#( ig it makes sense i was gonna mention the powers but that's at the end )

[alexxncl]

‼️NIGHTBRINGER LESSON 33 SPOILERS‼️

masterlist | all lessons | season 2 | lesson 32 | lesson 34

slight og lesson 16 spoilers

normal and hard spoilers

see i knew he wouldn't rat them out completely. he completely left out the details of the pacts and feeling used and would've taken the blame if mc and solomon hadn't stepped in to fully explain the situation

(i made a whole post about time soup here)

omg in-game name drop the devs remember the lore

i hate mephisto. have i mentioned how much i hate mephisto? bc i hate him /j

in all seriousness, we love a petty bitch. but why is it his WHOLE personality. that, and ass kissing. like we get it, you love diavolo and wanna date him and kiss him and hug him blah blah blah STAND UP

satan :((((

i wonder if he feels remnants of homesickness that he can't recognize as homesickness bc of the way he was formed. what if he's feeling homesickness right now in the timeline mc is from and is now able to understand how his brothers felt after the fall?

what if this is the first time the boys in the og timeline have felt homesick since the fall? yes, mc has left before, but there was always a guarantee that they'd return, or at least a possibility that mc could summon them. but now? there's no guarantee, and there's a time crunch

ASMO 😭 they're so unserious i love them

levi thinking he was gonna die trying to apologize and dia standing there like 🧍🏾

oh they definitely know. and if both dia and barbatos don't know, barbatos obviously knows. bc why else wouldn't barbatos suggest portaling mc to the human world himself? and i bet lucifer's wondering the same thing given his confusion on how fast the conversation came and went

got to see my wife, i can die happily now

WHY IS THERE NO AFFINITY FOR HER GODDAMN IT

or the other side characters ig but i care about her more

SEE SEE I TOLD YOU!!! nightbringer you sneaky bitch

oh that's scary...real scary. if belphie's got lucifer this fucked up, how strong are his powers ??

WAR FLASHBACKS

also this means he didn't lose control of his powers, he's choosing to only subdue his brothers, which is even scarier imo. like there's no way mc doesn't have some kind of ptsd from what happened in lesson 16 of the og game

imagine seeing your best friends, your found family, your partner(s) sobbing over your dead body while someone you thought you trusted is maniacally laughing at the scene, proud of murdering you

and then imagine the same person lunging for you to try and kill you after he already killed another version of you

and then imagine this

what if he wants to hurt them again? what if he wants to lock them in the attic he claimed to know nothing about in the earlier lessons? what if he feels some strange connection and sense of familarity related to it, some strange invisible force pulling him towards it and making him do the very thing that happens to him in the future?

and then BAM, they get dragged into his mindscape against their will, unsure if they'll make it back out alive, if they make it out at all

as a certified mammon lover ofc i had to put my 2 cents in

i really, really wish we got more moments of him in big brother mode. we know he cares about his brothers and will do any and everything to protect them and give them what they need, even if it means being the butt of every, and i mean every, joke

but i'm also scared that the devs are gonna use this as a way to paint belphie's breakdown on him like they did with levi's, and like they do with literally every other inconvenience or negative incident that happens in the game. every time mammon does something good, every time he tries to help, he still ends up being the butt of the joke. i just hope we can move past that with the end of belphie's breakdown

[starsoftheeye]

TMagP 17 Reaction

Pre-Episode

I've discovered that acting disinterested literally makes the episodes show up earlier on my youtube account, so I've gotta play mindgames on this app every thursday to get to see the episodes less than half an hour after they release lol

Pre-Statement

Ah Celia is back on her bullshit

Wait did she just nearly get ran over???

I feel bad for laughing at her but her only reaction being "Oh for gods sake" is super funny to me how long has she been doing this

oh hi sam

oh god she missed their date :[

something tells me a habit is going to be made of this, especially considering she literally cannot help it

"it really wasn't" yeah no wonder you nearly became roadkill

theyre so cute i love them

ooh shes mad

Statement

"catalyst" huh, have we heard that before or is this the first time

pfft not the interviewer getting read to shreds

wild theory before i keep going, based on the title "saved copy" and the "identity crisis", "existential horror", "temporal distortion" and "captivity" tags, im going to assume that this person going to therapys having the details of their life copied somewhere for something to replicate and replace them, and the doctors gonna attempt to get rid of them but obviously it didnt work. either that or the guy outside the office does something

as someone whos never done meditation before this is not encouraging me to start

ah office spaces, the worst of cosmic horror

wait did they get teleported or something

tbf if my taxi driver started driving completely the wrong way i'd assume the worst and start "exchanging words" too

oh my god was i right

wait is this copy based on their therapy, a version of themselves with no problems whatsoever? and is this gonna be a "there can only be one" type scenario?

oh wait no i forgot siblings exist

wait nvm them having the same name is weird

"dates and times" so this is where the temporal distortion comes in ig

yup

i'm sticking with the "rich-darrien is a copy trying to assimilate into og-darriens life" theory for now

yeah because thats not normal darrien, even if youre related no-one looks completely identical apart from glasses, teeth colour and a lack of a beer-gut

do they both think the other is the copy, or does sharron just not know?

oh god what is he hiding

does he beat up a real person every time hes upset

of course it was his father that makes sense

oh my god the sound design

oh my god he's the one who assimilated thats so cool

good for sharron i hope shes doing okay

off-topic but i love the way the voices get more real as the statement goes on then go back to their more robotic tone at the end

Post-Statement

as a celia fan i am eating well this week jeez

celia my dear what do you mean by that "not exactly the same though, it is?" girlie what have you done what are you hidinggg

alice!

who was playing the music in the background there?

as someones whos computing department in school consists of keyboard with never-before-discovered types of bacteria wedged between the keys thats valid

alice dyer i love you so much

ah the dyhard is dyharding

ah yes the mutual "i'm traumatised and i know you are too but i don't like you enough to give details on mine or ask about yours so we'll just sit and suffer in silence til the ice somehow breaks" dynamic

also colin mention woohoo i love the scottish man

the computer start up noise and power down noise at the beginning and end of every episode kind of makes me think that someone is watching all of this (maybe us, or more likely someone in-universe)

anyway that was fun, i'm doing this late but this was a nice way to spend my first proper off-day since finishing all my exams

[pikahlua]

I'm not sure I'm entirely convinced but smashing theory as usual pika 🫡✨️ Is it okay if I ramble about a few misgivings I have? It's a long one, sorry! but there are multiple points I want to mention as assisting ideas

First, I still think that a 1v1 setting battle seems likelier than a 2v2 (bkdk duo vs shigAFO) - since we already had a bkdk duo in the movie ending, and Hori *did* say after that he had a different thing in mind for the actual ending (which I'm not sure should be a classic shounen "Battle of The End" actually, but wth we have been in this war fo so long now? More than a year! it may as well "end" in its conclusion ig). In which case I think we'd agree that 1-to-1 pvps would very likely feature Izuku & Shigaraki and Katsuki & AFO. Speaking of which: I also still think kacchan parallels and juxtaposes moreso with AFO than Shigaraki, so it might make more sense for him to "inherit" AM's struggle in this way, as a battle with the "Big Bad" AFO - not to mention it'd be another extremely cool twist to have the boy who ended AM save him by winning the fight, imo. I'm not sure how much of that metaphorical oomph would transfer to him fighting with "Stray Lamb" Shigaraki/Tenko...

In any case lots of people seem to support the 2v2 option. I understand that the most popular cases are: Katsuki "saving" Tenko by "winning" the fight. Izuku "winning" the battle with AFO to "save" the world. But then, I think the story'd be disregarding Izuku's wish to save Tenko, first spoken of in the vestige realm, which I don't believe is quite likely. We had so many breadcrumbs leading up to Izuku asking "Is Tenko still there?", so I still think a 1v1 and Izuku vs Tenko would make more sense.

I suppose people still want to see Katsuki's "save to win" in this final battle? He has always been a character that has struggled and fought internally with himself foremost - contrasting the mostly external opposition and fights that matured or broke other character's beliefs/ideals. Katsuki is destined to "Win Over His Self", yes? I'd argue he already has done that, (nailed it actually, right in the kokoro) 🎯 😅 which is why I don't really think he has to show it again, that he has learned to "win by saving/save to win". Which is another readon why I think a showdown with Tenko is kinda unnecessary

Meanwhile, I'd argue we haven't seen Izuku's "save by winning/win to save" quite yet, not with Katsuki's grandeur, in any case. I'd argue he finally has the opportunity to do this with Tenko's fight. And I'd think that since OFA is now a "power to save" rather than a power "to defeat AFO", (after class A's intervention and welcome intrusion into that), and since I think Izuku might be the one doing the "saving" for Tenko, it'd make sense for all of OFA's vestiges to bear witness to that "saving", to their "new purpose", if you will, and I think AM's vestige should be included in that if he's truly a part of OFA.

.... If, by chance he's a different component to OFA, like maybe something that serves only as a power maximizing "coefficient" rather than a full blown "variable" in OFA's power "equation"? Then yeah, him leaving OFA might make Izuku slightly less powerful but would make more sense in terms of Katsuki's arc so far. After this battle I doubt Izuku is gonna need that power excess anyway. It'd also make sure he can't become the Symbol of Peace powerhouse on his own and let him play on a more equal field with his peers, which is best fir his sacrificing mentality. And I do think that Katsuki could do with at least the "gaze" and "support" of the mentor Izuku has had 95% of to himself so far...

Welp, that's that! Sorry I even went into a math analogy there 😳 If you've read so far thanks for bearing with me!!!

((This complete thing is utter shit if AM actually won against AFO btw))

I like you. I like your thought process. I like your courtesy in explaining yourself even when we disagree. I want to emphasize all of that because I think your essay here is WORTHY of being challenged. Or rather perhaps it's that I want you to challenge my thoughts, which I hope are also worthy.

(And please bear with me here, my brain fog is rearing its ugly head today.)

1. The problem with 1v1s:

Let me step away from the predictions for a moment with this point. Will Horikoshi ultimately go with a 1v1? He could. I actually have no way of knowing. But I would like to explain why I think it would be a mistake for him to do so. This has nothing to do with Heroes Rising and everything to do with the MHA manga canon.

MHA the story has spent so. much. time. emphasizing how necessary teamwork is, how going alone is not feasible, how everyone has limits. It's not just a platitude it throws around occasionally because it has to. Entire arcs are structured around this idea. Hell, trimesters and curricula in-universe are built upon this lesson. And the story is called "My Hero Academia." How is this a story about Izuku's hero academia if the primary lesson his hero academia taught him gets eschewed at the end? What was ultimately learned if not this?

