#either way; we're in the endgame baby!

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

netflix is making zutara CANON and there's NOTHING you can do about it, peasant! we're getting our endgame and all you stupid zutara antis are just gonna have to watch them solo your flop ships! ❤️🔥🌊 kys loser, imagine not shipping zutara lol

Imagine being excited for the NETFLIX version. Buddy. Buddy. They couldn't even understand Sozin's comet was important and should not be cut. They couldn't handle a four-episode arc with a boy learning to not be condescending/sexist.

It MAYBE having Zutara is not the win you think it would be. Have some goddamn standards and demand quality content for your ship, not half-assed Netflix bullshit.

Also, I don't know how to explain to you that even if by some miracle the netflix show was good or at least not offensively bad, the original show would still exist, and plenty of people would still consider it the "true" version because it came first, even if they liked the Netflix show - that's just how any franchise works.

"Imagine not shipping Zutara" Imagine being so desperate to prove you don't care that your ship is not beloved by everyone that you send anon hate to someone like a cry-baby. This is why no one likes yall and clowns on your ship despite it being just vanilla instead of downright bad.

Maybe your ship will happen in the Netflix show, maybe it won't. Maybe it will happen in some other adaptation, maybe it won't. Either way you seem determined to be an unplesant, cowardly, childish person that can't handle the fact that your personal opinion isn't some sacred law, and there's no adaptation, good or bad, that can make anyone put up with you - including other Zutara fans who like my blog.

[bluespiritshonour]

People don't understand, when I say maiko wasn't well-written it's 'cause I'm BITTER.

When Zuko got together with Mai in The Awakening I was like

For some reason I didn't remember Mai smiling when Ty Lee teased her about Zuko back in Return to Omashu and it had gone completely over my head that the flashbacks in Zuko Alone were Zuko's.

Plus I used not to spare much thought to Mai and Ty Lee during my first watch so...

I just loved the idea of the two of them together. I was like “wow, so knife girl likes that wet blanket, huh? Inch-resting.” and that was that.

And then they get together and I can't express how much I loved it. So don't even tell me that if I think they weren't well-written it means that maybe I don't like the ship.

I do.

But I'd honestly, vaguely, thought they wouldn't be endgame.

So, on one hand I was pleasantly surprised they got their happy ending, especially Mai because characters like her either change to appease the audience or have a bad ending—

There's this sort of defying expectations at every turn aspect to this ship that I love. I realise now that the reason I felt that way wasn't because I thought they weren't a good match, but because that's what happens in media.

Maiko ate all the tropes and spit them out chewed up and I stan.

But Zuko could really have been a better boyfriend, man. I guess he (and the writers) already had too much on their plates.

I guess too much character development is a thing...

Anyways, it doesn't assuage my poor heart which wants more good (emphasis on good) content for my babies.

Tldr: maiko feels like it came out of left field not because it actually came out of left field, but because it's something we're simply not used to. That being said, Zuko's character development with respect to his relationship with Mai still needs a lot of work. So, yeah, when I say maiko wasn't well-written I mean that. I'm not bashing the ship, I'm just bitter because of what could've been.

[blood-starved-beast]

Can we talk about the Nameless Moon Presence and Gehrman and the Hunters being like those animals who have higher rates of fecudity as to combat high infant mortality rates?

So every great one loses its child and yearns for a surrogate we know that we get it. We see variations on this all over. What's interesting with the Nameless Moon Presence's version is that as opposed to say, Oedon or even Kos, is that while she's got Gehrman locked in as surrogate baby, he's not 100% secure in his situation. He can be replaced if you do either the Honoring Wishes Ending or the Childhood's Beginning Ending (the latter more extremely so, cause you do become her Child in the very very literal sense). In order to achieve those endings, you have to kill him. And for all we know, Flora doesn't seem to mourn that, now turning her interest towards you.

In population biology, one of the theories around species fecundity is the r/K selection theory - basically states that in nature, there is a tradeoff between quantity vs quality of offspring and parental investment. In species that have high numbers of babies born per litter (r-selected) there is notable less parental investment. In frogs or fish for example, infants are left to fend for themselves, or in alligators, mother gators do protect their young, but it's not as involved as such a great ape or an elephant. In species with less babies born per litter (K-selected), there is more parental investment - again elephants, humans, apes. Colloquially, r-selected reproduction is seen as "cheap and fast" vs K-selected being "expensive and slow." More parental resources are devoted to caring for their young in K-selected species, and the loss of a child in these species is more devastating (in more ways than one). But the guarantee that a specific child would survive is greater there.

But how does this apply to the Moon Presence and Bloodborne?

Interestingly enough, the theory posits that r-selection is favored in more unstable environments. There is a high chance that most children won't survive, so reproduce as much as possible so at least one survives. Yharnam, by the events of the game, is virtually collapsed. Refuse and corpses liter the streets, Huntsmen have gone mad and are attacking people On Sight, there is no order and the Beast Plague runs rampant. We find a lot of dead Hunter corpses all over the place. If you were a great one searching for human surrogate children, r-selection seems like a good option here. Get a lot of Hunters, so hopefully, maybe, at least one ascends or becomes your kid. And that's what the Moon Presence uses Gehrman to do. If you, the Good Hunter, are lucky You become that special baby!! Congrats!!

But there's also another dimension working here. Cause when you reach Bloodborne endgame, you don't just ascend. Gehrman gets up from his chair to fight you. Now he has his reasons (claiming to save you from your fate) but if we're to take a biologist's perspective - consider. In many species, infant animals are competing with their siblings and relatives since birth, even beforehand in some like sharks, where fetus sharks will kill and consume their siblings in-utero.* Larger tadpoles eat their smaller cousins and siblings so they've got a higher chance of survival later. Sometimes, parents get involved - they discard or kill one of their infants if they believe the chances of their other offspring surviving is greater as a result. Egrets have been found to do this, among others.

Gehrman believes that by killing you, he is saving you from achieving his Fate - his reasons one can argue are justified, but he is also defending his position as Flora's chosen surrogate child as a result. Only he can be the surrogate, no other Hunter. It is just like a frog to cannibalize their siblings. And Flora permits this, cause in the end, the most Fit child - the one that has the best chance of survival - will be the one that remains. And until our Hunter arrives, that child had always been Gehrman.

(Sidenote: Kos arguably used K-selection. One child, likely in a Deal with a male partner to produce the Orphan. Lot of parent investment, such a shame when of that was lost.)

*Note scientists believe fetal cannibalism in sharks is an extension of sexual selection. Shark litters with less fetuses tend to have one father, whereas larger litters have multiple. It's believe the smaller litters had older fetuses - the male had copulated with the female earlier than the other father - resulting in older babies that in turn, ate their smaller siblings. Either way the larger fetuses were born larger, and thus had higher chances of survival than the smaller, less 'fit' half-siblings.

[shi-daisy]

Spring Beast and Silver Queen

Day 6 and here we have the second otp! Like Tamcien (or Feylincien) and Neris own my heart but Neslin has so much potential that I wouldn't mind them being endgame in a Canon. So here's a little oneshot for them with some Fairytale tropes. Hope you like!

@tamlinweek

Tamlin Week 2024- Day 6- Fairy Tale AU

Spring Beast & Silver Queen

Nesta walked onto the decayed manor, it was just as destroyed as the rest of the court.

