#('there's a theory that Bill and another character are the same person because they have 5 minor details in common.')

[ckret2]

oh my god i just realized

sparkly coin is literally an allegory for a fucking bill fictionkin sobs

It's not intended as a fictionkin allegory. It's just a reincarnation story. It just so happens that... y'know... many fictionkin also feel that they're reincarnations. Coincidental similarity.

But like from Mabel's POV she's not going "'wait I think I'm a person that most people know of as only a cartoon character and think isn't real." She's going "wait I think I'm this person that definitely verifiably existed in the same reality as I'm in right now, who I literally met IRL, and everyone I know met him too. And I don't have to just hold onto this belief via faith alone, because I can remember biographical facts about my past life that I can externally verify—and I'm also developing all the crazy magic powers I used to have." Which is very different from the fictionkin experience. Nobody in this reality has to look at their brother and know Bill personally & directly tried to murder him in this lifetime.

But hey, if you personally identify with the plot, more power to you. I'll grant that both experiences have "wait I think I'm actually Bill Cipher" in common. But that wasn't the authorial intent.

[rockrosethistle]

If there's one thing TGWDLM fans are gonna do, it's think about the implications. And the implications of the opening number are crazy.

So. We know that the show isn't completely chronological since the opening number takes place before the meteor hits. So that song is a sort of "flash forward" moment. But when you think about it, we don't really know how far in the future it takes place.

What we do know is that by the time it's happening, Emma is infected. She has a little solo in it singing about how Paul is pining over a barista

And we know that this is meant to be an infected Emma specifically. Lauren had other characters in the show, if they wanted to avoid the Emma implication they would've just dressed her as one of those.

So we know this is meant to be Emma.

And Emma isn't infected until the very end of the show. She's dragged off stage during the credits. So since she's infected in the opening number, we know the number takes place after the events of the show.

Another important detail is that Paul is infected before Emma. He's the one that passes it on to her.

So back to the opening number, Emma is infected. Which means by just following a simple timeline, Paul must also be infected. He should be singing and dancing, right?

But that's not what happens. Paul misses his entrance.

If Paul is infected, then there's no reason he should be missing his entrance. Furthermore, if he's a part of a hive mind, there's no reason other members of the same hive mind shouldn't know where he is. They are literally all connected by one brain, and yet both Mr. Davidson and Bill express they have no clue where he went.

What I'm saying is that Paul is not infected. He was infected (again, we know that because Emma is infected and he was infected before her) but now he's not anymore.

I'm saying there's a way out of the hive, and Paul found it. That's the only explanation that makes sense given the facts of the situation. Sometime after the events of tgwdlm, Paul is able not only to break out the hive mind, but to hide from it.

And if he broke out, others could do the same. Maybe even Emma.

Edit because a countertheory has emerged: Yes it's possible that everyone is infected the entire time and the show itself is just Pokey replaying the events for the fun of it. But it seems unlikely to me. First of all, each of the Lords in Black has a distinct personality. They all are evil, but within that they seems to fall somewhere on a spectrum of "silly billy" to "prick." For example, Tinky is more of a silly billy. He toys with humans without much of a motive and more for just shits and giggles. But in every instance, Pokey's more on the extreme side of prick.

He's one of the few with an actual motive behind what he does. In Yellowjacket, it's confirmed that Pokotho hates the sound of anyone's voice except for his own. The events of TGWDLM don't happen because Pokey is bored, they happen because he is executing a plan. So I don't think that he would just have them play out their little scenario just to entertain him, especially just one small island? I just feel like he'd be more focused on world domination.

If the theory is that all this is happening after Pokey's already taken over the whole world, no one was successful in stopping him, then yes it's plausible, but still weird. There are a strange amount of things in that show you just think an eldritch god wouldn't include.

Edit 2: New evidence has emerged???

The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals is loosely based off of Invasion of The Body Snatchers. Paul's last name is even a nod to the main character, Matthew. At the end of the film, Matthew survives, and continues living among the infected, pretending to be one of them. And wouldn't that be just such a fun little parallel...

Obviously it doesn't prove anything but the source material doesn't lie folks.

[olderthannetfic]

Saw a monetized fanart vs fanfic discussion out in the wild again and it reminded me of this theory I had. It wasn't that fandom artists were given a pass to monetize in a way that fandom writers weren't, it's that professional (and pro-to-be) artists co-opted fandom communities a few years back.

I used to aim for a studio-based illustration career, so I kept up to date on community discussions, watched every free "lesson" I could, made plans to build up a portfolio, etc. The amount of times I heard pro artists (employed at Disney, Sony, AAA studios, etc.) say that nowadays it's a good idea to include fanart in your portfolio was shocking at first, but genuinely everybody that was anybody was saying it. And of course it was another way to game the social media algorithm. I've listened to artists talk seriously about posting fanart to "bait" an audience into following them, intersperse it with original work, then post fanart again to keep people's attention. It was an entire thing.

And then of course you got the success stories. "I posted fanart of Miles Morales that got 100k likes on insta, and then I got a job offer to work on the next Spiderverse movie." In fact, people knew that art directors/hiring managers/whoever sends out the emails regularly browse their IP tags online for fanart AND in-person conventions to look for the next possible hire. Yes, even if they also periodically send cease and desists. I heard a funny story of a guy that got a takedown notice AND a job offer from the same company on the same day.

Obviously not every fan artist is doing this for the exact same reasons, and tbh there's a lot of artists coming up now that arrived at an art scene that to them has always been like this, so they just kind of do the same motions their art idols are doing without thinking to deeply about the why. I think the actual big shift happened when we all got blended together in the same social media sites, and the pro artists (that used to be VEHEMENTLY anti-fanart btw, I forgot to mention that) noticed the kind of reach and networking power appealing to an active and passionate community brought them. I could go on, but that's my main thought. Thanks for the soapbox lol.

--

My knowledge of fan art history is spotty compared to what I know about fic or vids because I've usually avoided the big art hangouts like DeviantArt due to not liking the culture.

What I do know is that there have been a number of these shifts, and there are a bunch of different factors contributing to this cultural divide. I've been told, for example, that a lot of Marvel and DC artists from decades ago paid the bills by selling other art of the characters that wasn't part of their official jobs (prints of portraits of a character they also drew for comics, etc.). It was a consequence of their shitty pay from the actual comics companies, and so the companies generally turned a blind eye.

There was also a pretty permeable membrane between pro sff artists of ye olde con culture and amateur ones, just like writers and others at those cons weren't really separate. The biggest pro name and the newest nobody were distinct, but it's more of a sliding scale between those than separate categories.

The chance to go viral in a way that Hollywood types can see on twitter/instagram/tiktok/etc. has definitely had a massive cultural impact though, and I doubt it's often a positive one.

