#I guess? are they really spoilers at this point?

[categoricalglitches]

I guess this is pretty close to my assessment too.

Would I have liked to have continued with the political thread more? Absolutely, yes. Do I recognize that this show is literally called Arcane and so that was probably never in the cards? Well. Y'know.

Hadn't personally connected it with the Jinx stuff but that makes sense too.

for the record, i agree with the criticism that the zaun-piltover conflict kind of fell to the wayside in the last act. they definitely prioritized the arcane storyline over the political aspect that was so central to the first season and i would've liked to have more closure on that. but i also think that jinx's storyline wasn't the right place to do it. i think that given the conversation she had with her hallucination of silco in the jail cell, she came to the conclusion that he wouldn't have wanted for her to be the face of his revolution like sevika thought

violence has ruled jinx's life for so long and to continue to remain there would have perpetuated it. in season 1 she was emotionally unstable and hallucinating constantly because of the stress she was under. and we've seen when she's happiest, and it was when she was free from that violence with isha or in the commune with vi. silco's last words were reassurances that the whole revolution wouldn't have been worth it if she wasn't there with him. he used his dying breath not to tell her to continue it without him, but to reassure her that she was still perfect in his eyes. i don't know if he understood the harm he was doing to her by forcing her to continue that cycle of violence. but in the end leading the revolution would have eventually made her miserable. her leaving gives her a chance to finally be free

[wingedshadowfan]

⚠️arcane s2 act iii spoilers⚠️

i've seen the edits but i've not heard a single soul talk abt caitlyn fighting ambessa in the last battle. so i will: first abt how she was able to do what she did, and then the fight itself and what i think it symbolizes for her.

ppl complained abt caitlyn getting too close to ambessa on the noxian ship to zaun, all friendly like this was a mother-daughter sparring lesson, but let's not forget caitlyn is an amazing strategist. she saw an opportunity to not only improve her own hand-to-hand combat skills by learning from ambessa, a formidable warrior (bcuz caitlyn is a long range sharpshooter and even tho she's an excellent shot, she isn't a strong opponent in melee and she knows it), but also because to make herself familiar with ambessa's fighting style would mean to know what to expect.

when ambessa fights dirty as part of her lesson, caitlyn takes her anger out on her immediately and attacks her from the back to show two can play that game. this is a great moment of foreshadowing - caitlyn's patience is wearing thin, she's frustrated with ambessa. she might turn on her, betray her and use her own tricks to do it (of course, her and vi's unconditional trust in each other, something foreign to ambessa, is what sells it). this is just my interpretation and i don't know when but i think at one point caitlyn realized she might eventually have to fight ambessa for real - their disagreements were becoming more frequent, the tension between them more palpable and if she really knew ambessa was manipulating her the entire time like she said...

fast forward and caitlyn's got the element of surprise, sure, but all vi's been doing since the last time they saw each other is bashing people's skulls in at an underground boxing ring (and getting drunk, i guess). vi has always been a much stronger opponent in hand-to-hand combat, she "blocks with her face" and isn't scared to take a punch bcuz she's extremely good at it. she's tough and willing to take a lot of damage as a trade off if she can deal a lot back. caitlyn is a more careful and less robust type. but if you look more closely, she tackles vi to the ground brutally using the same exact combo she learnt from ambessa during their earlier spar. fast learner.

in the last fight, caitlyn gets roughed up, gassed up (here's how she fights in melee in low vision just before that by the way, already so much improvement from season 1), she gets stabbed in the side and leaves the dagger in there (rightfully so - smart choice for a smart character). she's brought to her knees with a gun to her head, and as soon as maddie falls dead on her, she's up again and fighting. but it's not like that doesn't affect her, she becomes slower, shakier, and proceeds to take the most hits she's ever taken on screen, potentially the hardest ones too, even with mel's help and shields. she falls and falls and keeps getting up, showing insane resilience. ambessa can't put her down for good. she's fighting like a woman gone mad, female rage and all that, having forgotten all self-preservation.

like she's got a death wish, she punches ambessa mid-sentence and tells her to shut up and fight. caitlyn kiramman interrupted a warmonger's villain speech bcuz she's bleeding out and has no time for this shit. all she can do before she goes down is try to buy mel time, give her a good opportunity to use the black rose necklace. she's centimeters away from getting stabbed in the eye and she can't overpower ambessa whose dagger is sticking through mel's shield when she realizes the talismans on ambessa's arm are protecting her. so she pushes forward, literally trading her eye off to find herself within range, and she takes the dagger out of her own side to slice the talisman free. she's literally bleeding out at this point but one smart decision, a few tremendous sacrificies and it's over.

