#but if anything I think all that would just lend MORE credence to this idea

[p5x-theories]

@sir-adamus​ Exactly! At least from what we know so far, this team’s theming actually seems to fit with Akechi moreso than the rest of the Phantom Thieves we know, which has led some people- including me, haha- to wonder if Akechi is going to play some sort of role in this game. It’d be interesting if they’re somehow like, the Persona team he would’ve been part of, had the game not been rigged and he was a proper wildcard, or something!

Idk if there’s anything that supports or goes against this theory other than the trailer and stuff I’ve seen bc I don’t speak Japanese but. My guess from first seeing this game is that our good buddy Wonder and the gang are acting because they’re inspired by the PTs and this is like, a few years post-P5. The reason for the hero motif instead of the thief motif is because they see the PTs as heroes and are imitating them.

Honestly I think it would be so funny if that is what it is. Can you imagine? You see these Phantom Thieves of Hearts on the news, really changing things and taking down shitty people in power, and then after like a year and a half they go silent... and then suddenly now you have the power to do that?? How do you even react to that?

And then the hero vibe, too! You make a great point that if they do know of the Phantom Thieves, and see them as heroes, that'd for sure explain why the new cast's outfits seem a little more hero-y rather than thief-y. It'd certainly be interesting if the new cast went in already having an idea of what they can do with this weird world and their new power of Persona, even if they don't know how to do it yet! Would mix things up a bit from previous Persona games too, and give a reason for why they made this P5 X instead of just like, Persona 6.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Do you think Rita’s assertion that albus lowkey stole someone else’s research on the 12 uses of dragons blood is true?

Thoughts on Rita Skeeter

Anon, you will probably be happier on other blogs.

To caveat, we of course don't know, Harry doesn't read that part of Rita's book nor look at her sources. And the Dumbledore Harry confronts later may very well be a hallucination, so we can't give too much credence to what he says either.

What I will say is that there are many people who at the time were desperate to defend Albus Dumbledore's legacy. We see one of them in Doge both in the article he writes and his discussion with Harry at Bill and Fleur's wedding.

Rita had to write this book knowing that everything was going to be heavily scrutinized and torn apart by those looking to defend this man. And the thing about Rita is... she writes in a sensational manner, she has little scruples when it comes to getting her evidence and what she chooses to print, but she's usually not dead wrong and her exaggerations are usually in the form of "as Harry spoke he cried great tears of sadness" and not lies about anything concrete. In fact, in those cases, she usually tells it how it is (see her article in GoF on the world cup, everything she wrote did happen, the beef Arthur has is not that it was what happened just that she wrote it wrong/shouldn't have written it at all). Later, when slandering Hermione, Rita doesn't say things that didn't happen, where she goes beyond the pale is framing it and speculating on Hermione's motivations.

My point is, it'd be Rita's style to say "I think Dumbledore did this because he is a FUCKER" but not so much "he did this fuckery all the time". She states what a person did then... draws conclusions from that which may or may not be true (or kind, or flattering, or something that should be put in print about a fourteen-year-old Muggle-born).

Rita said a lot worse about Dumbledore that was supported by mounds of evidence to the point where Doge could only splutter "well, technically that's all true, but you're making it sound much worse and everyone should suspect that there's a more benign, if kind of ridiculous, explanation". And in terms of Ariana, what actually happened was even worse than Rita learned from Bathilda.

If Rita even insinuated that Dumbledore engaged in plagiarism, without backing it up, the likes of Doge and everyone else for that matter would have ripped the book apart.

But we never see them do that, not one person, no matter how much they hate it.

She also cites a very specific incident, not every paper he's ever done in his career, which lends itself to her having checked thoroughly. And if we do believe in Dumbledore's ghost, then he admits to doing it but justifies it with "well, I made the idea better anyway".

Consider how much people engage in plagiarism in the real world, even when they're honest with most of their other work. And that's with a large culture of anti-plagiarism and copyright that the Wizarding World sort of has (in the anti-cheating sense) but also sort of doesn't.

It's not shocking to me that Dumbledore would plagiarize, and I'd be shocked, in fact, if he was the only one canonically to do so.

So, in short, yes, I believe it.

[viviseawrites]

wishing the happiest of (slightly belated) birthdays to @paradimeshifts7!

each evening's darkening

rated E | 11k words | stevie harrington enters the forest to barter with a witch for a cure. she comes out with much more. wlw steddie.

excerpt:

Stevie Harrington knows better than to enter the woods. She’s lived in town all her life, after all, and the people of Hawkins have long claimed that something ominous haunts the land beyond the tree line. It used to be that young men dared each other to spend a night beneath those boughs to prove their courage, but too many never returned, and now folks respect the wishes of the forest.

If it weren’t her last resort, Stevie would not be here. She should be tucked away in bed at home, settling in for the night. Instead, she’s standing at the spot where prairie grasses give way to tall trunks, peering into the shadows. She shifts her weight between her feet, eyes searching for any sign of danger, before she swallows and steels herself. Her shoulders roll back under the straps of her rucksack as she nods firmly, just once, and makes the stupidest decision of her life so far.

The temperature drops beneath the trees. Her feet, clad in thick wool socks and worn boots, sink into the damp mulch of leaf litter and decay, kicking up a musty scent that tickles the back of her throat. “This better fucking be worth it,” she huffs, pointedly keeping her gaze directed straight ahead.

Robin told her not to do this. She begged and pleaded and threatened and promised to help find another solution. After all that, Stevie barely believes she managed to convince Robin that she would wait for her. Stevie half-expected to find her sleeping on the doorstep just in case Stevie tried it anyway.

But it’s better this way. Either Stevie succeeds or she fails, but no one else suffers, whatever the outcome.

After a few minutes, she’s learned not to look when she thinks she sees movement out of the corner of her eye. She chalks it up to normal animals—squirrels, foxes, rabbits, and the like—because there’s no point in considering anything more dangerous, not if she intends to see this through. Instead, she preoccupies herself by repeating what Dustin had told her at the start of all this, again and again, intent on remembering every detail.

“Not all witches are evil, Stevie! I swear on my mother,” Dustin had insisted. “I read something about witches that used to help people instead, and it said the witch of Mirkwood was one of them until something really bad happened.”

“So what happened?”

Dustin had folded under Stevie’s unimpressed raised eyebrow. “Well, no one is really sure.”

“Even if that were true, Dustin, how would I find her?”

“The book says only those in need may find the path,” Dustin had said. Despite further prodding and bickering, he recalled no other details. Honestly, Stevie nearly gave up on the idea right then and there. It was far-fetched and unlikely to yield results; it still is. But at least she exhausted every other option before resigning herself to this.

Only those in need may find the path. Stevie figures the desperation bubbling under her sternum lends credence to the necessity of this cursed trip.

She just hopes that Dustin and Robin forgive her if everything goes wrong.

