#extended meta ramble

[the-elusive-soleil]

State of the Union: Curufin

So I have Thoughts about Curufin and his unnamed wife and their relationship in general

Most of which stem from my general assumption that Curufin wasn't dark and twisted from the beginning in Valinor--he just sees the world in a very particular way, and that perspective on the world ends up lending itself rather well to developing a dark side later on, but it didn't have to

(I tend to headcanon Curufin as having a highly analytical way of looking at the world; he's very, very good at figuring out all the little moving parts of something, at identifying root causes, at understanding what and how and why. For material things and devices and such, yes absolutely, but also eventually people and what makes them tick. And sometimes he can get a bit in his head about it and see people more as additional moving parts of the universe than as messy, feeling individuals, but in Aman he's got a handle on it and it's not causing problems)

Anyway

A lot of the headcanons I saw early on were of him and his wife having a falling out clear back in Aman (a la Feanor and Nerdanel) and her electing to stay behind either before Alqualonde or immediately after

And there's nothing wrong with those, they just don't...sit right with me

If we're running with the assumption that Curufin wasn't a horrible person from the word go, then let him have a healthy and happy marriage

Related to that, I also tend to question the assumption (perhaps based on the thought that Celebrimbor Had To Get The Niceness From Somewhere) that Curufin's wife was all sweetness and light and an overall sharp contrast to his own personality

It just seems more likely and more interesting to me that he would fall for someone who sees the world similarly to how he does, that that would be something they bond over and that she sees as a feature, not a bug

I don't necessarily want her to also be a smith/inventor/maker, because then we're veering dangerously close to just having Curufin but female

So someone with a different craft/profession, but who approaches it the same way that he does his making of things

For your consideration, a scenario:

Curufinwe doesn't usually go hunting with Tyelko, but he is good at it when he wants to be (strong pattern recognition makes for a good tracker) and so he happens to be out with him the day Tyelko falls and breaks a bone

It's nothing life-threatening, but it is serious enough that they need to seek out a healer

(Perfect paradise or no, I refuse to believe that there wasn't any call for Amanyar healers; you know the Noldor picked up plenty of injuries in pursuit of their crafts, to say nothing of the Teleri's boating accidents)

And usually the healers they've dealt with before have tended towards nurturing and coddling and sternly admonishing whichever of them is injured to take better care of themselves next time, but not this one

[guess I'm gonna need a name let's go with] Cestanolwe

just calmly sets the bone and gets it splinted/cast/whatever, and she sets Tyelko up with painkillers, and she's not brusque but she is. businesslike. She doesn't fuss or carry on or insist on pity that Tyelko doesn't want--although she does have quite a few questions on just how he broke the bone in the first place

She and Curufinwe get to talking, and it turns out she's really into studying the way bodies work and all the different weird things they do and ways they can go wrong. Helping people is great, but she's in this for the scholarship and the discovery

When she's done with Tyelko, her parting care instructions are less like a normal healer's chiding and more like a craftsman's advice on this or that material's capabilities. Somehow this is actually more effective

Curufinwe is kind of in love with her right then and there

The funniest possible version of this is where he doesn't quite realize right away, but just keeps on coming up with excuses to see her again. His brothers haven't seen this much of him since he came of age and got unrestricted workshop time. When they run out of injuries, he shows up at the clinic with a severe burn

(Which was not on purpose, but also could probably have been avoided if he hadn't been distracted with why am I like this, what is going on and then an abrupt realization)

And Ceste had probably figured out what was going on around the third or fourth time he dragged a brother to see her, but now they're on the same page, and they really do get on like a house afire

They're a fun pair, because they are both so analytical and logical, and yet they are willing to mutually jump into the bonkers irrationality that is being in love, for each other

Eventually they get married, and come up with little Tyelpe. My dad!Curufin headcanons should be in their own post, but suffice to say: both of them love their son dearly and think he is amazing, and Tyelpe does not grow up in a cold and stifling household

Then the Oath happens

Ceste is very clear that she is not going to be left behind while her husband and son and assorted in-laws go off to war on another continent

I am not actually sure to what degree she might participate in the Alqualonde kinslaying. If she does participate, she would probably be better than average at the mechanics of killing (considering everyone involved has zero practical experience), but it would also significantly mess with her head because she is a person who fixes things, not someone who breaks them

She still sticks with it and continues to Middle-earth (although she doesn't do combat again)

And I think she makes it as far as the Dagor Bragollach before death finally catches her

And Beleriand had not been doing either of them any favors, but after she's gone, Curufin just sort of. stops trying to be anything but the worst version of himself, because what is the point

[ms-all-sunday]

What are your thoughts on the metaphorical utilization of masks used by different characters throughout water 7?

so ive never actually thought about this before outside of the acknowledgement that it's a factor. the most obvious being robin wearing a mask in almost all her more ghosty scenes in water 7, and then taking it off and the entire thing escalates further though with more honesty.

the three main characters of water 7 (robin, usopp, and franky) all wear notable masks. robin when she's going to murder the mayor, franky when we have a perception of him when he's putting up a front, and usopp when he becomes sniperking.

i think the most interesting use of the masks is the less obvious immediately one, when franky and usopp are wearing masks. franky is wearing a mask of weird toxic hyper masculinity the kind that you'd see from a gangster in a movie. we learn later that this is a front he puts up to protect the franky familys reputation, (which is a parallel to robin putting on a mask to save the strawhats) but the way he changes his personality to create a more confident version of himself that shows no weakness parallels usopps use of the same mask with sniperking. you could also argue that usopp is at least under the perception that hes saving the strawhats from having to care about him when putting on the sniper king mask, (i actually think he directly states this? its been a year since i saw the beginning of enies lobby and itll be a 4-5 month journey before i get to it on my rewatch please pray for me) and that robin is becoming more confident when she puts on the mask as well. (although as ive said before robin is a wonderful intuitive competent woman whos never actually used any of her skills for anything good. /loving). i think with robin and usopp theres more of an inherent lie in their confidence when they put on the mask because robin, while she presents herself as confident is very much not. (although i think shes a lot like luffy in this aspect where i think she is genuinely confident but is insecure about things that are very deeply meaningful to her and that drives them more than you would think because they seem confident everywhere else) and usopp is usopp. franky is confident but where his confidence lies is way different. its less that hes lying about being confident but more lying about the type of confidence he has. franky is the type of guy whos confident in bawling and hugging you so tightly you feel like youre going to explode. he doesnt have confidence like gang bege. franky wouldnt tell you to kill a guy

