#i'm not saying the whole story is bad bc it isn't but that's exactly why the ending was such a let-down

[98chao]

Sonic Prime thing

so basically after i watched Sonic Prime S3 (on the day it came out) i was left pretty unsatisfied with the weird storytelling, plot holes and loose ends and decided to start brainstorming a re-imagining for it and drew some designs...

so this is gonna be long but i wanna preface this by saying i'm not a writer or even that good at character design 😭!!!! and also the majority of this is like from almost 2 months ago and it's very incomplete so i haven't done much thought on it i just had some ideas and ran with it Tbh. so if stuff doesn't make much sense Lmk bc a multiverse story is a very big thing to tackle, you really have to pay attention to the little stuff for everything to be complete.

also i like stuff with darker themes so if a lot of this is like "a Sonic show wouldn't do that" well. Yeah. this isn't a pitch to SEGA it's just my own thing LOL

(also also we're just gonna throw out the whole "Prime is canon to the games" here, i use the games as a basis but i wouldn't say this is in the realms of canon for multiple reasons)

~ The Main Stuff ~

so pretty much i went into this mostly thinking about changing the shatterverses while still keeping the base ideas that Prime had, and also a bit about how the shatterverse works in the first place. so i have some bullet points that i wrote down. i haven't watched s1&2 in a long time so i don't remember too much of the lore they already established, so if some of this is just reiterating what they said in the show then that's my bad

i wasn't exactly sure how it made sense that a single rock in some random cave conveniently in green hills had control of the entire universe so i want the explanation for why breaking the prism had this kind of effect to be something else (or to just change the prism to be something different) but i'm not sure exactly what. definitely not like "it was an illusion like the phantom ruby" or some stupid shit but it felt off that something completely world (universe) ending was so easily accessible. anyway.

Sonic explicitly doesn't exist in each alternate universe because he was the one who broke the prism. Sonic being the final piece that brings the universe together should probably have bigger lore implications as well

i think this is already what's in canon but Shadow used chaos control as the prism got shattered, causing himself to get fragmented across time and space as well.

unlike in the show, Shadow still has alternate versions of himself in each of the universes, but he has to kinda do an EEAAO and swap into their consciousness for him to be able to enter their respective universes (which takes a lot of energy bc its literally dimension travel so he can't do it a lot). his actual body is stuck in the void which means its at risk of erosion and also any hazard in the void like asteroids n stuff. it also explains why he's greatly weakened in the show (because his ass should not have been handed to him that easily in s3) cuz bits of his . being. is split across each universe, and can only be completed by the prism.

the void decays life which adds a higher stake to Sonic needing to complete the prism asap and also why Shadow is so hellbent on getting him to do it quickly. his actual, original self is slowly dying. (adds a bit of a character flaw too like the zombot arc, because you'd think the ultimate lifeform would be resistant to erosion. maybe at first he thinks he'll be fine and does the dimension travelling for fun until he starts feeling Really drained)

before i get to the individual universes, i'll talk a bout Sonic's character real quick because hoo boy, was it BAD in Prime. no shade to anyone who enjoyed his character in Prime, but as a show that claims to be "canon to the games", he was embarrassingly out of character. if it were just another version of him like movie Sonic i wouldn't really be so weirded out by it. so i wanna just say right off the bat that i'm using my own favourite iteration of Sonic as a reference for his character, which is the characterization from Sonic X.

i think when the prism gets properly explained, Sonic would kind of put 2 and 2 together and realize completing the prism would erase the other universes. and rather than being all ambiguous about it like Prime was, here it very explicitly would be that restoring the prism will erase the shatterverse. so Sonic get's really stuck between a rock and a hard place, because restoring the prism brings his friends and world back, but then he's effectively killing thousands of people, many of them who look exactly like his friends, all for the sake of his own world.

i think this is the kind of dilemma that would be really good for a character like Sonic, who's carefree and always does what he believes to be the right thing regardless of what other people say. his conflict with Nine isn't even all that different from his conflict with Merlina. but would he be okay with being enemies with someone who's literally just his little brother? i don't think Sonic would have tried to reason with Nine as much as he did in Prime, attachment be damned, but i still think it would still be hard for him to come to terms with the fact that Nine is his enemy and that in the end he would have to erase him too.

this is all i wanna say about Sonic rn because truth be told i'm not exactly sure how different the decisions he made in Prime would be here since i haven't thought too much on it, i would have to rewatch the show (god forbid) to figure that out lol.

~New Yolk City~

so i actually have designs for this, some of them have went through changes but they're all pretty "initial concepts". i wanna say that first off, i wanted this to be explicitly an alternate timeline and not just an alternate universe. one where Sonic doesn't exist in the main timeline so nobody really does anything to stop Eggman and he takes over the world. the designs are deliberately edgy so i call it sonic underfell in my notes lol

also, because a dystopian Sonic premise already exists in the form of SatAM... we got Sally Acorn back :D i didn't include all the Freedom Fighters for fear of the cast getting too big, but Nicole is here too because i love Sonic comic's robo assistants like Nicole and Kintobor. Sonia and Manic were also considered as added characters since Sonic Underground also has a dystopian premise, but i think it would be weird to add Sonic's siblings in a world where he doesn't exist, so it's not like they'd have a little 'OMG he's my long lost brother' moment. like no they don't even know who he is LOL.

alright so for character info i'll start with Nine because he's like the 3rd most important character in the show. i have a few different sketches of him, most incomplete... and for the third one my friend wanted him to look more emo. i wanted to add a bit more to that design but i wasn't sure what to do. if anyone has suggestions lmk

just like in the show, bc Sonic never meets Tails, Tails doesn't get saved from bullying and becomes very jaded. as for the robot face and tails, i think in the show they really drive it home how Nine values robots over people very much, going as far as to make robot clones of his friends in order to replace them. so... robot body parts doesn't seem too out of the realm for what he'd do! it's a very good parallel to what i have planned for Eggman/the Chaos Council it's also very fucking gruesome and sad esp because hes like 8 years old..

also, i'd really love it if he wasn't just weirdly evil the way he was in Prime S3. because no the hell he is not evil, it felt like a cheap way to get you to stop sympathizing with him until the very last moment where he had a change of heart. he's just a small, traumatized kid who was shown friendship for the first time only to realize that Sonic only cared about him because he was a Tails and actually pretty much wanted him dead (even if this all wasn't exactly true, i can genuinely see why he felt this way).

next i'll talk about who the main extra characters in this universe will be, which is Sally and Nicole.

so obv the resistance is called the Freedom Fighters, and Sally is the commander (like she should've been in Sonic Forces/IDW, but alas, she is dead to SEGA). she'd have a much more serious personality compared to her Archie/SatAM counterpart. where she'd usually banter with Sonic in Archie, here she would straight up tell him to gtfo. the aim of the Freedom Fighters in current time isn't really to fight to get their world back, just to survive and preserve what they still have.

just like in other media, Nicole is Sally's AI assistant slash potential love interest who does all the tech-y stuff, like scanning the area for threats, hacking things, etc. which gives them a bit of more power against the enemy without needing Nine's help.

next we got Amy aka Rusty Rose, this time she's fully a robot instead of being only half of one, and i'll expand on why. (also to note i didn't look at other Metal Amy fan designs when making this just to try and keep this a bit more original lol)

so, obviously being inspired by SatAM and Archie, roboticization is a concept that would be reintroduced here through Rusty Rose. she was previously a freedom fighter who got a bit reckless and was captured, and was roboticized before her allies could save her. she's kind of used as a cautionary tale among the Freedom Fighters as a way to hammer in don't be reckless and don't get caught.

i remember in Sonic Prime they tried to use the flicky 'powering' her as a way to keep her connection with humanity, which was great except for the fact that she still had half a mobian face so she wasn't even fully robot. in this case, i decided to make her fully robot and keep the flicky, except this time it is genuinely powering her lifeforce unlike whatever they did in the show. obviously taking it out for a bit just to showcase the fact she does have a flicky won't insta-kill her, but she will slowly die without the flicky inside of her. not sure why the Chaos Council didnt just slap a chaos drive in there but whatever lol, it's nice symbolism anyway.

also just a note, she can shoot bullets out of her fingers if you were wondering why her hands looked like that. yes its an Aigis Persona 3 reference. but also she no longer uses her hammer because as a robot she's stripped of her personality and autonomy, and the Piko-Piko hammer was like an Amy signature weapon, who Rusty Rose no longer is at this point. but mostly it's an Aigis Persona 3 reference. We ball

next is Rouge, who's no longer a leader of the Freedom Fighters, but just a spy/intelligence agent who still has an eye for shiny things.

in the inital art i drew of her i named her Agent Rebel, but honestly Agent Rouge works just fine because yknow. Rouge is just the word for red in french. if they really have to all have different names then Agent Red also works too, but it might be a bit on the nose. anyway she's apart of the Freedom Fighters as their spy, something they desperately need because of the constant surveillance around new yolk. of course she's still the morally gray bastard she usually is, so she always desires compensation for her efforts, especially on the more dangerous missions.

the reason why i demoted her from leader is because Rouge is really not the leader type, maybe you could give her a leading role if it were a smaller group like Team Dark, but when its a whole resistance she's genuinely not cut out for it, especially because she's not particularly selfless and definitely doesn't give too much of a shit about the well being of others. here she understands very well that her life is also at risk, so aiding the Freedom Fighters is pretty much her only choice.

next we got Knuckles who is definitely not having a good time. he never met Sonic so he's very distrusting towards everyone, even allies. he lived on Angel Island until it was attacked by Eggman and he lost the Master Emerald. unfortunately i didn't draw anything full body or coloured so i only have this sketch

being from a clan of warriors, i'd say its a no-brainer that he'd be co-commander of the Freedom Fighters. as for all the injuries, they're from a time where he was captured. to compensate for his... lack of knuckles... he now wears brass knuckles. he's definitely the most angry and vengeful of all the different versions of Knuckles, because he feels as if he's been disgraced in multiple ways, and he sees the Freedom Fighters as a means to an end. his pure, unadultered rage definitely helps with taking out enemies tho.

okay, i mentioned that Shadow would have alternate versions of himself and lucky for yall i did draw a design for New Yolk Shadow, who's named Terios and is inspired by that beta design.

