#THE WHOLE BETRAYAL STORYLINE MAKES NO SENSE

[milesplayshu]

actually despise star wars jedi survivor

[aventurineswife]

So, reader decided to play mouthwashing due to its positive reviews and how it became popular enough to gain fandom. Maybe Ratio, Aventurine, Kafka, Blade, Silver Wolf, Jing Yuan and Jade decided to watch reader as they play? How would they react to this game's plot, it's characters and opinions?

HSR Characters Reaction On Mouthwashing

Tags: Kafka x Reader, Silver Wolf x Reader, Blade X Reader, Psychological Horror(not the actual fic but the game), Character Study, Game Reactions, Manipulation, Redemption, Survival, Dark Themes, Self-Destruction, Fractured Minds, Immortality.

Warnings: Strong Language, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Mentions of Mental Health Issues, Psychological and Emotional Distress, Dark Themes of Suffering and Redemption, Self-Harm (Implied, Related to Destruction and Pain), Death and Death Imagery.

A/N: I haven't fully watched the whole gameplay, so this might a bit ooc but I do know some basics of what happened and all I gotta say is: I hate Jimbo‼️🧍‍♀️ also shortened this to three characters because tags won't take the others and I probably would've to write each characters individually for their reactions on each characters so sorry if this disappoints you :')

Kafka lounged gracefully on a velvet chair, her fingers tracing the rim of a crystal goblet filled with a dark, undisturbed liquid. The soft glow of the screen reflected off her red wine-colored hair as she observed the game unfolding before her. Mouthwashing, a psychological horror game that had garnered significant attention, was the latest entertainment distraction.

The game's plot piqued her interest immediately—stranded in space with dwindling supplies, a mutilated captain, and a fractured crew. Kafka found the dynamics between the characters fascinating. The tension, the fractured relationships, and the slow unraveling of sanity… it was like watching a perfectly woven web fall apart. She couldn’t help but admire how the developers had manipulated the player into becoming complicit in the escalating violence.

Her eyes narrowed at the unraveling storylines. "So, it’s a game of power and survival," she mused, sipping from her glass. "But with a touch of madness, I wonder if the creators intended to turn the player into the true villain. The emotions on display—guilt, betrayal, desperation—can only lead to one outcome: unraveling."

Kafka's attention shifted to the player’s choices. The tension between the crew members, the twisted relationships, and the manipulation—it felt familiar. She was a master of persuasion, a manipulator of emotions, but this game was something different. It made her wonder how the player would handle the sense of culpability for the crew’s inevitable downfall.

"I suppose," she mused, "this is what makes games like this addictive—the slow collapse, the control one has over others... It’s almost poetic, in a sense." She couldn't tear her eyes away from the screen as the final moments played out. Jimmy’s tragic end, believing he had redeemed himself by placing Curly in the cryopod, was something Kafka could relate to—a misguided belief in redemption after irreversible actions.

Turning her attention back to her glass, she smiled softly. "I would have handled it differently, of course. But I suppose that’s the beauty of these games—they allow us to explore paths we’d never dare take in reality."

Silver Wolf sat cross-legged on a low sofa, her sharp gaze fixed on the screen as the game's opening scene began. Her fingers twitched in a restless, almost instinctive motion—an impulse to hack, to break the system and rewrite the story as she often did. But she forced herself to focus, her curiosity about the game's mechanics outweighing her usual inclination to manipulate.

The dark and gritty atmosphere of Mouthwashing quickly drew her in. The world-building was minimal, but what Silver Wolf found compelling was how the game subtly forced players into moral corners with each choice. The crew’s personalities were rich with flaws, and the tension between them was palpable. Her fingers flexed, itching to dive deeper into the psychological undercurrents, analyzing each interaction like a puzzle waiting to be solved.

"Not bad," Silver Wolf muttered, studying the way the plot twisted and turned with each new revelation. The complexity of the relationships, particularly Jimmy's unraveling sanity, fascinated her. "It’s like hacking a system, but instead of codes, it’s the characters' minds. The more you understand them, the more control you have over the outcome."

She watched intently as the player made choices, her eyes narrowing when the characters’ fates grew darker. “Hmph, some people just can't handle the game. They don’t see the bigger picture. It’s all about the challenge, about beating the odds. It’s not just survival—it’s about making it through with your mind intact. The chaos is part of the fun.”

Silver Wolf tilted her head as she saw Jimmy make his fatal choices, his mental state breaking down under the weight of guilt and fear. "That's one way to go out," she muttered. "Pathetic, really. I would’ve used that moment to break free, to rewrite the whole scenario. But I suppose that's why it's not me playing."

She smirked, a glint of amusement in her eyes. "Still, I can appreciate the game's challenge. It's not about winning, it's about seeing just how far you can push the boundaries before it all collapses. Just like the game of life." Her fingers idly tapped against her knee. "Maybe I’ll try a new strategy next time."

Blade stood motionless in the shadows, his piercing eyes fixed on the screen as Mouthwashing unfolded before him. The plot resonated in ways that few things did—survival at any cost, fractured relationships, and a constant drive toward self-destruction. His cracked sword, an eternal symbol of his fractured existence, almost felt lighter as he watched the characters’ struggles.

The captain, Curly, with his tragic fate, reminded Blade of his own cursed immortality. Mutilated, unable to speak or act, yet still alive—trapped in a state of perpetual suffering. Blade’s gaze lingered on the screen, his mind replaying his own endless cycle of death and rebirth. He saw in Curly a reflection of his own fate: an unending existence that could only end in violence and ruin.

"What a pitiful display," Blade muttered, his voice low and cold. "Surviving only to slowly lose everything—your sanity, your humanity… That’s what this game is, isn’t it? A slow descent into madness, with no way out."

He watched as the crew's relationships deteriorated, one by one. Jimmy’s spiral into madness, his attempts at redemption, and the eventual tragic end... it all felt too familiar to Blade. "How weak," he whispered, his fingers twitching at his side. "No honor, no purpose. Just mindless survival."

Yet, there was something in Jimmy's desperate final act that resonated with Blade. The desire to find release, to end it all after causing so much destruction. It was the same goal Blade had sought for so long: an end to the suffering, an escape from the endless pain of immortality.

As the game neared its conclusion, Blade’s eyes narrowed. "They think they can redeem themselves," he mused. "But redemption is a lie. There is only the inevitable conclusion—endless destruction." His hand brushed the hilt of his broken sword. "This is the true path. There is no escaping it."

The game ended, and Blade remained silent, his expression unreadable. "A fitting end," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. "But not my end."

[pendragonsclotpole]

help, i just got slapped in the face with the existence of WILL. be still my beating heart as i write an essay on this man, will of ealdor

firstly, i adore the silent and implicit trust hidden in the first joke that introduces will’s character. like merlin’s been aware his whole life that if his secret is ever found out, he will be hunted down and persecuted, but here comes will with a jab that they both inherently understand is a joke in the macabre style only true friends can lovingly master. the smile they share almost immediately gives me ned stark and robert baratheon meeting again in the courtyard of winterfell in season one of got. there’s also something so normal in their interaction that speaks of a familiarity borne from their equal status and years of friendship. i know merlin’s friends in camelot tend to skew to the non-royal/non-noble, but when you tally it up, those closest to merlin often hold some title that’s greater than merlin’s role as arthur’s servant. gwaine is a knight implied to be of noble blood; lancelot, percival, and elyan are also knighted and esteemed members of arthur’s court; gwen is the lady morgana’s maid and close companion long before she is ever queen; gaius is a physician and long time member of camelot’s court; morgana before her betrayal is literally uther’s ward. i feel like when placed among them all, merlin has a tendency to fade into the background offscreen. obviously the audience knows how important merlin is to the overall story given how much of the storyline focuses on him, and the characters regularly acknowledge merlin’s importance to them or arthur, but all of them still regard merlin as merlin the servant from camelot and few of them are privy to the plots we as the audience see firsthand. and even when they acknowledge him for his merits, his role as arthur’s close friend and confidante takes precedence. look at leon’s reaction in the later seasons when merlin is bewitched by morgana. merlin literally makes a comment about plotting to kill arthur and leon barely even blinks before quipping back, “driving you mad isn’t he?” or something along those lines. except for a few instances with even fewer characters, they never get a chance to know him as merlin the sorcerer from ealdor.

