#anyway i hope to make more analysis posts..they are fun

[strawglicks]

GRAHAM PAYSER IS INSECURE AS HELL

So ive been thinking abt this for some time and i decided i needed to make a post about it bc people were SHOCKED when i pointed it out and like. Is this new???? I thought it was obvious . But if its not, thats what this post is for <3

heres why grahams super insecure actually

Need for Validation

So graham needs attention and validation from other people NONSTOP.

from asking flint to validate everything he just said

to waking up cathal so they'll agree with him

to just seeking people's attention in general.

He cannot just be content with himself on his own, he needs other people to constantly reassure him that he’s right. He claims to be confident but isn’t satisfied with just himself, he needs other people to fill that void

Projecting

The ending cutscene is the biggest case of Graham projecting onto other people AND one of the biggest points where his insecurity shows.

He is EXHAUSTED from his own fight but he can't handle the failure, so he flips everything he's feeling onto the toons instead.

He spends this whole cutscene realizing he's lost and DESPERATELY trying to cover it up because he can't admit defeat, which reeks of insecurity by itself.

It opens with him realizing he's lost and immediately trying to cover up the fact he's upset about it.

He tries to flip the situation and make it seem like the toons lost the fight and puts them down for it because he doesn't want to put HIMSELF down. He doesn't even allow himself to fail, he has to be perfect.

He also straight up lies here. Graham was putting his ALL into this fight, proven by how he collapses from exhaustion at the end. There are no other forms, he wasn't getting started. He was trying his very best and still failed and that destroys him. Again, he can't handle the failure so he just. Lies at this part.

More projecting and trying to make it out as if the toons lost . He himself desperately needs a breather because he burned himself out, but again, he can't handle that fact because he's desperate to be perfect.

Not the ending cutscene but another point worth mentioning in terms of projecting. He brags about burning out the toons yet has a habit of burning HIMSELF out.

The fact he collapses at the end of his fight means he overworks himself to the absolute limits in desperation to be the best. If he's really so great, he shouldn't have to try so hard to prove it. Which brings me to the next point

Trying Too Hard

Someone who is genuinely content with themselves shouldn’t feel like they have to PROVE they are content, yet that’s what Graham constantly does. He is always trying so hard and putting on a show for the people around him to PROVE that he’s confident.

Someone who feels good about themselves shouldn’t have to shove that fact down everyone’s throats. This drives back to the validation point in which he needs people to pay attention to and validate him.

Fantasizing About Success

Graham obsesses over a better version of himself despite claiming to be so confident with who he is currently.

He's not satisfied with where he currently stands. He craves more power, attention and success because he is insecure with where he is now. There's no reason for someone so supposedly confident and perfect to be chasing after a better version of themselves.

Can't Admit Failures

Touched on this earlier with the projecting. Graham insists he's perfect and anytime he fails it immediately makes him panic. Someone who's happy and content with themselves should also be able to accept their flaws, but that's not what Graham does.

When his position for the job is threatened, he immediately loses it.

When he loses his fight, he immediately scrambles for excuses and some way to put himself back on top.

Graham may have a huge ego, but it's a fragile one at that.

Graham’s confidence is a facade. This isn't to say he's doing it intentionally; I honestly think he isn't even aware of his insecurity and genuinely believes he is confident and above others. But people like Graham will often obsess over the IDEA of being confident and above others because they lack it in reality. It’s not just a facade to convince others he’s on top, it’s also to convince HIMSELF he’s on top.

TLDR; oh hes a little fucked up actually.

To finish this off u can have this image i made the other day featuring one of my fav Grahams ive ever drawn LMAO

It pretty much repeats what’s already been said

[beargregor]

wait i'm curious, what makes you say that gregor doesn't like everyone else (if i read that post right)? just curious since i've never seen anyone else say that

i don't necessarily think gregor dislikes everyone else at lcb but i do think that gregor is an incredibly petty person that isn't nearly as close to the rest of the sinners and even outright dislikes some of them cough cough rodya cough cough which a lot of people just Refuse to see because he's as much of a doormat as he is. there's several examples i could get into to try and prove my point however i'll just focus on what i personally think to be the biggest ones.

additionally, this is going to be kind of long, so i'm adding a read more. read more! read it. sorry for being so wordy. i have several diseases.

Pt1. gregor is the type to try and get along at least decently with everyone, especially if he gets a good first impression from them.

this is less a point in favor of gregor's distance w/ the rest of the sinners and more just a contributing factor to it. once again there's several examples i could point to here but i think the most in your face one happened in canto I with yuri, as several people have pointed out. even before gregor comes clean about growing attached to her as quickly as he did because she reminds him of his sister, we get this interaction.

i'll go ahead and make the disclaimer now that i don't necessarily think gregor is the most reliable of narrators, especially when it comes to his feelings and interactions with most people, but from the way he acts when the topic of yuri comes up (and the way we still see him act even all the way up to c7, nearly a whole year after yuri's death) i don't see reason to question his sentiment here. gregor immediately got that aya and yuri were close, potentially even taking note of their traded belts, and went out of his way to get something nice for yuri despite hardly knowing her.

i feel like a lot of people have forgotten as much, especially since it's been so long since c1, but gregor actually spent a good bit of season 1 doing the exact same thing with the other sinners! gregor reads a connection between him and ishmael pretty quickly despite getting off to a rocky start

mostly because gregor can tell that ishmael is pretty sardonic in a very similar way to him. there's been multiple instances where ishmael and gregor have essentially expressed the same sentiment at different moments, most notably gregor's little argument after ishmael got shot with a decay ampule in c4

and ishmael's response to pilot talking about self-sacrifice in c5

i could go ahead and pull up more examples, but in general pm has gone out of their way to show us that gregor and ishmael are pretty similar, so it makes sense for gregor to assume that they're friends, right?

this will be pushpin 1. keep note of this for Later.

ishmael's only the first sinner we see gregor trying to do this with in s1, we also see him try it out with heathcliff, sinclair, and ryoushuu

he's tried to get along with charon, being one of very few sinners that we've seen actually try to establish a connection with her at all

even rodya, despite my insistence that gregor doesn't like her nearly as much as the fandom thinks he does

all of these seem pretty fine and dandy, right? sure it frequently leans towards self-degradation, micromanaging, and commiseration, but gregor can at least be pretty chummy with most of the sinners, can't he?

Pt2. hell's chicken was more than just comic relief guys please

i'm fully aware that this is quite the hot take, but i think hell's chicken deserves a lot more credit for character writing than the fandom gives it. hell's chicken gave us foreshadowing for several events, such as the donqui bloodfiend reveal

heathcliff's distortion in c6 (as well as hong lu's highly speculated distortion at some point in the future)

and ryoushuu and sinclair's continued connection by making him the odd one out on her team

which, hey! that implies something about gregor's odd one out, don quixote, too, doesn't it? yes. yes it does. that's pushpin 2. keep note of that for later.

speaking of pushpins, hey! that's pushpin 1!

splitting into teams is one of the major events in hell's chicken, and most of the sinner's choices are either motivated by very little, backhanded, or motivated primarily by not wanting to be on the opposite leader's side. i didn't include all of the picks, just because i feel like including most of them already gets this across, but i think gregor took one major thing from this: most of the sinners, when push comes to shove, will only side with gregor when they refuse to or can't take his opponent's side.

now, don't get me wrong, i'm fully aware that this is primarily intended to be comedic relief, but when gregor is being described as having his trust broken by ishmael or nearly crying because no one on his team properly sided with him for him, i feel like it's pretty fair to read into this.

something that i think is pretty important to remember in conjunction with this is that we know that gregor is the type to hold a grudge, both from his general attitude towards the G corp soldiers in c1 as well as his continued distaste for vergilius

even beyond the splitting into teams of hell's chicken, the sinners have given gregor plenty of reasons to feel bitter. i feel like this is something people have noticed but haven't really put a finger on, but it's kind of wild just how often the rest of the sinners make gregor the butt of the joke

and sure, we could argue that a fair few of these aren't really made with any ill intent. quite a bit of it could have been meant as harmless teasing, but with gregor being more sensitive than most, it coming from nearly all sides, and as often as it does? yeah, i think he's prone to taking it a bit personally.

Pt3. yes i do still think gregor was the third most important character in canto VII you guys gotta hear me out okay

of course, all of this leads up to the bit of the story i highlighted, doesn't it? c7? i totally get why people haven't really picked up on all the gregor things i did in it, seeing as they were mostly not *directly* said about him or by him.

personally, i think that gregor's distaste for talking about himself on any serious level and thus leading to him getting sort of "sidelined" narratively (which i take issue with that claim, but still. it's effective for getting what i mean across atm) is supposed to lead players to take a deeper look at the times gregor gets held up to other characters and compare and contrast what's being said about them by the matchup. as i showed earlier with his immediate latching onto ishmael, i think this is something gregor himself is at least partially aware of too.

so, that begs the question, who was gregor compared to in canto VII that makes me think it's one of the most critical pieces in understanding his character?

really, i'd like to avoid getting too lost in the analysis of this canto specifically, since i'd like to do a proper post about this later, but i figure i can bury the lede a little before doing it properly.

c7 features several characters being made to perform in sansón's play, acting out the relevant backstory for this segment of the plot. a lot of these characters have rather direct, degrading reasons for playing the roles they do.

outis, a character with an inflated ego who wants her journey to have a purpose, is made to play an aimlessly wandering villager with a single line.

hong lu and ryoushuu, two characters for whom families and the expectations placed upon them are likely going to play a major role, are made to play bloodfiends.

rodya, a character who resents her lot in life and is constantly shown to be eager to leave her destitution behind her and become someone special, is made to play a helpless villager that's too poor to even offer any money to the hero that saves her.

heathcliff, a character that has spent most of his life getting dehumanized by comparing him to beastly animals, is made to play a literal bear whose sole purpose in the plot is to get beat up and then quickly left by the wayside.

sinclair, a character that has two opposed parties essentially treating him as a macguffin to procure for their side, is made to play the character who was arguably the catalyst for this entire canto, not to mention playing a decently major role in ruina.

our star don quixote is made to play her father, the first kindred, but there's someone by their side the entire time, isn't there? don quixote's dear, steadfastly loyal companion. a character which don quixote has tasked themself with getting to come out of their shell?

hello again, pushpin 2.

gregor has been made to play our unreachable star, sancho. someone had to, of course. you can't really tell a story without it's main character, now can you?

now, i should once again give a disclaimer. i am not trying to say that i think adapting what happens to donqui/sancho in c7 to gregor is the road pm is going to take here, not only would that toe a bit past the line of foreshadowing, but it'd also just amount to rehashing that plotline again, which i don't think would make for a particularly exciting story.

what i DO think is that we can take a lot of the things that are said to either directly be the case for sancho and use them to inform how we see gregor.

and god, does playing sancho have some fucking implications for our favorite ossan archetype.

starting off, the earliest moment we get to see of sancho is quite literally her just waiting for death to take her in a pile of ashes.

which, i should remind everyone, is actually pretty damn close to what happens to gregor's literary counterpart at the end of the metamorphosis. gregor samsa experiences one final breaking point that pushes him over the edge and makes him decide to just wait for starvation to take him.

gregor and sancho both consider themselves to no longer be human, something which sancho goes out of her way to highlight repeatedly throughout the canto and gregor is quick to get defensive on her behalf for when outis starts really tearing into her

sancho spends quite a lot of this story denying herself the joys of community and friendship, despite knowing that, even with the rest of the sinners frequently making jokes at her expense and outright insulting her, they were things that she desperately craved.

and, while this is getting into my "outis is a red herring meant to distract us from gregor's eventual betrayal" theorizing, i also think it's worth noting for this discussion that sancho's fellow kindreds, her family, all seem to be under the impression that she dislikes them and ultimately her departure was an act of betrayal

and that, despite gregor being one of LCB's resident mood makers and attempted conflict de-escalators, one of the sinners that's most prone to making appeals to the bonds they've all forged together, only him and faust remained silent during everyone's speech

so yeah, i think there's quite a lot of little details and hints building up to the reveal that gregor's not quite as fond of everyone as he presents himself to be. i do think a lot of this ultimately comes down to gregor getting in the way of his own happiness, similarly to donqui, particularly because he's been frequently portrayed as something of a self fulfilling prophecy, especially by giving him as many christ allegories as they have by way of priest and garden of thorns. gregor is convinced that the rest of the sinners don't like him because he's not convinced anyone could like him, so he convinces himself that he hates them because why should he care if someone that he hates hates him too?

a lot of this ultimately ties back to my personal interpretation of what happens in the metamorphosis as well as my own theories regarding all the times gregor has made weird callbacks and references to lobcorp and ruina, but yeah. i think about this guy and his deeper characterization a fairly normal amount, i think.

to end this off i'll highlight one of my favorite little "gregor is fucking seething and trying so hard to keep it cool" moments, in the credits CG for c7 we see rodya teasing him by drawing a little horse on his window and actively pointing and laughing at it, which gregor really doesn't seem all too pleased about.

i personally think this ties into the other cruel part of sansón forcing gregor to play rocinante, which is the more literal "he's actually just straight up playing rocinante" side of things. gregor was quite literally made to play something less than human, less than even animal really, as he was reduced to nothing more than the shoes don quixote wore as she got to play the leading role. sansón directly makes jokes about gregor being nothing more than shoes in the play twice, which adds to this reading, i think.

this, imo, really plays into the adaptation of the metamorphosis! i've seen a lot of readings for the book that posit that, despite being the protagonist, gregor samsa can't really be considered the main character due to nearly everything he experiences in it being used to further his family's character development at his expense, which i think fits nicely with limbus gregor seemingly having the most said about him through indirect means by holding him up to other characters. also it's rodya carelessly making fun of His Big Major Insecurities™ again like she did in c1 which i always find fun. rodya i love you but god you're the worst.