For Horikoshi to turn his back on this moral, for Horikoshi to go with the standard shounen formula ending when he has famously twisted such tropes in the past, would be to betray his entire story. This story about how society has perverted the ideas of heroes and villains to avoid personal responsibility and stifle social progress ONLY to see the light and view heroes and villains as humans DEPENDS on exalting the virtues of cooperation, of empathizing with one's fellow humans, of desiring everyone to come together, and of contributing to that goal as a piece of the whole. No one is alone. There is always hope. And people are given that hope by having it ignited in their hearts by others (by the symbol of All Might, in many cases).

Remember, "this is the story of how we all became the greatest heroes."

And I do believe Horikoshi wants to maintain this moral as best he can. This final arc has showcased that. Even in the battles we've seen concluded now, while the primary focus may have been on one person's conviction (Shouji's, Mina's, Shouto's, Ochako's), that conviction was backed up and magnified by another person (Kouda, Kirishima, Iida, Tsuyu). And you'll note that some "fought" and some did not. Some played supporting roles or contributed with non-combat assistance (speed or negotiation, perhaps). So at the very, very least, if we end on a 1v1 fight between Izuku and Tomura, Katsuki must support Izuku's conviction to save Tenko in some vital way that tips the scales in Izuku's favor.

The question is, has this already happened?

One might argue it has, that Katsuki's death and the efforts by others to save him have had a clear effect on Tomura. Katsuki's death was the catalyst that allowed Tenko to swallow AFO's ego and regain control of himself.

But we could also argue that, while this potentially contributes to Tenko's salvation, it is NOT an example of Katsuki sharing in Izuku's conviction (that of saving villains). And I argue that this much is a REQUIREMENT.

That said, there MAY be another example that could be construed as Katsuki sharing in Izuku's conviction.

We REALLY don't talk about chapter 358 enough. It may turn out to be a crucial hint about how future events play out.

That said, it's debatable on whether this is truly the same conviction Izuku professes or if it's just the lesson Katsuki has learned, in which case...

Would that not beg for a moment where Izuku backs Katsuki's conviction up, too?

So, sure, you may get your 1v1, but I'm willing to bet there will be enough of Katsuki present in it to construe the "1v1" as otherwise :P

2. The idea that Katsuki parallels AFO more than he does Shigaraki:

At the risk of sounding pedantic, I want to earnestly, powerfully emphasize the idea that this is not a competition: everyone parallels everyone. I have showcased many times how many ways in which Izuku and AFO parallel each other, it's not just Katsuki and Tomura.

But note how this is really possible with ANY TWO CHARACTERS in the whole series. They all parallel each other. It's because everyone's learning the same lessons.

And parallels don't necessarily make for a good 1v1. I don't really think about the parallels that much in terms of setting up FIGHTS. Most "fights" in MHA are barely fights at all. They're conversations, arguments, debates, just sometimes with some action in the middle.

What I really expect from these parallels is a resolution. Some sort of reckoning. Anything at all really. Someone challenging someone, someone talking to someone, someone reaching out for someone. It doesn't matter who does what in most cases, because I expect all four to interact.

3. "I understand that the most popular cases are: Katsuki "saving" Tenko by "winning" the fight. Izuku "winning" the battle with AFO to "save" the world."

Yikes, are these really the most popular options? I hate them. I hate them so much. Can I offer some better ones?

What if Izuku fights Tomura long enough to subdue him and reaches Tenko's heart but can't physically reach out to save him, so Katsuki has to act as Izuku's extension to take Tomura's hand and save him?

What if Izuku fights to his last strength and saves Tomura (and maybe Baby AFO, who knows where that's going) but can't get all of them out of physical danger, so Katsuki is the one who gets them out?

Or maybe Izuku just can't save HIMSELF and Katsuki rescues him?

What if Katsuki reaches Tenko's heart through speech, through relating to him, and it disarms Tenko enough for Izuku to save him?

What if AFO and Izuku have a tug-o'-war over Tenko and Katsuki tips the scales? Or Katsuki AND All Might tip the scales?

What if Izuku fights Baby AFO (or it's something like another Dabi explosion situation) and Katsuki relates to AFO himself as a child and that disarms AFO enough for Izuku to save the day?

What if ANY of the above but add more Class 1-A and other villains to it? What if everyone holds hands to make a human chain to pull Tenko out of some AFO ego void and show him the world cares?

I can go on for days.

4. "We had so many breadcrumbs leading up to Izuku asking "Is Tenko still there?", so I still think a 1v1 and Izuku vs Tenko would make more sense."

But that's just it! Katsuki has breadcrumbs too!

It has been highlighted over and over and over again ad nauseam that Katsuki is a character who must become a hero who can see things from the villains' perspective and REACH OUT TO THEIR HEARTS. Katsuki even names Tomura as the person he intends to face down in the end!

(Of course, AFO fits the bill in many ways too. But like I said, I don't think it's gonna be clean-cut 1v1s, so there's opportunity for both Izuku and Katsuki to show what they're made of in this regard with BOTH villains.)

5. "Katsuki is destined to "Win Over His Self", yes? I'd argue he already has done that, (nailed it actually, right in the kokoro) 🎯 😅 which is why I don't really think he has to show it again, that he has learned to "win by saving/save to win"."

BUT HE DOES NEED TO SHOWCASE IT. OTHERWISE THIS IS JUST LIP SERVICE, BECAUSE NOTHING HAS HAPPENED SINCE HE SAID IT.

While you and I may believe he's already made it, Katsuki himself DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YET. He does not see himself as having surpassed All Might yet, and he believes that in order to do so he needs the help of others.

I mean, does it get louder than "Because saving people is how we win"????? He's set the terms for what his "win to save/save to win" looks like in the end!

6. "Meanwhile, I'd argue we haven't seen Izuku's "save by winning/win to save" quite yet, not with Katsuki's grandeur, in any case."

I mean this super genuinely because I think you need to consider it: How was Izuku's victory over Overhaul NOT this in your eyes?

I think you need to be able to answer that question if you want to make such a claim. I think you CAN make the claim, mind you, but anyone you talk to about this will point to this moment in canon as their first question for you to address.

Until you can answer it, I have to argue that both Izuku and Katsuki have displayed some version of their "win to save/save to win" pieces before, but they have to now apply those pieces to this war where the stakes are astronomically higher.

7. "…. If, by chance he's a different component to OFA, like maybe something that serves only as a power maximizing "coefficient" rather than a full blown "variable" in OFA's power "equation"?"

Kudos to you for the "if"! Yes, in my recent posts, I've been writing under the assumption that All Might's vestige is a piece of OFA. But I'm actually not fully convinced this is the case yet. Everything surrounding All Might's vestige is still very loosely defined and doesn't seem very final. I think it's totally possible there's a twist waiting for us in there.

And anon, I did receive your other messages.

8. "Speaking of which, if AM's vestige is in fact a power "coefficient" then its checks out that Kacchan would rise powered-up!! WTF It makes sense ?! 🥴"

Can I offer you an apotheosis in this trying time?

[redswaberkez]

ok so its been more than a month since my graphic screen is arrived and bein used almost every day for 6-12 hours its time to do a lil review under the cut

(obligatory warning for longreads my english is a crap and yada yada) my bby boaris (kabanchik) cintiq 16'. (old one from 2020) I bought the tablet for a loot of reasons, Very Reasonable ones and not so reasonable too LMAO. Earned money with blood and sweat (literally💥) ANYWAY. Tablet's size is perfect for my needs, not way too small, not way too big, the screen workspace is the same with my old laptop (give or take few mm) This cintiq isnt from manufactor, its used before tablet from someone else in 'from the assembly line' condition. As soon as tab arrived i immediately ordered a ptotective film to prevent the appearance of The Hole. You what im talking about.

I was afraid that it would be extremely inconvenient for me to work with it and that the purchase would generally be unsuccessful, because before ONCE IN MY LIFE 7 yrs ago i had an experience w cintiq 24' and it wasnt really comfortable then. AND i had always used a regular plain tablet. BUT NOOOPE everything is PERFECT and i love it.

PROS!! - brain loves to see what u are actually drawing. Its easier to control every single move and stroke therefore it drastically buffs your skill. The progress of it development i mean. U have to get used to it. the tablet itself wont give u a 'make my skill insane button' u have to WORK ON IT obviously. (says the one who've been stuck in cps for a month straight OUGH) - it works as another monitor. so u can do whatever u wish using two of them. or u can just buy random tablet screen and use it as a SINGLE monitor lmaooo. -doesnt overheat (my main display overheats noticeably thank god i dont need to place my arm over it). -uses one single thicc cable which divides into three at the end (usb hdmi and power cables) - thin, from 1cm to 1,5cm +-, wheights somewhere 1,5kgs, has small stand legs which gives it ahh +- 30 degrees tilt angle. U can travel with the tablet but it needs pc or laptop to be connected with. -i havent seen its guts but i bet the circuits are...fine... i hope so.. at least if it wont overheat then the circuits wont burn down.. makes sense.. yeah.... -I also didnt notice any problems with drivers or connection for this month. u just turn ur pc on and ready to go.

CONS. - ur neck is bout to die if u gonna work like me cuz its tilt is only 30 degs (u can buy a normal stand tho. or a monitor bracket and stop torturing urself). SHRIMP POSTURE CHEEEECK. - it doesn't have buttons like my tablet had. Its a taste preference honestly. for someone its a pros for me its a cons. EASILY COUNTERS BY it might seem crazy what im bout to say A KEYBOARD. you just need to get used to it. again. - should i even mention the price? ofc its a con. since mine is a former usage one it was a lil cheaper than usually. but I knew what I was buying ((WACOM)) so i aint complaining now. - small really small con: sometimes cps wont react to pen button clicks but ig its even a program problem than tablets (easily counters by pressing space button one time). its really just a biiit annoying and nothing special. It works great all of the time. - THE PEN TIP WEARS OFF WITH FIRST COSMIC VELOCITY. ig its affected by protective film (its matte). counters by TITAN PEN TIP (plus now its a weapon if u are brave enough) -due to its protective matte film there is a small insignificant diffs between two screens but its not really this big. At least between mine displays. Diff btw my old laptop screen colors and tablet is fucking HUGE (lap is a 12 yrs old veteran have some respect🙄) - OK OK OK LAST LITTLE NIGGLE. Since I play shooters like valorant and...cs.. and move my hand powerfully across the table, I HAD to look for *that very specific place* for the tablet so that everything would be perRRRFECT by millimeters (ocd moment)

notable mention that takes a special place in my heart

wait while we talk to your displays 😥😥😥😥 omg..... cried....died.... my sons...

thats all i can say for now

[universal-kitty]

Alright. The Solasposting is going beneath the cut- as written as it was on Discord- because if I try to force myself to make any of those into something that makes sense enough for a text post... I'm probably just going to put it off forever. 😔

And if my server has to hear it, then y'all are gonna have to, too!!!