in my interpretation, caitlyn regrets going too far in her pursuit of jinx, making vi a cop, gassing up the undercity, shooting with isha on top of jinx, hurting vi, joining ambessa and all the atrocities that came out of their partnership when caitlyn became commander. she wishes she'd never made those mistakes but she knows she can't undo them now. the way caitlyn fights against ambessa here - reckless, desparate, like she's got nothing to lose - shows how much she wishes to fix things because that's all she can do now. that's her purpose, her salvation from her guilt, but also the right thing to do.

it reminds me of her talk with imprisoned jinx and then her talk with vi after that. caitlyn seems to be projecting onto jinx bcuz of her own guilt for what she's done when she tells her she can't turn back time, undo her mistakes or make up for what's already done. no one can. but vi asks her, "who are you to decide who gets a second chance and who doesn't?" and it makes caitlyn realize she still has agency. she can always attempt to fix things, right her wrongs to the best of her abilities. and what does she do immediately after that conversation? she sends all the guards to the hex gates so vi can free jinx.

UPDATE: here's another post talking about what cait sending those guards away meant, how much she sacrificed in her attempts to do right by vi, including a comment about what it means for a sniper to lose her eye that i found brilliant.

[hexname]

Foreshadowing on point

(spoilers: S2)

as a tarot reader, I would like to explain how in these cards, there was everything about Viktor's future. I rewatched some scenes from S1 and, indeed, found some signs that could indicate what would happen in S2, so let me tell you about this one!

It's important to point out these scenes are just a second apart. While Sevika is reading Tarot (or gambling with Tarot cards?), they still show Viktor's future, quite well actually

Death

An obvious assumption would be that Death card simply means dying, and yes, in this case, it was literal, since Viktor indeed died.

BUT, Death also symbolises an ending and a new beginning, which is, you guessed it, Viktor's Glorious Evolution that he talks about so dearly. He saw it as the end of people's suffering, and beginning of a new, better world.

The card and the atmosphere also remind me of Viktor's "higher form" as I would say, since I really don't know how to call it. But, yeah, like a soul that parted ways with a body (which makes sense, considering Viktor here is a soul and can take bodies of his followers).

The magician

The magician is someone who has stuff under their control, and Viktor has... well, whole timeline under his control, multiple timelines, even. At least he thought so. But the fact still remains: he used magic to control own body, modify it, and modify the bodies of others. He used magic as his tool, just as magician would.

Not to mention, that being on the card looks like Viktor himself, even has a third arm.

At first, I thought that the symbol on the tarot card could have been some kind of a rune, but it's not, as far as I know from my research. Still, that white circle looks similar to one Viktor has behind his head.

In any case, I think it's save to say that this foreshadowing was great.

Now, about the initials at the bottom left corner

I honestly, see M, V and J here, but I don't have a proper argument nor any theory that would make sense, except that these might be initials, as I said (Mel, Viktor, Jayce, perhaps). But again, I'm not sure what they could mean. Perhaps it's just a coincidence and I am looking way too into it because I love the complicated triangle between those three...

But yeah, that's all. I just wanted to share what I have noticed, and what I think I could have explained well. Do share your thoughts about it, though!

[toasthaste]

ok here are some In Stars and Time thoughts: (wow! that's a lot of thoughts actually! long post warning! also warning for like every possible spoiler, don't read this if you haven't engaged with the game to your satisfaction)

I'm obsessed with the fact that the loop that ends up being the final one is the one where EVERYTHING goes wrong. I spent the whole game subconsciously building up my Perfect Final Loop in my mind, how I'd get every item to make sure I didn't miss an opportunity to use em, do all the friendquests and such... I didn't even realize I'd been building up that ideal scenario until after credits rolled! Really really cool. The timeline where Siffrin does the worst stuff he does in any loop is the one that stays. And it's still a happy ending! it's a better ending because of that! His friends saw him at his worst and still loved him! He didn't have to do everything perfect to keep them around actually! Something about that feels so right, to me.

I keep using "ludonarrative resonance" to describe this game and yeah ok I'm huffing my own farts here whipping that out but whatever, it's REAL. The player and Siffrin are on the EXACT same emotional journey as each other, we're getting tired of seeing the exact same lines over and over again right alongside them, we're taking shortcuts because we've seen it all before and just want to grab key open door grab crest etc etc make the progress go. We're starting to find these previously-charming characters grating because we've just seem them repeat the SAME lines over and over and over and OVER again until they start feeling like caricatures of themselves who we can barely feel any real compassion for any more.... It's just so.... clean, it's so perfect, to me. It helps that Siffrin is also one of the more relatable characters I've encountered in, like, media. I don't usually relate to fictional characters much, but, man, the emotional constipation, the building scorn, the depression, the Being Weird About Touch... I mentioned in another post that it's really just Siffrin and Murderbot who I've ever found viscerally relatable, of all the characters ever in media. So like, it's a pretty rare position. (I do not relate to the pun-love though. I'm funny I'm good at goofs but bad puns are extremely tedious to me. Which perhaps goes to show how well-realized Siffrin is, given that I'm able to look the other way....)

