#also more foreshadowing because i love implying shit

[shidoukanae]

*rereads Paris and Helene's second meeting for the nth time*

me every goddamn time: THEY HAVE SO MUCH CHEMISTRY HOW THE FUCK DO THEY HAVE THIS MUCH CHEMISTRY

It's so so so SO fun watching this entire meeting and how they both seem to constantly be in a little dance of sorts wherein Paris openly declares his interest in her and Helene keeps shutting him down ("You should come to Kylon. We won't overwork you the way your family does" -> "I don't have time to indulge in a life with people who don't think" -> "well that's good because i think about you so much i can't sleep"-> "and? get to the point already". like jfc he's not fucking vague about this At All).

But the best part is, for offstandish and disinterested as Helene is towards Paris (with her words cold and blunt towards him), it's really hard to deny that there isn't some interest on her part without there really being interest on her part (which is. confusing i know but. in context. oh. my god. she's a queerplatonic icon around Paris and i adore her for it)

My favorite thing to see in this scene is the way Paris reaches for Helene's face, casually brushing the back of his fingers against her cheek and through her hair (while commenting on how being this close to her makes his instincts spike with unease), and the moment Helene downs him she does the same exact gesture to him, lifting up his chin and brushing the back of her fingers against his face similarly. Which. Wow. I need more female antagonists to do this shit it is literally so cool to see.

Also the way Helene and Paris constantly are gauging each other is so neat. The way Helene tells Paris to "not long for what he can't have" (i.e. herself) is so neat. The way Paris is clear about his interest in Helene and she in turn matches that interest by toying with him in a way she's done with no one else in the cast is just. there is sooooo much there between them and i greatly enjoy whatever the fuck kind of chemistry it is they share because it is literally the epitome of what i crave in ships

[verdemoun]

Fun fact, Kieran may have been originally supposed to live longer, at least judging by his many unused voice lines (found on YouTube) and a longer hairstyle which I actually think looks better for him (found on rdr wiki of cut content). Maybe he was supposed to go to Guarma? The voice lines to me suggested going on hunting missions with him but I’m not too sure.

spoilers. obviously

fun fact i have listened to the 2+ hours of Kieran's cut voice lines so many times even my housemates know it and groan when they walk in and i'm listening to it. Did you know one of his cut voice lines for a near miss in a shootout is 'whoo, nearly took my head off!' to foreshadow his eventual demise? And he has several variations of lines telling Arthur to rest with the gentlest tone suggesting he would have been one of the few characters to show concern for Arthur's illness in later chapters? And slightly less relevant but there is a cut interaction in where he asks Jack to sneak him some food only for Arthur to threaten to kill him BUT CALLING HIMSELF UNCLE KIERAN???

screenshots by cad5150

About Guarma, all but confirmed. Here is one of his cut outfits, which I think very obviously suits the vibe of what most of the gang wore in Guarma like compare it to Micah's Guarma outfit in particular. Additionally he has this hood as an outfit accessory: some people think it was intended that when he rides into camp Horsemen Apocalypse there's a moment of the hood being taken off and then the characters having a much more visceral reaction to his eyes being gauged out but personally I think it makes way more sense that he was meant to be in Banking, the Old American Art 'replacing' Sean as an extra gun. Which would have been really cool because I would have loved a conversation where they bring up they're a gun short and it spiral into more reflection on how they're not just a gun short, they're a man down, they lost the 'joy in their lives' Sean Macguire and they were still hurting instead of just NEVER MENTIONING HIM AGAIN other than a few rare character lines.

Side tangent also his scarf is different in his guarma outfit which is it's own essay because if you're going off the blue high honor red low honor theory this so strong implies we could have seen some really cool character development. looking at what the gang were wearing in banking and then in guarma there's no obvious explanation as to where he got it. how cute would it have been if we got a scene where mary-beth gifted him a scarf?? but the also terrifying implication that we might see kieran become less high honour good boy blorbo to someone a bit more morally ambiguous?

I think the question really is how he would have fit in in Guarma, which of course we will never know and considering how much cut content there is about Guarma. Like everyone else in Guarma makes sense: Dutch's descent into immorality being so clear even Arthur questions it, Bill being the one trusted to look after Javier following his rescue, supporting their friendship in rdr1, Micah reaffirming his position as an actual piece of shit in his lines responding to Hosea and Lenny's deaths and complete lack of empathy. Maybe a kieran who is slightly more ruthless and active in shootouts in guarma but also shows compassion for arthur as arthur gets sick? Maybe the attack on Hanging Dog Ranch was meant to be more a revenge for Kieran's death assuming he was taken and killed similarly to his death in chapter 4 (given how much much foreshadowing there is for his death), but just another misery in chapter 6 that hits harder because we have more time to grow attached and see him develop?

Except. Except then we get to cut outfit kieran.

first. hellooooo sailor. but who is this man. who is this man who looks older. and wears a very, very low honour red scarf. and is obviously dressed still as an outlaw, and didn't go live a happy life with mary-beth. is it. is it possible. kieran was not always meant to be doomed by the narrative??

is it possible we would have seen kieran become more loyal to dutch and micah, true to his army abandoning, gang jumping, choosing to ride with the o'driscolls rather than die, immediately 'loyal' to the vdls despite torture because being alone meant certain death, coward nature? or would he have just been a character john could encounter in the epilogue? perhaps shaken by knowing arthur, as one of his very, very few friends, died trying to be a better person and abandoned any effort to be more than an outlaw?

but. but kieran. shirt all buttoned up. scarf on. thick coat. hair slightly feral and wild. why does it looked like you're all dressed up for the cold, buddy? like- like you might have been hiding out up mount hagen.

[anonymouscheeses]

more obvious shit I wanted to point out but it's more than last time uhhh pt.2 (spoilers for dad beat dad and maybe welcome to heaven. Maybe?)

I love that Charlie just randomly goes into demon form sometimes like here ehhehehe. Also can I just say I love Charlie so much?? She is my favorite and I love her especially in this episode because it feels like the same optimistic Charlie but she was just put in a bad situation. I relate to her a bit TOO much, almost down to every detail like wow. You'll understand later once I get there. But just wow...

LOOK AT THIS FUNNY LITTLE MAN. SPOODER DUST <3 also. Live [image] reaction. Someone make that into a reaction image 🙏🙏

HONEY!!! NEW MEME TEMPLATE JUST DROPPED. (Aka the one guy going crazy trying to explain the stuff on the board iykyk)

OMG... THAT CANT BE CHARLIE... NOT CHARLIE'S EMO PHASE PLEASE BAHAHAHHAHAHA (also love that Lucifer has kept it all these years, if Charlie knew I think she'd be extremely embarrassed. Vaggie would love it probably xd)

HE IS SO GOOFY I CANT- I LOVE HIM SO MUCH ALREADY!!! NEED.

Broskie got character development and is NICE?!? I LOVE THAT SMMM YALL.... LOOK AT HIM!! I am very delusional yes, but I will take this over ass development(cough. Vaggie's "story" in ep 3. Cough).

Imagine this. *holds your hand carefully to help you calm down while talking to your father you haven't really wanted to talk to.* lesbian type stuff ngl 🤯 (relatable)

Angel looking at the gays while being a gay too. HE'S BEING SO KIND TO CHARLIE UGGHH I CANTTT!!(POS) NODDING HIS HEAD, SMILING TO HER, ALSO TRYING TO HELP CALM HER DOWN. I MAY BE ASS AT SOCIAL CUES BUT I NOTICED THIS ONE!! YAA

*SHE IS STILL HOLDING HER HAND. CHARLIE'S ALSO SWINGING IT AROUND NERVOUSLY. I can never get tired of them and will make art soon just you wait.*

COMMANDER VAGGIE! I love that she acts like this is a camp full of tiny kids and honestly? That's not too far off. Sir pentious is at the ready! (glad he's here more often in the episode, thought he would just get sidelined after his first episode but gladly no!) Angel is just surprised. Husk spilled his drink, ON WHITE FUR NO LESS! Niffty of course is on the floor face first. Charlie is just happy to be there yippee!