will does! and more than that, he got to know merlin as he is without arthur. we all hype up their status as magical soulmates but damn if i wasnt living for how jealous of arthur will seemed to be in this episode. call me crazy, but it makes me desperately headcanon a realistic past in ealdor for merlin, full of hardship and strife, but never without it’s moments of happiness. furthermore, will’s lone appearance in season one shines some real light on the unfairness of the fate that has been bestowed on meelin. the moment that will points out why he’s been so obstinate with arthur really strikes a deep chord. sure it could be just jealousy, but more compellingly, i choose to read it as a deep sense of care for merlin. everyone merlin has met within camelot, (or reunited with in the case of his own mother) has continually pushed him closer and closer to arthur. will presents a crucial exception. he knows exactly who merlin was before camelot, and who merlin is completely separate from arthur.

will is staunchly in merlin’s corner, and that position allows him to identify a key characteristic of merlin’s series’ long arc: his complete devotion to arthur. will even points it out himself: merlin could singlehandedly defend their home if he just used the full extent of his power. merlin doesn’t, and actively chooses not to because of his desire to stay close to arthur. it’s such a small moment, but i think it demonstrates how much of merlin’s decisions become motivated by his desire to stay close to arthur and to always put arthur first, even at a detrimental cost to himself. merlin understands and readily accepts arthur as his destiny, but this acceptance does not come about independently, instantly, or of merlin’s own volition. it does so eventually, but initially merlin sticks by arthur’s side because of the encouragement of everyone around him. “arthur needs you, merlin” or “arthur is your destiny, merlin” or “arthur is a good man, merlin. he has the potential to be a great king, he just needs the right people, merlin.” its codependent as hell.

sure, merlin originally does not tell arthur about his magic because they do not know each other and as far as merlin knows revealing his magic would lead to his death, but eventually the reasoning changes and becomes so focused on doing what’s best for arthur. merlin can’t tell arthur because then arthur would have to kill him and then who would look after arthur or ensure his fate? merlin can’t tell arthur because if arthur chooses to defy uther’s law, merlin is then forcing arthur to turn against his father and how could he look after arthur then? merlin can’t tell arthur because another betrayal from magic would ruin everything and truthfully, he wonders how would arthur react? merlin comes to fear what his magic might do to arthur and what it’s reveal might mean for his place in camelot more than the laws of camelot and their verdicts.

by this logic, merlin is a magical solar system orbiting entirely around the celestial body known as arthur pendragon. eventually merlin cared more about his relationship with arthur and what arthur thought about him than his own life. in retrospect, it’s so sad that will died so early on, because it strips merlin of a person solely in his corner. will’s death is the first in the series’ long pattern of loss that merlin endures and that eventually comes to define him because people either find out about his magic and their knowledge is directly tested against his loyalty to arthur, or he cannot allow them to know about his magic because it will unravel his relationship with arthur.

will, freya, balinor, morgana, mordred, arthur.

also the fact that will covered for merlin’s use of magic in his last moments just adds to the tragedy AND the growing pile of moments merlin could have told arthur about his magic but didnt. and also the fact that will literally died to save arthur. like tell me that just doesn’t prove my point. tell me. will never stood a chance. tell me every aspect of merlin’s life does not get consumed by arthur pendragon.

i’m all for merthur being soulmates, but god the original series is rife with the unbalanced mess of merlin being wholeheartedly aware of arthur’s great potential and destiny leading to some intense devotion and faith that yes, arthur earns and pays back in full measure but can never fully reciprocate because he just does not know anything. by the triple goddess, it can get so toxic. i wish will had lived if just for that. and like the jealousy arthur gets whenever merlin has other people. because i 100% live for possessive arthur and protective merlin dynamics.

[slippersmoo]

So... Dom's reasons for betraying Rhea are bullshit

This is coming from someone who doesn't have a particular alliance to RheaDom or LivDom btw, I just like a good story

I think it would've been even better if he adopted the whole 'you guys were acting different after becoming champions' thing that Finn is talking about (which doesn't even make that much sense considering Rhea had been champ for so long)

He absolutely shouldn't have denounced all his Mami stuff from before with Rhea because it puts everything he's done in the past 2 years into question and makes it look like a waste. And why was he so passionately defending Rhea in his match against Jey Uso if he was just gonna betray her anyway?

He should've talked about how with Rhea being gone, he wasn't distracted anymore and he could see the flaws in the Judgement Day more and more. Maybe Finn and Liv convinced him that the terror twins were going to start controlling him the way his dad used to. Maybe he felt like Rhea and Damien were starting to pander to the audience more (because they were slowly becoming babyfaces) which he thinks goes against everything the judgement day stands for and Damien actually found enjoyment in Dom being in the doghouse with Rhea when she returned, idk. Literally anything is better than 'Liv gives me chicken tenders' for gods sake.

Rhea's vibe has been weird too. Why is she going on about 'wanting Dom to win on his own' when the Judgement Day's entire thing was being meddling heels. I get that she's transitioning to being a good guy but all she had to do was go 'I just never thought you would do it to me.' Getting mad at Dom for the concept of meddling in matches is a bit OOC for her I think.

And on that note, why didn't we have at least one week where Rhea is actually hurt by the betrayal? Actually embarrassed for letting her guard down and trusting Dom. That could've added more complexity to the breakup, Dom and Liv could get even more heat by rubbing it in while Rhea gets more sympathy and adoration from the crowd. Now her image is back to being this indestructible being that can't be stopped by anything. She really could've benefitted from that internal conflict because her overcoming it would've been that much more badass.

I'm still gonna let the storyline cook and for what its worth I think all the performers are doing an incredible job, I just see the potential for more

[sepublic]

            After Thanks to Them and its whole theme of Death and Wanderers, I like how For the Future has this consistent theme of Vulnerability, Adolescence, the role of Adults, and Failure.

         Like, there’s the obvious storylines with Willow and Luz, who refuse to show vulnerability and don’t forgive themselves over failure and weakness, don’t want to accept love out of shame. There’s the resolution of people accepting others into their life, admitting they need help, instead of maintaining this isolating sense of being a powerful individual.

         Boscha? She’s deadly terrified of being vulnerable and couldn’t protect Cat and Amelia, and that’s something Kikimora can latch onto, like smelling blood in the water. She tells Boscha she can’t show weakness around her fellow students and must be an iron-fisted dictator to compensate, while also acting as the toxic adult that Boscha craves guidance from.

         The Collector? Perhaps our most vulnerable antagonist of all, sure he has the most godlike power, but the episode repeatedly emphasizes that he’s still a kid. A scared, lonely kid who doesn’t want to be left by himself and even meekly asks for the companionship of a plush to protect him. A kid VERY vulnerable and open to the threat of Belos, who creeps into his bedroom when he’s asleep, and then manipulates the child as a puppet. He’s been failed by the adult Collectors in his life, who slaughtered potential Titan friends, as well as by King’s dad, who imprisoned him.

         Even Belos himself counts; This is easily the most vulnerable we’ve ever seen Belos, his lowest point. Sure he was but a mere drop between Seasons 2 and 3, but here we really get to see just how much this dude is suffering, how much his body is falling apart. Turns out he CAN’T fully recover like we’d feared, his limbs are trailing behind Philip, eventually tearing off.

