#this was just a neat parallel i immediately thought of

[robotsandramblings]

S02 E16 vs S01 E08

#crouching raxshir hidden krayt dragon #echo #the bad batch #star wars #bb faves #gifs arent mine! sources embedded in the gifs! #this was just a neat parallel i immediately thought of

[thankskenpenders]

There’s been some discussions on Twitter recently about if Blaze’s dimension is worth keeping around and expanding on or if it should be ignored/merged with Sonic’s world thanks to a Bumblekast clip. What are your thoughts on Blaze’s dimension as a story-telling hurdle/ alternate setting? I personally feel like it wouldn’t make a difference if Blaze was a princess from another dimension or a princess from the other side of the world, it would just be easier for her to show up if she wasn’t from another dimension, but I also think it’s be neat to expand on Blaze’s world as a parallel to Sonic’s.

I think there's a whole cottage industry of Sonic fans who just like to take things Ian says out of context so they can rile people up on Twitter, and the fandom falls for it every time, and it's extremely tiring

But also I think Ian is right

This isn't something I've really shared, but I actually have a document where I've kept ideas for what I would do with a hypothetical modern reboot of Archie Sonic where I'm allowed to start from scratch and change anything I want. (I might share some of this someday, perhaps with some character designs, but for now it's just a thing for me. It's not like I'm gonna do a comic or anything.) For Blaze, I immediately decided that all of the elements from the Sol Dimension should be merged with the regular Mobius. I would just say that Sonic and friends have all their adventures on one hemisphere of the planet, and Blaze is from the other. I mean, the Sol Dimension already has a heavy Australia/Oceania vibe. It'd be really easy. This way, there would still be some level of separation, and Blaze would still have her own territory where she gets to be the main hero, but it'd be WAY easier to actually use those elements. Characters can just show up on whatever part of the planet they need to be on for any given story

For some reason people seem to think that Blaze being from a separate dimension isn't a storytelling hurdle at all, and I really don't know what franchise they're following, because it sure as hell isn't the version of Sonic I know. Yes, in theory it could be as simple as just using a warp ring to hop over to the Sol Dimension whenever. There are ways to write around it. I'd love to see that happen so that we could flesh out Blaze's world some more. Give Blaze some more allies and villains of her own! Give her more to do over there, and more reasons for Sonic and co. to visit! But clearly Sega isn't down with that, considering the Sol Dimension has only ever been in one game and, what, two issues of the IDW comics for maybe ten pages total? Sega's just sitting on it, and it's impossible not to see the fact that it's a whole separate dimension as the reason.

Even if we were getting more stories about traveling to and from the Sol Dimension, it'd still be a hassle. You want to use the Chaotix in a story in the Sol Dimension? Wanna use Marine or Johnny or whoever in a story set on the main world? Well, you'd better think up an airtight excuse for why those characters are traveling between the dimensions and pray that Sega approves of it. And right now that seems to be one hell of an obstacle, given how little we see of the Sol Dimension even though I know damn well Ian and Evan would love to explore it more. It's gotten to the point that Blaze is now on an endless "vacation" on Sonic's Earth so that they can actually use her in stories. People have been acting like merging the worlds would completely take away everything that makes Blaze special as a character, when it would just make all of her personal story stuff infinitely easier to work with than it is right now.

"Oh but what about the Sol Emeralds?" There's no reason the Sol Emeralds couldn't exist on the same planet as the Chaos Emeralds. We've already got other magic rocks like the Time Stones, the Phantom Ruby, and the Warp Topaz. "But what about Eggman Nega?" I could not give less of a shit about what happens to Eggman Nega and Sega doesn't even use him anymore, but also he's already supposed to be from Silver's future, not the Sol Dimension. "But what about the plot of Sonic Rush where the whole point was that they had to stop the worlds from being merged because they thought it was a bad thing?" Yes, because Sonic has always been a series that treated canon as sacred an immutable, and Sega would never do something that contradicted a game from almost 20 years ago

Anyway, all of this is a moot point. It's not like this is going to happen. Ian just brought up the possibility on the BumbleKast as an "if I could change literally anything" type deal. Sega is not going to do this. He is allowed to have his own opinions on Sonic things without fans having to take it personally and scream and cry about it. You don't have to agree with him on everything. I've certainly had points I disagree with him on! It's fine! That's normal! He's only human. Yes, Ian is on the Lore Team, but he's just one voice in the room. He's not even the boss of that team. If Ian could get whatever he wanted, we'd have seen the Freedom Fighters and Sticks by now

#nintendweeb #ask #tkp asks #this got long but i did in fact catch wind of this debacle while scrolling twitter on my phone when i woke up today and it made me mad lol

[canmom]

Comics mini-Comints: Dungeon Meshi

reread dungeon meshi through to the end. still such a great manga. here are immediate thoughts - if I end up having time and energy I hope I can write something that goes deeper!

ironically i was only a few chapters from the end when I stopped keeping up, but I was struggling to remember all the characters and context, so reading it through in one go was definitely an ideal way to achieve maximum impact there.

ryoko kui does a very elegant job of handling a transition from 'silly antics' to 'big dramatic fantasy' while still keeping the central thematic throughline - eating and being eaten, belonging to an ecosystem, the significance of sacrificing others to achieve your own desires. a lot of setups pay off in a way that feels meticulously planned - and of course the crux of the final showdown revolves around characters attempting to eat each other, of course the big payoff is a huge feast that symbolically unites all the conflicting factions. it is maybe a bit too neat and happy for my taste, but it's undeniably tightly executed - it never loses sight of what it's about. especially compared to something like Frieren, it's an incredibly coherent serialisation, up there with e.g. Fullmetal Alchemist.

kui's art style deserves all kinds of praise - it feels effortlessly simple, but it clearly communicates all sorts of different shapes and body types and it's really fun to see her play around with remixing the different visual elements when she switches the races around. in general Laius's autistic monster loving ways clearly reflect kui's own deeply felt appreciation for all the ways people and animals live (accentuated further by all the extra sketches the scanlators tuck in). in a way you could kinda call it like Parts Unknown the fantasy manga.

the stakes of the final conflict are interesting - there is much to be said about the framing of 'desire' and its fulfilment, of this occult idea of 'the infinite'. lots you could put in relation to other manga, and also buddhism. (in particular I really want to develop a comparison to Made In Abyss, there are so many parallels, it just might be too spicy for tumblr lmao).

one thing I really like about it is how much its fantasy dungeon-exploring setting owes to D&D and other TTRPGs, rather than videogames. monster ecology has been a fascination of that game since the early days of Dragon magazine, and Kui sharply zeroes in on some of the intrinsic conflicts baked in to that fantasy milieu, notably the lifespan thing, while smartly avoiding the traps of 'evil races'. there's some really fun nods to the weirder monster manual entries. and in a story with so many characters and factions, it does a genuinely incredible job of furnishing everyone with understandable, reasonable motivations, conflicts drawn from their context just like the monsters are explained by their ecology.

and one thing that I particularly appreciate is like... how much it is able to simultaneously understand and sympathise with a character and also show us how and why they'd rub others the wrong way. it's impossible not to like our main group, they're all such charming dorks and the manga leads you along with all the crazy rpg party shit they do, but at the same time you definitely find yourself thinking 'guy's got a point' in the kabru chapters lmao. I'm projecting hard bc i don't really know a thing about ryōko kui but laius def feels like the sort of depiction of having an autism that you can only do if you've lived it.

but yeah, it's a fuzzy ending where it all turns out well. but what's the deeper thrust of it all? there's a funny moment where marcille is like 'maybe in the end our journey is about learning to accept death' and the grouchy old gnome guy completely laughs this off as naive, because death doesn't mean anything. and indeed their big plan pays off, and falin does indeed come back just fine. but still, through all of this it asks you to bite the bullet that being a living creature means eating to survive, at the cost of other creatures, with the other side being that one day you too will be eaten. in contrast to this honest way of being is the beguiling fantasy of infinity, where all your desires are immediately fulfilled - this is shown as a dangerous path of corruption that produces madness and manipulability. having limits and rubbing up against the wishes of others, or 'doing things you don't want to do' as izutsumi's arc puts it, becomes necessary for having some kind of definition as a subject. the thing that makes the demon concrete as an entity is a desire, or appetite, that can't immediately be fulfilled.

of course we can connect this to the idea of narrative conflict. a standard advice for putting together a plot is to ask what each character wants and why they can't get it. wanting something implies movement. and indeed over the course of this story, we see that while having too many desires fulfilled too readily leads to incoherence and callousness, equally a character who is left catatonic as their desires have been eaten by the demon must be reawakened to activity by finding a new desire.

it's kinda Buddhist innit. neither the opulence of the palace nor asceticism. desires are what tie you to the world. but mixed with ecology: what a creature does to find the energy to live is what defines its lifestyle, its form.

this is probably where I'd start talking about entropy gradients and shit if i wasn't typing this on a phone at 1:30am lmao.

but yeah - it's a powerful move to go from 'D&D monster recipe show sendup' to 'living with the inherently violent nature of being an organism fated to live in a finite sum game' and yet Dungeon Meshi makes it feel natural and convincing, while remaining tremendously charming and funny throughout. ryōko kui is definitely some kind of genius, and I can't wait to see what her next act is gonna be. it's all definitely making me appreciate the act of eating a lot more.

next story on my plate is probably The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere, which sounds like it will present a very gnarly thematic contrast.