What is this?? I have no idea what the hell it is at all. Bro is just peepin- it doesn't look like Alastor, even in demon form. And... I can't think of anyone else who could be this. Anyone have ideas or maybe it's foreshadowing? Maybe it was revealed in the 6th episode I don't know I haven't watched it yet. (I am a freak. I don't binge I give myself a day to watch a single episode. Most of the time uhhh.)

WE LOVE A SHORT KING. I LOVE THAT. I LOVE HIM. THE EVERYTHING. HE IS EVERYTHING. LET ME STRANGLE HIM PLEASE. (Lillith and Lucifer's dynamic is 100% Gomez and Morticia but a little more silly short man)

"OH WOW! AN OLDER MAN WHO GIVES ME FATHERLY CARE!" *STARTS TO FUCKING CRY*

I FEEL YOU CHARLIE WAAAGHHH

Oh and there goes the silly guy again! Atp I'm thinking it may be the gal some people been talking about that they've been hinting since the pilot. I forgot her name but she's said to be the big bad of season 1 or probably 2. Not sure if that's what it's trying to imply but here's my little no-thought idea

Lucifer, no...

LUCIFER NO!! THIS IS SUCH AN ADORABLE RESPONSE TO CHARLIE DATING A WOMAN. (ADOPT ME)

AND THEN THE HUG! I GET IM LOOKING TOO MUCH INTO THIS ONE SILLY SCENE BUT I JUST LOVE IT SO MUCH AND WANT THIS SO BAD IN MY LIFE.

Niffty really said, "Yes, I do the cleaning."

Get yourself a taller king who is a short king but compared to you is a tall king

Say what you will, but I genuinely want more dad Alastor, someone make an au before I do plsss and @ me 🙏🙏

alright.. now this is where it starts to be relatable and hurt my heart... yayy.... needing any sort of parent figure that actually cares about you than the actual parent who is rarely there? WOWZA! SAME CHARLIE <3 <3 (SO FAR VERY ACCURATE FROM SOMEONE THAT IS IN THE SAME SITUATION)

Alastor is letting her off kindly, atleast in his way. He may be pissed off she brought a shark gang to the hotel and put it on fire, but they were still close friends. With anyone else he would absolutely either murder them or have severely traumatized the person. She's the exception, although I don't think he'd let it off the hook so easily if there were a next time.

A father-daughter embrace! :,)

(This is gonna be messy asf) He wants to know who she is as a person. He always has, and that's definitely obvious, but from a person inside this, they may not know themselves what the other is thinking. To Charlie it was like he never cared and just wanted an excuse to not see her again, acting like he was truly busy as in the start where he made the rubber duck that breathed fire. Sure. But Charlie saw it as him finding ways to not interact with her again. The only times they talk was when it was related to business stuff or other things of the sort. Let me just say this song... is by far my favorite, including the episode. Sure, it's got problems it's own, but this extremely accurate portrayal of what my own situation with one of my parents just stole my entire soul. Yeah I got a bit of tears about to come out, BUT NOPE! NOT TODAY! I don't ever cry during shows or movies so if I ever get teary-eyed, YOU DID SOMETHING. THAT SOMETHING BEING GOOD. This episode was emotional and connected with me on a deep level that I dont think any film has ever done to me, which is weird because I've been actively trying to find one, any one that does. Then to find it in an indie company from a creator who has achieved the dreams that I myself want to one day? That's fucking amazing.

FORESHADOWING! FROESHADOWING! FORESHADOWING! VAGGIE EX-ANGEL THEORY MUST BE CANON AND IF ITS NOT I WILL TEAR MYSELF LIMB FROM LIMB WITH A CROWBAR. LETS GO TO HEAVENNN!!! TOMORROW! BECAUSE THE DAY I PUBLISH THIS WILL BE TOMORROW(FOR YOU TODAY) BUT TOMORROW FOR YOU ILL POST THE NEXT WHAT I CAUGHT SHENANIGANS AGAIN! SEE YA!

[ask-indigo-park-swapped]

here it is!! my part of the art trade between me and @cocoapowderpictures where we draw a piece based on each others Indigo Park AU!!!

since i love murder mysteries, and in particular, the Benoit Blanc and the recent Poirot movies, i thought itd be really cool to try drawing Cast Chronicles in the style of a movie poster!! since im also using my achromatic askblog style, i decided to go wild with it since i didn't have to worry about colours as much.

cocoapowderpictures's part of the art trade was already posted and looks cool as shit check it out here!! (if you like my art and want to see more also check out my main blog @niftukkun !!)

some details im proud of under the cut!! :

- if you look in the penumbra shadows you can see bits of foreshadowing!! (haha. foreshadow.) since we still dont know much of how lloyd and salem dies i decided to keep them vague and not actually alluding to the actual death part, just to them in general. finley and mollie however do reference what we know of their deaths - rambley and salem are the only ones whos faces are completely covered and that was very intentional since they are implied to have known something the others dont :)) i love scary ominous foreshadowing - lloyds face is also somewhat turned away because as the second to last to disappear i think hed have some idea of whats happening. maybe not the full or even accurate idea but i think hes clever enough to have known hed also disappear sooner or later - my very clever use of red!! initially i didn't want to use colour at all but when the piece was close to done i tested putting red on the edges and really liked it so i decided to put in some symbolism!! a story whose name is covered in blood (as murder mysteries often are) and clueless characters in the dark, only seeing hints of the truth until its too late

heres some of the initial sketches cause i think theyre funny

[the-alien-stage]

This round has left me speechless. I watched it twice, with subtitles on and one without and so now let's get straight into the analysis. My hands are still shaking.

To begin, the human experimentation isn't as touched on as we thought, however it DOES foreshadow what the fuck is gonna happen in Luka's round. That, at least, seems to be what they are building up to.

This melody they have eeriely resembles what Ivan had for his round, which makes this all the more tragic. The lyrics themselves, however, are a mix of the two boys. Both of them had love songs, but Till's portion is more rough around the edges with it like his song while Ivan is straight to the point.

While they don't focus on human experimentation, it does seem to look like there was an intermission phase where both of the boys were advertised. This shows a soft moment between the two as Till lays unconscious and Ivan huddles up to him and does a very awkward cuddle.

Now, getting to the part where we all kind of lost our shit. Ivan sees the scoreboard off screen, looks at his mic and the Till and throws it as he walks to Till and makes out with him. This isn't an exaggeration, as a kiss implies one but he does multiple.

Till at first doesn't realize what is happening, he is still very much traumatized and zoned out over what happened to Mizi. Even the aliens that are caring for him seem to be hanging it over him. Whether they know his feelings for her or are just doing it because he is another contestant, who knows.

However, once he gets a handle on things, he pushes Ivan away who comes right back. This is when Ivan "chokes" Till and this, I took note of. Ivan does a specific hold, a safe-choke hold, when choking somebody that isn't actually choking the person. He purposely does this to protect Till and to fool the audience. This is when he begins to get shot at, the entire time his eyes are on Till.

I think it's also important to mention that they are wearing black and white, complete contrasts. However, it mimics Sua and Mizi who had the same fate. Sua and Ivan even had an interaction before all of this at Anakt Garden where Ivan made fun of her wanting to sacrifice herself for Mizi, and yet he shows himself to be a hypocrite as he smiles at Till before closing his eyes one last time.

