#i guess this counts as meta

[bottombaron]

So after staring into the middle distance for a couple days I'm ready to start discussing some theories I have before the season finale destroys us. They are all very wide-ranging in absurdity but I'll start with the one that I think has the most substance and therefore I think is most likely to happen. Also, I haven’t caught up with the tag yet so if someone already posted these theories, sorry! 

So here is Theory #1, known otherwise as,

Why (I think) I know how Laszlo is going to unfuck Guillermo

The solution, I believe, was stated at the very end of The Roast by Laszlo himself: 

FIRST THOUGHT, BEST THOUGHT

Laszlo has spent weeks deeply committed to solving a problem. He's wasted precious time trying to outthink his first (and probably best) solution – and I'm not just talking about his book sorting. Neither was Laszlo, not entirely at least. I actually do think he was focused at least a little bit on his books because that's kind of what happens when you're stuck on a problem. Your brain wanders to other much less taxing ordeals. Usually, as you solve that smaller problem, you find the solution to the thing you really want to solve. 

So what was Laszlo’s first idea?

All along Laszlo had the answer but Guillermo told him that he didn't think it would work, so Laszlo just didn't pursue it further. (We don't even know if Laszlo knows the circumstances of the test and why it didn't work. Just that Guillermo didn't approve that idea.) So then Laszlo wasted valuable time and energy trying to ~Science~ this problem instead of using his true best skill that was showcased in episode one of the season: his charm. His powers of persuasion (the classical art of bullshitting, as it were) is his true super power. (Sadly, it’s not science. He doesn't really have the patience for science tbh).

But, no, rly, he should bullshit his way thru this. That's what he does best. He can outthink Nandor easily. (well….maybe. with the time spent on his experiments, Nandor could have the advantage of several weeks, if not months, to figure things out beforehand, as dense as he is) He should concoct a bullshit so impenetrable that it unfucks Guillermo from Derek and refucks him to Nandor. 

Further foreshadowing of this you ask?

(this whole season is dedicated to ‘plans’ it’s crazy how much A Plan pops up. maybe i’ll dedicate a separate post to collecting them all)

But alas! The test that The Baron did proved this wouldn’t work, right!?

Well here's some free additional theories to how Laszlo could solve that hiccup:

1. Laszlo figures out (and solves) the reason why The Baron/Neighbor test didn't work in the first place.

There could be any number of factors of why The Baron's neighbor blew up. It could be that The Baron is all that more powerful than the average vampire and so his bite gives an extraordinary fill of uh...vampire-ness? and Derek, being so young and weak, doesn't do much at all. Maybe it has something to do with The Sire. If The Baron was turned by the first being ever affected by vampirism, then maybe that vampirism is slowly depleted the further down the line you go. Derek is probably very far removed from The Sire which means he cannot transfer much of that affliction onwards. Nandor, if he was turned by The Baron (one removed from The Sire) or someone similar, explains how he is so powerful, hopefully tho he wouldn’t have too much power to possibly overwhelm Guillermo's half-a-virgin body (and yes I did like how kinky that sounded when I wrote it). It doesn't really matter the exact reason as long as Laszlo can convince Guillermo to try it and he has a relatively decent chance of surviving it. (convincing Guillermo to go thru with this plan overall is probably going to be the most trouble actually. you don't easily forget a guy exploding in your face)

2. Something to do with the experiments. (or the Nadja’s bait-and-switch tactic she used to catch The Baron/Guillermo from The Roast)

I have a larger theory on the experiments and why I think there's still one in the house, but that's for later. During The Roast, Nandor is pretty convinced that the mutant Guillermo is the real one (despite one pretty big glaring error: he has no glasses. none of the experiments need glasses...), Laszlo might have been testing this theory by having The Baron bring his body to Nandor in the first place in order to see how convinced Nandor would be by it. This might be enough for Laszlo to try to use a duplicate of Guillermo for Nandor to bite. The duplicate will not explode (probably?) due to only being a hybrid of Guillermo's blood and an animal…or something(one) else pretending to be Guillermo… (and if it does, maybe Laszlo plans to shoo Nandor out of the line of sight in order for him not to see. And then you get the angst and drama of Guillermo literally using a scapegoat to take his 'sin' despite his reluctance to hurt innocent creatures)

But will the fake Guillermo actually convince Nandor? It's hard to say, and I love that threat of Nandor realizing that it's not the true Guillermo he bit and feeling even more betrayed. Maybe Laszlo concocts a whole ambiance to the event in order to sell the lie. It has to be special right?

So there's dim lights and candles and (fake) Guillermo is laid out in Nandor's coffin and there's this whole presentation element to it that was left out of Guillermo's turn with Derek. It's more like the fantasy that Guillermo probably always had of being turned by Nandor. It plays out like a romantic love scene. But Guillermo is asleep or has his eyes closed and won't talk or maybe only makes small noises and Nandor's very upset abt this. Laszlo is probably hovering too and Nandor doesn't like that either but Laszlo insists he must be there and it's now it's all awkward and wrong, kind of like how Guillermo felt before he was bit by Derek. (now it’s like Nandor is the bull cucking Laszlo in front of him) Nandor goes thru with it and bites Guillermo and is rushed by Laszlo so he doesn't get to drink or drink too much of his blood and there's fumbling with trying to get his own blood into Guillermo's unresponsive mouth.

Or maybe Nandor finds out because Guillermo's blood is disgusting and he either knows or had hoped it would be good tasting*. or that Guillermo just lays there and there's no reciprocation of desire. But maybe he just doesn't find out and once it's over he expects to be able to lay with Guillermo or otherwise be there for his turning but Laszlo quickly rushes him out of his own room and closes the door behind him.

So now Nandor feels all the same despondency that Guillermo had felt with his turn with Derek. Like this big special moment he's built up for years was a complete dud. Like he missed out on something truly magical and he doesn't know why. And Guillermo will feel like shit too, for tricking Nandor. Laszlo isn't happy either. But it worked and they all just have to live with it. Meanwhile this act that was meant to make Nandor's and Guillermo's bond stronger, only serves to create even greater distance between them. 

Re*: evidence that Guillermo's blood might taste 'different':

3. ANYWAYS. that was theory two. lets talk about theory 3.

WITCHES.

