I do occasionally write stories. And does my Jukebox Review series count? Hm, that's more meta-content, I think. Anyway, I have a number of stories I think are good, but my favourite bit of content would have to be a file I made for a partner - and *only* that partner - for Charmed this past year. Which is cheating, but look. Brainwashing a sweet, submissive partner to unknowingly respond to a couple of suggestions for a weekend? it's going to be hard to top how much I *loved* doing that.

For content for the general public? I think my story "Attractive Reeducation"

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catcatb0y · 2 years

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I lied about taking back that vent post, do I really need to unfollow all of the BakuDeku and HeroAca blogs I have just to not hear "Bakugou is dead" five times in one sitting?

Like I'm starting to get tired of the 'He's not even dead' ones because it's just everywhere.

Post-leak mania, fine, but now? Seriously? What kind of fucking manga are you guys reading? Y'all have THAT LITTLE faith in Horikoshi?? After literal years of joking about how much of a simp they are, years of meta and anyalysis about Bakugou and the tropes he contributes to, access to every and any Shounen series ever like???

Aizawa cut off his own fucking leg. Miruko lost an arm AND a leg. Midoriya broke all of his bones so many fucking times AND used one million (or some thousand) percent of his power.

It's not even about 'curarting your own experience' anymore, because everyone is doing it. You didn't post about it yesterday? Well, it's being posted about today. Haven't talked about leaks in months? Talking about leaks now. Don't like angstposting? Angstposting.

At this point I want him to die so that he stops suffering again and again. So that you guys can shut up and this series will finally dissolve all of the last bits of joy I feel from it so I can unfollow you all and sit in the void.

Death is already a reoccuring thing in my life irl, and I really don't need it from fandom right now, so like? I dunno block me or something lmao. Blacklisting the tag doesn't work or help, I've already unfollowed a dozen people, like I've started blocking people ffs.

I want to follow Bakugou-centric (or just Bakugou enjoying) blogs in general because I like his character. I want to interact with people who like and care about him, but god fucking seriously?

Go pick up AoT where Erin LITERALLY DIES in episode, like, three or something. Bleach where Ichigo spent three days in a hole trying not to become a Hollow and failing. Naruto where Sasuke got stabbed a bunch of times by literal shards of glass. (And those are JUST the early game deaths)

"Overcoming death" is literally just a popular Shounen trope- and that's not even counting 'gets maimed horribly and beyone compare, but comes out scott free' like??? People have literally been OVER THE MOON about the fact that Midoriya!!! Has scars!!! Because Shounen is so notoriously awful at showcasing the results of Heroes' mistakes. Even then, the series still uses the same 'ohohoho they are dying horribly!!1' trope all the time.

Not only are y'all not reading any other series, but, hell, you're not even reading THIS series. Like I followed people for their deep and insightful takes, for their understanding of the characters at hand... Where did all that go?

Even if he does die like???

What fucking themes are left???

'Save to Win, Win to Save'? One of the biggest themes Gone.

'Society creates Villains just as it creates Heroes'? Still there, I guess, but Bakugou's addition to that narrative was huge- a supposedly "villainous" kid rejecting villainy?

'You're worth more than your power'? Bakugou is one of the only people who saw Midoriya's worth BEFORE he got his power. He's also one of the only people (save Aizawa) who has acknowledged and pointed out Midoriya's recklessness and his self sacrificing tendencies.

'Heroes need to work together'? Bakugou is still one of the only people that Midoriya has actually fought side by side with other than the Stain Arc. Bakugou was the person who said "Don't go playing Hero on your own." (He's also one of the biggest showcases (bleh) in how Hero Society fails at teamwork- every time he has

Is it really a coincidence that his biggest win was a 'complete victory' that came from him working with his team? Him pushing Jirou out of the way during the 1A/1B showdown? How everyone pointed out his growth, and how he inspired the rest of the class?

During the Provisional License Exam he and Todoroki both failed (because they let their emotions get in the way of their Heroism), but remember what Aizawa said? About how Midoriya and Bakugou inspire the rest of the class to do better?

Especially now with the parallel to the Second User- WHY would they be using foreshadowing and parallels if he's gonna die? What the fuck would be the purpose??

"If all you see is your strength, then you won't be able to acknowledge your own weakness."