Okie, let's go-

I am getting scruffed by the back of my neck by Solas OTL

His angst compels me.

—

HE’S SO ANGSTY BUT THE HEARTACHE IS SO BITTERSWEET…..

And like. Not even bad… The sweet aspects are haunting my brain.

—

[once I got onto my laptop-]

Like. The whole thing of keeping secrets. Carrying the guilt of failing a whole people, and trying to right it, while only able to ever seemingly select wrongs. Had he even loved anyone, before it all? Certainly not during it; by the time Solas was awake again, guilt was consuming him in waves. He was weak, and could only put together a history he'd missed... Regrets formed out of a love for the people he was most fond of.

...And yet, it's out of those broken people that they happened. Idc on anyone being like, "I want to romance him as [other race]," THE POINT IS the poignance of him looking at an "echo" of his true people (an elf!!), and yet..... He knows he shouldn't, and yet.......

I am ILL with the fact that he loves the Inq. I've seen a post arguing/wondering it. He does. Does he love them more than trying to correct his prior mistake...? Alas, no. AND YET HE DOES LOVE THEM!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH

—

OH, OH AND I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO MENTION....... My favorite.

Cam's my P1 for my Dragon Age experience. Playing as an elven mage, cause fuck it, I'll be everything he wants me to be. No regrets, babeyyyy!!!!

Anyways.

—

The same mf who's like. "Oh, we shouldn't." / "I don't want to lead you on or encourage these things."

Is the same mf who attempts to dissuade romance/interest in him and then initiates both of the kisses I've seen so far.

HE'S REALLY OVER HERE LIKE, "We shouldn't................ Unless-? "

{ Edit / Note: Funnier bc I half-lied here?? By accident?? Technically, the first kiss goes to Inq. for kissing him in the first place; they're the one to jump the minor, street blockade to kiss him in the first place!!! BUT-!!!! When their confidence to continue and pursue it further fails more than a...rather chaste kiss, Solas is the one to shake his head, and pull them in for more.

{ He very much did not have to!! He has a temporary regret over it, even, how he caved right quickly to his desires...and yet, if Inq gives the nudge of, "No, I do want this," he doesn't...stop it, either. He relents just as quickly.

{ ...I think he's just very funny (in a "I'm going feral over the Meanings" kind of way) that... For someone who's got so much going on. Looots of baggage he was hesitant to share? He really doesn't hold himself back as much as he gives HIMSELF credit for..... LOL! I love him so fiercely. }

Waking up randomly at 7 AM with full consciousness to go:

Also. For someone who brings so much hurt, he never hurts the Inquisitor….

Like. There are no fights. He can be a bit on edge or defensive, but the moment he is called out for it/pointed out, he apologies, puts down his hang-ups, and continues to speak with clarity on whatever was troubling him.

He’s not wholly truthful, of course; he had doubts until the end if he could trust his own love…..

But holy fuck, you can call him out on that.

In the DLC, you can legit point out to him, “Did you think I’d reject you? That I wouldn’t hear your side?”

I’m so. Hhhh- [posi]

{ Note: Yes, I did legitimately wake up with full consciousness one morning. Go, "Solas! I need to talk about Solas," and then wrote all of that. In one go. The powers of this romance arc, ig!! }

—

I get to sit front seat and watch this all go down with my chara… Agony. /aff

Worth it, tho. I got into this series for this damn egghead, and I’m not backing down, even knowing all I know!!!

—

…also The Veilguard is on its way, and. Our prior relationship to Solas- in Inq- is going to matter and…I keep wondering to how much of a degree????

Literally been half-begging Cam that our first chara in Veilguard is in the same world as my Solasmancer…just to see what that’d mean for Veilguard… (It’s also been 10 yrs in game?? Is my Inq okay?? Solas, are you still keeping an eye on them????)

—

Lines that've been haunting me:

Lavellan sometimes came awake from dreams in which her lover watched her sadly from across an endless distance. If they were more than simple dreams, she could not say, for every time she reached for him, he vanished into nothing.

—

And fun fact-!! In an era where elves were long lived and, essentially, immortal, they lost their hair after a millennia of age! (Solas falls into this category, of course.)

—

He also doesn't like tea. I am finding that oddly charming abt him...

—

I am. Trying not to cry in public AS IT ALL CLICKS—

The obsession not just w/ the angst, but the specific flavor of, “Let me love you. I want to love you, so please… Let me in. (You love me, too, and I won’t let you run from that.)”

[SCREAMS!!!!!]

—

I want to hold his stupid (lovely) hand and pull the damn cork on all he’s been holding back, so I can hear his stories!! The history he was there for, without trying to obfuscate the truth of it!!!

I can’t handle this, what da hell……………

MORE FUN FACTS ABT SOLAS!!!!!

He has worn a wig before!!! He tried to fake being a bard, was succeeding....except his dumbass wasn't drinking the tea he ordered...and he later admits, "Yeah, I was trying to not be obvious in every way, but, uh.... Yeah, still don't like tea. LOL"

Anyways, this is relevant bc he wore a wig as part of his disguise!! It was blonde and fluffy, apparently. (And they recently confirmed he probably still has it, ehehe)

—

I REALLY-

Anyways. I'm too badly down for the elf.

—

Trying to do my damned Elvhen language study and.

Person went into talks over how words sharing meanings work w/ the confession Solas did. The feelings hit so hard, I legit feel unwell, ahaha. /lh (It's not srs!! We are fine.)

—

I'm. Hggghhhhgghgh.

—

WHATEVER, I'm sharing my agonies w/ everyone here:

For example, the now loved phrase that Solas tells the player in a romance: "Ar lath 'ma vhen'an." While in the game it is written as "Ar lath ma vhen'an," I believe this is incorrect (I am love you home? huh?). In this case, 'ma is a contraction of mine. Translated literally it would mean "I am love, my home," (remember, 'to be' can be implied). It should be noted that 'home,' has many translations within Elvhen, as they are a very symbolic people. They have a different word for the literal (arla), conceptual (in), and symbolic (vhen'an) meanings for 'home.' In the case of vhen'an, this is the symbolic meaning, which is why a second translation for vhen'an is 'heart.' "Ar lath 'ma vhen'an." I love you. You are my home. | I love you. You are my heart.

—

MY HEART NEARLY SQUEEZED TO ITS END CAUSE OF THOSE PARAGRAPHS

I need everyone to "suffer" with me.... The romantic agonies...

—

Like... Holy fuck. Saying "you are my home" AND "you are my heart" at the same damn time????

Anyways,

—

[ Redacted piece where I go into new depths of Oh No, My Emotions over gifs of his romance scenes... 1) I do not want to grab new gifs/the gifs rn! 2) I am losing my mind again. I'm going to replay this game at some point?? Help. ]

Update: I'm about to start crying at my desk.

What I wanted: need some sappy romance shit in Elvhen. What I got: Learning abt the Fade & tombstones appear in a scene that show everyone's worst fear. Solas' is.....dying alone.

SOLAS HAS CONFIRMED TEA THAT HE LIKES!!!! A WIN FOR TEA!!!!!!!

Q. “Does Solas have a type of tea he doesn't mind as much as others? Or are all of them equally detestable?” A. "Orange zinger."

{ TL;DR of points beyond this... I guess I'm going to try orange zinger tea at some point, just to see what the hype's about! That, and I saw some recipes when I looked it up, so I suppose I'll be trying those, too...? Seems fun, at the least! }

You are now up to date on whatever accursed things are running through my mind at this time.

[melusinelyney]

(Spoilers and this is mostly for fun)

Ok so random theory during Robin's intro we see traveler

So it could just be a random input from the Hoyocreators for the jokes but I decided to start my theory career and delved deeper so something that is likely to make sense in this is it takes place either before or after the events of Genshin seeing as the world isn't at that level to have technology so you put two and two together.Anyway I first wanna focus on the fact Teyvat doesn't have a stellaron but maybe it didn't even have one in the first place but if it did then I remembered that during a conversation with the Ludex Neuvillette (that I can't find for shit) He mentions that the dragons existed before the heavenly principles appeared and so on so we can speculate that they would have likely destroyed the hypothetical stellaron and said said hypothetical stellaron could have destroyed all other life on old Teyvat.Now pinning my focus on the heavenly principles they could be Aeons? Because like who tf can create half the things in this god damn world including but not limited to Humans,the sky,wildlife, Actual gods etc. and they have the power to take other people's powers away,not sure if it's permanent but Traveller does have the option to say their powers were slowly coming back after fight Childe so maybe not,That seems like Aeon material to me and also like Aeons The heavenly principles kinda just do their things then dip for 500+ years for a nap I may need more evidence on that theory so for now we'll stick that on the wall too.Aether and Lumine are most likely not Aeons though (as they easily got their asses handed to them by the unknown god) in their description

They mention that they are each others only kin meaning they are the last of their kind left so there's a few options with this one they're whole race got wiped out and they were the only two left or they are actually the only ones in all of existence so there is still the possibility of them being twin Aeons but I highly doubt it plus in space terms(stellar space species terms???) we can assume the twins are quite young so that could be another reason they lost a 2-1 you know the varying levels of experience but eh I feel like this is aso important but I'm not sure why

The keeper I'm sure who that is yet but the creator is most likely the heavenly principles and the last two lines might relate to the Khaenri'ah incident but I'm sure I just think this relates but we'll know due time.Back on topic the more I think about it the more I think the twins might be Aeons specifically this line

That could mean they're immortal and idk about you guys but I'm pretty sure no average space species just gets gifted immortality(at birth Khaenri'ahins don't count)unless they do, it's still an interesting point none the less.

Tbh I'm at the end of my ramble because I forgot half of the points I was gonna make so uh see you next time ig???

(This is the most incoherent thing ever and I'm so sorry about that)

[longhands-the-second]

Trimax volume 2:

Here’s some thought soup.

Turns out I was actually able to wait to read until this week lol. I’m glad I did. I have a feeling this is only going to get more depressing from here on and I’m gonna need the pacing for my mental health.

So just… everything about Wolfwood here. He’s already better realized than pretty much the entirety of 98, I think (<- biased). I said “what the Fuck” out loud several times during this volume which is always fun. I’m going to do a second read before posting this so I can keep my thoughts in better order.

1- It’s at this point I think that maybe I should check the tws for this manga lol. Did this bother me? Not really. Am I scared of the potential now? Yes. Yes I Am. (I see that damn hand gore warning for a late volume and I am Dreading that shit)

Vash just looks so… soft here? I want to squish his cheeks so bad. It’s the power of Loose Button Down at work. A good weapon to have in your arsenal.

I hate it when you can just. Tell he’s making a promise that the narrative won’t let him keep.