I think they could have stood to make Loop's Whole Deal a bit more obvious. I had no clue what their fucking deal was at any point. I totally missed the interaction that lets you learn about The Incident and thus get more Loop info at the end, and... it's valid to have different endings in a game of course, but... I felt like I really missed out tbh! And I had no way of knowing I had to keep interacting with the silver coin.... idk. It felt a bit like a gotcha I suppose. And Loop's deal is really cool! Holy hell! I'm doing a quick replay of the game to see more convos with them with this context, and to get the ending with them, and like--!!! There's so much here! Loop tellins Sif to use the royal We, they even tell Siffrin, like-- Loop asks Siffrin why he doesn't just tell his friends about the loops, maybe they can help, why keep it a secret? Meanwhile... Loop!Siffrin is stuck in their own helpless timefuckery world and refusing to let Siffrin know about it! The Siffrin from the Start Again timeline never learned those lessons, they're still trying to help someone else while refusing to ask for help themselves, refusing to even let on that there's a problem! And getting more and more emotionally fucked up about it! Man it's good. I guess it does make a replay more rewarding, not knowing this until the end, the first time, but so much of the game is already a replay that, idk, it does feel weird to replay it. I've already done so many repetitions y'all.... But I guess that's pretty meta, also...

Oh I'm under the impression this is not terribly uncommon but I absolutely did get got by the ?diary? that had the story of the person making a duplicate of themselves so they had someone to talk to. Like I fully thought that was describing the King and Siffrin, I spent a long time under the mistaken impression that Siffrin was a copy of the King in some capacity. Oops.... I might try to gently lead Beloved Roomie away from this interpretation when she plays it. Planning on being pretty hands-off overall but this is one area where I feel it might be justified to violate the prime directive.... But we'll see!

I wish I liked the music more..... This is a game that I think really begs for some real heartwrenching tunes to enhance all of the everything but instead none of it does it for me at all. I think that's a real shame, it's by far my biggest complaint. I'm not asking for Undertale-tier, but, at least something I'd want to put on my playlist for the emotional resonance, y'know?

THEY ACTUALLY KILLED THE KID !!!! LIKE!!!! I guess I have some biases I might should think about but I was not expecting a game that begins with so many explicit pronouns introductions (rather than just giving us context clues) and that has no real cursing to be willing to kill the kid, even impermanently? Let alone so gruesomely? I think I was expecting a much greater level of.... idk, tweeness, fanglessness, than we actually got. In spite of being a fan of insertdisc5's comics for YEARS and years! And like! Damn! Props to them!

God. God. So, like. All the ending fakeouts were fucking great. I genuinely thought the All Friendship Quests ending might be the Real One, I was prepared to be disappointed because it felt too soon and just not.... quite.... right? But I did think that was probably where it was heading! But it wasn't! I got got and it's so heartwrenching and also so satisfying, the mood whiplash from loop to loop is fucking sublime.

And-- AND! The real ending! So like. Some of the stuff I missed was just me not pursuing specific content correctly. But some of it is genuinely just, like, stuff that has no actual purpose besides flavor. Flavor, and.... The locked passphrase door in Dormont. The four-pointed leaf you can get (but not in the final loop!), the bell chime, etc etc. You can't actually really do anything with any of this stuff. But you don't know that! It feels like there's still all these loose ends! And!!! Those loose ends do their job SO WELL! The dev knows Gamer Instincts, knows people are gonna have that mental tally of boxes-yet-to-be-checked. Left some forever unchecked on purpose, which-- At the end, the real end, when Siffrin is about to talk to the Head Housemaiden and find out, for real, if this is the final loop or if it's all going to happen again, again, again. He's scared. He's traumatized! He's thought he Had It so many times! SO many times!!! Hope is terrifying! Hope is a poison! And the game has left these loose threads, and at least for me I really was not sure it was going to work. Like it seemed likely but the same metaknowledge of story structure that made me think it was likely also told me "but wait, there's all these loose threads, and the only way for them to trick us again WOULD BE to make the ending SO elaborate and epilogue-y....." I was nervous right along with Siffrin! I was uncertain! Fucking fantastic work, using my own gamer's instincts against me. Thrilled about it.

All the characters are so well realized. They all have specific relationships with each other, not just with Siffrin (Important!!!!! Huge complaint I had with BG3, they didn't put their whole pussies into this!!!!). And, and, I love how they all have different feelings about the time loops. I love that Mirabelle doesn't want "spoilers," and meanwhile Bonnie doesn't mind them and thinks of their alt-selves as like... them-but-not-them in a very cool way.