I really fucking love sniper king. i think in general sniper king is the best use of usopps character, because it highlights that lying is a good thing when it comes to him and his personality. sniper king allowed usopp to be there for his friends when he had to lie to himself to keep holding onto their relationship. lying in a lot if senses symbolizes usopps inherent want to hope for better things for himself that he thinks won't happen and i relate to that. a fucking lot. when usopp lies i think it speaks to an inherent hope and openmindedness for whatever hes lying about to be true. all of this is what usopps use of the sniper king mask represents, along with his want to be a hero type guy. (oh to be an antihero in an anime that wants actively to be the type of guy the protagonist is)

there is a gender aspect to it. like i think the reason usopp and franky wear the same mask is because of both of their relationships towards their masculinity and to further the idea that franky is everything usopp wishes he was in a lot of ways. i was like "why do people read usopp as transgender" a bit ago but then i realized it was a stupid question because. like usopp as a character is inherently tied to masculinity in a very trans way. i read fanfiction about this recently so I think I'm a scholar on it but zoro is very transguy in the sense he is masculine inherently but still feels a disconnect between him and masculinity despite that. very post transition transguy. whereas you look at usopp and you see like a pre transition transguy who feels like he has to inherently grow into masculinity and a lot of that is tied to for him a better stage in his mental health. (and im glad he eventually gets that post ts).

anyways back to the masks on the other hand i think theyre a lot like the lines in scott pilgrim. like the weirdo lines ramona gets when she's insecure about her relationship with scott due to past experiences. yes the 3 people who put them on really do change their behavior when they put them on but it's because of the same thing (past experiences influencing them to the point where they arent changing their behaviour in the present)

ALL of them being influenced by trauma

and usopp is the only one who can spin this as a positive utilization of the mask as opposed to franky and robin because of what we talked about previously (usopps lies are his hopes)

and i think usopp gets his "in his own head so much because of past experiences hes refusing to see the truth in the present" pre getting his sniperking mask. but because of how usopp works as a character, he wasnt in a mask there because to him because of his neuroses he sees that as the truth of who he is. i also think the "in his own head so much because of past experiences hes refusing to see the truth in the present" still applies to him as sniper king but ends up meaning something differently. because as sniper king he is not acknowledging the reality of his need to take accountability for the shit he started but instead reverting back to lies hes previously told for the sake of reverting temporarily to normalcy with his friends. (which is a positive in the sense nico robin is going to die but negative in terms of interpersonal accountability)

this is all to say its really good that you cant see usopp/franky/robin when they put on the mask. they are emotionally unavailable to the people around them like they're not even considering other people as a factor which continues the idea of the masks as something that turns kind people alien and shuts them off from whats happening around them. thank you for watching my thoughts develop in real time, anon.

[dreamersscape]

Does it feel like life is permanently set to extreme hard mode and I still feel super crappy greater than 90% of the time? Yup. But! Emboldened by our relative success with last year's tomatoes, we have given it another go and have added a little pepper plant friend for them. :)

(It may look like the peppers aren't doing as well as the tomatoes, but it cannot be overstated just how bananas this plant's growth chart has been; it's determined to escape the confines of its basket-cage; it has to be constantly rotated so it doesn't completely lose the battle with gravity; I only took this picture the other day and it already looks SO outdated. Can't stop, WON'T STOP.)

[ukelele-boy]

I was rereading some of my posts from 2021 and was reminded of how much meta I used to write so imma share my crazy headcanon/ theory which i thought up as plot for a revolution fic:

RR verse is on the "Olympus will fall" timeline and Zeus' actions are speeding it up.

In the recent decade there has been several great prophecies back to back. And people have remarked how weird it is that there have been so many. What if the reason is because of Zeus?

Remember, in greek mythology there is a major theme of how Your Fate Cannot Be Defied. And Zeus, king of Olympus, has a major Fate: being overthrown. However he managed to "defy" it by eating Metis.

My idea is that he has been forcefully clawing out a future where he is still king of Olympus. By doing this, he is literally changing the flow of fate. And obviously fate wants to correct itself, so the harder he fights it, the more counterforce he triggers. All prophecies meant to lead to his overthrowing are suddenly sped up. Olympus begins to lose power. Zeus is aware of this. He is also aware how people are becoming suspicious. And he needs a scapegoat. And who better than the god of prophecy who is also a threat to the throne?

Apollo mentions that Zeus blamed him for his oracle revealing a prophecy "too early" and therefore causing it to happen early. However, everyone knows it's not possible to actually cause a prophecy to happen early...so why would Zeus even have this weird line of thought? everyone probably dismissed it as Zeus being irrational, but there a juicier theory this ties into:

Apollo being the one to overthrow Zeus.

The idea of "fall of the sun, the final verse". What if this is the final prophecy that is meant to happen before Zeus is overthrown? And what if the fall this speaks of is actually when Apollo fell close to chaos? When he pulled himself together there?

What if he reformed different from his original godly form. He was literally almost gone, his body was disintegrating. Maybe he pulled himself together using the energies of chaos. Apollo himself isn't aware of this, due to a suspicious memory gap between him clawing up from the cliff and him waking up next to Artemis.

And this adds to another headcanon of mine, the fates choose Apollo to be the god of prophecy on purpose. At first glance, this is a horrible match. If they wanted a good servant, why would they choose someone so closely tied to his heart and so likely to fight fate? Someone who dares get them drunk just to extend a human's lifespan? UNLESS... they WANT him to eventually try and defy fate??

Imagine if fate was a compass and Zeus had forcefully wrenched the needle point at a bleak dark future where Olympus falls with him. And this river direction has been set so deeply in stone and run on for so long, it has worn a grove and become the mostly likely future.

you need someone willing to fight, someone to wrench the needle out. SOMEONE FAMILAR WITH FATE AND Prophecy. Someone who has the power to fight it and win. Someone who has the will. Perhaps a baby god who was willing to fight Python, and who would have likely died there. But if he successfully did take on the powers of prophecy, one day that same godling would fight Python again, would absorb the powers of chaos to recreate himself.

Perhaps not today and maybe not even for the next four thousand years

but one day that godling would stare down at that wretched compass hand and decide to yank the flow out of its place. And maybe, that godling means a chance for Olympus to have a different future.

Anyways that's my crazy theory i hope it wasn't too confusing. It also links up with my other story theme idea about fate, hope and apollo blah blah blah, which i rambled about in a different post.

Edit: just remembered my other crazy thought, what if ZEUS PURPOSEFULLY TRIED TO GET RID OF APOLLO NOT ONLY CAUSE HE IS A THREAT TO THE THRONE BUT ALSO BECAUSE AS THE GOD OF PROPHECY HE IS MOST LIKELY TO REALIZE SOMETHING IS WRONG AND THAT ZEUS IS MESSING WITH FATE?!???? Basically pulling a imma say you're the murderer before u realise im the murderer. (i cant remember the actual saying Lmaoo)

[stillness-in-green]

Finding Fascism in My Hero Academia (COMPLETE)

The final part (and the longest, thanks to an extended ramble about language usage on the last point) is now public on the Patreon! Find the links to all parts below, or hit the jump to read a final round of excerpts, including the final tally and a bit from the conclusion:

PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE PART FOUR (<- New!)