A low, grumbling kind of snarl splits the muffled night air. Stevie flinches, whipping her head up to look for the threat, and immediately pitches forward over a raised root. Displaced air ruffles her hair and her ankle rolls under her until a yelp breaks from her lips, but she manages to catch herself against the rough bark of a thick oak. The silence that follows weighs heavy on her trembling shoulders. Gone are the weird shuffling noises and hair-raising growls; instead, silence descends around her. Even the owls have gone quiet.

Stevie presses her back up against the oak and stares out into the dark. Despite the glowing moon she spotted before entering Mirkwood, no light pierces the canopy here. She does manage to spot a branch on the ground a few feet away, though, amongst a patch of clover, and she scrambles to pick it up, wielding it like a club as she waits for an attack that never comes.

Her heartbeat drums loudly in her ears. Her fingers cramp around the makeshift weapon, held at the ready even as the normal sounds of the forest filter back in. Whatever she encountered, it appears to have moved on, but her nerves refuse to calm.

When the voice comes, Stevie acts in a way she’s not proud of. “You know,” someone says behind her—the words cut off as Stevie screams and whirls around, sweeping her branch through the air only to find nothing waiting. A shudder wracks her arms and spills down her spine.

Witch, her mind hisses.

“Well, that was rude,” the voice says blandly, coming from overhead this time. Stevie looks up searchingly to no avail. “I was just going to compliment you on dodging the demodog. It almost looked purposeful when you tripped. Very graceful.”

read the rest on ao3

[ghoulfuckersincorporated]

Ghouls and sex pollen: thoughts? Feelings? I’ve seen in some fics the concept of excessive rads gets a Ghoul going, but I’d love your expert opinion ;)

My feelings are as follows: sex pollen is one of my favorite tropes for sci-fi and I go a little nuts thinking about it, frankly. It's often heavily tinged with flavors of BDSM/primal play/self-denial/dubcon/etc., and I enjoy stuff in that vein. I'm also a real dupe for what is basically forced escalation of sexual tension between characters that don't wanna admit how badly they'd like to fuck one another, and the trope lends itself really nicely to exactly that.

I've seen similar fics to the ones you mentioned, and I've also seen fics that take a more traditional approach and have a more literal sex pollen/inhalable pheromone vehicle. Both work great for the canon and setting, in my opinion. Thanks to the likes of Vault-Tec, we have biological experiments gone horrifically awry in the vein of Vault 22 (a crop research vault whose researchers all fell victim to what is basically a "zombie ant"-style parasitic fungus that eventually coats your entire body) to lend credence to the possible existence of something like that. The fungus that took over Vault 22 also originally came as donated samples from the X-22 research lab/botanical garden at Big MT. If you don't know anything about the horny, intellectually overstimulated little freaks featured in Old World Blues, well...let's just say that something like a "sex pollen" being created by someone there, purposefully or through acts of unbelievable incompetence, isn't outside the realm of possibility.

However, literal sex pollen is a more broadly-applicable trope, and it's for that reason that I also really like the excessive rads/radstorm idea. Trust me, I know that in the incredibly niche terms of "Fallout ghoul fucker fanfiction tropes", the idea that high radiation situations are basically the same thing, but for ghouls, is as overdone as 70's pornos with plots about fucking pizza delivery guys or whatever. But, like...I will firmly argue that it's that popular for multiple reasons. Those reasons are that it's fun to read, fun to write, and a pretty canon-appropriate way to provide that sort of instantaneous, almost insurmountable sexual tension that I was talking about before.

As I sort of touched on the other day in my little drabble about sex with glowing ones, I think radiation is not only something that rapidly heals ghouls, but something that actively re-energizes them when they're exposed to higher amounts of it. Maybe it even makes them a little stronger, a little faster. A lot hornier.

To me, though, it's less like the overwhelming, visceral, "I need to fuck something now or I'm seriously gonna fall over dead" sort of horny that you often see in sex pollen fiction. In my mind, it's almost more of an ecstasy-style euphoria that makes you feel so good and alive that all you wanna do is sink yourself into the person next to you. Lots of energy, shared good feelings with others who can feel what you're feeling. It lends itself heavily to things getting physical, and quickly.

And not just because the increased rads in the atmosphere would recharge them, either. I imagine things like radstorms, or spending time in a particularly irradiated location, provide a fairly significant analgesic effect to ghouls who suffer from chronic pain in some form, of which I imagine there are a great many. More who do than don't, I'd be willing to bet. Ghoulification is hell on the body, and that's before you factor in how many of these people have stuck around to put wear and tear on their bodies far past the typical human life span. There's a reason characters like Raul complain about their joints all the time! Pain is exhausting, and even those with high sex drives can find themselves hampered if they're always hurting and tired. Take away the hurt, provide some energy, and don't be shocked at what happens!

I will say, though, that I would certainly leave room for the possibility that some ghouls would have more of a "take me into a high-rad area or a storm and I'm gonna have to carry you out, because you won't be able to walk once I'm finished with you" sort of reaction to these situations. Factors like a lack of overall daily pain, higher than average sex drive, a particularly sadistic or aggressive nature, or already present intoxication would increase the odds. In cases like that, extra precaution would need to be taken so that they didn't accidentally do you serious harm; increased inhibition means loss of control, and the average ghoul is already strong enough to hurt you if they want to without extra radiation fueling them.

Plus, you know, there's the matter of how the increased rads will impact you without your partner even being factored in. I hope you're stocked up to your eyeballs in Radaway!

[homielander]

i am still extremely frustrated that "supporting rhaenyra = feminism" is the depth of the hotd writers' understanding on the subject. rhaenyra has not done a thing for other women apart from useless posturing ("when i am queen i will create a new order" and then denying baela driftmark at first opportunity) whereas alicent has actively stuck her neck out for other women -- by defending rhaenyra's claim to her father, other nobles, and even a doubtful viserys, all at the detriment of her own position; by convincing viserys that rhaenyra should be able to marry whomever she chooses; and by offering rhaenys and her granddaughters driftmark. i'm not delusional enough to label alicent a feminist but i would argue she comes much closer to being one than rhaenyra and rhaenys, who have done nothing but wallow in self-pity (actually rhaenys has done far worse) despite having a much greater capacity to enact change.

my question is, why should alicent support rhaenyra? before the time jump, alicent marrying viserys left the two estranged for years, and when they were on the verge of reconciliation, rhaenyra convinced alicent of a lie that got otto (her only remaining family member) sent away, leaving alicent alone at court without even the courtesy of a heads-up from her husband or former friend. after the time jump, rhaenyra only broached the idea of a marriage alliance as a last resort. she suggested torturing alicent's freshly-mutilated son and actively tried to implicate alicent in high treason. i can almost certainly say rhaenyra never said sorry for anything over the 10-year and 6-year time jumps considering alicent folded in like 30 seconds at the dinner when rhaenyra finally apologized and deigned to acknowledge that alicent was singlehandedly managing both the realm and viserys while she was off in dragonstone doing whatever.