#leaks mention #really tired guys #being an asshole #again #man what is it with life right now #every fucking time I think I've overcome something it comes back full fucking force the next goddamned day #I guess I'm just lucky my family is busy so that they can't screw me over either huh?#someone needs to start paying me for all the tears I have cried in the past month because it is too fucking much #I'm not letting some stupid blorbo push me over the edge again I have more important things to cry about #if this is going to be a theme for the next two fucking weeks let me know so that I can just start hating this character #enough to block all of you

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moonstone27ls · 2 years

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Chucky finale...

Spoiler warning...

.....

.......

....you’ve been warned....

....warningg....

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....warning you...

last warning....

.........

Okay thoughts....

.......welp a lot happened. But mostly felt like Mancini was trying to wrap things up in case this got cancelled/or he’s ending? (again if he choses to end this show I won’t judge.)

Some drama... and some head confusion... a couple of twists.

On the upside Kyle/Andy are still alive.... so if the show ends here I’ll take that as a plus. Thought it was a little rude of Lexy to compare the pair as something bad. I’m like “Uhh kid they saved your ass on a couple of occasions at least be grateful”. And to be fair.... (although Mancini never gives a scene where they all chill/be buds), Andy was the only really obsessed to well be TRAUMATIZED on multiple occasions. Kyle I feel only went to protect him.

I have a couple of issues with the finale not so much issues just tiny nitpicks. Like when the kids reveal to their old teacher about Chucky, they do that while the cops are still in the house. I mean don’t they usually worry someone will hear/and think their nuts? Uhh feel a bit mixed with G.G. Not so much the change/and their new name. More of how and I’m going back as Glenda seemed okay with they mom being a killer/and embraced being a killer. I mean last episodes they were complaining/fighting that issue. And again going back as Glenn, Glenn was fully against killing. Sooo with G.G. being so casual what does that mean?

Is G.G. going to embrace being a killer? Now that they are “one” being I guess? Or was that the whole point of their travels. Self discovery, find out what their role is, away from their toxic parents. I mean I do give Tiff points for loving and embracing their identities.... but yeahhh still a killer. Improving as a mom but its hard for me to embrace her as an anti-hero. Specifically again even though the show has split her and Chucky (kinda miss them sorry). She’s still very much a killer. I mean I’m sorry but suddenly she cares about how murder effects people? Where was that when literally ANY TIME she’s killed .And she did still willing kidnap Caroline so nah not totally rooting for her.

Though that being said considering how the show ended (not counting breaking fourth wall/meta Chucky)... was that Mancini’s intentions? Heh I dunno I kinda thought Tiff would possess the old doll and she and Chucky would either reconcile (sorry they’re both killers they kinda suit each other) or become rivals as killers

The drama between Jake/Devon felt like it dragged on a bit but heh at least it finished.

Uhh am I shocked that Chucky possessed and kept switching dolls? Not really. Didn’t feel sorry for Dr. Mixter she put herself in that situation, guess it makes sense now why Chucky picked those kids from last season.

Am I shocked Caroline was brainwashed?/or manipulated... uh no. I mean I the kid was literally too quiet through the ENTIRE season with no real change to her personality. Though question does her choosing evil make it bad on people with autism? Not that I know she’s autistic.... I mean felt like the show hinted but I dunno. ANyways back to that... soooo... if the show is continued what was Chucky wanting from Caroline then? Is she a replacement for “G.G”? Would kinda explain why Chucky told her Tiff was her real mother.

Dunno how Nica found Tiff or was able to move around so fast but dang a bit obsessed much o3o;. I mean granted I get it. But hmm.. and did G.G. help her find Tiff? Was that why they kinda left? They agreed to help but wouldn’t see it?I dunno was hoping Nica would heal and be with Andy/Kyle. I dunno what with the young three survivors, I figured Nica would be with Andy/Kyle and try to heal.

And then the Belle doll being secretly Chucky... hmm I guess I was surprised. Explained why they kept focusing on that dumb doll. Feel like they ripped that off of Sleepaway camp.

Heh do I have any thoughts? Or hopes for next season if Mancini gets one? I dunno other that the kids and Andy/Kyle/Nica surive. Heh no thats it.

Not interested in Tiff, I mean I love Tilly. But either way unless Manicini’s really okay with saying goodbye to Tilly, I don’t see her being left alone. Cause like Chucky, she’s a KILLER. Any of the 6 survivors would go after her like Chucky too.