[pfffsfic]

okay. okay this is not a serious theory but every time I think about it I come up with new "evidence" for it. basically the gist of it is TAWOG'S SHAPE PEOPLE ARE EUCLYDIANS. maybe refugees? "but didn't everyone in eucyldia die?" ignore that. just pretend they skipped town before the fire or something, this is not airtight. it's not even close. it's basically a joke treated seriously. i know the shows are not in the same universe but

hear me out.

Part 1: At face value.

point numnber one: these guys are 2D. the gumball universe has 3D people and 2D people, and the Shape People are 2D, or drawn as opposed to modeled.

point number two: physical traits! other than the obvious 'they are shapes', some or all of the Shape People:

Lack visible mouths (mind you, these Shape People's mouths appear when they speak). Bill also lacks a visible mouth but very occasionally gets one (one page of the Book of Bill, a polaroid in the Weirdmageddon intro).

Can have one eye. the rectangle in the top image is a one-eyed shape person, but there's also this familiar-looking yellow one-eyed triangle Shape Person (who pre-dates Bill's first proper appearance, by the way):

They have noodle arms. little noodle arms

this one is hard to explain but the positions of their arms aren't fixed. this applies to all/most Gumball characters but not to all gravity falls characters. how do I explain this uhh

look at how one of his arms is attached to his bottom plane and one is attached to his side plane. sometimes both of them hang down at the bottom and sometimes both are on the sides. POINT IS-

look at that!

in the rightmost image above you can also see a tiny sliver of a 3D edge like Bill has.

Each Shape Person is also a single color.

Part two: Culture.

note: this one only really applies to the three shapeople i've been using as examples this whole post- Ed the triangle, and his black pentagon and rectangle friends? family members?

I know there are other shapes who look less like them and whom these things don't apply to, but we can blame that on interbreeding with Elmoreans/cultural assimilation or something. okay, let me begin.

point number three: Ed's group is implied to not be from Elmore. when we first see him he's mistaking a bus stop for another shape person:

he also-

point four: the Shapeople language includes one spoken(?) system with colorful squares representing it. on the TBOB website the words of Euclydians are written in colorful square substitution cipher. there are also other shapes for the shapeople, mind you.

back to point 3: not from Elmore. The next time Ed's group appears, they're framed like tourists and ARE HAVING TROUBLE MAKING SENSE OF A 3D (well, i guess 2d but in the other way) MAP.

Gumball tries and fails to talk to them in their language, and ends up making a cultural faux pas. and in Ed's final scene there's an interesting line...

my people? He could be talking about his species, but the existence of a culture implies to me that this line refers more to a homeland. in other words the shape people are from the same place, which we sort of knew because they speak the same language. also has bill ever been seen giving a thumbs up or down? i'm pretty sure he hasn't but maybe I'm wrong, someone correct me here.

point number five: grasping at even more straws.

Despite their origin, the one known named shape person's name is Ed, which falls into the same cultural sphere as Bill.

We know that Ed's type of shapeople are physically capable of speaking English because the black rectangle does so at one point.

one of the symbols in the shapeople language is a skull. we see that Bill's mind has a bill skeleton with a skull that also fits the humanoid-ish template.

final point that does not help the theory but is still weird: Bill's baby photo seems to have a live-action background?? and so does the image of teen/preteen bill? look at these. i'm not implying that elmore IS euclydia somehow, that makes very little sense to me as of writing (though i guess it was destroyed and now Bill has a fear of TV static, which, like, maybe I could phenagle a theory here if I really tried but it seems like even more of a reach than this existing theory.) I dunno, maybe Euclydians would have wanted another 'realistic' dimension to flee to.

(we also see this squishy rosy-cheeked shaperson baby at one point, make of it what you will).

[hkthatgffan]

What are your thoughts on the Pines parents? Particularly since the reveal of them having marital issues in TBOB?

I'm pretty conflicted tbh. Part me finds the revelation interesting and a pretty insane new layer to add on to the show's established canon, but I also feel like it could be another case of Gravity Falls fans taking flour and trying to predict what kind of buffet Alex is cooking.

In the case for the assumption this is hinting at the twin's parents having marriage issues and going towards say, a divorce, we have small hints in series that could be assumed as that, from Dipper's initial worry of leaving Mabel alone in Cali without him, Mabel's own fears of growing up without Dipper and the future itself, the abruptness as it sounds of them being sent to Gravity Falls, etc.

Of course, we also have the fact that Alex Hirsch's parents themselves are divorced IRL and him and Ariel grew up with their mom. And as they both are the inspiration for Dipper and Mabel, this can be a case of Alex hinting at that and adding another element of his life to them.

It course also somewhat goes counter to his past statements about how we never really are gonna learn anything about the twin's parents, because he doesn't see them as characters we need to know about as the story is focused on the twin's in Summer with Stan and Ford (I mean, all we initially knew was that their dad worked with computers and got Mabel's night shirt at a Windows 95 event, lol). So, adding this to the pot does feel like a pretty major change in direction.

That said, on the other hand, it could just be that...marriage issues the two of them are working to fix. Perhaps they sent the twins away while they sought couples therapy or something to mend things before the kids got back. We can also make the assumption Dipper may have overheard something that he mistook as being more serious than it was.

I say this from personal experience. I've often overheard arguments or pretty heated stuff my parents were yelling about that I probably was not supposed to hear or assumed the wrong thing about and it left me worried about if well...you know. Thankfully that never was the case and as I've gotten older I've come to better understand that sometimes parents fight but they can resolve things on their own in time. Though as kids, that shit can scare you, especially someone at Dipper's age. And while not all parents probably can resolve those matters the same way, it's always a possibility worth assuming here, especially with the little info we know. I mean, Bill said "Why do you think they were in such a rush to get the kids out the door for the summer?" It sounds like he's asking us fans to make our own guess on that.

And speaking of Bill...there's the Bill factor to consider too. Remember, who wrote this?

BILL CIPHER! And Bill is about as reliable a source for accurate info as the US government or Doug Ford is when it comes to Line 5 or why he REALLY closed the Science Centre (IYKYK).

Many fans doubt the truthfulness of what Bill said in the book. So, he could just be making this up and Dipper may never have had that dream to begin with. Of course, it would be weird for Alex to make a book full of lies about the show, but then...this is Alex Hirsch we're talking about.

Personally, I believe Dipper did have this nightmare and he overheard something intense. But as to what it's alluding to...I'm not sure.

I think this is another case of Alex Hirsch leaving the question open ended. What's up with the twin's parents? That's for us fans to decide.

If you believe they're divorcing, you can. If you think it's nothing and Dipper is over-worrying about an argument his parents had, you can. And if you think it's BS and Bill made it up, you can too.

That's again the beauty of Gravity Falls leaving itself open ended. Every headcanon and theory is possible. I mean, fans believed for years Bill was in Stan's mind till this very book killed that theory off for good.

Maybe in several years if Alex decides to, he'll expand on this plot point and answer the question once and for all. But for now, what the deal with Dipper and Mabel's parents is, will remain...