(also, alicent's offences towards rhaenyra don't compare in my opinion -- the show made it pretty clear that alicent talking about the dubious parentage of rhaenyra's first three children was confined to closed doors, alicent never asked criston (and seriously, the courtyard incident is very much on harwin too) or larys to do what they did, and rhaenyra was the one to lend the bastard allegations credence by admitting them aloud in a room full of nobles at driftmark. alicent wasn't the source of those rumours by any means. "everyone knows. just look at them." of course there's the vaemond hearing but that comes after everything above ^)

all that being said, i honestly don't see why the contrived prophecy nonsense was necessary. i think alicent very well could have had an arc of personal empowerment where she decided after viserys's death to finally put her family and herself first, even if that came at the expense of rhaenyra and her claim. "have you ever imagined yourself on the iron throne" is a neat line and all, but it ignores that the only way a woman like alicent feasibly could have seized power is by putting her son (an actual claimant) forward as the successor. (after all, both f&b and hotd make it pretty clear that if not for the war, aegon would have been king in name only with alicent and otto ruling in his stead.) and we can't ignore that rhaenyra has never actually done anything to help secure other women's succession, so alicent wouldn't be making these moves to diminish women in general -- just rhaenyra.

of course you can have a conversation about how alicent working against the first female heir is a negative for women as a whole, but the point is it wouldn't be alicent's intention to work against women, just as it isn't rhaenyra's intention to work for them. i think there was a lot of potential for an interesting story here -- two women securing power only for themselves, but one operates within the system and one operates entirely outside of it -- but that obviously requires more nuance than the hotd writers were willing to allow either side. instead we get margaret thatcher effectively utilizing girlpower and the perpetual victim who's shown being sexually assaulted twice on screen as a punishment for not being able to bust out of her own prison with the dragon she doesn't have.

[gin-juice-tonic]

i think itd be interesting if leaving a bit of zombie in a person would effect their life span. would they live longer or shorter lives? will they ever truely die, or would they turn back to being a zombie instead?

also think itd be a really cool thing to explore just overall. would laboratories pick it up? find a way to test for it? find a faster/safer way to neutralize it? maybe even make vaccines for effected towns so people are less likely to be effected. or would you even be able to do that since its not actually a virus?

Im gonna answer this under a readmore because it got long.

I talk about my zombie lore stuff a liiiiitle more in this post:

https://gin-juice-tonic.tumblr.com/post/704995046015041536/gin-juice-tonic-part-of-something-the-little

But for specific answers to your questions:

1) If you have more not-zombie in you than zombie in you, all major zombie operations in you are supposed to cease, so I'd be inclined to say nothing special about your life span would happen. (The bit about vegetarians having a hard time after being cured was more of a joke.) If something WERE to still happen though I would say it'd increase your life span a little, because of zombies ability to stay together despite their whole... everything. But hopefully that wouldnt happen.

I guess I sort of implied that humans with zombie in them can drink formalin and be okay... until they cant anymore. That's the only perk you get.

2) If you die and you have zombie in you at the time, your body becomes a zombie. But your life force isn't in there anymore, so you can't really say it's still that person anymore. That's the zombie's body now. Cures will no longer do anything at this stage

3) In journal 3 Ford says he analyzed Soos and could tell he survived being a zombie "Due to evidence of autolysis". I did bad in biology in high school but I'm still pretty sure that doesn't make any sense at all lol. Maybe we're to assume that like, a minimal amount of his cells are still self-digesting in a unique way but not enough to affect him as a whole. Which lends credence to the idea that there is no perfect cure, i guess.

4) In my mind the only test for it is "Is the person looking or acting like a zombie", and its about as an exact science as the blood test from the movie the Thing (1981) lol. But as noted up in point 3, Ford I suppose tested Soos somehow. Perhaps one could take a sample of blood and use the titration method I described earlier on the sample until the all cells in it are no longer killing themselves. But then you'd have to make some assumptions involving the ratio of zombie to human based off that tiny blood sample if you wanted to try continued curing at a larger scale. Ford doesn't mention trying to cure Soos further or anything, so I'll just go ahead and claim it's too dangerous to attempt, even for Ford.

5) The thing that kills the zombie force also kills normal humans, so I'm inclined to say a vaccine wouldn't be possible. Who knows though

[the-nosy-neighbor]

More on Frankenstein and Scarecrow

Extension of the Frankenstein reference—In the original post, I compared and contrasted Eddie’s two Halloween costumes, Frankenstein’s monster and Scarecrow.  I was talking about The Wizard of Oz’s Scarecrow character, snd saying who would be/play what character and I mentioned that if we were casting Wizard of Oz with Welcome Home characters, that Frank would be the Tin Man. 

I found this really interesting, because when I was reading about the book, the Tin Man is called the Tin Woodsman.  His name is Nick Chopper.  He is made of spare parts, just like Frankenstein.  I say spare, but parts.  It is mentioned that the Tin Woodsman had parts of his body replaced as needed, and he ended up being tin, but he hasn’t died.  He still has all the thoughts and feelings of the Tin Woodsman, which true to the movie, has a big heart, AND is so kind that he is sad about stepping on a bug, and in a later book in the series, refuses to do a certain spell because it involves killing a BUTTERFLY.  (There is a scene with the monster and a butterfly in Young Frankenstein, but I’m not sure that it is canon in the regular version.  But the intention of that scene is to show that he’s not a dangerous man, just clumsy, as he doesn’t hurt the butterfly.)  Though I did read that part of his job on the whole yellow brick road odyssey was killing animals that attacked them.  With his ax.

So, if Frank is a counterpart to the Tin Man, he is a protector of the group, able to kill when necessary, yet very considerate of all life.  I think it lends credence to the idea that he is the one that is going to have to take characters out in such a way that they seem dead, but aren’t.

Based on an internet search, which you can’t trust these days, Frankenstein’s monster doesn’t have the memories of his brain’s previous life.  So not new parts, but a new creature.  The Tin Woodsman is made of all new parts, but remains the same man. 

This brings up a particularly horrifying idea:  will Eddie remember Frank after he is reassembled?  Is part of the sadness of that song because we would be getting a new version of Eddie (one that doesn't love Frank)?  You can disassemble the puppet, but is there anything in particular that holds their memories or makes them themselves?

If Frank is the tin man, shown in that one image surrounded by all the spare parts, what will become of him?  He says “where all that’s left is me.”  Next, I will look at a song another fan pointed out to me (in the comments on the Bug-A-Bye post).  Sorry these are so long; I appreciate people sticking it out to the end.

