#Though that's just a theory a play theory

[haeoflii]

I feel like people rarely talk about how the yuus in the manga are counterparts/opposite of their respective Disney villains.

For example: (these are all from my memory so take it with a grain of salt)

Yuuken, the vice captain of his kendo club, is well respected among his fellow first years because he encourages them to do their best. People respected him so much that he was considered the reason the club did not disband. He was supportive of his juniors and was even willing to train one of them late into the night to help them improve.

While on the other hand, Riddle, who is the dormleader of heartslabyul, is disliked by the first years because he uses fear and control. Not only that, he expects utmost obedience and respect from his dormmates. He also gives out severe punishments towards those who break the Queen’s rules, no matter how insignificant they may seem.

Their similarities are that both of them are serious (?) leaders who only want the best for their juniors. One uses encouragement while the other uses punishment.

As for Yuuka, she's really sociable with other people and gets along with her judo members at her school. She's someone who is really diligent. She's also someone who is similar to Jack. She believes in competing fair and square, and not using underhand tactics to win.

While Leona doesn't really get along with most people and is considered "lazy" by some people. He's willing to do anything when he puts his mind on it, even if he's playing dirty and hurting others who are in his way, to achieve his goal.

Their similarities are they're confident in their skill and they're both passionate in their sports (judo for yuuka and spelldrive for Leona). Both of them kept on fighting even though they were heavily outmatched (Yuuka vs leona's OB and Leona vs Malleus)

Yuuta is a compassionate young talented chef who cares for the wellbeing of his friends. He doesn't just eat food as a necessity but simply savoring the whole experience of eating. He also has this almost innocent look to him. He's willing to help others without expecting anything in return.

Azul, is a sketchy scheming businessman who paved his way to the top through hard work from a younger age. He keeps track about the amount and the nutrition of food when he's eating. He also has this shady scammer vibes. Everything that Azul does is fully calculated and ensures it only advantages himself while leaving the other party fruitless.

Their similarities is that both of them are raised by a parent who runs a restaurant. Both are foodies/have a knowledge about food. Both are hard-workers. Both are intelligent and a strategist (yuuta figuring out how Azul's um works and planned the whole "destroy Azul's contracts"). Both are pretty persuasive(?) (yuuta: Jack and Leona)

Since I've only seen pictures of her, my guess for the new Yuu is that she's someone who is free-spirited, cheerful and maybe a bit of a troublemaker.

Yuuna/Yuina is a gyaru. Gyarus are known for being non-conformist and rebelling against Japanese social (freeing herself from the patriarchy and Japan's expectations on women). Her outfit and overall appearance is very loud, vibrant and stands out. Gyarus are usually known to be cheery, loud and not afraid to speak their mind.

Jamil is someone who longs to be free but doesn't do anything about it (until book 4 but for the entirety of the time he's not letting kalim do anything himself and making him incompetent). He is someone who tries not to stand out too much and stays in the shadows despite wanting to be in the spotlight as well. Jamil is reserved, negative and bottles his thoughts and feelings up.

Their similarities is that both of them want to break free from societal norms and the expectations that were placed on them just because they happen to be born as a woman/as a servant. Both want to be able to express themselves and be their true selves.

these are just theories as well as it's written for fun so don't take what I wrote too seriously!!!

[burningcheese-merchant]

No, Merchant, feel free to complain to your hearts content. I'm certainly much meaner to ugly blue alastoroncelerbillcipherspamton from temu and every last inch of his undeserved popularity. I seethe because as an Ovenbreak player of SEVEN YEARS, none of my faves get remembered in a tweet, let alone merchandise. The dragons, who all took over five years to collectively come out, got a pin set and devsis wiped their asses with them then moved on. I waited over a YEAR for another sugar nova odyssey update to come out because xylitol nova and astronaut are my favorite cookies ever and I'm still fucking waiting 🫠 meanwhile the beasts are getting shat out every 3 months with the most rushed nonsensical recycled plotlines held together with scotch tape because making profit is what really matters here, not competent storytelling. I wouldn't even be this furious if the beasts got equal attention and spotlight but we both know that's not true hahaha 😬 they love to shove their (really badly designed) golden cow in our faces because Smilk was lab engineered to get sexyman tumblr girlies screaming their heads off while not even being 1/4th the interesting character they want you desperately think he is. JUSTICE for burning spice, mystic flour, and everyone else who will get done dirty for this boring walmart Jevil 😒

Oh my gosh 🤣🤣🤣 tell us how you REALLY feel, Anon, let it all out. It's not healthy to bottle up your emotions like that (you might want to stay anonymous though, I don't think either of us want an angry mob at your doorstep lol)

I'm anticipating a ramble (as I am wont to do) so under the cut it goes

Gonna start by saying I DO like Shadow Milk. I really do. It took me a little while for him to grow on me when he first appeared, admittedly (ESPECIALLY his voice...), but I am genuinely fond of the little blue jester man. But he's certainly not my favorite, far from it. That title belongs to Burning Spice and Burning Spice alone lol. The only reason I ever turned the English audio back on (I usually play the game in Japanese, I love hearing my fave anime characters speak lol) was so I could hear that gorgeous baritone of his... Burning Spice is everything to me. I love his design, I love his voice, I love his dialogue, I love his personality, I love him soooooo much. He's my babygirl. If Silent Salt turns out anything like the character I've constructed inside of my head, then he will share the #1 spot with Spice. I'll go ahead and say that right away

I'm upset because, like you said, it feels like he got majorly shafted while Shadow Milk gets all the praise and attention. Mystic Flour as well, poor girl, but I'm focusing on Spice just to drive the point home a bit better. He didn't even get a fucking countdown. What was his little merch thing? That weird ass candle (I thought it was a vase at first lol) and that's it. Furthermore, his story feels the least developed. There was and is SO MUCH that could have been said about him as a person as well as his dynamic/connection with Golden Cheese, that wasn't for whatever reason. Episodes 5 and 6 feel like they're missing something (and you feel what the "something" is in that brief flashback to Spice's past. There's more to what became of him than "I was bored", there HAS to be. Boredom is a symptom, not the cause. I maintain that this theory of mine has merit, and it would've been nice if they dove deeper into it than they did), you know? And I hate it. I hate that Spice is basically the forgotten middle child of the Beasts while Shadow Milk gets all the glory. Seriously, for Shadow Milk:

They changed their YT avatar to him for a while (it has ALWAYS been Gingerbrave, they never changed it once to anyone else all these years). iirc they did this on Twitter too

They dedicate an HOUR LONG commentary video to episode 7 and Shadow Milk (arguably fair, because it WAS the 4th anniversary. But even so. Did they do this for any other Beast? Any other episode? Any other anniversary?)

They give him a costume (a legendary one, at that) plus a set with his Ancient. NO OTHER Beast/Ancient pair has that, and I struggle to imagine they ever will. Do you understand what I would do to have a BS/GC costume set? DO YOU???

They make an exclusive, limited edition plushie (that caused a massive shitstorm iirc, justice for everyone that got fucked over during that and fuck scalpers)

They make a whole ass pop-up store event themed entirely around Shadow Milk and episodes 7 and 8

Why? Because he's the fan favorite lol. He's long since been the golden child of this community, and now we know he's Devsisters' golden child, too. (And they're desperate for money because they're drowning in debt. That's also probably why they released Shadow Milk on the 3rd anniversary: to drum up interest on a milestone anniversary by bringing in a beloved character. Thematically/narratively, Shadow Milk should've been released last. But that's just my opinion.)

Again, I really do like Shadow Milk. I call him "Walmart Bill Cipher" affectionately (and because he genuinely does remind me of Bill. In fact, I think Bill might've inspired SM to some degree). But it's unfortunate that other characters, the other Beasts especially, are pushed aside and ignored just so Shadow Milk can hog all the spotlight. It is with a very intense grimace that I agree that Shadow Milk is a Tumble sexyman. He fits the stereotype to a T. It would serve us all well to accept that truth. He even got added to the Tumblr sexyman wiki before it turned to flour lol. Burning Spice is... NOT a Tumblr sexyman. He is a regular old hunk. Tumblr was never in the business of liking big, beefy hunks, at least not the Tumblr I knew 10 years ago lol.

I'm also, to reference it again, just really disappointed that so little was and is done to explore the other Beast/Ancient pairs - and the fandom is guilty of this, too (not to knock the PV/SM anaylses at all! They're all fantastic and I genuinely do understand and love the deep, complex connection between them!). To go back to BS and GC, because they're my lifeblood (not just for shipping reasons I swear)... it's particularly egregious to me that THEIR dynamic wasn't given the attention and detail it deserves. They are LIFE AND DEATH, the very foundation of the world itself, things I (personally) consider significantly more important than truth and deceit because it is from life and death that all else springs forth. Truth and deceit are things you actively look for; life (abundance) and death (destruction) are just there, everywhere you look, even within yourself. You can close your eyes, ears, heart to the truth and you can learn to shun, decipher, defend against deceit; there is no escape from life nor death. None whatsoever. And so much can be done with that. So much can be done with them. Burning Spice and Golden Cheese need each other in the exact same way that Shadow Milk and Pure Vanilla need each other. They parallel each other quite a bit, too. They're so similar and so different. They could have and SHOULD HAVE had so much to say to and about each other, like what Shadow Milk and Pure Vanilla have. But that didn't happen. Didn't happen with Dark Cacao and Mystic Flour, either. All of that love and care and philosophical exploration goes to the clown and the Jesus Christ allegory. Which is FINE, I'm not saying to leave those two hanging, just... show some of that love to the beefcake and the bird, too. And Korean Batman (Cacao reminds me of Batman, I'm sorry 🤣) and Ms. Angel of Death, too. Please, man. Truth and Deceit aren't the only dichotomy that matters and is worthy of thought and discussion

(and oh my God, dude. The Ovenbreak shit. I've been playing for as long as you, and that shit is diabolical at this point. We get ONE dragon update a year, and they always leave us on the most painful cliffhanger of all time each time. (And this last one... I have many issues, but the most glaring one of all: WHERE THE FUCK IS FIRE SPIRIT??? WHY ISN'T HE IN THE STORY??? HE IS INTRINSICALLY LINKED TO PITAYA DRAGON! THEY HAVE AN UNBREAKABLE BOND BECAUSE OF THEIR DEAL THAT GRANTED HIM SOME OF PITAYA'S POWER AND SAVED HIS LIFE! HE SHOULD BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THIS ARC! HE SHOULD BE AT THE FOREFRONT! IF PITAYA GETS HURT, HE GETS HURT! FIRE SPIRIT'S WELL-BEING IS DIRECTLY TIED TO PITAYA'S AND THE DRAGON'S VALLEY AND BOTH ARE IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY!!! Oh God I can scream about this for so long. I have a similar issue with the Red Dragon arc in CRK, WHY WASN'T FIRE SPIRIT THERE?) I LOVE the dragons, I love their relationship with each other, I love the conflict between them, even the unique bonds/quarrels between specific ones! And their storyline is picked up and dropped over and over again, left to collect dust until they feel like continuing the story. Hell, remember Gingerbrave and co.'s quest to find where that wizard compass is pointing, and to find a place for them to build a peaceful life away from the Witches? Me neither lol. Sea Fairy's great sacrifice with Sugarteara and the cursed pearl? (SF was done SO dirty in Kingdom, she's an actual character in OB and in CRK all she cares about is Moonlight, to the point that she lets an entire civilization fall to ruin because she refuses to do her fucking job) The Xylitol gang... Well, as of writing this, that's the next update... Which will give us another legendary cookie, hardly 3 months after Dreamweaver lol. Fuck Stevia Nova, I already don't give a damn. Give me more Xylitol Nova and Astronaut and that's it

I have a lot more to say (especially about BS and GC, God I could talk about them FOREVER, they're so interesting to me), but I think I've rambled enough lol. All the love for Shadow Milk, truly, but all the love and justice for Burning Spice and the other Beasts and every other character that gets ignored, too

[malk1ns]

february 25 @ flyers, 6-1 loss

good absolute god, guys. consider trying?

a pathetic game overall, capped off by this vibe and this postgame insight:

no joy in mudville and don't expect much in this fic except for my signature 'overly saccharine ending'. sorry!

Sid and Zhenya’s names are up on the whiteboard for press availability when they troop back into the locker room, stunned silent by the loss.

Zhenya’s heart sinks, but he squares his shoulders and starts plucking off his pads, running through his own game. A giveaway, a losing night in the faceoff dot, no shots on goal—they’re going to rip him apart. He can already picture the headlines—Malkin’s sloppy play costs Penguins another crucial divisional match-up, or maybe Malkin’s effort makes it clear why he should be Russia-bound after the season.

At least he didn’t take a penalty tonight.

“Fuck no,” Sid says from one seat down, but Zhenya ignores him until Sid practically knocks him over on his way to the front of the room.

Zhenya raises an eyebrow when Sid reaches the whiteboard and wipes their names off with his sleeve. He turns and faces the comms people who are hovering nervously at the door and crosses his arms. “G and I aren’t talking to them,” he says, jutting his chin out. “He played fine. I played fine. Neither of us have anything to say. Get someone else to do it.” He stares the staffers down, waiting for a challenge.

None comes. Sid’s one of the most spoiled athletes in North America, but it’s all done preemptively—he rarely asks for anything, especially like this. When he does, people listen.

Sid pauses on his way back to his stall. “Get a move on,” he mutters. “If we’re not on our way out when they let the vultures in, someone will try to stop us.” He raises his voice a little bit, still quiet enough to plausibly still be addressing Zhenya privately but loud enough that the guys near them can hear. “Someone who phoned it in tonight can give them a quote. Not you.”

The atmosphere in the room deflates even further, if that was possible. Zhenya would feel bad, but frankly? He’s sick of it.

They’re rebuilding. Everyone with a brain knows that. Zhenya expected it eventually. He knew it was possible that he’d spend the last years of his career surrounded by journeymen who couldn’t keep up, even as his own footspeed declined. In theory, that didn’t bother him. He did what he came here to do almost 20 years ago; he doesn’t have anything to prove.

In practice, though, the grind of trying to lift spirits and motivate a bench that’s half-composed of players who wilt at the first sign of adversity, who aren’t interested in fighting back, is exhausting. Zhenya’s just had a two-week vacation and he’s already exhausted only three games into this side of break.

Sid, who spent those two weeks playing with and against the best of the best, is practically vibrating with anger.

They make it out of the locker room just as the press is let in, and Zhenya looks over his shoulder on his way out, making eye contact with Yohe. Great. At least Sid’s hot on his heels, practically pushing him out into the hallway; nobody will be able to write that Geno Malkin is dodging the press after a shitty game.

“God damn it,” Sid swears once they’re out of earshot, kicking at a trash can as they make their way out to where the bus is waiting. “Fucking hell, I hate it here. I hate this city, I hate this team.”

“Which one,” Zhenya says drily, and Sid snorts, jamming an elbow into his side.

Normally Sid would scold Zhenya after laughing, too painfully conscious of his own captaincy to not feel guilty over insulting his teammates. The fact that he doesn’t tonight says more than any of Sid’s own words ever could.

Zhenya slides into the second row of the bus, and Sid plops down next to him. They don’t speak on the bus; Zhenya’s answering texts from his mama back in Pittsburgh, and Sid’s thumbs are flying over his phone screen, conducting whatever inscrutable business the face of the league is responsible for no matter the hour. Zhenya used to ask. It was never very interesting.

