#I just can't remember if that started post s2 or post s3

[rotisseries]

anybody else remember how, way back when, there used to be a lot of byler aus with that trope where one is alt and popular and the other one is shy and nerdy? yeah we should bring that back but will is alt and popular this time and mike is the shy nerd methinks

[aziraphales-library]

Y’all are awesome and I appreciate the hell out of this account! Any fics that are an attempt at a season 3? Preferably comedic ones! Thank you so much and keep up the amazing work! ❤️

Hello. We have a #good omens s3 speculation tag, so check that out. Here are more to add that have some kind of humour tag...

a place to be by kaiyen (NR)

In which Crowley moves back into his flat, Aziraphale has problems at work, and the Second Coming of Christ is but a stone's throw away. In the end, Crowley makes it to rolling green hills, leant against a stubbornly yellow Bentley. He remembers the first morning. He had slithered out of the ground not long before dawn, the dirt damp even before the first rain, the grass cool and crisp against his scales. And the sun had risen, jewels spilling across the great blue sky, warm and golden from the East. Crowley – Crawly, then – had wanted to follow it, had felt a great pull Eastwards. He went, too, until he found the ripe red fruit nestled amongst the lush green leaves and knew what they were for. It was luck, then, that the humans had left in the direction of the sunrise. Luck, or– ineffable. The sun rises over the South Downs, and Crowley finally wants to stay.

The Ineffable Shades of Gray (Good Omens Season 3) by altsernative (T)

After returning to Heaven, Aziraphale learns the Metatron's true intentions, finds himself disillusioned, and regrets his choice to leave Crowley, who has been working in the Temptations department. They reunite, and find themselves stopping the final war between Heaven and Hell and learning God and Satan's true intentions for the world and each other.

Demons are Forever by in_a_pickle (T)

After finallly finding the courage to tell his best friend his feelings, Crowley's dreams are shattered when Aziraphale once again chooses Heaven over happiness together. With ‘Great Plans’ afoot upstairs, Aziraphale discovers that the starring role he accepted comes with some unforeseen duties and that Crowley’s kiss has become something of a distraction. Crowley meanwhile is trying to come to terms with a broken heart and is trying to fathom why Heaven is so keen to have Aziraphale back in the fold. A mini adventure with our favourite group of two, written in case I get hit by a bus and never get to find out what happened next.

The Intended Effect by Esme_Abner (E)

A post-S2 fic that begins with a very sad Crowley and a conflicted Aziraphale and a surprisingly not-awful Jesus. It's all building toward our boys reconciling, because like everyone else, my heart is broken and I need to pick up the pieces somehow. And they might try to like save the world again, too.

(I just can't wait for) Season 3 Good Omens! by RCReveal (T)

After Season 2, I really needed to find out how Aziraphale and Crowley could get their reunion: a real reunion & not 'pretendy real'. They both have so much growing to do with neither of them, yet, being able to even say 'I love you' clearly to each other. Angel, what's going on? What kind of doublethink are you doing to still think that Heaven is the Good side & that you can't even admit to being friends? But you'll do anything to protect the World. Crowley, always planning on running. Sorry, but that won't work. If you had run at Armageddon there'd be no here to be in. But somehow, still a little seed of optimism. And wow! what you two can do together! Especially with a little help from old and new friends. So here's a story about averting the Second Coming with that great ensemble cast of characters in Heaven, Hell, and Whickber ST. Long set up, but then starts to speed up, kinda a wild ride from chapter 42 onto the end. This story is at about the same level of cursing, violence (well, maybe a little more Gaiman-esque), humor (definitely much more Terry Pratchett-esque) and romance as that of the second season.

There's a Special Place on Earth for Beings Like You by Kipje (T)

Set two years after Aziraphale leaves to become Supreme Archangel. It’s the Second Coming. Aziraphale is tasked with finding parents for the new Christ and returns to earth. He needs Crowley’s help, but the two haven’t spoken since the break-up. Crowley doesn’t want to forgive the angel, nor does he want to help out with the baby, but he finds it incredibly hard not to get involved. OR Aziraphale and Crowley raise the new Christ together; a girl named Eden. While they try to sort out their feelings and avert the apocalypse. Excerpt: Crowley had always assumed Aziraphale would want to run away with him in order to be together. He had never bothered to ask if there was a version where they would be an ‘us’ on earth. What was Aziraphale supposed to do once they arrived in the Alpha Centauri system. How would that even work with his book collection? Sure, Aziraphale had fallen in love with the demon – and it had taken him a while to be able to admit that – but he had also fallen in love with humanity, with earth. He had never planned on leaving. He knew earth would be no fun without his favourite wily serpent, but that did not mean he would be fine anywhere as long as Crowley was there. He had standards.

- Mod D

[mangoshorthand]

A rough outline to rewrite S4

We didn't need a big apocalypse. We needed the umbrellas to symbolically overcome their childhood abuse.

We begin...

A few months post-reset. Nobody remembers the Umbrella and Sparrow Academies. This Universe kinda sucks too: Reggie's monopoly on everything has created some serious wealth inequality and social issues. The family are all kinda screwin' around, finding their feet to varying degrees of success.

Luther's tirelessly looking for Sloane

Diego and Lila are preparing for parenthood, both freaking out but excited over it. Diego is very protective. Cute, but suffocating.

Allison's got everything she ever wanted, but it still feels hollow and (surprise) she still has her powers and is still abusing them to get what she wants. Her and Ray are on the rocks because he's now a social-justice advocate, and Allison doesn't want to rock the boat with Reginald.

Klaus is loving life. Addiction's easier to battle with no ghosties to blot out. Being mortal sucks but he only found out about it a few days ago anyway so it doesn't change much.

Five is stuck in juvie getting mandated therapy, gets diagnosed with PTSD and, against his will, starts to work on feelings of anger towards his siblings for their lack of appreciation. (Hmm sounds familiar...I actually have a fic....)

Viktor, loyal to Luther, is trying to help him find Sloane and is sort of taking the lead role on it because Luther's struggling.

Ben starts off being a selfish asshole, but it all feels empty and lonely, so he semi-reluctantly joins Luther and Viktor trying to find Sloane, his only sister.

Essentially, everyone's setting themselves up to have satisfying character arcs that resolve the shit brought up in previous seasons.

MEANWHILE

We discover that, because Reggie was interrupted resetting the universe, it's all kinda fragile.

At different rates, the Umbrellas slowly start to gain back their powers. It turns out they lost them temporarily after Reginald used their marigold to power the reset machine, but it's effectively bound to their DNA, so it regenerates within them just like any other cell would, (explaining why Viktor removing it from Harlan didn't work in S2). And then we discover that Reggie's autocracy and constructed happiness with Abigail is contingent on continually maintaining a 'hole' in the universe left after the incomplete reset. He needs a Marigold battery on hand to try and plug the gap. And we discover Sloane, memories wiped and constantly hooked up to a machine that sucks out her Marigold as quick as she can regenerate it, (and Reginald has his eye on them all as potential backups).

So...

The band gets back together! Time to rescue Sloane and defeat their Dad!

Ben is PUMPED, starting to realise that maybe the Umbrellas are family too.

Luther goes hulk for love.

Diego is terrified Lila will get hurt and wants to effectively lock her up in a closet again like in S3, but he learns he can't do that, and Lila kicks ass while super pregnant.

Five initially refuses because he's salty they left him in juvie and is sick of them undervaluing him but eventually gets his shit together and rides in at a crucial point to save the day. He finally gets a fucking hug.

Allison feels guilt, and anger at Reginald. The way he's exploiting people is nakedly obvious now, and she finally joins Ray in the fight

Viktor's leading the charge. He's unashamedly the leader and the rest are looking to him for guidance.

Klaus is suffering again. The ghosts and immortality is back, and meanwhile the little girl in the void is being super cryptic and annoying, making veiled foreshadowing comments every time he ends up in the void, but she does reveal that she is why he is immortal begin with. It was never his power, it was her sending him back every time.

And...