[sunflowerdigs]

I think it's telling that Oliver pulled out arguably one of his best and most authentic portrayals of Buck in the scene where Buck discovers his attraction to men. It lends so much credence to the idea that this character has always been bi, and that his sexuality is an intrinsic part of him that, when stripped out, makes the character feel incomplete.

For some reason, I've really wanted to call the character "Evan" instead of "Buck" ever since watching that final scene. I've had to stop and correct myself. Buck has taken on so many different mantles throughout the show, (as Oliver said) to sort of make up for this part of him that he didn't understand or felt was lacking. And I think that the name "Buck" has been a part of that. There's an almost...vulnerability and a softness to the name "Evan" that isn't there with "Buck" (I'm sure a linguist could explain why - maybe part of it is that "Evan" is gender neutral while "Buck" is pretty steeped in stereotypical masculinity? Idk. Something about one syllable vs two, maybe?). The most memorable times that characters have called the character "Evan" have been times where they've been trying to imbue him with a sense of his worth as a full human being. In fact, Tommy only calls him Evan (I think) and Buck doesn't correct him and I think that's a conscious choice both by the character and the writers.

I know that some people choose names or nicknames to liberate themselves from their given name, but I'm not sure that's why Buck did it. He doesn't make faces or flinch away from "Evan" like he hates it when he hears it in emotional moments. If anything, his reaction to "Evan" is generally this almost fearful hopefulness. So, I wonder whether "Buck" was a reaction to that hollow space inside of him - if Evan gave himself a nickname with teeth that would provide him some armor or an exoskeleton, to make up for that missing piece. And now that he's feeling more whole, with Tommy, he can accept "Evan" with a little less fear.

All that said...I hope that Eddie keeps calling him Buck, always, no matter what the character goes by in the future. In vulnerable moments, when it's just them. Because what that would say to me is this: I saw you when you were not yet whole and I loved you then. With me, you never need to be anyone but who you are in the moment. I'll always meet you where you are, even if I disagree with where you are, because you're worth it.

(Also, I hope the 118 fondly teases him about letting Tommy call him Evan).

[sunhated-a]

Okay I got more questions…. (hope I’m not annoying you in any way. I’m the same guy who asked the nihilists question.)

This is more directed to muzans canon backstory.

So a observation, since one of narcissisms root causes is also being emotionally neglected as a child, i think that muzan was never giving enough emotional attention by his parents or anyone really.

But did he ever think about his past and know that he was abused in someway? Or did he just surpass everything about his times as a human that aren’t useful? Or did he just ignore it since it was a long time ago and he thinks it doesn’t really matter at this point?.. or does he not care about it?

Hello anon, I'm glad to see you back! And please, don't worry about annoying me with questions like these, I adore them. They are a huge reason why I made this blog so feel free to come and ask anything whenever.

NOW! To answer your question. For canon Muzan? I absolutely think you're onto something there. I don't know about diagnosing him with Narcissism as a personality disorder. NPD is a very complicated and extremely misunderstood disorder that should be approached with empathy and care. However! He does display some of the traits of what we colloquially call narcissism.

I think Muzan deludes himself into thinking that perfection is his own escape from his past. The way it reminds him of weakness, but the way that he forcibly makes his demons dependent on him does indicate a need to be needed, and his demands to be worshiped by them definitely comes across as someone who deeply craves attention, love and respect. To be seen as perfect in their eyes and nothing less. The way that lack of control over a situation or one of his demons will lead him into a rage, to the point that he is exacting and utterly merciless.

It all leads me to believe that he is deeply affected by his human life.

I went back to the extended flashback scene that we were given in the anime recently. And while Muzan did live in lavish conditions (especially for the time) and was surrounded by servants, we never actually saw any of his family members. We never really saw a scene between himself and his mother or father, or his siblings, or much of a relationship between him any anyone really. So it's not too much of a reach to say that he did suffer from emotional neglect, or some sort of abandonment. Which would explain his resentful and hateful feelings towards much of the world.

Now why he seemed to face this abandonment-- if at all-- is still up in the air. Maybe his parents just weren't sure how long he'd be alive for, maybe they didn't want to get attached, maybe they sucked, maybe they're dead. It could be a lot of factors there.

I think that while canon Muzan remembers his past with stunning clarity, he engages with it with the same cold logic he does with everything else. If he has some resentment towards his family, he doesn't seem to show it. Didn't even mention them whenever he narrated his own story.

I, however, think Muzan's past affects him deeply still. He just doesn't show it. Or at the very least, in an outward way. He's far too fixated on his future to really think back on his past, and the person that he once was. Maybe he isn't even aware of how neglect and abandonment has affected him because he shows a lack of introspection throughout the series, especially when it comes to his relationships to others.

But we do see him display a deep fear of abandonment at the end of the manga, which I won't get into detail to avoid specific spoilers, but if you know you know.

But it lends credence to the idea that Muzan never had any substantial relationships.

[simplystefanie-rae]

Brief Chrissy Analysis

It says brief in the title but I sure bet it's gonna be anything but that by the end of this : )

So I was thinking about Chrissy's Vecna visions/ her relationship with her mom and how her life might be at home; those visions say so much in such a little amount of time, it's fun (sorry Chrissy) to dissect. I'm glad we all agree that her mom sucks, and it's interesting to read in fics the various interpretations of said suckage, but I wanted to give my own idea of how I think she sucks because there's a bit that is often overlooked because it's seen as the exaggerated nightmare part of her visions and not something that Laura Cunningham actually is, and that's someone with a volatile temper.

During Chrissy's first vision in the bathroom, we hear Laura ask in a very saccharine voice if she wants to try on the dress after she loosened it, then immediately gets angry and demands that she opens the door. The point she begins to yell is when people think (me included for a bit) the exaggerated nightmare part of the vision begins because she starts yelling about gutting her like a pig after, and that most of her verbal abuse comes in the form of these subtle emotional manipulations, and I don't think that's a wrong interpretation by any means. It's obviously impossible to know the true specifics of the abuse since we only got a small glimpse of it, but that's not gonna stop me from over analyzing, which brings me to the door.

In the vision, Laura yells at Chrissy to open the door and starts beating against it erratically, immediately giving us a much scarier version of her mom then we just heard. This alone wouldn't make me think it's an accurate portrayal of her since Vecna is known to obviously embellish in order to scare his victims as much as possible.

But the door scene happens twice.

For that beat in the visions to play out two times tells me that it's significant to Chrissy, and Vecna knows this so he uses it against her. He waits for specific moments where Chrissy is behind a door or closes the door behind her to really ramp up the visions, and I don't believe that's a coincidence. I think there were many times where Chrissy became overwhelmed during her moms fittings when the clothes wouldn't fit, and instead of continuing to listen to her and try on the dress or the uniform or whatever she altered for her, she'd run to her room in a moment of panic and lock the door, and thats when her mom would drop the sweet, understanding act and lose her temper with her. How these fights would conclude is anyone's guess.

