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glossamerfaerie · 8 months ago

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This is obvious, but bear with me.

2020: publication of Crescent City 1, which introduces the concept of the four Houses of Midgard and how the series titles will mirror them.

2021: A COURT OF SILVER FLAMES (Nesta’s book with Cassian as love interest)

2022: CC2 releases. We find out about upcoming crossover.

2024: HOUSE OF FLAME AND SHADOW (CC3 crossover in which Nesta and Azriel are the main ACOTAR characters)

Double meaning: Nesta is Flame and Azriel is Shadow.

2025 (?): upcoming ACOTAR title. Extremely likely to be A COURT OF [ADJECTIVE] SHADOWS. (Azriel book with Gwyn). The phrase could also be “SHADOWY + NOUN” but I think that looks messier. Nesta’s book also used the plural noun with Flames.

***

Assuming that my 2025 guess is correct, HOFAS is literally bookended by two ACOTAR books with the ✨exact same title word as HOFAS.✨

“But wait,” you say, “this is just a coincidence. HOFAS is named after a House of Midgard, the one with the reapers and necromancers. CC1 was published way before these ACOTAR books. Flame and shadow are super common words!”

I think these titles and book order have been planned for a long time. It’s possible that SJM had shifting ideas when she wrote ACOFAS in 2017, but by the time she wrote CC1 (which clearly introduced multiverse concept with Bryce’s tattoo) in 2018/2019, SJM knew that she wanted Nesta and Az to be the prominent characters in CC3 and the upcoming ACOTAR protagonists. The crossover details may have changed over the years, but Nesta and Az prominence didn’t.

Definition of House of Flame and Shadow: “Daemonaki, Reapers, wraiths, vampyrs, draki, dragons, necromancers, and many wicked and unnamed things that even Urd herself cannot see.”

There is literally no reason why this House HAD to be named Flame and Shadow. The other Midgard houses have elements (Earth, Sky, Waters), but why use the word FLAME specifically? It could’ve been Embers, Blaze, Inferno, etc. SJM could’ve also used “Fire” — it didn’t need to be fancy since House of Many Waters just used Waters.

Same analysis with Shadow. What about that creature classification necessitated the word Shadow? There are lots of natural phenomenon associated with darkness and death and wickedness — the use of Shadow is a deliberate choice.

I genuinely think that this fandom overreaches with the theories. It’s like Taylor Swift — Swifties overthink every Easter egg, but sometimes the answer of the album title is just a giant billboard in a music video.

HOFAS is that giant billboard. SJM is not a complicated writer re: worldbuilding or foreshadowing. It is as simple as “the next ACOTAR books are Nesta and Azriel — what if I represented them in CC3 with the crossover title?” It’s obvious. Setting aside foreshadowing in the actual story, the answer can solely be found in the title.

I love Elucien and know it’s been a long wait, but I’m afraid that the wait is going to be longer than some people hope. I know people think Elain’s book is next but I really don’t see how that’s the case. Not interested in debating or explaining the Gwynriel ship rationale since there’s a million other posts out there.

Re: Azriel’s title being A COURT OF [ADJECTIVE] SHADOWS. I’ve seen people on all sides of the ship war suggest that the adjective be related to the heroine (Gwyn or Elain). I really don’t think so. The title will solely focus on Az, just like how SILVER FLAMES solely focused on Nesta. It could be MELODIC SHADOWS or WHISPERING SHADOWS or something else. But the adjective will fit an ability that we’ve already seen from Az’s shadows (we know they whisper to Az and can sing). Similarly, Elucien book title will solely focus on Elain. Cassian and Gwyn and Lucien are extremely important characters, but they won’t be represented in the title.

#my acotar theories #gwynriel #elucien #nessian #pro gwyn #gwyn x azriel #gwyneth berdara #azriel #nesta archeron #cassian #nesta x cassian #hofas spoilers #crescent city #bryce quinlan #lucien vanserra

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shana-silver-fox · 2 months ago

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Le Paradis Pour Toi TBOC 2.04

Officially Caryl’s song!

I know other Carylers have already discussed the French song of the same name, but here’s the part that’s very Caryly to me

Life isn't hard at all

We're more or less fishermen

We don't have a home

We sleep here or somewhere else

I found paradise for you

This totally fits with the original nomadic theme their spinoff was supposed to have. Paradise is wherever the two of them are.

Lots of thoughts on the episode

This is my favorites of the series. It was like Consumed x1000.

The opening shot of super sad Daryl under that window, not knowing Carol was right outside! I really think he thinks he was going to die there.

Ok. Carol’s plot armor here was level 9000, but 🤷🏼‍♀️

Seeing Carol and Codron go Furiosa was awesome!

I already made a post about how Izzy dies. It was so Beth coded. Right down to the stupid little weapon and bad aim.

They held onto that Tinkerbelle theme to the end. Tink drank poison and was holding her belly like Izzy. Seeing her bleeding out alone, and then being saved by Carol was so emotional. Carol was so caring 🥹

The look on Izzy’s face when Carol told her name. She knew instantly. She knew she could never compete with this bond. She probably was a little sad, but like Clemence said I think it more acceptance. She still believed in signs and God moving their lives through fate. She knew she was looking at Laurent’s new parents.

And I must point out that Daryl didn’t shed a single tear. Dude was was just bawling all over Carol, but no tears for Tink.

It appears Carol put her down since she pulled out her knife at the end of the scene. No burial? No revenge mad Daryl tearing through the castle looking for Losang? No his focus was Laurent, which I think it always was. Izzy was just part of the package. Just like Carol/zeke/henry

I did wish the Caryl reunion had some dialogue, but what could they say that would fit, but wouldn’t trigger the TOWLers to claim they were copying them?

Flew half around the world in a feeling. More Peter pannery, Daryl is Carol’s happy thought!🥰 💫✨

ABCers were all claiming how romantic d’paysant was and how that would be the Tinkyl catchphrase. I loved seeing Daryl smile and say it to Carol not 24 hours after Izzy died.

I could write a book on Didi and Theo. We got a flashforward of future Caryl.

Carol stepped right into being Isabelle in a symbolic sense for the viewers. Pretty obvious what they are saying.

I wil have to do a seperate. Thidi/caryl post. There’s just too much. But how you can’t see Caryl coming after that is crazy.

The convo while Caryl were waiting shows Daryl is still thinking of staying in France even though Izzy is dead. So it was never about her, it was about Laurent.

I think they also hinted that Daryl just wants to start a new life. When Carol says, what about the Grimes kids back home?, he said “this is different” 👀 He just threw a little shade at having to play Rick’s nanny. He’s done and he wants a family with Carol.

Daryl saying he would never be afraid of becoming Carol! ❤️ He loves her just as she is. Flaws and all

Daryl apologized for losing himself

Theo bringing up sex eggs is a foreshadowing! It will be an actual Easter 🥚 ! Mark it!

Everyone being a little jealous of the old man losing his memories. 😢

Didi: Will you stay in Paris? Daryl: we’re still working in it.

See he still didn’t want to go home.

Theo : for you my love. For us. 💔 Sounds like something Daryl would do.

Genet saying “my love-my hope” equating her romantic love with hope. And the narrative has established Carol is Daryl’s hope.

God was not on Genet’s side 🫣 Her death was a really great death befitting a great villain.

Daryl tells Carol Laurent is Henry GLUE and Carol totally understands.

Don’t tell me Daryl Dixon isn’t head over heels in love with Carol.

Ending (happy ending) with Carol and Daryl both having giant smiles when he says Laurent is coming home with us.

Us. The two of us. Look at those smiles!

#caryl #daryl dixon #carol peletier #norman reedus #melissa mcbride #caryl is endgame #caryl positivity #twd #twd caryl #the book of carol #tboc #twd daryl dixon

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wehaveimagineshere · 11 months ago

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Hello there, Ren! I absolutely fell in love with your Carlos fic, so I'm here to ask for another one! The prompt I was thinking of is Carlos' s/o (gn preferably) comforting him through PTSD symptoms like a recurring nightmare or a flashback (cuz his backstory is insanely traumatic + the whole RC incident is bound to mess someone up). He's such a sweet guy who deserves more love, and I love the way you write him. I'll definitely be back for more from time to time. You both have a nice day!

Hi Anon! Thank you so much! <3 Carlos deserves so much love and I got so excited seeing another request for him! Yes, please, come back as often as those ideas hit! I can't wait to see you again (:

I hope you have a good day too! And a good week, cause you definitely made mine!

~*~*~

People never quite understand how suddenly things can change.

Movies have a build up, an obvious path from "here" to "there." The little easter eggs, the little foreshadowing, the description on the back of the case. But real life is never so simple.

A five year old could never understand why his mother pulls him from his bed in the middle of the night, tears streaming down her face. Her hushed but frantic whispering that everything would be alright as the door smashes open and hands drag both of them out into the living room.

The men, unfamiliar and smelling of sweat and blood, are just hazy silhouettes in his memories now, in his dreams. Silver moonlight glinting off their guns, mechanisms he'd glimpsed once in his older brother's hands but not knowing the name for at the time, pierce through the dark as more figures drag out the rest of his family.

As they drag out his older brother, who won't go down without a fight.

His dreams can never decide exactly how long that fight lasts. Seconds or minutes, all he knows is the blur of fists, the laughing and tauntings of the strange men, the screaming and pleading of his mother, and that one gunshot.

