#And that easy understanding just doesn't happen in the same way post season one

[cloudxgears]

I like to think that the way Jinx reacts to seeing Vi in the enforcer uniform is less about what happened to their parents and more about how her Vi never would have done that and realising the Vi she understood and who was familiar and safe and recognisable to her is gone for good. Because obviously no one in the Undercity likes enforcers or their topside oppressors, but Jinx is never once shown with the same vehement hatred of enforcers that young Vi had.

I think this is just about Vi. It's about Jinx's disappointment towards the big sister she spent her life looking up to, and her shock that Vi's life experiences were that bad that they've led her to lose any character and principles she used to have.

I really don't think Jinx ever cared as much about gaining freedom for Zaun and revenge on Piltover as young-Vi and Silco did. Jinx' world was always quite insular. She focused on her special interest and developing her talent, making bombs and weapons, to enable her survival, improve her self-esteem and to try to help the ones she loves. Everything she did was about proving she could survive after coming from nothing and being the kicked puppy, and to prove herself to the ones she admires.

The whole point of the teaparty scene was about deciding who to trust and who to choose and if it had happened differently she would have gone off with Vi and done what it took to make Vi keep loving her and if that meant not using the bomb she wouldn't have done it.

She isn't exactly driven by revenge like pre-teaparty Vi and post-Cassandra Cait, or by wanting dignity and wider respect like Silco and young-Vi. She's driven by loyalty and her desire to be valued and seen by those she loves, and she has no one left to be loyal to, Silco is dead and her Vi isn't there anymore, so she's dead inside.

Having her own daughter to care for (and probably losing her) is what will make her want to become a symbol and put the fire in her to truly want revenge for the first time.

But that moment in the smog seeing Vi in uniform below her is the moment the teaparty and watching Jinx use the bomb on the council building was for Vi. It's Jinx' first moment realising Vi isn't safe for her anymore and has become a total stranger. That's when she's confronted by understanding that she'll never get her Vi back again and she doesn't have the history or connection to this new woman anymore to be able to understand her. It's the first time realising the memory of the Vi she has loved and hated and held on to all this time has been extinguished by this imposter.

And she naturally has a total panic attack at the loss.

It gives you more understanding of Vi's internal feelings about Jinx. Vi doesn't show her reactions in the same big way Jinx does. She had to be Powder's parental figure as a kid and she desired to follow in Vander's footsteps and become a leader one day, so she had to constantly maintain a positive and strong front and suppress anything else. She always made sure whenever Powder looked up at her to project, 'Everything is going to be fine, because I will make it so, don't worry :)' because she was a great big sister.

And then she was locked in prison for 7+ years where she couldn't afford to show weakness or have obvious breakdowns. Also I like how her coping mechanism is shown by her general attitude to be optimism, and even in somewhere as desolate as Stillwater it's easy to imagine her against all odds fighting to maintain a can-do attitude and having a mantra of 'It will be fine and I'll get out of this one day because I have to', and that mindset takes a lot of suppressing too.

So she implodes rather than explodes in a way that's difficult for an observer to notice or understand. Which is why her S2 actions so far look so wack to most people.

The moment in the smog and the panic attack after is the first time Jinx is having the same big realisation Vi had to her during Season 1, realising that is not her safety or the big sister she can look up to anymore. It's losing a part of herself that Jinx admits at the end of S1 has kept her alive all these years.

[aretheyyknow]

Season one pardison will always be famous to me

[icaruspendragon]

Hi! A while ago I saw one of your tiktoks about how northern democrats typically view people from Appalachia, and it really made me re-examine some biases I had and I deeply appreciated that. I'm from New Hampshire, and basically this primary season we were completely ignored by democratic candidates because of some issues with the DNC and our primary being labeled "unsanctioned". It was weird to not feel supported or valued by my party for the first time ever, (especially when NH tends to get a lot of attention) and it reminded me of your tiktok and how you mentioned that republicans tend to reach out to people in the south while democrats tend to ignore them as a lost cause. Because I saw that happening here with an insanly disproportionate republican presence in my state leading to the primaries. I know the comparisons aren't equal, but it helped drive home the message for me and gave me just a taste of what you explained so clearly in your tiktok. I understand if you choose not to post this, but I really wanted to thank you for opening my eyes and helping me face some biases I didn't know I had.

hello and thank you (for re-examining your biases and for writing me this message). i'm gonna use this as a chance to restate some of the things i mentioned in the video you're talking about.

i'd like to start this by saying i know appalachia and the south aren't perfect. there's racism and homophobia and bigotry. being someone who is marginalized or minoritized in appalachia/the south isn't always easy. but appalachia/the south doesn't have the monopoly on bigotry. america is rife with it. it's something marginalized folks all over the country have to face. and when northern dems act like racism and homophobia and bigotry are things that don't occur in their state simply because it's a blue state, they're doing an incredible disservice to the marginalized people that live in their communities who are facing the results of bigotry.

the folks living in appalachia/the south are heavily stereotyped as nothing more than ignorant backwood cousin fucking hillbillies, and while there are people that live here that fit that bill, appalachia/the south is not a monolith.

appalachia is region that spans from mississippi all the way to new york. the south (depending on who you ask) consists of 17 different states. and here's a little fun fact about the south for ya: according to the 2020 census, out of the 41.6 million black people that live in america, 38.9% of them live in the south.

so when that entire region is written off, forgotten about, and treated as a lost cause it's not the bigots that are being left behind; it's the marginalized people that live here that are being written off. the very same folks democrats and liberals love claiming they care about are the ones being left behind.

one of the reasons republicans have such a strong hold on appalachia/the south is because they put in the work to earn the trust of the voter. work that democrats just don't do. so of course republicans are gonna get the vote, they earned it.

other reasons for the stronghold existing (that people never wanna talk about for some reason) are: gerrymandering, voter suppression, lack of state funding that leads to lack of education, general lack of education, high poverty rates, lack of internet access. i could go on and on.

there are so many marginalized people that live in this region that are working themselves to the bone and trying their damndest to make appalachia/the south a better place for EVERYONE to live and when high falutin yankees act like every single person that lives here is the racist uncle you have to ignore at christmas, they are discrediting the work being done to try and change the region for the better.

allow me to say this again: when appalachia/the south is written off as nothing more than a home to bigots, it's not the bigots being written off, it's the people affected by bigotry.

there are people fighting to make these areas better. we are trying. so please, please stop writing us off.

we are not a lost cause.

[franklin-nelson-archive]

I wrote that other message, I didn't want to upset you, there's no need to answer this one if you feel offended. I don't want to sound like those Elnde and Foggy haters. But I just read that Deborah stole Elden's place in the show. Now, she is more important than him, and Foggy will die protecting her. I read somewhere that she doesn't like Elden and hopes that Foggy dies, so she will be much more important in Matt's life and for the show. Do you know if this is true? Is this the reason why you hate Karen? I'm sorry again, it's just my curiosity

Well... wow... so much is happening here that I had to stare into space for a few seconds to breathe and get my thoughts in order.

I want you to know that you didn't upset me. I truly understand where each fan is coming from and their frustration.

I understand that many fans were upset with Foggy's reaction. However, I'll never agree with the hate for him and Elden.

Interestingly, Charlie/Matt fans now seem to understand how essential Elden/Foggy is to the series, as they haven't sent me any hateful asks in a while now, and for that, I'm grateful. Perhaps it's because Charlie has shown his appreciation for Foggy, or maybe it's because, over the years, fans have seen that Matt and Foggy are true friends who need each other.

I've been getting asks from Karen/Deborah fans, though.