[langfield]

Hi. So although I’m starting to understand more about Safi as a character, there’s still something I can’t get over and wondered how you saw it. Seeing as Safi knows first hand the pain of a parents’ divorce, and was furious with Yasmin for keeping her dad out of her life, how could she do what she did to Robbie? Like I get that she wanted to hurt Lucas in the most extreme way possible but to use his child against him, a child who she was fairly close to as well, is crossing a line into making her unlikable for me. I would argue it ended up hurting Robbie more than Lucas since Lucas knows it’s not true that it was Robbie’s fault but Robbie will have to grapple with wondering if it’s true maybe for years to come. Apparently Lucas said that was the least bad thing that was said to Robbie? I get Safi was acting irrationally but she could have idk made him pee his pants on stage or something? When Max points out how wrong what she did was she still doesn’t seem to have much remorse either. Just my two cents. I know it’s just a game but yeah, that plot point touched a nerve with me and it doesn't bode well for her future power squad leadership. Just wondered how you saw this? thanks

ah, yes, the robbie thing. i will say off the bat that i do view this action of hers negatively : in the sense that i cannot sympathize with it in particular. while i understand hurting gwen and lucas ( both of whom did betray her -- especially gwen, despite all her good intentions ) i don’t give safi any slack for harming a child in the process. my max always allows lucas to file a restraining order against her, and though she bites her tongue about robbie during their talk, she doesn’t approve nor necessarily understands safi’s reasoning for it. her ‘cold, but i get it’ is a vague affirmation she doesn’t really mean, but is willing to say in order not to trigger safi further. at this point max can overlook it because safi is still a flight risk and she is notorious for setting side her own morals to agree with her best friend’s choices ( the handicap fund in lis1 jumps to mind immediately, a choice max hated making and did not agree with, but did so for chloe’s safety ). however, i believe safi hurting robbie was an intentional line the game drew. while anyone could easily get behind safi’s revenge narrative against those who actually wronged her, not many would be down to see innocents hurt in the crossfire … in many ways, robbie’s situation is supposed to show that safi’s vicious nature can easily get out of hand, and that ( perhaps! ) her view on things isn’t so clear at all. a point that’s further made, i think, in how fast her emotions change in episode five! even unintentionally, those actions she makes in anger does indeed hurt everyone around her, from the guilty to the innocent. for example, moses gets caught in the storm and is subjected to being overruled by safi herself, despite the fact moses isn’t subjected to the torment lucas and gwen recieve. he describes his experience like being locked in a sarcophagus, with him being locked away inside his own body. it’s clear that the part of safi within him did this to protect him in some way ( from the storm, from herself? ) but this hurts him in the end regardless due to the events she still set in motion. safi isn’t just capable of hurting those deserving, she is also prone to hurting those she cares for via carelessness and a narrow view. so her hurting robbie, despite probably caring for him, isn’t the shocking part. it’s the deliberateness of it. it’s the fact he is a child and she’s an adult. it’s about her knowing the pains of divorce as a child and pressing into that wound anyway. perhaps even creating it.

frankly, i can see many reasons why she would. perhaps it’s one or the other, or a messy concoction of every single one. though the most important thing to remember here is a.) this is definitely not a forgivable act, and the game wants you to look at safi differently for this choice, and b.) i do think safi is supposed to grow from this decision she made. my personal belief is that being away from caledon and her mother and vinh will help shape her with a bit more compassion than she has … she is in no condition to lead or teach, and in many ways is just as naive and new to this like diamond is. i honestly believe she’ll learn more from daniel and alex than they could ever learn from her. i believe this trip is supposed to give safi the breathing room and connections she so desperately needs in order to become better, or begin that road to closure and healing. she is most definitely not a leader! alex, daniel, nor max need a leader. to me, finding other people like her is more about self discovery than anything else, but i digress.

to touch upon something i mentioned earlier, safiya’s view of things has been warped and bent by her anger, which in turn thwarts any logical thinking. she has become selfish in her pain, wallowing in it and refusing to move on for four plus years -- repeatedly picking at that wound over and over again to keep those feelings fresh, and to remind herself of maya, and the book, and the betrayals that followed. her inability to talk about it also makes it easier to get lost in, since she has no anchor that grounds her in reality, nor any outside help besides gwen’s encouragement to put those feelings into poetry. safiya felt silenced by others and therefore silenced herself, and i’m sure many people know how easy it is to become self obsessed with all the trauma you’ve mounted in your head … how easily one can grow entitled or righteous when the only voice you’re ever hearing is your own. things become simple and clear even when they’re not, things become digestible, they become problems that can be simplified and excused. i don’t think safiya shows remorse for what she did to robbie because, in her eyes, there isn’t anything to be sorry for. whatever feelings of disgust or shame she initially had has long since been rationlized to her, to the point where it makes complete sense and was a necessary evil for a bigger plan. maybe safi was able to convince herself that the cruel things she told robbie ( while wearing his father’s face ) were honest truths the kid had to hear now rather than later? maybe safi convinced herself that robbie, just like she had been, was the reason for the divorce, and that she was being rather kind in telling him that horrific truth when everyone else would’ve lied to him. or maybe safi didn’t care ; perhaps she looked upon this kid who still had contact with both of his parents and was filled with a sickening envy, one that choked all the air from her lungs, a greenish feeling that made her so mad she just spoke and spoke until she couldn’t anymore and that was that. safi is prone to misconstruing people in her head to fit her narratives, to justify her anger, to hide from the fact that she hates herself just as much as everyone else. she’s the same person who claims that vinh doesn’t regret bending to caledon despite doing the same thing herself and confessing to such regret to max. despite vinh consistently beating himself up over what he did to maya as well, just like her. again, she is nothing but tunnel vision after her book deal is cancelled, and when left without a proper target to channel that anger into, those feelings sort of explode everywhere instead. all while she justifies it to herself and believes everyone to be guilty … always on the lookout for the slightest hint of betrayal so that she may retaliate first. safiya might appear very poised, intelligent, and strong during most of her scenes ( and she is all three of these things! ) yet her behavior is erratic, scared, a little more than paranoid and exhausting.

if she cannot see past her own hurt, why would she feel any particular way about hurting robbie? if this is a world that guts everyone anyway ( a world that sells them for parts ), what’s the point of sparing this child? it’s an immature world view, although an understandable one. nothing saved maya. nothing’s gonna save safi. this is how the world works, with the people you love most dying or betraying you … maybe robbie would be wise to learn that sooner than later, especially considering the absolute monster his father is. or, perhaps, it’s all about lucas : maybe safi knew there was no other way to destroy him, not when caledon covered for him before, so she went where it’d hurt and dug in as deep as she could to ensure there was no sweeping things under the rug anymore. maybe lucas was so evil and vile in her mind, that all of his kin was rendered revolting by extension? sins of the father and all that?

regardless, the brutal truth of it all is that safiya does not care for the people around her at this point in time. i mean, she does deeply love moses and max, but she does not care for them, if that makes sense? she doesn’t even care for herself, as evident by the suicidality she reveals during the storm, via this brainwashed person and the plaque on the science department’s roof :

i do not mean to imply that safi is at all evil or wrong for these feelings of apathy, because they’re rather understandable feelings to have during this intense time. when i say she doesn’t care for robbie, i mostly mean that she’s too tired and too angry to properly empathize with others ; it isn’t a conscious decision, she did not just flip her compassionate and empathy off, safi has just merely shut down beneath the ever growing weight of her own emotions, which are far too powerful for her to withstand alone. we see how she physically breaks apart into ‘tiny pieces’ at the very end of episode four … she shatters, completely, until there is no more safi left. mainly because safi has neglected herself in this quest for vengeance, mainly because safi has never existed, or so she thinks, mainly because safi has spent four years relating everything back to maya okada and desperately wanting to lay down and die over how that emptiness made her feel. this doesn’t excuse her callousness towards robbie or for using him as a pawn -- though i find the action to be realistic and, while fucked up, understandable and tragic in it’s own way. robbie is the face of a much bigger problem safi possesses, a problem the game starts with him, and then ends with the storm : where we see the extent of her apathy ( like we see with vinh, someone who safi used to be close to as well ) and general discontent with the world around her, how safi is always grouping everyone in her life together rather than acknowledging them as seperate entities. her thinking is very black and white in that way. i will say that i do think safi regrets the robbie thing, at least momentarily, in the same way she regrets everything she’s done … when safi demands max to kill her, she claims it’ll fix everything, that she deserves it for hurting so many people. robbie isn’t mentioned specifically, but i do think this is one of those things she is able to feel the weight of in that specific moment, before all that anger piles up again. it’s not enough, although it is something i keep in mind. at safi’s core, she doesn’t like hurting people. this is the same girl who was known by her dad and mom as desperately trying to save a cat from a tree, breaking her arm over it, and then crying on the way to the hospital about if the cat was okay or not. this is the same girl who feels so guilty for not helping her soulmate, she has dedicated her entire life to her as penance. this is the same girl who, despite yasmin covering up what lucas did and despite their constantly turbulent relationship, forgave her mom and tried her best to make it work. it is very easy to remember safi as how she is during double exposure, a deeply angry person who is unfairly dragging everyone down with her, but she isn’t some bloodsucking monster who delights in that pain she’s causing per se. she is hurt, and highly emotional, and does awful things because of it -- things like toss a kid into a personal hell all because of a plan, all because she’s desperate to get lucas in a way that’ll stick, all because she thought herself as the cause of her parents divorce and so robbie has to be too.

again, it’s not a choice of hers that is easy to digest! it is meant to show a darker side to safi’s need for revenge, her tunnel vision, the extent of her obsession with this. i’m actually glad it touched a nerve with you because i think it’s supposed to make the player feel a certain type of way about her. however, i do hope i shed some light on safi’s decision to do this, and that this helped you understand her somewhat, even if you never agree with her ( as you shouldn’t! ). thank you so much for this question by the way, i absolutely adore getting these sorts of asks where i can analyze the characters more in depth. or at least attempt to! safi is so infinitely complex and reserved that there are many reasonings you could find behind her actions, making her fun to dissect, even if all her inner workings are mostly wounds and a deep seated mood instability.

[blanketforcas]

🚩Cult and cultlike/toxic behavior: red flags in fandom 🚩

A non-exhaustive list inspired by my 10+ years of experience in fandom, both personal and second-hand. By sharing this, I hope to make other people more aware and able to protect themselves in the future. No fandom space or friend group is worth your mental health.

They claim they have secret information and use that to lure you in

They might either lovebomb you at first or make you (feel like you have to) prove your worth

The leader(s) of the group might not feel super approachable, at least not without fear of saying the wrong thing

They seem to create or point out a divide in fandom you’d never noticed before. Likely this divide isn’t actually there in wider fandom, or the need for it is wholly unnecessary.

They create an us vs them (outsiders) situation. Their group has the most knowledge and expertise, if others critique them it’s simply cause they must’ve heard false rumors. They are always the ones who are “misunderstood”.

Questioning statements from leaders/people with high regard in the group, is not without risk. You can get dogpiled, your intelligence put into question and gaslit about your own words and feelings.

You see discussions happen and get more heated, and at the end of that discussion the person on the receiving end of the things mentioned above ^ starts apologizing profusely and/or believes they are indeed stupid. However, if this person does keep defending their stance, they might get bullied or kicked out of the server/group chat

Too much emphasis on Being Right/having the correct take or theory – it may seem it has a higher priority than empathy and tactful communication

You need to have an opinion (their opinion), because silence equals condoning or agreeing with the “other side”

Bad-faith interpretations of posts/statements from someone considered part of the "out-group". You feel in your gut that something is off and they're misrepresenting it, but you find yourself wanting to agree anyway cause it fits the narrative the group subscribes to and going against that is generally not welcomed.

Everything is a moral issue. When everything is made out to be a high-stakes issue or reflective of everyone as a person, it's easier for the leader(s) to manipulate you.