Point 12: Machismo and weaponry.

The major exception to the rejection of modernism—fascists are boys who love their toys.  Looking for ways to carry over the national-scale preoccupations with strength and warfare, these values are recreated on the smaller and more personal scale via an obsession with masculinity, virility, and martial prowess.  This leads to a disdain for femininity (fascism is frequently patriarchal) as well as non-standard sexual habits (chastity, homosexuality, etc.).  The constipation about sex also leads to a lot of that energy spilling over/being displaced into the fascination with weaponry, giving the relationship of the fascist to his weapon(s) a sexual charge.

Meta-Narrative: It’s probably the case that a solid majority of Shonen Jump manga are a little (and sometimes a lot) dysfunctional about women and sexuality, and if MHA is better than some of them, well, it’s no great accomplishment to be less sexist than Death Note.  While I don’t think Horikoshi intends to be disdainful of women or femininity, the pattern of the work is clear in terms of the attention and effectiveness MHA’s women are allowed to enjoy.

Meanwhile, the story pokes fun at Deku’s idea of romance as being ill-informed, but its own most overt engagement with the fact of human sexuality really only comes in one flavor: predatory.  While it’s treated with different levels of seriousness—we might posit a spectrum between Mineta and Toga, with Midnight holding down the middle—the story is, by and large, totally at sea on how to depict healthy, reciprocal sexuality, so it either turns it into a joke (Mineta, Midnight), makes it terrifying (Toga, also Midnight), or buries it (Ochaco’s repression plotline, throwaway nods to the romantic entanglements of non-Class A characters).  As was much joked about on Twitter, the relationship that provides the main romantic throughline of the entire series concludes with a dap-style handshake!

—(…)—

Point 13: Selective populism./Delegitimization of parliamentary government.

Individuals within fascism have no rights and no ability to exercise political will.  They can only act as a theatrical monolith; the Leader interprets the “will of the people” and any people/institutions who disagree with the Leader are targeted for failing to represent said will.  Leads to hostility towards elected/representative groups as being corrupt or illegitimate.  For those in the U.S., consider every attack ad you see during election season about how this or that politician is a slave to the “swamp” and not what their constituency “wants” or “needs”; even more prominently, consider Donald Trump’s constant attacks on the legitimacy of any election or lawsuit he loses.

MLA: There are definitely shades of it—the MLA certainly doesn’t operate as a democracy!—but it’s not “populism” as defined by Eco because no one is really pretending to speak “for the people.”  Rather, they’re all pretty clear on following the will of one specific person, that being the great Destro (as interpreted by his descendant); Destro’s will does represent an ideal future for “the people,” but Re-Destro makes no pretenses of speaking for the people as a collective right now.  While we could make some attempts to tie their ideal of Liberation to selective populism—would their talk of people being free to use their meta-abilities to become their truest selves make room for people whose goals and dreams have nothing to do with their meta-abilities at all?—evidence from the canon is conflicting.

(...)

As to the delegitimization of parliamentary governments, well, Trumpet is the parliamentary elephant in the room.  The PLF’s plan per Hawks is to at least undermine the legitimate government, though it’s unclear whether “storm the political world” means carrying out some sort of populist coup or just using the tidal wave of changed public opinion to sweep the next election.  In Eco’s definition, the whole gist of this point is stripping the public at large of any ability to meaningfully self-govern, both by depriving them of their right to make their voice heard politically and by undermining the public trust in fairly elected government representatives.  It’s hard to gauge the MLA or Heroes on this because the story skittishly avoids depicting representative government of any kind.

—(…)—

Point 14: Newspeak.

From the Orwell concept, Ur-Fascism limits the vocabulary and syntax of its members, preferring hot button code words and simplistic rhetoric, thus making complex thought and critical reasoning both difficult and inherently suspect.  Commonly cited examples are Orwell’s IngSoc and the huge amount of Nazi terminology that—like IngSoc—has the explicit intent of obscuring the meaning of words, especially in ways that downplay the severity or atrocity they’re being used to describe.  I recently saw the ever-popular “unalive” described in this way as well; though words like that began as a way to allow people to discuss serious topics in spaces that are unfriendly to such discussion, popularizing them beyond such spaces has the effect of diminishing the seriousness of the realities the words describe.

Team Hero: (...) Nearly as foundational as Hero and Villain, there’s the term for the setting’s superpowers themselves—originally meta-abilities, now quirks.  In-universe, the change came about specifically as a way for a struggling government to make something many people still saw as unacceptable, acceptable.  This is an issue particularly because the term chosen was used to justify legislation that directly opposed the spirit of that same term.  A word intended to describe meta-abilities as just another aspect of a person, one they should be able to live with freely, was instead used to help pass laws restricting their use.  Further, a very descriptive word for a phenomenon that still had not reached popular acceptance was replaced with a cuter, more familiar, more casual word that totally sacrificed descriptiveness in favor of attempting to force a top-down reframing of that phenomenon.

—(…)—

FINAL SCORES: MLA 4.5 | Team Hero 4 | Meta-Narrative 6.5

Conclusion: The aspects of the Meta-Liberation Army that obviously say “fascist” to the audience—the militancy, the contempt for the weak, the willingness to murder people who disagree with them—are all very easy to recognize and, moreover, recognize as Bad.  Conversely, the fascistic traits of the Heroes—and they hit many of the same ones as the MLA!—are much less visible.  This is in large part due to the meta-narrative: where its sympathies lie and how it guides the reader’s expectations, especially readers who are not used to applying this sort of Doylist scrutiny to their media intake.

For example, I said when talking about the “Action for action’s sake” criterion that its particular brand of anti-intellectualism is relatively common in shounen comics.  Sure, it’s nice and obvious that anti-intellectualism is Bad when it takes the form of Scarecrow telling the mob not to collect themselves, but Scarecrow’s words, functionally speaking, are little different than All Might praising Deku’s brainless, unthinking Heroic Instincts—if anything, I’d say All Might is worse!  The difference is in how the story frames them: Scarecrow is somehow both raving zealot and calculating bad faith actor, and he winds up arrested and forgotten about, while Deku follows All Might’s encouragement all the way to a climax in which he murders Shigaraki for lack of any effort put into thinking about how to save him, and this act of “heroism” changes both the weather and the world.

———

Read the rest here!

Thanks for reading along with these, everyone - or for reading it now, if you were holding off until the whole thing was available! If you enjoyed it and would like to support me in further endeavors like this one, my only current paid tier is only $3, or you can drop something over in my ko-fi. (And to the kind strangers who have done the latter over the last few weeks, thank you very much for your kindness and support!)