Some of these asks are very similar to yours. The difference is that yours is milder, which is why I decided to respond.

Well, as for Karen;

I feel really sad that I even have to answer this. Honestly.

I have always loved Karen.

Karen from the comics is so strong, sweet, and sensitive.

When I first saw Deborah as Karen in a photo with Elden for the first season, I swear I cried.

And when the series was canceled, I fought more for Deborah than for Elden because I thought the hero's best friend was loved the same way the hero loves him.

I took Elden/Foggy for granted.

My disappointment started when I realized that in interviews before the series was saved, Deborah always talked about Vincent, Charlie, and Jon. (If you have seen an interview where she talks about Elden, please send it to me, and I will be happy to reconsider.) I've seen a lot of people saying that she didn't seem to like Elden, and I tried not to take it to heart. After all, they are just co-workers; they don't have to be friends. I never took it seriously. I've never been interested in the personal choices of celebrities, anyway.

But yeah, I always found it curious that she praised her other co-stars, some of whom she shared less screen time with than Elden. But in that respect, it could just be a matter of behind-the-scenes affinity.

And then she posted about Foggy's death and added laughing emojis. Of course, it could be an indication that Foggy isn't going to die. But then a small war began where some of Foggy's haters celebrated. I was shocked to read the comments from her fans mocking Foggy's death. It's important to remember that these characters are significant to many people and that their deaths should be treated with respect.

When she mentioned having a lot of heart in the series, a chat group I'm part of raised the issue that this seemed like a tease, since Elden has always been the heart of the series. Again I found it curious, but I didn't take it seriously. It's so easy to be misunderstood on social media.

Then one of her fans DMed me, passive-aggressively saying something like this: "It's so beautiful that Deborah now has a heart in the show and Elden is no longer the heart of the show. She is now Matt's Goose. Unfortunately we couldn't save them both, but I'm glad DAW is happy and I hope Henson gets a job." The message was huge, I'm just summarizing. At that specific moment everything hit me hard and I expressed my regret for having cried for her one day. Then her fans came and I was blocked, and then I decided it was time to leave… Everything exploded so quickly. I'm just sorry.

Once again, I love Karen and I don't regret standing up for her. However, I do regret prioritizing Deborah over Elden, as I initially believed Elden would receive more support and that Foggy would hold more/or some significance in the new series.

Well. It all exploded very quickly. But no, I don't hate her. (God, who am I compared to Deborah or Karen to still hate them)

Now, I've gotten some asks about Deborah appealing to Marvel bosses about keeping Foggy dead so she can have more screen time.

This is absurd!

While I understand that Hollywood is a place where only the strongest survive and thrive, I simply don't believe Deborah would be that person. She's too talented to resort to such tricks. It doesn't even make sense!

I don't believe this is Deborah's behavioral profile. And I know a lot about behavior (I have a degree in it)

Yes. I saw countless people talking about things that I don't want to repeat here. But these are in no way rumors, but rather malicious speculation.

I'd like to clarify these things because you're not the first person to ask me about this.

Over time, these things (rumors and speculation and nasty asks about Foggy's death, Elden's looks, and Elden being swapped for Deborah, Jon or Dex) stopped being a source of disappointment. Now, they make my group chat laugh and inspire us to create our own theories.

Most of my Daredevil fan friends have moved on with their lives. Some, like me, don't have as much love for "Born Again" and that whole "I'm a good lawyer" thing, or for that scene with Foggy on the concrete floor. (Although I don't believe he will die protecting her.)

Of course, If the rumors are correct, I disagree that she has more prominence than Foggy since Foggy is Matt's best friend, and Matt needs him. I also can't agree to a series where Foggy isn't by Matt's side or even just in the series in every episode. ( but hey, I wish Foggy had his own series, so...)

I've been drawing Deborah/Karen since 2015, and I must admit, I usually don't draw people I don't like. In fact, I've gone as far as purchasing clothes similar to Karen's and even tried to collect some of her outfits at the Marvel auction. It's safe to say that I wouldn't have put in so much effort if I didn't genuinely like her.

Initially, I was disappointed about certain aspects, but looking back, I don't know why I was so upset about it. It's just a series, although "Foggy" means a lot to me, and I absolutely love Elden. If Deborah has more prominence in the second part, I'll be over the moon! She truly deserves it.

I'm longing to see Nelson and Murdock, Maverick and Goose again. Imagine Matt and Foggy discussing the senses; that's my ultimate dream!

Elden definitely deserves recognition and meaningful scenes in the series. However, if he doesn't, I'll be okay with that.

I'm gratful for Foggy, Matt's best friend, the tough, cute, goofy, sweet, wonderful lawyer that all three seasons gave me – I will always adore him, and that's more than enough.

[juniorfor2]

I will always find it interesting that for all that people constantly complain about "likable" or "nuanced" villians, wanting "the good old days, where a villain was just a villain and there was nothing more to them," the moment that you open any Youtube video centered on a "nothing but a villain" character, it has at least a few comments making them far more likable and nuanced than they really are. Which wouldn't be of much interest, except for one fact - they all have at least 10-20 thousand likes.

People complain that Disney and other corporations are ruining movies, making characters far too palatable and relatable, but in truth, the same people who complain about such things will also end up liking and encouraging any thinking that characterizes the villains as such. Corporations mostly follow what their viewers want, even if slow or in a bad direction, not the other way around.

Tywin Lannister was an unmistakable bad guy in ASOIAF and Game of Thrones. He was horrible to Tyrion, cared nothing for his family beyond what they could offer to his legacy, and was willing to commit horrific deeds to climb to power. In fact, he demonstrated almost every reason for why "feudalism is bad!" as some people constantly write about. And yet, there are dozens of videos, comments, and social media posts about how Tywin Lannister was misunderstood the whole time and was really a good guy.

He should have been "the good old days where a villain was just a villain!" Isn't that what people wanted? He was an obvious antagonist to Tyrion, one of the main protagonists - perfect, right? Yet instead of grabbing onto this, people turned him into the very thing they claimed not to like.

They could have simply done this with the protagonist. Why not make the protagonist a bit more likable? It doesn't mean much to the story when done, even if it does miss the point occasionally.

But that's not what happens. In fact, the opposite does. The protagonist, the character that's supposed to be likable or nuanced according to them, is turned into the "nothing but a villain" character.

Daenerys Targaryen is one such character. She is very, very obviously one of the biggest protagonists. The first book ends with her, with "for first time in hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music of dragons." She is a bridal slave turned Breaker of Chains. She makes mistakes, as every protagonist does, but still progresses forward.

What's not to like about her? While her circumstances and the hard choices she must make do take her into the shades of grey, she is still so compassionate for those suffering that she never comes anywhere close to the darkness that Jon Snow or Tyrion have demonstrated and progressed to. Making her more likable is easy. That's not what happens though.

Instead, she is villainized. She is determined by others to become the darkest character of all, with no nuance or likability whatsoever. They make her the villain in place of the one they've made palatable.

Some of this, I think, can be summed up to people being somewhat idiots and thinking that their idea of hot means good. I remember watching the first 4 seasons back with a sort-of-friend, and she had a huge crush on Charles Dance playing Tywin (she was 16 at the time and he was in his 60s - no, I didn't understand her, and yes, I took great pleasure in showing her Tywin's death). She was so convinced that he wasn't that bad, and the only reason she thought that was because she found him hot. So obviously that does take up a part of it. But it's definitely not the main reason.