There's something about-- the way the game starts as a regular degular videogame and then graaaadually becomes, essentially, a visual novel as the actual gameplay becomes trivialized. Which itself is like, really really cool with the themes! And also, just.... I never would have picked up a straight up visual novel, I just, don't get into them, I'd rather read a book, but! I was already invested! It got its hooks into me when there was gameplay mixing things up and those hooks weren't about to let go just because the gameplay didn't super matter any more!

Straight up when we first see Red I didn't at all process that it was a Color in a game with No Colors, Canonically. They had to spell it out for me. It didn't occur to me to be surprised. I'm just too used to colors existing I guess idk. I think I wish the colors thing had gone somewhere a bit more...? I'm GUESSING it mostly originated as just a cute little explanation for why the game is all grayscale and then fit in with enough stuff to be given elevated importance (?) But it felt... hm. Underdeveloped, maybe. I think I really want more stories in this.... "Setting" and "Universe" and "Series" are not quite the right words but hopefully you get the idea. I want more so there can be one that develops that more. Not that leaving stones unturned is, like, illegal ofc. I just find the idea very compelling....

What is it with time loop stories and themes of loss that cannot be outsmarted. Man. I wondered, for so long, if Siffrin's country was going to be restored in people's minds, if that was one of the main big Plot Things we'd see. And it just didn't! Their memory is going to keep being bad, they're going to keep having all these huge tragic gaps and it's just. What can you do. At some point you have to either be permanently paralyzed by the horrific injustice you've suffered-- or you have to try to live a life. And. Man. I don't think I've actually ever encountered a story that was so much about that exact specific form of loss, the loss of one's culture, history, language! All of it. Gone from everywhere. It made me think of the obvious things and just. Man. What a howling void. The contrast with Odile's deal made it a lot more effective too I think. More of an expanded meditation upon these themes than just one toe dipping in, I guess? Hm.

Odile's battle profile pic when she's at low health is so fucking hot this cartoon character is so hot goddammit.

Game good. You're only reading this if you've already played it, I hope, so I can't use this space to recommend it in a meaningful way but. Heck. Game good.

[kangel92]

If J is Malfunction in the Ame Au, those this mean she disconnected from Cyn

In the sense that Cyn thinks she dead. So when she travel to copper nine with clone J she find out Original J is alive with a girlfriend worker drone

Also did J told Ame about Tessa and her past ?

(Sorry I ask to much I love this au of Businesswoman J with her small cute girlfriend amen)

Hiii please don't apologize for asking😭💖 it makes me so happy to know you like it that much!🥹

Warning, here comes a lot of yapping(?) and uh prolly spoilers for future comics or so, hehe.

Yes! Like you said, she disconnected from Cyn, buuuut that was after being reassembled:D when she came back malfunctioning. Cyn was the one controlling her core at the beginning, and the one that Ame met in the first comic, actually.

Before you ask anything else, yes, Cyn attempted to kill Ame. But I’d like to imagine she kinda survived in a comical-movie-like situation in which Cyn tried to strike her and she dodged the attacks by luck without noticing it xDD

Soo. AS knows J isn’t dead. It knows some worker drones helped her (because she was practically there agreeing to everything lol). Cyn expected J to kill the worker drones once she had her body back, and then report back, but when she didn’t, Cyn assumed that:

1. Somehow she had teamed up with the traitors (N and V)

2. Her communication device wasn’t working correctly

3. Point 2 + escaped by herself

Cyn most likely believed in point 1 or 3.

Soooo she decided to reboot the whole squad. Erase their memories and start from scratch once again. When she tried to remotely delete N’s and V’s memories, in this AU, she tried to delete J’s memories too.

J hadn’t really talked about Tessa or her past that much. Just some things here and there. Ame guessed it was a topic J didn’t want to touch— but she ended up learning everything about her when going inside her mind (a scene very alike episode 5:home! Uzi entered N’s and V’s mind, and then she string along with Ame too when going into J’s!)

I imagine that scene kinda being the one that makes Ame and J bond deeper, and a moment in which J reconnects with her whole team and decides to try and fight against Cyn :”)

Next comic scheduled to be posted on Friday is kinda the scene after that. J being like “okay now that we are officially turning against this fucking horrible eldritch being, we need to plan how are we gonna fight her.” :D

So uhhhhh yeah this is basically Jame/Inkstar lore NAVSMSBSKAJ but I’ve drawn very little of them and I wished I could make all of this into comics. But that would take a lot of time and effort and I have other two aus ongoing + comms and college and work and😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

Thank you for reading all of this :”3

[ageless-aislynn]

I finished The Quarry! 8 hours for my first playthrough and I got 18/40 achievements along the way. To 100% it will require a few more total playthroughs (some of the achievements are blocked by getting others, so need their own playthrough) but I'm looking forward to seeing the other ways that everything can work out!