I actually think there's good reason Laszlo has divorced Science and is now going to have an affair with Magic. It's exactly when Nadja says 'has this hex turned me into an uggo' that Laszlo comes to life and exclaims ‘that's it!’. If science wasn't the solution, maybe magic is. It's not like they don't know some witches, or that, at least to a degree, witches actually have some power. (specifically the power to look, vaguely, like someone else.) I'm not certain of the specifics but there's a chance Laszlo could be turning to magic to solve his problems. This would also bring Nadja's storyline more relevant and in focus for the season. The thing I like the most about this theory? Episode 9 describes being invited to a manor owned by someone named Morrigan. Morrigan is a Celtic goddess of war and fate that was probably the inspiration for Arthurian legendary sorceress, Morgan le Fay. (Laszlo's name may also be connected to Arthurian legend, Lancelot. but that probably doesn't mean anything.)

So! That's my three extra theories attached to this one big theory that Laszlo is going to go 'back to the beginning' and use his first thought to solve this. Go with his gut. His first solution was his best solution, all along.

…He simply needs to convince Nandor to turn Guillermo.

The, uh, details of this plan may be a lot more complicated than it suggests.

#wwdits #what we do in the shadows #guillermo de la cruz #laszlo cravensworth #nandor #nandor the relentless #nandermo #wwdits spoilers #wwdits meta #i guess this counts as meta #so i have a LOT of THOUGHTS n’ THEORIES on the backburner and idk if i can get to them all before the finale #prepare for a flood of inane speculation coming your way #wwdits season 5 #this originaly had a lot more screencaps but i think i over did it and now my brain is fried trying to collect all these receipts

[swearingcactus]

how jason brody caused the state of Kyrat when ajay ghale arrived

in far cry 4 there's an NPC who says 'you should've seen Kyrat a year ago, the heroin wasn't this big of a problem then.' which wouldn't make sense, since pagan had his drug operation running for years, right? but no. it does. even with ubisoft's mid-ass planning and script-writing. and it's all jason brody's fault. in this essay i will...

.. explain how the fuck this pale ass white boy's decisions caused a LOT of ajay ghale's problems. accidentally, obviously. but goddamit jason.

anw, take into account that a year ago in far cry 4 was 2013. and do you remember what happened just before that in 2012? Jason Brody killed Hoyt, a notable drug kingpin and slave trafficker.

after Hoyt died, others are probably scrambling to get a share of his old territory and clients, I'm guessing Pagan was one of them. hence why in 2012 he ramped up productions, forced more Kyratis to be slaves and took over more public facilities and private lands to use as poppy fields and drug production centers.

THIS is why the NPC said that line and why there's more drug addicts in Kyrat.

THIS is why there's so few territories under Golden Path when you start the game-- they weren't expecting Pagan to suddenly ramp up attacks and production and they weren't ready at all.

THIS is why there's so many letters from Paul, Yuma and Noore scattered in the country about drug distribution and threatening workers if there were problems-- they need to achieve a new quota now.

THIS is why the CIA is withdrawing from Kyrat because as Willis said, "Pagan no longer represents a clear and present danger to the U.S."--he's no longer funelling drugs to the U.S., he's funnelling it to Southeast Asia/wherever Hoyt's old channels were.

also? it adds up to why there's the hula vaas figurine & gps of the rook islands scattered in Kyrat.

#far cry 3 #far cry 4 #jason brody #ajay ghale #pagan min #hoyt volker #story analysis #i guess this counts as meta #far cry #far cry analysis

[yea-baiyi]

ok but like imagine being hua cheng. and when you were a teenager you were trapped in a cave with your god when he got hit with sex pollen and you already felt ugly and unlovable but he stabbed himself through the gut rather than touch you and you saw him shirtless and horrifyingly that’s how you found out you were gay

and then you meet him again centuries later when you’ve grown up and become comfortable in your own skin, and you think you might be in love with him except a part of you still feels terrified that he’ll look at you and find you hideous again. but you want to trust him so you show him your real face. and. turns out he finds your adult self so hot that you make him horny for the first time in his life and he keeps doing and saying absolutely deranged things because he does not know how to cope. he panics and tries to give you, a ghost, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and while you’re lying there trying not to freak out he is beside you acting out his one man humiliation-style comedy show because he has never wanted to kiss someone before let alone fuck. he agrees to get locked in a coffin together because he never even considered the possibility that he might pop a boner except he does pop a boner and now you are stuck under him while he squirms and you are trying very hard not to think about your own boner

i don’t know how to end this post i just think that’s so funny. and they live happily ever after and have lots of gay sex. hua cheng keeps winning. slay king

#tgcf #hua cheng #hualian #xie lian #aroace mxtx analysis #tgcf meta #meta stuff #my hyperfixation demon #grey ace xie lian #does this count as meta #i’m sorry i’m still on this train #funnies #i wrote this post last night and i still don’t know how to end it but god. it’s just so funny #hua cheng deserves to get railed after all that. king #i swear to god this all started as me trying to articulate hua cheng’s devotion and instead i just keep running into #how hua cheng is just here vibing and then xie lian is all skdhgshdkdhb and he’s just like. well this might as well happen i guess

[thresholdbb]

what's the threshold theory

There was a post about how Tom is the only crew member who isn't really affected by the Borg, and there's a theory that he has so much luck because he saw the past and the future when he crossed the transwarp threshold. He saw the past and the future, all of time and space. There's some subconscious part of him that remembers that experience. In fact, Tom refused to play a part in Chakotay indulging Annorax's temporal incursions, probably because a part of him knew nothing good could come of it.

If we extend that same theory to Janeway, some of her wild luck with time travel and other crack plans starts to make sense. She doesn't verbally hate time travel until after the events of Threshold, since it happens in Time and Again without complaint. Janeway has an uncanny knack for time travel, as evidenced every time she deals with it. She hates time travel, but it might be because part of her knows exactly how to manipulate the timeline. She manages to avoid the "inevitable" temporal explosion in Future's End, saving both Voyager and Braxton. She resets the entire timeline in Year of Hell, and no one else followed her reasoning. She pulled it off flawlessly. In Relativity, she senses the incidents are all related, despite it being just one reading that connects them. By the time she's involved, she has a temporal incursion factor of .0036 and a time travel protocol named after her, even if that may just be Braxton's personal grudge. Then there's Endgame, where she intentionally changes the timeline. Up until this point, she has been dragged into time travel, but for the first time, she jumps in on purpose. How does Admiral Janeway know how to get them home sooner in a way that completely avoids the Temporal Integrity Commission? It's because she has seen all of time, and part of her knows exactly what needs to happen so she can get Voyager home and do it in a way that becomes baked into the prime timeline. Maybe she doesn't consciously remember what happened during her transformation, but the experience lives in her mind somewhere, guiding her decisions.