On a reread the end of this volume makes more sense. Are they all…? I hope the fuck not.

2- Legato is really just getting more animalistic. There’s something off about him/his survival instincts but it’s kind of impossible to tell Exactly what it is without reading that far ahead. (Speaking of how uh. Explicit is his backstory? Do I need to make myself a nice cup of tea for after I finish reading that volume???)

I really, really appreciate that the gung-ho guns aren’t as one note as I expected. I have to wonder what got them all here, individually?

I wonder what specifically Vash thinks about Wolfwood here, what he knows and what he doesn’t. Is he like, aware that he saw what happened with the moon? Vash isn’t stupid, so I’m sure the thought crossed his mind that Wolfwood could’ve been working with Knives, but he’s also dead fucking set on seeing the best in people. Stay tuned, I guess.

Calling Vash selfish… there’s something there. He does have a tendency to ignore what people want when it comes to this kind of thing- which, yeah, that’s fair when it comes to killing people, but it’s also kind of not his place. Thinking very hard about the other post i saw this week about the end of the last volume.

Another thought that comes to mind is the way Vash thinks he’d just be letting things happen (therefore had some responsibility) in a lot of situations despite it being entirely on someone else. He refuses to just let it be. It makes sense given what happened to Rem, but I still have. Thoughts. He makes me so fucking sad.

The way Vash just fucking shuts down when they threaten Lina. None of them deserve any of this it makes me feel gross and bad.

3- How did he forget about the arm gun. That shit is the most important thing to remember smh

Where’s that one post that’s like “world where guns exist and swords are useless except in the hands of this one guy”

Literally impossible to follow the action but the punchline lands ig lmao

4- god this hurts. He just wants people to live. He just wants to live.

I think a lot of what this is about is sunk-cost, like somebody else mentioned. Digging your heels in further even if you know you’re wrong. I see in the gung-ho guns, Knives especially, but also definitely Vash. I haven’t fully former my thoughts on Vash yet though, i have to see where he goes from here to really make any judgements

God fucking damn it wolfwood. I know it made sense but MAN.

I love how angry Vash is allowed to get in the manga. He can really be scary sometimes.

People can’t change their minds if they’re dead. I think that’s the easiest way to summarize it.

I love how fucked up they are <3

Vash isn’t naive. He’s smart and he’s got years of experience to back him up. I know this. This is proof of it. But damn sometimes he really is incomprehensible in a way that makes me need the reminder.

GORLS

Hitchhiking on nomansland stresses me out as a concept.

5- wolfwood is really gonna rip my heart out isn’t he

“Vash can’t drive” saga (you’d think he’d be good at it given his other skills. Exposure maybe? I doubt he has frequent access to that kind of thing.)

They’re both fucking exhausted and YET-

I need to start a counter of times when i stop to go “oh vash is so pretty in this panel” but it’d be well over half of these posts

THAT IS NOT ONE OF THOSE PANELS

God he’s just zombie-ing his way through this isn’t he

The fucking limp wristed gun is everything to me

The missile is eepy and neebies to sleeby

6- obsessed with this version of home aesthetically.

Vash really just wants to be left alone. Grumpy old man.

Seriously though im in love with this whole setup. It’s beautiful.

It feels kind of illegal to be here though. Like we’re revisiting something that should be long gone. How much is this like the ship he grew up on?

He goes from the breaking point to being so excited to see everybody he’s crying. This physically fucking hurts to read

7- FUCKIN LEAVE HIM ALONE. GIVE HIM A GOD DAMN BREAK.

Literally this chapter makes me sick to my stomach i hate it i hate it

(Side Note, I have some colorings in the works, but it’s gonna be a WHILE until I get them finished. Very excited to share when I do though, I’ve been absolutely losing my shit about the love the others I’ve done have been getting from y’all. I see ur tags and they make my goddamn day. Thank you.)

((Additional Side Note, I am SO fucking excited to get my hands on the wwvd bracelets I ordered lol. I won’t be able to actually wear them for a few weeks though. I had to send it to my parents address. smh my head, man.))

[aeferkssr]

Funky Little Self-Insert Voicelines iii

aether x reader // can be read as both romantic and platonic (i think) // isekai! reader // reader gender not specified // not proofread either

a/n: ending the aether series until sumeru comes out ig. also what do yall think dendro travaler is gonna be like?

part 1 mond ver!

part 2 liyue ver!

Inazuma!

ABOUT THE VISION HUNT DECREE

boarding beidou’s ship you, aether and paimon sail across the sea separating liyue and inazuma, yoyr next location. sitting down in one of the spare rooms under deck you and your companions talk about the land that you have yet to make it to…

Paimon: It's hard to talk about the recent events in Inazuma and not mention the Vision Hunt Decree. But you two don't have visions, so you don't have to worry about losing one. On the flip side, if you guys are caught by the Tenryou Commission, you also can't surrender your Vision in exchange for your lives..

Aether: I can tell them that you are my Vision.

You: um, i don’t know how i feel about having paimon as my source of power

Paimon: Another reason to have Paimon around... Wait, WHAT!?

Aether: Don't worry, I wouldn't let them take you, Paimon.

paimon put her hands on her hips and tilted her head up:

Paimon: That's more like it.

Aether: We'd just go to jail and suffer punishment together...

You: Fun…

Paimon: h... W—Well, if that's how it would go down, then maybe you should hand me over to them...

paimon deadpans:

Paimon: ...Wait a minute! How about we just don't get caught in the first place?

About Sakura Blooms

after a long hike, the three travelers make it to the grand narukami shrine. a place that's completely devoted and made for worshiping the shogun. walking along the red railings of the shrine, the three look up to see the pink blossoms from the sacred sakura tree falling on their heads...

Paimon: The blossoms drifting down from the sacred sakura are so dazzling! Paimon heard that those flower petals can stay suspended in the air for so long because of being infused with Electro.

You: huh, makes sense. this being inazuma and all most things would be powered by lightning

Aether: Is it the same principle behind your levitation abilities?

the pair look to paimon to see her fidgeting with her hands as she sputters out nonsense:

Paimon: Uh... Ah...That's because...

Aether: You do know what allows you to fly, don't you, Paimon?

Paimon: Paimon can fly because of... mysterious powers, obviously!

Aether: Got it. Seems like you have no idea.

You: but i am quite curious tho... maybe if we find out how paimon flies, then we can learn how to fly too! just imagine how much quicker that would be then walking

Aether: You do have a point there... How about we let Albedo do some research? He's good at cracking such mysteries...]

paimon's face fell:

Paimon: Please don't!

you laugh as you pat paimon's head in reassurance:

You: hes kidding paimon! but still, when are you gonna teach me how to fly

paimon's face lightsup like she remembered something, and shouted:

Paimon: didnt i try to each you two how to fly already?! and what did you two do?? SLEEP.

paimon pouts as you chuckle a bit, aether exploring the sacred sakura tree while you and paimon bicker back and forth

About Lavender Melons

after meeting thoma and the misleading situation with miss chisato and aether you finally get to be able to make start making your way to inazuma city, where the shogun's castle of sorts was. while on the way other than you constantly laughing at aether for the tension he thought he had with miss chisato. overtime you laughing at aether turned into seeing who could make the best paimon impression. and who would be a better judge than the pixie herself?

Paimon: Lavender Melons sure are useful!

paimon turns around to see you two giggling behind her

Paimon: hey! what are you two laughing at?

Aether: Paimon sure is useful! She can serve as our guide, and she can also give other people ugly nicknames!

You: She even gives us amazing recipes to try out!

Paimon: Yep! Thank you for your validation!

she turns around to see you and aether burst out laughing, aether hunched over clutching his stomach and you sitting on the floor bawling your eyes out

Paimon: Wait a minute, is there more? Is Paimon about to get roasted?

paimon angrily floats over to the duo...

Paimon: Paimon's gonna cover your mouth to stop you from talking!

her tiny hands barely fitting around your faces was the last straw, both of you fall onto the floor in laughter. paimon pouting in front of you as she waits for the two to stop giggling and actually breathe properly

About Transience

returning to the teapot after saving yet another nation in teyvat. you can't help but wonder when you were gonna go home since you've been traveling with aether and pain for more than a year. homesickness was hitting you really hard until paimon's voice distracted you from your thoughts...

Paimon: Paimon wonders what the previous Shogun was like.

Aether: It appears that she was a person who understood the fleeting nature of things, and accepted the inevitable fate of departing this world one day.

Paimon: After all, realizing the fragility of things in front of you makes you treasure them even more.

Aether: This way of thinking must've influenced Inazuma's aesthetics. This world is transient, people come and go. The fun times we shared, our companionship, and the delicious foods we got to savor — those emotions and experiences are real things that existed at some point in time, not just empty concepts.

paimon, who was eating some mora meat aether coked the dat prior, looked down at her food and sighed:

Paimon: Even though... Even though every banquet must eventually come to an end, it'd be nice to enjoy those happy moments for a little longer.

Aether: "Shifting seasons and elusive dreams, the ephemeral and fleeting, with thine companionship, all are eternal."

Paimon: Paimon doesn't get it!

you looked up at aether, showing that you were confused as well. Aether chuckles:

Aether: I'm saying that I'm having a lot of fun traveling with you, Paimon. I'd be nice if we could just go on like this forever.

You: yeah... even though I miss my world doesn't mean that i hate it here. you guys are good company and traveling with you two is really fun!

Paimon: Paimon'll take your word for it then.

saving Mondstadt from dvalin, saving liyue from osial and the fatui and even saving inazuma from its own god, you had a lot of fun with these two and your planning to keep travel with them. it was never like you to break a promise anyways.

a/n 2: IM SO SORRY THIS CAME OUT SO LATE IRUGBARH I GOT SICK AND YEAH UH SCHOOL STARTED BACK SO THATS ALSO GONA TAKEUP MY TIME BUT WOW THAT'S THE AETHER VOICE LINE SERIES DONE THANKS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT AND I EVEN GAINED FOLLOWERS FROM DOING THIS! I WISH EVERYONE READING THIS A PLEASANT DAY AND A HAPPY REST OF THE YEAR! <3

[whatsitzface]

Yeah yeah yeah, the ship is shiz but that shiz is Cannon so ig there’s nothing we can do but roll with it. I’m not really thrilled but I’m not too upset, the season was still pretty good. Not as good as season three but still.

Anyhow here are just my thoughts:

(SEASON FOUR JWCC SPOILERS!!!)

Ben carried this season, man really just girlbossed the hell outta the whole thing.

Darius had so much potential for character development but they just didn’t and that’s really annoying.

Speaking of Darius’s ark, KASH IS AN A-HOLE WHO WANTS TO COME AND BEAT HIM UP WITH ME

^seriously though, Kash wasn’t a very intimidating villain and the robots got repetitive real quick. Mostly I was just afraid that Kash was gonna hit Darius so that’s not at all good.