We have a showdown with ass-kicking and Reginald screaming that they're dumb kids who don't know what they're messing with, but screw him! And when they're confronted with Reginald's hole (heh heh), everything the little girl in the void said becomes clear to Klaus. He has to touch Reginald's hole (never gets old) with his powers activated to act as a conduit for the girl, the creator of the universe. This will allow her to fix the universe back to her original design without all Reginald's tampering. Klaus is the connection between the world and the void and, powered by his Marigold, she can use his memories to put it all right. It's a Deus ex machina.

The only problem is, he will die in the attempt. This is the 'use' she told him she had for him in one of the previous seasons, (or maybe that was the comics?). Klaus realises that this might actually be his one opportunity to die. The alternative is to live forever, never fully reuniting with Dave and watching his family die off one by one. So he does it. He fingers Reginald's hole, (harshly, with no prep). Klaus makes a heroic, Christ-like sacrifice and boom, the reset completes. We are effectively in the first timeline, in the Academy courtyard with no apocalypse on the horizon. Reggie is dead, all most of the symptoms of his autocracy are gone. All is well, except our heroes are just sad. Klaus fixed it, but now they've lost their glue.

But...

Klaus awakes in the void, happy and at peace. Dave is there, and the reunite, but it's clear he's sad about what happened. The little girl is there too, and she offers Klaus one last go at mortal life, because she finds him kind of annoying to have around anyway.

Klaus agrees, saying goodbye to Dave until they meet again, and then he falls out of the sky and lands with a smack in the courtyard. He explains, and many Jesus jokes are made.

After the revelry is over, there's a moment where the siblings go: "Huh, what now?" as they realise they still have a lot of their old problems and a lot of inner work to do.

And then Lila goes into labour. We finish on a birth montage. Everyone holds the baby, tears are shed and they end the series together. Not perfectly happy and still dysfunctional, but at least they have the chance to get better now.

[jackie-mae]

with your outfit drawings for the mystreet character. im so curious about with vylad having outfits for s2-s6, if you want can you expand upon on that?

I WOULD LOVE TOO >:3c

Long and Short of it is I've always hated how Vylad was there in Mystreet S1, PDH S1 and then he just... dropped off the face of the earth after that. It always irked me a bit when it would show Garroth and Zane having brotherly bonding moments (and trauma) and always having the thought of (Man wasn't there a third brother in all this?) there in the back of my mind.

I'm now going to do some little bullet points of my Vylads role in S2-6 but this is a great time to mention I've never seen past S4 so I'm running on Wiki Lore and the gospel of AO3 and @catzgam3rz; who collaborates (Read: Infodump and Ramble) on a hypothetical rewrite with me so it gets vague and murky for the later seasons.

S1:

Basically the same as canon (as in S1 is kinda just slice of life) but instead of Vylad just travelling around the world he is an off the grid hunter that wanders the wilderness all the time (The freak)

This is based on my very fuzzy memories of MCD Vylad always kinda just being in trees as he watched Lady Aphmau in the early seasons so I just put Mystreet Vylad in trees for fun this time

Has a vaguely similar relationship to his brothers as in MCD. in the sense it's better with Garroth and more strained with Zane

S2:

Goes to LLP with the rest of the main cast (which consists of the 11 big designs I made) because season 2 is not when you should be writing out characters Jessica

He wears little rainboots and unlike Laurance (Who FYI wears cowboy boots a majority of the time) the rest of the cast did not get him into flip flops before he went trudging into the ocean (again a freak)

I like to imagine that if any drama is going on in the story you could always see him floating around on an inner tube off in the distance

S3:

Again back to slice of life so he does a lot of shenanigans with the cast here

This is the season where the shadow knights feature but for the life of me, I cannot remember if Vylad was officially a part of them or not (And his Wikia is not even a paragraph~) But if it turns out he was there'll probably be more shenanigans around that.

He ends up leaving mid-season (Fall ish?) to go on a hunting expedition

S4:

Oh hey look Vylad is back because we don't believe in writing characters off with little rhyme or reason Jessica

Vylads hunting expedition ends up being in the same area as the lodge. and we all know nothing bad happens there!

there's now a little ski village downhill from the lodge which is where Vylad is staying at seasons start. He's good friends with a lot of the people there.

He's a werewolf now... Don't worry about it!

Oh, what's this? Is that relationship building between him and Zane on the horizon? Well, that won't hurt at all, will it?

AY:

A not-alone buddy comforts his not-alone buddy (I do not know much about Aphmau's Year but know it's short so that's all I got)

S5:

As he is a part of the Lodge crew he gets to go to Starlight!

Possibly is involved in a certain shenanigan with his brothers I'll be posting a comic about that in a few days

Get's lost constantly. Figures Starlight being an island means he can't really get lost since he'll hit ocean eventually and refuses to acknowledge how big said island is.

Doesn't float around like in S2 but you can still find him wading on the shore in his boots

being a hyperattentive freak, he get's some bad vibes from the island sooner than most

S6

Gonna be honest, me and Catz have not watched all of When angels fall but are planning to soon so I'll just leave you with the fun fact that all of my season 6 designs are supposed echo my MCD's designs for the characters (Since S6 is when it was decided hey maybe Diaries is really important here now)

TLDR: Vylad was shafted in Mystreet so I'm fix it

[outmakingmoonshine]

may i ask what do you mean by “Ebra is an older version of Carmy”?

Of course. A slight correction though, I said Ebra is a representation of an older version of Carmy.

Unfortunately I can't find the post now or remember who wrote it but months ago I read a post talking about the parallels between Tina & Ebra's story with Carmy & Syd. Especially their story in S2. Particularly with most, if not all, the scenes of Tina & Ebra travelling to and doing their refresher classes being transitioned either to or from the scenes of Carmy & Syd arriving at and working together in his apartment.

Ebra was struggling with his self confidence, his self belief, accepting change and growth, even his own ego & stubborness (all things we've seen Carmy struggle with too). Tina tried to help and encourage him but his anxiety was winning over and he struggled a lot internally. Then he just stopped showing up, not letting Tina know and leaving her to work alone. At one point Ebra was even working overtime on his own, chopping veggies after everyone else including Tina had left. This was all done in a handful of scenes over 1 and a half episodes but we've seen very similar (almost identical) story beats and plotlines throughout sydcarmy's story in S2 & S3.

We've also seen throughout the seasons, Tina really struggles with her self confidence and self belief and we've seen Syd struggle with those things too. My interpretation of the difference between them is Tina's been struggling with it for years so it's now settled in as a core belief. We saw it manifest in bouts of anxiety, panic and in her lack of patience finding a job in 3x06...which is understandble but Liza's performance and Ayo's directing really made a point of highlighting Tina's intense impatience and anxiety with her situation in 3x06. Syd's still young, she hasn't struggled with it for as many years so it hasn't settled in as a core belief yet but we're starting to see those bouts of anxiety and panic slowly get worse for her. Syd's also been characterized as impatient since S1.

It reads to me as if Ebra & Tina are a representation of what Carmy & Syd would be years in the future if Carmy doesn't work through his trauma, if they don't learn to communicate properly and listen to each other. That's why Ebra was portrayed as a slightly miserable, "done with life" character in S1. Based on 1x08 we can assume Carmy would also be miserable and "done with life" if things dont go the way he wants and hopes with Syd. (And Carmy does have hope, everything he's been doing the last 2 seasons is because he wants and hopes to be with Syd eventually.)

Lastly, if Carmy & Syd never happen romantically it's likely Syd will end up marrying someone anyway, she's not averse to loving relationships like Carmy is. We found out Tina is married to someone in S3 but she still has the connection with Ebra that Carmy & Syd would have if they never become a couple. At this point with the level of intimacy in Sydcarmy's relationship, even without really knowing much about each other or having a real friendship, they couldn't just go their seperate ways and forget about each other now. This undefined, intimate bond they've formed has tied them together. That's why Syd hasn't left already and is still struggling to decide even though Shapiro basically offered her everything Carmy has offered but wont actually give her; a clearly defined partnership and the chance to build and create something of her own. Carmy & Syd would end up just like Ebra & Tina; friends and partners. Tina frustrated and annoyed with stubborn Ebra at times. Ebra never making steps to grow on his own and having to be pushed and talked into doing new things by Tina, but both of them still sticking by each other in their slightly antagonistic but endearing partnership.

I wanna make it clear this is not all Tina & Ebra are though. They're both still their own characters outside of this representation, this show just likes to tell different layers of storytelling through the same characters.