The gunshot that silences his mother as she wraps her body around his, as if she can hide him from the present, from the pain and confusion it'll bring. She can't cover his ears, though, as the wet thud of his lifeless brother hits the floor.

As the man with the gun aims it at his mother, quiet, dark words spitting from his mouth before he leaves, taking his gang with him.

His mother rocks, his small frame rocking with her, as she sobs into his torn and dirty shirt. As she mutters that signature "It's okay, we'll be okay," her fingers threading through his hair in an attempt to soothe.

A five year old child cannot comprehend death, killing, so he doesn't know to not look. To not peek through the curtain of his mother's hair to the heap on the floor. He doesn't understand why his brother doesn't move, why he--

But he does. It starts with a twitch of the fingers, then a spasm in the arms. Bracing his arms underneath him, his brother jerkily lifts himself up, saliva and blood dripping from his lips. And when he looks up...

It's the eyes of the dead. Milky white, skin ashen and sickly. He knows, then. Some deep, primal part of him knows that he's staring at his reaper, that his mother has no idea their deaths will come in the form of her own son, brought back by the devil himself.

His brother lunges, and he can do nothing as his mother screams, ripped away from him as blood spurts and bodies writhe as she tries to get away, as his brother clamps on with inhuman strength, teeth deep in her throat--

Carlos jerks away, air sawing into his lungs as his eyes dart about. Muscles tight, unsure if he should move or stay, he swings his head--

"Hey," comes a soft whisper. "You're alright, Carlos. You're okay."

"It'll be alright, little Carlos, we'll be okay."

Moving to stand but finding them bound, his shaking hands start yanking at the bindings.

"Carlos. Sweetie. You're in bed. You got tangled up in the blankets. You're okay. You're safe."

"Sweet little Carlos, mommy will protect you, it'll be okay."

The ripping of fabric finally makes him pause, heart slamming against his ribcage.

"Carlos. It was a dream. Just a dream. We're in bed, the doors are locked, it's just you and me."

Curling in on himself, he tries to focus on his breathing, to try not to hyperventilate.

You help walk him through it.

"Deep inhale through your nose, honey. Count to five. One. Two. Three. Four. Release. There you go. One more time. One. Two."

He follows your instructions the best he's able, clinging to the soothing sound of your voice, clinging to each count and exhale, and slowly, oh so slowly, the death grip on the ripped comforter relaxes.

"There you go. I have some water. Do you want some?"

It takes him a few seconds to nod.

"Alright. It's a glass. It's a little cool to the touch."

Shifting so he's facing you, the glass in your hand outstretched, he takes it and swallows deeply, not realizing how hot he is until the cold water slides down his chest, shocking his senses.

He puts the cool glass up against his sweat slicked forehead.

"It should be about three in the morning right now," you continue, feet tucked underneath you. "I turned on the light in the hallway and drew the right side of our curtains. I also got some towels."

Setting down the glass on his bedside table, he turns back to a hand towel laid neatly in front of your knees. Absently he reaches for it, dragging it across his brow.

"I can wet one or two if you need. Just let me know."

Exhaling, he finally attempts his voice. "I'm alright."

Deep, gravelly, haunted. He barely even recognizes it.

"I know, it's okay."

Lowering the towel, he holds out a hand, one you gingerly take. Tugging you close, he rests his forehead against the crook of your neck and inhales, the familiar, soothing scent of you wrapping around his heart.

"May I run my fingers through your hair?"

He nods. "I'm alright," he says again against your skin, the words a little more stable.

"Okay." You start at the base of his neck and run up, catching the small knots in his hair and gently working them out, nails softly scratching his scalp.

He practically melts, an arm snaking around your waist to draw you onto his lap. Wrapping your free hand around him, you rest your head against his as you keep threading your fingers through his hair, not caring how drenched in sweat he is.

Sweat can be washed off.

"When I say I'm the reason you never get any sleep," you hear him say, "I don't mean like this."

You huff a chuckle. "Nobody needs to know that. It'll remain our little secret."

There's an uncertain pause. "Thank you."

"Carlos. I told you I'd always be here for you, and I meant it." You kiss his temple. "I always mean it."

"I know. I just..." He squeezes you tight for just a moment.

You squeeze back. "We've all got our monsters under the bed. Some are just bigger than others. And thankfully, we share a bed now."

His lips brush your shoulder as he smiles. Lifting his head to place a kiss on your forehead, he moves down to your cheek, then captures your mouth.

It's soft and sweet, the kiss, the thank you that Carlos could never fully put into words. He pulls away for just a moment, to look into the eyes that have saved him time and time again, before drawing you in once more.

You place a hand against his cheek as he pulls away again, a palm he nuzzles into. The smile that blooms across your lips squeezes his heart, once again reminded of how lucky he is to hold you, kiss you, call you his.

"Think you'll be able to sleep?" you ask, the movement of your lips distracting.

"Not for a while," he replies.

"Well, we have more of that show we were watching."

He dips to your lips again and murmurs against them, "We're already in bed."

Your mouth quirk and you pull back to give him a look. "At the very least, you need to wipe all this sweat off."

The sly smirk that finds its way onto his lips feels right, a little more himself. "Just so you can get me all sweaty again?"

"So I know you're sweaty because of me," you respond without a beat, a playful grin brightening your face as you reach for a towel and smoosh his face in it.

"A cruel Majesty you are," comes the faux hurt muffled reply.

You kiss what you can only guess is his nose through the towel. "You love me though."

"I do."

Releasing the towel, your smile softens as you see the look on his face. The openness only you're allowed to witness. "Love you too, big guy."

#resident evil #carlos oliveira #carlos oliveira x reader #carlos oliveira/reader #gn reader #gender neutral reader #carlos oliveira x gn reader #carlos oliveira/gn reader

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perfectfangirl · 7 months ago

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notes after rewatching fallout s1 ep2

• dogmeat's introduction 🥺 • the enclave being shown as supremely evil because how could you incinerate live puppies 😭 • i want more backstory on siggi because i am curious if this is change of heart or like a mole • the super mutant hand needs to go from easter egg to reality next season forreal • i noticed siggi was drinking whiskey? to numb the pain of putting that cold fusion chip in his head--- i also wonder if he was drinking because he knew he wasn't going to make it • saw on reddit someone asking so it's the enclave who has cold fusion? and i'm still a bit confused about that because... i was thinking moldaver had something to do with its creation but then siggi knew exactly who lucy was... if the enclave is supposed to be a continuation of the pre war us government, then it feels like there's more tying the enclave and vault tec together than i thought

• in the escape scene, it seems like the other scientist knew siggi was betraying the enclave, but how? if they have cold fusion, was it obvious he was "stealing" it and trying to give it to someone else? maybe i have gaps in my knowledge here • siggi genuinely does seem like he's trying to do the right thing though 🥲 • dogmeat seeing that guy try to harm siggi and dogmeat fuckin' him up ❤️ • game dogmeat being referred sometimes as a boy and show dogmeat being a girl lol [love the gender doesn't matterism here gldfgld]

• the people who are enslaved work at the enclave being held there and escape meaning death • if these are namibia scenes where lucy is trekking, they are breathtaking, wonderful worldbuilding • lucy seeing a tumbleweed for the first time and going "the heck?" but then i like, remember she doesn't really know what "wind" is 😭 [and this also subverts the "tumbleweed blowing in the wind through a desert or desolate place" trope, i'm sorry but this a masterclass in comedy lmao] • her coming across some bodies but this time skeletons at a dinner table, a family of four i believe, all having taken poison, vault tech brand [a chilling scene but fallout is known for their hilariously placed skeletions so there's one with a cup of dirt in front of it] • probably the first time lucy is being confronted by hank and/or vault tec's lies, depending • lucy setting a [camp] fire, and me recognizing immediately it was a bad move [i watch too much stuff 💀] • i honestly' can't believe she took off her pip boy • dogmeat finding lucy 🥺 • it was destiny in so many ways because dogmeat is tearing that radroach the fuck up • siggi giving like a monologue in the most unsettling voice ever was so funny to me • siggi trying to tell her these animals [if you can call them that] up there are insane and genuinely in the nicest way possible trying to tell her she should go home • "question is, will you still want the same things when you have become a different animal altogether?" is some crazy foreshadowing • the cold fusion capsule glowing as he walks away • lord titus being an asshole and maximus doing the same to thaddeus lmao • lord titus "wanting to shoot something" and his stupidity leading to his own demise • [i like neither lord titus or the actor that plays him so dkfsdkgd] • dogmeat going into the yao guai den and coming back with a hand like it was sharing it with them 😭 • maximus being continuously disrespected and knocked down a peg, he doesn't deserve this 😞 • insane how close and somehow inadvertently hot on the trail lord titus and maximus was for siggi and dogmeat • learning squires appears to be a dime a dozen and that's one reason lord titus sent maximus deeper into the cave, the other is that he was scared • maximus seemed to be both disillusioned and struck with fear watching the yao guai attack lord titus--- so it was almost breathtakingly offensive when lord titus decided to blame maximus for everything and wanting him like, court martialed almost for this incident, despite maximus being small of gun and armourless, despite them both being scared, lord titus blames maximus for lord titus' own failings • "this wasteland fucking sucks!" love that running motif • anyways glad that guy died, next! • lmao this very disgusting man in a diaper or something being thankful lucy didn't shoot him but also drinking all her water 😭 • lucy getting a taste of wasteland selfishness and desperation gdfgdgfd • maximus belongs in a power suit • this chicken fucking man having the elixir to immortality or regeneration or whatever it is 😭 • and the chicken farmer, in a cameo, is a makeup designer and props department person 🙂 • in a beautiful shot, it looks like lucy is in the famous car forest or a replica of it • her trying to be convivial and people just not having it 😢 • filly is very fallout and i assume gamers enjoyed this scene because • everyone is in bizarre and comical mad max style outfits, iguana meat, giving metaton vibes • so i just read filly was named because it's a landfill but also there's the fact it was filmed in an airplane and automobile graveyard outside new jersey [close to philadelphia] and that there is a fillmore, california • also saw where it's modeled to look a lot like megaton and i thought this on first viewing • i didn't even realize cooper was already shown sitting and waiting, the crossing of paths was crazy • lucy seeing degeneracy first hand 💀 • lucy seeing weird shit and smiling because she, too, is weird