#every day is threshold day #tldr threshold cemented the time travel shenanigans #we're not counting her disparagement of time travel in relativity i know it's technically before threshold #but they've messed with the timeline so much that her past timeline is also changed. #Time travel is funny because the past is the future the future is the past #so while relativity comes before threshold in the prime timeline her timeline has also been changed in a way that it wasn't before threshol #we could chalk it up to a writing oversight but this is more interesting #not to mention her uncanny luck with the Borg which I think ties in as well #it's part of why her instinct is so strong #also the bio neural gel packs but that's a different theory #listen she's amazing with or without having seen all of time and space but she has seen all of time and that must have affected her somehow #those little salamander babies also have all of the cosmos in their mind #tried to explain as concisely as possible but it is part of my overarching theory #she doesn't second guess herself nearly as much following their jaunt into transwarp #I have more but I'm trying to be brief cause it's written up partially in my drafts somewhere and i have some things i need to do today lol #meta #Star Trek voyager #Kathryn janeway #threshold day #did you expect me thresholdbb to not have a serious threshold theory? #listen I can make anything nonsense and turn anything into a serious theory I was known for this kinda bs in grad school #I wrote a 25 page paper on NOTHING once #I wrote a paper about how corn fields were super gay and it made my professor cry I can spin the bullshit it is one of my skills

[purrfectlycontent]

so i reread the short story asagiri wrote about how akutagawa met dazai and it got me thinking about why he was so sure akutagawa would help atsushi

"Is there something you want?" he asked.

Akutagawa's heart answered the question automatically. What he wanted. What he craved. What he could never, ever obtain in this pit he called home.

Akutagawa managed to push the words from his parched throat:

"Can you give me... a reason to live?"

“I can.”

The moment he heard the answer, Akutagawa felt a new emotion running through him. If that hatred from before was the first clear emotion he had ever felt in his life, this was the second.

Compared to the hatred, however, this was entirely unexpected, far beyond his wildest imagination.

dazai brought shin soukoku together so they could save yokohama.

he knew they would suit each other despite how different their personalities are— or maybe because he knew their differences would bring them together and cause them to see things from each other’s perspectives.

perhaps one of the reasons why he brought them together in the first place was so they could help each other.

to let atsushi become more confident. to give akutagawa a reason to live.

#my ramblings #this is probably the most coherent post you’ll ever get out of me #the only reason why i thought about this in the first place is because i saw the story in my camera roll sgsjdh #i guess this counts as meta huh #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd dazai #bsd akutagawa #bsd meta: akutagawa #sskk #shin soukoku

[obitoslover]

Thinking about that obihoe's post, I love how Obito was sadistic as hell

Like, not even Madara would do half of what he did. No one can convince me Madara would take a newborn, put paper bombs and throw it mid air just for funsies and revenge. he didn't even tried to kill Tobirama, but Obito? "Kirigakure made my only friend crush die, so I'm gonna control their new Mizukage and make this village hell on Earth"

Hell, Madara was disappointed Obito created a fucking war for two Bijuus (one of them would've already been in his possession had he, y'know, didn't use the Kyuubi to destroy Konoha), like damn his plan was to avoid pain and suffering... and you decided creating a war as the right decision?, although he tried to understand Obito when he said "I suppose you had your reasons"

Stop being stoic/understanding, Madara! Obito would never XD

anyway that's I love Obito, he was so unhinged istg

@lalalover33-blog

#obito uchiha #madara uchiha #naruto meta #(?) #i mean #i'm kinda analysing madara and obito's differences #so i guess this counts?

[findafight]

Jonathan’s line about Steve in vol 2 was so…. I don’t know. I mean yeah it straight up confirms that Nancy and Jonathan make fun of Steve behind his back, and like I get that I have never been in Nancy’s situation so obviously it seems more mortifying to me, but I would have felt so guilty in her place. I can’t imagine not shutting Jonathan up if he started shit talking about Steve. Like Steve would have been straight up unmentionable if I was Nancy. Idk.

I get that Duffers don’t treat their characters emotional lives seriously, but like. That’s why Robin being kind to Nancy in s5 despite Nancy’s uh.. well frankly appalling attitude towards Robin, makes zero sense to me. I really wanted Nancy to struggle being in Steve’s group. Not in the “she deserves it bhahaha” way, but like… Steve dumped his friends for her (which was good for him), and her expecting to get the same treatment and meeting Robin instead? Who actively dislikes her and for a good reason? Who is smart and cool and kind? That’s way more interesting than people kissing Nancy’s ass the whole season, while she is actively putting Max’s life in danger. Like, yeah in high school she is the chief editor of the newspaper, and at home she is the eldest sister, and with Jon she makes fun of Steve, and now none of these people are here, but Steve is here and so is his bestie. And Steve is as kind as always, but Robin dislikes her, and it is not just prejudice

Nancy Wheeler you wild girl! She has no guilt lmao She's like yeah steve was dumb and annoying and didn't enable my investigation, and jon goes yep, what an idiot. All while Steve is just like. bumpin around making friends with little nerds haha. Minding his own business blaming himself for the end of their relationship. You're right, it's kinda bonkers because even if we take the stance that Nancy didn't cheat (which I believe she did) like. she still had him as her second choice and as soon as he pushed back a bit and didn't give her the kind of support she wasn't telling him she needed (until talking about exposing the lab in the library where anyone could hear) she jumped ship and ran to Jonathan. Why would she want to talk about Steve? Why wouldn't she want to try to forget he ever existed as anything other than Mike's friend Dustin's older friend? Is that not weird for her?

(i think you might mean s4? but i can work with s5 too haha) It's so much more compelling to me to have Nancy and Robin at odds with each other because Robin is like a little guard chihuahua holding a grudge for Steve. She holds grudges so well let her do it more!! like jesus give him someone in his corner! And also for herself! She got so nervous and tried to explain and defend herself, and Nancy only really started to listen once they got into the hospital. Nancy has a not great plan that puts one of the kids in danger, one of the kids Steve is close to. (Max wrote him a letter!!) I think Robin would really see Steve's people as her people, even if she wasn't personally close to them she'd still feel comfortable around the younger teens because Steve is? Let robin be critical of this plan. Let her call it out or something. Give Nancy someone to push against, it's no fun if there's no resistance! I want Nancy to be the one wanting friendship with Robin, and Robin not being receptive to it. Nancy not having a relationship handed to her would be refreshing and I want to see how she'd try to win Robin's friendship.