Also if Darius seriously trusts another adult in this series imma flip. Like why did he just trust Mae so easily? After Tiff and Mitch? So in season five I have no doubt that he will no longer trust adults. (Also how does Darius not have any trouble with ptsd like the rest of them? He went through so much and yet he’s just fine? It doesn’t make sense.)

YASAMMY ARE LITERALLY GFS LIKE THAT SHARING A BED SCENE EXCUSE ME- dreamworks, you have no explanation this time

Anyhow, since everyone else is so worked up about the whole brook and kenji thing, ig I’ll mention it. Personally I headcannoned Brook as ace/aro but like guess I’ll be fluid with my hc’s. I liked that they acted like a married couple with rebel, that was amusing and cute. It felt very fast and forced but watchya gonna do about it … I personally can’t do anything about it so yknow, rolling with the punches

^actually me and my friend are shipping Ben x Brook x Kenji because they would be a poly power couple and you can’t tell me otherwise (especially Brook and Ben like damn). To each they’re own when it comes to shipping though, you do you <3

THAT TWIST AT THE END LIKE YESSSSS WHY DIDNT YOU GIVE ME THAT SEVEN EPS AGO-

[aerltarg]

Maybe this is a stupid question, buuuuut:

I just can't imagine a world that Rhaegar comes back from the Trident, wins the war and becomes king. No, I'm not a anti Rhaegar, matter of fact I like him very much, I'm just can imagine how would Lya, little Jon, this whole affair, would settle in the capital. The norm that fics (at least those I read) tend to follow is to make Rhaegar:

1. A douche, paranoid and destiny-obessed king.

2. Completely incompetent, aloof monarch, that deep down has a heart of gold, but can't really be understood.

I mean, isn't he supposed to be a scholar since he was a kid? What's are your thoughts about it?

oh, yeah, i can totally understand this! it's is the whole point in canon actually, "the wrong man came back from the trident". you would expect a hero win against his antagonist and have a happy ending w his lady love but it doesn't happen. instead the subversion happens to them with rhaegar being killed by robert who becomes obviously a shitty king and lyanna dying after him. they were never supposed to have happy ending, they were created as tragic and doomed and dead from the beginning for the whole plot to start, jon to have his parentage mystery and dany to take the passed baton as the last dragon, prophesied savoir and the heir who has to carry entire house on her back now.

as for the realistic rhaegar wins aus that's the difficult question. tbh we just don't know enough abt their situation, plans and wishes. you see, e.g. in agot we can be right in ned's head and see his motivations, what he was thinking abt, what he was planning, what he was hoping to do. but if his story was told the way rhaegar's was i bet he would have his own crowd of haters and ~intellectuals~ jumping out every two seconds w their "hot takes" how actually all hints abt what rlly happened (ned being a good man w his own sense of honour, justice and experiences affecting him and the deal w cersei's children) doesn't matter and he was an ambitious prick, planned to grasp the power by being joffrey's regent and make his daughter sansa queen. (you can actually insert there any bullshit and still don't reach the level of stupidity of such "hot takes" this fandom loves so much lmao). also he would be blamed to the hell and beyond for being too stupid and not foreseeing the future and actions of other ppl bc ofc after everything happened it's so easy to say what was so obvious to notice. also they would say that the deaths of his men and horrible fates of his kids are 100% his fault and even straight up say he killed them lmao. i can rant abt it for hours so yeah. this is a situation w too many unknown variables bc it depends too much on actions of too many characters we don't know enough abt. the only thing it's possible to tell for sure is the fact that there couldn't be any perfect solutions since things got too complicated at this point.

such fics as you've mentioned tho are just a part of this dumb fanon where rhaegar is "too prophecy obsessed"/"incapable of love"/shrodinger's rhaegar both smart and stupid at the same time/whatever/all of this combined lmfao. the man was notably intelligent from the early age as you've absolutely rightly mentioned, his guesses abt himself being tptwp have nothing to do w egocentrism as some parts of the fandom would want us all to believe unless he wouldn't be so reasonable abt it and later on, after so many years, wouldn't have changed his mind and thought his son could be tptwp.

and literally fuck all antis that think you shouldn't consider prophecies that hold real power in this fantasy world lol. you know, aegon the conqueror was said to be motivated (or at least partly) to unify westeros by the prophecy and still got the treatment of perfect/maximum close to perfect figure of a leader everyone should look up to from the narrative and grrm. prophecy obsessed much, huh? i don't even talk abt all these parallels between him and rhaegar grrm put there not for bitches to ignore them completely! and i will never get tired of reminding that dismissing prophecies is UNWISE for targaryens of all people. the house whose story is built on the dream of young daenys and her father aenar that listened to her despite common sense (or what local "anti magic"/"anti prophecies" clowns consider to be common sense). targs would be as dead as the rest of dragonlords if not for daenys the dreamer. who else in the world has as many reasons to take prophecies seriously as them?

yet antis out there act as if rhaegar is one dimensional weirdo whose every character trait is abt mf ~prophecy obsession~. like how can they miss one of the main points so badly?? the game of thrones distracts ppl from the real danger beyond the wall, yk, the one rhaegar was aware of and meant to deal with. there wouldn't be such a problem if he became king and had as many years of head start before ice zombies apocalypse as ignorant bobby b did. rhaegar had to die just for westeros to sink in shit and our main heroes to save everyone to make this story more epic LMAO

so yeah, too many ppl portray rhaegar as this one dimensional robotic creature without any knowledge of what feelings are idk even for what reason. it seems these ppl can't read for real bc rhaegar was not only intelligent af as well as dutiful ("it seems i must be a warrior" but "he loved his harp more than his lance") but also. ugh emotional?? my boy had constant emo sessions w brooding at ruins of summerhall, sleeping out there beneath the stars all alone and writing songs that made all women cry. does it sound as someone who "isn't capable of love" lol? folks act as if he was completely heartless from the day he was born (bc he didnt play w other kids ig??) but in reality their emotional range is less than the one of a spoon in comparison to rhaegar's lol. i'm not even gonna address the horrible attitude of demonizing him for his implied depression, vile clowns never listen to themselves when they talk abt targaryens and their "madness".

tldr; these fics are mostly lame af and suck at characterization if they're making rhaegar like that lol. anyway his character isn't abt being a good or a bad king, it's abt being a would-be-king for characters in books and readers in reality to sigh over his tragic aura and pretty aesthetic abt how it could've been. however, grrm clearly doesn't write rhaegar as evil or incapable as some parts of the fandom would want to try to persuade others. realistically speaking in the scenario where he wins there couldn't be any perfect decisions but it's a territory of speculations on thin air and lit nothing more since canon doesn't provide us with enough information to rlly theorize anything instead of building biased headcanons some ppl call "analysis".

but remember what barristan said about rhaegar while practically watching him all his life, from a literal baby to the man grown:

“I know little of Rhaegar. Only the tales Viserys told, and he was a little boy when our brother died. What was he truly like?��

The old man considered a moment. “Able. That above all. Determined, deliberate, dutiful, single-minded.” (ASOS, Daenerys I)

“Prince Rhaegar’s prowess was unquestioned, but he seldom entered the lists. He never loved the song of swords the way that Robert did, or Jaime Lannister. It was something he had to do, a task the world had set him. He did it well, for he did everything well. That was his nature. But he took no joy in it. Men said that he loved his harp much better than his lance.” (ASOS, Daenerys IV)

[waynedunlaptheorgandonor]

hey so “find me” dropped on premiere and i just watched it, so you know what that means??

it’s review time!

(super rambly as usual) spoilers under the cut

before i say anything, let me say, IT’S FINE, Y’ALL. as predicted. people are gonna be dramatic bc there are daryl/leah scenes, but like...we been knew? and some of them were rly important caryl-wise. (tbh, the episode was kind of boring and just a set-up for other stuff, lmfao)

okay, review:

opening credits, which i think most of us have already seen, were cute. obvi there was some weird tension with daryl that leads to the coming-to-a-head thing at the end, but their banter is still cute af

they went fishing and daryl’s reaction to carol was adorable, and there’s an important parallel later on, so bookmark this

similarly, there’s an important parallel to carol’s “the dead catch up to us eventually”/daryl’s “i ain’t gonna let it”, so bookmark that, too

dog is the instigator for the flashbacks, so if you wanna blame anyone, blame him. he races to the cabin, which for some reason daryl, who spent five years in this forest, seemed surprised to see? didn’t you literally map out that whole area, my dude? whatever

cue flashback!

i might have the scene order mixed up, but i think it starts with daryl being all sad by himself, and then dog as a puppy shows up and he’s like “!!! a dog!!!” which is v cute, and then he runs back off. we don’t meet leah yet

we see carol and daryl having a conversation while standing on opposite sides of a river for no reason except to probably symbolize distance or maybe covid, lol. the conversation basically goes:

carol: things are different

daryl: yeah

carol: how long are you gonna be out here?

daryl: -shrug emoji-

carol: i get why you’re out here, and i’d join you if things weren’t...

daryl: different

carol: yeah

daryl: yeah. anyway, it’s gonna rain, and also i’m having emotions, so ttyl

the end

at some point we see daryl sitting with an extremely unhappy face while it pours rain on him in the dark, and i want that as a reaction gif IMMEDIATELY 

also the rain destroys his “where in the world is rick grimes?” map, which makes him v upset and scream-y, and we get the idea that he might be going a bit bonkers being all alone looking for a dead (or, ig, kidnapped by helicopter) man

in present day carol finds the note, and is like “oh dunk, she lived here??” so she knew about leah, and daryl’s like, “i already told you everything,” and carol’s like, “no you didn’t,” so we go back to flashbacks (but i’m still not sure what parts carol didn’t already know?? whatever, it’s not that important)

i’m just gonna hit the highlights of the flashbacks bc they were not that thrilling:

first time daryl meets leah the dog leads him to her cabin, and leah ties him to a chair and holds a gun to his head being like, “what are you doing on my land?” bc apparently you can claim whole forests during the apocalypse, and daryl says very little, and eventually she lets him go

next time dog finds daryl and he brings her back and leah is like, “the dog likes you” and they’re kinda flirty, and then daryl says very little and leaves

next time daryl is surrounded by walkers and leah shows up and helps and they hide in a tree and are awkwardly close to each other and daryl cannot handle the close physical contact so when the walkers pass he says very little except to tell her to never come back again, lmfao

the next flashback is my favorite bc daryl just fucking

goes to leah’s cabin and throws a fish at the door???

i laughed for ten years

he throws a fucking fish and then stands there for a minute like “is she gonna notice that i gave her a fish??” like, no, dumbass, you didn’t even knock, you just threw a fucking fish at her fucking door, what is wrong with you??

