#It was a reply to a question iirc

[localguy2]

Zane... Ooooooooh boy...

I really really like the Wyldfyre shorts, they're a great way to explore Wyldfyre's grief without having to dedicate screentime from the main show.

At the same time, excuse me Wyldfyre, what did you just say he told you?

I am annoyed more so at the writers and not the character, tho his character is a close second.

The ONLY good thing about his character from Crystalized just got thrown out and into the garbage for... No reason?

And this isn't like, Wyldfyre being an unreliable narrator, because she's literally quoting him, even if it's in condensding manner, and you can't tell me Zane doesn't know the difference between Humans and Nindroids... Like- ugh...

I'm just upset, S1 of DR had his character pretty well I'd say, but S2 has just NOT BEEN IT in the slightest, they seen to be doubling down repeatedly on his robot self and not his human self, and I'm sorry but there's not even any comparison between the two when it comes to which one I like more...

Zane's whole thing was that he was a very very VERY human machine, a person even, and it seemed like he could function as a machine while still maintaining his humanity and personality.

Now, with what we've had since SotFS and now this line, it feels like that balance has completely gone out of whack, it feels like he's favouring his robot self over his human one, and there's nothing inherently wrong that.

Unless... You repeatedly literally don't do anything with his character and just keep building up on the fact that he's "Silly nice robot man :p", and especially when you use his 'Cardboard Cutout' character during the Wildbrain Era as a sort of justification for his current character state.

Mind you, that Cardboard Cutout didn't go through a single character arc up until Crystalized to justify making him feel so much more robotic, and it's hella infuriating when you remember they TRIED to give him an arc after SotFS (Tommy said that they previously wanted to have a Zane PTSD/Depression arc for Prime Empire that was scrapped).

If you can't tell, I'm not happy with his current currently in the slightest...

[epersonae]

I did this poll on twitter* a few years ago to continue an argument that Ryn and I had been having (argument in air quotes, more like a Bit at that point), and I just realized I can do it again here!

*I probably have a screenshot of the final results from Twitter somewhere in my files. I may see if I can track it down when this is done.

[shuicheese]

Where do people go once they graduate?

the horrific world known as life, the horrifying life of becoming an adult truly begins after they graduate

You graduate and realize true horrors ♡

[sreegs]

the post-automattic tumblr employees (automatticians, iirc) that are publicly posting as staff and trying to argue with tumblr users who vehemently hate the site are so adorable. this is how it's always been. users pretty much hate staff. this is why, in the old days, it was discouraged to identify as staff unless you had the stomach to put up with a bunch of hate mail and arguments.

you're also not going to win over any users by describing tumblrinas as ungrateful for the site's existence, or unreasonably angry over recent changes. you're just gonna look like a 30+ year old engineer taking pot shots at teenagers.

tumblr's current owner (automattic) got some trust back early in the acquisition when they greenlit some changes users had wanted, and ad-free went over mostly smoothly, but any trust you had was shattered with Tumblr Live. The snarky posts from automatticians are making it worse, the worst offender being the person you have running emporium.

this is how tumblr users have always acted before automattic came in and bought tumblr. this is not new. this is why users say things like "staff is out of touch".

y'all need to understand this before you try to snap back at angry users, or before you make vagueposts insinuating the tumblrinas are ungrateful.

maybe examine why tumblr users are angry, what they're angry with, accept they're valid reasons to be angry, and question why these business decisions are being made. like, "hey yeah why is tumblr live still there if everyone hates it?" or "why does moderation seem worse these days?".

then maybe if you understand what's causing the anger when users say "fuck staff" and you'll know not to take it personally. maybe you can take the urge to post snarky replies and redirect it to questioning your bosses' decisions to go ahead with these features that are universally hated

learn, adapt, overcome.

read, comprehend, post.

or just stop posting

[astronicht]

Hi I hope this isn't presumptuous, but so, that post you made about Tolkien making the lads leave their weapons outside the hall and CS Lewis thinking the hall was gonna get burned down by a lady who also wanted to kill herself... what's the historical precedent for that? Is there a trope in medieval lit where people like... do that? I ask because uh. I am obsessed with Children of Hurin and there's a scene where that like, happens. And I'm obsessed with that scene, and would love to know if there's like, cultural/mythic context that would enrich my knowledge!

OH BOY, sorry I'm getting to this late, it's been uhhh a summer, but one, this is a very good question!! And two, yes there is absolutely precedent, particularly in early medieval literature, and high medieval literature set in the early medieval (circa 500-1100 AD) past. I'll let someone else debate how often people actually historically locked their enemies into a hall and burned them, but especially in Old Norse literature (and if Fellowship felt like it leaned a little more on Old English literature, Two Towers, where Eowyn appears, felt a little more Old Norse) this is common. Off the top of my head, you've got many Icelandic family feuds ending in burning the whole family in their hall, like Njal's Saga (Old Norse), Attila the Hun dramas (yeah he's a big guy in the burning halls circuit, but actually not in the way you might expect) like his cameos in Volsung Saga (Old Norse) and Nibelungelied (Middle High German), and my vague recollection of a few Irish and Welsh versions that no search engine is giving up for me right now.

This, predictably, got long and slightly off topic.

Disclaimer: As usual, I should say I come from an Old English-centric background, and Old English literature is actually notable among all its neighbors for not burning down too many halls. Second disclaimer, all links are not proper citations, they just go to wiki.

Hall-burning in literature is, to my understanding, part of the concerns of a few early medieval cultures in which revenge is not only expected but in many cases legally reinforced and codified, and one in which conflicts could spiral to engulf -- figuratively, or literally and in flames -- entire families. Many medieval Icelandic sagas are focused on this exact type of destruction of whole families or friendship/community units. Most relevant of these to Eowyn, Two Towers, and the vibes of Edoras (since alas I am only partway into RotK and can't speak to Children of Hurin yet!) is Volsung Saga, which is set on the Continent, not Iceland, and actually has to do with Attila the Hun. As mentioned before, an incredible amount of stuff turns out to have to do with Attila. We will come back to him!

So, on the particular post you're talking about, a few people iirc have replied pointing out that the hall in TT is clearly supposed to be based on a hall from Old English literature, namely the hall in Beowulf, which famously did not actually get burnt down. And that's all true! I was not posting with much nuance; I was mostly having a joke at the expense of CS Lewis. However, I was also referencing a very very common trope in Old Norse/early medieval stories, and I personally think JRR was as well (AND I think Beowulf was also very consciously referencing the exact same motif anyway) (no one has to agree with me, a tumblr blog, on any of these points).

The thing about the hall when our heroes approach is that the scariest damn thing in that hall is Eowyn. Certainly not every hall-burning story requires a woman with no other recourse to set the fire (in fact, the "warrior band approaches unknown hall which might have a grudge against them" is a trope that can get you killed in a pretty homosocial environment, as I guess Aragorn at least was aware, being a big reader). Still, the presence of a woman who is swiftly running out of options does fit what I'd consider one of the or perhaps The best known version of the early medieval burning hall trope: Gudrun, who shows up in at least a dozen different texts in both the Scandinavian and the German language traditions, including Volsung Saga, a text which itself often gets paraded around as the basis of lotr (which I'm sure it is, in that JRR appears to have simply and very fairly based lotr on every piece of early medieval vernacular literature I can think of).

In a portion of Gudrun's story (which of course changes a bit in each retelling), after her first marriage she is unhappily married to Atli, who is none other than our main man Attila the Hun. After Attila kills her brothers for reasons (in one version, her father), seeing no other way to take the necessary revenge and no other way out, she kills the two sons she had by him, serves them to Attila for dinner, has Attila killed, and then sets fire to the hall with everyone in it. After this, she attempts to drown herself.

The self-destruction of this act is a really important beat, and has only gotten more-so as a comparison to Eowyn the further I've read into RotK (currently, I'm at the houses of healing after merry and eowyn take on the witch king). It's a lot clearer in the book than the films, for me, that Eowyn going off to battle was not so a straightforward empowering and/or freeing move, despite allowing her some agency, but more the one path she saw as available to her with which to die with honor (which was pretty much exactly what Gudrun was facing as well). Like Gudrun, whose first husband was a great hero but has died, Eowyn's romantic choice is a hero who is presumed dead (sorry Aragorn they did Not believe in your ghost skills). In fact, in some versions Gudrun does put on armor and fight with her brothers before they're killed. She kills Attila with her own hand, with the help of another man who needs to avenge a blood feud against Attila.