• cooper mysteriously and sexily watching from afar after cornering his bounty • "barv get in here" not ma june calling her friend to come and point and laugh at lucy • moldaver being ma june's client and that's why she shuts lucy down so fast after she asks about that pip boy • ma june saying lucy got all ten fingers, damn the writers were so • "i know that it can't have been easy for you up here, what with all the murder and the dirt" lmao lucy please • lucy realising vault tec's demonic saviour complex is very hard to preach about to wastelanders, people who have survived for centuries and without the help of the vaulties • lucy really is from the rich part of town because ma june was so insulted by her lies, she took her gun out • cooper, siggi, lucy intersecting was so crazy though • kind of wondering why siggi didn't wear a disguise as a wanted man • siggi trying to be nice and warning lucy to leave versus ma june harshly reminding cooper him and his ghoul kind aren't wanted in filly • getting chills that siggi is explaining to lucy what her vault experiment basically was as i didn't see it as that on first watch • siggi was telling her to go home because if someone smart realized who she was or where she came from, all hell would break loose • ok so cooper says the bounty went out from all six agencies but i could only think of three, wondering who they all are • ma june mentions she was given caps for siggi's safe transport out of filly, cooper mentioning a bidding war, is that why he shot siggi's leg clean off [probably did because bounty was dead or alive] • ma june getting people clipped by putting caps on whoever can take cooper down first 😭 • cooper smiling as all them people descend on him because this is the "the love of the game" shit he was talkin' bout 😭💀 • "all this murder makin' me hungry" cooper essentially • him eating those cherry tomatoes and then paying for them 🥲 • almost forgot cooper actually did get shot multiple times and kept goin', ghouls are somethin' else • noticing cooper gave ma june a nonlethal leg shot versus basically sending siggi to his demise with his • cooper stabbing not shooting dogmeat • cooper was about to shoot but lucy's candor and morality was a breath of fresh air, he was so shook lmao • he was so charmed, he kept walking, leaving him open to her shooting him in quite literally his heart [ok symbolism] 😭, smiling and everything • "well now that is a very small drop in a very, very large bucket of drugs" lmaooo they created ultrajet for ghouls because jet isn't strong enough for them • lucy being immediately impressed with the t60 • i hate maximus had to lie because this was so "knight in shining armour" but why did he reveal his face to lucy knowing if the brotherhood of steel had found out this early about what he did, he'd be dead meat like • cooper almost shot that girl like three times ldgld • i genuinely think the tranquilizer effected him but just a teensy bit • siggi saying he could still make the trip and ma june saying he'd be lucky to make it to breakfast ☹️ • jim's limbs has be cracking up every time • them installing that robo leg onto siggi is the most gory and disgusting scene to me and i hope it gets worse • something oddly sweet about siggi saying lucy can take him to moldaver after nearly begging lucy to go back home for her own safety, she put her life on the line to save him 😞 • cooper getting mopped by maximus in that power suit sends • i didn't realize after maximus made cooper fall, cooper says "goddamn, that hurt" 😭 • "you drive that thing like a fucking shopping cart" and it's a power suit gldgfld • that snake oil salesman really was telling the truth, he maybe could've healed siggi • cooper petting dogmeat while giving them a stimpak, cooper showing a genuine smile while doing so • siggi really lost too much blood and i thought this back in filly • siggi saying the cynanide pill from vault tec was the most humane thing they produced, pre war was a dark time

#fallout #fallout show #the ghoul #cooper #lucy #maximus #the target #ghoulcy #text post #my meanderings

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darishima · 1 year ago

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i'm sure somebody else has posted about this already but here's an analysis of all the wanted posters at the end of the new one piece live action trailer!!

alvida's the most obvious one of course. below hers you can see part of a foxy wanted poster, and another poster i'll get to later

this one was interesting, we're not gonna see bellamy this season, probably not even the next one (unless they change his introduction to be sooner?) but it was an awesome touch, his actor looks great

this one was FASCINATING actually, cavendish reveal THIS EARLY?? he's not gonna show up for another, like, 26 arcs. he was cast insanely well though like. god damn that really is cavendish couldn't have gotten a better actor

this, again, was really interesting? foxy's not gonna show up for a while either, why bother casting him now? what is shown of his face looks great, though, and by "great" i mean "absolutely fucking stupid." as it should

the wanted poster next to foxy is completely torn, but i'm pretty sure it's buggy? the poster is slightly blurry in the trailer so this is the best screencap of it i could get, but its clearly got some orange/red and a yellowish border like his hat, and i think those two tiny white spots by the black border might be the edge of his jolly roger?

here's a screencap of his hat from the same trailer, and it seems to match up. i mean, im doing this off a couple of pixels of color so it's hard to tell, but having his wanted poster up would make sense at this point in the story so i'm going with it

this poster is near cavendish's, and it's super small and only part of it is shown but it clearly says "ONG" so i'm pretty certain this is arlong's poster

this poster is by foxy's, and at first i thought it was another poster of bellamy but the shirt area doesn't seem to match up. comparing the blue background color and the white shirt stripe on the right side, it looks similar to arlong's poster, so i think it's another of him

this poster is below alvida's and uh. honestly i have no clue who this is. it doesn't look anything like the other posters we're shown in this shot and there's not nearly enough of it shown to make a guess on which character's it is, so idk. if you have an idea on who this could be please lmk in the reblogs/comments

i almost had a heart attack when i saw this propaganda poster, i saw "EAD DISEASE" and thought it said "amber lead disease" for half a second but no. it says "pirates spread disease" :( thought we were getting law foreshadowing </3

also, with cavendish, bellamy's, and foxy's posters all being shown this early, i wonder if their introduction will come sooner?? because like, the other posters are alvida, arlong, and buggy (probably), all characters who are prominent characters at this point in the story, but cavendish doesn't show up until DRESSROSA. why is he here? also, foxy's from the south blue, bellamy's from the north blue, and cavendish is from the grand line. why are their wanted posters in the east blue, and not somebody currently plot-relevant and location-relevant, like don krieg or other members of arlong's crew? the only reasons i can think of are that their introductions are changed to be much sooner. not sure how that would work with cavendish but it wouldn't be too hard to have foxy or bellamy show up sooner for some reason. or, the more likely reason, it's just easter eggs for the hardcore fans. like me. who spent way too long analyzing like three pixels of color to see if a wanted poster was buggy's. (which is really cool but the logic of why a northern, southern, and grand line pirates' wanted posters are here in the east blue doesn't really make any sense but hey)

also, look at koby <3 he's so cute i love him so much

#reblogs are super appreciated btw i spent way too long making this post #one piece #one piece live action #op live action #opla #one piece analysis #one piece theories #op netflix #one piece netflix #casey post

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majorsoapfan · 4 months ago

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⭐️🥰

Ok, since I've been given the license to choose, I'm going to give you the director's cut about my interpretation of Festus and Coral's relationship. The fic that I'm focusing on for this is Play At Your Own Risk, however for every canon-ish AU that I've written, am in the process of writing or have plans to write, where there is a focus on Festus and Coral's dynamic, I do follow the same dynamic so to speak (so they've definitely been on my mind for a while).

This is going to be very long, but you asked for the director's cut so, you've been warned.

Now, in terms of Festus and Coral's dynamic, at least from what I've shown in my works so far, the paragraphs from 'Play At Your Own Risk' that can sum up their relationship dynamic, in particular, Festus' thoughts towards Coral, is this:

'Then finally, came the Mentors. She knew that they were coming because if the songbird had gotten one, then it was reasonable to assume that so would everyone. Although if she had had the choice, then she would rather have no Mentor at all rather than the one she had gotten. Because hers was a creep. A complete and utter creep, who made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and a shiver run down her spine as she observed the way that he had looked at her, the gestures he made towards her, the words he used to describe her.

She had always thought that the Capitol saw the Districts as something less than human, not quite people like they were, but she was pretty sure that her Mentor didn’t even see her as that. To him, she was probably at best, an object, a possession, something for him to shape and mould in any way that he desired.'

And I'll admit, my inspiration for this stemmed from both the movie and book and from a gifset I saw here on Coral and Festus' first meeting in the film, where the creator made a mistake and had put 'desirable' instead of 'marketable' in Festus' lines. However, I'll admit, it took me a while to realise that it was a mistake, simply because 'desirable' didn't look too different or too off from what Festus had said, and if I hadn't seen the movie, and had just seen that gifset when going by my knowledge of the characters in the book alone, then I genuinely could have seen Festus saying desirable in the film and it looking natural.