Thank you for the ask, it was fun writing this!

[erikiara80]

TW: dark themes. Drowning and asphyxiation

I made a few posts about my car crash theory, and how it started. With someone being shot/taken away, then a car chase and an accident in a lake, in the winter of 1976.

I think there are many hints throughout the show, but one in particular caught my attention. Will and El scene in the hallway parallels Brenner and Ten scene in 4x01. We see a guy with the number 82 (8+2=10) on his shirt, a duffel bag guy that looks like an orderly (Henry), and a student that resembles Eddie (Edward Creel).

In the lab scene, Ten says that both Dr Ellis and Six died.

Will's fake body was found in the quarry, but my theory is that it's El who drowned in a lake (it's possible that something similar happened to Henry/Edward)

In S2 Owens explains the anniversary of the event, and says that it opens up the neurological floodgates. At the pool, Max turns on the water in all the showers, and El sees Heather be dragged into the water.

In S4, Owens says that El is going to drown. Then they revive her, right after Patrick's death in the lake. Not to mention all the times we see El in water tanks, the void etc.

For Will, the hints about his death start in episode one. The monster in the middle of the street, the rifle. And then there's Lonnie's infamous trunk.

In S3 we actually see two people in a trunk. Tom and Heather. Father and daughter. I don't think it's a coincidence that it's them, that it's Heather. El saw her "drown", so Heather connects the two deaths, El's drowning and Will's death in the trunk.

And who put them in there? Billy (William)

Unfortunately, it seems that the car Will was trapped in, at some point caught on fire.

"He says he feels like he's burning. Check for burns." "Where does it hurt Will?" "Everywhere!" "It burns! Oh, it burns!" "Where?" "Everywhere!" (2x06) "It hurts! Oh, it hurts!" (2x09) "Mom, I can't breath. I'm suffocating!" (3x08)

Even Joyce's line in the S1 flashback, about cooking Will up could be a very subtle hint, because Will says that he's not five anymore. And he was five in 1976.

Agent Wallace is shot in the Byers' house and then tortured. The name Wallace is a reference to Charles Wallace, one of the kids in Wrinkle in time, whom Will is paralleld to.

In S3 Joyce tells Hopper that he blew up the car with her in it.

Also, Joyce, Terry and Becky have mentioned the kids' breathing, or that they couldn't breath. In the flashback Sarah was intubated, just like Will, and in his letter Hopper writes "Remember to breath."

[sunnyelfs]

Heyyy @coffeeandsadbooks, remember how I said I want to write something regarding the “love vs duty” conflict? Well, I did. 

It started as sort of “fix-it” thoughts on s3, Wilhelm's path to renounce in particular. I was thinking about how the plot would have evolved so his final decision was more significant. And every time I thought of another option, I came back to a thought shared by many viewers who were left unsatisfied with the ending. It seemed unearned. And I think that's partly because the conflict that seemed like it would be central to the series didn't work.

What makes a good “love vs duty” conflict? When it's a hard choice for the character to make. When they value their duty, would it be something they were told to do or something they choose to do. During the third season, the creators made sure that this choice is not a difficult one. 

From s1 and s2 we know that the main struggle for Wilhelm is the fact that he can't separate the Royal Family as an institution and his family… as simply a family. This is especially reinforced after Erik's death, but Wille seems to have always felt indebted. In episode 2.05 he says to Boris, "I know I've been lucky, and I should be grateful". So, Wilhelm realizes his privilege, good for him. What about the sense of duty? Again, I'm reminded of his dialog with Boris in the same episode. When he says that "they" are counting on him, he's referring to his mom. Later in the episode, when he goes to see Simon, he says that if he gives up his place to August without scandals, that way he can free himself and not let his family and Erik down. Memorized. 

So, the first thing season three does: shatters Erik's perfect image. Which is kind of weird, considering that Wille said back in season two that "there was Crown Prince Erik, and there was just Erik," meaning he kind of already realized that the public persona of the perfect prince and his brother are not the same thing. Perhaps that's why the homophobic initiation story was chosen, as it was the only thing that would affect Wille. We know it wasn't intended from the beginning. This can be seen in the way Ivar and Lisa herself talked about Erik after the first season (check this post if you missed that). Obviously, it was a late decision. So, we get a breaking point for Wille where he doubts his brother would have supported him. What does this have to do with the monarchy? Well, I'm sure some people will connect it, but my opinion: nothing. Once again, Wilhelm already knew that Erik wasn't perfect, that he separated his personality and his public persona. Plus, after all, August tells him "Erik loved you more than anything and would certainly support you." Thus the sheep are intact, the wolves are fed - Wilhelm still hears assurances that Erik would have supported him, but it takes away the fear of letting Erik down.

The next thing is making sure Wilhelm doesn't see any value of his role. That's a whole separate topic that I delved into while thinking about two possible ways in which the plot could have led him to renouncing (that would've worked better than that we got). First: actually trying to be the Crown Prince. This would have worked well alongside the plot of Kristina's illness. Wilhelm is so afraid of letting his mom down that he takes on more responsibilities because of her illness. He wants to support her and reassure her that she can count on him. Along the way, he's starting to skip school and neglect his own needs in order to fulfill his duties as Crown Prince. Eventually this obviously leads to a point where it becomes clear that it can't go on like this. He either stays Crown Prince and loses his love (and friends, if he had any besides Felice, who is too patient with him to give up), or he gives up trying to please the Court and decides that being a normal person is more important to him. And there's no way you're going to convince me that the plot of season three showed exactly that. 

The other option would have been to protest. Throw in Kristina's illness storyline, it's only needed anyway to raise the stakes. Showing Wilhelm's attempts to make a real difference. Choosing mental health issues or lgbtq+ community as his charity and defending that decision to the Court. Actively participate in how students defend the school. Sign a bloody petition, thus breaking a few royal rules. Openly support Simon on May 1 and maybe separately speak out against bullying (oh that would be awesome, his single post asking for his privacy and his partner's to be respected would be enough to give Jan-Olof a heart attack). The plot with the attack on Simon's house would play well here, add to that threats, condemnation and maybe a conversation with Kristina about how this is exactly what she wanted to avoid. Besides that, Wilhelm does not separate his family and the Court. For him, fighting with the Court = fighting with his family. In case you want to say “but they wouldn't let him-” oh but they WOULD. Wilhelm is well aware of that. He's aware that his renounce will be worse than anything else for The Court, so they will tolerate his rebellion, they would even have to play along. They would even make Simon play a bigger role – and this is the moment to talk about how this “support” from The Court, e.g using them for “creating new royals” is much worse. It would turn Simon into another puppet of the court, which no doubt he wouldn't like. Even if for a good cause, he's hardly ready for that. They would talk about it with Wilhelm – all of it, how it doesn't work, how it hurts them both. And so the need to make a choice is with us again, but this time Wilhelm first tries to use his privileges for good, and then gets completely frustrated with it and gives up. 

The last part is Wilhelm's family. We know he doesn't want to let them down. Their final conversation in the car makes it look like the moment Kristina stops being his boss and his mom, their relationship will get better, so it's another point for renouncing. Except it won't be that easy. Their problems lay deeper than than, it will take a lot of effort to fix that. And that given the fact that we don't know if she was actually willing to let him go or it was just a petty, something like “let him have it one last time, we will work on that later”. That's why this last-minute decision doesn't work for me, because I'm not sure if it was the final one. 

Let's summarize. By the end of the season, Wilhelm had literally nothing that made the choice even remotely significant. He doesn't initially value his so-called duty, and the connection between that duty and his feelings towards his family is broken during the season. This choice at the end costs him literally nothing. I would also like to address the issue with him making all the important decisions based on his emotions. It was discussed here. For one, it's the fact that Lisa herself is sure that Wilhelm did understand his position but chose to refuse it. I feel like it's the pretty common thing for a writer, because in your head the story have much more details and everything seems perfect. But as we can see from the viewers reactions, it's not the case here, as the show never actually showed this. The fact that Wilhelm putting his emotions first is not a problem as such, but you can't pretend this is equal to the path of growing and actually understanding what you have, what you want, and why those things are incompatible.