[wigglebox]

Obviously this place isn’t Instagram but I wanted to let y’all know I’m gonna delete my Instagram probably later today.

TLDR: Deleting Instagram, I’m on Bluesky, here and RedNote. Explore the internet more!

*~*

I don’t like META but I’m forced to have a personal account for my job. But I want to get rid of every Instagram I have.

Being an artist online is a daily struggle to share your work and be seen and feeling encouraged to create more. We want others to see our stuff. The art we make for ourselves we don’t always share.

This is a truth I’ve known for a while now but didn’t wholly process until Saturday that we need to explore more. We need to explore new methods and apps and websites and delivery systems.

When the TikTok blip happened for us Americans many of us were panicking because of the greater implication of our rights. But, in the lead up to said blip, I saw many people talking about how they were coding their own spaces and other apps. Bluesky is coming out with an Instagram rival and I’ve seen several alternatives to tiktok in development.

Every social media website and app, or really anything that encourages mass gatherings of people online, has a life cycle. Some end quick and some end over an extended period of time. People my age really understand this as we have been online since the Wild West of the internet age. I’ve seen every phase of Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I’ve seen the rise and fall of spaces like Gaiaonline, Xanga and MySpace.

The issue with Facebook is what I call the “META Virus” and it acts like a vampiric parasite, sucking the life out of corners of the internet to keep its zombie self alive. Instagram was one of these places. Facebook should not have lasted more than 7-8 years as most. It was an early social media website and far superior ones sprung up behind it. But it’s a zombie now.

So, at the end of the day, I’m just going to delete my accounts there.

I think it’s very important we explore. Pretend these are little worlds or galaxies and explore. I know we want to keep fandoms alive and there’s no reason to suggest they won’t on other platforms. You just have to find your people.

You can find me currently on Tumblr, obviously, and BlueSky and RedNote (xiaohongshu).

I’ve deleted many of my tiktok videos to go back to 2023 mostly and don’t plan on posting there. I want to make art videos but I don’t want to post those videos where people aren’t interested.

I will be exploring pixelfed and other apps and I have followed the developers of even more apps and websites. I’ll post about any one I join to here and Bluesky but when in doubt, I’ll always be wigglebox or wiggleboxart!

I’m also exploring making a Neocities page as a sort of landing site for me and see if I can set up a newsletter or Patreon. If I set a Patreon up the tiers will be low. Probably just one for like, $2 or something. Mostly because for us Americans it’s going to be a penny pinching way going forward.

I’m not sure yet about Patreon yet I’m still brainstorming that.

Suffice it to say, after all this rambling, we need to be internet explorers (not THAT internet explorer) much like we were in the early 2000s if you remember that time.

Thank you for reading and understanding!

[angeldrawsstuffs]

Hi Angel back again to offer her unsolicited meta opinions about Lego themes (specifically Dreamzzz).

So, because of recent leaks, I’ve seen some speculation online Dreamzzz is going to come to an early end, possibly not making it past 2025. Now, before we go any further, let me make something extremely clear:

That is all rumors and speculation based on different rumors/alleged leaks about a canceled large set. To my knowledge, nobody who has actually worked on the theme in any capacity (show or sets) has said anything in relation to either of these. The information about the canceled big set came from leakers and the other speculation derived from that. This is ALL hearsay from the past 24-48 hours. Nothing is official, take it with a pinch of salt.

Ok now that we’re on the same page about the validity (or potentially lack thereof) of the claims/speculation, time to get into a mini rant/ramble I have so Buzzfeed-ishly titled:

Why Dreamzzz Being Cancelled Would NOT be a Good Thing AT ALL For Lego (and why even non-fans should care!)

So, you may ask: “Angel, why would you say this is a negative for Lego as a whole? Themes get canceled early all the time! In the hypothetical-and-currently-unsubstantiated-scenario Dreamzzz is canceled, it wouldn’t have that much of an impact!” well, nonexistent strawman I made up because I suck at making my point, it has to do with the way original Lego IPs are currently set up. Like it or hate it (or in between!), the beginning of Dreamzzz, even a before that, one could argue, was the start of a new era for how Lego handles their IPs. Gone are the days of getting multiple new themes a year, each lasting a planned 2-3 years, before entering a mapped out and anticipated retirement, maybe being cut short or extended a bit depending on sales. From what I’ve observed, it seems the priority is longevity of a theme over quantity of themes. Another factor is this is the ideas from those many themes over the past few decades have been slowly merged into other, larger themes like City, Friends, or even Ninjago. So, back in ye olden days of the 90s to the 2010s, a theme (specifically an original IP) being cut short was no big deal because there were like- 3-4 others running alongside it and several more in the foreseeable future. But, currently, that’s not the case because Dreamzzz is the only new IP to release and be running in the 2020s. Think about Lego’s currently running original IPs, not original themes as a whole (Icons, Creator, Ideas, etc.), but IPs (Ninjago, Power Miners, Atlantis, etc.). As of right now there’s really only four:

City, Friends, Ninjago, and Dreamzzz.

Take Dreamzzz out and you’re left with three. As much as it sucks, Dreamzzz being canceled won’t bring back the old format of IPs, in fact, I personally believe it would push back any return of that format or a similar one even further. Why do I believe this? Well, unfortunate as it may be, we’ve seen this song and dance before with plenty of other brands. New, original thing fails, executive people have to look at the “why”, and the conclusion is that people just don’t want new stuff and we should rehash the same stuff over and over and over again. Obviously that’s the very WRONG conclusion, but look at Disney and Pixar as a prime example of this. Of course I have a LOT (like- a lot a lot) more faith in Lego than I do the mouse, but do we really want to run that risk?

Also, circling back to my point about IPs being cut earlier than planned wasn’t as big a deal back then because there were a bunch of others already out and planned for release that could fill that void quick. But now? With the new formatting for IPs? As far as we know, there’s no new Lego IPs planned for the foreseeable future. Unless Lego’s somehow kept some new IP under such wraps that not a single person outside the company, not even online leakers, have found anything out about it, even its existence, (which very rarely happens to my own knowledge), there’s nothing currently planned. If Dreamzzz goes, there’s nothing to take its place or keep new IPs chugging along.

So then, hypothetically say Dreamzzz is canceled and doesn’t make it to 2026 (which, I am going to say I do not think will happen, I personally believe, if the big set being cancelled is true, it may be to make room for smaller, more affordable sets, since that’s the most consistent criticism of the theme as a whole). What then? Well, if the path most other companies have taken of “nobody wants new things” comes into effect, then that would probably mean not getting another new IP for a while. While Ninjago, City, and Friends all have a lot to offer, it’s clear people want something new. To be clear, it’s not the guaranteed path in this hypothetical-and-currently-unsubstantiated-scenario.