You find yourself excusing people’s behavior because you agree with their point. The way they bring their argument forward and the tone they use, become subordinate to finding out the truthTM

There is such a thing as The TruthTM in every theory, discussion or analysis

If you don't Get It, it's cause you haven't "worked on yourself enough". Or it's cause you're not trying hard enough, or you haven't done enough reading, or you have blind spots only they can see.

There is a lot of conspiratorial thinking – maybe actors are trying to send us secret messages, maybe there is a Whole Lot You Don’t Know But We Do, Trust Us, maybe this or that person in fandom has tried to attack us and are planning a bigger attack,…

You barely/don’t have fandom friends outside of this group and if you do, you tend to intentionally (whether subconsciously or not) hide your experience from them. They wouldn’t understand the way they talk, they wouldn’t understand the way it works etc

They want to know a lot of your personal information. - might only happen once you get into higher ranks

You might get (more and more) specific “tasks”, it starts becoming a part-time job instead of a hobby/fun space to hang out with friends

Of course, these red flags are not always immediately visible let alone advertised when you join a group chat/discord server/twitter or tumblr bubble. They can also be nonexistent at first and show up later. Here are some general ways to stay vigilant:

Periodically check in with your values, if they might be changing & how you feel about that.

Keep an eye on the way people (and yourself) are being treated. Is it kind? Is it fair? Do you feel on edge all the time when you’re having conversations? Is your body more tense when you’re in this online space or when certain people are around? Be honest with yourself here.

Ask yourself: Is this space becoming my only coping mechanism? Am I spending too much time here? There’s no shame in spending a lot of time on things you enjoy, but do check in with yourself sometimes whether you are actually still having fun and if you are taking things too seriously or parasocialising a lot.

There's a lot of fun to be had in fandom and a lot of good that comes out of it - don't forget that. Keep seeking that. It's why we're here!

[bleue-flora]

can you explain why you're so obsessed with diminishing the abuse and torture cdream faced in the prison? you come off as if you don't think he's valid as victim.

[context]

Heh?… have you read my other posts? Or my fanfiction lol? cuz uhhh……. if you actually think that is what I was doing versus just revealing some interesting lore details then you are very mistaken. I mean the [post] I literally put up before reading this I hope alone highlights that.

Honestly, I was just annoyed the other night while making a fun prison arc montage when I noticed how I had way more clips of Techno being hurt by Quackity then I did of Dream.

(this is all of Dream’s & around half of Techno’s)

I mean I hope you’re new around here because I’ve literally done analysis on which tools Quackity used [post] [post] [post] [post], I’ve compared the length of prison vs other big events [post] to point out how truly awful it was, I’ve compared visitors of exile and prison [post] to point out his isolation, I’ve written essays on the cruelty of prison here’s just one [post], I’ve put together a summary sheet and title detailing Dream’s stay in prison [post], I’ve looked at how many times Sam might have hit Dream [post], I’ve highlighted how abusive the cell in itself was [post] [post] especially for someone who’s autistic [post], I’ve noted how potions may not have been used [post], I even have a 15 chapter fanfiction [fic] dedicated to what I think could be plausible canon (and unhinged) torture visits, and I’ve posted a total of 28 prison arc torture scenes in my various works and on here... I mean I feel like the most blatant takeaway from my blog and fanfiction is that prison was such utter unjust cruelty.

And yes I do love looking at the lore and streams and finding cool details, but just because I’m pointing out interesting things from the few visits we get doesn’t mean I’m diminishing his torture or abuse. I’m just looking at the lore and sharing something I found while making a fun video. Now, I do think that Dream was stronger willed and such than is often portrayed [post], but that doesn’t mean I don’t think he hasn’t suffered. I’m just looking at the facts and they highlight how Dream tried to take weapons, accused, hit, shouted, and argued with his torturer from visit 1 to visit 83. So, just because he faces immense abuse and torture does not mean I think he is pathetic and I think that’s a fair assessment considering the lore we get, even if it is an unpopular one. But also, as I’ve pointed out before, we only get 3 scenes (2 of which are impartial), a few images, a montage, a few descriptions in dialogue of what happened in those 83 torture visits, not to mention what could have happened in the whole 314 days of the prison arc. So there are a lot of unknowns and a lot of implications and assumptions we can make…. anyways I digress…

I’d hardly say I’m obsessed with diminishing his abuse and torture, if anything I’d hope it’s obvious that I’m really obsessed with pointing out how horrible it was and noting ways how it was even worse than we realize. Of course, I see him as a valid victim, I’d even argue he is The victim. That to quote Techno:

“No man has ever suffered as much as Dream.” [clip]

[creepercraftguy]

My thoughts on BOWSER VS EGGMAN

This was easily my most hyped matchup thus far. Knowing that we were getting Bowser Vs Eggman this year, I was definitely more excited for this compared to Bardock Vs Omni-Man.

This matchup carries a fucking legacy with it. These are the two most notorious video game villains of all time, and the chance to see them actually bash against each other is something that, for Death Battle, has been a long time coming.

But was the episode good and did it live up to the hype? Let's see.

Everything is under the cut as per normal, because I will be spoiling the episode:

Okay. Short answer?

Yes.

Yes it did.

You want to know what my biggest regret for this fight was in general? The fact that I didn't think to grab a goddamn bucket of popcorn before I watched it because MY GOD.

I!

JUST!

WATCHED!

SOME!

CINEMMMAAAAA!

I'm gonna talk about this in the order that I normally talk about this, which means I'm gonna start by talking about the analysis, but...to be perfectly honest, I don't really CARE about the analysis this time, lol.

I think it's because it's honestly VERY hard to come by someone who DOESN'T know who either of these guys are and what they can do. Like I said, they're easily the two most notorious and well-known video game villains to ever exist. Even if you're not a gamer, no doubt you know who Mario and Sonic are, and by extention, you should also realistically know who Bowser and Dr. Eggman are.

With that said, I didn't really have a problem with either of these analyses besides the fact that they're a little hard to follow. They were intuitive, but it also just kind of felt like STATS STATS STATS NUMBERS MORE STATS MORE LORE STATS LORE LORE LORE!

Besides the overabundance of lore squishing and stat squishing, it's all good and kind of fun, especially in the editing.

Also, for Bowsers segment, it surprises me just how little time they spend talking about Kamek, despite how in the post-analysis, Boomstick mentions that Kamek is one of the largest reasons why Bowsers army triumphed.

And in Eggman's analysis, they brought up the Hard-Boiled Heavies and...I didn't even see them in the fight the first time I watched it.

Most of the limelight in terms of the minions was given to Kamek, Metal Sonic, Bowser Jr. and Sage, and that's kind of what I wanted anyway, but still, why bring them up if they're not going to show up?

And I expect this, and this isn't a nitpick at all, but there are several points where they talk about resources that don't really matter, because they're never actually used in the fight. They CAN use everything, but we'd be here forever if they did, it ultimately comes down to what's their best kit, and who's best kit is better.

But with that said, I will be coming back to this in the post analysis because there's something else that's kind of important that I need to mention.

Either way, what's most important to me with the analysis and post analysis is that bost combatants are respected, and made out to be as powerful as they can be, and for this battle, that was done very well.

Even listening to the stats, it didn't give me a clear indication of who was going to win in the end, and I actually think that's a good thing because it makes me more hyped for the fight.

Okay, NOW we talk about the fight! YES YES and more YESSSS!

I just want to take a moment to talk about the animator for this fight, MORO. With these analyses, I don't really talk about the actual animators behind Death Battle, because I treat all of them with an equal amount of respect, and I will only talk about the actual animator if the battle itself stands out.

And trust me. THIS stands OUT!

I said in my previous analysis of Joker Vs Giorno that I was really hoping that MORO would blow it out of the park with his battle, because that's what I cared about most of all, and holy fucking hell he DID IT and he DID IT WELL!

MORO first started working with Death Battle in Season 10, and no doubt bringing him on to work on the show was one of the best decisions that Death Battle have made in their entire run. Bill Cipher Vs Discord, Gojo Vs Makima, and Stitch Vs Rocket are just a few of his previous battles, and all of them were hype as fuck.

This one is EASILY the most hype though. The way everything happens in this fight, well...I could break it down and...you know what? I think I WILL!

Especially considering that...well, I can't speak FOR him, of course, but I get the feeling that MORO really loved animating this fight, because the thing I wanted to say about the post-analysis is that it features fully-animated scenes of the alternate outcomes, and a post-battle scene of Eggman's forces signing up for Bowser's army, which we haven't seen in YEARS.

I doubt MORO NEEDED to make these scenes, but he still did it because he cared so much about exploring these alternate outcomes, and covering everything that they discussed in the analysis, so they could go over all of them in the post analysis.

Because there are so many ways this fight could have gone, and thanks to this gigachad of an animator, we got to see all of them.

Okay, but the fight itself, and what we DID see in the MAIN sequence. Yeah...It's GODLY!

Something I absolutely loved about this fight was that going into it, we all knew that this was going to be an all out battle of armies, and everyone leading up to this was "This is less of a battle, and more of a war."

And goddamn it FELT like one!

The ambiance of this entire fight, from beginning to end, felt so goddamn chaotic and...honestly FRIGHTENING! Like, this goes above and beyond just the simple cartoonish antics of the Mario and Sonic series. This fight is fucking GRITTY, and EMOTIONAL! With stuff like the grey sky, the copious amounts of destruction that comes as a result of the fighting, the rain, the ambiance, etc.

And no, that's not me memeing. This generally felt like a short war flick, just with silly superpowers in it. There's genuinely a climactic and emotional weight to this fight, and one thing I noticed upon rewatching is that this lacks something that Death Battle is famous for, and yet it still manages to be a fantastic battle anyway:

Blood.

The lack of blood in this episode is pretty surprising, because when the characters die, they die in ways that replicate their deaths in the original games; i.e. kind of just popping out of existence. Even when Metal Sonic runs Bowser through post-transformation, there's no blood. Bowser just collapses to the ground.

And I actually don't mind it!

I genuinely think that even if this is a war, and it feels like a war thanks to the ambiance, if there was loads of blood, it would actually take away from the experience for me. The lack of blood doesn't reduce the impact of what's going on for me, and I think if there was this much gore, they'd be trying too hard. They were trying to make a spectacle of Mario's arch-enemy and Sonic's arch-enemy and their respective armies brawling each other, and they damn well succeeded.

This is very much backed up by the voice acting from everybody, which in general is very well done. Only three characters; Bowser, Eggman, and Sage, (Metal Sonic gets I think ONE line) speak in this. I don't actually know who voiced Sage, but they do a very good job, but even more importantly is Arthur Romeo as Eggman.

I don't know if Romeo was intending to go this route, but I really like that his Eggman impression is more reminiscent of Deem Bristow instead of Mike Pollock. I love Mike Pollock as Eggman, don't get me wrong, but Deem Bristow (for those who don't know, Bristow is the one who voiced Eggman in the Adventure games) really works for this fight because it's not the kind of scenario where Eggman would be the kooky villain that he is in a lot of the modern games, where it's kind of funny to see him fail.

This fight is treated VERY seriously, and the voice really works for it. As for Bowsers' VA, Zack Watkins (an animator who has been with Death Battle for a long time now, with his first animated fight being Batman Vs Captain America) his voice is pitch-shifted because...well, it HAS to be, because you can't really reach that low gruff voice if you don't. But when he DOES get a good line, he sells it really well. The highlight for me is Bowsers rage after Junior gets whomped by Metal.

The fight admittedly starts very weirdly, even if it's pretty funny. I think what was supposed to be going on is Eggman tricked Bowser into thinking he was marrying Peach so that he could get all of his forces in one place to wipe them out at once, which is admittedly cool in concept, but for me at least, I didn't get that on the first watch. It felt more to me like Eggman pulled a prank on Bowser, then announced that he was going to take over the Mushroom Kingdom.

Also, I know that people weren't very happy about the Snapcube reference, but...what's the problem with it? It's a neat reference, but you're not supposed to linger on it.

But yeah, in case I haven't sold it hard enough yet, this fight is brilliant from the establishing shot that shows the two armies and when they launch themselves at each other, right until the end when Bowser deals the final blow. MORO absolutely KILLED IT, and I CANNOT stress that enough.

Like, genuinely, there was so much stellar animation, and so much emotional weight, power, and feeling to this fight that it genuinely made me tear up a little, and I'm not joking. Like I already said, this was CINEMA, there is no other way to express it.

Side note: I genuinely wasn't expecting Infinite to be in this fight, but its hilarious how he shows up for about...10 seconds, does his bullshit, then dies almost immediately, and I...do NOT care, lol.

Honestly, had Infinite been in the fight any longer than he was, I might not have liked it as much. So to have him here to establish how Eggman has the Phantom Ruby and little more was honestly the perfect way to go about it, especially since we get a brief "clash" (I'm hesitant to call it that because King Boo basically just one-taps him) between Infinite and King Boo with their similar abilities.