From my readings of the scenes, I really do think Laura Cunningham is an awful, confusing mix of passive aggressive and just straight up aggressive when she interacts with Chrissy. Tying her weight directly to beauty is already awful enough; it's planting in Chrissy's head that being thin = being beautiful. But tying in Laura's temper doesn't just make is so Chrissy is afraid of being looked at as ugly or disappointing her mom, but being genuinely afraid of making her mom mad. Vecna made Laura the monster in her visions for a reason, the true focal point rather than food and gaining weight, even if the rotting food on the dining room table gets zeroed in on. All of Chrissy's issues ties directly back to her mom, the actual monster she's afraid of.

Her dad in the vision lends credence to my idea that Laura's verbal abuse is a lot more cutting and intimidating than we think. We know her dad's eyes and mouth are sewn shut in the second vision, visually representing this idea of willful blindness; he sees the abuse Laura inflicts on Chrissy but he pretends he doesn't. But he's also sewn in place to the chair, and the aspect that gets overlooked is that he is sewn to the chair, that his eyes and mouth are sewn shut. The character we should immediately be associating this with is Laura. Vecna didn't just sew her dad up like that for the horror element , it's tying his inability to help his daughter directly to Laura, the character who alters clothes and has her own sewing room, as the cause. It's a violent display, safe to say that she's just as vile and overbearing to him as she is Chrissy. There may have been a time he fought for Chrissy and spoke up about Laura's abuse, but she clearly turned it back around on him. We see him at Chrissy's funeral, standing behind Laura meekly and not saying a word, very pointedly. It's so obvious she takes charge in their relationship, and him being sewn into being unable to move or speak or see gives a good visual representation on how that dynamic plays out.

I knew this wouldn't be brief. All this to say, I personally think Laure Cunningham is actually a very scary, awful mom, and a lot more capable of losing control of her temper than she tends to be written. But all interpretations are valid, just wanted to give my two (thousand) cents.

[aikoiya]

LoZ: TotK - Discussing Zelda Hate

I'mma level with ya'll. I've seen some really dumb takes regarding Zelda hate.

People be complaining & getting so vitriolic about how the house that Link bought last game is now being called "Zelda's house" by the Hateno residents in TotK & dude...

First off, Zelda herself never says that it's "her house," that's all the Hateno residents except in a journal in the English version. And even then, in the original Japanese, she says "the house." (And I'm convinced that the English writers only did that to prevent shipping.) So, why aim all that hate at Zelda? Besides, where do these jerks expect her to live with the castle in such a state of disrepair?

Second of all, Link & Zelda are living together. At least, that's what's implied.

For one, the fact that Zelda needed a secret room means that someone else was living in the house with her or, at the very least, was there frequently enough that she felt she needed her own space. Even in the English version, she comments that Link is "always at her side..." There's also the fact that when Symin sees Link again, his reaction is "you're back." As though Link lived there & had returned home. This plus the fact that Link seemingly gets to vote in Hateno's mayoral election implies that he's a resident of the town.

I also read somewhere that Nintendo was going to put a double bed in the Hateno House, but changed it when parents got all up in arms over it. (Though, this one is just a rumor.)

Even Zelda's va says they're in a relationship. Which, I know, that's just 1 va & thus doesn't confirm anything. But it does lend credence to the idea.

I get it, this is all just implications. But the thing is, Nintendo can really only imply relationships with the main character to begin with.

It's why Mareach still isn't a thing, but Ludaisy is somewhat canon, at least in the Mario Party games based off their team-up names. Because Luigi & Daisy aren't the focus characters & thus have more freedom.

The same can be said for Zelink.

What I don't understand is why people are so against the idea of Zelink being possibly canon. Like, Zelink being canon wouldn't stop you from being able to headcanon & ship something else!

And I can't help but think that Link has to stay single in the games so that manic shippers don't get butthurt. Which sucks!

And, honestly, even if they weren't together, you really think that Zelda would be the sort of person to just move into the man's house, take it over, & kick him out?? She's likely been raised on etiquette & manners & taking a man's house is very much not princess behavior. And, no, you shouldn't just hate her completely based on how she acted towards Link at the beginning of BotW's flashbacks. Things change. Very specifically, her views on Link changed. She's not a bitch to him anymore, so please, stop pretending that she's the same as she was then.

It's more likely that Link gave the house to her. Which, I still don't believe, but it's the more likely option when compared to Zelda just outright being a house theif.

Edit: I was recently told that Zelda refers to the house in Hateno as "her house," but then learned that this was only in the English version. In Japanese, she calls it "the house" & not "my house." And her very last line at the end of the game in both versions are along the lines of "Link, I'm home."

So, while not a confirmation, it certainly doesn't debunk it.

---

The big thing is, if they didn't want there to be any shippy implications then it would've been pathetically easy to just give her a different house & be done with it.

Instead, they chose to very specifically make it known that Zelda specifically lives in the exact same house that Link canonically buys in the last game & helps build up with his own rupees & resources.

Then, they specifically, make it canon that Link got Hudson & Rhondson together & helped build Terry Town, which is specifically something you cannot do unless you purchase the Hateno House!

They also specify that Link is "always by Zelda's side." That the house has 2 place settings but only 1 bed.

Then, at Terry Town, Link is able to purchase a Dreamhouse, which is specifically advertised to be for families. And the dining table specifically has 4 place settings. Which suggests some things.

And whenever someone asks if Link has someone he loves, his reaction is one of bashfulness! Or to confirm!

They knew what they were doing. They chose to make it look this way. It was intentional.

Let's face it, they're common law married, ya'll.

Link's lowkey King of Hyrule & nobody knows it, which is hilarious!

LoZ Wild Masterlist

[repldemiurge]

Over a decade too late, I listened to Lulu, by Metallica and Lou Reed

I've long suspected that I'd get something out of the much maligned collaboration album, but gaining the motivation to listen to an hour and twenty-seven minute Goliath by two of the most mediocre artists of their times was always too much to overcome.

But I did, on a cloudy Friday afternoon, not feeling capable of much else.

First, and least foremost, to get the musicianship out of the way, Hammett still plays like he's trying to get a job at Guitar Center, Trujillo has all the bass playing acumen of a bottle of Ambien, and Ulrich remains a dunce. Unremarkable.

No what's compelling about this album (and while it is not good, it is utterly compelling) is hearing two artists who only chanced into producing worthwhile music in their careers through some excellent relationships (Reed through his relationship and marriage to the incomparable Laurie Anderson, Metallica through the tenure of Cliff Burton, the only real musician they ever had), crash into each other and make music completely unlike any they knew how to. It's a testament to the power of chance, and randomness, and (though this is speculation) the inability of the two camps to communicate with each other that this came out at all. The musical equivalent of color mixing.