The main reason, seeming fairly obvious, is because the idea that movies/shows/books have social or political ideas is no longer something they can ignore. They'll rave about wokeness, saying that it's in every movie now, and why can't we all go back to the good old days of Star Trek and Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings books that of course had absolutely no themes. Despite them having some incredibly heavy or obvious ideas, people somehow managed to ignore them. But now they can't.

Said people do not want to go back to the good old days of "nothing but a villain." They want to back to the "good old days" where they didn't have to examine why a villain was so terrible. They don't want to see themselves in the antagonist - so they make it so villain is no longer one.

In their desperation to get rid of political themes and ideas, and to cover up their own views that could make them look at themselves as the "villain" of our real life "story," they switch the antagonist and the protagonist, the villain and the hero, to make themselves the hero.

After all, why examine your own faults when you can just make them the correct, non-woke perspective?

[annbourbon]

Mystic Messenger Timeline (Explained)

I'll be obviously skipping a lot of stuff in between, but this is just to make things clear. It's not the way you're supposed to play, just the timeline.

⚠️ Contains Spoilers ⚠️

⚠️⚠️ Spoilers ahead ⚠️⚠️

⚠️⚠️ You've been warned ⚠️⚠️

First Rika Behind the Story (DLC)

Then I'll start counting as Year 1, the events that lead to the RFA and Mint Eye foundation.

Year 1:

V and Rika know each other

They meet Saeyoung

Saeyoung leaves

Rika kills the Twins's mom

Rika gets engaged to V

Mika and Rika (Mina) create 1st draft of Mint Eye

V buys the department

*on that note, seems that there are 4 cameras but Saeyoung only knows of one*

**This also implies that Saeran was abused as soon as V and Saeyoung took their eyes off of him since Rika used Saeran as model to defeat Saeyoung's skills as a hacker.

***What happens because neither Saeyoung nor V know anything about Saeran whenever they reunite for RFA parties and their engagement? Why no one asked anything?

Year 2:

Rika meets Jumin

RFA begins (yes, it was Mint Eye first, and the reason why the name was Magenta first. Mika?) June's Route in The Ssum, First Season. According to Jumin.

The Ssum Timeline

3. RFA 1st party is held

4 Jaehee joins RFA

5. Rika kills Sally

5. RFA 2nd party is held

6. According to V and Saeyoung this is where the hacker starts attacking the RFA (first time)

7. Jumin said he lost contact with V and Rika after the 2nd party.

There's a point where Jumin admits barely seeing Rika after the 2nd party. Meeting with her and V for the last time 3 months before her death. Yoosung Route. Day 9. Chat room 7AM called V's eyes.

According to several chats during Yoosung route, they barely paid attention to V being blinded. This of course included Zen, Yoosung, and Jumin (who is worried and suspects something but doesn't intervene despite V having severe corneal damage from external trauma)

8. Rika must have blind V at some point during these three months.

9. Saeyoung installed the Special System. AKA: The Bomb

10. "Rika commits suicide"

Plot holes: Where's Mika? Why they don't notice there's another person living there? It's not that easy to hide your presence 💀

But according to V, he knew about Mika. It's at least implied.

*At the same time, there's a line, I forgot where exactly, that says that both, Rika and V called off their engagement at some point. They don't say anything about coming back together after that. wtf!?*

Another Story

1 month after her death, prologue.

Five months later

*means 4 months after they break up their engagement? Assuming they did not break up before but because of Rika behavior blinding him. Which kind of solves the plot holes from Year 1 setting Mika on the apartment and V not fully knowing but suspecting, although it would be impossible or almost impossible without his eyes do something about it. Especially since his blindness is recent. If you need to understand a bit more about blindness watch my post on Rika killing Sally. It may be a dog, unlike V lol but it's still enough information to set up the rest of the story.

Anyways, let's go back to our timeline no?

Bad ending prologue #1 (Casual & Deep) and #2 (Another) are part of the same story and unlikely that it is set into an *alternative route* like some people like to say. Bad ending prologues even from Another Story seem to fit almost too perfectly when you think about it, but only if you agree to go with Unknown after rejecting him several times.

Because it would fit into the idea that the MC's were captured by the cult and discarded after a while (or put to work under Mint Eye. But also because according to the opening on the Casual and Deep, it would mean that Saeran's been watching you, so does Saeyoung.)

As I said before, the other MC's are either dead or anything but MIA (whatever that means for Mint Eye?) and this one, the brunette, is selected and it's the only one who survives and passed the whole trial. Not at first but it doesn't matter. This MC is not dead. The others are. You think "The others" are just the player with different image? I've got news for you, each one of this has a number~ check this post ^^

Either you become the assistant of Unknown with that bad ending which is an option available for every prologue or you enter Day 1 to Day 4 of Another Story and play throughout to reach:

Day 6 and Day 10 from Ray/Saeran Route which are part of the same ending. They're not a different ending. Both however lead to the Casual Route, Day 1 (after the prologue)

Which means, if you get the bad ending in the prologue of Casual/Deep you'll be going back to Mint Eye. Yes. It's not supposed to be your first rodeo there. And if you have a Bad Ending on Mint Eye, you're brainwashed andd set on Casual/Deep (You're supposed to be an spy, but who do you work for? Are you a victim or a villainess? that's another story 😜)

My theory?

*This is where I'm still stuck, so I'll be fixing major plots here and there and editing this same post over and over until I get it right. Please bear with me 😭*

Rika DLC > 1st party > Rika gets engaged > Saeyoung leaves > Rika kills Sally > Rika kills Saeran's mom > Rika starts torturing Saeran > Mint Eye begins > 2nd party > Hacker attack > Bomb is installed > Rika blinds V > Rika dies > Another Story (prologue) > Another Story (Day 1 to 4) > Another Story (Day 6 & 10, bad relationship both of them) obviously with what causes these bad endings > Casual Route (with bad endings included) > Deep Story (with bad endings included) > Secret Endings (except for V dying, we'll get there) > Another Story again but V route happens first (no happy or normal ending) and then something weird happens:

And this part if I'm being honest, I have no idea but I'm fixing it cause my theory is that

V and Saeran's route become so intertwined that is almost impossible to know what happened.

The bomb on Mint Eye? Saeran? Although it is suggesting in the bad endings that he died, we never saw that to happen.

V dying in the secret endings?

Saeran burn?

Seven does mention a couple of numbers, associated with the other MCs, somewhere in the game. Unfortunately I can't remember if it's on a call or a chat so I'm going back all over again because I was so shocked at the time I was unable to take a screenshot.

Truth to be said I can't fully find the order rn but! I will, I definitely will. I need time. I mean, more time. I've been working on this for 6 to 7 years now, I'm posting this because it's so big I can't keep it to myself and I'm freaking out here. So I'll be editing this in the future. As many of my other posts. Sorry lol

Ironically, Saeran's AE would be indeed the Final Ending.

Additional Note: Because of time travel, Mystic Messenger is a non linear story, which means you need to pick upon clues here and there to understand where the timeline goes. The other games have a similar issue but not as pronounced as this.

[imperatorrrrr]

I’m a newer fan so not sure, but I feel like Jack has done like no media this year. Like we always get Nico post game/post practice but hardly any Jack. Is he doing less than normal? Or does Nico always just do more because he’s captain?

I'd say its probably a mix of both?

Jack Hughes did some media during the pre-season and then I believe his only regular season media has been in Prague with the infamous "shouldn't they be in school" quote about all the kids attending one of the last practices in Prague.

