filosofieke

[filosofieke]

Asterix OC sheet for my dearest Panacotta 🌾🤍 (click for higher quality!)

[filosofieke]

So remember my analysis speculating about the possible plot of Asterix&Obelix : The Big Fight ? I had theorized that the first episode would be setting up the story, characters and that the plot would kick in either by the end of episode 1 or in episode 2.

Well, turns out I might be not that far off the mark, because according to some press articles of the premiere...

[Slight spoilers for Asterix : the Big Fight ahead]

The first episode will be a flashback episode about the childhood of Asterix and Obelix, and more particularly about how Obelix fell into the magic potion as a kid!

And if they put so much effort into developing the friendship of Asterix and Obelix, it means it will play a significant role in the plot, or at least raise the emotional stakes.

One more reason to wait impatiently for this show

[filosofieke]

Trailer Analysis of Asterix & Obelix The Big Fight (Part 3) : Theorical Plot

Part 1

Part 2

One month from now, we’ll finally be able to watch Asterix & Obelix : The Big Fight!

In the previous posts, we have seen what will be present in the Big Fight: some elements will be familiar, while other will be original to the show.

Now that we have all these cards in hand, what can we expect from the actual series? There will be five episodes of 30 min : what story can be told in 2h30 ?

This is the part where I speculate about the possible plot: I might be wrong, and I hope the show will still be able to surprise me in good ways. I'm curious to hear your own theories, but first, let's dig into mine!

Set Up : The Year is 50 BC…

(RIP Pierre Tchernia et ta voix inoubliable de narrateur des films Astérix)

I think it's safe to assume the first episode will serve to introduce the main characters, the initial situation and the general mood of the show.

Of course, we’ll get to meet once again with our dear old Gauls and show them in their natural environment: living, laughing, beating up Romans for fun.

We’ll probably be introduced to the depressed Roman centurion we see here and there in the trailers, serving as the poor hapless victim of the Gauls’ shenanigans, and demonstrating the might of the magic potion in a big fun battle.

In the meantime (or even before that), we’ll certainly be introduced to Metadata and her boss, working on finding the best idea for the triumph of Caesar. Metadata learns (and serves as the exposition fairy) the situation of: Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans. Well, not entirely…etc etc you know the pitch.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Metadata scene has someone talk about how monstrous and barbarous the Indomitable Gauls are, and then the scene cutting to the village being very silly. Like the fish scene

All of this could take place in the first episode ; but it’s also probable this could be spread out on two episodes, especially with the upcoming situation...

Inciting Incident : Menhir Ahoy!

It's no surprise to anyone who knows the story,  the plot gets kicked off by two events influencing each other : first, the Romans want to have Ceramix challenge Vitalstatistix to a duel and need to put all their chances on their sides, thus capturing Getafix and remove the magic potion. Secondly, because of that plan, Getafix gets attacked by Romans in the forest and Obelix throws his menhir at him, causing Getafix to lose his mind, thus putting the entire village in a very grave situation.

But I am also convinced we’ll have a third plot-kicker: Vitalstatistix’s birthday.

There’s a couple of moments in the trailers where the Gauls are feasting, and we can see some gift-looking objects there. And in The Chieftain’s Shield, it’s after a particularly festive banquet that Vitalstatistix gets his liver issues. Who knows, maybe it’ll be thematically connected to him getting back in shape to defeat Ceramix?

So I think the Inciting Incident will combine these three elements:

Metadata tells Caesar about the Big Fight because the mosaic idea didn’t please him and Potus was getting aggressive about it. Caesar is enthralled by the idea and tasks Potus AND Metadata with this plan.

Meanwhile, in the village, the Gauls just finished celebrating Vitalstatistix’ birthday, but it caused him health issues; Getafix orders him to go on a trip for a cure, and while Vitalstatistix and Impedementa pack up, Getafix goes into the forest for some ingredients. Maybe Asterix and Obelix follow a bit later because he forgot something, or maybe they go hunting at the same time.

Either on Caesar’s orders or by sheer coincidence, the Romans near the village are on a mission to capture the druid; I think the events play pretty much identically to the comic, with the Romans disguising themselves as trees and shrubs, ambushing the druid, Asterix and Obelix running to the rescue, Obelix shooting the menhir, Getafix getting knocked out, Asterix and Obelix bringing him back to the village and nursing him until he wakes up… and everyone learns he’s now cray-cray.

Plot Point : Ceramix's Recruitment

After the plot gets kicked off, I think we'll be introduced to Ceramix by episode 2 or 3, not further.

Potus and Metadata visit him and we get to learn about his personality and political opinion : he's very strong, a brute who forces his villagers to follow Roman customs or get beaten, and prompt to show his loyalty and obedience to the Noble Conquerors.