Because both 'marketable' and 'desirable' both have connecting factors in what the Mentors are aiming to do with their tributes during the 10th Hunger Games. Their project after all, is for their tribute to be entertaining, therefore it would be obvious to Festus (in his own mind at least) that he needs to market Coral to the Capitol (marketable), he needs to make them want her or want to see her (desirable), otherwise he won't stand a chance at winning the Prize.

I'll admit that the word choice used in the film also felt to me a little like foreshadowing/an easter egg for the audience when referencing to how the tributes are basically marketed to the Capitol in the later Games, with the Capitol population starting to desire the more physically attractive Victors (Finnick, Cashmere, Johanna). Especially when one thinks about Finnick, who was also from District 4, seems to have been 'marketed' as 'desirable', at least after his victory.

(I also headcanon that Coral is actually related to Finnick, through his maternal side. That she's his grandaunt [her brother being Finnick's maternal grandfather] - there's no basis for this really than my own crazy mind connecting dots that aren't there. And if you believe the headcanon that Mags and Coral were friends/romantically involved before Coral was Reaped - which I do, it makes Mags and Finnick's bond that much sadder on Mags side as she would have Mentored Finnick through his Games, haunted by the reminder that she lost a relative of his, someone who was very close to her and she loved deeply, to the Games as well. And then by the time the 75th Games roll around, all of Finnick's family seem to be dead, making Finnick her last living connection to Coral. Finnick's Games and subsequent victory also would have haunted both Festus and Persephone then if they were still alive at the time as both of them would have seen their own dead tribute in him [Coral - family ties and Mizzen - youth and gender] and would have been reminded of their own failures towards their tributes whenever they saw him.)

Admittedly, all of that are just my wild thoughts so please feel free to just write me off as crazy.

However, crazy thoughts or not, it has influenced the way that I write Festus and Coral's relationship, as it highlights the power dynamic that is in place here between the two in the fic (and really any canon setting AU that I write).

Because as Coral hit right on the head in the paragraphs from the fic, Festus doesn't truly see her as a person. He doesn't truly consider her as a human being with her own thoughts and opinions. Right now, he sees her at worst, as an object or a product that he can advertise or market any way he wishes, or at best, an inferior being or animal that he can train and who will act exactly as he tells her to, regardless of whether or not that's who Coral personally is and her own thoughts about this situation and his ideas (another hint to the future fate of the tributes and victors by the time of the Hunger Games trilogy, how they're forced to adopt a marketing strategy so to speak in their interviews to try and get sponsors to help them survive the Arena regardless of their actual personalities and how many of the Victors might have fake personas that they present to the Capitol after they win to protect the last bit of individuality and self that they have from the greedy and entitled grips of the Capitol).

As far as Festus is concerned, Coral has no say, no right to voice an opposing opinion to his plans. She has no choice and he will be making the decisions from here on out when it comes to her well-being and for or the Games.

And then, what makes it worse for Coral here is that Festus can. He has the power to do exactly that. He has the power and the control to mould Coral in any way he wishes. And if Coral wants to give herself a fighting chance at survival (or to give Mizzen the best chance, which means she needs to keep herself in the best shape possible), then she can't go against him. She can't tell him no or try to fight back and/or argue with him.

Festus holds all the cards in this situation. The cards that could spell the difference between Coral's life and death here in the Capitol. Coral after all, is a starving kidnapped child, who is being chained and locked up, with guns being pointed at her constantly, away from her home and her family, with the looming knowledge that death will more than likely be coming for her, as well as trying to look out for Mizzen to in this dangerous environment for them both.

Festus on the other hand, is older than her (only by two years, yes, but as he's eighteen, he is legally an adult, whereas Coral is sixteen it seems and a minor). He is a member of an influential Capitol family and has freedom, perks, powers and comforts that Coral would never have even back in District 4 and as her Mentor holds her life in his hands, holds power over her and she knows this deep down even if she refuses to admit it in the fic.

Because to admit it, would mean admitting that she is vulnerable, that for the first time in her life, she is unable to defend herself and almost entirely dependent on the mercy of a stranger who she has no reason to believe would be merciful. And for someone like Coral, that is agony.

And in 'Play At Your Own Risk', Coral has no trust that Festus will truly help her survive the Games, so Coral needs to take care of herself.

I tried to show to this in particular through the topic of food, the main focus of the fic. Throughout 'Play At Your Own Risk', Coral is watching as the other tributes, already starving, battle between giving in and performing for food, chance that the Capitol citizens might be willing to simply hand it over without giving them something in return, or stubbornly hold on for a little longer. At first she resists going to the visitors to try and obtain food for as long as she can, but after her first meeting with Festus, where she hadn't received anything from him, hunger wins out and she tries her luck with the visitors when she gets back to the zoo.

Because she knows now that she can't count on Festus for help.

After all, technically Festus as her Mentor, should be invested in making sure she's well fed if she's going to have a chance at winning the Games. But that's not what the Mentors are interested in. Not really, going by the requirements of their project. As theoretically, Coral doesn't have to be the last one standing in the Arena for Festus to win (obviously though, the longer your tribute lives, the better your chances at winning. Now admittedly, their tribute living until the end and being entertaining seems to have been slowly intertwined in the quest for the Prize when it hadn't been originally going by the project's aims), she just needs to have been the most entertaining.

There's the difference.

Once again, tying back to Festus' first words to her in the film, he wants to win, therefore she needs to be marketable. She needs to be entertaining. Living until the very end? Maybe.

And for the Mentors, their competition started at the Reaping, they're already competing, therefore they want their tributes to put on a show. To entertain the crowds. Win them that prize. And it's possible that Mentors like Vipsania and possibly Androcles, deliberately didn't feed their tributes at the Zoo to make them perform for it in front of the citizens, as it would make them entertaining and memorable and therefore would better their chances at winning. Who's to say then that Festus hadn't considered the possibility too?

Festus, like Vipsania, seems to be competitive. He canonically likes dogfights and considered that betting on the Hunger Games would liven things up, hinting that he often betted himself. He also wanted Coral to do well in the Games, both for the Prize and for his own glory and had clearly been thinking of ways to achieve that prior to meeting her. Henceforth the way that Coral describes his behaviour towards her in their first meeting in the fic, the way he makes her feel and how he sees her as an object to control.

Festus wants Coral to win him the Prize, but when he first met her had never considered bringing her food to help keep her strength up for her to fulfil the task (not saying that she would, but logic would rule that a well-fed tribute would have the energy to be entertaining over a weaker and starving one). His reasoning for which I didn't show as Coral obviously wouldn't know and wasn't about to ask. I also left it unclear as to how much Coral knows about the Mentor's project/Prize (i.e. be entertaining), but at the end of that meeting, she knows enough:

Festus holds her life in his hands, she is subconsciously aware of this even if she doesn't voice it. Festus could be the key to her survival in the Games, but the same time she holds no trust that he'll actually help her. After all, he never gave her food, while she furiously notes that other Mentors did.

And in doing so or not doing so, Festus lost the only opportunity that Coral might be willing to give to him in terms of trust. Therefore by going to try and obtain food from the visitors at the zoo after, she's trying to make herself less vulnerable/at his mercy.

Coral might be powerless to stop Festus from 'marketing' her to the Capitol, but by trying to get food from the visitors without performing and not waiting and hoping for Festus to show up, she is trying to make herself less dependent on him and reduce the power that he holds over her well-being.

She has no reason to trust that he has her best interests at heart after all.

Now that's not to say that I think that Festus would be nothing but a horrible monster to Coral either. He has a softer side to him too after all (in the book as the film tried to erase it); he was one of the kinder classmates to Sejanus which had been considered unusual due to Sejanus' isolation from his peers due to being from the Districts and he was initially angry with Clemensia for not feeding Reaper in the Arena, even though a starving Reaper would be to Coral's and therefore his own, advantage. And I think after Coral's death, in the film especially, Festus would be haunted by her ghost and her last words for the rest of his life.

And Coral in the book clearly developed some trust towards him as she does ask for and receive food from him when she was in the Arena, so an understanding clearly had been reached between them. But Coral, as of the end of 'Play At Your Own Risk', and many of my other fics, has not reached that point in her relationship with Festus and therefore has no reason to trust someone from the Capitol who views her as a possession or something to control will actually help her.

I hope that makes sense.

#the ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosas #coral #coral tbosas #festus creed #asks #ask game #play at your own risk

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beyonddarkness · 2 years ago

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Hi. There's mixed information for and against the Witch King being a black Numenorian but who knows, Tolkien kept changing his mind. There's some strong evidence, however in the Silmarillian, chapter Akallabeth, "Sauron was ever guileful, and it is said that among those whom he ensnared with the 9 rings, 3 were great lords of Numenorean race." So I guess we will never know 100%. Some believe since the Witch King is least afraid of water that he is Numenorean. Interesting.

If nothing is random, and everything has a purpose, then we can also look at: 1. Theo's and Galadriel's encounter with each other. Does it move him in a positive direction? It must mean something. 2. These characters settle by future Gondor. Isildur is also in Middle Earth now. So we can look at it through that lens. 3. The Faithful will also settle in this location. On this show if every little thing means something, the door is open to many possibilities. Theo Witch King, possible. Or not.

Also, Sauron death glare at Elendil in episode 3, so blatantly obvious, even when I didn't know he was Sauron. Sauron death glare at Arondir, the jury's out on that one. I rewatched all scenes several times and did not specifically see it. I am trying to, believe me. I love your observations but for show only characters there are too many possibilities available using the Easter eggs we are given. It can go in several directions and Easter eggs don't clear the way for 1 specific result.😀

Yes, isn't it great? There are so many possibilities!