Fun Nico Hischier Fact: Before he even got the captaincy, he would stand up and volunteer for media. There's a quote about it here:

From my standpoint, something has changed in Nico. There has been plenty of veterans surrounding the now 21-year-old since he's been in the NHL, those who handle the tough moments in front of the media on a day-in-day out basis. That's not to say that Nico wasn't available, he was, but much like you see from Andy Greene after a tough loss, Nico is waiting in his locker stall, ready to answer the questions. Greene does this - after any loss - he waits for the media, even when the room is quite bare. It's only been a few games since Taylor Hall was traded, but I've now seen Nico step up into that role that Greene, Palmieri and Hall took on in difficult moments.

so yeah, there is kind of this element of Nico doing media because he feels its his responsibility as Captain and its a part of his role to take on the tough post-loss questions. even Jack agrees, from his 32 Thoughts interview here that its the job of the Captain:

I think [Tocchet] said it, that he did some really uncomfortable things—spoke up—once Bo left he was the guy that would talk in front of the media. Which isn't easy, I watched Nico do the same thing all those years when we were losing. Like, I'm the first guy to take my gear off, like damn that was a bad game. Nico has to sit in stall and take question he doesn't want to take and you know Quinn had to do the same thing last year.

my understanding of how post-practice/post-game media works is that there's a mix of guys volunteering to talk to media, reporters asking for specific guys because of stories they've decided to focus on, and clear cut players/moments that lend themselves to interview moments. for example, you are usually going to get interviews from guys that contributed to the win in whatever way or interviews from guys that had something happen during the game that was significant.

I'd say that although Jack has scored and is on the scoresheet for a lot of games already, he hasn't had a "game making" or "game breaking" game yet and there hasn't really been a storyline worth diving deeper into that would necessitate any media from him. Like Noesy had two goals against the Ducks, so it makes sense he's getting interviewed and Bratter scored the game tying goal that got the team to OT against the Islanders, so it makes sense he was pulled for media.

we haven't really had anything like that for Jack yet, which is not to say he isn't performing because he damn well is, but its more to say that he's just playing solid hockey, so there isn't really a reason to get him to do media. plus, we know Jack doesn't like to speak to the reporters so if there's not reason to, why would he volunteer to do so?

now with the HughesBowl incoming, I'm sure focus will now turn to Jack and Luke as thats where the storyline is and we'll get Jack media.

[nancywheeeler]

‘Eddie Munson should have died at the hands of the government instead of the Upside Down’ please expound on this your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

okay, i am finally gonna release from the vault a text post i had drafted months ago about how reductive and bland i find eddie munson's "heroism" arc.

from a characterization standpoint, i totally understand why eddie declares himself a coward for running after witnessing chrissy (and later, patrick) die. his image of himself as a proud outcast willing to brandish a middle finger at societal norms, bolstered by playing a "satanic" game about misfits coming together to bravely face great evils, is completely shattered. however, from our viewpoint as an audience, eddie does what just about any of us would have done after watching someone die in a horrific, unexplainable manner and not knowing if what happened to them is about to happen to us.

...except the show then does this weird thing where it agrees with eddie's warped, guilty view of his actions. eddie is a coward for running. he should have...what? stayed, again not knowing if he would be killed next, tried to explain everything to hawkins pd, and gotten arrested? (which would have derailed the rest of the hawkins plot because, unless dustin & company staged a jailbreak, eddie then would have been in custody during fred and patrick's murders.) the plot demands he run, but to wring any sort of emotional catharsis out of his death, the writers want us to think "look! he's redeemed himself! this time he ran into the danger!" it equates self-preservation with selfishness and cowardice, which certainly isn't a new thing in media but it's boring and doesn't reflect reality.

and when you parallel eddie's death with billy's (and what i imagine steve's death would have been had they gone through with killing him in season one), it paints this uncomfortable picture that redemption can only be found through extreme self-sacrifice and ultimately death. boring! very boring! and again, why are we redeeming a character who doesn't need redemption?

i appreciate (and really like actually!) that the narrative dooms eddie from the beginning. there wouldn't have been a satisfying way to write him out of a triple homicide rap had he lived. that being said, i would have loved to see eddie survive the upside down, get arrested for the murders, and, while our intrepid heroes are expecting owens and his shadowy government contacts to swoop in, be killed by those same shadowy government contacts as a cover-up.

because that is all owens has been doing for the past three seasons: covering things up to save a fringe organization's ass. it's just been convenient for our gang that the cover-ups align with their interests, too, to the point they are over-reliant on owens stepping in with forged birth certificates and mall fires. only, in season four's case, eddie is the most convenient cover story. with owens left for dead in a bunker in the middle of the desert, what loyalty does the rest of this strange government operation have to the gang and to eddie that they would exert any additional effort concocting a more outlandish story than the easy one the town of hawkins has already bought into?

it would have been a great way to add additional stakes going into season five because the gang would have had absolutely no one to rely on or trust but themselves. no more clean-up crew to plant fake stories and file the paperwork. the government has never actually been on their side. it's hawkins against the upside down and the world, baby.

wow, this is so long and i am so sorry. i still have a lot of feelings about this apparently, even after all this time.

[nofomogirl]

Before the Beginning (part 2.3.)

Part 1.1. | Part 1.2. | Part 1.3. | Part 1.4. | Part 1.5. |

Part 2.1. | Part 2.2. | Part 2.4. |

Hello, it's been a while.

If you're jumping in the middle, hi, this is a series of posts where I discuss things I've noticed in the Before the Beginning scene and suggest how they might shed new light on other scenes from both seasons.

Today let's do our favourite thing, shall we?

Let's revisit the Bandstand Breakup again.

Right after Aziraphale and Crowley argue over the possibility of killing Adam, and Crowley turns to leave, there's this memorable exchange:

A: You can't leave, Crowley. There isn't anywhere to go. C: It's a big universe. Even if this all ends up in a puddle of burning goo, we can go off together. A: Go off together? Listen to yourself.

and ever since S1, we've been arguing about exactly what was stopping Aziraphale from taking Crowley's offer. Why, despite clearly finding the idea appealing, it just as clearly wasn't an option he would seriously consider. Was it more because he wasn't able to choose Crowley or because he wasn't able to abandon Earth?

There are many sound arguments to support both and, like most people, I used to believe the truth to lay somewhere in between.

But then S2 happened, the Before the Beginning scene happened, and the bomb was dropped that it might actually be the entire universe that was on a 6000-year deadline, not just Earth.

True, we don't know for sure which is it, and more importantly, which Aziraphale believes, but if we assume that to the best of his knowledge, the end of the world means the end of all material creation, then you have to admit it changes the scene quite a bit.

It means that running away with Crowley wasn't something the angel could technically do but just wouldn't, it was objectively not an option. If it was just like Death said - if Armageddon happens anywhere, it happens everywhere - Aziraphale was right - there wasn't anywhere to go - and Crowley was wrong - the size of the universe made no difference.

Now the big questions are (1) why Crowley would propose running away, and (2) why Aziraphale hasn't called him out.

Regarding the first one, I've offered some theories in part 2.2:

Crowley may actually be right, and it's Aziraphale who's misinformed

Crowley's knowledge of the universe's fate might have been erased from his mind

Crowley could have repressed the knowledge himself due to trauma

Please feel free to take your pick.

I've already confessed my personal HC is the last one, and I stand by it. There's just something about Crowley consistently refusing to consider the worst-case scenario and behaving like it isn't an option. Book canon explicitly called him an optimist but I don't think that's the reason in the show.

Back to question (2) then. If running away was objectively impossible, why haven't Aziraphale simply pointed it out?

If we look at just that one scene, it's not hard to explain.

A: Go off together? Listen to yourself. C: How long we have been friends? Six thousand years! A: Friends? We're not friends! We are an angel and a demon.