So while Eowyn didn't get forced into marriage to Attila Wormtongue (with apologies to both historical Attila and that one historical skald also called Wormtongue who was reportedly hot) and burn the whole place down, she's still trapped, and like Gudrun chooses destruction alongside her household.

Reading her arc feels so much like watching Tolkien write a fix-it for Gudrun. What if she got this one little chance, and this one other little chance, and this one more -- tiny little shifts in the narrative that allow her to get out, and not through fire, and not through death.

Anyway, this got away from me. I hope it added some context to the Children of Hurin arson case! Thanks for the ask

[kellyvela]

So I’m sure you’ve seen the discourse between Dany and Sansa stans on the Twitter timeline … but I’ve just come across something new that I hadn’t seen before ??? From a Sansa anti ofc, but it was a blog post from GRRM where someone said Sansa isn’t a Stark anymore/less of a Stark since she lost her direwolf and GRRM responds with “that’s a very astute observation” with a coy smile (I didn’t look at it for long so I’m unsure of the exact wording). Anyway I find it hard to believe that THIS is what Sansa antis are clinging to when there is so much in text to connect Sansa to her indentity, not to mention him listing her amongst his main characters ? Do they just ignore all those interviews ? Do they not read her chapters?

Calm down! That's not from any GRRM Not A Blog, that's from a *FAN REPORT* that clearly isn't a fan of Sansa.

This is the *FAN REPORT* in question:

OCTOBER 05, 2001 ARCHON MEETING (OCTOBER 5-7) In regards to the conversation about the dire wolves and the Starks the point was made (I forget by whom) that Lady was dead and Sansa still alive to which I replied that Sansa wasn't really much of a Stark anymore. IIRC (this is a little hazy), at this point GRRM kind of leaned back in his chair, smiled and said something to the effect of "A very astute observation." (Note: I was hoping someone else would bring this up as I didn't want to do any hornblowing... since Terra brought it up, but didn't recall the wording I felt the need. If anyone remembers his words differently I'll gladly recant.) [Source]

The "IIRC (If I remember correctly)," "this is a bit lazy," and, "didn't recall the wording," should be enough to know that this is more like a wishful thinking, or another Alan Taylor case, and not what actually happened, not what GRRM actually said. In summary, this is not a reliable source.

Here's another *FAN REPORT* (the fan called Terra that the previous one mentioned) from the same event:

OCTOBER 05, 2001 ARCHON MEETING (OCTOBER 5-7) [Note: Edited for brevity,] (...) 7. Short discussion on the significance of the wolf to the Stark kids. Martin made a rather assertative comment about the significance of Lady's absence in Sansa's life. Though I can't recall the exact wording. (...) [Source]

Again, the "I can't recall the exact wording" should be enough to know that this is not a reliable source.

It is really curious that NO ONE that attended that event remember what GRRM exactly said regarding Sansa and her direwolf Lady . . . . Collective amnesia, maybe???

If you are interested in GRRM's quotes about Sansa Stark and the og sources (so you can decide how reliable they are), here's a compilation:

Hope this helps!

[lara-cairncross]

Hello hello! I love your pixie hollow AU so much! I especially love how Donnie, being disabled, finds a way to work with his disability instead of them trying to fix it,,, idk it tugs on my heartstrings how he adjusts and instead invents something extremely cool (the wing brace and damn it looks cool) that not only functions but also highlights his broken wing (like how amputees show their prosthetic/bionic limbs instead of hiding it in sleeves or leg pants to tell the message "why should I hide it? Its part of me" thing AAAAAAA)

Anyways onto the question-- (lol) I saw from an ask reply that you said that Raph picked two talents? I know what the egg is (animal.. right? iirc), but what's the other one? :))

thanks once again!

I’m so happy you love it!! And yes— Donnie building something to both work his disability AND show off his talent was super important to me! I’m glad everyone seems to like that idea too :DD I won’t go off on too much of a rant, but as I’ve said before, one of my biggest disappointments in the Tinkerbell movies was the fact that Tink got her damaged wing,,,, fixed by magic bullshit.

instead of. yknow.

tinkering a solution.

(genuinely what the hell were the writers thinking that that one—)

but anyway, the other “talent” Raph picked was the scouting talent! I couldn’t find anything definitive, but I’m fairly sure the scouting talent is represented during the choosing ceremony with a porcupine quill, so that’s what I went with!

fun fact tho: Raph still technically doesn’t have a second talent. He’s an animal fairy through and through, and the egg was the only item to do that whole glowing thing during his choosing ceremony! He ended up picking up the porcupine quill just because he wanted to— and everyone kinda just accepted it as, okay, well I guess he wants to be that too. So he did lmao. Raph doesn’t have any of the scouting talent abilities, like far-seeing and far-listening, but he’s really strong and knows how to deal with animals, so he’s kind of an honorable scouting-talent to the Hidden Hollow :DD

[aziraphales-library]

Lost Fic #182

1. Hi - I’m trying to find a fic in which Crowley has to abandon his flat because of “creeping holiness” spreading through it and bleaching the whole place white. Thanks! And thank you all for this amazing resource! - @stumblingoverchaos

2. Hi, First of all, thank you for all of the work you do on this blog, it's been very helpful to me. Second, there's this fic I'm looking for. Aziraphale found Crowley as a snake and took him home, but Crowley was acting like an actual snake. Over time, Crowley stole energy from Aziraphale overnight but he still wasn't acting like himself despite being able to retake human form. At the end, he was okay though. I think there was also a sequel, where to protect Crowley from the thing that caused him to be snake-stuck (snuck) Aziraphale had to trap him and use his (Aziraphale's) blood for a ritual. He also asked Crowley to trust him because he wasn't allowed to ask any questions. If you could help me find this, I would be incredibly grateful, as I could have sworn I found it through this blog the first time yet have been unable to find it since. Thanks! @alex-de-bayre

3. hello !! i know you have hundreds of asks but I've been looking for this fic for so long. it's adult omens, and i'm pretty sure it takes place in the Bentley? Crowley ends up on Azi's lap and there are some d/s dynamics to it, and Crowley ends up finishing from praise alone. it's definitely less than 2000 words, and has nothing too explicit. i know it's not the most conventional ask but I've been searching for a while, so maybe the librarians will have better luck? - anon

4. hello!!! ive got a fic to find, and i think i actually got it from here but idk what its called. the most distuinguishing thing i can remember is that aziraphale is discorporated after being hit by a bus, right before he started telling crowley about his feelings. the bus driver is a nice old guy on the brink of retirement who feels really bad, and crowley lectures/yells at the dead body before he miracles everyone to forget. i really looked that fic, but i mustve not bookmarked it :( thanks for the help in advanced, godsent mods! - @o-lord-heal-this-bike

5. Hi! I'm looking for a specific fic. It was an adult omens fic, and all I can remember is that it started with focus on Aziraphale and Crowley holding hands on the bus. I THINK it's from Aziraphale's POV, and he is nervous. Iirc, Crowley just stares ahead and the kind of don't mention it while it's happening. Any ideas? Sorry it isn't much to go on! - @acheemient

If you know any of these fics please include the number in your reply! Thank you :)

- Mod D

[nyan-koii]

Hii! Do you have any recs of sebschumi fics or content on tumblr? Or like literally anything; pictures, interviews? I'm new to this duo and I'm lacking the content. :(

HI ANON !! SO SORRY FOR THE LATE REPLY I HOPE YOU'RE DOING WELL 💖

Thank you so so much for this question. I genuinely squealed and teared up when i saw this. Im happy theyre getting more acknowledgement and that you're willing to learn more about them !! For starters, they dont have much contents at all and most of them are quite difficult to find but i've gathered some of them that will help you to understand why this ship and their bond between one another beats every other seb's pairings 🙏 it's quite a long thread because i want to pull you down into this hole hehehehhehehehe

Tumblr contents

1. @/effervescentdragon post of hero worshipping and yearning

: this emotional heart wrenching web weaving about sebschumi is so incredible as it gives you an insight of how they both work and play out in each other's life from the first time seb saw michael at the karting club and the times when seb reminiscence about his past with michael. This was the last straw that made me realise that sebschumi deserves so so much if not more than sebmark ngl. Everything just hurts and they did it so well with the web weaving!!