It’s usually a coin flip if Sid wants Zhenya sitting next to him on the plane. It’s less likely after a bad loss, when Sid prefers to brood and Zhenya spends his pique on the card table, but as they pile onto the plane Sid tugs Zhenya into his row, so Zhenya settles into his chair and avoids eye contact with the rest of the team. Now that he’s had a little distance from the game, he feels a little bad about ditching the media. He’s a leader on this team, and leaders don’t welch on their responsibilities.

Sid does not seem to be similarly burdened. He’s already listing towards Zhenya with his eyes half-closed. Zhenya doesn’t blame him—he’s hurt, and he barely got any rest between Four Nations and the regular season resuming. Zhenya spent hours begging Sid to sit for a game, maybe two, just to give himself time to heal.

Sid refused. Zhenya knew he would. He had to try anyway.

He sneaks his hand under Sid’s plane blanket, resting it on Sid’s thigh and squeezing. Sid grunts and spreads his legs, but Zhenya’s not trying to start anything; he could use with a little comfort, and Sid will never admit it but he could too.

Their days of fooling around on planes are well over, not that they ever did that after heartbreakers like this one even when they were young stupid(er). No, they’d save that type of comfort for at home, tucked away in someone’s bedroom and tangled in each other until the memories faded.

That won’t be the case tonight. They both need sleep; there’s a game Thursday, followed by yet another hellish back-to-back over the weekend.

Zhenya wonders if he should push it. Their sex life has suffered badly this season; between injuries and illnesses and the tension from the rink bleeding into their home life, Zhenya’s getting laid less now than he has his entire adult life. Their house is as likely to be filled with frosty post-argument silence as it is with amorous sighs these days.

Sid snores in his ear the entire short flight back to Pittsburgh, and he’s quiet in the car ride back.

“Should I have extended?” he asks when they’re settled into bed back at home. Zhenya was half-asleep, but Sid’s question snaps him back awake.

“Huh?” he mumbles. “You mean like…not sign here?”

“Not sign,” Sid emphasizes. Zhenya feels him turn on the mattress until they’re facing each other. “Maybe I should have said this would be my last season and hung it up. I mean, we’re not going to be good for years, all I’m doing is take up cap space…” He pats gently over the mattress until he finds Zhenya’s arm. “Maybe the PA won’t flip shit if I say that I want to retire after all if I do it before the new contract kicks in.”

“Stupid,” Zhenya mutters, and Sid’s fingers pinch into his skin. “You’re Penguins, Sid. Like, you’re need to be there for kids, for set example. If you’re keep play hard, guys watch, they learn. Sometimes it’s not work in game, but they see. Plus, what you do? You get bored, come to practice anyway.”

Sid laughs a little, scooting closer. “Probably,” he concedes. “It’s just…at the tournament, watching the way the crowd reacted to Mario…he’s a legend, obviously, but he’s in the past. And I was standing there listening to them cheer for me, and it sounded the same. I’m still playing fine, but I’m turning into a legacy even while I’m still in the league.” He sighs. “I have never felt as old as I did during those games in my whole life. Old, and tired. I probably could have used the break after all.”

“Oh, Sid,” Zhenya whispers, tugging Sid’s shoulder until they’re pressed together. His heart hurts. “You’re most important hockey player for Canada ever, probably. It’s not like…you’re not legacy yet, you’re still play. You’re inspire everyone there. They all talk about how good you do, how much you help. We watch games here while you’re gone and the young guys, all they’re say is how exciting for seeing you play international again.” He squeezes Sid tight to his body, shaking him a little. “Not too old. Old, okay yes, we old now. But too old? No. Not your fault team does this, not your contract’s fault. We try, you try hardest always. Other guys, maybe they don’t. Can’t control.”

Sid sighs, and it sounds watery. When he presses his face to Zhenya’s chest, Zhenya can feel damp soak through his sleep shirt. “Sorry,” he says, garbled through the fabric. “I’m being dumb. I’m tired, and that game sucked, and holy fuck I hate Philly.” 

“Game is bad, yes,” Zhenya agrees, running his hands over Sid’s back. “Philly is always suck, yes. But we have twenty more games, try again to play good. It’s okay, Sid. Nobody thinks you’re bad just because of team.”

“It’s probably selfish, huh?” Sid muses, turning his head to the side. “That I care so much about how I look now with the team doing so bad. I never used to.”

Zhenya shrugs. “Allowed to be selfish. You give everything for team, for league. Is okay to want to break records, play well just for you, know that people see. But they do, Sid. Cheers in Montreal, that’s for how you’re play for so long. Not because you’re, like…statue, walking around on the ice again.”

Sid doesn’t reply, but Zhenya can feel his shoulders relax.

“I tell Kyle they put you on your knees for your statue,” Zhenya says, startling Sid into a laugh. “Tell him for goals, but really I want to look at and think of you blowing me. It’s big secret for me, nobody knows.”

“Oh my god,” Sid squawks, slapping at Zhenya’s chest. “You didn’t say that to Kyle.”

Zhenya did. He sent Kyle a half-dozen goal videos of Sid dropping to a knee to score; his signature pose, the one he hits when the other goalie has no chance.

He didn’t say anything about the blowjobs, obviously. 

“Well, I’m going to tell him that your statue should be of…of…” Sid trails off.

Zhenya gives him a minute before shaking his head. “Sidney, Sidney,” he says, pouring as much mock-concern into his voice as he can. “Too tired for dirty joke? Can’t think of even one thing? Maybe you retire after all. Too old to keep up.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Sid says, but his voice is light.

Leading a team like the 24-25 Pittsburgh Penguins might be hard, Zhenya thinks as they finally drift off, but leading Sidney Crosby out of his down-moods is easy. Then again, he’s got almost fifteen years of firsthand experience.

[dramaticallytotal]

For Your Entertainment Headcanons: Part One

Idea Post

• Chaos Gremlin Noah, my beloved! Chris purposefully starts drama in the show to entertain Noah because, as mentioned before, a bored Noah is a scary Noah. This is why he was so mad at Duncan for quitting. Noah was looking forward to the love triangle drama! Now what was Chris supposed to play on?

• Noah getting Harold kicked off was more brutal than any of my other aus. Bro compared Harold to Chris, and Harold took that personally. This happened after the challenge in Egypt was over, and they settled into the hotel they would be staying at for a while. A lot of people were chilling by the pool, and Noah was one of them. Noah really liked pools despite the crowds they attracted. Plus, he promised Izzy he would watch her do a handstand and walk the entire length of the pool while doing so. He had been doing so until he got bored and started reading Construire avec le peuple (Architecture For The Poor) by Hassan Fathy when Harold decided that he absolutely had to interrupt Noah to start a debate.

He had done this four times previously, and Noah was done.

Apparently, Harold could not let go of all the cultural insensitivities they encountered today and just had to tell the 50th person around so. All the while wearing that stupid tinfoil hat he made. Actually...that gave Noah an idea. An awful idea. It gave Noah a wonderful, awful idea!

• He laid into Harold about wearing the tinfoil hat and that by wearing it, he was being culturally insensitive. "You're basically stating that you don't believe in their history. You wearing that...thing...is a statement that you agree with erasing people's hard work and labor for a brain-dead conspiracy theory. Hard work and labor that was significantly important to not only their history but their culture.

You keep harping on about Chris and the Network but are just as bad as them. Maybe even worse, too, considering you keep telling everyone you know everything about Egypt. If you're so well read and educated about it, that makes your fashion choice all the more insulting. And all the worse because I'm pretty sure Chris's knowledge of Egypt is purely from The Mummy, Cleopatra, Gods of Egypt, and other movies.

Do better."

• Absolutely destroyed Harold. This made Harold determined to prove Noah wrong and to maybe appease himself of guilt. Which cultivated in him having to point out everything that could be seen as culturally insensitive.

• Each time Harold annoyed someone, Noah had to hide his widening smile. Especially if the someone was Chris, his annoyed expression was just too funny!

• Alejandro flirting with Leshawna and Bridgette was also really entertaining to Noah because of how the others reacted. Especially Harold! He was so mad and sad, and it was hilarious because he kept trying harder to seem cool and good, and it was failing spectacularly!

• Like I said before, Noah is pretty apathetic and only cares about Team E-Scope and Owen. He also holds little grudges against some competitors! Like, noticeably, Harold. Another one that may come as a surprise is Bridgette, which is why he found such joy in her predicament in the Yukon. Before he got eliminated on Island Noah, he didn't like many people there, but he thought Bridgette was pretty cool and nice, and he did think she was pretty. It was a small crush, one he knew he wasn't going to pursue but that didn't mean he couldn't be her friend.

Apparently, this must have given something away, though he had no idea how, and instead of talking to him, she joked about it to some of the girls knowing damn well that Geoff and his "bros" were listening in. It was most likely to see if the guy would get jealous, considering everyone knew the two were crushing on each other. That somehow made it worse to Noah because from then on, he started getting the Harold treatment from Geoff, Duncan, and DJ.

That pissed him right the hell off. He had done nothing, and all of a sudden, he was getting shoulder checked when walking to the mess hall. His books would go missing from time to time if he didn't hide them first. Just small shit like that, and he was over it.

It was one of the reasons he got himself voted off. He was not about to stick it out in a shitty summer camp while these dude bros wanted to act like high school movie bullies instead of focusing on the competition.

• He had no remorse. He had more fun watching the competition from the luxury of his resort room or the game room.

• So he has little grudges against Bridgette, Geoff, DJ, and Duncan because of that whole mess. Everyone else he just doesn't care about. He tried to get to know some of them on Island and in Aftermath, but it was like they were humoring him. And he knew some only interacted with him because he was Owen's best friends. He was content with that, though, because the way he saw it, he at least tried, and that's more than he can say for the others.

So yeah, he doesn't really care what happens to everyone else.

• Izzy and him are chaos siblings, and Eva is terrified that they are on the same team without her being there to keep an eye on them and be their stern voice of reason. She should be.

• The number of times that Chef has had to carry them under his arms away from areas they weren't allowed is too much. All the while, the two are giggling maniacally.

• When Noah told Alejandro "Good Work," about Bridgette in the Yukon. Alejandro was afraid his teammate had found him out and went on the offense, which was flirting. He figured he could distract Noah with the flirting, and they could forget the whole mess.

It seemed to work if the blushing was anything to go by. Or the way Noah looked away if he complimented him and smiled a little. He was a little surprised when Noah would compliment him back of whisper snide comments to him, and he figured that was the snark's way of flirting back.

He assumed his plan worked and didn't pay any more close attention to his teammate. Which was a mistake he later learned.

• Noah knew he shot himself in the foot when he complimented Alejandro on a job well done with Bridgette, but he didn't care because it led to more entertainment for him! Alejandro started flirting with him, and the expressions of the females were delicious! So he acted shy and coy and would reciprocate the flirting here in there in his own way, and the way Alejandro fell for it was also hilarious. It took everything in him not to cackle.

• The crew and interns love their gremlin boss, which is why they have a code for if they think he's getting bored and they really can't have that! So if they see even an inkling of boredom, they call a Code B-72 and rush to find something that will entertain him. Most of the time, it's helping sneak him to Chris and Chef's room so Chris and Noah can watch Love Island together with excuse that Chris misses his trash TV buddy.

Or they sneak him books!

• After the confrontation in the cargo hold, Alejandro is always close by Noah looking at him with absolute moon eyes. Noah thinks this is still Alejandro flirting with him because he caught him, but no....Alejandro is just a simp now.

• Before their next challenge, Noah makes sure to get Alejandro alone so he can tug him down by his necklace again. He doesn't notice that the guy doesn't seem bothered by this in the least. "You're going to try today. That's not a question. You are going to actually try and win with the rest of us, and if we lose. We lose. But at least we lost when putting in effort. If we win? All the better. Understand?"

Alejandro, breathless, "Si."

"Good boy." After making his point, Noah once more patted Alejandro on the cheek before walking away again. And again, he left Alejandro absolutely flustered and heart eyed.

• Next challenge was the Amazon, and Alejandro did still get punched by Owen, but Noah thought it would be funny to fuss over the hunk of a guy in front of everyone, especially the girls. Alejandro could die happy with the attention he was getting from his zorro.

• Alejandro went down the zipline with Noah, and Noah let it happen because there was no way he was doing that himself. He just went along for the ride and clung to Alejandro, who swore he was in heaven the entire ride down.

• When they stopped to make camp, Noah made sure to act like he wasn't doing much besides indulging Izzy and Owen in their shenanigans, but he was also telling them to go get firewood while Alejandro told Trent, Tyler, and Justin set up their sleeping bags and such while he and Noah went to find some food.

Thank goodness Noah was in the Boy Guides of Canada when he was younger even though he didn't stay long. Plus, he read those survival handbooks, and his sister was studying to be a horticulturist, and she had a phase where she wanted to harvest her own food or take trips into the forest to find "hidden snacks" and of course he got dragged along.

• No Owen being taken by the giant caterpillars. Alejandro is a simp, and he knew Noah would be angry. Of course, Noah noticed his anger with the oaf and how he didn't let him be taken, so he rewarded Alejandro with a smile and pat to the head. It had Alejandro on cloud nine.

• Noah's all about reward systems.

• Thankfully, his friends respond to them, too! And so does Alejandro! Win win.

• They don't win the challenge, but Noah still gives Alejandro a smile because he knew the guy was actually trying. Noah may or may not start being fond of Alejandro more than he was before. But according to his observation, Alejandro seems fond of him, too.

• Alejandro starts to let Noah see the real him behind the masks and feels so relieved when the guy doesn't hate him or finds him weird. He feels accepted, and he doesn't fail to notice how Noah opens up to him in return or the way they both get closer, and Noah gets more touchy feel-y.

Noah finds the real Alejandro worlds more interesting than his mask and realizes that he's starting to get a crush on the guy.

• Chris and Chef also notice this development and are thankful that Alejandro is keeping their little gremlin entertained, but also, how dare that charmer make goo-goo eyes at their gremlin!?

Next

[thetepes]

Let's get one thing clear, you have no idea what my opinions on addiction in general are.

I am talking specifically about someone who is an admitted child abuser who seeks out child and animal abuse content for pornographic use and has been escalating in just how open they are about it and the material they are looking for.

My tough love approach is reserved for this abuser and abusers of children and animals like them. This isn't about theory.

I live with addiction inside and out. I've lost people to addiction. I've dealt with it, my family has dealt with it, my friends have dealt with it, and I have shown nothing, but patience and support to them because in my community there is no support from any governmental body that we have access to because Roma don't get that privilege. You don't get to take that from me because you decided to make assumptions about me and my person. You don't get to take my years of not just dealing with it, but the years I spent studying the psychology of it to better help me, my family, and my community. The words I used are the same words my therapist used for me when I was getting addiction treatment and treatment for dealing with family who have addiction. It's outdated, yes, but sometimes you really do have to put yourself first and realize you can't be the person to save them.

You could have taken the time to look at what I was actually talking about and why I'm so severe about it, but you didn't. It was one click away and everything about them is tagged. You didn't look because it doesn't matter to you. You cared about getting to be right and getting to be that person in the reblogs that educates some woefully uninformed person on Tumblr dot com.

I am not a native English speaker, I used the word that I knew people would understand. That is the best I can do. The people I need to reach out to and get to understand that this person can not and will not stop this behavior and will not click automatically to the words compulsive sexual behavior disorder and I would have to sit here and explain what that is and then I'd get accused of diagnosing someone and the entire point of my commentary would be completely lost, like it is to you even though I know about the addiction model and I know about CSBD and I know they're still arguing over whether or not addiction plays into it. It's also wrong to diagnose someone like that, isn't it? Isn't that also harmful? Or does that not matter here?

