#also i just tend to assume the best of people unless they have shown me otherwise

[geekthefreakout]

Also, here's your yearly reminder that no one owes you their sexuality and that actors as just as human as you are. When in doubt, choose kindness.

[devouredbyflame]

Loki’s Faces

I get that this is mostly considered “UPG” however, I didn’t really create all of this inside of my own head so it’s not personal. It is observed behavior from Loki during my years of time working closely with Him and in relation to others.

I don’t think any resource ever has done Him any justice and I think it’s the best practice to just not assume anything people write about Him here or otherwise is factual or evidence of His character.

Loki is controversial - but only because you cannot place Him under one single signifier. He is accessible but not because He is interested in being everyone’s friend - in fact, I’ve never really known Him to tolerate just anyone and He actively doesn’t.

The standards He has for those - humans as well as Gods - who He allows to see His true face are high.

Those who are just around for show tend to not see the entirety of who He is and instead see what He isn’t. He wears different masks for different reasons and not because He is them - they are apart of Him, but they do not define Him.

Most people will likely never see the fullest extent of Loki if only because they can’t or don’t want to. So much mixed information goes around in His community because people don’t often see who He is beneath all of the grandiosity and playfulness.

Otherwise, He is extremely private and keeps to Himself most of the time. You’ll find He doesn’t share information about Him to just anyone. He also doesn’t go out of His way to show just Himself to people, either.

It’s intentional that not everyone gets to see His truest form or nature. It would be like showing everyone your hand in poker. When all of the cards are thrown, you have the power to be defeated. Loki uses His secrecy to His advantage and tends to only show people what they want to see because it’s easier than giving them the benefit to having any sort of power over His moves in the game.

The point of this is to say most people don’t really know Loki. When I say “most” I’m not talking about only a select group of people do know Him, I mean mostly, people don’t know that He isn’t obvious about His most truthful intentions, personality, and otherwise unless He chooses to be.

I’ve been led down false paths by Him that lead to dead ends for years. I’ve been told false things that I really only told myself were true that He let me believe because it suited what He wanted from me.

I stayed in groups I thought were good for me because I thought that’s what He wanted for me. I stayed with people because I thought He wanted me to stay with them because He wanted me to power through difficult things.

In reality, Loki is an extremely discerning and opinionated Deity and would sooner have told me what He really wanted for me had it not also developed who I am as an individual and given me the power of discerning Him from my own false narrative and belief about Him. He has let me fail and believe false things about Him and others so I can get to the truth of the nature of my relationship with Him and also the truth of the people around me.

Loki is a trickster. Not because He lies or tells people false things, or because He’s full of jokes and games or leads them into chaos but He let’s them believe things that are false to show otherwise. He shows people some of who He is if it suits the way He intends on it going. He doesn’t show anyone the cards in His hand unless He knows it’ll be kept secret and hidden or if it suits His intention.

The best thing you can possibly do with Loki is to allow Him to show you Himself. Allow yourself to be part of the game and allow yourself to be shown the truth. You’re going to fail in front of Him and it will probably be miserable, but that’s part of the strategy. You’re also going to be proven wrong many times.

He will let you go in circles until He can convince you what He wants you to do. He will let you believe things about Him or others even when it hurts your feelings. He won’t try to convince you unless you’re willing to listen and give it the benefit of the doubt.

If things haven’t changed for you, if you keep having the same issue again and again, it’s probably because there’s more to it than whatever you think He is trying to say.

People who don’t like Loki or get uncomfortable by Him only tend to do so because they don’t like what they see in themselves because of Him. They don’t actually know who He is. And they likely won’t.

Trust is a reward for the failure. Trust in Him and trust in yourself because it is not handed to you willingly. If you can’t listen to your inner guidance, you’ll never really know the truth anyway and you’ll never fully listen, either. The reward is always greater than the cost in the end. Loki is generous to those who wander and those who are willing to get lost along the way.

[mx-werebat]

We feel like deactivating this Tumblr and making a new one. I know we won't do this because it's too much work and there'd be too many people to inform, but..

We're gonna state this now. We're really tired of being triggered. We've have a lot of shit happen to us, both here and on our old nonhuman blog that got deactivated.

We don't believe we're getting the time and patience we need. Some of you (/not aimed) are really quick to assume we're meaning the worst intentions possible, and it's quite hurtful. This is especially shown when we're going through rough times.

I think what we may have to do is just go through and block those who make us feel unsafe. I think you also need to remember that we work together as a collective, like a hindmive. We understand some of you may not get along with some of my headmates, or may not like them, but they still deserve respect, and if we feel they're not being respected and only I am, we will have to block those people, too.

I think another problem is with Ula constantly getting triggered and then being treated like the big bad. Ula is our prosecutor. His job is to act harmfully towards those outside of the collective. We think, personally, this is a misguided or maladaptive attempt to protect us. Ula did not choose this role, our brain gave it to her. Ula does not like her job and does not like hurting others anymore.

Ula doesn't deserve to be treated any lesser than, let's say Frankie and I, because her job is prosecutor. She has feelings just like anyone else. We believe Ula should be given time, kindness, patience, and the opportunity to work through his problems, instead of ridiculed and hated for it when she goes off. Ula is more prone to going off due to being an autism holder and npd holder, just like how I am (I experience everything).

I also think a lot of individuals forget that Ula and I are dating. Of course I'm going to value her a lot and tend to stick up for her. No, I am not excusing his harmful behaviors, and I don't intend to do so. However, I won't tolerate what happens to Ula when something goes wrong. Ula isn't some emotionless beast. Ula is her own vampire.

We are trying to help Ula work through things. We constantly are being backtracked, but we try. We need others to understand this.

We have always been firm that we will block those who constantly trigger Ula, or if we believe someone is intentionally triggering Ula. It isn't funny to attempt to get a rise out of him, it's downright cruel, and we won't put up with it.

If Ula is doing something hurtful to you, talk to her, civilly. A lot of times she's doing it on accident. Tell him to stop. Please don't yell at Ula, as much as it can be hard not to. Ula will become more aggressive and that's not what you need. Work it out with her. If she doesn't listen, talk to me, I'll try my best to get her to stop. If Ula is doing it on purpose, we will take care of the situation, however we doubt it will be on purpose most times, unless Ula is triggered.

I don't know if this isn't obvious, but as much as she says she doesn't care, she really fucking does. He cares a lot for you all. We've witnessed this on multiple occasions, but Ula doesn't like outwardly expressing care.

We are just tired of everything going on at the moment. This post is unnecessarily long, I know. We thank anyone who read through the whole thing, even though we're literally posting at 3am. We are sorry for anyone who has been effected by our recent outbursts.

[ryttu3k]

Thoughts on Doctor Who - Dot and Bubble!

You know what, it's a bold new choice on Doctor Who to go, "Actually, this entire pastel-washed Celebration-meets-Tiktok society probably should die" but I can't say it's like. Entirely wrong in this case. Can't help someone who's so thoroughly wedged up their own arse (or stuck in their own bubble, ofc) they actively refuse help due to their own bigotry, y'know?

Actually, it's very much an 'offering mercy to the enemy' kind of thing. Which, historically, hasn't tended to go great either. It just hits a little different because we spent the entire episode focused on Lindy's storyline that we go, "Oh, she's the protagonist" and it's only at the end that we really get confirmation of, "Ah. She's the enemy." Although, in fairness, the endless microaggressions piling up culminating in killing Ricky was a pretty big hint, so…

Kind of refreshing that the first episode in which the Doctor's skin colour comes up is set in the future, which normally are pretty free of like. Racism and bullshit like that. Like Martha, Bill, Yaz, and Ryan all mention racism being an issue in historical episodes, Thirteen only gets talked down because of her apparent gender in a historical. You kind of make this assumption that even if there are still massive issues in the future, something like race isn't one of them. Only, it is. And Fifteen is the one to come up against the brunt of it. Any other Doctor, and the entitlement may have shown, but the racism may have stayed hidden (unless, again, Martha, Bill, or Yaz and Ryan as companion). Fifteen, however, gets them to show their asses just by virtue of existing. He was literally trying to save their lives!

Quote from RTD: "The moment we cast Ncuti, everyone said to me, "Oh my god, what's it going to be like when he goes into the past? Because a Black Doctor's going to face such racism." You sit there going, "What about now? Why do you think that racism's only in the past, when you look at what's happening to the world?""

Did come across as very nihilistic, ending-wise. RTD has said this episode was Black Mirror-influenced, and yeah, can definitely see that. You know what, that planet and the Finetime community are doomed. The planet's population is gone, a good chunk of Finetime's population is gone (or couldn't be led to safety, in which case it's only a matter of time), and lbr these kids only learned to walk a few hours ago. I would be amazed if they lasted a week playing Pioneers outside. And there's nothing that the Doctor can do, because they're so entrenched in their own racism that they refuse the literal lifeline he's throwing to them!

Conclusion: Fascinated how they went from, "Social media bad!" and "Killer AI!" to, "Actually, maybe social media isn't the problem and maybe, just maybe, it's people being so obsessed with staying within their literal bubbles that they begin to systematically dehumanise anyone who doesn't 'belong'" and also, "Actually yeah I'm kinda going for the AI deciding that the best way to deal with institutionalised and entrenched racism and bigotry is to kill them all with giant slugs."

(I mean, if the Dot AI could see how literally everyone was, I assume they realised they wouldn't accept a sapient AI as a new life form…)

Acting: Not quite as Doctor-lite as 73 Yards, this was more… Diet Doctor and Companion. That said, what we did get from Ncuti Gatwa was goddamn masterful. His reaction when he realises what's going on the end was heartwrenching - the disbelieving laughter, then the anger and frustration. So goddamn good. That said, Callie Cooke as Lindy was obnoxious and thus perfectly acted. Like at the beginning you were lowkey hoping she'd get her head out of her arse, and by the end you were hoping she'd get eaten :D Also enjoyed Tom Rhys Harries as someone who's been raised in the bubble but is at least trying to start just… slowly stepping out of it, only to be violently rejected by the rest of the bubble.

Continuity: Another Susan Twist! This time, actually called out! You know, there are two possibilities here, and both are extremely funny: 1) RTD intentionally cast an actor named Susan Twist to appear in every episode in order for her multiple appearances to foreshadow a twist revealing Susan Foreman, or 2) RTD intentionally cast an actor named Susan Twist to appear in every episode in order for her multiple appearances to have absolutely nothing to do with Susan Foreman and the repeated appearances are something else entirely. Either way, it's goddamn hilarious.

Nothing on Ruby's backstory this week, including a lack of snow. Ruby did feel somewhat unimportant here, she was only really there to make Lindy actually listen, because she's white and blonde and therefore Like Them and therefore worthy of listening to, and could have been replaced by any other young white companion, like Rose or Clara. If it had been the Doctor on his own, or Martha, Bill, or Yaz and Ryan as companions (or potentially even Donna, who might have got caught by ageism?), Lindy would have just kept blocking and blocking and never, ever listening.

The Big Bads of the season continue to oscillate between the possible Pantheon (the Toymaker, Maestro, possibly Mad Jack/the Fairies?) and just. Humanity. The humans who forced babies to be born then abandoned them, the military industrial complex, nuclear ambitions (the only one so far not set very far in the future), and now pastel-washed white supremicists. Very much a 'yeah, humanity definitely still hasn't solved these issues yet' kind of thing.

The 'stories being real' theme was handled kind of obliquely. Still definitely there, but it was a human consequence of being stuck in their own bubbles/narratives and being unable to see or accept anything outside it, and less a metatextual example like with other episodes.

Season ranking

As of s40e05:

73 Yards

The Devil's Chord

Dot and Bubble

The Church on Ruby Road

Space Babies

Boom

[woodblxssomcrowned]

Hi! I was cuious what you headcanons are around Hashirama's children being born so long before Izuna's death? I always imagined his and Mito's kid/s being born after the village was created and Mito sealed away Kurama. I hope it is OK to ask. Thank you!

It is absolutely alright to ask! It is based on three things, and I will do my utmost to not get sucked into my timeline madness rants while explaining my thinking. Know that these are HCs. Ones I have tried to base on what canon information we do have about the late WS era and the founders era, but HCs nonetheless.