And as mean as it is to say I don’t care about Caroline. Heh I just don’t unless next season has her missing Lexy or more sympathic eps. There isn’t much to her. I don’t hate the character just isn’t much to her for me to miss.

#Chucky tv series #Chucky tv show

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infizero · 4 years

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Pokespe SWSH Chapter 10: Bede and Chairman Rose

(translation courtesy of Espresso Scanlations)

One of the most interesting things to me from this chapter was the relationship between Bede and Chairman Rose - or rather, the lack of relationship.

Right off the bat, after Oleana ends her call with Bede, Rose questions who she was talking to. When she reminds him that she was talking to Bede, the challenger he literally endorsed, he not only doesn’t recognize the name but doesn’t seem to remember he even endorsed someone in the first place. Yikes.

The reason Oleana was talking with Bede was that Rose had left Hulbury without Bede’s knowledge, despite him clearly having had some sort of meeting planned. Bede is shocked and aggravated by this, and that feeling only grows stronger when he finds out that the reason Rose missed their meeting was that he was having a meal with Soudo Tsurugi, whom Bede despises.

The rest of the chapter we see Bede confront and lash out at Soudo for this, even though Soudo had no idea such a thing happened because of him. He launches a surprise attack (a cheap move) and when Sou questions why he’s doing what he’s doing, Bede responds with this:

Although truly unfounded, Bede’s anger at Soudo makes sense. While he’s worked incredibly hard to find Wishing Stars for Rose in order to get his attention and praise and ended up being almost entirely forgotten by the man who took him in, Soudo has done nothing at all and yet has received special attention from the Chairman.

Bede has very clearly been affected by Rose’s neglect; he is utterly obsessed with getting Rose’s attention, and will go to extreme measures if it means finally being seen by him.

After Soudo beats him in a battle, he shows him a recording of Marnie at Motostoke Stadium, earning her Fire Badge, and says this:

Oof.

I mean, I think we all knew that in the games the reason Bede did the Gym Challenge was to get Rose’s attention, but this is a whole other level. This isn’t just Rose not paying attention to him; he doesn’t even know he exists. Doing the Gym Challenge, becoming Champion (ideally), is Bede’s way of getting Chairman Rose to notice his existence. And I find that quite sad, especially since the terms they use in the games seem to imply that Rose didn’t just endorse Bede, he adopted him. Bede desperately wants validation from his parental figure and Rose is... not giving him that.

I’m eagerly anticipating the moment Opal comes into the picture and Bede finally gets that supportive parental figure he needs. It’ll be a while (after all, Soudo and Schilly haven’t even cleared the third Gym yet), but I hope it’ll be worth it.

#whew this got long #anyways i love bede and WILL talk about him forever #trainer bede #chairman rose #character analysis #meta #pokespe #pokemon special #pokespe swsh #pokemon swsh #pokemon #pokemon adventures #pokespe sword and shield #rival bede #bede #analysis #does this count as a meta? i dunno

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sunlightswallowed · 4 years

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Arianna does have a last name (technically she has two) but most people don’t know them, as royalty don’t tend to use them in the same way non-royals do. You would never call her Arianna von Sonnen the same way you’d call someone John Doe or Jack Smith. She’s best known publically as Queen Arianna of Corona, her official title. Aside from that, she could also be known as Arianna of Arendelle, after her birthplace and her family lineage. She also has a number of epithets given to her by various traditions, stories, and legends. She is most commonly called, by her own subjects, Arianna Luciana, as Luciana is a traditional epithet given to the consort of a king (which, eventually in Coronan history and legend, becomes associated almost exclusively with Arianna herself, as Rapunzel and those around her gradually become mythologized/deified by future Coronans)

#♔ ∵ * ∴ 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 › worldbuilding #♔ ∵ * ∴ 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 › headcanons #(does this count as meta? i dunno)

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rederiswrites · 3 years

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Hi! wow I feel like writing Dragon Age meta suddenly.