[twoa-plus]

it’s 2:00am and this is more of a character thing than a genuine theory but *claps hands for the drama* same coin theory. what if both of the stans are bill

or like. a parallel to him. like i said this isn’t a super serious theory i’m mostly just back on my character analysis bs lol

so i haven’t gotten to talk abt this much but i am a firm believer in that there is not a superior stan. from a personality perspective this is obviously entirely subjective, but i mean that there isn’t a superior one when it comes to their objective traits and how useful they are

ford is. ford. i don’t really have to say anything here he’s super smart can play the piano or whatever etc etc. however one thing that i will say that i think is important here is that i am like. 99% sure this man has a higher tolerance to The Horrors than other humans do. dude spent 30 years in that portal and came out pretty much the same level of crazy, and we all saw what happened to fiddleford. i know fidds saw bill take off his exoskeleton or whatever but u can’t convince me that ford traveled the multiverse - with all sorts of monsters and non-3d dimensions and god knows what else - for 3 decades and didn’t see some shit that would make anybody else lose it. like at this point u could tell me this guy could have a casual conversation over tea with cthulu and be fine and i’d believe u

as for stan - and i mean this in the absolute best way possible i love this guy - he’s like the world’s most charismatic cockroach. he’s fantastic with people and just straight up refuses to die. for the first point i don’t just mean this in the conman way, when it comes to the people that actually matter stan always manages to win them over in some way or another (soos, wendy, the kids, ford, etc) and one does not simply survive for a decade on the street without needing the occasional favor from someone who actually likes you. “oh but rico-“ man when u’ve been living as a homeless criminal for a decade and the list of people that want to kill u consists of 1 person and the government u’ve done pretty damn well. anyways as for the cockroach point, he’s alive and has his memories. i don’t even have to say much here stan went through all of That, lived through the series itself including The Literal Apocalypse, metaphorically (something something people are just a collage of their life experiences) died at the end of it all and then came back to life. that’s hardcore as hell man. in a less literal interpretation of the “refusing to die” bit, he’s also just. insanely determined. the biggest example is ofc him never graduating highschool and yet teaching himself god knows how much math and science and whatnot over the course of 30 damn years because he just refuses to believe that he can’t save his brother. stan pines is a force of nature i swear

[additional note while im already ranting about this guy, im not a personal believer in the “stan is just as (academically) smart as ford” theory. first of all i feel like this entire theory is kind of rooted in the idea that he has to be/be on the same level as “the smart one” to have value, which is an idea that the stans’ entire backstory is based around criticizing, and i think stan has something just as if not more valuable than freakish intelligence - raw fucking grit. he wasn’t the one to open the portal back up because of some intellectual advantage, he was the one to open the portal back up because he wanted to, god damn it, and best of luck to you if you’re gonna try and stop him.]

anyways as for the same coin thing, everybody knows the stan part. his casual references to the impending apocalypse, “you’ve been buying gold, right?”, him being such a good conman, etc etc. while i’m already ranting about stan’s determination, bill’s got that too - he’s been trying for like thousands of years to take over the world and he just Won’t Stop. point is there’s a lot of character traits they share

(i know in the original same coin post a pretty major point is stan not making a deal with bill, but i think that could probably be pretty easily explained without the need for divine intervention. the only times bill makes a deal with someone without them summoning him first is after he’s kind of left on a loose end with gideon, and everyone knows stan wouldn’t fall for his lies in the first place)

bill also shares a lot of traits with ford, though. both have some kind of physical anomaly (bill’s eye & ford’s hands), both can see/understand things others of their species can’t, they’re both egomaniacs (listen i love ford but the guy has issues), etc. u could even argue that, at least at the time they meet, they have some kind of connection through their loneliness

so. with the theory of “bill was reincarnated to make up for what he did,” what if it wasn’t just stan? what if he was split in two, and his “reincarnation” is both of them? they’re flawed enough to make it a lot harder for either of them to take over the world (ford’s lack of social skills & stan’s lack of freakish academic knowledge), and they have something bill doesn’t - each other.

bill is alone. that’s his whole problem. he killed everyone he loved, treats everyone new he meets like shit, and now he’s Like That. throughout it all, the one thing the stans have always had - even if it was just in their memory - is each other. “oh but ford-“ shhhh. shhshhshshshhsh. shut up. ford has Problems but i genuinely don’t think he ever stopped loving stan. love is weird, first of all, and secondly he clearly never stopped trusting him. no matter what he might say about stan being a liar or a conman or whatever, who’s the one person he goes to when he’s forced to admit he needs help? ford is a weird guy and has an… odd way of showing it but he loves his family just like the rest of the pines and i will die on this hill

i’ve been writing this for over an hour straight and i think my brain is melting but i’m sure at this point u get the idea. both of the stans, together, serve as a parallel to bill, and the one thing they have that he doesn’t is love. that’s what killed him.

something something killing an interdimensional dream demon with the power of friendship and this gun i found

[thereareeyesinsidethetrees]

(hi we're back we had to do a final exam anyway post time)

thought process: what if bill is just a foil to stan and the same coin theory folks are taking it way too literally (joking)

conclusion: holy shit bill is a foil to stan

alright okay, so. to start off. what is a foil in literature? a foil is a character designed to compare to and contrast another character. in other words, x character may be very similar to y character but there are very important differences between them. the purpose of this is to enhance the story and give more information about the character that has the foil

so. now that we've got that basis. how is bill a foil to stan, and why is it not the other way around?

point one: main character syndrome

dipper is often considered the main character of gravity falls, but really the grand story revolves around stan. we say this with nothing but love towards ford. each character has a story and arc they go through, but the vast story of the entirety of gravity falls belongs to stan. you follow him. you don't see ford on the other side of the portal. you never see piedmont. you see stan's childhood, stan's life, stan's struggle to get his brother back and protect his family. it is objectively a story about stan

^ this is important to note. very very often, foils are intended to be compared and contrasted to the main character/s. since you are with the main character throughout the ride, this helps you learn more about the mc. who they are, their motivations, and why the difference between them and the foil matters

point two: comparison

let's make a quick list of what stan and bill have in common: they are both con-men. they both lie and cheat and steal. they both hurt people and don't apologize. they both want the portal open. they both are associated with the phrase 'buy gold'. they are both expecting the upcoming apocalypse. they both aren't concerned with ending weirdmaggedon. they both gun for what they want and don't stop until they get it. they both put on a metaphorical mask. they both value ford, prizing him above others. he's both of their goals, the one thing they want to reach

point three: contrasting

what is different about them?