Even though the phrase "it is said" could be viewed as ambiguous, I think there is an extremely high chance that we will see three Númenóreans receive some rings. I am really interested in spotting foreshadowing, and the shot below looks like a subtle piece of foreshadowing in the direction of what you quoted from the Akallabêth:

"Yet Sauron was ever guileful, and it is said that among those whom he ensnared with the Nine rings, three were great lords of Númenórean race."

"Take it."

(Not saying Tamar and his buddies are those Númenóreans; they're just guys. But the below exchange between Valandil and Sauron is pretty scary. Just saying! Not definitively suggesting that Valandil is going to get a ring. I haven't thought that much about it. But you know. Talk about foreshadowing. haha)

---------------------------------

You're right about the dynamic between Galadriel and Theo being loaded with significance. I don't know if the association itself guarantees a happy ending for Theo, although there certainly is a chance that her advice will get him out of pesky situations; he may go back and forth. Being around Galadriel, Isildur, the Faithful, and even Bronwyn and Arondir, is nothing to sniff at.

But I mentioned before how Theo says a bunch of things that show that his gaze isn't in the right direction. I think the most obvious example is in his conversation with Galadriel, when he says, "What light?" Meanwhile, Bronwyn told him before to "find the light," and he's apparently failing to do so.

He certainly ended on a high note in Season 1, but he is very vulnerable to Sauron's deceit in the future. I'm jumping headfirst into the shallow end by saying that he is going to be the Witch King, because I know how far-fetched it sounds. But 1) he's a main character, 2) he's vulnerable, 3) he's gazing downward into the vast and irresistible darkness of the water, and 4) I thought that Halbrand being Sauron was far-fetched, and look where that got me. Nothing is out of the realm of possibilities anymore (although there may be many said possibilities).

Food for thought: at Comic Con, before the show came out, Lindsey Weber said that Galadriel's armor was "a gift from someone else." That's a strong indication that Sauron (the Lord of Gifts) made her armor, but in addition to making her armor, he would have made that sword.

That might be one reason why Galadriel had to stop and think before giving it to Theo; at that point, she thought Halbrand had died on her account... making that sword a gift from a fallen friend.

In any case, we know that Sauron touching things (let alone crafting things) is not a good thing. The following quotations are just two indications:

"Sauron was become now a sorcerer of dreadful strength, misshaping what he touched, twisting what he ruled [...]" (Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin).

Galadriel: "The powers we forge today must be for the Elves alone, untouched by other hands" (1x08)

The fact that Sauron made that sword, which is now Theo's, seems pretty suspect to me. Theo already had a 'sword [hilt]' made by Sauron, and it had made him feel powerful. Once he no longer had possession of the hilt, he didn't just feel guilt, but loss. And now he has ANOTHER sword made by Sauron.

The kid can't catch a break!

Not to mention, Sauron steadily watched Theo walk by, right after Galadriel said to keep the sword.

---------------------------------

Speaking of death glares, you're right about the death glare Sauron gave when he hugged Elendil (assuming that's the one you're referring to; if you mean another one, let me know)...

...then yes, it's blatantly obvious. His death glare at Arondir is a little less obvious, sure, but it's pretty conspicuous if you consider the context. I can't put my finger on it, but something about Arondir's explanation of how Sauron was found (and the way he says it) is odd.

Is it vague? Too specific? Does it sound like something that someone might say if they made a deal to leave certain information undisclosed?

I don't know.

But it's off.

Arondir: "Southlanders found him on the road like this yestereve." Sauron: [glares at Arondir before lifting his gaze up to Galadriel]

We won't know what happened for sure until Season 2, so you can decide what it means (or does not mean).

---------------------------------

I admit, I'm a bit confused about the "Easter eggs" thing.

I've always considered Easter eggs to be fun elements hidden here and there, with no purpose or significance in the story, just nods to fans or the general audience. By that definition, I didn't think I was paying attention to that at all, since Patrick said:

"We’re not really coming from a place of wanting to add Easter eggs, although that’s there too. We’re coming from a place of wanting to create something that is as visually sumptuous and rich as those books are, literarily. If you like the show, hopefully, maybe you’ll watch it again and you’ll notice all kinds of new things, whether it’s something in the dialogue, or something in the set design, or something in the costuming, that is hopefully communicating a whole other layer of meaning. And if you’re a fan, there’s no end to the deep dive you could be doing. We wanted the show to be something that rewarded reviewing. We wanted the show to be rich and layered and overwhelming. The way you do that is to just keep adding ideas. And when you’re dealing with Middle-earth, there’s no end to how far you could go."

In my observations, if there is something from the book that ties into something in the show, I always frame my thought process with the presumption that it is not a mere nod to the fans, but carries real weight in the story. And sometimes, a character might be aware of something in the book (particularly The Silmarillion), as if it's written history, depending on when it takes place.

I don't know if that's the kind of Easter egg you're referring to, so I may be totally missing something here.

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writingquestionsanswered · 2 years ago

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Hello, I have a character in my story who is an AI that pretends to be a human talking through the protagonist's tv. I was wondering how I should go about foreshadowing/hinting at the AI not actually being a human so that the reveal of them actually being an AI doesn't feel like it comes out of nowhere and is actually believable.

One way you can do this is through your protagonist's initial doubts. You can create a sort of red herring effect by having your protagonist point out the obvious problems with this character actually being human, then knock them down one by one with what appears to be "proof" that the character IS in fact human. Or, at least, the character genuinely coming to believe the proof. (An alternative would be to have the AI point out these doubts themselves in a sort of, "Look, I know it seems like I couldn't be human because X, X, X, and X, but try to see the magic here..." kind of thing. Then have your character push back, but then slowly start to believe as they see those bits of "proof" delivered.) Doing one or the other of these sets things up for the tablecloth to be yanked later on, because the reader can look back and say... wow... this was all handed to me on a silver platter but I chose to get roped into the lie right along with the protagonist.

The other thing you can do is drop very subtle hints in things the AI character says or does that might indicate they're not actually human. The most subtle of these can be almost like Easter eggs, there for the reader to notice or not. Others can be noticed by the protagonist but quickly explained away by the AI or by the protagonist who is already convinced of the AI's humanity.

And you don't want to go overboard with these hints. You just want to drop them in here and there so once the reveal happens, the reader can retroactively connect the dots and see it should have been obvious the whole time.

The trick is to convince the reader of the AI's humanity just the way the AI convinces the protagonist of their humanity. You want both the protagonist and reader to be equally fooled, even if there's the tiniest seed of doubt in both of their minds.

I hope that helps!

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dalchiid · 2 years ago

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I woke up in the middle of the night, couldn’t sleep, discovered chapter 17 of Covetous in one of my saved tags, started reading it, finished the chapter, couldn’t get enough, started reading chapter 16, finished that too, and instantly knew I had to read everything from the beginning. Can I just say the way you write is absolutely brilliant. Even though I read chapters 17 and 16 first, I still failed to noticed how Hoseok had y/n completely wrapped around his pretty little fingers the moment he laid eyes on her (until of course it was too late and she had already fallen into his trap). And how he completely fooled the Baek’s (even bringing his brothers into the plan) to get y/n exactly where he wanted her. I’m so amazed that after reading all 17 chapters I went back to re-read all the interactions between Hoseok and y/n to see if I missed anything. The details you incorporated of his facial expressions, and even his actions when he wasn’t the main focus of the scene. Although it’s more obvious once you realize Hoseok’s plan was a success, it’s fascinating to see how completely subtle yet precise he was with executing his plan. Truly a sheep in wolf’s clothing who constantly waited for the perfect moment to pounce on his prey time and time again. Right from chapter 1 your allusion and foreshadowing to Hoseok’s plan is impeccable. For example, when I found out about the saliva, Seokjin’s statement about Hoseok being “good at changing the minds of others” was delightful to recall, it felt like finding a little Easter egg. And there’s so many “aha” moments like that sprinkled throughout the story. I want to kiss your brain so bad.

I’m curious to know where y/n’s new motivations will stem from now, besides escaping of course. The biggest catalyst for her past actions was “fear of Hyun-woo finding out”. Well now that he’s out of the picture I guess she’ll be moving with a “fear of Hoseok finding out”. I’m also curious to know more about Hoseok’s relationships with his brothers and how that will affect his relationship with y/n. Seokjin and Jungkook are obviously well aware of who she belongs to (seeing as they were in on the whole plan) and don’t seem to have the same saliva + mind control powers. However, what of the others? Especially troublemaker Jimin hahah. Though I doubt Hoseok feels threatened towards him the way he did with Hyun-woo. I also don’t think any of his brothers would dare try to steal what’s his (seeing as they all respect one another enough to never keep secrets) but it’s fun to think about the possible implications of them exacerbating Hoseok’s possessiveness and obsession of y/n even more.

I love this story so much and I am very much looking forward to chapter 18’s release. Thank you for writing such a masterpiece! Take care and I hope you’re having an amazing day when you read this <3

Oh my god you're so sweet 🥺 Everything you typed out means a lot to me as a writer and I really appreciate it.