I fully expect the gag of Ceramix boasting about beating any Gaul chief to be slightly expanded in a sequence where he rips off his tunic and breaks things around...before freaking out as he learns WHO is his opponent. But obviously he'll be convinced : either Getafix has already lost his mind, either Potus promises Ceramix the magic potion won't be an issue.

@scribeprotra raised a very interesting point in one of my previous posts : while Caesar savors the idea of the Gauls becoming Romans, Metadata insists on the term "Gallo-Roman". Now, this could be a throwaway gag, or it could be that she sincerely thinks, at least at first, that Gauls assimilated to Rome have a good way of life, that Gallo-Roman culture is the future and so, she doesn't see a reason for the Gauls to keep resisting. If that's the case, the visit to Ceramix' village could be a cold reality check to what Gallo-Romans actually live like, when they're forced to cast away their culture and embrace the Roman culture...

Of course, I might be reading too much into this. But an important theme of the original comic (and the Asterix franchise as a whole), despite its light tone, is the danger imperialism poses to one's culture, whether by cultural assimilation or enforced erasure.

But whether she wants it or not, the plan marches forward, the challenge is issued officially and the village has to face the music...

Plot Point : The Arena and the Council

Now unsurprisingly, I think the arena will be central to the second and third act of the show.

Caesar and his lackeys will spare no expense for the spectacle of the Gaul's defeat. It's meant to be a big mediatic buzz, topped with Antiquity-equivalent of news shows. Probably also why we get a glimpse of Cleopatra. And of course, the big traveling fair mentioned in the previous parts of this analysis.

But before the actual fight takes place (and we know it's soon before the fight, since a legionary comes to fetch the Gaul chief for the Big Fight), the village gathers under a willow in a village council.

What is the point of this council ? I see two possibilities of subjects, and they might be connected :

the madness of the druid, and its consequences on the village

the Big Fight, and whether Vitalstatistix is up to the taks. I'm leaning toward this option because it might look like Fulliautomatix is talking himself up. Maybe trying to sway the council into making him fight instead of Vitalstatistix who is too out of shape for the challenge?

Whatever it is, it seems that by the end, the Gauls gather around their chief : to give him their support, maybe?

In any case, once Vitalstatistix steps into the ring, it will be time for the...

Climax : What The Heck Is Going On ??

For obvious reasons, not much is revealed in the trailers about the third act/climax of the show. But one thing is (90%) sure : the victory won't be as easy as in the comic.

In the comic (and in the climax of the animated Big Fight), thanks to a deus ex machina Getafix drinking one of his own potions, he miraculously recovers just in time to prepare enough magic potion for everyone (since Asterix & co except, and rightfully so, for the Romans to play foul even if Vitalstatistix wins). Hearing about Getafix' recovery, Vitalstatistix, who up until that point had been wearing Ceramix down by running in circles, gets a second wind and knocks Ceramix down with one punch.

In the trailers of the show, there's a detail I noticed and that is...we don't see any details of the fight. And especially not Vitalstatistix. Not even a half-second shot of a punch that would makes us wonder about the fight. So we have no idea of how it will actually play out. Will Vitalstatistix play the long game like in the comic and focus on wearing Ceramix down? Will he try to fight upfront and be confronted to the difficulty of no magic potion to help him out?

We just don't know. But what do we know?

The fight takes place at night, with highlits of red and dark, giving a more intense atmosphere to the situation.

There's seemingly an attack on the village (and of course it's Asterix's hut that takes the brunt of it). Okay, to be fair, the attack seems to takes place at dusk rather than night....

Dogmatix is with Mrs Geriatrix and Impedimenta. Which means that neither Obelix, neither Astérix (who's usually Dogmatix's minder if Obelix isn't available) are present. In the comic, Obelix is staying at the village out of guilt during the fight, but he still had Dogmatix with him. What motivated him to leave his beloved pup with other people?

There's a movement of troops. I would bet on the same attempt at backstabbing as in the comic

Okay, that one is a big shock : Obelix gets punched out and sent flying several meters away??! Who is strong enough to inflict that on Obelix of all people ?? We can distinguish a crowd in front of the village, with certainly the puncher being in it. Someone might have had access to magic potion, but then who? Another hint is the burning village around Obelix ; definitely connectiong this moment to the hut being destroyed.

Asterix walks throught the arena crow and looks pretty worried. Could be explained rather easily by Vitalstatstix getting his ass beat in the first part of the fight, and Asterix knowing he can't do anything about it. Ooooor it could be a detail he learned/noticed that could drastically change the outcome for the worst. And speaking of Asterix...