You know how it goes.

My point is, like most of us after S1, Crowley assumed it was the "together" part that was the issue and addressed it. In other words, Aziraphale got distracted by another touchy topic.

Easy.

But I'd like to offer another explanation: Aziraphale doesn't have it in him to break Crowley's bubble.

This is my HC right now and here's why:

Aziraphale did give Crowley the bad news once, the very same exact piece of bad news, before the beginning, and he saw what it triggered and where it eventually ended

Aziraphale generally isn't the kind of person who easily delivers hard truths

Aziraphale is uncomfortable with confrontations

Aziraphale understands the absolute horror that is his and Crowley's situation and understands that not thinking about it is often the only way not to lose their mind

That's it for today, thank you for reading! I know I'm posting less frequently right now - for some reason putting my thoughts into ordered words has become harder recently... But the thoughts are still there and so is the desire to share.

[thescienceofdeductionn]

Stoic Perspective

This post will be some kind of addition to mindset, but also very important part. You might be wondering how it is related to deduction and Sherlock Holmes but even though we don't see Sherlock talking about Stoicism, he follows it in most cases. (Mixed with Cynicism which started around the time Diogenes lived.) So, let's see how Sherlock uses and how we can use it in our daily life.

Remember this episode? Season 1 Episode 3. Sherlock solves 5 cases in a row with some time constraints, stress factors, etc. In one scene, Watson asks, "There are lives at stake Sherlock! Actual human lives. Just so I know, do you care about that all?" and Sherlock answers with a brilliant answer: "Will caring about them help save them?" and Watson says "Nope." and then Sherlock says "Then I will continue not to make that mistake." Obviously, they show it like Sherlock doesn't care about anyone and is an egocentric narcissistic robot but that is certainly not the case. If you watch other adaptations(Granada, Elementary or even the books)Sherlock cares about other people, but not in a way normal people do. I am pointing out this scene because it shows us the attitude and mindset of Sherlock. Let's see how we can apply this in real life:

1-Caring without Emotions

"Emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning." -Sherlock Holmes

After watching Sherlock we shouldn't try to be like Sherlock, especially if we don't understand how he thinks. When he says, caring won't save them it doesn't mean he doesn't care. It just means it is not relevant and emotions won't help them in any way because it will cloud his thinking and deductions. So, what can you do in situations where stress is high and your emotions come to the surface?

1-Recognize them: Don't suppress or act like you don't have them. Just realize they are there and act accordingly. If you say "There is nothing wrong with me. I don't feel any emotions right now..." then you won't be aware of the affect they have on you.

2-Think Clearly: It is easy to say but hard to do. How can we think clearly? What does it mean? It means you have to use the relevant data and eliminate what is not. If you want to think clearly, you have to recognize your feelings, emotions etc. You have to be aware of them at every step so that when they are affecting your reasoning, you can overcome them and keep going.

3-Follow Your Logic

Sherlock doesn't call Moriarty after he solves the case because he wants to use time advantage. He wants to work on other cases and because of that, he doesn't call Moriarty. Watson is reacting with emotions and says this woman was covered with bombs all this time. Although Sherlock cares about the woman, he follows the logic. If he uses the time to his advantage, he can save more than one life but if he reacts with emotions, he will just save one. So, use your logic and act accordingly.

2-Perspective For Problems "External things are not the problem. It's your assessment of them. Which you can erase right now." -Marcus Aurelius

This can change a lot of things about how you see your problems. Let's say you have a lot of work to do and after a long day you are going home. When you arrive there, you realize your house is on fire? How would you react?

I believe, most of us would be full of emotions. Why did this happen to me? Why is life not fair? My life is over. What will I do now?

But if we just can change our perspective and practice it in our daily life we would have a very different and constructive response to the situation. Now, here is the perspective I am talking about:

Now think about the same scenario. You see that your house is on fire. You think "Can I do something about it?"->"Yes. I can call the fire department." or "No. It is too late. Everything is turned to ash." In both cases, you don't have to worry because it is already done. You can't travel back in time so you have to create your plans for the future. You can't waste time thinking about the past because it will limit your capacity to act on the future.

If you use this perspective in every situation, eventually it will become automatic and your emotional reactions will not be as strong as it is now. This way, you will be able to use your logic more easily and solve the problem you have.(Or you will stop worrying if you don't have a problem.) This is probably the fundamental perspective of Stoicism.

3-Expressing Emotions

I won't go deep into the Jungian Shadow or deep psychology of the emotions and suppressing etc but we have to be aware of this fact: The fact that if you don't express your emotions in some way, it will come out later bigger than it was.(Also, you won't be in control.)

If you watched Elementary, you know that almost in every episode Sherlock express his emotions to Watson.(Or to someone else. Which by the way is a more human adaptation of Sherlock.)He talks with her about what he feels and thinks about the situation because he can't deal with them alone. We can't deal with them alone too so we have to find some ways to express them. Here are some basic ones: 1-Talking to your Watson

If you have someone you are close to, then talk to them. Explain your feelings and emotions as clear as you can be.

2-Keeping a Journal

You won't always have an opportunity to talk with somebody so you need to talk with yourself clearly, which is what journaling does. You use words and getting things out of your head so you can analyze them more clearly. Just write and then read them aloud.

3-Physicality

If you like to work out, run, go to the gym or do any physical activity, do it. It is especially useful for anger and sadness. Try and find whatever works for you.

So, that is a general look at emotions and how to live with them. After you read this, you won't immediately detach from your emotions and act with your logic. This post is not enough, so you have to do your own reading. Some suggestions for reading: Meditations-Marcus Aurelius (Excellent example of journaling in a stoic way.) The Handbook-Epictetus Ryan Holiday's books(All relates to Stoicism)

And one last thing. Always remember these wise words:

"You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength." -Marcus Aurelius

[ruyakasunshine]

Thank you for your last post about F1 fans. At times I wish everyone would just chill the fuck out. I understand being more prone to hype up ones fave and whatnot.

I even get the whole oh I hate Max winning all the time, as if we didn’t have the same with Lewis while he was constantly winning.

I’m not even surprised that people forgot what happened last season, two weeks or 5 years ago, I feel this sport suffered from recency bias like no else. But in a sport that lives off stats that are all still public and easy to look up and fucking Wikipedia… well I guess that might be to much to ask of some people.

At the end of the day I just don’t get why people worry so much about things they dislike. Just block everyone and everything and move on.

Hype up your fave and call it a day.

Hey!

I completely agree on the fact that people need to chill big time. It's honestly starting to become dreading opening the comment section under any f1 related post because I know that we're going to have the same discourses over and over again. And the worst part is that they are usually extremely biased discourses, so it's not even like the debates are productive.

And same, do I wish to hear something other than the Dutch anthem every weekend? yes. Do I wish to see a battle for championship, or even for p1 for at least one race? Absolutely. But those things aren't under Max's control. He is fast, he wins. That's it. And until any other team can make a rocket ship that can compete with the rbr one, with a driver that can control said rocket ship, that's how it's going to be. And it isn't like we can't appreciate the sport either way, there are 19 other drivers who all compete and try to battle the one before them for their place, watch them.

Honestly, it is sort of crazy to experience the recency bias first hand, and I can barely blame people to fall into it. I'm pretty new in this sport as well, so I cannot pretend to have the best takes when it comes to drivers' performances without looking into other peoples' analysis, but I guess that it is easy to fall into a narrative so well crafted by the big medias.