2. @/schumi-honey post about germancedes and how michael always chooses seb at the end of the day

: now this one is REALLY REALLY INTERESTING FOR ME BECAUSE michael, being in a team that gave brawn their world champion, jean todt asking him to come back into said team with a potentially wdc teammate who is also half german half finnish but races under the german flag will still find and choose sebastian vettel at the end of the day. If that doesnt sound crazy to you then i'm sorry but you're missing out. The post is incredible as it shows how does michael act with a person, and with sebastian. He changes completely !! Thats true love man.

3. @/andromedasummer post about mary sue seb

: this one gives a view of how sebastian is totally the y/n in his life story and when that moment of truth comes to your realization, you just gotta go like DAMN this kid is lucky af because a wdc michael, the pride of german at that time chooses SEBASTIAN VETTEL to be his successor among all other kids, Michael that said "this 12 year old is making my life difficult! He's so fast," to Gerhard who will later on recruit him under redbull sponsorship. Crazy right? It's like Seb is the chosen one in Michael's life. The one that will continue his legacy (people have been calling and referring him as 'baby schumi') and the one that will eventually become one of his closest friend on and outside the grid. And we also got this from the post which has never left my mind after reading it and never failed to make me cry... they both are so superior and connected with each other... red string of fate type of dynamic is so strong here....

4. Kart Club Kerpen Sebschumi

: this just means a lot to me because michael and seb first met here and to see them karting with each other, laughing and getting so so comfortable around each other's presence shows how much they've grown while indirectly growing up with one another. SEBSCHUMI YOU'RE MY WORLDDDD

5. Pranksters Sebschumi

: It's just so so fun and refreshing to see their dynamics in this one. Michael and seb being menances, partners in crime everytime they're spotted together and how seb will do anything michael asked him to even if it means causing riot in other's life,,, LIKE???? I CANT BELIEVE THESE GAYS OMG but yeah, their dynamics are soooo good i love them so much 💖

6. Recent Seb interview about Michael

: this iirc was during that time where seb did a test with porsche and then we got this interview saying how seb just misses michael which he refers to as a friend.... my heart broke im telling you i cant handle it😞 michael also said that he was glad to found seb in his life and that in his world full of ego, seb is the only one that he feels genuine to be with which michael also labelled their relationship as something special. SHOOT ME ALREADY KILL ME IM IN TEARS RIGHT NOW DAWGGG

Fic recs

Onto the good part now☺ keep in mind that we barely have any fics about them so please if any of you guys have ideas for them, dont be afraid to share it to ao3 <3 because I WILL BE THE PERSON THAT WILL THOROUGHLY ENJOY IT THE MOST LIKE I'LL BE YOUR NO 1 FAN !!! And please dont forget to comment and leave kudos to them 🙏

1. Never have I ever by Tianvette

: theres this unspoken rule created by god tianvette regarding sebschumi and honestly, it really really shaped them both into so much more because like,, that headcanon? That fanon?? It's canon now because ONLY MICHAEL CAN CALL SEBASTIAN AS "BASTI" AND NO ONE ELSE GETS TO CALL HIM THAT 🙏 so thank you to this fic for making them more special than ever.

2. Im sorry by @/n-ico-ando

: OKAY OKAY OKAY THIS IS ACTUALLY THE FIC THAT MADE ME GOT INTO OLD F1 FANDOM, SEBASTIAN VETTEL AND SEBSCHUMI ITS JUST SO GOOD OKAY?!?!? JUST READ IT AND YOU'LL GET WHAT I MEAN I LOVE THIS FIC WITH MY WHOLE LIFE IT CHANGED ME TO A BETTER PERSON AURGGHGHSHAJSA VERY VERY NORMAL WITH THIS ONE,, I SWEAR.... MY BIBLE MY CAUSE OF EUPHORIA

3. I'm gonna take mind of you with me by @/likethegardensofbabylonn

: this fic is ongoing but GOSH GOSH GOSH OH GOD THE WAY I SCREAMED WHEN I FIRST READ IT. The settings took place with seb remembering his memories with michael before and after the accident so yeah, if you need a good heartbreaking and gut wrenching story about angsty sebschumi, this is the one because it's just so perfect with seb's thoughts his internal conflicts and how the author makes a great interpretations on seb's character. This fic feels so close to me because of how true and close the whole settings and narrations sound like with my thoughts so yes, it's something you should invest your time and think of everytime someone said sebschumi.

4. Use me Use me (cause i ain't no average groupie) by @/horn-knee-demons-anonymous

: I HAVE NO WORDS FOR THIS FIC EXCEPT THAT HOW BRILLIANT AND ALLURING THE STORY IS. I've always wanted a seb harem fic with sebschumi as the endgame considering of the drought ive been facing so when this fic came, it's as if god has heard my prayers because truly this fic alongside with the author herself, my guiding moonlight and the stars of my night, are just god given with how much they changed the trajectory of my life and im so glad i met her and able to read her works. The worldbuilding, the consistency in every single characters, the dynamics, their interactions and every single wordings here leaves you wanting for more and makes you feel like you're on the edge of your seat! It's like "am i allowed to be reading this for free!?!?" But really, this is a masterpiece so please give them all of your love and be there while it's still ongoing <3

5. Hurts by Molly_lovers1

: as a fan of dead dove with a huge favouritism of age gap and underage characters, i was super happy when i first read this fic mainly because of the struggle, the push and pull dynamics between sebschumi and their guilt ridden thoughts as well as their burning desire that makes this feels so so good yet vile to be reading. It's that kind of fic where i jerked off to every night while thinking about it lolll BUT IM SO SO SO NORMAL ABOUT IT.

6. How to treat a guest by yours truly

: shameless self promo but i was trying to spread my sebschumika agenda here☺💖 i hope you get the vision too hehe !!

Videos

The complete compilations of all known sebschumi sources can be found here though it doesnt cover much of the roc contents but still!! This one is a really really good guide for them both 🥰

Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel Compilation

And ROC 2007 cuts of sebastian vettel because this was their first race together as a teammate, michael had just retired and he brought a newly fresh boy as his team to compete against all the other drivers. If that's not love and bias then i dont know what to say because oh god, this does so much to me as a person who worships sebschumi everyday.

Roc 2007 Sebastian Vettel Cuts

Articles

I cant put pictures anymore so this is all for now !! I hope by the end of this post, everyone will become and realize the true power of sebschumi 🥰🙏🔥🔥

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buck & Eddie: The Announcement

Still here! - 6x13 "Mixed Feelings"

I've posted several times about how 6x13 was the finale for me since the rest of the season COULD AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN YEETED TO THE SUN AND OBLITERATED but I digress.

The video above includes two scenes, one from 6x9 "Red Flag" and the other from 6x13 "Mixed Feelings". I've combined them to illustrate how they might be related. When Buck joined the team while they were sitting on the rooftop in 6x9, Eddie asked him, "Would you prefer an announcement?" and Buck replied, "Uh... I would" with the first scene from 6x13 when Bobby said, "Over here guys" because it seems like these were subtexts for the announcement of Buck & Eddie.

I've already completed two posts; one for 6x8 regarding the comment Buck made about "Raining Men" (linked here) and one that includes all six scenes of Buck and Eddie, Buck and Chris and the Buckley-Diaz Family for 6x13 (linked here). Also, I've mentioned before how I've watched 6x13 numerous times and each time I've watched it, I've noticed something new. The last time it was Bobby's comment of "Over here guys" that caught my attention because it reminded me of Eddie's question to Buck in 6x9 about if he wanted an announcement that prompted this post. It appears it may have been included as part of "the announcement" for Buck and Eddie too in addition to the "Raining Men" subtext that was included in 6x8, 6x9, 6x10 and 6x13.

Some may be asking, why is this important?

Well... it's important because IIRC, Buck and Eddie have NEVER entered the scene of a call LATE when they were with the 118. The entire team arrives at scenes together, they always have. The only time Buck and Eddie showed up to a call "late" or "just in time" was in 4x13 "Suspicion" but reminder, Buck wasn't in uniform and the 118 wasn't there since Eddie called it in and the 133 was dispatched 👀. Therefore, that scene was eliminated from this analysis.

Also, Captain Mehta was in 6x13 too (exactly two years later following the shooting - detailed post about Captain Mehta in 6x13 linked here) and I've been wondering why he was there if all they wanted him to do was play poker.

I've never believed that was it because reminder, Captain Shore was the 133's captain in 5x16 "May Day" and if the show wasn't trying to tell the audience something, she would have been at the poker table with Chief Williams (another person the audience hadn't seen since season 2 during the earthquake).

Eddie's and Buck's "late" arrival prompted A LOT of unanswered questions for me and I've listed some of them below.