Lucien might be the only one to come here out of genuine care, but if the mild mannered redhead couldn't do more than this that meant the High Lord was all but dead inside. She understood. Nesta felt the same way.

She found Tamlin sleeping. The male was in his beast form, like that day when he came to their cottage and took her sister. There were times she wished that hadn't happened. Now, she just wished she'd ran when she had the chance.

It didn't matter anymore. It was either Spring or a lock up on Night, and she'd take her chances with the wilted flowers.

Nesta came into the room slowly. A bird that slept on Tamlin's mane woke up, and left out the window, sparing her one last glance.

She kneeled on the floor and gently patted the man. He was alive, just deeply asleep, and he looked so very weak.

'Guess they've broken us both.' She thought.

Who had once been a monster to her now looked so very defenseless and sad Nesta felt compelled to be kind. Maybe being here wouldn't be so bad, at least Tamlin wouldn't bother her about her drinking if the empty wine bottles were any indication.

She didn't know why, but Nesta decided to plant a soft kiss on the beasts forhead, and wait for him to wake. Nesta didn't have to wait long.

Tamlin turned from beast to fae form in a flash, and when his emerald eyes fell on her their bond snapped.

***

A deep silence fell upon the room as he sat up and stared at Nesta who was equally surprised and stunned.

"I...Think you know what this means."

"Yes..."

"Wait! Why are you here, Lady Nesta? Is this another strange dream?"

"Afraid not. I'll explain."

She told him of her downward spiral, of her sister's betrayal and the choice she was given. It nearly made his magic spiral in a rage.

"Stay here I'd that's what you want. I swear I shall protect you." Tamlin managed to say.

"...What about the bond?"

"If you keep it, they cannot take you away. Once we're certain they won't hurt you, then you may do as you wish with it."

It hurt to say, to denounce something he'd once wanted, despite knowing of it worst sides thanks to his parents, and yet...he wanted to prioritize Nesta's free will. It was clear she needed it.

Especially when her frown turned into a slight smile. "I appreciate it."

Baby steps, in time they could be friends.

***

Lucien had come to visit. After she explained the situation the redhead not only returned to stay with his partners but he cut off all ties to Night.

"We will help you rebuild this court!"

That was all they needed to let the Band of Exiles become part of the Spring council.

The Spring Library was a marvel after it was cleaned and she took to devouring every book she could. It helped fix the court and bring back the population.

In a few months things were already looking up, and Tamlin wouldn't stop thanking her. "Lucien did most of the administrative work. Vassa is in charge of diplomacy and Jurian is training the sentries. Why are you thanking me too?"

"Because if you hadn't arrived that day. I wouldn't be here right now. Your silver flame is what kept me holding on and made me rebuild what I shouldn't have left crumble. Thank you."

His gentle hand on hers gave her pause. Despite the slow friendship they'd cultivated and the bond that kept her safe, sometimes Nesta doubted a man like him could want her if it wasn't because of the mating bond. Still, she didn't want to break it. Her safety was at stake but also...she didn't want to hurt Tamlin further.

Nesta felt a tear slide down her cheek, but it was soon wiped away as Tamlin kissed her forehead. "You don't have to say anything. If I have to wait forever I shall. You're worth waiting for."

Worth. She hadn't heard that from anyone.

"There's a lot I still must deal with, but when I do. I'm certain you'll be who I want to spend my time with."

"I'm honored to hear that."

***

Tamlin often thought that beyond any person music would remain his ultimate love. Perhaps that would've been right, as he played his fiddle before the Calanmai celebrations and everyone danced with joy.

Then she stepped into the scene wearing the long sleeved silver dress he'd gotten for her and the glass shoes he'd seen her eyeing at the boutique.

Nesta was a delightful dancer. He knew she loved music as much as he did when she organized all his sheets and instruments with great care, probably more than the books.

Nesta danced beautifully for him, and he didn't remember the last time he'd played that well. By the time the song ended and she stopped dancing, Tamlin had picked her up in his arms and they shared a kiss.

"I love you." Nesta said, and he couldn't help but cry.

"I love you too."

No other Calanmai had left him as breathless and full of joy

***

Eventually they came for her a little over week after their bond was sealed and their frenzy over.

Nesta nearly barbecued the entire inner circle when they tried to get close to Tamlin. He'd wrapped them in thorned vines.

"We are mated. We are happy. We won't bend to you if you're trying to get the crown. Leave!" He said.

Cassian glared at her and Nesta regarded him with indifference, she had the man of her dreams right by her side and wore a crown of roses rather than chains of stars. The only ones she'd mourn for were her sisters, but she was free and she wouldn't apologize for it. Let the. Make their choice for themselves.

And they did. Because when shadows took her to the House of Wind and she was locked in its tower, Nesta could hear a battle far away in the Velaris palace. By now she'd realized Morrigan was the traitor and that Feyre had joined her, but she couldn't wait for them to rescue her. She had to get out herself.

Rhysand had brought her back to fight for Night's side. She wouldn't and so he locked her up. But he forgot she had power and she had read enough to figure out the end of the tale.

Nesta used her power to create thin threads of silver. They grew from her hair and she made sure to tie them onto the balcony rails. It wasn't enough to reach the ground safely, but she wouldn't need to. She saw a figure of green and was aware he High Lord came to save her.

With rope of hair in hand she jumped from the balcony of the tower and safely mounted Tamlin, who was now a dragon.

"My silver flower"

"My fiddler lord."

They flew away as the Obsidian castle in the distance was swallowed up a black hole in the sky. Both of them were worried until the event passed and the castle was nothing but rubble left away.

After landing they spotted Lucien in the distance with the healers. She saw Feyre and Mor with them, out cold but alive.

Tamlin and Nesta both breathed a sigh of relief. Then they looked at eachother. Nesta smiled at the sight of her mate, her beloved and the man who'd come to her rescue.

Tamlin pulled her close, holding his savior, his queen and his beloved.

Nesta kissed him, using words he'd once said to someone else yet were never returned until now. "I love you, thorns & all."

"And love you, my queen Nesta Acheron."

Two birds flew over them as they shared a kiss, into their happily ever after.

[ladystoneboobs]

@atopvisenyashill, oh, i don't blame you for the slip-up, just thought if we're trying to get into prince of melancholy mystery's head best to know when he was alive and when he was dead.

personally, i think any rhaelya wedding was more likely at her initiative, not his. being a wife instead of a mistress is the only sure way to escape an unwanted marriage, whether with robert or anyone else her father tried to give her to, possibly someone even worse. a lady known to be "soiled" can still be married off (eg, lysa tully, delena florent & ami frey), but there's less precendant for bigamy involving two husbands, forcing the wife to take a 2nd man. the practice of targ polygamy with 1 man and multiple wives may have died out but that's still a real precendent. (idt elia wouldve welcomed sharing her husband just bc she was dornish, and i hate that fandom assumption, but also idt it's unforgivable for lyanna to think something like that or want to believe the arrangement could work. she was a 15/16yo feeling desperate and her great judgment of character was only proven with people she'd actually met. who knows what, if anything, rhaegar told her about elia.)

the idea that the kg were only doing what they had to save baby king from kinslaying is frustrating not just bc they were escalating the conflict with every word looking for a fight while ned clearly was not, not just bc they couldve and shouldve known the risk of kinslaying by just talking to lyanna, but also bc yeah they shoulve just fled with infant and wet nurse if that were the case. why even risk ned killing them all and getting his hands on rhaegar's last child, as did happen, despite these legendary knights killing most of his men? if the baby's welfare was their top concern, either make him a king in exile, or try to assess ned's actual intentions toward his nephew. staying glued to the toj really is just asking for an ~honorable~ death above all. even if arthur had killed ned and howland, he couldn't stay there at his post forever just bc "kg do not flee" (false, somebody hadn't studied his white book covering the dance). sooner or later robert would find out and come with more than 6 other men, and then lyanna's baby really would be in danger. so, c'mon, like, what's the endgame for a living baby targ king there? ik i'm not buying they couldn't move yet while lyanna was still alive/dying, confined to her bed, not just bc their own words show no concern for her but bc they'd already proven with rhaella that duty to a king overrides duty to any of his female relations. if they really cared about saving rhaegar/lyanna's son rather than just dying for rhaegar, then they should have tried to actually live for that royal baby, not just kill in his name during a glorious last stand.