Terios isn't apart of the Freedom Fighters, but he's not on the side of the Chaos Council. hes kind of an anti-hero vigilante, he's cordial with Rouge but not really interested in the Freedom Fighters. he kinda does his own shit. realistically, since New Yolk is an alternate timeline where Sonic doesn't exist, and it's implied that Gerald based Shadow off of Super Sonic then technically Shadow shouldn't exist but hey, this is the one plot hole i'm not gonna try to mend. We Ball. Shadow exists because he's goated like that.

anyway his backstory is the same but because everything is so Fucked Up he never really gets the chance to explode the world like he wanted. since he's not on the evil side i'll say that Eggman wasn't the one who woke him up tho and he got talked out of his homicidal urges. who woke him up? idk i'll think about it

now for another added character... Silver!!! but he goes by the alias "Venice"... because his beta design is called Venice LOL

before i explain Silver's deal, i'll talk abt how i imagine time works in the Sonic universe. basically, the future isn't something predestined and is actively changed by events in the present. this is in fact something that 06 contradicts since the future was messed up before Sonic even met Elise, but that in and of itself contradicts Sonic CD which does the whole "actions in the present affect the future" thing with the good future/bad future. so i went with CD's time mechanics because it makes more sense for this story. also 06 isn't canon so #WeBall

so Silver, being from the future, wakes up one day to find everything all fucked up again. except now he's in the present too. he tries to ask ppl if they know where Sonic is, assuming that of course Sonic would know what happened, but nobody seems to know who he's talking about. Silver eventually crosses paths with Shadow/Terios and asks him where Sonic is, but even Terios doesn't know who Sonic is (at this point, our Shadow hasn't linked his consciousness w/ Terios) so Silver is just really fucking lost and doesn't know what the hell is happening, why it's happening and why nobody seems to know who Sonic is.

he ends up following Terios around as sort of an apprentice type thing because he's the only familiar face so far and he really needs to understand what's going on. Terios isn't very happy about it but can tell Silver's a pretty strong person he would want as an ally, so he keeps him around. Silver wears a cloak and goes by the alias Venice as a way to protect his identity.

so obv when Sonic shows up he KNOWS Sonic fucked up real bad somehow. cue the 'it's no use! take this!' loop

(Blaze isn't here because she's relaxing and enjoying a cup of tea in her palace. also trying to tackle how the prism affects the Sol Dimension will make things way more convoluted)

~ New Yolk City: The Chaos Council ~

okay... NOW we talk about Eggman. so maybe you've noticed i kept switching between saying Eggman and the Chaos Council, and i will explain.

the Chaos Council do still exist in this reimagining, but Eggman also exists. Kind of.

basically my idea for the Chaos Council was that it was originally just Eggman ruling the world (btw his name would be Robotnik because nobody was there to call him Eggman), but here comes the inspiration from Archie again, and now he's split himself into 5 robots to help rule over New Yolk City. and i say it's inspired from Archie because i very vividly remember that Robotnik fucking died in Archie and then uploaded his consciousness into a robot or some shit, and then when it came time for his modern design to be incorporated into the comic he literally switched robot bodies to become modern Eggman. So Yeah.

multiple facets of himself get uploaded into robot bodies, because what's the point of living a mortal fleshy life when you can be a sick ass immortal shiny robot (throwback to how i said it would be a parallel to Nine) and these different "facets" of Eggman would just be different parts of his personality, these are what i had in mind but it's still a WIP:

intelligence (cunning, manipulative, thinks logically and lacks empathy)

childishness (interest in juvenile things like themeparks, acts. well. childish)

vain (self-absorbed, uncooperative, gets upset by criticism, interest in flashy things/theatrics)

emotional (prone to outbursts--typically rage, empathetic)

dramatic (placeholder until i think of a better one because this is just grouped in with vanity tbh)

bad news is that i never drew designs for these. because if im not good at designing characters, im ESPECIALLY not good at designing robots. Rusty Rose was already a challenge. but ill figure it out lol.

ANYWAY now we're done with New Yolk. if this seemed long, don't worry because it was pretty much the only one i did brainstorming on. i have one more design and a few notes but nothing else for the rest of the shatterverses.

~ No Place ~

there's not much about No Place i would change other than the character roster and basic premise. it's still pirate-y, and Dread is DEFINITELY staying the same because i Love him.

pretty much my idea is that instead of there only being one crew which is Dread's, there are two. one with Dread, Amy and Tails, and another crew with Rouge, Shadow and whoever else i think to add. basically they're rival crews that compete to get treasure, and the prism shard is just another one they set their eyes on. Marine is also gonna be there probably on Dread's crew.

Sonic initially takes Dread's side because hes a Knuckles, Knuckles is his friend and Rouge usually means trouble, but when Dread starts being yknow. batshit crazy and manipulative. Sonic realizes that he picked wrong and hes kinda on his own to get that shard.

the only thing i drew for this is a design of Rouge

i imagine Shadow would just be the one pirate design from that Sonic mobile game that everyone likes to draw. his name would also be Blackheart because of the lyrics "black-hearted evil / brave-hearted hero" from I Am... All Of Me

that's all i have for No Place. in truth i didn't make much changes because i actually very much enjoyed No Place (mostly bc of Dread)

~ Boscage ~

so... this one i've done the least thinking about, and honestly it's because i don't really know what to do with this one. something about Boscage rubs me the wrong way, maybe just bc it's a jungle universe and the designs make me cringe a little bit. if anyone has any ideas on this then lmk. i don't think i want to get rid of it entirely but i just don't know how to go about this one.

all i have in terms of notes is that:

it should be a bit similar to Sonic Boom in setting, so an island with dense forests

Sticks should be a character, potentially taking Prim's role in the story

~ Extra Notes ~

more characters in the main cast like Cream and the Chaotix should appear

other characters robot copies should resemble canonical ones like Metal Sonic, Knuckles and Amy, however Nine's robot copies should look Fucked Up to emphasize the Wrongness in how he views his robot copies as true friends

^ this means Chaos Sonic should literally just be Metal Sonic. sorry Chaos Sonic fans i love him too but it made no sense to me that it wouldn't be Metal Sonic but lmk your thoughts on that

that's it for everything i think. i might have had more but i didn't write it down so it has just been forever lost in the dark depths of my brain. this is very unorganized and way too long but i hope it was interesting to read at least. ofc any feedback is welcome. i don't think i'll make any kind of story out of this but i'd like to complete it tbh

#when i say it's incomplete It Is Very Incomplete #it took 3 hours for me to write this post tho #a lot of this is just “well im not sure how this makes sense but this is how i would do it” #feel free to disagree on anything or give advice on how to improve it bc like i said i'm not a writer and i'm welcoming towards criticism #sonic the hedgehog #sth #sonic prime #sonic au #ugh should i even tag characters #maybe do that later #long post #txt #my art #2024 #tw body horror #<- just for that last nine design #and also roboticization ig

[likeastars]

As per insistent request of @phantom-of-the-laboratory @arachniids @incorrect-nevermore and everyone else screaming in agony under my post:

Cishet! Nevermore AU

Let's go

Lenore is 💫🤢💫not like other girls💫💫🤢

She isn't disabled in anyway btw

Yes a tree fell on her but just to kill her brother to give her a tragic backstory

No leg injuries and trauma and shit to deal with

She escapes her family because they want to marry her off and succeeds and doesn't even burn her house down 😭😭😭😭😭😭

White raven isn't canon obviously

Annabel isn't half as developed as she is in canon

I'm thinking stereotypical mean girl underdeveloped

She's there just to make fun of the protagonist and highlight how much of not like other girls she is

Nooooo backstory given to her no motivations no unhealthy homoerotic obsession

She and lenore met in life before but Annabel just ditched her. No gut wrenching I Am Hurting You Because I Have To no big bad feelings about sexism and obviously no slowly falling for the one you where supposed to use

........

Wait a sec guys I am thinking about the Balcony Scene I need a breather

.

.

.

Alright

Obv there are still some people shipping it bc. Yk. Rivalry

And the whole fandom hates them

Dnis and reasons why they are toxic and shit

Ada is even worse off than annabel she's just a minion no personality whatsoever

Morella too she's the happy go lucky friend that appears in the beginning to be of support but doesn't actually do anything

Pluto exists only to be comedic relief and nothing else

He's the butt of every joke and his anxiety just makes him a "scaredy cat"

Ew

Berenice and Eulalie say exactly one word each and they are the webtoon's one gay couple

They die

NOW DUKE IS HARD

I'm very torn

He could be part of the *drumroll*

Harem

Of the webcomic

Because we need all of the people in the world to go after the main character are you kidding

So I can see him as a second male lead, the friend to lover

BUT ALSO

He's black. And pretty flamboyant.

And since I'm pretty sure neither black love interests nor bisexuality/gender non conforming people exist in these type of stories

I am also type casting him into the gay best friend trope

Prospero is also a part of the 💫harem💫 because I said so

He's Annabel's boyfriend (obviously) but she mistreats him and he's actually such a good boy inside 🥺🥺🥺🥺

Yes he helped in all the things she did but he wasn't actually participating 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

But he's still not the main lead

Because that

Is

Obviously

Montresorry

Wait

I meant

Montreal

Wait

Montrefucker

YOU KNOW WHO

Bad boy turned good with a secret come on

There's x reader ff of him

Ppl justify him in every way possible

Will is his minion

again no personality no possibility of redemption no storilines

AND

MOST IMPORTANT THING

Lenore isn't masc >>>>>:(

#nevermore webtoon #lenore nevermore #annabel lee nevermore #pluto nevermore #montresor nevermore #duke nevermore #prospero nevermore #nev

[a-master-procrastinator]

So, I have a headcanon regarding Outlander and Valkorion

Spoiler territory for pretty much the whole game (mostly Jedi Knight and Sith Warrior class stories and all expansions from Shadows of Revan).

How does Outlander (especially non Force user) defeat Valkorion in KotET? This question bothered me (and I'm sure all of you) for quite some time. And frankly, the game doesn't answer it very well. So I did some thinking, searching and theorizing, and found a solution that I will bring in my personal stories. Just thought it would be interesting for others to see as well.

Explanations offered in the game:

Valkorion's power had become weaker at some point (as noted by Arcann in chapter 8 "Taking Flight", and indicated by events on Ziost, since Theron wasn't possessed, and by Valkorion in chapter 9 "Eternal Throne", when he said that he needed Vaylin's power to destroy Outlander's mind);

Arcann and Vaylin helped defeat him;

The holocron was the instrument of Valkorion's defeat (but it's never properly explained how exactly);

The "kneel before the dragon of Zakuul" phrase worked on Valkorion because the Outlander said so.