Why were they late?

Where the heck were they?

Were they together? (Since they entered together, I think they were.)

What were they doing? 👀👀

Why didn't they enter the scene with everyone else?

Did Bobby know where they were?

If so, why didn't he call for them sooner?

Is it possible the way Bobby called them along with the way they entered the gym was the announcement about them becoming a romantic couple?

Based on the way season 6 ended, it seemed like the "RUSHED" and messy bridge collapse wasn't supposed to end the way it did and I've often wondered why Bobby was underneath the rubble instead of SOMEONE ELSE (based on the first set of BTS pics that were released, I have an idea of who it should have been but for some reason, it was all changed. Goodbye FOX network and hello ABC) especially since Bobby was trapped under Metro Dispatch's roof in 5x16. The storyline shouldn't have been for him because the team had already worked to get him out of the rubble in season 5 and it was significant then but not so much at the end of season 6. None of the rest of the season made any narrative sense and it's possible it never will if they continue the mixed up and forced narrative they threw in at the last minute for season 7.

It would have been easier if 9-1-1 would have just told the audience what they wanted them to know instead of expecting people to do mental gymnastics to figure things out but... anyway. Was Buck's and Eddie's entrance in 6x13 part of "the announcement" regarding them becoming a CANON couple? Only the showrunner(s), writers and producers know the answer to that question and HOPEFULLY it will be answered in season 7.

[yupuffin]

Alhaitham is great, actually

Spoilers for Sumeru story quests (Chapter 3, parts 1-4) ahead

If I had one Mora for every time someone called Alhaitham “a walking red flag...”

My personal reading of him is that he’s walking proof that “logical and realistic” isn’t mutually exclusive with “understanding and respectful of emotions,” because he is absolutely both.

Honestly, I find his character really refreshing. Too often, a “rational” character gets oversimplified as one who values facts and empirical evidence to the point of wholly rejecting the importance of feelings. It’s true that Alhaitham is not the most expressive guy on the outside, but he’s not totally dismissive of emotions (his own or others’), either.

In Port Ormos, Alhaitham readily tells the Traveler that he’s dealing with illegal goods and the stakes are high, and explicitly gives them the option to back out of the deal if they find it unsavory. (Compare to Childe and Thoma, who were not as upfront about what they were asking the Traveler to do--regardless of whether it was for nefarious purposes.) Later, at the gathering in Aaru Village, he demonstrates that he can acknowledge and apologize for when his actions could bring harm to others. In my opinion, this sincerity and sensitivity makes him more trustworthy than a lot of the characters we’ve met so far.

Even though he is a scholar who is primarily concerned with factual evidence, it’s not like he’s entirely emotionless. He recognizes his own personal motivations and limitations, as well as their place in a wider context--that someone with as logical and analytical a perspective as him can come off as “callous.” He considers others’ feelings and motivations as well, and even if they’re not flawlessly rational, he doesn’t necessarily outright reject them. His attitude makes him seem cold, but he’s actually a perceptive and understanding person.

The moment that inspired me to make this post was when he declared his interest in becoming a hostage for the Eremites (in exchange for freeing the Village Keepers). Paimon protests, asking, “What if they decide to kill you instead?”

A typical response to this question would be something along the lines of “Don’t worry,” or “I’ll be fine.” Those words are indeed comforting to hear, but they run the risk of downplaying the other person’s concern, or promising something that is ultimately outside of one’s control.

Instead, Alhaitham coolly replies, “Well, that would be bad luck for me.”

It’s a reply that acknowledges that concern without invalidating it, but it’s also straightforward and realistic. Soon afterwards, Alhaitham claims that he “never makes empty promises;” he wouldn’t give the typical sympathetic response if he couldn’t factually guarantee that everything really would be okay. If the Eremites did decide to kill him after all, he’s right--it would suck for him (and by extension, anyone who cared about his safety).

In a happy coincidence, just a few days before this scene, I played the Ballads and Brews event quests, in which Razor considers finding out more about his biological parents; when Rosaria questions him (rather rudely) about what he thinks that information will change about his life, Razor acknowledges the coldness of her proposition. “Cold stings,” he says (iirc), “but good for wounds.” At the time, Razor’s comment puzzled me; it seemed to me like Rosaria was just trying to justify being a jerk to Razor by making unprompted accusations. But I think I understand better after experiencing this particular bit of dialogue in the Archon Quests.

It’s true--Alhaitham’s response is “cold” and it “stings” because, as I mentioned earlier, it’s not the usual sympathetic, reassuring response one would expect after expressing their concern. You could even say that it’s kind of dismissive by comparison. But it is grounding. It acknowledges the very real possibility of bad things happening to someone you care about, without downplaying the anxiety that comes with it. That anxiety is persistent with its “what ifs” and thus can feel like an open wound. But it’s difficult to make a sound argument with such a realistic, sincere response as “Yes, I agree, that would be bad.” I read his response as evidence of his belief that emotions and logic can effectively coexist.

Alhaitham may fall into the “logical genius” archetype in some ways, but he’s not fundamentally insensitive or condescending. While he understands his position and motivations as a scholar operating on “pure rationality” (in Tighnari’s words), he also recognizes the potentially more emotion-laden perspectives of others.

Also, he’s incredibly beautiful and I love him.

[matan4il]

What are the names of the hostages who have proof of life recently? I want to keep them in my thoughts

Hi lovely!

That's such a lovely thing, but difficult to answer your question, because a part of it, is what do we define as "recent?" Is it just that we got proof of life recently, or that the material shared included proof that it was filmed recently? And how many weeks do we count as "recent" for either scenario?

As far as I know, the only vid that was released recently, where the hostage being filmed mentioned how long he's been in captivity (and even that was released a while ago by now, so we can't know if anything happened to him since) is that of Hersh Goldberg Polin. In addition to him, there was also a vid showing Omri Miran and Keith Siegel released recently, but IIRC it didn't include a similar time stamp, you could just see that they look like they've been in captivity for a while (but that can be misleading. It doesn't take as long as we might think for captivity to leave a physical impression).

And then of course, I do think the hostages who are no longer alive deserve to be in our thoughts as well. They deserve proper burial, as all human beings do. Their families deserve closure, to know they did the last thing they could for their murdered loved ones, and that there is a grave they can go to, to mourn, to say the kaddish, to put a stone on, to feel like their loved ones are at rest...

(but to make it clear: the living hostages do have to be the first priority. Israel was negotiating for the release of 40 living hostages, who were humanitarian cases, and Hamas said it can't find that many alive, so Israel agreed to a deal where 33 living hostages would be freed, Hamas said no, then these terrorists announced they had "agreed" to a deal that Israel never offered, supposedly based on the one Israel did agree to with only "minor differences," but it turned out one of those differences was that they would release 33 hostages living "or bodies." That's unacceptable, that living people would continue to be tormented in captivity, while Hamas may potentially keep them all hostage and only release 33 bodies...)

So, with 'proof of life' being a tricky thing when dealing with lying manipulative, abusive terrorists, and all of the hostages deserving to be returned, I know it may be a lot and it's legit if you feel like it's too much, but I'd like to ask you to keep all of them in your thoughts. And if you feel like you do need a shorter, more concrete list, consider if you maybe feel comfortable to expand it a bit beyond the (very short) list of those for which we got a "recent" "proof of life." But please know it's totally understandable, if you do feel like you need to focus on just the latter. Either way, thank you for wanting to keep any of the hostages in mind at all, in a world that's willing to demonize and tear down the posters of a baby, just because he's an Israeli Jew.

Sending you much love and hugs! xoxox

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[crazykuroneko]

Rewind the Tape – IWTV S102

I'm catching up with @iwtvfanevents now with Episode 2. Repeating my FYI from before: this is my first time rewatching the show (excluding indirect watch through YouTube reactions), and it's purpose for me to refresh my mind and noticing things. So, I won't dwell on certain theories, but I'll take notes about it for myself.

Feel free to reply if you want to discuss. *crack knuckles* Let's go!

• Marius' painting. A clue that Rashid is Armand. But now, IF Justin Kirk is really Marius, it's also a clue that Marius also lives in that apartment building 💡Does that mean there's a real possibility of "Akasha is the groan" theory to be true? Or "sleeping Lestat is the groan"? Because no way these good writers features the groan without meaning even though the groan is indeed a phenomenon that happens to tall buildings. Saving this for later.