bill destroyed his world. he killed his family

if stan is one thing, it's a family man. it's like he says himself: everything he does is for his family

bill treats ford as an object. a toy. a little gold trophy that he can throw around and crack and play with

it is true that stan didn't initially see ford as his own person with his own drive. it is evident that he has grown past this, and he continues to grow past this as the show comes to a close. ford may have been the prize, but he isn't a trophy. he's a hostage returned home

bill sees the pines as less than. nothing more than puppets to do his bidding

stan sees his family as his will, his reason for everything. why not give up? because they need him. he punched a bald eagle and a dinosaur for the niblings. he punched a demon thought to be unstoppable into shattered specks for the niblings and ford

bill is manipulative, bending people's minds and emotions and memories to do whatever he wants with them

stan, while still a con-man, is much more genuine

bill doesn't grow as a person. he deflects, deflects, deflects, and parties 'til the pain goes away

stan does grow. he goes from lying about everything to spilling his entire story to everyone he cares about. he goes from painfully wide grins to crying as he tells mabel, genuinely, why he's doing this. he goes from assuming and batting away any of ford's attempts to reconcile to having a heartfelt talk with him in the fearamid, realizing how they've hurt each other (that he has hurt ford too), and eventually sailing across the sea with him. he goes from reacting first with anger and aggression to reacting in more subtle, softer ways. the constant scowl on his face when he's not performing transforms into a hopeful smile by the final episode

all this to say: bill is what stan could have been if he wasn't a good person. if he didn't try. and as long as it might have taken to reach the point he did, he still got there through effort and determination. he still tried. he earned his happy end. that's more than bill can ever say

(and a little final message: ford worked hard too. bill may not be his foil, but that doesn't mean he didn't grow and earn his happy ending too. do not use this post to spew vitriol about him)

[musicalcastingideas]

Dropout Does The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals

So my theory about overlap of Dropout and Team Starkid seems to be accurate, and people seemed to like my Dropout does Nerdy Prudes Must Die post, so I'm back for another. Same method and criteria as my previous post, you can go see that if you want to know what they are. Also, I have previously done a similar list with Internet Personalities that included a handful of Dropout people, but I'm gonna try to make this one different.

Also spoilers for potentially anything in the Hatchetfield verse

Paul: Ross Bryant

Ross is a great straight man (in the comedy sense, I don't know his sexuality) while being very funny in his own right, and I think, while Paul has a lot of his own funny moments, it's very important that his character is also the more normal guy reacting to the madness around him. Also, he would slay the Jekyll and Hyde homage that is Let it Out.

Emma : Siobhan Thompson

I think one of the essential parts of Emma's character is an underlying exhaustion with the world, and that is very Adaine Abernant and Ruby Rocks, so I think Siobhan would embody that very well.

Charlotte: Vic Michaelis

I don't think I've ever heard them do a transatlantic accent before, but I just have this gut feeling they'd be so good at it.

Ted: Ify Nwadiwe

While I do genuinely think Ify would be great in the part, if I'm being fully honest, this casting is because I (despite my better judgment) find Ted Spankoffski hot, so casting arguably the hottest man in Dropout in this part makes me seem less damaged for being attracted to the self-proclaimed sleazeball. Also him and Vic seem like they would be great playing off each other.

Bill: Brian "Murph" Murphy

He just has "refuses to drink during the apocalypse so he can be the DD" energy.

Mr Davidson: Brian David Gilbert

Since I'm splitting up all the parts, this basically turns Mr Davidson into a Princess Track where the actor just shows up, sings about desire and being choked while he jerks off, but laments how he can never achieve his dreams, and then pretty much leaves, and I don't know why, but that seems right up BDG's alley.

Melissa: Lisa Gilroy

Lisa Gilroy seems nice, but also kinda scares me, and those are the correct vibes for Melissa (#heymelissacore)

Sam: Jacob Wysoki

My only concern about this casting is that he'd go SO HARD in You Tied Up My Heart that he would keep breaking the handcuffs and/or chair, but that's fine, it would be worth it.

Nora: Katie Marovitch

The "Decaf?" parts of Cup of Roasted Coffee already sounds a bit like her TBH.

Zoey: Rehka Shankar

I feel like Zoey is such an underrated, funny side character in the show (I know she's a very small part, but like every line she has is a banger) and I feel like Rehka is a very underrated performer, so this is a good match.

Greenpeace Girl: Persephone Valentine

Making up the Save the Sea Turtles campaign is such a Sam Nightengale move, and also she would eat up Lah Dee Dah Dah Day.

Alice: Surena Marie

She's got a bit of a baby face (I thought she was like 25) and I think she would handle the change from Alice to Hivemind Alice really well.

Deb: Emily Axford

I'm definitely not just casting this because I want Emily to be my protective and caring girlfriend...

Professor Hidgens: Josh Ruben

I don't have an explanation for this one, this is vibes alone.

General MacNamara: Brennan Lee Mulligan

"Wear a Watch" and a song highlighting how the hivemind is essentially fascist and using the military to destroy any resistance to their regime is so Brennan core.

Homeless Man: Ally Beardlsey

I just feel like this is the part they'd want.

Dan Reynolds: Lou Wilson

Icons play Icons.

Donna: Aabria Iyengar

Icons play Icons

Hard Cuts:

Jacob Wysoki as Ted

Mike Trapp as Paul

Emily Axford as Emma

Jess Ross as Charlotte

Lily Du as Zoey

Grant O'Brien as Professor Hidgens

Grant O'Brien as Ted

Ally Beardlsey as Ted

[pleasantspark]

I don’t care if it’s for your AU or rewrite, removing racial coding from a character is still wrong. Emily is stated to be Black coded in her audition sheet

https://64.media.tumblr.com/8a83eb4452e774949855ca3db49709d8/774ab433c55bf7a0-23/s2048x3072/b01ce012568499f8288b3d51d84a5631363f785c.jpg

Other artists that have redesigns of Sera and Emily include and make their Black features more pronounced, you removing her racial coding does come off as whitewashing

You’re better off creating a whole brand new character instead of using Emily :/

Someone else literally did the exact same idea. Plus, reminder. Her Redesign is nearly identical to her old design. I don't see the issue at all? I literally removed race from the equation because it's not important for an Angel to MENTION Race. This was to avoid the issue to begin with.

Also.

Her hair is slightlythe same, minus the extra stuff. It's not all about color theory. In fact. Let me show you what I look like. There is Lightskinned black people. Not all black people are black.

Semi face reveal? I'm not dark fucking skinned, and your issue is because I made someone slightly lightskinned? I am sorry but what the fuck kind of shit that is. If anything her redesigns skintone is somewhat nearly as light as mine.

If I am better off creating something else then fine. Fine, let me fix the drawing.

I didn't mean to start discourse for this exact reason, I didn't want race to be coorelated with creations that don't depict the proper race, if I was better off making my own characters I would have.

"But Orion your OC in your PFP is-"

Yes, because I made it myself. I literally am working with ANGELS. Angels that can theoretically change anything about them. I'm simply racist for making a character slightly whiter? Well guess I ain't black either. Because I ain't black enough.

Imagine telling someone they are RACIST because they went sligtly off the color spectrum for a character they wanted to not assign any race to, now imagine the person is lighter and black.