What’s my solution? Well, I’m a teenager on the internet with no business knowledge or expertise in any kind of related field so OBVIOUSLY I’m qualified to talk on this (/lh /s). But, in all seriousness, the best I can say is make criticisms known, but with the stipulation of that the theme should be able to continue and buff out the dents, as I would argue we’ve seen happening. I believe Dreamzzz has potential, a lot of it. But losing that potential to an early cancellation could possibly spell trouble down the road for Lego’s original IPs.

Once again, this is just a sleep deprived Angel spewing her opinions onto the internet. Hope I made my point clear enough and that this isn’t a totally incoherent mess of a post. Also, I’m personally not looking to debate/have to defend my thoughts here, as shallow as that may seem, so if you disagree vehemently with every word: that’s alright! I’m just not interested in an online back and forth about it (especially cuz I’m a terrible debater, lol-). Anyway, thanks for reading this long-ass post if you’re still here, have a wonderful rest of your day/night, and wear your seatbelt! /ref

[dilfsonic]

PLEASE tell me more about Sonmetadow! Anything at all- headcanons, meta, just rambling about them, anything!!

Sorry this is so late!! But I wanted to answer this for a while.

> Metal gradually develops complicated feelings the longer he’s allowed close proximity with his organic copy. As an AI he learns constantly, but given he’s only ever around Eggman his emotionally intelligence can only go so far. The more he watches, learns from, and mimics Sonic, the more his emotional intelligence grows. And the more he ‘feels’ what Sonic feels (this headcanon is derived from a mix of the OVA movie from the 90s and modern iterations).

> In my au, Metal naturally forms feelings for Shadow because SONIC has feelings for Shadow first. Metal inadvertently mimics these emotions and they develop the longer Sonic’s emotions influence him. In turn he becomes influenced by Shadow’s feelings…it’s a never ending feedback loop, feeding into one another.

> Metal may mimic their emotions to begin with, but as he becomes more advanced, he comes to grasp his own uniquely complicated feelings. He hated Sonic, but it was a hate he was programmed with. When hardwiring meets fallible emotion— which comes out on top? That’s the question. He now can no longer tell if he wants to be his organic copy or if he wants to be WITH him. Sonic has a unique ability to the touch the core of those he empathizes with, and I think if he got past Metal’s hardwiring/if that was ever compromised, Metal has the potential to be the most touched by him.

> He’s still learning, he never ‘finishes’ developing and therefore his feelings are ever evolving, the more self aware he becomes and can begin to pinpoint and predict his own feelings. Sonic is his primary guide in this, while Shadow (who is peak example of holding onto very complicated emotions) kind of learns alongside with him.

> Metal and Shadow bond a lot over things that have been brought up in canon. Shadow has a unique and interesting facet of his character in which he’s shown to consistently show a great empathy and understanding of robots and androids. Metal Sonic, Omega, Emerl, etc… Particularly with Metal, who has a similar dilemma as Omega, in which he’s a tool for the Doctor, like Shadow was. Whereas canonically Omega defected on his own, Shadow is trying to convince Metal to do it. He won’t hesitate to fight Metal, but he would prefer not to, and he’s set aside their necessary opposition to work with Metal in the past, who was even willing to take the chaos emerald from his own body to give Shadow a chance to warp back home. That’s pretty awesome.

> An interesting observation to me is that Shadow and Sonic are both often in opposition from a moral standpoint, they actually both share a goal with Metal. Both of them extend their hands in offering to him, and encourage him to make his own decisions independent of Eggman. And it’s not that Sonic and Shadow even want Metal to be a hero necessarily— even if Metal were to remain an adversary, they just want Metal to come to that decision on his own. Shadow and Sonic both have a strong sense of freedom in their own ways, and encourage others to exercise their own freedom even if it means that person continuing on their own opposing path.

> In a what-if scenario, seeing Sonic and Shadow combine their efforts to free Metal is really fascinating to me. Metal is like Shadow in the sense where it begs the question, can he really learn to love? Is he capable of that particular emotion? Can he grasp what romantic interest really means? He understands as best he can, and is still learning all the while… Yes, while Sonic and Shadow certainly hold a candle for one another by this point in the story, their ‘love’ is considerably complicated. They’re still rivals, after all. Rivals with benefits, I suppose! Except the longer they’re ‘stuck’ together (affectionate) the more they fall into a comfortable push and pull.

They become sort of inadvertently committed (though Sonic continues to see other lovers he’s kept up over the years, Knuckles and Jet), and it probably stems from the fact that Sonic is canonically one of the only (if not the only) people to touch his heart. They are both still guarded in their own ways, and would probably require many lifetimes over and over to fully learn and know the other, and it’s something they enjoy exploring.

The difference is, Shadow has endless time to learn about Metal, but only one lifetime to learn about Sonic. It’s sort of bittersweet, the way Sonic continues to live on through Metal after he’s gone in lots of little ways, but Metal is still his own unique personhood, and Shadow knows better than to think he could use him as a replacement.

Anyway, sorry for this wall of text!! I have a Lot of opinions and feelings on these guys. They’re my OT3 LOL. Please feel free to ask more questions whether it’s regarding my au or just sonmetadow as a concept in general because I have a never ending fountain of thoughts and scenarios on them.

[williamrikers]

Some Personal Favorite BL Moments of 2023

this is inspired by @lurkingshan's post, thank you for that 😊

Best Show

be my favorite, hands down. this show hooked me right from the very beginning, and each week it kept outdoing itself. the kindest, most compassionate storytelling mixed with some absolutely amazing character journeys and a strong message at its heart, bmf will stay with me forever (and not only because i managed to snatch one of the utterly gorgeous box sets for my collection). 12/10 puffball music boxes

Best Scene

alan and wen pre- and post-breakup at the start of episode 5 of moonlight chicken. i've rewatched these nine minutes more times than i can count. both first and mix do some incredible acting here, and it's such an utter joy to watch. 5/5 crying firsts sliding down a wall

The Scene That Came For My Life The Most

look, i've talked about only friends episode 6 [4/4] before. you all already know that i desire mew carnally for what he did with that audio tape. i have also rewatched this scene an embarrassing amount of times. 96/69 illicit sex tapes

Most Rewatchable Show and Best Main Couple

this one goes to a boss and a babe. i have already rewatched this show twice this year, and i love it more on every single rewatch. i regularly lose my mind about how much i love this silly little show and start waxing poetic about how much this love story means to me, how much i adore gun and cher's weirdness, their communication, their commitment, their gentleness, their mutual respect, the way they help each other and heal each other, the way they make each other feel safe and loved, which my friends from the bl besties server can attest to. maybe one day, i'll put all of my ramblings into a coherent format, but for now please trust that this show is absolutely wonderful and extremely special to me. 1000/10 gaymer friends sleepovers

