#i agree. i was also hoping there would be more theories and lore discussions instead of discourse. i want this to be a positive space.

[sleep-token-confessions]

We are all listening to the same guy cry and sing his heart out. Confessions could a place where you say your theories and maybe a few things you’re insecure about. But a bunch of posts recently feel like they’re being written in bad faith and it making it a place for discourse of “these people are being fans wrong.”

If I wanted discourse, I’d be on twitter.

Not trying to silence anyone or fight it out, I just want to say that frustrations about the fandom itself are getting a little tiring. We’re all just here to have a good time at the end of the day

.

[shihalyfie]

“I know it has its problems, but...“

Since we’re at a whole 21 years since the series first aired, I think it’s about time we address this, but: as a 02 fan, I would like to ask other 02 fans that we stop saying this.

It’s no secret that if you’re a 02 fan, you’re probably used to hearing the fanbase constantly trash-talk it for various reasons, ranging from petty things like the infamous over-pedestaling of Adventure, to more substantial criticisms of its writing. Generally speaking, you’ll hear complaints like: the characters are underdeveloped, the plot doesn’t make sense, et cetera. Quite understandably, 02 fans don’t usually have the energy to argue back about it, and tend to preface discussions of liking the series with things like “I know it has its problems, but...” so they can preliminarily get people off their back and stave off the “you like 02? But it’s so bad!” lashback before it happens.

The problem is that I think this constant reinforcement of “yeah I acknowledge it had its problems” -- as in, without even being prompted and being said solely as a way to “justify” your like of the series -- has actually made the problem unnecessarily worse, in that it validates people’s assertions that 02 was a bad series and that everyone who likes it only likes it "because they do”, and not because there were things that spoke to them about it. It’s one thing if 02 criticisms are being brought up in a context where criticism is actually appropriate, or if a fan actually is in the mood to vent about the problems, but if we’re just talking about a context where being critical contributes nothing productive to the discussion, there’s not a lot of good that can come from constantly “admitting” that it has problems at a time like that, because it just continues enabling the idea of the series remaining in public memory with the stigma associated with it by default. In effect, it’s led to this “brainwashing” phenomenon where mantras like “the 02 characters didn’t get any development” are repeated and merged into public memory like they’re law, and because people don’t question it, it ends up getting passed around further, and reinforced even more, and the cycle continues.

Part of the reason I’ve been writing so much for this blog is that I feel like this series is very misunderstood, especially in terms of the idea they did get character development and that a lot of the plot beats make more sense when you think of them more from a thematic and emotional point of view than an adventure-and-action story point of view, and that perhaps the real issue was more that they were too subtle in communicating those things, so they often went over the audience’s heads. Intrinsically, I think a lot of 02 fans actually do understand that these elements were present, even if they can’t vocalize it -- that’s why we as fans gravitated towards the series, after all -- but because it’s too exhausting to argue back about it, it’s easier to just “agree” that there were serious problems and act like the series is some kind of guilty pleasure.

It’s true that 02 does have a lot of issues in its writing, but so does every other Digimon series, and so does every other series or piece of media in this world, and it’s not like you have to preface talking about all of the other things you like with “I know it has its problems, but...”, right? There’s a whole theory about media being able to still hit emotionally even when its plot writing is sloppy, of which 02 is not the first and most certainly is not the last of. This is especially because I think, in modern years, as more people have gained an adult’s perspective and are able to pick up on all of the things that went over their heads when they first watched it as kids, people are starting to retroactively understand that there was something in it that was special, despite everything else about it. (There have certainly been multiple testimonies from people who have said that, upon rewatching, they’ve come to understand the heavy thematic importance of what it was trying to say.)

This does not mean that I think everyone should like the series, or that it’s unreasonable that people will dislike it. If it is true that it didn’t communicate its intent well, that’s an issue in itself, and I don’t think people should be obligated to rewatch things they’re not interested in, much less try and pick it apart with a pair of tweezers. If it didn’t sit with them, then it didn’t. But if you look at staff interviews and testimony about 02 and all of the thought that went behind its lore and storytelling, there’s more than enough evidence that the creators of the series put a ton of thought and care into what they wanted to say, even if it wasn’t fully communicated, and a lot of people like 02 no matter how many of its detractors want to claim that it’s disposable (the reception to the 02 characters in Kizuna should demonstrate that more than well enough), and it’s most likely because people were able to catch onto that -- so it pains me to see it so easily dismissed and equated with being “the bad guilty pleasure series” just because the mantra of it being “bad” has been taken for granted.

And, for goodness’s sake, it’s been more than 20 years, and this is a series that was inherently about the unhealthiness of drowning in regrets of “it should have been like this” or whatnot instead of thinking productively about what it did provide and moving forward with it. There’s definitely a time to bring up criticisms when they’re relevant to the discussion, but there are also times when it’s simply not necessary and doesn’t help anything at all. Is an anniversary fanart meant to wax positively about what this series means to the artist really a place to be putting a disclaimer about the series’s writing problems like it’s some kind of review blog?

All I’m asking is, basically, that people who like 02 be a bit more unapologetic about liking it. If someone gives you grief for liking it like it’s some kind of sin, that’s their problem for being an insensitive jerk and denying your right to have preferences, not on you for liking something “bad”. And if someone does have more thoughtful criticisms that you happen to disagree with, there’s no problem in actually declaring that you disagree with those criticisms -- this is easier said than done because of how exhausting it is to fight against such a reinforced mantra like this, but at the very least, you can say that you respectfully disagree with those criticisms instead of “caving” to it just because the fanbase treats it as law. I’ve written my meta mainly because I understand that this series can be frustratingly obtuse, and putting it in easy-to-understand words that people can pass around will instigate proper discussion of the series (especially in regards to the characters, whom I feel are much more complex than they’re given credit for), but it doesn’t even really have to be my meta, since it’s only my way of seeing it and I’m sure others may see it differently. I do it because I hope it’s helpful, but I’d honestly be happy as long as 02 fans (and even possibly not-quite-fans but still open-minded people) would at least be willing to engage in thoughtful discussion about whether all of the stuff the fanbase has been saying ad nauseam for two decades is actually true, or whether there’s more to it beyond the surface.

I don’t expect this single Tumblr post, or even all of my meta, to end up having that huge of an impact against the decades of fanbase echo chambering, but I would appreciate it if 02 fans reading this could take this to heart, encourage other 02 fans they know to do the same, and, most importantly, feel a little less ashamed about liking this series.

[obeyme-kaidii]

Lesson 46 Summary

The adventures continue as MC learns more about Beel.

**SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT**

In the morning, everyone meets Little D Number 2 outside, and he agrees to show them the way to the Casino where Mammon is supposed to be. Number 2 teases Beel about how tired he is, suggesting he had “quite a fun night”, which annoys Lucifer.

Once at the Casino, the group immediately runs into Mammon (who is wearing his Arabian outfit). He seems to thoroughly be enjoying himself within the video game and playing his role, and moves to snatch Lucifer. Just like in a video game, a message pops up announcing his entrance, and then Mammon proceeds to cast a spell.

As Lucifer gets taken, MC remembers Beel and uses their powers to cast a spell that strengthens Beel, causing him to shift into his demon form. Beel comments that his body seems to be moving on its own, and soon he’s canceled out Mammon’s spell. A powerful blast of wind then knocks Mammon backwards.

Beel then returns to his regular form, and asks MC if they did that. Solomon explains that yes, that was a result of MC learning to control Beel’s power. But he also explains that MC hasn’t figured out all of Beel’s power, so the test continues.

Lucifer thanks MC for rescuing him, and then turns his sights on Mammon. Mammon starts to panic a little, and begs for mercy.

The group returns to Number 2, and he thanks them for their help getting his money back from the “Greedy Monster”. As a reward, he gives them Beel’s Lord of Flies armor set at a discounted price. After Beel equips the new armor, Number 2 informs them that there’s a rumor “Demon Lord Satan” has attacked a nearby town.

As they journey towards Satan’s rumored location, Lucifer mentions he’s looking forward to returning to his normal size just so he can punish Mammon. Beel comments that Lucifer used to be nicer to Mammon back when they were in the Celestial Realm, but Lucifer insists he doesn’t remember what he’s talking about. Beel doesn’t believe him though, and brings up that Lucifer and Mammon often used to work together to argue with Raphael (who it seems to be being positioned as the Big Bad for this Season, IMO).

Solomon asks if it was Diavolo’s influence that caused Lucifer to become more rigid. He also points out that since they started as angels, becoming demons of such high status had to be hard. (Which is actually pretty interesting because up until now we’ve mostly been operating on the assumption that Diavolo immediately gave them their positions as Avatars after the fall. But it now sounds like they had to earn the right for those titles.) Beel however seems surprised to hear that that might be the case, and Lucifer once again pretends he’s forgotten.

Solomon then hears a noise that everyone first assumes might be Beel’s stomach, but they soon realize it’s a group of ghosts. At which point Solomon recalls overhearing some towns folk talking about these woods, and he just forgot to mention it, which annoys both Beel and Lucifer.

After running from the ghosts, the group takes safety next to a lake that seems to be protected by some sort of guardian spirit. The decision is then made that they should camp there for the night.

Some time later, MC wakes up and finds Beel already awake. MC is given the opportunity to join him and the two talk, careful not to wake Solomon or Lucifer. Beel tells MC he was thinking about what was discussed earlier - and how Lucifer isn’t the only one who is different. He admits that as an angel he didn’t use to constantly eat back then. He says that he doesn’t remember exactly what triggered the change, but one day he just stopped resisting. (which is pretty interesting, if you think about it, and opens up a whole host of theories and possibilities lore wise 🧐)

Beel also mentions that there are some things that are the same, such as the fact his brothers have always been part of his life and will continue to be. ❤️🥺❤️ Beel then admits to MC that he’s worried about fighting Belphie in the game, and doesn’t think that he’ll be able to protect them and Lucifer if that’s the case. MC is given the option of comforting Beel, who admits that he’s pretty lucky, all things considered, to have a “problem” like not knowing who to protect first because he loves so many people.

The following morning, everyone wakes up and prepares to leave. Beel mentions that he’s glad they weren’t attacked while they slept, and Solomon teases him about his late night “activities” which makes poor Beel blush, and annoys Lucifer.

Once the group starts traveling again, Lucifer points out that it’s been over 24hrs now so Solomon should turn him back. But Solomon is quick to point out since they are in a video game, it’s actually only been a couple hours in the real world, so Lucifer has to continue to stay as he is.

Beel then notices a treasure chest in the road and Solomon immediately suggests opening it. Even if MC urges him to be cautious and warns it might be a trap, he still insists that opening it is the best course of action (how is this man not dead yet???). While Solomon, MC, and Lucifer are discussing what to do about the chest, Beel opens it hoping to find food. Instead, there are 3 objects inside - a magical jar that protects the contents, healing herbs, and a pair of cat ears. (lolololol) Beel suggests putting Lucifer in the bottle and Lucifer glares at him. Beel then looks like a kicked puppy. 🥺

The sky suddenly darkens and Satan appears, explaining that opening the chest triggered the battle. Like Mammon, he too is very much enjoying himself and his time in the video game. Beel and Solomon are both quick to recognize that Satan’s appearance isn’t good, because when things like this happen in video games, you’re almost always forced to lose the battle for the sake of story progression.

Lucifer then turns to MC and tells them to use one of the items from the treasure chest. (Using the Cat Ears I think generates the most entertaining response.) Regardless of what option you choose, Lucifer still ends up in the enchanted bottle and Satan captures him, leaving Belphie behind to deal with everyone else. (yes, Belphie just pops up out of nowhere)

Belphie, however, isn’t too thrilled by this whole thing and complains about Satan. When Beel hesitates to fight Belphie, it’s Belphie who encourages him that it’ll be alright. Because 1) it’s a video game and 2) he’s much stronger now and doesn’t need to be protected. Beel has a moment of realization and turns to MC, letting them know he is confident he can protect them now and won’t hold back anymore, choosing instead to trust them completely.

MC then casts a spell to empower Beel, causing him to once again shift into his demon form, and Belphie is quickly defeated. Impressed by MC’s power, Belphie is eager to switch sides and join their party. All he wants is a chance to poke mini Lucifer, to which MC agrees. Beel and Solomon also admit to wanting to poke Lucifer. 😂 Solomon then suggests they spend the night at a nearby inn.

Meanwhile, Mammon and Levi are talking at Demon Lord Satan’s Castle. Levi is saying Mammon is no longer part of the game because he was too easily defeated, which makes Mammon sad. (Because he’s a geek and just wants to be included 🥺)

As the two bicker, Satan arrives with mini Lucifer, still trapped in the bottle. Both are very excited about seeing mini Lucifer, with Levi even calling him cute. Mammon then suggests that now is the perfect time to get revenge for all the evil stuff Lucifer has done to him over the centuries.

Like the time that he tied him up and tickled him until he cried while he hung from the ceiling.

(wait, what? THATS the worst he’s ever done?)

Levi also chimes in with a memory of one time Lucifer was truly horrible to him and refused to sign for a package that was being delivered by Akuzon, instead returning the item for a refund. 😱

(...may I present to you the Demon Lords of Hell...the most powerful beings in all the Devildom…)

Lucifer reminds Levi, Mammon, and Satan that he is going to punish them for whatever they do to him when he’s small, once he returns to his normal size. Satan then moves to take Lucifer out of the bottle, but the spell on the bottle prevents him from doing so. Levi makes an offhand remark about Lucifer essentially being a collectible figure, which gives Satan an idea.

Satan then proceeds to dress Lucifer up in various outfits using his magic (all his outfits from the events), and Mammon and Levi are both surprised that that is his idea of fun. But Levi points out that Satan is clearly enjoying this and it’s actually like his way of bonding with Lucifer (because clearly admitting to his true feelings would be the worst possible thing).

That evening, Beel, Belphie, Solomon, and MC enjoy dinner at the inn before retiring to their rooms. Solomon has managed to book two separate rooms tonight, which Belphie points out he did just so he could share a room with MC all by himself.