I made a few decisions that resulted in me completely not getting the results I expected, lol.

SPOILERS, if anybody cares 😉

I saved Laura and cured her of the werewolf infection but apparently didn't have as good a relationship with Travis as I thought I did so he locked her up at the end.

I cured Max but got him killed by Werewolf Caleb by trying to swim to land. 🫤 Emma was killed by Werewolf Max and was the first to die. I let Ryan bleed to death rather than become a werewolf because I honestly thought he was going to be revealed as bad. I thought he had deliberately hung up on calling 911 early in the game and lied about it, which was a clue to his true nature. Instead, oops, the phone really had been cut right then? Sorry, dude. 🤷‍♀️

Werewolf Nick killed Jacob in the cages because at that point I thought I was inevitably going to get everybody killed and figured I might as well go for that achievement. So I let Jacob be killed and then eventually realized I had too many infected werewolves by that time and they don't die so... oops. Killed you for nothing, Jacob, my bad. 🫤😉 I accidentally got Kaitlyn killed by failing the shooting QTE and I guess that was Werewolf Caleb who killed her? (Or was it Werewolf Silas? I dunno, doesn't matter, my girl was werewolf chow and that made me so sad. 😭)

Dylan and Nick survived as werewolves. Abigail, Laura and Travis all survived as humans. Everybody else ☠️

Characters I came to love by the end:

Dylan

I thought he was going to be the sorta stereotypical wisecracking annoying guy the whole way through and instead you discover he has a heart beneath all of the wisecracks. I love him, your honor! 💖

Kaitlyn

Very similar to Dylan, she proved to have a lot more heart than I expected. I started playing her with her most sympathetic options and wow, my opinion on her completely changed from the initial one. I love her, your honor! 💖

Laura

My badass queen, right here. Love, love, looooove her! I knew we'd see her again in the game at some point after the start and she did NOT disappoint. I seriously wanted the ending where she and Travis work together as well as her getting to meet Max again after he was cured. Definitely going to try for that next! 💖

Max

I had a lot of sympathy for Max. He didn't want to disappoint Laura, he was devastated when he realized he had hurt her after turning werewolf the first time, and he generally was just trying to be a good guy going through some terrible circumstances. Love him and I love him with Laura. 💖

Travis

Yeahhh, it's Ted Raimi. I'ma love him no matter what, lol. And yep, I can quite easily get aboard the Laura x Travis ship right along side the Laura x Max one. I contain multitudes, what can I tell you? 😂💖

I was worried about the level of blood/gore and found it to be not nearly as graphic as I thought it might be. Granted, you get a lot of people ending up splattered in blood so if that's not your thing, be wary of that. The werewolf kills/attacks weren't as graphic as I thought they might've been, so that was good (Kaitlyn's was the worst but at least it wasn't all in-your-face torture p0rn or the like; I just hated it because I didn't want her to die 😭😭😭). Of course, everybody's tolerance for things like that can be different AND there might be more graphic attacks that I just didn't encounter in this playthrough.

Also, the werewolf transformation scenes were some of the most interesting, if, um, wet 👀that I've ever seen. Basically, the werewolf bursts out of the human. I also thought the werewolf design was unique, though they kinda looked like very angry hairless cats to me, lol. 🤷‍♀️😉

Something also worth mentioning is the fact that you can't manually save, it only auto-saves at certain points. The game is very insistent that you can't go back and change your mind on your choices in your first playthrough. After finishing it, you get the option to do 3 "death rewinds" in subsequent playthroughs, where you can get the option to try to undo a character death.

Since I'm somebody who can get stressed out by feeling like I don't want to make a mistake... I had to get over that right away. You also get chapter selects after you finish the first game, so I'm hoping to be able to be able to utilize those 2 mechanics to be able to get all of the achievements I want without having to keep restarting the game over and over. Maybe not everyone will be bothered by that but I thought I should mention it, just in case.

Once I got past my "But what if I'm making the wrong choice???" fears (hint: I probably was, lol), I appreciated having to just stick to the consequences and see it through. 😉

So, in summary: I found this to be a lot of fun to play, there seems to be a TON of outcomes that you can get, I still suck at Quicktime events but am a little better than at the start, and I'm looking forward to playing through again several more times! 😎👍

[seaescapologist]

Just wanted to talk a little bit about the current season (and its ties to the main story). I know it's probably better wait, until it's fully released, but… Spoilers for the first two chapters of the season + Y4

I really like that current season has thematic ties to the main story. I feel like with NOTME being intertwined with the story, it'd only make sense that the subject of squibs in wizarding society should come up. Not to mention Goldings/Merriweather ties to MC (which might be true or not, but at this point I am more inclined to believe them).