My best estimation of the timeline doesn't allow for Tsunade's paret to be born *after* the village was founded, not unless you believe Hashirama and Tobirama were in their early to mid 50s when they died. I personally don't believe this. When Tobirama is shown just before his death, and how they are presented when they are reanimated, they don't look older than 45 at most. And when they are young, Hashirama looks just about the same age as Madara, and they seem to grow up at the same rate, so the theory that his regenerative abilities keep him looking younger doesn't work for me. We know Izuna died at the age of 25, meaning Madara and Hashirama were likely around their late twenties at the time of the village being founded. We also know that Hiruzen Sarutobi is 18 years older than Tsunade. If we assume Tsunade's parent was at least 18 as well when she was born, but was born *after* not just the village being founded but also after Mito became a jinchuriki, that would make Hashirama roughly 48 by the time Tsunade is born, and I personally don't think he looks to be that close to his 50s, nor do Tobirama look to be near or above 50 when he dies. In my personal opinion and the timeline I have constructed, Hashirama was 19 when he had his first child (Danma), 20 when he had his second (Kaname), and 31 when he had his third (Kichiro) not long after Mito had sealed away Kurama within herself. His first child would grow up and become the parent of Tsunade 18 years later, at which point Hashirama would be in his late 30s Which brings me to point nr 2.

Hashirama himself claimed that the average life-expectancy for most people in the WS era was roughly 30. If you were going to have kids, you didn't have a very big window to do it. And not only was Hashirama clan head, he was also SENJU FU**ING HASHIRAMA. If *anyone* has genetics that are worth passing down, it would be his. In my personal HCs for marriage among the Senju (which is a topic I have a big post on coming up soon) it was perfectly normal to marry young when you were overall expected to also die young. You were as a rule pushed to marry at around the age of 18-21 (when you were getting into your physical prime), and have at least one child by 25. And I don't think even Hashirama was exempt from these expectations.

This line:

Probably a stretch, but I personally interpret this as a small hint that most of his generation might have children of their own at this point, including himself. It's not a strong point, but one I tend to keep at the back of my mind nonetheless.

[getosboobies]

reasons i think matchablossom is or has been canon!

once again, i have become overly obsessive and have throughly analysed each and every kaoru & kojiro scene that we currently have. i indulged and created my own list of “ are they besties or are they banging or both “ but i have decided to share it all with you :))

( keep in mind, i’m a reacher and these are just my interpretations. i will go to any extent to prove myself correct - no matter how unlikely )

so first of all, we have the fact cherry is the only one we have yet to see at joe’s restaurant after hours. this immediately shows that they are extremely comfortable with each other and spend a lot of time together even when they’re not skating. it also potentially suggests cherry is waiting for joe to go home, maybe a habit they’ve developed over time. before these scenes, the producers always show an image of the restaurants front door which states closed. by showing this frame, it obviously gives the impression it’s important for us to know that it is closed and therefore showings us that joe and cherry’s relationship is more than just some rivalry banta and that they have an established friendship built on trust and time. the creators could have just not shown that it was closed and had us assume that’s they were just good friends who spent time together but they went a whole step further and showed us these two men’s personal lives are somewhat intertwined with one another, showing us that they don’t have large boundaries for each other which would be considered strange in contrast to the “ arguing “ we had previously seen between them. if this isn’t enough for you, in these scenes we also see joes uniform unbuttoned so i take this as even more evidence of how comfortable they are around each other. also ! restaurants tend to close quite late ( avg. 8pm-12pm ) and on all the shots of the closed door, it has been dark outside. why wouldn’t cherry be home at this time settling down or something??? or maybe cherry has a lot of love for joe if he’s willing to wait that long for him to finish work... just sayin’. more on this, i analysed the restaurants design and noticed that the plug in the wall is really low down to the ground. maybe this is just one of joes odd design techniques or maybe it was specifically placed for cherry to charge carla, the concept of which, makes me very happy

keeping on the point of joe’s restaurant, whenever we have seen cherry inside he always sits right in front of the kitchen, this is pretty normal unless you think about 1) how much time he spends there 2) how busy restaurants get 3) he came there while he was with a colleague. we’ve already seen that cherry doesn’t mind coming after hours so why did he come during the day if he knew joe would be busy? this is similar to the fact he came in with his colleague in episode 2 - he obviously wasn’t expecting to be able to talk with joe while he was out for a work meal, so why on earth would he sit right in front of where joe would be, which is situated in a considerably inconvenient table for work meal? what i’ve interpreted from this is that cherry’s must enjoy being in joes presence. cherry canonically having anxiety would explain why he likes being close to someone who he knows well, and that cares for him. being able to see and hear joe so close is perhaps very relaxing for cherry.

now when i watched sk8 for the first time, i gather the impression that joe was a forgive and forget kinda guy when it came to someone who did him wrong. when we’re introduced to adam it’s evident there is some hostility within joe but this does not nearly compare to the anger cherry showed. when suggesting a beef their intentions seem to be completely different. cherry outrightly admitting to his grudge and anger for adam whereas joe seems to just want to prove a point to adam by winning against him ( i mean look at the image above, their facial expressions show it all ). but i noticed that as cherry would speak about adam, joe’s intentions slowly shifted and became far more serious and full of anger. “ there’s someone i’d like to punch “ is a sentence said by joe in episode 8. this is quite different to what we had seen in earlier episodes of him just wanting to make a point. i think this shift was predominantly when joe found cherry at the ocean view. joe knew how cherry was feeling towards adam BEFORE this scene because he knew where to find him, but the realisation that cherry was standing there, alone, and reliving some of his saddest memories probably hit joe that cherry couldn’t do this alone. therefore stepped up his game and met cherry’s loathing so they could do it together. as far as things go, this is one of the most important things they have done for each other because it shows clearly how devoted they are to each other.

this is one of the most confusing lines in this show thus far. i’m sure it’ll make sense in the oncoming episodes but i have come to two conclusions. so either adam has created this false reality of what happened and has told himself his evil ways stemmed from joe and cherry or, the more likely in my opinion, adam always felt like he was in need of a partner, a rival but also someone to love. this is displayed in the show in his predatory ways, aka, he wants his own ‘eve’. now there’s no ruling whatsoever that a skater needs any sort of dedicated rival, or skate partner, so i believe adam probably got this want from his peers, for example, joe and cherry. adam seems to believe you need to love your ‘eve’ and it gives me the idea that maybe he saw joe and cherry -in love- and decided that was what he wanted, but then as we know he went about it in an extremely toxic way. the “was it so“ was really hard to interpret, he’s clearly quite smug by the way he shrugs and smiles and shows that he’s very confident about what he’s saying but the question is short and leaves a lot unknown, which suggests why cherry and joe don’t respond. either they are as confused as i am, or they have a slight idea what adam could be suggesting and they feel guilty. we all know cherry and joe aren’t bad hearted people but as adam is insinuating ‘no, you guys parted ways from me first’ it could suggest that joe and cherry had perhaps become closer in high school and had developed a stronger bond than they had with adam and this left adam feeling lost and alone. this is more of a canon compliant headcanon that would make sense rather than a fact but it’s certainly something to think about.

one of the most obvious factors in their relationship is how they always know what the other is thinking or planning. we’ve seen in recent episodes that when cherry was racing, joe knew exactly what his motive was even without discussing it, thats enough information to show how well they truly know each other and how connected they really are. it’s also shown with cherry. when joe is racing, and is going extremely fast towards the corner, we see a frame of miya and shadow being worried for him, but then it shifts to cherry watching and there’s not a spec of worry on his face because he KNOWS what joe is planning and knows he will be fine. they know each other’s techniques better than anyone and it shows they don’t doubt each other’s choices one bit.

we learn right from the beginning that cherry and joe like to argue and fight, at first we think this is because they dislike each other but we learn that they are best friends. so when watching back you notice that none of the insults are ever actually insulting. let’s think about it, the most common insults they use are gorilla, dimwit and four-eyes. now to me, none of these actually seem insulting whatsoever and even if they do like to argue a lot it’s obvious they never ever mean any harm to one another.

from analysing the scenes one of the things i’ve noticed the most is how cherry and joe turn up and leave together. when the cops came during the langa x adam skate they both started to run off together leaving everyone else behind. as we know, they spend a lot of their personal lives together but leaving and turning up together every single time we’ve see them there seems like they’re a bit more attached than i originally thought. there’s a chance they meet before hand but why always that late at night? why aren’t they ever at home alone? unless...they live together. i mean it’s a perfectly valid suspicion right now as we’ve never seen either of their homes and we’ve never seen either of them turn up anywhere alone but either way it confirms they spend an awful lot of time together in general life. going back to my original point of them not only turning up and leaving together but they also never leave each other’s sides. there’s a heap of frames that you can see them standing together watching a beef or even just them talking. they’re literally attached at the hip and nothing makes me happier.

the creators of the show have made countless points to show that joe and cherry have a lot of history. from the school references to the fact they have TRAVELLED THE WORLD TOGETHER. they could have just shown one or two so we know that as a general fact they’ve known each other a long time but they bring it up an awful lot for it to be just a general fact. this being shown so much let’s us know that this is important information and that they’ve obviously wanting to lay down a foundation to bring something crucial up. so far they have mentioned their social studies trip, a school excursion, joes love for haunted houses, holiday to La and the Paris bar they went to. now you might be thinking, oh they were in the same school they probably just went on a trip together nothing confirms they were close, well i am here to prove that statement false. joe said he found cherry’s wallet, this not only shows that joe was close to cherry when he lost it but also that he knew where to find it, showing how well he knew cherry. another point is that legal age to drink in Paris is 18 so unless they had fake ID it’s safe to say this is a trip they’ve done since becoming adults and leaving school. it’s also canon that have gone together, so the fact they’ve been travelling as adults together is quite interesting. same with the restaurant in LA, sounds kinda like a date.

over the course of the episodes we’ve seen so far there has been a few comments they have made to each other that suggest a little bit of jealousy. for cherry, these comments are made in episode 6 in the hot spring. cherry brings up joes love for haunted houses and then joe agrees and says it’s because “chicks get scared and grab onto me” * with a smirk *. now what’s interesting about this is cherry’s response. “you really are a scumbag” this insult feels a lot more insulting than usual and the response itself surprised me. at this moment cherry looks away from joe which is an action people tend to do when they’re hurt or pissed off. either works in this scenario but neither make much sense as we know cherry’s already aware of joes status with girls. so why was he mad? well this was obviously a fond memory of cherry’s and joe replying with a statement about girls probably made him a bit angry because that was supposed to be their memory. but joes smirk with the comment makes me rethink, did he state that on purpose to make cherry jealous? obviously we can’t be sure but the entire encounter left me a bit confused. now onto joes jealousy, in episode 2 dub joe says “dude, you’re talking to a machine?” now in context this seems like joe is partially bewildered by the fact cherry is casually talking to his AI skateboard but he also seems slightly jealous that cherry is talking to carla instead of talking to him. this is one of the only scenes where joes facial expressions actually seem insulted rather than just having a bit of fun. he follows this up with “figured you’d give your board a girls name seeing as you can’t get a real one!” why can’t he get a real one? we hear tonnes of girls screaming compliments at cherry when he turns up so he definitely could get a girlfriend if he wanted, and joe no doubt knows this too, so why would he use it as an insult? i’m not sure what to make of this but it’s got to be a factor somewhere.

more on the haunted mansion chit chat, the line about chicks grabbing onto joe is quite funny when you look at the entire scene, because as soon as they get jumped they grabbed onto each other in fear. seems a little ironic if i do say so myself.

they both seem very secluded about their personal lives. cherry more specifically does not like the use of his skate name in his personal life or vice versa. joe is the only one we have seen to be aware or use cherry’s real name. the way joe slips up and calls cherry ‘kaoru’ at “S” shows how close they are and how much time they spend together to be able to accidentally mix up the two parts of their lives. this is just an extra point on how conjoined their lives must really be. in the photo above we see how cherry easily calms joe down when he starts to get annoyed. joe is the only one who knows fully about cherry’s life as emotions and cherry is the same for joe.

now one of the most heart wrenching matcha blossom scenes is when joe finds cherry at the ocean view. i have a lot to say about this so let’s start at the beginning. first of all, joe noticed cherry was missing. it’s not like cherry was there for a massive amount of time, so joe noticing that cherry was gone for even as much as an hour or two really says a lot about the placement they have in each other’s lives. there was really no reason for joe to worry about where cherry was considering they’re grown adults but he continued to go out and find him anyways. this is also set in the late afternoon judging by the sky, whereas the previous scene had been set at night at “s”, so this is suggesting the ocean view scene is on a completely different normal day for them (another factor showing how much time they spend together). next, the fact joe knew exactly where to find cherry. this truly shows how much they know and how connected they are to each other but also how well they understand the others coping mechanisms. cherry was dwelling on memories from 7 years ago and yet joe still knew exactly what he was doing and what he was thinking about. plus cherry didn’t even seem surprised when joe turns up. but one thing i noticed is that in this scene is the way they (in this case, didn’t) hold eye contact. while cherry is faced away, joe is staring at him but as soon as cherry meets joes eyes, joe turns away. either joe didn’t want to be caught staring or joe realised something crucial in that moment. i’ll let your mind decide what that is.