"Ista, you reused the same screenshot twice in a post!" First of all that's not from the same trailer, second of all this is my absolute fave shot of the whole promotion and I do what I want. It's not secret to anyone knowing me that I LOVE situations in which Asterix has to actually use his warrior skills, and here it seems like it's a Serious situation : dramatic lighting, very serious expressions, an aggressive antagonist, and I'm DYING to see the context of that scene. Did Asterix learn something and Potus is trying to stop him? Did Caesar finally order the capture of the Gauls and this is the last stand? Alain Chabat, I can forgive you a lot of liberties with Asterix because you make good jokes but if this scene ends up being a cheap gag, I will never forgive you.

And that's the last part of my trailer analysis for the Big Fight! If you have any more details to add, feel free to reply or rant in your tags!

As for me, these trailers did a perfect job of titillating my interest and making me impatient for the show! Can't wait to watch it!

[filosofieke]

When Astérix OC’s unite! I can’t draw at all so I’m always DELIGHTED when other people draw my characters 😍.

Thank you so much!

Some (messy) sketches of some Asterix OCs that I find interesting, or have caught my eye whilst scrolling through the tags (plus someone extra!)

The OCs and their owners are as follows:

- @bludary’s very adorable Centurion (apologies if he has a name, I may have missed it!)

- @coe-olivier’s striking Martinus, my favorite of their Roman soldiers

- @filosofieke’s charming Phyllis (who I am very excited to read about!)

And last but not least, my own Valerius Ginantonicus making his debut. Son of Marcus and my Panacotta, advisor and lover of Emperor Augustus, and a man with a worrying number of screws loose.

[filosofieke]

"Write for yourself"

Brother, I literally have more than 2 million words sitting in my drafts folder instead of posted on AO3.

I write for myself. I post for community interaction.

[filosofieke]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58384180/chapters/164891548

[filosofieke]

EVERYONE DONE!! I’m so happy with the results hehe

[filosofieke]

Asterix : “At this rate we are gonna be the bad guys, Obelix. 🫤 ”

Obelix : “Well we do all the slapping”

Asterix: “that’s because we … you know what? Never mind. As long as we can keep doing all the slapping, it’s fine by me.😤 ”

Ultimus and Martinus in Asterix artstyle!! Can’t wait to draw the rest of my Romans hehe

Height difference

[filosofieke]

Be welcome in the fandom!❤️

Posting some old sketches of my Asterix OC, Panacotta (no relation to Panacea, the name similarities were a coincidence!) I drew these in 2023 back when the fandom was pretty dead, so I never got round to posting them or any of my lore for her. So imagine my surprise when I peeked into the tags a few days ago and saw a surge in activity! I was so happy to see it! ❤️

As you might’ve guessed, I paired her off with Marcus Ginantonicus. He’s my favorite Roman in the series and I built up a cute little backstory for them, which I should really post some time! I have…so much I could write and draw about, so I really want to get back into the fandom again! 👉👈

[filosofieke]

I adore this analysis and would like to hear more about your headcanon! And yes, I adore the dynamic between Getafix and Asterix (I had a lot of fun, diving into it in my story Flight Risk)

Asterix having very little interest in sales is a headcanon for me. His parents LEFT the village and own a souvenir shop and him not wanting to dive into that, already separated him from them.

Obelix taking an interest into becoming a businessman might not sit right with him for that reason alone....

I did not watch the recent animated movies often enough. Asterix doing helmet maintenance when he is upset? And Getafix busting him in a moment of pure pessimism? 🥺 I don’t always like what the movies do with Asterix’s personality, but this scene … It’s kind of spot on.

[filosofieke]

I’ve gotten so far in rewriting this story!

[filosofieke]

Hahaha ‘who doesn’t’

~Et Tu, Bianca ?~

Local toonish menace breaks into Astérix the cartoon, gives everybody an existential crisis, gets old enemies to bond over that, saves the day, and just as the big end banquet gets everyone thinking it's over, casually drops a bombshell

I don't really get all the memeing about Caesar getting jumped 3000 years ago, but I mean, that makes for a good Bianca gag.

Bonus

Happy "Ides of March" everyone

[filosofieke]

"-One day son, you'll be a tall, strong and handsome warrior just like your Pa'!"

[filosofieke]

Obelix to the rescue in my latest new chapter

[filosofieke]

❤️❤️❤️

Asterix lifting his helmet in greeting = peak manners. He's a gent. 😌🙏

[filosofieke]

Romans that aren’t soldiers always interest me so much more in the franchise 🥰. (Sorry @coe-olivier , love your gang!)

[filosofieke]

I first discovered your blog through your Mario art and I must tell you I'm very happy that youre back to posting more often. Silly little men with mustaches def have a special sort of appeal to them lol, I can see why you like Asterix. He's lowkey cute <3

YES, you get it Anon! 😂🤝

There are a lot of things that make Asterix a great character in my eyes (some of which I will definitely talk about a little more in depth soon), but I gotta say his design alone is pretty awesome. 🤭💖🪽 Love this lil' guy!