• "Is it only work or you (are his fuckboy basically)?" Your prejudice (and lowkey envy, maybe) is showing, Daniel

• "I apologize for my outburst earlier" You're just crying Louis. It's okay. Fuck this discipline life you're doing 😭

• Idc I headcanon Armand bought Louis that top because it looks so great for Ied Fitr. Like, I already have the visual in my head.

• The music turns out to be a diagetic music as well is so witty and memorable. Love that

• The farm. Hmmm. Saving that for later

• "Two vampires walked into the church". The error in this statement is interesting. Does he feel like it's inevitable the moment he walked into that church?

• Blood of the deceased will suck you into death. Okay, noted.

• That priest is still alive???? What?

• The spark shot is beautiful. Iirc, Alan said that's kinda tricky to achieve.

• I don't know, I just love this shot:

• "Are you hungry, Louis?" "Huh-huh" PLEASE HE IS SO CUTE AND PALM-SIZED

• That paw of a hand directing Louis' head. Icu

• Lestat still could talk to Louis telepathically here. Because he hasn't had his first meal?

• "Just to be clear, we're here to talk about tractors" 🏳️‍🌈🤔❓I mean, what this poor soul is assuming to begin with 😭

• Lestat's instruction being an innuendo for oral sex is so 😭. I love these writers

• "You're going to find that difficult". That's "after-the-fact scene" number 2. Yeah, I will call it that. It means that scene doesn't necessarily happen as a fact in the past because it's impossible for Louis to know (he's being super focused on his family, no way he heard that). But it's formed based on an information Louis learnt after the fact, which over the years eventually attached to the memory of that day. Memory does evolve that way; no intervention or intent needed for that to happen. The after the fact information this time is that it's indeed hard, and Lestat must have warned him (see: post almost killing nephew scene), so over the years it evolved to "oh Lestat must find it ridiculous I tried to go back to my family that first day". I LOVE that the writers are doing this. It means they're treating memory in the show as real memory; it's not static, it evolves over the years, formed based on a lot of influences etc etc.

• Love the burning special effects. That's a great way to show it off.

• I can't believe they had their first time with Louis smelling like milk and burnt 😂😭

• Daniel is SO desperate to put some distance and not sympathize with Louis. Though he kinda fails by the end of the episode thanks to Alice

• The fact they gave Lestat's preaching lines from the book to Louis (the having hand in divine plan bits) really tells you that Louis is posturing here. Idk I feel like he's trying to gauge how far Daniel could tolerate. And Daniel is indeed afraid, judging from his face and how he becomes more bitey.

• After-the-fact scene number 3, with Lestat staring as Louis' sex worker's breast. The after-the-fact information is obviously Lestat staring at Antoinette in the next episode which led to his affair. Of course, Louis would questioning when Lestat started to be unfaithful, when his eyes started straying; a very common question for people who are cheated. Is it really from the beginning? (Fenwick's arm hasn't healed yet since Paul's funeral; Google tells me it can take six weeks)

• "It's not cheating if it's with a woman" oh hey best cameo of the year lol

• Lestat's face when he explained about no telepathy is like he just had a war flashback

• I need more Florence vs Lestat cat fight seriously

• "Haven't heard a knock on my door. It's a half-mile both ways" SPEAK IT LOUDER LOUIS. Like, I understand you're grieving and blaming your son, but no call whatsoever from everyone for 3 months after your son just suddenly moved out?? Insanity. (But also not surprising seeing my own big family responding to silent treatment 💀) The homophobia jumps out as well. Paul is Louis' real tie to the family.

• Jacob's expressions during the racist lawyer scene muah

• "If you hide from me this long again, I'll hunt you down..." again, his family knows where he lives 🤷‍♀️

• Grace pointing out the "extra" cash and the fact he lives nicely in the Quarter now 👀👀

• "What can i do to make it up to you?" This whole scene shows Lestat's method in deescalating a situation. He obviously doesn't understand the point of the problem is yet he doesn't try to understand. Louis is giving him a silent treatment (which means he's my bestie, cos silent treatment is my flaw as well lol), but idk instead of showing a good intention by asking Louis to explain to him or something, he asks for a shortcut instead. He needs Louis to verbalize the solution for them. We're fast forwarding, but iirc this is similar approach he has with Antoinette as well. Here, Louis is still willing to verbalize the solution.

• The way Louis' neck moves when Lestat says "How can i stop you?" oh he loves being pampered

• Louis doesn't put "sir" after Tom's name when signing the purchase 😎✊

• The body double throws me out I'm so sorry 😭

• 1912-1917

• This whole thing with Benny feels like a thriller movie. Kudos for the director

• Of course he came to his family bringing money for Grace. It seems it's past bed time. Florence is in her bedroom.

• "It's still Lestat" There's passive aggressiveness into it idk. Like, she expects them to have broken up already

• The last victim in 2000. noting that down.

• Louis really wants Daniel to highlight he's different from the other girls. I mean, the other vampires.

• Daniel's face over the slurping 😭

• He put Benny on the floor so he wouldn't roll down from the sofa 🥺

• "If you love your family, spare them the pain" I believe Lestat is being genuine here. He basically goes I've been there done that, and look at me now it ended so badly.

• "I'm your family, Louis" 😭

• Then he basically makes a perfect summary of Louis aww

• "Maybe there's deaf, blind porter and kill when we get to the hotel." Louis, you're not so different from the other girls (vampires) 😭

• That long ass overture just for two tickets to the opera. Lestat, please.

• The whole "there was present a kind of worship on my part" 🤌 *insert that gif of pen on fire while writing*

• You can see the exact moment when it dawns on Lestat he has fucked up with bringing Louis to a racist opera house. God, what a loser (affectionately). It's never come into his mind how bad it would ruin Louis' mood. Like, he understands racism is bad as a concept, but he doesn't understand how it affects one's self. He thinks that would be a minor convenience to Louis that Louis could just brush off.

• Lestat 🤝 Me, accidentally become manipulative when we're in a pinch. (re: the loneliness speech)

• Louis is so down bad, unfortunately ❤️

• "And this woman sang for us, it seemed, articulating the difficult love we often had troubles exptessing ourselves" So beautiful.

• Misophonia girlies (gn) unite! I will always enjoy Lestat killing Ernesto I'm so sorry lol. Saw a reaction from someone who does classical music and they're ouching as well. So, GO FOR IT SON KILL HIM

• Lestat slowly killing Ernesto while Louis watching his memories to feel the "charge" of connecting to humanity. Oh, they are made for each other.

• The story with Alice, that she felt not good enough for him so she always died his eyebrow brown, but Daniel actually liked it when she didn't do it. Aww Daniel is trying to cheer him up.

• About the question for this week, does Louis really need to maintain the thread and why? Idk, i feel like Louis feels he needs to do it. Maybe to maintain some resemblance of humanity inside him, afraid it will go away over time. But to me, it doesn't really work.

Summary: Okay, if the first episode is about establishing Louis' internal conflicts, about the seduction/hunt and turning, this episode is about what Louis lost and not lost to vampirism. We also see the seed of Loustat's conflicts and how ineffective their method to solve them. And it's about vampirism, it's also the episode where we get the vampire lore the most. Of course over the months after season 1 aired I have kept several theories up about where the Dubai timeline is set based on the books. And the teasers of season 2 have debunked some of them. But this rewatch gives me another theory which I will keep to myself. All I can say though, instead on certain period of time of book canon, I think they're taking elements from different era of the books for Dubai. Can't wait to see the answer in S2 ❤️

[demonslayedher]

If we imagine that Kanao volunteered herself to go with Tengen in Aoi’s stead while purposely knowing that she was going against the fact that she needs permission from Shinobu, what do you think would have happened? IIRC, wasn’t Kanao entering the final selection one of the only choices she made for herself behind Shinobu’s back? I’m kinda basing this scenario on that.

Yeah, dang, things believably could have gone that way! Kanao will act as she sees right even if she doesn't expressly have permission... and in fact, she might even justify some actions as not having been told not to. That seems like a very plausible start for the Uzui & Kanao show.

And what a pair to work with since it's just going to be the two of them, as Uzui will probably take Kanao and run off before Shinobu can come and say no!

So if we go back to that scene...