         We see exposed bone, we see how Belos struggles and how he’s haunted by visions of Caleb and the Grimwalkers he killed, it’s a rather humane depiction of his grief. Belos isn’t sound neither physically nor mentally, which is a far contrast to how he’s usually been depicted, cool and collected and always with a plan. Belos is free-styling here and making up stuff as he goes along, and while he’s pretty good at it, he’s clearly at the end of his rope here in regards to his plans, with four hundred years building up to the Day of Unity wasted by an eavesdropping assistant with a grudge.

         Likewise we have Hunter; He is traumatized by the loss of Flapjack, so he builds up a wall of aggression directed at his abuser in order to cope and feel less helpless. He NEEDS to feel in control and like he’s doing something, like he has agency and is enacting power against another, but that just isolates him from the others. It concerns Willow, and Hunter’s own walls merely encourage hers as well.

         When Hunter reiterates to Willow and Gus how much they mean to him? He’s lowering his defenses, admitting vulnerability. Admitting he’s scared and he isn’t the macho, aggressive hero out to avenge his best friend that he was pretending to be. He needs help, he NEEDS Willow and Gus. And he cares, deeply. As does Willow, who conceals herself in an armor of thorns in denial of her pain, afraid it’s a betrayal of her growth into a stronger person.

         Camila too! Camila is trying not to show how scared and freaked out she is by the Boiling Isles, because she needs to be a strong parent for Luz. She feels that she has failed Luz (who’s trying to be mature in looking after her mom), so Camila has to make up for it by being the supportive mother she needs, even trying to engage in combat with Kikimora, only to be endangered in the process. But in the end, Camila supports Luz not by being the tough and implacable adult who hides everything and worries Luz to no end as Eda did…

         No, it comes from Camila admitting that she too has made mistakes. That she’s struggled and tripped and stumbled, just as Luz has. And this confession of her own vulnerability inspires Luz, because she realizes her mother DOES truly relate to and understand her pain. And knowing that her mom can overcome this, gives Luz the hope to do the same for herself, and realize she’s not isolated; She can share her vulnerabilities with someone!

         Plus the running parallels of the Collector and the students at Hexside being chaotic and dangerous, but ultimately… they’re also vulnerable, they need help. They need an adult or someone to look after them, someone to rely on, and without that things just fall apart. The episode ends with the Collector feeling deeply betrayed and hurt, used, all over again, so he begins to retaliate with genuine anger this time. Boscha admits her need for Amity, and ultimately accepts that she needs help and allows the other students to work with her in taking down Kikimora.  

         Belos? Fundamentally a scared child who lost Caleb, the person who looked after him. His precious caretaker, and his entire crusade against witches, the grimwalkers, are all an extension of Belos not wanting to admit how scared and lonely he is. Willow sobbing as she admits she misses her dads, it’s an admittance that all these kids are still kids.

        Sure, there’s the power fantasy of kids being able to have agency and do something, but TOH also reminds us that it’s nice and necessary to have someone to rely on and look after you; Being able to obliterate any enemy doesn’t feel like much if you don’t have any friends, if whatever adults you do allow are toxic, like Terra or Odalia. Hence the running theme of adults who DO understand and care and ultimately come around (be it Camila or the veneration of Bump, Eda and Lilith consoling King), as well as that search for a place of belonging.

        And it makes sense. The empowerment of these types of stories, where the kids conquer the big villains? Find a family they can truly call as such? It’s because people are still hurting and need help and that’s okay. You can forgive yourself for that. People like Boscha and Belos of course struggle with becoming too co-dependent, but that just furthers the lesson of vulnerability being something you have to healthily acknowledge and deal with in order to survive. Admitting weakness is, paradoxically, a strength in and of itself. Characters come to term with their failures as parents, protectors, and leaders, while others feel haunted or punished no matter how hard they try.

[gofancyninjaworld]

The OPM Manga in 2023

By the numbers:

23 updates (most 14 days apart, shortest interval: 9 days, longest: 33 days).

662 pages (range 12 - 41 pages, mean page count: 29 pages).

Volumes published: 2 (Volumes 28 and 29). 1 bonus chapter included in Volume 28 -- Olfaction.

By the story:

Psychics and Temper Tantrums (chapters 176 - 184)

Well, the Monster Association is behind us but the fallout from it is slowly beginning to settle. Most of the heroes are now back at work and some of the consequences of a world that's increasingly scared of monster attacks are beginning to show up. The first quarter of the year was taken up with Tatsumaki's temper tantrum -- and Saitama once again daring a strong person to do their worst -- it's like he didn't learn his lesson with Garou, which disappoints me. [I love Saitama, but when brains were being handed out, he was not at the front of the queue.]

That said, even though I did not care one whit for Tatsumaki throwing Saitama around (it wasn't terrible, but really it could have been condensed into 1-2 chapters), the start of the Psychic Sisters arc was fantastic, and its ending was very interesting. I made a nuisance of myself at the start of it, pestering everyone in earshot with my excitement that Tatsumaki was taking Fubuki into her confidence to try getting Psykos out rather than trying to do everything herself.

Her complex feelings of disappointment, betrayal, and the sense that she'd made a mistake were some of the most complex and nuanced we'd seen in the story. She may be paranoid and misanthropic, but she's not crazy: there's a basis for her actions, and being knocked back just when she'd taken the risk of opening up was harsh. Unfortunately, Tatsumaki's default response is rage.. and I'm not going to waste time on recounting what happened then.

I felt pain for her here.

The end as well, expanding as it did on Tatsumaki's thoughts about how she'd accidentally woken Fubuki's psychic powers by scaring her so badly and the guilt she felt at having made her sister a target, was great. Her feelings about Blast are great, as this is the first time we get what she actually thinks of him. I still want her to learn that Blast doesn't work alone -- it'll blow her mind. The session ending with her giving the Fubuki group a chance to grow stronger and prove themselves is a fantastic development.

Even when she's giving someone a chance she still has to be scary.

Schemes (chapters 184, 187 - 191)

I really love how seamlessly the Psychic Sister arc flows into the next big theme: that of schemes and threats to the Hero Association's future. ONE has done a lot of work reworking the webcomic story so that the storyline is a coherent whole rather than two-three apparently unrelated storylines. Fubuki taking advantage of the chaotic aftermath to extract Psykos while securing immunity for her sister, and Tatsumaki brazenly using the HA's need to keep the rich clients sweet to scupper an investigation into Psykos's whereabouts was all clever. However, they're just amateurs and their antics played beautifully into McCoy's hands, who leveraged the crisis to make himself appear indispensible to the HA, thus making it very hard for him to be removed, even as he works to implicate the Hero Association in scandals (many of which he's running).

You can't call McCoy hasty: this guy has played a good long game.

The Hero Association is already having issues recruiting new heroes as they're going to Neo Heroes, which is also pinching existing heroes. However, it's not 100% going McCoy's way. Something I started praising in my review of chapter 173 is the greater self-efficacy of the characters in the manga. Sekingar and Sicchi haven't just been sitting on their hands watching McCoy sell the HA down the river. They've teamed up with Child Emperor to find out what he's really up to.

I think that this is the best cover of 2023: a collection of individuals who embody heroism, whether or not they're recognised as such or work in 'regular' ways. Well, there's one impostor…

Critically, they're not assuming that the Neo Heroes are necessarily evil: they want to understand what this outfit is actually doing. After all, heroism is heroism, no matter what guise it takes. To see that Sekingar has so earned Metal Bat's respect that the latter follows him into the heart of danger did my heart good [1].

Please, my poor heart, it'll burst if things get much more awesome.

Ninjas, Ninnies, Nintendos (193 - 199, ongoing)

That Blast has some connection to the ninjas from Sonic's Ninja Village has been clear for a long time in the webcomic. [2] However, it is only here in the manga that we're getting a full explanation of what that connection is.

Yes, yes, my partner may be a monster but he's a useful monster.