Let Robin not want to work with Nancy because she's heard the rumours about how her and Steve ended, even though he only mentioned that he wasn't a good boyfriend ans wasn't what she needed so it didn't work out. Robin saw that one week Steve and Nancy had a fight, and a day later she was ditching with Jonathan? yeah something is fishy there to even the most socially oblivious person. Let Robin know Steve well enough that she knew he at least thought he was telling the truth but that there must have been more. Let Robin decide she was going to do the most cliche best friend thing and not be very nice to the ex that broke her bestie's heart.

ooooh anon what you're saying is so interesting because, yeah. Steve dumped Tommy and Carol for Nancy, and that was good for him, and then Nancy got with Jonathan who doesn't really have any friends in Hawkins. So she's always been her boyfriend's main person of similar age they're close to. But now Steve's got Robin. Who is funny and kind and weird and loyal and smart and sarcastic. Who is obsessed with Steve and who Steve is also obsessed with. And that, from a s5 stancy pov, is so interesting because now Nancy is now competing (in her mind) for her boyfriend/potential bf's attention with his best friend. Like Jonathan was focused on his family, obviously (and this caused strain for them too) but it's not the same socially as a best friend taking priority. Steve would still hold those relationships, because they're good for him and good for the others, and there's zero reason for him to abandon them this time.

I think Nancy would hate it. Like Steve would obviously give her tonnes of attention, but with him having actual close friendships not just with Robin but Dustin and Max (at least) too, she'd still feel like she was bartering for time with him. That is suuuuch a fun potential dynamic between nancy and steve and also nancy and steve's friends.

#findaanswers #Anonymous #I think an interesting thing about Nancy is she absolutely HATES when her romo partner doesn't back up her crazy schemes #we see it in s2 and s3 it's so interesting to me but I don't really see it talked about. #Nancy wheeler I wanna study you like a bug #stranger things #stranger things meta #nancy wheeler #steve harrington #robin buckley #stobin #sorta? yeah I talk about them enough it counts #stancy #I guess. more fail stancy than not but also just potential dynamic #finda's rambles

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

how long did you have the Rachel reveal planned in eleutherophobia? from the beginning? or did it come to you while writing the series?

Oh gosh, I don't know. I toyed with the idea right from the start, but I also wanted to do a real reaction to her death. Most postwar Animorphs fics resurrect Rachel — and I get why, Rachel is awesome and the team dynamic isn't the same without her — but I wanted to write about the impact her death would've had on Jake and the others. So I was on the fence between letting her come back and leaving her dead basically from when I started writing the series in ~2012, and deliberately left both possibilities open for myself.

On the broad level, I hate stories unkilling characters and have been firm on never doing it in my own sci fi series; it feels cheap and disrespectful and like it feeds into Americans' compulsive death avoidance. But on the narrow level, Rachel is awesome and the team dynamic isn't the same without her, and so I really wanted her in the story. My beta Cates finally gave me a come-to-Jesus talk like "it's fan fiction. The whole point is self-indulgence. Get your head out of your butt and write Rachel into Eleutherophobia if you want to write Rachel into Eleutherophobia." (I paraphrase.) So I did.

#animorphs #animorphs meta #eleutherophobia #eleutherophobia spoilers #i guess? if fan fiction counts as having spoilers?

[zeroducks-2]

Idk if anyone is interested but in case someone is, yes, Barry reciprocates. Have my exhibits! With pictures!

.Exhibit A!

He keeps looking for Eobard subconsciously, can feel when he's there, his presence alone is able to trigger Barry's memories of past and future lives.

And look, Eobard was right there!

(panels from The Flash Vol.1: Lightning Strikes Twice)

.Exhibit B!

When he finds Eobard dead, Barry spends time with his body in the morgue struggling over how he died, what might have hurt him, observing that "whatever got him must have just slowed him down" (all the while softly whispering to and gently touching Eobard's body).

I can never not be insane over how tenderly he's caressing Eobard's forehead. Might I add that he spends just so much time in the morgue that he's late to his own birthday party. Might I also add that whatever Barry did in that morgue, it brings Eobard back to life. This man literally told his nemesis "come back to me", and Eobard obediently did.

The last panel, that's Eobard's powers reactivating as he's revived, moments after Barry left.

(panels from The Flash Vol.4: Running Scared)

.Exhibit C!

When Godspeed starts killing people, including the woman Barry was dating, Barry is shocked but keeps being willing to forgive if August is willing to stand down. Barry gets beaten up and humiliated and still worries for August, trying to appeal to his rationality and compassion.

But then August makes the mistake to threaten to find Eobard (who at the moment is being tortured a prisoner in Iron Heights), and kill him in front of Barry's eyes. And if Barry has been rational and willing to stop fighting, after the umpteenth time August tries to get to Eobard he loses his entire shit, grabs August by his head and neck and is just about to kill him, in a scene which is a direct parallel to when Eobard forced him to break his neck.

That's apparently what Barry does when someone insists on threatening to kill the people he loves and make him watch. He doesn't kill August of course, but he gets close to it - the moment Barry lets him go August is unconscious for lack of air, he was being choked to death even without the neck breaking part. All because he had threatened to murder Eobard.

This is Barry breaking Eobard's neck to protect Fiona, Barry's fiancee at the time, after he's been incessantly threatened to be forced to watch as he kills her. He did not want to kill Eobard, he felt extremely guilty to the point that now, having killed him is one of his worst nightmares, but he was essentially forced to do it (why Eobard did this to make himself get killed is another interesting and unhinged story for another time). So as you can see, this is how Barry reacts when he gets threatened with the death of someone he loves.

And this also is Barry reacting to the threat of a speedster killing someone he loves. I am in awe with the parallels drawn between these two panels. The same font and stile has been used for Barry's "Not again!" and "No!", and there is the same brutality coming from someone who 99% of the time tries everything but violence to solve any kind of situation. He's entirely out of his mind when he does this.

(panels from The Flash Vol.1: Lightning Strikes Twice)

IN CONCLUSION

Somehow, IDK HOW, Barry does reciprocate in some form. At least in Joshua Williamson's run he does. ...I actually have my theories on the how, which entail these two being each other's lodestone, being irremediably connected through time and space, and Barry having been loved&desired so much and so strongly for so long, both outwardly and through the natural connection of their powers, that at some point he just... started feeling back.

"But Thawne killed his mother!" LISTEN. I KNOW. I think Eo is as confused by this as you and I to be honest. And that's also something about Barry which is very fascinating imo: he will love in spite of everything. Even if the other person doesn't understand it, even if it makes no sense, even if BY ALL MEANS HE SHOULDN'T, even if he hurts, he will still love and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Luckily for Eobard, because there is no one else in the omniverse that ever loved him, and likely ever will.