It doesn't sound too bad, but when I tried to go into details, it didn't make much sense. "My mind, my rules" was really out of nowhere, also kinda goes against the previous experience of Outlander not being able to do anything about Valkorion before that. And Arcann and Vaylin being on your side isn't the key either because even the three of them were still losing, it only changed after the main character said the key phrase. And why the heck does it even work like that? Because they said so? Gee, should've thought about it a few chapters before, no?

Now, what I came up with doesn't really go much different from that, I just made some adjustments to make it flow better (at least for myself). I'll talk through my thoughts in chronological order, so bear with me (I tried to summarize it at the end, so scroll if you want the short version).

Vitiate learned to transfer his spirit as one of the ways to be immortal. It can happen either through a ritual, which is preferable since it's easier, doesn't weaken him, and he doesn't need time to adjust, but it does require consent from a person, or killing the previous host, which does weaken him for some time. The longer he has possessed a host, the greater the loss of power will be upon the transfer. It's not to say that he isn't dangerous, quite the opposite, but perhaps he can't do some 'impossible' things (like consume a planet or shatter a mind) just like that.

He was at his full power before the events on Belsavis and Voss, timeline wise. Remember how easily he possessed the minds of the Jedi on the strike team? Yeah, Jedi Knight broke free, but that's bc they're super strong (and the main character in their storyline).

But because of Baras Vitiate had to be released from the body on Voss by being killed, which made him slightly weaker, just enough for the Hero of Tython to kill him again on Dromund Kaas. That made him lose more power (because he possessed this body for much longer than that Voss), and Vitiate tried to find a new host and regain his power (either by Revan reviving him or consuming all life on Ziost). His attempts were not successful, so he retreated to Zakuul.

That would explain why after being 'killed' yet again on Zakuul (thus losing two of his main hosts) Valkorion wasn't powerful enough to possess the Outlander's mind (regardless of their class). He was in a pretty vulnerable position, so he came up with a plan. We'll get to it. For now, Valkorion understands that if the Outlander dies, he'll be even weaker and probably won't be able to get a new host, so he protects the Outlander while pushing them to use his power.

Every time the Outlander agrees to do so gives Valkorion more control over their body, and even if they never agree, the bond grows stronger as time passes, it's just faster when Outlander uses his power. Eventually it would be just strong enough for Valkorion to use the main character's body without their permission (like in chapter 16). But he's still not powerful enough to break their mind, so he goes to the next part of the plan.

Valkorion manipulated the main character into killing Vaylin (and Arcann, if applicable) because he needed to consume her power to destroy Outlander's mind (which is what happens in chapter 9). But he made a couple mistakes in doing so. First, he underestimated how smart Commander is, and how the bond allowed them to take his form to survive. Second, by consuming Vaylin's spirit, Valkorion gained not just her strength, but also her weakness, which is the conditioning.

But wait, didn't Vaylin free herself from it? Sort of. I saw a suggestion from another player that Vaylin didn't get rid of conditioning itself, but rather the lever that triggers it. It's possible because the process on Nathema didn't exactly according to the plan. And because of that, Valkorion also gained her conditioning after consuming her spirit.

So, what does that mean? What does it do? Well, I think that when the key phrase is said in presence of Vaylin, she temporarily loses her connection to the Force (or it becomes so weak that she can't use it), thus isn't a threat. And the same happens to Valkorion when the main character attempts to use it on him in KotET chapter 9, at least for long enough for the Outlander to kill him. This way the victory isn't dependent on one's power in the Force, and it fits a non Force sensitive Commander as well.

What about the holocron? I explain this as it only binds, commands and releases spirits, as we see with lord Dramath. It's not the key to Valkorion's destruction, but it is still important because it is used to free Vaylin's spirit from Valkorion after her death (and Arcann's, if applicable), which gives Outlander a potential powerful ally.

[Just a little addition that has very little to do with my explanation, but wanted to mention - in the throne room, when Valkorion breaks Outlander's mind, he takes over the body and attacks your companions. They hold off long enough for Commander to put their mind back, and at that moment Valky loses control, and the body is unconscious.]

So, to sum it up:

Valkorion is weaker after being killed on Voss, Dromund Kaas and Zakuul, hence why the Outlander can resist him, regardless of theirconnection to the Force;

the holocron found on Nathema can bind, command and release spirits, which allows Outlander to free Vaylin (and Arcann, if applicable) from Valkorion;

the bond formed between Valkorion and Commander allowed the latter to survive after having their mind destroyed;

Vaylin didn't completely get rid of the conditioning on Nathema because the process didn't go as it should've, it just removed the trigger;

by consuming Vaylin's spirit Valkorion gained both her strength and her weakness - her conditioning, that's why it worked on him, and it temporarily weakened his connection to the Force.

I know this isn't perfect, there are probably plot holes that I haven't noticed or poorly explained, but I like it much more. Why do I even bother with this explanation?

I just love doing mental gymnastics around KotFE-ET, and this particular part was difficult yet entertaining to figure out.

But honestly, probably most important reason is that it works for every class (so even non Force-users are fitting here) because strength in the Force is not the key. Valkorion underestimated how observant and clever Outlander is, and I think it works better for their characters.

#let me know if you want a version with low-quality pictures #did i come up with this just to justify jett being the outlander and winning? absolutely #but i do think it fits with my other outlanders #swtor #swtor headcanons #long post #valkorion #kotfe #kotet #kotfe spoilers #kotet spoilers #shadows of revan spoilers #jedi knight spoilers #sith warrior spoilers #oc:jett #tagging her bc this whole thing mostly exists for her #if you have questions about this hmu #i might have left out some details #or maybe there is more stuff i can add here

[followmetoyourdoom]

I have now watched Megamind Rules! and have been pleasantly surprised...

I usually do my reviews as a good first bad last but since there's so little bad, let's start with that this time.

Megamind and Roxanne's relationship and the insistence on friends grates a little, it's not the worst thing in the world, but I could use some more soft looks or touches, they were dating! They saved the city together! That counts for something!

Only other negative thing is that ep1 has some of the lack luster writing from the new film and goes hard on the 'oh look an older generation all person who doesn't know tech' when Megamind is a technical genius. Him not knowing the internet? Sure fine though they're supposed to be buying their Tesla coils and blinky dials from a warehouse in Romania, how if not online? But the insistence at him not knowing what a TV is when he has a bunch in his lair as monitors, idk, didn't like that aspect.

Now then for the good.

The quips are really on it, the writing once it settles into 'this is the scenario we have' is really enjoyable and compelling. Machiavillian is so good, the whole game being an elaborate set up was such good writing. Bringing back the Binkey, as a source of power, yes please. Megamind's backstory being that he accidentally killed him? Excellent, love that for the blue idiot, very in character.

Speaking of Megamind being in character, oh my god was he. He was amazingly chaotic and insane and a nice mixture of genius and incompetent. The body swap ep with him running the city was astounding. Hats off to the new voice actors, they really managed to let you know that this was Megamind looking like Roxanne and Roxanne looking like Megamind.

Roxanne came into her own, I'm not happy with *how* they got to her being the mayor, but she is killing it in the role she's been handed. Her dealing with Megamind and Christina bickering is an excellent call back to her having to deal with Megamind and Metro Man quipping back and forth. The cake baking scene was hilarious. I do wish she had been involved more in the investigation side of things, and I do wonder if that's why they gave her the role as mayor, so there's an excuse for her being so busy and no longer a nosy reporter. So that a certain someone else can share the spotlight.

Speaking of that certain someone, Keiko started to grow on me as her push for social media eased off and she became more of an apprentice and a member of the team. I think having a kid who looks up to Megamind but who isn't perfect and struggles to find her place in the world fits in really well with the rest of the cast. Just, let her be that rather than an annoying social media star.

Minion is perfect and has never done anything wrong ever. Except change his name, but we're ignoring that. (Though more on that later).

The Doom Syndicate in this was very good as their antics were more background or focused to one or two eps, it let them breathe as characters and showed them being competent at times, and useless at others. An excellent balance for Megamind's old team.

Overall, when the writers were saying 'this is the story we've been wanting to tell for a long long time' and I saw the film I went 'no, surely not, surely this isn't the story that has been swimming around in your head for 15 years' and it's bc it's not. It is very clearly the build up to ep8 that is the focus. The big show down, the big game across the city, the gaslighting the entire city into believing that Megamind has returned to villainy, that excellent and compelling writing is the core of Megamind and is exactly what I was hoping for. I just wish they had had more time to think about exactly how they wanted to get there instead of crowbarring it in.

To me, they shouldn't have started with a film, they should have done a star wars style summary of this is where we're at now along the lines of "After a long life of villainy, Megamind is now the hero of Metro City. After two long days hard at work as this new hero, Megamind's old team, the Doom Syndicate returns... With the city in chaos, Roxanne takes a step away from the TV camera to the Metro City white house to become the new mayor, while a young internet savvy tween called Keiko joins Megamind's team in the hopes of becoming a superhero herself one day. We return as Megamind is, once again, getting his blue butt kicked." And then cut to the end of the film and have that as ep 1.

No nonsense with Minion leaving, again, or if he does, have it be over something new! Maybe include the name change but in a compelling way such as.

Mn: Sir, I've been thinking-

MM: Now now Minion, I do the thinking around here

Mn: I know Sir, you're very good at it Sir. But I- I don't think I want to be called Minion anymore...

MM: Don't want- but... That was the name my mother gave you, your name is one of the few things we have left from home...

Mn: ...I know, Sir, but, I don't want to be just a minion anymore- I'm not just a minion anymore! I'm your friend! I've been thinking about this long and hard and-

MM: well clearly you haven't thought long enough!!! How could you throw away your name like that? If mother had given me a name I...

Mn: I'm sorry Sir, I don't want to throw away such a gift. It just doesn't suit me anymore...

MM: well... Well, maybe, maybe we don't suit each other right now...

Mn: Okay Sir, I'll give you time to think about it.

And then have him working in the donut shop, and hey maybe the donut guy has called him Buddy. Have Roxanne talk to Megamind about how names define who we are and if he wants a new name, he should be able to pick out a new name. Make it a queer analogy! Have Megamind realise his mistake and talk to Minion about it, like:

MM: Mi- hello, old friend.

Mn: Previous Sir!

MM: Previous- oh, oh I see.

Mr Donut: Hey Buddy! Nice to see you settling in.

MM: Buddy?

Mn: My new name... It's not... Ideal, but I'm trying it out.