Later that night, MC wakes up to find that Solomon is still awake. When MC asks him what’s wrong, he admits that he was watching the twins earlier and was jealous about the deep relationship they had with one another. He laments the fact that even though he’s lived for centuries he doesn’t have someone like that in his life. If MC asks him about it, he admits that he thought he once had such a person but perhaps the feeling wasn’t mutual. 🥺 (my theory is this is the apprentice mentioned in Lesson 45, the one that founded the Sorcerer’s Society)

After thinking for a moment, Solomon then looks at MC and points out that this scene is another common one in RPG games, where important story points are told. He asks MC if they think that’s what’s going to happen tonight, and MC is given the option of kissing him. (which OMG was the sweetest most heartbreaking kiss scene and goddammit I think I’m now a simp for Solomon) Solomon admits that he didn’t think he ever had a chance with MC since the Brothers are always around them. He then asks MC to come a little closer (and presumably kisses them again).

The next day, Solomon is in a very good mood (I guess finally kissing the person you’ve spent over 2 years pining for will do that to a guy). Belphie is quick to realize why Solomon is in such a good mood, and starts to make the same joke that was made before (about having “fun”), but gives up, leaving Beel slightly confused. Solomon then asks Belphie how they are supposed to get to Satan’s castle, and Belphie says that’s easy - he just uses a spell to summon a portal and BAM they are there.

Beel points out if they had just used the portal last night, they wouldn’t have had to stay at the inn. And Belphie explains that yeah that’s true, but then “fun things” wouldn’t have been able to happen. The comment makes Solomon laugh as he agrees that that wouldn’t have been good at all if they had used the portal and avoided the inn. Poor Beel is still confused. (and is it just me or is Belphie acting like Solomon’s wingman…?)

The group then hears raised voices, and finds Satan taunting Lucifer, who is still in the bottle and now dressed in his wolf outfit. Satan gives the bottle containing Lucifer a little shake, making Lucifer feel nauseated.

MC then is given the opportunity to tell Satan to stop, and Lucifer is embarrassed at being seen as he is (and probably relieved too). Satan asks MC if they are sure they’re ready to battle him, since they skipped a lot of the game by using Belphie’s portal, and might not be strong enough to defeat him.

MC is able to talk to Satan, explaining to him that they value his relationship with his own brothers more than the test, and convincing Satan to let Lucifer go. Beel also chimes in, telling Satan that he knows how much he cares for Lucifer, even if he’s afraid to say it. He also turns to Lucifer and tells him that he needs to be more honest with Satan. Satan is a bit embarrassed by everything being said, but Lucifer lets him know that he never said Satan wasn’t his own demon, or that he wasn't great, so he isn’t sure why he seems to think that’s how Lucifer feels. (which is as close to an apology and compliment as we are probably going to get with this emotionally constipated lot)

Satan decides to accept Lucifer’s “olive branch” and returns Lucifer to MC (by tossing him lol). Once Lucifer is again safe, Beel asks if that means they have beat the game, and wonders what the point of it all was. Solomon then reveals himself to be the true Final Boss, and the one behind the entire thing.

Solomon explains that while he is very impressed with MC and how well they did defeating their opponents thus far, that the test was actually about unlocking Beel’s full potential, which they have not yet done. So, he’s going to give his “adorable apprentice” one last chance to prove themselves.

He then summons Asmo, who complains about how bored he’s been waiting for his turn to join everyone in the game. Solomon uses his powers to strengthen Asmo, who then turns to Beel and the battle begins. Asmo uses his “Charm” to paralyze Beel, but when MC calls for him, Beel breaks the charm. MC casts their own spell, empowering Beel, and he attacks Asmo in return. Asmo is absolutely shocked at how powerful Beel is now. Solomon, even though he’s losing, is very impressed by MC and the power they’ve been able to draw out of Beel. He ignores Asmo’s pleas for help, and MC wins the battle.

(NOTE - in the previous Summary, I blamed Simeon for alerting the brothers. Since it’s actually Solomon that planned the whole thing from the beginning, I guess I kinda have to make a note of that to be fair. But like...I still don’t like Simeon anymore soooo...)

Finally back in the real world, Lucifer (now his normal size), MC, and Beel are enjoying a quiet moment on the back patio near the pool. MC shows Lucifer and Beel their star that they earned from the test.

Screams are then heard coming from inside (presumably Levi and Mammon), and Beel asks if anyone hears anything, which Lucifer denies (he totally hears them). As Lucifer continues to relax, enjoying his wonderful evening, a flashback is shown to dinner time -

Mammon is sobbing, when Solomon comments on how wonderful it is that he must be enjoying his cooking so much that it’s moved him to tears. Solomon encourages Levi to have some more, but it seems he’s passed out already, so he offers the extra portion to Satan instead. Asmo complains about why he has to be there, and when Satan realizes that Belphie is missing, Asmo is impressed with him for having managed to escape. Solomon then makes a comment that he thinks Lucifer is a really nice guy because he didn’t punish him like he thought he would, but instead invited him to stay for dinner and let him do the cooking. (which...damn Luci 😂)

Back in the present, Beel and MC take a walk while Lucifer enjoys the distant sounds of his brother's “screams of agony”.

Beel tells MC that he’s glad he had the opportunity to go through that experience and strengthen his bond with MC. He says the star MC earned is proof of how close they are, and then asks MC if they remember when he gave them his own star at the end of Season 2. He promises to treasure the star, and shares a kiss with MC, telling them once again that he loves them.

Beel then mentions that he feels like he’s forgetting about someone, but decides it’s not important. (hint: it’s Diavolo. They’ve forgotten about Diavolo.)

Favorite Scenes -

It’s a trap!

The power of cats

Geeky Mammon

True evil

Lonely Solomon

Solomon kisses

Emotional manipulation

Lucifer’s revenge

Aren’t we forgetting something...?

[itsclydebitches]

Do you think Ruby will kill Grimm!Summer and if so, how do you think that will clash with her objection to killing Penny?

I think it's all going to hinge on a) how the story portrays Ruby reacting to Jaune in Volume 9 and b) what sort of shape grimm!Summer is in.

First, they may not have Ruby kill Summer at all. And I don't just mean that the plot will twist to ensure someone else has to (somehow, without silver eyes) do the deed because she's unavailable, thereby freeing her of that hard choice — precisely like how Ruby was conveniently in the void by the time Penny needed to die. Rather, Summer might still be able to be saved. Many (myself included) have theorized that if Ruby's eyes destroy grimm and grimm only, she might be able to destroy the portion of a grimm that possess a person (for lack of a better word), leaving the rest of them intact. That's mostly come up in Salem discussions — could Ruby remove the influence of the grimm pool, leaving human!Salem behind? — but now that same question applies to Summer too. When she used her eyes on the Hound we saw the grimm part of him get stripped away, revealing the faunus underneath, before the goo of the grimm started Venom-creeping back over the rest of him. If Ruby could give off a more powerful blast, perhaps she could erase the grimm portion entirely, all in one go, sort of akin to how they won the geist fight in Volume 4. Hit it harder, all at once, until after a single blow only the core of the beast remains. In each case the grimm would leave the thing it possessed.

So that's Option B: is Summer in a state where it's possible for her to recover in some way? How deep do these grimm experiments go, are silver eyes capable of destroying the grimm without killing the person? How much of the original Summer would be left without the grimm parts? etc. etc. Lots of questions we don't have any answers to. Option A, however, comes up if we're given a scenario where Summer is beyond hope. She's a grimm now, no way to fix it, killing her is seen as a mercy. And that, I think, is the crucial difference. Ruby unequivocally said no to killing Penny... but Penny also wasn't presented as having to die. It's one of the rare moments in the volume where I 100% agree with what Ruby is saying. Penny has been hacked, her order is to open the vault, and then she's set to self-destruct. So how does killing her benefit anyone in anyway? They obviously want to save Penny, so all killing her at the manor would do is hurry the self-destruct along, the thing they want to stop. They want to keep the Maiden powers safe, but killing her might risk sending them off into the world, lost, or even wind up with Cinder if her attempts to steal them formed any connection. Obviously we know now that the powers didn't go to Cinder, that Penny was able to think of Winter and send them to her, but my point is that just killing her then is a HUGE risk. Finally, there's no real danger in opening the vault. I mean yeah, they don't want Ironwood to get the staff... but like, he just wants to leave. If Ironwood were planning to use the staff to, idk, decimate all of Atlas I can understand the group considering killing Penny to be worth avoiding the potential death of an entire kingdom, but there's no threat to anyone if Ironwood does somehow snag the relic. The only threat here is that opening the vault will allow Salem to get the relic instead, but the group decides to open the vault anyway. Penny is basically going, "If you don't kill me now then I'll open the vault, which will lead to Ironwood escaping Salem with a large portion of the kingdom and standing down from his bomb threat, and then I'll die!" So you want them to kill you to avoid... other people not dying? And you want to die so you don't... die?

It's absolute nonsense.

This is basically a long-winded way of saying that killing Penny in that moment wouldn't benefit the good guys in any way, shape, or form. The fact that Penny suggests it at all is monumentally stupid. It's a Deep, Dramatic Moment that makes absolutely no sense. "You have to kill me!" she cries... even though killing her does nothing good, likely does a whole lot of bad, and absolutely does a Big Bad by hurrying along one of the major things everyone is trying to prevent: Penny's death.

Of course Ruby said no. That's the smartest Ruby is in the whole volume.

But when Jaune is faced with the question? Well, it's meant to be a very different context. I've gone on the record multiple times as saying that the show did a HORRIBLE job of justifying the need to kill Penny, but I also recognize that we're supposed to believe that was the best option on the table. Unlike at the manor, Penny's death does achieves something here: giving her the ability keep the powers safe. It's also presented as inevitable: Penny will (supposedly) die regardless, so better that she die when she chooses, preventing Cinder from getting more power, then dying in a few minutes with more risks attached. The manor death had nothing going for it. The finale death — no matter how badly executed — is meant to be justified to some extent, whether we personally agree it or not. We're still meant to realize, "Yeah, Penny is dying, no way to avoid it, so killing her will at least help keep the power out of Cinder's hands and will give her some agency over the time she has left." It's still stupid, but it's a "You wrote this scene really badly" stupid rather than a "This entire concept is nonsensical" stupid.

So Ruby has never actually been in Jaune's position. For all her insistence that she won't let anyone die, Ruby has never actually been in a scenario where killing someone would do the most good for the world, or would put someone out of their misery, or would give them some agency over their own existence — all the things that Penny's death is (again) supposed to represent. We don't know what she'd choose if death was inevitable and she was faced with providing a "kinder" death, or what she'd choose if a death was, from a practical perspective, presented as the best way forward. That's because right now the story is horribly written and Ruby isn't forced to choose anything, but if they actually brought her back to her Volume 1-5 self, I can easily see her killing her mother as an act of kindness. Summer was turned into a monster by Salem. The very thing she's spent her whole life trying to eradicate. There is no possible, other way to help her. She is a danger to Ruby and all of her friends. Perhaps, if a part of her is still lucid, she expresses that she doesn't want to continue living like this, being the thing she despises, being Salem's tool, being a danger to her daughter. So Ruby kills her as an act of mercy and love. It's presented as a release from a nightmare existence.

But that potential, future characterization depends on whether Ruby understands the choice Jaune made. Again (again, again, again) I think the story did a terrible job writing that scene and that it didn't succeed in justifying the kill, but for the purposes of what I think the story was trying to do, Ruby may well parrot all that back in Volume 9: "Yes, Jaune. Penny was dying and there was no way to save her even though your semblance is healing. There was nothing else you could have done even though you might have gotten her through the portal and saved here there. Killing her then kept the powers safe messy lore aside. You did the right thing, horrible as it was." And that acts as setup for Ruby doing the same thing for Summer later on. Either that, or she's initially furious at Jaune and comes to realize — after some messy and contradictory character arc — that he did the right thing all along and she was just too grief-stricken to realize it. Which I will hate if we get that given how badly it'll all end up lol.

So those are the two theories I'm leaning towards. Either the story, in the fashion of Volume 8, will ensure that Ruby never has to make the hard choice of whether to kill her mom or not (oh god I'm imagining a scene where Yang offers to do it instead as some act of sisterly devotion/a sacrifice so the "pure" sister remains pure no no no no), or Summer's situation is (no doubt just as badly) presented like Penny's second request for death, as a necessary act that Summer wants, will assist the heroes in some way, and is definitely the Best and Only Thing To Do.

Of course, Option C is that this is... just never resolved. It definitely speaks to my lack of faith in RWBY atm, but given how many important things we've dropped I would not be surprised if Summer is never actively introduced into the series again. RWBY may well treat this as the answer to a mystery that never existed until said "answer" arrived, the writers viewing this merely as the explanation of what happened to Summer and nothing more. Don't get me wrong, viewers are 100% right to expect more in the future. This change raises even more questions than were already attached to Summer's disappearance and the existence of the Hound absolutely implies that, in a well written story, grimm!Summer will appear somewhere down the line. But, to be blunt, RWBY is not a well written story. So if some number of years from now we look back and go, "Wow, the answer to how they'll handle this is that they... didn't. This was never brought up in a meaningful way again" I really wouldn't be surprised.

[elriell]

Thank you for all your hard work with your Elriel theories! You're a machine, and keeping us sane until the next book... 🤞🏻😄

I personally ship Elain/Az, not just because I love the characters, but because that's what I believe is supported by the text. Like a lot of people, I think I've become much more pro-Elain than I was, not that I was ever an anti, just because of the absolute misogynistic shite that's been directed towards her - but that's a whole other issue.

That being said, Gwyn is great, and I want her to be happy. I have nothing against Gwyn/Az happening, though I'd be disappointed for my preferred ship, except for Gwyn's age (not to mention how inappropriate it would be for someone in a position of trust, training women who have experienced violence, to essentially take advantage of that role - not saying that victims of assault cannot start/be in relationships while healing, just that it would be off, for lack of a better term, on Azriel's behalf, to pursue one of them while that power dynamic stands - but, again, that's a whole other thing).