no wonder it’s taken him and carol so long if he thinks throwing fish at people is a smooth move. boy has NO fucking game

anyway, leah gets him back by finding him and throwing the fish at his head, being like, “wtf, don’t throw fish on my porch?” which, fair, leah

IMPORTANT CARYL PARALLEL (from here on out known as “caryllels”) #1: so earlier i mentioned the carol fish thing, and apparently the same thing happened with leah, where she speared a fish on her first try and daryl was like “tf?” v blatant “we are supposed to be thinking about carol and daryl’s relationship during this scene” sort of thing

leah’s backstory is bland. had a family, they got eaten or disappeared or something. she, her adopted son, and dog’s mom got away, but the kid was bit, and died the same day dog was born, bc ig when god closes one door, he replaces your dead son with a puppy, or however the idiom goes

ONLY PART THAT GOT ME LEGIT EMOTIONAL: 

leah asked daryl who he lost, and he says, “my brother”

asklfdjaslfdjskl

god i miss rick

i hated rick for so long and now i miss him so much

but i digress

IMPORTANT CARYLLEL #2: leah and daryl have the same “the dead get you eventually”/”i ain’t gonna let it” conversation as caryl had earlier, only daryl is playing the role of carol in this scenario, so again we’re supposed to be comparing the two relationships. lemme get through the rest of the summary and then i’ll tell you my opinion on what that means

fuck what even happens next?

i have these out of order bc they were all the fucking same, but the two of them get closer, and there is the vaguest suggestion of sex ever. you literally only see daryl’s hand

then jump-cut to them sitting at the table being emo, ig bc daryl was gonna go back to look for rick for a bit, and leah is like “who do you belong with? your brother you won’t stop looking for? your family that you left? [side note: that seemed rather pointed, like, “hey hoe, you abandoned your family, that was kind of a dick move”] or me?” and he says he doesn’t know, and she’s like “yeah you do, now choose”

jump-cut to caryl scene where carol finds him at the river and says that she won’t be visiting as much, and daryl’s like “k” and they have a brief argument where daryl’s all snippy, like, “what? do you want my permission for you to move on with your life? i’m not still emo about the fact that you’re moving on with your life, and i also don’t think it’s contextually significant that every time you show up in my flashbacks you explicitly mention that you’re married and have a kid,” and carol is like, “bro, you need to Get Your Shit Together and come home”

jump-cut to daryl having what i’m assuming is an epiphany that carol/fam have all moved on while he was out being emo, and so he decides to go be with leah, except, plot twist! she’s gone. the picture of her and her son is gone, but dog is still there. daryl leaves the note, which says, “i belong with you, find me”

for those freaking out about the wording about the note, may i remind you that she specifically asked, “do you belong x, x, or with me?” so he was just answering the question

aaaaaand back to present day

carol is like, “what do you think happened to her?” and daryl is all -shrug emoji-, and then she’s like, “...do you think she might have just...you know...left?” and daryl gets rull offended, which was kind of funny

(she probably just left, bud)

carol tells daryl to stop thinking that when people leave it’s bc of him, and connie’s name gets thrown into the mix, and daryl gets a “oh here we fucking go” look on his face, and it sets him off

he said basically what we were already spoiled for. “you just want to run, you don’t know when to stop, i shouldn’t have taken you off the boat bc you still just want to run” etc

and carol looks fucking HEARTBROKEN, which hurt me, and she goes into the other room and we end the episode with daryl staring forlornly out of the window 

the end

okay

so quick analysis

i think the significance of this episode is supposed to be so we have an understanding of why daryl is suddenly so !teamfamily, and !teamfuture, and how badly he wants carol to be there with him. at one point, one of them even says, “this isn’t about leah, or connie,” or anyone but the two of them. the title “find me” feels significant, bc the whole episode is daryl grappling with where he’s supposed to go, and what his purpose is, and by the end, he says to carol, “i know where i belong,” (implying, with her and the fam), pulling us full-circle. in the first flashback onward he is lost, but by the end he is found -cue amazing grace-

daryl and leah were flirty, but to me it felt very much like something that was just being used as daryl character development. we barely got anything that juicy between the two of them (except the fish throwing thing, that was amazing), and i still don’t think that it would make any sense, regardless of the showrunner, to pair daryl up with some rando after having so many other choices that people would have preferred. i don’t think we’re meant to #endgame ship it, so much as we are supposed to be like, “oh, ok, daryl learned the power of family and stability and leveled up, -you know what that is? growth gif-” as a result, i literally have no idea what leah’s role is gonna be in s11, but i don’t think it’ll be a huge plot point

so now we firmly know where daryl stands. he is all about moving forward, not looking back, and doing the best he can, and he’s frustrated bc when he took carol off the boat he wanted her to be in the same place as him so that they could grow together, but she wasn’t and isn’t there yet

so my guess is that what’s next for carol’s storyline is her reaching that same zen-level daryl’s at

once they’re both there, then they get to ride off into the sunset and make passionate love under the moon casting shadows over the vast desert wasteland 

whew

anyway

tl;dr: idk, episode was fine, if not kinda boring. lots of caryllels. can i go back to writing my vietnam war au now? 

the end

(stay hype, stan kang, and get daryl to call carol sweetheart 2k21),

-diz

[inosukeslefttoe]

SO i just finished wonder egg priority and i think that with confidence i can say it has been one of my favorite animes like... ever ?? and not even from hyperfixation or obsession over it just... its so fucking real yet so simple in a way that i havent rlly seen shown in any other shows you feel ??

but first i wanna talk about how sexy the art and animation is real quick... HOMIE ITS SO GOOD LIKE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT JUST... serotonin... the characters are all so unique and iconic and fun but not over the top in their designs yknow ??? they seem like regular every day girls but they stand out and theyre all sO CUTE !!!! also i love how the style is like this soft bubbly slice of life lookin stuff with bright happy colors and the most beautiful scenes you could find but they also have the SICKEST fight scenes complete with whimsical animal helpers and terrifying villains and crazy weapons unique to each character. and the animation. god DAMN shawty i am obsessed with everything in this show. i might make a post solely about the art later lol bc i wanna get into the other stuff.

so the themes in the show right ?? it starts just as this cute lil magical girl kinda deal but within the first episode we see that like.. oh damn... thats kinda heavy... tbh i was a little shocked and thought about stopping bc yknow bad mental health BUT i was so intrigued that i had to keep going and i am SO GLAD that i did. because this show just so beautifully discusses all these heavy topics in such an eloquent and artistically expressive way. and also like, , the juxtaposition of the charming childlike vibe with bright colors and 14 yr old girl protagonists against the dark themes of suicide and so much else,, i think is just perfect. bc a lot of heavy animes are more of the seinen genre and have some middle aged dude as a protag or make the entire color palette dim or offer little relief to the pain of these heavy themes right ?? but NO not wonder egg bitches B) because these problems arent just things that ppl face later in life or just problems that need to be talked about among adults or the edgy seinen watching squad,, these are REAL problems that face people of every age, gender etc and i think its awesome that wonder egg addresses that. some may cringe at the thought of their high schooler watching animes that discuss sexual harassment, suicide, abuse, self harm, eating disorders etc,, but in reality it is the most comforting thing i have ever come across and is basically jsut free anime therapy. because not only does wonder egg present these themes to the viewers as something real that happens to all kinds of people (making said people feel heard in a way that maybe they hadnt before), but it also makes sure to vanquish all of these forms of trauma. and the way the trauma is vanquished isnt always beautiful and it isnt always just magically gone with a poof. the struggles of overcoming or living with that sort of thing are shown in such a real and relatable way that addresses every hardship trauma survivors have to go through. and i just. god i cry bro. 

oh m y GOD and the lgbtq+ rep in this show ?? like shawty... as soon as i saw episode one i was picking up on some gay/lesbian themes but then again im sapphic and project that a lot so i tend to see that sort of stuff like... everywhere... but NE WAYS... episode ten made me FUKCING CRY BRO LIke i cant believe there was a whole trans character with a whole trans pride hoodie like LKGHKDGH my heart is just so.. so fucking full thinking about him. bc like yeah i know there are trans characters in anime but i feel like theyre always very ambiguous about actually being trans or not or erased or portrayed as a harmful stereotype or theyre constantly misgendered and still refered to as their assigned gender at birth and i hate it. HOWEVEr... Kaoru.. *chefs kiss* it was so amazing to see a character straight up say “yeah im trans” in such a casual yet powerful way bc i personally have never seen that before. and i love love loved how he went into his backstory and talked to momoe about gender bc i think thats what she rlly needed and that it helped her find herself and it makes me so happy oh my god,, and the way they talked about it never seemed forced or like it was the focal point of his existence yknow ?? like yeah he existed to help momoe overcome some of her trauma but he also just existed to be HIM yknow ?? also... personally, i headcanon momoe as a trans girl even though i dont remember it being explicitly stated plus the school scenes of her and stuff would seem like they suggest otherwise ??but,,, SHAWTY THE AMOUNT OF SUBTEXT and her complicated relationship w gender is... something i feel like a cis girl would not go through so harshly yknow ?? with all of the questioning and feeling detached from femininity or feeling like ppl dont see her as an actual girl and only like her as a guy or for her masculine traits,,, but dont take my word on this bc i myself am a cis girl but that was just my take on it as someone in the lgbtq+ community trying to educate myself on the transgender community :) either way,, wonder eggs portrayal of momoe and kaoru and the way that momoe becomes so passionate about expressing herself the way she wants to as a girl is just... good lord im gonna cry its so perfect,,,.so ... i just love this show way too much. i also am honestly super lost about the relationship btwn acca and ura-acca ?? bc i was gonna mention ura-acca as a canonically gay guy bc when i was watching i interpreted ep 11 as him being in love with acca and being jealous of Azusa (bc i mean,, they lived together (i swear to god there was only one bed in that apartment) and had a daughter together and def loved each other and also when Frill said they were husbands and then when ura-acca said he wasnt attracted to azusa but he was def jealous of their relationship ??) but then i saw somewhere that theyre brothers ?? which would make sense ig since they look kinda similar and accas daughter called ura-acca “uncle”.. but at the same time its ANIME SO THEY ALL LOOK SIMILAR and referring to gay couples as siblings is an EXTREMELY common euphemism soooo... IM JUST LOST HERE... but yeah i tried doing research and found different things so i cant say anything for sure >:( however,,, if they are canonically a lil fruity for each other... when frill refered to acca as ura-accas husband i imploded dude you never hear that sort of wording in anime.. but if theyre related i am so sorry. 