It is neither punk, nor thrash metal, nor rock, yet it is not anything that I could properly call avant-garde. If I must genre it, I suppose I'd place it somewhere between post-rock and….midwest emo?

The album is effectively a lyrical delivery tool, Reed's poetry obviously at the heart of it, and it is awash in metaphor, urging me to view it in the same ways. The two really do seem to sway between their best impersonation of American Football and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. And while my disdain for emo is severe, my enjoyment of post stuff and drone is such that even a clumsy approximation is pleasant, and these moments (Mistress Dread, the back half of Junior Dad), are the high points of the album. On contrast, the points where Metallica tries to run their show more (Iced Honey, Frustration), are the sections that veer closest to being unlistenable.

The psycho-sexual and moralizing sadomasochism of the lyrics, based on Frank Wedekind's plays, are mostly juvenile, though they do make some suggestions towards Reed's potential latent transgenderism. (I am easily susceptible to such interpretations currently, though). Hearing Reed, clearly very driven, if in over his head and trying way too hard, be then shouted over by a Hetfield who seems mostly confused is absolute hilarity. I don't buy the idea that the album was a practical joke, but those moments do lend it the most credence.

In all, Reed hasn't been playing with any stakes since Metal Machine Music, and Metallica were desperately crawling for real relevance ever since Load tanked them. I think this album did come from a strange confluence of not actually having nothing to prove, just hanging out trying weird shit, while also being REALLY personally invested (Reed) and trying to make Big Important Art (Metallica). The end result, is really bad. The whole soup is unfortunately doomed. But I had really thought I would one-and-done this album, have my chuckle and confine it to the dustbin of history. But I suspect I'll spin it again, at least in part. It's just too fucking weird. And being too fucking weird is still the fundamental characteristic of my favorite music that I'm the most easily swayed by.

[abbadoabbadon]

I am not trying to stir the pot, but there wasn't a "bunch of information" that the girl (Jane Doe, 2021 Drake Bell accusations) lied, she did lie at one point about her age because she was able to get into a 18+ club, but this shouldn't take away from the discussion that Drake was talking to her at all, she mentions in her victim statement that he encouraged people online to discredit and mock her, and now I can't find any actual screenshots of that, but I did find some rumors of people saying that he, on his own discord server, would send his fans to youtube comments and tiktok comments to argue with people about this case, but then he talks on one of the podcasts about how he doesn't want people to harass and attack anyone... I don't know if the discord thing is true, someone posted a screenshot of him shit talking about Alexa from last October, but anything can be a lie, and anything can be fake, I'm just trying to say... if any of this is true and Drake actually at ANY point told people to say she lied or it was "proven in court" that she lied... Drake who talked about how horrible it was that seemingly everyone in Hollywood was against him, how painful and isolating it was to realize that any number of people who you interact with could have been someone who didn't show up at the courtroom or write a letter, the pain and anger and confusion because EVERYONE was supporting his abuser and saying he was a liar or he "asked for it"... like imagine all of this pain that he went through, and then imagine for a second that any of these rumors are true about the discord and about him telling or asking his fans to do the same thing to the people who accused him of awful things. if Drake is actually remorseful and taking accountibility then that is good, it's a good step forward, but if he's saying one thing on podcasts interviews and then acting a totally different way privately, then he isn't healing at all, and he's just furthering this narrative that will make it so much harder for victims to come out. Because rumors like this could even lend credence to the idea that he IS doing all of this and coming out with his story to not only whitewash his crimes, his abusive behavior and his history, but as a image clense and a PR campaign to make people sympathize with him and forget all the bad shit against him.

Like the fact that he linked a conspiracy video about the Jane Doe case ON his community notes youtube section (He's deleted it since then but it's not really known if he deleted it because he felt bad about posting it or didn't realize the misread of the reasons(?) he posted it / his intentions, or if he deleted it because someone pointed it out in a podcast talking about the cycle of abuse that he's perpetuated. The fact that he says he doesn't want people to harass others and yet he did that, the fact that he dropped his music video and song right after the documentary, the fact that he's made tiktoks seemingly promoting his own music by connecting it to the abuse he suffered.

I feel bad for him, I have sympathy for him, but I'm also worried that he is using this as a PR campaign, even if that wasn't the intention before... I hope I'm not right, but... Like he really seems to be leaning into the victim image, and that could just be because of the trauma unspoken for 20+ years, but I'm worried that it could have a darker and more selfish reasoning...

I just think that bringing up "oh she lied" "it was proven she lied" is really not... the conversation we should be having when regardless of if he actually did some of the stuff she said, he DID act inapropriately, he DID send messages of a sexual nature to this person, he was reckless and stupid and he seems to want to take accountibility for that but at the same time, if he's pushing his fans to discredit this girl... That's not f*cking cool and it makes him less easy to sympathize with. And not to mention all the other allegations against him from his ex girlfriend and other people who had privately reached out to her, some of them even mentioning minors and how he acted towards them, and some even more heinous things that I won't repeat here... if any of these things are true, then he's just... lying and trying to save face by claiming he never did any of these things.

Wow, that's a lot of words. Too bad I'm not reading them.

No, but like. The girl literally lied under oath in the court room. He did still plead guilty and took responsibility. He got charged with child endangerment for talking with her. He knows he fucked up. The girl still did lie. Police found evidence of her trying to stalk his wife and blackmail them and apparently there were actually no explicit photo messages that she accused him of. Drake's lawyer even said there is no evidence.

You just said it yourself you can't find evidence of him actually sending people after her. How do you know that's not another thing she lied about?

Drake Bell still went through fu king god awful traumatic shit and he never spoke a word about it for 20 years. He made mistakes because of what happened to him, he's healing, he's getting help.

Leave Drake Bell alone.

[misccy27]

Since everyone is talking about Belos' past anyway with the Hollow Mind portraits, I thought I might as well share my ideas/receipts about how Belos concealed his past when presenting himself as Emperor.

Like he's been a public figure in the Boiling Isles for a long time. So I was wondering how much others knew or suspected about the truth. Here's what I've come up with:

1. There are traces of Philip still around.

S2E4 Gwendolyn tells Luz, “Humans are rare. My great-grandmother told me about a human who once lived here. But one day he just vanished. Rumor has it he left something in the library.” 

S2E5 Luz finds an article in the library that tells her: “Hundreds of years ago, there was a human named Philip Wittebane living in Bonesborough. And he donated his diary to this library.”

The diary is so old that it’s kept in the Forbidden Stacks, only accessible by library staff members. It seems unlikely that many people have read it. But even if they did, there doesn’t seem to be anything really connecting it to Belos. Because:

2. Others think Belos is a witch

S1E18 Willow says, “the Emperor is the most skilled witch that's ever lived.”

S1E19 King says, “a mysterious witch appeared who declared that he, and he alone, could speak to the island.”