This conflict only works well when the choice remains difficult and unobvious to the character, even at the end. Leaving the character with only one option is very cheap and lazy. It literally kills the whole conflict as such. 

It's for that very reason that the “love vs duty” conflict didn't work. 

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

I know this may sound crazy but remember how in No Way Out, Sonic told Nine that he still considered him to be a friend while getting down on one knee and Nine calmed down? Later in Nine’s Lives, Nine says “Typical” when seeing Sonic run to the others and accused Sonic of betraying him when Sonic called the others his friends.

Nine was sort of acting like Sonic proposed to him and then cheated on him by being friends with the others.

Okay so first of all, I don't think you're crazy. During S3 there's actually plenty of evidence that Nine is jealous, both of the Tails variants and Sonic considering everyone else his friends.

One example that presents his specific kind of jealousy is during Episode 2 of Season 3, when Nine first appears to Sonic in New Yoke.

"Everything is collapsing... This is terrible!"

"Is it? That seems odd coming from you. As far as I can tell you only care about your own home."

Essentially what I'm getting at is this. I do believe that pre betrayal, Nine admittedly considered Sonic to be the most important person to him, and thought Sonic may have felt the same way. And the "betrayal" at the end of S2 hurt Nine very deeply. He had this image of Sonic in his head that was shattered by the finale, so he sort of instinctively switches to thinking the worst about Sonic because he can't trust that anything he thought before wasn't a lie. This is one of the reasons that he can't fathom Sonic caring about shatterspaces other than his own home.

But it's not just that he can't fathom it, it's that due to this deep hurt, Nine cannot allow himself to believe it.

Because if Sonic genuinely cares about the shatterverse as a whole, if he genuinely cares about saving all of these people, then to Nine, what made him the exception?

Sure, we the audience can see Sonic’s journey in Prime. We can see that by the end of S2, Sonic wanted to keep the shatterverse safe just as much as he wanted to bring back Green Hill. He wanted everyone to be alive and happy. But from Nine's pov here, he's just learned that Sonic lied to him, spoke honeyed words and manipulated him just to get to the prism. None of that is true, but he doesn't feel like Sonic actually cares for him or wants him. So at this point, for Sonic to put saving all of these people over saving his own home or genuinely worrying about their home makes Nine feel like the exception or that his feelings about Sonic must be wrong. Either one of those ideas he'd understandably like to avoid (because one means that Sonic is genuine with everyone except for him, and the other would mean to him that his feeling of betrayal and hurt feelings post S2 finale are misplaced and not allowed to be had, though he feels justified feeling hurt)

And that scene in S3 E3 No Escape is actually another big exemplifier of Nine's brand of jealousy and just how hurt he is.

"Don't worry. Beneath the surface, my new friends are far simpler than the flawed creatures you knew and loved. And all the more loyal for it."

Starting out strong, Nine takes a not so subtle shot at Sonic's friends while taking subtler shot at Sonic's loyalty, since Sonic had been his first and only friend.

"Ever wonder where we'd be if things had gone differently between us?"

"...Not anymore."

"I do. All the time."

"Not anymore." Implying that post the S2 finale he really had dwelled (at least for a time) on thoughts of how things could have been different. How he wished things could have gone differently.

And Nine gets visibly angry/frustrated when Sonic confesses he's always thinking about how things could have been different. Perhaps because it feels like a slap to the face, or feels hard to believe.

"Tch. You had your chance."

"...Right back at ya, bud."

And then, despite his anger, despite how he's been trying to get Sonic all along so he can drain his energy and save his home, Nine ignores Sonic's "should we get this over with". He puts on another one of those faces, similar to earlier when Sonic arrived and Nine talked about his "new friends". Perhaps to cover up exactly the way he's feeling in this moment with a veneer of superiority (he always did something similar when talking up Sonic to the Chaos Council).

"You know...after all this time...I think I finally understand you, Sonic."

...

"You wanna save everyone. Friends. Foes. Total strangers! You say it's because you're a hero and that's what heroes do, but deep down... After what you did—destroying your own home—it's the only way you can ever live with yourself. Even if that means you won't live at all."

And while I think Nine isn't incorrect—that there is a part of Prime!Sonic who's been acting out of selfishness, caring more about feeling like a good person than actually being one—these are still words from someone who feels betrayed by Sonic. I think there's a level to which Nine is seeing a part of Sonic no one else did, and also to a level which Nine is trying to recontextualize Sonic's more heroic/selfless seeming actions so he can reconcile them with how he feels about Sonic and sees him at this moment. In other words, while he's seeing a facet of Sonic he didn't see before, this is not all encompassing of who Prime Sonic is. It's just that perhaps by believing that Sonic's every seemingly selfless action is disingenuine, that all those nice words and intent to save people is just so Sonic can feel good rather that actually caring about anyone, then Nine doesn’t have to feel like the exception. Then he can see Sonic as someone who is pretending to care about all of this, and Sonic's other friends as fools who don't see what he (Nine) has seen.

But as I said, it's more complicated than that. Perhaps Nine is seeing a facet of Sonic that other people don't see or don't want to see, but Prime!Sonic is multifaceted. Perhaps he does want to hurry up and sacrifice himself in this scene because then he can finally feel like he's atoned for what he's done and he's absolved of/paid for his crimes, but that also doesn't mean he doesn't genuinely care about the lives of people in the shatterverse.

"If I don't make it, and you do, how do I know you'll keep your promise."

"Don't worry. Your 'friends' are safe. Once I have your energy, I can restore everything. They can have their silly lives in their silly spaces, as long as they leave me alone."

"Fair enough."

...

"And for what it's worth...I wouldda done the same for you."

"Don't lie to me..."

"I'm not–"

"DON'T!"

"Think whatever you want, but it's true. Even after everything you've done, everything we've been through. Together. Against each other. You're still my friend, Nine."

I really couldn't express more just how hurt Nine feels. That he doesn't believe Sonic would give anything up for him, even if he were to accept that Sonic would do that for everyone else. When he tells Sonic not to lie to him, frustrated, angry, voice wavering, I think it's because he can't take this again. If Sonic is lying just to manipulate him, if this isn't genuine, if he's just using him again, he can't take it again.

This is an incredibly intimate scene. With Sonic, standing face to face to Nine, inside Nine's safe space, his home that no one else has been into, behind the physical representation of the walls surrounding Nine's heart post betrayal, this is his first time all season really being allowed to speak to Nine directly. Here there's no one to perform to aside from each other.

But you can see that despite everything, Sonic still reaches Nine in this scene. It's not easy, but he reaches Nine's heart, leading Nine to start to believe in him again.

And that's why it's a pity the other variants show up when they do, using Sonic to breach Nine's walls. With the way Nine reacts after this happens, Sonic may as well have made Nine believe in that image of him again. Sonic may as well have made Nine believe that Sonic does care about him, that he'd do anything for him (or, at least, would give his life for him like he would for the others if it meant they could live), only to be the trojan horse that allowed the enemy™ to breach his safe space. The pretty lie.

At the beginning of S3 E4 Nine's Lives, Nine says "Predictable" when Sonic runs over to his friends. And, as anon mentioned, Nine says that Sonic has betrayed him for the last time, calling the deal off.

I wouldn't necessarily say here that Nine feels as if Sonic had cheated on him so to speak, but I would say that even if Nine doesn't see Sonic as a willing "trojan horse" here, Nine still feels like a fool for "falling for it again", for believing in Sonic. I think it's enough betrayal to Nine that Sonic would convince him that he cares about him and wants him to have a future too, only to then side with a bunch of people who want to beat Nine down and who would not let Nine be happy if Nine surrendered to them (from Nine's pov at least).

So in short, anon, I think you are seeing Nine's jealousy here. Even if he also has to believe Sonic is secretly fooling the others, to him this is a scene where Sonic is not only choosing them over him, but another example of Sonic (from Nine's pov) proving that he's a liar who doesn't care for Nine or his future/safety at all.

[imminent-danger-came]

i am so glad theres someone else who also thinks lmk executes its ideas and themes much better than toh. rip belos you will never be lady bone demon

TOH wasn't that strong in the themeing department in general (though I'm not well-versed in that show). I remember finishing the finale and being like....damn. What was the overall message of this show? ("Weirdos stick together" maybe?) Does toh have any consistent motifs or symbolism? If memory serves, not really?