Instead of Kanao just wordlessly grabbing Aoi & Naho (already a big step for Kanao, the other girls were stunned), she instead takes to yelling like she did at everyone to shut up because Tanjiro was asleep. Uzui is probably not impressed, but then after that when Kanao grabs on, he decides that since she's a Tsuguko and has a higher rank, she'll probably be more useful anyway, so he agrees, but they have to make it quick. Before they know it Uzui has ninja'd off and Aoi & the little girls are stunned and by the time Tanjiro gets back they're all going to be sobbing messes. Tanjiro will try to track Kanao down by scent, but he won't get very far. They all wait for Shinobu to get home so they can tattle on her fellow Pillar, but she doesn't go home that night... or the next night... dang those Pillar missions being so demanding! Rather than hoping for her to come soon they all instead start dreading her return.

So Uzui takes Kanao off and gives her the same talking to that he gave the boys. His word is god! Whatever he says goes! If he says to be a monkey, she's a monkey! If he says to be a dog, she's a dog!

And Kanao, being very, very good at following instructions, replies in all seriousness, "Yes."

Uzui wasn't totally expecting that, it steals his thunder with how bland a response it is and he just says "tch" and they get going. Since she's a girl and it would be looked at differently than taking a bunch of boys around, he skips the tour and goes straight to the Wisteria Mansion to give her the briefing. The goal is to have her get inside the houses his wives have disappeared from. They try to target Tokitoya first where Suma was, but the yarite from Ogimotoya where Makio was spies Kanao first by to take beautiful Kanao for a handsome price. Uzui responds well on the change in plan, Kanao is a little more bewildered because she was supposed to go to Tokitoya first, and she runs back from the yarite to whisper a question to Uzui.

Uzui supposes this is important to the mission and he squats lower so she can reach his ear. He can hear her fine among the crowd, but it's important that no demons hear.

She asks, "What do I do?"

"What? What do you mean, 'what do I do?'"

"What am I supposed to do at Ogimotoya?"

"Look for Makio, dummy!! Cook and clean and sing and play cards for all I care, but that's your mission!"

"Is there some problem?" the yarite comes back. "I believe we had a deal."

"Sorry, sorry, she's feeling nervous! Don't worry, I told her you'd show her a-a-a-ll around Ogimoto and that she'll learn all the ins and outs! Bye, Kanao! Be a good learner!"

Kanao has no idea what she's in for, and does everything she's told. They are thrilled to have not only found such a pretty girl, but a docile one who does everything she's told! What a good find! Although Kanao is still being used as a general servant while she's new, she's very aware of what staying here longer would mean. While looking around for clues about Makio, she ponders how sad and trapped the women there are, and how close she came to this having been her life. She'd have stayed completely closed off and numb, had that happened, so maybe it wouldn't had actually bothered her all that much, but Tanjiro's words echoing, 'live according to your heart,' makes her feel pain in her chest.

She happens to hear of Makio being sick, and goes to investigate, and opens the door just in time to see the obi swallow Makio up and slip away. There's no chase necessary, for Kanao has seen that it moves between the cracks, and she already knows it's long out of her reach by the time she's started chasing it.

She of course reports this to Uzui, and this is valuable intel which makes sense of a lot of tricky parts of this mission. He's worried for Makio, but also knows that it's useless now to keep Kanao at Ogimotoya because the demon knows it was spotted there (Kanao's flustered, she already had jobs to do as a servant in Ogimotoya waiting for after she made her report to Uzui). He'd like to backtrack and go to Tokitoya next, but it'll be difficult since that annoying yarite from Ogimotoya will probably recognize her property over there and cause a fuss. Maybe he should had brought one or two more of Shinobu's girls after all, at which Kanao frets and insists that she'll do everything.

Uzui gets crabby; how is a know-nothing like her going to make a promise like that!! There's no weight to her words!! What was she even thinking when she offered to go?

At this, Kanao answers him honestly, she was doing what her heart told her to. Uzui finds himself curious about the tone of voice she used to say this, and with a wide-eyed stared with interest, he tells her to go on. She isn't sure there's much more to say, and explains that she had always not cared one way or another about anything, and nothing ever hurt that way, just to do what she's told or flip a coin. It was all the same to her. But now that she's been told to live according to her heart, she's trying, and it's harder to live this way... but it's nicer. She likes it better, even if it's hard.

Uzui, having also had to listen to his own heart after spending all his life doing what he was told and to be unfeeling, feels some sympathy for her. He asks, "Well then. What do you want to do?"

"Eh?"

"You're on your own for this mission. Kochou's not here to tell you what to do. You've got to think for yourself. What do you want to do out here, in the pleasure quarters? What's your heart telling you?"

Kanao furrows her brow and thinks a moment, then asks, "I have a Corp salary. How many girls here can I buy?"

Uzui nearly falls off the roof. "WHAT!?!?" he recovers, "THAT'S what's on your mind when you should be doing the mission!?!?!"

"Eh? But--their contracts--if I buy them--then they get to be free, right? I'm sure--I'm sure Shihan would let them live at the Mansion--"

"That's not what I asked about it!! The mission! The mission, Tsuyuri, we're here to fight a demon! It's an Upper Moon, you got that!?!?"

"H-Hai---"

"I don't hear you!!!"

"HAI!!"

"Drab!! Weak!! Do you use any Breath in those lungs or not?" he pinched her cheek and jostled her back and forth. "LOUDER!! MORE FLAMBOYANT!!!"

"HAI!!!"

"That's more like it," he let go of her cheek and rubbed her head, pushing and pulling her hair into complete disarray. Though he meant to be light, the grip of his thumb had left a big, unsightly red mark on her face. His first inclination was to be sorry and his second was to be aggravated with himself for how that would make her a harder sell, but then he got an idea.

That evening, he brought Kanao to market again, covered in thick white makeup, cheeks like apples, and eyelashes for miles. To his irritation, however, even with the thickest of his charms, he couldn't get Tokitoya to take her, so in a crabby mood, he brought her over to Kyogokuya to dump her off for free to clean toilets and such. He then sent his mice to go investigate every nook and cranny an obi could slip through (unfortunately for the mice, many of them found themselves too bulky to fit).

As soon as the makeup was off, Kanao was the talk of the establishment the following early morning, which of course made their resident star, Warabihime-oiran, curious for a look at the newcomer. Kanao could tell with one look that the woman smiling at her was a demon, and she was terrified to her knees and knew she had to hurry and tell Uzui, but how? Run? Escape? Get the demon's attention? Tell everyone she's a demon they're in danger? Scream for Uzui? Risk being caught in the obi? Coin? Shihan? Coin? The mission? Hinatsuru-san? Coin?

She makes it through most of day keeping her head down and doing exactly as told, but then when that little girl was being abused, Kanao's heart makes up its mind and Kanao decides she wants to protect her.

Flamboyantly. With her sword. She calls for it from the mice while going in first with a hidden weapon laced with wisteria poison. Daki already saw Kanao coming as soon as she had murderous intent but didn't foresee Kanao sproinging out of the way of her swift backhand intended to know her head off, much less Kanao twirling over her with a knife sticking out the heel of her sock. Startled, Daki swoops the obi toward her, but Kanao rips it and the wisteria poison momentarily immobilizes it, given the mice just enough time to stomp holes through the ceiling and drop Kanao's Nichirin-to down to her, and for Kanao to catch and take to a low ready stance.

As she and Daki stare at each other hatefully, the little girls scream, two at the door, and one inside the room.

"You demon hunters sure know how to make an inconvenient fuss. Look at the mess in here, I can't work like this."

Kanao says nothing in response. She knows she's against an Upper Moon and without being conscious of doing so, she's analyzing her opponent and making judgements for what to do next.

Dropping the part of the obi melting under the poison, Daki then shoots a healthy part of it toward the girl in the room, forcing Kanao to move to protect her. As soon as she kicks off, though, another part of the obi goes for the two girls in the hall, forcing Kanao to have to choose between them.

Coin--coin---Shihan--live by her heart--coin--defeat demons--just take the demon's head!

She again takes Daki by surprise by not fruitlessly trying to save any of the girls and instead going straight for a shot at Daki's neck. Daki snaps the obi back to defend against the blade, but their stride is in Kanao's favor, and with their strikes and parries she forces Daki back and toward to the window, notwithstanding sharp cuts and scrapes, giving the girl inside the room a chance to run for the hall and for all three to get away and alert the others to evacuate.

As their fight gets louder, so do the screams, and Uzui is alerted to the commotion. He shows up just as Kanao takes a hard hit that threw her backwards hard enough to break through a wall. Fortunately for Kanao Uzui was sturdier than a wall, and a better catch.

"Nice going," he assures her, "Your mission was to find my wives, not the demon, but I'll accept this as a pass. Hmm... then again, not the right demon. Get everyone out, things are going to get a lot more flamboyant after this one."