Best Premise (That Was Utterly Ruined By The Show)

i've got to say dangerous romance, although step by step comes in at a close second. after the second episode of dr, i was out here writing hundreds of words worth of meta, and then... well, then the show became what it unfortunately is, now. i still want to see the show that i was promised (a thriller about two poor brothers who get into hot water because of money issues and end up having to turn to crime to survive, all while the younger brother slowly falls in love with the biggest bully at school, and over the course of the show the bully needs to learn to become a better person and help sailom overcome the trust issues he should have had from growing up constantly threatened and sometimes physically abused by members of the mafia.) -20/10 stupid fucking windmills for ruining something that could have been amazing

Best Side Couple

tiwpor, you will always be famous to me. my school president itself might just have given us crumbs, but i licked those tiny crumbs right off the floor with delight, and when our skyy 2 made it canon, i lost my entire mind. i could not have asked for more. 2/2 couples t-shirts

Best Date

yang and phumjai on their practice date in episode 4 of love in translation was probably the sweetest thing that happened on any bl in 2023. in the later episodes, they had many more beautiful moments together as well as some incredibly amazing physical intimacy (plus, in the extended iqiyi cut, one hell of a foreplay scene), but their sweet date before they had even confessed their feelings has stayed with me. 11/10 slices of pandan

Best Beach Scene(s)

never let me go wins this one. no other show was as devoted to showing off their beautiful beach locations as nlmg this year. watching this show made me yearn for the sea. 1/1 tattoo of your boyfriend's name

Best Rooftop Scene

despite the stiff competition in the form of bmf and cherry magic thailand, last twilight has this one in the bag. the pain, the pining, the heartbreak, the complicated feelings, the desperate kiss... they even lampshaded this trope in the dialogue. stellar scene. 12/10 sunflowers

Best Sensuality

we've had a lot of high heat bls this year, some of them still ongoing, and since billy infamously said "a lot and deeply", i feel like the next episode of the sign might just blow all of our minds. i'm not awarding a best sex scene here so i won't have to eat my words in a few days—however, i feel confident in saying that when it comes to raw sensuality, no one is going to beat ray and sand in only friends this year, no matter how hard the characters on pit babe, playboyy and the sign might be trying. truly, nobody embodies sensual attraction like first and khaotung do. 69/10 sausages that represent blowjobs

Best Minor Character That Stole The Show

gotta agree with the masses here and say nawin laws of attraction. what a guy. every day i miss him. ∞/10 unhinged ex boyfriends

Best Viewing Experience

this is not bl, but it might as well be: midnight museum still feels like a fever dream, i have no idea what the plot even was, i understood maybe 10% of what was happening at any given moment, and i've never had more fun watching anything. this truly is the show of all time. 5/3 roles played by gun atthaphan

Wildest GMMTV Moment

also not a bl, but the piploy pissing in the car scene as an act of revenge in wednesday club would go down in history, if, you know, people had actually watched this show. what can i even say. 3/3 gratuitous pissing scenes

Most Anticipated Show Of 2024

i just had to find a way to mention my golden blood in this post. i am yearning for this show with an intensity i cannot describe. i literally need to see joss bridal carrying gawin as much as possible, it is on the baseline of my hierarchy of needs. no matter whether this turns out to be trashy fun, high camp, an actually serious show, or all three, i win. gmmtv could not have given me anything better to look forward to next year 💖

[gothamgothic]

Just got back to Gotham from holidays! Sorry about the lack of posts, family kept me busy. Here are some of the highlights. —Hung out with a glowing green dog in Amity Park. His name is Cujo —Listened to my uncle ramble about sports for about six hours. I don't know anything about football... —Managed to coerce a family recipe from my grandma. —Had to keep my little cousins from trying to feed Fin cake. —Discovered that Fin doesn't LIKE cake. —Got on a video call with an extended family member (she is an aunt of some sort) that has a similar meta mutation as myself. She says there are traces of family members having odd abilities generations back too - so she's going to send me her genealogy research. —Took lots of photos with my baby cousin. She's adorable. —Gave a ride back to gotham to several of my classmates. They were all terrified of Fin, but after I showed them how to feed him, they kept trying to give him gummy worms.

[wonderful-magician]

DAROACH HEAD CANNON RAMBLING???

More likely than you would think my friends.

Ok so I worked on the drawing above for maybe 10 hours and I'm very proud of it! And I felt like this post would be a good transition into elaborating MY VERY LONG LIST OF HEAD CANNONS for this rat.... Since he has very little backstory canonically similarly to most Kirby characters who have like a sentence of backstory. And unlike Meta knight or King DDD who have a general concept or idea. We know nothing about the silly rodents!! Nothing!!

( NOTICE THIS IS ONLY FOR MY GIJINKA VERSION OF HIM!! )

So I'm here to basically write a whole damn book for these guys. But specifically daroach because... I'm biased. Lmao. SO I decided to give him something! The life of a poor child from 1920!! ....woohoo?

I believe I've said this before, and I don't think it's that crazy- but I enjoy playing with the fact these characters are for the most part from different planets and have different cultures and experiences because of this. And I love to write little things about it. And just like many others. We have no idea where daroach is even from in the first place.

I like to think the original species of squeaks/squeakers originated from the forgotten land. But at some point they all moved to different planets and locations. You can find them on different planets, and they have a unique culture to each other. The only thing they all share is the bells! Which I shared on my post all about the bells!!

Anyway I figured I would have two bulletin lists about the fun head cannons of mine! But put both of them here for simplicity. And I hope this is coherent and doesn't come off too ... Wow! Tragedy! Daroach is really a chill, happy guy despite some of the things that happened to him in my personal canon...

Despite the events I list here, Daroach actually has a very positive attitude and outlook on life! Despite how his homworld has shitty living conditions and child labor.

Daroach lived with his father until he was ten, when his father was drunk and shot by an officer for being openly against the current mayor.

Daroach never met his mother. But he worries about it little. He cared about it more when he was younger. He also has no known extended family.

Daroach had to live in the streets for a while because of this. Working as a newspaper boy.

He met Storo during this time. The two quickly became good friends. As Daroach was fast and Storo was ... Big. Even as the two were only 10-12 year olds.

The boys became familiar with a lot of the adults in town. Knowing the baker or the locals well. Storo liked to speak to a specific man named doc, quite often.

One harsh winter. Daroach gets sick. And Storo starts to feel under the weather as well. Storo, worried for their well being. Begs doc for help one morning. Doc, after seeing the full conditions of the two boys. Let's them stay with him.

While this was originally temporary, doc ended up enjoying their company. And the three live together like a family. But none of them want to call it a family.

Daroach starts working at a factory and so does Storo. Doc trying to revive his career as a scientist. ( and failing.. miserably. ) around this time doc also takes in spinni. Who's only 7.