obviously, miyas comment about joe and cherry being his parents is a light hearted joke just to ruin joes chances of flirting with girls but it also implies that the group can tell that joe and cherry are respectively closer than anyone originally thought and they perhaps have caught on that the tension between them is a little bit too gay to be just a bit of banta. obviously in this scene we then see joe looking at cherry’s legs while a blush clearly intensifies on his face. yeah no, this is self explanatory.

one of the things i like about joe and cherry’s relationship is the fact that within that joe also has a somewhat dynamic with carla. although carla is non-living, there has been several interactions between them. for example the beginning of episode 6 on the boat joe recognises carlas voice immediately. i mean straight off i think it’s suspicious as hell that they all happened to be going there at the same time but the fact joe realised cherry must be there because of the sound of an AI skateboard? that’s impressive. also, at the beginning of the series carla is aware of who joe is when calling joe an imbecile, this shows that cherry has obviously had this modified to specifically refer to joe as joe rather than just refer to him as a general person.

there was a popular tiktok i saw the other day (if anyone has the username of the person please tell me so i can credit them!!) and it showed the two images above. in these photos it shows joes skateboard and his odd looking wheels. the creator of this video further analysed that these reflect the general outlook of a cherry blossom flower. though the actual wheels in real life don’t look as similar to a flower as they do in the show. but now if this is what they’re meant to look like, this is a really sentimental fact and shows how highly joe thinks of cherry in his skating career. but what about his personal life? well that’s where my analysing comes in. i noticed in the dessert joe makes in episode 5 he had a range of fruits displayed on the top as well as a single flower. this flower looks identical to a cherry blossom. once again the reflection of cherry within joes life makes an appearance. we’ve seen that flowers actually mean something in this show (toxic example but adam’s red roses for langa) so it would make sense for this to actually mean something about their relationship. i studied a range of Japanese desserts and, although every chef works differently, most of the dishes tend to only have a display of fruits and no flowers. so i have come to the conclusion that this dish certainly had some symbolism to cherry in joes life, some way or another.

so overall, their dynamic already shows that they have a very thin and mistakable line between very close best friends and potential lovers. although some of this was based off personal interpretation the majority is cinematic displays and general facts. so take this and use it however you like. let me know your opinions and other factors you have! for all i know i could be completely disproven with the next few episodes but surely if this many people see a bit more than just a friendship there’s got to be a reason for it.

if we can have one lgbt+ character... why not two more?

[adelior]

Name: Unconditionally

Author: R. Adelio

Genre: Romance, Minecraft, Comedy, Fluff

Main Lead: Technoblade, Dreamwastaken

Female Lead: Reader

Chapter: 1

Special Addition: Tchnomaid

Letters: 10,718

<- ->

"I'm bored" You mumbled into your palm as you kept your gaze on the papers that were set up in front of you. "It's your fault for trespassing their area, [Name]. You should know by now how strict Dream is with the boundaries of the countries." Wilbur interpreted, his brows furrowing by the second. "They could have killed you."

"I'm sorry, I was just curious" Hearing you apologize, he softened up and groaned. Wil patted your shoulder with a somewhat forced smile before leaving the room. "Make sure to finish brewing the potions by the end of the day. For now," He looked back, nodding his head. "I'll see you around, [Name]."

"You too, Wil" Sighing, you turned to look at the blonde-haired boy who stood awkwardly in the corner. "Well uh, that went well at least!" Slamming your first, you startled Tommy as he shrieked. "I got in trouble in YOUR PLACE-"

"Yeahhhh, about that, I'm sorry!" Tommy shook you by the shoulders, a grin spreading across his face. "I'll make it up to you okay? I'll set you up on a date with Wilbur if it makes you feel any better" Your cheeks darkened, giving the kid a pathetic slap as you covered the bottom half of your face.

"It's really nothing like that. I don't.. like him.." The last part of your sentence was muttered, and as usual, the boy who knew of your feelings let out a hollering laugh. "I knew it! Who would have fucking thought that you'd fall for Wil! Out of all people!"

"LOOK-" You turned to face him, your face getting hotter and hotter the more you thought about it. "I have my reasons okay! He's a good guy, and on top of that, he's an amazing friend"

"An amazing friend you say? He's also one hell of a fucking leader that's for sure. But enough about your crush let's go out and play with Tubbo!" Dismissing him with a single wave, you gave your best sympathetic smile. "Sorry Tommy, but I have to finish brewing these potions by the end of the day. I can't afford to be disciplined by Wil again"

"Hm, whatever, fine" The boy shrugged, leaving you alone. "THIS ISN'T THE END WOMAN! You will join me and Tubbo on our conquest sooner or later!" You chuckled, smiling at his childish behavior. "Yeah, yeah, now go on and have fun"

You can hear him shout out loud, laughing as he tackled what you perceive to be Tubbo. "I never wanna leave" The sentence that slipped out of your mouth caught you off guard. Despite being an outsider to their nation, they treated you with respect and saw you as a member of their group.

Sitting back down, you continued to flip through the pages of the book. Studying the recipes and applying the specific ingredients to each bottle. "Oh shit, I ran out of spider eyes" Cursing, you stood up to walk towards the door, looking out into the hallway. "Niki!" You shouted from your office, capturing the woman's attention. "Yes, [Name]?"

"Do you know if we have any spider eyes left in the chest room? Or have we completely run out of it" She pondered for a second, answering once she finished checking her inventory. "I don't think we have any more spider eyes. I'm also not carrying any with me sadly"

"Oh, that's alright. I can just outside and kill some spiders myself" Pushing yourself forward to one of your chests, you opened it and took some resources. A bow, 10 arrows, and full iron armor apart from your golden shoes. "[Name], you don't need to go out and kill some on your own. It's dangerous at night"

"Exactly, which is why I plan to go to the Piglin market to trade some gold for a few stacks of spider eyes" Niki shook her head in denial, refusing to let you pass by. "That's even more dangerous! We're humans, we can't go inside there unless we have the King's permission. And usually, we'd have knightly escorts to go around with us"

"True, but I can slip in and slip out without being noticed" You shrugged on your hood, a robe that covered your full body apart from your face. "I can hide with this, besides if they aren't able to tell that I'm human they'll never be able to report it to the king"

"Al..right.." The short-haired girl had a troubled expression on her face, but nevertheless, let you pass. "Good luck! Please come home safely" You turned to give her a single nod, a reassuring smile that was enough to calm her down. "I promise, so don't worry about me okay?"

And so you left, walking to the basement of your home where the Nether Portal stood tall. You gulped at the mere sight of it, how mysterious yet alluring. The purple particles only making it look majestic. "beautiful.." You muttered as you slowly entered, the change of temperature really hit you hard. It was hot, humid compared to how it felt in the overworld. "Goddamn how do piglins live like this"

"Shocking, right?" A male voice erupted from the silence, causing you to stiffen. "I'm assuming you're not used to traveling to the Nether." You slowly turned around, only to be met with a man with dirty blonde hair. "Pardon?" You tilted your head, staring at his smiling mask. "Nothing, would you like me to escort you and keep you safe?"

"And what makes you think I'd trust a stranger" You questioned, earning a chuckle from the man. "You're not as dumb as you look. But don't worry you're not my type, I won't do anything."

"WH-" His hand went over your mouth in a flash, he moves fast for a person with netherite armor, and on top of that a black robe. "Keep your voice down, first rule when entering the Nether World is to never bring unnecessary attention to yourself."

"Got it" Your voice was muffled from his large hand, he stepped back before leading the way, making sure that you were tailing right behind him. "The second rule, make sure to always be with somebody. Never travel alone or you'll die in an instant without somebody keeping you safe."

"Safe? Is the Nether really dangerous for you to say that?" Observing his reaction, you realized how sharp his jawline was. You can't peak through the mask but his mouth was fully exposed. "Yes, I take it you've never looked into this dimension?"

"Well, to be fair I've only heard of the Nether. This is my first time actually setting foot into the portal" The man's mouth pulled back into a dumbfounded snarl, almost as if he was silently judging you for your actions. "Weird." Was all he said before nudging you forward. "We're here, keep your guard up. What are you here for exactly?"

"I'm here to trade gold for a few stacks of spider eyes" He sighed, pulling your hood closer to your face. "You do realize you could have killed a few spiders in the overworld without having to come here."

"Uh, not really the best in combat you see" You admitted, darting your attention to the passing piglings who stood at least 5 feet taller than the man leading the way. Their species were large and brute compared to humans, they were cool but dangerous to interact with. "What the hell were you thinking when you decided to come here without somebody to guide you."

"I honestly have no clue" You stared at the man with a blank face, earning a disappointed grunt from him. "Well, turn around Princess because we just arrived at the Mob looting store. Stay out here, I'll get the eyes for you."

"Wait a second- I feel bad you're the one who led me here and protected me-" The man that accompanied you patted your head with one of the most genuine smiles you've ever seen. Despite him being awfully mysterious, he has shown nothing but kindness all throughout your journey. "Don't worry about it. Just stay here and don't run off anywhere. It's even more dangerous inside because piglins tend to fight over items."

Fidgeting with your hands, you finally agreed. The blonde took that as an agreement and stepped into the store. You were left to stay outside, leaning against the wall that was nearest to the door. A few seconds passed, and yet you were still outside waiting. You were beginning to think that the man who you walked with abandoned you.

"Ex..c.." A piglin with long pink hair muttered, his hand reaching for you. "Excu.." You stepped aside, worried that the mob was here to harm you. The more you stared at him the more you realized he was one of them, but one that looked more human. "Is there something you need?" You questioned the man, earning a nod. "What is it?"

"Do you.. Do-" Before he was able to finish his sentence, your eyes widened in realization. You swung your right hand to open your inventory, taking out a gold bar to hand over to him. 'I heard piglins liked gold, maybe he'll leave me alone if I gave him one' Was what you thought as you urged the hybrid to take it.

He looked at you back and forth, debating whether or not he should accept it. "Take it, it's alright I have plenty of where that came from" The man in front of you hesitantly took the gold into his hands, his eyes widening when he realized how shiny and well kept the item was.

"You..-"

"Hey." The man who accompanied you shouted once he exited the shop, pulling out his netherite sword. "Back off."

"Hey wait! He didn't do anything wrong, leave him be" You pushed the blonde male back slightly, apologizing to the other person with a forced smile. "Let's just head back before we get caught!" Turning around, you tangled your fingers with his and ran away, waving the piglin goodbye.

"What are you doing." He asked, narrowing his eyes from under the mask. "You said to keep attention away from us so I am-"

"I wasn't even that loud." You turned to glare at him. "It got a lot of people's attention" The man laughed, swooping you into his arms, and began to speed up his pace. "You're a good listener." He complimented, a smile fighting to break through his irritated expression.

It took time for the two of you to finally reach the same Nether portal from before. The blonde slowly lowered you onto your feet, handing the bag of spider eyes into your chest. "Here, it's heavy so make sure to hold it with both hands."

"Thank you.." You muttered, gladly taking the bag with a smile. "Say, um.. I never caught your name?" Before the man was able to walk away, he turned to look at you one last time before telling you his name. "Clay, the name's clay."

"Clay?"

"I'll see you around." With that, he pushed you into the portal. You fell onto your back once you were transported over to the overworld, lying there with staggering breaths. "I never got to tell him my name though" But once you sat up, the Nether Portal's liquid-like wall disappeared. The particles were being sucked into the middle, and the doorway to hell was disappearing.

"What the..-"

"[NAME!]" You hear your name being called out by what sounds to be Wilbur. Turning to look over your shoulder, you see the whole group running towards you with a worrying expression. "You're back!"

<- ->

ec: @quacobs (instagram)

[nekostar4004-1]

I'm curious if we ever gonna see development with Odalia.

So far I don't really dislike her for being some type of antagonist or bad mother (I usually don't hate characters who are written to be bad, unless it's shou tucker, fuck that bitch I despise him with every inch of my being.)

But I also don't like/find interest in antagonist characters who are written to be bad just for the sake of it without any motivation behind, if they're interesting or mysterious enough to keep my interest while just for being bad, then I have nothing against it. But so far Odalia didn't really impress me with that (personality wise), I feel like all that evil was there for no particular reason but to give Amity the background of her downfall. Which I think could've been done without making her mother such an annoying karen or that unnecessary evil by making an abomination attack her daughter for protecting her friends (unless you aim for a psycho parent, in which case I'd assume you'll give her a major role later on but that doesn't seem to be the case) what I'm saying is, if she's a background character don't make it exagerated for no reason.