S1E19 King also says, "He's the Emperor! He's the most powerful witch alive!"

S1E19 Lilith says, "Being in the Emperor's Coven was my dream. I wanted to work alongside the most powerful witch on the Isles and make the world a better place."

I don't remember anything contradicting this. There are demons on the BI that look pretty similar to witches, and demons (like Hooty) can be immortal ig, so it matters to me that Belos was specifically presenting himself as a witch.

That said, the lifespan of witches is never officially confirmed afaik (and I do hate that thanks). Bump gets that throwaway line about 300 years until retirement or whatever. But since we are shipping witches and humans, they have to have similar lifespans. You cannot convince me otherwise lol.

So that makes it even more implausible that the human that showed up and vanished centuries ago is at all related to Belos, the ~most powerful~ witch on the Boiling Isles.

The fact that the Emperor also has a 16 year old nephew lends further credence to the idea that he's a normal witch, aging normally, with normal (if mysterious) family ties.

3. Belos’ appearance

S1E19 The Unauthorized Boiling Isles History reads, “Before he ascended to the throne, Emperor Belos gained prominence as a crusader for unity during the Savage Ages.”

S2E16 We get to see Belos during this crusade period. He definitely already looks old:

We also know that Belos has been Emperor for ~50 years:

S1E17 a Hexside teacher says, “Over 50 years ago, Emperor Belos appointed a head witch to each coven.” [Bonus fun: this means Terra could be the first head of the plant coven]

S1E18 Kikimora says, “Up until 50 years ago, witches and demons practiced wild magic during what we called the Savage Ages [...] until our great Emperor ascended to the throne, and taught witches how to use magic properly.”

So that's 50 years on top of his age when he was crusading. Hasn’t anybody noticed that Belos is unreasonably old for a witch yet? (And if so, what did they think he was?) 

I think Belos could have handled this discrepancy by carefully planning how he travels around the island and changing his name as he goes; standard secret immortality stuff. This would also serve the double benefit of making it seem like he has a broader base of support from the start, if there’s the appearance of several crusaders going around spreading the ~good word~. 

At some point, though, he did start covering his tracks. By present day (s1), Belos’ Emperor outfit makes his age much more ambiguous:

This is also how he appears in all the official, state-sanctioned portrayals of the Emperor that I remember seeing. Examples:

Which brings me to my main point:

4. History is written by Belos

Lilith is a historian and the former head of the Emperor's Coven. She didn't seem to know any truths about Belos' past. Hunter had access to and was actively reading restricted books about wild magic from the Savage Ages. We get no hint that he came across anything, either.

But they also weren't looking. So let's say you're highly suspicious of Belos and actively digging into his past. How much could you find out about him? We already have the official narrative: Belos ended the Savage Ages and united witchkind 50 years ago. So what about the unofficial narrative?

This brings us back to The Unauthorized Boiling Isles History from S1E19. This is a book owned by Eda, the most infamous wild witch on the Boiling Isles. Here's King's full narration from this scene:  

A mysterious witch appeared who declared that he, and he alone, could speak to the island. He said that we were using magic all wrong. His teachings took hold, his strength grew, and he became... Emperor Belos. Belos said that mixing magic was wrong, that only he had that right. So he created the coven system. And there, our knowledge was restricted, and our potential sealed away. Those who resist are called wild witches, and they face harsh punishment. Emperor Belos has since retreated into his castle. There are whispers that say he's planning something big. 

King's narration is different from the text on the page. Here's the page on Belos:

“He rules by fear and an iron fist, and his past remains largely unknown.” 

So it sounds like Belos has indeed done a very good job of establishing and maintaining information control. He has erased his past so thoroughly that even an unauthorized history book offers no real rumors or speculation. Both inside the castle and in pockets of dissent, we find no trace of the truth of Belos' past. It is believable to me that even highly-ranked coven officials who are suspicious of Belos and actively looking for information about his past from inside the castle still wouldn't be able to find anything at this point.

With that said: there are probably rumors. There probably are witches who remember Belos from his crusades and grew suspicious. They probably did try to spread the word and warn others.  

At the same time, I’m sure that there are plenty of witches saying plenty of things about Belos. Belos is the most influential and powerful witch on the Boiling Isles, after all. So looking at it from the perspective of someone trying to piece together the truth:

How plausible does it sound that the witch ruling the Boiling Isles is actually a human? How plausible does it sound that he’s actually 400+ years old? How do either or both of those rumors weigh up against all of the other scraps of information and official propaganda and baseless conspiracy theories that you’re also coming across?

How much are either of these rumors worth considering if your primary concern is to, say, try to figure out what’s actually going to happen on the Day of Unity?

(At what point do you decide to just go straight to the source?)

[gunsli-01]

What do you think it means that Mu's shoe was off during her murder scene in it's not my fault? Because it's definetely something she didn't want us to see since in after pain the grass covered her feet too

Personally, I believe it's just a different angle of the scene. However, since it's become such a prominent talking point in regards to Mu's situation I'll try to give a fully formed opinion.

I've seen people saying that her shoe being off supports what her having Otome Dissection as a cover song and the noose within the hourglass she's trapped within in After Pain slightly alludes to.

That Mu was contemplating taking her own life. Then using it to assert that she was still defending herself from her victim because she believed it was either that or suicide. I don't believe that is the case. For a multitude of reasons.

However, when taking the shoe into consideration, given the distance between Mu and her victim compared to Mu and her shoe. It appears to be exactly what was displayed to us in After Pain Mu lunging at her victim and her shoe slipping off as a result. Presumably, it fell off when she jumped forward to grab the victim's arm when she was chasing them down.

It's probably nothing more than that. I'm saying the shoe here probably means nothing because if the shoe does mean something, that is far worse for Mu's case. Firstly, in After Pain, there are many discrepancies, I'll be the first to admit that. I mean, when Mu confronts her victim for hurting her, the eye color of the victim contradicts what we see in It's Not My Fault.

Something that remains a consistent error throughout After Pain up until,

The victim is stabbed. However, it is illustrated to us in this video of discrepancies exactly why the indoor shoes are not important to investigating Mu's case. Take these pictures for example.

The first picture is of Mu's victim wearing her indoor shoes as she gets ready to leave and Mu chasing after her. The shoes are shown to be identical, and that is one of the reasons the socks are highlighted more so than the shoes.

The only reason I can personally think of for Mu to not wish to disclose that she was wearing her indoor shoes or cover up it falling off in her MV is maybe this brand of indoor shoes is specific to her school, or she messed them up while killing her victim getting blood or other evidence on them therefore needing them replaced. Yet ultimately, neither of those things would sway people too heavily away from favoring her. In fact, the shoe falling off in the heat of the moment lends more credence to the idea that this was a spur of the moment incident or a crime of passion.