Like, you rewatch episode 1x01 of LMK and MK goes "Well...I am invincible. *sigh* Anytime I try to do anything, I just gunk everything up!", and you're like. Woah. The Sun Wukong parallels are that strong from episode 1x01? Invincibility/Immortality and hurting the people you care about? No matter what you do, it leading to pain? Holy shit.

Contrast that with TOH where it's like, in episode 1x02 Luz learns she's not "the chosen one" and that the boiling isles are very different from the magical realms she imagined...which is kinda undone by the reveal that the Titan chose to show Luz the Glyphs. And while Titan Luz is very fun, it's not thematically sound—which is just kinda that whole show, you know? If you're not thinking about it that deep, then it's like "holy shit cool concept!" (which is totally valid of people), but if you do it's pretty empty. (Hi Hunter getting flapjack-based teleportation powers. What was the point of this.)

Which, I think this becomes super apparent with the Luz and Belos foil. Luz and Belos had a lot of interesting parallels (both of them being humans in the isles, each coming there wanting to fulfill a certain "role", for Luz being the "Great Witch Azura" and for Belos/Philip being a "Witch Hunter General", the whole "protecting the things you love" deal). And then, where does this all go?

It leads to Luz being told "no. You're the good guy and Belos is the bad guy! You could never be the same! Belos is motivated by his own 'need to be the hero'" (which was definitely what Luz was motivated by over the course of the show, even if it was more innocent, but whatever), and riding off of tdp s4's "In the name of love, you will do things so dangerous and vile—you will never be able to forgive yourself" and the lmk s3's "to pain" scene, it fell really flat for me—like it's not bad, it's just really mid.

(Post where I go on a rant about Luz's s3 arc being kinda lame)

And then, you have the LBD & MK foil. You have MK's s4 arc. The "to pain" scene is such a unique "you and I are not so different" moment—but it's also relevant to the whole show. And LBD is right, doing what you think is right does lead to pain. Like, even looking at MK's journey over the seasons, every action has had it's consequences.

Saving Pigsy and Tang in 1x04? Spider Queen snagged MK's hair and that let her dominate the city later. Stopping DBK in 1x10? That freed LBD. Stopping SQ in ROTSQ? That gave LBD access to the trigram furnace. MK trying to gain more power in s2? Well, "Now do you understand? From the start you never had what it took to defeat me. All your power could do was make me stronger." SWK leaving in s2? "You're the one always running off, trying to get more power or more sources of immortality." Trying to get the Samadhi fire in s3? Opps, now Mei has this uncontrollable flame within her. Monkey King running off to fight LBD alone so MK doesn't have to? He get's possessed. Freeing SWK from possession? Now LBD has the power to fulfill destiny. Attempting to free your friends from the scroll? Now Peng and Azure are also free. Trying to get SWK back? His scroll piece has been split in half. Stopping Azure from destroying all of reality? Now the Jade Emperor's power is without a host, flower fruit mountain is destroyed, and you can't help but feel they played into the puppet master's hands.

It's thematically consistent and banging. Like....anytime they try to do anything, they just gunk everything up. Like....sometimes you hurt the people who care about you the most. Like....whether you want to help people or not, everything you do can just make things worse.

AND MAYBE. Just maybe, you can also leave the world a little better than you found it. The pain that's been caused doesn't undo the good that's been done. And I guess I think that's more interesting that just like..."no! you're intent was good and theirs was bad!", you know?

[aseriesofunfortunatejan]

Just finished watching Providence. I'll probably have some more thoughts to share about it after sleeping on it, and possibly later if I rewatch S3 again (😍).

Providence and S3 spoilers ahead!

The first thing I can't stop thinking about is that upon giving the Psycho-Pass subreddit a quick look before watching the movie, the only post I saw was about how "this movie should have come out before S3". I didn't read the body of the post in fear of spoilers, but throughout watching the movie, I kept thinking about how much I disagree with that. How insignificant would Akira be if you didn't know he was Kei's brother? How random would Atsushi be as a character if you didn't know what he meant to Arata? Imagine this random kid showing up. No one would react positively to Arata, Maiko and Kei. Akira would feel like a side-character we only cared about for a split second and Atsushi would be confusing in the wrong way. Season 3 wouldn't be the same without the mystery of Tsunemori's incarceration. Objectively a wrong take if you care about the storytelling and characters at all imo.

With that out of the way, while Providence answered some of our burning questions, some have been left unanswered, such as:

Did Gino change his haircut so drastically all of a sudden because he realised the wind blowing in his face meant he couldn't see shit?

I'd be willing to buy that he just enjoys changing styles regularly, though.

Since I'm looking at her... do we know what Frederica's deal is, exactly...? I also can't help wondering - is there a reason why Shimotsuki hates her this much? While she's always complaining over petty things, she seems to hold a pretty specific dislike towards Frederica. Is it really just her personality? (I'd be willing to buy that, too...)

I feel like we have gained a net zero information about either Homura Sr. or Jr. Or Bifrost.

I feel like I had another serious question... before I started joking about Gino's hair. It'll probably come back to me. I guess there's always "can Shou's backstory get a Moment? Anyone else remember how S2 didn't give its new cast the same amount of time S1 did? Babyboy's still kinda just Here rn."

I'm still a bit confused about Jackdaw and Vixen, and the fact that I only just realised that Vixen is a woman probably does not help.

I miss Azusawa and Obata...

Oh right, I think I remembered what I meant to talk about. There are events that clearly happened between Providence and S3 that haven't been detailed, such as Gino leaving the Bureau to join Foreign Affairs, Kunizuka running the fuck out of there or even, I believe, Arata and Kei being appointed as Inspectors. We know that Tsunemori contributed to the latter - I wonder if we may learn more about her reasoning in the future. I think we can also infer that Gino, who stated in the movie that he intends on protecting Tsunemori, had to change plans one way or another due to her arrest.

I feel like we still don't know enough about Akira's relationship to his brother or to Atsushi, and I don't know whether that will be forever left in the air of if it will be detailed. The exact implication of Stronskaya Sr. and her relationship to her daughter are also vague.

Honestly, there's a lot going on in this movie. A lot of politics... a lot of religion... and a thick wall of the story's context. It's complex, and it's interesting how Psycho-Pass is continuing in this direction that already stood out in S3.

I'll just say I'm upset about Saiga. Evil evil bad. I'm really hoping for more content with Arata, Maiko and Kei in the near future because I seriously love them!!! And I want closure for them!!!! Akira was a pretty interesting character, though his quick death was frustrating - which I assume was not not on purpose. Though it happened maybe a little too fast due to the movie format (compared to an episodic format), the revelation of his allyship was set up pretty well. Like I said, details are definitely missing - Atsushi didn't explain why Akira was so willing, and he was interrupted before he could say who he was in his own words.

It was pretty nice to see Kougami be a little cringefail. I didn't enjoy his characterisation in S3, but in Providence, it feels a lot more sensible - like he can really feel that he doesn't have control. I'm satisfied with his and Tsunemori's dynamic in the movie, wherein they care about each other deeply - dare I say, Kougami might even care a little more than she does at this point? - how does that dynamic shift feel my guy? - but Kougami's wrongdoings have weight and the narrative doesn't force him back on her. You can feel that he wants to be back, you can feel that to Tsunemori he never really left, but like I mentioned in a more personal post, Gino's her source of comfort, her trustworthy teammate; Kougami isn't welcomed back by default. This feels natural. This feels like the writing cares about their feelings.

What else... Oh yeah... Did anyone else feel like Saiga was kinda................. hot?

[raayllum]

I remember starting the show because my friend told me about Callum and Rayla and how cute they were together. But after binge watching all 5 seasons, I just feel like the writers don’t really give a damn about them, in many ways, compared to other couples. But, to be fair, I have lots of issue with the writing. But, to me, the primary idea was to make Callum and Claudia a couple (no, I don’t ship them together), because they actually have a background, development, even chemistry too. So, I don’t understand why the writers changed their minds on this (please, tell me if they ever addressed this issue). I just think that him moving on from a childhood love, like that, out of nowhere to Raylla was again a bit odd and out of nowhere. Because nothing indicated that in the first 2 seasons. Same goes to Rayla too. And, in S5 they have acted more as friends than anything else. It’s just weird. What’s your opinion about this? And again, I don’t ship Callum with Claudia, it’s just my opinion after watching all seasons.