So, there were some things in the main story that already pointed to MC likely having magical relative(s), despite (as far as they know) being a muggleborn. First one being our first meeting with Ollivander, where he noted that there is something familiar about MC. Another, what was confirmed in Y4, Elliot is keeping track of MC. And based on what Winifred said at the start of Y3, he's been doing that even BEFORE he approached/started working with Daniel. Since at that point MC didn't really make anything to warrant that kind of attention in the main story, it'd make sense there is something else at play. Originally I thought that 6th former associate of Elliot's (the only former NOTME member aside from him not caught by the Ministry in Y4 as far as we know), was that connection. And I still do think it's very likely (MC not remembering them isn't a problem, considering how Hermione managed to make her family forget her in the books), but admittedly if MC's similarity to Tiburon is true, it does put a dent into one of the main clues in favor of that theory, since that'd at least explain Ollivander's line.

So Glenna and Merriweather's connection to MC. The story makes it pretty clear that Glenna isn't telling us full story. Which doesn't necessary makes what she already said is a lie. The implication that it's very likely that if MC's grandmother was a squib, she was straight up abandoned (and likely obliviated to not even remember having wizarding family), by Tiburon is heavily hinted at after all, based on how Glenna talks about him. Which obviously would explain her awkwardness about possibly contacting MC's grandmother.

But what is also interesting is that Golding house is full of torn up NOTME posters. Not only that, there is even NOTME mask in Marlowe's box of toys. Which doesn't really prove or disprove possible blood-relation to MC. But I do wonder, if that mask is Glenna's or Nyle's. Cause I honestly could buy both possibilities. And I almost feel like Glenna is a more likely suspect there. Especially since it would give another reason why she'd try to connect with MC (and it might be that Nyle's line about him wanting that she'd be "meeting right people" like MC instead was about her associating with NOTME).

Anyway, I've been thinking if Elliot keeping track of MC does have something to do with Merriweather family history. Morven lines suggest that Nyle or even MC's grandmother weren't the first squibs in their lineage. And especially Morven's line about squibs overreaching and always trying to prove themselves (and generally him implying complicated things about family history). I still can't shake the feeling that with the name 'Magic Awakened' there is some kind of artefact or something like that, that could actually do just that in the story (I wonder at what cost, especially with the 'The Tale of the Three Brothers' being in a focus this season), and if MC's squib ancestor played part in creating or uncovering it. And it'd make sense if it's something Elliot would try to get his hands on. The only thing I am not sure about is why Elliot would suspect MC needed to get it. Since one way or another it seems like one of descendants of Merriweather family is already working with NOTME. And also Elliot didn't really try to recruit MC, instead choosing a more indirect approach by working with Daniel. I guess it's possible this item (if it exists) is hidden in Hogwarts. So for obvious reasons neither Nyle nor Glenna would be the best options to get it in that case.

…And once again I am still not completely abandoning idea of that 'Sixth Associate' being connected to MC, after all the story made a point of having only five members of NOTME being caught, in which case that person might have the artefact instead and MC might just be a way to get to them. I think one point in favor of that possibility. Is that Elliot had a falling out with NOTME. But on the surface his goals for the organization seem roughly the same (now, I personally doubt it's genuine, but). So you have to wonder, what caused the split. And I'd say usage of dubious artefact could probably explain it. One way or another that Sixth person seems to be an important factor in the main story, that will come into play sooner or later.

Oh, well. Guess I'll have to wait and see. Hopefully end of this season will provide at least some answers (and further fuel for more theories, that's half the fun).

By the way, another thing that I liked this season is Glenna's love for detective stories (and I agree with her: magic does make it more difficult to write a compelling detective/mystery plot), maybe I am reading too much into it, but almost feel like a nod to creating theories about the story.

Edit. Actually thinking further on it, could Glenna potentially be that 'sixth associate'. Elliot's associates were Hogwarts Alumni (based on what he himself said in Y3), and I sort of assumed that they were in roughly the same age-range (well, likely a bit older than him), but that's not necessary the case after all. Now, posters were Elliot's/'New' NOTME's doing, so not something that past associate would spread, but that's the thing: the ones we see in her house are all torn up (so maybe, not unlike MC in Y4 she was removing them from around the Hogsmeade). And obviously the mask could be just a remnant from working with original NOTME team. ...Though if we interpret Nyle's line about 'right kind of people' as implying NOTME, it sounds like it's more of a recent thing (since it was about meeting 'new people')?