So people are suggesting that Mythal is the real antagonist of Dragon Age, and our opponent in DA4. While I think that’s worlds more likely than Solas being the antagonist, I’m not convinced. First off, so we’re all on the same page, I am still completely confident that the best interpretation of the evidence at hand is that Solas is trying to SAVE the world, or at least some part of it, and is willing to do things we’re not because we don’t yet know what’s really at risk. At most, I think we might spend the first few hours of the game opposing Solas before we realize the actual stakes--or at least, that’s how I’d do it. So that’s not it. Like, I’d bet money. Plus they’ve never yet done the obvious thing between games.

But back to Mythal--first of all, it’s been suggested that Solas was the agent of Mythal’s Great Betrayal. I think she was betrayed by someone long before Solas. I don’t think there’s any substance to the idea that Mythal’s Great Betrayal was Solas putting up the Veil. For one thing, they’re still on affectionate terms. We literally see that on screen. Could she be lying? Oh yeah that’s really on brand for her. But if so, Solas is completely fooled, which would be surprising. For another, we know Solas feels great sorrow--not guilt--over her betrayal. And last but not least, I’d have to put way more effort into combing canon than I’m gonna to prove evidence, but I have the distinct feeling that Mythal was already down for the count by the time Solas put up the Veil, and indeed there might be a causal relationship. Like, Mythal was betrayed and that was a breaking point where Solas gave up on thinking he’d be able to trust any of his fellows.

Is Mythal on our side? Oh hell no. Mythal is on her side. She’s made that perfectly clear. And it’s really key that we remember that as a goddess, she is strongly associated with not only justice but also vengeance. But it’s not where I’d go as a storyteller, because---it’s too obvious. She’s been there since the very beginning, which certainly suggests that she still has a major role to play--she’s been playing the player character from Day One. So for us to explicitly discover in DA 4 that she’s been pulling the strings sounds reasonable. But as the bad guy? I dunno. To me she scans more as the person you hate to admit is right.

There is another character that’s been there from the beginning, though, and who in all that time we’ve learned almost nothing about. Very suspiciously little. You know, the...the king of the gods? that guy? the first of the gods, the son of sun and earth? the supposed co-creator of Thedas as we know it? The guy who lead the war against the Titans, which may or may not have created the Blight (but probably did), or whatever the Blight really is, which is probably why Solas created the Veil? The god of retribution that was so nasty that everyone went to his wife instead? Yeah I literally just told you basically everything about him that there is in the wiki. Does any of it sound nice?

Am I saying that the Big Bad is Elgar’nan? No. Am I saying that would be fucking awesome and there are deliberately placed reasons to find Elgar’nan SUPER SUS? Yes.

Also, Flemeth wasn’t betrayed by her friend, or her lover. She was betrayed by her husband. As was Andraste. Just saying.

#dragon age #dragon age meta #flemeth #mythal #elgar'nan #solas #dragon age 4 #y'all that are still stuck on solas as the bad guy are thinking small

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vickyvicarious · 3 years

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Leverage Redemption Pros/Cons List

Okay! Now that I've finally finished watching the first half of Leverage: Redemption, I thought I'd kind of sum up my overall impression. Sort of a pro/con list, except a little more just loosely structured rambles on each bullet point rather than a simple list.

This got way out of hand from what I expected so I'm going to put it all under a cut. If you want the actual bulletpoint list, here it is:

PROS

References

Continuity

Nate

Representation

Themes

New Characters

General Vibe

CONS

'Maker and Fixer'

Episode Twins

Sophie's Stagefright

Thiefsome

You might notice the pros list is longer, and that's because I do love the show! I really like most of what it does, and my gripes are fewer in number and mostly smaller in size. But they do exist and I felt like talking about them as well as the stuff I loved.

PROS

References

There is clearly so much love and respect for the original show here. Quite aside from the general situation, there's a lot of references to individual episodes or character traits from the first show. For example, Parker's comments on disliking clowns, liking puppets, disliking horses, stabbing vs. tasing people. The tasing was an ongoing thing in the original, the stabbing happened once (S1) but was referenced later in the original show, the clown thing only had a few mentions scattered across the entire original show. The puppet thing was mentioned once in S5, and the horses thing in particular was only brought up in S1 once. But they didn't miss the chance to put the nod to it in there; in fact with those alone we see a good mix of common/ongoing jokes and smaller details.