The intertwined story of Blast and his attempts to reach his former partner, Empty Void, who was also running a horrifying 'school' for grooming boys into assassins, and that of Flashy Flash and Speed o' Sound Sonic isn't done yet, but it looks to be reaching at least one turning point. It's a pity that the fan translators stopped translating the cover text because that for chapter 199 was incredibly pertinent: 'Staring at the back of a friend you used to stand shoulder to shoulder with.' Sonic has so much to process.

And like that, Sonic's world has been turned upside down.

Since Blast has an ongoing relationship with Empty Void, we get troubling questions as to how long Blast had known about the Village and whether he disapproved, or had been content to ignore it as long as he had his partner by his side and found his talents indispensible. It's going to be interesting when those two meet! Also, if Blast is hoping to reverse Empty Void's monsterization, he'd better hope that the guy isn't like most people who became monsters. Most ex-human monsters *want* to be that way and there doesn't seem to be a good way to undo it. Well, maybe if you chop them up, have Phoenixman (oops, he seems to have lost his powers) resurrect them, then shock them incredibly hard, that might work. It's unlikely that anyone present can deduce what happened to Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame, much less put all the working parts of that together.

Still, they're going to try. This *is* going to be interesting. Also, potentially heartbreaking.

Reappearances

Genos: the disciple returns to his duty

Unlike the webcomic, Genos has not been completely absent. He's been quite busy: helping Saitama recover their apartment, meeting the Hero Association to discuss important matters, and also, hanging out with Saitama as a friend rather than as a disciple. It's been fun to see that he's finally ditched his flip phone for a smart one, heheh.

Nevertheless, it's not until Dr Kuseno finishes his new upgrade that Genos sets foot in Saitama's house, formally reporting for duty, so to speak. I praise Saitama's self-discipline and good sense in not breaking eye contact and in politely ignoring his disciple's new-found exhibitionism until he had the sense to put a shirt on [3].

Less positive, it's been painful to see that Genos is frustrated at how he doesn't seem to have grasped the kind of growth he's looking for and is unsure whether Saitama truly sees him. It's not been helped by Saitama trying to reassure him, pulling his best 'Reigen' face and instead made everything worse. There are two interesting shames, which will surely be built on at some point. 1: We see Saitama seeing Genos's strength but he doesn't say anything. 2: Genos is right that the strength that comes from within is different from that granted to one by upgrades. We see in another chapter from Nichirin, that having artificial parts is no hindrance to pulling out that great inner strength. The funny thing is that Genos has shown that kind of strength before, when he was fighting Elder Centipede, but he doesn't know it.

Ah, despite everything, those fools are no better at speaking to each other than they were before! It'd be hilarious if it weren't so tragic.

Rarely have the words 'open your mouth and solve your problems' been more apposite. Sadly, that's exactly what they don't do.

Garou: the other disciple tries to learn duty

Now this really threw a lot of fans for a loop -- ONE making clear that he's aware of how young Garou actually is. It was very easy to read Garou as a guy in his early twenties, but strip away the pretensions and he's really young. His over-simple understanding of what was wrong with the world and his over-large sense of responsibility to fix it are thoughts of a teen. It's just a good thing that teenagers don't have world-shattering power, and so can be extreme and wrong without hurting anyone. But it has really jarred with a lot of fans.

I may be giving Bang the side eye as he implements his idea of reformation (apparently, it involves hitting Garou over the head often), but the sense of lightness Garou feels at having a reliable mentor, the relief he undoubtedly feels at having a way to work his crimes off -- being a social outcast may seem cool in a 'reject-the-corrupt-world' way but it gets old fast -- and being able to contribute meaningfully to the dojo's re-establishment is palpable.

His life is sure to start sucking again soon, but for now, it's a joy to see him.

Let him gambol for now. Go Garou!

King: ugh

Sorry, King just irritates me some days and this was one of them. Not because he was running around trying to find someone who could help him: that was fine. But because, unlike the webcomic, once Saitama told him to work out, he's continuing to stick around and play videogames. In a world where everyone is trying their best to make sense of their world and help themselves in some way, however imperfect, the sight of this poster child for mediocre white men overpromoted for looking the part continuing to laze about just pisses me off.

Let him start helping himself and I will praise him.

He's been told what to do but he's not doing it.

GAY!

This year, ONE said: here, my children, I have brought you a pint of homo milk. Drink. What else are we to make of Fubuki triumphantly cradling Psykos as she makes a clean getaway?

This has to be the smuggest 'got the girl' face I've ever seen.

Or Blast continuing to call Empty Void his partner, despite everything that the guy has done, including turning into a monster? He wants him back so badly, and though he says it's strictly professional interest, we think the man doth protest too much.

And then whatever's going on with these two:

Flashy Flash, you ain't got no business calling Blast soft when you're handing Sonic tissues and smiling at him.

Fandom Follies

Do we need to do this? Yup! This year, we discovered that a lot of dudebros who have been against the idea of romance in OPM have just been shippers afraid to come out and own it. The sheer number of Saitama x Tatsumaki fans has been incredible. Nothing wrong with SaiTatsu but the obnoxiousness of fans new to shipping has been hard to tolerate. Learn some manners, folks!

Asides

[1] I think this is great foreshadowing of something Forte says later in the webcomic to paraphrase, risking your life for another hero is something you do as a favour for a friend, not because someone's declared themselves the boss of you and ordered it. It's nice to see Sekingar embodying that ideal.

[2] It's hard to believe it, but to this day (chapter 149), Blast is not yet seen in the webcomic. At this rate, he'll show up at the very end to get jobbed by God (no ID), but not before giving an over-long exposition about what he's been up to. That is, if he's not already dead, only nobody knows yet.

[3] I can see SaiGenos shippers worried that my saying that it's good that Saitama isn't taking Genos up on his obvious attraction means that I might be disapproving of the ship. That is not the case. I'm going to assume that most of us here are old enough to vote, enter into contracts, and pay taxes and so can think of things with nuance and context. A fandom that needs the reassurance of canon to decide what's permissible is a weak, timid, and pallid imitation of one, and one I want no part of. For certain, we're here to discuss the story as it exists, but please, we're also here to consider and explore scenarios and make works that cannot and often should not exist in the canon because they are FUN. Even more pertinent, ONE is on record as LOVING that fans spend their time and creativity doing things with his stories. So please, don't allow any in-universe discussions on what is helpful or unhelpful in the story affect what you draw and write! PLEASE SHIP! Gimme!

[alinaastarkov]