I wasn't one of those who had to wait every week for new episodes while s1 was airing, I binged it in like 1-2 days (I'm a late fan). But despite that, I imagined Odalia to be manipulative in a sense that wasn't "right in your face" type of way, like being subtle about it and heck even trick people that she was a nice person and Amity was just being unreasonable towards her (if Amity displayed hate/deslike towards her before we meet her) until it was shown that she's nothing like the mask she wears, and give the audience a moment of realization when it happened like "Oh, it all makes sense now". Idk I think it would've add more to her character. I want to like her as an antagonist, not be annoyed by her.

A background idea I had for Odalia if the writers ever decide to do more about her, is that her reason/obsession to make Amity thrive comes from her probably failing as a student when she was the same age (and an Irony to that will be Alador being in like top 5 best students if he was competing with Darius, I'd put Eda no.1 and Lilith no.2) and from there other ideas can rise. Now it's not a necessity to give Odalia a sad backstory for that and have her parents disappointed in her or something like that (this theme is overused) but maybe have her tricking herself into a mindset where power=success and gain power by all means weather good or bad will give you the success you're thriving for and make yourself known. And for more interest points, make that become an obsession where she feels that even with all the power she gains is "never enough" and that obsession will eventually center her attention towards her kids and that's where Amity comes in. I haven't figured yet a more clear reason or start as to why this happened but so far the middle is like this.

And I just realized how much I rambled about a background character. That tends to happen whenever I see potential somewhere lol.

Edit: well season 2b happened and now I'm disappointed. Ignore everything I just said. I'll proly make another post on things I deslike about season 2b.

[chibimyumi]

Redesign Prompt RESULTS!

Alright, thank you everyone who has voted, the results are now in! Overwhelmingly our winner is Ranmao 🐈!

First of all, I need to insert a few caveats here. Unlike with Victorian fashion, I do not have years and years of studying of Qing dynasty-fashion behind me. So whatever results I show here are the product of a fortnight of reading up and meticulous studying of contemporary photographs. a.k.a. I am merely scraping the surface here. But! I do promise that everything shown here is done to the best of my ability to be responsible as a content provider.

Now without further ado, let us dive into Ranmao’s current design, the blatantly obvious inaccuracies, and how I propose to redes...ign... her outfit while keeping the original intact as much.... as possible????  Heck, this is not even worthy of being called a ‘redesign’, this is straight up designing from scratch!

Hair

Let us start with her bangs. Her bangs are in fact surprisingly accurate, as late Qing dynasty women would wear their bangs in a variety of Bettie bangs trimmed well above the eyebrows. Having sides of the bangs growing longer framing the face was usual too, though they would be cut slightly thicker than Ranmao’s. Though, we don’t know how much hair Ranmao has, so I see no reason to alter it.

Twin braids are very much associated with the “China doll look”, but they seem to have been branded into our image of the “Chinese Girl” because it was the go-to look for unmarried women in Republic China (which is many years later than Ranmao’s time, and also has more surviving images.)

In Ranmao’s time, unmarried girls would either wear the bottom part of their hair down, or have everything tied into a single braid behind them. Girls who preferred a more feminine look would often decorate the sides or the top with flowers or other ornaments depending on their wealth.

Yana’s notes say that the flower in Ranmao’s hair is a Chinese peony, which is also called the Empress of Flowers in Chinese as well as Japanese culture. I could find sources on how the peony was the symbol of the Empress of China, and how one better avoid wearing any type of peonies around the Empress herself for fear of being suspected of disrespect. But I could not find any evidence of such flowers being banned for other people, so presumably it was more an ‘unwritten code of politeness’ rather than fashion law.

Hence, I kept the pink peony design for Ranmao, and decorated them in the way Qing women would have.

Neckline

By far the most interesting thing I learned from this redesign attempt was that the “mandarin collar” - the thing that pops up first in most people’s minds when thinking about Chinese fashion - was in fact not at all common.

In this academic work on Chinese fashion history, Finnane writes that the ‘high collar’ was “not a common feature of costume before the twentieth century.” Instead, most costumes would have had a round neckline.

Finnane, Antonia. Changing Clothes in China : Fashion, History, Nation. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. p. 93

The ‘high collar’ gained popularity in early 1900s in China after the Europeans brought with them the beauty standard for high collars, as well as slim-fitted silhouettes. The Chinese increasingly adopted this type of collar and the slim silhouette (the well known ‘china dress/qipao/cheongsam’), and the relatively many early photos that survived helped engrave this stereotype into our minds.

Sleeves

I do not think it requires any mention, but 19th century Chinese fashion did not include boleros... For many of the original designs of Ranmao I can sort of see where Yana got that image from, but this bolero-look truly beats me.

The sleeves worn in the late Qing period were relatively wide, though they were starting to slim down over time. Late Qing women enjoyed much more flexible clothing rules than earlier Qing women, and the width of the sleeves was in great part determined by personal preference, season, but mostly one’s wealth.

Needless to say, the larger the sleeves the more fabric and embroidery it would require, and thus more expensive. Also, the wider the more it would get into the wearer’s way.

I don’t know how much thought Yana put into Ranmao’s original design in relation to her function as elite bodyguard, but considering how the original has zero practicality and only serves to maximise Ranmao’s attractiveness, I have no qualms about giving Ranmao fairly large sleeves too. Besides, let us assume that Lau is responsible for providing Ranmao with clothes. Illegal money tends to fill the pockets quite deeply, I don’t think he can’t spare a few pounds for big sleeves.

Wider sleeves would expose much of ‘a lady’s precious skin’, as such a more fitted layer would have been worn underneath. (The sleeves under the wider sleeves obviously did not have to be orange-ish. This was merely coincidence that both my redesign and the visual source have this colour.)

Silhouette

The figure hugging silhouette x Chinese clothes was - as mentioned above - not at all a thing in Ranmao’s time. In fact, the accentuation of the “female curves” was considered very inappropriate if not downright ugly in the Qing dynasty.

Finnane, Antonia. Changing Clothes in China : Fashion, History, Nation. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008. p. 94

Yana’s notes mention that the thing Ranmao wears is just an European corset and that that is the only thing ‘English’ about her attire.

Well... I don’t know where the idea that Victorians wore corsets on the outside comes from, but I myself admittedly was fooled by this a few years ago too... I promise you all now however, Victorians decidedly did not wear their ‘bras’ on the outside. I think even now this look is considered rather ‘questionable’ by most people.

Instead, Qing dynasty clothes were mostly cut wide and straight, loosely dangling around their bodies offering maximum comfort and space. You feared Ranmao killing you in her corset? Now tremble before her now blessed with maximised agility.

Trousers

Well... I considered ‘translating’ Ranmao’s attire to 2020 standard like I did for O!Ciel, but that would not be Tumblr-filter approved. Skirts so short they could be mistaken for a belt are nothing too surprising today, but wearing one with a split that deep is probably a bit too revealing even by today’s standards.

By the late Qing dynasty, men and women, rich and poor alike predominantly wore trousers. Long robes (skirts) were definitely in fashion too, but they were reserved for those who could afford to not have much agility. If you were a farmer, robes would not have been your first option. Perhaps the way long skirts were viewed by the Qing Chinese was not unlike the way we see them now; ‘more classy’ ‘more feminine’ and ‘less convenient’, but not the only way to express femininity.

In these pictures below we can see relatively rich women, married and unmarried alike, all wearing trousers.

Ranmao is predominantly a fighter, and as trousers are plenty feminine in Chinese fashion culture, I don’t see why she would not choose to wear trousers instead of a restricting long skirt. Hence I gave her a pair of trousers.

Shoes

Like I said before, “the shoes are correct...” But the anklets definitely are not!

Golden or silver anklets are something that are worn by very, VERY young children in China. Even to this day it is customary among many Chinese people to gift newborn children at least one piece of pendant, bracelet or anklet, for it is believed to bring the child luck. More practically, this piece of jewellery will become the child’s first piece of property then, which can be sold later SHOULD they ever run into a financially difficult situation.

These anklets or bracelets would not be removed from the child unless they have outgrown them, which happens fairly quick. Ranmao who is probably full grown should have outgrown them at least ten years ago. Hence, seeing these things on Ranmao would probably make it look like she is still wearing diapers or bibs.

Chinese people would likewise not have worn shoes barefoot. Instead, they would have worn cotton socks which were mostly white.

DOUBLE HAMMERS

HERE COME THE WEAPONS! Luckily Yana wrote the following note or I would never have guessed what they are for my knowledge about Chinese weapons is next to nothing.

“These are【SUPER】heavy. They are weapons called 双錘 (double hammers) and they in fact exist. I heard these were used by power-type warriors.”

So, I googled 双錘 and it turns out that the type Ranmao is holding do indeed exist! But... only in fiction and theatre.

The hammers that were used in actual combat were either very thin and long, or short and plump. Such hammers were one of the most primitive metal weapons in China, and quickly fell out of favour among Chinese warriors when more practical weapons such as the metal spear, sword and bows were invented. The hammers mostly retained their value because of their weight in heroic tales and myths about legendary warriors and deities.

I don’t have the full details, but apparently according to some legends or myths, one of such big-ass hammers could deal a force of 200kg, and thus 400kg combined. Regardless of this being realistic or not, it sure does sound very cool! It is therefore no wonder this primitive weapon retains its popularity even today.

Nowadays when these hammers are used, they are either the blown up theatrical versions, or the smaller versions for the sake of preserving martial arts.

I had a bit of a dilemma as to which version to give Ranmao, but in the end I settled with the short and heavy ones because I wanted to keep the idea of this small and innocent looking girl wielding solid metal balls. Two cheer-leading sticks would simply not have the same weight, figuratively and literally.

Alright everyone! Did you enjoy my response to your votes? I hope you did ^^ Non-European fashion history really is not my strong suit, so my deepest apologies if I messed anything up.

Pray tell if I did, I am always happy to learn ^^

[imperiuswrecked]

Hi! I’ve seen a lot of posts calling the Maximoff twins Jewish. I haven’t yet seen that in the comics (me personally), and I’ve heard statistically irl many Romani are Muslim (Wikipedia, so take with grain of salt). It would be pretty cool to see Muslim representation, too, but I was wondering if the twins say anywhere that they have a religious leaning, or is that an assumption because of Erik’s faith? If anyone would know, I figured you might! Peace

Disclaimer: I will always reject the Maximoff Retcon until my dying day and as of writing this it has not been undone by Marvel yet, so I will continue under my firm belief that Erik and Magda are the Maximoff Twins father and mother.

Before I reply I would like to link you to this post that travels through the decades of Erik, Magda, Pietro & Wanda's shifting ethical backgrounds and current status. LINK

I would like to say this, not with the intent to disregard your thoughts which I think are very valid and interesting, but to say I really feel it would be wrong to have the Maximoff Twins as Muslims simply because we already have very few Jewish characters, and Jewish Romani too. So I would not wish to take that away and change the Twins religious leanings unless a writer actually spends time writing out why and showing the process of someone becoming a Muslim convert which is something that's never really seen in comics. Still I feel them being Romani was always more highlighted and focused than them being Jewish and I would rather a writer focus on them exploring their Jewish Heritage rather than change it to another religion. It would be great if Marvel or others show Romani Muslims in the comics but given the state of Anti-Arab and Islamophobic writing that has been evident in comics for a long time then it's very unlikely that would happen.

The Maximoff Twins (to the best of my knowledge) never explicitly say they are anything but Romani. they do not acknowledge any religion and I tend not to count the ones showing them around Christmas/General Holidays because let's face it, comics are very Christian religion dominated and it becomes the default for every character to just throw on a santa hat, get a tree, and give a gift, etc. Django and Marya Maximoff, the Twins adopted parents, are also Romani and we have never seen anything contradict that nor shown what type of Religion they may have.

Please take all my thoughts here with a grain of salt as well and know that I personally do not have a vast deep knowledge of Judaism/Jewish People except through my own personal readings and any Jewish fans who read this and want to put in their thoughts please do; As far as I know to be Jewish, one must be born to a Jewish mother or converted to Judaism.

In the comics there is no doubt that Erik (Max) is Jewish, however Magda's backstory has always been murky and undefined other than she is Romani and the Twins mother and was married to Erik. There is nothing to say that Magda never converted to or wasn't already Jewish Romani to begin with. So until comics come out and state that then it's best to assume that the Twins are Jewish Romani due to their parentage. The best place to see Erik and Magda's younger years is in Magneto: Testament, a graphic and emotional story of Erik back when he was Max, and as a child who lived through Nazi Germany/Concentration Camps, and how he first met Magda.

[marshmallow-xphile]

My thoughts on the sexuality of some of my favorite X-files characters.

I posted this in my X-files amino back in June as part of a LGBTQ pride challenge and for some reason I only just thought to post it here as well.