How does that make them feel? Makes me feel like I ain't black enough. You heard it folks, apparently there's a certain tone that fits the bill of being black.

No disrespect anon, but like, I literally seen others that remove black coded characters to avoid this type of allegations. But like, literally me being racist for lightening up something? That's a far stretch. None of y'all this pissed off at blackwashing so I don't know why you don't also do this amount of anger.

Yes, whitewashing is bad. But I wasn't intentionally doing it, because I am simply removing code so I won't cause any future mistakes. I sincerely apologize if I come across that.

But this is fantasy, I am simply removing something that I find to be difficult to do, if I see it's gonna be an issue in the future for me, then I should BE ABLE to, I literally told you in the post itself that it's literally not that deep, and that Angels shouldn't have assigned races. But no, we have another Rose Quartz situation.

Instead of slightly skinny rose.

It's a fucking slightly pale Emily (Lucina.)

There, you had it fixed. Guess I gotta tan out myself because apparently light skinned AA are also not "black enough" I shouldn't be told what counts as racism and what doesn't when I already question my own skin.

Sorry for doing this ig.

[commander-peepers-my-love]

Since I enjoy the theory/headcanon that Invisi-Bill is related to Victoria Best I like to think of him as her uncle! There’s quite a bit I would like to speak about.

Note: This is a lot of headcanons put together!

TW: mentions of homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and child abuse

Invis-Bill’s flaws: He’s generally “flawed”, he’s not seen as a villain even after going to Villain School, and his attempts to rob the jewelry store are quickly shut down by Wordgirl. Some people might find him annoying which is another “flaw” as the Bests most likely look down upon. They speak very precise and to the point with the show’s usual “wow this person is rich and prestigious” voice that we see in other characters like Reginald. Invisi-Bill breaks that and speaks his mind in a happy-go-lucky way. He doesn’t care he’s “flawed” at all, because he is no longer part of that family. He also is boyfriends with BLHG, which can be seen as a “flaw” to close minded people (which Victoria’s parents very much are close-minded) other “flaws” may include: Invisi-Bill having AuDHD, being trans, ect. Which are often looked down upon by close-minded people.

Invisi-Bill’s mediocrity: As stated before, Invisi-Bill isn’t even seen as a villain from his peers. His villain status was completely diminished, but the thing the show did was amazing. Throughout that episode: we see Glen Furlblam and Raul Demiglasse waving and smiling at Invisi-Bill and BLHG when their villain status comes into question. When their status is revoked, they are still met with that same enthusiasm from the two as they were before (even though the other villains looked down upon them!) Even from the lowest rank, the two are met with people who really want to be their friends! They do not care about status at all, and instead get along from their mutual mediocrity in a world of villains trying to be #1. Yes, the two were upset about it of course (the two worked really hard to try and keep their status) but it really doesn’t keep them down as you see them commit other crimes and continue to be themselves. If Victoria fails at ANYTHING her parents immediately chastise her, and you can tell it makes her upset deep down. She has always been taught that she must be the best, and mediocrity is frowned upon.

Victoria Best: Victoria is a multitalented young girl in the Best Family. Her talents are best shown in her debut episode of the same name as she is given all of the awards except for one at the school talent show. The only award she didn’t get was the award for the best reader (which went to Becky Botsford AKA Wordgirl whose main ability is her vocabulary and fast reading skills!) She actually WON all of those awards at that talent show! She only begins stealing awards when her parents begin to chastise her. Her parents are unhappy when Victoria fails at a single thing, even if she won a million other things, and it really gets to her (even if she tries to not show it, or gets shut down from showing her emotions). She’s truly a child prodigy, and yet her parents treat her like winning is expected of her even if it’s something she’s actually not good at or hurts her in the process (like when she ate all those salty crackers and it hurt her throat). She clearly has barriers up to keep herself safe from the amount of verbal abuse she receives from her parents. She continues telling herself that she is in fact the best at everything, and failure to do so means she’s a failure.

The main point: Invisi-Bill grew up in the Best family, but he was estranged after his many flaws. No matter how hard he tried, he still failed, and it was difficult for him to get over. He has a hard time paying attention due to his ADHD, and he can be taken as rude when he says things that come into his head. Yet after all the trauma, all the struggle, he still came out to be such a happy guy. He finally got away from all the expectations from the family and he got to take a step back to fully see the world for what it is. A flawed mess. He takes pride in his flaws, and he loves himself for who he is, not who people want him to be, or the expectations people put on him. He never exactly got to meet Victoria until she was 10-11, and even then he could hardly speak to her. He had to hide the fact he was speaking to her from his brother (her father) so he wouldn’t get mad at him or Victoria. Invisi-Bill is the one to truly understand her turmoil, and he listens to her vent and cry about everything happening. He tells her that he loves her, and it’s the most genuine thing she’s ever heard. He loves her, flaws and all. He wants to support her in doing the things she wants to do, and telling her she doesn’t have to be the best at it right away. Happiness is the most important thing of them all, and Invisi-Bill teaches her that.

Thank you for listening to my rant!

[blatterpussbunnyfromhell]

Did Silver kill Flint?

I keep seeing cold ass takes in the Black Sails side of tumblr that make my blood boil.

Look, I got into Black Sails in 2017, three weeks after the finale aired. Back then, there seemed to be an understanding that the "Silver killed Flint" interpretation was just a fringe theory from straight people made uncomfortable by the queer lead getting a happy ending. Personally, it was my first encounter with the phrase "unbury your gays" (having learnt "bury your gays" a year earlier with The 100). It seemed to be generally accepted that Flint lived, and that this was the whole point.

Now, it would appear that a shift has happened in the fandom, where the idea of Silver killing Flint is no longer treated as a theory by straight weirdos but as a canon, onscreen event, and these posts come from queer fans. It seems to come from younger fans who were about 12 or 13 in 2017. It's so mindboggling to me.

The arguments for this Silver-Killed-Flint thing is usually the same two: birds flying away and Silver's men turning around in the forest, as in reaction to a noise, which is interpreted as a gunshot.

Like, I'm just elaborating on a rant I sent to my friends earlier today here but, if Silver killed Flint, then :

Why would we be shown an entire sequence with one of Silver's henchmen looking for Thomas where he is?

If Thomas and Flint are dead, why aren't we shown their deaths? It's an actual rule in cinema that a character whose death isn't shown on screen isn't dead, a rule that the show does follow (we see Billy's funeral but not his corpse). Besides, Black Sails doesn't shy away from showing death on screen, even for main characters. Then, why not show how Thomas died instead of telling us? Why not show us Silver shooting Flint? The writers trust their viewers to understand the pattern, and understand that the reason we do not see their deaths is because they aren't dead.

Why would Silver bring up Thomas to Flint if he'd planned on killing him? Or if, as I've also seen it said, it was just a lie he made on the spot for Madi ?