We got "dammit Hardison" and "it's a very distinctive..." but also Eliot and Parker arguing about him catering a mob wedding, and Eliot being delighted by lemon as a secret ingredient in a dish in that same episode (another reference to the mob episode). Hardison and Eliot banter about "plan M", an ongoing joke starting from the very first episode of the original show. We see Sophie bring up Hardison's accent in the Ice Job, Parker also makes reference to an early episode when describing "backlash effect" to Breanna, in an episode that also references her brother slightly if you look for it.

Heck, the last episode of these first eight makes a big deal out of nearly reproducing the iconic opening lines of the original show with Fake Nate's "we provide... an advantage." And I mean, all the "let's go steal a ___" with Harry being confused about how to use them.

Some of the lines are more obviously references to the original show, but they strike a decent balance with smaller or unspoken stuff as well, and also mix in some references between the team to events we the audience have never seen. If someone was coming into this show for the first time, they wouldn't get all the easter egg joy but most of the references would stand on their own as dialogue anyway. In general, I think they struck a good balance of restating needed context for new viewers while still having enough standalone good lines and more-fun-if-you-get-it callbacks.

Continuity

Similar to the last point, but slightly different. The characters' development from the original to now is shown so well. I'm not going to go on about this too long, but the writers clearly didn't want to let the original characters stagnate during the offscreen years. There was a lot of real thought put into how they would change or not.

It's really written well. We can see just how cohesive a team Parker, Hardison, and Eliot became. We get a sense of how they've spent their time, and there's plenty of evidence that they remained incredibly close with Sophie and Nate until this past year. The way everyone defers to Parker is different from the original show and clearly demonstrates how she's been well established as the leader for years now - they show this well even as Parker is stepping back to let Sophie take point in these episodes. Eventually that is actually called out by Sophie in the eighth episode, so we might see more mastermind Parker in the back half of the show, maybe. But even with her leading, it's clear how collaborative the team has become, with everyone bouncing ideas off one another and adding their input freely. Sometimes they even get so caught up they leave the newbies completely in the dust. But for the most part we get a good sense of how the Parker/Hardison/Eliot team worked with her having final say on plans but the others discussing everything together. A little bit more collaborative than it was with Nate at the helm.

Meanwhile Sophie has built a home and is deeply attached to it. She and Nate really did retire, at least for the most part, and she was living her happy ending until he died. She's out of practice but still as skilled as ever, and we're shown how much her grief has changed her and how concerned the others are for her.

There's a lot of emphasis on how they all look after one another and the found family is clearer than ever. Sophie even calls Hardison "his father's son" - clearly referring to Nate.

Nate

Speaking of Nate! They handled his loss so, so well. His story was the most complete at the end of the last show, and just from a narrative point, losing him makes the most sense of all the characters. But the way he dies and his impact on the show and the characters continues. It's very respectful to who he was - who he truly was.

Nate was someone they all loved, but he was a deeply flawed individual. Sophie talks about how he burned too hot, but at least he burned - possibly implying to me that his drinking was related to his death. In any case, there's no mystery to it. We don't know how he died but that's not what's most important about his death. This isn't a quest for revenge or anything... it's just a study of grief and trying to heal.

Back to who he really was real quick - the show doesn't eulogize him as better than he was. They're honest about him. From the first episode's toast they raise in his memory, to the final episode where Sophie and Eliot are deeply confused by Fake Nate singing his praises, the team knows who he was. They don't erase his flaws... but at the same time he was so clearly theirs. He was family, he was the man they trusted and loved and followed into incredibly dangerous situations, and whose loss they all still feel deeply.

That said, the show doesn't harp on this point. They reference him, but they don't overwhelm new viewers with a constant barrage of Nate talk. It always serves a purpose, primarily for Sophie's storyline of moving through her grief. Anyway, @robinasnyder said all of this way better than me here, so go read that as well.

Representation

Or should I say, Jewish Hardison, Autistic Parker, Queer Breanna!

Granted, Hardison's religion isn't quite explicitly stated to be Jewish so much as he mentions that his "Nana runs a multi-denominational household", but nonetheless. He gets the shows big thesis statement moment, he gets a beautiful speech about redemption that is the emotional cornerstone of that episode and probably Harry's entire arc throughout the show. And while I'm not Jewish myself, most of what I've seen from Jewish fans is saying that Hardison's words here were excellent representation of their beliefs. (@featherquillpen does a great job in that meta of contextualizing this with his depiction in the original show as well.)