Thank you for sharing your feelings, I definitely have been in fandoms where the Big Ship (canon or fanon, in show or in fandom) have just not been things I could click or with or understand, so you have my sympathies. The crew has gone on record saying that Callum and Rayla being a couple was not originally the plan (we don't know if there were any endgames being considered for either of them as alternatives, but I lean toward no) with Janaya and Ruthari presumably being the main couples. This changed in 2x04 with the lightning flash and moment the two share on the boat, "everyone in the room saw it" (legit quote from showrunner) and they began to write and develop it. It is unknown if they went back to add or shift anything in S1 (we know the crew works on seasons simultaneously) but it wouldn't surprise me given the vibes

I definitely can't promise to change your mind (I'm obviously a big Rayllum shipper and I have been since S1, so I'm clearly coming at it from a different perspective) but I do have some metas that do address what you've brought up, I'm gonna link them below and then do a quick summary in case you understandably don't wanna read all that!

Rayllum and Loneliness (Post S3): a meta about how it is likely (now confirmed in supplementary material) that Rayla grew up pretty friendless and a deeper dive into how Rayla is/was the first person Callum had who was unequivocally his peer and his friend (as Soren bullied and Callum's crush - as well as other things - made him and Claudia have a fair amount of distance.)

Callum and Claudia: You Already Did (Post S3): On what appeal the ship has, why it may not appeal to others, and why I don't think Callum and Claudia were actually that close pre-S1, the various factors why, and why they were doomed to fall apart since 1x02.

How/Why Callum's feelings for Claudia and Rayla Were Overlapping (Post-S3): Exactly what it says on the tin, mostly because he is obsessed with Rayla lowkey in S1 (trying to get her to laugh three times in 1x05, taking a flirty tone with her when they aren't arguing in 1x06, etc) and then outright devoted in S2, trusting her over Claudia in 2x03.

Rebuttals to Rayllum Reservations (Claudia, Pacing, Etc) Post-S3: Pacing, emotional intimacy, platonic development and romantic feelings, etc. Probably the simplest meta and the most on brand for what you're (presumably) looking for, but the other metas I think uh do contribute nicely to explaining why Rayllum is what it is and som of the reasons it appeals to people.

It's also honestly not surprising to me that in S5 they just feel like Friends (hopefully best friends) given that a decent chunk of the Rayllum fandom, myself included, are on the aromantic and/or asexual spectrums, and don't really care if they're Romantic as long as they're Life Partners. (Aspec Rayllum tag here) Callum and Ezran are two of the, if not the, most important people in Rayla's life, and Rayla and Ezran are two of the most important people in Callum's life. To me, romance / devotion / whatever you want to call it intermingling makes sense. One of the things I've loved most about S4-S5 is the fact that whatever they are, they have each other's backs, and they care for and protect each other, no romance required, which hits different since they do both also have romantic feelings for each other. It's just not a pre-requisite for them and a lack of it is never something they'd hold against one another. In other words:

Chemistry is also something that's hard to pin down sometimes - like all shipping preferences are subjective, but evaluations of chemistry tend to be in particular (for example, I don't really think Callum and Claudia have chemistry in that way, but that doesn't mean that they can't or they don't).

That said: platonic Rayllum tag here and foils Rayllum tag here, and I hope whatever parts of the show you do enjoy, well, give you joy.

[kitshuwun]

I started playing Arknights very early when they got release globally. I play casually since I have no attachment to any character. Until the Flamebringer and Executor came around and I love them since. I also start loving skadi a lot purely out of salt because she keeps dodging me (I have her now yay! Now the alter version🥲).

Yet nowaday I'm stupidly attach to the fucking goat. Ebenholz you mf.

AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY

For some reason, everytime I saw this goat mf I be like "omg its eben! My eben! OMG he look so beautiful!" Like wtf is this behaviour??? Understandable if its flame or executor because duh. Not even questioning if its with thorn, elysium, skadi or red. Why tf is it specifically him? I can't explain my feelings toward this goat man. All I want is to smash his face and tuck him to bed while I kiss his forehead and sing him to sleep.

...no this isn't a hate post I just need to get it out there because I just realise how I behave when Eben came up...I love him.

I do have him btw. I have his current skin. I have him m3 for both s2 and s3. I think he is max level? I don't remember lol. Sometimes I bring him into stages that doesn't requires him being use because I have eyja but you know moral support. Did the same with flame and exec in my early days lol

[purpleheartskies]

In a recent post, I talked about Miguel being "Johnny" and Robby being "Daniel" in this story. I included the examples of Miguel's pov of Robby at the end of s1 as well as Miguel's first convo with Daniel in s3.

Another example that recently stood out to me while rewatching s2 is how Johnny remembers the events of kk1. In s1e8, his retelling of those events is skewed, but in s2e5 when he and Carmen are talking about Daniel, Johnny's flashbacks specifically show only Daniel as the aggressor. Verbally, Johnny emphasizes to Carmen that Daniel was the bad guy between them.

Rewatching this scene immediately made me think of Miguel's flashbacks of the school fight during the apartment fight in s5e5.

What's important with the storytelling in Johnny's and Miguel's flashback sequences is that we're seeing these events from each of their pov, like how a lot of the story is framed. Johnny doesn't look back at his past actions against Daniel and see himself as the aggressor. Johnny only looks back at Daniel's actions against him and sees Daniel as the aggressor. It's the same with Miguel. He doesn't look back at his past actions against Robby and see himself as the aggressor. Miguel only looks back at Robby's actions against him and sees Robby as the aggressor. In Johnny's case, he was the aggressor at the beach. Also, the tournament match was a mutual fight, although he claims that "that kick" was illegal. In Miguel's case, he was the aggressor in the school fight, as well as in s1 with Robby. Johnny and Miguel both lack humility, especially wrt to these rivalries.

Also, an important thing about forgiveness is that nobody is entitled to it. In s5e5, Miguel asked Robby, "Last time we fought like this, how come you didn't hold back?" Miguel was the aggressor in the school fight. Miguel can't dictate when the person he attacked can or can't feel angry or safe or forgiving. What happened at the end was tragic, but it was an accident. Regardless, Miguel's self-awareness and self-reflection is lacking. Miguel has yet to take accountability for his own actions. This is definitely one of Miguel's major character flaws. He's learned nothing from the school fight and continues with the same behavior in s5. He hasn't changed his Cobra Kai mindset beyond "Don't "finish" the fight. Show mercy. It's not honorable to be merciless." In fact, Miguel is still more than ready to start a fight whenever he feels like it, without considering the consequences, despite what happened in the school fight. Miguel's satisfaction with the conclusion of the "rivalry" in s5e5, which he had started in s1e9, was based on it ending on his own terms, with him getting his version of an "honorable" "win" over Robby and only Robby taking accountability for his actions.

In Johnny's case, he believes that he has grown because he chose to move on and leave the past behind him without actually making things right for the people he has wronged, especially Robby, because Johnny now has new people he can focus on not screwing up with. However, Johnny is still screwing up with Robby and has been priotizing these new people at the expense of Robby's mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Johnny has also not taken accountability and apologized to Daniel for the past, while Chozen and Barnes have both sincerely taken accountability and apologized to Daniel for their past actions. When Chozen and Johnny were talking in s5e9, Chozen said, "We are same. Both make mistakes. Both feel guilt for pain we caused. Now, you have, uh, friends. Family. Children. I always wanted same thing." Chozen has been actively making up for his own past wrongs for over 30 years now. In fact, he told Daniel in s5e9 that he believes that he doesn't deserve Kumiko because what he did to her is unforgivable. Chozen has shown and still shows true remorse and humility about his past actions. Chozen assumes that Johnny has done the same, which of course Johnny has not. Johnny is just focused on moving on. In fact, Johnny admit to Robby that he's trying to fix his mistakes so that he doesn't have to live with the regret of making them. For Johnny, making up for mistakes is about feeling better about himself, which is consistent for his character since s1 and is yet another indication of his lack of growth.