Please feel free to ignore this, because I know it makes a lot of people mad, and I genuinely don't want to stir the pot/cause trouble for you, but I haven't seen Gwyn's age discussed in full without someone throwing around insults, and your posts are always so balanced and eloquent.

I know they tend to say that Gwyn is 28 yo, older even than Nesta etc, so she should be considered an adult, but Cassian canonically refers to her as a "girl," not even a "female," read: an adult, and I think that's telling. The only other instance I remember of anyone being called "girl" is by Amren, who is, what, 15,000 years old? (Oh, wait, also Merrill, which is suss in and of itself).

"Gwyn's doing well," Cassian said, nodding to the archway where the priestess had disappeared. "She's a nice girl."

Nesta had learned that Gwyn was twenty-eight - indeed, just a girl to him.

I struggle to understand why SJM would have mentioned this at all, if it wasn't important; if it wasn't meant to hint at Gwyn being an inappropriate match, age-wise, for someone as old as the brothers. If she'd just had Nesta mention that Gwyn was 28 yo, and left it at that, this wouldn't even be an issue.

I know people refer to Rhys' mother as being 18 to his father's 900 (approx), so what is 28 to 530 something, but given Alis mentioned way back when that rate of ageing can vary between different types of fae, I'm assuming that would come into play here? Maybe the 1/4 nymph genes delay her ageing? Do Illyrians age faster than high fae, or other fae in general, at least initially? The text seems to suggest this, given the Blood Rite is open to twenty-somethings, and the brothers fought in the war in their thirties, yet Tamlin was decades older and considered young. Tarquin is also considered very young, at 80 yo, but then Mor was engaged to Eris at, what, 17 yo? Maybe that's just the CoN being typically atrocious?

Anyway, sorry for the long ramble; I'd love to hear your thoughts on this aspect of Gwyn's age, if you feel like it. I honestly just want the lore behind it all, the fact it might hint for or against a ship is secondary. 😄

No worries, it is my pleasure, honoured people actually care what I have to say! I will be here every step of the way ❤

I love that you have come to love her more and completely agree, I understand if people do not vibe with her character but the absolute blatant hate based of misogynistic views is so evident in this fandom. And the worst part is most the fandom is likely comprised of woman, we should be supporting her not tearing her or any others down based on such frivolous reasons...

I love her too, and I have nothing against her and like you said I simply have a preference for my own shift, I have no ill will for any other ships and I wish for her to get her HEA because she deserves it for sure.

I have no issue answering any questions, no matter how people feel about it, because I always try to be respectful and reasonable when touching upon every topic. If someone doesn’t agree my opinion that is out of my hands!

I answered this kind of thing here but to reiterate, I can kind of understand the idea behind thinking it could be significant because it was mentioned, but as I said there I just feel like it is a rocky bridge because as you so eloquently put there are so many instances of giant age gaps between couples in this series...

If we start questioning one, I think we would need to do the same for others. If there was a direct hint of her physical body (IE; Her looking young, or childlike) instead it seems like she is simply described as a beautiful and never (that I can recall) as anything that would imply she was physically immature. If there was implication of that I could find it highly weird, and questionable but the fact she is full gown as far as we know, I am not sure it was a hint.

Obviously I will happily be wrong, I clearly do not think that anything is getting in between Elriel and there are so many hints/canon text to support that, that I don’t think we have to rely on age to do so! 

So to summarise, I am not sure what that comment was suppose to imply, make to show how much she suffered at such a young age ❤ I hope this answers your question enough, I definitely think it is a interesting fact to keep in mind but as a defence against ships, I don’t know, I feel like there is a lot more we can go off :o)   

[ladyfogg]

May I? - 23/?

May I? - 23/? 

Fic Summary: Ensign Faith Diaz struggles to hide her mental illness from her fellow shipmates aboard the Enterprise until an intrigued Data goes out of his way to try to understand her behavior. At his insistence, Faith tries to figure out what she’s truly passionate about and eventually seeks the professional help she needs. Fic Masterpost.

Fic Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Data/Female OC

Warnings: tw: depression, tw: anxiety, fluff, friends to lovers, eventual smut

Screenshot by @geekygwen​

Sharing a space with someone else was a new experience for Data. He had spent hours on end with Faith in the past, however, having her there with him after his shift or on his days off brought a new level of intimacy. His bed was now their bed and his quarters were now their quarters. 

Her clothes hung in the closet next to his. He even had set up a terminal for her across the room from his and occasionally they worked together. 

The transition did have a few minor inconveniences as sharing a space normally would. However, through communication, the two were able to establish boundaries. For example, Faith would pick up after herself and Data would not rearrange her belongings without asking.

All in all, it was a positive experience. 

They had not told many people about the arrangement. Data had improved on keeping the details of their relationship private, limiting any questions to a select number of confidants. 

With his and Faith's relationship on solid ground, Data turned his focus to his upcoming art show. The closer the date approached, the more it consumed his thoughts. He found himself having difficulty narrowing down which paintings to showcase as he had painted thousands over the years. Faith helped with the event details themselves, such as food, decorations, etc. It was turning into a wonderful joint effort between the two.

Data sat at his console, running diagnostics while simultaneously organizing his artwork yet again. He heard the door open and glanced up to find Faith entering their quarters.

"Ten Forward is looking great," she said. "Guinan took over decorating and kicked me out." When she saw him at his console, she sighed. "You were there when I left hours ago. Shouldn't you take a break?"

"You are well aware I do not need to rest." Data continued to work. "The show is twenty-two hours away and I have yet to decide on which paintings to display. Aside from the ones involving you, of course."

Faith crossed the room and moved to stand behind him. Her hands ran up his arms to rest on his shoulders. "There is such a thing as over-thinking, babe. You need a distraction."

"There is not much that can consume my thoughts enough to qualify as a distraction."

Data found his console blocked by Faith as she slid her body onto the smooth surface. Her legs moved to trap him between them, forcing Data to look up to meet her eye.

"I can think of one thing," she said with a flirtatious smirk.

Intrigued, Data studied her. "You are attempting to seduce me in order to take my mind off my problem."

"Correct." Faith cupped his face as she leaned forward, eyes shining with excitement. "Also, I believe making love in a work-like setting was on your list. Number thirty-two, right?"

"Thirty-three," Data corrected. "Thirty-two involved the armchair, remember?"

"Mmmm, yes I do."

When she kissed him, Data closed his eyes and surrendered to the sensation. He had grown used to the strange tugging feeling in his stomach when they touched and the way his hands seemed to move on their own accord, coming to rest on Faith's thighs. 

Before they could go any further, however, Data found his mind too preoccupied. He drew back and gave her an apologetic smile.

"I am afraid it is not working."

Faith smiled back, running her hand through his hair. "It was worth a try. I figured it would be a long shot. Do you want me to leave so you can keep working?"

"I would rather you stay."

Faith slid off the console and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Whatever you need."

Data returned to work. "I would appreciate your input on the pieces for the show."

"Of course! Did you narrow down which ones you want to focus on?"

"I have settled on one-hundred and twelve possible paintings and combinations."

Faith blanched. "You might want to pair it down a little further."

"I am aware."

"Have you tried laying them out and looking at them?"

"I do not understand how that will help."

Faith smiled at him while she stroked his hair. "I know you have your lists running through that amazing mind of yours, but an art show is about visuals. So, maybe you should choose based on that."

Data had not considered such an approach. "It is worth a try."

He stood and the two of them went into the next room. Every surface aside from the bed had paintings either propped up on or leaning against it. Each time Data thought of a painting, he had taken it out of storage and the result was a room filled with various works of art. 

As Faith spread the potential paintings around, Data studied them closely. All he could see were the change in techniques. How his style shifted each time he studied another artist or how the colors changed when he focused on color theory. 

Remembering Faith's comment about visuals, he concluded that style and color were not exactly what she had been referring to. So he focused on the subjects instead. Once he began following that train of thought, he started to move the paintings around himself. 

Faith stepped back and let him work as he picked up speed. Eighteen minutes later, he stopped, taking a few steps back.

Without realizing it, Data had selected paintings of his friends and family. He stared at the collection of faces, reliving his memories of each one.

In the beginning were Dr. Soong and his wife; his parents whom he had never really gotten to know. There was one of Lore, his brother and rival, yet no less a part of Data than anyone else.

Commander Riker followed, someone who Data looked up to and came to think of as one of his closest friends. Lieutenant Worf, Wesley, Dr. Crusher, were showcased as well. He had learned so much from each of them and cherished their friendships. Guinan and Counselor Troi had been instrumental in his growing relationship with Faith. Their advice and wisdom was something he would always value.

Captain Picard's place among the collection was well-earned. He was not only Data's captain but had advocated for him when no one else would. Without him, Data had no doubt he would not be where he was. 

Spot was no less important than anyone else. Through his cat, Data had learned to take care of another being. Geordi was his first and best friend. Data had come to think of him as family and hoped the sentiment was returned.

At first, Data had hesitated to include Tasha due to their intimate history. However, she was and always would be special to him and Faith knew of their past. When he first told her, they spoke for hours about Tasha. Data felt if Tasha were still with them, she and Faith would have been fast friends.

Lal stared up at him from the painting, captured exactly as she had been when she was alive. Data still had her memories and accessed them from time to time. The idea of creating another android child had not left him, though it was a discussion he and Faith would have to have when they were further along in their relationship.

The final paintings were of Faith. The first one of her he had even done, leading up to the stars one he had shared with her weeks ago.

As Data was studying his work, Faith came up next to him and slipped her arms around his waist.

"I love it," she said.

"Does this look visually pleasing?"

"It's more than that. It's beautiful to see all the people who made a difference in your life."

"Then, these are the paintings I will display."

Faith beamed up at him. "I'm so proud of you."

The way her face lit up as she looked at him gave Data that feeling again and he bent his head to kiss her. 

"I must go relieve Commander Riker from the bridge, and you must sleep. Tomorrow will be a busy day for both of us," Data said.

"Don't remind me. My brain is already spinning with everything that still needs to get done."

"I shall make you your tea before I leave. Do you wish for me to stay until you fall asleep?"

"No, no. I'll be okay. Besides, you have duties to attend to." 

Data replicated Faith's evening tea while she changed into her sleep clothes. Once she climbed into bed, Spot slunk out from behind the chair where she had been hiding and took her usual place at Faith’s feet. It pleased Data to see his cat warm up to Faith so much. 

"Thank you, babe," Faith said, taking the teacup from him. "If I'm not awake when you get back, feel free to wake me. I have some diagnostics I have to run before preparing for the show."

"Faith, you should set aside downtime for yourself as well. I appreciate all your help but I have noticed you have not properly rested in many weeks."

“What do you mean? I’m sleeping better than I have in years.”

“Sleep is not always the same as resting.”

With a sigh, Faith leaned back against the headboard, hands clutching her steaming mug. "Deanna said the same thing. I agree but I just don't know what I could do to take my mind off things."

"Perhaps we can spend time on the holodeck."

"Yeah but what program? My mind is blank."

"I can create a program for you if you trust me."

Faith smiled softly. "With my life. I'm sure I'll love whatever you come up with."

"Then I shall do so." He leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "Goodnight, mi alma."

"Goodnight, babe."

Data began creating said program by the time he left their quarters. He wanted it to be perfect, not just because he cared about Faith but because she had been such a big help with the show. 

When he arrived at the bridge, Commander Riker smiled at him. "There he is! How is the planning for the art show going?"

"Very well. Faith helped me decide which artwork to display."

"That girlfriend of yours is a gem." Riker stood to allow Data to take the captain's chair. "You're a lucky man."

"Thank you, Commander. I believe so too. Will you and Counselor Troi be able to attend the show?"

Riker smiled wider and clapped him on the back. "Wouldn't dream of missing it."

As he turned to go, Data realized he would like Riker's advice on helping Faith relax. "Commander, may I ask you a question of a personal nature?"

Riker stopped, his eyebrow quirked in amusement. "Sure, what's on your mind?"

Data stepped closer and lowered his voice to avoid others overhearing. "I have offered to create a holodeck program to help Faith relax. As you are aware, it has been a stressful time for her and she has difficulty resting when she’s not working. What would you suggest?"

"A program is all well and good, Data, but what Faith really needs is shore leave. She needs time off the ship and not spent in a crashed shuttle or being held captive."

"It is difficult enough to convince her to take time off on the Enterprise. It will be a task to get her to leave the ship."

"Well, I assumed you'd go with her. You both have plenty of personal shore leave available and you deserve a romantic vacation."

Data could follow Riker's logic. "That is an interesting idea. I shall work on that for the future as it will take some planning. In the meantime, what would you suggest for a holodeck program?"

"Sunset dinner on the beach," Riker said without hesitation. "Soothing, romantic, and leaves room for a moonlight swim if you catch my drift." He winked.

Data did not but he assumed the commander was referring to something intimate. "I see. Thank you, Commander."

Riker gave him another pat on the back and a smile before he took his leave.

Data had to switch his focus to his duties but kept building Faith's program in the back of his mind. His subroutine had specific perimeters for showing appreciation. He needed to put as much work into thanking Faith as she had put into helping him. He had often heard from his various male colleagues that anticipating their partner’s needs or showing adequate appreciation was difficult in a relationship. Data had thought as much for some time but that was no longer the case. As his and Faith’s relationship progressed, he found it easier to do so. His urge to make sure she was happy and healthy outweighed most anxieties about failing. Most. Not all. 

His shift was routine and once it was over and Captain Picard arrived to relieve him, Data returned to his quarters. Faith was still asleep when he returned, which pleased him. True to her earlier statement, she had been sleeping for longer, uninterrupted periods of time which he knew was good for her overall well-being. 