Sometimes to communicate effectively with one another we don't use the specifically correct word, especially when nonnative speakers are in play, we use the best words even if they're a tad general that we have and now you've come in, policed the language, spoken down to us, spoken over us and admitted you're trying to drive a wedge between us - two POC trying to get eyes on an active predator who has already harmed children with a platform and connections. I used the words I knew, I gave the advice I have been taught. I'm sorry that isn't good enough for you.

Your response is bad faith because you came in and made assumptions about me and my person without so much as considering there was a reason I was being so severe and now I have to sit here and watch you parade like a peacock and get reblogs with the most inane mind numbing takes in the tags while my actual message and the damage this person is doing goes completely ignored and I am once again spoken over because I didn't choose just the right words to soothe your semantic ego enough to let me speak.

So you got to be right, I guess. Congratulations. This isn't a debate.

Addiction is a disease that destroys the body and mind. They need mental health support from a professional. It is not my or your place to treat them with gentle hands when they demand we enable them.

The only thing you can do for people suffering from addiction realistically as a layman is take care of yourself and encourage the person to get help.

Enabling them makes it worse and that's what these people want. They don't want help, they want enablers.

[dock57]

Do you think Shrike knows what species he is?

Assuming anyone knows at all.

Zeurel described him as redacted. I imagine his readings show up as such on scanners. “Oh…this one is…uh….yeah…”

I imagine whatever he is, it’s heavily classified and strictly No Reveal. And anyone who does know is advised to not say anything.

LAW definitely knows for sure.

I like to think if you ask Shrike he responds by saying “I’m me.” “I is what I is.” Or any variations thereof as if he rehearsed it.

And Beebs advises anyone asking to not do so. “Don’t ask him. He’ll only end up raising more questions.”

“I heard that!”

(My own theory is that he was a failed experimental extremophile hybrid with cephalopod, human and monkey traits)

What do you think?

[Yes, I absolutely believe that Shrike does not know what species he is. Its been implied often throughout the series that Shrike’s species is “unknown” or endangered in some way- even the first time we see Shrike’s profile on Kara’s screen said “Species: Unknown.”

Shrike, not the brightest child, so ignorant could be at play too, but I theorize the thought that Shrike may have been taken in and raised at LAW. So far, it seems like from what we receive in the series is that very much of LAW past life is with LAW. I honestly do not think he knows or where he came from.

I think another example that tells me that Shrike is clueless about himself is the gem embedded into the back of his head.

When Punti asked Shrike where (or how?) he got the gem, Shrike says on the line that he has it forever, not really having a point of origin of where or when he got it. Heck, its unsure if he was born with it or it was added onto to him.

I would support the idea that LAW may no what he is and keeps that information restricted- even to Shrike. Since the cataclysm is taking out species, it could be possible that Shrike’s kind was involved. How involved? Who knows.

Actually I have heard of the experiment theory! I cannot think of anything on the top of my head to support it? Or examples I can pull for it.

You could take the scene I just mentioned from episode two, when asked about the crystal and his absence knowledge of how it came to exist. You could even take the one scene from episode 4, when confronted by Jawbone who questioned why Shrike was still wearing a red suit, despite not “being” one anymore, and Shrike said on the lines “they won’t put me back under the knife.” However, you could say that just about the suit itself.

I would disregard the theory though, I think have done some experimenting on him, but I don’t know if Shrike is an artificial creation himself, since at the end of episode 2, when Beebs pass Punti over and ask what will happen to him- they said that it will take some time to get used to being the last of your kind, then paneled over to Shrike.

But dang, what do I know? This series always surprises me! I’m very curious what Shrike’s kind has to do with the cataclysm, if anything.

Also that little interaction you mentioned- I wanted to doodle something out for it, so I hope ya enjoy!

[ecargmura]

The Apothecary Diaries Episode 31 Review - Escape Room

This is certainly an episode that requires a lot of thought, whether it be about Jinshi’s lineage or about the contents of this episode. It really sets the tone for what’s to come for Jinshi. As I am an anime-only watcher for now, my theories may or may not be correct.

With the nightmare Jinshi had, I’m assuming that he knows his entire life is a facade. I think he is aware that he is Ah Duo’s son given their extremely strong resemblance and he did describe the current Emperor as “The man I thought was my father but was actually my brother”, meaning that he knows the current Emperor is his father, but has to play the role of his brother. Earlier in the first season, Maomao, and the viewers, learned about how the actual second prince died due to Fengming feeding him honey and how Jinshi had to take his place. Though, there is something that is puzzling me a bit. Weren’t the second prince and Jinshi born around the same time? So, why is Jinshi, who’s actually 19 years old, posing as the 23-year-old prince? Shouldn’t the Second Prince be 19 years old too? Did the Prince die when he was four?

It seems that he wasn’t aware of the other members of his family, given that he didn’t know that the old man who had approached him as a kid was his “father”, and the previous Emperor who is a pedophile and the old woman was his grandmother. All I can say is that Jinshi’s family lineage is really confusing and it’s crazy how Fengming’s one mistake spiraled this entire convolution.

Basically, the current Emperor and Jinshi share the same blood, so the escape room sort of thing was sort of a test to see if Jinshi is worthy of the throne, but it doesn’t seem as if he’s interested in being Emperor. I think the whole colorblind thing was creative and that it belongs to those of the royal family. I wonder if the whole test thing is to see if someone has the intelligence to figure it out even if they aren’t colorblind because it seems that trait has been diluted out of the bloodline. Since the Emperor and Jinshi aren’t colorblind, it befalls to someone who has to be knowledgable to figure it out.

That’s where Maomao comes in. The old teacher was basically provoking her to solve the mystery, so she did just that. I also think that this whole thing is to show that Jinshi has a fine prospect by his side, even if he isn’t willing to take the throne. Heck, the whole ordeal just seems like the Emperor wanted the Jinmao ship to progress. Maomao’s intelligence is the key point of this episode as she also figures out Jinshi’s lineage, but chose not to speak about it—correct me if Im wrong. Though, there is another thing I’m curious about: how come the Emperor knows about Maomao being Lakan’s daughter? Does word spread that fast?

Speaking of the Emperor, it’s crazy how we’re thirty-one episodes in and this is when he gets some spotlight. He’s surprisingly a chill man. It’s funny how he had thought about Maomao becoming one of his consorts, but it wasn’t mean to be taken seriously as he has a type in well-endowed women and Maomao does NOT fit that—he even said that aloud. Given that the royal family has colorblindness but he doesn’t, I wonder if such a trait will ever return in one of his kids?

Overall, Jinshi’s lineage is super complicated and I don’t want to think too much about it now that I’ve theorized and discussed about it. I do wonder what Jinshi is going to do. Will he get together with Maomao in the future? Is he even allowed to do so? Let me know your thoughts about this episode and feel free to answer any questions I have.

[airas-story]

https://www.tumblr.com/airas-story/770904004268048384/httpswwwtumblrcomairas-story7591035972974673?source=share

I would absolutely read anything you write about this trio. Maybe random ficlets from this universe but they don't have to be related? Since you are not sure of the long form content.

Maybe something slightly angsty-fluffy where Morgan falls sick or gets kidnapped

From the same AU as drabbles one and two. I played around with your two suggestions... but I just couldn't get either to work right now. So I instead did some of the earlier moments, since it's still in universe. No Pepper or Morgan in this one, though, just some setup.

“Here, to the left is the lake,” Tony said, tone officious. “Of significance is the time Morgan threw herself off the pier without floaties while she and Pepper were swimming. I was going to a meeting… Didn’t happen. My suit didn’t survive the rescue.”

“A fair exchange,” Stephen pointed out, amusement drowning out his anxiety. He and Tony had been dating for several months, but this was his first time at the cabin, ‘meeting’ Pepper and Morgan as Tony’s partner—not just a friend. “Did she learn from the incident?”

“She learned I’ll always jump in after her,” Tony said, laughter in his voice. “Not so much to stop doing it. She’s good enough at swimming it’s no longer heart-attack inducing.” He moved on. “Now, if you turn your attention to the right, you’ll see the alpaca pen where Gerald eats all our goji berries.”

Stephen snorted. “Never been a fan. Let Gerald eat them.”

“Don’t let Pepper hear you say that,” Tony said. “She loves them.” Tony glanced at the cabin then back to Stephen. “Speaking of Pepper... Ready to meet them or do you want to continue our tour?”

Stephen’s heart jumped. “I’ve met them before,” he pointed out.

“Then why are you nervous?” Tony retorted. He leaned in for a kiss. “There’s no reason to be.”

In theory. Stephen knew Tony wouldn’t be dating him if Pepper wasn’t okay with it. Stephen and Pepper got along and while he’d only met Morgan twice, Morgan had seemed to like him. Why was he nervous?

“What if…”

“I wouldn’t be bringing you home if you weren’t welcome,” Tony said quietly. “You fit Stephen. And as long as that’s something you want…”

“I do,” Stephen whispered. “I just—”

“Then don’t stress,” Tony said. “They’ll love you. I do, after all.”

[sonkitty]

S2 Right Profile Sideburns Collection

This collection is bigger than the previous season 1 group I made for various reasons.

For starters, season 1 present day is consistent in shortness anyway.

The first picture in the first group is from Before the Beginning because that scene is trying to draw our attention to the sideburns having been longer at that time for Crowley.

Even though I included that scene that is not the present day, all of others in this group are from the season 2 present day. The minisodes are excluded on purpose.

It helps to see the season 2 present day shifts first before factoring in the minisodes.

These shots are are only scaled up or down and cropped. I did not mess with the brightness or the colors beyond the settings I use on my preferred video player app.

At the moment, these images are shown in the presented order on screen during the story. I might make another set based on trying to group the lengths together, similar to past posts by @embracing-the-ineffable (Let's bust a popular myth! and a follow-up, OK, I love this theory...).

Another one of the reasons I thought it worth doing so for the presented order is that it's really important that the longer sideburns still lengthened more between the argument scene in the bookshop and when Crowley was standing at the door to his car in S2E6. That played a really big factor into how I eventually saw and found The Door Trick.

And another reason is because I wanted to look more closely at certain parts. For example, the sideburns might actually slightly lengthen during the apology dance in S2E1. And whether they do or don't, I wanted a really good look at them before and after the miracle to hide Gabriel was performed.

I'm kinda letting my instincts on the play take me wherever, so I'm not sure yet if these things are going to be for other posts later and/or eventual YouTube videos. If I really do make something leading up to explaining the Tied Hands, these pictures are far from necessary, but they are a good exercise and frame of reference for me anyway.

Feel free to save and use as your reference too, just be nice and credit if you ever post or share these images elsewhere, please.

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

[dichenlachmandaily]

Spoilers follow for Severance season two episode seven, “Chikhai Bardo.”

No, “Chikhai Bardo” isn’t a bottle episode. Instead, Severance gave us something even better: answers. Tragic but legitimate answers. The latest episode confirms Gemma (Dichen Lachman) is alive and being held against her will on one of Lumon’s severed floors, having gotten there, as we see through flashbacks, after being marked by one of the company’s doctors (Robby Benson) at a fertility clinic. The episode bounces around the highs and lows of Mark (Adam Scott) and Gemma’s relationship — their meet-cute at a university blood donation drive, their surprisingly enjoyable dinners with Devon and Ricken, her miscarriage — interspersed with scenes of Gemma’s captive life following a car crash implied to be staged by the company. Inside Lumon, Gemma’s life is overseen by a nurse (Sandra Bernhard), who marches her through a rotation of severed doors and into rooms where her various Innies are forced to endure scenarios with Benson’s doctor that range from the annoying to the traumatic.

When Gemma’s mad dash of an escape plan — knocking the doctor unconscious and briefly reembodying Ms. Casey on another severed floor — fails at episode’s end, she seemingly resigns herself to a prisoner’s existence without parole. Lachman believes her character still has hope of being released and reuniting with her husband when the experiment concludes. “But they’re always changing the rules of the game for her,” she says. “They just keep moving the goalposts.”

As someone of the belief that Gemma was brain-dead and living as a subconscious entity, it was lovely to see her alive despite the awful circumstances surrounding her existence. When I read season one, I had that theory too. I didn’t quite understand what was happening. I was like, Has her brain been affected and they’re trying to rebuild her?

Did you know Gemma would get her own stand-alone episode when you first started filming Severance? I definitely wasn’t aware in season one that this would happen. As the scripts for season two started coming in, I was like, Oh, okay. I’m not in this episode, and I’m not in the next one. Did I do something wrong? Then Dan Erickson talked me through how it was going to play out. It was really exciting. At the same time, I felt a lot of pressure. I didn’t want to let the fans down. This is obviously something they’ve been waiting for. I was really scared.

What scared you the most?Having to jump between lighter and darker moments, and the scope of it was so large. Knowing we’d have a very limited time to do it and then doing the flashbacks on film. I know Jessica Lee Gagné, the director, had always envisioned using film and it was her goal. When I started my career, we used to shoot on film all the time, but then digital became the preferred medium because it never ends and there’s more freedom. With film, there’s only so much; you could run out in the middle of a scene. You don’t want to make a mistake because it’s an actual, physical thing an image is getting printed onto.

The big connection we get this episode is when Lumon’s doctor spots Gemma at a fertility clinic before her car accident. His eyes linger on her for a beat, but Gemma and Mark don’t clock him in the waiting area. Oh, you got that?

Not the first time!I’m so glad.

Can you tell me a bit about how this scene was staged?Jessica has been integral to setting the tone and mood of Severance. She’s phenomenally talented and has such a unique eye, but she’s really good at doing things subtly. That scene had a lot of technical stuff. One of the great things about that moment is that even though the shots, framing, and camerawork are really technical — more than I’ve ever done in my entire life on any show — it always goes back to how they can keep it real and grounded among all of that chaos. There was a lot of stuff they had to do and capture so the audience could have that little moment, which is so subtle, so I’m impressed you picked up on it. I just remember focusing on what Gemma was feeling and us talking about the mood and temperament.

Given what we learn about this doctor throughout the episode, what did you infer about the motivations behind Gemma’s staged death? Did this man target her specifically because of a weird infatuation, or is a fertility clinic just an ideal location for Lumon to scope out potential subjects? That fertility clinic is a place where they have access to people’s biometric data. I suppose it’s the perfect place to zone in on a target. The whole world they live in is filled with Lumon employees, businesses, and stuff like that. I have my own fan theories, but I think what you said — a place where they’re getting people’s blood and their DNA — is probably the best theory.

The other person Gemma interacts with is Sandra Bernhard’s nurse. How would you define their relationship? Are there any sympathies there? In my mind, her nurse has been there for a while. Sandra brought an incredible warmth to that role, even in playing a captor. She brought almost a motherly feeling to it even though it’s still very cold, controlled, and oppressive down there. Maybe it’s just her eyes. Or maybe she was working on something with the character that I wasn’t aware of, but their dynamic is really interesting. I think she has compassion for Gemma. She’s just doing her job, but there’s a humanity to her.