And talking about Madi, I've seen A LOT of people saying she would never forgive Silver. And to that I genuinely have to ask, have you seen their last appearence in the show? I dont mean their argument in the cabin, I mean the scene where Silver sits on top of a hill and turns around to find Madi waiting for him on the path. I mean the scene where he walks towards her and she waits for him. So, my question here, if she wasn't gonna forgive Silver, why is she waiting for him on that hill? Nevermind the fact that Treasure Island's Long John Silver is in a relationship with a Black woman (I've seen posts saying that could be Max, and really wtf??), what is the point of showing us this scene if she's not gonna forgive him? Why not stop their arc at the cabin where she sends him away?

At the time when Black Sails' finale aired, Supernatural was still queerbaiting its audience, and Sherlock ended in a fucking shitshow. People were throwing fits over Bill Potts, Doctor Who's first ever onscreen lesbian companion because she was a lesbian with a masculine name. A year before that, The 100, a very popular tv show at the time, had just killed it's only lesbian character and faced so much uproar and backlash for it. (That was my entry into the LGBT+ community, by the way : the first character to make me think I might actually like women getting killed on screen two scenes after having had sex with the female lead). Sense8's two-hour long finale and Love, Simon wouldn't air for another year.

So yeah, if you weren't into queer media back in 2017 (and omg I sound like such an old twat), I don't think you can understand just how important that ending, with Flint being reunited with the love of his life after so much pain and loss, was.

If your interpretation of Black Sails is that the events of Treasure Island happened the way the book tells you, then I'm sorry to tell you this but you completely missed the point of the show.

[idkman-ijustwannamakeatournament]

Round 1: Match 18

"Two Sides of the Same Coin"- Two things that are regarded as part of the same thing. Even if they're very different, they have at least one common thread that helps them fit into this trope.

Propaganda (under the cut):

Stanley Pines and Bill Cipher:

"They're both conmen voiced by the show's creator Alex Hirsch, but while Stan is just a shyster who spent his life selling vacuums, going to prison in Colombia, and impersonazing his twin brother for 30 years, Bill is a demon who makes deals with people.

Bill throughout the show tricks people into making deals with him that they often regret. He makes a deal with all 4 of the Pines' family members, but only Stan was the one to trick and out-con Bill, which leads to both their demise (Stan got better).

In his last moments, Bill invokes "AXOLOTL", the "ancient powers" so that he may return. In the choose your own adventure book, it turns out that the Axolotl is a giant cosmic being, that made a deal with Bill. It says,

"If he wants to shirk the blame, He'll have to invoke my name. One way to absolve his crime. A different form, a different time."

This lead to a lot of speculation, but one of the most popular theories is called "Same Coin" theory. It says that Bill was reincarnated non-linear into the past as Stan, which explains them having the same voice actor, (tho so do other characters), both of them being conmen, Stan "redeeming" himself by defeating Bill, and why Stan's memory returned so quickly after being mind-wiped to kill Bill."

Josuke Higashikata and Yoshikage Kira

"Josuke Higashikata is a high-school boy with a large pompadour living in the town of Morioh. He lives alone with his mother, as his father wasn't in the picture. His ability, Crazy Diamond, allows him to repair or heal anything he touches with it. Because his grandfather was murdered before he could use his power to save him, Josuke vowed to carry on his legacy by protecting the town. Yoshikage Kira is a 33-year-old office worker who just wants to live a quiet life. He's also a serial killer who kills women discretely and goes on 'dates' with their severed hands. His ability, Killer Queen, assists in his murders by allowing him to silently "explode" anything he touches, leaving almost no evidence.

Naturally, there are many parallels and contrasts between Josuke and Kira. Both want to live a "quiet life", but while Josuke cannot live quietly because he feels he must protect his town from supernatural threats, Kira can't live quietly because his murdering habits put him in danger of discovery.

Josuke is often seen as a delinquent but has a clear heart of gold, and Kira puts on an incredibly rehearsed act of being an ordinary office worker but is far from an upstanding member of society in private.

Kira's powers allow him to annihilate things and is born from wanting to indulge his urges with no repercussions. It's also one of the more strangely adaptable abilities, fitting his shrewd and evasive nature — he has several different ""bomb"" types that emerge over the course of the story.

Meanwhile, Crazy Diamond allows Josuke to repair things (even things that Kira has almost completely destroyed). The power was developed when Josuke was inspired by another person's kindness as a child. It's an altruistic ability, and literally selfless — Josuke cannot use his ability to heal himself. And while Crazy Diamond never ""evolves"", Josuke uses its base power in increasingly clever ways.

And of course, one last contrast between the two is friendship. Josuke befriends many of the people he comes to blows with, and even the people who don't like him often develop a begrudging respect for him.

Kira, however, has no close friends, as he tries his best to be perfectly average and middling. The only reason he has protection against Josuke and the others is because his father actively finds new enemies to fight Josuke — most of whom have no real allegiance towards Kira personally."

[cometcrystal]

GRADING GRAVITY FALLS AUS

Reverse Falls - i feel like this one is for annoying people. The designs for the pines twins and paz are good, i like the fancy lil color scheme the twins have going on and the lil motifs, but story wise? This is boring me. I feel like this is less of a role swap and more of a bunch of OCs that i am not interested in because the dipcifica reminds me of draco/hermione and i have the ick just thinking about that. D+

Relativity Falls - this one is ok I don't hate it by any means but i am not enthralled by it either. I do like seeing grauntie mabel tho, and i also like it when people put pacifica in mcguckets role. The suffererrrr B-

Monster Falls - this is just good clean fun. I love turning my fav characters into monsters for no reason :) A

Reunion Falls - a really fun concept! A solid au. Changes the character dynamics but keeps their personalities. Very versatile. A-

Crystal Pines - i dont give a fuck about stephens univercity C-

Zodiac Falls - idk if this is the actual au name but ive seen multiple people explore the concept of the characters resembling/morphing into/taking on traits of their bill cipher zodiac symbol. Which is extremely fun in theory but the more you think about it the more it falls apart. Mabel might get sick as fuck celestial shit but... Is mcgucket gonna turn into a pair of glasses? B

Gravity Rises - could be fun but i also only just discovered it after googling popular aus for this show. I liked the paz design a lot i think she should be allowed to be evil. Another role swap au tho and i dont find it quite as interesting rn. C+

Gender swap - if you want to gender swap dipper and mabel just make dippers nose the same shade as his face and give mabel eye bags. All done. D-

[limirint]

Harry Potter and The Death of the Author

(aka my rationale for the ethical implications of engaging with the intellectual property of a violent public figure)

**This post is to explain my personal perspective as someone who has chosen to continue making fan content for the Harry Potter series. I am posting this to acknowledge the cultural context, clarify my position, and contribute to an important dialogue. I am not looking for validation or a debate-- these are simply my thoughts as they stand.