Johnny and Miguel see themselves as the innocent victims and "good guys" in their rivalries with Daniel and Robby, respectively. Laughably, Miguel even told Robby, "I know you think that just because you came down to Mexico you're a good guy. Well, guess what? You're not." In Miguel's pov, Robby will only be "a good guy" if Miguel approves of him. Miguel, Demetri, and Hawk also acted like their approval of Robby returning to Miyagi-Do actually mattered, despite Robby returning to support Daniel.

Overall, Johnny and Miguel refuse to acknowledge that they're not as much the "good guys" that they believe themselves to be. However, there's a lot of context in the story that shows that, outside of their own povs, they're not the absolute "good guys" in their own stories.

(As always, please don't comment or reblog with dismissive comments about the nuance in the story. The nuance is part of the story, and the story is exploring important topics like trauma, bullying, neglect, and dysfunctional relationships.)

[mdhwrites]

How sick are you of the "TOH season 3 was bad because of Disney" argument?

I feel bad that I've been talking about the shortening as much as I have lately and this ask feels like a part of that. XD It's probably the one thing that the troll from a bit ago really got under my skin with and what seemed to piss them off the hardest. The idea that I was 'blatantly ignoring the circumstances' that led to the problems in the show.

But frankly, I just don't hear the argument being used much anymore. That might just partially be because at this point, I feel like I see more Amphibia art than I see Owl House art on my timeline because... Who is really defending this show at this point? It seems like even die hards are glancing back and fidgeting about it, like that person who I reblogged about the glyphs. That was a decently popular post for something that should have been controversial considering how theoretically important the glyphs are to at least the branding of the show.

S3 in general seems to have left a really bad taste in people's mouths and it's not hard to see why. When you had two and a half hours of content to give your story a proper bang of a finish, even if you can't make it all cohere thematically or the like, you should be able to do SOMETHING. That's WAY longer than most movies and TOH didn't have to do the first two act of establishment that most movies need to do. They had their players, they had their villains, they had their stakes and they never have to find an answer on their own to the Collector or Belos so they effectively already had their solution. They were setup to have payoff after payoff after payoff.

But I made an entire blog about how S3 could never have been great... Because what was there to payoff? Beating Belos is about the ONLY thing S2 left for the cast to do, especially once the second special came around and the interesting elements of the Collector were killed. He's just a sad but playful boy, just like Hunter was sad but mad and Amity was sad but smart. We had no other villains that we as an audience were connected to, all the character arcs were done, to the point where they have to make shit up for Willow so they can do SOMETHING with her and even that feels like shipping fodder, and the thematics were left so far down the road that... What can you say about the ending positively besides "I'm happy everyone is alive and seems happy where they are"?

None of these issues only arose in S3 of TOH though and I think that's the real problem for the fandom right now. Literally the longer the show has gone on, the more its inherent flaws in its writing become obvious as well as the fact that these writers simply aren't good enough to improvise off of the flaws in their own writing to make it better. We have no one who is Toriyama during the Cell Arc here where they can change on the fly and actually build off of what has to now be discarded. Or, hell, me, because I don't plan my stories from go but I take GREAT pride in being able to build on surprises I leave for myself on accident. Remember: The Power of Love did not start even with that title or Boscha planned to ever make more than joke appearances. Now it has a lot of people's favorite versions of both Boscha and Amity.

And that story is over a hundred chapters long. I had at least another hundred chapters of plans in mind. But when my brain stopped working for it and I decided I needed to write an ending so readers could be satisfied, I managed to do one in six parts that word count wise was probably at most 15k words. Not that long frankly but I was able to highlight the mended relationship between Amity and Boscha, how far Boscha had come socially as to be able to ignore those who might have gotten under her skin before, her better relationship with Luz, tie up the biggest loose ends and get them all together.

Was it entirely coherent? No. Was it as impactful as it could have been had I done all my plans? Of course not. But it was satisfying and true to the story and none of it wasted my audiences' time while still giving them an ending that was not only poignant to what had come because of how far Boscha had come but also just give the audience what they wanted. I knew what to cut and I knew what was important.

The Owl House never knew what was important to it though. Never met an idea it didn't like. So... How do you end a story that has never had a focus, clear thematics, plot, world or even characters? That throws everything into the kitchen sink and just waves away the elements in the sink that will stop them from adding new elements that will never get past the surface?

In a lot of spectacle that shows you were always a lot more shallow than you claimed and that's gonna leave a lot of people cold. I know it did for me, even well before the finale.

=========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[safekeeperscosm]

tell me EVERYTHING about the SVTFOE cleaved AU, it's so good

OUGHFJFK UMM.. OKAY!!

Cleaved AU is a self-indulgent canon-divergent hypothetical rewrite @saik0m0che and I have been working on (passively 💀) since the end of svtfoe s3. but I've always had this sort of idea/concept from mid s2

other than maybe a few minor changes for s1-2, post battle for mewni is straight up where I take the reigns

first of all. Toffee doesn't die.

but star DOES still "kill him" at the end of BFM, it's just that I refuse to let his soul pass on (for unfinished business!)

the premise here takes from s2's emotionally charged magic of star's wand crystal being cleaved apart, to then cleaving her & toffee's souls together. which means they share all of each other's pain haha! so bcuz they're together, you can't kill or crystallize toff since that would harm star

but how? idk man something abt the two of them being in the realm of dying butterfly magic at the same time. something abt how toffee is no longer flesh, only decaying essence. something abt how star sorta died and came back to life just as she saved the realm. he's like a parasite!

I hc he wasn't gonna live long after BFM if star hadn't killed him off anyway. but still :(

not only does this "murderer" have to live with star at the castle (likely in the dungeon first, they'd want to break the bond of their souls), he's missing 90% of his memories — because star brutally obliterated him & he spent a very long time in the magic realm alone chanting the same spell over and over again

on the bright side, eclipsa later finds company in him, even doe he doesn't remember her (but very much trusts her 🥺)

oh yeah he & eclipsa dated in the past and became good friends after (Globgor was the one who introduced them shsghsj)

second. Glossaryck stays dead.

or rather isn't physically there with the main cast. he can't die, he just decided to let things unfold and watch at a distance

he does come around for Meteora's Lesson

rest in pudding is when star & toffee are officially cleaved! she starts asphyxiating from time to time after the funeral scenes and especially while chasing Glossy's "ghost"/reflections. he leads her to a crystallized toffee and THAT'S when they meet again. it also gives me a fun reason to do a parallel scene (redraw lol) of moon & eclipsa

you just KNOW rhombulus is gonna go through the hardest time here and he is my boy <3

lastly, SEPTARSIS!!!

this needs some episode rearranging, but maybe after Butterfly Trap, star & toffee go on a trip to septarsis with yvgeny to find a way to cleave their souls and potentially get toffee's memories back. star introduces herself as Star Johansen since everyone there hates the Butterflys. she sticks with the name from that point on

toffee does regain his memories (but can't recall them all at once, it's a process that takes time) and star is met with the revelation that he & celena were in love, making him her great great grandfather. it's also revealed how toffee managed to make the magic realm decay, and that celena was the one who helped him

oh yeah. other things;

marco pretends he's fine for his friends & family, trying to hide the fact he misses star, so his parents convince him to be the exchange student for once. but since he has dimensional scissors anyway, he visits every 1-2 weeks? not sure abt jarco. long distance? still breakup? ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

he might still be an unofficial squire cause that's for fun

Pony Head CAN get a prosthetic horn. but she actually goes through some kind of character development 😭

Ludo ??? I wanna do something for him I just dunno what. Yvgeny doesn't leave so ???

the Meteora arc ??? is paced better ???

Tom is fine Tom is great

this is ofc mostly s3 as s4 makes me so angry and bored fgshjs,, in the end magic is still "destroyed" and that's how star & toffee are finally free of each other. toffee gets to fight & kill mina while the redemption spell is cast, and he's reunited with celena to peacefully pass on :)

also the MHC aren't killed off nor is "Earthni" a thing 🤮

I'm definitely forgetting a lot of other stuff! plus the au's not wholly developed aha

[dinosaursatemymom]

anti Nancy, like srsly

You're still here? Okay, but srsly this is very against Nancy wheeler, if you're still here I'm guessing you don't like her? If you do, it's very against her, my mind will not be changed jsyk. Just a warning bc of comments on my other anti post lol 🙃

Also before anyone says anything about me just not liking her because she gets in the way of my ship, I actually hate stdie and Hrringrve. Plus I don't like a lot of the characters storylines, Nancy's is just one that frustrates me the most.