god this is so much longer than i planned it to be oops but i also love the theme about like.. relying on friends to help carry your weight but at the same time not becoming completely dependent on those friends and using their support to learn how to love yourself and rely on yourself yknow ?? bc that is exactly what healthy friendships look like. bc i think ai sort of had a codependency thing goin on with koito maybe ?? but now she has a whole squad of funky friends that are so so different but all struggle with different kinds of trauma and although they fight over it, they always get through it with each other together. and they push each other no matter what to be the best versions of themselves and they teach other that getting hurt is okay because theyre always gonna be there to pick up the pieces no matter what happens. they can give each other space when they need and adapt to meet each others needs but theyre always able to balance it out with their own needs and thats such a beautiful thing in friendships especially at their age like damn i wish i had that maturity when i was 14 but no all i had was depression. another thing is that through these friendships you get to see all the different sides of each girl; you get to see them being strong or a shining light to their friends when theyre hurting but you also get to see them being hurt and weak and allowing themselves to be on the receiving end of the comfort. their friendships allows them to have weaknesses but it also allows them to highlight their strengths and thrive off of each others. I LOVE FRIENDSHIP DUDE

next i wanna briefly mention some of the themes connected to suicide that ive noticed. a big one is the survivors guilt that ai feels once koito is dead. several times she screams that she wishes she couldve gone with koito and she dreams of a “perfect world” where they committed a double suicide. one of the main reasons for her troubles is that she blames herself for koitos death and feels like it should be her thats dead... but at the same time she feels like too much of a coward to do anything now that koito is gone. she just has all these complex and contradicting feelings that wear away at her in ways that ppl that havent gone through the suicide of a loved one could never imagine. a lot of the times when things like this are portrayed in media i feel like its more in a way thats meant to guilt trip those that have taken their own lives and paint suicide as this selfish sin thats unforgivable but... not only does wonder egg reject that idea and instead portray it as a heartbreaking tragedy with,,, so so many terrible reasons, but it focuses on the feelings of ai separate from koito without blaming her in any way. not once did i feel like the show antagonized koito or that ai blamed koito for doing any of this, but they simply mourned her loss and touched on ais reaction towards the event but separate from koito herself if that makes sense. and i think that discussing survivors guilt without painting koito as the bad guy is something so beautifully done in wonder egg that can really resonate with those that have lost a loved one to suicide and have struggled with these same things.

okay i think this is the last thing ill mention,,, but HOMIE THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE BIT AT THE END. I AM. OBSESSED. i am such a whore for anything about the multiverse okay n e ways...,, not only did this make a super epic trippy ending of season one and add a little bit more magical girl whimsy to the show,, but it had such a powerful message. from the perspective of og ai,, finding out that you killed yourself in another world is... i mean its definitely not a surprise but at the same time it rlly makes you think how close og ai herself couldve been to that point and what decisions led her out of that dark place in her life. if i were in her shoes i would be terrified and id cry bc the thought of going back to such a dark place and actually going through with something like that is my worst fear and probably something that ai fears too. but at the same time,,, think from the perspective of ai two !!! like yeah its true that theres this awful terrible version of ai that dies but theres also a whole version of ai that is a superhero magical girl fighting off monsters to save countless ppls lives !! and she has a badass lizard and a gang of awesome friends !!! at first i was worried that ai two would be jealous of og ai and compare herself to her and feel inferior but like.. THEYRE LITERALLY THE SAME PERSON AND CAPABLE OF THE SAME THINGS !!! and ai two realized that !! just within the span of one episode, she went from the version of ai who took her life,, to the version of ai jumping in front of a friend to take a bullet for them and save their life. and that just inspired THE SHIT OUT OF ME. i think that ai was sent another version of herself to sort of beat her own worst enemy yknow ?? those doubts and fears that shes no good or that shes that same bystander from episode one and that she hasnt changed at all. but getting to interact with her parallel self and see her grow was just what she needed to realize that while yeah sometimes the worst thing can happen and things can be terrible but on the other hand sometimes the most wonderful thing imaginable can happen because she has the power to do either. 

so im gonna go ahead and stop rambling bc i got all my thoughts out that i wanted to for this post :D but yeah lol i might make another if i feel like it sometime. long story short: this show is perfect and it is going on my favorite of all times.

[enbyandevil]

some thoughts tm after todays leaks, they are mostly just disjointed ramblings

1. the scene with toshinori and izuku is really heart breaking when you consider that AM already knew izuku wasnt really looking up to him as a mentor but now he even refuses his help all together. it especially hurts when you remember that in chapter 253 toshinori specifically confides in aizawa that he feels useless and only chose to go on with his life for the sake of the kids (mostly izuku). and in the same chapter aizawa tells him that all he can do is provide support for them..... which izuku is going to reject in 317. oof

2. speaking of izuku, i saw that some ppl already also noted that the image of an always smiling hero that izuku had for himself as an ideal to strive for seems to have finally collapsed. that boy is tired, bloodied and keeps pushing others away. its pretty clear that hes doing it so others dont get hurt by proximity, just like how he left class 1-A, but i don't think he had ever thought that it might result in hurting them. we havent really seen chapter 317 just yet but even then, it seems like izuku keeps thinking that pushing people away is the best option to keep them safe and that he is right in doing so. i wonder if that lone hero attitude is something he unconciously adapted from all might. it would be pretty ironic bc ultimately its the fact that toshinori made himself out to be The sole symbol of peace that lead to the hero society tumbling down into lowkey chaos, not to mention the fact that he ended up pushing nighteye away (even tho nighteyes only concern was AMs well-being)

3. that being said, having read the leaks of what happens in this chapter... i do wonder what izuku meant when he said that this is the story of how he became "the greatest hero" in the beginning of the story. so far he seems really far from the idea he was striving for, not to mention that i wouldnt be surprised if he became more disillusioned with the role of a hero after all that has happened so far. its interesting to see his driving force go from "i wanna become a hero to save people" to "i need to become a stronger hero so i can defeat afo because im the only one who can do it". its sad how much he has grown to depend on OFA and how he seems to only depend on his new quirks when at the start of the story his battles were mostly abt wit and strategy. of course, its a result of him getting a grasp on his powers, but ig i miss the times when izuku was actually the underdog of the story. my tangent aside, with how its going so far... i would love the idea of izuku ending up opposed to the system upholding the hero society or maybe even losing his quirk at the end. all we know is that he Will become the greatest hero, but in what sense? and what do you mean by hero? the status? the job? id like to think horikoshi can still surprise us regarding that matter

4. this chapter also makes me wonder about whether izuku is going to end up having to be rescued/helped forcefully by his friends from 1-A. you cant tell me that those kids are gonna stay insignificant till the end of the story, esp ochako, who has strong narrative ties to toga. izuku is obviously being worn down and i wonder how its gonna get resolved

[redysetdare]

Every issue i have with season 3

Putting under the cut because this is a Rant and i will be angry and critical and I know not everyone likes that.

also LMK S3 spoilers below...obviously.

Even after sleeping on it though, I realize how much some decisions of season 3 have really irked me.

1st thing being the samadhi fire and how they handled it as a whole. Now I’m not too pissy over the fact they changed the backstory for it, Monkie kid is kind of notorious for not following journey to the west for to a T but the way they handle the fire DOES kind of leave a ton of questions continuity wise. Like how in season 2 Tang DOES mention Red son’s original story but if the Samadhi fire was taken from him then that story shouldn’t exist....and if it was before the fire way taken then by the shows logic the dumping of an entire ocean shouldn’t of extinguished it - because the fact is that the fire CAN be extinguished, it just took an entire ocean to do it. Because in the book the fire is a blue flame that cannot be put out by water and instead gets strengthened from it and can travel OVER the top of water. but i digress this is more of a pet peeve.

The main issue i have with the Samadhi fire is actually who they gave it to... which was Mei. My first issue with them giving it to Mei is that 1. it felt like they HAD to change the Samadhi fire’s entire origin for it to make sense and it felt like a forced change because they realized it wouldn’t fit what they wanted to end up happening. second issue is that they LITERALLY TOOK RED SONS THING AND GAVE IT TO ANOTHER CHARACTER???? Red son was right there, they legit could’ve just used him but instead they bent over backwards to make it MEI????  Like literally Red son’s whole story in journey to the west is that he forged the samadhi fire over YEARS and YEARS of perfecting and training his fire abilities and is the ONLY ONE to wield it and they TOOK THAT AWAY FROM HIM??? 3rd is.... what’s even the deal with her having it? her grandpa held it so now she holds it too??? did her parents both have the ability to be the ring to or does that pass down once they have a kid? WHY DID THE FAMILY JUST NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS???

Literally if they wanted Mei to do something cool they could’ve done a billion other things but instead they decided to give her an extremely powerful fire which now is like.... nice she was a dragon before but now she’s gonna be super OP with dragon AND samadhi fire....if she knows to control it now then how will anything be a threat ever with how strong they made that fire?

2nd big issue: This season did not feel like it was about MK and it was frustrating that he didn’t actually get focused on in what is HIS OWN SHOW??? We never got to see him fully get back his powers, in fact we only saw shrinking, gold vision, shapeshifting, AND A SINGLE CLONE APPEARED BUT NO EXPLANATION ON HOW PARTY CLONE EVEN FUCKING GOT THERE? Now i can get if they didn’t want MK to be a focus but it felt like they were trying to make him a focus along with everyone else, which doesn’t work in a 10 episode span (and no u cant tell me he was the focus of the 4 specials because HE WAS NOT.  THAT WAS ALL MEI)

Idk i think with the vision we saw of him from lady bone demon in season 2 you think something more was planned for his character but ig the team forgot about him exploding into blue flames in those visions... I just feel like they had planned more  but then switched it around on us.

another issue is Macaque. ohhh Macaque.... idk i think them bringing up that YES HE DID DIE IN JTTW and his connection to the bone demon like that was interesting. i have no issues withthat. ITS THE ONE LINE THAT TANG SAYS ABOUT REDEMPTION THAT GETS ME. MACAQUE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN LABELED AS REDEEMED. I’m sorry but i’m firmly of the belief that he has literally done too much to be redeemed simply because he helped the group ONCE to fight a greater evil. that is not redemption. can it be the START to redemption? definitely. but they just kind of.... added him to the group as a friend as if he wasn’t trying to kill and traumatize MK for 3 entire seasons. also the group being like “oh we know you aren’t in it for yourself” was stupid because Macaque has ONLY been shown to be in itt for himself and we just have to be told that “no guys look he really isn't” and then are not shown it or even hinted at that being the case anytime before that? right. That just comes off as sloppy writing to try fulfill either fan desire or they are rushing characters to points they want them to be.