#manga #dungeon meshi #comics comints

[autisticaradiamegido]

day 255

okay i'll still finish this one too i prommy but i just had time for one today and i picked this one because it's just a liiiiittle more compelling to me for aradia to be the rose bride figure

disorganized rambling and mild utena spoilers under the cut

so there are these visual parallels that won't leave my brain, between the thousands of swords bearing down on anthy at the end of rgu/the thousands of aradiabots being wiped out by jack right before they enter the kids' universe, AND ALSO anthy in her coffin/aradia in the crypt at the core of derse's moon.

aradia does want to protect (or like, Avenge) the people she cares about. i mean that's kind of the whole impetus for her being killed initially. and she gets put in that crypt for it and then she dies a million times, across a million different doomed timelines. of course all her friends ALSO die in those timelines, but yknow. she could've just hung around until she quietly ceased to exist. INSTEAD though, she goes back in time and suffers a predestined violent death at jack's hands in order to make it all mean something, and to protect her friends in the alpha timeline from becoming doomed themselves.

and it all leaves her as the kind of person who is prepared to just watch with mild curiosity as reality literally disintegrates around her (which.... like anthy, is, to a certain extent, a façade. i mean i don't think aradia's curiosity about the end of reality is fake, but also she SAYS she's not going to participate in the Lord English fight and just let whatever happens happen, but then he kicks Tavros and she immediately jumps on his back and chokes him out so like. do we REALLY think she is 100% free of emotions about all of it?)

anyway aradia megido has suffered more than jesus.

there's also the whole. like. having this dude who really does not indicate that he sees her as a person At All try to trick/force her into a romantic relationship with him?? and her status on alternia at the absolute bottom of the hemospectrum. the little crisis we see her have about just being used as a tool by the whims of fate and the alpha timeline. anthycore af

and then there's jade! jade is incredibly incredibly brave and she wants to do right by her friends. she is EXTREMELY fucking powerful and she is not willing to take bullshit from anyone. she could absolutely open that fuckin coffin.

and she also has a lot of fairytale imagery that i think goes very much hand in hand with utena's whole prince deal. she has her whole sleeping beauty, princess trapped in a tower on a deserted island theme going, and she just... never really leans into it. other characters around her seem to expect her to lean into it sometimes! and utena is constantly bombarded by other characters telling her it would JUST be easier if she was a princess and let herself be saved by a prince. but ultimately jade and utena are just out here living their lives without all that because it doesn't actually resonate with them.

ALL THAT SAID i wanna reiterate this isn't like a full-on AU it's just like. some character comparisons that i think are Neat. I don't have like, a whole thing thought out beyond this drawing or anything lol

#day 255 #year 4 #aradia megido #jade harley #homestuck #arajade #revolutionary girl utena #like i said tho i will finish up the aradia-as-utena one too #i have different but imo less compelling thoughts about that one

[adracat]

GWitch ep 19 thoughts

Every episode is a kick in the teeth with candy boots. A sweet misery you've known like no other. This episode was no different and I relished today's destruction as Mio and Prospera take center stage

That's a loaded statement if I've ever seen one. Really enjoyed this brief intro segment. We get Guel's thoughts on Kenanji; uninspired and suspicious, which are a vast change from his once admiration of the man. Guel also seems surprisingly chill about returning to Earth, but cryptically comments he wants to check the situation there and aid in negotiations. I like how Mio and him have fallen into this friendly rapport after everything. We'd like to see him apologize formally ofc, but it's not necessary for Mio. She's focused on greater concerns than the petty school days of Asticassia

Meanwhile, Suletta is a wreck. She's completely fallen apart after her mother and sister dumped her in space like hot garbo. She can't even plaster on a smile and lie to herself any longer. Earth House just thinks she's upset about the break up, so she isn't confiding in anyone at all. Suletta.exe has stopped working :(

Hilariously, Counselor Secilia has decided to make Martin her servant after listening to his confessional. It's great they make a distinct parallel to Miorine here, with Martin explaining he thought the best way to protect Earth House was to give up Nika. The show is filled with instances of people taking away another person's agency in the misguided belief they're doing 'what's best'. So good!

Real Elan finally gets more dialogue and he makes an excellent point, for once. The quickest and dirtiest way into Benerit's graces would be to forcefully suppress the earthian protests. A gundam, let alone one like Aerial, is a powerful statement of supremacy after all. Shaddiq is convinced Miorine would never allow it, and he's partly right. She wouldn't if she was the one truly calling the shots.

Feng is so cool for a spook. She successfully preys upon Belmeria's cowardice and gains her begrudging compliance. Really enjoyed the dynamic here at this little tea party. It was almost like a date 😳 Love me two older women with some tension. Is this the newest gwitch ship to take flight?

I love how Mio recognized these are peaceful protesters immediately. It's another instance of her demonstrating empathy on a greater level than she once did. Her initial ignorant comments about Earthians in cour 1 seem a distant memory, and much of it has to do with her exposure to Earth House. If not for them and Suletta, her pov would be just as narrow as every other spacian's.

And it's off to a terrible start lmao. I think Mio expected an uphill battle but those are some steep demands. A worldwide ban on spacians is unfeasible but absolutely warranted considering everything the spacians have done. Mio doesn't quite know how to counter, and it's so funny Guel left her here without help after previously saying he doesn't trust her diplomacy skills. I doubt he'd be much help tbh, but I guess he trusts her more than he said? Which is, uh, somewhat appreciated? It's the thought that counts.

Sad widow moment. Norea grieving Sophie's death and expressing her fear of death explicitly has been a long time coming. 5lan bearing witness as the floodgates open and she reveals they share this core dread? God this hit so good. You can't help but feel for these kids. Nika continues to watch on in bafflement as the drama unfolds. When is she gonna leave this level of purgatory?? Only Okouchi knows...

OMG, I AM SLAIN. Defeated. This sad husk of a girlboss misses her (ex) wife so much. Normal people would just have a wallet photo or a locket, but she's reduced to watching this goofy ass promo wistfully. I would find it hilarious if it wasn't so sad. It does give her the strength to continue negotiations so that's neat

More importantly, it reminds her of GUND's ideals and the people who've banded together because of that dream; Earth House. She cleverly points out that fulfilling their demands would also mean removing earthians from space, but she won't because they're her partners at GUND-ARM. Her showing them the medical achievements they've already made together was smart and tips the scales in her favor

I keep saying I love Mio but I really do. She's inspired to grasp the presidency for her own goals, rather than just as a tool for Prospera. She found a path of peace in spite of everything against her. It's bittersweet to know, in a kinder world, this would be the end of her struggles. But Prospera won't be satisfied with peace.

This shot was gold. Suletta raiding the fridge like an unwashed raccoon is perfect on so many levels. We finally get unbound Suletta too. Ugh she looks so good 😭

LOOK AT HER!! Babygirl. She looks like such a sad scruffy mutt here. I love it 🥹 Adored Earth House supporting her in her hour of need and giving her a boost with goat milk too. Really cements the rebirth imagery they had in the last episode.

Martin decides to slink home too and reveals everything going on with Nika. This bit from Lilique says it all. There are times when you are left with only so many options. While you may not choose the objectively best path, you can only pick what YOU feel is best. Miorine, Martin, Aerial. Even Delling and Prospera (Perhaps DoF and Shaddiq as well) It fits all the way across the cast.

I didn't expect to get the Shaddiq real name drop from this shakedown, but I'll take it. Kenanji may be a cop with blood on his hands, but he's a keen one. We learned that 'Prince' is a longstanding nickname and it implicates Shaddiq wholly in the terrorist attacks. 'Whoopsie, all my nefarious plans undone by one kid's rambling!'