Autistic Parker, however, is shown pretty dang blatantly. She already was very much coded as autistic in the original show, but the reboot has if anything gone further. She sees a child psychologist because she likes using puppets to represent emotions, she stims, she uses cue cards and pre-written scripts for social interactions, there's mention of possible texture sensitivity and her clothes are generally more loose and comfortable. She's gotten better at performing empathy and understanding how people typically work, but it's specifically described as something she learned how to do and she views her brain as being different from ones that work that way (same link). Again, not autistic myself but from what I've seen autistic fans find a lot to relate to in her portrayal. And best of all, this well-rounded and respectful depiction does not show any of these qualities as a lack on her part. There's no more of those kinda ableist comments or "what's wrong with you" jokes that were in the original show. Parker is the way she is, and that allows her to do things differently. She's loved for who she is, and any effort made to fit in is more just to know how so that she can use it to her advantage when she wants to on the job - for her convenience, not others' comfort.

Speaking of loved for who you are.... okay, again, queer Breanna isn't confirmed onscreen yet, and I don't count Word of God as true canon. But I can definitely believe we're building there. Breanna dresses in a very GNC way, and just her dialogue and, I dunno, vibes seem very queer to me. She has a beautiful speech in the Card Game Job about not belonging or being accepted and specifically mentions "the way they love" as one of those things that made her feel like she didn't belong. And that scene is given so much weight and respect. (Not to mention other hints throughout the episode about how much finding her own space meant to her.) Also, the whole theme of feeling rejected and the key for her to begin really flourishing is acceptance for who she is, not any desire for her to be anyone else, is made into another big moment. Yeah, textually that moment is about her feeling like she has to fill Hardison's shoes and worrying about her past, but the themes are there, man.

Themes

I talked a bit about this yesterday, so I'm mostly just going to link to that post, but... this series so far is doing a really good job in my opinion of giving people arcs and having some good themes. Namely the redemption one, from Hardison's speech (which I'm gonna talk a little more about in the next point), and this overall theme of growing up and looking to the future (from above the linked post).

New Characters

Harry and Breanna are fantastic characters. I was kind of worried about Harry being a replacement Nate, but... he really isn't. Sure, he's the older white guy who has an angsty past but it's in a very different way and his personality and relationships with the rest of the crew are correspondingly different. I think the dynamic of a very friendly, cheerful, kind, but still bad guy (as @soundsfaebutokay points out) is a great one to show, and he's got a really cool arc I think of learning to be a better person, and truly understanding Hardison's point about redemption being a process not a goal. His role on the team also has some interesting applications and drawbacks, as @allegorymetaphor talked about. I've kind of grown to think that the show is gradually building up to an eventual Sophie/Harry romance a ways down the line, and I'm actually here for it. Regardless, his relationships with everyone are really interesting.

As for Breanna, first of all and most importantly I love her. Secondly, I think she's got a really interesting story. She's a link to Hardison's past, and provides a really interesting perspective for us as someone younger who has grown up a) looking up to Leverage and b) in a bleaker and more hopeless world. Breanna's not an optimist, and she's not someone who was self-sufficient and unconcerned with the rest of the world at the start, like everyone else. She believes that the world sucks and she wants it to be better, but she doesn't know how to make that happen. She outright says she's desperate and that's why she's working with Leverage. At the same time, Breanna is pretty down on herself and wants to prove herself but gets easily shaken by mistakes or being scolded, which is a stark contrast to Hardison's general self-confidence. There are several times when she starts to have an idea then hesitates to share it, or expects her emotions to be dismissed, or gets really disheartened when she's corrected or rejected, or dwells on her mistakes, or when she is accepted or praised she usually takes a surprised beat and is shy about it (she almost always looks down and away from the person, and her smile is often small or startled). Breanna looks up to the team so much (Parker especially, then probably Eliot) and she wants to prove herself. It's going to be so good to see her grow.

General Vibe

A brief note, but it seems a fitting one to end on. The show keeps it's overall tone and feeling from the original show. The fun, the competency porn, the bad guys and clever plans and happy endings. It's got differences for sure, but the characters are recognizably themselves and the show as a whole is recognizably still Leverage. For the most part they just got the feeling right, and it's really nice.