As for the brothers, without giving up too much information, each one has something about them that we're not going to like. Jungkook with his disinterest with helping someone in need of help and ultimately enabling Hoseok to do as he pleases along with Seokjin. Yoongi was confused but ultimately didn't care and just went along with whatever Hoseok said. The only one that has shown a lick of something negative is Taehyung when he goes from excited to meeting Y/N to something else when Jimin mentions she's Hoseok's "girlfriend." His story will flesh out more in future chapters as well as the rest of the group. As for Jimin he's done a lot of things he shouldn't have done and it's why he's considered the troublemaker. He's still doing said things and Y/N will find out the truth about him at some point. I've planted two important bits of information about him throughout the story but it'll make sense soon enough. And everyone will learn more about the guys over time. In the quest for freedom Y/N is going to find out about a lot things she would rather have not known about.

Again though thank you so much 💜💜 I hope you have an amazing day too!

#covetous #ask

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last-ofthe-starks · 2 years ago

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HOTD episode 4

Some thoughts and Easter eggs:

WHAT A DOOSEY THIS ONE WAS

The choice for a female director for this episode was SO KEY. I cannot stress this enough.

Daemon and Rhaenyra chemistry is next level. I mean, wow. We open on a shot of the necklace Daemon gifted her. Having given her that necklace, it is now clear that Daemon made the first move of power over her; he exists in the back of her mind while we meets potential suiters. The excitement on her face when she sees Daemon is priceless, and tells you that she’s completely enamored by him.

When Rhaenyra is playing Westeros’ version of the Bachelorette, we see Storms End for the first time, and a member of the House Blackwood and Bracken. These are two family’s who “helped” Aegon during the conquest but absolutely detest one another. These are two houses we did not see in GOT but it’s always fun to be introduced formally to another family in this world.

Viserys really plays up his power as King when Daemon shows up. He makes a point to fill the hall, have his sword by his side, and dress up for his arrival in order to project his power and reaffirm his dominance over him. What is great though, is that despite all that and the time that has passed, Daemon still walks in like he owns the place.

Daemon and Viserys’ reunion highlights Viserys’ greatest strength and weakness: his love for Daemon. We know he deeply loves his brother, you can see how much happier he is when Daemon is there; joking and jesting with him. It’s a side to him we haven’t seen. But he is weak as Daemon says, and unable to detect Otto and Daemon’s motives every time he comes back. Daemon plays him like a fiddle.

Daemon with short hair.. wooooooie. Also, Matt Smith’s jaw bone could cut glass. He just exudes confidence. His reunion with Viserys is heavy but reiterates to us again how tangled and complex the brothers relationship truly is. He is back to gain his brothers favor again and this time an older Rhaenyra is a chess piece. My favorite shot was when Daemon was walking towards the throne and Rhaenyra mirrored him in the crowd, walking beside him but not together yet.

Alicent is positioned as an outsider a few times this episode, trying desperately to get back into the good graces of the Targaryen’s but struggling under the weight that position inevitably brings. Every time she tries to connect with Rhaenyra it’s obvious the disconnect these two have at their core. Alicent was born into thinking her only job was to be in court. Rhaenyra strives for more. Unlike the books you can really see her struggling to maintain a relationship with Rhaenyra and do the right thing by everyone. Their conversations this episode are great foreshadowing for when the two of them eventually breaking free of confines and tradition in their own ways.

We learn Corlys is speaking with house of Bravos and the rush to marry Rhaenyra to build strong alliances becomes all the more rushed. We also see that Rhaenyra is no longer a cup bearer, which FINALLY.

Daemon and Rhaenyra speaking in high valerian is such a wonderful detail that makes their interactions so beautiful and significant. They truly enter their own world when speaking. Partner that with their letters and secret meetings, and it’s no wonder they are so close. Rhaenyra white lied and swore on the memory of her mother in order to protect her and Daemon’s relationship, that is significant.

This episode reiterates what I love about this story, because the show, not the book, is able to dictate what is cannon for the first time. The book is told in the third person by multiple sources, so the moments we read about that seem so simple or one sided are now given great context and meaning. In the books Daemon bringing Rhaenyra out into the city and to brothels which simply put seemed crass (and is definitely effed up by todays standards), but in this episode we can also see how he was strengthening her character by exposing her to the realities and possibilities of the real world she was expected to rule. By showing her how the common folk feel about their family, I’d argue he is teaching her how important their opinions are, and how to be a better listener and ruler.

Rhaenyra sees people having sex for pleasure, while we see Alicent has only ever known being at Viserys’ beck and call in a loveless marriage. Daemon tells her women should be equals in control of their own pleasure, and we see that in her marriage Alicent is quite isolated and alone with no voice. The juxtaposition here was quite jarring.

Daemon 1000% got spooked by Rhaenyra kissing him back like she did. He lost his control and power over the situation, she took it, and he bolted. So much was said without words in that moment.

The writers are very clearly (and quickly) trying to show how Rhaenyra and Criston became closer in the year time jump since last episode. He seems much softer with her at the beginning of the episode. You can understand that he would be the closest person she has next to Daemon and can understand how her seeking pleasure with him could have happened organically. At the very least, she loses her maidenhead with someone she trusted and someone who cared for her too. This is a departure from the books where public perception was that Criston Cole rejected Rhaenyra and she loses her maidenhead to Breakbones.

When Rhaenyra is with Daemon, she maintains eye contact with him the entire time. When she is with Criston Cole, she does not. When they zoom in on her face after her and Criston are finished, she is not looking at him but beyond him over his shoulder. This is a great way to reiterate that she did not want Criston like she wants Daemon, she only wanted to use him for her own pleasure.

I know it is expected that Otto would have spies as hand of the King, but he still sucks so much. The way he delivers the news about her and Daemon is so calculated and the phrasing is purposefully done so that Rhaenyra looks bad. And I am SO GLAD Viserys made comments back to him accusing of being so ambitious that he would spy upon Rhaenyra, awaiting the moment to make her look bad. That said, Daemon and Rhaenyra were not very subtle, and that was clearly Daemon’s intention here. Again, he is a morally grey character!

Having Daemon screwed over by Mysaria was a nice nod to the books. She becomes a character similar to Verys. And has found agency as a woman that does not involve reproducing or using her body. Watching her exchange money with what we presume is a little bird is a nice detail we will see again no doubt.

The Daemon and Viserys confrontation scene is SO GOOD. SO GOOD.

Daemon is not a nice dude, we know that he has self serving motives and that at the end of the day he is untrustworthy. We know that he is using Rhaenyra to get back at his brother in a twisted way, because otherwise he would have denied having slept with her, and he doesn’t. But I do think he loves her, in the most complicated way ever.

Daemon asking Viserys to wed Rhaenyra is interpreted as an obvious bid to get closer to the throne, but I disagree. His earlier comments about being married for duty, but maintaining the ability to do what you want is important within your marriage are important here. He mentions wanting to restore their house to the same glory it had under Aegon’s rule; Aegon had two wives (like Daemon would if he wed Rhaenyra). It was said Aegon married his older sister for duty, and younger sister for love. Perhaps that is Daemon’s true intention as well. At the end of the day I don’t think he wants the throne, he wants his family protected and put in the best position to rule.

The Catspaw Dagger scene. Truly gave me chills. Viserys references previous owners of the dagger and one of them is Aegon (the man is mentioned constantly). This scene is a great way to make Rhaenyra come to terms and agreement with the benefits of arranged marriages, especially after her talks with Daemon. She must set herself up to succeed because being hair goes beyond her feelings, she now carry’s the prophesy with her, and that is the most important thing now.

Viserys and Otto scene. SO GOOD. I could watch Viserys remote that pin all day. This was the episode that we finally saw Viserys have a spine. We also see that despite their struggling relationship, Rhaenyra still has her fathers ear and influence. She quite easily convinces her father to finally be done with Otto and his untrustworthiness, something we know he’s recognized and thought but has not yet had the guts to do. This influence other her father proves to us once again why Daemon being linked to Rhaenyra could and would only benefit him. She is stronger willed than her father, and Daemon knows she could/would be a great Queen.

#house of the dragon #hotdedit #rhaenyra targaryen #gotedit #game of thrones #daemon targaryen #hotd #hotd spoilers #asoiaf #daemon x rhaenyra #house of the dragon 1x04 #hotd 1x04 #daemon and rhaenyra #daemon Targaryen #rhaenyra x daemon #Rhaenyra #viserys targaryen

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humanwheatleyslefttoenail · 4 years ago

Note

why do you ship chell and glados if glados is basically her mom

Okay this is actually a pretty common misconception in the fandom that unfortunately a lot of people have taken as canon, but I’m feeling nice so I’ll answer your question.

Basically, anon is referencing a theory from around 2012 that Caroline is Chell’s mom. The evidence for the theory is as follows:

- The turret opera calls Chell “bambina”, which means “little girl” in Italian

- Chell’s name can be found on a Bring Your Daughter To Work Day science project

- GLaDOS references the possibility of Chell being adopted multiple times

- GLaDOS is significantly nicer to Chell after discovering she’s Caroline

And, anon, you’re right, it does sound like a pretty good argument at first glance. The problem is that a lot of these points don’t actually hold up to scrutiny.

For example, although “bambina” literally translates to “little girl,” it’s often used in the same way “baby girl” is used in English - it can mean child, but contextually it’s usually a flirtatious term. (Source: Cambridge Dictionary)

For Chell’s science project, it doesn’t work as evidence for the theory because GLaDOS killed the scientists around 1998-ish, when Caroline had presumably been uploaded several years earlier and Cave was already dead. Also, Chell’s in her 20′s, and since we know from Lab Rat/Portal 2 that people don’t age in stasis, and that Doug put Chell at the top of the test subject list only weeks after the takeover, Chell was 28 at the time of the takeover. The science project is really only an Easter egg and doesn’t actually fit into the canon timeline let alone prove anything about Caroline and Cave.