And as you said, with the stats, and wikipedia, it's easier to fall into it. The first thing I understood when I got into this sport is that every tiny bit of a detail counts in a race : the weather, the performances of the top teams (it's easier to be p1 if the top team is having issues), the performance and the quality of the car (which the driver doesn't necessary have control over), etc. Context is vital in this sport, the final ranking can only say so much. But people ignore it so easily and pretend to be specialists at analyzing the performance of athletes (who have trained their whole life for this sport, by the way) from the comfort of their couch, without taking any of these into consideration. Especially when it comes from a place of bias.

[abavo]

My thoughts on the new LMK season

With no (or at least very minor) spoilers

TLDR: Its easy to focus on the drop in quality of the visuals since we can't focus too much on the other aspects of the series due to the language barrier, the english fandom will likely start having a more positive reaction to the season when the eng version drops and we can focus on character interaction and story.

RIP The YT channel hosting the episodes I will edit this post if it comes back up or someone reuploads them.

I'm probably gonna talk about the animation the most as I'll have to wait for the eng version to come out before I can talk too much about the story.

Also all of this is my opinion if you don't agree that's fine, make your own post with your thoughts.

Like most people, I don't really like the new animation, which sucks because WB is capable of good animation (some really good animation) but because LMK wasn't designed for puppet animation and WB was likely pushed to get this season out, the quality suffered. Some of the animation looks pretty good but a lot of it is stunted and some characters look out of place. It also doesn't help that a lot of older animation was reused (for flashbacks and such) which makes it a lot harder to adapt to the new animation style.

I'm not one to notice mistakes in animation so I wasn't taken out of the experience every time a character is off model but if you are you might have a hard time watching it.

The 3D models are also especially rough this season, there's one that keeps appearing (likely due to a tie in set) but it looks bad and it's really jarring

But I think "give workers more time to create higher quality products" is like, the coldest take in the world and I think most people wish FB had stayed or a studio that works with hand drawn animation was picked as a replacement. I think WB can do some great stuff and if they animate the next season I'm sure it will look better and I hope that lego will give the studio more time to work to achieve that polished look.

Pacing is a potential problem I'm noticing as well. I feel like some characters show up for like a minute and then disappear which is fine for some cameos of fan favorites but its frustrating when new characters that showed up in the trailer barely had any screen time (it really sucks because some of them are really cool looking! and I wanted to see more of them)

I can't talk too much about characterization but there are some things that definitely feel out of character, most notably something that happens towards the end of episode 1, I've seen some people refer to this as fandomization of the character but I'd need to wait for the eng version to come out before I can say yes to that. I think it's much more likely they just needed that character to do something and figured it could be a way to show how that character has changed although I do think it needed more buildup maybe that will change when I actually understand what's happening though lol.

Other than that I think the characterization is mostly intact (again will need to see the eng version) but its the same writers so I don't see why characters would act strange. There does appear to be some super interesting stuff that happens towards the end can't wait to figure out what thats about.

Plot is hard to follow (again language barrier) but seems fun if a little generic, I can't talk too much about it because I don't really know whats going on and this is spoiler free

New characters seem fun! Wish I knew what they were saying though! I wish some of them stuck around a little bit longer as some of them are only shown for a few minutes which again sucks! because some of them have really cool designs and I would have liked to see more of them.

[misc-obeyme]

I had all these plans to finish a bunch of writing and then BAM Season 2 started with Lesson 21 and I got supremely distracted. I wasn't expecting it to come out so soon?!? I really thought there would be more time in between seasons. But I am not complaining!

At this point, I feel weird if I don't write a post about the lesson, so here I am. I swear I'll get back to writing fics after this lol.

Spoilers and screenshots below:

Okay so we've got the founding of RAD, MC and Solomon losing their magic, and characters acting weird.

The loss of MC's magic is pretty obvious and easy to understand. Like it works sometimes, but it doesn't at other times. (Though I have to say here that if the brothers asked me to open a jar with magic, I would laugh at them. I've never met a jar I couldn't open. It's called hot water. BUT ANYWAY) And obviously when they do use their magic, it's not as strong as it used to be. Solomon says he's having the same issue. He obviously notices it when he banishes the hellfire salamander, though if you ask him about it, he just says it's nothing. Which is funny because then he tells you all about his problem with it later when you're making dinner. I swear I lose my mind every time they use that clown music in the story.

Anyway, the most interesting part of this to me was when Solomon said these things:

At first I was like, is that what's happening? They're making it so that MC can't go back? Isn't that what we are all dreading?!

But then if you say you don't think you'll do it in time he says this:

Okay?? So should I be concerned or not?! I don't want to get stuck in the past, I want them to bring us back to the present or maybe merge the timelines or something?! I dunno, but I really can't figure out how they're going to wrap this up in a way that works. Unless they do what happened last time MC went to the past and erase everyone's memories. Which was something Michael did...

But overall, this situation seems pretty cut and dry. Gotta get those pacts, yo.

Mammon, on the other hand...

He seems to be going through something, huh? The thing is I can't figure out what it is. Something is definitely up, but what? Also it kinda seems like Simeon might be involved in this somehow?

MC is hurt. Mammon wants them to pay for the ointment that will heal them. Simeon shows up and just does it himself.

MC finds the coin and gives it to Simeon. Mammon takes it for himself and Simeon's just like yeah okay that's fine.

Then in the HARD LESSON (SPOILERS) Simeon actually blesses Mammon with good luck before he goes out to look for the lost coin. Not to mention their whole conversation about the Celestial Realm and the hot cocoa... (END SPOILERS)

And MC is aware that Mammon is not acting normally. But Simeon seems to be his usual self? I'm just wondering if whatever is going on with Mammon, Simeon might be the one to help him somehow? It kinda seemed to me like Mammon was being more greedy than usual, like something going on with his sin?

But MC isn't the only one who's noticed something is up with Mammon.

May I present: Lucifer, Avatar of Ellipses -

...

What is going on with this guy? I mean, okay, not all of these were about Mammon, but I'm pretty sure most of them were.

Anyway, Lucifer does this thing where it's obvious he's thinking about something or he's worried about something, but he just doesn't say anything about it. It drives me crazy. I'm like listen here MC is right there! Talk to them!

Okay that's all I really had to say about the lesson and story stuff, but there are a few other things that I just loved.

SIMEON oh my gosh the way he swoops in and heals MC I was like yes, please heal me forever thank you.

His precious look of concern...

... and then this confident smile!? I just love him.

Also going grocery shopping with Lucifer and Beel in 21-A was just so sweet and domestic?! Neither of them could remember what any of their brothers wanted, they would have been totally useless without MC there rattling everything off. It was adorable, but also just soft times with Lucifer are always my favorite thing.

Yeah. Concerned about how you can bottle all your feelings and still be so hot.

Anyway!

Wherever they're going with this magic weakening thing better not result in MC stuck in the past forever. But I do hope we're getting some Mammon story now because I love him, too.

[bereft-of-frogs]

Ok so I've definitely entered my 'blending headcanon and critique to make The Acolyte make sense to me' era because I loved enough of it to really want to be able to rewatch it, but I'm struggling with a few things, mostly about the ending. The first to tackle: what was up with Sol's sudden pivot into obsession with the vergence in the finale?

That's an easy fix: make Sol obsessed with the vergence from the start.

Ok, maybe not such an easy fix because this requires us living in the alternate universe where there is a secretly good 12 episode cut of the show that understands how to work in flashbacks as a B plot properly and not just dump them in two clumps without any framing device. (I can't believe my framing device theory wasn't real lol that seemed like such an easy setup.) We'd really need more of the flashback way earlier to avoid the mistake of introducing these big concepts in episode 7 of 8. (Bonus, imagine how much more devastating a betrayal Aniseya's death at Sol's hands would have been if we'd gotten more time with all of them on Brendok.)