(I also think the implication was Shaddiq or Jeru Ogul rather, is the 'heir apparent' to Ochs Earth virtue of his dead family. Not entirely certain tbh)

Looks like Guel will be Asticassia bound next episode along with Kenanji. No idea why Kenanji had to tag along but I guess Mio has enough of an escort. Let's hope this detour leads to Suletta using the Schwarzette! Fingers crossed

You saw it here, everybody. Prospera shot first! I'll admit I didn't fully expect her to go this route but it makes sense. I anticipated her gaining Mio support somehow, but she just cut the BS and said let's do this dirty. Controlling Earthian artillery to mask her intentions and provide an excuse is devious and brilliant

Destroying DoF's secret stache of gundams even more so. She really cut Shaddiq's plan for a cold war at the knees and Guel/Kenanji are on track to expose his duplicity entirely. He'll be lucky to not be jailed let alone president of anything. It's amazing that everything works out for Prospera no matter how many risks she takes or gambles made. Lady Luck must love her nonsense as much as the audience

Cut back to Bel and Feng, their date did not end as well as I hoped. While Bel spilled some details about Quiet Zero, Prospera's second hunts her down and interrupts this powow. Can't risk QZ leaking to the corpo spooks after all. We did learn that SAL is not as unified or well intentioned as we might have thought. Their high council was revealed to be backing Ochs Earth of all corps. Feng seemed to be an outlier in yet another shady corpo-controlled faction. I'll miss her, but maybe she somehow escaped this dire situation? I won't hold my breath. RIP Feng, you were a real one!

Elan Prime seems so smug to be right, even if it means their horse in this race has some real competition. He really is a little shit just like 5lan. That MS shot though. Damn evocative. War journalists eat your heart out. It's visual reference too, I believe?

This is the funniest thing he could've said. Shaddiq is malding just like a pathetic incel. Remember when everyone thought he pulled mad game because he's surrounded by women? But the sad reality is he's the most maidenless person in the solar system. The best outcome tbh.

Beyond the laughs, this line speaks so much about how he views Miorine. He views her little better than a prize only he's deserving of; a 'pure' princess to match his crusading prince. He repeatedly disregards her agency, seen in episode 9 when he acts like Suletta controls Mio and here when he blames Guel for what's happening on Earth. He's such a salty little worm.

Finally, we're left with Suletta and Earth House as they react to the chaos. Suletta recognizes instantly Miorine's innocence and her mother's culpability. This was why Aerial sent her away. This was what everyone is trying to shield her from. It was a moment of clarity I hadn't expected, but a very welcome one. Hopefully, this means she'll be spurred into action now that Mio is in very real danger. Schwarzette time? We can dream~

That next episode is incredibly ominous though. End of Hope? Considering they have that promo where GUND-ARM/earth house are the ray of hope... yikes. Let's hope I'm just reading into things and it's not that grim

Edit* additional musings:

A segment was deleted somehow so here it is

Miorine... You know, I've seen people having a bit of schadenfreude at her expense. 'she's so stupid, ofc this happened!' - that flavor of criticism. My counter to this is what could she have realistically done? She was strong-armed into this agreement and manipulated onto Earth. She dared to imagine a peaceful solution based on ideals she slowly grew to believe wholeheartedly. This isn't her fault, much as she thinks otherwise. I can see her willfully remaining on earth to try and correct this atrocity. Girl needs a big hug from her wife ;-;

#g witch #g witch spoilers #miorine rembran #prospera mercury #suletta mercury #guel jeturk #shaddiq zenelli #elan ceres #elan 5 #norea du noc #gundam witch from mercury #gundam #thank you for the kick in the teeth

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

Trying to start a giant-ass meta on why I ship Mycroft/Albert and what there is to see of it and right off the bat I'm like...I want people to look at every single panel of their interactions.

No, it's not Sherliam levels. And BIG OLD DISCLAIMER: very little of what I'm going to present here is like "We were clearly intended to read it this way." I'll always argue that Sherliam is meant to be romantic: it hits so many well-established notes and tropes it's almost impossible to think otherwise. MycAl is a bit different. I do think it's definitely like...we're welcome and even invited to see it. But a LOT of my shipping it comes from the way I personally read and interpret things. So this is about explaining what I'm seeing that makes me ship it, rather than trying to be like "This is canon and you should agree with me." Anyway, for reference, I'll be using the official translation as far as it goes and then swapping to teawaffles' wonderful translation for the rest!

So...like right off the bat throughout the entirety of their Chapter 4 interactions their body language and expressions and ways of talking are so flirty? (Also, I still find it funny that in the manga Mycroft is introduced before Sherlock and thus Mycal is introduced before Sherliam. Older bros first lol.)

Maybe it's just that 2 decades on the internet have skewed me towards reading suggestiveness into everything, but the way Mycroft addresses Albert feels so flirtatious even if he's literally just being normal. "And what would an Indian Army official such as yourself want from an intelligence official such as myself this late in the evening?" Like...am I crazy? Does that not kinda sound like a porn intro? 😂 (This could also be Sherliam Side-effects. The way they call each other Professor and Detective in That One Scene is like...almost undeniably foreplay. Now every time anyone calls each other by title/profession/rank is this series I assume they're hitting on each other.)

But also Albert is just so...handsy throughout that scene. He's touching Mycroft's knickknacks, and just sort of limp-wristing all over the place. And I mean, I think that's just one of Albert's public-facing personas (customer service peeps, you know what's up) but it definitely lends itself to the existence of Vibes.

Anyway, there's this parallel of "You have my attention. What do you want?" that I think is kinda neat. (But look how comparatively sad Mycroft looks in the second version!!!)

Chapter 4:

Chapter 23:

Btw, in Scandal in the British Empire...why does Mycroft introduce himself to the Queen? Never mind, not why we're here. Again, my weird innuendo sensors perk up in Chapter 17 at "I did not drag you out of bed this early for nothing." Maybe it's because my perception of Victorian niceties, whether it's factual or not, is that there was this sense of avoiding talk of physical realities. We don't speak of pregnancy, we speak of "her condition" and "confinement." We don't "go to bed," we "retire." And so on. So conversely, it feels almost suggestive to even acknowledge that someone was in bed. In whatever state of undress the might imply. *Kellen Goff Sasaki voice:* OOOH how sCanDaLOus. (Mind you I DON'T believe there is anything of authorial intent in this, again, just trying to explain the factors that make me read things a certain way.)

The little mind games: Albert immediately recognizing that he's being tested, and Mycroft well aware that something is off, that he and Albert are using each other to their own ends. All juicy ship ingredients.

Then there's this...I can't articulate why it's important. But it is. Something about mouths and thoughts. If I wasn't terribly lazy, I'd go digging for examples in various manga series and I have a pretty firm suspicion that I could prove that, often, Mouth-Focus Thinking Panel + Name = Ship.

Jumping forward to the start of The Riot in New Scotland Yard (Chapter 29), Mycroft's demeanour has really changed. During the meeting at the British Museum he's radiating "I'm not angry I'm just disappointed" energy. He's tense, he's not sure if the Moriartys are enemies and when he understands their plan he seems understandably sad about it even as he accepts it. But now, he's radiating an almost Sherlock-like excitement. He's just gotten to see a miniature version of The Plan in action during the Jack the Ripper case, and it worked. He says he's just visiting Albert as an acquaintance (read: friend in Mycroftian), and that's what it feels like. They're chummy. It's cute. Also Albert teasing Mycroft over his squabbles with Sherlock when he leaves? When did Albert find out about that, hmm? (I mean, could be spying of course. But I like to think it just suggests they've talked more than we've seen.)

Annnnnd....cutting this part off here because I'm bored of it for now and it's long. I'll do the rest when the mood strikes. 😂

#yuukoku no moriarty #moriarty the patriot #mycal #alcroft #meta or something #been a while since i've done one of these 'not meta so much as just a disorganized stream of consciousness' long-posts lol

[mrs-gauche]

If the Spirit!Solas theory happens to be true—and I’m confident it is—then it really gives you a new level of respect for how much restraint this guy has.

I’m talking specifically about his interactions with Dorian. The part where Dorian is trying to convince Solas that enslaving spirits is cool and neat and not wrong because ‘spirits aren’t people.’

Imagine having the strength of character to listen to someone tell you to your face that you are not a person and therefore undeserving of the most basic civil rights without immediately decking them in the face.

Solas puts up with tool much, man.

Oh yeah, definitely! 😂 (As much as I feel for Dorian just trying to find some common ground...) I guess that one line in Tevinter Nights does a great job of putting Solas' attitude on this matter in a nutshell.

[…] roared not in anger, but with quiet contempt. "From this moment, should you ever bind a spirit, then your life is mine."

Keep in mind, Solas has witnessed spirits suffering from the consequences of creating the Veil for at least a thousand years at this point, if only from the Fade. When he's saying "It hurts. It always does." to the Inquisitor after returning to Skyhold and Wisdom's death, he's referring to the countless times he had to watch his friends being drawn to the waking world, either forced, or to see them “wish to join the living”, only to be twisted, bound, corrupted, killed, you name it.

"How small the pain of one man seems when weighed against the endless depths of memory, of feeling, of existence. That ocean carries everyone. And those of us who learn to see its currents move through life with their fewer ripples."