As he sat beside her, he admired her relaxed features. He appreciated seeing her void of the anxiety that so often took hold. Sometimes when she thought he was not paying attention, she would let her anxiousness show and her forehead would crease with worry. It was those times that Data was concerned about. With many good things happening around her, it made him curious about what could still be plaguing her ever-working mind. Counselor Troi had explained to him that anxiety and depression did not simply disappear because things were going well. But when Faith slept, Data noticed that was all gone.

He reached out to stroke her wavy hair. A moment later, she stirred, opening her eyes and giving him a sleepy smile. "Good morning." Her voice was soft and hoarse.

"Good morning, Faith. You asked me to wake you when I returned."

She gave a large yawn and a stretch. "I did, didn't I?" 

Data could tell sleep was not leaving her as quickly as it usually did. "Perhaps you should remain resting. No one would fault you for taking advantage of the time."

"But, I have diagnostics…"

"Are they urgent? Do Geordi or the captain need them today?"

"Well, no."

"Then go back to sleep." Data readjusted the blanket. "You can run them later."

She pondered his response before giving him a sly smile. “Or you can slide into bed with me and we can make out a little.”

Data was intrigued by her switch in priorities. He had known sex and physical contact could distract humans but it was interesting to witness it firsthand. Faith was quite driven and focused when it came to her work, but it seemed the thought of being sexual with Data was enough to change her mind about continuing her rest. 

He saw no reason to deny her request and found the idea acceptable. He stepped out of his shoes before sliding into bed with her. Once settled, he pulled her close. When their lips met, she no longer had any traces of sleep. Her body curled around his, her hands clinging to the front of his uniform. Per his program, his eyes closed while he kissed her and he focused on using his other senses. Her smell invaded his nostrils and the way her mouth moved against his activated his sexuality program. However, since Faith had not specified whether or not she wished to engage in intercourse, he shut the program down. 

“I love kissing you,” Faith mumbled, her sleep-addled brain making her more vocal about her feelings than she normally would be so early in the morning. “I can kiss you for hours.”

“While physically I will be able to do so, I do not believe you will.”

She chuckled, peppering his lips with kisses. “I can try.”

Data knew she was being facetious so he let the comment go without discussing exactly why that would not be advisable. He cupped her cheek and kissed her deeply, the way he knew she liked. At least, he concluded she appreciated such action. Her pulse tended to race faster and she often let out a small noise of appreciation. 

The results were instantaneous. Faith clung to Data even tighter, throwing her leg over his hip. He may have shut down his sexuality program a bit prematurely…

Before they continued, however, Data wished to discuss with her the idea of taking shore leave. Since she was so obviously relaxed, he thought she may be more agreeable to the idea in such a state. 

“Faith,” Data said in a hushed voice when she pulled away to catch her breath. “May I ask you a question?”

“Now?” Her response was not said with any annoyance or malice. It was more of a whine as she attempted to kiss him again. 

Data gently stopped her. “I realize my timing may interrupt our current intimate session, however, I promise it is relevant.”

“I was only teasing, Data. Of course you can ask your question. What’s on your mind?”

“While our duties on the Enterprise do not allow us to indulge in such intimate activities on a regular basis, I was wondering how you would feel about taking shore leave with me sometime in the near future.”

Faith pulled back to look him in the eye. “You want to take a vacation with me?”

“Is that not an activity most couples participate in?”

“It is. I’ve just never been on vacation with someone I’m dating. And the thought of taking shore leave always makes me feel so guilty. I mean, the Enterprise—”

“Can function without us for several days. It has done so numerous times in the past when neither of us was on board.”

She pursed her lips as she usually did when Data made a valid point. He allowed her to take her time answering, not wishing to rush the process or put pressure on her answer. “I’ll definitely consider it,” she concluded after a time. “It’s not that I wouldn’t love to have several long uninterrupted days with you in a comfy bed somewhere tropical. It’s just…” She trailed off. 

“Is your anxiety a factor?” 

Faith nodded. “I tried taking shore leave when I first joined Starfleet and for some reason, I could never relax enough to enjoy it. The guilt of being off having fun while my colleagues worked just felt wrong. it was always difficult to turn my brain off.”

“I do not believe humans can do such a thing. It is my understanding, that would be fatal.”

Faith chuckled, stroking his cheek. “Not literally. Figuratively,” she explained. “What I mean is, when I’m on vacation, I can’t help but worry about all the stuff I should be doing on the ship. What I could be helping with. It got to the point where shore leave made me more stressed than staying on board. So I stopped taking it.”

“Perhaps with me accompanying you, that can change,” Data suggested. “You do tend to lose track of time when we are in bed together.”

She gave him a sly smile as she drew closer once more. “Are you saying that I’ll be so distracted by your sexual prowess that I’ll forget all about the Enterprise?”

“When you phrase it that way, it does seem as though I was boasting,” Data realized. “I can assure you, that was not my intention.”

Faith chuckled and gave him a small peck on the lips. “I will take shore leave with you, but I’ll need some time in advance to get used to the idea. Is that okay?”

“I only wish for you to be comfortable and happy.”

“If you want me to be happy, kiss me again.”

Data obliged. 

They did not spend much longer in bed as there were still many preparations to complete before the art show. Hours later, after Faith assisted Data with carefully packing his paintings and transporting them to Ten Forward, she stepped away to get herself ready for the show. Data did not know what she meant but was unconcerned. He set about putting the paintings on display himself, readjusting them to account for the flow of the room or certain lighting. Data had just put the finishing touches on his work when Guinan approached him. 

“These look wonderful, Data,” she said with a proud smile. “Everyone is going to love them.”

“Thank you, Guinan. And may I say, you and Faith did a wonderful job with the decorations.”

Ten Forward had been transformed into an elegant art gallery. Faith had insisted on having what she called “finger foods” and various kinds of synthehol, all for the guests to graze at their leisure. 

Guinan looked around. “This was mostly Faith. She was adamant about making sure your art show was ‘perfect’. Her word, not mine. Said she even researched what other art shows look like. She really cares about you, Data.”

“That is good to know. She is special to me as well.”

“It’s more than that,” Guinan said, linking her arm with his. “Her feelings for you run deep. And while I know you are just developing feelings yourself, I want you to know how serious she regards her relationship with you.”

The tone of her voice led Data to believe her intentions were serious. He had known Guinan for some time and she would not make such a statement for no reason. 

“I appreciate your concern,” Data said. “But you need not worry. I am serious about our relationship as well. In fact, Faith and I have been sharing quarters for some weeks now.”

Guinan actually looked surprised. “Really?”

Data nodded. “We did not want to tell many people as Faith values her privacy. I am learning to appreciate it as well. I am also eager to continue this relationship with Faith. She is…” He could not find a word sufficient enough to describe exactly what Faith was to him. 

Thankfully, Guinan did not need him to finish his thought. She patted his hand, her smile widening. “I understand, Data. You better get ready. Your guests are going to be here shortly.”

There was not much left to do so Data took the time to do one more walk around the room, making sure his paintings were in the exact position to give them the best appearance. Eventually, Guinan opened the doors to Ten Forward, and Data’s friends and colleagues began to arrive. 

To his surprise, a large number of people began to file in. He imagined if he was capable of feeling nerves, he would certainly be feeling so. Having others experience his creative endeavors tended to heighten his senses to a degree. He found himself focusing on their expressions and stances, trying to decipher what they thought of his work. 

Geordi was among the first group of people to arrive. Data watched him walk through the show, admiring each of the paintings for a significant amount of time before approaching Data to congratulate him. 

“Data, this is spectacular,” he said, giving his friend a smile. “I’m really proud of you, buddy.”

“Thank you, Geordi. I hope you do not mind that I included a painting of you in the show.”

“Not at all. I’m honored and touched. I think these are some of your finest work.” Geordi looked around. “Where’s Faith?”

“I do not know,” Data admitted. “She helped me bring the paintings down and then said she had to go get…” He spotted her the moment she walked in and almost lost his train of thought. “...ready.”

Faith looked stunning. She was not dressed in her Starfleet uniform or formalwear. She had opted for a dark blue sleeveless dress that hugged her curved frame. While the front did not dip as low as the dress Fajo forced her to wear, it still accentuated her breasts. When she turned to greet Counselor Troi, Data noticed the back of the dress dipped provocatively, stopping just above her lower back. The skirt of it folded around her long legs when she walked, occasionally showing off a smooth leg through a slit in the side. Her hair was pinned up in a simple style which highlighted her natural waves. 

She was a vision of pure beauty.

Geordi followed Data’s gaze and smirked. “I’ll leave you to it,” he told his friend, before disappearing into the crowd. 

Data did not notice him leave. 

Faith caught Data staring and gave him a shy smile as she crossed the room to him. “Sorry I took so long,” she said, fidgeting with the dress. “I wanted to try something new and had to work up the nerve to actually leave our quarters.”

“Faith…” Data was speechless which was a strange feeling for him. “You look beautiful. I am honored you dressed so…” His eyes scanned her frame once more. “...exquisitely for my art show.”

“Well, it was more for you than the show.” She slipped her arm around his and smiled. “Shall we mingle then? Everyone seems so excited.”

Data had to admit, he found it difficult to focus on anything else with Faith on his arm. He found his gaze constantly drawn to the stray curl around her ear or the way the dress draped over her backside. Thankfully, she was more focused than he was and was able to draw his attention to those who were speaking to them. The compliments on his paintings came one after another. Person after person approached them to congratulate him on his work. His friends were each thrilled to be included. 

At one point during the evening, when Faith was engaged in conversation with Beverly, Data slipped away from her to approach Captain Picard. He had seen the captain enter Ten Forward some time ago but had been reluctant to engage with him until he had time to study the paintings. 

“Hello, Captain,” Data said, coming to stand by his commanding officer. “Thank you for taking the time to come to my show.”

“Data, I have to admit, I didn’t know what to expect when you told me you were putting together an art show,” Picard said. “This is wonderful. Seeing all of us depicted by your own hand is very moving.” They walked down the line together and Picard smiled at the image of him. “I will say, you could have at least made me look a tiny bit younger.”

Data recognized the light tone of Picard’s voice as a teasing one. “I shall keep that in mind for the future.”

At the painting of Tasha, Picard paused. Data recognized the sadness in his eyes. He often wondered how the Captain handled so many losses under his command. In the past, Data himself lacked the emotion to really dwell on such matters. But when Tasha died, that had changed. And now that he was with Faith, he could not imagine losing her in the same manner. It was a scenario he did not entertain. 

When they reached Faith’s paintings, Picard’s demeanor changed to a lighter one. He gave Data a look out of the corner of his eye, his eyebrow cocked in amusement. “You and Ms. Diaz certainly have come a long way in such a short time.”

“Sir, do you think our relationship has progressed too quickly?” Data asked. “I had my concerns about such a thing but was assured we should move at our own pace.”

“Mr. Data,” Picard said, giving the android his full attention. “I may not know a lot on the subject but I do know this: love is love. It is going to happen whether we wait or jump right in. I envy you, Mr. Data. What you and Ms. Diaz have is special.”

“You are not the first person to tell me such a thing.”

“That’s because it’s true. We can all see it. And we’re all happy for you.” He gave Data’s shoulder a brief squeeze before pulling away. “Now, tell me about this one here…”

By the time the last of the guests left Ten Forward, Data was ready to retire to his quarters. He imagined he was as close to tired as an android could be. Talking to so many people in such a short time was a lot. But there was another reason he was eager to leave. The entire evening he had been watching Faith and planning how to show her his appreciation for everything she had done for him. Guinan offered to clean up and all but shooed Faith and Data from the room. 

“That was wonderful!” Faith gushed as they stepped onto the turbo-lift. “Everyone loved your work. It was a magical evening. Some people even want to know when the next one will be. I don’t think I have the energy to even think about that let alone—”

Data silenced her with a deep kiss. Faith let out a noise of surprise, almost stumbling from the force of it until Data’s strong arm looped around her waist to catch her. He was overcome by a strange sensation pulsing through his body. When her mouth opened in surprise, he immediately slid his tongue past her lips. He could not understand it or contain it, causing him to kiss her with almost bruising force. Thankfully, he caught himself before he could accidentally hurt her. 

When he drew back, she was panting, her brown eyes wide. “Where did that come from?” she asked, her tongue darting out to lick her lips. 

Data’s eyes followed the movement. “I do not know. But I have been wanting to do that since the moment you stepped into Ten Forward.”

Faith smirked, slipping her arms around his neck. “Oh really? What else have you been wanting to do?”

The doors to the turbo-lift open and without warning, Data scooped her into his arms, making her squeal in surprise. "Data!" 

He wanted to experience her sexually. Their intimate moments had become a comfortable and enjoyable part of their relationship which he looked forward to. It was not only because of the feelings that emerged during their time together but because of the closeness it provided. 

Faith had shared a similar sentiment with him so he knew the feeling was mutual.

Feeling. It was strange for Data to use the term so frequently. Desire and happiness were the emotions he associated most with Faith. When they were engaged in intercourse, most of his background processes were shut down or filed away for later. 

As he carried her down the hallway towards their quarters, his hand found a slit in her dress, coming to rest on her thigh. He touched the warmth and smoothness, wondering if it would feel different if his hands had human nerves. 

Would his skin goose pimple like hers did? If he had a heart, would it race? He noticed her pupils dilated when she was aroused so he had adjusted his sexuality program to do the same when they were intimate. Faith had not mentioned it but he noticed she seemed to smile wider when it happened. Even then he saw it happen right before his very eyes. 

“Faith,” he said as they approached their door. “May I make love to you again?”

“I want you to do more than that, Data,” Faith told him, her voice dropping into the low register she only used when they were intimate. “I can tell you’re feeling something and I want you to give into it. Don’t think. Don’t analyze. Just feel.”

The doors opened and Data carried Faith over the threshold. “I could not stop this feeling even if I tried.”

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Re-Write

(Inspired by the fantastic work of @dalekofchaos) 

“Fix it” fics are a thing, yeah? Well, here’s my shot at writing one for the ninth Star Wars film. Contrary to popular opinions, I’m only going to change one or two things about the two movies beforehand, because I unironically loved both of them. But I can admit that there were mistakes, and TLJ tied up most of the loose ends, leaving it difficult to follow-up with a sequel. So, regarding Episodes eight and nine, here’s what changes. 