Anyway yeah, in the secretly good 12 episode season, we're introduced pretty quickly to past!Sol and his main two character motivations: 1) his desire for a student (also sets up a good dark mirror with Qimir) and 2) his conviction that a vergence is what cause the resurgence of life post-hyperspace disaster, and these two motivations interplay with each other throughout the narrative. This would make Sol's relationship with Indara more interesting, if it brings them into conflict. Because Indara doesn't seem to be convinced the phenomenon is caused by a vergence (she says as much in the scene around the fire) and Sol disagrees with how she's handling Torbin's restlessness. (I've defended her in the past, I won't reiterate here, but see this post for my defense of Indara lol.) It makes sense too, given that he's the one that brings up the vergence in the first place, in that scene at the fire. And in the early parts of the present narrative, maybe we get an early throwaway line, in place of one of the 'we were stationed on Brendok', could be something like 'we were searching for something important...but that doesn't matter now' to signify it was something on Sol's mind but not give away the whole truth right away.

While the murder investigation, etc happens in the present, we're cutting back occasionally to the flashbacks, where Sol comes across the girls playing. I think Sol genuinely did feel both a connection to Osha and concern for their safety, so that's where motivation #1 (a padawan) starts to take precedence over motivation #2 (the vergence). But #2 is still there, coming up again in the first confrontation, after Indara asks about the girls' father and Sol starts to suspect they were created by the vergence. This could explain why he insisted on both girls being tested (at least in the episode 3 dialogue, that's cut from 7 for some reason). The interplay between these motivations would also explain why he rushes into the fortress when he senses Osha's distress, but the first words out of his mouth to Aniseya are to ask how the girls were created.

In the aftermath of the ensuing tragedy though, when faced with the guilt of killing Aniseya and choosing to save Osha over Mae, after his confrontation with Indara...he realizes he fucked up big time. He has to let go of his fixation on the vergence in order to make things right with Osha and focus entirely on motivation #1: raising and training her. And besides, there's no proof of the vergence remaining because the main evidence was the blood test proving they were the same consciousness, but without Mae it just looks like they mistakenly ran the sample twice or something. So he lets it go. He just focuses on Osha and buries all that stuff about Mae and the vergence down deep, as the darkness he never faces, and hopes it never comes up again.

And then Sol chills out even more! Ten years pass and he realizes he also made a mistake getting so emotionally attached to Osha and acting out of that possessive attachment. So when she decides to leave the Order, he lets her go with love! He matures and moves into a more stable position as a master, he becomes a teacher, he gets a padawan in the traditional way, everything seems good. I bet he felt a certain amount of relief. Guilt, yes, but after so long I bet it felt like it was all in the past and he's a different person now, what happened was sad and horrible but there's nothing to be done so he just focuses on being the best Jedi he can in the present.

Until of course, everything gets completely upended again by the revelation that Mae is not dead after all. She's alive and coming for revenge. There's definitely some of the 'oh shit I fucked up even more than I originally thought' panic, and freaking out that the Order is about to find out the truth of what Sol did, but also all the vergence stuff gets dragged up again. Because now he might be able to prove it. I think for a while Sol suppresses that thought, and really believes his actions during the investigation are motivated by good. He wants to capture Mae alive, he doesn't want another Jedi who might be willing to eliminate her to stop her because he genuinely wants to save her and find a way to make what happened right -- but he also needs her alive to prove she and Osha are one consciousness. He wants to warn Torbin and Kelnacca that Mae is coming for them -- but he also needs them to testify to the vergence on Brendok 16 years ago. Why else is Sol so insistent on talking to Torbin? If it was just a case of apprehending Mae, they don't need to talk, they just need to stake out the temple and wait to catch her in the act. What other subject would he be so certain Torbin would break the vow of silence for?

But then Khofar happens and goes so horribly wrong and so now Sol's in a full downward spiral, with even more blood on his hands. I don't think he really wants to hurt Mae in that final episode, but he's just cracking under the weight of all the deaths he's directly or indirectly responsible for, and he's left with nothing but the vergence. Everyone is dead and he feels he had a hand in all of it. He’s the last one alive, other than the twins, the last thing he can cling to is going back to the start, proving this vergence exists, because maybe then it will all mean something. And his unhinged behavior in the finale is the culmination of all that guilt and grief and being left with nothing but the obsession with the vergence beyond any rationality. (Until the real final culmination, when he comes back to himself for a moment at the end and tells Osha it's okay while she's killing him.)

I've still got some stuff to wildly invent explanation, like why the vergence was so important in the first place, what it actually was, why Koril was so scared of the Jedi finding out about it, but I think this helps me wrap my head around some stuff so I can rewatch the finale without being like 'huh?' I think this also fits with the duality themes, that Sol's motivations were never in balance, in the end he wasn't able to reconcile his obsession with the vergence and his genuine love for Osha and regret for what happened to Mae. I do suspect it would have (imo) worked better if they'd given some of Torbin's last minute 'we have to prove the vergence' motivation to Sol. Because the series as it stands, doesn't have much setup for that obsession with either of them, but for Torbin it has neither setup nor payoff, at least with Sol then it would connect to why he's scrambling to get them to Brendok in the finale. It also makes sense to me to sort of just re-order than scene in the forest to have Sol be the driving factor to getting them to go back to the fortress, especially because he ALSO thinks something is wrong. It's that double whammy motivation that leads them into the catastrophe. There are definitely still holes and this isn't so much a 'this is what I think the show was trying to do' and more a 'let me rearrange this into a shape that will allow me to watch lightsaber duels without thinking so much.'

ANYWAY tldr: introducing the vergence and making it a more significant part of Sol’s character arc much earlier would have solved a bunch of issues AND be a really compelling narrative where it combined and conflicted with his other main motivation, a genuine love and connection with Osha and deep regret for what he did to Mae and their mother. They just biffed it a bit by only bringing up the vergence in episode 7 of 8.

really tldr: I know I'm doing the 'every day Star Wars fans come on here and say some version of Star Wars would be so good if it was good' but I mean I've been doing that for like 25 years at this point and I find it fun so. Continuing. XD

[nobodyfamousposts]

I apologize if this has been asked before but how different would the Mominette/Dolls AUs be if Luka was their "Dad" and not Adrien? He can still be their uncle or something.

There would be some differences.

Probably post-Silencer, Marinette makes a Littlebug Doll for Luka. She "wakes up" while he's playing a guitar and Luka is understandably surprised when he's broken out of his "zone" to the feeling of Littlebug resting against him while listening to him play.

Luka is understandably surprised because okay, the doll is clearly alive. But she's peaceful and seems to like his song so he keeps playing and observes her for a bit.

Littlebug: (P erks up at one of the songs he plays)

Luka: Oh. You like that?

Littlebug: (Nods)

So Luka plays more and Littlebug smiles and sorta sways with the tune.

But she sways too far at one point and falls over.

Luka picks her up.

Littlebug is sheepish but smiles at him in thanks.

It reminds him of Marinette—whom Luka remembers was the one to give him this doll and figures he should check on her because if her doll is alive, it may be because she's an akuma.

He calls Marinette and is happy to confirm she ISN'T an akuma. But does immediately tell her that her Ladybug doll came to life.

Marinette: ....wait. What?