[colourful-void]

OKAY I GOT DISTRACTED FOR A BIT BY GETTING IN THE ZONE BUT AITSF UDPATE:

1: finished the komeji and shoma ending! i! okay ill be honestly i wasn't super thrilled. I REALLY like the set up stuff in terms of simulation reality, and beleiving its all fake bcs you can't cope, im MASSIVELY INTO THAT. But. I don't. like. Komeji I'm so sorry his just. he's so cube. and he annoys me. I feel like a usually have a pretty high tolerance for this kinda stuff but I just. On paper i get it but in practice I really dont like him. was very happy to see date n co tho. i think it's RIDICULOUSSSS how they explain date's interest in porn like that did not need to be explained. however. its such a stupid explanation it kinda loops back around to being funny to me. sure. why not.

2: ollowing finishing that route i tried to get back to Tokiko to see if i could use that elevator code, bcs she'd been mentioning frayers and i thought i knew what that was but i did not. but no thats only 6 digits so still not right f=/. dang. i also tried to get onto mizuki's half i miss my baby, but i found i needed two names. i know Dahlia is one, but the other is 4 letters so. Currently its probably either for Mame, Lien, or Naix. I suspect Naix the most as an answer.

3: started onto the other route from komeji's somnium. I maintain that these are too easy. It's not like they're like. the problem is that I feel like i'm being treated like I'm an idiot. ryuki and tama talk everything out in such detail, and theres often not a lot of stuff to interact with at all, a lot of which doesn't even let you make the choices like from the last game. like, proper timie usage was SO important to me last game and in this one I've never even racked up 3. i also feel like there's less dream logic, and it's a little disappointing. like, oh tape the cardboard back together. turn on the tv. =( the whimsy. it did improve some in the back half though, and i'll take it!!!

4: liking this dead komeji route WAY MORE than the other one. its not that i hate him that much but i do like the way the plots moving here. what does mame know? whats the masked womans deal? has anyone seen shoma. WHAT IS WRONGGGG WITH RYUKI <33. what is wrong with ryuki is by far my favourite mystery. im more interested in that than i am in the half body killings honestly. (part of that is teh victims i think. we dont really know jin, chikara was annoying at best but the more i learn about him the more i hate him, komeji was annoying, so. honestly i havent really been that upset about any of them dying. tokiko i did love and i am sad she's gone, but also these murders are a little bland following the first game. i just watched a guys head explode could there at least be a little blood? just a little? i know its probably for plot reasons but ive never missed gore so bad. im not even that into gore.

5: somewhere on the dead komeji route i finally figured out what that little green thing in the menu was so i've activated my tamagotchi thingy!! very fun i love it. mines an iris-y one or something? its cuteee!!

6: in terms of the wider mystery: im just really curious how far they're gonna commit to being meta.they did start with asking ME what i knew about the last game so.... looking forward to ryuki's whole deal, actually getting to play as my darling mizuki again, finding out what is UPP with date. i really like the weird videos series i just think they're neat. if the endgame doesn't have a somnium based on those thigns i will be disappointed, surely thats what we're building to.

i left off right before starting mame's somniumin the gameshow room. i don't think shes' actually involved in the killings, but doing that would be REALLY NEAT as a sequel thing, imo. i'd like it. i think shes just hiding stuff bcs she was threatened. assumably i've still got a good chunk of the game to paly! i havent done much if any of the extra eyeballs either, just whats on the way so. i'll get those guys. have been picking up some costumes n stuff tho. you can put tama <33 in pants <3333333333.

[girl4music]

*Doc throws his knife into a dart board. A bullseye*

DOLLS:

*whistles*

“That new demon's a nasty piece of work. We're regrouping at BBD in an hour. You were late to the party last night.”

DOC: “Yep.”

DOLLS: “Wanna talk about it?”

DOC: “Nope.”

DOLLS: “OK... So it's not baby Alice?”

DOC:

*retrieves his knife from the dart board*

“No, she is safe. That is all I can ask for. No, I am angry because the fight has been fixed.”

DOLLS: “What fight?”

DOC:

*gets up in his face*

“The fight. Between the living and the dying. When the Iron Witch made her wish and made Wynonna pop, disappear... you and me, we were enemies. You killed me. And I died.”

DOLLS: “Remind me who shot first.”

DOC: “Dolls... I went to hell. The same place Wynonna sends her demons. That is my reward... for all this?”

DOLLS: “You know, listen, you got time.”

DOC: “Time for what? To replace my bad deeds with good ones? No, that is the rub, Dolls. That is what they do not tell you about turning the hero. It turns you into a killer, too. So you face it, Xavier. We are murderers, you and I. Destined for the dark.”

DOLLS:

*makes eye contact, says calmly but sternly*

“We're not the same. ‘Cause I don't need a threat of damnation to fight for the right side.

*walks away, turns back to him*

We're gonna be alright.”

Some powerful dialogue here between these two characters. Especially considering what happens to Dolls. He knows what his endgame is and he isn’t afraid in the slightest regardless of where he ends up. But what Doc says about how whether you’re the hero or villain - you’re still made into a killer. A murderer. That cannot be overlooked because it is very true.

I love that this show and its writers refuse to play good VS evil, peace VS war, right VS wrong, love VS hate, black VS white, light VS dark. Refuse to play duality.

They keep the GREY approach all throughout. They don’t contradict themselves for even one second. What they’re teaching is much more the truth than the classic fairytales and legends would have you believe.

That it’s either one or the other. It isn’t. It is BOTH. And that anyone can be both simultaneously and it does not damn them. It does not break or ruin their character. It does not make them better or worse.

And if they should fall like Lucifer fell and end up in hell. Well, that’s just the way it is. It shouldn’t stop them from trying to do good or trying to be good.

So Dolls is right. It doesn’t matter about the destination or the outcome. The result of your deeds. You do good now and you are good regardless of what evil that you have done. It isn’t a case of whether you have a soul or not or whether you are a demon or not.

It’s a case that you choose to do what you do now. How you’re treated for it either now or later isn’t something you can control. So it isn’t something that you should concern yourself with. Just do good now because that’s all that matters when nothing matters.

Give up trying to search for a redemption or a reward because if you truly want to do good,… then you do it.

Because even the Garden of Eden itself is treacherous.

R.I.P. Deputy Marshall Xavier Dolls.

And thank you.