Just some speculation. I think it's possible that George is positioning Arya to be the person who helps Jon deal with the post-resurrection period and will be the one who will bring hope and warmth back into his life. Jon already associates many positive emotions with her, such as warmth, home, love, and happiness. He smiles a lot in her presence. And wish to meet and comfort her in adwd, the desire to save her ended up leading him to death, etc. Since their relationship is built on mutuality, he could help her to restore herself definitively. And welcome her after all the odyssey (They maybe have some Odysseus and Penelope themes, right?) to get to him. And it makes sense that this would happen between them because there is no greater or more unconditional love than theirs in asoiaf. Their reunion will be a cathartic event. And it will bring peace of mind to both of them. Considering that undead characters in the narrative so far have shown a certain type of hyperfocus or even obsession. It's fair to assume that he may also suffer from something similar. The revived Jon will be a darker character and potentially with his flaws amplified, like his anger, stubbornness, and his ambitious side. I believe to emphasize the impacts of the resurrection, Grrm will extend moral questions to him as well. Jon exhibited some fits of blinding rage, and after going through betrayal, death and resurrection, he’ll be more ruthless and imo obsessed with saving Arya. He makes multiple plans for her during adwd, even before he finds her, so I think she’ll live in her head 24/7 bc he died with her in mind. On the other hand, her biggest loyalty is to him. And, as much as she exhibits protective behaviors with her pack. Jon is a special case; above all, he is her pack. She wouldn't betray him, not even to Ned, whom she also loves deeply; she doesn’t accept him being insulted either. When she finds out he’s alive and after almost losing Jon. She’s going to be so fiercely protective of him too. No matter what, I feel Arya will play a crucial role in his life/resurrection. I also don’t think that he scrapped Jon and Arya’s storyline, since it’s essential and very groundbreaking for their arcs (and a plot twist that most readers will not see coming or think was discarded lmao). This could also bring some drama with the dynamics of the Starks and even fuel some bitterness between Bran and Jon. Also, it parallels with the accident. I always wondered if the whole: having paths in institutions that expected them to be detached from the past was part of the setup for them to be even more attached to each other. By making Arya a almost faceless men, and resurrecting Jon, Grrm puts both characters in very vulnerable positions, where they would be even more afraid of losing each other, and at the end of the world, this would only increase feelings and theirs are already too intense... Since after all they’ve been through, they will have only a little. Maybe Grrm just tones it down. It was supposed to be a tortured romance and not necessarily something initially happy. That's exactly why I feel like he's still going in that direction. It's the kind of controversy that he prefers to explore. Twisted, complicated, messy romances, where ppl don't have the luxury of choice; they're put up against the wall, and it happens: inevitably and irreversibly. It's irrational. And most of the romances he favors and romanticizes are those anw. Not cute stories that make sense or are comforting, easy to digest or arranged marriages. A big chunk of fandom simply underestimates the themes he enjoys exploring and why would he come to this, but that's their fault for refusing to engage with the text presented and distorting dynamics to favor other characters.

I think you are absolutely right, anon, and this scenario has already been set up and foreshadowed. We know from Beric and Lady Stoneheart that people who die come back changed, find it hard to settle or find peace until they have achieved the last goal they had in life. This goal becomes a fixation, an obsession: Beric's was to help the Riverlands smallfolk and bring the Mountain to justice; Catelyn, her and her son murdered and betrayed, is one of revenge and finding a head for the northern crown she has in her possession. And Jon Snow's?

You know nothing, Jon Snow. He thought of Arya, her hair as tangled as a bird's nest. I made him a warm cloak from the skins of the six whores who came with him to Winterfell… I want my bride back… I want my bride back… I want my bride back… "I think we had best change the plan," Jon Snow said. Jon fell to his knees. He found the dagger's hilt and wrenched it free. In the cold night air the wound was smoking. "Ghost," he whispered. Pain washed over him. Stick them with the pointy end. When the third dagger took him between the shoulder blades, he gave a grunt and fell face-first into the snow. He never felt the fourth knife. Only the cold… — ADWD, Jon XIII

His last goal was Arya. I think it's safe to say he won't slow down or stop until she's back with him again. George has said all the main characters will be getting darker in TWOW, and unlike some fans selectively believe that will include Jon. Though I think both will reunite with others before they return to each other (Bran, Sansa, Rickon are all options for Jon, Catelyn and Gendry for Arya) neither will be fully reconciled with themselves until they see the other. Here is where the original outline could come into play too, as Jon's behaviour may alienate his other family members (not permanently and probably not fully) but not Arya. We know both also think of the other as their home, her laughter warmed him on the long ride north. There's only one person who can help him find peace (and if we follow the rule of three and George's outline then unlike Beric and Stoneheart it won't be death that grants that for Jon) and it's Arya. And I love that you mention Penelope and Odysseus cause that's a perfect example. Jon isn't the only one finding peace here, Arya needs it after her time wandering. She needs to find her home again and that's with him (also the image of Jon battling off suitors until Arya shows up on a wolf wearing a crown like a typical fantasy prince is just too good).

I am also of the mind that he has not scrapped the outline. A lot of it has still happened in the series, even if the exact details have changed. Though Bran has fewer chapters, he is the main magical hero and the most magical character in the series, and the other 4 of the key 5 all have the most chapters. He's definitely struggling with the lack of 5 year jump, but nothing's impossible and you're right, it's one of the twists that most people won't see coming (cause they're wilfully blind imo) but which is clear if you look at the signs. I am also of the mind that wargbowl and a Stark succession crisis is still coming and Arya's divided loyalties (as the de facto Lady of Winterfell, possible de facto QITN and with her own faction of supporters) will be key. By all accounts, she will probably be looked to by the northerners and whoever she supports they would through their weight behind and no this is not just me begging george not to waste this chance and give her a taste of the political power she could have as a lady.

As for their respective institutions, that's absolutely why, emphasising their attachments to their friends and family as a whole but also to each other. For a start, their vows are extremely similar:

"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come." (AGOT, Jon VI) "The price is you. The price is all you have and all you ever hope to have. We took your eyes and gave them back. Next we will take your ears, and you will walk in silence. You will give us your legs and crawl. You will be no one's daughter, no one's wife, no one's mother. Your name will be a lie, and the very face you wear will not be your own." (ADWD, The Ugly Little Girl)

But ultimately, they cannot stick to these. Arya has been given chance after chance and still refuses to give up her whole self. Jon's third and final test came and he failed, choosing Arya over his vows. GRRM definitely has a message of people sticking together in the face of the ultimate threat. I agree that nothing will happen, at least not without some kind of time jump/epilogue situation, but their bond is there and will be a focus and you're right, they are the exact kind of tortured romance George loves. They are a resurrection of Rhaelya, Bael the bard and the Winter Rose, Aemon and Naerys, even Jaehaerys and Alysanne (as much as I hate the man). It is irrational and will cause controversy, but they won't care and that's the point. George hates soft and easy, sensible, practical (NedCat is his only exception). Most theories for *cough* other ships rely on "well, they didn't really think of each other as siblings (not true) and weren't close so it'll be easy for them to get together" and that's apparently why it will happen. This is actually the very reason it will not happen; George wants his characters to struggle against themselves and decide to go for it anyway. And he doesn't just turn around 6/7 books in to invent a relationship when there are ones that have been set up the whole of the previous 5. Besides, George already told us how he writes:

“The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself.”

He may have just spoiled the ending for us right there.

[ty-bayonet-betteridge]

I agree with your takes on the finale, I feel that the stakes weren't that high and by the end people just killed each other bc they were supposed to, with no further motivations.

I will say that Ren's pov made me laugh a lot. He is so weird/ aff

And tbh, I do like Joel having a win after so long, and I adore when people just go on a rampage and murder everyone else, so that last scene was admitedly pretty epic

So I would say that I was entertained, but compared to ther finales, especially the long narrative of 3rd and Double Life and the betrayal of Lim Life, there is not that sense of being the end you know?

i still haven't seen Ren's POV but seeing him in other people's made my goddamn day. Martren freak that you are.

i like the idea of Joel winning, but it doesn't feel like this win means anything to him emotionally. i can clearly see the ways in which the other winners have had their characters retroactively and continually defined by their wins - Grian and loyalty, Scott and devotion/obligation, Pearl and isolation, Martyn and lies, Scar and... also isolation, and Cleo and reluctant betrayal - but I can't honestly pinpoint what themes Joel is coming out of this win with, or how it can be used to color his character. so because of that lack of a central unifying theme I don't think I'm going to be coming back to watch his POV of this every few months like a favorite movie and tearing up the walls with how much it Means the way that i do with the other six.

i think this is honestly my least favorite of the seven finales. yes, i liked Wild Life more than this session. my ranking of the finales (with the Whole episode in consideration, not just the final fight) is as follows:

Double Life (this is probably biased because it was my first season, and because I'm a Pearl stan and a Majormoon shipper, and because I'm part of a system thats like 70% Pearl introjects by volume, but it's a great fucking conclusion to a great fucking season)

Secret Life (the season as a whole is good (i was a little harsh on it in that other post) but the finale goes so fucking hard. it drops the gimmicks and zeroes in on some of the best character interactions in the series. this is one of the few finales where no matter who you watch it feels like their themes get tied up in a way that makes good dramatic sense for them

3rd Life (not everybodys POVs feels as meaningful, but its hard to beat the betrayal carousel at the very end climaxing in I Literally Cant Do It.)