This results in Marinette knowing about Littlebug much, MUCH sooner. A lot of things happen sooner, actually. The Dolls meeting and becoming friends/siblings. Luka and Marinette discovering the other's dolls and starting to co-parent. And the Dolls determining that the two ARE their parents and start calling them "Mama" and "Papa".

But since this is still season 3 era, what DOES take time to work out is the reveal of Marinette's identity as Ladybug.

The other issue would be whether it's Chaton or Little Viperion staying with Marinette. Still debating...

On the one hand, I know everyone adores Chaton and he is very much a Mama's Boy and it wouldn't feel right to put him with anyone else. Plus part of me argues that changing their dad figure doesn't necessarily mean the dolls themselves have to be swapped.

....on the other hand, it is a Little Viperion. A Neonate, if you will.

What IS clear though is that there would be a major difference in how the Dolls act because of this.

Marinette made Littlebug to protect Adrien and make him happy. And given Adrien's life, Littlebug takes her "job" very seriously.

But Luka....while I don't doubt Marinette would make Littlebug for the same reasons and the same "purpose", the fact is that Luka's got a pretty easy-going life and is capable of handling his own problems. So no one is threatening Littlebug's Papa or trying to throw her into trash bins. Littlebug of course is gonna want to protect him during akuma fights, but otherwise, he's fine.

Then there's the OTHER point that Luka is more chill but also wouldn't be as much of a pushover as Adrien. He would be more responsible when looking after his little Doll/sweetheart/mini menace. So he wouldn't let Littlebug get away with as much. :p

But that's okay! Because Luka has Juleka and Anarka both of whom would let Littlebug get away with murder. And let's be real here...how long do you really think Luka would manage to go before Littlebug gets discovered?

So yeah. Anarka has magical grandkids and just ADORES them. And teaches them all the things they need to know. Like how to pick locks. How to evade pursuers. How to deal with enemies.

Littlebug is gonna be a pirate!

Luka would try to be the responsible parental figure (which Marinette would certainly appreciate)...but it only helps so much when Anarka encourages the antics.

Then there's Juleka...

Shy sweet Juleka.

Littlebug is a serious Doll with a serious purpose. And as per her purpose, she wants to protect and dote on someone. Luka is her main person she's bonded to and was made for, but he's mostly self sufficient and it's clear he looks out for Littlebug more than the other way around. However, whether through the Dolls' innate empathic abilities or just the vicariousness of children, Littlebug adores anything Luka cares about, and Luka cares about his little sister.

Cue Littlebug doting on Juleka.

If she's not with Luka or Marinette, Littlebug is never far from Juleka. She will defend the Princess's honor and break any nasty curse that threatens her smile!

Just try and pull another stunt, Chloe. SEE WHAT HAPPENS!

So yes. Littlebug's got quite the family. Music and deliveries with Luka. School and modeling with Juleka. Fashion and playtime with Marinette. And fun and crimes with Anarka.

...and just wait until Jagged and Penny join the fun...

[irish-urn]

Hi Ive been reading your LWD posts. I was wonsering what your thoughts were on George and Nora as parents ( if youre up to sharing them) >>

Greetings! Welcome to my blog! Would you like a cup of tea? A blanket? A lot of conversation? I noticed you reblogged one of my posts with a note that Derek Venturi is YOUR blorbo too!!!! What a shithead. Gosh I love him.

So. You want to know my thoughts about George and Nora as parents. I have a lot of thoughts, actually. Some of them are conflicting.

This is gonna get long, so I'll put it under a Read More.

I guess my first question is: Have you read any of my fics? This isn't me plugging my work; I ask mostly because I think you get a decent idea of a lot of my thoughts via my kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight series, which is basically my idea of what happens after LWD and Vacation with Derek (but NOT Life with Luca).

But basically: I think that George and Nora are good people with good intentions and a lot of heart who aren't actually very good parents (that may make some people upset. oops). I think they love their children very very much. I also think they're very human. And I think their parenting skills are lacking in different ways.

So, as you may have noticed — or maybe you didn't; it's cool either way — I am doing a re-watch of LWD (very slowly because I am very busy and prefer to write and hate watching things by myself) and I'm about halfway done Season 2. And I think they're both lacking in different ways, which in part affects their children but also their lack may be because of their children's personalities.

George: I genuinely think George likes his kids. I think he loves them. I also think he has pretty much given up on raising Derek, and it's only Nora's guidance that is keeping Marti from being a total brat. I think we can assume that the advice and discipline that he gives Marti is the same kind he have Derek and Edwin — I mean, that only makes sense, right? You usually IMPROVE your skills on the younger children, actually, as you get more practice and see the results of the older kids, so he may have actually been even MORE lax with Derek and Edwin. When George DOES discipline Derek, he tends to overcompensate, and it's clear to me from Derek's body language, his reactions, and his lack of respect, that George picks and chooses when he disciplines Derek. It's very inconsistent, and it seems to be based more on when Derek inconveniences GEORGE or costs him money. Inconsistent discipline is, like, the worst kind you can raise a children with: you have to choose a strictness level and then try to stick to it, even if it's super relaxed. It's the inconsistency that's problematic!!! George's parenting style has raised three brats — and I love the Venturis. I really do. But my GOSH are they bratty!!!

I think George mostly enjoys being a dad, but likes the fun parts a lot more than the rotten parts. I think George really likes how grown up and easy Casey and Lizzie are compared to his children. I think he's gonna be an AMAZING grandpa. I have a LOT of HCs about Derek's childhood that get incorporated into my fics, including this idea that Abby got pregnant with Derek before she and George were married, and George felt the need to grow up FAST to be a dad, and just... Didn't really finish the job. I think he sees a lot of himself in Derek, and a lot of the the things he sees are the parts of himself he doesn't like.

Nora: I think Nora loves her daughters and her new stepchildren. I think, however, that her divorce to Dennis was BRUTAL. Unlike Abby and George's, which I've always imagined as more mutual, there's something about the way Nora panics with Dennis comes to visit and how Casey and Lizzie act around him that gives the impression that it was a NASTY divorce. I think Nora probably leaned a lot on her two girls (understandably so), and I think the three of them saw each other as a team. I think Nora started to see Casey as a combination of her best friend, right-hand man, and almost redemption for the mistakes of her marriage. I think, by accident, Nora puts a lot of pressure on Casey (and Lizzie), and the two of them react accordingly (I also think Casey tries to shelter Lizzie from this when she can. Casey is VERY much an example of parentification).

What does this mean? Something I've noticed is that Nora cares a LOT about how their family is viewed. When Lizzie makes them take the quiz about the children and they fail, Nora is upset -- but doesn't actually do anything to solve the problem? When Lizzie points out about their carbon use, Nora is worried what it will look like to the OTHER moms. I think Nora loves her girls and is doing her best to raise them... I just also think she's tired. Sometimes the way she reacts to Casey is like, 'Oh my, she's just being a dramatic teenager' which, while true, does not invalidate Casey's feelings and problems!! I think Nora does a lot more parenting that George, but doesn't always hit the finish line. Sometimes, she just sees it and calls it good enough.

What does this mean? I think it means they tried. I think it means they're human. I think they have full time jobs and five dramatic children and past-marriages that have left scars on them. I in NO WAY think the five/six children are abused whatsoever. I just think that sometimes Lizzie is so good that she slips through the cracks; I think Derek has done a lot more raising of BOTH Edwin and Marti than anyone is willing to admit. I think Casey has anxiety because of the parentification. I think Derek's distaste for authority and his faux-casualness is his reaction to George (and Abby)'s inconsistent parenting style.

So, tldr: I don't think they're good parents. I also don't think they're BAD. I just think they could've been a lot better.