[a-x-ce]

Keep rereading that romance in OP post 'cause honestly it has me thinking about the current options for endgame partnerships.

I put Kaya and Usopp as the most obvious 'cause it literally is. I mean hell we just saw Kaya and a panel of Usopp's 3 veggie friends with them literally pointing out how lucky he is to have a woman like her waiting for him to come home and heal any of his wounds...like please. I miss the days when it was shown how often he thought about her too, making snow statues of her, drawing her, stuff like that.

It's also been heavily implied there WILL be more between Sanji and Pudding. I don't know to what degree Oda will go with them but at some point she has to return his memory of her kissing him, and his reaction to that 'cause hello, that's the first woman to fully and completely return his affection. I know Viola seemed close but I just don't think they got enough in Dressrosa to go further and not much else to imply they'll have more chances to see each other. Pudding has so much set-up to stay a part of Sanji's story past everything that happened in WCI, I firmly believe he'll be the one to save her once the Straw Hat's finally face the Blackbeard pirates.

Less certain but there's also Hiyori and Zoro. I'm not sold on it just yet 'cause Zoro did not care when they parted. I know a lot of people see him and Tashigi and like...eh. All Zoro sees when he's forced to interact with her is Kuina, and Zoro wasn't in love with Kuina, she's his rival and his ''goal''. In order for Tashigi and Zoro to work even remotely that would have to be addressed in full. Semi-likely he ends the series with no partnership though.

I think Chopper's only option is Milky LOL (reindeer mink from Zou) 'cause like...yeah, he can't and doesn't find any appeal in human women, and he's been thoroughly and completely rejected by actual reindeer. He's not even physically or mentally compatible with full animal reindeer anymore thanks to his DF. He could talk with them sure, but would he find a life of a common animal fulfilling if he were try and return to it for partnership? Highly doubtful. Otherwise, Chopper endgame has no love interest, 'cause he's baby (I know he's canonically 16 but shut up I can't accept it).

Two characters in the SHs that are obviously not getting any endgame relationships are Brook and Jinbe, one's literally dead and the other is already well into his adult life having had no prior showcases of being in or pursuing a partnership. It'd be kinda weird to shove one in for Jinbe at this stage in the series or going forward when we're in the final saga with few arcs left.

Luffy remains our aroace king and I hope he stays that way but IF Oda were to pull a Dragon Ball on us then he's done enough work for Hancock to make her the most obvious choice. She loves him, and he at least respects her, which isn't love but who knows. Luffy is not incapable of deep love as clearly shown in this series, it's just not been of the romantic kind and he feels no sexual attraction toward anyone. But honesty if Luffy ends the series with no clear partner I'll cry tears of joy he avoided the shounen curse of getting a bad haircut before being married off with kids for the inevitable sequel.

Nami is a lesbian hasn't been presented with a clear partnership either. So many people ship her with 1 or more men of the crew but aside from that she hasn't interacted enough with any characters that make it clear if she has an endgame partnership. However, there is still time I think...'cause we still don't have all of Nami's backstory. We still know nothing about Oykot and Bellemere finding Nojiko and Nami in those ruins, the fact she was smiling/laughing through the despair (very D. coded) and so that leaves it open for more story for her, where a potential love interest could still be introduced. Otherwise, she may also end the series not paired up.

I'd also throw Robin and Franky in the group of 'no ending partnerships' but for different reasons. Franky because he, like Jinbe, has gone most of his life not being presented as pursuing or caring about that. Franky already has a family, the Franky family, consisting of all his brothers and sisters. He's content with his ragtag-found family back in Water 7, he's always been happy with that dynamic since he was raised that same way by Tom with Kokoro (who were not a couple, just business partners/friends) and Iceburg. If Franky having a love interest was something Oda cared about he'd have sprinkled in any kind of element of interest in his backstory, or showcased him having any type of reaction in the current story from his introduction. But there's nothing, the only reaction of excitement Franky ever showcases is toward cool-ass tech and Vegapunk LOL

Robin because she's only just now fully coming into her own thanks directly to the Straw Hats. Robin's been isolated and burned by people her whole life, it took the events of Enies Lobby for her to FINALLY accept that her crew loves her unconditionally. For her to go from only accepting and loving them thanks to a lot of work to falling for some other person she's met or yet to meet would be interesting to say the least. She'd have to have a good relationship with that person already to some degree to open up to them. Which is why there are people who are open to the idea of her being with Law (they also have several similarities akin to Pudding and Sanji, plus all the time he was with them through multiple arcs has made the crew comfortable with him, including scenes with them specifically). But otherwise, I don't see her in a relationship either in the end of the series.

I guess in conclusion I can only really see 3, maybe 4 out of the 10 current SHs being in a relationship by the time OP ends. I can also see an ending where none of them are ever officially paired off but instead it's left open on where everyone went after completing their dreams/goals and parting ways as the Straw Hats. I'll be interested in seeing what Oda does with them compared to how he left Roger's crew.

[loregoddess]

Okay, I wanted type up some Octo2 theories before TotK drops and I have to juggle thinking about that as well as thinking about all the other games I'm thinking about. Everything is below the cut bc major endgame spoilers, and also this is literally an essay in length alone.

Specifically, the theories are about Temenos, but there's lots of spoilers for Throne's entire route, parts of Osvald's route, Hikari's final chapter specifically, some details from the Crossed Paths, and details from the actual endgame Extra Story chapters.

Just as a note I'm not really trying to argue for or against any particular theory--this is really more of a mental exercise for me to try and organize my own thoughts. While I might have personal preferences for one theory or another, I don't actually like, care or mind which theories other people enjoy or want to headcanon or stuff. Also, like all theorycraft, what I've written is drawn from my own interpretation of the text and isn't like, canon or word of god or anything. I'm basically writing a lit. analysis essay for funsies. Without further ado then...

So, like many, I've been wondering about Temenos and whether he's secretly Throne's half-brother bc Claude was...Claude. And, as I turned the theory over in my head, I eventually came up with more theories, and lots of evidence for and against nearly...all of them.

Before I get to the theories proper, some things of note.

It's interesting that both Temenos and Ophilia, as the "clerics" of their respective games, were children brought up by the church rather than their biological families. But unlike Ophilia, where we know she lost her family in a war before the game's story, we're just barely given the information that Temenos is a foundling (from his Travel Banter "Memories of Roi" with Agnea in Crackridge, which also reveals that Roi was a foundling as well). From this Banter we get the impression that Roi and the Pontiff Jorg were essentially Temenos's family, as Jorg raised them both, but aside from this Temenos doesn't talk much about the concept of "family" or show any interest in his biological parents, which makes sense, given that he was probably raised from birth by the church. Also, Temenos is very closed-off about his emotions, so even though he's on a journey to solve the murder of the person who was almost like a parental-figure to him, he never speaks of Jorg in a familial manner outside of the smallest bit of grief he shows in his Banter with Castti in Canalbrine.

As an aside, foundling isn't a term or narrative element I often see used in media (surprisingly), but the definition is...intriguing given the game's story. In short, a foundling is a child "abandoned by their parents" and often refers to a "baby left at a convent or other safe space" (quotes paraphrased from Wiktionary's page for "foundling"; Merriam-Webster just defines foundling as "an infant found after its parents abandoned it"; links to both pages provided at the end).

So, Temenos's parents are entirely a mystery, and all we know is he was likely left at the church when he was a baby.