Inside those rooms, Gemma’s Innies are forced to play out different scenarios: A dental patient getting work done, a passenger in a crashing airplane, and a wife at Christmas forced to write thank-you notes. The doctor inquired if Gemma felt “despair” after leaving any of them. How do you view what this experiment is trying to accomplish? I think it’s leaning into something that’s happening within our culture, which is that we don’t want to experience anything unpleasant. To some degree, I totally understand. In season one, you have the birthing center. That’s one of the most painful things you could experience in your whole life — I would know. What if you could delegate that experience to someone so you didn’t have to go through the pain? Even though, as a human being, there’s some ownership of that. Going through it and having a connection to the child is so beautiful. But we kind of want to get on a prescription of not having to suffer. If you think of it from a pharmaceutical point of view, it’s like, “We’re just taking it up a notch. You hate going to the dentist? We’ve got you. We’ll send somebody else, but you’ll still be going to the dentist.” Or having the fear of flying. I know Dan loathes writing thank-you notes — not because he’s ungrateful but because sometimes it’s so hard to figure out what to say to express your gratitude. I’ve done this before when I’ve worked on a movie: I’ve written 80 thank-you notes to all the crew members and they all start sounding the same. You lose your creativity, and you’re struggling to figure out a way to say “thank you” in a different way so that if someone reads someone else’s card, they’re not like, Oh, this isn’t personal. It says the same thing.

So you don’t view this technology as being strictly malicious in intent? Yeah. It could go further, of course. That’s the thing with technology: The intention is always to make someone’s life a little bit easier. Then it becomes integrated into our life. Everything is a double-edged sword. It’s our job as human beings to try and find the balance. We’re in a world where we have AI and robots. We’re creating a world where we don’t even need to exist, in a way. What’s really cool about the show is it gets people to ask themselves about their relationship to technology or their relationship to having contrast in their life. You don’t get to experience pleasure, joy, or something that tastes really amazing if you don’t get the sad moments, too. When you’re severed, you don’t have contrast. The weekend isn’t as good because you’re perpetually experiencing only the good things. Those good feelings just become feelings and are not special anymore.

You get one of the best lines of the season when Gemma is being examined by that doctor after visiting some of the rooms: “Can you please just talk like a normal person?” She’s saying what viewers are thinking, and it made me laugh.The whole language is a bit culty. They have their own way of communicating. The words they use are so bizarre. I tried reading that line in many different ways and played with intensity. It was stretching me as an artist. I’ve never had the opportunity to explore and collaborate as much as I did on this show. I could have said “Can you please just talk like a normal person?” 15 or 16 times, maybe more, and every time it would’ve been a little different.

Did you get the sense Gemma had tried to escape before? There’s this comment Mr. Drummond gives the doctor midway through the episode about how she once tried to break his fingers. It struck me as very fight-or-flight. Yes. I picked up on that same line when I was reading the script. Jessica and I talked about it a lot. I think every now and then, Gemma has been like, Screw it. I’m going to go for it. I don’t care if I have to hit him over the head or break his hand. Then there are days where she feels like it’s pointless, but then she’ll get pushed and pushed harder and she’ll try again. She’ll never be able to escape. Her tolerance level will go back to baseline, and it’ll build up and she’ll try again.

We’ve seen how people involved in the severance program can be driven to madness; Helly tries to kill herself in the first season. Where does Gemma find the strength to continue on in this prison of a life? Based on the scenes she has with the doctor just before she hits him over the head, I feel like there’s been some promises made: “Oh, you just have to do this and that”; “Look, it’s for your own good”; “Now you just have to get through this.”

How many takes did you get to whack Robby with a chair? Was it oddly satisfying?You know what? That’s something we didn’t do as many times as some of the other scenes. It wasn’t too complicated. Robby is such an amazing person. He was lying on the floor for hours, just so dedicated to this role he was playing. The man is a machine. I felt really bad. I’m like, “Oh, Robby, I’m sorry.” It was just about getting the chair at the right angle so that we could sell it, because obviously I couldn’t hit him over the head.

At one point, Gemma directly asks the doctor what will happen when her Innie “sees all of the rooms.” What do you think will happen?Gemma thinks that when she’s done, she’ll get out of there and be free. That’s what she wants. Ultimately, toward the end, she resigns herself to being there. When she comes out of the elevator, knowing her escape plan didn’t work, she feels so broken. Well, that’s it. I’m never going to get out of here. That’s why she has to be picked up off the floor by Sandra’s character. In my head, when she’s tried to escape previously, she’s probably fought them all on the way out. Like, What am I doing back here? But when she falls to the floor into a puddle, calling Mark’s name, it’s just like, I can’t anymore. There’s nothing else I can do.

You previously portrayed a multiverse-programmed character in Dollhouse, which shares a few creative parallels to Severance. Your work in Altered Carbon also explored how consciousness can be “resleeved” into different bodies. What makes you excel at portraying so many distinctive personas in one human? Maybe I willed it into my life because I love exploring these concepts, I love science fiction, and I absolutely feel like it’s somewhere where my creativity thrives. I feel so blessed that I’ve gotten to do it in different eras. Altered Carbon is hundreds of years in the future, where severance technology has completely changed the way people live and given them the ability to live forever. Dollhouse is more contemporary. Severance is this timeless era. It’s quite strange and weird.

[chipmunkfanno1love]

I actually got another film Amy theory based off @autisticshadowthehedgehog's headcanon about Amy possibly having abandonment issues. It may also lean into @ficsinhistory's Sonamy comfort over trauma and developing a bond through empathy theories.

Another option to Amy's parents being dead could be that both or one of them abandoned her. Here my thoughts about it:

Both her parents were neglectful parents who abandon their daughter not long after she was born. They disregard her as a "weakling" or are terrified of her gift of visions (that or they simply don't know how to handle it). They either leave her in the woods to die or abandon her on someone's doorstep. She is found and adopted by the Keeper of the Time Gems.

Her mother dies giving birth to her and her father becomes neglectful as result of his grief. Either he cruelly blames his daughter for his wife's death and/or he does care about her but finds himself unable to care for her. He leaves her in the care of a relative and/or a family friend, who may possibly be the Keeper of the Time Gems or at least is acquainted with them, therefore giving Amy the opportunity to be taken on as a protégé.

Her father walks out on her and her mother. Maybe her mother is still alive or dies protecting her daughter from danger, leaving Amy in the hands of an adoptive parent or guardian.

Maybe Amy's parents were loving and doting parents but regardless leave her with a guardian so they could go on mission for the Resistance. That and/or they felt she needed a mentor to teach her to properly use her gift of visions and how to defend herself in battle. Though they promise to return to her, they unfortunately die in battle, leaving Amy an orphan.

I imagine that Amy has abandonment issues as a result of her parent/s leaving her (even worse if they did it for selfish reasons). As a result, Amy is often is too hard on herself when it comes to her training, feeling she needs to prove herself in order to earn love and acceptance. She possibly hides her insecurities behind her optimistic and overly-friendly attitude.

Sonic is the one to show her how awesome she is just the way she is. He reassures her that she doesn't have to earn others love in order to receive it, and also says that she needs to love herself as well because you can't love others properly unless she loves herself too.

Amy forms a deep bond with Sonic as result of their shared empathy over their past trauma. I imagine that Amy grows very attached to Sonic as a result of their emotional bond and it's very hard being away from him, but she acknowledges Sonic's need for space. Plus, while she knows wants to be with Sonic, she also knows that she needs to take things slow with him so the two can grow as friends and if they do eventually become a couple someday, they can develop a more healthy interdependent relationship.

-

I just realised that I forgot to add Shadow's relationship with Amy in her relationship section. Don't hate me for saying this, but I don't think Shadow will have much of a role, if any role at all in Sonic 4, considering Amy was cut from Sonic 3 to focus more on Shadow's story, it makes sense that he doesn't make much of an appearance in this story so the focus can be on Amy. I think at most he'll have a Randall and Rachel sized cameo in the movie or perhaps the post-credit scene. He'll probably make a bigger appearance in Sonic 5 and/or his Shadow spin-off TV show or the discussed movie. Anyway, here are my thoughts:

Shadow: I honestly believe that Amy and Shadow's relationship will be a lot like their relationship in the Sonic games and other Sonic media. I imagine Amy playing the role of an encouraging friend and moral support to Shadow, while he in turn develops a soft spot for the compassionate and brave pink hedgehog and her optimistic way of thinking.

While Sonic took on Amy's role of being Shadow's moral support and convincing him to save the world in Sonic 3, I still believe that Amy will still play a role in showing empathy and encouragement to the tragic dark hedgehog as he tries to rebuild his life without Maria and learn about his identity (since he doesn't know yet who he is or where he came from). While she may not trust him at first after she learns who is and what he did to Tom, she decides to give him a chance after Sonic tells her about him working with him to save the earth.

I could see the whole "Amy mistaking Shadow for Sonic joke" happening in one of the SCU films, though rather than it being that Amy mistakes Shadow for Sonic when you can clearly see she's hugging Shadow rather than Sonic, maybe instead she sees Shadow's silhouette and assumes its Sonic, but when Shadow comes into the light she's like "Hey, you're not Sonic!" after noticing he has a different colour palette and spike style.

She may eventually hug Shadow after building trust some trust between them, which surprises but also touches him deeply.

I could see Amy and Shadow's interactions being similar to Sue Storm/Invisible Woman and the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. I imagine Amy showing great amounts of compassion for Shadow but is not afraid to berate him for his immoral choices and actions. Meanwhile Shadow acts very protective of Amy and won't hesitate to protect her from danger. When she asks he why he risks his life to save her, he admits to Amy that she reminds him of Maria.

Watch from 2:30 to 4:50. *Warning* - A violent scene before hand.

I know there's a lot of fans who ship Amy and Shadow together. While I wouldn't say I follow the Shadamy ship (partly because I prefer Sonamy and the other because I haven't seen enough of Shadow and Amy together to say whether they're "couple material") I am open to the possibility of Shadow having unrequited feelings for Amy but he doesn't let her know about it because he knows that she has feelings for Sonic and those feelings are reciprocated. For that reason (and because he feels he doesn't deserve Amy), Shadow steps aside and gives Sonic and Amy his blessing. Besides, considering Shadow has been kept in a tube for 50 years, he's a lot older than Amy, though being in a preservation tube has obviously slowed his aging process.

Maybe Amy is almost killed in a battle, which devastates Sonic at the thought of losing the girl he loves. Shadow might use his chaos powers to save Amy (if they are capable of healing). I definitely imagining him telling Sonic to treasure every moment with her and admitting that the two of them were right about him having a choice. He's now going to choose his own future rather than dwelling on the past.

*Warning* - Violent death scene and profanity

Of course, Shadow's soft spot for Amy could be more like a brother's love for a sister (which makes sense if Amy reminds him of Maria). Still, I could see Sonic feeling a bit jealous if he suspects something is going on between Shadow and Amy. Despite some immaturity on his part at first, he later tries to do the mature thing and accept the idea of Amy being with Shadow if he makes her happy. Luckily Amy reassures Sonic that she only sees Shadow as a friend and strongly hints it's him she has feelings for.

I would compare this fanon love triangle to the fanon love triangle between Katara, Aang and Zuko.

I would say that Sonamy is more like Katang. The friends to lovers dynamic. I could see them dancing together like this. 😁🥰 Plus, I hope that Sonamy becomes canon like Katang.

While Shadamy is more like Zutara, the enemies to friends dynamic in which while they don't canonically become anymore than friends, but part of you wishes they did. I honestly wouldn't have been upset if Zutara had become canon, but I'm glad that Katang were happy together and eventually married and had a family.

Anyway, there's a little addition to my theories. My Sonamy theories for the SCU are still a work in progress.

Sonic 4 - Amy Rose's Character (*Warning* Sonic 3 Spoilers Ahead)

One element I'm most looking forward to seeing in Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is the character of Amy Rose.

I was very impressed with the character's introduction in the post-credit scene of Sonic 3.

Though what we saw of Amy was limited and she doesn't even speak, we already can tell she's a strong and capable warrior who can take down a whole army of Metal Sonic's via use of her Piko Piko Hammer. It's big change from her original Sonic CD appearance who is portrayed as more of a damsel in distress for Sonic to rescue. Here, she's the one rescuing Sonic, and with a lot of style I might add.

Even her little raised eyebrow shows me that she's got a lot of spunk and self-confidence. I can definitely see her as someone who can keep up with Sonic in terms of quips and bantering.

I've heard a lot of Amy Rose theories including ones via fan art and fan videos (some of which I'll reference and share links with you here), but I thought I may as well share my own thoughts on the character and what role I believe she'll play in the upcoming Sonic movie.

I've only just gotten into the movie franchise and my interactions with other Sonic media are limited to clips I've seen on YouTube and other places online, so my knowledge of the Sonic characters is limited. If I get something wrong, please be kind to me.

Backstory Ideas:

Where Amy's from:

One popular theory for Sonic 4 is that it will take inspiration from Sonic CD. If this is true, I'm going to assume that Amy Rose is from Little Planet, which is located above Never Lake in a mysterious location on earth.

Considering the franchise doesn't say what part of Earth Never Lake is on, I'm going to assume that movie version of Never Lake will be located in New York State as that's where Sonic ended up in the post-credit's scene. Maybe Never Lake itself is not visible on human maps as its hidden with a cloaking spell or it is known and visible to humans in this universe, but Little Planet itself is hidden with a cloaking spell and can only be revealed with magic. Maybe it orbits to Earth once every few years, decades or even centuries.

Little Planet is said to be home to the Time Stones, which gives the inhabitants the ability to travel through time. In games the stones can't leave Little Planet, but I wonder if that may change for movie version of them. Maybe Amy is the Keeper of the Time Stone's or is currently keeping them safe for the Keeper (e.g. she's the guardians protegee and/or child/adoptive child).

Apparently Little Planet is said to be like earth only it has more mystical qualities to it, which sets up nicely for my head canons about Amy and her past. There has been debate that Amy Rose may be from a distance future or perhaps an alternate universe. While I'm certainly open to those theories, I prefer that she's from the present time but has the ability to time jump via the use of the Time Stones and perhaps the Travel Rings.

Amy's history:

As other fans have speculated, I do believe that Amy could come from a warrior race much like Knuckles the Echidna, though unlike Knuckles tribe who relied completely on brute strength and used more primitive weapons like bow and arrows, Amy's tribe has use to more magical properties as a gift from the planet they inhabit. They can either wield the magic from their internal selves and/or the magic is wielded via their weapon of choice. Nonetheless most and/or all the inhabitants of Little Planet have some access to magic in some shape or form.

There's also the possibility that Amy may just had a simple life as a child rather than being raised as a warrior (though I still believe she was raised with a magical ability and/or was around others who had magical abilities). There are many who speculate that she may have known Sonic as a child and perhaps was inspired by him to become a hero herself like in the games. I personally like this theory and plan to go more into it in another post.

Amy's family:

I believe that like Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, Amy could possibly be an orphan. If they write the Resistance storyline in the movie, I imagine that perhaps Amy's parents were part of a resistance against a tyrannical enemy, e.g. Metal Sonic, Nega Eggman, Mephiles the Dark, etc., but were sadly killed in battle when she was a child (her child self could definitely be inspired by Classic Amy's design).

As a result, Amy was raised instead by other living relatives and/or perhaps an unrelated guardian like Longclaw raised Sonic before he came to live with his human adoptive parents, Tom and Maddie. Considering that Longclaw is considered the last of the Owl race, it's not likely that Amy will be adopted by another owl (unless of course the information about Longclaw being the last of her race is proven to be false). It's more likely her guardian will be another alien hedgehog or perhaps some other alien animal species.