I have exactly one change for TFA. That random ass stormtrooper who called out Finn as a traitor and inexplicably had a melee weapon that could fight lightsabers? Yeah, just make that Phasma and have done with it. I don’t understand why it wasn’t her in the first place. Also, Finn being able to wield a lightsaber isn’t “evidence” that he’s force-sensitive if you ask me. The films never confirm that non-force sensitives can’t use them. This will be important later.

Moving on to TLJ...replace that stupid milk scene with the deleted scene of Luke reacting to the news of Han’s death. I mean, come on, that’s a given. Another given, Luke uses his green lightsaber in the illusionary duel against Kylo Ren. That’s just common sense. 

After Kylo Ren asserts himself and force-chokes General Hux, and the two of them depart...the camera pans in on the pieces of Snoke’s corpse, onto his face...and his eyes suddenly open. Yes, this will be important later. Somehow, Snoke survived.

I genuinely liked Vice-Admiral Holdo, but they kind of fumbled her role in the story. She was never given a reason for why she did not share her plans with the rest of the Resistance. The most popular theory being that she assumed a mole was on board, but this was never stated in the movie. In my opinion, Poe had every reason to call for mutiny based on what he knew, so the whole message/character arc of him learning to be a leader rather than a hero didn’t quite stick the landing. So how will I fix it? Simple, replace Holdo with Leia. First things first, we don’t get the superman-flying, which is just an objective improvement. We also are more inclined to trust Leia over Poe, because of the legacy the character has. We’re also going with the plot-threat there is indeed a mole. What’s more, Leia is given the sendoff she deserves with the light-speed kamikaze scene. Sure, she may be force-sensitive, but it’s clear that she chose a different path in her life and I think she should go out as a warrior, not a Jedi, because that’s what she was. General Leia. Plus, you avoid the awkward interactions with CGI Leia from the canon episode 9. 

I think we can all agree that Finn deserved better, and he absolutely deserved to have the scene that was deleted, where he called out Phasma in front of her soldiers, telling them what happened in TFA, when Phasma caved so easily. This is the beginning of the Stormtrooper rebellion, and Finn is responsible for igniting the spark. He can definitely duel with Phasma, but he’s not going to win for one simple reason. The mole suddenly reveals herself and puts a blaster to his head. 

Spoiler alert, the mole is Rose. The reason why could vary - perhaps she blames the resistance for the death of her sister. Perhaps the First Order captured her sister alive and is threatening her. Either way, Rose’s efforts help turn the tide and allow her and Phasma to escape. The code-breaker can still be part of the movie, but he doesn’t really matter. The Canto Bight sequence is unchanged, because I honestly don’t dislike it at all. 

So who saves Finn from his attempt to follow General Leia’s example, and give his life for the cause that he now truly cares about? Poe does. This moment already causes their character arcs to intersect, with Poe being in the position Leia was in at the start of Last Jedi, Finn being in Poe’s position. Poe crashes their ships to save Finn, and because I’m #Stormpilot trash, and we deserved an onscreen LGBT relationship between leads, Poe does indeed kiss Finn. However, don’t worry about Rose. I have plans for her. 

That’s about all that changes. But in the grand scene of things, most of these aren’t really issues with the film itself. But they’re necessary to set up for my idea for a Rise of Skywalker re-write. Speaking of...

The Rise of Skywalker - let’s begin with the name. 

I hate this name and everything it represents. I’ve heard rumors of an alternate script where Ben Solo is not redeemed, called “Duel of Fates.” I’m not a fan of Ben not being redeemed, but I like the concept of that film name. So I’m thinking this movie will be called something like “One Last Bout” or “One Last Stand.” Something simple but effective, with the air of finality. I truly doubt Episode 9 is the end of Star Wars forever, but if we think of it as a conclusion to the first two trilogies, this can work. 

The film opens with the funeral of General Leia. With Rey, Finn, and Poe (who are holding hands for sure) all standing together with Chewie, who is in shambles as we can expect. Lando is also present and he gets re-introduced. Luke’s force spirit appears and looks on, but does not reveal himself to everyone else. Likewise, pan the camera over, and we see Kylo Ren observing the service as well, out of sight. Luke makes telepathic contact with Rey, to warn her of danger, at which point both Rey and Ben double over in pain, the sound design giving us an uncomfortable high pitched screech, or something similar. There’s a disturbance in the Force. Something is returning. Something terrible. Ben is spotted, and the main trio open fire with blasters, but Ben escapes. Lando stops Rey from pursuing him, suggesting that it would dishonor Leia’s memory to do it right then and there. 

Ben, on his ship, struggles with horrible pain, a serious headache. Until at last, he is telepathically contacted by a voice we do not hear. But it terrifies him, and he takes off in his ship in pursuit of it. 

A scene similar to the one where the Resistance analyzes Palpatine’s message, but there is no message and there is empathically no Palpatine in this movie, though I won’t get into why that was a horrible idea right now. Never mind, Rey is simply recounting to Finn, Poe, Chewie, and Lando that there’s a disturbance in the Force. Luke’s spirit appears and warns them that a great evil that long predates their time, is returning. He disappears, explaining that he needs to await Leia as she “crosses over” and becomes one with The Force. This is the last we see of Luke in the film, because his story is over. The torch has been passed.

Ben/Kylo Ren arrives at what we saw as Exegol. I don’t mind this planet being Exegol, it was about the only new location I actually remembered from the canon film. He confronts the voice in his head, proclaiming that he will kill any threat to The First Order and it’s Supreme Leader. A familiar voice in the dark chuckles. “You have yet to finish off your predecessor. By what right do you claim his job?” Snoke leans forward, and reveals himself. A similar scene to TROS plays out but with no mention of Rey. Despite Ben’s shock, Snoke is amused. “You are not the first apprentice to try and take my life. You probably won’t be the last. I have fashioned many into tools for the Dark Side, even the Emperor himself learned at my feet. Did you think you were special? So, yes. Snoke is the final Big Bad like he should have been (Andy Serkis was robbed) and he really is Darth Plagueis because he was totally supposed to be. By means of mental torture, Snoke reassumes control of Ben and tells him to gather the Knights of Ren “Wherever you’ve hidden them” and prepare to crush the rebellion once and for all. 

Instead of visiting a random planet for a lead, Lando and Chewie lead the gang back to Endor. Or it could also be Kashyyyk, I suppose. Like before, Lando and Luke were there. They spent years documenting the history of the Jedi and the Sith. This could be contained in “Holocrons” I realize they have meaning behind them in the lore, but I don’t know much, so just consider the “Holocron” to be a storage unit for information. Arriving there, we still have the scene of a local asking for Rey’s family name, but this time she’s going to stay no one like she should have. While researching, Finn expresses the theory, or more like the hope, that he might be Force-Sensitive. Rey tells him that everyone is, to an extent, but Finn clarifies that he means it the same way that Rey is. “Y’know, the way you can push stuff around and sense people’s feelings. Make stuff float.” An echo back to Rey’s line from TLJ. What I’m going for here is that Finn is not force-sensitive in the traditional way. His arc in this movie is going to be about accepting that, and realizing that he doesn’t need that to be a “hero.” He already is one, with everything he’s done. But as of right now, his insistence that he could be leads to bickering between him and Rey.

Things only get worse as Rey uncovers more about the Jedi. Sees some of the ways in which they were not the white knights that history remembers them as. Luke was right, they played no small part in creating Darth Vader. What’s more, she discovers the “Rule of Two” which has been hinted in the films but never discussed outright. The idea that there are only ever two people wielding the Dark Side, a master and an apprentice. And that the apprentice invariably kills the master to succeed them. A tradition dating back for millennia. The Sith, the practitioners of the Dark Side, always betray each other. She’s disheartened, thinking of Ben killing Snoke and how he offered her his hand. What it all would have led to in the end. 

They finally discover what could be the answer - the “great evil” that is returning. A Sith lord called Darth Plaguis, who, when they bring up the hologram of him, strongly resembles Snoke. They put two and two together, reading more about Plagueis’ file. How he vanished without a trace. How he was said to have performed an unspeakable ritual in the Dark Side to allow him to control life and death itself. He could revive those he loved from death, and could not truly he killed, having become an anomaly in the Force. Only another anomaly of equal power would be able to stop him. 

An ambush occurs, with assassins in masks attacking the heroes. They wield melee weapons that are not lightsabers, and they force the group to split up due to simply being outnumbered. The gang realizes that, apart from being here to kill them, they probably want that Holocron, but the Resistance must be the ones to get it. We get a similar scene to the canon film, with Chewie heading to the Millennium Falcon with the Holocron and trying to take off, to blast the assassins from the sky...but then the assassins reveal their ace card. They have force power. And they start to pull the Falcon back down. Rey struggles against them, but she’s outnumbered, still upset from everything that she’s learned, and easily angered when Finn rushes in to try and help, despite not being able to. Rey succumbs to her anger and unleashes Dark-Side lightning. Just like in the canon film. The differences? Number one, this doesn’t foreshadow any lineage for her...but importantly Chewie is actually dead, not just a fake-out. He’s dead, and the Falcon and Holocron are destroyed with him. Seriously, the emotional weight of that scene is completely drained by not having Chewie actually die there. The potential is lost, and I’m going to prove it. 

Rey is appropriately mortified, shocked, and despondent.  The assassins are too - they can’t believe their enemy killed one of their own just to win. Everyone is shocked, but Poe is the quickest to regain his head, dashing in and blasting at the assassins to help cover the heroes while they escape, Finn half-dragging a stunned Rey. So, everyone feels awkward about what just happened and though they believe Rey that it was an accident, it still happened and both Finn and Poe feel distant from her. Lando, understandably, is a lot less patient than them. He knew Chewie for years. His old feelings about losing Han might resurface, and he could say something about how Rey is no better than Kylo Ren, before catching himself and apologizing. At this point, Lando also departs. He needs to get back to the Resistance, because he has been named the Acting General, since Leia’s death. 

Meanwhile, Poe deduces that the assassins were the mythical “Knights of Ren” rumored to be the Supreme Leader’s private army. Rey is shaken from her stupor at this news - it doesn’t make sense, it completely violates the “Rule of Two.” Could Ben still be saved? Or is it too late for him? Is it too late for her, Rey, even? Cue Ben Solo/Kylo Ren opening up the force-bond once again. A similar conversation about how they’re both uncertain of their place in the galaxy, and a confirmation that Snoke is back, and is really Plagueis. Ben reveals that he’s been ordered to kill Rey, and he apologies - he truly doesn’t want to do this, but Snoke once again has control of him, and has proven that killing him won’t matter. Rey senses terrible pain, and gets a taste of what Ben has been put through - think, like, the Cruciatus Curse. Whatever “pain” move Kylo Ren used on Poe in TFA. He learned it from Snoke, of course. Ben closes the force-bond, telling Rey to run. Run as far and as fast as she can, because he’s no longer able to take it easy on her.

Finn and Poe overhear the conversation, or at least Rey’s side of it. They hear enough to deduce who she’s talking to, and this further plants the seeds of doubt in their heads. As we see in Last Jedi, Rey doesn’t really tell people about the force-bond, so we can assume she never told her friends. The family is fracturing more and more. Rey is slipping closer and closer to the Dark Side. And all without needing to give her a bloodline. See? I told you Chewbacca’s death had potential. 

They make a pit stop on Coruscant, because there’s no reason it couldn’t have been Coruscant, hiding from First Order ships. Here is where the character of Zorii originally showed up. As compelling as the performance was, she’s not going to show up here. Let’s be honest, she was only there to no-homo Finn and Poe, as well as give Poe a backstory that is apparently racist? (I’m not knowledgeable enough about this topic to comment, so let’s just throw out the whole idea.) Instead, the team is confronted by none other than Rose, the mole from TLJ. She reveals that more and more stormtroopers have been rebelling since Finn gave his speech. There’s only one faction that she is confident will never turn on the First Order - the Knights of Ren, who “seem to worship the Supreme Leader like a damn god...though, I guess he isn’t the Supreme Leader anymore, is he?” News is spreading of Snoke’s return, and Rose has the heroes cornered with a band of loyalist stormtroopers. 

Finn pleads with Rose, and the other Stormtroopers, to reconsider. Here is where we outline Rose’s character. She despises everything about war. She’s intentionally attacking both sides, seeking to see both the Resistance and The First Order collapse. She has a personal vendetta against Poe and actively tries to kill him, for his role in the battle that killed her sister. Poe likewise despises Rose for having betrayed Finn. Whether Rose’s actions are tactical doesn’t really matter - she’s responding from a place of emotion, not logic. Poe, showing his growth, apologies to Rose and talks her down. Explains the situation, how dire the circumstances are. Rey chimes in and identifies with Rose, having made plenty of mistakes of her own. There’s a moment of solidarity between the team once again. A moment, anyway. Poe makes peace with Rose, and she lets the heroes go. However, her stormtroopers turn on her, and attack everyone. The gang helps Rose escape with them, and after the escape, they realize that those stormtroopers were in fact the Knights of Ren, spying for Kylo Ren, which means Snoke as well. 

Rey, tortured by nightmares about Snoke, leaves in the middle of the night. Finn is awake, and tries to stop her, which leads to a major fight. Finn is having trouble trusting Rey, and it shows. Rey is likewise fed up with Finn trying to insert himself into the story, as it were. However, having been told by Rose the impact that he had on the galaxy, Finn no longer wishes to be a Jedi. He then redirects the question to Rey - does she want to be a Jedi? Like Luke? Honest answer - she doesn’t know. The Jedi of old would never have accepted her. She’d have been expelled and become another Darth Vader. Rey is impulsive, confrontational, she has a short temper. She gives in to the Dark Side too easily, and now it’s gotten someone killed. She feels diseased. Though Finn tries to dissuade such talk, it comes out that he and Poe overheard her conversation with Kylo Ren. Both sides are angry here, because Rey kept this secret, and because her friends spied on her. She cries out in anger, causing several nearby lights to blow out. Rey storms away, seeking to be alone.