Limited Life (the session in general is very meh but this is my favorite Final Moment of the entire series so it gets the points for that!)

Last Life (the session has some amazing moments!!!!! Pearl boogying in the boogie room! GGG killing each other to be together again! confronting Martyn on top of Magical Mountain! but its all brought down by what is definitely my LEAST favorite final fight in the series. covering it in the fucking ooze)

Real Life (it's constrained by what it is, but it's still a shockingly good continuation of so many storylines, especially around Cleo and Pearl.)

Wild Life (in addition to my other complaints, it didnt even seem like the players were having fun.)

[swanhookheart]

I finished with Bridgerton season 3 earlier today, and it left me feeling a little icky.

Spoilers ahead. Reader beware.

We've been given hints - some subtle, some less so - about sapphic Eloise for four years. Hell, we got more "Eloise might be a lesbian!" articles this season than ever before thanks to her closeness with Cressida. The groundwork has been laid for three seasons, the hints have been dropped, and with the Cressida "friendship" (which is giving "and they were roommates!") AND bisexual Benedict confirmed canon, it seemed like maybe now was the time to get her wlw storyline that the show has been teasing since the pilot on the road.

And instead of doing anything with that, which was out there on a silver platter for the writers to work with, they introduced a whole new, totally canon-divergent plotline with no warning, in the last five minutes of the season.

Let's be so for real; they're probably not going to make THREE of the siblings queer. Meaning it is highly unlikely that we'll ever get to see a sapphic Eloise. And if that's the case, why tease it? Why all the PR articles talking about it and interviews with Claudia Jessie where she's like "hmm, maybe" if they're not going to do anything with it? That feels a little queer-baity. They've been teasing for years, and this is the third season in a row where they've done nothing with it. If they continue to do nothing with it and don't make our girl El a little fruity, then that'll feel like a betrayal. Don't hint at stuff you don't intend to explore further.

Bi Benedict made total sense. All the signs were there. It tracked. Sapphic Eloise would make total sense. This??? I mean, yay for rainbow representation on the tea party dancing show, but shoehorning Michaela into the very last few minutes of the show while again doing nothing to act on any of the El queer hints feels... well, it feels like a bait and switch. With so much PR and so many articles and videos and speculation about Eloise being a lesbian this season, that was a big part of what lured me in. We kept getting "Eloise might be gay" and "looks like there's an LGBT character this season!!!" teasers back-to-back. They 100% knew what they were doing with that. So, to then be given Michaela is like "oh... umm, okay." It's great, but it's not what was teased at all and so that is disappointing.

But if I, a sapphic, claim it is disappointing, I am called homophobic. Can't win out here.

There was also no reason to introduce Michaela so early, unless the writers were setting that up to be THE wlw storyline among the Bridgertons.

And that is what is pissing me off. Like, we know that you were drawn in by our hints at an LGBT love story, and we know that a bunch of the teasers and PR we put in front of you made it seem like that would be Eloise. But we're not doing that, actually. Here's something we just pulled out of our asses with minimal to no foreshadowing instead. Happy pride. uWu🌸

Can you blame me for feeling a little led astray by that?

I want to be abundantly clear: I am not knocking the fact that we are getting representation in the first place. There is so little sapphic representation to begin with! That is not my issue. It's the implicit promises, made and broken, both in all three seasons and particularly in the promo for this specific season, where everything pointed to a queer Eloise and then it was all "haha, just kidding, but here's your consolation wlw".

[still-a-morosexual-help]

🪷 :

Now that we know that in omnb we will have mc and the bros have just fallen from grace , i can't stop thinking about the fact that belphie canonically hated humans and that led to lesson 16 betrayal ☠️

But originally in normal om that (lesson 16) was like a very long time after the fall and war . In omnb the hatred towards humans by belphie must be very recent and strong and Lucifer hasn't 'restricted' belphie from not hurting humans

So will we experience another lesson 16 moment?

Thoughts?

MC, knowing exactly what Belphie thinks about humans and trying desperately to hide the fact that they're human:

* S3 revealed that MC cannot be clocked as a human (pretty sure it's because they're not fully human -> evidence). And even when they outright say they're human it's not fully accepted?

* at this stage the the three realms are in a really bad place with each other, even if there isn't a war actively going on. The three main species are 100% not allowed to be in each others' realms. Even in present om! humans & angels aren't 100% accepted in the Devildom, though the exchange program has worked to help mend bridges, between it's start in S1 and the present day in S4. So there's a chance MC will have to hide the fact that they're human.

*But the brothers will need to know they're human when they make the pacts to go back home.... so maybe once MC has earned their trust and vice versa they'll reveal they're human right before making each individual pact?

*Given what has just happened (The Fall + Lilith's involvement with humans eventually leading to her death) they may have to work much harder at winning this trust and making a pact.

*Plus this time around I don't know how possible it will be for them to pull out the "Lilith's descendent card" because if The Fall & Lilith's death happened very recently then it won't make sense for Lilith to already have descendents. Unless MC eventually reveals the whole time travelling thing which they might have to do. I talk about the roads solmare may take to explain the time travel and how it affects the main storyline in this post

At least those are my thoughts🐸

[the-kipsabian]

He doesn't really need a tag partner (I'm sure there are people he trusts enough to team with) but if Chuck is out forever can we have Kip step in and be a person for OC to lean on? I mean we could get him on TV possibly weekly (win win in my book) plus maybe we can get OC corrupted and boom it helps push the storyline with Trent? IF Chuck is able to come back, maybe he uncorrupts him? Thoughts?

SO. im sorry ahead of time that this will get longwinded and probably not gonna make a lot of sense but i have A LOT of thoughts regarding this whole situation

so this has been a very common thing to discuss in my dms ever since the shades of the best friends betrayal started when trent and oc entered into the tag team tournament (also shoutout to bugs for dealing with my shit constantly cause i know i can be unhinged ough), and what we dubbed as savior!kip has become a very intense hope in this storyline so... yeah ive been thinking about this possibility a lot ngl

im gonna put the rest of this under the cut cause lmao yeah. im gonna go off the rails

i wanna start this by saying that while i do want chuck to come back, im specifically hoping that he'll come back to team with trent again and to torment oc, that all of this has been one big ruse to see if oc really is their best friend or not (spoilers: hes not. trent is right about everything he said dont @ me). and oc is slowly starting to lack friends; seeing how things are going, things with kris arent that great. shibata and hook have their hands full with so many other things. rocky is obviously siding with trent, even if he doesnt say it directly out loud but roppongi vice forever basically, and the rest of chaos is mostly in japan (and okada is evil now so...). danhausen basically doesnt exist anymore. everyone oc has had around him has slowly disappeared, for one reason or another

so where does that leave us, exactly? you turn to the other side (or more in this case, the other side turns towards you to help out)

kip has been critical on twitter about the don callis family, and basically saying he would never join them due to disrespect from don. and we all know how much kip loves and cares about oc (i dont have to proof this to you you have seen all the sweet tweets and other stuff. this man used to use the kissy face emoji frequently while tweeting at or about oc come on now), so seeing these two words colliding would probably not sit very well with him, i'd imagine. while someone could argue that kip has lost interest in oc since he has dropped the title and thats all that was ever about...