In the Pre-Super Genesis wave of the Archie comics, Amy actually had a cousin named Rob o' the Hedge (the Mobian hedgehog version of Robin Hood) and an uncle named King O' Hedge. While I'm not sure if they could adapt these characters for Sonic Cinematic Universe as they are now no longer considered canon after the Archie comics scandal, they could possibly be the inspiration for a whole new character/s who could possibly fill in as a parental/family role for Amy:

There's also the possibility that Amy Rose has no guardians or relatives and has been living on her own since her parent's death. Maybe she's roaming around on her own for a while now and basically taken care of herself. She may be similar to Sonic in that sense.

I read some theories from fanfiction writer @ficsinhistory on Amy's character and backstory. I'm certainly open to some of the writer's theories, including the similar backstory to the Terminator franchise. I also like @bunnystarhop's idea of her possibly already having an adoptive earth family already.

Amy's role in the story:

Amy's role in Sonic 4 could be quite similar to Tails in Sonic 2 and/or maybe she is a less intense and family-friendly version of Kyle Reese's character. I imagine she's either there to protect and warn Sonic and/or she's there to help him discover his destiny in becoming the Hero of the Universe. Knowing Amy, I believe she'd be a lot gutsier than Tails and would want to play an active role in helping Sonic in his journey rather than simply warning him. I believe she has her own motives and/or something to prove in this story as well.

I could see Amy's backstory going several different directions:

Amy starts out as an optimistic but naive young warrior in training for the Resistance, who eager to prove herself as a protector for others, whether it be fighting in battle or even helping an innocent baby bird find their family. Unfortunately, she is not taken seriously by her peers as they feel she's "too young", and "too innocent" to be considered helpful to the Resistance. Perhaps she has a vision of a dark future of Metal Sonic taking over the universe, including both Earth and Little Planet. Despite others doubting her gifts, her mentor sends her to Earth to guide Sonic on his mission and to protect him from Metal Sonic. Despite Sonic also having doubts about Amy's gift, he decides to trust her for the sake of protecting his home and helping her protect hers.

Amy's home is attacked by Metal Sonic's and at the last-minute Amy's guardian (who may also have the gift of visions) tells her that she has to find Sonic as he's the only one who can stop Metal Sonic from destroying the future. Maybe Amy has her own goals of rescuing her mentor and/or people who are being held hostage by Metal Sonic and/or she hopes to fulfil her guardians' dying wish and prevent others from suffering the same fate as her mentor. Also, she may harbour guilt if she feels she's responsible for her family being captured or killed. It would give her empathy for Sonic's plight with Longclaw.

While I prefer Amy to be from the present and be a time-jumper, there's a possibility she could be from the future and travels to the present to prevent the dystopian future she lives in from happening. This could be a reference to the Terminator films, though I hope if they do these references that a romance between Sonic and Amy will not have the same tragic consequences that Sarah Conner and Kyle Reese had in their relationship. I hope Sonamy can make a future together, whether she stays in the present or continually time jumps between present and future to visit Sonic.

I've read plenty of other theories from others which could also work. Either way, as much as I want to see Sonamy romantic hints and for them to eventually become a couple (if Sega is willing to let Jeff Fowler and the SCU crew to make it happen in their films), I want Amy to have more of purpose to her story rather than simply being a potential girlfriend for Sonic. I want her to be fully fleshed out and independent character who has her own goals, desires and plans. Finding love will simply be a lovely subplot for her and Sonic. The icing on the cake if you will.

Abilities, talents and skills:

For me personally, I could see Amy with the ability to talk to animals. It could be treated as a joke where she has a conversation with animals like a human or alien creature and others look at her like she's crazy. Over time though, Amy can prove her gift to talk to animals is real and uses her gift to help Team Sonic in their missions, as well as build stronger relationships with animals like Ozzy.

A cute idea I thought of for Amy could be that she can speak some Japanese. I thought this would be adorable if Kimiko Glenn gets the part (she's not fluent in Japanese but did she speak a little for her role as Peni Park in the Spiderman universe films). Considering Sonic's source material has anime roots, I think this would be another great way to reference Japan in the film. I thought the Tokyo Chao Garden scene in Sonic 3 was just adorable and I imagine Amy speaking Japanese would be another cute anime reference.

One trait of Amy's in different Sonic media is her use of making predictions via tarot cards. This personally isn't my favourite trait of Amy's I do not condone the use of tarot cards in real life, nor do I believe they can tell the future.

From a fictional standpoint, I can acknowledge that this is just a quirky part of Amy's character and/or she may have the ability to tell what's going to happen in the future in the Sonic universe. I honestly feel that Amy's having the ability to tell the future could work very well in Sonic 4 (especially if time travel is used in the story). Still, here are some different ways of portraying Amy's use of fortune cards that I would feel more comfortable with:

Perhaps Amy has the gift of visions and the ability to see into the future. Unfortunately, her abilities are limited to flashes of which are hard to interpret herself. Maybe her cards are not regular tarot cards, but instead are fortune cards that work in a similar fashion to Bruno Madrigal's tablets where her literal visions come up on the cards and can then be interpreted visually afterwards.

I definitely could see Amy's eyes/pupils going fully pink like Bruno's go fully green when she has visions.

I reckon like Sonic and Knuckles; Amy's eyes go an electrified pink during intense emotional moments and moments of anger as well.

2. I could see Amy's use of tarot cards purely being used for the comedic effect where she depends on them for every decision she makes and is afraid to make her own choices. Maybe Sonic could teach her to learn to take chances and to not rely on tricks said to tell her what the future holds. As a result, she decides to throw her fortune cards away and chooses to take her own chances rather than worrying what the future holds.

This fan animatic made by @spegadysquitzy on YouTube is a wonderful example of what I'm talking about:

Amy's Piko Piko Hammer:

I'm very curious about the history and backstory of Amy's Piko Piko Hammer and how it works.

From what I've seen of it in the Sonic 3 post-credit scene, it appears to be made with metal and could possibly be wielded via the use of chaos energy. I'm thinking it could be considered a sacred object, or it was a weapon personally made for Amy, and she spent a bit of time training in order to get the strength to use it properly.

Some people believe that the reason Amy has no spikes is that she removed them and used them to power her hammer. I'm open to this theory, but I also believe it could simply be that the animators haven't added her spikes yet as it's still an early design for Amy. It could also be that Amy's spikes are simply thinner and softer for a more feminine appearance. I guess we'll need to wait until Sonic 4 to get confirmation about these theories.

I wonder if Amy chose the weapon herself or perhaps it magically chose her to be its wielder. I wonder if they'll throw in the "worthiness" trope like with Thor's hammer and we'll see others struggling to lift the hammer like Sonic (I've seen fan-art of this, but I can't remember which artist did it). Maybe she's telepathically linked to her weapon, which therefore enables it to levitate to her and/or it will appear out of thin air like in Sonic X.

Either way, I'd love to learn how Amy got her famous hammer.

Personality:

Amy's personality in the Sonic Cinematic Universe has been the top of hot debate in Sonic fandom pretty early on. There are a number of people who want her to more like her early incarnations while others are hoping for her more modern personality (e.g. Sonic Boom, Sonic Prime, Sonic Frontiers, etc).

From what I've heard, both the characters of Tails and Knuckles have a mixture of elements from both their earlier and later adaptions, e.g. in early adaptions Tails was "the kid" of the group and a Sonic fanboy and Knuckles is the serious guardian of the Master Emerald and Sonic's enemy turned ally. In later adaptions, Tails becomes a more capable gadget genius and while he's more relaxed around Sonic, remains his best friend and little brother figure. Tails manages to be a good balance of both these versions of himself.

Knuckles has had various adaptions currently, but his Sonic Boom counterpart is known as a bit of a "dumb jock" stereotype. Movie Knuckles is more intelligent than his TV counterpart but can be a bit slow on some earth knowledge and is "literal-minded" much like Drax the Destroyer from the MCU films. Therefore, he also is a good combination of both his earlier and later adaptions.

As such I believe Amy being a combination of both her earlier personality and her more modern personality is a good win-win personality wise. Maybe we could see more of her Classic Amy personality in her younger self via flashbacks but slowly see her grow into her more modern self with time progression. Maybe we could literally see her maturity growing through the use of flashbacks and character growth. Nonetheless, she still maintains some of her earlier traits in regard to her energy, enthusiasm and bubbly personality.

I honestly like how @echidnapowers explained Amy's character development in the Sonic games and hope they show Amy's character growth and maturity throughout the movie like he explained it. Hopefully they'll portray it in a natural way and not forced. The artwork belongs to his partner @hollylu-ships-it by the way.

There have been theories that Sonic 4 might have a "perfection vs imperfection" theme to it in regards showing the importance of being yourself rather than being what everyone else expects of you to please them. As such this might be demonstrated in both Sonic and Amy's storylines. I'm thinking they'll take one of these two options:

Amy is repressing parts of herself that make her the special person she is, e.g. her passion for life, her optimism, her belief in the goodness of all creatures, etc. Maybe because she was criticised or even bullied by others in Resistance with them calling her a "naive child" and "too unfocused and emotionally driven" to possibly be a good Resistance fighter. Maybe she hopes in repressing these parts of herself that she'll be taken more seriously and/or the bullying causes her to repress her true self out of fear that others will treat her just as badly. Perhaps Sonic brings out her out of her shell and she realises that her passion, love for life and her desire to protect others is the reason she wanted to fight in the Resistance in the first place. She decides to embrace who she is to the fullest, realising that it's important to be herself and that the love she feels for others (especially for Sonic) is not a weakness but a strength. She's therefore not going hide that part of herself anymore.

The other option is that she is unapologetically herself in spite of others dismissing her as a naive child and believes with all her heart that love and seeing the best in others are the makings of a true hero. Perhaps she could eventually inspire Sonic to be himself rather than acting like the flawless hero she was expecting. It's Amy's support in showing she loves Sonic just as he is that helps him to truly embrace himself as he is and therefore helps him in defeating Metal Sonic.

The main attributes I hope Amy will show:

Her endless compassion for others.

Her passionate, never give up attitude. She'd never let Sonic, or the other boys take things easy on her as she wants to be seen as their equal and doesn't want to get special treatment just because she's a girl.

Her love for nature and animals.

Her protective maternal nature. She's a true mama bear and mother hen wrapped in one.

Her hot temper: Maybe not quite at Sonic X level. Plus, she isn't as bossy. Still, I do believe she'd give Rachel a run for her money if you tick her off. Let's just say the Beware the Nice One's trope would fit her to a T.

Her belief in the power of love and her romantic side.

Her feisty, bubbly and girly personality. Though I imagine she's a Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak because as girly as she is (she loves shopping, accessorising, cooking, gardening, etc) she's still treated like one of the boys. She possibly enjoys watching wrestling and loves getting involved in different sports like baseball (with some practice she becomes pretty good at batting).

Her love for Sonic - Whether they go the traditional route of her crushing first or the Reverse Sonamy option, I definitely believe her crush on Sonic and commitment to him should still be there. I personally hope they go for the mutual falling in love option for the two of them in a slow burn fashion.

I could definitely see her personality being a good blend of Maddie's and Rachel's. Like Maddie she's kind-hearted, has strong maternal instincts and has a strong bond with animals. Like Rachel, she's temperamental, strong and sassy. Like both she's feisty and is very protective of the ones she loves. I believe these 3 ladies would make an excellent team battle wise.

Characters who match movie Amy in my mind:

Rapunzel (Tangled):

Whenever I think of what I believe movie Amy to be like, immediately Rapunzel pops into my mind. I imagine her to have the same energy, passion and innocent femineity that Rapunzel has. Like her she's rather naive about the world but proves herself to be nonetheless tough and capable of taking care of herself. She's strong believer in teamwork and proves herself unstoppable when she fights in-sync with Sonic and her new friends.

Like the long-haired princess, Amy is endlessly compassionate and always looks for the best in others. Nonetheless she's no doormat and won't hesitate to give you firm word if you step out of line, and if you threaten her or her friends, she'll knock you out swiftly with her precious Piko Piko Hammer like Raps does with her frying pan.

She also has special soft spot for animals of which I'll expand upon later on.

I also imagine that like Rapunzel she's determined to make her dreams, hopes and wishes a reality and doesn't let difficulties hold her back from attaining this.

Starfire (Teen Titans cartoon version)

Cartoon Network's version of the DC superheroine, Starfire is another excellent personality comparison. She's a wonderful blend of innocence, naivety and compassion blended with ferocity, passion and power. Like Starfire, Amy is endlessly kind and compassionate, but if you get on her bad side, she's a force to be reckoned with.

Just as Starfire is unfamiliar and naïve to earth customs but is also quick to embrace it as a potential home and is excited to experience all the opportunities it has to offer, so do I also imagine this to be Amy's attitude as well. I definitely imagine her becoming endlessly excited to all the things the world has to offer like shopping malls, fashion accessories, graphic novels (like anime and manga), plus the excitement of practical technology, music and movies which Sonic is only too happy to introduce her to.

I could definitely see Amy's strong belief in the power of friendship and love being akin to Starfire's. As I mentioned earlier, I could see her having powers (even powers connected to her hammer) which are powered by her emotions. Her passion for adventure and belief in the power of love are definitely the feelings and emotions she most strongly believes in.

Whether they go the traditional route of Amy crushing on Sonic first or they do a Reverse Sonamy where he crushes on her first and then she later falls for him after they get to know each other, I imagine both platonically and romantically, Amy is devoted to Sonic as Starfire is to Robin, and even in the worst of times will stand by him. Overall, I definitely see Amy as the one who is more open and less awkward with sharing her feelings.

Kira (The Dark Crystal)

While I don't think Amy is that much like Kira, she may be like her in her connection to animals and nature. I imagine Amy can possibly talk to animals like she can.

While Kira is more mild-mannered and gentler than Amy, both girls have a determined and feisty side. They'll put the greater good above themselves and will do anything to protect the ones they love.

Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender):

Katara is the wonderful blend of strength and compassion that I imagine for Amy. Katara is brave, compassionate, maternal in nature and will never hesitate to help those in need, just like Amy. They both are similar in their physical and emotional strengths yet also have similar flaws like their hot-temper and stubbornness.

Katara's strong belief in hope matches well to Amy's belief in love. I also believe that Amy will have the same amount of faith in Sonic as Katara has in Aang, especially if they go for the save the future trope in Sonic 4.

Astrid (How to Train Your Dragon):

Astrid is probably more like Amy when comes to fighting and battle. Both women are feisty, passionate, determined, have hot-tempers and are pretty fierce with their weapon of choice (Astrid with her axe and Amy with her Piko Piko hammer), but can also be quite kind and understanding and often show that softer side with the men they love. While Amy is a million times more open to showing her softer side than Astrid is, if she ever were to start a romantic relationship with Sonic (officially becoming boyfriend and girlfriend) I imagine that the level of romance and trust between them would definitely be like Hiccup and Astrid's relationship. Best friends as well as lovers.

I will give some credit to @nightfurylover31 for their idea of movie Amy having some personality traits to Starfire and Astrid. I'll mention and refer to their link in my Sonamy discussion post.

Relationships with other characters (her relationship with Sonic I'll talk about on a different discussion page):

Knuckles: I can see both Amy and Knuckles sharing a mutual respect for each other as warriors, especially if they both came from warrior clans. While Knuckles may doubt Amy's strength and fighting prowess as first, Amy is quick to prove him wrong in the challenges they face against each other or even with each other as a team.

I definitely see Knuckles acting as a big brother figure to Amy in the sense that while he respects her as an "honourable pink hedgehog warrior" and knows she can take care of herself in battle, he nonetheless has a protective instinct of her as he does for his newfound adoptive family. I'm sure he'd be very protective of her if anyone tried to harm her.