[aamy2100982]

VENOM WAR #5 Just some of my thoughts, big Spoiler Alert for those who haven't read it yet

I actually read it yesterday the 27th, but decided to post today because I needed to think a bit. Not my favorite Venom comic by far.

☆ So finally we have desidated piss-colored Venom, wohooo *low tone

I still think the design is mediocre. But at least I have a better answer as to why it's yellow. Also, I'm glad the first host to try it was Dylan. I was afraid they introduced the new host too quickly, because I've already felt like these last few comics are jumping from point to point like a machine gun.

☆ This whole panel is so sad

Dylan not wanting to hurt his father and Symby not wanting to hurt their lover.

It hurts my heart Symby admitting that they loves Eddie in all his forms even in Meridius one.

Even worse Meridius mocking xd

☆

Just say you hate yourself, dude. it's easier

☆ Can my man take a break? For ONCE?

He got shot, his son stab him, and now he stab himself. Who's left to stab Eddie? Flash? Sleeper? Toxin? Holy crap...

Not even Maridius saved! Anyway he's dead now, I was expecting something more dramatic, but whatever, man, okay I guess.

At least the panel looks cool. Dylan always taking his enemies by surprise, never turn your back on him.

☆ And Lee is there

I have to look up again what his deal was in all this, because I don't remember if he's alive or dead.

Now that the symbiotes are dying is he going to die too? Or is he finally going to do something interesting after all this time?

I've always felt that they wasted Lee's potential and could do something interesting with him. So I hope he doesn't just die... again...

☆ At least Flash is okay now. At this point I'm wondering if Anti Venom has a conscience or is just a permanent part of Flash. Also technically part of Eddie... gay.

I hate how cute Sleeper looks, it's not like you just witnessed the death of two gods, nah. Now you can go back to loaf like a lazy cat.

I find Toxin's face funny :|

☆ Goodbye old Dylan :(

you did well, i'm going to miss you

I don't think many people really liked him that much, and he was actually a bit of a confusing character at times, but I loved his design.

A little in disbelief that this is the end for him. I'd like to assume there's a little more.

☆ But good things don't last. I guess the symbiote is toxic for Dylan now? Is the symbiote toxic to all the other symbiotes now? If anything, the symbiote thinks it's going to die now and that's why it decided to leave?

I'm just going to put the biggest and louder

SIGH

I can... I knew they weren't going to stay together because Symby is getting a new host now, but damn. Does anyone else feel like the unions feel anti-climactic in this comic? I guess they were just in a bit of a rush to wrap things up.

Which is... understandable. They've been doing this crap for like 3 years now, it was time to let it die. But it makes me so sad that Dylan is alone again

The only good thing I can take away from it is that at least the comics are more self-aware that Symby is Dylan's father.

Which means Dylan is going to try to commit patricide again.

Understandable. My poor baby is 14 years old and has no one to turn to.

His brother I guess (Sleeper), I don't know if Flash could take him under his care, anyway Dylan is almost as stubborn as his father to simply get a tutor and go back to his normal life. Probably and technically, we know that now he is going to dedicate himself to hunting the All New Venom

☆ The fact that the symbiote is now toxic to other symbiotes is just an excuse for it to not rejoin Dylan? Because that sounds like bullshit.

And yes, I GET THE POINT. If Dylan joins the symbiote it creates this apocalyptic future that Old!Dylan is trying to prevent... I know, but it still seems unfair to me.

☆ Funny how all this was happening next to a church. Let's not lose good customs

I wasn't understanding what Carnage meant by "Partner".

I think is referring to Meridius or Cletus. So now they're both single, lonely, and hurt.

(My bad! He doesn't say partner, he says parent! Silly me, sorry xd)

Does this mean Eddie thinks the symbiote is dead?

Nice Father-Son reunion, I'm honestly excited to see what nonsense they're going to do!!

[kingofbodyrolls]

I KNOW, I KNOW, I KNOW— I promised I wouldn’t spoil or tease you before the story was fully written. BUT GUESS WHAT? I LIED! I CAN’T HELP MYSELF, OKAY? I’M JUST SO FREAKING EXCITED!!!! 🥳✨

So, um… please don’t be mad? 🙏 Because I may or may not have recorded something—a tiny little audio teaser just for you. 🎙️ (And yes, I know I sound awkward as heck, but these are actually SO fun to make—and hey, bonus points for me practicing my English! Fun fact: I don’t even speak it daily, lol.)