CONS (no, not that kind)

'Maker and Fixer'

So when I started writing this meta earlier today, I was actually a lot more annoyed by the lack of unique 'maker' skills being shown by Breanna. Basically the only time she tries to use a drone, the very thing she introduced herself as being good at, it breaks instantly. I was concerned about her being relegated into just doing what Hardison did, instead of bringing her own stuff to the table. But the seventh episode eased some of those fears, and the meta I just wrote for someone else asking about Breanna's 'maker' skills as shown this season made me realize there's more nuance than that. I'd still like to have seen more of that from her, but for now the fact that we don't see a lot of 'maker' from her so far seems more like a character decision based in Breanna's insecurities.

Harry definitely gets more 'inside man' usage. His knowledge as a 'fixer' comes in handy several times. Nonetheless, I'm really curious if there are any bigger ways to use it, aside from him just adding in some exposition/insight from time to time. I'm not even entirely sure how much more they can pull from this premise in terms of relevant skills, but I hope there's more and I'd like to see it. Maybe a con built more around him playing a longer role playing his old self, like they tried in the Tower Job? Maybe it's more a matter of him needed distance from that part of his past, being unable to face it without lashing out - in that case it could be a good character growth moment possibly for him to succeed in being Scummy Lawyer again down the line? I dunno.

Episode Twins

This was something small that kind of bothered me a little earlier in the season. It's kind of the negative side to the references, I guess? And I'm not even sure how much it annoys me really, but I just kinda noticed and felt sort of weird about it.

Rollin' on the River has a lot of references/callbacks to the The Wedding Job.

The Tower Job has a lot of references/callbacks to The White Rabbit Job.

The Paranormal Hacktivity Job has a lot of references/callbacks to the Future Job.

I guess I was getting a little concerned that there would be a 'match this episode' situation where almost every new Redemption episode is very reminiscent of an old one. I love the callbacks, but I don't want to see a lack of creativity in this new show, and this worried me for a minute. Especially when it was combined with all three of those episodes dealing with housing issues of some kind. Now, that's a huge concern for a lot of people, and each episode has its own take on a different problem within that huge umbrella, but it still got me worried about a lack of variety in topics/cases.

The rest of the episodes failing to line up so neatly in my head with older episodes helped a lot to ease this one, though. Still, this is my complaining section so I figured I'd express my concerns as they were at the time. Even if I no longer really worry about it much.

Sophie's Stagefright

Yeah, I know this is just a small moment in a single episode, but it annoyed me! Eliot made a bit of a face at Sophie going onstage, but I thought it was just him being annoyed at the general situation. However, they started out with her being awful up there until she realized the poem was relevant to the con - at which point her reading got so much better.

This felt like a complete betrayal of Sophie's beautiful moment at the end of the original show where she got over her trouble with regular acting and played Lady Macbeth beautifully in front of a full theater of audience members. This was part of the con, but only in the sense that it gave her an alibi/place to hide, and I always interpreted it as her genuinely getting over her stagefright problems. It felt like such a beautiful place to end her arc for that show, especially after all her time spent directing.

Now, her difficulty onstage in the Card Game Job was brief and at the very beginning of being up on stage. @rinahale suggested to me that maybe it was a deliberate tactic to draw the guy's attention, and the later skill was simply her shifting focus to make the sonnet easier for Breanna to listen to and interpret, but he seemed more enraptured when she was doing well than otherwise in my opinion and it just doesn't quite sit well with me. My other theory was that maybe she just hasn't been up on stage in a long time, and much like she complaining about being rusty at grifting before the team pushed her into trying, she got nervous for a moment at the very beginning. The problem there is that I think she'd definitely still get involved in theater even when she and Nate were retired. I guess she could've quit after he died, and a year might be long enough to make her doubt herself again, but... still.

I just resent that they even left it ambiguous at all. Sophie's skills should be solid on stage at this point in my opinion.

Thiefsome

...And now we come to my main complaint. This is, by far, the biggest issue I have with the show.

I feel like I should put a disclaimer here that I had my doubts from the beginning about the thiefsome becoming canon onscreen. I thought the famous "the OT3 is safe" tweet could easily just mean that they are all still alive and well, or all still working together, without giving us confirmation of a romantic relationship. Despite this, the general fandom expectations/hopes really got to me, especially with the whole "lock/pick/key" thing. I tried to temper my expectations again when the character descriptions came out and only mentioned Hardison loving Parker, not Eliot, but I still got my hopes up.