#eobarry #they're canon yall #I have wanted to write this post for a while but somehow kept postponing it #I guess this counts as a meta? #my meta #speedsters stories are insane yall should give them a try #ESPECIALLY Williamson's run

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Underrated adorable thing Kyouka does is when someone gives her something to do and/or tries to show her something new and she gives it her full, serious attention.

It could be a matter of life-or-death. It could be delivering an important document. It could be taking care of a cat. It could be mixing a little candy. Doesn't matter.

Someone: *showing Kyouka a thing*

Kyouka: *staring intently, laser-fucking-focused*

What makes this so good to me is that it's nothing to do with her mafia training - she tends to go numb and distant when her assassin instincts kick in. When she focuses like this, it's driven by her genuine want to learn how to do the thing and do it perfectly. And yeah, part of this is also likely to do with her want to prove that she can do good things, but there are a million different ways she could go about this and she chooses... to watch people. To listen and learn and try her hardest at every single little thing she does. Honestly, I don't think this is anything she picked up from anyone - I think she's just like that. She gives everything she does her full attention.

And yeah, sometimes she gets a little too into it (tasing the guy she was supposed to deliver the files to, making a gigantic tower of god grub...) but she's got the spirit.

You guys she's so cute. She's SO cute. And also I think so incredibly strong for this. I don't think Kyouka fully realizes how much of her recovery is due her own consistent dogged efforts. Atsushi and the Agency gave her an opportunity and a safe home base and she took it and ran with it through her own conviction (in spite of all the setbacks), making herself brighter in the process.

#now if only the story would directly acknowledge this... #or have kyouka have a major role or expanded interactions outside of her dynamic with atsushi... #listen her and atsushi's dynamic is so sweet but my favourite kyouka scenes remain the ones with her and kouyou or akutagawa #also that bit in wan where she was better than atsushi at complimenting lucy so they both ditched him lol #i miss herrrrrr #actually as far as i remember kyouka yosano lucy and poe are still unaccounted for #maybe they're working on some other part of the agency's plan? #i'd love it if yosano got to confront teruko tbfh #and lucy just tossing fukuchi in her room while poe cheers because he's mad his boyfriend was knocked out then manhandled like a kitten #and kyouka faces vampire akutagawa and or helps aya and bram get away #my crappy late night theorizing that is basically just a wishlist #anyways that's not the point of this post the point is that i love kyouka #bsd #idk does this count as meta? it's more just my unhinged rambling #bsd meta #i guess #bsd kyouka #storyrambles

[invinciblerodent]

Musings about the Thorm family

(HEAVY Act 2 spoilers ahead!)

As I'm replaying the game and mucking around the Shadow-Cursed Lands, I... can't seem to stop thinking about the Thorms.

I could be interpreting things all wrong here, but it seems to me that Thisobald, Malus, and Gerringothe Thorm, they're... all supposed to be Ketheric's relatives, no? The information on how exactly they're related is confusing (I've found places on their wiki pages where they call them all Ketheric's siblings, one where Malus is said to be Ketheric's uncle, but Thisobald keeps referring to Ketheric as "father" which I don't know if he means more as creator, as in if he's supposed to be Balthazar's twisted creation that merely sees Ketheric as a father or what) so it's unclear how exactly they're supposed to be related, but... they are still Thorms. Ketheric's, and by extension Isobel's family, who were all alive before Reithwin would have succumbed to the shadows and the Dark Justiciars.

Like, I don't claim to have perfect understanding of the timeline at all, I could totally be seeing this all wrong, but as I'm interpreting things now... it's said that the Thorms were a powerful Selûnite family, and the patriarch, Ketheric, a renowned general and paladin(?), turned to Shar worship in his devastation over the loss of his wife Melodia, and his daughter Isobel. He turned his back on Selûne, and led an army of Dark Justiciars against the Selûnite town of which he had once been in control, and both kidnapped her daughter's lover and Selûne's own daughter Aylin, and before his defeat, unleashed the Shadow-Curse that ended up corrupting the very spirit of the land, Thaniel. (My guess is that the intent was to kill Thaniel, but he was merely torn asunder by the curse, and the part of him that stayed himself managed to flee to the Shadowfell before he would have lost his power, while the damaged part of him that stayed behind made a home in Oliver's body.) Then, as he was brought back to life by Myrkul, Ketheric agreed to sell his soul in exchange for his daughter to also be brought back to life; true resurrection. On this much, I'm (mostly) clear. This mostly makes sense to me.

..... But the rest of the family... also all watched this entire thing happen. They too lost first Melodia, then Isobel, to death, then Ketheric to madness and then death, and then themselves as well.

Sure, they were likely corrupt even while alive, I'm not arguing that they weren't. Of course they were. But the little notes around town, they only say that Ketheric put his relatives in charge, and that the Thorms had the "cushy jobs". And I assume they were... all pretty normal people then, all things considered, because none of the notes I've found mention that, btw, the tollmaster has recently taken to wearing a suit of gold, dunno what that's about, or that the surgeon had blades for fingers, idk if you noticed, though those would be pretty important things to note about them.

Malus was likely the worst, with how ardently he seems to have taken to true Shar-worship, even with a clear mind (the medical textbook he wrote is described as crisp and detailed, blending Sharran aphorisms with genuine medical science), and how many atrocities it's suggested that he's committed, but... before getting his fantasy!medical license revoked, he likely was a genuine healer, a doctor. Not a cleric, but a surgeon. The head to the House of Healing as more than just a figurehead, before his curse-warped mind would have led him down this dark path, and since none of the memos and notes seem to have been dated, we don't actually know how far gone he was when he wrote things like "anaesthetic is a tool to relieve my ears of my subject's screams as I apply the blade, not a mercy to be freely dispersed to living corpses". Could have been during the assault, could have been decades later, we don't actually know.

Gerringothe, sure, she was greedy and corrupt, but she was... just a clerk, a toll collector. She pinched and pilfered valuables, but the curse, it amplified all her worst qualities, and I think drove her to madness quickly- likely even before things got so bad as for her to become what we meet her as, this devilish-looking, emaciated being masquerading as a golden statue. She seems to have quickly devolved to having horrible outbursts of anger that had her employees hide in safes to save themselves from her, but before? I... don't know if I've found anything to suggest that she was likely to have been all that much worse than many other characters in similar positions. She was likely just a corrupt official with a mean streak, looking to make a buck on the side. (I can't figure out why she is the only one of the three with the "fey ancestry" passive feature though. Ketheric and Isobel have it as well, but the others don't seem to??? Are they just too far gone???? Idk????)