I could see the two bonding over rom coms together (along with Wendy Whipple) and perhaps wrestling matches. I could also see them matching each other well in terms of strength as they train together. While it may take Knuckles some time to trust Amy with the knowledge of the Master Emerald, I'm sure once she proves herself trustworthy, I'm sure he'd gladly welcome her to the Team if she decides to join.

I could see him as Shipper on Deck with Sonic and Amy and I imagine him being most vocal in teasing Sonic about his crush on her. He'd also be the most vocal in terms of encouraging Sonic to prove to Amy his love for her and show himself to be worthy of her love.

Tails: As I've heard from other Sonic fans, I definitely imagine Amy and Tails having a close "big sister and little brother" type of relationship. I imagine Amy would very doting and maternal to Tails, while Tails makes Amy feel welcome into the group. I could see them working well together as they've been portrayed in games and TV shows. I do see them being very affectionate towards each other, e.g. enjoying lots of hugs and pep talks. I also see them working together on Tail's gadgets during battle plans.

I could see Amy and Tails trying to share the role as peacemakers of the group when Sonic and Knuckles start to butt heads. While Tails is always trying his best to remain calm, Amy will certainly have her more outspoken moments as she's not afraid to put her foot down. Unfortunately, poor Tails may have to try his best to calm Amy down if she ever starts to lose her temper.

I reckon that Tails (along with Knuckles, Tom and Maddie) are Shippers on Deck for Sonic and Amy. As well as him and Knuckles teasing Sonic for having a crush on Amy, I could see Tails teasing Amy as well, maybe not so differently from how he did in a Sonic Boom interview podcast. I don't think Amy would deny having a crush on Sonic, but whether she's as open and excited about it as her earlier counterpart or simply acknowledges it but says the mission comes first, I'll leave that up to the writers to decide.

This might sound out of character for Tails, but I considered the idea of the young fox possibly becoming jealous of Amy if he sees how well Sonic and Amy work together and them sharing comments like "We make a great team." Being a young child maybe he'd be fearful of Sonic leaving the team to make a new one with Amy, which I'm sure would cause him a great deal of distress. Then again, jealous or not, I trust he has enough faith in Sonic not to break up their team and I'm sure Sonic would reassure his little brother figure that this will never happen. Overall, I'm sure he'd make Amy feel that she's welcome to the team and would also make her feel like she's part of the family.

Birdie:

Tumblr artist @d3lly1000 had this head canon that Amy would have a little bird friend.

Canonically, this makes a lot of sense as Amy has a Flicky bird friend that she helped find their siblings in Sonic Adventure. The flicky bird, Birdie has also appeared in other Sonic media, including numerous versions in Sonic Prime.

A Flicky is obviously a fictional bird species made up for the Sonic franchise, whether a Flicky could be written as an alien bird or perhaps a rare Earth bird species not yet discovered (or possibly just considered very rare) by humans could be left up to debate. It really depends on whether they want to use a cartoon style bird, a photorealistic one, and/or possibly even use a real bird.

Either way, I definitely love the idea of Amy having a special little bird friend (I don't mind adding that little Disney Princess trope to her character). Maybe she saved it from being killed and a developed a strong bond it, and/or maybe it's looking for its lost family like in Sonic Adventure and Amy is keeping her promise to help them find their family, much like she could possibly be looking for her own (if say they were kidnapped by Metal Sonic or another main villain). I believe that having Birdie by her side will best show off her loving, protective and maternal nature alongside the strong warrior side shown at the end of Sonic 3.

I imagine she and Birdie are very protective of each other and are loyal companions through thick and thin. Maybe Amy can appear to understand what Birdie says, which appears to be both comical and shows their deep connection to each other.

Birdie might be wary of Sonic at first but eventually warms up to him when he proves that he's trustworthy and the little bird sees how fond the two hedgehogs are of each other.

Maybe the two will have a bittersweet goodbye if Birdie is reunited with his family, or Birdie continues to journey with Amy across the universe and instead watches her have a bittersweet goodbye with Sonic. Either way, Amy's bond and connection to Birdie is definitely a strong and unbreakable bond.

Maddie: I believe that Amy will develop a special bond with Maddie, not too different to Sonic and Tom's relationship. These two lovely ladies have a lot in common as they're both compassionate yet feisty women who will do all that they can to protect their loved ones. I could definitely see them teaming up to save the boys if they needed to, especially the men they love, Sonic and Tom.

Maddie would especially love to have a girl to dote upon and give advice to. I can definitely see the two of bonding over girly things like shopping, getting facials and spa treatments, and I reckon they'd enjoy doing Pilates and Yoga together (I reckon that Amy could match well in terms of flexibility with Maddie to the point where Sonic nicknames her "Pretzel Lady Jr.")

Though early Sonic 3 concept art show Amy Rose in her iconic red dress and therefore suggest she could be wearing it underneath her cloak (if say they re-use deleted concepts in Sonic 4), I personally love the idea of Maddie taking Amy shopping for a new outfit. This fanart comic by @risenhoku is similar to what I have in mind, though I imagine that Maddie would have to take Amy shopping to get her clothes in her size (unless she wears some hand-me-downs from Jojo or Maddie's clothes from when she was little). Either way, I definitely imagine Sonic having an awestruck "Wow!" reaction to seeing how beautiful Amy looks in her new outfit and I'm sure Maddie would notice. 🤭😏🥰 I imagine she along with Tom will be Shippers on Deck for Sonic and Amy, saying things "They're so cute together!" and "That's our future daughter-in-law."

One thing that Amy and Maddie definitely have in common is their love of animals and their strong desire to protect them. I could see the two girls embarking on their own "wildlife warrior" adventures together, e.g. them going up against poachers to protect the local wildlife and/or starting a protest against hunting for sport.

Perhaps Maddie goes looking for a vet assistant and Amy applies for the job. I imagine Maddie being very reluctant at first due to Amy's young age and lack of experience and qualifications, but Amy is not one to give up so easily. It's Amy's passion, enthusiasm and her natural talent with animals (particularly with Ozzie and her little bird friend, Birdie) that eventually win Maddie over to the idea of making the young hedgehog her assistant. Though she does insist that Amy gets the right qualifications and helps her to apply for online vet assistant courses.

I definitely believe that Amy and Maddie would make a great team and share a beautiful bond with each other.

Tom: I'm not entirely sure what Tom and Amy's relationship would be like, but I imagine that it would be start off like @risenhoku's comic where at first, he's anxious about Sonic bringing a girl home as he's not sure about how to approach the idea of his adoptive son possibly having a girlfriend. Nonetheless, he tries to be welcoming to Amy with encouragement from Maddie and the rest of his family and makes her feel at home.

Over time, Tom comes to be very accepting and even fatherly towards Amy (like a future father-in-law). He believes that the pink hedgehog is a perfect match for Sonic and even calls Amy "Sonic's Maddie" because of how much she reminds him of his wife and his own relationship with her, especially when they were younger and had just started dating.

Ozzy:

Much as Ozzy has a fondness for Sonic and his team, I definitely believe that the Wachowski's dog will have a special soft spot in his heart for Amy Rose due her natural talent and bond with animals. I imagine her relationship with Ozzie is firm (see the Tangled video from 0:42 to 1:13 and the Toy Story 2 video from 0:42 to 0:48) but also incredibly affectionate as she showers him with lots of cuddles, pats and belly rubs. I imagine Ozzie is like putty in Amy's hands, which amuses Sonic and the group.

These videos are great examples of what I imagine Amy and Ozzie's relationship being like. I could imagine Amy saying to Ozzie "Who's a good doggy?! Who's a good doggy?! Who's a good doggggggy?!" (see Toy Story 2 video from 0:48 to 0:58) as she vigorously rubs Ozzie's belly, and he lays down and wags his tail with absolute ecstasy.

I imagine with Amy's encouragement that Ozzy would embrace his braver streak and as he would protect his family, I also imagine that Ozzy would get very protective of Amy if anyone threatened her harm. 

Rachel, Jojo and Randall:

Amy and Rachel may butt heads at first, but eventually I could see the two of them developing a mutual respect for each other. Both can relate to each other as headstrong and occasionally (the occasional part being for Amy, lol) temperamental women, but Amy also has a softer and more compassionate side that reminds Rachel of her sister, Maddie.

I believe Amy will be only the alien that Rachel actually warms up to and in time I could see her becoming very protective of the young hedgehog teen. Let's just say that Rachel's attitude towards Amy's possible relationship with Sonic could be very similar towards her attitude towards her sister and brother-in-law's relationship. She'll be like: "Stay away from, Amy! You're not good enough for her!" or maybe she could be more tolerant of a relationship between the two hedgehog teens but isn't shy about making threats to Sonic like "You break that girl's heart, and I'll break every bone in your little alien body." I could see Sonic turning to Tom nervously and asking, "Is she like this with you and Maddie?" and Tom responds with, "She's worse, buddy. Much, much worse."

Amy and Jojo would have a great relationship and would love and treat each other like sisters and best friends. I definitely imagine the two of bonding over girly things and Jojo would show Amy the latest earth trends. Unlike her mother, I reckon Jojo would be a huge Shipper on Deck for Sonic and Amy. She may even be the first (or perhaps the only person) within the movie franchise to use the shipping term Sonamy. Maybe she and Amy could even start a Sonic fan club together, which either gives Sonic a big ego boost (not that he needs it, lol) and/or it could make him feel a little uncomfortable, but he soon warms up to the idea. Tails could help them in setting up a website for the club. Perhaps the fan club could even be used as alien activism in promoting for the rights aliens on earth. Sonic becomes the face of the activism page along with his friends and allies. Jojo's mother and stepfather may not be so supportive of her outspoken views at first (she becomes more outspoken with Amy's encouragement) but eventually come to respect and even agree with them with time.

From a pragmatic standpoint, I imagine that Randall would have reason not trust to Amy being that as a G.U.N agent he's supposed to see aliens as threats and capture them. While Randall might adapt this untrusting attitude towards Amy at first, with time, he not only realises that Amy is harmless, but he also finds that the two of them have a lot in common with their loving and high-spirited personalities. I could see the two of them bonding over sports (I personally imagine wrestling, baseball and martial arts are Amy's personal favourites) and possibly play some sports together.

In time, Randall may come to question G.U.N's beliefs about aliens after getting to know Amy. He may even become a defender for aliens on earth as a result of his and his new family's love and protectiveness for Amy and to lesser extent her new friends.

The Whipple family:

I imagine Amy becoming friends with Wade through her friendship with Knuckles. I believe she'd have a soft spot for the slow-witted but sweet and sensitive deputy and would always try her best to lend him a hand. In time they may build a big brother and protective little sister dynamic. They may even become closer than Wade's relationship with his biological sister, Wanda.

"Amy, you're like the sister I never had." - Wade

"Ah, Wade, don't you have, Wanda?" - Amy

(Giving Amy a deadpanned look) "Where I am losing you?"

I could personally see her helping Wade get a date with a lady he has crush on. Knuckles and Sonic may offer to help as well. I could imagine Amy saying something like this:

"I love my Sonic, but when it comes to women, he's totally clueless."

I could see Amy standing up for Wade when Wanda starts bullying him. I definitely see her putting Wanda in her place, which either gets on the FBI agents' bad side or wins her respect. Either way, I imagine that Amy and Wanda would have a complicated relationship. Maybe Amy agrees with Wade that Wanda can be "the worst" but she may also respect Wanda's devotion to being seen as a capable FBI agent (even if she often makes an idiot of herself in the process).

Wendy, I'm sure would be very welcoming to Amy into her home. The both of them would bond over their love of rom-coms and martial arts. Amy shows interest and respect for Wendy's Jewish faith and customs. I could see the two of them cooking for Shabat dinner (which I know as Sabbath) together.

I'm sure Wendy would respect Amy for putting both her children in their place when they get out of line. Over time she may even come to love Amy as a daughter and perhaps eventually a member of the family (whether it be adoptive or honorary member is open in possibility).

Agent Stone: I imagine that Amy would be kind to Agent Stone despite disapproving of his criminal actions. I'm sure she'd comfort him over missing Dr. Robotnik and be willing to help him make better decisions for his life without the doctor in it.

Amy's fate at the end of Sonic 4:

Here's a poll of the options I considered for Amy's fate at the end of the 4th movie and the most popular options that my viewers voted on:

I'd like to further discuss these options in more detail and the pros and cons of them.

Amy lives with the Wachowski's:

Amy could go live with the Wachowski family. Considering that Tom and Maddie happily invited Sonic into their home and then later added Tails and Knuckles to their household, I don't think they'd be against the idea of adding another alien to their home and family. Maddie, I imagine would definitely love to have another girl around for support when her boys get a bit much for her and she needs some girl time. I definitely could see Amy sleeping on the Wachowski's couch at least short term.

Unfortunately, I also see a few issues with Amy living with the Wachowski's:

If Amy joins the Wachowski household that would make her an adoptive sister to Tails, Knuckles and, yes, even Sonic. Considering that Sonic and Amy are hinted to have feelings for each other in various Sonic media and the SCU writers have also hinted to Sonamy being written into Sonic 4, it would be rather inappropriate for Amy to become another adoptive member of the Wachowski family. Though it's unclear if Sonic and Amy will officially become a confirmed canon couple in the movie franchise or if they are kept to the level of other Sonic media (e.g. Sonic X, Sonic Boom, Sonic Prime and Sonic Frontiers) where they simply hint to them having feelings for each other, I certainly hope that they keep an opening for Sonamy to happen in some shape or form. From the Doylist (real life) perspective, I believe it would be wiser that Amy doesn't officially move in with the Wachowski family so she can remain open to being Sonic's potential girlfriend rather than his adoptive sister.

If I gave a Watsonian (in universe) excuse for why Amy staying at the Wachowski's long term is a bad idea, it would have to be that Tom and Maddie simply don't have the room for her. I know from recently watching the Knuckles series that Sonic, Tails and Knuckles are currently sharing the attic as their bedroom. Being a teenage girl, I don't believe Amy would feel comfortable sharing a room with three boys (two of them being teenagers) and I don't believe Maddie (who understands Amy's plight) or even Tom would feel comfortable with her bunking up with their boys either. It would be a better idea that Amy has her own room for space and privacy's sake, and I'm not sure that the Wachowski's household can provide that.

Amy goes to live with Rachel, Randall and Jojo:

Another option I considered is the possibility of Amy going to live with Rachel, Randall and Jojo. As I described Amy's possible relationships with the family, I imagine that they could come to love and care about her so much that they decide to make her a member of their family.

While I really like this idea for the sake that it could help both Rachel and Randall to overcome their prejudices towards aliens in them making one a part of their family and therefore giving Jojo an adoptive sister, I also see the same issues that Amy living with the Wachowski's could have. If say, Rachel and Randall adopted Amy, it would technically make her Sonic's adoptive cousin, which could once again cause problems for Sonic and Amy in terms of potentially starting a romantic relationship in this universe.

I remember in Alvin and the Chipmunks movies they tried to find ways overcome this loophole by having Dave legally adopted the Chipmunks as his sons in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip while the Chipettes eventually moved out of the Seville household to pursue their career as hosts for American Idol, hinting that they were merely housemates and "sort of" live-in girlfriends to the Chipmunks. I do believe they could do better than this storyline as the viewers still found the setup to be rather sus as the Chipettes didn't have any other known parental figures in their lives besides Dave in this universe (in the 80's to early 2000's cartoon universe they have an adoptive elderly mother in Miss Miller).