Logistically, there would be no reason for Mu to switch out of her own indoor shoes and into the victims either. Because these are just generic indoor shoes. So, doing such a thing wouldn't even help her make the story that the victim attacked her any more believable. Unless, they all write their names in their shoes or something.

One of her other friends is even shown wearing the same exact shoes. Meaning Mu very well might have worn these shoes because she just didn't want to get her normal ones dirty, and disposing of them after would be easier.

It falling off while she was chasing them was just an inconvenience, if anything. However, I seriously doubt it has anything to do with her being suicidal. This literally just seems to be the most efficient course of action. Because it would probably be easier to dispose of generic school shoes than risk dirtying a pair that is directly tied to her. They'd more than likely be cheaper to replace as well.

Plus, since they're tied to every girl in the school that happens to share Mu's shoe size, it would be hard to attach them to one student. Unless Mu's the Cinderella of murderers.

To me, it seems as though throughout After Pain Mu projects herself onto her victim, whether this is due to regretting her actions or to endear herself to the audience is unknown. I believe it's because of the first reason due to the lyrics. As the song is titled After Pain I believe it's Mu's response to the pain she caused and her part in the situation and her attempt to try to understand her victim and what she put them through.

When the victim dies at the end of After Pain their eye color is still off,

Tying into the continued repeating of the line, "If I was gone, if I had just disappeared. I overheard, I found out how much I’m not needed." It's a direct response to after the incident because even if Mu weren't held accountable by common law her classmates still would take issue with her even in the case of the death being ruled a suicide.

They'd still have feelings of if we didn't do this for Mu then this may not have happened and misgivings around being her friend or even wanting to break ties with her. She'd still take the fall in a sense regardless of the narrative spun.

This very well could have led her to internalizing this guilt and feeling as though she was being judged constantly with no way of defending herself. Because "I'm sorry won't reach anyone." It can't reach anyone because for it to be able to she would have to admit what she had done. Having to keep all of this to herself could have led to her internalizing the idea that it would've been better if she died instead or even wishing it was her who did for a point of time.

This is why I believe Mu backslides so hard after being voted Innocent during the first trial. Think about it she vaguely admits she killed someone and is then immediately told what she did was okay and she was just as much of a victim as the girl she killed. Of course, she would feel over the moon after keeping it to herself that entire time and immediately having her feelings validated after expressing them. Otome Dissection even alludes to this idea with her given the lines,

Because Mu did this in secret the weight of not being able to discuss it, not being able to have people validate her choice to do it eats away at her. That's why the hourglass breaks in It's Not My Fault because she's free now she was able to talk about it and I'm sorry did reach someone her apology was accepted.

It was never about feeling Guilty with Mu it was about not having anyone to listen to her problems and validate her response to them. No one was there to give her honey. Or for those who like to point out how sloppy the official translation is and put the more direct one on a pedestal.

"That's right, that's right, because it's not my fault. I'm just as innocent as everyone wants me to be. What a relief. Can't be helped then because I was always meant to be pitied in the end."

For someone to be pitied there must be people around to pity them. To be pitied by others one must share their circumstances with them. The hourglass didn't represent her isolation due to bullying. That glass represented that she could no longer whine to people about her issues and be given the validation and external support she needed to feel good about herself.

Because admitting what she did was more dangerous than staying quiet. Yet, staying quiet meant she would never truly know if what she did was wrong or not because no one would be able to tell her if it was. So, for once Mu was stuck with herself and people who bully others usually need more external validation because most of the time they're just as critical of themselves.

This is why the board for her in After Pain is like that because it's what Mu thinks of herself just like how people were saying since she's an insect in It's Not My Fault she must have a poor internalized self-image. Yet, for some reason most do not want to extend that same logic to any part of After Pain which is so funny considering how many visual inconsistencies it has not only in the area we know is apart of Mu's mind but everywhere else as well.

There's no number of shoes slipping off that can change how Mu's behavior comes off and I don't think she was intentionally trying to hide the shoe but more so attempting to best highlight her hurt when it came to After Pain. The shoe just wasn't important to what she wanted to tell.

That's why I don't really understand why it would be necessary to discuss it. Because it makes Mu's crime look more premeditated than it already was. Plus, with how I've seen people attempt to warp this point in her favor, it seems incredibly disingenuous to even use it as a talking point at all.

Especially since we see her chasing her victim down like she was in the track team in shoes that are specifically made for being indoors . Of course, one of them fell off. However, that's just my opinion on it.

[wingsyliveblogs]

Some miscellaneous observations from rewatching Episode 3 with added context from Episode 15: 

(cut for length)

It’s quite interesting to consider what Amity herself might be thinking during her introduction scene; one thing that’s especially notable is the fact she knows exactly how to find Willow out in the middle of absolutely nowhere, yet still claims that her running into Willow was a complete accident (with accompanying insults). 

It might be that she followed Willow to this area, or just that she knows Willow’s habits well enough to tell that she’d be here, but either way, it certainly lends credence to the idea that she was making some sort of attempt to encourage Willow without actually being nice to her. Sadly, that’s not exactly how one generally encourages someone...

It definitely also feels as if she’s trying to imitate Boscha in this scene, but... poorly. She’s way more awkward about it than the real deal, that’s for sure!

I swear, that top student badge is going to haunt me. Will it ever come up again??? I must know

Willow is so excited when she realises Luz is a human... does that come from her being friends with Gus, or do people in the Boiling Isles just naturally find humans fascinating even when they’re not outright obsessed with them..? 

I wonder if Amity thrives in the abomination track under such a difficult teacher because she's used to meeting the expectations of strict and unforgiving authority figures thanks to her parents? By contrast Willow, whose parents seem fairly normal in the love and support department, is struggling a lot - even considering the fact that plants are her specialty and she doesn’t really do well in other fields, I imagine she wouldn’t necessarily fail every assignment if she had a more forgiving teacher. 

On a similar note, Amity's anger towards Willow (and later Luz) for cheating might very well come from experience with her siblings? If they’re in the habit of skipping school, I would not be surprised to learn that they cheat on schoolwork at times as well. As Eda has proven, a skilled witch can get away with a lot, even as a student!

You know, I don’t think I consciously registered before that the weather vane has a little carving of Owlbert on the top of it. Very cute! 

...also it’s visible in the OP in every single episode, so I really should pay more attention

In hindsight, I would not be at all surprised if Amity waited on purpose for the perfect moment to jump on the table for peak dramatic effect, since she specifically waits until Willow expresses concern that Amity might see Luz eating food before taking action.

I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS MANY COVEN BANNERS SHOWED UP IN THIS EPISODE AND I DIDN’T NOTICE except I can because I wouldn’t have any indication that they actually meant anything until Episode 5. No problems here! 

...this morning, Luz. Eda told you that this morning.

You know, I wonder if Luz questions what Eda says about magic's unpredictability being beautiful because she also called the trash slug “breathtaking” shortly before that...