Kanao runs downstairs to tell all the people to leave, but the obi comes from the walls--from seemingly everywhere in the walls!--to block her path and taunt her with a big ugly face, and Kanao takes quick notice of a person in part of the obi. She fights and frees that person, then before some of the rest of the obi can retreat, she grabs it and pulls, exposing another person, whom she cuts free. It's Makio and Suma! They pin the obi to the walls and leave room for Kanao to make it down the stairs to ensure that everyone is evacuating. The owner, having known something was wrong with Warabihime-oiran and sorely missing his wife Omitsu, is cooperative and uses his position of influence to start telling other places to evacuate too. Kanao, still having a mission to complete, desperately asks him where Hinatsuru is, and he tells her she's in the kirimise. Kanao barely gets a chance to pass this info off to Makio and Suma, for Gyutaro's already entered the party upstairs, and Kanao needs to go back.

And then.... Iiiiiiiiii don't know, things get ugly, Kanao is probably really, really gonna struggle, and I don't know that she's able to take Daki's head on her own at this point. But look, see, I'm fixing things by already having started the evacuation!! Look at all these lives getting saved!

Anyway... eventually Shinobu had to get home. Everyone is very, very sullen to see her and Aoi is really doing her best to say everything she's rehearsed to explain and apologize for everything, but she's making no sense. Tanjiro tries to help, but he smells that Shinobu is already really tired and not in the mood for bad news, and he struggles, and finally Inosuke just butts in and says Kanao went off with some flashy guy. Zenitsu yells at him that he's insulting Kanao's maidenly honor by putting it that way, but some key words caught her attention.

"Flashy guy?"

"Yes," says Tanjiro, wilting with bad news, "the Sound Pillar, I was told..."

"Even though he said he couldn't take her without your permission," cried Aoi.

Shinobu smiles her hardest and thanks them and assures them she'll handle the matter. Unfortunately none of the teary-eyed children heard where he was taking Kanao, so Shinobu had to sacrifice her sleeping hours to send out a few crows and pay a visit to Oyakata-sama to inquire where Uzui's mission was. Kagaya sighs and says he wishes Tengen wouldn't had borrowed Shinobu's Tsuguko without permission because rules are rules and that is how they run the Corp, and he'll scold Tengen for it later. However, he had allowed his because his understanding of the situation was that this was Kanao's choice. Shinobu's a bit shook by that, but is understanding. Kagaya assures her that Obanai is nearby so he'll send him over right away to help.

Iguro, getting a mission from Oyakata-sama, of course drops everything he is doing to start running in that direction, listening to the details as he goes so as not to delay. He's already made it a long way before the crow mentions anything about it being Yoshiwara, and Iguro grinds to a halt. Then then says to the crow, "Yoshiwara? That place is crawling with women."

"C-A-A-A-W. YES. YOSHIWA-A-A-R-A-A-A, C-A-A-A-W."

"But that--you see, I--hm," he looks back and forth at the ground, until Kaburamaru bites him and Iguro realizes he's being ridiculous and a mission is a mission. He continues running and arrives when Kanao is in dire straights. He winds up saving her from getting sliced to bits, and Uzui feels just enough freedom in his fight with Gyutaro down below to smile and yell his thanks up to him, after all, he's just borrowing that Tsuguko.

"I may have saved her," he says, with Kanao under one arm like a rolled up rug, "but I can't do anything for you once Kochou gets her hands on you."

So then we get SNAKE BREATH .VS. OBI and it looks a-m-a-a-a-zing especially because Ufotable likes to show off with twisty objects throughout the air snaking their way through and against each other in the first place. Kanao finds herself back on the ground, helping Uzui against Gyutaro. She manages well in avoiding Gyutaro's attacks, but dodging isn't going to get her any closer to Gyutaro's neck! She considers using the Final Form to find an opening, but then she's distracted by the perilous state Uzui is in under the poison. His hand gets chopped off, he's going down, stopping his own heart... but fortunately for Uzui, this is Shinobu's Tsuguko, and she is well-supplied! She pulls a surprise all-purpose anti-poison potion from her belt (she has a lot of those, it seems) and stabs Uzui with it, Uzui gets the recharge he needed, and having been so close to death, he gets the last burst of inspiration he needed to complete his Score! Plus, all that stuff about Red Blades? Yeah, let's give him one. Uzui uses a Red Blade to behead Gyutaro, with Kanao's help to do stuff like hit Gyutaro with a wisteria-laced sneak attack and slice off his arm before he gets a shot at Uzui's eye. Look! I'm not just saving lives, I'm saving eyes!!

So Uzui and Iguro take the heads at the same time, Iguro not taking much credit because of course Daki wasn't an Upper Moon, she was weak, Uzui might as well deserve the credit. It was only Upper Moon Six, after all.

"Only Upper Moon Six? My, my, then I suppose you didn't need any extra help from Kanao."

"Kochou... hi..."

Shinobu was late to arrive, but she's armed with medicine to treat Uzui right away. He'll need some time to recover and won't be walking off the battlefield without extra help to keep him from toppling over, but the poison isn't going to have lasting effects. Shinobu has let him off easy for now, he knows she's going to give him an earful later.

Actually, what she has in mind is worse, and sends chills down his smile as she smiles and says, "Oyakata-sama would like a few words with you once you're feeling better." As for Kanao, she goes up to her already intending to do the lecturing herself, and though she's very angry, she can't fight the tiny tears in the corners of her eyes now finally finding their way out, for she was so worried.

"Hey, Tsuyuri!" Uzui calls over his shoulder to her just before Shinobu is about to open her mouth. "Looks like you got to do what you wanted to!"

Shinobu looks over her shoulder at him and Kanao blinks, confused. "Eh?"

He smiles, looking over all the wreckage. "They're all free now, aren't they? Phew! That's one flamboyantly selfish heart of yours, better keep listening to it and don't let anyone stand in its way."

Kanao smiles, then feels some peace come over her nerves as she faces Shinobu. "I'm sorry, Shihan. This was what I wanted to do."

[uefb]

Hey, so I just watched the third Fantastic Beasts movie and I was wondering if you noticed any autistic traits of Newt's in that one? I remember spotting so many in the first two, so I was kind of disappointed that I wasn't able to find anything new this time. (Honestly, it felt like there wasn't much character exploration at all with Newt, except maybe at the very end?)

Hi, beanwood! Thanks for the ask. It’s interesting you noticed this! Because I will admit that I noticed less of Newt’s autistic qualities in the 3rd film myself (though I did notice some!). I think there are a number of reasons for this decrease — in fact, it is something @afrenchaugurey and I have discussed quite a few times actually! I’ll go into that later. First I’ll share what I did notice (from memory), when viewing Newt through an autistic lens as an autistic & neurodivergent person watching Secrets of Dumbledore (SOD/FB3).

(I’d like to apologise in advance for some language that might not be fully autistic-affirming moving forward. While I am autistic myself, I am also a researcher in fields that have traditionally pathologised autistic traits, and my language unintentionally reflects my training on occasion. Unfortunately, I currently do not have the spoons to go through and ensure that everything sounds appropriate. I therefore appreciate your understanding and patience.)

Anyway, while I agree with you that there are less autistic traits than in previous films, below are some arguably autistic traits or co-occurring indicators (based on my own experience and knowledge of clinical & empirical research) that I noticed! (Though these are not exactly new, which is what you may have been hoping for.)

Newt does stim quite a bit in the SOD/FB3, though it is subtle, mostly relegated to his coat pockets and consistent but very slight rocking/fidgeting/re-adjusting. You can see a rather crappy TikTok video (as I wasn’t doing edits on my computer yet) I made a few years ago (on an acct that is no longer active) highlighting Newt’s exceptionally subtle stimming in the first hour of FB3 here.

Newt continues to avoid eye contact during both one-on-one interactions and when addressing groups.

Newt does not always seem to notice subtle emotional nuances or jokes in group settings.

Newt seems, reasonably, attached to his case when Bunty takes it from him, even wordlessly asking Dumbeldore about it with a hand motion at one point. This could be interpreted as his case being a fixture of routine or comfort, common in autistic folks.

Newt’s flat affect, in this film, seems to be somewhat of a a boon to interacting with high-profile officials, as he seems somewhat unbothered by the high stakes of the situations and the potential social & political risks of simply walking up to — say — Herr Vogel, for example.

Additionally — regarding special interest — his hyperfocus on his creatures while talking with Theseus’ jailer in the Erkstag seems out-of-step with what one might expect from someone about to walk into a pseudo-authoritarian prison setting.