A smarter idea could be that we are given proof that Amy still has a parental figure in her life back on her home world, but seeing how attached she's grown to earth and a certain blue speedster hedgehog who lives there, her parental figure gives her permission to stay on earth, but only on the condition that she keeps in contact with them regularly. With the help of Tails' technology Amy is able to regularly video call her parental figure and let know she's okay. This set up would therefore look more like Amy's taking part in an exchange student program and therefore isn't an official adoptive sibling or cousin of Sonic's. It could leave more of an opening for a potential romance happening between them.

Still, if either of these options don't work for Amy, here's few more options that could work.

Amy lives with and is possibly adopted by a member of the Whipple family:

I believe Wendy could be a good mother figure to Amy as they are both strong but kind warrior women who both have strong maternal instincts and a love of rom coms. I personally like the idea of Wendy making Amy her adoptive daughter as I'm sure she would make wonderful company for her now that both her biological children are grown up and out of home.

I remember @kaijuworld1954 commenting on my poll that maybe Wade could adopt Amy, especially if he has Tom to look for advice from. While I suppose that Wade could be a potential adoptive or foster parent for Amy as he's close in age to Tom (in real life Adam Pally is nine years younger than James Marsden) and could possibly look to him and Maddie for advice in raising her (Maddie in particular could step in as Amy's female role model), I personally think Amy would more see Wade as a lovable but immature older brother rather than a father figure. Of course, those are just my thoughts.

Amy returns to her home world and/or goes exploring other universes:

A more bittersweet possibility for Amy at the end of Sonic 4 is that she doesn't stay on earth and maybe either goes back to where she came from or continues exploring other universes if they make Amy an explorer of worlds like some fans have guessed she may be.

I definitely believe that this will create an absence makes the heart grow fonder connection between Sonic and Amy. It will do nicely if the writers want to create a steady slow burn for the two hedgehogs which builds up over the course of several Sonic films, which I believe is a smarter idea than making the two a couple immediately. It will certainly build up the romantic tension between them as the two miss each other while they're going on their own separate journey's and the two can also reunite for adventures and visit each other regularly.

I imagine their parting words being inspired from the Sonic Frontiers quote:

Amy: "....I know what I saw: a love that transcended time. I believe in that power. When this is over, I want to share that love with the world. Even though... it may take us far apart.” Sonic: “I know you'll do great. I want to hear all about it when you come back.”

Maybe they could change it up a bit with Sonic asking Amy if she really has to go, to which Amy replies with:

"I don't want to go, but their other planets and dimensions out there that are in need of a hero: a hero that can teach them about the power of friendship, family...and love (looks fondly at Sonic who shares her look). I believe in that power, and I believe in my heart that I need to share that power with the world. "Still... (takes Sonic's hands in her's) I'm really going to miss you, Sonic."

Sonic: "I'll miss you too, Amy."

The two hug and Amy may plant a passing kiss on Sonic's cheek which surprises but also delights him. The two promise to keep in touch and Sonic says he looks forward to hearing about Amy's adventures when she comes back to visit.

Amy lives on Earth with a totally new guardian:

These are not so much my ideas but more of a shout-out to @bunnystarhop's theory of perhaps Amy already having a friend and/or guardian that she's staying with in New York. It certainly would make things less complicated for her in terms of where she's going to live, but they've also got to introduce a brand-new character, who I hope will fit in with the rest of the human cast. Either way, I'm open for this option happening.

Shout-outs:

I'd love to give some shout-outs to theories, head canons and fan art/fan videos from:

@lucidheart3, @bunnystarhop, @daisytheflower21, @d3lly1000, @ficsinhistory, @Kexyy, @nightfurylover31, @the-sinful-voice-witch, @iwasbored777, @actionlulu, @essycogany, @palepaintersweets, @swagbonkoperaweasel, @risenhoku, @echidnapower, @hollylu-ships-it and anyone else whose name I forgot to mention.

They've got some great head canons and theories themselves which I encourage you to check out. A few of them are pretty similar to mine.

Be on the lookout for more theories from me soon. Next up will be all about Movie Sonamy.

[acourtofthought]

A fun post to get away from the ridiculous angry people.

Do you have any theories or thoughts on Lucien’s power levels or his role to play in the books to come?

Do you think he has the potential to be as powerful or more powerful than Rhys? Like Rhys claims mate bonds might just be a way to broth strong offspring. And we know that and Tamlin both had mate bond parent and both of them are extremely strong and powerful. If Helion and LoA are mates than Lucien is the product of another mate bond pair having offspring. And one parent is from the seasonal court and the other is from a solar court and LoA is stated to be from a powerful line of fire users (and I believe she is from the true line of Autumn high lords and that Beron is from a branch line similar to Rhys saying at some point the high lords line branched off from Keir’s family onto Rhys’ family).

Do you think his fire and possible healing (although I think Elain will have strong healing magic) will play a role in the defeat against any remaining Daglen (Koschei) in the books?

Do you think Narben will become Lucien’s sword? Narben means scar/scars in German.

I feel this one is random but were you at all frustrated that Rhys has a red headed girl in his dungeon that can glow and yet not once did he think maybe I should connect her to the other read head that can glow in my court, lol?

Do you think that the day court powers are also connected to the starborn fae line? In HoFaS after Bryce receives her full star power her light was described as a sun multiple times.

Sorry for all these random Lucien and acotar lore asks just wanted to get your thoughts or discuss theory points. 😊😊😊

Hi!!!!

I don't think anyone will ever be as powerful as Rhys since Sarah made it such a point to mention how he's the most powerful HL in Prythian history (though.....you never know, Amren did make that comment that if Rhys were not going to claim what was his birthright the Cauldron's benevolence would be extended to another) but I do think Lucien will have more influence than Rhys.

I don't think Lucien would need to be "the most powerful HL in history" to make what could arguably be the biggest impact in current history. That's not to discredit what Rhys and Feyre did before / during the war, they were willing to sacrifice their lives to save everyone and while that's huge, their grand gestures weren't really enough to usher in an era of peace. As things stand right now there's still a lot of turmoil across their lands. Spring is still in a state of unrest, Beron is scheming to take over more land, the fae on the continent are looking to expand their territories and the humans are trying to figure things out now that the wall is down. While Feysands actions helped them obtain tentative peace, it doesn't seem like they've been able to secure it as a long term thing and I think that's where Lucien (and Elain) come in.

Power is a necessary thing to be taken seriously, knowing that someone with power cannot easily be pushed around, but I don't think Lucien has any desire to really wield that power against others, even those he does not care for, in an effort to have them follow him / do his bidding / accomplish his goals (in the way Rhys used his power to intimidate those around him). With Lucien, I think his biggest strengths are the desire he has to do right by everyone (he wasn't only concerned for Feyre in ACOMAF but all those in Spring, has tried to keep Tamlin from falling apart, helps the NC regardless of his affiliation to Autumn / Spring, helps the humans, etc), his likeable nature (even when Feyre was mad at him she said it was difficult to hate him), and his intelligence. To me, Lucien's greatest strength will come from securing peace for everyone and acting as the one who oversees that peace. With that said, I absolutely think he and Elain will be strong enough to defeat Koschei (I'm thinking Elain will stop him / break Vassa's curse in a way that is similar to Yrene stopping the Valg) and Beron.

I have actually been thinking Gwyn will find Narben considering it's rumored to have been lost in the sea when it would not "bend" to Amarantha. A girl who has water heritage and can "beckon" things to her with her song being the one to find and wield Narben seems to write itself.

I have considered either Mor or Lucien ending up with Gwydion. Mor because she could be a female heir to Theia (since her family was the original ruling family before Rhys's and they are cousins) or Lucien if he were written into the High King plot. Fionn had Gwydion when he reigned over the peace of their lands (not necessarily war) and that would be fitting for Lucien, in my opinion. Not to mention (and to your point about Helion / Bryce), it is possible that he's Starborn through Helion (or maybe even the LoA since there were Starborn Autumn fae - maybe Lucien is a Starborn ancestor twice over). Bryce could use the mask because of being Starborn and it seems like one of Helion's ancestors wore the mask, to the point that it may have left an imprint on his blood (even Nesta seemed to be struggling with the pull of the mask in HOFAS after having worn it a few times despite being made so I don't think being Starborn gives you absolute immunity to wield it without consequence after a period of time). Not to mention Bryce's light is often described similarly to Helions.

"Red head that glows and connect her to another red head that glows" made me laugh. But no, I'm not surprised because I don't think Rhys would subject the priestesses to a complete stranger and unknown threat. Also, while I do think he really likes and respects Gwyn right now, I don't think she is someone Rhys would think to talk to about court business. I also don't think he's aware that she glows.

Thank you for the ask!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[greenbubblefactory]

Matchup for @a-kind-pandemic-disaster

Congratulations you have a match with..

Idia Shroud !

★At first glance, you and Idia might seem like an odd pairing,him, a socially anxious shut-in with an aversion to anything remotely resembling human interaction, and you, a quiet but motherly presence who’s patient to a fault. But in reality? You two fit together almost too well, like characters in a slow-burn romance visual novel that he swears he totally hasn’t been imagining in his head.

★The first time he meets you, Idia is convinced you’re a background character from an eerie, gothic-themed otome game. Your aesthetic dark academia meets pastel goth completely captivates him, though he’s far too awkward to say so outright. Instead, he just stares a little too long before quickly hiding behind his tablet, sending Ortho out to do most of the talking while he tries to figure out how to interact with someone who looks that cool. He might even mumble something like, “Ugh, why does this feel like the setup to a tragic romance route? If this were an anime, I’d be doomed.”

★Despite his initial hesitance, Idia is drawn to your presence, partially because you’re not overly pushy and partially because he can sense that you, too, prefer quieter spaces. You don’t force him to step too far outside his comfort zone, and that alone makes you one of the safest people he’s ever met. And then there’s the moment he learns that you’re a writer. A horror and romance writer.

★At that point, Idia is both intrigued and horrified. On one hand, he’s deeply impressed,your ability to weave eerie, unsettling narratives is the kind of thing that could rival top-tier visual novel scripts. On the other hand, he’s paranoid.What if you write villains that are way too attractive? WHAT IF YOU BASE YOUR CHARACTERS ON REAL PEOPLE?? He panics for a full three hours before Ortho convinces him to just ask you about it like a normal person.

★When he finally works up the courage, Idia is surprised by how easily he can talk to you about horror. Despite being a total scaredy-cat when it comes to jumpscares, he’s the type who will stay up until 4 AM deep-diving into horror game lore, and now? Now he has someone to rant to about his theories. He even starts reading your work in secret, claiming he’s just skimming it, but then sending you random messages at 2 AM like:

★"Okay, so first of all, how dare you write such an insanely good plot twist? And second of all, if I have nightmares, you’re dealing with them."

★And then there’s gaming. Idia practically malfunctions when he finds out you love gaming as much as he does. He’s usually too anxious to play with people in real life, but with you? It’s different. You don’t judge him when he gets too competitive, you’re patient when he rambles about obscure mechanics, and you’re just as content as he is to spend hours co-op grinding. He low-key starts treating gaming sessions with you like dates, even though he’s too embarrassed to admit it. If you ever make a slideshow game specifically for him, that’s it. That’s the moment he realizes he’s completely and utterly doomed. He keeps every single one of them, even the goofy ones, and will occasionally replay them when he misses you.

★Idia also relates to your struggles in a way that most people wouldn’t. As someone who’s also neurodivergent, he understands the exhaustion that comes from masking, the way overworking can become a coping mechanism, and how easy it is to trust the wrong people. He tries not to be obvious about it, but he’ll start looking out for you in small ways reminding you to take breaks, hacking into NRC’s system to lighten your workload (not that he’d ever admit it), and casually “forgetting” to log off when he knows you’re up late with insomnia, just so you won’t feel alone.

★Your relationship is built on mutual understanding. He doesn’t force you to socialize more than you’re comfortable with, and you don’t pressure him to step too far outside his bubble. But at the same time, you help each other grow. You remind him that it’s okay to take small steps toward the outside world, and in return, he teaches you the beauty of existing in your own little space without guilt.

★And if anyone ever tries to take advantage of your kindness? Oh, they better be ready. Idia may not be the type to fight people outright, but he will ruin them digitally. He may not always know how to express his affection verbally, but his actions whether it’s tweaking an algorithm to make sure you never get bad gacha pulls or programming a custom AI to read you horror stories late at night speak volumes.

★To everyone else, he might just be NRC’s most reclusive, gaming-obsessed shut-in. But to you? He’s your favorite co-op partner, your biggest (secret) fan, and the one person who truly gets you.

★Idia is your chaotic, nerdy gremlin who understands your struggles and shows his love through digital devotion and quiet companionship.

English is not my first language so I'm sorry if there are any spelling mistakes!

[lost-locket-antiques]

Finally had the want to redraw my characters from Blood of the Halfbreed (my very first story from this universe and the reason I started creating original works to begin with) and really got around do putting them all together, as they’re supposed to be a team, so I’d think they should look good together. This is their civilian forms (as I haven’t made their “magical girl” uniforms quite yet), and from left to right we have Malakei Wenreidr (mahl-ah-keye vehn-reye-der), Jazchuhan “Jazch” Falin (yahsh-oo-hahn fah-leen), Kari Erikzün (kah-ree ehr-eek-zuhn), and Zera Wenreidr (zeh-rah).

These 4 all go to the same college, and are part of the same band “Blood of the Halfbreed”, started by Malakei, Jazch, and Zera, as the vocals, guitar, and drums respectively. Kari later joined the group after Zera tried to befriend and convince her to join, becoming the 4th and final member, playing the cello.

Malakei is what I would call a “Christian hippie”, or more correctly, an “Inani hippie”, as those moth earrings and necklace have the same meaning as the cross does in our world. He’s an Orcish-Hume halfbreed, meaning his bio-dad was an Orc, and his mother is a Hume. He’s a goofy guy, how tries his best to make everyone smile, and while he may seem like he would be a slacker when it came to school, he’s actually extremely studious. He want’s to become a broadway composer, and is going to school for music theory.

Jazch is a Gnomish-Elf halfbreed, with his father being a Gnome and his mother an Elf. This man **hates** how feminine his body and face is, so he turned into a bit of a gym rat when he started going to college, and his temper is about as short as he is. He, Malakei, and technically Zera have been friends since they were little, and really only went to college because they wanted to. That’s okay, though, since that means he can specifically study cooking. While he never had any interest in going to school for it, ha had always wanted to own his own restaurant. Good thing he has the same personality of s certain Scottish chief, eh?

Kari is an alchemist, through and through. To the point that before meeting the gang, she was the type of person to say that “feeling were just chemicals in your brain, nothing more”. Unlike Mal, Jazch, and Zera, Kari is a pretty stanch atheist, that felt like life would improve if they had just gotten rid of the idea of gods and religion all together. Not quite a reddit atheist, but on the very cusp, and it wasn’t until she met the gang, and how happy they were, that she started to question that certain theory of hers. And especially started questioning when she started to fall for Malakei. She’s a hard worker, with a bit of a stutter, and is willing to stand for what she believes in, but is also willing to be proven wrong. Especially when it comes to the ways of the heart.