Fox Mulder: openly bisexual

Mulder is so open sexually that I really don't think gender matters all that much to him. He does seem to prefer females but I wouldn't be even remotely surprised if he had a boyfriend or two in the past. I don't think he's flamboyant about his sexuality but I don't think he'd hide it at all either

My evidence:

In the season one episode "Ghost in the Machine" we meet an Mulder's ex-partner, Jerry, and I absolutely feel like there is an ex-lovers vibe to the both of them. They hug upon first seeing each other, Mulder looks incredibly happy to see him, when Mulder says they worked together Jerry corrects him to say they were partners at which point Mulder looks over at Scully as if to see her reaction. Mulder has this real guilty look to him. When Jerry acts a little self conscious Mulder is real quick to jump in and reassure him. They get in each other's personal space. It just really leaves me with the impression that they care deeply for one another and broke up for other reasons, perhaps the different career goals as Mulder tells Scully.

We also have Mulder with Krycek. From the very beginning of Krycek's involvement with the X-files I feel like the writers went out of their way to make a correlation between the change in partnership and a new partner in a relationship. There is a scene in Sleepless where Mulder and Scully are on the phone and Mulder tells Krycek he'll be right there, the rest of the conversation feels reminiscent of two exes chatting about the change brought about by the new relationship. Scully even brings up that it must be nice having a partner who doesn't question his every theory.

There were many scenes in Sleepless, Duane Barry, and Ascension in which Mulder and Krycek were alone but that we never got to see who knows for example what the two of them got to talking about while they were stuck in traffic during the drive to New York in Sleepless. Or how often they hung out between Sleepless and Duane Barry.

During Mulder and Scully's partnership Mulder only called her 'Dana' on a few emotional occasions. He started casually calling Krycek 'Alex' almost immediately.

Let us not forget the infamous speedo scene. While yes it definitely showed more of a Krycek attraction to Mulder than the opposite. It does make one wonder what led him to wear such a revealing bathing suit. How many straight men do you know who wear speedos? My guess is few. How many straight men wear speedos when they can reasonably assume their male partner will show up looking for them? Not many would be guess.

And then there is their relationship after Krycek is revealed to be a traitor. They both tend to act more like scorned lovers than enemies and notice that it's Mulder, not Krycek, who cannot seem to keep his hands off the other. Seriously it's like every time Krycek shows up, Mulder immediately grabs him.

Now here's a couple quotes from Mulder,

Krycek tells Mulder he most be losing it because Krycek beat him with one hand. Mulder's immediate reaction: "isn't that how you like to beat yourself?"

When the little man in Humbug is lined up pretty much exactly with Mulder's crotch he says that Mulder would be surprised how many women find his size alluring. Mulder's immediate reaction: "you'd be surprised how many men do as well"

How many straight guys do you know comfortable enough with their sexuality to make a gay innuendo? I personally cannot think of any.

Dana Scully: bicurious

I believe that Scully is sometimes attracted to women. It definitely is not as blatant as with Mulder and I really don't think she's had any past girlfriends but I definitely think that there is an attraction.

My evidence:

In the episode "Ice" I really felt like there are a few tender moments between her and Felicity Huffman's character especially while they were examining one another for the worms. That examination had a sort of sexual energy to it I thought.

In the episode "kill switch" theres a moment where the Invisagoth asked if she could have her handcuffs removed or if she should type with her tongue. Mulder mentions that she doesn't want a vote there and the look on Scully's face and the way she licks her lips, I definitely get the impression that she would have been perfectly happy to see what Invisagoth could get up to with that tongue.

Some people point to Scully's relationship with Reyes as evidence of her bisexuality, I personally don't see any attraction there on Scully's side but I don't think its outside the realm of possibility.

Monica Reyes: Closeted lesbian

This one's probably a surprise I know there was something between here and Brad as well as a flirtation with Doggett so you would probably think she was Bisexual but honestly was either one of those even remotely convincing? To me they weren't. I believe that Reyes is a lesbian.

I kind of go back and forth on whether she's open about it. Reyes is very spiritual and open so it seems strange that she would be in the closet but maybe she has a reason, fear of it affecting her career in the FBI perhaps? It just seems strange that she keeps pursuing these heterosexual relationships she has no passion for unless she is trying to hide her true passion.

My evidence:

I admit I really have very little evidence but look at the relationship between Reyes and Brad Follmer. It had all the chemistry of two people who got really drunk once and cannot remember sleeping together. I don't for a second believe she was ever in love with Brad nor he in love with her.

Then you've got the same thing between her and Doggett. Yes the writers were obviously trying for a romantic angle with the two of them but to me it never came across as convincing. It seemed more like she thought of him as a good friend and figured she might as well date him, I saw no evidence of love or attraction.

On the other hand look at her and Scully. While I feel like the attraction there was one sided I definitely feel like Reyes was into Scully or Dana as she would call her. Reyes was willing to risk her life for Scully and yes that is her job after all but Reyes seems to take that above and beyond and it's not just Scully herself but also William. Look at how protective Reyes is of William in The Truth and of the sacrifice Scully made in giving him up. She seems to care even more than Mulder on that.

Cigarette-Smoking-Man: Asexual

CSM has probably had sex at some point, he is of course the father of at least three children but I do not think that he was ever in love with any of these women or even attracted to them. I believe they were all just a means to an end.

I believe that CSM's only love was for his cigarettes

Evidence:

There is a little bit of evidence that he might have actually felt something for Teena Mulder but I don't buy it. He freely admits that he felt nothing for Cassandra Spender but he must've been convincing if he got her to marry him and we have seen him fake emotions more than once. He also seemed to show an attraction to Scully in En Ami but that too was just a means to an end. Perhaps he does feel something towards all the women he has impregnated but I wouldn't call it love. I don't see any real attraction there either. My bet is that CSM needed some "help" in order to produce his offspring.

Alex Krycek: Gay

While Krycek did have an obviously sexual relationship with Marita Covarrubias he definitely didn't have any real feelings for her and I don't buy attraction either. No I'd say they were both just trying to use sex to get what they wanted. His anger at finding the Russian boy gone wasn't because he was heartbroken at her betrayal. Merely mad that she'd managed to get the upper hand.

Whether Krycek is open or in the closet I'm not sure, I'm thinking it probably depends on the mission hes on at the time.

Evidence:

Of everyone on this list I'd say Krycek is the one I'm the most sure of. There is no doubt in my mind that Krycek was attracted to, perhaps even in love with, Fox Mulder. From the very beginning there appeared to be a bit of longing in his eyes.

There was the speedo scene wherein Krycek was definitely checking Mulder out. There were several scenes where Krycek could've killed Mulder but chose to help him instead.

As I've seen pointed out before, Krycek's crazy motivational choices don't make any sense at all unless it's all in an effort to be around Mulder more.

Look at his sense of style and his obvious love for lip gloss. I am not saying that straight men cannot love lip gloss and dress themselves in Krycek's fashion but it is uncommon and it was especially so back in the 90s

The infamous kiss in The Red and the Black could certainly be explained away as some kind of Russian custom but it isn't one that I am aware of and he hasn't really shown any other signs of his Russia heritage.

I would say my best evidence of Krycek's sexuality is in Essence and Existence, just look at the look on Krycek's face when Mulder trusts him to protect Scully. Krycek knows what Scully means to Mulder and then look at how seriously Krycek takes the job! I definitely feel like that moment meant a lot to him and he would have protected Scully with his life for Mulder.

There's also the fact that Krycek's unwillingness to kill Mulder lead to his own death.

Of course asking Skinner to shoot Mulder goes against this theory but I do have a couple thoughts on that, the most sensical being that he knew there was no chance Skinner would shoot Mulder and he probably knew there was no chance he would survive anymore. Maybe he made that request in hopes of sparing Mulder any pain he might have otherwise felt at his death (I know it's a bit of a stretch but my other theories require a long explanation of my thoughts on where the series had planned to go next)

The lone gunmen: no one knows....not even them

Three (I don't count Jimmy for this) single adult men who all live together in very cramped quarters and are, at least in Langley's case, perfectly happy to be around each other without thier clothes on certainly makes it seem like there's something between them all but I really don't get a overtly gay impression with any of them, even Langley who as mentioned doesn't like to wear pants and is the only one who hasn't had a love interest. They just have this sort of Vegas-esque thing. "What happens in the bachelor pad/newspaper room stays in the bachelor pad/newspaper room.

I would love to hear other people's thoughts on these and any other X-files characters you think might be somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum.

[ceruleanmage]

Hi!!! So if we're talking about re-main, do you have any theories? Which character do you think will be your favorite, which ones are going to be shipped together, etc... Grant us your wisdom ✨

Sorry I’m getting to this so late!

I’ll admit I haven’t studied into the characters as much as some others have, so my possible wisdom may barely scratch the surface

I shall try my best!

(This is a long post. Sorry about that hdjsksk)

Theories

The only plot theory I have mainly surrounds Minato, our MC. (That feels like a Captain Obvious statement but what I mean is that I don’t know how the whole cast will play in jdksksk)

First off, from the trailer and from the character description, we know that Minato had some kind of incident involving water polo, and given that he was shown in a hospital bed, whatever happened was pretty serious.

In the shot in the trailer, he’s blocked by who I assume are his family and friends/old teammates, so we don’t get to see if he’s sporting some visible injury. But whatever it was, he swore to never play water polo again.

But in the next few shots, we see him with his past team, and he’s ripped as hell. Then the next scene shows him standing in front of a mirror, and it seems like he lost a lot of muscle definition.

I have two theories as to what may have happened (and watch both be wrong lmaooo)

1. He broke a bone and needed surgery to fix it, so that’s why we see him waking up in a hospital. (Because most people don’t go to the hospital for broken bones, you know? Unless it was life threatening or impossible to fix without surgery. This is why I have a second theory, but I’ll get there). As a result of his injury, he had to quit the sport. He vowed to never play it again, so I assume this particular incident haunts him.

2. This one may be WAY off and I have a penchant for bringing in angst, so be ready for that. My second theory is that maybe he nearly drowned while playing the sport in his past. Woah Dramatic I Know but it was my first thought since he’s shown in the hospital. Countering the other theory, most people don’t go to the hospital for a broken bone—and I don’t think your whole family and close friends would be there when you come to.

I think whatever it was possibly put him in a coma, whether it’s some serious injury or losing consciousness underwater. Either of those is enough to make someone reluctant to play the sport again, and avoiding it for a long time will surely cause one to lose muscle mass.

Maybe he developed some kind of fear of water? Though if this is the case, it probably gets resolved pretty early into the season, but I have a feeling whatever this incident is will haunt us again when we get towards the final episodes. Bakuten style.

Now, I have another thing to bring up.

Kawakubo Chinu, the one girl in the trailer, knows about Minato’s past.

Either she was there when it happened or she heard about it/learned about it from one of the other characters, possibly Eitarou since he also knows about Minato’s past.

I assume she’s their age, and even though she’s famous she probably stays with the team a lot. Perhaps she’ll help them train, or she’ll help Minato overcome his past incident.

Favorite Characters

From the brief descriptions we had, I think I’ll have three possible favorite characters.

One is the one kid who admires Minato—Eitarou. See this kid looked so bright and happy and Babey. He’s gonna be like Futaba I just know it. *gently holds*

Another possible favorite will be that one who’s super withdrawn from others, I think his name was Yoshiharu. Idk I just tend to gravitate towards these characters. Kin material methinks /hj

And, the character who will be my all time favorite for the rest of time — drum roll please — Kameyoshi!!!! How could I not. Our beloved tortoise deserves the world. I’ve only had Kameyoshi for a day and a half but if anything happens to him I’ll kill everyone in this room and then myself

Shipping

Shipping is scary to talk about before a show starts but I do have a couple guesses as to who I and many others will probably ship

The first guess is Minato and Eitarou, since Eitarou admires Minato. (Reminds me of Misato and Futaba, and it’s a dynamic I love and can personally relate to hdksks)

Another ship I can see happening is Minato and Jou, since it seems like Minato, Jou, and Eitarou will be the main trio. Jou (and Eitarou) convinces Minato to join the sport again so I can see where people (and possibly myself) will be like !!!! SHIP !!! (Valid, by the way)

(And who needs love triangles when there’s an easy answer? Can’t decide between those two? No problem! All three are in love Thanks For Coming To My Ted Talk) /lh

We also have the one (1) girl character, so I desperately hope she won’t be there just to be ogled at by the boys yknow? Anyway, there will probably be a ship or two people might like her to be in, but since we don’t have a description on her other than that she knows Minato’s past and is famous, imma hold off on possibly guessing who she’ll be shipped with. (Me. She’ll be shipped with me. Kawakubo Chinu I ask for your hand in marriage)

That’s really all I can guess so far! Again I haven’t studied the characters much, but I did rewatch the trailer a bunch of times lmaoo.