Actual Anti Nancy post starting now

This basically started out as a convo between me and @felineincognito in the comments of one of my other anti Nancy posts but this is kinda a continuation of that ig.

Also I'm not gonna talk about the stuff the other characters have done wrong bc this isn't abt them, and just because other people have done bad stuff doesn't cancel out the stuff she's done🤪.

So in the first episode I didn't really like her that much, but yk, the whole point was that she wasnt acting like herself. So, I figured that as the season went on she would grow and start being more herself, and I guess she did change to an extent. But then s2 happened and she was just being a bad gf to Steve, let's be so fr, she was emotionally cheating on him. Pining for Jonathon while lying to Steve about who she's in love with is not okay. This was around when I started to reallyyy not like her. And she just didn't take accountability for her part in the failed relationship. Then s3 rolled around(my favv season frrr) and Nancy still hasn't grown, she still doesn't take accountability for her mistakes. And she was exactly the same in s4.

Okay let's break this down by season

S1- Nancy is dating Steve. Will goes missing and Nancy is incredibly annoyed because she can't see Steve and complains, she's does not care about will. She lies to her mother and goes to see Steve. She treats Barb like shit at the party, Barb goes missing, Nancy suddenly cares about will and is upset that no one will listen to her. She finds out about the pictures and goes to ask Jonathan about the demogorgan picture, they go hunting. They argue, and eventually Jon and Steve get in the fight. At the police station Nancy starts catching feelings for Jon and is told that he is in love with her. After the whole salt bath ordeal her and Jon go to his house to try and catch it, Steve shows up trying to apologize, they tell him to leave. Steve comes back to help, Nancy, Steve, and jon kill the demogorgan. Nancy's guns are not useful in this feat ( @thegreenmeadow had a great post about this here). A few months later and Nancy gives Jon a camera that Steve bought, she is back together with Steve after waiting for Jonathon for a month because he wasn't ready.

S2- Nancy is dating Steve again, but crushing on Jonathan, this is emotional cheating especially because she later goes to jon for comfort rather than talking it out with Steve. Nancy and Steve go to barbs parents house, Nancy is struggling with guilt and wants to tell barbs parents what really happened. Steve and Nancy get into a small argument, Steve convinces Nancy not to break the NDA and to go to a party and try to relax. They go to the party and Nancy gets extremely drunk, she calls Steve bullshit and yells at him. (Presumed break up but that's debatable) Jon takes Nancy home, the next morning Nancy doesn't remember the night before and she gets upset at Steve for not picking her up. Steve and Nancy get into an argument (this is kinda why I think they didn't really break up otherwise she wouldn't have cared about him not picking her up). Nancy leaves school with Jon to try and tell barbs parents, they go to the lab and get a recording. After they get the recording they go to see Murray. After figuring out the story, they sit down to have a drink. After deciding to spend the night, Murray tells them to just sleep together. Both Nancy and Jon acknowledge Steve in a way that makes it seem like they haven't broken up/Nancy still has feelings. They go back to Hawkins and Nancy has a talk with steve, he apologizes for being a bad boyfriend and tells Nancy to go with Jon to save will. Nancy doesn't acknowledge her part in the relationship failing. She goes with jon, they get the mindflayer out of will, Nancy did not need to be there for this. At the snoball her and Jon are helping out, they smile at each other from across the room and are now dating.

S3- Nancy and Jon have been dating for a while and are currently interning at the Hawkins post. Nancy is upset about the other office workers being misogynistic and treating her poorly, she complains to Jonathan. One night while Nancy is cleaning the office she receives a call about some rats from mrs. Driscoll, she decides to pursue this herself the next day. She lies to her boss and barges in on Jonathan developing the photos, ruining whatever he was developing. Jon follows her out to the car and talks about how he's concerned about getting fired and thinks it's not a good idea. Nancy disregards his concerns and insists she's correct. They go to Mrs. Driscoll's house and find the rat. The next day Nancy brings up her case to her bosses, she is declined and told to stop pursuing the case. Nancy insists shes correct and again, barges in on Jonathan ruining his photos. Jon thinks it's a bad idea, she just says that she's going anyway, Jon reluctantly joins her. Jon again expresses concerns about losing his job, Nancy dismisses these concerns yet again. As they arrive at Mrs. Driscoll's house they find her having a seizure, the hospital is called. The next day Nancy and Jon lose their jobs. As Jon is driving them home, Nancy keeps talking about how she was correct and thinks tom is on drugs, Jon gets annoyed with her and says she should stop. Nancy compares him to the misogynistic newspaper managers, and calls him being upset because he needs his job the Oliver twist routine. Nancy gets a pep talk from her mom, and goes to the hospital. She finds mrs.driscoll having another seizure. The next morning she calls Jon about it. The kids meet up with Nancy and Jon, they discuss what's been going on, Nancy is passive aggressive towards Jon. They go to the hospital, Nancy half apologizes and Jon admits he was wrong about the rats, Nancy makes a comment about never doubting her again(imo this cancels out the apology). They fight the fleshflayer thingie. And go to the mall to try and save the scoops troop. Nancy makes a comment towards robin, that was later clearly written to be jealousy. They all fight the fleshflayer and stuff. Later we cut to Nancy and Jonathon having a talk, they're in love Jon moves away.

S4- Nancy is working at Hawkins post, her colleague Fred and her are discussing a spread, she is irritated with fred. After Chrissy dies, Nancy takes Fred to go report the story, she's irritated with fred. She lies to the police officer to get into the park, she then proceeds to go to every door and ask them questions. She then proceeds to talk to wayne Munson, pursuing her story. After speaking with him, she can't find fred, she goes around searching for him. The next morning we see her getting questioned by the police, she sees Steve's car and realizes something more is going on. Later, the gang is explaining vecna to her at the picnic table. As they all get ready to go to the school, Nancy starts to leave on her own. Robin goes with Nancy, they arrive at the library and Robin is talking through her thoughts and Nancy is extremely annoyed with her. Robin asks if she comes off as rude or condescending, Nancy says no. Robin proceeds to explain that she has trouble with social cues and filters. They go into the archives and begin searching. Robin clarifies that her relationship with Steve is purely platonic, Nancy gets more annoyed with her. Robin then finds the weekly watcher, they find out that Victor thought it was a demon. Nancy receives all the credit for this discovery. After the Mac has her first vision, Nancy and Robin proceed to come up with a plan to talk to Victor Creel. Nancy tells Robin to change clothes, they go to pennhurst. Robin ends up being the one to get them to see Victor, and figure out the music. They radio Dustin and tell him about the music. Nancy is the one to piece together Max's drawing. They proceed to go to the old creel house, Nancy helps Steve clean his hair. When they go through Watergate, Nancy helps to beat up the bats and fix Steve's wound. Nancy finds out the upside down is stuck on the day will went missing. Yadda yadda the finale happens jncy reunites, Steve confesses blah blah.(I'm sorry I got really tired just go watch if you care enough)

So um ion even remember where I was going with this but go check out the stuff @felineincognito said in the comments here because that was some great stuff. My point is that Nancy hasn't shown much growth, constantly screws up and makes things worse, is regularly rude, doesn't really do much for the plot itself, treats people poorly, expects everything and everyone to do everything for her, and yet is constantly treated as though she can do no wrong.

Also this isn't really a TV show thing, more of a fanbase thing. But if a character is just there to be a strong female women with no actual plot or arc, then she is not really a good character. I don't dislike Nancy because she is a woman, I dislike her because of how she has been written.

Nancy Stans who have made it this far, congrats! If you wanna shit on me or my takes, that's cool, but don't do it here, go to your own space with screenshots and/or copy and paste. Don't waste time harassing me, it doesn't hurt anyone if I don't like your favorite character, I'm not harassing you, I'm in my own space expressing my opinion. Please just scroll if you don't agree, this post is not for you. If you are really that pressed about anti Nancy takes, you can always block me or the tag. Please and thank you.

Love you all!