Till has advanced to the next round to go against Luka and quite frankly, I'm terrified on how it's going to end. Mizi is a peace keeper but Luka was able to push her to violence. Till also has a personal vendetta against the blond for pushing Mizi. This won't end well.

Finally, for those that didn't watch till the end (HA), Dewey and Isaac are freaking out as their walkie-talkie system seems to be going off because Hyuna got injured. Mizi is fretting over her as she tries to stop the blood flow but it does seem that they have gotten caught.

Theory wise, I'm going to think that Hyuna is going to make Mizi a. Run or b. Hide to protect her as she gets taken away, and that's going to get her into Round 7.

Okay bye, I haven't emotionally recovered from Round 6 sorry pookies

[its-chelisey-stuff]

everybody's favorite scene was the ending (and I mean, what a cliffhanger!! is it saturday yet???) but my heart stayed here and some of my tears Also, the way he looks at her this whole scene aaaaaaahhhhh I'm melting!

so many what-ifs, so much things left unsaid over the years, misunderstandings piling up, so much resentment! ouch! it just hurts so much but at least they're finally having this conversation and hey, better late than never.

I love their opinions on what has happened, because it highlights their insecurities and biggest regrets. HyunWoo wishes he would have done better in their marriage, knows he's at fault. While HaeIn wishes they never married, so they could've prevented all the pain both of them went through, especially HyunWoo. He doesn't want to hear it, because for him there's only been one woman. And for her, there's only been one man, too. But now she knows how alone and miserable he felt fo so long, he wanted to divorce her.

I have come to appreciate and love Hyunwoo a lot more than I did at the beginning. It was easy for me to hate him right away because of the way he conducted himself and the things he did. But the guy was on autopilot, survival mode and just like he said, he'd forgotten what was important. Dislike, resentment and indifference took over.

!!!!! So obsessed by how this implies he would've been still thinking of her, even if they broke up, always wondering about the what-if. He believes she wouldn't have done the same (and this is clearly her fault lol my queen is not without flaws) but it wouldn't have been like that at all. She was as obsessed, and we know she still believed (or wanted to) in the strenght of her marriage even when it was already crumbling down. *Sighs* They're just so stupid.

I look at this man that we have now on ep 10, and realize just how much he's changed back to the man who married HaeIn, completely in love. The man who chased her, confessed to her and promised to take care of her and her family if it was necessary (oh dear, I never thought that'd be a foreshadowing) and even after divorcing, he stays true to his word.

Aaaaah it's just so sad, and so regretful, but they both were such idiots about it. So childish too, in a way. I get that they were angry and dealing with loss (btw the miscarriage started this, but then little by little misunderstandings started piling up... it was death by a thousand cuts) but they should have fought harder for their marriage. Fight for each other, even while upset. Hate is not the opposite of love, it's indiference.

Despite everything, Hyunwoo took the Hong family to his hometown and gave them shelter, food and a place to sleep. Warmth. The very warmth he didn't get to experience in three years of marriage, living with them. But it doesn't matter, because while I know he is doing this for HaeIn, it's also for them. He sees them as family. And I mean, to be fair, they also gave him a job with a big salary, a big house, expensive getaways with the family and they trusted him with a LOT of legal shit. Not to mention, the italian suits and the Mercedez Benz lol

In times like this, I really really hate her terminal illness and find it so unncessary lol Because they can take back Queens, put EunSeong behind bars and his crazy mother or whatever. They can still fix their relationship. But if her time is indeed running out, it makes all the more tragic all that time they lost. And it would be horrible if at the end, HaeIn dies. So unfair, as well. Because then, what was all this for?

[mischief-lies-and-stories]

Analyzing Loki's Love Interests (Canon and Foreshadowed and Not-So-Canon)

As always, spoilers for Loki, a multitude of comics, and the MCU. I'm focusing on primarily canon love interests and implied to potentially become canon love interests, with one glaring exception because I think they deserve to be included here.

Women Love Interests

Amora: leads Loki on and then betrays him (Where Mischief Lies)

Lorelei: betrays Loki in Agent of Asgard at least twice (and she's made appearances as Loki's love interest in other comics, too, but none that I've read). It should also probably be noted that Amora and Lorelei are sisters and both have also dated Thor in other comics.

Wanda: brief but a bit of a lead-on in Scarlet Witch 8. I wouldn't say she betrayed him, though.

Leah: they're children, mostly, so there's not explicitly romantic scenes. But Kid Loki is the reincarnation of his previous self, and Leah is a clone of Hela (which makes things weird, since Hela is inconsistently acknowledged to be Loki's daughter in the comics). Leah essentially betrays him, too. (Journey into Mystery)

Sylvie: Of course, she betrays Loki at the end of season one. On the one hand, it may be worse, because unlike all but Lorelei (of the comics I know), she led him on to the point of actually kissing him. Now, I will concede that she doesn't actually lead him on throughout the show (by my definition at least), so in this, she's certainly better than Amora or Leah. I think a few times she tried letting him down gently. But if you only look at the point of betrayal, I believe she and Lorelei are the only ones who kissed him, though Amora may have, too.

Men Love Interests

Theo: The only canon male love interest on the list; trusts Loki, believes he's better than the stories say, sympathizes with him and his feelings of being outcasted. He's courageous and determined and snarky, but with Loki he's ultimately soft.

Mobius: He knows Loki, from an academic standpoint, probably better than anyone. And then he gets to know Loki off paper, so to speak, and it rewrites everything he thought he understood, about this specific person, about himself, about reality itself. But his compassion remains, his kindness remains, and he directs it toward Loki when he needs it most. And he discovers he believes in Loki, and his potential, and his ability to dismantle everything everyone expects of him, at a moment when Loki's not even sure he believes in himself. And the trailer for season two means one of two things: One, if the Mobius from the finale is not our Mobius, then Mobius very quickly moves heaven and earth (or rather, alternate timelines) to get to his Loki. Or two, if the Mobius from the finale is a memory-wiped Mobius, then even when he doesn't know Loki, he's still determined to help him. (Or Loki was able to restore his memories, but even in the finale we can still see this care Mobius takes with a frightened stranger.)

Thor: I think the way Thor feels for Loki is clear (whether you interpret it as brotherly alone or romantic). In Ragnarok, you have his line "I thought the world of you." And you have the many times in the comics Thor claims him as his own. "You are my brother, and I love you." In Original Sin, it's so interesting to hear their language very subtly cause a conflict between them. When referring to Angela, Thor always says "our sister" and Loki always says "your sister." To the point that Thor actually calls him out on it once, though I don't think Loki really addresses it. And I think Loki's wording is an attempt more to distance himself from Odin and all the shit he caused, and now Freyja, too, after the betrayal of the All-Mother in securing Old Loki's promised future at the cost of Loki's penance and redemption. And then you have that moment in King Thor, my favorite comic panel, when the Necrosword is swallowing them in darkness and in the very last moment they reach for each other. Because Thor will never give up on Loki. And, try as he might, Loki cannot hate Thor. Not permanently.

I feel like Loki's writers, when they give him these women lovers, almost do it to spite him. They think this is the only type of woman to catch Loki's attention and that haha, Loki's been outmatched by a girl (if misogynist) or diva (if they worship the ground this woman walks on). This idea that the only interesting or believable romantic subplot for Loki is with a woman who will ultimately turn on him. Once again, in all aspects of his narrative, Loki's stuck doing the same thing over and over again. Except this seems like the one thing all writers are willing to let him keep up the cycle, and be seemingly okay with upholding the cycle.