MM: Oh. Well. I'll leave you to try out new names then...

Mn: Sir, wait! You didn't let me finish what I wanted to say earlier. I don't want just any new name, I'm asking you to give me a new name, a name I can be proud of! If the name comes from you, doesn't that still come from home?

MM: I... I suppose it does old friend! No! Ol'Chum. Do you like that name? Chum?

Mn: it's perfect!

And like then it has sentimental value, Minion leaving has a point! It has new character growth! It's about growing and learning and changing and adapting and how sometimes you have to let the past go, no matter how sentimental it may be, to move on to the future. I might write this fic.

Anyway! I got very off track. My point is that, the end result of the new Megamind stuff is amazing, I love it, and I am excited to see where they go to next and for the love of everything - Dreamworks, give the team more money and more time! The next installment should be a new movie, now is the time for a proper movie budget, the set up is there now!

#megamind #as a warning this is long #and devolves into me musing about a re-write of the new movie #i apologise in advance

[10hourshift]

When you think about the lack of adults in fnafhs, and the lack of narrative importance they have*, Bon's dad becomes a very interesting character, even if he just appears in like one minute of one episode.

It's not THAT long but ion like scrolling

*not to say that there aren't any adults in the series, just that the ones do Nothing™ when they appear, I mean, the only one that comes to mind that ACTIVELY affects the plot (or would affect bc season cut short) is Ms Lana, but she never got to do anything so ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

I'm just gonna talk about the old man this should be quick. (Finishing notes, it wasn't)

He is part of the Yaoi shonen ai subplot alright, at this moment Bon is especially conflicted with his feelings about Bonnie as he has already realized what they are but is afraid to admit it*. The only question now is: why won't he admit them?? It's clearly something he has considered from the beginning, and, after spending more time with Bonnie, is almost a fact that is love (ignoring the possibility of platonic feelings for a bit for the sake of the argument). The answer is: his dad.

*this is more of a personal reading as we know edoo would extend the "maybe maybe not"a lot more. BUT I say this confidently bc at the end of the whole camp arc Bon gets the heartbroken forever alone joke or smth when Bonnie insist on being friends, I rest my case, I got derailed for a bit lol

In the scene where The Man appears (he is nameless you see) we get a glimpse of what the relationship with his son is.

When bon is in his room getting ready for school (and pondering on his results of the Am I Gay? Quiz of life) we hear the voice of his dad to come downstairs. He notices the (not so subtle) injuries on his son and ask what that's about. Bon tells him it's from a fight. He gets up from his seat to clearly interested about it, whether he won, if he used some technique he taught him, etc., looking all invested and proud at his son's actions, finishing the conversation saying how he is proud that Bon is finally acting as a man and that he was getting worried of Bon being "effeminate" (or woman-like to be exact) with all the accessories and especially the sleeve he usually wears. He doesn't make another appearance from there (besides at the end of the episode where he introduces toddy, but he isn't important in here, so it doesn't count)

So, his character is pretty straight forward, he is stereotypically masculine, incites violence and is emotionally distanced from his son, as we see how he dismisses his interest and tries to push him to fight with his lessons on various fighting "techniques". Bon gets pretty bummed out from this short conversation afterwards, having to reassure himself after leaving his house. From here we take that Bon is not close with his dad, and also that he seeks for his approval or at least to not get on his bad side, and understandingly so, seeing how he reacts to smaller things, such as the sleeve.

So what's so interesting about him then?? He gives Bon depth, even if said depth is just showing that he comes from a "kinda homophobic-ish, idk if my dad would kick me out of the house if I'm gay" background. This small information gives us a new perspective of Bon's conflict, after that it's not only a story of a teenage boy trying to understand his sexuality and get a bf or smth, it goes deeper now, what are those feelings exactly, how much influence does his dad have on him?, how does this affect the relationship with his dad? What would he do if his family rejects him for being himself?

Soo idk what I'm going with this I just wanted to talk about my thoughts about the old man whose role is being homophobic for the plot ok bye

#fnafhs #fhs #bon fnafhs #WHAT THE FUCK AM I TALKING ABOUT‼️‼️🔥🔥🔥 #that man had one job and he nailed it gracefully #i know i just tagged bon on this but he is here like adjacently uuhhhh #bons dad fnafhs #midnight rambles #even though i started it in the afternoon i have nothing better to do w my life rn. expect more sith like this

[iamnmbr3]

Something I find so disturbing and have been struggling with about the Loki show, is how horrible the show treats him and how accepting the Loki "fandom" is of it. Like, the show creators seem to know that they can treat Loki any way they want and get away with it. And they did, and they're going to do it again.

The thing is, they know they can do anything to him now. Subject him to anything they want, play out a whole Loki torture fantasy if they want to, and nobody is going to tell them no. Hell, they already did.

Is it because it's Loki and he deserves it? Is it because he's Loki, therefore he'll never NOT deserve it? If not, then where is the stopping point? When is enough enough? How much pain and torture and mocking and humiliating and emasculating does it take, exactly??

Why are people in the Loki fandom acting like this is okay? Why are some enjoying this and saying how wonderful it is that Loki is finally getting therapy and has a friend. THERAPY?!? A FRIEND??? This is so wrong it's become hard to live with for me. It's so disturbing. I feel like this will always live in my mind and haunt me.

My focus is more on criticizing Disney for the offensive messaging. I'm not opposed to bad things happening to characters in stories. What bothers me about the show is the framing. Bucky is tortured in CATWS. Very brutally. Right on screen. But at no point is the audience encouraged to revel is his degradation or to laugh at him or to think Pierce is giving Bucky "therapy" or helping him or anything of the sort. So yes something bad happens on screen but the messaging is fine. (the writing does get very victim blamey with Bucky later installments but I'll save that for another post).

Mobius's treatment of Larry (as I call the show character bc he has nothing in common with Loki) is the same but the framing is very different. He holds Larry against his will, forces him to serve a fascistic, genocidal organization, threatens him, degrades and dehumanizes him, and tortures him when he doesn't behave as Mobius wants.

BUT the audience is very forcefully encouraged by the framing and messaging to think this is ok. We're supposed to enjoy seeing Larry being hurt and called names. We're supposed to laugh and think he deserves it and think that Mobius is a great guy even though he's a torturer and murder who at no point shows any remorse for his actions.

And that's not ok.

This show isn't woke. It's sick.

#answered a bunch of asks earlier so go check my ask tag 2 see if urs is in there #asks #loki tv series #loki show #loki tv show #loki series #Loki 2021 #Marvel #MCU #Disney #Marvel ridiculousness #Mobius

[astralartefact]

Griff RoD Story Thoughts dae think war is bad maybe?

This write-up contains a whole lot of pseudo-deep complaining about the theme of Death as Salvation.

Content Warning for related Themes!

Okay, now that everything Griff-related is out I can finally say it:

I don't like Griff and a lot of his costumes look the same to me.

And I tried. Different from Rion and Dimos I actually tried and read all of his stories - which is why I'm writing this out today.

Not to say I can't find anything good in them - the End of his RoD story reminds me of one of the characters in the only book I ever read (Crime & Punishment) who commits suicide because without the eponymous Punishment for his eponymous Crime he couldn't find "Salvation" and therefore his only remaining option was Death to escape his guilt.

But there's only so much "Look at this 'normal' guy and what war did to him!" I can take before going numb and not listening anymore. You need to give me at least something else to latch onto. Like Lars has an existential crisis amount of shit going on that gives his story another layer about how exactly war is bad. Meanwhile Griff is just a guy who had a really fucked up thing happen that one time and he really can't get over it.

And sure. Maybe his stories are just about hammering down how PTSD works. Maybe it intentionally repeats Griff's one drop of guilt in the ocean that is war at nauseam. And maybe I'm just not keyed in to this type of historic fiction enough to understand the nuances. Maybe this is actually a very nuanced portrayal of the PTSD of sole survivors and I'm just not interested enough in this subject matter that I would know something like that.

But seeing as it ends in "the only thing that will save us from our guilt is death" I find that hard to believe. Not that there isn't value in showing the reality of veterans commiting suicide because of PTSD - but I don't think that's what's happening here.

I hate Death as Salvation as a trope. There is nothing valuable about it* and it should be wholly abandoned. (*if it isn't in some way followed up by a rebirth. then it's fine bc obv its not supposed to be real death but i digress) Any affirmation that Dying would in any way absolve you of anything you ever did is absolute garbage. It is a thoughtless and above all else lazy way to think about forgiveness - that anybody would just be better off if the person that harmed them just 'got what's coming for them'.

And Crime and Punishment would probably argue at this point that it's because you can't grow from your mistakes then. That Punishment is not (only) for the victim but for the offender to make amends with the past so they can move forward [without killing themselves]. And Griff's story can be read that way - not only is he never punished for his "Crimes", he is actively celebrated despite them.

But outside of that this Eye for an Eye mentality that a victim would and should get anything out of the misery and/or death of their offender is just another cycle of violence that our society is currently just basking in. It's an annoying itch that we just keep scratching because why not, it feels good right now and I promise I will stop before it gets worse! We all have urges that are 'natural' and yet we still all agree we shouldn't indulge in them - and Revenge should absolutely be one of them.

Forgiveness is a complicated process, both to forgive others and to be forgiven. There is no one way to go through it and there can't be only one since that's just the nature of our myriad unique human connections. But that's also what makes it such a fascinating thing to interrogate. Who is forgiveness for? How do you forgive? How are you forgiven? Do you even need forgiveness?

And I hate that thoughtless writers continue to use Death as a quick way out of it all, that we can just redeem a character by sacrifice because oh, isn't that noble, now what they've done isn't so bad anymore because i guess death is a currency now and this time it bought us a good ending.

But in Real Life Dying only becomes an option when something has gone terribly terribly wrong. An event in which somebody chooses Death is always a tragedy - and yet in fiction writing it is - different from reality - always a consciously constructed tragedy. The writer made this happen so the offender could die for their sins - because I guess there is just no other way that somebody could overcome doing a bad thing. Great news for all of us who ever did something bad!

So the way they went from "Griff talks about it to somebody for the first time and feels a little bit better about it" as if they went for a "Griff gets Group Therapy! You're not alone!"-Message only to still end up with both of them killing themselves is just deeply upsetting to me. If this is in any way supposed to be a story about regret, I feel like this could have been a "You will never get over it but at least you can talk to others so it gets easy enough to still live" story - because even if that's not a particularly groundbreaking narrative anymore either at least it's something actively helpful. But this? What is a veteran reading this story supposed to get out of this? Just die, it never gets better?

then again FF16 did this so much worse than Griff. at least reinkane has CrimePun parallels - and of course the overall framing as a whole is still 'this is what war does to a mf and should never happen' so i guess maybe that's the point? that even a winning war leads to people killing themselves?