But seriously, this story is different. It’s so emotional, so close to my heart, I’m just 🥹 These characters are living rent-free in my brain 24/7. Every night when I close my eyes, it’s like they’re showing me a movie of their lives. I lie in bed thinking, “What’s next for them? What happens in the next chapter?”—and then BOOM, I dream about it. (Yes, I literally dream about my own stories. No, I’m not okay 😂)

Anyway, if you’re curious, go ahead and give the audio teaser a listen! If spoilers aren’t your thing, no worries—just pretend this never happened. Nothing to see here 👀🙈

I really, really hope you’re excited for this series because I cannot wait to share it with you. I promise (okay, I’ll try) not to spoil or tease again until I can officially drop the masterlist. But for now… let’s just freak out together, okay??

Me—who swore up and down I’d never write another series. (Not because I don’t adore them—seriously, I do! But let’s face it, they just… don’t perform as well as I’d like? And I get all in my feels about it. 🥲)

Anyway! Guess what my brain decided was a fantastic idea to do next? That’s right, folks: Songs of the Heart. 🥹

This was supposed to be a cute little one-shot. Maybe two shots at most. But, noooo, these characters had opinions. They demanded more—so much more. And I caved. Because of course I did. So now we’re doing it. A brand-new series is coming your way! 🥳

✨ Pretty, sparkly, PLEADING eyes here ✨: Please, please show it all the love when it drops! Comment, hype, scream into the void, throw confetti—whatever floats your boat. This one might actually (probably? most likely?) be the last series I ever do. Let’s send it off with a bang, yeah? 💥

Oh, and guess who’s about to make their glorious debut: MUSE Jimin? 🤧 Yup. It’s happening. I’m emotional already. Also—here’s a sneak peek at my extremely chaotic, spoiler-heavy scribbled notes ✍️. (Don’t look too close, or do, but no promises you won’t be spoiled 👀)

Once I’ve wrapped everything up in a neat little bow (or, well, a bow with vibes—we’ll see), I’ll drop all the juicy details: teasers, release dates, schedules—the works. But until then, it’s just us, a little chaos, and a lot of anticipation.

Take care, my lovely readers. Stay amazing, stay hyped, and stay tuned. 🫂💜

[karlyboyyy]

Um… did Wolfwood fuck Milly??? 🫠

[egophiliac]

starting off with an amuse-bouche of some of my initial favorite bits! y'all, this update was WILD.

[alchimistetyche]

What do you MEAN Dean was down on his knees begging Cas to come back to him. Bloodied up not doing anything to defend himself from the angel, who, mind you, was actively beating the life out of him while he was begging.

And then you're telling me it WORKED?? Cas ACTUALLY broke free despite the conditioned response (which I also have thoughts on) he was supposed to have to Dean begging all because Dean pulled a "this isn't you babe"??

And then they NEVER GOT TOGHETHER?!-

I love rewatching this show but I forgot how insane Season 8 made me GEEZ-

edit: i added the link to me roasting naomi's lack of basic psychology understanding because someone kind of asked for it in the tags

[humming-fly]

sadly Arthur can't make friends with every cute woodland creature he comes across in the medieval countryside I can't believe the setting for season 5 has been out for over a month and I haven't seen a single monty python reference yet I guess I'll do it myself

in the spirit of choose-your-own-adventures here's an alternative timeline

[lesbiamano]

i drew a second outfit design for sumi wayyyy back so now i've decided to redraw it and make it better! and also, i chopped her hair off! now THATS what i call character development

[buggachat]

i do just have to say though.................... i feel like people who really really loved the movie's portrayals of the characters are adding aspects of the show characters onto them? you know what i mean? like i see people say that adrien and marinette were more likeable in the movie than the show, when movie adrien didn't perform a single act of kindness in the entire 2 hours despite kindness being a core trait of adrien in the show? marinette was normal and not particularly weird at all and just kind of a generic protagonist? were adrien and marinette actually more interesting in the movie than the show, or are you just cherrypicking the aspects of them you like the from the show and putting them on the movie characters to make your favorite amalgamation?

marinette fell for adrien not because he showed vulnerability and forgiveness and kindness and opened his heart up to her.... but because he awkwardly tried to help her up after being kind of weirded out by her? so like i guess she thought he was hot and that was basically it? chat noir fell for ladybug not because she was strong and confident and showed determination in the face of fear... but because she begrudgingly helped him up in the middle of a battle? so like i guess he thought she was hot and that was basically it? they fell for each other over just the bare minimum interactions? most of their relationship was a montage? like, did the movie do the work to convince you of lovesquare's romantic potential, or did you go into the movie already shipping them because the show had already convinced you?

thats totally a valid way to enjoy the movie ftr! i'm just saying.... idk it's weird to see people praising the movie for being "better" when i feel like a lot of the enjoyment of the movie actually hinges on watching the show as context for their characters. and i guess im just a cringe slow-burn enjoyer but i find it weird that people are using "faster" as a synonym for "better"

[dailyloopdeloop]

DAY 101 (103): do it for Them