GLaDOS talking about Chell being adopted is a pretty strong point, I’ll admit, but also it’s important to remember that maybe half of what GLaDOS says is true. And even if we take what she says at face value, she also says there’s a man and a woman in stasis with Chell’s last name, which could not have been Cave and Caroline because they were already dead at that point. And the official book Final Hours Of Portal 2 confirms Cave and Caroline were not married and could not have shared the same name anyway. It was also the 50′s, an an unmarried couple of two likely famous people having a child would’ve been scandalous, and yet we see no hint of something like this affecting their company.

Also, although GLaDOS is nicer to Chell after the Caroline reveal, that’s not necessarily indicative of a mother-daughter relationship, and neither is any of their interactions. It’s just. GLaDOS being friendlier.

Finally, when this theory was made (and let’s be honest - it still is happening) Chell was constantly whitewashed to hell and back.

Chell is Japanese-Brazilian, and Cave and Caroline are white, so it would be a near impossibility for her to be their biological child (and insisting otherwise is kinda. just. whitewashing). And although people will cry “adoption!”, based on what I’ve previously proven, that’s pretty much impossible. This theory that somehow she’s Cave and Caroline’s daughter erases an important part of her identity. [Disclaimer, I am white, but this is what I’ve heard from around the fandom]

With all that said, the idea that she’s the daughter of Cave and Caroline really doesn’t hold weight when you really analyze the canon. It’s surface level analysis that doesn’t hold up. And honestly? The idea kinda cheapens the story. It’s much more powerful that GLaDOS learns to care about Chell and becomes kinder than just. Oh, she remembered she’s related to Chell.

But to actually answer your ask.

Why do I ship them?

Well, they aren’t mother and daughter, I think that’s pretty obvious now. But if you actually look at a lot of subtext in Portal 2, without the lens of the mother theory, it’s actually pretty romantic!

I know that sounds ridiculous, but bear with me!

Now - it’s totally okay if you don’t ship them. I get it. Their interactions in Portal 1 and the first half of Portal 2 are toxic if not outright well. Y’know. Murderous. I completely understand why that turns people off from shipping them, and ultimately, shipping is a personal thing. To each his own.

But before you judge me, let me present my case.

Exhibit A: Portal

Portal is kinda gay. No, really. Chell and GLaDOS are enemies in this game, but the entire focus is on their relationship (good or not) and the power struggle between them. They are opposites, two sides of the same coin, different representations of opposite ideologies. People have analyzed Portal as a relationship metaphor, or as a metaphor about women’s role in society - either way, the heart of Portal is the complicated dynamic between Chell and GLaDOS.

That’s not necessarily enough to code a romance, but a lot of popular (and especially popular queer ones) ships begin with opposite ideologies, symbolic powers colliding. Portal cements their relationship as a toxic one, something on the verge of falling apart and hurting both parties in the end. The ending image, of Chell and GLaDOS side by side after the battle, reinforces the symbolic parallels between the two.

The companion cube is also pretty symbolically important to this interpretation. It’s literally a representation of someone’s heart, and you are told to protect it and preserve it under GLaDOS’ orders, and then you have to destroy it regardless of how you actually feel about doing that. You are destroying GLaDOS’ heart, so to speak.

There’s also the ending song, Still Alive. The lyrics speak for themselves.

They hint that GLaDOS’ feelings about Chell are more complicated than they may appear (if she’s not being sarcastic...) and she literally talks about Chell breaking her heart (also, think back to the companion cube. Yeah.). The entire song is structurally similar to many a breakup number, with the laments of “I’m glad it happened, but also leave.”

At the end, we also see that the long promised cake GLaDOS was supposedly lying about was real the whole time. Before Portal 2 came out, it was mostly interpreted as a stinger ending (along with the nicer lyrics of Still Alive) to make you question GLaDOS’ true motives and intentions.

She actually did have a real cake waiting for you. (Side note - not really evidence, but in Argentina, “torta” means cake in Spanish. It’s also a slang term for lesbians. So. Do with that what you will). The cake is what GLaDOS offers you to lull you into the sense that she cares about you, so discovering that “the cake is a lie” wakes you up to the realization that she doesn’t. Except then the idea is subverted one last time, at the very end, showing that the cake is real and at least some of what she said she meant.

You also see the companion cube. You know, GLaDOS’ symbolic heart?

Now, okay, you might be thinking I’m extrapolating a bit too much. And you might be right. But Portal is not the only game in the series, and if you’re asking me about Cave and Caroline you obviously know about Portal 2.

Exhibit B: Portal 2

If you thought Portal was gay, Portal 2 turns that up to 11.

Even before GLaDOS wakes up, you’re treated to some visual subtext. A few of Rattmann’s drawings representing the events of Portal 2 focus a lot on the relationship between GLaDOS and Chell, with more of the cake symbolism.

In this, you can see a face layered on top of GLaDOS. This could be foreshadowing about Caroline, and likely is, but also resembles his other drawing of Chell. It insists that Chell is a part of GLaDOS, or reinforces parallels between Chell and Caroline, hinting at something either way.

In this picture, we also see Chell standing on top of GLaDOS, in the same position where the overlay of the feminine face was, again referencing the parallel. It also presents them as opposites, fundamental parts of the same thing and both connected to the same basis, but on opposing sides.

When GLaDOS wakes up, she returns to her antagonistic role, but there are more hints to something deeper just like in Portal.

Here, in her awakening lines, she references Chell not unlike an estranged ex. Also worth noting that GLaDOS is pretty much the personification of testing (in a sense, she is testing since she can control all of Aperture like an extension of her body), and insinuates that Chell loves to test. And that she reciprocates that feeling.

In test chamber 10, she says this:

It’s supposed to be threatening, but it does read as almost... sentimental.

There’s also another chamber with companion cubes in Portal 2. I already talked about their symbolism in Portal, and the same pretty much applies to them here. However, GLaDOS says something interesting about them during this level:

Once again, meant to be intimidating, ends up coming off as “well, GLaDOS, why were you going to give Chell a heart shaped representation of yourself that says ‘I love you?’” And you might think I’m stretching the GLaDOS’ heart metaphor thing a little far here, and I might agree, if the companion cubes didn’t literally sing Cara Mia for you.

Cara Mia is the turret opera from the end of the game, which is all about how much GLaDOS cares about Chell. More on that later. But the companion cubes play a song called Love as A Construct, and when you get close to them, they sing a specific part of the song that has the tune of Cara Mia. These things literally exist to sing about GLaDOS’ feelings.

Which makes this line a lot more. For lack of a better term. Tsundere-ish.

Then, right before the escape, she starts talking about the confetti from her fake surprise.

I really don’t have to explain this one. What else does GLaDOS consider an inconvenience but might miss anyway? Or, more aptly, who else?

Then, during the escape, she teases a (fake) final test chamber in front of you, and forms the panels in the shape of a heart. No, really.

Up to this point, a lot of the points I’ve presented are interspersed with a fair amount of antagonization on GLaDOS’ behalf, more Foe Yay than anything actually hinting at something deeper than GLaDOS being conflicted about whether she loves or hates Chell. But things really ramp up after Wheatley’s betrayal, when the two of them are forced to team up. (I should also note here that “enemies to lovers” is a pretty classic queer romance trope.)

Here, GLaDOS is put on an equal level with Chell and they have to rely on each other if they want to survive. For the rest of the singleplayer campaign, GLaDOS becomes a lot nicer and even friendly to Chell. There comes a point where she starts referring to Chell as a teammate, calling them “we.” She begins to consider them one unit, two opposites unified. Here’s what she says after the lemon rant:

You can not only see her using we, but actively talking about how her and Chell are going to fight Wheatley together. There’s also that last line - “let’s explode with some dignity.” GLaDOS has fully accepted the very likely possibility that she and Chell might die together. That she might die on the same level, and the same team as Chell. And she seems... surprisingly okay with that, as long as she and Chell go together.

It’s during the Old Aperture levels that Chell and GLaDOS also discover that they have a lot in common. This is the part of the game where GLaDOS figures out she’s Caroline, that she’s human. Or, that she’s like Chell. And Chell discovers (from what we can tell anyway) that Caroline is kind, that she’s funny and smart and so many of these things she never noticed about GLaDOS before. Now also with the knowledge she is fighting alongside another human being.

You can also draw parallels between Chell and Caroline, both intelligent women ultimately betrayed by their seemingly innocuous male friends before being trapped in Aperture and forced to team up with one another in a way that will free both of them. We see that really, GLaDOS isn’t that different from Chell - she too has been imprisoned in this place against her will, but in a completely different way. Once again, the idea of two sides of the same coin applies here.

I’ve written another meta about this before, but I also think the whole idea of repressing a part of your identity and hating it, before bonding with another woman and then realizing that it’s okay to be like her and to be on her side. It’s okay to be yourself and meeting her is what helps you discover this new part of yourself. Is kinda inherently gay. GLaDOS’ discovery of her own humanity just fits so well into a queer realization narrative, to me at least.

Then, Chell and GLaDOS escape Old Aperture and have to get through Wheatley’s tests.

Here, GLaDOS isn’t just begrudgingly on Chell’s team. She’s actively helpful. She wants to help Chell solve tests, defends her from Wheatley’s insults, and makes jokes to lighten the mood. Things that can really only be explained by her caring about Chell, especially the part about the insults. See below.