In the case of canon, an argument could be made about this kind of woman (and all of these women are very different except in that they betray him eventually) being Loki's type. There's a rather sick sense of irony in being aware of the narrative, yet being so attracted to a certain quality that he keeps sowing the seeds of his own destruction even in knowing how it's going to end.

Of course, like I've said, this doesn't mean Loki can't love a woman. This doesn't mean I don't want Loki to ever have a girlfriend. I just want Loki to have a love interest for once who isn't going to hurt him before the novel or issue or season ends. I don't even care what gender they are. I just want him to be loved. Because he keeps insisting that he isn't and that he's incapable of it. And I'm tired of that story. And I think he might be, too.

[dwellordream]

thoughts on HOTD, episode 7, season 2 (spoilers below)

I like the point that Aemond's advisors fear him, to everyone's detriment- they're so terrified of his rages that no one wants to tell him the Blacks are gathering dragonseeds. Aegon was a terrible king, but the courtiers ran roughshod over him because while he could be cruel, he wasn't very intimidating to anyone save servants and smallfolk. Aemond is a terrible king because he impulsively makes decisions based on fear- either his own terror of being seen as weak and ineffectual, or to make other people fear and respect him- or both.

Daemon and Oscar Tully's dynamic is that of a bitter, washed-up middle-aged substitute teacher who hates kids, and the overachieving, humorless star student who has zero respect for him. I love it. Also, I think the actor playing Oscar would make a great Robb Stark. I can dream. I do think it's good that the show delves into the ramifications of the Blackwoods' war-criming it up on Bracken lands at Daemon's encouragement- now the river lords have nothing but contempt for Daemon, and the Blackwoods are reviled as honorless thugs. It really gets across Daemon's inherent scumminess- he used Willem Blackwood as a violent pawn, and is perfectly willing to throw him under the bus after the fact.

At this point I think Daemon's Harrenhal hallucinations have run their course. The show could milk it for 3/4 episodes, and I was fine with that, but they're overused by the penultimate episode of this season, and not revealing anything we didn't already know about Daemon. I'm not entirely against Daemon's Riverlands arc the way some fans are- like it or not, at this point during the canonical Dance, he's not doing much. But I think the fever dreams are much more effective in smaller doses. There's nothing else to explore in regards to the Daemon/Viserys relationship. Daemon craves power but has no interest in the mundane reality of ruling. We all know this by now.

I don't get why Rhaenyra's children are depicted being shunted off with so few guards in the Vale- are we supposed to intuit that Jeyne Arryn literally does not give a shit what happens to them, or is this foreshadowing that they will be attacked on the road? It's not clear whether the show is going to do the canonical Battle of the Gullet or not, but again, I wouldn't be surprised if they depict Joffrey dying in it instead of Jacaerys, in order to give his character more screen time and development in Season 3.

I don't agree with the fans calling Jace hypocritical. Yes, he was all-for recruiting other legitimately born nobles of vague Targaryen descent to become dragon riders a few episodes ago. But empowering the actual smallfolk is another matter, and Jace is naturally insecure about the rumors regarding his birth and parentage. If any commoner bastard can tame a dragon, what does that say about him? He's right that Rhaenyra's succession will in all likelihood be challenged, even if she wins the war. Being a dragonrider no longer makes Jace special. And he is perfectly entitled to be angry with Rhaenyra for the legacy she left him. No, she didn't deserve to be forced into a marriage against her will, and she didn't 'owe' anyone legitimate children. But her choices have consequences and they've made Jace's life very difficult.

I actually enjoy Ulf's character here. He's a braggart and an arrogant idiot, but he's not delusional, and I think his back-and-forth with his friends about whether he has what it takes to claim a dragon is fucking hysterical. He's the typical burn-out former party boy, now in his late 30s, who's beginning to realize nothing great is coming around the bend for him.

I also enjoy their take on Hugh. It's debatable whether Hugh is implying that his mother was literally Saera Targaryen, or rather a bastard daughter of Jaehaerys, but either way, what a way to stick it the Conciliator, who was by all accounts a horrible father and husband who treated his wife like a broodmare and his daughters like shit. Hugh is mourning the loss of his daughter and has nothing left to lose. He wants revenge for the basic rights he was denied as a commoner. He's arguably one of the most heroic characters in the show.

I think the issue with Alicent in this episode is that despite this season being so slow-moving, they've sped-run her disillusionment so quickly that now that she's clearly regretful of encouraging Aegon to take the throne and disgusted by Aemond, the writers don't know what to do with her except have her brood. I think it would have been wiser to actually let her express some anger and grief over the loss of Jaehaerys- even if she wasn't close with her grandchildren- rather than to have her floating around nihilistically. At least give her something to motivate herself beyond 'my life is ruined'.

I do enjoy them showing that the dragonkeepers have developed their own ideology and politics. They idolize old Valyria to such a degree that they cannot tolerate the idea of even letting dragonseeds approach dragons, and it's foreshadowing of how the Targaryen legacy is doomed to cannibalize itself. Rhaenyra has to loosen the 'standards' of what makes an ideal dragon rider to gain support for the war- but at the same time, she can't stretch too far, or risk open rebellion from any lowborn dragonrider. If dragons are what makes a king or queen, then does being of noble blood really matter?

I wish they'd had Rhaenyra go down the self-righteous 'the gods will it so' route sooner, but I think it's a good contrast with Alicent to show Rhaenyra becoming inspired by the thought that all is preordained and that her own destiny is to be a great queen, while Alicent has lost faith in her religion, her family, and her own choices. I don't think Rhaenyra is insane or deluded here, but she is able to justify greater and greater sacrifices because she now truly believes she is fated to rule and that Westeros will crumble existentially without stable Targaryen leadership. She believes it to such a degree that she risks her own life with Vermithor in order to show her power before the smallfolk.

I think the ending scene was very well done, Ulf's gleeful flight over King's Landing and Aemond's genuine panic when he realizes he is no longer in control of the dragon power in Westeros was perfect. Overall, I enjoyed this episode more than episode 6, since shit actually happened. I'd give it a 7.5/10.

[fraudulent-cheese]

For the ramble prompts, 1. And 7

You're very lucky as i actually have access to my computer currently!!!

I'll pick 7, as i've already seen some people point out the differences between the twins but NO Staci analysis posts!

So. Staci. What the fuck is up with her. Why did she think lying about her family on a consistent basis and not helping in challenges would work? How exactly did that make her think it was the best she could do, to the point she thought she "was doing so well" (quoting her at her own elimination) after that first day?

I think Staci's goal while on the show was to win via social game - or at least, make friends on the show. Her lying could be due to either 1. wanting attention from them, so she started making shit up to make herself look more important or 2. she actually believes what she says and just wants to impress people with her family history. I don't think i can conclusively say which one canon's leaning into? Realistically, her exaggerating her family's achievements is the more likely option, but her actually believing them would be more tragic.

HOWEVER. Just looking at her one episode of content + her audition tape isn't enough. We need to look at her contestant biography.

YEAH IM GOING THERE! If you weren't aware, for the first 5 (6?) seasons of TD as well as TDRR, there were official biographies for every contestant depending on the season, all of which were available on the official (now defunct) Total Drama Website. I'd consider the information featured in all but two of these biographies canon, as they either came from the official website (ROTI + WT), the Teletoon site (TDAS + TDPI) or from Total Drama: Totally Interactive! Im unsure about the canonicity of the Action bios and the TDRR blurbs (because yeah. they're just blurbs. sad.) as they were released only on Cartoon Network's site and the Action bios have... inconsistencies with other sources, let's say.

Thankfully, Staci was lucky enough to be a gen 2 contestant, so she gets the most detailed contestant answers biography model, so i can get alooot more info out of them.