And Thisobald... I think he was a pretty young man when he was put in charge of The Waning Moon. And even in undeath, he's very gregarious, genuinely friendly for someone in his situation, and he sounds almost innocent as he ushers you to the bar, sits you down, and requests that you drink with him and delight him, tell him stories about your adventures for which he rewards you by answering your questions to the best of his ability. (He makes a silly li'l poop joke when you talk about the Grymforge, ffs! He's just a chap! A dude! A sweet little fella!)

The undead patrons' dialogue and the book in the backroom at least reveals that Thisobald was a distiller, a brewer once- but as the curse (and likely Balthazar, given the extensive disfigurement of his body, what with the four legs, the tail, and the tank on his back) warped his mind, he seems to have turned more and more towards stronger and stronger toxins, poisons. (Because, well, what is alcohol if not a less harmful poison?) He seems to have become obsessed with creating a deadly powerful toxin, and then, once his mind was too warped but before he could finish it, he seems to have lost interest in that as well, and "lived" from that point only to drink his poisonous brews, and be merry.

It's just... all so sad. How just one man's inability to cope with loss ruined him, his remaining family, his town, and so many lives after as well; how he blighted the land for a hundred years and caused so much suffering, just because he could not accept the loss which he alleged to turn to worship.

Ketheric was never a true worshipper of Shar. He could never actually embrace loss or absence as holy. But he did drag everyone still dear to him down with him for it.

edit- just fixed a typo

#baldur's gate 3 #ketheric thorm #malus thorm #gerringothe thorm #thisobald thorm #isobel thorm #bg3 meta #i guess #bg3 spoilers #? #does that even count on my blog at this point #squirrel plays bg3

[heikeee]

no but i need to scream into the void or i'll go mad. listen. kikyo wasn't a bitch. i don't think the way she was written did her any justice; it just makes her easy to hate. and don't get me wrong, this isn't about her relationship with inuyasha or kagome at all, i just want to talk about her as a character because she is one of the most complex of them and she needs to be looked at with more empathy.

i've said it before and i'll say it again: her whole thing is that she is tragedy personified. think about it. everything, and i mean every single thing that could have gone wrong in her life, HAS gone wrong. she had a difficult upbringing, having to raise her little sister and having to shoulder the burden of being the sole purifier of the shikon jewel (which constantly put her and her village under threat). she was never dealt an easy hand to begin with. then, she finds solace in love, tries her best to think of a way of unraveling herself from her duties to live a free life, while still caring for others selflessly: she took in onigumo, and he betrayed her. by pretending to be inuyasha, he had her think that her lover had betrayed her as well, and succumbed to wounds inflicted by him (or so she thought), while sealing him to the goshinboku.

the last wish she spoke of was to take the shikon jewel to the beyond with herself. later, kagome finds a way to actually destroy the jewel, which was what kikyo had intended to do but couldn't. in her heart, her last wish was to see inuyasha again. the jewel corrupts this wish and grants it in the most fucked up way possible.

her remains are robbed from her grave and she is brought back to life with NO agency on the matter, by someone who wanted only to exploit her powers. now, untethered from from her past duties, she is finally free to experience emotion. and that includes bad emotions. so anger, resentment, jealousy, contempt, loneliness, selfishness (and that's part of being human). every unfulfilled wish, the unfairness of it all. she spends the rest of the series navigating this undead existence, the duality of not belonging anywhere, constantly torn between doing what is right and what needs to be done to reach her goal, having no choice but to consume souls of recently departed girls to have the energy to fight her only fight (destroying naraku), all the while helping villagers and kids, and even the inugang, despite not wanting to align with their agenda at first. she contemplates sacrificing kohaku, yes, but ultimately her redemption is that she chose to save him instead of purifying the jewel in the end. she showed that she trusted the inugang to finish what she couldn't, and chose to spare another life, if possible (she says so herself in ch441)

it is very difficult to relate to someone that doesn't give access to her vulnerable side very often. her and sango are the two characters who had it the hardest and were forced to make the most difficult decisions out of everyone. but we love sango, even when she chose to sacrifice rin, even when she contemplated killing kohaku then herself, because we know where sango's heart lies and how torn she is about all of it. kikyo, on the other hand, is stoic and hardened by her life (and also post-life), but ultimately her biggest trait was kindness. we don't get to see her cry and be like woe is me about it, something that could've made us more empathetic towards her like we are with sango.

my point is kikyo deserves to be looked at through kinder eyes. she is a complex character, and she requires a bit more analysis and compassion to actually see who she really is. my tragic girl

#sorry to be a kikyo apologist but i just love my tragic girl! #and i'm honestly not against her being portrayed as a cynical evil bitch in fan works either tbh. i like her when she's bad too #she plays a great villain! #also this has nothing to do with me shipping inukag #or inukag being endgame in the story #my girl deserves a break #she's a tough nut to crack is all #and i will say this: yes she doesn't like kagome. in her shoes i wouldn't fucking like her either! LOL #but i'm not in her shoes so i also love my girl kagome. i can like both of them #i contain multitudes #kikyo meta #i guess this counts as meta? #inuyasha meta #kikyo #i am so afraid of getting hate please just block me if you disagree

[sparring-spirals]

There is a universe in which i was caught up properly on CR whenever what the fuck went down and Imogen verbally and definitively declared that- after everything leading up to this and the back and forth and indecision- that she'd be willing to take down her mom if need be. and i would have been deeply insufferable and writing 20+ separate meta posts and liveblog yelling posts and shitposts. This is not that universe so instead we will put this post here where i can have wildly uninformed (aka 20 eps behind) Emotions about it until someday i actually catch up.

(I know. i accidentally wrote potentially wildly off base/deeply out of date meta again. what can i say. i like shaking the concept of An Imogen (even if it is Outdated Imogen) in a jar. sorry.)

Because i was watching long enough, I think, to see Imogen in the throes of the hope for something better, to understand that Imogen was viewing her mom was a figure and an idea and an answer, that would make things easier. Her mom was- gone, so early. And so her mom, in her mind, was not a person she was an idea, and there was so much hinged on that! Dogged determination and anger at her father and a deep seated dislike of the powers in her hands and head even as they gave her a guilty rush. There were promises there that maybe no one else had made, but Imogen believed. Things built up. Expectations made. Lore crafted, even unconsciously, around someone who was, yes, important to Imogen, but more importantly: Missing. Gone. A blank slate to be filled in. A promise of an answer guide to open questions.