This fight scene takes the place of the ESB rip-off with an evil Rey. That just wasn’t necessary. Instead, Rey leaves to confront Snoke, kill him once and for all, and rescue Ben if she can. After that, she isn’t sure what she’ll do. It is at this point that she is captured by the Knights of Ren. However, they don’t kill her, as instructed. They remove their masks - humanizing them as just being people. They reveal that they were the Jedi who followed Ben after he left Luke. When Starkiller Base was finished, Ben told them to go and evacuate their families from their home planets, just in case. The Knights stayed away for a long time, per Ben’s orders, but returned when he bid them too. They love him, seem to look up to him, and they can tell that he loves Rey. That he’s not his own man anymore. And that his best interests don’t align with Snoke’s. They know Snoke has to die, but also realize they aren’t powerful enough to stop him. The only one they can think of who might be - is Rey. They beg for her help, and she agrees.

The movie now offers a montage of Stormtroopers abandoning Phasma and Hux, and turning themselves in to the Resistance, explaining that they want to fight for the light. Meanwhile, Finn talks to Rose and Poe, and they all agree that they can’t just leave Rey, they have to go after her. They regret not trusting her, and conclude that even if she is tempted by the Dark Side, even if she falls...she’s still their friend. They don’t believe that she’s a spy - Rose offers useful tip in this sense. Observing that Rey offers none of the “tells.” Finally, we come to Rey training with the Knights of Ren. The transformation of her staff into a lightsaber pike. And it’s gold, baby. It’s gold. (Oh, since I forgot to mention this, Anakin’s lightsaber never gets repaired. Rey has been using a blaster up to this point.)

Bring us back to Snoke, torturing Ben once again as he can sense the betrayal of the Knights. Ben doesn’t realize that they’re still loyal to him, he thinks they just abandoned him, and his spirit is broken even further. Snoke talks more about his past, and here we can get a philosophical discussion. Perhaps Snoke discovered the midichlorians during his research, and exploited them for more power. He could analyze the Force as being, not a difference between light and darkness, but a shallow body of water that only gets deeper the further you venture. Snoke boasts that he was the first to risk “drowning” himself in it’s depths. Meanwhile, Ben hallucinates seeing Han, encouraging him to get up and fight back. We can also have Leia’s voice here, if we want. Ben fights back in a scene that echoes TFA, the way Rey resisted his own control. “You are no Master, Plagueis. Not of anyone or anything. You act so powerful, but your thoughts betray you. You’re afraid you will never get it right. Your desperation grows with every failure. But Today is not the day you finally succeed.”  snaps free of Snoke’s control and when Snoke attempts to dominate him with Force Lightning, Ben goes full Prince Zuko and redirects it, Yoda style. With that, he escapes, now on his own. 

Finn, Poe, and Rose show up to fight the Knights of Ren. Assuming Rey to be their prisoner. Rey, faced with her ultimate conflict, the symbol of her uncertainty, a literal metaphor between the two sides of her being at war...her loyalty to Ben, and her loyalty to her friends...her desire to be good, but her tendency toward darkness...finally completes her character arc and solves her identity issues. She creates a barrier between both sides, knocking them all down. She explains herself, telling her friends that the Knights want to stop Snoke. That she has joined them freely, for this reason. She apologizes for how distant she’s been. Admits that while she would never support the First Order, she does care for Ben Solo, despite all he’s done. This leads to Rey making up with her friends, and making peace with the Knights, who were already kind-of friends with Rose, once upon a time. This can lead into a bigger discussion about The Force, the concepts of good and evil as a whole. While Finn and Poe contact Lando, to tell him where Snoke is hiding, Rey reaches out to Ben through the force-bond. 

Meanwhile, Ben has returned to the planet where Luke’s old school of Jedi was. He visits the smoldering remains, and unearths Luke’s green lightsaber. He struggles, still feeling that call to the light, and now that he’s alone and able to meditate, he attempts to do what Snoke did, and “drown” himself in the Force, in the hope of stopping him. He doesn’t drown. Instead, he meets a spirit who he had unconsciously blocked out a long time ago. Anakin Skywalker, portrayed by Hayden “The lines were terrible but his acting was actually pretty good” Christensen.  The call to the light that Ben had always resisted had come from Anakin. These two finally talk, and Anakin urges Ben to choose the right side. They find solidarity in understanding that they were both drawn to the Dark Side, and both felt that this meant they “had” to be evil. Anakin doesn’t dissuade Ben from the Dark Side, but advises him to do what is right for the galaxy, defeating Snoke. Ben is helpless, he doesn’t know how. But Anakin tells him that an anomaly of equal power to Snoke could be enough to kill him forever. It’s definitely worth a try. Anakin fades, promising Ben that the answer is closer than he thinks. He can sense it right now...

After Anakin fades, Rey appears. She has succeeded in contacting Ben, and they catch up. Ben learning that The Knights still care about him, and that Rey has joined them. Rey expresses that Ben was right - it’s time to leave the Jedi and the Sith behind. To start something new. They can discuss the Force in greater detail, how being Dark doesn’t always mean one is evil, but the teachings of the Jedi suggest that it is a binary system. They express affection for each other. With everyone around Rey seeing her talk to someone invisible, Rey reaches out her hand...and Ben takes it. Suddenly appearing in the ship with everyone else. 

Rey and The Knights take turns embracing him, and he exchanges awkward nods with the others. With the help of the Knights, the group comes to the conclusion that Rey and Ben are some kind of Dyad in the Force, irrevocably connected. The two that are one. Such a thing has not been seen in millennia. It’s almost like a glitch in the universe. But this anomaly could be what it takes to stop Snoke for good. 

The main team makes their way back to Exegol as we see Lando giving a speech to the Resistance, now much stronger with the added former-Stormtroopers. As much as I love Jannah, she’s just as unnecessary as Zorii. That screen time could have and should have gone to Rose as she re-establishes herself back into the squad, same as Ben. Everyone arrives at Exegol at the same time, and Resistance soldiers move to open fire on Rose and Ben, understandably so, but here come Poe and Finn to talk them down and explain the situation. No one is happy about it, particularly having Ben Solo around, but Lando, with much consternation, accepts the situation and tells the Resistance not to fire on their new allies. However, he also instructs Finn to kill Ben if he steps out of line. We can get a callback when Finn gives the “I’m watching you” look to Ben, and have a line like “Don’t be a traitor.” Or something. 

Final battle time. Another montage. Finn leading the former storm-troopers in the battle against the last of Snoke’s loyalists, led by Phasma. Together with Rose, Finn defeats them and Phasma is left on her knees. She pleads for mercy, and Rose is prepared to kill her, but Finn intervenes. They take her prisoner instead, because killing people who are already defeated and defenseless is the “Stormtrooper” way. 

Rey, Ben, and the Knights are helping out with their Melee weapons. The Knights are also using the Force, because not using it offensively was a Jedi message, and they didn’t always follow it anyway. Though he’s definitively good now, Ben is still wearing his Kylo Ren armor, and wielding the cross-guard saber. I mean, imagine if he showed up to a warzone in day clothes with a blaster, just because his previous weapons were “evil?” How stupid would that be, right? However, at one point the cross-guard saber is destroyed in the right, and left empty-handed, Ben pulls out Luke’s lightsaber, stares at it...and then ignites it to rejoin the fray.

 We likewise get a battle of wits and strategy between Poe and Hux, as Poe commands a legion to take out the forces guarding Snoke’s throne room. In the end, Poe’s armada is saved by another that Lando commands. Hux manages to fatally shoot Lando, but Poe quickly repays him in kind. While everyone crowds around Lando, Hux dies alone, symbolizing the difference between the two causes. Lando expresses pride in how far Poe has come, tells him that Leia would be proud too, and with his dying words, he addresses Poe as “General Dameron.” It’s a truly emotional moment and afterward, Poe simply turns to the loyalist stormtroopers, carrying the poise and energy of a powerful leader. He tells them to drop their weapons. To surrender now, and they won’t be harmed. It’s badass. And the loyalists do as instructed. 

The path is clear for Rey and Ben to rush in to the Throne Room and kill Snoke, with the Resistance following them as backup. Only Snoke is nowhere to be seen. All of a sudden, we hear that high-pitched screech again. Rey and Ben collapse in terrible pain, hearing Snoke’s voice. His physical body no longer matters or plays by the same rules. He has essentially taken the practice of returning as a force-spirit and perverted it to become Dark. We now get Snoke’s final backstory, and the answer to why he’s able to do this. Snoke himself was part of a Dyad, centuries ago. Though exceptionally rare, Rey and Ben’s bond is not unique. However, Snoke murdered his counterpart for his own selfish reasons. A total violation of nature. This is what splintered him and turned him into the unnatural being that he is now. Rey and Ben vanish, to the alarm of Finn and Poe, as they disappear into the Force. 

The three of them - Rey, Ben, and Snoke, all appear to be in some kind of void. Snoke recounts having sensed the awakening of another Dyad (”The Force Awakens”) and that this is what prompted him to return to physical form in the first place. He reveals his final plan. Rey and Ben must now fight to the death - the winner becoming as powerful Snoke himself. He promises that the winner can rule beside him. This is probably a lie, and both of his opponents refuse. But Snoke also warns that without achieving that kind of power, they’ll be hopeless to stop him. He dual wields red lightsabers in the subsequent duel. Notice how Rey and Ben are using sabers of gold and green - the opposite of red and blue, which  have traditionally symbolized the Jedi and the Sith conflict. Snoke tells them that they have no future. They cannot become Jedi, not with the crimes they’ve committed. If they become Sith, well...he cites the “Rule of Two” insisting that Rey and Ben cannot coexist because one will inevitably slay the other. Rey and Ben respond that they are neither, that they simply fight for what they believe in. That they are...knights of Ren. 

Together, they strike back, plunging their sabers through Snoke’s chest. He vanishes, and the void world vanishes. Rey and Ben reappear in the throne room, and Snoke is there too, staggering to his feet. The Resistance takes aim at him, but he pays them no mind. He warns the two heroes that there is no telling what will happen if they choose this path, that the Galaxy needs structure when dealing with an entity as vague and infinite as The Force. Rey responds simply that “The Force is not some stranger or threat. It is not a vice for power. The Force...is us. All of us. The good and the bad, the light and the dark. So long as we stand together, you will never influence The Force again. You will never control us. You will never return again.” With a roar of defeat, Snoke’s body turns to dust, and a shadowy mass is left in it’s place. Finn and Poe fire at at it, to no avail, but Rey and Ben join hands, and as the shadowy mass surges toward them, The Dyad employs it’s full potential, causing Snoke’s bastardized force-spirit to vanish. Not sure how this would be filmed without looking silly, but I swear, it’s compelling. 

The battle is over. Everyone celebrates. When Finn and Poe kiss, it’s earned, not some nameless background characters. The team returns to the Resistance base. Poe has been unanimously voted to be the new General, which is the closest thing they have to an elected leader right now, so he is in charge of the trials for the loyalists, and the Knights of Ren. The people who committed treason or other crimes. But we only see three of these trials. Ben Solo, Rose Tico...and Rey. After all, she did kill Chewie, right? She conspired with the Knights, too. Rey is pardoned almost immediately, Rose not long after, but Ben Solo...after much consideration, Poe charges the Knights of Ren to a path of atonement. To go around, helping fix the Galaxy. Community service. 

Ben and the Knights prepare to leave on their trip, and Rey and Ben say goodbye. How ship-teasy this is, if there’s a final kiss...eh, interpret how you like. I’m a Reylo fan personally, but I know a lot of people aren’t. Ben promises to see Rey again, and they both acknowledge that thanks to the Dyad, they won’t have to go without seeing each other, not really. Likewise, Rey and Finn and Poe and Rose will be helping to fix up the galaxy, so it’s certainly not goodbye. 

I lied, Luke’s force-spirit appears one more time, this time with Leia, though she doesn’t speak much for obvious reasons. Luke is proud of her, and says something to the effect of “Not bad for a scavenger girl with no family from Jakku of all places. Well done, Rey from nowhere.” Rey looks around at everyone - at Finn, Poe, Rose. At Ben and the Knights. At C3PO, R2D2 and BB8 (Who were definitely involved the whole time I just didn’t have much to say about them) she looks back at Luke and replies that she does have a family. She and her friends go to wave goodbye as Ben’s ship takes off, flying into the sunset, and....ENDING CREDITS!

Let me know what y’all think! Hopefully this doesn’t throw out quite as much from Last Jedi, and does the characters justice! 

[bladekindeyewear]

Book Commentary on Inversion Theory

Alright, as a follow-up to this post, it looks like there’s an actual full bit of Homestuck book commentary (around the pages nearing Rose’s grimdark transformation, Book 6 pg 115, HS pg 3305, thanks @ramiedersedreamer and @zandraxofnebulon) about how Inversion Theory (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) isn’t what we thought.  Quoting and reading it first (not the whole reddit post but that portion at least), then discussion under the cut:

"Rose is a Light player, but her blackout effects result from arguably the nadir of her role as such a hero--that is, when she succumbs to Scratch's manipulations and other eldritch persuasions, and goes grimdark. This truth would appear to lend credence to a line of classpect thinking known as "inversion theory," which really isn't without its merits. This note has just gone to the bother of describing one of its merits, in fact. However, it is possible to get carried away with this line of thinking and use it to evaluate everything that happens in Homestuck. For instance, you could say "Well, Karkat is a Blood hero, and here's where he stops being as Karkatty as usual, so that means he's being the opposite of his aspect. Which means he's being Breathy instead of Bloody. So that means a bunch of other stuff, ipso facto, Homestuck has been EXPLAINED." That's not really the way all this works. Aspect lore runs deep, but it isn't the Rosetta Stone to the story. When in doubt, it's better to remember this: rather than an underlying mystical logic where all classpect roads lead to Deep Answers, HS is a comprehensive nexus of many themes, and all roads lead to the basic idea that this is a tale about kids who are trapped in the universal struggle associated with growing up."