Much like a lot of his banter with Sera taunting him about his grief for the past, at this point, Solas is so old and has witnessed so much history, so much pain, that Dorian's remarks couldn't possibly evoke any real anger from him. It's so insignificant compared to what he has seen. There's a reason why Weekes keeps emphasizing how friggin tired Solas truly is. This is after all the general perception of spirits in present Thedas, aside from a few cultures like the Avvar. He can't blame Dorian for Tevinter raising him to think of spirits as nothing more than "amorphous constructs", just like he can't blame the Dalish for the knowledge lost to time. Similarly to any other argument he has with the other companions, Solas' frustration/resentment is almost never aimed at them personally, but rather at the current state of the world that shaped their perspective. (As is also evident in how his banter always ends up with them eventually coming to terms and grow a mutual/respectful relationship. The only exception being a low approval Inquisitor and Iron Bull if he chose the Qun over the Chargers… In that case, the hostility was definitely personal. 😂)

(That being said, I'm SO hoping for any kind of serious emotional outbreak from Solas in DA4, since there's still like a thousand year old trauma that needs to be addressed. lol)

But yeah, I think, going by his actions in Tevinter Nights, Tevinter is definitely not ready for what's probably coming for them in DA4, now that Solas is actually able to change things. 👀 And isn't it interesting how he will now be facing the Imperium, which was essentially built on the ruins of the empire he brought down/the same slavery based system he once rebelled against, so history kinda repeats itself? lol

I think it's also very telling how Solas will immediately counter Dorian's comments on the treatment of spirits in Tevinter by directly comparing it to slavery.

Dorian: "There's no harm putting them to constructive use, and most mages back home treat them well." Solas: "And any that show any magical talent are freed, are they not?" Dorian: "What? Spirits don't have magical talent." Solas: "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were talking about your slaves."

But the beautiful irony in this, as I've talked about in this post, is how this draws a direct parallel to how Solas, in return, doesn't recognize the people of the waking world as real either, at least not until after the Inquisitor considers Wisdom a living being worth saving. This and his admission to the Inquisitor after he returns to Skyhold is imo the turning point in his character development. Imo, this is what leads him to say "Not at first. You showed me that I was wrong." in his high approval ending in Trespasser.

And this is also why I think that the theory of Solas intending to save the spirits first and foremost would make for such an interesting story actually.

The waking world doesn't view spirits as real people. Just like Solas can't accept the people of the waking world as real. So, what will happen if he tears down the Veil, and the Fade and the waking world become one again? The Inquisitor was potentially willing to save Wisdom despite it having already turned into a Pride demon. And in doing so, the Inquisitor unintentionally put up a mirror in front of Solas' face and basically went "If I can see them as real people worth saving, why can't you?".

And if the spirit origin theory is true, then it could make for a fascinating inner conflict. Solas, living in both the waking world and the Fade, having been a spirit and a corporeal person, is now facing the question of who "his people" actually are. Where does he belong? After all, his biggest fear remains to "die alone".

While this was said in more of a joking manner, Weekes' words from 2016 really put it into perspective here. Solas sees himself in that old fisherman he saw in the Fade. He is "the one who lived". So, I picture it like this… Solas is left alone in the Fade after the creation of the Veil. Spirits are now his only company for the next thousand years. Whether or not those spirits were the remaining souls of the elves he tried to save, we don't know, but regardless, I truly believe they are his people. But he is not a spirit. At least, not anymore.

Cole: "You don't need to envy me, Solas. You can find happiness in your own way." Solas: "I apologize for disturbing you, Cole. I am not a spirit and sometimes it hard to remember such simple truths." Cole: "They are not gone so long as you remember them." Solas: "I know." Cole: "But you could let them go." Solas: "I know that as well." Cole: "You didn't do it to be right. You did it to save them." Inquisitor: "Solas, what is Cole talking about?" Solas: "A mistake. One of many by a much younger elf who was certain he knew everything."

In this banter, Cole reveals to us that Solas' mind immediately goes from "It's hard for me to accept I'm not a spirit" to "the people that were lost when Solas created the Veil". To me, this pretty much confirms that the people of Elvhenan and spirits are connected, if not one and the same. It's assumed that the Evanuris mined the Titans to somehow create bodies for spirits to inhabit, and that Mythal gave Solas a body against his will. There's also the theory about the creation of the Veil having caused the separation of body and spirit.

You know, I've written so much about this in previous posts and I don't want to sound like a broken record, but if we consider all those little clues and look at all of his dialogue in that context, it just makes so much sense to me, that what he wants to do is primarily to save the spirits/destroy the barrier for them to enter the waking world without their purpose getting corrupted. There's also still the matter of the Blights and red lyrium otherwise probably consuming the entire world. 😅 I think that's what he's referring to when saying "What I am doing will save this world" in Tevinter Nights.

And remember, "Dread Wolf" is still literally an anagram for "World" and "Fade". 😂 Both worlds colliding is quite literally in his title. lol Whatever the six eyed high dragon sized Dread Wolf actually is, as far as we know, he only seems to exist within the Fade, but how exactly is he connected to Solas and what will happen to him if he tears down the Veil (which btw is also definitely gonna happen… I mean, besides the fact that the Veil is getting weaker regardless of Solas' actions)? ANYWAY.

Sorry for rambling so much (and I feel like my English is a little rusty, too 😖), but I haven't talked about this stuff in a while and the lack of news is killing me. 😂 But your message gave me something to think about again, so thank you! :)

#oh no this got so long again 😖 #solas #also again Bioware I beg you please give us that ''Solas calling his spirit army and charging into battle'' moment from TN 👀 #tinfoil time #da4 #''Spirit self. Seeing the soul. Solas. But somehow sorrows.'' #watch us play DA4 one day and none of this turn out to be true 😂 #but I'm gonna die on that hill lol

[purity-town]

Been another very tiring week so I won't be able to get the next update out today -- in the meantime, I'll toss some ask responses under the cut! Ended up getting pretty into the weeds with these ones, haha.

Edit: Someone sent in an ask less than a minute after I posted, so I snuck it in at the end.

Alalia doesn't know the exact circumstances that led to the burn scars (i.e. the doll), but she can extrapolate that it's related in some way to him being the Wall of Flesh. She doesn't know every minutiae of how his whole deal works (her comment of "I didn't know what would become of you!" was originally written in the script as something along the lines of "And you made it to adulthood too -- truth be told, I didn't know what would happen to you!". Basically saying that she didn't know if he'd even grow up, or if he'd go the other route and end up an old man with an unnaturally prolonged life, or be continually reborn young, and so on. In reality, he just ended up not aging after reaching maturity).

Andrew often doesn't bother concealing his scars when he's alone (ex. here and here) for casual comfort, and while he doesn't know Alalia on a personal level he knows what she is and implicitly trusts her because of that. She's older, a direct creation of Terraria, and a part of the natural world. If she comments on it it becomes a segue for him to talk to her about the circumstances that led to making the doll, and if she doesn't, then he can assume she either doesn't care or made a guess but most importantly isn't judging him about it.

So to explain my thoughts on this I first want to talk about the Wall of Flesh's design. The Wall of Flesh visually serves as a very neat intermediary between pre-hardmode and hardmode (specifically Moon Lord):

You've got the obvious design parallels of the Eye of Cthulhu's first and second phase // The Wall of Flesh's two eyes shooting lasers and mouth design // The Twins and their attacks // The Moon Lord and the True Eye of Cthulhu's beam attacks.

Then there's the leeches spawned by the Wall of Flesh paralleling the Moon Leech Clot: the Wall of Flesh's leeches are described as "a worm-like parasite spit forth from the Wall of Flesh, filled with the lifeblood of its host. This blood has healing properties." This contrasts with when (what is apparently the Moon Lord's tongue according to the wiki, haha, but is in my opinion visually similar to the WoF leeches) grabs the player during its fight and produces a Moon Leech Clot, which heals the Moon Lord instead.

And if you're running a Corruption world, you can at least make an argument connecting the Eater of Worlds both to the leeches and the Hungry (at least in theme), then tying in the Destroyer as well, though the official bestiary lore is kind of a mess in this regard (the Destroyer is meant to be Cthulhu's...spine? And the Eater of Worlds is just a thing? It's confusing, so I've been taking some creative liberties in the comic to tie it together nicely).

Then if you're on a Crimson world, the whole "flesh" theme of the WoF serves as a nice in-between for the Brain of Cthulhu and Moon Lord's actual design.

This is a lot of words to explain that within the context of Purity Town, the "reason" for many of these design parallels is due to how it all links back to Cthulhu/Moon Lord.

Ripped-off pieces of the Moon Lord, or beings that arose from the chaos it wrought --> The Eye of Cthulhu, the Eater of Worlds

The ancient magics and chaos and light and dark all locked away until the world has healed enough to release them again (or the Moon Lord is near enough return that their power is necessary to kill it once and for all) --> The Wall of Flesh

Artificial constructions designed from the aforementioned parts of Cthulhu and monsters made from its power --> The Mechanical Bosses

The Moon Lord itself.