And I love how in this scene, you can really see the difference between Bowser and Eggman in that, instead of trying to find a way to fight back against Infinite's control, Bowser is instead using his dark magic to protect his minions, and it's up to King Boo to take Infinite out.

That doesn't only show me how much Bowser cares about his minions like they're his family, but also that he TRUSTS them, because to me, it felt like he knew he couldn't take out Infinite without sacrificing his men, but trusted King Boo to do it.

Both Bowser and Eggman are written masterfully in this episode, and I'm glad because they are already such phenomenal characters on their own, and to show both of them for who they really are inside is wonderful, especially if it's done in a way that is this subtle that it doesn't take away from the action.

Just...GOD I LOVED THIS EPISODE!

I don't want to go into a full breakdown, because we might be here for a while, but beyond this opening sequence that shows how both of these sides are treating this war, here's a list of other moments in the fight that I think were absolutely godlike. And keep in mind this is just a FEW stand-out moments for me personally:

Metal Sonic's transformation into Neo Metal Sonic, and the step he does towards the camera before he pounds Bowser's ass.

The scene where Bowser Jr. turns Bowser into Fury Bowser, and Bowser's "SHOWTIME...!" as he transforms. As I said, even if his voice is pitch-shifted, and even if he lacks in the dialogue department compared to Eggman, when Zack Watkins delivered a line, he delivered it in a pristine package with a nice little bow wrap.

Sage throwing a legion of robots at Fury Bowser, and Kamek building a war of pipes to block it - Absolutely mindblowing choreography.

My absolute favourite moment in the fight: Metal Sonic Vs Shadow Mario, being a nice callback to Mario Vs Sonic, and Bowsers reaction when Junior gets knocked to the floor and is badly hurt. The rage in his voice and the blast he lets out that absolutely DECIMATES not just Metal Sonic, but creates a black hole that wipes out most of Eggman's fleet is so Dragon Ball-like.

Bowser shielding his ENTIRE ARMY against the Death Egg blast! THIS is the moment that made me tear up! Like, how could you NOT root for Bowser after this!? The guy absorbed the full blast to prevent his minions from getting annihilated, to the point where it completely shed his skin off his body and almost killed him, but he held his ground because he would rather have DIED than let his army; the people he CARES ABOUT, get wiped out by Eggman. And then the motherfucker comes back swinging anyway and ENDS that bald bastard!

Eggman's death isn't climactic for the death itself, but for what Bowser does to him during the sequence, as well as the actual setting. Again, the animation and choreography for this episode is godlike, but this shot at the end when Bowser is reassembling himself as Dry Bowser ready to deal the final hit, it's important to note that Bowser has his son at his feet, and his minions rallying behind him. They are in the middle of a warzone, many of their comerades have died, and yet they are STILL WITH HIM! And as for Eggman, he has no one. Not even Sage is there anymore. And as Bowser sucks him in for the final blow, Eggman exhausts all of his options, and Bowser counters all of them. Bowser's final line might as well have been "YOU'RE FUCKED!" because yeah, he just was, and Bowser let him know it regardless. (Also, it's revealed in the end that Kamek also survived, despite being knocked into the horizon by Metal Sonic.)

Alas, despite all this grandeur, I have one minor complaint. Granted, it's not a huge one, and it doesn't affect my overall opinion of the fight, but I still feel like I should bring it up.

I understand that it's next to impossible for every single one of these minions to get a time in the limelight, but what was important for me going into it was that Junior, Kamek, Metal Sonic, and Sage all got some time in the limelight to absolutely kick ass.

And most of them did...except Sage.

It's not like Sage did nothing, but compared to Bowser Jr. and Metal Sonic especially, she didn't really do an awful lot beyond throw things, block an attack, and activate the Death Egg when Eggman told her to. Metal was doing most of the fighting and yeah, okay, Metal is built for combat while Sage isn't, but Sage can still fight. I would have absolutely loved to see Bowser's son throw hands with Eggman's daughter though.

Again, it's not enough to completely throw my opinion to the wayside, but had Sage been given more to do, that would have made this episode absolutely perfect.

And overall, my least favourite part about this fight, genuinely, is that it ENDED!

Like, I KNOW these can't go on for more than a few minutes but I didn't want this fight to stop. I could watch a whole MOVIE about these two armies going at it.

More specifically I would watch it if MORO was the one animating it. But again, the guy has done MORE than enough.

And of course, the last thing that I have yet to talk about is the music.

My god the music, especially when it hits in the fight. Remember how I said my favourite moments in this fight were when Bowser rages over Junior, then blocks the Death Egg? A big part of what made those scenes so phenomenal is that the music went full-capital HARD for those scenes!

Like...Brandon Yates! HOW does he DO it!?

I genuinely think Brandon Yates is one of the best music composers of all time, and that's not even an exageration. I love all of the work he does for Death Battle and I love all the work outside of it. I love that the Death Battle crew are lucky enough to have found this man because he, and Therewolf Media too, are a massive part of why the Death Battle fights are so enjoyable to watch. Music makes these fights so good, and the modern episodes are so much better compared to the old episodes where they had to use other audio.

Also, I'm not gonna ignore Victor Borbo and Tyler Anderson who sung the vocals for the track, because they together are, medium, 50% of the reason why it absolutely slaps.

Final thoughts: When this fight was coming out, I genuinely expected that Eggman would win it. But now that I've actually watched this episode, and I got to see Eggman and Bowser at their full potential and doing everything they can to destroy each other, I actually think that had Bowser lost, I wouldn't have been as satisfied.

As they said in the post analysis, Bowser actually cares about his minions. Eggman doesn't, except for Sage. And as I pointed out, there are several points in the fight where Bowser actively tries to protect his minions over trying to take out Eggman's. When he defends them against the Phantom Ruby and Infinite, and then when he shields all of them from the Death Egg. And they REPAY that loyalty and kindness in the end, and are with Bowser during the final blow.

I was rooting for Bowser, but betting Eggman, but after this whole fight ended, I don't care what anyone else has to say about the stats, or whether things add up or not. That Koopa King EARNED and DESERVED THAT W!

It's honestly hilarious how I'm both a Persona fan and a JoJo fan, and Joker Vs Giorno didn't captivate me NEARLY as much as this spectacle did. It's not that I think Joker Vs Giorno is bad; I rewatched it a dozen times. But this fight is hands down the best fight they've done in YEARS! I think it even beats out my top contenders from Season 10.

My last note is the next time:

Okay, I wasn't expecting the 2024 finale to be such a meme matchup, but...I know that this was a thing that people kind of wanted to see, but I'm genuinely curious HOW they scale this with any kind of logic.

My current bet is on the Imposters because they actually kill things and have stuff in their bodies and equipment that are designed to kill, and the Fall Guys are just stupid beans that get knocked around a lot.

So my biggest thoughts about this are 1) how the fuck to you stage a fight between them, and 2) What kind of stats do you calculate?

Like, as a meme, I like this fight, but now that it's an official episode? I don't know, man. I really don't know how to feel about it.

Teaser was hilarious though.

Final score for Eggman and Bowser? 10 out of goddamn 10.

[p0wderedmarbl3s]

Could you explain the meaning behind the hunter art in your pinned post? The one where he is sitting in the bathtub? It has always caught my eye when I come to your blog

Have a nice day <3

TW// IMPLIED CSA/RAPE

This one? Ofc!

I'll break down each part of this piece, since it took a long time and each one is connected to a different thing:

First:

The teeth. Pretty straightforward if you know what you're looking at, Belos's on top and Hunte's below. More of a way of emphasizing the youth / lack of it between them, and how they're both "broken" or "sick" in a way. If that makes sense.

Next:

Younger Hunter. I referenced the attire of altar boys for this part, and although it's hidden, he's sitting on the side of Belos's lap.

(Gender ambiguous on purpose, but in all my art i incorporate the FTM headcanon. Which is why you don't see his chest in their younger designs. )

Next:

The headless grims. The Japanese text is lyrics from the song "Corpse Dance". I use the color pallette, "nudity", lack of heads but also lack of gore to communicate the absence of humanity that Belos granted them.

Victims of the same man, blindly all reaching out to each other and never letting go because being acknowledged means they exist.

And Hunter will join them one day. Just hopefully not as one of them.

Next:

Hunter in the bathtub with a "flayed" back after his possession, and then him laying with a deer version of Belos.

The bathtub is one of the only times I've been quite explicit in the rape allegory in my full pieces. It's really that simple, the colors and undetailed red of his back and how dirty he looks while still being relatively "clean".

And if you change the colors of that part of the piece, he is.

The deer part really just expresses his attachment to Belos still even after it all. He doesn't hold him gently, he keeps his hand a fist, but he also leans his head to rest his forehead near his, and closes his eyes.

The deer represents the concept of Belos more than anything. Remember, he was never an outright angry villain or caretaker. He was calm, he was patient.

Even if the things he did felt gross, in ways only described as something rotting that Hunter could never put a finger on properly.

Despite everything, he'd like to believe that the concept of him had loved him, at least. Because he can't help but still love it, and by extension, Belos as well.

It's just easier not to admit it directly.

Anyways I hope this cleared things up! I didn't know if you meant just this part or the whole piece, and I've never done an art analysis on my own work before, but it was fun and I put a lot of love into this one. I'm still proud of it :]

[lov3-from-loserlane]

Qiu Lin character/enneagram analysis

@onelastskip thank you so much for the request!

I did have every intention of making this write up, sorry it took so long!! Unfortunately a lot of my hard ““evidence”” comes from beta and other patreon exclusive content, but I can absolutely write a more generalized and theoretical response about Qiu’s enneagram. And I literally just replayed the prologue yesterday so it is freshhh.

(I also love the enneagram, I prefer it over MBTI. Great minds think alike ;) )

And if you’re a newbie to the enneagram, don’t worry! I’ll be thorough with my explanations, so you should be able to follow along. Verrrrrry thorough hahahhaah. This post is literally over 2k words.

But! Just think about this as a general character analysis through the lense of the enneagram. It’ll be at least kind of interesting and fun, I promiseeee 😉🤞

So, anyway, let’s get started then.

I typed Qiu as a 3w2 sx/so

So what does this mean?

I believe that Qiu is an enneagram 3 with a 2 wing. The instinctual variants for their enneagram being sx and so. I’ll explain what that all means later on, but we’ll start with just about the basic description of the enneagram.

Enneagram 3 Description

The Enneagram is a personality theory that aims to describe the most vulnerable parts of ourselves, our hopes, our fears, our motivations, and potentially our trauma. It’s how we see the world and make sense of our emotions.

So then, what does it mean to be an enneagram 3?

Well, 3s in their most basic form, can be understood this way:

The enneagram 3 is defined by their need to differentiate themselves from other people through their accomplishments and can appear incredibly ambitious and goal oriented. 3s like to keep themselves busy, and their schedules are usually jam-packed with things to do. They’re very charismatic and acutely aware of the correct polite conduct. They make it a point to make good first impressions. 3s do not believe that they are inherently worthy of being loved, however, and that being loved comes as a result of what they can achieve. 3s fear their own irrelevancy, and are driven by a need for attention and admiration.

I’m sure you noticed that some of that description does fit Qiu! However, there’s a lot that *doesn’t* which probably stood out, and needs to addressed.

Like, what’s this about being super goal-oriented, ambitious, and needing to be successful? Nothing about Qiu, from what we’ve seen, proves that to be true about them.

Those of you who know the enneagram may even be thinking, “well, what about enneagram 2? They’re also people oriented, want to be liked and appreciated, and then we don’t have to worry about the fact that Qiu doesn’t seem necessarily ambitious or goal-oriented on being successful.”

Well, I kinda mislead you there. Because I think Qiu is very ambitious and goal-oriented, just not in the way we traditionally think about these concepts. Usually we think a person with these traits aims to someday have a high paying job, invent something new, do something genius that’ll get them celebrated worldwide or accumulate a comfortable amount of wealth. Which doesn’t sound like Qiu at all. But that’s not the only way this desire can be exhibited.

Instinctual Variants:

Thats where the instinctual variants of the enneagram come in. Instinctual variants are basically just subtypes of the enneagram, different ways in which the same enneagram can be presented. And it’s a part of enneagram that is relatively more unknown, but can actually be a huge help in figuring out which enneagram applies to you/a character. (So if you’re into enneagram at all, I recommend checking them out! Fair warning: the instinctual variants can really delve into the worst possible version of your psyche in a lot of cases, so be prepared for that. Be honest with yourself.)

Anyway, the instinctual variants are abbreviated as “sx”, “so”, and “sp”. These stand for “sexual”, “social”, and “self-preserving”, respectively.