Now. This is the point where the plot twists and I say: Okay. But maybe this is - deliberately or not - great writing actually. I didn't see this coming, I just gave what I wrote another read and then this occured to me:

There's just something here. Griff is one of the characters with a seemingly good amount of agency in this game - sure, he isn't a king or a ruler, he doesn't get to decide about this war, but he certainly has more agency than a good chunk of the characters in this game - he literally gets to tell Lars what to do - and yet. He just can't even think about trying anything else. His station just doesn't make it possible for some unpronounced reason. It doesn't even occur to the narrative that maybe he could - I don't know - Run away. Lead a Resistance. Even just interrogate his own actions. He did a bad thing and there's just absolutely nothing he can do about it but kill himself. (And there's something else here about why exactly death is an easier choice for him than anything else but this is already long enough)

Lars' story uncovers a truly wild revelation about this war they're fighting and it just. Doesn't affect Griff's story in the slightest. It doesn't come up once. He just doesn't know. Doesn't even notice. How can he not notice? When suddenly the people he cares so much about are gone and show up standing on the other side of the battlefield?

But you have to understand. This is really hard for Griff. He has to continue fighting because one time his actions killed so many. It's not the war's fault. Not the other army's. Not the bullets of the other soldiers. It's his fault. He did this. So he only has to fix himself. He can't possibly be asked to care about anything else, especially not whatever this fcking war is about.

And I don't know, doesn't that sound like... Ugh. I don't know the word, but it always comes up when people talk about white men. It starts with P I think. It's that word that people use! That you should check every once in a while... Ahh, who cares. I can just end this post about PTSD and war and not think about it any further because I do not have PTSD and the closest war will ever get to me is that maybe they're going to re-institute a draft in my country - but probably not and even if they do I won't have to go! And surely nobody on the world alive right now has a different experience from me. See ya!

also they could have made this story so much better if griff and the eyepatch guy fuc---

also also with how 063y and now griff went i'm so excited for argo. whoever is writing these has a lot of thoughts about men.

#nier reincarnation #nier

[bylertruther]

random thought, but i feel like putting all of the blame on karen for the fact tht mike doesn't open up to her is a little ...................... (insert vague hand motion here bc i can't think of a fitting, not-childish eloquent word) ????

yes she's the parent and yes she does have to make the effort to create an environment where he feels welcome to share and talk to her, but karen cannot force mike to open up. mike doesn't respond well to his parents being overbearing and honestly he doesn't react well to ANYONE coming at him head-on no matter how close they are to him.

mike needs to come to people on his own terms when he's ready and collected himself. and karen knows that! she literally says that to ted when ted offers to go talk to him in s1 because they know will's death and disappearance is hard on him. and no i don't think they should've taken away his toys aka doled out a punishment when mike wasn't cooperating in s2, because that's simply Not how you handle such a situation, but they did it because they thought well if us being "soft" isn't working then maybe us putting our foot down will get through to him. it's not like they did it bc they thought to themselves "lmao fuck that guy 🖕".

and even though mike doesn't seek support through verbal means like nancy does, he does seek comfort from her through physical affection! and karen does give it to him! whenever he feels like he's lost will, he goes to her and breaks down in her arms and she drops everything to go hold him.

the point is that when mike does go to her, she's there. they all care about and love each other in that family, including ted. karen and ted are not plot-involved parents like joyce and hopper are, and we're not going to get a deep dive into any of the other families unless it's relevant to the plot. ... as we've literally already seen before?

and ted is the way he is because he's written as the kind of father that spends all day at work to provide for his family and gets home and just wants to watch tv and eat dinner and go to sleep and repeat that ad nauseam for the rest of his life bc tht's just what you do and you only have so much energy (smth smth silly little play). i'm not saying he's father of the year and no one should ever comment on his involvement with his kids, but... that's just his role to play in this story.

he's clueless abt the crazy shit that goes down in hawkins the same way that everyone else is clueless abt it but that doesn't make him a bad guy lol. there's purposeful juxtaposition of him chillin' watching the news cover everything up while joyce and hopper and the kids are out there losing their minds almost dying fighting monsters saving the world etc etc. it's supposed to be comical. he lives here and he has no idea what's really happening, unlike us and the central characters of the show.

not every family has to look or act like the byers or sinclair family to be Good. you can try your best to get someone to talk to you, but they're not going to do it if they don't want to. mike is a hothead that doesn't often share or even totally understand what he's feeling, and if he does, he rarely opens up all the way. he still keeps certain things to himself and only reveals just enough to achieve his goals. it's mainly when he's apologizing over something big that he manages to be open, and that isn't even something that happens often or outside of a situation that necessitates it.

and the whole "not knowing exactly where your kids are, but knowing they're with their friends somewhere and that they'll be home later tonight" isn't a sign of abuse or that they don't care. that's what life was like before the technology that we have now, and that level of freedom was the POINT. it's a big part of WHY the duffers chose the eighties. such a story wouldn't work with our current technology. that isn't even an experience exclusive to those that are 30+ or whatever. i'm in my twenties and i remember my childhood being like that.

like. i don't think it's as black and white of an issue as some people suggest. the wheelers haven't been perfect parents, but they're not malicious and they do love their children, even if they clearly don't always understand them. saying that karen and ted don't care about or love their children and that they're on the same level of neglect as lonnie is just... i mean. what?

#sometimes your children just don't want to open up to you especially if they're teenagers going through crazy shit lol. #sometimes that IS a personal failure of the parent but not always. you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. #long post #wheeler #mine

[psychewritesbs]

Question I have BC I love your opinion and I think you have a great understanding of these characters (and jjk as a whole) what do you think about yuji and megumi's relationship and the parallels between them and suguru and gojo?? BC personally I think it's EVIL and hurts me so bad but also just.....idk I'm terrible with words so I can't exactly express why I think it's done so well but i do so just curious on what (if you even do) you think abt it?? I think parallels in jjk are honestly crafted so well in general and gege truly has such a clear idea and understanding of what and where he wants the story to go. Apologies if you've been asked smth like this before there's a very good chance I've missed it but I hope you have a good day and I hope megumi comes home soon bc it's getting pretty dark out 😞😞😞

HOLA anon. Thanks! I appreciate the vote of confidence 🫡

So I feel like your ask needs a thorough re-read of jjk, which I am unable to do at this time.

I also have to admit that I had never paid much attention to "parallels" in general, so that makes it a little harder to look back and pinpoint exact moments for a proper analysis of Megumi/Geto parallels. But I HAVE thought about this in passing before.

So, while I don't think I can do your ask justice, YES! I think aside from parallels, I'd also say that it feels like Geto's story is also meant to be a cautionary tale for Megumi.

Let's taco'bout it under the cut...

I'll start by saying that jjk has been exploring the idea of "intergenerational trauma that is passed down from generation to generation". So there's something that feels extremely cyclical about jjk right now--like a cog.

That said, the Megumi/Geto parallels are most likely meant to underscore how, due to the nature of the work they do, the same tragedy keeps happening time and time again.

If I were to pull a quote by Jung that encapsulates this, its the idea that "until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate."

Now, jjk has also felt like an exploration of the "corruption and redemption of the self" for some time now. To me, this means that a sorcerer is often confronted with the question of what is aspirational about his human nature and what isn't, but more importantly, the choices they make as a result of being confronted with this question.

In Geto's case, the aspirational values he chose were actually quite twisted. After all, he chose to justify committing genocide with his love for sorcerers. Similarly, Megumi had no qualms killing indiscriminately if it meant protecting Tsumiki.

They have both made a choice where protecting someone (aspirational value) justifies something not aspirational as a necessity (killing others is a turning away from aspirational values). In other words, you could say they have both "sinned" for lack of a better word.

This is where "saving" others who are ready and willing to be saved comes into play. Gojo couldn't save Geto because Geto wasn't asking to be saved; on the other hand, Yuji is trying to save Megumi because Megumi asked to be saved.

Megumi asking to be saved is relevant af because it means Megumi acknowledged something Geto couldn't or didn't acknowledge about himself.

The thing is that Yuji also had to be receptive to the idea of saving Megumi. As of ch143, Yuji had had his sense of self bruised and battered by Sukuna's rampage in Shibuya for which he felt responsible for. And now Megumi is asking him, a mass murderer, to save him.

It's almost like Megumi is absolving Yuji of his sins by asking to be saved. This is Megumi validating Yuji's desire to save others. So, who's saving who, really?

On the other hand, while Geto was descending into a corrupted state, Gojo had his head so far up his ass with the whole "The Strongest" identity, that the best he could do was ask Geto if he had lost weight.

So I feel like this is where the parallels turn into a sort of continuation of what could have been possible if Geto would have come to Gojo and asked for help, and if Gojo was emotionally available to this bid for connection when it could have made a difference.

In retrospect, given the emotional state Megumi was in during the Yorozu reveal and how anxious he appeared to be during his fights inside the colony, I think that in asking to be saved, Megumi was asking for a lifeline from the bottom of his heart. He was asking Yuji for the strength and unwavering conviction that he was missing in himself.

I like to think Megumi knew he would have to kill others, and that he would be willing to do it if it came down to it. This meant Megumi might have been aware that he'd have to set aside his humanity and any aspirational values he might still be hanging onto.

So who better to ask than the one person he knows to have unwavering humanity?

Geto never asked the same of Gojo.

So I am not sure whether Gege is trying to say that because Megumi asked to be saved it is more likely that he can be saved.

But here's the thing...

And I am very much aware that this is my personal preference, but I believe that Megumi (and Geto since we're on the topic of parallels) has to save himself.

While I LOVE the religious symbolism behind the idea of Yuji "saving" Megumi and think it's super bromantic, waiting to be saved absolves Megumi of responsibility for himself. And right now, at the core of Megumi's arc, is the idea that his sense of self was suppressed by Sukuna precisely because there was a hole in Megumi's sense of self that Sukuna could exploit, therefore arresting Megumi's development. To continue that development, Megumi has to choose himself.

So I am curious of where Gege takes it from here.