Malik's comment about Andrew being the Moon Lord's son, as much as he's clowned on immediately after about it, isn't entirely out there. Malik has a good sense for monsters and magic and curses (as do other characters like the Witch Doctor), and can put together that Andrew gives him the same vibes as a lot of the eldritch monsters out there. He just doesn't know that it's due to Andrew being the sort of human-avatar-thing for what is effectively the barrier/guardian holding back a lot of that power.

(On the other side of things: Andrew doesn't know who his actual, biological father is. He had a father figure of sorts in the form of his mentor, James, and was content with that. At the end of the day, everyone involved except for him has been dead for around four centuries at this point, so he's never going to get an answer and doesn't really care. And if he did have, say, a half-sibling out there or something on his dad's side: once again, it's been four-hundred years, so any living "relatives" will be very, very far removed from his family and culture. Technically this means he can't personally dispute the idea that he's not the son of Moon Lord or whatever, but as far as he knows his dad was a human, and he and his brother share the same dad.)

All that out of the way: your idea of the Guide's father being related to the cult is super cool!! Andrew does still have some ties to the Lunatic Cult in Purity Town, though it's less the Cult itself and more just the Cultist. The idea of his father being a manifest of Cthulhu and kickstarting the Cult and all the ideas that could spiral off of that- I really like the concept!

Yeah of course!! My tagging system on my main blog is non-existent (i.e. I really ought to actually start tagging things), but I reblog fanart there!

Of course if you want to just draw the characters for fun and not share you're not obligated to, but I'd love to see it if you choose to share!

#purity town #not an update #pt asks #I didn't mean for this to be so late but I ended up adding a lot of details

[captainnameless]

Is Little!Seb and Michael the same verse as Seb and Little!Mick? Maybe it just me but I love seeing little parallels between the two (Seb and Mick calling their caregiver mean and the caregiver agreeing)- it’s adorable!

Can I request some Mick getting overwhelmed and over tired at testing and Lewis calling Seb and Seb telling Mick stories when he was first on the grid (and Charles sneaking in for extra Mick comfort too??) please 🥺

OMG YES FINALLY SOMEONE HAS NOTICED.

lmao when i first uploaded that latest installment of Little Seb i think i put in the tags “theres an easter egg in this” and no one caught it until now! yay!

some Mick thoughts:

It’s a long boring day to be fair, there’s so much data, and so much change. The engineers and analysts are working their asses off and Mick tries his best to be helpful to think along, but there’s only so much data he can look at, so much graphs before he starts getting a headache, possibly amplified by the jetlag and Bahrein heat.

It’s George’s turn in the car so Lewis has time to notice, excuses himself and gently puts a hand on Mick’s shoulder, guiding him away from the computer screens and noise.

“What?” Mick sounds whinier than he probably means to as he allows himself to be led away.

“Thought you could use some quiet time.” Lewis says, both of his hands on Mick’s shoulders now, squeezing gently.

“I’m not dropping.” Mick says, blinking against the bright overhead lights.

“Hmm.” Lewis nods, not convinced. “Do you wanna go to my drivers room for a bit?”

Mick nods, almost immediately but makes no effort to start moving when Lewis starts to turn.

“You coming?” Lewis asks, trying to bite back his smile when Mick looks at him expectantly, and then holds out his hand.

Mick takes it and then they start moving.

Not dropping, my ass.

Lewis drops Mick’s hand when he’s sat him down on the couch, locking the door behind him. Mick’s hands come up to rub at his eyes, suddenly a bit shiny.

“Do they not need you out there?”

“They’ll be fine without us for a bit, darling.” Lewis soothes, crouching down in front of Mick.

“But will you get in trouble?” Mick asks, concerned.

Lewis chuckles lightly. “I won’t buddy.”

“What if you will?” Mick asks, voice trembling just a little. Blinking at Lewis with sad eyes.

Definitely time for a nap.

“I won’t, darling. I promise.” Lewis soothes, squeezing Mick’s knee. “Do I break my promises?”

“No,” Mick pouts. “But-”

“No buts.” Lewis says gently, before getting up. “Where’s your bag, poppet?”

Mick chews his bottom lip before pointing at the closed door.

“Alright,” Lewis says gently. “I think we might need Mini-Angie huh? We could both use a nap.”

Mick shakes his head, eyes wet again. “There’s no time!”

Lewis sighs just a little. “Sweetheart, there’s all the time. Uncle Lew says so, okay? Do you want me to go get her?”

“But Lew-”

“Do you wanna call Daddy?” Lewis asks, changing the subject and hopefully preventing a tantrum.

It shuts Mick up, not one to deny a conversation with Sebastian. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Lewis says quickly pressing Sebastian’s contact in his FaceTime recents and handing Mick the phone. “I’ll be right back,” he says as soon as he sees Sebastian’s answered, pressing a kiss to Mick’s head.

Locating Mick’s belongings is easy, the boy is usually neat and tidy and Lewis decides to quickly grab them a cold drink too, bumping into Charles when he’s jogging past the garage.

“Done for the day?” Lewis asks, slowing his pace.

“Somewhat,” Charles answers, easy smile on his face. It doesn’t hide the tiredness. “Might lay down for a bit.”

Lewis returns the smile. “I’ve got Mick over and about to go down for a sleep, if you want to join?”

There’s a soft flush that spreads over Charles’ cheeks, still. “Um,” he starts. “I guess? I’m gonna change real quick though if you don’t mind.”

“Join whenever.” Lewis says, starting to walk again. “You know the way.”

Slipping back into his room, Lewis doesn’t lock the door this time, pleased to see Mick curled up on the couch, shoes discarded, Sebastian’s voice coming through the speakers.

Lewis joins Mick on the couch, rummaging through his back before locating the plush he was looking for, handing it to Mick who takes it immediately, leaning into Lewis’ side.

“He’s taking good care of you, isn’t he buddy?” Sebastian sounds amused through the phone when Lewis feeds the straw of the drink into Mick’s mouth.

Mick nods, taking a good few sips before turning his face away dropping the straw.

“Well, he’s a good boy. Huh?” Lewis says, brushing Mick’s hair out of his face, settling more comfortably into the couch.

“Better boy than I ever was.” Sebastian agrees and Mick makes a noise of disapproval.

“Nuh uh!”

“Yuh uh!” Sebastian chuckles. “I was a pain in his arse, and he returned the favor when I misbehaved.”

Lewis laughs, looking up when there’s a quick knock. “Come in!”

Charles shuffles through the door, sheepish look on bis face. “Hi.”

“Look!” Mick says, turning the phone so Charles can see Sebastian too. “Look who’s here!”

“Oh I’m jealous!” Sebastian says when both boys tuck in to either side of Lewis. “Save some cuddles for me.”

“Shouldn’t have retired.” Lewis responds. “I’m taking all these cuddles for myself.”

“Or!” Charles says, “You should come to see the race.”

There’s a soft smile that appears on Sebastian’s face. “Maybe I will.”

#littlef1adventures #lf1a.minific

[bloodgulchblog]

Have you seen that YouTube video where some guy reads every Halo novel back to back and then reviews them? If so what did you think

The Brian David Gilbert one? Oh yeah, all my friends showed me it when it came out. (It was honestly kind of cute seeing how many people thought of me immediately.)

Rewatching it to refresh myself because it's been a couple years and a full-novel reread for me since the last time...

High fiving BDG because the Master Chief parts of The Flood were definitely the most boring parts.

He didn't have anything to say about First Strike which I think is a shame because I think it's better than The Fall of Reach and actually has A Theme I Find Interesting.

Rightful recognition of Contact Harvest as pretty damn good.

Rightful recognition of the Forerunner Trilogy as dense oldschool-style SF with deep worldbuilding. (Also the San'Shyuum thing.)

I disagree with him about, and have significant problems with, Kilo Five. He is correct that Kilo Five actually delves into some of the dark places in Halo in a way it really needed, and I would even say that its writing is extremely engaging by Halo novel standards. However, while he does notice the obvious parallels between what ONI is doing post-war and the kind of shit the CIA has pulled again and again irl, I think he misses some of the subtext I see where it feels like it justifies some shit a liiiiittle too much if you know the author's irl politics re: the military. He also doesn't seem to notice the character assassinations (particularly of Catherine Halsey) that I and a lot of other fans see/object to in those books. I kind of gaze into the middle distance with a haunted expression at the suggestion that these are the ones to read if you don't touch any of the others just because they are, ironically, so heavy-handed and feel like they treat certain kinds of evil as inevitable in a way that actually feels way worse to me than the excuse plot offered by the earlier/lighter Halo novels. (But idk, that's me? Nobody is committing a crime if they disagree with my frenzied insane person red string diagrams about Kilo Five.)

I'd swap Pariah for Dirt in the Evolutions anthology if it were me, but I think these are solid standouts.

Broken Circle is neat but really nonessential he's not wrong.