The other thing of note before I dive into the theories is that Throne and Temenos are the only characters with a Talent that activates at night, with Throne having "Blessing of Darkness" and Temenos having "Moonlight Judgment". Throne's Talent offers buffs for the party, while Temenos's offers the blindness debuff on enemies, so the Talents are opposite in a way. But while Temenos's Talent can be attributed to aiding his "Coerce" nighttime Path Action, none of Throne's Path Actions actually benefit from her having a night-activated Talent, which is...interesting. Given that she's a very close descendant of D'arqest, and the daughter of Claude (who is conditionally immortal bc of Vide's blood), it makes sense that her Talent activates at night, due to the connection to Vide. But Temenos isn't directly shown or stated to have that connection, making his Talent either "it's not that deep, the game dev's just wanted to make it easier for players using his Path Actions" OR possibly "this doubles as a useful game mechanic and narrative hint".

So! with that segue, let's get to the theories. They can be divided into two categories:

Temenos and Throne are biologically related to each other, likely as half-siblings.

There is no relation between the two, and Temenos has something else going on with his biological family (this set of theories is highly speculative on my part).

So, exploring the "Temenos and Throne are half-siblings" we have at least two different ways this could happen:

Temenos is one of Claude's children and his mother managed to escape and leave him w/ the church before the Blacksnakes could get to him. This is the simplest, most straightforward possibility for how Throne and Claude could be half-siblings. Aside from the similar Talents, and maybe Temenos's hair color, there's not much to support this. Granted, Throne makes several remarks about how much the kid from her Oresrush chapter, Pirro, and Claude all look alike, but never makes any comment of Temenos reminding her of Pirro. However, considering that all the Blacksnakes are implied to be her half-siblings, and plenty don't seem to remind her at all of Pirro or Claude, this isn't much of an argument for or against this explanation of the half-siblings theory. The fact that Temenos's mom is MIA isn't much of an issue either, since if she fled the Blacksnakes to escape Claude, it's entirely possible she was killed by them or died of some other related causes shortly after leaving him at the church.

Marietta is actually the mother of both Throne and Temenos. This one's a bit of a stretch on my part, but the fact is, we don't actually learn much of who Marietta is as a person. All we learn about her are through flashbacks or reminiscences from Father/Sebastian and Claude, neither of whom are reliable sources of information, as both are very subjective about how they feel about and remember Marietta. But we do know that, according to Marietta, a baby was the only thing she believed couldn't be stolen which is...a really odd statement given everything that happens to her. Most likely this was the writers' attempt at having her marriage to Sebastian be romantic in its own way, if Marietta believed her child with Sebastian was something no one could take from them (which possibly means that Marietta wasn't directly responsible for killing her first child, as Claude may have killed the child and manipulated or blackmailed Marietta to leave Sebastian, and she then told Sebastian that she killed the child as a way of trying to protect him from Claude by pushing him away from her). OR, Marietta's belief that a baby is the only thing that can't be stolen reflects a deeply protective maternal drive on her part, and if she was threatened by Claude in some way, then she might have secreted the child off, told both Claude and Sebastian that she had killed the child, and this child was in fact Temenos. Sebastian/Father doesn't specify a gender for the child (in the English localization at least), but he also notes that "some time later" Marietta bore Claude's child, Throne. The thing is...there's a seven year age gap between Throne and Temenos, and while Temenos is the older of the two, seven years is just...a lot of time. Probably more than the "some time later" that Father references. So while some of the details for this explanation of the half-sibling theory fit, it honestly feels like there's more evidence against this explanation than the former, but it was fun to explore and so I figured I'd share it anyhow.

Now, next we have "Temenos and Throne are not related, and Temenos has something else going on." The quickest, simplest explanation for this is that Temenos is the child of just some random, unnamed, not important in any way, characters who don't even exist in the game data, and that he was left at the church as as baby and raised by Jorg alongside Roi.

However, I think Temenos might be related to the same "clan who bears the blood of Aelfric" that Alpates is related to, and to which Rita and Elena are implied to be related to via the Lumina family line, and Kura and Hikari are implied to be related to through their "lineage/bloodline of light" from a clan said to have once fought "the Shadow".

As a quick recap of the info we learn at the end of Throne and Temenos's Crossed Paths 2: the original Alpates was "left" by Aelfric to consort with humans, and she had more than one child (based on the use of "children" in the legend Temenos recounts). Aelfric turned her body into the mirror to ease the sadness of her children, and Temenos mentions that the clan of Alpates "posseses the blood of the Flamebringer" which makes them the direct antithesis to Vide, and specifically D'arquest and Claude (as Claude's immortality allegedly comes from Vide's blood according to Ori's Journals, though how D'arqest got a hold of it is never explained; however, considering D'arqest could apparently wield enough of the "power of the Shadow" to leave behind the Pit of D'arqest, and given how his bloodline affects Hikari in relation to Hikari's shadow, it's safe to assume that D'arquest was somehow related to Vide via a blood connection as well).

Given that Alpates left descendants, it makes sense that her bloodline may have spread out across Solistia, possibly with the "main" bloodline guarding the relic mirror and passing it down along with the name "Alpates". This would explain how Rita and the Lumina bloodline could exist as well as Kura and her bloodline of light, if they both shared the same ancestor, but neither possessed the mirror nor bore the name "Alpates" because they were not part of the "main" bloodline.

Likewise, I don't think Temenos is directly related to whatever the "main" bloodline of Alpates is, since that seems to be the in-game character Alpates herself who's the heir of that bloodline, as she possesses the mirror and bears the sacred name. Alpates also doesn't indicate that she knows of Temenos in any way despite living in the church for some time, and it seems more like she trusts him and Throne bc she can sense the "flame" within each of them.

So, it's entirely possible that one of Temenos's parents was distantly related to the Alpates bloodline of light, and this may have also influenced the decision to leave him at the church, though what became of his parents remains a mystery (though possibly, given that the Moonshade Order is aware of the bloodlines of light, they may have killed some of the bloodline's descendants to remove them as potential future threats, which might explain why Temenos was left in the safety of the church, if one of his parents was being hunted because of their bloodline, but this is speculation with basically no supporting evidence).

Despite the lack of in-game evidence, I'm partial to this theory because it would set up some interesting narrative parallels really well. It would have Throne, a very close descendant of D'arquest/Vide mirror Temenos, a (potential) descendant of Alpates/Aelfric, whilst Hikari is a bit of both.. The fact that Throne isn't Vide's vessel is...another post, but it could be because she was chosen by Aeber, or some other reason related to Marietta in some way, but again, different essay.

Anyhow, there is some potential evidence to support the theory that Temenos is related to the bloodline of light, depending on how the text is interpreted. First, when you choose to play through his Ch1, you begin not as Temenos, but as Aelfric, who is a fully playable character which is...entirely unique to Temenos. I know this ties in with his paper play, but the fact remains that the game makes you play as Aelfric when you select to play as Temenos. It would make sense, in a weird way, to have the two conflated if Temenos was in some way related to Aelfric outside of just "being a cleric of the church and also Aelfric's chosen".