I typed Qiu as a sexual 3. NOW CHILL cause before you come at me “sexual” doesn’t LITERALLY mean sexual, sexuality, sex, etc. I mean in some cases it can definitely be related, but it does not mean that inherently. And that’s not what I’m gonna be talking about with Qiu like at all. I don’t know why they called it that, I didn’t make it up. I just read about it and then apply it to fictional characters in my tumblr posts 😪

But anyway, the sx 3 can often times not look like a traditional 3, which would make Qiu a little difficult to type as a 3 initially. But once you get into the description of the sx 3, it starts to become more clear.

Sx 3s aren’t so much focused on making achievements in the real world so much as they are on pleasing others and creating an appealing image around themselves. They extract feelings of accomplishment from the happiness and success of the people around themselves. Unlike other 3s, sx 3s aim to connect to others mentally through supporting them. They expend much of their energy for the sake of other people, and they’re hardworking and ambitious in this way. They don’t necessarily feel the need for tangible achievement like other 3s. They love, admiration, and desire of others is enough for them. They are unconventional achievers in this way. Sexual 3s have a very community driven mentality, where they’re always looking out for the greater good of the whole team.

They can also often times feel the need to play into the role of an easily digestible feminine or masculine image, depending on how they were assigned at birth 😳 Whichhhh I want to yank a quote from the beta moment “fancy fun” for this so bad. But you’re just gonna have to guess what I’m talking about if you played it. And if you haven’t, I’m sorry 😔‼️ but I do feel like this point can be somewhat inferred from the demo, if only abstract based on how Qiu conducts themself.

Now, the enneagram 2’s flavor of wanting to be “likeable” isn’t necessarily rooted in being admired and looked up to. In a lot of ways, it’s the opposite. The enneagram 2 wants to be useful and needed by others. Qiu may feel like they are useful and that they are needed, but that’s not necessarily what they’re looking for. Qiu at the end of the day just wants for people think they’re cool and kind and the best friend ever. Which is why I don’t think they are a 2, they simply have a 2 wing. (The wing just being another thing that indicates what way the enneagram presents itself).

So yeah, I think sx 3 is the perfect fit for Qiu. Because while they don’t necessarily need to be revered for any personal accomplishments, (only rarely taking the opportunity to brag, and if they do it’s played off more or less as a joke) they do however have this intense need to be liked as a person and looked up to for that reason.

Childhood Wound:

Another way we can infer somebody’s enneagram would be based on their “childhood wound.” In enneagram, this would be the root of where this person’s enneagram would come from. Meaning yes, a person’s enneagram is established during their childhood years and does not change.

The childhood wound of the enneagram 3 is as follows:

(Screenshotted from a deleted user on Reddit)

Based on some information given in the QnAs on patreon, we can infer that this is true of Qiu’s childhood. But I also believe it can be inferred by public content as well.

Based on how Qiu conducts themself, I don’t think kids in Golden Grove ever really appreciated Qiu for being Qiu. People liked them because they were expending themselves for the sake of others, trying their best to include everybody and putting on this “act” of being cool about everything. They actively minimize their own needs/boundaries while being hyper aware of everyone else’s. This made them likable, which made them popular, which made them a high commodity to their classmates.

We also kind of get this in the explanation for Baxter’s crush on Qiu. Baxter could have liked Qiu genuinely, I’m not discounting that at all, after all he was one of their closest friends in childhood. However, the way he goes about rationalizing it to himself is this:

(Screenshotted from the GBPatch tumblr)

“You’re popular, so why shouldn’t I like you.” And it’s safe to assume a lot of other people felt the same way about Qiu, whether it be related to a crush or completely platonically. It was this sort of self fulfilling prophecy where Qiu tried their best to live up to the expectations of others, which made them even more desirable to people, which made them feel they had to become subservient to these expectations, which made people want them all the more. And in a way, they themselves kinda wanted that. They actively seek out that kind of attention and feel fulfilled when it’s received. But not to this extreme of a point, as we can see in Step 2.

What about Step 2?!:

That brings us to one glaring problem some may already be considering. Qiu’s personality in Step 2. It seems to have taken a complete 180 from how they were in Step 1.

In Step 2, the last thing Qiu wants is attention or to be around people at all. They could seemingly care less if they’re liked which can be observed in how they treat Tamarack’s concerns about their litter in the current Step 2 preview. They straight up disregard her feelings completely, and not politely. Qiu really just wants to hide away from it all and not be bothered. And if the enneagram is developed during childhood and then never changes, wouldn’t it be better to find something that also encompasses that side of them? Maybe they’re not a 3, or even a 2!

Weeeeeell ackshually ☝️🤓, I think enneagram 3 is still very applicable to Step 2 Qiu, but there’s not much I can say about that *definitively* at the moment.

However, we do have this description of Step 3 Qiu to work off of:

(Screenshotted from the GBPatch tumblr)

So obviously, Qiu’s presentation in Step 2 isn’t all that it seems. Qiu is actively *going against* their true nature during Step 2 for one reason or another. My best guess would have to be that they feel they previously let their identity rely too heavily on the needs of the people around them, and that notion freaks them out. So even if, in a way, their true identity DOES revolve around what they can be for others, they also want to make sure there’s a real, individual, person in there somewhere. Maybe in a twisted and fucked up way you can suggest that it is in fact because our culture heavily celebrates and looks up to that kind of individuality. Like, we as a society can consider it an admirable quality to be an outcast for the things that make us unique. That could potentially be added motivation. But thatssssssss really pushing it kind of and I’m talking out of my ass a little bit. So I’ll leave it there. 🥱

Either way, we can conclude that in Step 2 Qiu is not at all a “completely different person,” I don’t really think that’s even possible, and tbh I hope people don’t believe that about them. But I do think that they are actively *trying* to be. Which is sooooo 3, in a way (I sound like an astrology girl heheh >:3) But yeah, as a young teen, you think you know you want a lot of things. And then when you grow up, you realize that’s not what you actually wanted in the first place.

Side tangent, this is also why I loveee the idea of playing the game with jealousy/envy turned on for Qiu. I just feel like it’s so natural to their arc, but that’s just my own personal interpretation/preference.

But anyway, that’s how I came to my conclusion, Qiu is an enneagram 3w2!

Conclusion:

Let me once again reiterate that this is literally pseudoscience, so there isn’t an end all be all. You could totally think I was wrong and have your own ideas, and we could all totally be wrong and right and the same time together. I just do this stuff for fun, cause I think it’s cool and interesting and helps me better understand both my favorite characters in fiction and the viewpoints of people completely different from me ^_^

If you read this, I honestly CANNOT thank you enough, seriously. Because wow this post was crazy and long and insane and insanely crazy long. And I feel like I’m really bad and disorganized when it comes to explaining things. But I appreciate it if you did take an interest! I hope you were entertained and learned something new.

Qiu was specifically requested, and this post is long enough as it is. And that’s without all the beta and patreon stuff, which then we could be here for hours getting into the nitty gritty details. But anyway, I would love to do a separate analysis on Tamarack’s enneagram next. Though spoiler alert, her’s will be a lot moreeeee theoretical and hard to explain T~T I’m sure that would be super fun for me to attempt though HAHA. So if you’d be interested in that, let me know! And if you wouldn’t, too bad because I’ll probably do it anyway!

(PS. I tried to make sure not to give away anything directly related to content only included in the patreon. But, if I made a mistake, please let me know and I will edit it out of the post immediately!)

My references:

[put-them-thangs-away]

while i figure that out, not sure if anyone has done it yet, but i want to do a little dive into the basics of the tarot cards used in this jack & joker episode, now that i actually have a moment and can do more than just the basic off the top of my head readings. i’ll be using the golden thread tarot deck mostly because i like how concise it is and also its more accessible to me right now underneath my sleeping dog than my shelf of decks in my room lmao. this is gonna be,,,, real long probably so all the details will be under the cut, if you wanna join me for my rambling:

fun little sidenote before i get started: when i went to begin discussing why i love the use of tarot and nang’s characterization specifically, my card of the day that i drew was the Queen of Swords which is like 100000% The Nang Card™️ lol [complexity, perceptive, clear mindedness etc.]

“a woman of immense complexity, sometimes considered cold-hearted, but also sharp of mind and wit, independent and possessing great powers of organization and analysis.” i won’t go down the rabbit hole of sword suits as a whole bc that’s not the point of this post and so far the show hasn’t gone into minor arcana, so i’m just gonna say HMMMMM very inch resting timing,,,,, anyways,,,

now, of course i have to start with joke’s card and its myriad of double meanings. in just about any piece of media, if you see The Fool card it should automatically be flagged as a red herring. it’s meant for you to look at it and take it at face value based on the words and image…. much like our four little idiots did when first shown their cards. like JOKE YOU GOT THE FOOL BECAUSE YOU’RE A DUMBASS LOL! and he’s the joker so of course he would also be the fool, yes? unfortunately for our little baby clown, the actual symbolism of the card is childlike innocence and naivety, often to their own detriment. it speaks of blank slates, new beginnings, and the start of a journey. “he does not know the dangers that can beset him during his travels, and thus he stumbles forward with complete optimism, never suspecting that he may be walking in a thin tight rope.” oof yikes. sound familiar? nang rly read that boy for filth huh,,,, aside from the obvious heavy handed post-prison clean slate, we’ve also got the metaphor connected to jack’s forgiveness and starting their relationship over. there’s a lot more to be said here as well about how naive joke can be when thinking he’s doing the right thing and that his choices are for the sake of someone else, without clearly seeing the consequences their may be for that person as a result of his actions. at the risk of Never Shutting Up About It, i will have to make myself move on.

i’ll get into tattoo’s card next because it’s really interesting to me that he was assigned The World, which I kind of would have thought would be a card assigned to jack instead. i see what they were going for in this episode with it, i think, but it felt a bit shallow in comparison, so there may be more in relation to this that we have yet to see. as The Fool is the first card (0) in the major arcana, The World is the final card (21). this card symbolizes an ending of a cycle of life, specifically before the beginning of a new cycle of life. it’s an indicator of major and inescapable change. throughout this episode, we see the shift in tattoo’s heart and priorities being held up in comparison to their past heist through some pretty straightforward parallels, so from that angle, The World makes perfect sense. (especially since one reading of The World when in reverse is inertia & stagnation) tattoo wanting to run in and save joke when he thinks he’ll be caught in the heist is our window in to see The World changing. that being said i find it interesting that this card would be chosen for him since it sort of,,,, kickstarts the journey for The Fool and is generally somewhat,,,, final. so i’m just reeeaaaalllllyyyy hoping that this does not mean tattoo has to actually end his cycle in any way other than metaphorical for the other to continue. the man has grown on me, what can i say? 😭 we’re just gonna ignore all those warning bells in my head and choose to go with the “accomplishment and fulfillment from both inner and outer sources” reading. yup.

then we’ve got arun, whose card is The Moon, which is double fun because arun’s name means dawn/sunrise. there’s a lot of meaning that could be extrapolated here, but based on tattoo’s card seeming on surface level to be about the state of his heart and his involvement in this little found family, i’m going to guess that arun’s is the same. The Moon card symbolizes intuition, the unconscious, illusion, and deception. it can be read as a signal of something being not as it appears, a truth you cannot admit to yourself, instincts that we have buried in our unconscious, among other things. this card being chosen for arun actually actively makes me more nervous than tattoo getting The World lol. if we choose to read it at surface value, could just be that in this heist he had to follow intuition, and got himself turned around in the process (eagle statue etc), or just generally that he did not previously appear capable, but here he is helping this mission be pulled off. with the opening scene of arun crying about missing his dad and that,,,, not really getting resolved actually,,,,,, that makes me wonder about some alternate reading options, but like,,,,,, i don’t want to. so. Simply going to close my eyes on that one! no thanks!

then of course there’s everyone favourite head empty good boy, hoy, who was assigned The Star card. out of all the card readings, this boy got the most straightforward one and i’m trying not to read too much into that since they were all assigned by nang and my brain hasn’t quite caught up to [handwaves] whatever she and hoy have got going on over there. this card is symbolic of faith, optimism, and hope. so….. yeah hoy in a nutshell. not a whole lot more to add in there.

skipping The Heirophant card and The Tower card to come back to later because i have Some Theories there and they may make more sense after i go back and rewatch a few things

ANYWAYS if you read to the end of this thank you and i’m sorry please feel free to yell at me about it

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hello Raven! I hope u have been doing well! Unfortunately I uh don’t really have any question or writing rq or anything interesting to tell u… but I just wanted to say that I’ve been following u since around the time u first started this blog and it’s amazing to see how much u have grown! I really really enjoy reading ur fics and u are a big inspiration for me as someone who also writes fanfic as a side hobby (and who is also way too scared to ever post their fanfics online TvT) like I love how u articulate things and write the Twst characters. I can tell that u have a very deep understanding of every single character and their personalities and motivations :D and on that note i also really love ur posts where u analyze the Twst boys or the ones where u just simp over some of them (like the L*ona boobies saga was pretty damn hilarious XD). Idk anyone who likes Twst so I like reading ur posts bc it feels like I’m listening to a friend ramble about how amazing (and sometimes not-so-amazing) this game and its characters is. Anyways I think ur really amazing and I hope that u keep doing what ur doing <3

Sorry for the long and kinda awkward message TvT I have severe social anxiety and I’ve always been a lurker online. I’ve never had the courage to talk to anyone online like at all and I’ve always kinda silently followed u 😅 but idk I felt kinda brave today and wanted to send u a message :) and I’m so sorry if this makes u uncomfortable u don’t even have to respond 😭

Hello~! I’m melting from the temperature climbing recently 🫠 but other than that, I’m good! Thanks for sticking with me and for enjoying my content for so long! I believe I started this blog in June of 2020, so you’ve been with me for over 5 years now. That’s a lot of dedication www

My content has shifted its focus over the years but I’m pleased to hear that you enjoy whatever I put out. I know it can sometimes feel like whiplash between my creative stuff, my discussion posts, my analysis, and my… brain rot the less we talk about L*ona the better 💦 but if listening to my rambles brings you joy then I’ve done my job!