The thing is, I was disappointed pretty quickly.

The very first episode told me that in all likelihood we would never see Hardison and Parker and Eliot together in a romantic sense. Oh, there was so much coding. So much hinting. So much in the way of conversations that were about Parker/Hardison's relationship but then Eliot kept getting brought into them. They were portrayed as a unit of three.

But then there was this.

I love all of those scenes of Parker and Hardison being intimate and loving and comfortable with one another and their relationship. I really do. But it didn't escape my notice that there's nothing of the sort with Eliot. If they wanted a canon onscreen thiefsome, it would by far make the most sense to just have it established from the start. But there aren't any scenes where Eliot shares the same kind of physical closeness with either of them like they do each other. Parker and Hardison kiss; he doesn't kiss anyone. They have several clearly romantic conversations when alone; he gets important conversations with both but the sense of it being romantic isn't there.

Establishing Eliot as part of the relationship after Hardison is gone just... doesn't make any sense. It would be more likely to confuse new viewers, to make them wonder if Parker is cheating on Hardison with Eliot, or if they have a Y shaped relationship rather that a triangle. It would be so much clumsier.

Still, up until the Double-Edged-Sword Job I believed the writers might keep it at this level of 'plausible hinting but not quite saying'. There's a lot of great stuff with all of them, and I never expecting making out or whatever anyway; a cheek-kiss was about the height of my hopes to be honest. I mostly just hoped for outright confirmation and, failing that, I was happy enough to have the many hints and implications.

But then Marshal Maria Shipp came along. And I don't really have anything against her as a character - in fact, I think she has interesting story potential and will definitely come back. But the episode framed her fight with Eliot as a sexyfight TM, much like his fight with Mikel back in the day. And then his flirting with her rode the line a little of "he's playing her for the con" and "he's genuinely flirting." The scene where he tells her his real name is particularly iffy, but actually was the one that convinced me he was playing her. Because he seems to be watching her really closely, and to be very concerned about her figuring out who he really is. I am very aware though that I'm doing a lot of work to interpret it the way I want. On surface appearance, Eliot's just flirting with an attractive woman, like he did on the last show. And that's probably the intention, too.

But the real nail in the coffin for me was when Sophie compared herself and Nate to Eliot and Maria. That was a genuine scene, not the continuation of the teasing from before. And Sophie is the one whose insight into people is always, always trustworthy. She is family to the thiefsome. For this to make any sense, either Eliot/Parker/Hardison isn't a thing, or they are and Sophie doesn't know - and I can't imagine why in the hell she wouldn't know.

Any argument to make them still canon leaves me unsatisfied. If she knows and they haven't admitted it to her - why wouldn't they, after all this time? Why would she not have picked up on it even without an outright announcement? Some people suggested they wouldn't admit it because they thought Nate would be weird about it, but that doesn't seem any more in character to me than the other possibilities. In fact, the only option that doesn't go against my understanding of these people and their observational abilities/the close relationship they share.... is that the thiefsome is not a thing.

And furthermore, the implication of this conversation - especially the way it ended, with Eliot stomping off looking embarrassed while Sophie smiled knowingly - is that Eliot will get into another relationship onscreen. Maybe not a full-blown romantic relationship. But the Maria Shipp tension is going to be resolved somehow, and at this point I'm half-expecting a hook-up simply because of Sophie's reaction and how much I trust her judgement of such things. Even if she's letting her grief cloud her usual perceptiveness... it feels iffy.

It just kinda feels like I wasn't even allowed to keep my "interpret these hints/maybe they are" thiefsome that I expected after the first couple episodes convinced me we wouldn't get outright confirmation. (I mean, I will anyway, and I love the hints and allusions regardless.) And while I'm definitely not the kind of fan who is dependent on canon for my ships, and still enjoy all their interactions/will keep right on headcanoning them all in a relationship, it's just.... a bummer.

Feels like a real cop-out. Like the hints of Breanna being queer are enough to meet their quota and they won't try anything 'risky' like a poly relationship. I dunno. It's annoying.

That's the end of the list! Again, overall I love the new show a lot and have few complaints.

#leverage #leverage redemption #leverage spoilers #leverage meta #my meta #this turned into a BIG ol ramble #i planned to write like a couple of sentences for each point but noooo

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