A one-sentence review of New Blood is probably not enough space to get into how fucked up the Spartan-IV program is, but yeah. New Blood is fun if you don't find Buck's first person narration annoying. (It comes and goes for me in that one.)

BDG you're an absolute sweetheart, I think Hunters in the Dark is kind of goofy in a way I cannot in good conscience ignore if I'm gonna review it. But it really really is so much fun and I love that one a lot anyway. The "it's like Halo 3... 2" observation is solid.

High fiving him again because I also found Last Light disappointing. And it is also a me problem.

Fractures!

Hell yeah these are all good pulls from Fractures, I would say Shadow of Intent is the pick of the litter in that anthology for me. Interesting that as a Kilo Five enjoyer he didn't single out Rossbach's World, which is the last we've heard about Osman and Black Box. (Also, that one is good.) I think Oasis is worth an honorable mention because I'm an Envoy stan, and the Forerunner stories are interesting but I wouldn't go for them if you don't already have a healthy interest in the trilogy.

This tangent is so fucking funny now that we know more things:

Oh BDG, oh buddy, it's really not for the people like you and me huh. (Disclaimer: I have no idea if BDG likes the Halo tv show or not and I have no desire to dig up evidence about it.)

Also, while you're here, this is the bloodgulchblog origin story:

Smoke and Shadow is fun so it's a little sad that when he ends that sentence with "whatever," I can't actually say he's wrong to. (Sorry Rion your part of the lore just.... hasn't... touched anything that touches anything else anymore.)

ENVOY IS GOOD AND EVERYONE SHOULD CARE ABOUT IT okay okay I'm cool I'm normal, anyway. Envoy is the Halo novel that restored my faith in reading Halo novels and reminded me that authors can care and know how to do nuanced, interesting themes in this space. It's great. Everyone in this book has war refugee trauma (except the Spartans which have Spartan trauma) and that's incredible to me. Please care about Envoy if you have spare room in your heart for Halo side characters.

I am cheered to see someone indifferent to the Veta Lopis stories, but I still feel petty for feeling it.

I don't have a lot to say about Legacy of Onyx here but it's always so fun seeing someone else suffer and care.

Bad Blood, the Blood is Bad now is a fun joke but lol yeah. It does have this very vital moment where Chief and Arbiter talk, though. For the first and only time in years.

PROPS FOR NOTICING THE YA NOVELS they're actually pretty nice.

"The Master Chief is the protagonist and boy does he shoot some people" is most of how I feel about Silent Storm and Oblivion too, I know they have their fans but Troy Denning's Chief books don't do much for me personally.

Renegades hadn't had its followup Point of Light yet but yeah, Spark stuff is interesting.

I had to remember that oh yeah, there are multiple books now that didn't exist when this was made. I wonder if he read them?

OKAY I THINK THAT'S ALL I HAD TO SAY as always if y'all want specific book opinions, I might have a tag for them. Or just yell in my ask box, I'm sure I can scrounge up some thoughts.

#halo novels

[raayllum]

2x06 in one of the flashback scenes during Harrow’s letter he watches Callum and Ez playing together in the courtyard. After Ezran is hurt Callum immediately tosses his sword aside and kneels down to take his hand with a concerned face. It reminded me of the last scene in 4x09 with Callum tossing Rayla’s blade aside and grabbing her hand with a similar expression. I might be going crazy lol but I just thought it was neat

Absolutely fucking fantastic catch, nonnie!! Callum&Rayla and Callum&Ezran tend to have the most specific parallels in a lot of ways, since they’re Callum’s two pillars and the most important people in the world to him - so throwing down a blade to help someone else, and someone you’ve hurt (intentionally or through trying to protect yourself) is a great reflection of Callum’s humility in the aftermath of losing his temper with Ez, or how he slowly is able to let Rayla back in over the course of S4 and also begin reaching out to her again. And part of this is, of course, that in order to end the Cycle, someone has to put their weapon down first (and not strike even though they can)

I’ve wanted to write a thing about the 4x09 scene in particular just because there’s so much?? there?? Like Holy Shit

Like first, you have Callum dropping to his knees as though at an altar, and whenever a TDP character kneels it’s almost always associated with desperation and/or Death, in this case both, so that’s loaded (as well as Aaravos being the only other character to bring Callum to his knees this season, in 4x04), on top of “dropping to your knees” being body language code for “I’m fucking devastated right now” in-show and out

Then you have Callum dropping Ibis’ staff. This is three fold because 

1) the last time the staff was dropped in that manner, it was because Ibis had just been stabbed 

2) Callum had a whole scene earlier in the season about how much the staff mattered to him (even if it’s also mitigated) and that it “means a lot” and yet he discards it now to pick up and cradle Rayla’s blade to his chest

3) Callum dropping the staff also communicates his willingness to finally take a lot of his walls regarding Rayla down and to stop using magic as a crutch to avoid what he’s feeling about her, the way he previously has all season long

And we haven’t even talked about the blade yet, which, Oh My God

Like, the symbolism alone of Rayla running after Viren with only one of her blades - least prepared she’s ever been, literally off-kilter, and Callum then having her other blade (her other half) as he cradles it in his hands. And he holds it the way Harrow held Sarai’s crown after her actual death, after he watched her leave to go after Viren 11 years prior

Rayla’s blades are what she uses to defend herself, what she uses to carry out her mission, something precious to her because of the agency they give her and the fact they were made for her by Ethari and she was trained to use them by Runaan. And in this moment, the singular blade is all Callum thinks he has left of Rayla, so he cradles it to his chest, much like what he did with her other goodbye gift of the moon opal pendant (also passed down by her fathers)

So the blade is more important to him than Ibis’ staff. It’s precious, much like the moon opal (rare, and also magical). But, just like the pendant, the memory of her isn’t enough. He will always pick her over any keepsake or any possibility of not having her in his life. 

He values her over the staff (magic), over her memory / mission (the blade) and then runs to her, tossing away the blade to hold her with both hands, letting her know he’s there and he’s not going anywhere, after a season of her reaching out to him, he finally reaches back and then doesn’t let go, touching her shoulder and then embracing her outright (finally). 

Which is doubly meaningful, I think, because they don’t do the double hand hold clasp often. Callum does it once when he’s lifting Rayla out of her self hate spiral in 3x04, and Rayla holds his hand in both of hers when she promises to leave together in TTM, so this is a full circle in more ways than one, I think, which is really lovely.

And like - Callum tossing the Symbol of her Mission away to run to her will never not give me all the feelings, tbh.

#thanks for asking #anonymous #tdp #the dragon prince #two pillars #rayllum #tdp meta #requests #analysis series #analysis #2x06 #s2 #parallels #s4 #4x09 #brotp: we're in this together

[mistyfoxxy]

Y’all let’s talk for a second. I rewatched ASIAS at the ER last night and I noticed something. Now forgive me, this might be a long post buttttt hear me out. I think of Willow wouldn’t have found out quiiittte yet that Hunter was the golden guard, the guard that Luz had talked about, she would’ve started liking Hunter. I think she actually might have developed a crush on him already, and here’s why:

On there first meeting, you know how the story goes, she’s looking for recruitments and sees Hunter playing flyer derby with a griffin for his boot. She’s immediately amazed by him. Ok? Now we haven’t had much throughout the series on Willow herself but we know she started off bullied, her best friend was forced to unfriend her- and she’s a powerful witch. She’s gained this new confidence now that she’s able to legally act on that.

Sure, he’s a little wierd upon first meeting. But their meeting towards eachother is totally parallel! They’re both confused by eachother, hunter bc she didn’t think the was to uhm.. test the recruits was deathly courses, and Willow, bc of how he thought they should test the recruits.

And then the next scene we get, where he’s showing off the flying skills to help Willow,

They both quote eachother. Not literally, but they’re impressed, even amazed by each others talents and recognize each others strengths. Both stating the the other would make a great edition/ and if there’s any others like them. Now ofc, Hunter is upset, like really upset that the so-called “best and brightest” are what she presented to him. Now that upsets her, bc she understands what it’s like to be misjudged at one point, but then she hears what she’d felt her whole life. “If you’re considered a half-a-witch like me” and she understands.

What I’m trying to say is, TOH producers and crafty and smart. They know what to create. I believe they did this parallel for a reason, I think it was for her to develop a crush on him this episode, just as I knowwwww he did as we see later on in future episodes. Now all of this stuff stuff you’ve probably picked up on your own, but I want to go to this one scene, that made me want to look into this.

AINT NOBODY ELSE IN THIS SHOT LOOKING AT HIM LIKE THAT. I think she started to like him. I think she saw this scrawny, cute, cocky, a little judgemental at first(with reason she begins to understand), having fun, she was having fun with him. I think she developed her crush then. I think she still likes him. And here’s why.