It’s great to hear that you’re also creating your own things. Even if you don’t end up posting them publicly, what matters the most is that you had fun making it and can enjoy it again and again on a rainy day. Keep doing things (whether that’s creating or consuming content) at your own pace!

No need to apologize; I understand the anxiety that comes with socializing. It’s probably why most of the asks I get are anonymous! People just like their privacy and that Tumblr provides it for them. The asks I send to others (if at all, I send very few out) are generally anonymous too. I just prefer lurking and keeping to myself, as I don’t want to foster or encourage super deep parasocial relationships (which honestly scare me 💦). It takes courage to shoot a stranger a message, so definitely give yourself a pat on the back for this.

Once again, thank you for the kind feedback!! Hopefully I see you around more 😌

[ecoterrorist-katara]

you act like your fandom isn't responsible for shitty racist behavior towards irls liiiike dont be a hypocrite pointing fingers at everyone except your own ilk lmfao

I was initially going to write a snarky response, but upon reflection you sound pretty young and I don't want to get into a pissing contest with someone who is likely a minor. Instead, I'm going to share my philosophy on how I engage with fandom and explain why it doesn't make sense for you to come to my ask box and demand that I answer for people who I don't even know.

My approach to fandom is entirely hedonistic. 1) Fandom is not, and never will be, my personal milieu for activism, and 2) I'm not responsible for the behaviour of people who happen to share my preference in a ship; I can only control what I do.

On 1), I come to fandom for escapism and indulgence, and these two qualities of fandom are completely incompatible with my approach to activism. Activism must be rooted in the real world and often demands doing things you don't want to do. That's like...the polar opposite of what I want to do on Tumblr.com.

Sometimes I incorporate analysis of oppression and justice in my fandom discussions because I find them interesting, but that's still about me and my enjoyment, not about oppression and injustice in general. A lot of my life has been dedicated to structural injustices, whether as topics of study or as systemic forces to organize against (more accurately, I spent most of my adult years striving to combine the academic and the practical facets), so obviously they crop up in my discussions, but my engagement in fandom has never been about activism and I've been quite clear about that. For example, I may talk about decolonization in the context of ATLA, but I harbour no delusions that my salty complaints about Bryke are, in any way, relevant to furthering the decolonial project.

On 2), notice that in my response to your last ask, I never claimed the entire Zutara fandom only consists of people who never did anything wrong. I only claimed that I, personally, strive to behave like a reasonably decent person in my fandom interactions. Fandoms consist of literally thousands of people, if not tens of thousands, so of course people in my (and yours, and everyone's) fandom are capable of shitty behaviour -- but like I said before, I'm not the fandom police. It's not a role I'm interested in taking on, nor one I'm arrogant enough to think I should. I don't try to be a role model at the club or at the grocery store; in a similar vein, I'm not facilitating or curating or shepherding the Zutara fandom. I just hang out here, same as everyone else, and I'm not going to insult my followers & my peers' intelligence by saying "PSA: did you know it's not okay to say shitty and racist things to people?"

My responsibilities in fandom extend to following basic fandom etiquette and interacting with posts and people that don't contradict my values. I sometimes repost salty things about specific ships, or occasionally I'll interact with Zutara antis who come to me, because salt can be fun in moderate doses plus I have post-COVID POTS so I need a lot of salt anyway. Every time I have interacted with a hostile Ka/taang shipper, it has been because they came to my post, my blog, or my tags to stir up shit. Even so, I'd never go to a Ka/taang blogger and expect them to do something. I have, btw, received messages asking me to highlight/expose certain Ka/taang shippers for their politics or things they've said, and I don't publish those either, so there's not a whole lot of fingerpointing going on here in general.

I'm going to stop responding to your asks, but I hope you can reflect on what exactly you are trying to get out of fandom, and what kind of behaviour you think is productive and generative for you. I'm not saying everyone should follow my personal fandom engagement philosophy, but I am saying you can't impose your philosophy onto me.

[magixfairyix]

Light Rock Monastery: Log 01

————————————————

Journal entries of Darcy Jenrae of Zenothe, Stormy Priary of Linfea, and Icy Sheva of Diamond coteloguing the events that took place before the War of the Army of Decay.

Collected from dorm 273 of Cloud Tower College for Witches on 12/6/2005, at 11:23 am.

Notes: Return to Headmistress Griffin post-analysis.

Status of Entries Collection: Incomplete

Concerning Events: Physical abuse, emotional abuse, emotional distress, familial death, blood, and murder. No event mentioned in the entries has been censored from the original text, so the harsh events are depicted as they were experienced.

Colleagues for Journal Review: @s12-kittie @thewillowofveles @darlenicy @melissathettpdmember @theheaddaphnestan

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⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Same Old Energy—Darcy

24/9/1998

I was going to wish for my family to be happy. It's the Festival of the New Night on Zenothe, and I was going to wish that we'd be happy. The bonfire is in a short bit, and I'm glad my moms allowed me to stay up for the entire night for the celebration.

I think I would have run out of the house anyway if they said not to, which is funny. I don't think mom or momma would get mad if I did. They never get mad at me.

But the headaches have gotten worse, and I want to wish for them to go away. I might be dramatic. But they hurt a lot. Especially when I sleep. It's not fun at all, and I hate them.

26/9/1998

Momma took me to another family on Zenothe who knows more about dual magic. Momma has psychic magic, but I can tell that she's confused why mine hurts so much. Mom doesn't have shadow magic, so it's weird that I do. Have both.

I know the grandma of the family has dark magic. That's psychic and shadow magic at once, and it is rare. I know a lot of people have one or the other on Zenothe, and mom tells me that it's because our magic comes from someone named Liliss, even though Liliss' energy is older than her recent manifestation.

She died eleven years ago during a war, because she and her sisters killed a lot of people and did bad things.

I don't want to become someone like that...

26/9/1998

I'm old enough not to cry when things go wrong, but now I'm thinking that I did something wrong. Mom was cuddling me a few hours ago while I cried, so I'm glad she was there at least.

The grandma we visited yesterday didn't tell me what was going on (I think) and she tried to hurt me. I had some tea, but it tasted weird and then momma started to scream. At the grandma. Not at me.

I knew it was hemlock...

Why did she try to kill me?

I think she wanted to take me from mom and momma.

What did I do wrong?

4/12/1998

School hasn't been going so well this year. I should be glad that the semester is over and that I'm free to relax, but I don't have much to do. Ami, Tyren, and Rem don't hang out with me much anymore. Their loss, I guess, but it still hurts.

They say it's because their parents don't like me, apparently. Again, their loss. Momma was reassuring me by telling me that some people just don't understand others or what they're going through. Maybe they don't like me much anymore because I'm struggling in classes from all the headaches and the nightmares.

I've tried teas, and different remedies, but they don't work.

Mom told me to catalogue my dreams, or nightmares, or whatever they are. She was also talking to momma about telling me something when I turn sixteen, and I hope it'll clear this situation up.

5/3/1999

The woman is there in my dreams again. She tells me not to tell my parents about it and part of me doesn't want to. I don't want her to scream at me again or lash out at me. I don't know how someone slapping you in the face can hurt in dreams, but it does.

What's the Dragon Flame?

13/6/2000

My head hurts too much...

I don't want to cry anymore. I just want to sleep. But I can't. I don't want to see the woman in my nightmares. She always has a mask on her face, but her eyes glow, and her four arms horrify me.

She makes me scared of myself. She says that I'm a weapon, but I don't know what for. That she's my purpose and that, if I want to find peace, all I have to do is dedicate my life to her. Maybe it's a spirit.

I know how to try to banish those.

14/6/2000

Don't banish her again don't try to banish her again.

Do not.

Please...

2/10/2001

I don't sleep much, because I don't want to see the woman. I know her name now. Liliss. The same witch we Zenothians get our magic from, which scares me. I don't know why someone like her (a ghost, and a powerful one) is bothering with me.

A lot of "donts" I guess...

All this has been going on for a while, but I want to write it down before I lose the motivation to. Or if Liliss finds out that I've been writing down what she's done. It's not like I would show this to anyone, but I know she doesn't like it when I say things against her.

I can admit how bad things are, now, I guess...

After a year of the 'dreams.'

Liliss doesn't like me much either, I think. I remember momma telling me when I was six that some ancestors, spirits, or ghosts are not meant to be called upon or connected to because of how malicious they are.

She wants me to worship her, I think. I know enough about magic to know now that the dreams are psychic communications. I think I'd prefer if the 'dreams' are from my own thoughts...

I think I will tell mom and momma about this on my birthday in a week, because things have gotten bad. I have hope that they can help me. More than Liliss can.

It hurts now that I know that... everything wasn't a dream. This ghost is present and wants to hurt me, but she says she's doing me a favour by doing so. By the dragon, I despise getting hit in the dreams.

Now it's hard for me to sleep, and my parents can tell something is wrong. When I don't see Liliss I see other things. Like mom and momma dead, and my arms dripping in blood. Sometimes I get swallowed up by shadows and my body decays like a corpse.

I'm scared to tell them because I know Liliss will hurt me. She yells a lot in the communications between us if I do something wrong. It's been hurting me in real life, too.

I knew that when mom and I passed a couple arguing near the main coven building. I know the yelling wasn't from Liliss. But I flinched, and mom didn't understand why I was close to crying when we walked away. It feels wrong. I know I can show my emotions to them, but I don't want to be a burden when they've been trying so hard to get rid of my headaches and everything.

(This is a long entry, but I need to write it.)

Liliss touches my hair, too. It hurts. I've only let my mom and momma touch my hair for all of my life (I mean, besides myself) because it's something important to me. But I'm not allowed to stop her when she does. I did try to, and...

I'm only writing this down to tell my parents...

Don't be so fucking weak.

When I tried to bat her hand away, she hit me. She's done it before, but this time her nails scratched into my face, and it hurt more than usual. I won't cry while writing this...

She... grabbed my arm and dragged me to my knees. She said a lot of things. That I have no use, that I'm pathetic. Maybe I am. I had tried to get up maybe to run but she hit me again. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I DID WRONG! I GET HURT FOR EVERY DAMN THING I DO.

What... what did I do to deserve this...

I... I feel nauseous writing this. Mom and momma are out, so if I cry, then they won't see. Maybe I will cry. Liliss made me pray to her after that and I... I hated it. I wanted to die.

She's hurt me for a year, even though I didn't do anything. If I actually did something wrong, I would apologize. Momma always taught me that, but I... I don't think I did anything. I just don't know why I get hurt so much or why Liliss hates me...

I didn't want to get down on my knees and pray to her, but I had to. I didn't want to show that respect to the ghost who hurt me and told me that having her magic is my only worth; my only use. I can't even address her by name and I have to call her 'mistress' and...

I have to tell mom and momma.

I don't know how much longer I can take this.

I'll also ask them about the Dragon Flame Liliss mentioned.

8/10/2001

I'm glad and grateful that I was given this magic.

I'm glad and grateful that I was given all of it on this day.

I'm glad and grateful that I can leave my past behind me.

Everyone's in a coma and it's my fault.

I'm glad and grateful for my Ancestor's guidance.

She did it.

Praise Liliss.

I'm sorry.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

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⚎⚎⚎⚎⚎⚎⚎⚎

Cup Runeth Over—Stormy

2/4/1998

I found a diary in the attic. I'm going to write in it. Not much else to do. School sucks as usual. Dad and mom are yelling at each other again and I think they're arguing about me.

3/4/1998

I think my magic's pretty cool. Mom doesn't like it. Dad likes it even less. Something about our family line not having any storm magic and something something about me being an abomination compared to everyone else on Linfea.

He said something about a dead lady named Tharma. I didn't hear much. Maybe I'm special. Maybe Tharma had storm magic too and that makes both of us special.

If it's bad to create tiny little tornadoes and clouds (it's really fun) then I guess I'm doing what a witch should. Dad is a warlock so I don't know why he's so judgmental.