When Newt finds Theseus in the Erkstag, he answers Theseus’ questions about the creature situation by somewhat info-dumping about a laboratory experiment he’d conducted on creature behaviour to explain his reasoning. He seems not to entirely notice that that response probably wasn’t that reassuring to Theseus at all.

Newt does not reciprocate social interactions on several occasions — he misses his brother Theseus’ social cues in the first big group scene; he does not verbally reply to several characters in the films (such as Herr Vogel’s assistant), even when such reciprocal communication (or even basic serve & return) might be expected.

Newt does seem to lose some access to speech under extreme pressure during his back-and-forth with grindelwald about the Qilin twins. (This is reflected more in Redmayne’s performance than the script, IIRC.) While this is typical for many people, it harkens to newt’s earlier characterisations.

Newt utterly misses the loaded communication from Bunty while he has his case open toward the end of the film in Bhutan (when Tina’s picture is visible). Then, Bunty says something in response to Newt saying you don’t know what you have until it’s gone (referring to his case), which was apparently in reference to her own crush on Newt (now that Newt is pretty obviously with Tina). Newt did not seem to clock this comment as anything at all. (…..and, frankly, neither did I. I had to ask my wife to explicitly explain the scene to me after my 4th or so rewatch. I remain clueless and it is lucky I am married, given my utter inability to read romantic nuance.)

So yeah, I agree with you that the last film demonstrates fewer autistic traits consistent with Newt’s behaviour in the first 2 films, apart from those marked final scenes (Tina/newt, newt & dumbledore.) One could argue that the noticeable behaviour in the scene between Tina & Newt outside the bakery is due to either (a) the removal of Newt from a high-stress, goal-focused heist situation into a more intimate personal situation combined with (b) social anxiety manifesting around people he cares deeply about (particularly given his history of miscommunication with Tina), or social anxiety around romantic situations in general. It’s also possible that (c) a heightened sensitivity to physiological cues associated with anxiety or ‘butterflies,’ due to sensory sensitivity affects his behaviour in the Newtina scene — physiological stress (in my anecdotal, personal experience) can make one flustered or struggle with speech, as attention is repeatedly and emphatically and uncomfortably drawn elsewhere in the body. (Or it could be something ENTIRELY different, like a script rewrite or massive editing that jettisoned consistent character development.) But, whatever the case — yes, I agree Newt seems most…. Well… Newt! in his interactions with Tina and Dumbledore at the end of the film.

(Though if you haven’t seen the missing scene of Theseus & Newt between Newt leaving China and Theseus & Newt going to Hogsmeade… That’s rather a treasure trove of autistic-coded Newt, imho!! You can watch it here.)

As for the reasons why this change may have happened… I believe there are a few possibilities…

Personally, I think the fact that Secrets of Dumbledore (SoD/FB3) is structured more like a “heist” film than the earlier FB films plays a big role in that — character development was secondary to plot (which was, admittedly, a bit convoluted).

From an out-of-world (e.g., non-character, non-plot, non-worldbuilding perspective), I think it’s quite possible that Warner Brothers & co. were trying to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. I say this for a few reasons… (a) reactions to Newt as a character back in 2016 and 2018 were as polarised as you would expect for an autistic-coded main character in a mainstream action/adventure series. This might have inspired a shift in characterisation in FB3. Additionally, (b) by 2022, FB3—according to Warner Bro.—needed to be a box office hit. It was affected by Covid filming issues, JKR’s continued inane & controversial comments, actor drama & controversy, and generally non-HP level earnings at the box office for Crimes of Grindelwald/FB2…. Messy! Producers might have thought a less socially awkward/autistic Newt would make it more palatable. I haven’t seen any evidence of producers’ defending newt’s characterisation since the FB2 era. But who knows. This is all guesswork.

However, from an in-universe perspective, some time has passed since CoG/FB2. Based on Lally’s comments in Jacob’s bakery at the beginning of the film, approximately 1 year has passed (1927/8ish?). According to the screenplay, 5 years have passed (1932). (I tend to align myself with the 1932 timeline, due to subtle historical indicators; my own beliefs about Tina & Newt’s different characterisations in FB3; and the lack of lasting impact Leta’s death seems to have on Theseus & Newt by the time FB3 rolls around.) Anyway. I mention the time skip because I think it’s possible that a time skip allows for Newt’s character to minorly shift in a few ways…. (a) It allows Newt to settle into his confidence as a respected magizoologist, as well as gain distance from (i) World War 1 and (ii) young adulthood insecurities — trauma, anxiety, and diminished sense of self and belonging can exacerbate traits of neurodivergence. (b) A time skip additionally — (theoretically) — allows for Newt to become more comfortable with people like Jacob, Theseus, Dumbledore etc. (and for them to become more used to him!), potentially further diminishing Newt’s anxiety or certain autistic traits. Because autistic traits like stimming, for example, often correlate with higher levels of social stress or attempts to manage uncontrollable situations in controllable ways, Newt may rely less on these self-soothing methods because there is frankly less of a need. Conversely…

Newt might also be more self-aware by FB3. He’s in his 30s by now. It’s possible that he’s masking his autistic traits during the middle of the film due to the political environment and high stakes situation in which he is functioning.

Anyway! Long story short, those are my thoughts!!!!! (Hope you actually wanted them, because you tapped into UEFB special interest, infodump mode.) I’m sure there’s more to be said, but that’s all my old brain can do for now. Thanks for the ask, beanwood, and I hope you are well!

Finally, I’m curious: What inspired you to ask me this in particular? Was it my utter flooding of the #autisticNewtScamander tag over the past few years? A particular post? My fics? Byyye.

[cherrybombrs]

do u have any wiz101 beginner tips!! i just started recently cause it's a very charming mmorpg but after the unicorn way quest it threw so much tutorial and gameplay mechanic at me and my little pea brain cannot keep up, any advice?

OK HIII for starters thank u for helping me realize i had asks turned off on da wiz blog... i've since fixed that so. that should be good now <3 ^_^

AS FOR BEGINNER TIPS... i played the very first arc YEARS ago like a year or two after wiz's first release. i played back in 2011 so everything is like a blur to me- and i do have like. TWO wizards that i made to start fresh with just to see like. how things changed and. YEAH. i see what u mean with how they just kind of throw u at the wolves once ur done with that section

unfortunately i dont have many tips in that regard just because the starting point of the game has changed SO much fundamentally from the time that i played, to now. but i could give u some small things that might make ur life a little easier???

edit: PLEASE ALSO CHECK ALL THE REBLOGS AND THE REPLIES FROM ALL THE LOVELY PEOPLE!!! THEY HAVE ADDED MORE THAN I COULD EVEN THINK TO REMEMBER THEY R THE REAL MVPS!!!!

find a friend who can trade u monstrous TC (treasure cards)!! they're additional spell cards you can add onto your deck that upon use get used up, but monstrous comes super in handy because they boost your damaging spells DMG by a big amount. it'll make the slough of early game much quicker.

WHILE UR DOING UR main scenario quests, look around at the side quest in the area!! i never did this growing up but it dawned on my now how crazy smart this is LOL a lot of side quests will be like "hey wizard go beat up these things for me pleaseeeee" and you can sync up ur quests along with ur sidequest and they'll both count. literally a win-win

the further u go on in the game, u should keep ur deck smaller- less spells means more likely to pull what u need in that moment means less prolonged battles that go on for longer than they need to. ALSO LEARN RESHUFFLE its a balance spell and you learn it in krokotopia. CORRECTION YOU LEARN IT IN COLOSSUS BLVD FROM MILDRED FARSEER (THANK YOU @/divine-deer!!!!) literally worlds most op spell in the game love it

there's some side content that the game throws at u randomly. iirc, theres grizzleheim starts at level 20 and then you keep getting called back there until u reach 45 (that's for wintertusk, highly recommend for that level!!) wysteria, lvl 25 i believe there's the underwater section in wizcity sewers in olde town aquilla (HIGHLY rec doing this for the sky iron hasta, that bad boy will carry you to lvl 100 LOL) and much much more. i know there's more but I'm literally forgetting because there's so many side worlds

when in doubt. just look up whatever you're dealing with and add reddit on the end. i don't like reddit but damnit those mfs have ALL the answers for literally anything

this is ALL i can rlly think of off the top of my head rn BUT if u ever have anymore questions my dms are always open as well as my ask box ^_^ i love wizzzzzz