Now, on the topic of saving others, there's actually REALLY juicy symbolism around the idea of "saving" in chapter 236 and 238 where Sukuna is technically absolving characters in their last moments.

So that's a nice parallel and commentary on the idea of saving others.

Anyways, did this make any sense? lol. I read and re-read this thing several times and I kept making edits so I hope I was able to express my thoughts properly.

Hopefully the tangent made sense.

I think parallels in jjk are honestly crafted so well in general and gege truly has such a clear idea and understanding of what and where he wants the story to go.

Thank you for sharing your jjk-love. Yes, I couldn't agree more that, not only does Gege know where he's taking his story, his attention to detail on how he wants to execute these themes is fantastic.

Thank you for stopping by anon :)

#ask the mental gymnastics anime girl #god I love jujutsu kaisen

[actual-changeling]

hello :) first of all you really don't have to answer or acknowledge this since it'll maybe stir this whole thing up even more, but i guess i just wanted to talk about this with someone who feels as passionate about it as i do. there's this very famous writer in the TLOU fandom and the way they portray ellie's character and especially her trauma just IRKS me so bad. it's so obvious they have no idea how PSTD works. at first i was like, ok, don't like don't read, i truly get it and agree, but when you write about such a sensitive topic i feel like you have to take responsability? the don't like it don't read it rule doesn't apply here since A LOT of people are reading your works and there's a possibility that their knowledge of PSTD will be flawed bc of the way YOU wrote it. and ellie's character... like, how much can you change a character's personality before it's another whole person? i just don't understand the point. again, no need to reply! just wanted to talk about this w/ someone (a writer, no less) who gets it

Hi anon!

I'm glad you felt safe enough to send this ask, and I 100% understand where you are coming from. I won't go into the drama because Ellis made his post and I was only watching it from the sidelines because he is my friend; this is done for him so it's done for me.

I do wanna say something on the matter of "don't like don't read" and author responsibility because as everyone who follows me probably knows at this point, I care about accurately writing PTSD and trauma (and any other conditions for that matter), and I have made several posts about it before. This is not about one person, this is about a trend I have see both in this fandom and in other ones, so once again, as always, if you start feeling defensive ask yourself why and have a good look at that.

I want to make something very very clear: people critizing a person's portrayal of a character's trauma and PTSD is NOT about headcanons. It is not about creative freedom. It is not about character interpretation. It never has been and it never will be. It is about accurately portraying actual medical conditions in a way that is both respectful and does not contribute to ableism and stigma.

If your portrayal misses the mark, people critizicing it are not criticzing your headcanons. They are telling you that something you wrote is legitimately offensive and harms actual, real people with that condition. There is exactly one correct response to that and it's apologizing, correcting your mistakes and/or taking the work down if you cannot do so for some reason (too deeply enmeshed with the story, you cannot write it properly, etc.). Saying "don't like don't read" and ignoring it doesn't suddenly make your work not offensive, it just makes YOU a bigot who does not care that they are hurting people.

"Don't like don't read" is about fics that do not meet your personal taste or deal with topics you cannot handle. It does not apply to offensive, harmful content. Would you say the same if someone published an outright transphobic or racist fanfic? Would you say "don't like don't read" and allow them to continue to post outright bigotry without repercussions? And if your answer to this is no, as I hope it is, why is it different when it comes to ableism? Why do you think mental disorders and conditions are somehow less worthy of being portrayed correctly? Why is ableism "less bad" to you?

And anon, you bring up a great point, as an author you not only have a responsibility to make sure that your portrayal isn't hurting people who have it but that it also doesn't contribute to negative stereotypes and furthers the stigma. If a person who does not have PTSD reads it and comes out the other side with an even more flawed view of it, you failed. You failed as an author and as an ally to disabled people.

Write Ellie however you want, but once you get to a certain point at least tag it as "out of character" so people can avoid it. It's not a bad thing to write ooc characters, if you are having fun - go for it! Just tag it as such so people can avoid it. Wrongly portrayed PTSD does not fall under headcanons though, it's a problem and you need to fix it. You need to do more research than one google search. Having a friend with PTSD is also not enough, you need the full picture, you need to understand how PTSD works and why people's symptoms are the way they are.

I have CPTSD, I have enough trauma for several lifetimes, I have several other diagnosed conditions and I'm on heavy psych medications and I still do my research. I draw from my own experienced a lot but I also have years of research under my belt and I still do more. Because I care. I care about my writing and my stories, I care about the characters and the people who see themselves in them, I care about my readers and everyone else who will be (hopefully positively) affected by the education I can provide via my writing. I care and that means putting in the work isn't a chore, I do it willingly and with enthusiasm.

If someone tells me I fucked something up - thank you, I will change it, apologize, and learn from it. That is the only correct response and I hope people will start doing so instead of twisting words and hiding behind "don't like don't read" because it has never been about interpretation and never will be.

This got quite long, but once again anon, thank you for sending in the ask, I'm glad you felt comfortable sending it. Have a great day <3

#alex answers asks #alex writes tlou #the last of us #tlou #ellie williams #joel miller #joel and ellie #also once again my asks and dms are always open and if you explicitly tell me you dont want me to publish something i wont #this was just a got starting point for a lot of thoughts that have been stewing for a hot second #i swear to god if anyone starts drama over this i will block everyone involved and pretend it never happened #this is not about you this is not about drama this is not about anything #it's about me and my passion and portraying ptsd correctly #i am not involved in drama and i wont be over this either so if you are trying to twist this into something it isnt #fuck off and leave me alone

[mikuyuuss]

I just got home from the Kny premiere❤️ I got these free merch, and sadly we had to choose between Mui and Mitsuri shirts, so me and my friend both chose Mitsuri for each of us.

The only size that was available is extra large, and is way too big for me. I hope I can still pull it off with a baggy look with my matching green socks or something. Anyways, I need to gather my thoughts because, man I didn't expect to be as speechless as I am now after finishing it lol.

First of all WOW, I somehow didn't expect the infinity fortress to be so big I don't know why I somehow visualize it as just some really big maze of hallways, but the movie showed a whole ass city, and apparently with houses too as Douma said.

And speaking of Douma, Mamoru Miyano did such an amazing job with him! I don't remember him being this cute in the manga, but in the anime HE WAS JUST SO ADORABLE. I almost felt bad with how Akaza and Kokushibo were treating him lol. I just cannot get over how amazing all the vas are, especially Koku with Byakuyas voice!!

And speaking of Swordsmith Village. Ngl, Swordsmith wasn't exactly my favorite arc in the manga, (as much as I adore Mui, Mitsuri and Genya there.) but seeing it in anime and just seeing the environment in general, with the swordsmiths, the blade forging and the world building, made me appreciate it so much more. My friend however, said how he wished the village looked bigger. Our guess is it might be a lot bigger than it looks with more houses that are simply hidden.

Tanjiro's introduction to Genya is just h i l a r i o u s, sometimes I just forget how weird their first interaction is lol. Just from the the way it was animated and how it went manga panel style just as soon as Tanjiro is gonna jump. It's all just perfect.👌

And of course there's the infamous Mitsuri bath scene. I remember saying before about how I was worried that they might exaggerate the fan service scenes, but thankfully, it wasn't as bad as I thought. I know there were some people who wished to omit the bath scene altogether, and I'M SO GLAD THEY DIDN'T, let her enjoy her bath smh 😤 Prior to this, I heard stories about how someone moaned in the theaters during that scene. There wasn't anything like that in my own experience. 🤣 But the audience did gasp, mostly heard comments like "She's so pretty!" something like that.

Also gotta give it to Mitsuri's va Kana Hanazawa! I mentioned before how she also voiced some of my favorite female characters like Akane Tsunemori. I felt that she's a bit underrated within the va community, probably bc they think that she's limited to shy and cutesy roles (she isn't) but the thing is, Kanahana REALLY SHINES when she plays characters like Mitsuri, and it shows. I LOVE the Mitsuri and Nezuko scenes. It was just WAY TOO CUTE AND WHOLESOME (I can't believe I haven't drawn these two together yet ;_;) and I even heard the collective "Awwwwwwws" of the audience during that scene. It was just that cute.

(But that said, I'm a little disappointed they didn't include the part where Mitsuri was singing to Nezuko, it was such a missed opportunity, I wonder if it's too late to add them to the episode once the season is fully released... 🤔)

But overall, It was all really really good, and I was getting so excited to also see Muichiro and then suddenly it ended abruptly, and then I remembered that this was just a teaser of sorts and not the full movie. So I don't know how to end this post except to say that me and my friend are both shoocked.

#kny #demon slayer #me speaks #mitsuri kanroji #tanjiro kamado #nezuko kamado #swordsmith village arc #mamoru miyano #kana hanazawa #kanahana

[torntoblivion]

middle eastern (specifically turkish person) here and i want to add my own two cents in the whole sumeru discussion.

TW I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT A RACISM EXPERIENCE!!

reminder that if you're not middle eastern/south asian, don't speak over us thank you.

first of all, the skin colors. the middle east is a diverse area, for example me, my mom and sister are very pale but my dad is brown skinned and my other sister is tan. fyi all of us are fully turkish. if you walk around istanbul, you can see many different people. pale, tanned, brown, dark skinned, different eye shapes, different nose shapes and etc.

i don't need to explain why it's wrong that hoyoverse only bothered to make npcs tanned, made zero dark skinned characters and whitewashed dehya and candace.

don't y'all dare defend hoyoverse by saying its a chinese company, that's no excuse if they aren't gonna properly represent us then they shouldn't have made the nations inspired by real life.

about changing skin tones, blackwashing!! does!! NOT!! exist!! i think y'all are just playing dumb about why whiteashing is not the same as making a character tan/brown/dark.

firstly, blasians exist. secondly, white people should let poc enjoy what they could have and headcanons are NOT a bad thing. unlike whitewashing, it does no harm whatsoever. so stop bitching and let us have something.

i was so excited when i found out that sumeru was going to be inspired by middle east, we don't get represented often and if we do, it's filled with shitty stereotypes or just simply inaccurate. i was so happy to see familiar named npcs, i rlly was.

don't get me wrong, i love sumeru's design, music, story, gameplay, the food, dancing and the characters but i also acknowledge the problems.

a little side note about pronounciations, i'm aware that pronouncing words drastically different from your language is hard. i sometimes have a hard time pronuncing the liyue names but i try my best and be respectful. even turkish people have a hard time pronouncing my real name when they first hear it. in short, as long as you're trying your best and being respectful, it's okay if you can't pronounce them correctly.

also paimon refusing food was so iffy to me, i mean this is paimon we're talking abt and some of the comments she made was so frusturating.

about kusanali, i'm not sure if she's supposed to be inspired by something bc people have different opinions on it so i'm not commenting on it.

now about dori, her design is not bad at all but not exactly accurate. i can see where the clothing are inspired from but i'm making no comment on the genie bc muslims and arabs should decide if it's offensive or not. about her personality, i hate it. it's stereotypical, making her a scammer and greedy. don't cry abt me making everything abt race bc guess what!! stereotypes are harmful a surprise right /sarcasm

like i mentioned my dad is brown and majority of my family are muslims. i will never forget the time at the airport my dad got randomly checked but not me, not my sisters or my mom. just my dad and i never understood until i got older. guess why this happened? bc my dad isn't pale like us and doesn't have an european name.

i love genshin impact, it has been my hyperfixation since may 2021 and i rlly enjoy it. i hope hoyoverse will do better and listen to the rational part of the community.

i also hope people will read this and understand why we are upset. if you have anything to add or if i got something wrong please please speak up!! all i'm asking everyone to be respectful and civil while discussing this.