Overall this season felt like it was poorly written and rushed beyond belief and part of me knows it was because they are on a 10 episode season model but also all previous seasons did just fine on a 10 episode model - so why does this one feel so BAD? It felt like they were trying to shove too much into one season that it felt like it jumped around with no real idea of WHERE or WHAT they wanted to focus on and would have to twist things to work in their favor instead of just...going the simple route. it just... it didn’t feel like monkie kid if that makes sense. this season doesn’t feel like a monkie kid season. this doesn’t feel like the last two and ik the stakes are higher but...it still should’ve felt like monkie kid. it shouldn’t be leaving me feeling like i didn’t watch monkie kid.

 i feel like maybe if they had more episodes then maybe some things could’ve been fix but i think the main issue is in the story decisions that the team decided to go in that just...really ruined this season for me.

and like... i love this show. i adore it. it’s my biggest hyperfixation and is so dear to me...so to have it be so disappointing really sucks. because my brain just can’t stop thinking about how disappointed i am over the season.

and maybe I’m way off the mark. I know this is 100% my opinion and are my issues alone with this season and maybe i’m analyzing my issues wrong but they are still my issues. I didn’t go into this season planning to be disappointed. i looked at the season with high hopes and excitement that just...got killed off. a show shouldn’t do that.

[frenchphobic]

long fucking post on why a c!dream is a shitty person and probably should not have a redemption because it is unpog

honestly i just want to refute dream apologists thats why im making this post. i think that dream as a villain is interesting but i think that trying to make him out to be secretly a good guy is just bad ngl. also /roleplay and all

tw for abuse and mentions of suicide

dream as a villain

dream is a villain. he is chaotic evil according to wilbur, deliberately does not stream to appear less sympathetic (and yet), and is set up as an antagonist to tommy who bears the title ‘hero’. dream is not a good person, no matter how you look at it or try to justify his actions.

‘but he wants to unite everyone to be a big family :((’ the ends dont justify the means believe it or not. having a vaguely positive goal does not excuse the actions you’ve done. it also goes hand and hand with saying dream is correct for punishing tommy the way he did because he acted up. if i socked you across the face and then suddenly said ‘sorry there was a roach on ur face’ does that make it okay? probably not i still punched you, enacting an unnecessary amount of violence. thats a very simple analogy i will admit and there are more complex comparisons. another example off the top of my head is say a child just scribbled all over you walls with crayons. would hitting them be a justified answer? if u said hes thats really fucked of u go seek help u loon. violence as a punishment is very toxic, just because it gets the job done does not mean it is okay. at the end of the day, you still committed this act and the harm you caused is real, having a good motive doesnt suddenly make it okay.

‘but tommy causes all of the conflict’ the disk war wasnt even caused by tommy, it was sapnap and then tommy got involved. and the reason why tommy even caused conflict was because of the discs, because he wanted them back. and most of the time there was a level of antagonism from another party, such as schlatt exiling him, dream taking the disks in the first place, dream threatening l’manberg. and if dream wanted to end the conflict so badly, why didnt he just give tommy back his disks? tommy upfront said everything started with the disks, so he wants them back so he could end the conflict. notice how after tommy got his disks back he has been staying out of conflict, apologizing to everyone, and the only bad thing hes done is try to scam people but everyone does that. this would have been the most peaceful option, yet dream chose the path that would further antagonize tommy which then draws everyone else into conflict. why did dream need to have leverage over tommy so badly? why did he want to hold power over tommy so badly? its because of control, and that’s ultimately dreams end goal. sure he wants a big server family, but would said family have a free will?

‘but dream is sad’ the thing is dream is completely at fault for everything that happened to him. he pushed away sapnap (and george ig). he tried to take control over the server and their possessions. literally everything that happened to tommy. literally everything involving ranboo. villains can be sympathetic, i am not arguing against that. but it does not mean that they should be left off the hook. that doesnt mean u should ignore the shit theyve done because ‘oh no theyre sad’ because it doesnt make anything better. dream had this shit coming for him.

now people also skirt around calling dream an abuser. which is fair ig, its a very loaded word. its much easier to say manipulated. that being said, dream can classify as abusive. and no, tommy is not abusive. abuse is about control and a power imbalance. dream has power over tommy, but tommy does not have power over dream, at least not in the way dream does. he’s taking back power to stand up for himself, dream uses power to control.

the reasons i listed for why dream is from the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project so if u want a source on that, there you go.

using coercion or threats: dream often threatened tommy, such as the pit thing and often employed violence on him. while normally this could be attributed to Normal Minecraft Player Go Smack. minecraft mechanics cannot always translate to real world since violence is pretty normal in minecraft however we also need to consider the context of the scene. dream gave an order, tommy refused, dream applies violence, tommy submitted. thats why its a threat, it has tangible effects that can correlate to real life.

using intimidation: dream blew up logsteadshire as a punishment. dream also destroyed tommys items anytime he visited. dream also hit tommy with his axe i believe. he killed mushroom henry, one of tommys pets.

Using Emotional Abuse: dream guiltripped the shit out of tommy for just hiding things and pinning the blame on tommy for just wanting his own private items. he definitely played mind games on tommy, pretending to be his friend. honestly i probably dont even need to go as in depth because it was so obvious.

Using Isolation: putting him in exile in the first place. destroying the bether portal so no one could visit tommy anymore. i really dont think i need to expand upon that.

Minimizing, Denying, and Blaming: dream in tommys stream when he got trapped said that exile wasnt that bad. he does shift the blame onto tommy for logsteadshire being blown up, even though dreams reaction was entirely unjustified for not listening and hiding.

Using Economic Abuse: see this is where i attempt to parallel minecraft mechanics to real life. obviously, there is no monetary system in place, so when i mean economic, i will use valuables such as armor, food, etc in place of currency. the idea behind economic abuse is to limit the victim’s resources so that they are dependent on the abuser and cannot escape. dream only really allowed tommy to have the armor he gave him while not giving access to armor so he does not regain a sense of power, and in the prison stream, dream holds all the potatoes which puts him in a position of power over tommy. this argument is more ambiguous i feel cause the whole minecraft mechanics thing is kinda weird so u don’t necessarily have to take this part in.

i feel like i need to emphasize this very strongly because dream is not a good person. abuse cannot and should not be a response to someone. its an awful mentality to have. i just want to prove the point that dream is not a good person, his reasons absolutely do not justify his actions.

what makes a good redemption

redemption arcs are tricky. when done right they are great. when done poorly, its a slap in the face. rn im going to establish a formula to what makes a good redemption with an example.

the most well known example of a good redemption is zuko from atla. first, its the magnitude of what theyve done and why. zuko did commit some shitty actions, since he was in a position of power in the fire nation but its because he is a child being abused and wanted to regain honor. zukos real awful acts was season 1 and the whole betrayal thing. thats not to say that zukos actions suddenly are okay, he did shitty things. but its something that can be traced to a higher entity or seem less malicious then the other villains. the thing also about the magnitude of actions is that there is a certain point of atrocities that there is no redemption. some people simply cannot be redeemed because the actions they commit are so ingrained in their character or the action itself has serious moral issues that it would just be wrong.

the next is acknowleding what they did was wrong. a genuine reflection on the self and analyzing what they did and why it was not okay. zuko realized what he did to uncle iroh was bad for example. he turned his back on his father, realizing he didnt and shouldnt seek acknowledgment from someone as heinous as him. its pointing out your actions and going ‘hey, this wasnt right i should not have done this’ and not even excusing ur actions. its also going straight for the root of the problem and figuring out to stamp it from the source. just because a character is sad does not mean they are reflecting, sometimes they are attempting to garner pity. it has to be direct and clear acknowledgement of the injustice.

and finally, an important part about redemption arcs is the actual redemption part. its when you make amends. zuko made amends with katara by trying to help her get revenge, he fought against the fire nation and tried to make things more peaceful in his rule. he apologized to iroh. an important part of the amends section is that it does have to be a genuine desire to change and become a better person, not to change a person’s perception of you. the thing is u cant expect a person youve hurt to forgive you. you cant expect people to be sympathetic towards you nor should u attempt to make urself sympathetic. u shouldnt be expecting a pat on the back or an award. redemption is about internal and character change.

why dream should not be redeemed

ive already established the key points to a good redemption (imo) but heres where dream falls short. his actions are extremely heavy so redemption may not even really be possible. abuse is not something you can wave off so it does cross to the point of fucked up. acknowledgement of what he did was wrong? all he said was that he changed, yet never explained why he changed or was too vague. he needed to label specifically what he did and bring it up. attempting to make amends? he’s been doing the exact opposite in fact he continues to manipulate tommy and ranboo. its not a genuine change. he is still repeating the cycle and has given no indication of ceasing. at the moment he does not have any signs of redemption.

and the thing is most of the attention around a dream redemption comes from either justifying his motives (which i do want to emphasize does not make anything suddenly okay) and because he is sad in prison sad face. these are not good reasons. its gonna pain me severely to bring this up but snape from harry potter does have some form of sad character ig yet he very much abused his authority to bully children as old as 11 just because he said ‘aight gonna die’ doesnt suddenly make his general bigotry and abuse suddenly okay there is a threshold. again im so sorry for using harry potter as an example none were coming to mind and i needed a popular one i do not like harry potter please dont say i do i would pass away.

and the last thing to consider is the audience. keep in mind that the audience is composed of minors and while yes there are adults, minors are the main component of the fandom. keep in mind that there are quite a few people who can relate to tommys character because they might be in the same position or have gone through his experiences. tell me what kind of message does it send to that audience that abusers can be redeemed. this is not a narrative u should push to this audience in these situations and the writers are seemingly aware of it. remember how in exile tommy spiraled into a suicidal mentality? consider how fucked of a message it would be if he just committed suicide instead of escaping abuse and attempting to recover from his experiences. tommy did an excellent job in not going that route and having a message of ‘it will not get better’. its the same thing here. victims are not obligated to care for or forgive their abuser, and portraying an abuser as sympathetic might fuck with the message a lot, even change their perception in that ‘oh, maybe my abuser was right, maybe they had a reason for treating me the way they did’. this is not to say that every victim watching this will internalize this message, but people also look up to these characters. there can be a degree of influence from the story onto oneself and thats the dangerous part.

conclusion

all in all dream is a shitbag asshole and probably shouldnt get a redemption because it would not be pog thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[dekiruhero-blog]

@waningscarlet

“ I’m not sure that’s on the shelf… This one doesn’t appear to be there either… ” And then a few clicks later, “ and none of them appear on the catalog record either. They must not have the books here. Sorry about that.. ”

Or so the conversation would end— if the mentioning and description of the tale didn’t pique his interests. “ But your world’s stories sound interesting. I mean, from what you’ve mentioned of the, uh- ‘The Four Maidens,’ right?- the characters you’ve mentioned so far all sound really kind. I-I’m probably not one to know that, though, since I don’t know the full story. Can I ask how the rest of it goes, after the third maiden appears ? ”