I'll get the smaller observations out first:

In her last answer, she mentions her great-great-aunt Mildred and how she "told the first lie." I could look into how this could be Staci's least favorite relative (as she does seem to value truth/honesty), but also what if that's Blaineley? Her legal name's Mildred after all! It would be really funny! We need more "Staci and her great aunt Mildred" content STAT

She seems to really like pop music

The only answer not related to lying or to her family is the First Job question, instead it's foreshadowing to her elimination

Now, for a larger one: She barely talks about herself in these answers. Sure, she answers the questions, but she spends the vast majority of her time talking about her family instead. She manages to link the fucking Favorite Color and Food question to them! Her love of her family is made very clear here. Knowing about them is literally what she picks out as her Best Quality!

...but only her distant relatives. No mention of closer grandparents, sisters, nephews/nieces, aunts/uncles, and only a single indirect mention of a mother. Only distant, mostly older family members and cousins. And she had to have met some of them! Her Craziest Dream answer describes a dream where her great-great-uncle Charlie was telling her lies, implying they've met and talked before! So where's the mention of her closer family members?

I'd say it's because if those family members are further away, or if they're dead, it's harder to fact-check what she's saying so her peers wouldn't find out it's at best an exaggeration and at worst an outright lie.

I think the answers that show this the most well are the Best Memory and Most Embarrassing School Moment, her presentation on an older family member and realizing the topic was a lie.

This feels like something that would happen earlier in life to me? Maybe primary school level, or even earlier. If she made her entire class project on it, she had to believe in it, right? Despite how absurd that notion is! This indicates to me that Staci was/is very naive, and her love for her family started in childhood. She seems very interested in her own family's history, to the point of exaggerating their accomplishments; maybe her great-great-aunt Lois created a plate design patent or her Great-great-uncle Jason simply looked into the history of the letter E, so either Staci exaggerated them to seem more interesting, or her family members would exaggerate these achievements at family reunions as jokes or something and little Staci just believed them.

Im also unsure on her family being good or not... her Dream Date answer is apparently Richard Nixon because she'd want to learn more about his life, specifically citing that he "reminds [her] of [her] third cousin once removed, Andrew." If you know anything about recent US political history, that is not a good thing. This also shows she has some interest in politics/recent history/other people's lives! This girl does have interests!!!

And this is where i bring up the Favorite Movie answer. The movie it's based on, according to the wiki, is "The Invention of Lying", a 2009 movie. skimming the Wikipedia article, it's a romantic comedy film about a guy with the ability to lie in a world where people can only tell the truth. He first abuses this power for selfish gain but in the romantic resolution decides to not lie to benefit himself and lets his love interest actually choose to be with him.

I think the reason why Staci likes this movie so much is the romantic resolution; this is what she'd want to happen if/when she'd reveal how her family's achievements are either fake or exaggerated to her friends, and they would stay. That she'd get people interested in her with those lies, before actually being honest with them when they're closer... But it never happened with anyone on the show.

TLDR, i need this girl to realise she doesn't need to lie so much about her family for others to like her, as hiding behind masks won't get you any real friends. Something that applies to the majority of the roti girls, actually.

[plantwriting]

Okay i have now finished relistening to all of blood in the bayou and I /didn’t/ cry (got close when rand hugged kian but i stayed strong) but here are some thoughts about the final episode!

The reveal with Rolan is still so fucking good. Like. Charlie did such an amazing job foreshadowing it without ever actually giving it away, which is exactly what you want from a plot twist, it’s phenomenal and makes so much sense in universe as well

Charlie describing the kian monster as “the thing that once was kian stone” numerous times is like… insane to me /pos. Because yeah, it really was. It was kian. It wasnt the original, but it was as much kian as rolan was rolan. And they couldnt forget that even if it would have been easier to

Okay sure focusing on keeperschampion for a second I GUESS (/silly i promise i love them) rolan jumping in front of rand? Rolan at 1 hp risking death to protect rand? He loves him so much and its so obvious and whether that’s platonic or romantic i DONT CARE they’re just so special

Kian’s corpse and coming back and shit… god i just so desperately need to understand how aware the corpses are. Because they’re not fully dead. Charlie makes that very clear, they pulse and move and even if they could never be described as alive anymore, they are not dead either. And him describing the sound kian makes as “pleading”? God fucking ow

Rand giving Kian his jacket… Rand hugging Kian… god ow ow OW /pos

Okay to be. Somewhat salty for a second. It genuinely feels like some bitb fans just did not actually listen to episode four with how they treat kian. Like its insane to me that people are able to reduce his character to just comedic relief rockstar or whatever when he lied to his friends for over a decade so they wouldnt think differently of him and you dont even need to read into that too deeply to see the self hatred and trust issues that clearly implies, and. Listen. Keeperschampion fans. I get you. I get it. But PLEASE give some attention to Kian still??? Like he’s 1. Canonically bisexual and 2. CANONICALLY HAS A THING FOR ROLAN. Like that’s not. How can you write a queer bitb story and ignore those facts? I dont get it. Like i just dont. Okay rant over i swear i love rand and rolan and i think keeperschampion is a wonderful ship im just so tired of kian being constantly overlooked

Anyways yes most of these will focus on kian what did you expect. Kian hoping to find some kind of answers or help from religion when everything is happening. Like yes he turner to brother niles (is that how you spell that name idk) was because he was like more stable than most others but /still/. That guy has NOT gotten over being raised by cultist parents and it absolutely still affects his worldview even if he probably wishes it didn’t

Also i use the above as proof that whatever cult kians parents are in is a christian one. Like. Obviously not very traditional since hippies but still. I also just really want to go with that since i feel like the default assumption for most people is that theyre like wicca or neo-pagan or something similar and im just. Im so tired of paganism being the default cult religion in media. Like. Please. I just want to worship aphrodite and finnish nature spirits in peace without my religion being constantly combined with cults and shit. Well shit i went on another rant. Sorry guys i swear i dont mean to be this negative all the time sometimes shit just happens

I want to write an extremely painful hurt no comfort fic of kian getting caught and killed by the creatures while escaping from the community house.. i want to write it so bad…

Rolan sacrificing himself for rand AGAIN. Like bro we get it youre suicidal and in love with your best friends fucking chill

The encounter with the queen… rand planning to fucking suicide bomb her, it pretending to be rachel (at least thats how I interpreted it) to manipulate rand, the hive just being a hivemind of ecofascists, kian just fucking exploding, Rolan sacrificing himself for rand AGAIN AGAIN, the end god the end rand and rachel “you changed” “you didn’t”… pain

Thats. Probably it. Yeah. Im feeling fine and will now go lie down for an hour to process things (and. Maybe. Afterwards. I will write something because i have way too much inspiration)

[katapotato55]

a list of things to consider when Deltarune ch 3-5 drops

its almost undertale's anniversary, how about i make a nice little refresher of major things that will more than likely be addressed in the next few chapters shal we? These are kiiiiiinda maybe guaranteed with ch 3-5 but who knows, toby fox might pull a 180 with the writing.

- the hell is going to happen to berdly? is he dead? is he fallen? if he is dead, will he dust like in undertale or are the rules different in this universe? is this just a weird magic coma?

-Noelle's mental state in both snowgrave and pacifist timelines.

- the fact Kris just kinda robbed a public library. as more and more dark worlds will open between chapters, there is going to be more places available. will people notice the little munchkin committing low stakes robbery? -Is Kris going to drag shit from their house to the dark world at the school ? ? ? will Toriel notice???

- Dark worlds at night. there was foreshadowing by Seam. this might get interesting.

- Mettaton asking you to give them something entertaining because it is boring. -whatever the hell Onion San is on about.

- the guy who tells you to practice your knocking.