Second, when Temenos is trying to piece together evidence (the thing where he says, "The truth lies in the Flame"). It's very likely this was implemented as a game mechanic to more fully immerse the players in Temenos's mental logic (a step up from the multiple choice question game that Cyrus got in Octo1), as according to other characters, it looks like Temenos just spaces out entirely for a few minutes before coming back with some answer. But at the same time, when Temenos is in this "mental logic" state, he's able to walk around a scene and interact with various things, almost as if he's in a state of astral projection to investigate. The color effects of this ability match both his personal color for his Latent Power, and the actual Sacred Flame itself, which he invokes before using this ability. So rather than being just a game mechanic, it's possible this is a power of some sort, unique to Temenos because of his bloodline, that makes it appear to other characters that he's simply spacing out. This is...a stretch, admittedly, but it is interesting that Temenos is essentially the only character to get a unique game mechanic for his story route.

Finally, there is his Talent, the one that share's similarities to Throne's. While it does activate only at night, it notably also references the moon with its name "Moonlight Judgment". The moon is essentially a mirror, reflecting the light of the sun, not unlike how the mirror of Alpates is able to reflect the light of the Sacred Flame (from the hearts' of the travelers possibly?) to relight the various Flames after they've been snuffed out (which are only relit during the eternal night). To be fair, I haven't see "moon as a mirror" used as a narrative element...basically ever, but it would be an interesting narrative theme if Temenos was distantly related the the Alpates bloodline and his Talent being connected to the moon doubled to reference the relic mirror.

Of course, the ideas that "there's possibly something weird going on with Temenos's parentage" and "Temenos and Throne are half-siblings" aren't technically in competition, since it's entirely possible Temenos is Throne's half-sibling via Claude, and his mother just happened to be of the bloodline of light. It's also possible there is simply no relation or significance whatsoever, that the writers never intended it to be that deep, and that I'm reading waaay to far into things. After all, "family and blood" are huge themes in Throne's narrative, but not in Temenos's narrative (which focuses on "truth and trust"), so it could be that "Temenos is a foundling raised by the church" was just the writers way of giving him a quick backstory without needing to think too hard (which would make some sense, given that most of the characters have some sort of general backstory set up, although Osvald or Castti never talk about their parents at all which is...interesting).

And that...is that, I suppose. As I said, this was more a mental exercise to organize and record my thoughts on some of the theories bouncing around my head. I'm not trying to prove any theory right or wrong. For the most part, the narrative of Octo2 is extremely well-woven, with nearly all the loose ends tied up when all is said and done, but I'm still hoping we get some sort of extra material for Octo2--like how the timeline from the guidebook for Octo1 revealed weird tidbits of information about the worldbuilding lore--to clear up some of the mysteries that were left unresolved.

If you've read all this, thanks!

Citations:

Wiktionary's page on "foundling": https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/foundling

Merriam-Webster's page on "foundling": https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foundling

[lizziethat]

After the Paris episode of Ted Lasso I’ve seen some people who think Ted and Michelle will ultimately end up getting back together.

Which for me, I really think would just obliterate his entire character progression throughout the show, but I was curious to hear your thoughts!

I'm going to answer this in two parts, first in why I don't think this is going to happen and second in why I don't want this to happen. The distinction is important.

First, I think that's one of those hard lines the writers of Ted Lasso set. Just like Rebecca and Rupert. There's no going back there. There might be a better place, one of cordiality, but I think this would just be the kind of thing that would make the entire show pointless. What is Ted if he's just the man who goes back to a relationship that was never right for either of them? What lesson did he learn? And to be honest, I don't think Michelle wants that either. The show hasn't set up that.

To be fair, the show hasn't truly set up anything properly. That's the problem! That's why we're here. Like, I love me some Ted Lasso and some of the individual moments have blown me away, but this season as a final season is a complete disappointment. What's Ted's endgame? Who knows? He can stay in London, go back to Kansas, or decide he wants to join a Kpop band and it would all make about the same amount of sense considering the setup because they haven't really set up any endgame for Ted. He's just living his life.

Which, hey, would be fine if this wasn't, you know, the final season!!! And if they hadn't sold me on this idea of rom-communism. I need me some rom-com ending here.

But I digress, back to Michelle. What's the point of her and Ted getting back together? We've never seen them happy. She literally begged him to let her go. Storytelling-wise, you don't do that just to get them back together, but almost as importantly, emotionally, you don't come back from that. Your viewers cannot really invest in that once more. Who wants Michelle and Ted back together? I assume the people talking about this possibility are doing it out of a place of fear, because that's literally the stuff of nightmares for me.

I don't see how this show puts all the pieces of the puzzle together in a truly satisfactory way, I really don't. But I'm going to give them a chance to surprise me. But even from my skepticism ...I don't believe this is a real possibility. I think Roy and Keeley are going to get back together, I think Ted and Rebecca are either going to end up together or we're going to end with a hit of a possibility that they will, at some point, get together in the future. I think we'll get a spinoff (or two), so this story isn't truly over. I think Richmond beats West Ham in their second game against them, and I think Nate, at some point, goes over to Ted's apartment to apologize, sees the picture and cries like a little baby AS he apologizes. I think Ted forgives him, of course, because he's Ted. I'm not sure Rebecca, Beard, Roy, Keeley, and the team do so easily, but hey, if Ted does, I guess they come around. That's the Ted Lasso kind of ending. I'm just not sure it's earned.

(my prediction was a little MORE rom-com re: Ted and Rebecca, but man, with so few episodes to go, they make me want to be conservative)

[sunshinemoonrx]

So I finished Dynaman!

I got into the last few and instead of wanting to stop and post about it I just wanted to watch the next one. So it goes.

The final arc really balances well the high-concept "we're doing this fun thing this week" older tokusatsu tend to do more of, and the fast-moving plot newer shows lean more towards; and it also brings out something I'd been noticing in general, where this show kinda sneakily characterises everyone way more than you realise, until they do something drastic and you go "huh, actually yeah, that is totally something they would do"

The biggest instance of that is I wasn't really expecting, but totally believed when it came across, just how much the villains care for each other when it comes down to the wire. There's a lot of the fun backstabbing that makes a classic sentai endgame, but tempered by a lot more mutual warmth than usual.

(I mean, I'd mourn General Kar too, he maintained a really imposing presence even while almost never leaving the base until the end. Really portrayed well as the one guy with a professional attitude in the room)

There's a couple things looking back I feel maybe got cut for time--what exactly Megido was doing in gay baby jail that produced such a change, and what the hell was up with the backstory implications in that Zenobia-in-disguise episode--that could have been really cool. But it's hard to tell because this show is also perfectly content to leave things to implication to keep up the explosive (ha) momentum.

But man, absolutely part of the golden zone of shows like this for me. My personal pantheon of favourite toku are basically all sentai and metal hero shows from the mid-80s; they just have all the right ingredients. Lead actors chosen for their stunt skills doing absurd leaps through the wilderness, a delightful mix of practical and hand-drawn laser effects, outlandish fantasy armour and multicoloured space-leotards, bombastic insert songs singing the praises of the little car the robot travels around in, and sometimes girls are Heated Battlefield Rivals. What more do you need?

Speaking of which, ultimate win for me when everyone lines up for the final battle, except for Rei, who instinctively veers off to have one last swordfight with Chimera, because I guess she'll explode if she doesn't do this at every opportunity.

What could be better than this. Gals being [really fixated on whipping/stabbing each other].