#genshin impact #dori #sumeru #genshin impact discussion #tw racism #cw racism #dori genshin #kusanali #lesser lord kusanali #nahida #saki talks

[dinosaursatemymom]

anti Nancy, like srsly

You're still here? Okay, but srsly this is very against Nancy wheeler, if you're still here I'm guessing you don't like her? If you do, it's very against her, my mind will not be changed jsyk. Just a warning bc of comments on my other anti post lol 🙃

Also before anyone says anything about me just not liking her because she gets in the way of my ship, I actually hate stdie and Hrringrve. Plus I don't like a lot of the characters storylines, Nancy's is just one that frustrates me the most.

Actual Anti Nancy post starting now

This basically started out as a convo between me and @felineincognito in the comments of one of my other anti Nancy posts but this is kinda a continuation of that ig.

Also I'm not gonna talk about the stuff the other characters have done wrong bc this isn't abt them, and just because other people have done bad stuff doesn't cancel out the stuff she's done🤪.

So in the first episode I didn't really like her that much, but yk, the whole point was that she wasnt acting like herself. So, I figured that as the season went on she would grow and start being more herself, and I guess she did change to an extent. But then s2 happened and she was just being a bad gf to Steve, let's be so fr, she was emotionally cheating on him. Pining for Jonathon while lying to Steve about who she's in love with is not okay. This was around when I started to reallyyy not like her. And she just didn't take accountability for her part in the failed relationship. Then s3 rolled around(my favv season frrr) and Nancy still hasn't grown, she still doesn't take accountability for her mistakes. And she was exactly the same in s4.

Okay let's break this down by season

S1- Nancy is dating Steve. Will goes missing and Nancy is incredibly annoyed because she can't see Steve and complains, she's does not care about will. She lies to her mother and goes to see Steve. She treats Barb like shit at the party, Barb goes missing, Nancy suddenly cares about will and is upset that no one will listen to her. She finds out about the pictures and goes to ask Jonathan about the demogorgan picture, they go hunting. They argue, and eventually Jon and Steve get in the fight. At the police station Nancy starts catching feelings for Jon and is told that he is in love with her. After the whole salt bath ordeal her and Jon go to his house to try and catch it, Steve shows up trying to apologize, they tell him to leave. Steve comes back to help, Nancy, Steve, and jon kill the demogorgan. Nancy's guns are not useful in this feat ( @thegreenmeadow had a great post about this here). A few months later and Nancy gives Jon a camera that Steve bought, she is back together with Steve after waiting for Jonathon for a month because he wasn't ready.

S2- Nancy is dating Steve again, but crushing on Jonathan, this is emotional cheating especially because she later goes to jon for comfort rather than talking it out with Steve. Nancy and Steve go to barbs parents house, Nancy is struggling with guilt and wants to tell barbs parents what really happened. Steve and Nancy get into a small argument, Steve convinces Nancy not to break the NDA and to go to a party and try to relax. They go to the party and Nancy gets extremely drunk, she calls Steve bullshit and yells at him. (Presumed break up but that's debatable) Jon takes Nancy home, the next morning Nancy doesn't remember the night before and she gets upset at Steve for not picking her up. Steve and Nancy get into an argument (this is kinda why I think they didn't really break up otherwise she wouldn't have cared about him not picking her up). Nancy leaves school with Jon to try and tell barbs parents, they go to the lab and get a recording. After they get the recording they go to see Murray. After figuring out the story, they sit down to have a drink. After deciding to spend the night, Murray tells them to just sleep together. Both Nancy and Jon acknowledge Steve in a way that makes it seem like they haven't broken up/Nancy still has feelings. They go back to Hawkins and Nancy has a talk with steve, he apologizes for being a bad boyfriend and tells Nancy to go with Jon to save will. Nancy doesn't acknowledge her part in the relationship failing. She goes with jon, they get the mindflayer out of will, Nancy did not need to be there for this. At the snoball her and Jon are helping out, they smile at each other from across the room and are now dating.

S3- Nancy and Jon have been dating for a while and are currently interning at the Hawkins post. Nancy is upset about the other office workers being misogynistic and treating her poorly, she complains to Jonathan. One night while Nancy is cleaning the office she receives a call about some rats from mrs. Driscoll, she decides to pursue this herself the next day. She lies to her boss and barges in on Jonathan developing the photos, ruining whatever he was developing. Jon follows her out to the car and talks about how he's concerned about getting fired and thinks it's not a good idea. Nancy disregards his concerns and insists she's correct. They go to Mrs. Driscoll's house and find the rat. The next day Nancy brings up her case to her bosses, she is declined and told to stop pursuing the case. Nancy insists shes correct and again, barges in on Jonathan ruining his photos. Jon thinks it's a bad idea, she just says that she's going anyway, Jon reluctantly joins her. Jon again expresses concerns about losing his job, Nancy dismisses these concerns yet again. As they arrive at Mrs. Driscoll's house they find her having a seizure, the hospital is called. The next day Nancy and Jon lose their jobs. As Jon is driving them home, Nancy keeps talking about how she was correct and thinks tom is on drugs, Jon gets annoyed with her and says she should stop. Nancy compares him to the misogynistic newspaper managers, and calls him being upset because he needs his job the Oliver twist routine. Nancy gets a pep talk from her mom, and goes to the hospital. She finds mrs.driscoll having another seizure. The next morning she calls Jon about it. The kids meet up with Nancy and Jon, they discuss what's been going on, Nancy is passive aggressive towards Jon. They go to the hospital, Nancy half apologizes and Jon admits he was wrong about the rats, Nancy makes a comment about never doubting her again(imo this cancels out the apology). They fight the fleshflayer thingie. And go to the mall to try and save the scoops troop. Nancy makes a comment towards robin, that was later clearly written to be jealousy. They all fight the fleshflayer and stuff. Later we cut to Nancy and Jonathon having a talk, they're in love Jon moves away.

S4- Nancy is working at Hawkins post, her colleague Fred and her are discussing a spread, she is irritated with fred. After Chrissy dies, Nancy takes Fred to go report the story, she's irritated with fred. She lies to the police officer to get into the park, she then proceeds to go to every door and ask them questions. She then proceeds to talk to wayne Munson, pursuing her story. After speaking with him, she can't find fred, she goes around searching for him. The next morning we see her getting questioned by the police, she sees Steve's car and realizes something more is going on. Later, the gang is explaining vecna to her at the picnic table. As they all get ready to go to the school, Nancy starts to leave on her own. Robin goes with Nancy, they arrive at the library and Robin is talking through her thoughts and Nancy is extremely annoyed with her. Robin asks if she comes off as rude or condescending, Nancy says no. Robin proceeds to explain that she has trouble with social cues and filters. They go into the archives and begin searching. Robin clarifies that her relationship with Steve is purely platonic, Nancy gets more annoyed with her. Robin then finds the weekly watcher, they find out that Victor thought it was a demon. Nancy receives all the credit for this discovery. After the Mac has her first vision, Nancy and Robin proceed to come up with a plan to talk to Victor Creel. Nancy tells Robin to change clothes, they go to pennhurst. Robin ends up being the one to get them to see Victor, and figure out the music. They radio Dustin and tell him about the music. Nancy is the one to piece together Max's drawing. They proceed to go to the old creel house, Nancy helps Steve clean his hair. When they go through Watergate, Nancy helps to beat up the bats and fix Steve's wound. Nancy finds out the upside down is stuck on the day will went missing. Yadda yadda the finale happens jncy reunites, Steve confesses blah blah.(I'm sorry I got really tired just go watch if you care enough)

So um ion even remember where I was going with this but go check out the stuff @felineincognito said in the comments here because that was some great stuff. My point is that Nancy hasn't shown much growth, constantly screws up and makes things worse, is regularly rude, doesn't really do much for the plot itself, treats people poorly, expects everything and everyone to do everything for her, and yet is constantly treated as though she can do no wrong.

Also this isn't really a TV show thing, more of a fanbase thing. But if a character is just there to be a strong female women with no actual plot or arc, then she is not really a good character. I don't dislike Nancy because she is a woman, I dislike her because of how she has been written.

Nancy Stans who have made it this far, congrats! If you wanna shit on me or my takes, that's cool, but don't do it here, go to your own space with screenshots and/or copy and paste. Don't waste time harassing me, it doesn't hurt anyone if I don't like your favorite character, I'm not harassing you, I'm in my own space expressing my opinion. Please just scroll if you don't agree, this post is not for you. If you are really that pressed about anti Nancy takes, you can always block me or the tag. Please and thank you.

Love you all!

#anti stancy #anti jancy #anti ronance #anti nancy wheeler #stranger things #anti nancy

[beautifulpersonpeach]

i remember when i was starting out as an army it was my first time being in a fandom of any kind so i had no idea what shipping was. i stumbled upon gcft thought okay cool video editing and jk was so talented i’ll show this to my muggle friend who is in the visual arts industry and see what she says and the first thing thar came out of her mouth after watching was “are they boyfriends?” 😭 well i said no lmfao bc i was dumb and naive.

anyway what i really wanted to say is youre slowly convincing me start looking into jaywon and enha bpp !! i saw a few videos come up on my fyp now.. also ive always thought jay was a bit arrogant (for the lack of better term) just based on how we looks and and a few videos here and there but as you can see in my story above i dont read people quite well at first dnsjsjs

***

Jay looks like a fuckboy no point sugarcoating it. He looks like an asshole.