Daroach starts to become a more intense thief. While he was always good at it, he did live on the streets for two years after all. But he gets... Very good at theft. For he learns how to float and teleport.

As they all get older. They form a early version of the squeak squad. But it's more like a group formed against the current situations and political climate. As a civil war is occuring in the country and the city is very divided.

Daroach gets himself into a lot of fights. But is both loved and hated by the press. For his hatred to the government but attractive looks by squeak standard.

After daroach is wounded in a fight. They get money, and leave on their newly made airship. Never to return to this planet. As it's just miserable there.

Ok that was a basic outline of his story on my end! Time for more basic head cannons that can be applied much easier !!

Daroach has been smoking since he was like 13. This was normal for his planet. But nowadays he mostly understands his mistakes. But he still smokes, even if he's polite about it and smokes outside it matters little. Meta knight likes to absolutely mock him for this...

Daroach hates being hatless for an extended period of time. It's just ...weird...

Daroach is the only squeak/squeaker to stand on his tiptoes constantly.

Won the triple star in a bet with a certain wizard who plays star stacker.

Used to have a alcohol problem, as his father originally did. But he did actually recover from this.

Dated meta knight for a couple months before they broke up with no explanation.

Nobody but them and galaxia know why.

At the age of 11 he developed a limp and still to this day he doesn't even understand how he got this mysterious limp.

Owns like three of the same outfit and does his laundry often. Pure comfort

Hates not being formal. You won't find this man in public wearing slides and a T-shirt. Must be a poet shirt. Or something alike that.

Totally not weird that he dated meta knights reflection. When he broke up with the real thing.

Okay this better post correctly 🙂

[nig0i]

7th loop villainess meta ramble

just finished the second book of 7th loop villainess... and it was surprisingly good??? and cohesive, which, coming from a light novel series with such an apparently big scope, i found impressive!!

in the first book arnold learnt that he can love and be loved!! and now he learns that he can do good and he's not literally a war machine!! which parallels michel's character arc about being born to do evil, just like how theodore's character arc on yearning to be worthy of love but mascarading it with hate does in the first book.

arnold made an alliance with prince kyle, and the politics of it mirror his internal conflict!! by extending an olive branch, he's demonstrated he can promote peace! and it's all thanks to rishe - but also to michel's gunpowder, and michel himself, not being inherently evil!

people don't need a purpose to exist in this world. something that exists to bring only unhappiness is an impossibility.

(and don't get me started on rishe's determination to keep the bonds made in previous loops!!

ch7)

beautiful quote, beautiful themes! i can't wait to see how the series progresses!

[tojisun]

Sun!, I would like to start by saying that I greatly admire your talent and ability to write. The way you are able to create stories, is simply fascinating. Every word you put on paper seems to have a unique intensity and depth. Your writing conveys such strong and immersive emotions that it feels like I can feel every feeling, every shiver, and every moment of tension. It's incredible how you capture these elements and convey them in such a vivid and impactful way.

One Of The Girls reminds me of the early stages of the reader's 'relationship' with toxic!biker!simon. Where the reader wants to be one of the girls and fully immerse themselves in Simon's life, even if it's just scraps of an unhealthy love (that never was).

Daylight, oh my God, it's the mid-stage, where the reader is not just with Simon because of his looks... But because she loves him, but at the same time she discovers how much he harms her, but she doesn't want to leave him, she can't, because she always goes back.

Elastic Heart is their final stage in the relationship... As you yourself said, sun, my sunshine. The reader will have a happy ending, but not with Simon. It's when she will realize that their "Relationship" was never so healthy.

So, sun!, look, my future husband, Leon Kennedy. Shhhh... Simon can't know-. But I've already moved on from toxic!biker!Simon-.

This is my husband, my current obsession, the muscles-.

oh my god mocha?? thank you so much for such kind words– im genuinely melting, giggling underneath my blanket and kicking my legs because of how thoughtful and kind this!! because of how thoughtful and kind you are!! im seriously speechless, unable to think past the giddiness rushing through me like, thank you again sweet luv <33

i am so so happy that u enjoy my works! that somehow, along my ramblings and run-ons, i was able to convey the emotions of a specific scene/fic :’> im glad that u get to enjoy interpreting it too!! (especially because biker!simon became such an endearing group project that i adore. i get so heart-achingly happy when i see ur guys’ asks n links n tags!!!)

time for the songs:

OH MY GOD??? ONE OF THE GIRLS BEING READER BEGGING SIMON FOR A SCRAP OF HIS AFFECTION – “we don’t gotta be in love / i don’t gotta be the one / i just wanna be one of the girls tonight” – OH I AM UNWELL!! and the way the song fully presents their ‘relationship’: how it’s a plea from the reader, how she tries finding love from him in something thats only physical and ephemeral, how he extends an inkling affection only to pull away and leave her with nothing. again.

(heaving so bad rn)

I DIDNT EXPECT DAYLIGHT TO BE PART OF THE TOXIC BIKER SERIES BUT I SEE IT SO CLEARLY!! “oh i love it and hate it at the same time” – the way she knows their arrangement is harmful to her, and the way she knows it’s laughable and pathetic how she’s always the one doing the running and waiting, but she can’t stop because when simon calls her, sometimes she thinks it’s love. AND the part that goes “hiding all of our sins from the daylight / … / you and i drink poison from the same vine” SHOWING THE WAY SIMON NEVER BRINGS HER TO HIS HOME. AND HOW SIMON, for all his tomfoolery and bitching, GRAVITATES TOWARDS HER. HOW HE COMES BACK TO HER TOO.

(im probably gonna gnaw my lip off at this point from how much im biting)

SIA AND ELASTIC HEART IS ALSO SMTHN I DIDNT EXPECT IN THE ROSTER AND YET IT MAKES SENSE HOLY SHIT. “you did not break me (but) i’m still fighting for peace” IS READER WHEN SHE MET PRICE HELLO? the way she was hesitant to trust him. hesitant to like him because she thought, ‘not again’. but then price shows her how it is to be loved. to be prioritized. to be cared for. and yeah she starts letting go of simon and starts forging a relationship with price and!!! SHE WILL BE HAPPY I PROMISE.

(i feel like a marionette. untethered and floaty because this whole.. meta? is so fucking good oh my god)

-

THATS LEON KENNEDY? UM. THE ARMS? THE CHEST?? THE HARNESS??? THE HAIR????

pause.

THE BIKE?????

somethings shifting in my brain hold on hold on hold on hol

[desultory-novice]

Hi hello that Yume Nikki Ado post scratched a special itch™️ in my brain so if you don't mind me, I'll ramble a bit.

So most likely no there won't be a specific explication of what's going with Ado as per usual, but I feel like there could be some themes going on there.