Zera is the popular girl of the group, and Jazch’s girlfriend. It’s not the first thing I would tell you about her, but it’s the first thing she’d want to be said, as she loves that man more than anything in the would. To the point, that if he’s in the room, she’ll go straight for him and tackle him with love and affection (he doesn’t mind it really, as he loves her dearly, but he will mutter about how she’s being too lovey in public… it does make him feel like a strong man tho, which is nice). The second thing that she’d want you to know is that she’s a gunsmith, specifically for the creation, and decoration of firearms for women, by women. She has always been a gun nut, but the problem was she had always felt as if women see the firearm scene as a boys club, and she plans on fixing that. By making firearms that are appealing to the feminine gaze. She also happens to be half blind. That doesn’t stop her though, as she’s willing to do some crazy stuff just so that she can reach her dream.

This is literally just the basic explanation of these characters, I haven’t even gotten to the magical girl stuff yet, or what I want the story to be, so, ah, enjoy this at least lol

[bm571158]

Free Now LN4 (Part 39)

Zandvoort may have been a success, Lando taking the win by a very small margin much to the disappointment of the home crowd, but what followed in Monza was anything but.

It had started off well, he'd been on a high from the win in Zandvoort, the confidence boost that he so definitely needed coming into the second half of the season. He'd had a good start in the practice sessions, qualified in P2 and had it all to play for going into the start of the race. He'd got a good start, rapidly gaining ground on the car in front of him, and then he'd gone a bit too far up the kerb, sending him spinning off into the run off area. By the time he'd got the car facing in the right direction again and back on the track, he was down in P14.

The reminder from his engineer to keep his focus, that he had enough pace and long enough left in the race to get himself back up to the front, did nothing to dispel the frustration that Lando was feeling. He didn't have long to dwell on it though, catching up to the car in front of him and slowly beginning to pick his way through the cars in front of him lap by lap. It was taking longer than he would've liked, trying to carefully pick each spot to make his move so he didn't have a repeat of what had ended him up in that situation in the first place, but as his engineer kept remaining him he was making progress and he just needed to be patient.

The trouble with that was- patience had never been Lando's strong point.

He had time, the team were right. At the pace that they were projecting if he carried on he'd be back in P2 and right behind Max at least three laps before the end of the race and in theory have time to catch him too. But even as they told him, reminding him to just keep going as he was and stick to the plan, his mind struggled to process the disappointment of what had happened. He should've been in front, with a more than comfortable lead given the pace he'd got, and he would have been had he not have made that stupid mistake. He knew better, he should've done better, and he had no one but himself to blame.

As he came around the next lap he found himself catching up again to the car in front, not close enough to do anything about it into the first corner, but by the end of the lap he'd be right on their tail his engineer told him. Lando didn't answer, just pushing his foot further to the floor, throwing the car in to the corner with a bit more speed than it would have liked, wrestling with the steering wheel as he tried to keep it on the track.

Two corners later, he was right on George's tail again and before the team could realise what he was about to do and remind him to be sensible he'd lunged up the inside of the corner from a ridiculous distance back.

What followed wasn't George's fault- Lando had been so far behind him on the approach to the corner that no one would have expected him to suddenly dive up the inside like that, there was no way George could've seen him coming. So as Lando shot up the inside as the two car's approached the apex of the corner, George turned across on the inside line and suddenly Lando had absolutely nowhere to go.

The first impact as he hit George's car took him by surprise, the whole thing happening so quickly that he didn't have a chance to realise what was coming. But as the tyre snapped clean off the front of his car and flew over his head, the car spinning around and getting launched off the ground as it went careering towards the barrier he had just enough time to realise what was coming before the car smashed in to the barrier at an incredible speed, the sound of carbon fibre shattering around him.

He had just long enough to get his hands off the steering wheel before the impact hit, the force of the impact knocking all the air out of his lungs. His ears were ringing and it took him a minute over the sound to realise that the team were frantically trying to get hold of him on the radio.

"I'm... I'm okay..." he gasped, pain shooting through his body as he tried to get some air into his lungs. "Fuck."

"Lando." Came the response from his engineer. "You need to get out, now. The car is on fire. Get out."

He fumbled with the buckles on his seatbelt, scrambling around to get himself out of the car despite the pain he was in. By the time he'd managed it, there were already Marshall's on scene to extinguish the fire, and the medical car that had been automatically deployed had just arrived on the scene was testament to quite how hard he'd hit the barriers.

He had to steady himself against the wreckage of his car as his feet hit the floor. As the medics jumped out of the car, grabbing hold of him to steady him as they led him to the waiting medical car, all he could think about was his poor mum watching this on the tv. It was enough to make him try and stand up a bit straighter and walk without leaning so heavily on the medic beside him, as if it might somehow prove to his mum that he was okay.

He all but collapsed into the back seat of the medical car when he got there, looking out of the window at the mangled wreckage of his car, the flames still just visible as the Marshalls continued to try and extinguish it, the medical car pulling away from the scene to take him to the medical centre before he could see if they managed to put it out.

****

"He's alright." Was the first thing Flo said as she answered the call from Lottie, before Lottie even had a chance to ask the question. She knew why her friend was calling, she would've just seen the same horrendous clip the rest of them had on the tv before the camera very quickly cut away.

"Thank god." Lottie breathed. "That was..."

"Yeah, I know." Flo mumbled. "Dad's with him, they're taking him to the hospital to get checked out. I think they're worried he's got a concussion and he might have a couple of cracked ribs."

"But he's okay?" Lottie asked again.

"He's okay." Flo confirmed. "Well, I suppose we might need to be worried that he's knocked the last few remaining brain cells out of his head if he's got a concussion. He didn't have that many to begin with."

There was a commotion in the background as Cisca started yelling at Flo that now really wasn't the time to be being mean about her brother.

"Are you guys going to go over there?" Lottie asked.

"Mum's just waiting for Dad to call her back when they get to the hospital. Then she'll either head there or if he's home head to Monaco I guess." Flo explained. "Do you want me to tell him you called?"

"No." Lottie said quickly. "I uh... this whole being friends thing, it's a lot harder than I thought.

"That's because the two of you aren't supposed to be friends." Flo pointed out. "The sooner you admit that, the sooner you can both get back together and be happy."

"It's not that simple Flo." Lottie sighed. "We don't need to talk about this. Not right now."

"It's not simple, but you're making it a lot more complicated than it needs to be." Flo told her. "I know that both of you have got stuff going on, but you're both miserable being apart."

"I'm going to go now." Lottie said, cutting Flo off before she could get any further with her speech. "I'm glad he's okay."

****

The first question Lando had asked in the hospital was whether he'd still be okay to get his flight back to Monaco that evening. They'd advised against it, telling him he'd probably want to get some rest, but there wasn't technically anything that would prevent him from flying.

He'd sat in almost total silence at the hospital as they checked him over, but other than a mild concussion and one cracked rib he was declared to be absolutely fine. It was a miracle really, given the force of the impact. He'd seen a couple of photos of the wreckage of his car once it had been recovered back to the garage and there really wasn't much left to be salvaged.

His Dad had turned up at the hospital bit that long after he'd arrived, and had immediately started trying to reason with Lando about him going back to Monaco. His mum had been on the phone too, trying to reason with him that if he wasn't going to stay an extra couple of nights then he should come back to the UK with his dad instead.

He'd refused, reassuring them that he was okay and just wanted to go home and get some rest. The last thing he wanted was to go back to his parents house and have his mum making a fuss. Not when he was still absolutely fuming with himself for having made such a mistake in the first place.

He'd watched the clip back about one hundred times as he waited for the paperwork so that he could leave the hospital. He'd known as he was doing it that it was a risky move, bordering on stupid, but watching it back now from another angle he'd been so far behind when he launched himself down the inside he was surprised he'd even ended up anywhere close to George. There was no arguing who's fault it was, the blame was entirely on Lando for this one. He'd arrived so late and at such speed that by the time George had realised he was there, if he'd ever even seen him, the two cars had already made contact.

He should've waited. Done what his engineer said and had a little bit of patience. A couple more corners and he would've been past George anyway, and not have taken himself out of the race in the process. It wasn't just the cost of the damage, the extra work for the team and everything that went with it. The DNF meant no points in this race for Lando, and with Max winning the race when it had eventually restarted after the red flag and the time taken to repair the sizeable dent that Lando had put in the barriers. The extra points for Max meant that the battle for the drivers championship had closed up again, the DNF costing Lando the lead that he'd started to draw out.

He wished he could go back in time and make the sensible decision. It was just an outright stupid move, and one he knew that the team was going to have a lot of questions about once they knew that he was okay. Questions that he wasn't going to have answers for because he didn't know why he'd done something so reckless himself.

He had eventually won the battle with his Dad and boarded his flight back to Monaco, a little later than planned, and alone. He'd promised to call his mum as soon as he landed to let her know he was okay and he'd got there in one piece, but he had no intention of following through with it. He just wanted to be alone.

He had several messages from people checking in on him, all of which went ignored. His siblings, his teammate, members of the McLaren team and a couple of the other drivers. He didn't want to speak to any of them. Sooner or later one of them was going to ask the question of what on earth was he thinking trying to pull that move, and he didn't want to tell them the answer. How did he explain that he'd set everything he had on winning the drivers championship, figuring if his career had cost him his relationship with Lottie then he may as well make sure he won this time.

He was still beating himself up about it when he finally arrived home in Monaco. His apartment was quiet, a welcome respite from all the people that had been crowded around him all day, and he closed and locked the door firmly behind himself. He wasn't about to run the risk of his parents deciding to show up uninvited.

He'd been exhausted on the flight back, barely able to keep his eyes open, but now he was finally at home nothing was further from his mind than sleep. He laid on his bed but every time he closed his eyes all he could see was the car careering towards the barriers in that split second he'd had before he hit them.

He didn't have anywhere he needed to be for the next week, there being a two week break before the next race. The team had cancelled his commitments without him even asking after the crash, telling him to take some time to rest and recover and they'd catch up in the lead up to the next race in Baku at the end of the month.

He'd been thankful that he didn't have to go and face them, and explain why he'd done something so incredibly stupid, but it also meant that he'd got nothing to drag himself out and try and act normal for. The physical injuries from the crash had subsided very quickly, only a couple of small bruises left as an indication that anything had happened. Mentally though, the guilt of knowing there was no one to blame but himself had consumed him.

He'd moped around at home, unable to sleep for the first couple of days at all. Then the exhaustion had hit him and he'd ended up sleeping through almost an entire twenty four hours, only woken in the end by the panicked phone calls from his mum wondering if he was okay because no one had heard from him.

"I'm fine, Mum." He sighed, repeating it for what felt like the millionth time since he'd arrived back from Monza.

"Why don't you come home for a bit?" Cisca suggested again.

"I'm fine." He repeated. "I've gotta come back to MTC again before Baku. I'll come and see you then, alright?"

"We could come and visit you?" Cisca suggested.

"No." Lando said quickly, the last thing he wanted was them invading his apartment. "I'll come and see you when I come back, or you can come to Baku if you want. But I'm fine, really. I just need a week or two off."

She'd reluctantly accepted it and ended the call, but before he'd even put the phone back down on the bedside table Flo was calling him instead.

"Mum put you up to this, didn't she?" Lando sighed as he answered the phone. There was no point ignoring her, his sister was only going to keep calling until he eventually answered. He may as well get it over and done with.

"She's worried about you." Flo told him, stating the obvious. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. They cleared me to drive in Baku."

"That's not what I meant." Flo sighed.

"I'm fine." He repeated. "It was my own fuck up, I know what I did wrong. I just need to make sure I don't do something so stupid next time."

Flo was quiet for a second. "Are you coming back for my birthday?"

"No, I don't think so. Sorry." He told her. "I've got..." he trailed off, trying to come up with a convincing lie to tell her.

"It's fine, Lando. You don't need to come up with an excuse." Flo reassured him. "I'll let you go, I'll tell Mum to stop calling you all the time."

She hung up the phone, turning to find Lottie stood in the doorway of her kitchen, the look she was giving her suggesting she'd heard every word.

"Is he okay?" Lottie asked, unable to help herself.

"He's angry with himself for crashing, I think." Flo sighed. "Hopefully he just needs a few days to get over it and then he'll have his head on straight and not do something so ridiculous at the next race."

"I thought about calling him." Lottie admitted. "I just... well, I don't know what to say to him anymore. He said he wanted to be friends, and I feel like I'm not being a good friend, but I don't think I know how to just be his friend."

"You two give me a headache." Flo gave an exasperated sigh, shaking her head at her friend. "He's not coming back for my Birthday party though, so you're safe to come."

"I wasn't hiding from him." Lottie protested. "I told you I was busy."

"Yeah and we both knew it was a lie." Flo rolled her eyes at her. "Either way, you'll come to the party now? Pleaaaaaaaase?"

"Yeah, I'll be there." Lottie agreed. "But for the record, I wasn't avoiding your brother."

"Yeah, yeah... whatever you want to say to try and convince yourself. I'm not going to believe you, whatever you say."

[pangaeaseas]

#Voldemort is the negging king#he's very third reich in the way he plays his followers against eachother#death eaters have no loyalty to eachother#only to him#they all get a turn being favorite and when Voldemort shifts attention to someone else they're left chasing that high forever#so like Voldemort is also like your toxic ex#hp#hp meta tags from @blorger --i think the third Reich is a very salient comparison yeah and possibly jkr was even inspired by the Nazis' internal power contestation. There's definitely insane amounts of competition among the death eaters--with bella and Lucius in the DoM it possibly even contributes to their loss (just like the third Reich LMAO) (And someone should write a July 20th plot by like Lucius and Narcissa in DH, that would be fun)

I think it's salient that it's SNAPE in particular. The first person Peter was able to impose his sense of superiority on in school. Probably all this while Peter's been going like 'at least i'm better than snape' and voldemort knows this and is like lol no gotta deconstruct your entire sense of self so you can rebuild it in complete loyalty to me. and it's also a punishment for Snape.

And Barty as the Golden Child is absolutely fascinating! Because he is! And I wonder if he was from the beginning since Barty is SO fanatically loyal, or if Voldemort is just using a convenient means of manipulating Wormtail. I've seen theories where Voldemort really empathized with Barty and saw him as a surrogate son, which is interesting in light of the favoritism he gets in GoF--really unique even compared to the other loyal Death Eaters, though I wonder if that's just a function of Voldemort only having two available and so he has to Golden Child one of them. I suppose having to constantly interact with your abusive dad even if he's Imperiused could be a punishment for Barty, though.

Also, it's interesting that Wormtail was assigned the taking care of Voldy duties if Barty is soooo much more loyal. I could see him refusing flat out to go to Hogwarts, maybe, but who knows if Voldemort would have even respected a hard no. And Wormtail has extensive experience of Hogwarts from being Scabbers that Barty doesn't have. Of course, Dumbledore also already knew about him and his abilities so maybe that's why. But it's fun to consider that Voldemort kept Wormtail close bc paradoxically the more 'disloyal' and self-interested follower is more interesting to manipulate. a guy's gotta have hobbies.

Voldemort constantly belittling Peter throughout GoF is so interesting because he, Voldemort, is probably the person who best knows Peter's abilities at this point. He expresses surprise at Peter being able to convince Bertha Jorkins to go with him. And like...dude, you of all people KNOW how much of a manipulative snake Peter is, you Know how he convinced Lily and James and Sirius to trust him...why are you acting so surprised? Like Voldemort is the last person who should underestimate Peter. But he does: I think because he knows full well Peter is actually competent but belittles him to keep him loyal. Ohhhh the psychology of these two. It's so fascinating.

(....petermort? someone stop me.)