And then she meets her mom, and Liliana Temult goes from a figure to a person- with all the bells and whistles and rough edges. She meets her mom and her mom turns her away. Tells her to run. Tells her she should go. Tells her to leave.

And Imogen doesn't. In the same way she kept visiting libraries, keps asking, kept pushing for answers when it was just about her magic and her headaches and the voices. Imogen always, always wants to know. She keeps digging, she keeps trying, she reaches out, over and over and keeps trying to touch this figure in mist until she's real under her hands, and. Evidence piles up- of deeds gone wrong, blood on her hands, a figure standing next to Otohan (her friends bodies scattered, lifeless, around Otohan). She keeps reaching out, keeps trying, and is rebuffed, over and over. Things get worse and the skies get redder and magic goes dead and she's still- unsure, because what if there's a better reason, what if there's a better way, there has to be a reason, why. There has to be, right- maybe if- maybe. Maybe-

Its just like- a person as an idea. As a symbol. As a promise. One you build yourself up around and towards. One you talk about, not talk to.

And then the fog clears, and they are a human.

(And she's your mom, and she's not what you imagined. She's done you wrong. She's done your loved ones wrong. She's hurt you. She's hurt others. She's going to keep hurting you. She is going to keep hurting everyone. She is too far gone to reason with. She is not listening to you. She is flawed. She is. dangerous. She looks so much like you. You look just like her. You are so similar. You have always known you were similar. You always hoped. You.

Are not her. You are not hers. She is not yours. She is not who you thought she was. She was always someone else. So are you.)

Imogen walks through the bases pretending to be her mother. Liliana is a known face- a powerful one, a figure people fear. A well known silhouette. Imogen slips into the shadows of it, sometimes, when it serves her, but we know- she knows- its all an act. All a lie.

Liliana, after all, is alive, and well, making choices that she believes in and fighting for things with a dogged determination maybe only matched by her daughter.

Imogen knows this. I think. There's a part of her that maybe wishes that wasn't the case.

"There is no loyalty with this blood." And after all- only living people bleed.

#im so sorry for yet again writing deeply uninformed. idk if this counts as meta. its more me going 'hey if this IS whats happening. WILD.' #critical role #cr spoilers #c3e88 #imogen temult #spar speaks #liliana temult #this is REALLY just a word vomit based on gut assumptions from what i actually watched. my vague knowledge from posts ive seen. and now thi #im functionally playing connect the dots here which is. Not How Meta Should Be Written so take this more as fun speculation prose i guess?? #no one take this too srs its mostly so if/when i finally watch everything i can reference how off my assumptions were #this is def based off where things were around when the solstice happened bc thats when i was last mostly caught up #so the odds of me fully MISSING some important imogen dev and character things since then are. actually its not odds. its like.definitive. #but maybe this is true for at least early campaign imogen to ep 50 imogen #and it would be VERY cool if it actually applied to her now #i kept saying 50 eps but looking at my last liveblogs it might he closer to 20-30. ... still.

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

There are a lot of takes and tropes that bother me in the MDZS fandom, but don’t really bother me outside of it, and I’ve been wondering why that is for a while now. And I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s because of the way the MDZS universe, is portrayed, and the roles it plays in the story, when compared to those other pieces of media.

Because one thing I’ve noticed in fandoms I’m in is that people like having hope. Maybe bad things happened to the characters, yes, but surely there are lots of good people out there – maybe if something happens so that the abused character is brought up by them instead, things will turn out well! Or maybe if those people see what’s really happening with the misunderstood protagonist, everything will be ok!  

And it’s one thing to believe humanity is inherently good, or is inherently anything. And it’s definitely understandable that people want to believe that about humanity in a fictional universe, which can often function as a form of escapism But the thing with fictional universes is that they generally skew on one side of the spectrum, whether that side agrees with those views, or not. Pessimistic or optimistic, hopeful or hopeless.

And MDZS... is not an hopeful universe.

Now, that’s not saying there aren’t good people in it, or that we’re left with no possibility things could change for the better – the Juniors precisely embody that  hope! And a lot of the established characters are good people, it’s not saying it’s impossible. But generally, the view on society and societal structures, and the people inhabiting it from the top to the bottom, tends to be quite cynical. For evidence, just look at how all the clans reacted to the situation with Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants, and how the one person who spoke up about it, Mianmian, was treated. I don’t think MDZS is making a case about how all leaders are corrupt, though some are, but it is making one about how most people will blindly follow the people in power and turn on anyone who opposes that, and how that can lead to mob mentality and false gossip and danger if that leader is corrupt. The fault and the problem is with the structures themselves. 

And because of that, it’s impossible to eliminate one thing that’s the problem. There’s no one person behind the state of the world, though some definitely take advantage of it, so you can’t get rid of Y factor in Z character’s life and make everything all right. For example, there are a lot of stories where Wei Wuxian is raised by the Lans or the Nies, and that somehow makes everything alright. And maybe something similar would work in other fandoms, where there is one nation or group of people that’s the problem – but the corruption here is society-deep. That would not solve the problem – the classism, the mob mentality, the dehumanisation and so on – because that’s how the world is going to be. Likewise, I also see AUs where people found out what the situation really was at the Burial Mounds and everyone went to band against the evil Jin Sect and help Wei Wuxian. But the Jins weren’t the only sect responsible, and if the sects didn’t know the situation before (though some people definitely did), they definitely knew after the siege – who threw the Wen remnants’ bodies into the Blood Pool, again? And that didn’t change their attitude at all. Because the Wens aren’t seen as human (there’s a reason they’re called Wen-dogs), they’re seen as less than that, and they’re seen as not deserving of life. Being ‘innocent’ doesn’t change that. 

Just because a similar premise works in other fandoms, where maybe there is one main thing that’s the problem, doesn’t mean it’ll work in all of them. And it certainly won’t here.

Again, the one person who spoke up in favour of Wei Wuxian protecting the Wens because maybe there was more to it? Ostracised. And in MDZS, people like Mianmian are most definitely presented as the exception, not the norm.

The MDZS world is not kind. And too much of the plot hinges on that for it to be easily changed.

(...And I do wonder if this thinking is a factor in people thinking Wei Wuxian rejects help too, or is bad at dealing with the situation involving the Wens, or the Golden Core, or anything else. Because if the world was kind, surely there wouldn’t be a reason not to ask for support, right? And because of that, people mistake his very sensible (and accurate) view of the clans in power for low self-esteem and being simple unwilling to ask.)