The trailer doesn’t give much, or anything really, in the way of rival teams, so I’m not sure how that plays into to the plot or even Minato’s past.

If you read all this, 1) thanks 2) I’m so sorry jdjsns this was a lot

Anyway this is probably very far off the mark so take my theories with a grain of salt!

[deadmandairyland]

Guess who’s back with another tier list!

So I found another Black Lagoon tier list, this one including both Fabiola and Ginji, and this time I decided to go a different route with the list. Maybe some time I will use it to make a new, actual tier list, but today I decided to talk about probably one of the most confusing things about Black Lagoon (especially in the anime): the language barrier!

...So basically this list is just what languages the characters are speaking based on what I picked up on over the past decade of being a fan of this series.

This list was inspired by the fact that people watching the anime tend to be very confused on what languages the characters are actually speaking because unfortunately there is no perfect dub of Black Lagoon that actually shows what characters are actually speaking at any given time. Don’t get me wrong, still one of the best English anime dubs of all time, I’m in full agreement of that, but both the Japanese and English dubs of this anime fall apart when the language barrier becomes a key component in the series. And honestly it’s not their fault. I imagine translating this over to anime must have been hell for both dubs.

One important thing to mention: I do not claim that this is 100% accurate. This is what I’ve picked up on as I read the manga and watched the show, but obviously there may be other languages these characters speak that either I missed or was just never really addressed in the series. Also in several places I filled in the blanks myself because, well, obviously English isn’t going to be the first language for, for example, Ibraha.

I also remember reading in a few places that it was confirmed that English is a common language in Roanapur, but I cannot find the official source that said this. This is one of the reasons why I’m not claiming that this is 100% accurate, because while I do think this is probably what was intended for the story, no proof means no proof at the end of the day. But it’s also worth noting that--spoilers btw--the United States basically runs the city behind the scenes, so that’s something to keep in mind.

Another reason why I’m not claiming that this is 100% accurate is because human beings are fallible and as shown in some of my corrections below I know I’ve made a few mistakes here and there in the list, and there could be more that I’m missing or that I’ve got wrong. At the end of the day, this list is not to be seen as a definitive answer to the question of “What languages do these characters speak?” but rather something to look at to get a better understanding of some of the more confusing parts of Black Lagoon wherever language is a key component in the story.

One final note: at one point I refer to the main mob bosses of Roanapur as the Big Four. This is just a name I came up with to describe the balance of power among the four mob bosses, so it’s not an official name as far as I’m personally aware. I figured I should point that out to clear up any confusion.

So with that being said, here’s the breakdown. Expect lots of spoilers.

Revy speaks English, and a small handful of words or phrases in Cantonese (as mentioned in The Wired Red Wild Card), and that seems to be it. She is the most likely person to tell some to speak English when they speak another language to her, or to just say that she doesn’t speak whatever language they’re speaking. In the Japan arc especially, if you’re reading the manga or watching the Japanese dub, it’s clear that she doesn’t understand what most of the Japanese characters are saying. Canonically the vendor she has a shouting match with is actually shouting at her to speak Japanese and she thinks he’s insulting her (and her being unable to talk to the vendor is why Rock goes back and forth between them in the first place to talk about the fixed game), she never actually communicates with Ginji or the kids verbally (she talks to them, but they don’t understand each other’s words), when Rock asks her if she and Ginji can work together in the anime’s English dub when they enter the bowling alley he’s actually asking if they can communicate (Revy basically says when the action starts, they’ll be in sync without needing to talk to each other), and the dude who’s like “I GIVE UP, SERIOUSLY, I GIVE UP” is actually desperately trying to say he gives up in English. Also if you’re only familiar with the English dub, this video is a great example of why this arc is so confusing for everybody, and why the English dub was like “Fuck it, we’re not bothering with the language barrier subplot.”

Benny speaks English. He’s also Jewish, so it’s possible he may know Hebrew or another Semitic language.

Eda speaks English. She’s a CIA agent who claims to be from Alabama and is shown to be very patriotic when in CIA mode. Not that I’m saying this automatically means she doesn’t know any other language, but I haven’t seen any proof that she does.

Lotton... is mostly speculation based on everyone else, particularly Sawyer and Shenhua. I don’t even think he has an official nationality, he just... exists.

Sawyer speaks English. She is British and her name is of English origin. It is possible she speaks a Chinese dialect as well since she seems to do jobs for the Triad and befriends Shenhua, but she seems to be more freelance than a member of the Triad so this isn’t very clear.

Rowan is also mostly speculation. His name is of Irish origin, his last name is likely Pigeon, and Revy can understand him.

Chief Watsup is the chief of police in Roanapur and is the only recurring character in the show who is actually Thai. He can communicate with both Revy and Balalaika, so whether or not he speaks English depends heavily on whether or not Revy and Balalaika speak Thai (and given that Revy says in The Wired Red Wild Card that she only speaks English and a tiny bit of Cantonese, it’s more likely that he knows English).

Yukio and Ginji speak Japanese and do not appear to speak English. It is ignored in the English dub of the anime, but everywhere else it is often brought up that Revy can’t understand what they’re saying and they can’t understand what Revy is saying. To add on to what I mentioned above in Revy’s section, also consider that Yukio curiously asks Rock if Revy is Japanese when they first meet, with the thought in mind that the first thing Yukio and Ginji see when they first meet Rock and Revy is Revy shouting in English at a Japanese vendor who is yelling at her to speak Japanese.

Mr. Kageyama obviously speaks Japanese, and I assume he speaks English as well as he seems to be able to speak to both Dutch and Balalaika, the latter of whom is confirmed to not know Japanese.

Chaka canonically speaks both Japanese and English. Not only can he and Revy understand each other, but being able to speak English is one of the things he brags about to Revy when they first meet, saying something along the lines of “Can’t run a place like this without being able to speak English.”

Takenaka obviously speaks Japanese, more than likely speaks English as he’s able to communicate with Revy, and likely speaks Arabic as he has allied himself with Ibraha.

Ibraha obviously would have Arabic as his first language and he presumably speaks English as well (and possibly French as he’s from Lebanon, but this isn’t relevant). The important thing is that he does NOT know Japanese, because it is implied that THIS is the reason why he gets angry out of nowhere during the interrogation. Takenaka and Rock are speaking in Japanese during the interrogation (signified by a change in font in the manga, which would only be important if the language barrier is important to the scene) and Ibraha interrupts by saying something along the lines of “Even I know this is no longer an interrogation!”

All of the canonically English-speaking cast can understand Roberta, Garcia, and Fabiola, whose first language is obviously Spanish. Rock and Fabiola both act as interpreters in different points of the series. It’s also worth noting that Lovelace is obviously of English origin, which suggests to me that the Lovelace family in particular has a very ethnically diverse background.

Rico communicates with Revy and Eda, but judging by his name he probably can also speak Spanish (or possibly Portuguese, but Spanish is more likely as there are many Spanish speakers in town).

Balalaika and Boris obviously speak Russian, but they can communicate with the English-speaking Lagoon Company as well as Roberta.

Hansel and Gretel are Romanian, can communicate with several English-speaking characters including Revy and Eda, and are working for the Italians.

Verrocchio obviously speaks Italian, and presumably English as well as he’s part of the Big Four of Roanapur (this again ties into the idea that English is a common language in Roanapur). Also where IS Ronnie the Jaws? Or Abrego for that matter? This list said “All Characters.” False advertising smh

Bao is Vietnamese, but often speaks to characters that don’t speak Vietnamese (e.g. Revy).

Mr. Chang would likely speak Cantonese as a leading figure of the Hong Kong Triad and would likely know Mandarin as well. He can communicate with Revy, who according to The Wired Red Wild Card only knows bits and pieces of Cantonese and likely not enough to hold a whole conversation. He is also the CIA’s lapdog, so unless Eda speaks Cantonese they are probably talking to each other in English.

Shenhua is from Taiwan and as such would most likely speak Taiwanese Mandarin. She speaks with Revy who makes fun of her for her thick accent and way of speaking when she speaks English. She also might speak Cantonese as well since she works for the Hong Kong Triad.

Ahbe from the WWII flashback obviously speaks German.

Sir Alfred the old Nazi fuck would also speak German, but he’s able to talk to Dutch over the phone and he has American Neo-Nazis doing his bidding so he likely speaks English as well. He is also apparently living in Spain so it’s possible he might also speak Spanish.

Caxton and Yolanda speak English as they are constantly speaking with known English speakers throughout their appearances. Caxton in particular is about as ‘Murican as it gets without being a negative stereotype. It is unknown if they know any other language.

Jane is almost always speaking with English speakers. She is from India, so she likely also speaks Hindi. She is also part of an international team of counterfeiters, so it’s likely she knows other languages as well. After I made this tier list I remembered she also speaks German at one point and I think Theo was also from Germany, so she probably speaks German fluently as well, but I’m not redoing this list.

Leigharch speaks drugs... and presumably English and Irish as well.

Rock pretty much knows every language that ever existed in the history of mankind. He is basically the go to guy to translate anything. That being said, Japanese and English are the languages he’s most fluent in.

Dutch knows English, and--spoilers for L’homme Sombre btw--probably French as well, and also probably one of the many languages spoken in Burkina Faso, especially if he was born there (which I sadly didn’t think about until after I made the list). This arc is still ongoing in the manga, and more than anything I’m just excited to see Dutch's backstory being explored. It was long overdue. (Now we just gotta hope that the same happens for Benny.)

As I mentioned in that caveat, Roanapur is in Thailand, and it’s possible the people living in Roanapur may know Thai, but actual local Thai citizens are a rarity in Black Lagoon (with Chief Watsup being the only recurring Thai character), and American influence is so strong in the city that it’s probably the reason why people drive on the right side of the road with steering wheels on the left side, in a country where people drive on the left, and why US currency is accepted along with Thai currency, so that’s worth pointing out.

[mxgilray]

I... have some thoughts on the Loki finale. It was not what I was expecting, but I'm still hopeful for season 2.

This felt like a meh finale, like how a lot of season finales felt in Spring 2020 when they unexpectedly quit filming and had to cut things short by a couple episodes thanks to the pandemic. Only this was the planned out finale, they should've given a bit more oomph. I'm quite a fan of exposition and character development usually, but all the dialog was centered on He Who Remains, so it felt like our main characters were just side pieces.

Plus, the final "cliffhanger" of Mobius not knowing Loki and the statue of HWR replacing the Time Keeper statues felt quite lackluster. Not sure how they could've made it hit harder, but it didn't deliver the "oh shit" vibes they intended, but maybe that's cuz Mobius not remembering Loki has been an expected plot line on tumblr for half the season so it wasn't a blindside.

I get the point of the Sylki kiss. From what I've seen on tumblr so far I feel like the nuance of Sylvies actions was lost to most people (both Sylki fans and antis just Didn't Get It). It wasn't a big declaration of love like the fans are grasping onto it as, and it wasn't shoving selfcest into the canon to keep the heternormativity like antis are accusing it of being; it was Sylvie using Loki's attachment to her to trick him. She needed Loki out of her way, and she knew the only way to get past him and get He Who Remains' tempad was through emotional distraction. She used his love against him and betrayed him, a kiss was simply the most efficient way to do it. I did a whole post last week about Sylvie's feelings towards Loki, but to sum up I firmly believe that while Loki harbors some romantic feelings for Sylvie, she feels strictly platonic towards him, but is very aware of his attraction. She took advantage of his care for her to get the upper hand during their fight. Heck she even foreshadowed it herself in ep 5. "There are more important things than friends" "like taking down the TVA" she told Loki that taking down whoever is behind the TVA comes before everything; it's priority #1 in her book, above friendship or love or trust. Loki proved that his priority now is the greater good of the universe not her revenge, so Sylvie has no use for him anymore (partners only when it's convenient, because she is a Loki and that's how emotionally stunted Lokis behave).

I would like to point out the irony of her being worried about Loki betraying her, only to turn around and betray him. It's in the realm of "people who cheat assuming their partner is cheating" / "not using a turn signal when changing planes to avoid being cut off because when you see someone else use their signal you tend to cut them off", it's assuming other people will behave like you do. Sylvie feared in ep 5 that Loki would betray her in the end because she knew if it came down to it she'd betray him. But the thing is, he's actually grown past that. Loki is finally thinking about how his actions can damage others, not just his own wants and needs. Sylvie saw this moral change in Loki, realized there was no chance of getting him back on the blind revenge boat, and decided to exploit his newfound selflessness and emotional attachment to get him out of her path.