Tachibana Rei really coolest girls of all time A-lister. Early on she's just kinda there but you can kinda see them realising how good Hagiwara is in realtime. And thus begins Hirohisa Soda's career of writing shows 80% about the girl rangers. Everyone say thank you, Rei.

But yeah! Dynaman was made specifically for me, but the great thing is, so were like a dozen of these things. I think I've watched most or all of the ones that really hit the sweet spot for me, but I didn't think this one was part of that zone until I watched it either, so, who knows! Check back in a year or two and maybe I'll be yelling about how Fiveman is an underappreciated gem.

[chaos0pikachu]

I sort of knew by episode 6 of Only Friends that we would end up with a show that differs from Jojo’s initial vision. The combination of FirstKhao’s very loud ardent fandom, the way BL audiences struggle to digest anything that differs from the corrupted innocent/uwu baby/messy bitch dichotomy, the way fandom has a tendency to gloss over sexual assault or coercion and the fact that the show is characters driven, and lately audiences cannot consume these shows without needing explicit disclaimers from either the writers or the characters- I just knew something would go wrong. I still really enjoy the show but I have been thinking about how the audience affects the narrative. The difference between the way the audience views Ray/Boston/Mew which for once isn’t due to bad acting- Ray and Boston are understandable archetypes in BL so the audience is receptive to them whereas Mew exists in a type of grey area where he is sanctimonious and proud and insecure and discerning which outside of the scope of BL would be interesting but within the BL framework some people found him hypocritical and manipulative. I also think it’s a problem with the writing, some things were never explained, the animosity between Boston and Mew, Top’s relationship with sex, why Nick didn’t reach out to Mew with the sex tape, also the structure of Top and Mew relationship which never really felt fully comfortable so the audience has no reason to root for them. It’s a shame because I could see Jojo’s vision in the beginning but now due to constant cuts and storyline changes the narrative is this bloated, half formed thing held together by great acting and potential. I am also a little bit irritated that this ended up becoming a formulaic BL towards the end (granted the show isn’t finished).

Anyway, I really enjoy reading your comments in this show :)

Unpopular opinion, but I don't like attributing the show to solely Jojo. Unless there's been an interview where Ninew, Den, and Best all say the idea and original pitch for the show was Jojo's and Jojo's alone and they were just brought on as support, otherwise this isn't "Jojo's Vision" it's a collective vision from a large group of people. This all goes back to that phrase "in p'jojo we trust" which I think, frankly and bitchily, is stupid flat b/c no creator always bats 1000 each time. Fans putting creatives on a pedestal like that will only lead to disappointment and in worst cases anger. Which no one on the cast and crew deserve even if I'm finding the writing to be a slut shaming self-righteous mess of a narrative.

I also have to admit, I'm not overly familiar with these formulaic BL tropes that seem to have been popularized by gmmtv shows. All the gmmtv shows I've watched - 1000 Stars, 2gether, (1) episode of theory of love (had to drop that shit QUICK), (3) episodes of 2gether, made it an entire 6 episodes into Fish Upon the Sky - I didn't like any of them lol none. zero. zip. I wasn't able to pick up on any specific tropes b/c I found the stories so lackluster, badly produced, and ultimately dragged out.

I was willing to give Moonlight Chicken and Only Friends a chance because it looked like something very new and different from the studio as far as their BL went. I was disappointed in the former, and I'm more so frustrated with the latter. I think conceptually MLC worked better as a cohesive narrative at least, with consistent themes. Only Friends is overall, inconsistent.

We can say that now, we're in the endgame, there's two episodes left. The show has been overall inconsistent in it's narrative, tone and themes. Which is why I find it overall frustrating. I think it had a ton of potential, I was expecting something of a lower budget and messier Queer as Folk, but the show won't commit to that. The reek of branded couples is all over the fabric of the show. Like with other shows of there's the branded couples are actively harming the overall strength of the narrative - come for me tinhats - because the narrative can't thrive like it should. And that's where all the wasted potential goes to die - b/c the fandom doesn't seem interested in exploring anything other than sandray fluff fanfic I've almost given up on the ao3 tag.

The snake that is gmmtv's promoting their actors as part-time idol couples is beginning to eat itself. Imo it's actively making their shows worse; both in a macro sense b/c scenes are getting cut or scripts are getting changed b/c capital is being threatened, and in the micro sense of people just being miscast completely in roles they aren't suited for.

My ideal ending would be for topmew and sandray not to be together at the end, but it'll happen not because it's narratively sound but because money is on the line that's completely outside of the show itself. Don't get me wrong I know everybody's gotta make money and what not, but it's how I feel regarding like, Marvel films or Disney remakes. They're so watered down, and overly produced in order to garner mass capital and it harms the potential of the narratives. It harms art.

Since my ideal narrative ending won't happen, my ideal fandom ending would be more folks writing fanfic that explored the different aspects and potential the show could have had. Maybe starting with making Chuem, Ray and Mew less slut shame-y or at least someone calling them the fuck out on it. Providing Boston and Top some more nuance. Or hell, go full camp, explore what the trailer originally sold us on which was true complicated tied up mess. Maybe Mew realizes Ray actually ticks off all the checks on his list for a boyfriend, oop now he's developing REAL feelings for Ray so that complicates things further with their friendship, and the two's relationship with Sand and Top. Maybe Sand and Top had a hate fuck to get out all the tension between them and being second best for Ray and Mew. Maybe Boston's always been envious of Mew and had genuine feelings for Top. Or maybe Boston slept with Top b/c Mew has always been a self-righteous slut shaming ass to him so revenge happens. Maybe make Chuam an interesting character, instead of an audience insert who exists just to call people (boston it's boston) whores, and let the audience know who we should view as a "good" or "bad" person let the lesbian be messy too!

I wanted a full meal at the cookout with the plate piled and instead the crew served me potato salad

[the-amber-raven]

Truthfully I am on the 'The Sperm Donor Arc isn't bad' side. True it hurts to see him looking sad giving up the baby but the thing is I am happy he was able to help a friend or a couple in need and gave that couple what he considered in the past as damaged goods and not good enough.

People are ignoring that when Buck was used by his parents he never had a say in it, was never told anything about this. But being the donor, he thought about this hard even if the universe was making it difficult for him he still went out of his way because this time, it is his decision which everyone in the fandom seems to forget.

Also about the thing about Connor not being close to be honest I think him and Buck not being too close is better than a close friend or someone he sees daily because this scenario is going to hurt more because he will see the child more often and that isn't good because he isn't the child's actual dad.

If the argument for disliking the sperm donor arc is just because of the spare parts, the giving up the baby then honestly it's too shallow of the fandom though I've seen some who just doesn't want to have Buck an arc about him

Also the girlfriends for Eddie and Buck who knows maybe at the beginning of season 7 they broke up again with their girlfriends since they had to rush a happy ending for season 6 we shall see how it goes. People saying that Buck didn't need to have a girlfriend, forget that he was the one who craves having a partner the most so even if it wasn't good him ending up with someone at the end of season 6 makes sense

Yep, you've articulated my thoughts on why I don't think the spare parts bit or the Connor part made the storyline inherently bad. (Although I will say that I hope we get more resolution to the spare parts and Bucks feelings towards fatherhood in the next season!)

And yeah while I really wasn't thrilled with the ending snippets with Marisol & Natalia I'm also in the camp of we'll see how the girlfriends go in Season 7.