-the fuck is toriel going to react to ralsei?

-the fact that it is implied that dark worlds are a representation of the struggles of the lightners, ch 3 will absolutely give us a LOT of context about kris and toriel's life. At LEAST Toriel's life at the bare minimum.

-The object inside of Asriel's dresser that depends on what save slot you have. you just turned the house into a dark world, something very very interesting™ is going to happen IF it is possible to go up there. -Toriel's reaction to the magic teas. (possibly) -the next secret boss and egg location. (can't forget!)

-"Mike" and "Tenna". unpopular opinion: i do not care who mike is. Everyone is getting all excited and speculative and i am just like "oh ok neat". If he is a secret boss: neat! why not! I don't have strong opinions on them sorry lol.

-What is the "Weird path" for this chapter and the other two chapters? what the hell is the player going to be able to do to Toriel? what are the implications of the weird paths for Kris? will there even be a weird path for the upcoming chapters?

-"The entirety of Undertale takes place within Toriel's kitchen". (is link to a reddit theory). Undertale? at this time of year at this time of day localized entirely within your kitchen? jokes aside: Ch 3 will more than likely confirm or deny this theory being true. And if this theory IS true i am going. to flip. my shit. a part of me wants it to be dis-proven because I love undertale and I feel like the implications could cheapen the story. Also I hate ANY notion of chara being related to deltarune because I want this to be a unique story on the other hand THE IMPLICATIONS HOLEY SHIT. this is going to be an interesting one.

-Suzie Godzilla. "uh Kat you don't know for sure this is going to- " it's going to happen.

-Confirming or Denying "chess theory". Personally I have no strong opinions on chess theory, the chess theory just kinda seems like a neat easter egg if it were proven true. -Possibly confirming or denying "universal mother theory" or adding onto it. there is a video on you tube about it. A part of me likes the idea that the Antagonists of each dark world can apply to any none, but idk.

Things I want to see but is more than likely not guaranteed to happen

-Ralsei and Kris character development

-more information on Asriel.

-honestly just more information on who Kris is as a person and learning more about them.

-how Kris REALLY feels about berdly.

-and Noelle why not.

-Why Kris (or whoever the fuck is causing kris to act like this) opened a fucking dark fountain. there are many reasons against kris being the knight, the biggest one being how the hell did a dark fountain open while Berdly and Noelle were at the library, while kris was still at school for example. but regardless if Kris is the knight or not, why the hell would Kris start a dark fountain after the snowgrave incident? and if Kris isn't doing that, then who is doing it and why??

-SAN'S FUCKING BROTHER PLEASE LET ME SEE PAPYRUS. the only reason this is in "might not happen" is because i can see toby fox making us wait until the end of the game to see paps or something.

-ANYTHING involving Asgore and what happened in his job and the divorce

-hints about Des? maybe?

-How kris feels about the player (especially if it considers the players past actions to Kris's response. ).

-Or hell more information on if the player is a character in this story. Is the player the soul ? is Kris the soul ? Its unlikely because there are many points proven that you are making Kris do things they do not like, but the "ripping out the soul" shenanigans are also too fishy to make sense.

[postal-ech]

So, I'm about Hour 8 into Lisa the Undone, currently on Chapter 4

I think my favorite thing about this fan game so far is the fact that your choices matter in affecting the way Buddy acts in this game, especially with the one bit I am currently hyperfixated on to hell and back

Spoilers ahead for those that have yet to play Lisa the Undone. Please for the love of God check this fan game out if you ever get the chance, it's sincerely well worth your time.

SO, Lisa the Undone, probably my highest rated Lisa fan game so far, and it's all because of one thing:

The Disco Elysium inspired monologues.

What the hell do I mean by that?

Essentially you have 3 "statuses" or states that Buddy has to balance. One involves how social Buddy is with the rest of the world, one is how violent she can be, and one is how much exploration she does in the world.

With the first one, it starts off subtly. You won't really see any difference with the social stat until you get to about the 2nd or 3rd tier, and that's when you finally get The Voices(tm)

Essentially they are what you'd get from Disco Elysium's stat monologues, they're voices in Buddy's head that comment or suggest actions here and there that kinda break the fourth wall a bit. It's very well written for a Lisa fan game and the writers here pull it off in a really engaging way, at least if you ask me.

Over time though they start to affect the choices you can make for Buddy. Go too far into the social stat and soon Buddy starts to interpret things that NPCs may be implying. They could be 100% paranoid delusion...or they could actually be foreshadowing things, implying things that YOU may know if you're a really big Lisahead but to Buddy may mean something totally different. Eventually you go so far into this stat that suddenly even corpses and inanimate objects start to have dialogue that may or may not mean something to you.

It's PEAK Disco Elysium and I love it so fucking much, I adore the idea of Buddy tapping into some supernatural type shit that may be borderline insane until you realize "wait what the fuck this is actually foreshadowing", it's not a blatant ripoff of Disco Elysium but a genuinely good inspiration taken from it, if that makes any sense.

The way you can write that stuff for Buddy and really get into her headspace with this kind of dialogue, and also make it so interesting to read that it makes you wanna push it further and further is DEFINITELY something I love about Lisa the Undone so far. All this content you can get in this fan game is entirely optional, even the three states Buddy has to balance, but God it's so well worth it seeing how the game reacts to your choices and the resulting dialogue that comes with it.

I may post more on this, cause I am hyperfixated to hell and back on this fan game, but god

I really wanna see it pop off like Lisa the Pointless, this is a gem worth playing.

That's all I got for now with this blog post, but I'll leave one more but of dialogue that I've enjoyed, the peak so far:

DISCO

NEVER

DIES

[team-frightfur]

Imo, Shark vs IV round 1 (where Tron eggs IV on into throwing so he can brainwash Shark) is the peak of Zexal. Great duel, great animation, great characters, great buildup. It also establishes IV as a wet, beat-up, yet rabid and feral kitten. Just the sight of their raggedy fur and watery eyes makes you want to reach out and pet them but, the instant you get close enough, they latch onto your fingers with their teeth and try to kill you.

Shark vs IV round 2, otoh, is pretty bad. It's good in theory, but lacking in execution. Basically, Shark is having an identity crisis over being Nasch vs being Shark, so IV duels him to try and 'bring him back'.

This is actually really good because it makes the duel a redemptive foil to R1. IV was abused but, as Tron's son, was simultaneously deeply dedicated to his abuser. As a result, he was forced to bend himself painfully out of shape to (try and) please Tron. In reality, though, his efforts to please Tron were bad for everyone involved. III, IV, V, and Tron ALL suffered for not standing up to their abuser.

Shark isn't abused, but he IS loyal to his past life's soldiers, kingdom, and the Barian world. OTOH, he also clearly hates the thought of hurting his friends, including IV. As a result, he, too, is bending himself out of shape (and into Nasch). Thus, IV trying to 'bend him back' is his way of thanking Shark.

I love this! In theory! Just a few issues.

First off, IV keeps on talking about friendship. He and Shark are, like, barely friends. They've duelled together Once.

Secondly, it seems like IV lost all his personality traits along with his villainy. This is fair IF you consider his sadism as a coping mechanism (he was lashing out from his father's abuse and trying to feel powerful/in control/ worthwhile) since it would frame his new niceness as healing. Thing is, even if that WAS the case, having IV recover offscreen is extremely underwhelming. Have that shit happen onscreen! Show him struggling with his sadism! Don't Yuri him!

Thirdly, having IV die after failing to reach Shark comes off as more meanspirited than tragic because it wastes IV as a character. This guy had the best duel in all of Zexal, dropped off the face of the earth for 50 eps, came back for (1) tag duel against a Jellyfish Man, and then got killed by Shark. III and V don't even grieve him too heavily, they just pretend to mourn so they can give Yuma a pep talk!