When she starts to put the pieces together after his grand introduction. She’s nervous, confused, and even upset. Very upset if you ask me. This was the golden guard LUZ had told them about. The right hand of belos that ain’t none of them like. She had let the golden guard join their team. She thought the GOLDEN GUARD was a very neat fellow. Maybe even thought he was rather cute.

She’s hurt. She immediately puts her guard up. She quotes, “I made a bad call” implying, trusting Caleb. This new guy. Someone she’s never seen before and blames herself. She put her team at risk. And even goes to quote, again another parallel from earlier in the episode, “I’m just half-a-witch-Willow” I believe at this point, she put her guard up. As seen on the following episodes, she does what she can to help him, like in the episode where the school gets ilusioned up, can’t think of the name at the moment. She saved him, her and the Emerald Entrails (except for Gus ofc) but she still had that guarded look on her face. Sure, they’ve texted back in forth on penstagram, and o think she was ok with him, but I believe she didn’t want to put her friends in danger again by trusting what he said until proof. I believe once she fully trusts him, she’ll be able to develop proper feelings without having her guard up and the blushing and nervousness will begin. But there you have it. That’s my very bad grammar, not fluent and all take on Willows crush on Hunter.

#Huntlow #the owl house #hunter wittebane #willow park

[jess-the-vampire]

I see all people talking about Belos problems only, and make no mistake I will talk about it too. There’s many things you can say about what character he is and how show plays with him. But let’s talk about other things for a moment.

Am I the only one who thinks that the whole Collectors vs Titans thing is just stupid? Okay, maybe stupid is too much, but it’s just very strange.

In WaD Collector tells us that he and his siblings were doing they cosmic stuff, then his siblings find out about Titans and that they can fight off their magic, they send Collector to little titans, he played with them, then his siblings came and took them all(despite the fact that Collector’s magic doesn’t work on Titan, which didn’t stop him from cast illusions on King somehow), Collector, for some reason didn’t follow them, and then Papa Tita Lyn came, looked around, didn’t saw his kids, saw the Collector and immediately thought that “Well there’s no one here so I guess you did something to my children, so I will put in a space dish.”. And they just left in on that. I thought “okay, it’s collector’s perspective, let’s hear what will Titan say.”, and then Titan is just “Whoops! I attacked the wrong person!”.

Excuse me, what? So he literally just attacked poor kid because there was no one else around to attack? And when exactly he realised he attacked wrong guy? They show that Titan sits in In Between Realm and in season 2 they showed us that Collector was there too. Did they like talked there and Titan was like “Oh, you DIDN’T do anything with my kids, it was your evil relatives? Well that’s pretty awkward now, that I put you in a space dish. But I’m dead now so I can’t pull you out. Sorry!”.

The most baffling thing is that expect us to just accept that he make a mistake and we must forgive him, because at least he was genuine in his desire to protect his kids. The kids that were already taken away.

ok, so i have mixed opinions on the titan and collectors storyline.

now, i do think the concept as far as worldbuilding goes, is really cool. It implies a larger world outside of the titan the show resides on and i adore the designs of both creatures within this universe. I think having this battle among gods that happened eons ago and led to the world in which the isles resides in is something that does add to some of the characters. I love the collector cult, i love that eda's owl beast was a victim of this war who carries resentment to this day about it, i don't even mind king being tied into it.

I think the show set all this up, pretty neat in s2.

But i think it fell off for me in s3.

Like you can kinda tell collector was not supposed to be in the show because really, you could of removed him and changed a few things around and the story could work just fine, king realizing he's a titan can still be used....but this battle among gods really is something that feels a lot more last minute and his relationship with collector wasn't vital to his character that it NEEDED to be there.

it's not like the wittebane story were most of the characters feel ingrained into it, with parallels, and carrying mementos that belonged to them, and living in the same towns, and most of them being distantly related to them.

And i was invested enough in the titan and collector drama, but i really don't think they stuck the landing for me.

WAD especially felt like a mess of a lot of weird inconsistencies and character actions, and it's probably why i sadly didn't automatically click with it like most of the fans seemed to. And while i've talked about belos regarding that, collector and titan dad are probably the other characters that i would say are a mess in this finale.

Now see, i can accept using magic ON titans, i think the assumption is that they only repel collector magic with magic, so if king isn't using magic he's more vulnerable. Granted, i think titan dad's existence has made titan magic more confusing and a lot more overpowered that if we DO get more toh content, we might run into more issues.

i don't wanna drag this post TOO long tho, so if you want me to list all the confusing details that aren't clear or consistent with titan magic you can ask later.

point being, i have less an issue that the collectors got them as much as that this scenario happened and that despite this, and despite knowing the cult, and also being sad about king talking about the titans being wiped out....that the show then says he doesn't understand the concept of death? Like for his arc in WAD to work, you have to believe he doesn't know how death works, but then he has moments like these were you have to ask how? If he thinks they can be saved you think he'd have a different reaction, you'd think he'd try to revive them, why would he feel guilty over them being "Wiped out" if he has no idea what that means and he knows it can be fixed in his head. His whole arc rests on this detail and a lot sorta bungles it.

Like they have this whole scene where collector is supposed to think king is out to get him (As kinda pointless as it was really), but like....if collector doesn't get death....what does he think king means by "Permanent solution" that he gets so upset about it? Cause he heard king say no imprisonment so like....?????

not to mention the chapter about genocide he scribbled out, like what does he think genocide is if he doesn't get death? why does he get so upset about it?

you can totally have this story about an immortal god who learns about death, but with all these extra details it becomes harder to understand why collector doesn't get it and it becomes a bit hard to believe. Is he meant to be in denial? it doesn't seem like that was the intent?

collector also is the point where you notice the trend for redeeming characters in this show tends to be revealing they were just manipulated the whole time, making them a lovable goofball, and them being in the gang. It was fine when it's just a couple times, but it does wear out it's welcome when you realize a lot of them don't get too really account for their actions all to much.

Collector does apologize, but really that's the extent of it outside of turning people back, he just kinda leaves everyone to deal with part of his mess. it would of been nice to have one villian who admits they are at fault without it being blamed on someone else and gets screentime to repent. (Lilith is the closest but she is mostly gone after s1)

now, in PT's case, we never see the scene itself to know how it came off, and i think the intention is for him to come off flawed so him attacking collector in rage could kinda work. But it also is contrasted by his scenes treating him as objectively right outside of this one thing, so even tho the attempt was to turn him into just a dude capable of mistakes, the show kinda still ended up leaning on him being a bit too perfect still for me.

Which doubly is weird because yeah, him being in the inbetween opens a WHOLE can of worms, like how come he doesn't use those cubes ever to talk to anyone on the show? If he has control over showing glyphs, why did ne never do it to anyone besides luz? is it just because of king because he didn't do it for eda? Also how come the other dead titans aren't there with him? Like is this an adult titan thing because some of the skulls looked like they could be from some adults?

The whole thing makes it sound like he didn't care to help until his son was involved, and even then, when he found someone he liked to ask to help.

and hey, i could be cool with the idea the titan is a bit selfish and just cares about who she cares about, and not most other citizens of the isles, but it doesn't come off like that was the intent either.

and yeah, it does raise the question why the titan never just....talked to collector in his prison? like how much power does he have in that place? am i supposed to believe she can't move from that spot? Can he not use the cubes to talk to collector? there's no clear concept of the limits in this episode so you just ask why TD doesn't do certain things the show never proves he can't do.

introducing a figure in this way recontextualizes the whole show now, so now you have to think back and wonder more things like this knowing this info.

i think had we seen titan dad do it in a flashback, and maybe it was a moment of anger and non thinking it could work actually, but we don't get that so that leaves us to think many different things and those all can give us different opinions on her character.

so i think we both have issues, but different kinds of issues.

#toh #the owl house

[lizzylucky]

Thoughts and Observations From The Movie, Part 1/4

Well, if the title isn’t self explanatory enough, this is a collection of screenshots I took from the Rise Movie that contain neat details or things that I think are silly, or that offer starting points for theories.

This one isn’t too new, but you can notice in the opening sequence of the movie, particularly during Mikey’s entrance, evidence of both April’s and Big Mama’s downfalls. (It can be hard to tell, but April’s arm and a part of her hairdo are sticking out of the rubble there)

Before I spotted this, I remember thinking it was weird that Leo believed this was the end of the rebellion, like “there’s no way they haven’t had bad battles before”, especially given that Donnie and Raph are both confirmed to have died way before this. But then there’s this… And you can assume anyone else fighting, like Todd, seen not even a minute earlier, was absolutely destroyed if both these legends didn’t make it. And followed pretty immediately by Mikey and Leo himself… Lotta death in the beginning here.

Further content below the cut!

I loveeee this scene! These guys are so gay! And, frankly, Hypno-potamus is my absolute favourite villain, in both design and personality, in the whole show. 

The main things I liked from this scene were the fact that Warren Stone is sitting in a rainbow-unicorn themed baby seat, and that he and Hypno are sharing a soda with two straws, from Albearto’s, no less.