Considering she's the only human among whimsical creatures, she probably does feel alienated from everyone else. Maybe they could be vague interpretation of real people on her life, but practically stripping any sort of nuance from them to mostly be these silly creatures who she can just play with all day.

Probably has a possession/dark matter motif going around there for obvious reasons, but since you're making the crystal gun the equivalent to the knife and canonically it repels dark matter, there can be some interesting concept in there. Like possession is sort of the equivalent to whatever happened to her.

Now I've been thinking about the chars, personally I'd make Monoko Gooey cuz my gijinka is inspired of her but there's many other options.

Though the one I'm interested in is Uboa and Poniko. On all accords, Poniko is just a normal human like Madotsuki till you trigger Uboa who then sends you to the shadow realm™️, and I've been thinking who tf could it be, all I know is that the shadow realm™️ reminds me of Miracle Matter/Zero's stages.

I have so many brain worms but I don't wanna bother you about it lolol

PS: KyuuKyuu-kun could be Void, I just feel like they got that funky color scheme going on

'Ey! Welcome to the cookout! XD

I'm liking the concept you're building here extending the metaphor with her Weapon vs Dark Matter. It feels like she could be...sort of working through her fears and possession trauma with it?

(My other thought, at least for the "the Kirby series is all a delusion happening in Adeleine's head" story, was to give her a palette knife, but that triggered my own brain worms - for Ib! XD)

Seeing some of the landscapes take on Dark Matter traits reminds me of...ah, dang. There's no way I'm going to be able to find it again on my own but some savvy fans might remember this gorgeous (yet painful) series of pics a fan drew of various "bad endings" to several of the games game? (The Dream Fountain dried up, the Halberd crashing w/ Kirby in it, etc) and the DL3 one had all the Animal Friends turned into these Dark Matter monstrosities while Ado was huddled up against her sketchbook or something similar.

Basically, like that is what I'm picturing.

(Ooh, nice to hear! I'm quite fond of your Gooey, as well as your amazing insectoid Ribbon and Fairy Queen designs!)

If you were looking to "cast" an Ado Nikki, the easiest (and most predictable route) would be to align the girls + Masada-sensei with the 64 gang. Though you're right about Kyukyu-kun and Void. XD

My brain is torn on wanting to place Kirby and Dedede as the mono sisters, because of Kirby's Dream Land being in b/w on the Gameboy, but Meta Knight is more Monoe-like than Dedede...

As for Poniko + Uboa, Poniko would almost have to be the Fairy Queen. She looks similar, with the same hair and eye color and very similar in-game proportions, fulfilling that "Oh, she's a human like me" but then you hit the light switch and...

...And THERE's your Miracle Matter!

Edit: I seem to have gotten three copies of this ask. Probably just a glitch but thought I'd let you know in case you tried to send a follow-up and Tumblr bl0rped and made it the same post three times.

[saiwola]

Sylvie's on the mind.

cw: themes of transphobia and body dysmorphia; also I may get rambly and disjointed

Okay, so first of all, the story of Sylvia and Alys were both first from the concept of a "chosen one" and what if the wrong person was given the role. Prophecy foretells of a "maiden" who would "bring Spring" to Kaamos. People assume it means the birth of a new avatar of Luleda. A magic signal leads the royal family to this one village. People assume it's Sylvie. Alys gets taken along by accident. But it turns out Alys is the one with the shard of Luleda. Pretty simple and straightforward, right? Until it wasn't.

Now when I decided Sylvie was a transwoman, it was more of a whim. Why not? It didn't mean anything at the time. It just felt right.

But thinking more about the situation and things, it became more ... not important in a plot sense, but well....

Because I thought of why people were so quick to believe Sylvie was this prophesized "maiden". And well, of course, they would. For one, Alys at this point was unable to use magic. And Sylvie is very powerful. She's got a strong familiar and magic able to cleanse and purify. To ward off and fight against the dark creatures of Kaamos. So I want and need to stress that it was very believable to think that Sylvie was this chosen one.

But the conversation also extended past magic to what a "heroine" needs to be: conventionally beautiful, strong, passionate, pure of heart, able to inspire hope and bring light to the dark—things that Alys wasn't, but Sylvie was.

And since this supposed prophecy uses the word "maiden," the question could also be twisted to read as what a "woman" needs to be.

So when it's discovered that it's Alys who is the evlogia and not Sylvie, I can only imagine how hard that hits on a meta-level. To be branded by the story as a "false maiden". A fake. To be told by the narrative that you are not the "maiden" because you weren't born with the right things (in this case, the power). That you could put in all this work but not be considered the "real thing". Now I don't know if Sylvie felt this disappointment and negativity to this extent. She does think it sucks though, because she was putting in the effort. Putting in the work to better the kingdom.

But Sylvie's story doesn't stop there.

Because despite the revelation, those that know (the royal family, Alys, the archmages) decide that no, Sylvie is their "maiden", their Dawnflower. That she may not have this particular innate magic within her, but the kingdom needs her. She put in the work. She is the most deserving. She belongs in that role. They are choosing her. And I like to think something is healing in that for her. But I don't know. I could never fully understand the exact depths of Sylvie's feelings.

BUT! ALSO! When we actually think about this alleged prophecy, it promised a maiden who would bring Spring to Kaamos. Now people would initially connect Spring to Luleda, the Blessing of Life and Creation. Because flowers and shit, right? But Luleda isn't explicitly tied to Spring. None of the evlogia are connected to the seasons. So if not, then what does Spring mean exactly? It symbolizes new beginnings and renewal. It is associated with hope, gentleness, optimism, and an abundance of energy. Things that Alys does not possess.... but Sylvie does.

And if we think about it like that ... is Sylvia even a fake at all? It could very much be that this prophecy really did mean for her to be this "real chosen one".

[animazi]

the pinned post

general stuff:

ani, she/her

feel free to ask me whatever (as long as it is not personal or weird), I'm more active on here than I should be

writing and whatnot:

general ao3 link, my username is animazi if that isn't working recent stuff/stuff I'm proud of: Providence, In Summer (Padme centric oneshot, character study focusing on her relationship with Palpatine) Girl and Ghost (my go at a Kleya handmaiden au oneshot with some past velkleya)please don't read my older stuff, read the peedy if you like but know I did it For The Bit and so it is entirely unedited and written in one or two sittings

tags:

everything is tagged with the main media it is from e.g. #star wars or #disco elysium (yes this is supposed to be JUST a star wars side blog, no that isn't really working out)

it will also get tagged if it is extended material like tv shows, books etc, e.g. #andor

it is also tagged by character and ship e.g. #padme amidala, #anidala when possible I like to tag with full name, if full name is not known to me I'll use rank e.g. #master sol

anything original from me, be that ramblings about my day or meta will be tagged as #original ani thought