...This isn’t a condemnation of fix-its in MDZS. If you want to write one, great! But understand that in the universe you’re writing about, you can’t remove simply one thing, or one clan, or one person, and make everything ok. A story written with a premise like alternate clan adoption or people finding out what's actually happening can be great, if you remember the constraints of the universe you’re working within.

Some universes are hopeful, others are not. And you can’t have the same trope working exactly the same way in two on different ends of the spectrum.

#this is a REALLY meta meta huh #a meta on meta fandom culture... #...does that count or does it cancel out #also #this is NOT a comment on the human condition as a whole #maybe humans are inherently good maybe they're the opposite maybe they're nothing at all #but none of that affects how they're presented in the work of fiction you're engaging in #mdzs meta #cultivation world #i guess #or more accurately #The General State Of Humanity #fandom culture #mo dao zu shi #魔道祖师 #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #gdc #my meta

[katrinasis]

ok im gonna talk about it more actually. i get why some ppl wouldn’t like the nightmare dad theory because of how often the fandom makes nightmare ridiculously outrageously abusive for the sake of angst or whatever but if done right i think the concept could be good and cool and also interesting.

imagine nightmare being some guy who makes/corrupts/buys at the baby store this immensely powerful blueberry kid and then getting unintentionally and hopelessly attached to him. yeah end goal is still to have a loyal god tier warrior around to kill his enemies for him but also, he loves meta knight. that is his little guy. his little evil bat wings are coming in isn’t that adorable? awwww he wraps his cape around himself just like his poppop :).

nightmare teaches meta to play chess and to appreciate literature and about ancient technology and also about how those Stupid Fucking Ancients sealed him away with those Stupid Fucking Star Rods for all time for no reason at all (you should help me fucking GET them meta. don’t you want revenge). maybe he throws in a little lie here and there about the great injustices against him and how Hey, did you know the Ancients tried to destroy your species :))). nightmare wants meta to be a clever cultured little borb when he grows up and to be undyingly loyal to him, because meta also needs to be his little soldier. he thinks he wants what’s best for meta. he’s pretty sure. nightmare is cruel sometimes, and has very high expectations, and does not like to be disappointed, but he thinks they are happy. they are as happy as two monsters can be.

and then his sword ex-wife who he’s been keeping in the basement for like 1000 years starts pushing her way into meta’s nightmares and being like “Meta Sweetie Your Papa Is A War Criminal” and “Meta Sweetie He Almost Caused The Collapse Of The Ancients” and “Meta Sweetie Kill That Man Now I Can Help You Do It”. suddenly the little guy is starting to play around with the idea that maybe his father is not a very good person and maybe he shouldn’t kill his enemies for him. maybe instead he should run away with the sword to some nowhere planet. and before nightmare can do anything about it meta knight runs, and maybe that makes nightmare all the more cruel, because obviously he was wasting his time with meta if he would reject his love like that. couldn’t be the war crimes. it’s the preteen’s fault and his fucking ex-wife.

anyway tl;dr: i think it would be cool if nightmare actually loved meta knight and instead of meta knight leaving because his dad was obviously a violent maniac he left because he realized that, as much as he might have cared for meta, nightmare was not a man worth fighting for. i think it would be cool if meta knight had incredibly messy feelings about his pops because he’s pretty sure nightmare loved him but also he was kind of a piece of shit to him sometimes. galaxia took the kids in the divorce

#take it. take my whole brain. #HAL just make galaxia real already please. i swear im not crazy!! #kirby #meta knight #galaxia #kirby nightmare #kirby right back at ya #i guess that tag counts. not a fan of the anime but theory origin point ig #long post #yells at cloud

[blocksgame]

Blocksgame Orpheus's crackpot lore theory hour - QSMP FitMC edition

/rp

<takes a long drag off of a mechanical pencil>

We know that Fit was recruited on 2b2t by an unknown party to steal player data from the Federation.

Bear with me. These are players in a Minecraft world. They live in a server, though they can go between servers. Either literally on computers or in a more metaphysical way, they're data. Their bodies are data. What if "player data" is that data.

Maybe it's a brain emulation situation and a full set of "player data" is literally all of their memories and past actions and brain such that it would be indistinguishable from the original (at the point the copy was made.) Maybe it's something less intense, but like, still what you would need to recreate that person, something of their memories or capabilities.

I am not positing that he's here to, like, kidnap players, exactly. I am positing that he's copying or stealing copies of the data that makes them up. And he is giving those copies to his employer so that they can experiment on or run those players on another server.

This squares with a couple other things Fit has indicated about his task:

He doesn't think his friends will directly come to harm. He's talked about getting out of there with Ramon. I don't get the sense that he thinks, say, Pac will die as a result of his actions. Etc.

Nonetheless, he's said that the others would hate him if they knew

Well, Fit comes from a culture (2b2t) that makes extensive use of bots, as well as coerced labor. What if Fit's stealing player data so that it can be piped into, like, Fantasy Baritone Mod and used to mine or build or do other actions. Or uploaded to other servers.

Like a Lena/MMAcevado situation [CW for short story at link: identity horror, horror about uploaded minds].

FAQ:

Why does Fit have to be on Quesadilla Island to do this?

Maybe it's unusual to have player data stored somewhere accessible. The Federation and the Rebellion seem to be in the business of altering or creating people - the eggs, the code, the workers, the Cucuruchos, SOFIA, the minimes, Baghera and the other hybrids, AyRobot, Luzu, whatever's up with the two Quackitys... Maybe they work with this and they're known to keep copies of this data serverside.

Wait. I know Fit's an asshole, but isn't mistreating perfect clones of his friends still mistreating his friends? Would he really do that?

If you ask me, a perfect clone of you or your brain that has your thoughts and memories and behaviors is you in most of the important ways. But people disagree and I don't think Fit necessarily would see it this way. He's smart and resourceful but I don't think he necessarily has an expansive theory of mind. (If nothing else, the environment he was in before this did not really reward empathy.) I think he might say that as long as his versions of his friends are safe, any other copies out there are all but strangers, and thus, fair game.

...And he absolutely wouldn't be motivated to start thinking otherwise now. He's in too deep.

I feel like you just gestured at a sort of entire Minecraft-based cosmology that there's no evidence for in the story.

I did do that. That's on me. It would be cool, though, wouldn't it?

#qsmp fan theory bros #qsmp fitmc #qsmp fit #qsmp meta #I think this counts as meta? #tell me if meta means something else. thank you #human trafficking // #<- in implication. i DO NOT know how to warn this better uh let me know if you need a different warning on this #simulation theory // #<- in implication I guess