He didn't do well in school either, so, I guess he's just rude. I would say something worse, but he's still my dad. They both think I'm an idiot and I hate it. I don't do well in school. Sometimes I don't understand when they're being rude, but damn.

Mom didn't have to call me an idiot.

4/4/1998

Parents suck.

I hate them.

Fucking. Hate. Them.

17/11/1998

I'm gonna pass this year! We'll do it!

26/1/1999

I... did not pass this year.

5/3/1999

Mom and dad have gotten more angry at each other because I have to retake all the classes I failed during break. It sucks. I wanted to enjoy myself, but now I have to do something I suck at. Flower magic.

I don't have any friends either. I think it's because their parents tell them to stay away from me, because sometimes they're nice and will compliment me on my outfit or tap me awake if I fall asleep.

ALSO! BIG NEWS! I WAS RIGHT! FUCKING RIGHT!!!

I LEARNED MORE ABOUT THAT DEAD LADY THARMA!!!

Dad says dinner is ready so I have to go. I don't really want to go downstairs because of all the comments I have to avoid and act like I don't understand how weird my family is emotionally. Not everyone's family has fights every night.

I guess I just got bad luck.

6/3/1999

DESPITE crying myself to sleep last night (mom said something rude again, and I was shaky while eating. Not my damn fault I have to walk around eggshells all the time) I slept well, because I saw Tharma!

I don't know how it's possible to see ghosts in dreams (I mean yeah I'm a witch, I should know this, but I didn't pay attention when Mr. Erit was lecturing about it) but I DID. I'd like to tell mom and dad because maybe then they'll see that their daughter isn't a failure, but I think dad wouldn't be happy.

Oh right. Tharma was the one I saw.

She's cool though! Not as cool as me of course, but she likes my magic. She says that it comes from her and that I'm her descendant, which is insane. I have a cool ghost as a great great great (more greats?) grandmother.

And, um, she's nice to me. More than mom every was. Tharma does tell me that I have an important destiny and that it's important for me to listen to her, but I think I will! She smiles at me when I do something right, and I think that's good.

Maybe this is my second chance at a normal family.

13/5/2000

I've been a bit busy in the dream/visions/pocket dimension that I've been talking to Tharma in, so I'm not doing any better in school. But I can finally use my magic better! I can create stable clouds now!

2/8/2000

Tharma says that if I keep working hard on my magic and listen to her (not that there's a lot of rules), then she says that I will have a family soon. Or a coven. I would like to have a sister or two.

Covens are powerful. I think that if I become part of a coven that it will be the most powerful one yet, and the most sisterly coven of them all. Something unchanging.

Yeah. I'd like that.

25/2/2001

I have a lot more magic than I'm used to, and I told Tharma about it. Instead of my clouds and lightning sparks being easy to control it feels like there's too much inside me.

She said that more of her magic is going into me. I don't mind that, but it's a bit annoying for me. She said that on the eighth of November this year all her magic will be inside me and that I should prepare for it.

I can do this.

I don't want to disappoint mother Tharma.

8/10/2001

Today is the day I succeed and I do my best to keep control of the magic. Mom and dad are out of the house so I don't have to worry about hurting anyone. I feel powerful and I like it. Even when I'm just sitting on my bed it feels like I can take on the entire world with all the energy and power inside me.

9/10/2001

Um. I don't have much of my old family anymore. Dad is alive but he was very angry at me because I... I killed mom. I didn't mean to but she was yelling and yelling and I didn't have time to take control of my magic before some of my lightning killed her.

Can't say I feel guilty.

I feel guilty I don't feel guilty.

I think I would be in jail. But before dad almost took me away, a girl (a witch) my age come out of the shadows and took me with her. It hurt my lungs to swallow the darkness or whatever it was, but then we were in a field.

Her name is Darcy and she seems nice. There are dark bags under her eyes, and she's shaky a lot. But maybe this is the start to the coven Tharma told me about.

We're going to a planet called Magix next.

Thank you, Tharma.

⚎⚎⚎⚎⚎⚎⚎⚎

————————————————

︾.︾.︾.︾.︾.︾

Burn Your Village—Icy

5/7/1998

As per usual, I had to ensure that Sapphire had not disappeared to the palace gardens of Diamond before the meeting with our parents. I do not quite know what I expected from my little sister, and yet, I had hoped that she would refrain from causing any sort of mischief.

Alas, she was late and mother and father sent me off to find her. I did so with a smile because, despite how stressful it is to have a handle on a girl as energetic as Sapphire, she is my sister, whom I adore.

On days such as these, though, I tend to worry that she is a better fit for the crown than I am. Of course, I am only thirteen, and I don't have to concern myself with these matters for several more years.

Despite that, I can't help but think a position of power would go to waste if placed in my unsure hands.

-Icy Sheva of Diamond

2/3/1999

Mother had taken me on a walk through the archives of the west wing in the palace. I had yet to wander through that area. On the other hand, I am sure that Sapphire had raced through there whilst sneaking past the palace staff.

She discussed with me the importance of knowing the good and the unpleasant of the past of any kingdom, and that a lack of understanding of such matters only leads to ignorance; it is something I do not wish to be.

I did not quite feel at home among the portraits of the dignified relatives of my family. Not many of them looked like I did; my blonde hair, that, at the very least, in my opinion, makes me appear less intimidating than the rest.

There was one queen of the past who had passed eleven years ago during a war that she and her coven had started, and part of me has to wonder why anyone would seek power to the extent. I looked quite like her, though her blonde hair was pin-straight like father's.

Belladonna.

-Icy Sheva of Diamond

5/3/1999

I am not the type to dream much, but since I had a vivid sort of dream last night, I suppose I should catalogue it if it ever becomes important in the future. Belladonna was in the dream, and I was at her side; both of us were seated on thrones of ice.

The girl in the dream looked different than I do now; she had pale white hair, straight down to her knees. She looked powerful and regal, far more than I ever felt like I could be.

-Icy Sheva of Diamond

24/8/2000

I suppose that the recent dreams have been giving me a sort of confidence I have lacked for the majority of my lifetime. Despite the gaps in my knowledge of witchcraft and my magical abilities, due to the fact that I had always found more motivation and use in studying politics and economics, I have grown to question if my dreams could possibly be something more.

Within these dreams, Belladonna has started to speak to me. She is truly the sort of queen I would aspire to be, if not for the war she and her coven had started that led to deaths upon deaths. I had asked her why she had started the destruction, and she simply responded: "To have power inside oneself is to forever crave it, and control."

I can admit now with certainty that Belladonna is far more cryptic than some of the passive-aggressive royal advisers father has been speaking with lately. Speaking of which, I have questioned telling mother and father about Belladonna, but then I worry that all this newfound confidence would leave me, and I would soon be left unfit for the throne.

For the betterment of my kingdom, I will continue this.

-Icy Sheva of Diamond

2/12/2000

Belladonna had told me to remember all the pieces of advice and lessons she has taught me so far, and so that I do not pose the risk of forgetting such things, I thought it well within the benefit of myself and my kingdom to write them down.

She tells me that to be powerful is to be merciless, which is something my parents or any of my tutors had never told me. I had never seen myself as ruthless either. Nor Sapphire. Far from it, even.

Deep down, I do feel a certain sort of guilt for hiding something such as this from my parents, but this is something special, I feel like. There has always been my concern of not being good enough to take on the throne of Diamond when I come of age, but if an ancestor as powerful as Belladonna sees it worth her while to bother with me, then I am determined not to disappoint her as I have myself.

-Icy Sheva of Diamond

8/10/2001

This will be my last entry, at least in this specific journal. I do not deserve to touch the pages of the journal Sapphire had given me, because I had ruined both her and my kingdom. Though I suppose it is no longer my kingdom.

Belladonna has told me not to reminisce on the past, and I am determined to leave these thoughts behind me as I write them down and begin to move towards the future so close to my grasp. One where I will not make cowardly mistakes again, like I did on this day.

I had cried at first when I saw my palace freeze over in ice, and when an imposing and terrible witch cursed Sapphire into the body of a young snow fox. Now, I believe Belladonna that to be powerful is to be merciless. That witch did not deserve mercy. She never will after what she has done to my family, kingdom, and my life.

Belladonna gave me power, and I swore to her that I would do what I could within this new power to earn back what I owe. I now feel a storm of ice and fury within my veins instead of soft flurries of snow, and a determination.

I will enroll in Cloud Tower College for witches as I was told, and seek the two others Belladonna had told me to search for. Belladonna, too, had two coven sisters.

Now I will not make the same mistakes.

I am a leader.

-Icy Sheva

︾.︾.︾.︾.︾.︾

[intuitive-revelations]

Semi-live/retrospective analysis of Lucky Day!

As usual, have provided my live reactions, while also going back and analysing in roughly chronological order. Spoilers below the read more.

Ah yes, the long past year of 2007.

Oh so Conrad is the guy.

And he's been following the TARDIS. I wonder if we're going to get a LINDA, Clive Finch, or Redacted reference?

All these mannequins, felt like we were going to get an Auton appearance for a second.

Oh, so this is a missing Ruby and Fifteen adventure, cool!

Future edit: Looking up this episode on the wiki, turns out this was actually foreshadowed in one of the NSA books, which is really cool! In that story (Caged), Ruby mentions having "outrun a Shreek". I love this, as I don't think we've had such a strong connection between the NSAs and the series since Series 1, when Justicia was mentioned in Boom Town, referencing The Monsters Inside?

"Aliens are real, we all know that." So are we stepping back to the RTD1-era status quo? I guess it does make sense with UNIT tower in the middle of London.

This imaginary storytelling is a bit out of nowhere, but cool.

I wonder how Ruby got the extra vial of antidote? I guess this is prior to Season 2 and she met with the Doctor?

"If he was here, he'd be flirting with you." Ah, another moment to add to my long-planned pride month queer Doctor gifset.

Interesting to see Louise here with Cherry and Carla. Very domestic and friendly, which is nice.

"She's not mentioned the Doctor in weeks" After that post on here, I can't stop seeing Paul McGann in Conrad's face.

Kate! Oh, so is the antidote from UNIT?

"Mel's on her way to Sydney" Tegan-Nyssa-Mel meetup?

Shame they're still going the love interest route with Kate and Ibrahim. Honestly, I was hoping he'd end up more of a rival, providing some internal conflict at UNIT in balancing its military and scientific missions (which would be a good driving storyline for a spin-off appearance).

I assume that's not it... but interesting to touch on the PTSD associated with companion life.

Oh, and Ruby said as such explicitly!

Conrad you idiot. I expected as such, but of course he didn't take the antidote.

Shirley's back!

The cut to UNIT arriving was a little sudden. I notice they're using the music from the 60th, which I guess is being setup as a new theme for them? A bit odd using it here though, without the Doctor present, since it seems to have a small quote of The Shepherd's Boy in it? I guess it could just be coincidence.

OH DAMN. Wasn't expecting it to be a setup. A little silly how recognisable and accurate the costumes and sound were, but I guess Conrad did witness the real Shreek. Having the aliens be costumes is pretty fun and meta (and I must admit, another possible point for the TV meta theory/interpretation) - wasn't there a post on here suggesting something like that earlier this week?

I noticed the electrician hat earlier, know it's all a set-up, which he presumably did the wiring on, puts a whole new spin on this.

I was going to call Conrad a podcast bro earlier, but held back. I wasn't expecting it to be so accurate. Kinda feels weird that Ruby wouldn't have picked up on this stuff before going on his podcast? I guess it could have been a recent, secretive turn.

Damn, so Think Tank aren't alien conspiracy theorists. They're anti-alien conspiracy theorists?! "There are no Shreek, no Cybermen, no Sycorax, no Yetis in the underground." No wonder he didn't take the antidote.

"They're stooges and actors" I mean... holding up that mask kinda goes against that point, no? Think Tank were responsible for the costumed Shreek, yet they showed up anyway. This feels just as stupid reasoning as real conspiracies.

"This one's collecting benefits, stealing our taxes while she lies to us." Jesus. Also topical...

This does make the "storytelling" scene earlier feel a bit misleading now, mind you, if Conrad never thought any of this was real.

TRINITY WELLS!

The live TV presence is so RTD feeling, despite this episode being written by Pete McTighe. The misinformation is kinda infuriating (of course, reporting a fake emergency is not "harmless") but hardly unrealistic.

And now he's literally doxxing everyone.

Kinda wish they'd mention the Chibnall era UNIT defunding as they're talking about the political consequences of all this.

So Conrad applied 8 years ago. So around 2016 or 2017? Honestly, he might've not gotten the job BECAUSE of the Brexit-related defunding?

Oh, this dude. I knew there was something suspicious with the focus on him.

I feel like this is all a bit overly dramatic for one episode? Honestly, if we were to get a UNIT spin-off, as suggested, I feel like this "uprising" could have been another great arc to use over a series?