I... hm.  Dammit.  Is that all he wrote??  This slippery author is a master of giving us tantalizing and insightful details without committing to any hard yes-or-no whatsoever.  >:T

I’d been building myself up to reading this all throughout yesterday with gut-wrenching dread that at this late, late, late hour he’d finally given us a definitive “NO” on Inversion.  Instead we get this quite interesting but more vague “eh, there’s merits, but don’t go too far with it”.  Which is...... 

...about as potentially-optimistic as I put it in the previous post, if not moreso?

Andrew’s being careful to lavish odd praise on inversion theory, too.  Which some people are going to interpret as (Option 1) “Nice try, but dead wrong”, like the anon who put a snippet in my inbox initially, and others will interpret as (Option 2) “The big ones are RIGHT, nudge nudge, but stop applying it everywhere cause the fans who say every line of the comic means ‘ghosting inversion’ are looking at the story wrong and annoying everyone”.

As someone guilty of being one of those fans described in the latter half on occasion, I can CERTAINLY agree with THAT last part.  Andrew made it really clear with the ending of Homestuck proper -- “this side shit didn’t matter as much as you thought it did”.  I was so enamored with the classpect system that I thought almost everything was being shown to us through those lenses, at one point -- but even though perhaps more than the random reader might have thought is there, like he says, it ain’t supposed to be no Rosetta Stone.  Even when I WAS overapplying classpect everywhere, the people who did it too often in places I felt clearly un-merited REALLY pissed me off!  I can’t imagine how much more that might’ve been magnified in the shoes of someone who happened to apply the correct, lower amount of classpect and had to put up with me babbling and slathering it everywhere, much less the author’s shoes.

But there is still a big hole in his criticism, one he intentionally seems to have left there to me.  By saying “don’t look for it everywhere”, but ALSO that “there’s more than some merit to it”... I don’t think it’s a stretch to think the truth might not only be somewhere in between Options 1 and 2, but perhaps even closer to Option 2.

Aaaand HERE’s where if you’re someone who HUNGERED for me to admit wrongdoing by sticking with this theory for so long, you’re no doubt angry.  Looking at me as making excuses in the face of this long-awaited OBJECTIVE PROOF OF TOTAL THEORY DISMISSAL... WHY won’t the deluded bastard FINALLY succumb to REASON?  ANDREW HIMSELF spoke up on the issue, IS THIS NOT ENOUGH?!???

And, well... you’re right to be angry.  To be honest, I’m a fair bit pissed off too -- I could’ve used a solid “NO”, traumatizing as it would’ve been to me!

But that’s not what we got, because... *rolls eyes @ author* ...that’s not how Andrew works nowadays.  And as irritating as it is, I also have to respect it a bit.

Andrew has become pretty committed to not full-on table-flipping fan interpretations and fanworks, avoiding forcing one “correct” interpretation (see: central struggle of HS^2 and the villains labeling divergence from canon at all as “bad”) because both interpretations should be rewarded.  If something is REALLY wrong and hurts objective appreciation of the lessons he wanted to portray in his comic, like people plastering Classpect everywhere to the exclusion of the story’s central canon-escaping themes, he’s willing to shut them down... but when it comes to effective-sounding interpretations of the comic that he possibly never intended but “could” have been what he intended?  He’s REALLY careful not to step on them!  Or even sometimes DISTINGUISH them from the ones that he DID intend, sometimes, to keep as many fan interpretations alive in our imaginations as possible.

Which, as someone who pins Inversion’s entire existence on the assertion that “Andrew deliberately intended this and it’s our DELUSION otherwise”, really pisses me off at times like this.  This is a theory hinged on the idea that Andrew had been deliberately hiding INCREDIBLY clever evidence throughout the comic for these intense thematic moves.  All the SYMBOLISM we thought was pointing to inversion would lose an incredible amount of its meaning if it were all an accident.  What about all that cool imagery in the Breath and Blood post?  Did any of THAT really mean what we thought it was there for, like between WV and PM?  Was any of it REAL?  Will we ever even get an ANSWER?  The answer is “no, we won’t”, because Andrew persists in this method of keeping his cards close to his chest even if he has to take them to the damn grave, cause he knows we’ll have more “fun” not knowing ‘em.  That considerate son of a bitch.  >:(

I’m serious -- it really does make me more than a little angry.  I really do wish he’d said more to show us where we’re off-course.

But HS^2 has brought us Terezi telling us that Mind and Heart are indeed opposites.  He MIGHT be holding onto the info because we may get it later in canon itself...

Meh.  I’ll try not to hope too hard.  And I’d better clarify what I actually believe, here:

My TL;DR thoughts on Andrew’s commentary up above are that when it comes to Inversion Theory (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), he’s leaving room for some of the BIG events to have been right or almost right -- say, #1, maybe #2, and only POSSIBLY #3 or #4 -- while telling us to back off and cast SERIOUS DOUBT on stuff that could have more character-driven explanations, especially #5.

If there’s a seriously FUNDAMENTAL transformation in a character that isn’t fully explained by their character journey alone (as kids growing up), involves significant outside interference, and is reflected by countless visual cues, THEN we should want to see if Inversion Theory “has merit” in that sort of case -- while laying it up against other competing theories that account for external interference of a non-Inversion-related nature in their actions too.  Things like pre- and post-ascension Aradia or pre- and post-dreamdeath Jade seeming almost completely different characters?  Or Rose seemingly taken over by the Horrorterrors... only to do nothing to benefit them but throw her mainself at Jack and get killed so she’d be forced to ascend on the moon mission rather than God-tier-die?  I’d say Inversion is worth consideration and -- daresay -- worth believing in, in such cases.

And it still might all be wrong.  There are legitimate ways to read Andrew’s commentary above that would have people screaming that Inversion has been disproven, that the “merits” mentioned were just a nod of respect to the losing side that I’m completely overblowing.  But those seem to me like carefully ambiguous words from a carefully ambiguous man, and if there’s anyone to blame for their ambiguity, it’s Andrew.  Trust me; I don’t like it either.  He’s had plenty of practice saying things in a way that we CAN’T really draw many assumptions from.

Heck, even the Redditor transcribing this summarized their thoughts in a way that draws some assumptions I don’t believe are there:

Mostly I think it's just interesting that he's actually addressing Inversion Theory, and the gist is basically "it's a cool idea and has some merits, but the classpect system and story are not quite that formulaic." Sorry BKEW. At least we know Hussie has been paying attention to our wild theorizing.

--which is a rebuke drawn on the common interpretation that Inversion describes too “formulaic” a classpect system, especially with specific-class inversion like Seer <-> Witch and such.  But IS that what Andrew is saying? Andrew criticizes the overapplication of aspect theory in describing everyone’s actions page to page, but does that mean a quote-unquote “rigid” system (I’m not going to play out the old “specific-class-inversion-is-too-rigid” vs “youre missing the flexible potential a fixed system gives” arguments again) is ITSELF an overapplication of classpect to people’s actions and personalities? Is he perhaps hinting that only Aspect stuff mattered in Inversion cases and the Witchy Rose class stuff was just a separate thematic thing that fits by coincidence??  What does it mean? WE DON’T KNOW!  AND IT’S PISSING ME OFF AAAARGH

...I think I’ve said all I can think to say for now.

I mean, I’m glad Inversion Theory wasn’t outright disproven.  I think it’s neat.  I have a lot of emotional investment behind it, and being told it was all a worthless goose chase would have made me vomitously sick!  But as I struggled with at the end of Homestuck proper, constant ambiguity shows a fair bit of disregard of its own, and both ending AND epiloguing Homestuck not only without a “yes” on this but without even a clear “NO” has caused me more gutache and poor feelings across MONTHS than either answer ever would have given me.  I thought we’d earned that by getting through it, that we wouldn’t have to wait for YEARS and then STILL get cockteased like this.  And I wonder how much I’m going to regret, later, that this wasn’t just a clear, simple “NO”.

I’m being told there’s an upd8 just now and I should read it.  I’ll get on that.  Cy’all.

[craftypeaceturtle]

Sanders Sides- A New Year of Lying to Myself Analysis

General:

I feel like this is the first episode where we can start (only just start!) making points about the characters in this series. I feel like this episode onwards is when Thomas intended for this to be a series and to start planning out some vague characterisations. You may disagree but I personally feel like this is when the series first started going. It’s still early days though at this point so we’ll go easy! 

Logic being the first to pop up and suggest new years resolutions I think is really interesting, because from a lore point of view, it feels like it should be Creativity. Creativity is his literal ambitions and dreams but its his logic that wants to announce self improvement plans? I dunno, I just find that interesting! 

When Anxiety shows up, all the others are stunned into silence/stop everything. This obviously shows that, at this point, Anxiety was this great threat that needed attention. There are episodes later on whereby the others don’t notice that Anxiety has even appeared so this great attention brought to him feels like the others are on constant guard for anxiety. 

Characters:

Logic- Kinda… an abolsute asshole in this? Like, seriously... His whole point in this video is that he feels like there hasn’t been an episode where he’s been the focus of the story and this was going to be HIS video! Because of that, he comes across like he doesn’t want to work with the others let alone work well with them. More on this in the theory section. His characterisation still feels kinda off. He’s again super cheery upon arrival and then settles into a more serious and less emotional character later. His goals still seem to be largely work orientated which remains consistent in the series. Excuse the shit quality pic:

Also, he appears content with Thomas’ work and seems to pride on the idea that his content needs to be meaningful and educational. Just wanted to say this explicitly for, in future videos, he seems to be discontented from Thomas’ work. 

Morality- He’s seen here to be working against Logic which makes sense as morality would prioritise self help before career success. 

But there is an entire episode later whereby Morality feels the opposite to his idea- again it’s still early in the series so these contradictions make sense. He’s still the largely happy chappy who wants Thomas to succeed in becoming an adult. Again, he feels like the father figure who prioritises adult skills. 

Creativity- He’s suitably predictable in how he’s presented here... He’s Creativity and represents Thomas’ hopes and dreams and so he wants Thomas to achieve those dreams. That’s fine, a suitable characterisation for the concept if a little... boring. Where he becomes interesting is the fact that he does not care for the other’s new year resolutions. Like, at least Logic and Morality acknowledge that theirs are kinda linked and the other’s resolution is still good. You can’t seek more knowledge if you’re unhealthy but you also can’t really be healthier without the knowledge to do so. Creativity is just like:

Makes him look kinda assholey as well. But I also kinda of get that there’s more plot/drama if the sides all disagree rather than have a calm discussion so maybe that’s more for the plot rather than a direct sign of who Creativity is. 

Anxiety- Again, he’s yet to feel like a character and is still just a villain. He disagrees, then get’s shown up then he leaves. Not much to say here. But what I will say is that, it’s interesting that on showing up, Logic and Morality both end up agreeing with him that resolutions may be meaningless. Maybe that indicates that he’s persuasive and has power over the others or maybe it’s just that he brought up a point the others hadn’t considered. Dunno, up to you I guess. On a different note though, he sings! He doesn’t really sing later on so this is a thing! On a more serious not again, this is the first time we see Anxiety actively insulting Thomas which I feel never really comes up again. In the ending, he says that Thomas ‘sickens him’ which is like really harsh.

 I think Thomas later wanted to write Anxiety as helpful so to avoid awkward moments like these whereby parts of his identity actively hate him. I dunno, this just feels really harsh and in a different context would make a lot of people feel worried about Thomas’ mental health. At the end of the day, this is supposed to be a funny light hearted look on mental health so it makes sense to want to avoid heavy and hard topics like self hate.  But that does mean that here, Anxiety is portrayed as self sabotaging and destructive for Thomas. But then again, this insult is played off as light hearted so maybe I’m looking into it too much. 

Theories:

1) How the sides all interact has been argued as counter productive and abusive in some cases and this episode kinda shows that off. The sides all start talking over each other instead of an actual discussion- they all dismiss the others’ ideas without consideration which does make it seem like they can’t work together. 

Sorry C!Thomas but this will become a reoccurring thing haha! But, again, I feel like this is kinda necessary. If all the sides did discuss reasonably and were open to each other then there would be no conflict. Also, the way that they disagree adds to their characterisations. Example, it makes sense for Logic and Morality to be clashing here. 

2) Creativity is still just as harsh to Anxiety and Anxiety is still just as harsh to the others. Creativity again states out loud that he doesn’t like him and no one really addresses this- but again I feel like at this point Anxiety was just the villain so why would anyone correct that opinion. Anxiety is harsh in just stating that Logic is the least favourite character which the others find funny. I really don’t know on what to make on this whole abusive side of these characters just yet. At the moment, everything is presented fairly light heartedly so it’s hard to pinpoint how serious these insults are. 

3) This point really won’t go anywhere but I thought of it so why not! The song’s lyrics are like 50% made up of the word ‘lies’. I know Deceit’s character was yet to be even thought up of but I think that it’s interesting that when Thomas added a new character he chose Deceit. No clue if this was any influence over the character or if it was just they had interesting ideas lined up for him. Also, since it’s Anxiety mostly calling Thomas’ ideas lies then it furthers the point that him and Deceit are connected in some way or another. Again, this point is really weak and doesn’t go anywhere but I wanted to say it! 

[diminuel]

15x11 rewatch! Let’s go! It’s again, very long, so read below the cut!

My recap of last week to orient myself: We’ve seen Sam and Dean struggle with issues that they usually don’t have. Garth’s theory is that they are now faced with “normal people problems”, things a writer glosses over when it gets to their heroes because it slows down the story. However, they aren’t only faced with lactose intolerance but also suddenly find that they have trouble with all skills they used while hunting - they can’t open locks (at least not with make shift tools and when they’re stressed), they cannot fight against monsters (that are vastly overpowered while they just have human abilities), etc.