I do think they rushed the dating storyline for both Buck and Eddie, but at the same time I also think it makes sense for them as characters to pursue those relationships. It was an understated but important part of Eddie's story that he was coming to terms with Shannon's loss and what their relationship meant to him so I think it was logical for that to lead to him dipping his toes in the dating pool again.

And Buck has wanted a relationship for a long time now. He started the season deciding he wanted to work on himself and that he didn't need one, but it also made sense to me that he finally got to the point where he was willing to dip his own toes back into the dating pool again. His experiences throughout the season have helped him better understand himself and made him willing to take that risk again.

But you'll notice that I deliberately used the term 'dipping their toes in' - in no way do I think either of them are Buck and Eddie's endgame, and so I'm interested in seeing how they contribute to the growth and journey we're seeing these characters on.

[chaosandwolves]

We're really getting Buddie aren't we?!

What's your speculation on 7x06? In regards to the suits? Cause jeezus christ!! I need to know what happened! 🤣 The state of Bucks!!

Help anon

Yes omg I really think we dooooooooo

Like... Look we already had so many hints in the interviews and all and since interviews and synopsis for ep 100 dropped we KNEW it'll be bi Buck

But my gods

This ep couldn't have been any louder about who Buck is really in love with and that Tommy is like Eddie and that Buddie will be endgame

I feel INSANE

Now to 7x06

Ooofff idk

There are so many possibilities!!!

But I have been thinking that they might have the most chaotic bachelor party and that causes chaos

Definitely think that Eddie takes off his shirt to put out the fire on Buck's leg after someone else tried to use wine on it

But why is his leg catching fire???

I don't know

I read this post though and it was posted before last ep but something like that would be so funny.... Or maybe reverse it and Eddie is awkward and doesn't know why

Also before watching Buck and Tommy kiss (eeeeekkk) I had the thought... Wouldn't it be funny if they played stupid games during the bachelor party and Eddie and Buck had to kiss

And that would work with the other idea... Buck, now dating Tommy, just kissing his best pal (cause baby is still a lil confused there) and Eddie has his "Oh fuck it's Buck" moment

But honestly, realistically I think it's either because Eddie will be awkward around Buck cause he doesn't understand why Buck dating Tommy makes him feel so weird

or

The bachelor party shenanigans were hangover style and they got dressed and all but more chaos happens and they end up looking like this

Wow look at me giving you nothing 😂

If you have any theories, hit me!

I really love how, this season, they give us a lot of hints but it still could play out in soooo many ways

[randomidiocyncrazies]

paranormasight theories near the endgame (maybe?)

okay, I still can't quite figure out Yoko's deal:

Yoko has to play a role in the big mystery in some way, but so far it seems like Ayame has more connection with Ashino? What with being the Nejima Case baby (potential reincarnation of Shino... whose last words are cryptic as heck). Yoko isn't a descendant of Seiman either, so. what gives.

Yoko dies by her own curse in the prologue, but 1) we've never seen any other curse bearer's curse turn on them that way, and 2) we know the Beckoning Light does exactly that. and WE are the ones to press Push (activate Beckoning Light?), so... are we the curse bearer in that timeline? BUT Shogo and Yoko clearly can't interact with us/don't know we're there, and it doesn't really make sense why we'd no longer be the curse bearer outside of the prologue, but still keep the power of observing/influencing the other player characters. If Prologue!Yoko was done in by the Beckoning Light, and we killed her by using it, how are we doing that?

unless we're the curse echo? like, we can influence people because we're possessing them, and we have 4th Wall tricks bc we're on a different plane than the characters? but if that's the case, I'm assuming the other curse echoes can also do what we do? or at least Ashino should be able to, since she's a powerful onmyoji too

If (and this is a big if) we are the curse echo of Beckoning Light, and if Ashino/Foot-Washing Mansion at the very least can do the same things that we can, then... we gotta look out for curses activating at unexpected times/without the curse bearer? Also Ashino would be influencing folks like we are, sooooo the mastermind is probably possessed by her...? (Could Ashino influence our PCs too? Like, could we give Harue a nudge when we're not playing as her? Or does this imply that the curse bearers we can't play as are the people she can influence?)

LMAO i don't even know if the player = curse echo thing makes sense because like. it seems like it could get really messy really quick, narrative-wise (gotta account for too many possessions/influences by multiple curses). also, wouldn't the curse stone for Beckoning Light be at Hihaku Soap? how did it get to the park in the prologue? how are we observing/influencing the PCs without them being near the Beckoning Light curse stone? and even if we don't need proximity to the curse stone to act, Mio mentioned that most spirits can only influence the ones they have a connection to, but we can influence detective guy (explicitly no spirit sense/resistant to it) and a bunch of different people??? i mean Seiman is an onmyoji, and the Feast of Shadows boosts spiritual abilities, but that seems too convenient...?

[chronic-ghost]

Aw man.. what a chapter! I liked the interviews bit, that was fun! But man, everything happened all at once!! Him asking her to move in and Chloe coming back and mark getting punched in the face bc he found out dieter is using again and a baby???? And their scene in the bathroom 🥺 I’m a bit proud of Natalie for trying to set a boundary and telling him to leave her alone while he’s with Chloe still! Yay Natalie!!!

And then their talk at the end 🥺

The one bit that really stuck out to me was this bc it made me so sad.

“I’m divorcing her.” 

You still. Go slack. Soft in your disbelief. He’s failed you if this comes as a surprise. 

Something sharp and jagged splits apart in his throat, burning him, and he drops his gaze from your face before you have a chance to see the tears well up.

Bc yeah.. while he’s good at showing his feelings, I can’t imagine how things must’ve felt for Natalie all this time. Because he is still married and never told her or even really implied that that’s going to change.. and the asking her to move in too! Like I wanted to be so happy for them but it’s just so wrong because he’s still married. And also, Chloe wants a baby now???? Girl tf? I feel like she knows she’s losing him and she hopes a baby will make him stick around lol! I’m so glad he said no hahah!

I really hope he actually goes through with this and separates and divorced Chloe because my heart (and Natalie’s lmao) can’t take it if he doesn’t! But that’s still gonna be such a messy situation aww

But if he does do that it still makes me so nervous because so far a lot of their relationship is being high and having sex and like.. who are they to each other if they were sober? Are they still gonna even like each other???

Aaaaah! I do hope Natalie takes the risk one more time and waits for Dieter to sort his shit.. even tho it’s not really fair of him to ask that of her either?? Aaaah! It’s all so conflicting!

I just really really hope they can work things out so they can be openly happy together 🥺

Thanks for this chapter! Like always, I’m already so excited for the next one :)

anon, i await your posts so eagerly i want to scream!

i am SO GLAD you mentioned Natalie's perspective. because, yeah, he's kinda being a dick and it's not fair to her, at all, but she also doesn't want to stop? Messy is a great way to describe all of this! 😅

(Chloe is not gonna look good in the next chapter, tbh. It's gon be real bad.)

AAAAAAND yes, please, question what their relationship would be like if they weren't high all the time. there is something there, but neither of them really know how to approach it because they really don't know what a healthy relationship looks like. as my therapist loves to say about shitty people in my own life, they love each other in the only way they know how -- but that doesn't mean it's healthy or good. we've been building to something for a while and the next chapter is finally when all of the shit really hits 😬

thank you again for your insight and discussion -- it makes me so happy that you're following these threads! we're in the endgame now!