-

First, if it is not already clear from the title: I unequivocally resent JKR's bigoted and exclusionary views, particularly as they relate to feminist and transgender issues. Her rhetoric and her actions around these matters are hateful, cruel, and dangerous.

That is the extent of my relationship to JKR, the person and public figure.

Unfortunately, there also exists another relationship-- one to JKR, the author attached to the Harry Potter series, a work of literature that I deeply resonate with.

As much as it hurts to admit, there cannot be a clean separation of the art from the artist. The knowledge of the artist has directly affected my relationship with the art. It is why I am writing this post. Yet, it will still be posted on a Harry Potter fan page. I am in a confusing gray area that I am still figuring out how exactly I should navigate.

To do so, I want to talk about "impact."

I've thought about it. I really have. But I don't think a complete amputation of this series from my life leads to any meaningful advocacy.

I mean, yes, I selfishly want to engage with the art I love, of course-- but I was also frothing at the mouth for a Skyrim-esque Wizarding World video game that came straight from my dreams. One which I have yet to buy because I am aware of where that money would go. That was a tangible impact-- something I could disengage for.

But, what about disengagement from the intangible. Fanfic? Fanart? Community?

I have read about the importance of reducing JKR's relevance, but honestly, I think the logic-- while well-meaning-- is flawed. Hypothetically, even if everyone who opposed JKR's views evacuated from fan spaces, then she would still be the author of one of the Top 10 most successful franchises in the entire world-- and even if somehow she WASN'T anymore-- if Harry Potter was scrubbed from everyone's memory-- she would still be a billionaire capable of extreme harm.

But Harry Potter wouldn't cease to exist. The problem with JKR isn't her as a singular person, and it definitely isn't the books she wrote about teenage wizards-- it's everyone in the world who agrees with her hateful views, the people who exist to support the bills and organizations she funds. Disengaging from Harry Potter doesn't erase those people.

If everyone who opposes JKR removes themselves, then fan spaces that she lives in would be filled with people who openly support her bigotry. The internet would gain a new echo chamber for hateful beliefs to fester unchallenged, disguised as a children's series about a magic boy.

Some argue that's what it is now, but I disagree. This is a diverse (and very queer!!!!!) community. You can pull potential examples of JKR's prejudice from the text, but those Doylist analyses are not what made the series popular. This is where, I believe, the separation of the art from the artist becomes relevant:

Barthes' theory around "The Death of the Author" proposes that writing is defined by the reader's interpretation. The author and their intent dies on the page-- they only exist to provide the literal words, while all meaning is born from those who consume it.

Harry Potter, as a piece of art, feels like mine because it is mine. Honestly, I think the characters and story that I love would be unrecognizable to JKR-- and vice versa. It's not about her, not even a little bit. The words could have been written by anyone, and the way I internalized it would remain exactly the same.

So, in terms interacting with the art, I will continue to fill the artistic spaces with interpretations that convey inclusivity and acceptance, in which I am creatively free to adjust, redact, and add pieces to my liking.

My advocacy lies in preventing this art from existing only through the interpretations of people who agree with hate and bigotry.

This works in tandem with the moral lines that I draw against my interactions with JKR, the billionaire who uses her power to promote hatred. I will loudly condemn her from within the places she thinks are hers, I will advocate in favor of the movements that she has tried to smother, and while I am aware that if she never makes another cent, she still would already have more money than a person could spend in one lifetime, I will not knowingly let my dollars be the ones that fund her prejudice.

TLDR; If everyone who opposed JKR disengaged from Harry Potter, fan spaces would not die. They would only be transformed into an echo chamber for people who are cool with bigotry.

THIS ART DOES NOT BELONG TO HATRED !!!!

FUCK JKR !!!!!

[romanreadsbooks]

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros - Review

TL;DR

4.1 Stars

Pros: Characters (mostly Ridoc), Xaden's Character Arc, acknowledgement of the toxicity in relationships

Cons: Violet's reaction to Andarna, who lives and dies (feat. My probably unpopular opinion)

Continue the Series? Yes

Spoilers in review? YES MAJOR SPOILERS

Opinions going in/why I picked it up:

I picked up the series pretty late into it's popularity, reading Fourth Wing in July of 2024 followed shortly by Iron Flame in August of the same year. I was in the mood for an easy to read, fun fantasy and it fit the bill perfectly.

The characters are fun, the world is interesting enough to make up for when romance gets boring and vice versa. As a lover of both romance and fantasy, I actually struggle with the romantasy genre as a whole. Most of the time I just find that instead of bringing the best parts of both fantasy and romance into one engaging story, books in the romantasy genre just do both halves of the portmanteau poorly.

I had always assumed I just hadn't read the right romantasy and The Empyrean series gives me hope that it's true.

Is Fourth Wing a literary masterpiece? Is it a immaculate example of complex world building? Or a love story that can rival the best of the best? No, of course not. But it's *fun* and *engaging* and makes me actually give a shit about the characters, which is not a common occurrence for me. Overall Fourth Wing and Iron Flame were a good time and earned 4.5 and 4.75 stars respectively (and yes I did like IF more than FW).

All that to say I was excited to read Onyx Storm and I went into the book with my head completely empty of theories and ready to have another good time. I did not do a re read ahead of starting the book and only watched a single two minute tiktok that gave me the spark notes of what previously happened in the series.

Likes:

As I referenced above, I really like all of the characters in this series, my previous favorite being either Sawyer or Imogen but my lord did this book make me love Ridoc. I of course liked his jokes and one-liners, but I also love the moments when he was serious, both with his concern with Xaden and Violets increasingly toxic relationship and his confrontation with the rest of the Iron Squad not seeing him as capable/powerful because he is humorous/fun loving. That said, I have been pronouncing his name wrong this whole time. I thought it was like the name Murdoc/Murdock (like from the band Gorillaz and the game Paragon), so 'Rye-doc' and it is not -- it's "Rid-ick".

To jump to another character, Xaden's arc over this section of the book was great. I enjoyed his struggle with the inevitability of his turning both feeling completely defeatist about it and still holding out hope, if only for Violets sake. And I assume by the end of the five book series, he will be saved/turned back, but I like that he still gave in this moment.

As he and Violet were traveling with Quest Squad (so happy for Ridoc that the name stuck lol) I started growing a little uncomfortable at how codependent and toxic their relationship was becoming. It felt like as Xaden was turning more and more venin, he was losing care for everything other than Violet. Some might find that romantic, but I personally find it to be more than a bit much. Which brings to mind two things: 1) I love that the woman who gave Violet the books completely called her out on how unhealthy the relationship was. 2) I glad that Ridoc stepped in and forced Violet to make a boundary and set up a support system for when Xaden eventually fully turns.