Anyway, Here's Stuff We Needed in Zexal: I Can't Believe They Did IV Like That Edition

1. Shark having his own weird barian flashback dreams of his past as early as Zexal I. This not only matches Rio and foreshadows his past life as Nasch, but also allows the writers to develop his relationship with Dumon, his men, and his kingdom.

2. Rio should have been conscious during her first coma (the one IV caused), causing her to develop an emotional dependence on Shark. Since their parents are dead, Shark is her lifeline. Once he gives up on her, she's finished. This explains why she switches to being Merag so easily. For years, 'I go where Shark goes' has been her reality and she needs to unlearn that.

(I know that Rio is implied to switch to being Merag first but, in canon, she has, like, no reason to do that. Which is weak.)

(If you want to make things even rougher, make Shark's chronic class skipping a result of his trying to support Rio. This makes her feel guilty for 'ruining his high school life', further encouraging her to sacrifice her own 'life' as Rio for him.

3. A joke episode after Rio's second coma (from being possessed by Abyss) where IV turns out to be visiting Rio in secret (but only when Shark isn't around). Shark finds out about this 'mystery visitor' and stakes out Rio's room for three whole days. When the inevitable confrontation happens, IV swears to Shark that he'll protect Rio alongside him, causing the boys to form a Rio Protection Squad. This not only leads nicely into their duel with Jellyfish Man, but also provides an opportunity to develop IV, III and V in a 'normal' setting.

Example: Shark gets into a motorbike accident on the way to the hospital. While Shark is fine, his locket breaks in the crash. IV finds it and has it fixed, returning it to Shark shortly afterwards. Then, to pay IV back since "I hate owing favours" Shark offers to spot IV for something.

(Bonus: this makes Shark's act of throwing away his pendant even stronger as, rather than throwing away his past with his parents (who are dead) he's throwing away his past with a living friend.)

IV proceeds to stare blankly. Years of Middle Child Syndrome, Deranged Revenge Schemes, and Severe Parental Abuse have made a 'normal life' feel foreign to him. As a result, he has no hobbies or preferences (aside from the...sadomasochism).

Cue an annoyed, tired, and weary Shark watching IV wander around an amusement park. Somehow, they end up duelling a clown.

Unbeknownst to them, III and V are both stalking the pair . III is happy to see that IV and Shark made up, while V recognises that, in failing to stand up to Tron, he failed III and IV as a brother (and Tron as a son). You know, the big theme of his duel with Kaito in Zexal I (Where Kaito is like 'It's because I still love my Dad that I have to punch him out of all this villain bullshit' and V is like 'you have such wisdom. I wish it wasn't too late to sock my dad...').

Ultimately, IV reveals that he hates amusement parks, causing Shark to push him into oncoming traffic. As a fight breaks out, III admits to V that he wanted to try out the rides with IV. V smiles and says he'll take them both sometime.

The implication is that IV liked the park but wanted something to hold over Shark, nodding to his social awkwardness, communication issues, and lingering sadistic tendencies.

4. A scene where, after IV dies, we see III and V genuinely grieve.

Example: Recall that III and V spent ages separated from V. Recall that, once V and Tron got them back, they were stuck in an abusive situation. Recall that they only escaped that situation like, 3 months ago. One way to communicate the tragedy of this is to have them flashback to happy moments, but all those happy moments are either from when III and IV are VERY young + the last three months. This visually hammers in the tragedy of the situation. V, in his eyes, wasted his time with IV. III, in his eyes, will never get to have a future with IV. IV, in trying to save Shark from going through the same pain as he went through (being bent out of shape) sacrificed the future with his brothers he was fighting for.

As for time, idk. Just. Cut the Tomato guy or someshit. There's so much useless filler in Zexal. if Zexal had HALF the planning power of Arc V they could EASILY have built up this plot.

Sorry, I just. Needed to rant. IV is my favourite character but he got done SO dirty.

[aroace-elgyem]

My ideas for a NPMD Pokémon AU:

Okay so I know I’m not the only one to do this (shoutout @brokecorviknight ) but I’ve had this idea kinda rattling around in my brain and had to write it down.

Pete would have a blipbug (it’s perfect, blipbug is like a Pokémon version of him). I rly like the idea that he doesn’t have any Pokémon (he’s just not rly that kinda guy, y’know?) until steph takes him out to catch his first Pokémon and they see a blipbug and she’s like ‘okay, you HAVE to catch that”.

Steph would have some kinda cool Pokémon. I’m settling on Scizor because I love drawing it and also I love the idea of them both having bug types <3

Ruth would have a Toedscool. It matches her mushroom sweater and also just kinda feels like a nerd Pokémon, y’know? Like it’s kind of a weird goober creature. I love toedscool (had one on my Violet team) so this is also just an excuse to draw more of it lol).

Ritchie I’m not actually totally set on, cause I wanted him to have a Pokémon that has kind of an ‘anime’ vibe but the only one I could really think of was lucario. Think about it, lucario has these aura attacks, it’s fighting type, and in smash bros it has that whole ‘gets stronger the more damage it takes’ which just oozes a shounen energy to me. Problem is, it feels too cool for Ritchie. Like, Ritchie’s Pokémon needs to be kinda toedscool tier in terms of coolness. Maybe it totally works in a ‘trying to hard’ kinda way, idk.

Okay so for Grace I’m gonna be totally transparent, this whole idea came up cause I saw fanart of what the characters teams would be and grace had 5 cute Mon and then a Yveltal. I love that concept, but I think Giratina works better cause it’s basically Pokémon Satan. She’d get Giratina post black book, before that her Pokémon would be Maushold, cause it’s cute, normal type, and it has this very family-values kinda energy (remember that bug that made it so it didn’t have an evolution animation and people memed the shit out of it cause like….what else does that imply if not sex??). Also the Pokédex says that the kids just sorta appear…which is hilarious and total feels like some shit grace would say.

Max has Gengar, it’s a kinda funny foreshadow/reference to him dying and I bet he uses his gengar to bully ppl/pull pranks.

I 100% wanna draw these at some point

[skitter-queen]

Noelle for the worm character bingo,

NOELLE GIRL I LOVE YOUUUUUU

shes SOOO good. every now and then i think about her and honestly she might be the best character in worm. theres sooo much going on with her arc -- tragic relationship with krouse, meat monster mutant, shard influence, alternate dimension derealization, Good At Strategy Because Of Video Games, simurgh plot, and whatever was going on before the simurgh plot (parent stuff, implied eating disorder) -- and this is all in, like, 3 arcs. before that shes just a spooky foreshadowed danger. its crazy. we needed more of her!!!!

i love the progression of her shard plotline. shes slowly losing herself, but really shes been gone for a while, but even the version of her thats entirely Not Her Anymore is still aware of that fact? like the shard-grown noelle still, on some level, finds it upsetting thats she's shard-grown..... aurgh. she should have been the ward protagonist

also love the thing with the travelers finding it hard to feel like earth bet is *real*. its this bizarre, surreal alternate reality where everything is so much more intense and shit is always happening and your introduction to this world was being yanked there by the simurgh and getting superpowers (or meat body powers) like. YEAH i can see why it might feel kinda dreamlike!!! i can see why noelle lets herself justify hurting people from earth bet. theyre not real. theyre inhabitants of this weird pseudo-fictional world. its narnia. its a nightmare planet. maybe youll wake up back home and none of this will have happened, but for now, sure, fuck em

[annkous]

Lesson 22 came out last night aaaaaAAAAA

They always catch me by surprise, I swear... It seems this time they're releasing lessons every 7 days instead of 10.