At the end of the episode Garth suggested a magical fix to their issues and we see them decide they would head to Alaska. Meanwhile, Cas is glaringly absent on a not further specified mission to Heaven. (*rolls eyes*)

Now, on twitter I said that if Sam and Dean went to Alaska to find a magic fix it for their issues without talking it through with Cas first they are “embarrassing dumbasses”. Spoiler alert: they are embarrassing dumbasses.

Now we start the reaction. I will bundle this sections since there are two plots that progress 98% independently of each other.

A: Misadventures in Alaska

- I know that Cas is absent, but I wish the Winchesters would have waited long enough to dicuss the issues with Cas. Sam does afterall talk it through with Eileen. And he must have talked to other people about it because he knows that it’s not in the lore and nobody else ever heard of it apart from Garth. But waiting for Cas to discuss with him was too much of a hassle...?

- Dean might not be able to digest cheese now, but he knows how to help himself. Like a normal person. (Well, I’m a normal person too but I just risk it and then suffer the dire consequences.)

- Okay, so they are in Alaska already. Don’t you have to cross through Canada to get to Alaska? If yes, how did they manage to cross the border with all the weapons in their trunk and without valid ID?

- I love Sam’s bewildered reply to when Dean claims that he was playing pool since before Sam was born. “What, between nap time and snack?”

- I was constantly worried that Dean was too cocky about his pool skills considering he had lost some other skills and that he would get into this game without even making sure that he still had the necessary skills for it. However, this episode isn’t the kind of silly overkill like last one was. Pool is a skill Dean and Sam developped over years and years, so of course they should be able to do it. (It’s not the same as lockpicking with a random nail)

- Dean “baiting” the other players wasn’t super elegant for someone who’s hustled pool for years *lol* But it was cute I guess?

- I like that Sam tries to talk to people and make them leave before it’s too late.

- Fortuna’s a dick, not winning any parent of the year awards...

- I like how Dean’s sure enough of himself to know that he’s much more complex than a “sexy but skimmable beach read”

- I think that usually the villains agree to Sam and Dean’s demands far too easily even though they have nothing to bargain with. So I assume Fortuna not agreeing to Sam’s terms falls under Sam and Dean no longer having their god given hero bonuses.

- I really appreciate the explanations we got on how Gods and all the other gods can exist at the same time. Humans/ human needs creating gods has always been my headcanon.

- Fortuna called Sam “little minx” *lol*

- Hero’s luck is a thing independently of Chuck then, but still granted by a divine being. But what makes a hero a hero is not their luck - but their choices and their attitude. Fortuna recognized that in them: bravery, the willingness to risk it all for others.

- I’m not sure yet what “don’t play his game, make him play yours” means. Though it’d be interesting if the same thing that happened to Metatron (who tried to play God) happens to God. God as “one of them”. Give him a soul and the weight of it, so he experiences the story and creation differently. I don’t know. I feel there aren’t enough episodes left for such a “remind God of the beauty and value of his creation” kind of plot.

B: Agent Lizzo

(I think this story line is more interesting than the monster of the week case and should have been given more screentime)

- “CASS”. Sam, that’s not how you spell his name. And why did you write a note instead of texting him? Also, they explained nothing. 

- Jack’s “Wanted by the FBI” picture is pretty cute. I wonder who took it.

- I like how Cas now frequently has a very visible reaction to things; he pulls the phone away from his hears, his expression changes, he has to breathe, before he manages to regain his composure. (Like the phone call he had with Dean while they were still seperated)

- Cas is so cute sitting at the desk with his laptop

- Why Jack. Why do you just sit down in the office to eat the heart?

- We usually saw Jack heal instantly; can’t he heal now or doesn’t he bother to heal his wounds?

- How many Grigori hearts did Jack eat...?

- Jack’s “dark” in ways he wasn’t before. The kind of dialogue he has comes across as very Winchester/ Cas like. I’m also trying to figure him out. He looks to the side at one point, before the Grigori takes his sword, which I assume means he saw Cas? His next expression is hard to describe; his nostrils flare, his calm expression drops. Is he shocked (I doubt it), is he angry (why would he?), is he trying to get out of the ropes to help or run? During the time it takes for Cas to defeat the Grigori, his expressions calms again and he lowers his head again. Maybe I’m just reading too much into it. I’m not very good at reading expressions anyway...

- The hug was nice but I really wish Cas and Jack would have actually spoken to each other. :/

TFW back together

- Dean and Sam are given the “little extra” that Dean wanted: Jack and Cas are back.

- I wish Sam had a bit of a more profound reaction. It’s the kind of welcome back reaction that would have been appropriate if Jack had just come back from a trip to the Swiss Alps where he tried to find himself among the cows and mountain spirits. Not when he came back from being killed by God.

- Dean’s reaction on the other hand was more impactful to me. Here we see that there’s tension there, some unspoken things. But still, he touches Jack the way that Bobby used to touch him. It’s a fierce look, but a gentle, parental touch. At the same time, this scene also addressed how much has changed (for the better!) between Dean and Cas. Dean seeks out Cas for conformation. I’m very soft about that exchange. (I think it also again presents Cas and Dean as an unit, especially when it gets to Jack.)

- I do hope Jack and Dean will hug eventually because the scene switch was a bit too fast for me. A bit more talk would have been better, or guiding them over into the next scene a bit gentler... Too many fanfic gaps here, even though the gaps are small!

- Sam and Dean acting like Jack ran away from them...? Sam: “You could have called.” Really, Sam...? When Jack says he couldn’t even though he wanted Dean says: “why not?” Why not, Dean? Do you really need to ask? And then Jack addressed nothing of what had happened and just brought up the current reason (staying hidden from god). Dude! You killed their mother, they wanted to trap you, then they wanted to kill you! I mean, come on.

- If Grigori hearts are the beginning, then what is next? Grigori are some of the “failed” creations of God that, according to Cas, should have been wiped out by the Flood. So maybe there are other things that God didn’t like for some reason or another that he wanted to get rid of. Grigori wiped out, Leviathan locked away, Nephilim forbidden... Hm. 

- From S11 we know that you can’t kill God. Killing God is not an option... (I also don’t really want it to happen. If the ending is literally creation being wiped out and there is nothing but a black screen at the end then I will have a panic attack.)

New things going forwards: 

Dean and Sam are heroes, no matter what Chuck says. Maybe they are no longer the heroes of his story (here I remember Metatron’s words again “you’re not the hero of this story, you are the villain”). But they’re still heroes. Fortuna rewards them for that alone with hero’s luck, which might give them back their bonuses to a certain degree. But the fact is that Sam and Dean are ordinary humans who become heroes because they are compassionate and brave and while they receive no reward for it, no “great recognition of their deeds”, they matter to the humans they saved. They matter in the smaller scheme of things, in the ways that Chuck disregards. Here I’m thinking of what Cas realized when he became human: that there is dignity in what he does, even if there is no divinity in it, even though it’s meaningless and “below him” even by Dean’s standards. But it mattered to Cas. He hurt, but it was meaningful and he wanted to live his life anyway. Chuck doesn’t see that. Chuck doesn’t see the dignity and meaning in the small things of human life. Because they are nuisances to him, they don’t make stories. Just like Sam and Dean doing the laundry all day don’t make stories for him - but they do for Becky.

So I think this episode reaffirmed what early SPN established: it’s the story of humans and how they save people, even if the odds are against them, and that makes them heroes. And not the other way around.

Some general comments: This is totally subjective but I feel there were some extra scenes that could have been cut (some pool hall stuff, the Grigori thing could have been slimmed down a bit) to give more space to things which I found more relevant like Cas/TFW’s reunion with Jack. I know that fanfic will fill the gaps eventually, but I wish we had to do a bit less work, you know? *lol* I mean, how did Cas and Jack’s conversation go, how was the drive back? How long where they in the Bunker by the time Sam and Dean came back from Alaska? What did they talk about? What conversations were exchanged in the scene break between TFW reuniting and them sitting at the map table? So many scenes to fill.

[onfireboyscout]

this but instead of poeple asking them im just straight up answering the ones i want to answer

I HAVENT SEEN THE LORE STREAMS IN A HOT MINUET MY MEMORY MAY BE FUCKED KEEP TGAT IN MIND

📖i mean i’d honestly say from the day the server started with just dream and georgre. but you could also argue the day it started being scripted or the day lmanburg started

🇬🇧no- or at least i can’t rember anything that would make is justified, it definitely had its problems but jesus- war and bombs was not the solution. i enjoyed the hell out of watching it fall though

🌸unfortunately i think it’s over- the only way it could be fixed would be karl’s memory coming back or falling back in love as they tell him about the past he can’t remeber and intense couples therapy. but unfortunately i think it’s over i hope not though i hope i’m wrong

🟢 fine goal in theory- horrible executed it’s like communism it looks great on paper till you actually put it into motion

🏜Nope. (though if i could live in any county in dsmp it would be las nevadas) it would only ever be a positive environment for people higher up (karlnapity like it was ment to be for) horrible requirement tactics those poor guys

🥚i believe so much in the insanity plea, they were not in their right minds. mentail institution not jail- and people have every right to hate them even if they get the help they need and i really hope they get the help they need

🏝YES. though i must say i could not watch most of the streams for my own mental health so i really only know the headlines of what happened

💥tommy. tubbo. fundy but i don’t think he should and he should accept cindy’s request to leave him alone. i would love to answer part two of this question later when i can think more about it

🔒not sure if on one rn bc i’m not watching current lore yet but he deserves one and i hope he gets it again a little insanity older though definitely not all the way like bbh eggpire. sam deserves prison time- he then deserves release back to the smp and rehabilitation redemption ark i forgot what it’s called

🐝definitely not :( therapy. therapy for both

🔲nope

👻i hope so, not in the i hate his character but in the i agree with wilbur’s reddit post about it

💙never thought about it no opinions on it but i want to hear other’s opinions on it

🎦neither- it’s like a tv show now, it shouldn’t make a difference and it doesn’t to me but i understand poeple missing the improv of it all

🌍i mean- i brought up communism earlier, go crazy respectful discussions and bringing in irl events and shit. i cant figure out how to put this into worlds but yes. yea do it

🏳️‍🌈pog!

Lore questions to make your followers burn you at the stake:

📖 - At what point did "canon lore" on the server actually begin?

🇬🇧 - Which, if any, of L'Manberg's destructions were justified?

👑 - Did c!Eret make the right choice by reaccepting the throne after c!George was dethroned?

�� - What, if anything, would it take for c!Karlnapity to heal and reconnect?

🟢 - Is c!Dream's stated goal of "server unity" a morally justified end? Is it an attainable one?

💀 - Was the introduction of the revival book a good direction for the lore?

💣 - Are the Syndicate's actions an accurate demonstration of anarchist principles?

🏜 - Given its founder's motives and recruitment tactics for Las Nevadas, can the country ever be a positive environment for its citizens?

🥚 - To what extent should the Eggpire's former members be held responsible for their actions under the Egg's influence?

🏝 - Should c!Dream's treatment of c!Tommy be considered torture?

💥 - Who does c!Wilbur owe an apology to the most? Who, if anyone, should apologize to him?

🔒 - Is c!Sam on a redemption arc?

🐝 - Is c!Beeduo a healthy relationship?

🦋 - Should c!Hannah get her wings back?

🔳 - Is c!Ranboo working with c!Dream willingly?

🌵 - Who was in the right during the L'Sandberg conflict?

👻 - Is Ghostbur truly dead, suffering, and never coming back?

🔪 - Which character, if any, would you want to die permanently?

💙 - Should c!dnf be endgame?

🎦 - Does the Disc Finale being staged make the Dream SMP's story more or less engaging?

🎥 - Which season is the best/worst, and why?

😈 - Does the Dream SMP have any true villains? If so, what makes them villains?

🌍 - To what extent are real-world political comparisons appropriate to use in our analysis of Dream SMP lore?

🏳️‍🌈 - Give your thoughts on the Dream SMP's portrayal of queer/LGBT+ identity.

⏰️ - The timeline... anything about the Dream SMP'S timeline.

[butchclericbeast]

Hi! I'm an anthropology student doing research for my bachelor thesis, which is about Dark Souls fans and gender. I saw the ask you sent to Project-Beast about trans girl Gwyndolin, and that you'd made a post about it on reddit, but that the reception there was lukewarm? And I was curious about this, like what kind of reactions did you get exactly, and if this is the usual reaction one would receive.

Holy shit I hope you didn’t send this ages ago bc I just noticed it. Yes, I was the one who posted the reddit thing on Gwyndolin being a trans goddess. The reception was much better than I expected, really, because the Dark Souls reddit is one of the more relaxed ones. It was mostly calm discussion of lore and whether or not it was possible and the one person who was actively being rude and disrespectful was downvoted into oblivion. Which was surprising and nice. It was 50/50 on whether people actually agreed with my theory. Some said that they strongly connected with the idea of trans Gwyndolin and knew many who did so as well. Others discussed it from a lore and symbolism perspective. It was really encouraging that I got such a calm reaction, even if everyone didn’t agree. I think the reason the reaction went so well is because only older fans of the series really hang out on that reddit. Also, Dark Souls is a horribly hard game to get into so it tends to draw a more mature audience. However, if I had tried to go on another forum of a more well played game that was the most recent in the series, it wouldn’t gone differently. Hell, even if I’d just gone into the DS III reddit I’m sure I’d have gotten more rude responses bc that reddit is more well seen. I also worded my argument very calmly and left it open to interpretation instead of being like “No, this is the truth and you’re a bad person if you disagree!” That made people more willing to engage. That’s what I notice a lot of here on tumblr; people tend to be horribly aggressive rather than leaving things more open to discussion. I didn’t want to guilt trip anyone into liking my theory. I just stated my facts and noted that it would be incredibly groundbreaking if she was a trans goddess. If you want to know about trans issues specifically, I am cis and therefore cannot help you. However, I adore the idea of Gwyndolin being trans even if some of the community disagree along with Miyazaki. Because after all, at the end of the day a piece of work ends up being independent from the creator’s intention and up for interpretation. I really hope this isn’t too late and this helped somewhat with what you were looking into.