Dislikes:

Most of my "dislikes" are simple me being frustrated that we won't have answers to so many questions until we get the next book in the series, so they aren't really negatives. Those will be in the 'other notes' section. I do have a couple of problems though:

First, I don't like how quickly Violet got over the severed bond. Like we were told she laid in bed for four days, but that's about it? She was up and back to normal way too fast in my opinion. Like it seemed like she grieved Liam far longer than she did Andarna. I know she knew Liam for longer and that Andarna didn't die, she just left, but Andarna was bonded to Violets very *soul*.

The lore of the world makes it out to be that losing a dragon is worse than losing a spouse, even without the whole 'if your dragon dies, you die' part. I understand being a soldier and having work to do, but I just would have liked to see her grieve more for Andarna.

And speaking of grief, this may be a hot take, but Mira should have died. Or at the very least,

we should have had a more major death in the last battle. Like the most major death was Quinn and, while her death actually made me nearly cry, she wasn't *that* major of a character.

I need something irreversibly devastating to happen to Violet. Not like Liam, who she is kind of paying reparations to by taking care of Sloane. Not like Brennan, who came back to life. Not like Andarna who would eventually come back, even if she had actually stayed away for a few years. Not like Xaden who Violet will never give up on trying to turn back human. Not like her mother who she already had a complicated relationship with.

I need someone Violet loves to be gone with nothing to be done about it other than grieve. Some one irreplaceably important to Violet, namely either Mira or Rhiannon or (if Yarros wants to really hurt me) Ridoc. I want Yarros to have me nearly quitting the series because I am so upset over a death of a character. This thing with Mira being brought back from the brink has be worried that I won't ever get that major, heartbreaking death.

Other Notes:

I'm gonna be honest, when I first read Xaden's chapter at the end I was Very Confused™. Obviously now that I've seen other people's reactions, I'm aware that we don't know who the referenced 'brother' is, but at the time I thought I just wasn't understanding the words and I had missed the part where they said who the brother was. Since Panchek was there and he was the one giving information on Violets whereabouts to the Venin I assume he was the new brother? I don't know, with this series I like to complete avoid theorizing and just enjoy the ride, but I think I had leaned into the 'no thoughts, head empty' a bit too much.

I used to try and predict every book I read because I liked feeling smart, but it made me not like reading. It was almost like I had looked up a the twist of a movie and then went to see the film anyway. Obviously the twist can be impactful even if you know it ahead of time, but it makes it a lot harder to enjoy it in my personal experience.

In a similar vein, I also don't really enjoy watching/partaking in fandom theory-crafting or trying to get information out of authors for future seasons. I want to experience the story in its final form, not from Yarros hinting at future events/lore etc. I have seen a few theories as to who this mysterious brother is and a few about Andarna and her role in the last chapters plan, but honestly until the book is out -- I don't want to speculate. Others are 100% free to speculate and theorize and ask Yarros questions, but I'm gonna stay out of it.

Rating Breakdown

Characters: 10

Atmosphere: 8

Writing: 7

Plot: 7

Intrigue: 9

Logic: 9

Enjoyment: 9

Dialogue: 8

Total: 8.3/10 or 4.1 Stars

[demodraws0606]

Levi's hidden quote and how it could link with his possible motive for killing Arei

I gotta apologize to Levi for being so hellbent on believing he is the Chapter 2 killer but it just works way too well.

However of course a lot of things going against it is why would Levi do something like that or even kill her in such a gruesome way.

Now I believe the motive behind the murder is actually linked with Levi's hidden quote

I mean considering how vague this quote is and what Levi's secret most likely is it could be directed towards the person he killed but I don't think that fits the bill quite well.

In fact this quote makes a lot more sense in the context of Levi killing Arei.

It's pretty obvious Levi and Arei both had each other's secrets meaning Levi knew about what Arei did to her sister and as far as we know he doesn't know the context this secret has unlike us.

Now Levi despite being disowned clearly cared about his family to the point where he is not mad at them for disowning him.

It's possible that the murder he even commited was to protect his family or for them. Which would explain the line "we were all bad influences on one another". Levi is also known to be a protector, which again makes sense with the idea that maybe he was overprotective of his family and ended up killing someone for it.

Putting that aside, we should understand why Levi would have a negative reaction to Arei's secret without his understanding of why she did it.

It's not helped by the fact Arei acted incredibly unpleasant to everyone around her and he was actively told that she wasn't to be trusted.

From Levi's point of view, Arei clearly is someone manipulative and who sheds fake tears. Why would he believe that she had actually a good reason for what she did to her sisters ?

Not to mention that Levi in this chapter clearly is having an entire arc during the second chapter about him wanting to be forgiven by Ace. However the conclusion of this arc before the trial leads to Levi completely giving up on trying to redeem himself.

(I'd argue this moment specifically is when Levi finally becomes capable of committing murder)

In my eyes his murder of Arei was a crime of passion, and although the way the murder is presented contradicts this we also have the possibility of someone (*cough* DaVid *cough*) tempering with the crime scene but that's another theory for another time (or tbh Levi himself could've tempered with it).

It's possible Arei and Levi confronted each other about their secrets, leading to him killing her by breaking her neck.

Maybe he wasn't believing her explanation or trusting the she actually became a better person.

Why would she be allowed to apologize and make everything better when he tried that so many times and was only met with rejection.

And that's what the secret quote means, he only judged Arei based on her actions because he was told time and time again that words weren't enough. That apologizing and saying that you'll change means nothing.

All of this leads me to believe that this chapter is about : redemption and trust

Arei wanted to improve and grow as a person, she wanted to finally become someone who could be kind to others.

She hurt Eden badly, blaming her for everything because she couldn't fathom the fact that someone like her could even exist. The way she talked to Eden was horrible, but she regrets it and clearly wanting to undo the wrong she did to her.

Eden despite her doubts, clearly believes her considering her strong reaction towards the idea that she could've even though of killing herself. Arei's apology went through Eden.

Now, what character has tried to do the same but constantly failed ?

Levi

He snapped and said something horrible to Ace, something he regrets just like Arei. He wants to apologize and redeem himself for it but he isn't allowed to. Unlike Eden, Ace isn't willing to accept it.

He is taught that trying to say sorry or saying you'll change won't do anything.

And now we're back to his secret quote

His justification for killing Arei was that he didn't believe she was worthy of redemption or simply didn't believe she was going to redeem herself in the first place. After all, all of her actions lead to her being a truly dispicable person so why would he suddenly believe that she wants to redeem herself, especially someone like Arei ?

However in this quote it's stated that he aknowledges that it's just a poor excuse, a poor excuse for his heartlessness, for having killed Arei.

Now the one thing contradicting this analysis is the use of the word "always" meaning that it's a belief Levi always had so why did him getting rejected suddenly lead to him to believe that Arei's apology wasn't enough ? Well either way I don't think weither it was a belief he always had or was something he was taught through chapter 2 really disproves my thoughts on him killing Arei but it's possible his belief was amplified or "triggered" by what happened in chapter 2.

Either way yeah, I'm sorry Levi, you will not escape the guilty verdict in my mind, it just fits way too much thematically.