"Subscription to Albion TV, revisionist podcasts... it's an echo chamber of disinformation." Wait, is Albion TV where ap Gwilliam's Albion Party comes from? I guess it's the DW equivalent of something like NewsMax or GB News.

The politics are so heavy here, I honestly wonder if McTighe is trying to make up for Kerblam? The infiltration and attack on UNIT headquarters even feels quite Jan 6-y, although it being Conrad only in the building with a gun feels closer to a mass-shooting / assassination scenario.

A little tired of it always coming back to the Brigadier with Kate. I love him, sure, but it does feel like we have to do this every single story with her.

HOLY SHIT KATE. (kinda deserved though)

Love the emphasis that Conrad doesn't even really believe what he's spreading.

"At least your special effects are improving." And of course he tries to flip-flop onces he's (seemingly) safe. Kinda meta too.

Wasn't expecting the Doctor to actually show up here. When is this, I wonder?

"You've had plenty of... friends. Have you met MIss Belinda Chandra yet?" OH?! So that explains that. So much for the Master connection, though.

I wonder if these "spoilers" are going to bite the Doctor in the arse, and Conrad is going to succeed in rewriting his future / "rejecting [this] reality".

Yep, and it seems to be by Mrs Flood's hand? But what need does she have for Conrad, of all people? "The Governor", while I don't think it's her actual name, feels like it's hinting at a Time Lord title for her?

Overall Thoughts

Great episode - with a LOT to talk about.

Another politics-heavy episode from Pete McTighe. I definitely feel this is his strongest yet, and the best handled, though there's still a lot to debate regarding UNIT. While I was a lot more critical of Kerblam, I think I will defend him here TBF, since of course that's going to happen when you go at a big discussion topic like this. While the episode is clearly swinging at disinformation and right-wing podcast types (the actual political views of Conrad etc., while not a big focus, are pretty clear from things like the benefits dig at Shirley and Jordan's Albion TV subscription, plus the subtext of course), it does end up forcing us into a position of sort-of defending UNIT's recent militaristic, "government spook" depiction (which has long been a little bit of a shame, given the Moffat era was clearly swinging us towards a more scientific UNIT, though admittedly that did dampen in later episodes). Though the arrest of Conrad et al. was arguably justified, behaviour like that in The Star Beast is much less so. I guess this is a moment to remember that characters don't need to be perfect, which the ending with Kate was definitely leaning on, and not everything is intended as part of a political message. Honestly, this is just more of the reason why I am in support of a UNIT spin-off: not to glorify them, but so we can dive deeper into this debate with more nuance than can be packed into a 45-minute episode.

In any case, UNIT continues to be divisive. Interesting having them being such a public face of alien defence now - again, it feels very much like a step back to the RTD1 status quo. Also nice to confront the politics and funding situation of the organisation, after the Brexit stuff in the Chibnall era, though again it's a shame that didn't come up at all. I would assume obtaining funding again is related to UNIT's recent public transformation? I do wonder if the long-term fallout of Conrad's actions is putting us back on course for the evolution into UNISYC, as we were speculating during the last era?

As sudden and dramatic as it was, I did really like the public response to the livestream, which did feel very real, especially AMNN and Trinity Wells's opinion program (what a sadly realistic evolution of that character) immediately leaping on it as persecution against right wing voices - especially given the reaction just today by US Republicans to things like the AFD ruling in Germany. See also whenever Elon Musk starts going off about the Labour Party and other ruling parties in Europe.

Conrad is fascinating. It seems as if he must have been a sceptic for some time, even with his own experiences - I wonder if he had it beaten into him, after seeing the TARDIS materialise in 2007? On the other hand, how much of that belief is genuine and how much is him playing it up to make a buck? Feels very reminiscent of all the right-wing personalities going publicly against vaccines and such, despite being fine with them in private. Speaking of which, there's clearly a right-wing / libertarian bend to his views - is that how he's always been, or is he another person whose been radicalised, or who saw the disinformation space as a good grift?

By the end of the episode, his beliefs seem quite incoherent, what with him being positioned against the Doctor, even knowing that he's real. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, as it's hardly an unrealistic development, but I do wonder where his thinking is going to go next? Is he going to stay a denialist, or swing around and become more anti-alien - if so, what will his perspective on UNIT evolve into? That they're not aggressive enough? Or maybe that they're the wrong people for the job, and alien-fighting should be less secretive / a more open government action? With Mrs Flood seemingly intending to let him out, I suspect we'll see more of him.

Very happy to see Ruby and all her family. As mentioned, I do love that things are so cordial between Louise and Carla, so hopefully things have settled a bit from her "real mum" stuff last series, which I know was intentionally meant to be a bit messy, despite being pretty disrespectful to adopted parents like Carla. The examination of her PTSD from travelling with the Doctor was awesome to have, it all felt very Steven Universe Future. For a moment, I thought that might have been the direction we were going with the episode: a Listen-like scenario, where there isn't anything actually there, which made the twist really stand out to me. Being betrayed and exposed as she was is hardly going to help with that.

Kinda disappointed that it seems Conrad is how the Doctor found out about Belinda? I guess the This is Gallifrey motif really wasn't important, unless this is a misdirect and we're still missing something (after all, it didn't feel like Conrad really set the Doctor on course to find her, unlike what he implied in The Robot Revolution).

[sgiandubh]

A word on Wardpark/Cumbernauld Studios

@docsama left a comment, on S's birthday, under one of my posts and I promised her an answer with more information, as soon as I got the time. Anyway, here goes - and @docsama, sorry for the delay:

Question is: who owns the Wardpark Film and Television Studios?

The answer was quick to find, in the not-so-old specialized media:

The story begins in 2013, with an ambitious Scottish entrepreneur, Terry Thomson - this guy (courtesy of The Herald, https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15984820.analysis-three-projects-pipeline-help-productions-make-big-picture/):

He is the owner of the Thomson Pettie Group, based in Carluke (https://www.thomsonpettie.com/about-us), which has nothing to do with cinema:

You've read that right: they are 'manufacturers of fabricated metal parts and assemblies', primarily for the national automotive industry. Yet, in 2013, Mr. Thomson agreed to rent what he described as 'a dormant industrial property' - a warehouse, to be exact - to Sony, in order to host the filming and production of OL. Thus, he became the CEO of a newly created entity, The Wardpark Film and Television Studios (https://www.hackmancapital.com/scotlands-largest-most-iconic-film-studio-acquired-by-hackman-capital-partners-and-square-mile-capital/).

By 2017, Wardpark was doing so well, that a big expansion plan was announced, with the direct support of the Scottish Government, which invested £4 million via Scottish Enterprise, its business support, advice and funding agency:

And then, in November 2021, the little engine that could was sold to those two big US investors, Hackman Capital Partners (HCP) and Square Mile Capital Management LLC (now globally rebranded as Affinius Capital). In this montage, Hackman Capital Partners brought its own confirmed film studios and media management expertise...

... while Square Mile most probably funded a sizeable portion of the acquisition, simply because this is what they do best:

Perhaps an interesting detail: HCP owns and manages both the Culver City based Sony Pictures Animation Studios' Campus and the legendary Culver Studios, now rebranded by Amazon:

Back to Scotland, Wardpark Studio's sale made just about everyone happy. Mr. Thomson kept his CEO job and look who was more than thrilled about the juicy transaction:

Currently, the studio is operated by HCP's subsidiary, The MBS Group:

That means that MBS probably manages just about everything, as far as daily management is concerned, from business operations, staffing and/or property management, to lighting and grip, trucks and generators' fleet, expendables and props. Unless I could see a contract and have a precise idea, I can just enumerate all the services they offer.

At no point in time did S and C own anything of those studios. As for the Executive Producer part, that is another discussion entirely. I could be coaxed to write something about it, if you really want to know why Those Two are EPs and what does that really, really mean - because once again, I have seen and read a LOT of bullshit in here, especially in the Desperate Housewives Disgruntled Tumblrettes' corner.

Thank you for asking. It was fun to research and write and I hope it brought more clarity to you.

[helluvahusker]

I know we're way past The Full Moon probably but I'm still having thoughts! An analysis, if you will:

-Stolas starts his day off freaking the fuck out with nerves so bad he gets morning sickness pukes and sings a little song about how he hopes Blitzø returns his feelings and that he hasn't just been forcing Blitzø to sleep with him. He's hopeful, but he's also terrified it's the latter.

-Blitzø arrives, he immediately dives into talking about sex stuff without any preamble (he's just really excited to have sex with Stolas, not to mention he has no idea that Stolas has been thinking of him this way, but Stolas obviously doesn't know that)

-Stolas asks for his book back, Blitzø starts freaking out that it's because the sex is bad. This is the only thing he can offer Stolas (so he thinks). He needs to be needed and he can't stand the thought of his situationship with Stolas ending like this. Again, Stolas doesn't know this.

-He gives Blitzø the asmodean crystal. To him, this is a clear grand romantic gesture, he is telling Blitzø that he wants their relationship, should there be any, to be 100% because Blitzø wants it. Stolas is removing the clear power imbalance between them.

-Obviously Stolas fails to take in two massive issues: 1. The power imbalance is still there on multiple socioeconomic levels, like their difference in race, finances, and royalness(?) And 2. The rest of the balance is thrown all out of wack because Blitzø just hates himself so much that he sees them on completely different levels of deserving, on top of all that other stuff.

-I mean post Mastermind I just wanna say that while Blitzø clearly has/d distortions, he was also being way more realistic about it than Stolas. It WOULD be societally crazy for an imp and a goetia to be in a relationship. He's not even Hell-wide famous like Fizz.

-But anyways, back to TFM. Blitzø can only possibly see this crystal play as a sex thing. Stolas assumes he's being made fun of, and has come to the (incorrect) conclusion that Blitzø had no problem sleeping with him, so at least he's not a monster. But like, way worse for his feelings: Blitzø only sees him as a person to have sex with. He's unlovable, unwanted.

(He's seeing himself the way Blitzø is resigned to seeing himself! Btw!)

-That shit hurts (trust me I know firsthand) and Stolas is comfortable with avoidance so he leaves.

-Blitzø realizes he was serious and panics again, because what the actual fuck this is not something he ever considered possible. He just found this out, and now Stolas is leaving before they can talk about it? Well that's just typical, but Blitzø isn't having it. He attacks Stolas’s privilege, because that's the part he's most insecure about (and he's right!!!). Stolas does not recognize this (yet). Stolas assumes Blitzø just thinks him a stupid spoiled plaything that is entirely undatable. That's the second time, and once was already really fucking hurtful.

-Leaving didn't work, so he makes Blitzø leave.

-Blitzø has no idea what the fuck just happened, and how it all went so bad so quick.

And like! Yeah! They both deeply hurt each other but they're gonna work it out and be in love and ughhhhh. I'm so glad the rest of season 2 exists now.

[badgalsasuke]

The SNS implications in the current Boruto manga is pretty strong and I wish there were more SNS meta blogs who read it so we can sum it all up and make coherent analysis regarding where this might go. It's really interesting and I genuinely do think Kishi's gearing up for something since he was involved in supervising and drafting the story. One of the key defining clues for me that something SNS might happen is them making Mitsuki be canonically in love with Boruto using sun and moon imagery, Borusara having an sns-like dynamic with Boruto as a wanted fugitive and Sarada as the hero of the village aiming to be hokage yet still believing in Boruto when no one else does, Sasuke giving away that headband and that ambiguous line about having to resolve things, and also how the SS narrative is gradually disappearing. Like seriously Sasuke is back to becoming a supposed traitor to the village and now stuck in a tree and throughout all this there's not a single mention of how his supposed wife is feeling about all this. The NH family is shown often as typical traditional nuclear family but even then, there were multiple scenes that showed how Naruto sleeps in his bedroom alone with a single bed lmao. Your post about the naruto ending theme and its author intention is so on point I really think you'll find a lot of the writing in Boruto aligns with this SNS vision, especially in the Kawaki and Omnipotence arc where something major happens to them both. I hope you'll give it a chance someday and we can discuss it more cause the Boruto series will end somewhere in the next two years and if we do get rewarded I want SNS shippers to be able to say I told you so.

Hi!

I really don't know if I'll ever read Boruto, but I think narusasu blog @maoam does read it, or at least it is from her where I see the panels that I'm familiar with. If you haven't checked out her blog you should, it's great.

The NH family is shown often as typical traditional nuclear family but even then, there were multiple scenes that showed how Naruto sleeps in his bedroom alone with a single bed lmao.

Well, that is a typical traditional nuclear family, a husband hating his family is pretty common even in heterosexual marriages so Kishimoto nailed that regardless lmao

Anyway, I also hope Kishimoto has been planning something, it'll be so much fun to see how things progress for Naruto and Sasuke but as far as I'm aware we get a Boruto chapter on a monthly basis, right? so it's gonna be a long wait to see how this ends