Anyways, lesson 22!

Previous lesson!

We start the day by going to the House of Lamentation again. Mammon, thank heavens, seems to be acting a bit more normal. So far, so good.

Instead of the usual dynamic of Luci and Mammon, we get Belphie being worried about him this time around. I love these brothers so much.

Even while we're busy taking care of the brothers and walking them to RAD, Solomon's words about the possibility of getting stuck here ring through our head. We can't catch a break.

Things are chill for now. They're reuniting with Diavolo to try and get ideas for future RAD events, and Mammon comes up with something to raise up funds and... maybe things aren't back to normal just yet.

I CALLED IT PREVIOUSLY I mean it wasn't really hard, was it jdshfd but yes. They're starting to be less subtle about this whole thing being about Mammon being the Avatar of Greed. Diavolo's father gets a mention (gasp) and they even drop a bit of foreshadowing about how the titles he bestowed upon them seem to be important.

We get sent to clean the library (whohoo) and we're atop of the stairs cleaning the top of a shelf. Your shoujo or fanfic senses might tingle a bit. I mean, we already got a sprained ankle scene.

And there, we find a book. Not any book. THE book. The one that tells the story at the beginning of Nightbringer: the one of the human and the demon.

Cue me screaming.

GODDAMMIT.

They all guess the demon in the story is Nightbringer, and Satan comments that he found a mention about Nightbringer in a Celestial Realm book about the Father of Demons. Apparently, Nightbringer was The First Demon to be "born."

This whole thing isn't working on Barbatos' favor about NOT being Nightbringer, let me tell you. If I remember correctly, we are told somewhere (either main story or an event/card, I forgot haha.....) that Barbatos wasn't exactly born: he just started existing. He didn't have a childhood, he just poofed into existence. That would fit the First Demon ever.

However, there's no more info he can give us for now. To match the sprained ankle energy from lesson 21, the ladder shakes when we move and we fall down to the ground, BUT LEVI COMES TO THE RESCUE AND CATCHES US and honestly it was really sweet. Then shit goes down.

The title is "what's come over mammon", so you can guess where this is going.

This brings og!OM flashbacks where he says something similar, but it's not in this way. In the og!OM if you remember, around the beginning after he's grown attached, he says he's the only one that wants to come to your rescue, and that you shouldn't call anyone else first, but he's in full "tsundere" mode, so people found it endearing. This is going down a different route, but because Greed has fully taken over him, to the point he's going to actually fight his brothers over you. We all know Mammon, and how he wouldn't do this seriously. It's obvious something's wrong.

Asmo being really angry is such a treat to see, though.

We try "stay" and it doesn't work, so we try to step in. It doesn't work, either. Mammon's so gone it gets to the point he tries to shove you if you step in.

Satan tries to use a curse-nullifying spell, but it doesn't work because it's not a curse. Beel can't hold Mammon, who has even transformed, for longer, so the only thing you all can think about is to book it.

Thankfully, you all find Lucifer on your escapade, who sees Mammon on your heels and knocks him out with one hit. Damn.

So Mammon's now knocked out, and you're all watching over him while storming ideas...

They're so right on the money. I'm so happy the whole Avatar of Greed was said outright. Also if helping Mammon implies making the pact, it means they're all probably going to go through this. They're a bit scared, though... And that's why I see mc trying to do anything so they don't go through the same thing Mammon just did, even if it means giving up the pacts for now.

In any case, they're worried about how they can possibly end up being taken over, just like Mammon...

:(

Lucifer comes to the rescue, saying he's spoken to Diavolo and that he's come up with an idea, so off we go. We get a bit more worried Belphie over his older brother as a treat before we leave, too.

According to Diavolo, the ones that can save Mammon are us (obviously) and Little D. No. 2 (what). Okay at first I was caught off-guard but then they dropped lore and I loved it and got hooked two sentences in. You know how the Little Demons have the Brother's qualities? Like, Little Demon of Greed, Little Demon of Pride, etc... all those little ones that are in the lower ranked cards? They get cool lore.

The Fairy King gets another mention! Solmare better not mention him too much, or people might want to see a design (it's me I'm people)

So apparently, every time a Demon is born, they can get a Little Demon counterpart, although it's extremely rare, yet according to Diavolo, every single one of the brothers has one, and those Little Demons are currently safe and sound working in the Demon Lord's Castle. Not for long, though, if the plot has its way LMFAO

This whole "mc entering Mammon's inner self to save him" is some Kingdom Hearts soriku kind of shit and honestly I live for it.

We have the option to consider sending one of the brothers instead, but we know Mammon has a special part of his heart reserved for us, regardless of where we stand with him, so in the end, we're the best option. I thought they'd send everyone together, since his brothers are also very important to Mammon, but maybe they'll play a role later. I want another Demon Brothers hug pile.

As a little add-on, Little Demon Number 2 is scared shitless of going into Mammon's mind, but the brothers staring very seriously at it plus us asking nicely (at least my option lol the other was "you've got self-esteem issues on par with levi" and I laughed way too much at that) make it fold pretty quickly pffft.

So we enter Mammon's mind in search of his inner self...

Of course it's the Celestial Realm HJDSFSF and the lesson ends just as someone (Mammon) is yelling "OUTTA THE WAY" near us.

Since this lesson was also short (9 battle stages and 8 story ones plus the extra), I went ahead and did the extra plus the hard mode. You also unlock a VIDEO CALL (AAAAAAA) but we'll see that one later.

The extra takes place as you're all walking to the library to clean it, talking about the 666 mysteries of RAD. Mammon is terrified, and admits he's been like that since Adam took over him.

Most options you get here are cute though lol (give him a laughing charm, a calming charm or prank him and make him more terrified) I have to try the laughing one. The calming one helps him and also makes everyone else ask for a charm as well.

The scene from hard mode is Barbatos looking around for Little D. No. 2. Clearly it's to bring it to the House of Lamentation, but Little D. is running away like a kid is running away from a parent thinking they're in for a scolding. Remember how Nightbringer is referenced as the Father of Demons? Okay it might be a bit of a reach but IT WOULD BE INCREDIBLE-

Anyways it gets found by Diavolo, who hands it over to Barbatos and gets dragged away to the House of Lamentation. Rip.

It's not over, though, because after finishing the hard mode, you also get a main story chat. We also still have to see the WW map situation, and actually both are related. I didn't realize though so I did the chat first and then the video call, but it made it funnier for me, so I'll put them as I read them.

Damn Solomon went STRAIGHT for his throat-

Note also the name he has saved Mammon as lol I love it. Between the German numbers in normal mode cards (this time we have Vier (Satan), Fünt (Asmo) and Sechs (Beel)) and this my nerd language lover is over the moon.

Well......... It was nice knowing poor Mammon. Seems like he has a contender about being greedy over you, too.

Okay but the fact that Mammon called MC's name when addressing Lucifer though that's actually pretty funny LMFAO

Then comes the video call, which is between Luke, Simeon and Solomon.

They're talking about Mammon, mostly because they're all worried about him, and Simeon lets slip that we are an important existence to Mammon, maybe even moreso than his own brothers, and Solomon latches to that piece of info while Luke begs Simeon to please stop talking... but it's too late. LMAO WELL. WE KNOW NOW WHO SPILLED THE BEANS TO SOLOMON.

rip Mammon........ oh Simeon what have you done...

Can't wait to see how the other siblings go through this mess and if we FINALLY get one pact out of this Our first pact AGAIN. And how we're gonna go on an inner-self adventure with their respective Little Demons. I don't like the way I'm wording this tbh JHDSFF

edit: LESSON 23 IS UP AAAA LET'S GO SAVE MAMMON