This whole season Loki has been maturing emotionally and growing into the best, most heroic version of himself. Sylvie, on the other hand, still has that deceptive, selfish, can't trust anyone persona that every Loki develops to combat insecurity. She hasn't had the emotional growth needed to see the bigger picture, she's still trapped in her own self centered mindset. As such, she disregards the impact her betrayal will have on Loki, the impact killing HWR will have on the universe. She doesn't even take a beat to consider whether revenge is still the right path cuz she doesn't practice self reflection yet; revenge has always been the goal and she refuses to give herself a chance of changing her mind. I hope in season 2 she'll get some character growth, now that her 1 goal has been accomplished.

Now on to Mobius. I enjoyed his scenes, I wish we'd been shown more of what he did to reveal the truth to the rest of the TVA. Again, I feel like too much time was given to HWR's monologing and not enough was spent on the other characters so Mobius and B-15 got very little screen time to display their plan. I am happy Mobius got the opportunity to throw Ranslayers betrayal back in her face, and his attemp at attacking her...my boy you work a desk job you ain't no fighter, she used to work in the field collecting variants, you had no chance. Also, where the F did she go??? I kept expecting her to show up at the end of time but she didn't. Where did Miss Minutes send her??

I'm sad Mobius doesn't know Loki anymore, but I can't say I'm surprised. I've got a few different thoughts on what the heck is going on with him and the TVA:

Sylvie accidentally sent Loki way back to a time early on in the TVA before HWR created the Time Keepers for anonymity. As such, this is a past Mobius who has yet to meet Loki or even learn of Loki's existence. If this is the case, then I think Loki and Past!Mobius's interaction at the end of ep 6 will be the catalyst for him becoming a Loki expert. The 63 branching timelines Mobius and B-15 are discussing before Loki interrupts are from some currently unknown disaster that'll be a plot line in s2. (This is my least favorite theory, but nevertheless a possibility)

HWR was correct when he said that if Sylvie kills him and destroys the TVA then another variant of him will just start it all up again. This variant didn't care to remain anonymous, hence the big statue of him, but kept all the memory wiped variants working there. Because time is a chaotic bitch, the changeover from one HWR variant to another may have been near seamless at the TVA and just involved a quick memory wipe of anything relating to the Time Keepers, Loki and Sylvie, or knowledge that the TVA are all variants. The 63 branches may be thanks to something Renslayer is doing like killing all the HWR variants in existence in order to negate the need for the TVA. The branching could also be from Sylvie's revenge still, we have no idea how much time has passed between her killing HWR and a new HWR taking over so the branching she caused could still be an issue.

There have actually been multiple TVAs running simultaneously, each in their own multiverse. Each one employs memory wiped variants, each one is in charge of a certain subset of timelines, and all work under the one HWR. Sylvie used HWR's tempad to eject Loki back to the TVA, but she accidentally sent him to the TVA of a different multiverse not realizing that's a Thing. The 63 branching timelines Mobius and B-15 are discussing are indeed from Sylvie killing HWR, but there's only 63 as opposed to the countless we saw diverging from Sylvie's perspective because this TVA only sees branches on timelines within their own multiverse. Mobius doesn't know Loki because he isn't our Mobius and in the multiverse he works in maybe Loki's aren't as much of an issue because none of them ever escaped the TVA like Sylvie did (or none of them have Tom's face so he doesn't recognize him as a Loki). If this is the case, then Loki is gonna have to find his way back to his own multiverse in order to be reunited with his Mobius, and that could end up happening thanks to Renslayer. Miss Minutes gave her a file that I suspect only HWR should have access to. Maybe it was tempad coordinates for other multiverses? It took til the 31st century for the multiverses to be connected despite Tony figuring out time travel in the 21st century because travel between universes is much harder, maybe HWR is still the only one who knows how to do that. (If this theory is correct then all the time travel done during Endgame was through timelines within one multiverse) Also just thought of this but what if the reason there are so many extreme variations of loki that grew to adulthood is because the criteria of "sacred timeline" is different in each multiverse. Classic Loki and maybe President Loki and Kid Loki are from the same universe as MCU Loki, but red haired Loki, Croki, Boastful Loki, etc are all from other universes. Think about it, Classic Loki, 2012 Loki, and MCU Loki all have an exact identical path up until their nexus event (or death in MCU Loki's case). I think other than identifying as female, Sylvie's childhood was identical as well and that her nexus event was coming to terms with her adoption as a child, which erased the catalyst of 2011 Thor's plot and would've changed everything for her future path. Had her adoption remained a secret and she grew up on asgard, I believe her story would mirror MCU Loki's. It mildly hit me weird that there would be such wild variation amongst Lokis, even with him being a shapeshifter, because there's a rigid sacred timeline (that supposedly the MCU movies have all adhered to) and they all felt like too big of a divergence to have been left unchecked so long. If boastful Loki was telling the truth about getting all 6 infinity stones then he should've triggered a nexus event as soon as he got more than the 3 he is "supposed to" interact with, unless in his multiverse the sacred timeline criteria is different. Another theory: the agents employed in each TVA are from multiverses other than the one they're working in. It would make sense, keep them from running into their own past by fully detaching each agent from their home timeline/universe. So the Principal!Renslayer that B-15 found will never in any future become the TVA judge we know. The one we know maybe came from the universe Loki got sent to, and that's how the two of them will end up crossing paths again.

[lettersnorth]

Faux Memory: Back to It

Florus must have been discharged from the clinic while Aislinn's attention was elsewhere. Standing in the now empty recovery room, she did some quick math. How long had it been? The days tended to blur together. Still piecing it together, her legs took her from the clinic over to the workshop almost of their own accord. So much so that she blinked up in surprise as she suddenly found herself standing there amidst the chaos and pockets of order that would perpetually be the tension of their shared space. Her eyes land on Florus and for a moment she really isn't sure what to say. If there was a proper greeting for someone who just came out of a coma, she didn't know it. "Florus...how're you feeling?" she tested as she approached.

It took an embarrassingly long amount of time for Florus to fully clear his head from having ‘slept’ for over a month. His dreams had been so vivid, and either swung from nightmarish to unbearably mundane...but regardless, towards the end, he had lost control of them. Thus, he was unable to tell if he was trapped in yet another dream, and treated reality with caution befitting a mouse sticking its head out of a hole. But eventually, he accepted it. That he’s awake. That he’s alive.

Florus is surprised that Heartwood didn’t clean up his mess in the workshop. It’s just like the company to assume the best, even if...that’s what had happened? But is ‘best’ the right word? Florus runs a hand against the desk and lifts a layer of dust from it, brooding.

Florus visibly flinches at the sound of Aislinn’s voice. Fuck. This had to happen eventually, but he was never going to be prepared for it. What do you say? Thanks for saving me? But also, screw you for doing the exact opposite of what I asked for? Florus looked over the reports. He knows he’s one of the first to go through the dangerous procedure. Hesitating, he turns and stares dully at the wall past her head. “Like shit. Thanks to you I get to feel like that.”

Right. Time in a coma wouldn’t have changed their dynamic much, would it? A part of her should be glad. It meant she hadn’t screwed up if he was just the same as he’d always been. She’s aware of what she’d done. And after what happened to her in Sharlayan, she’s more than aware of the irony of it all. They all made choices and lived with them. Outwardly, what little expression there had been in her face retreated behind a smooth, blank wall. “True enough.” she acknowledged. “Though why are you up and about if that’s the case?” 

Florus wants to ask her if he’s all there, that everything is fine and will be fine. But since when did he put that much weight in this Eorzean’s words? And would he believe her? Florus’s frown tightens as he privately answers the first question in his head...botched operation or not, he’s standing because of her. Enough has happened to convince even him of her intellect and -- hell -- academic boldness. He has sorely lacked the latter as of late.

“I’m up because problems don’t just go away after a long nap. Several people have made it annoyingly clear that you’ve been overworked, and that I ought to get back to business right away...” The threat if he didn’t, although unsaid, had been obvious. Florus shakes his head slightly. “Besides. When do I not feel like crap? If it makes you feel better, I don’t feel as bad as I did before. Almost to normal levels of shittiness, even.”

A flare of annoyance shot through her. Leave it to Heartwood to descend on the man with their cries for attention without giving much thought to whether he could or -should- be back at work. "Unless those people were qualified to judge your health, I'd ignore them. We've managed. And we can manage a while longer. Place isn't going to fall down."

Florus gives her a skeptical and half-lidded stare. He doesn’t have to be a doctor (although he is) to tell that she isn’t faring much better herself. The clenched concern with which the oversized pirate had shown when telling him of her condition lines up. “Speak for yourself,” he mutters.

“I--” He feels something press up against the top of his throat, temporarily blocking off words. What does he want to ask? Or admit? Florus clamps his mouth shut and starts again, restrained and tense. “Whatever. I don’t care. I agree.” Unspoken is the desire to have something, anything, keep him busy from his own thoughts.

An exasperated breath as Aislinn catches his skeptical look is the only crack in her stonewalled facade. “Don’t look at me like that. I really don’t need it from you, of all people. Everyone else is already doing a good job of making me aware they don’t think I can handle the same amount of work they foisted off on you.” She turned and stepped over a pile of cables in her pursuit to get to her own workspace. “And you agree with what? The fact that you diving back into this mess is just one more thing I have to pay attention to now?” She returned, knowing uttering any real concern for his well being would be a fruitless endeavor he’d shut down almost immediately. “Thanks.” 

“They care about you,” Florus flatly states as she walks past him. There’s no need to elaborate further.

At first, he doesn’t follow, and simply stares at her across the room. Something unreadable twists his expression, and he’d sulk after her. God, look at him. Seeking her out instead of the other way around! But there’s more to get through, and he’d rather swallow it all at once than suffer a repeat visit.

Florus stops a couple of steps away from her workstation, mind churning to find the words and the courage to go against his worn down nature. “Save me the effort. I may not have had a choice, but I do want to help Haila.” That’s...true. He looks down at the floorboards. “I never had the chance to look over the exacts of how you made the auracite storage. Thought I could pick that up.”

There’s a pained look in Florus’s eyes. Something he won’t say. He lets out a thin sigh and wearily kneads his forehead with his hand. “Because you guys are about to....to fight some kind of weapon? Again? Holy shit.”

It drew her up short. His assertion that Heartwood cared about her. The implication being that that was the difference between their protests now and lack of them when he’d been working tirelessly before her. “Do you really think that’s the difference?” she asked in a tone that clearly said he was less intelligent than she thought if he did. 

And apparently he wasn’t done surprising her with the appalling things that could come out of his mouth as he next asked about the auracite. She paused as she sorted through a pile of papers on her desk. Hands stilled, she looked up at him, almost certain that her first response to him was not going to be the correct one. Well, perhaps not the -socially- correct one. And okay, maybe he was an ass to her when she’d walked in and maybe she deserved it so she did her ...

Aislinn North best to calmly ask the question  devoid of any incredulity she felt behind it. “You want to know how to just…pick up arcane geometry?”

It’s his turn to be surprised. Well, of fucking /course/ that’s the difference! Whatever her personal feelings may be does nothing to change the course of the entire ship. He had double downed on his side, and Heartwood on theirs. Empire, Eorzea. Was it not that simple? Because at the end of the day, blood cannot easily be swept under the rug. There will always be those that cannot forgive...and it’s even harder to forgive Florus, who’s clinging to identity/pride.

“Are you seriously asking me that? Fucking hell, Aislinn.” He crossly turns his head and lets out a sharp breath. This isn’t a productive topic, and he knows, but he’s still on the cusp of letting loose an angry rant. “Just. Stop. Of course I’m not going to personally learn arcane geometry. The fact that you even--” Florus pinches the space between his brows, immensely irritated, and sighs again. “A fire can be made in several ways, alright? Magic can be engineered. If I study the end result and the process you did to achieve it, then there are ways to reproduce it.”

Tilted her head, words swirling over her tongue that she told herself over and over not to say. It wasn’t usually this hard to hold back the torrent of her thoughts from breaking past her lips. He was an idiot if he didn’t see that while not all of Heartwood was ready to hoist him up on their shoulders he had, indeed, managed to gain the regard of a few of them. Why the seven hells did he think she bent over backwards these past weeks to build the bloody device?

It would have been safer and easier to call him a loss and continue work on it until it was at a place ready to help the rest of Heartwood. Calling him an idiot right now probably wouldn’t be helpful. “If that was the case don’t you think Garlemald would…” she stopped. “Nevermind. I don’t have the time or the energy to argue. That can be a debate for another time.” She crossed the room over to the drawers where she kept her plotted schematics and pulled out the several sheets she had carefully transcribed regarding the specifications of the auracite cores and the subsequent equations she developed before carving them onto the stones’ surface. 

“The library has plenty of books on the aetherological math if this isn’t enough.” She was sure it wouldn’t be. It said nothing of the principles behind the work. “I can answer any questions you have, of course. …Though why are you going over a problem that’s been solved? I have the equations sorted. I can carve any new auracite that comes in.”