Anybody judging characters based on appearance/vibes will likely think he's unreliable and a bad person. Which is what makes the contrast with his actual personality so much more jarring, and impactful. For anybody who wants to know Jay, I strongly suggest watching i-Land. The show itself I'd rate a 7/10, but it's useful for getting to understand a few members, one of which is Jay.

As for jaywon, I don't even know what to say. All I know is I've been watching them for some time and the only other pairing that's remotely similar in what I feel, is when I watch jikook. Even though jaywon is nothing like jikook. Their dynamic is completely different and their team (Enhypen) not like BTS exactly. Their story hurts and warms my heart sometimes, so I check in on them from time to time. If you want to get into jaywon though, I suggest getting into the whole group. It's just going to give you a better sense of what's going on and make you less likely to go delulu, because trust me, people go delulu with Enha.

And their music actually slaps. I'm not trying to sell you on it, just saying the facts as they are.

Also, if I can be even more candid, the truth is I'm not sure I want a lot of jikookers putting their attention on jaywon in the first place. Some of y'all are crazy I'm sorry to say. And the engene fandom isn't big enough to dilute a huge influx of crazies into their fandom, especially of the ARMY variety. I'm also not sure jaywon's relationship is stable enough for outsized attention targeted on them. Which is why I hope the jikookers who do set their attention on jaywon, are decent enough people first.

#jaywon

[isalabells]

I am very curious why Ted going back to the US to be there for his son is him making the mistakes as his dad and a real tragedy. Or did I read your tags wrong and you didn’t mean it this way?

Anon, I never meant to insinuate that this is him making the same mistakes as his dad, nor do I think my tags suggests that. But it's Ted fearing he is making the same mistake as his dad that is the driving force for his ill-advised decision. (That being said, i've seen the Ted's gonna end up like his dad eventually take flying around here, and while -- even in the face of the final scenes -- this is too horrid and bleak a thought even for me I can't entirely refute it, so there's that.) As for your other question, hoo boi- I recommend going back to the post I reblogged and scrolling through some of the tags because there's a lot of people out there who've articulated it way more eloquently than I am currently capable of, and my answer is nothing but a potpourri of all these thoughts.

But let me ask you in return- Did Ted look happy to you? Did he? Did his constant dissociating throughout the episode and him being emotionally closed off and unresponsive to all the people who love and care for him so deeply, him forcefully shutting them all out so he could be A Good Dad and soldier on and do what must be done because he fears otherwise he will make Henry feel like his Dad made him feel (which in itself is a loaded thought, and I bet Sharon could dismantle it within two sessions) make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Him more or less being pushed into this decision because his mom was guilt tripping him and going through with it bc he is under the misguided impression that he has to break-the-cycle in order to prevent impending doom for Henry (guys pls this isn't Succession).

I know there's a post making rounds where people are being outraged bc how dare anyone say choosing to be a parent is the inferior choice here, why do you want Ted to abandon his child and like- I'm genuinely sorry if you feel that way.

The implication that Ted not living within close proximity to Henry renders him a bad father is just bonkers. Emotional availability and taking care of your kid, being involved in their life is not necessarily tied to local distance at all. In all those three years, Ted hasn't neglected Henry once? Hell, with all the constant facetiming and irregular visits and whatnot he's probably kept more up to date with his kid than a good chunk of parents do despite living under the same roof as their offsprings.

Emphasizing the importance of the nuclear family (one that technically doesn't even exist anymore in Ted's case) and telegraphing that this is the main if not only way to be A Good Father seems like such a shocking conservative and nearsighted move for this show, and, pardon me, a very US-American one as well. All of this seems quite tone deaf, but it wouldn't be the first time this season (maybe one day @hubba1892 will bless us all with the essay on TL taking a stand on defying Super League and pushing for 50+1 rule vs. City being a major advertising factor for the show.)

Obiously, this is strongly influenced by me being a firm believer that parenthood shouldn't swallow your whole identity. Playing at pretend happy family and, as someone else put it so nicely, sacrificing your happiness for the sake of your kid is not healthy, and it will gain your kid nothing in the end. Ted seeing himself as nothing but a vessel to fix other people's lives and help them become the best version of themselves only to remove himself from the situation, nay, the entire story (literally and metaphorically, cf him suggesting Trent change the title) once the job is done without a thought or care for his own wants and needs, let alone his happiness is just so deeply saddening. "But the second to last ep showed that they're all gonna be fine without him!!" Yes, that's exactly the point, he should stay because the wants to, not because they need him.

Now Ted 'ain't nobody in this room alone' Lasso is quite literally all alone in the big vast room that is Kansas, with his main people being Henry (a literal child), Michelle and his mom, two people who both make him fucking miserable. A less pointed take would be that he doesn't even have to stay at Richmond specifically. The opportunities that he now has at his disposal in the UK bc of his success story are endless; lots of possibilities for him to continue doing what he loves without being stuck in the depression show that is coaching little league for funsies, quenching all of his wants and needs and dreams and aspiration.

#something something Ted is more or less the only character that is regressing #which could be fine this also counts as character development if an uncomfortable one #but it came out of left field and really does not fit the show's tone #replies #Ted Lasso spoilers #not to engage in speculation but the people who say JSud's personal life and his current situation influenced the s3 writing too much #whether consciously or subconsciously do have a point #lowkey wish we knew nothing about the Wildeikis drama #can I blame Harry Styles for all of this

[itchyeye]

Honestly one of my least favorite things about TMA is the pacing. The individual statements are excellent but you can't build a meta story without considering the broader pacing.

Honestly, i don't see the point in making the Stranger and the Dark separate entities when the Dark gets destroyed so quickly in a way that is so useless to the story. I get that they needed to convey that stopping the rituals was meaningless and giving Jon another enemy (that he was perfectly designed to fight because of those eye powers Jonah wanted him to grow) was a way to do that, but surely there was a *better* one? It was one or two episodes for practically nothing...

Also did you find that TMA got more stressful over time with little to no relief? I don't feel the same mounting dread listening to Alice Isn't Dead or Malevolent, and the horror in those isn't exactly light. There are just... breather moments. I feel like those are important. You can't keep raising the stakes and reducing the hope forever.

(While I'm on the topic of hope, I didn't like having all the mystery surrounding the entities in season 3 taken away and having any hope for a happy ending taken away all at once. Pacing wise, halfway through season 3/5 is way too early to let that bomb drop)

imo, anyway

(Wednesday anon)

i agree with you 100% on pacing, the pacing of the entire series is a mess, but i disagree about why the pacing is bad for the reveal bc i actually think it came way too late

the reveal of the entities imo was too slow, we don't get an explanation for the mechanic of the whole world of magverse until mag 111, which is halfway through s3, and there are only 5 seasons

the glacial pace of this reveal is way less noticeable on re-listens, because if you know about the entities of fear from the very beginning, a lot more of the series makes a lot more sense

jonny talks in q+as about balancing the horror and the mystery and while i feel like the mystery was well structured, it was paced badly

and even once the entity reveal happens (in one of the best episodes ofc) the unknowing crap drags oooooooon and on and on and on and on for fucking ever

i'm sure if you like the stranger, it's nice to have two full seasons dedicated to it, but i personally find it to be a very tedious and poorly executed entity so the amount of time the series spends on its ritual and its monsters was a bummer to me

that's not to say that those two full seasons are a wash!!! that's untrue by any stretch, some of the series' best episodes are in s2 and my favorite season over all is s3

but the draaaaag of getting to the unknowing feels almost like living it in real time, and i personally don't care for the finale at all (it's a technical marvel but an audio nightmare, besides not enjoying the topsy turvy circus theme i also can't stand the cacophony of the ritual (which i do understand is the whole point but that doesn't change the fact that i find it painful to listen to))

and yes, absolutely, preventing the dark ritual was HORRIBLY rushed, especially since when basira and jon actually get to ny-ålesund, the ritual was prevented years ago... one of the MANY instances in tma where we get a lot of drawn out build up for sort of a wet fart reveal

it was introduced early on with elias giving basira bad intel in order to get her out of the institute while jon gets marked by the buried, but the audience doesn't know that's connected to the dark ritual until like... six? i think six episodes? later? and then wham bam the whole dark business is over before it even starts

which is a bummer to me because it gives us so little time with jon and basira traveling :( and also the dark is a very mid fear for me BUT whatever tf manuela and maxwell had going on was weeeeeeeeeeeeird (horny tone indicator) and i want so badly for them to be actual fully realized characters bc avatar/acolyte with a ridiculous age gap is my fucking JAM and jonny does it so often...

but i disagree about the stranger and the dark not being meaningfully different entities? maybe i'm misunderstanding you, but while i think the stranger is a thematic mess, the dark is a very concrete tightly executed entity

i love the dark's connection to brackish water as well, i think that's very interesting and very visually engaging

i think the cult aspects of the people's church were introduced late and not very effectively... i mean they were introduced in s2 with basira's statement but we didn't really get into it from a devotee pov until manuela. but also jonny's religious horror flops for me every time :/ the father burroughs arc, the dark, most of the lightless flame, etc just feels flat to me... but chalk that one up to my jewish upbringing maybe?? i love the worship aspect of the entities so it's not like i dislike how jonny writes the horror of devotion, it's just when he talks about organized religion that i sort of tune out

i personally don't find tma stressful! i didn't on my first listen and i haven't found it to be so since. i find a lot of tma disappointing because of the way it builds and builds and builds and then.... flops. but not stressful!

also this is down to personal preference but my favorite type of horror is relentlessly bleak. i love nihilistic hopeless horror! and i think tma really really delivers bleak. the environment, the futile struggle of humanity against the fears, the total lack of interpersonal connection, i love all of it. i think if jonny had stuck to his guns and done a real horror tragedy and committed to the incredible oppressive sense of hopelessness he had built for 4 seasons, jm wouldn't have happened and s5 could have been good (altho i have to say that on principle i find goofy nightmare dnd hike through themed escape rooms to be a dogshit concept for a season, especially as a finale for a series that was so grounded in reality? that had such a solid connection to the bleakness of real life!! of shit jobs and bad friendships and depressive spirals etc. why did we end the world and end up in rick and mortyverse. why would we do that...)

but yeah definitely i can see why the relentless downward trajectory of tma might not appeal to everyone, but it's personally one of my favorite aspects of it

[jennifer check voice] i need [my horror stories] hopeless

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