first of all, the "sweet little clementine" nickname has been used multiple times throughout the timeline. this wasnt just a mind game trick to get into ocs head during the title feud, it was in there way way before that ever happened (i believe we are talking about full gear 2020 if i recall my timelines right [its around 3 hours and 9 minutes]); he has always been affectionate about oc in a really weird way (hes british tho so thats probably why). second, how many times has kip been after anyone else between ocs title reigns and after? exactly zero. when mox and fenix were champs, he didnt say a peep (he did, whoever, put out my favorite tweet of all time when oc lost the title to mox). after oc gained the title, he started tweeting again about it. and again when oc lost it, not a word. kip hasnt said anything about the international title or rodney since then; the only time he did post, he told rodney to fuck off cause clementine was his. and since then? kip has been keeping an eye on the best friends feud so... do whatever you wish with that information (1, 2, 3)

the point is, the obsession was NOT with the title; hes just always been affectionate about and towards oc, but in a really weird and obsessive, kind of a destructive way

why is this necessary to bring up? well...

do you really think he would stand idly to the side to watch oc align himself with someone like don callis when all his other friends have abandoned him, all these things considered?

do i need to remind you of something? cause i will remind you of my favorite post

throughout this entire time, kip never gave up (im aware this is technically non-canon as this is a quote from stream but. if you know their history over on twitch, it counts. the feud bled over there during its prime too). yes this technically had everything to do with him tearing ocs friends away from him when this was posted, but.. dont you think its fitting tho? considering the situation oc is in now? and while yes it might seem that kip is taking the side of trent in this whole thing, this was specifically before don callis inserted himself into the situation by whispering whatever the hell into ocs ear

and what better time and way for kip to insert himself back into ocs life as the one person he can still rely on than right here and right now, when oc is so desperate for a connection and friendship that he'll take don callis of all people?

if we want to dig more into my personal observations, kip has never felt as respected or perceived as he did/does when hes across the ring from oc. this feud was the highlight of his career since the comeback (and arguably, his [and miros] feud with the best friends ending with arcade anarchy was the other, so these two have always been connected more or less), its the one thing people keep talking about in reference to him apart from the box; how he should have been the one taking the title from him, how kip should have been elevated from that point forward too. how people talk about him almost only when he has faced oc in the ring afterwards (which has been at least three times if i recall right from the top of my head) or had a chance to challenge again for that title before oc lost it entirely

so what is the conclusion i wanna draw from this? kip keeps bringing him up. he keeps on leeching on him. he wants that attention off of oc, but also from oc. and what better way to do that than to now befriend him, show him support, be there for him when everyone else has abandoned him?

except its not entirely malicious. it might start as such, but its definitely mutually beneficial, more so than intended; sure maybe kip takes the chance to get to oc when hes down and vulnerable, but theres also that high chance that he'll see he can actually help. kip can help pull oc back up and help rebuild him. kip can be useful and important in this equation too, not just oc (which.. its gonna show kips true colors tbh. considering how kip treats oc as a whole, but he was taking trents side earlier about everything when best friends broke apart so...)

i think this is enough of me rambling, so im gonna get to the point of the ask lmao; but yeah, while i'd love for chuck to come back, i dont think he needs to be the one to uncorrupt oc from under kips spell. cause there wont be a spell to begin with. while yes it might start more or less as a corrupting relationship if they got to tag together with oc, i dont think ultimately it would be harmful to him. just like kip would be there to be supportive of oc, eventually he would return the favor by helping kip flourish, like he has done more indirectly in the past. they are mutually beneficial to one another, for better or worse maybe, but its not going to lead oc down a dark path in my opinion. if anything, oc is uncorruptable at this point (especially without the belt but i feel like that story has completely died by now with roddy holding the title so im not going to touch that rn), and him getting love and support from someone genuine, although surprising in this case, it would just make him more likely to return that favor than to turn against it. what i mean is, oc would be the one to uncorrupt kip, if anything

thank you for coming to my tedtalk and im soooooo sorry for all of this

[markantonys]

okay quick 2x04 thoughts before i go off to make some gifs!

moiraine in cairhien was so fun!! loved getting a peek at her childhood and family

i gasped when it was revealed that moiraine (and presumably siuan) deliberately planted logain in cairhien to lure rand, even though i should've seen it coming! i should've known moiraine's always playing 4D chess!

WE STAN ANVAERE, absolute queen shit. she out-moiraine'd moiraine! also, as a younger sister who spent my whole childhood craving my older sister's approval, Felt

i'll admit i'm not jazzed about lan's storyline this episode. it was a little interesting and i liked getting a look at what alanna is like "outside of work", and she and maksim and ihvon continue to be top-tier secondary characters, but it felt like too much time and i wish some of this screentime had gone to mat or egwene instead. though i'm guessing we'll be getting much less of lan and more of others (especially egwene, for obvious reasons) next week!

but i AM intrigued by the direction they're going with lan's bond. everyone had speculated alanna's absorbing myrelle, but given that lan's getting on pretty well with them all and alanna seems to be leaving the decision in his hands and even suggests he could soon bond with nynaeve, i really do wonder if they might just have lan's bond go straight to nynaeve post-moiraine's-"death" and keep alanna & rand as the only non-consensual bonding in the show. it's a bit of a repetitive plot beat and i don't think anything would break if lan's version of it was skipped.

egwene referencing rand to elayne but without mentioning his name or any distinguishing info about him!!!!! this definitely gives me hope for a cute little scene of rand and elayne encountering each other in falme without realizing they have mutual friends.

i was SO confident that blonde warder trainee in the trailer was gawyn, but it turns out he was just a random background guy! i have been catfished! but maaaaaaybe it really was him but he just wasn't credited because he's not being officially introduced until a later episode? please???

LEANE'S OUTFIT!!! and ooooh great setup for the falme trip AND the coup next season (i'm sure some people will be more convinced by liandrin/elaida merger after this scene, but i truly don't think that'll happen bc a) it wouldn't work storywise for a number of reasons, b) if they were merging them they would've named the character elaida instead of liandrin)

i LOVED perrin's scenes with elyas!!! and this is coming from someone who was always bored to tears by perrin povs in the books! elyas delivering exposition like it was the most obvious thing in the world and perrin's an idiot for not knowing was a GREAT vibe haha and we have confirmation that perrin's visions aren't a visual representation of his smelling abilities, but rather sendings from the wolves! and we got hopper!!!!!

liandrin's convo with nynaeve was SO GOOD. i was going "awww this is so sweet, i love this" "oh wait, betrayal incoming, shit" djkjfg they did a great job of making it believable that nynaeve (and the audience) would trust liandrin's word about going to falme. also, the show's focus on the tragedy of aes sedai longevitiy is excellent, 10/10

elayne my beloved!!!!! "yes i'm following you obviously" i love her your honor!!!! and the earlier moment where she admits being curious about what it's like not to have your whole life mapped out, but then says she wouldn't trade places with egwene. baby! can't wait to get to her queen arc eventually!

FASCINATED by the reveal that min is working with liandrin because liandrin had promised to take her powers away from her. what an amazing story choice!!! it lends min some much-needed narrative meat, it makes SO much sense that she would find uncontrollable foresight to be a burden and a curse, and it sets up a potential arc of her learning more about/coming to terms with her powers. in the books she never has many thoughts on what it's like to have these powers, so i LOVE that the show is going to explore that more.

overall i'm quite surprised by the relative lack of mat in the season so far! i'd assumed they'd want a lot of time with him early since he was out of the final 2 eps of s1. but i'm sure he'll get a more focal episode later! on that note, i'm a bit worried because imdb doesn't have min in episode 5, and they do have mat, but it could just be because donal is a regular so gets billed for every episode even if he doesn't appear. because i'm not sure it'd make sense for mat to appear but not min next episode? but it's possible, and it's also possible that min will appear and imdb isn't accurate. still, i'm bracing myself for no mat storyline next week.

at least we got confirmation on the where & why of their trip: cairhien because ishamael wants to get mat and rand back together!! highly relatable of him, i must say

i don't even know what to say about the rand & lanfear stuff, it was SO good i'm shaking!!!!! but poor rand has probably been put off bondage forever now which is absolutely tragic djkfjgh

update to add: i can't believe moiraine walked in on rand mid-sex (with a forsaken) i hope they have the world's awkwardest conversation about it once they've stopped fleeing for their lives. there is a spectrum and This & mean girls "do you need anything? snacks? a condom?" are on opposite ends of it

[val-of-the-north]

While I was drawing the stupid Aldrich meme things I made some time ago [x], I was researching his Archdeacons as well, since I wanted to picture at least two of them... and this led me to think about McDonnell quite a bit ahah.