Florus (angrily) lets the topic drop too. He’s not about to debate something that he’s so certain of, right now, with her. It’s a waste of time and a guaranteed headache, although a part of him yearns to just blow up and leave himself an emotional and wrathful mess.

Florus isn’t unfamiliar with the mathematics behind the principles. Ultimately, magic is a phenomenon, and due to being unable to ever ‘gut feel’ their way through using it, Garleans have exacted it down into a science. The physical attributes of summoning. The reagents for conjury. How it affects the medium (the body) and in turn, how to replicate it in another (an engine, a device).

Aislinn’s magic would be complicated to reproduce, but Florus isn’t new to the area, and he’s exceptionally talented in being scrappy. A lifetime of being looked down upon grants him that.

“Context switching and automating manual labor. You can focus on other problems and not worry about having to specially create each and every core. That’s why.” It’s not just that, but. Florus holds back. “You’re juggling several balls. You've got deeper context elsewhere. Your time is better spent elsewhere.”

Aislinn crossed over to him and held out the pages, considering what he had said. “Aether can be fussy.” She knew that better than most. Creating an automated process to encapsulate it left her wondering how he’d adjust the variables each time. Because no two stones were the same. But that really wasn’t her concern, and it was passing curiosity on her part. She was hesitant to give him anything to do considering he had just got back on his feet so she refrains from voicing anything further.

Maybe the quiet study of translating magical principles into technological ones would be a good start and nothing too overwhelming for him. “There’ll need to be adjustments made to each carving. The variables won’t remain the same.”

Florus looks at her directly for the first time, surprised for a second time. It’s funny how he’ll go for something, expect the opposite, and then when he gets what he wants - like, isn’t that what you were gunning for anyway? Why do you torture yourself like this? Florus blinks back the look and accepts the papers, flipping through them once to quickly gauge the length of Aislinn’s work. “...Thanks.”

And yet, there’s another angle for him to work on as well. In a stroke of poetic irony, he could also help offboard the extraction process from her. There’s no alternative person she could hand that off to and, by learning deeply about this area and doing it on others, he would additionally be able to understand its full effect on /him./ Two birds, one stone.

“The extraction process. Let me help you there too.” He can’t fully stifle the guilt and shame that flares when he pitches that. Suck it up, Florus. Just...it’s..nothing new.

Aislinn nodded, somewhat stiffly, clearly expecting more to follow than just the one word of ‘thanks’. A biting insult or a backhanded compliment as he flipped through her work. When that didn’t happen, and instead he simply and plainly offered his help, she stood awkwardly, one hand crossing her midsection to grasp her other arm. An unconscious shielding motion as confusion momentarily slipped into her eyes. But again, she couldn’t find a good enough reason to argue with him. It would be taking something substantial off her plate. “I...can show you how it works when you’re ready.”

Florus isn’t a particularly perceptive man. He’s always blinding himself with assumptions and, even when discounting mental obstacles, anxiety/over-awareness tends to cause him to miss things. And yet, once he’s done shuffling through the papers, he’d look back up and notice just how awkward Aislinn is being. Oh god. What. Suddenly uncomfortable, he flushes from mirrored awkwardness and bares his teeth in a surly grimace. “......????”

Florus Celsus: “Stop that,” he manages. “Sh.....ugh. Yeah. When you have time. Cause I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

A problem to distract him from internal cacophonies. Toss a puzzle to his brain and buy himself some time, make some mental space, to...to work things out. Because otherwise, Florus would set himself ablaze if given idle time to just. Think.

It was at that insistence that she noticed her posture. Annoyed with herself, she dropped her hand and she stubbornly lifted her chin. “Still not going to dump a ton on you all at once. I’ll let you settle in with figuring out the automation. A few days from now we can meet in the clinic and go over the transfusion device.” She agreed and made her way for the door, all too glad to get away. She knew what he meant by being more than ready. Sometimes being alone with your thoughts was a slow torture all its own. Luckily, or rather, unluckily, Heartwood was never without a shortage of ways for people like the two of them to distract themselves.

[shadowed-dancer]

BNHA Theory: Why Aoyama Isn’t the Traitor

Debunking common claims because I love my boy and don’t want him to be evil. This is all for fun, and if you still want to believe he’s the traitor then I'm not stopping you.

This will be spoiler free, and will only cover stuff we see in the anime.

“We don’t know where he was during the USJ attack”

Ok, very fair point. However, have you ever considered that the USJ attack doesn’t actually matter when it comes to the traitor? Whether it’s Aoyama or not, I don't think this is a solid place to look for clues.

We know how the villains got the class schedule, there was no need for a traitor. Shigaraki noticed the press was desperate to get in, he disintegrated the barrier, and let them storm the campus

Then, while all the students were trying to evacuate, the teachers were also busy dealing with the reporters.

We only see Aizawa and Present Mic, but we can assume the others were dealing with the security breach too (and if not, then perhaps a teacher is the traitor? it doesn’t really matter, but the point is: it’s not a student).

Now, it’s possible that Aoyama was not affected by the rush of students, as he usually eats in the classroom, but he’s still pretty innocent. Students likely didn’t know the schedule, and had no idea All Might would be taking them to the USJ. I doubt the traitor would go through all this trouble if they weren’t absolutely sure that All Might would be taking them off campus sometime soon. Shigaraki could risk coming up empty (as in, finding a schedule where All Might never leaves campus) because he just doesn’t know what to expect, but a STUDENT risking themselves is a lot less unlikely. They’d risk getting caught and possibly expelled, or worse.

As for the USJ attack itself, Aoyama was most likely hiding. I’ll talk about this more in just a second, but in scenarios where he’s put in danger, Aoyama gives up and hides (even if there’s no one around).

So why’d he call attention to his absence? Well, to figure that out we need to look at...

Aoyama’s goals, personality, and motivations

Aoyama’s shtick is that he wants to stand out and be the centre of attention, yet is constantly pushed to the background.

His costume and hero name are meant to stand out, and the way he constantly talks about how wonderful he is is an attempt to get attention. He’s also obsessed with his appearance (as shown when Mina ruins his cape). None is this proves he’s a traitor, it’s just a form of comic relief.

When he asks if anyone wanted to know where he was, only to say “it’s a secret”, he was most likely trying to garner attention and make himself seem more cool and mysterious in the eyes of his classmates, but as an audience, it’s a lighthearted moment to ease us out of the heavier storyline. Again, he was probably hiding in fear, but wanted others to THINK he was bravely fighting like everyone else, which takes us to our next point to break down...

“Dabi didn’t attack him during the training camp”

This is probably the most damning piece of evidence.. If you need a brief refresher, Aoyama is hiding behind a bush, peaks his head out, and is almost immediately noticed by Dabi (it’s unclear if the villain sees who is behind the bush or not, but Aoyama says, “he saw me”. Even if Dabi didn’t see his face, he saw that there was a person). He goes to check but is immediately sidetracked by Twice, who reminds him to call back the Nomu he sent out. Dabi proceeds to forget about the student behind the bush.

Here’s the thing; this scene says more about Dabi than it does Aoyama. People tend to forget, but at this point in the story Dabi has not killed anyone. Heck, he’s not even in the criminal data base. Maybe he’s just sneaky, but Giran specifically calls out the fact that, “he hasn’t done any flashy crimes”. If he’s a criminal, he’s never been caught.

Back to that comment about the criminal data base, it’s a detail a lot of people overlook. When Tsukauchi is taking statements from Aizawa and Vlad King, he tells All Might that they ran a search through the CRIMINAL data base, looking for a man that matched Dabi’s description, and they came up empty handed. Not the quirk registry, they were specifically looking for criminals.

Dabi’s appearance is distinct, to say the least, so even if he was caught for petty theft, they’d be almost certain to catch and identify him. But no, he’s not a criminal at this point.

That being said, let’s look at how Dabi acts during the rest of this arc. For the most part, the real Dabi isn’t attacking unless he’s provoked first. When Deku, Shoto, and Shoji fall from the sky, he attacks to protect his teammate (since the boys had just jumped Mr. Compress). The exception is when Dabi’s clones goes after Aizawa and Vlad King, but in these situations he is very much aware that the two are pro heroes and will protect their students. Aizawa says it best, they’re trying to keep the pros distracted.

This isn’t meant to be defending Dabi, but instead to point out that, at this moment, he’s not very experienced in being a criminal. No spoilers but it’s obvious that CURRENT Dabi has no hesitations about killing people (see: those thugs in the alley and the hero Snatch). But, in this arc, he didn’t seem to want to cause any unnecessary violence. For these reasons, I believe he would have spared ANY kid behind that bush, not just Aoyama (forgetting to go back after Twice distracted him was a conscious choice, it would have taken literally no time out of his day to go check who it was, and instead he decides to let the kid live). Dabi’s purpose is to seem intimidating and distract the pros, not to attack recklessly.

Whoops, I went on a tangent. Back to my twinkling boy!

Aoyama is a coward

(meant in the most loving way possible)

Aoyama is a coward. I brought it up with the USJ that he was probably hiding, and we saw it with Dabi when he was cowering behind a bush. But the important thing is that, at the training camp, he actually does get the courage to attack (specifically when he sees Deku and the others fighting back).

We see this again during the license exam

During the test, he was scared to fail, so he hid until Iida found him. And, once again, the courage of his classmates gives him the strength to act. Aoyama is just scared. Some people point to this as evidence that he’s the traitor, since he doesn’t have the character of a hero, but actually think about it. Hero society is corrupt; people are becoming heroes for a whole host of other reasons. Almost no one has the motivations of a hero out of Class 1A.

Bakugo wants to be the best, Todoroki wants to stick it to his dad, Uraraka wants to make money, Iida is carrying on his family business, and Mineta wants girls. And hey, Mineta is also a coward, so take that as you will. Not everyone becomes in the hero course is suited to becoming a hero, and that’s the whole point (it’s the entire motivation behind Stain and his followers).

“How about the secret message?”

Ah yes, the secret message. "il faut se méfier de l'eau qui dort", literally translated to "beware the water that sleeps". It basically amounts to “there’s more than meets the eye” or “watch out for the quiet ones”.

Would a traitor expose himself? Probably not, the only reason I could say yes is if the traitor was helping the villains against his will and needed to tell someone, but what’s more likely is that Aoyama knows who the traitor is.

This next little theory isn’t really based on anything, but it’s possible that, while he was hiding from Dabi and Twice, the villains mentioned who the traitor was. Twice seems like the kind of dude who’d accidentally let it slip, or if he didn’t say a name, maybe he mentioned that SOMEONE at UA is a traitor and Aoyama is trying to get Midoriya’s help in figuring it out. Either way, he may be trying to alert Midoriya that someone can’t be trusted.

Alternatively, he could be referring to both him and Midoriya, and may not be talking about the traitor at all! When Aoyama wrote “I know” in cheese, he specifies that it was meant to say, “I know you have a quirk like mine” or “I know what you’re going through”. This could be similar, attempting to tell Deku “we are the same, there’s more to us than people know because we go through things that others do not.”

But wait, “the water that SLEEPS?” Mr Aizawa sleeps! Is Mr Aizawa the traitor?!?!?!

Tangent: Is Mr Aizawa the traitor?

No. This dude puts himself at risk for his kids more times than I can count. It makes no sense for him to go so out of his way to protect his kids (like at the USJ) only to be the traitor. As well, Aizawa could have easily texted Shigaraki and been like “yo change of plans, All Might isn’t here, don't bother showing up”.

In addition, Dabi actually DOES attack Aizawa at the training camp. No one is around to see it, so it’s not like it’s for show, and Aizawa is deliberately shown to not know what Dabi’s power is. (As seen when he says, “the fire wasn’t his quirk?” when the clone melts).

So yeah, “the water that sleeps” isn’t referring to Aizawa.

Some final thoughts about the traitor

I personally don’t believe there is one. In one chapter of the manga, the teachers are talking with the principal and mention how the dorms have revealed nothing suspicious from the students. As well, when Present Mic first brings up the idea of a traitor, he actually points to a STAFF MEMBER before bringing up the possibility of a student.

He mentions that only the teachers and first years knew where the training camp was, and then says, “I guess a student could have used their phone”. He says it like an afterthought, as if the possibility of it being a student hadn’t even crossed his mind until he said it out loud.

So yeah, I don’t think a student is the traitor. I am also hesitant to think it’s a teacher since Nezu says he can trust everyone in the room during their meeting. I think the traitor theory was just an excuse to get the kids living in dorm rooms for all the goofy teenage moments that could arise from that.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! And I hope all Aoyama fans can feel a little more at ease, knowing their boy (probably) isn’t the traitor.