I paused here because it seems to be a direct parallel to “Shell in the Cell”, which is the episode where we first meet Ghost Bear. There, it was Leo and Mikey fighting against Raph and Donnie, where Mikey and Donnie were kinda the b plot, naturally. Here though, I like that Mikey and Donnie were trying to stop Leo and Raph from fighting, as opposed to encouraging it. And man, they put some effort in. Bodily pushing back against Leo, in Mikey’s case, and full on jumping up on Raph’s back for Donnie.

Okay, it can’t be just me. Anyone else look at this and wonder if it’s Karai and her village, as was described after we first meet her? It would make a loooot of sense. Also, really digging the art style here.

Additionally, WHO ARE THESE WARRIORS???? I NEED TO KNOW??? THEY EVEN HAVE THE SAME COLOURS, PLEASE! THERE HAS TO BE MORE SIGNIFICANCE TO THIS, THERE’S ABSOLUTELY NO WAY THIS IS COINCIDENTAL.

This! is the most sibling interaction ever, I swear. If you have siblings and you don’t occasionally have conversations that consist entirely of dirty looks… Well, idk, but I haven’t met anyone like that yet. Such a foreign idea to me, as the eldest of five.

Props to Donnie, though. Even after the Grimace Exchange with Leo, he got up to follow after him. Still complaining all the way, like a true sibling does, but up and at ‘em regardless.

Did you know the storyboard art for this scene included Donnie pulling out a bottle of hand sanitizer at the last second and giving it a hard enough squeeze to completely soak himself?

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #save rottmnt #save rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #save rise of the tmnt #rise leo #rise donnie #rise raph #rise mikey #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles the movie #analysis #screenshot #theory #idk tbh #it took me a month and a half after i gathered these screenshots to actually write up the posts #and that part took like... 5 hours #rise movie #rise of the tmnt movie #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles movie #rottmnt movie #i just want all the tags #fan content #it just me

[hyperbolicreverie]

Okay, so I wouldn't normally post something like this so soon after a chapter release but I have stuff to do today and my brain won't let me do them until I ramble about Thoughts. Meta under the cut, spoilers for Chapter 1054. 

So let’s talk about the admirals.

When we first see the original three admirals all together, there’s some pretty interesting theming going on, and I’m not talking about the names, but rather personality and design hints. On a sliding scale, we have Aokiji at one end, relatively chill and slow to anger, then we move through Kizaru and his terrifying neutrality, onto Akainu who is much more of an aggressive presence. We also get this with their colors: cool and calm blue on one end with angry red on the other end of the spectrum, Kizaru’s yellow again taking up the middle slot.

And that’s a really neat way of highlighting how different the approaches of even the highest, most exclusive echelons of the Marines are. It’s a great shorthand to indicate to the reader that the Marines are not quite as united as they pretend to be.

But where things start getting really interesting is when we replace two of those admirals.

It was nowhere near as…I hesitate to say obvious because we’ve only had Aramaki for real for two chapters, but the parallels definitely weren’t as clean. But as of this latest chapter, it does seem that we have a situation now where we have replaced the two admirals who left (either by resignation or promotion) with much more starkly defined versions of the originals—at least in regards to philosophy and beliefs.

We see this first with Aokiji and Fujitora: Aokiji is not terribly well aligned with a lot of the more aggressive philosophies in the Marines, and we do spend a bit of time showing that because of events like Ohara, he has spent a lot of time thinking about things like this. He learns and sees the injustices in the world over time, and finally steps up to maybe do something about keeping more strict and aggressive ideologies from taking over—and might still be doing so, if the thoughts that he’s an undercover SWORD member or just a rogue agent with an agenda bears fruit.

Fujitora is the next step in this thought process. He arrives at the marines already incredibly familiar with the cruelties and injustices of the world—and honestly doesn’t seem to want the job at all—and needs no prompting whatsoever to immediately start working to bring down part of the system that he sees as wrong. It is a clear escalation of the ideals on this side of the spectrum, which is appropriate, because everything about the post-timeskip era is an escalation.

(As an aside, I would believe Aramaki absolutely jumped at the chance to take the job, and maybe had a marine or government-adjacent or related job to start with, given the words that have come out of his mouth, but Fujitora is another story entirely. The World Military Draft is still a draft and that implies a certain level of not being given a choice in the matter. I kind of want to know what sort of thing you have to hold over someone like Fujitora’s head to get him to comply).

On the other hand, Akainu is a follower of Absolute Justice, where the ends absolutely justify the means, no matter how horrific. And to replace him, we have Aramaki, who has taken it a step further and declared that all those horrible things aren’t just situationally necessary but systematically necessary. So we get an escalation in the other direction.

And then we have Kizaru, as ever, sitting dead in the center and being absolutely neutral. No explicit morals or drive, and all the more terrifying for it. Kind of the living representation on what it means to not take a side.

Also, we’ve technically had an escalation in the philosophies of the leadership as well. I can’t speak to Kong because we mostly only know that he…exists, but the shift from Sengoku to Sakazuki is also one of these. Sengoku had a style that seems to have been much more grounded in keeping the status quo afloat, since the breakdown of equilibrium in the world would only cause chaos, whereas Sakazuki is much more “no compromises, no quarter” and is arguably helping accelerate that breakdown as a result.

This sort of evolution of beliefs on either end of the spectrum, especially considering they are increasingly at odds with one another, feels like it’s deliberate. This feels like it’s leading somewhere, and maybe this is just narrative hints at how bad things have become in the outside world—because we’ve been in Wano a long time and one of the best features of Oda’s world is that it keeps moving outside the scope of the focal characters. Actions have consequences, and ripple effects you might not expect.

But between this and the introduction of SWORD, I think it’s entirely possible we’re headed for a very public Marine schism at some point in the near future. There’s going to be a line that a lot of people aren’t going to be willing to cross, and Sakazuki’s vow to “strike back and return fire on all fronts” in the latest chapter sounds an awful lot like it could be the trigger for something like that.

Genuinely excited to see where this goes, and happy to see how the rest of the One Piece world is doing again.

#one piece #rev puts on her analysis hat #analysis: narrative themes #analysis: characters #akainu #sakazuki #aokiji #kuzan #kizaru #aramaki #fujitora #op marines #op meta

[colorfuldream]

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is genuinely the best version that has come out apart from maybe the game. It's funny, well-done, has the same themes but done better, it's fresh, anyone can watch it, etc. It's a better experience than the rest. Whatever you could criticize the original story and movie for, it's been "fixed".

If you were out off by the pacing of the first episode, it gets better and almost completely disappear by the second episode and never comes back! I don't know why it was paced like this. It didn't work. It felt like a drag and made the animation look and feel a lot worse. It wasn't made to be like this so it's at its worse for an entire half-hour. It's not even mimicking the strange pacing of the movie. It might have attempted to but if so, it utterly failed. It sucks because the entire thing is very, very good. It's like they weren't sure how to pull off the stylization and tried to do something new with the pacing again but messed up which dragged both down. At least, they figured it out almost immediately and fixed it early on!

Spoilers ahead:

The exes are also a delight and wonderfully dramatic and pathetic. They're over the top but in an endearing way and we get interactions never seen before and that would only be in fanfics and seem like a stretch but here they're seamless. They just make sense. Plus Ramona actually making amends and healing is amazing to see. She never got to have that. Now, she gets to go beyond the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope she's the poster girl of. We know she is one, and it's obvious in the way her exes see her, but she gets her own agency. She ends up being the protagonist and that somehow makes the plot function a lot better and interesting.

Knives also becomes her own character and grows into her own WITHOUT SCOTT. This time, she's truly past him for most of the anime.

The only thing that I miss, from the top of my head, is the "Scott has perceived his past and his previous actions wildly differently from what actually happened and is a bigger asshole than he and we thought" part that sort of paralleled Ramona who thought that everything was no big deal and that they had all moved on from the inconsequential thing that was their relationship with her too. Here, Ramona is a lot more self-aware, maybe because she's forced to be and is confronted with her past more directly, and makes quick amends. She might have been a terrible partner before but she's not bad at emotional stuff when she doesn't shrug it off. It's a neat detail that would have been even better if the Scott aspect remained and it bounced off the whole "Scott is a terrible partner who does care but is very stupid and would rather die than talk about feelings". Crazy how a simple flashback sequence, barely a few lines, changed a lot of things. Or maybe I missed the point of the scene only known to ultra fans and Kim was just being nice and graceful to Scott especially because she thought he fucking died. Liked how she seemed a lot more over him too, it always almost felt ambiguous before to me.

So yeah, it's a very good show and the best Scott Pilgrim thing. Bet people went crazy over the game and movie references too.

#text #ondina's text posts! #scott pilgrim takes off #scott pilgrim netflix #scott pilgrim #scott pilgrim the anime #scott pilgrim takes off spoilers