His introduction of sorcery among the clergy was already seen as kind of blasphemous on its own.

But then he surpassed himself by delving into the Deep for darker sorceries, outright reveling in said corruption.

He is also explicitly from the Boreal Valley like Aldrich...

This led me to two potential storylines for him: he is either one of Aldrich's closest friends since the very beginning, or (the option I find most compelling) he could have been sent there by Sulyvahn to oversee things and ensure they remained under control.

Sulyvahn is the biggest sorcerer bastard hiding in the clergy, and his sorcery is only barely masked to look like Gwyndolin's moon powers and not his own magic arts.

So a sorcerer from the Boreal Valley getting into the Cathedral of the Deep as a sort of mole for him would make sense. Only, Sulyvahn did not anticipate that McDonnell would grow to become fond of Aldrich and the whole Deep thing, leading him to betray the Pontiff later on.

Or maybe he still acted in Sulyvahn's stead and was the one who even allowed Aldrich to be sacrificed initially, which is something the Saint wouldn't have wanted to do himself since he had gotten visions of an Age of the Deep Sea.

But maybe it had been something he had always regretted and was only pressured into allowing by Sulyvahn. This may be why he forsook his white crown and later joined Aldrich in his march towards the Boreal Valley. A sort of fuck you to his former master.

Of course, the Pontiff would not let his betrayal slide, which is why he is found dead, hidden by an invisible wall, and guarded by two of his beasts, even after what appears to be a truce between the two warring sides...

I assume it happened afterward because he can be found after Sulyvahn's cathedral, so they had to have already gone through it. He also looks like he has been cast aside there to rot, as opposed to having died there during the struggle. Why would he need to go down here anyway? I like to think the Pontiff would be petty enough to still have a traitor killed and disposed of, even when he isn't totally in control.

[edennill]

Dior is weird because he's a child of so great a mother and father... and he just is. Does no great deed. Rules as king for like 3 years at most and then dies tragically young. I've heard people say they find him perplexing for that reason and yeah. It's all so. normal. (if horrible).

The whole storyline between the two latter Kinslayings is strange when compared with the rest of the Silm. All that came earlier has such a symmetry to it. Patterns and archetypes; a tapestry with not a thread out of place - the fairytale of B&L and the tragedy of Turin - the Kinslaying, the Prophecy (one that resonates through all latter deeds); the betrayal, the rescue. The many characters' deaths come as climaxes of their arcs. And Dior's does not. He doesn't have an arc; it's just senseless violence. What's more - the Kinslaying hardly even has a clear outcome. Doriath is destroyed but the Silmaril remains out of the Fëanorians' reach and passes on to a frightened girl, who will later be threatened by her parents' killers. The only clear result is death.

This may have something to do with how this part of the Silmarillion had been more incomplete than the rest when Tolkien passed on (and arguably, the whole debacle with the dwarves and the Nauglamir is even more like that - though not the tale of Eärendil), but it's not even that I'm here to criticize it. It actually makes sense to me - here we have plain war. Not a somewhat symbolical conflict with evil, not young Tolkien sitting in the trenches and trying to find a framework for writing about heroic deeds when the war he knows is so pointless. It fits that the deaths are sudden and part of no preconceived pattern. That's what war's like. But all the same - the case of Dior is interesting. Not even because of what was, but because of what wasn't.

[valenteal]

I’ve been posting a lot about my thoughts on Dazai’s characterization and motivations but honestly I’ve been dedicating a lot more energy to trying to understand Oda. Dazai is an amazingly complex character but he’s a constant in the story and we know quite a lot about him, comparatively. Oda is incredibly mysterious and much harder to understand. My breakthrough earlier figuring out that Oda had the book has really helped me open my mind to another side of Oda I hadn’t yet considered.

The things is, authors have to be a bit cruel. Oda’s reasoning for not killing because he wanted to be a writer doesn’t make sense, we kill our own characters all the time. We put them through hell over and over for entertainment/to convey a deeper meaning. I think maybe one of the conditions of having the book is not killing directly, or maybe a certain level of removal from the storyline. Like, if you control reality and others lives with the book you’re giving up a certain amount of control physically in the moment.

Oda is a killer. He is friends with killers. And if I’m right about him being the author of the Dark Era he wrote the deaths of the kids. I think his reaction was genuine, I think he really felt like he shouldn’t have the book, that he didn’t deserve to be its author anymore, but I really think that he wrote the story to give Dazai the opportunity and the motivation to get a better life. I mean, I’ve made myself cry with my writing. The most compelling stories are full of tragedy.

Oda was a child assassin. He was a writer. He was a mafioso. But most of all he was Dazai’s friend.

Wait! Holy shit idea!

Okay so Natsume had the book before Oda, but he was definitely following Dazai around before he got the book so we know there’s already a connection there. I’ve been wondering why Oda was so attached to Dazai. But Natsume wrote the story he adored, the third installment which Oda finished was The Book. But what did Natsume write about? What exactly were the books Oda loved? What if it was Dazai’s story? What if Oda knows Dazai so well because he read his life story over and over and yearned to give him a happy ending? What if his whole motivation was to finish the story in a satisfying way? And everything from the orphan’s existence to Ango’s betrayal was to create an open ended story in which Dazai could potentially have have a better life?

Oda is such an incredible character. He’s full of contradictions until you actually start thinking of him as an author. We authors have strange minds, we love our characters but we put them through so much. Because we wouldn’t love them if we didn’t make them struggle, make them realistic and deep and meaningful. Oda knew the kids were going to die, he wrote it. But he got attached like anyone would. But he was done writing the story, all that was left was for it to play out. So he passed ownership of the book to Dazai and went to play his role.

Fuck I’m getting emotional omg Odasaku is wonderful. I don’t even care if the entire theory is wrong, I’ve figured Oda out with the information I was given and filled in the blanks. Asagiri himself wouldn’t be able to make me give this theory up.

Oda isn’t a good person with strong morals the way he presents himself. He does that to fill the mentor roll for Dazai and to get Dazai to make the desired decisions. He just a fan who was given control of the story by the original author and basically used all the writing tools ever to create a story in which the character he loved but who was tragically doomed and seeped in darkness could find some happiness. Just like anyone writing a fix-it fic. Accept his fix is canon.

Holy shit I’m a genius.

Don’t come at me you have no idea how proud I am of this! Either I figured out the most confusing character ever written or I have created a genius explanation that nothing will ever top (for me anyway).

[wastingoxygensince1983]

You know, sometimes; we watch shows and movies with interesting plots but we have to brush off storylines or things that tend to not make sense because you just like the story so much.

Is weird that what this show has done so far in 5 episodes(what do you mean there's only 3 left) has been so well crafted it looks like everything was well planned.

Conflicts, fights, friendship, betrayal, resolutions. hope; everything has been done pretty well so far.

Besides the fact why Earn broke up with Lada in the first place. This is a thing that lurks in the back of everything else that is happening.

And it feels weird and delivered that Earn hasn't mentioned so far and the only time she tried to said it was to Tan when he went to tell her off after she ate the banana.

Knowing that the mom is coming in episode 6 fits with the idea but it is weird that they handle things so well like the whole Engfah/Ratee situations and the guy with Tan(which was such a different and fresh thing to do) but they have hold this piece to their heart that it feels even dumb to wait so much.

Like Engfah went hard like a superhero to solve basically everything in just a epic moment.

BUT the thing with the mom is still there.

I am very curious why they did this in this way.