After the two escape Wheatley’s testing track, right before the boss fight GLaDOS has a few other things to say.

GLaDOS is not going to betray Chell, because of some kind of conscience. But she could easily ignore that back in her body, and yet? Here she’s deciding not to, and for no good reason. She didn’t have to say that to Chell, but she did, because she cares and she wants Chell to live.

And then, moments before the fight:

The final lines imply that GLaDOS does not think of Chell as an enemy anymore, and that it doesn’t matter what Chell thinks because they are in this together and they are getting revenge together. It’s pretty heartwarming to be honest, to know that even in a fight that will almost certainly kill you, she is there rooting for you and caring about you, even if you don’t feel the same way about her. It no longer matters to GLaDOS whether you even reciprocate - you staying alive, you making it through is enough for her.

So Chell fights Wheatley and sends him into space, all well and good, and at this point, GLaDOS has the option to kill Chell. But not only does she not, she actively saves Chell, and holds her hand in the process. If you don’t believe me:

And not only that, but when Chell goes unconscious from her injuries, GLaDOS sits and waits for her to wake up. It’s also implied that GLaDOS carries her to the elevator, since it’s where she wakes up but not where she passed out. In the scene where Chell blacks out, you can also hear the part of Love As A Construct that sounds like Cara Mia. Yeah. Yeah.

If you think that this cannot possibly get any gayer, you are wrong again, because then GLaDOS makes her final speech. Which is really just a love confession, let’s be honest.

The “surge of emotion?” Do you mean love, GLaDOS? And the idea of GLaDOS considering Chell her best friend, despite everything these two have done to each other? The idea that GLaDOS, out of all people, forgives someone?

Except this isn’t even Chell’s final send-off. GLaDOS writes her an entire opera of turrets, that sing a literal love song. (Note what I said earlier about the use of the word “bambina”).

It really can’t get any more obvious than that. “My (affectionate romantic term here), my dear, I adore you.” How. Is. That. Heterosexual. In. Any. Way.

So Chell goes to the surface, set free by GLaDOS (think of the saying “if you love something, set it free), and you think that’s the end. Until GLaDOS gives you a companion cube so you aren’t alone on the journey, and from the burn marks, you know it’s your first companion cube. Her original heart, her first gift to you, a piece of her that she wants you to carry with you to remind you that she does care about you after everything. It also gives the lyrics to Still Alive a much more genuine meaning.

Portal 2 ends, and then the ending song, another GLaDOS number plays. Just like Still Alive, Want You Gone is structurally a break up song and very obviously about GLaDOS missing Chell and “counting on” (read: caring about/loving) Chell’s tendencies and quirks.

She’s accepted Chell completely, and yet also given Chell the one thing she wants most. Only wanting Chell gone can mean GLaDOS not wanting Chell in her life anymore, but can also mean she wants to give Chell the freedom she’s wanted for so, so long. It’s the best thing she can give.

In the co-op campaign, GLaDOS also references still caring about Chell.

And that’s the end of the Portal series. Except. Brace yourself. Despite the games being over, there is STILL more subtext somehow. It gets. Even gayer.

Exhibit C: Supplemental Evidence

Valve has made a lot of extra/cut content for the Portal series, and I’ll be looking at some of it below.

This official valentine from Valve shows GLaDOS offering a romantic partner cake, which as we’ve established before, is very symbolic of GLaDOS’ feelings about and/or relationship with Chell.

There’s a lot of other concept art and official art that emphasizes their relationship too. See below.

There’s also some cut GLaDOS lines that are even gayer than the source material and again, sound like confessions or references to a breakup:

The idea of “discovering things about someone”... how much more obvious can it get?

The developers have even confirmed a lot of my commentary on Chell and GLaDOS’ relationship in The Final Hours Of Portal 2. See these quotes from the book/this post:

The devs literally describe it as a romance. They use terms like “cheating,” they wanted to write a romantic duet, JoCo purposefully wrote the endings like love songs. It is literally, blatantly said by the creators of the game that their relationship is interpreted romantically. By the creators of the game.

And if Word of God confirmation isn’t enough for you, have a song written for a cut alternate ending by GLaDOS’ voice actress, Ellen McClain. The song is literally nothing but GLaDOS talking about caring about Chell, about not wanting her to die/leave GLaDOS alone, about wanting to bake a cake with Chell, about waiting for Chell to wake her up. It’s so genuinely sweet and sad, and really, really romantic in the most heartwrenching way possible.

JoCo also came back for the Portal levels in Lego Dimensions, writing one final breakup song for GLaDOS to sing about Chell. It comes off as GLaDOS not wanting to admit she misses Chell even though she obviously does, trying to replace their relationship but failing, and even explicitly forgiving Chell/wanting her to come back.

Also, the “finally I understand,” as if only now GLaDOS understands just how deep her feelings for Chell are... What else can I say?

In Lego Dimensions, GLaDOS also outright rejects anyone who isn’t Chell.

In Conclusion:

Why do I ship Chell and GLaDOS?

Well, ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether I ship them.

Because I think it’s glaringly obvious Portal does.

#chelldos #chell #glados #portal #portal 2 #tw fatphobia #whitewashing #fandom racism #long post

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j4gm · 4 years ago

Text

TOGETHER AGAIN SPOILERS

A thread of lore, Easter eggs, episode connections, and background details from Adventure Time: Distant Lands: Together Again! Let me know if I missed anything! This is adapted from my original Twitter thread.

Keep reading ⬇️⬇️⬇️

1. I was expecting them to perhaps do a classic style title sequence for this episode, but I wasn't expecting them to straight up use the original title sequence. The only difference is this final screen saying "Distant Lands".

2. The background of the title cards is also the hill from the title sequence.

3. The ice cream having "50 flavours" and having an image of an enlightened soul is an obvious reference to the 50th Dead World as we see it later in the episode.

4. Continuing with the metaphor, the dirt in the ice cream could be a parallel to the fact that Jake's Nirvana actually wasn't perfect, because his inaction was allowing for injustice to perpetuate.

5. This whole scene feels immediately slightly off. Finn has his Scarlet sword and is out on a classic Ice King adventure, but he speaks in his grown voice and all the slang feels much more forced than it did in the real season one. Turns out this was deliberate.

6. The snow golem speaks with a baby voice like it did in the pilot episode, even though in canon it has a deeper voice. This further hints that something is not quite right.

7. The first major break in continuity is these snow golems resembling Uncle Gumbald and Peace Master, who Finn didn't meet until later in his life.

8. LSP sitting on Finn's head like this is reminiscent of Pen Ward's piece for the 2018 Ble crew zine.

9. Finn being given the choice of helping somebody but ending up helping everybody reminds me of "Memories of Boom Boom Mountain". It's the kind of resolution that wouldn't happen so much in the late seasons of the show, which helps make this scene feel even further out of place.

10. Jake is half frozen by Ice King in pretty much the exact same way as he was in "Prisoners of Love", and even has a very similar line.

11. The Snail is seen here. The crew have said that the Snail has been deliberately left out of previous Distant Lands specials, so its placement here is another very deliberate hint that this whole sequence is "trying too hard" to be like the early seasons.

12. The book "Mind Games" appears a couple of times, as seen in several previous episodes of Adventure Time. The first is as Finn is approaching the library in his dream. It also appears as one of the items in Finn's backpack later.

13. Jake is hurt when Finn fist bumps him with his metal arm, revealing that this scene is not real. This is also a callback to the title sequences of "Islands" and "Elements".

14. A whole bunch of familiar skeletons are seen in the bird's nest: Dirt Beer Guy, Abracadaniel, Me-Mow, Lemongrab, Mr. Pig, and the Snail again. This doesn't necessarily mean that all these characters are dead, since this scene is just a hallucination.

15. Old Man Finn! He's still got the chest tattoo of Jake, and this time we know that Jake is dead, so the theory that Jake died before "Obsidian" seems pretty likely. He looks similar to his old man design from "Puhoy", with the same facial hair.

16. There are several cameos of familiar characters who apparently died at the same time as Finn. The first is this duck, who previously appeared in "Ocarina".

17. The second is Donny, from the episode... uh, "Donny".

18. This goblin guy is an unnamed background character from “The Silent King”.

19. This old lady first appeared in "The Enchiridion", way back in season one. Old ladies are a species in the Land of Ooo, so I guess she wasn't actually very old back then, given she just about outlived Finn.

20. This is the cobbler who first appears in "His Hero". Amazing that he lived so long given all the trouble he got into in that episode.

21. Land of the Dead! This place was first seen in season two's "Death in Bloom", and now we are finally learning its actual purpose. It's a sort of gateway and hub to all of the other dead worlds.

22. There are some more minor cameos at the gates: a house person from "Donny", a soft person from "Gut Grinder", and a wood person from "When Wedding Bells Thaw". And, of course, the gate guardian himself from “Death in Bloom”.

23. Finn completely ignores the gate guardian in the same way he did in Death in Bloom. This also has the convenient effect of not having to reveal how Finn died, leaving it up to the audience's imagination.

24. Mr. Fox! We already knew he would die at some point because BMO had his skull in the finale.

25. Finn has his design from the first Distant Lands poster in this scene. Turns out it's young Finn in old Finn's clothes. But they gave him a shirt in the poster so you wouldn't be able to see the tattoo.

26. The clapping that Finn does while he's looking for Jake is a callback to "James Baxter the Horse", when Jake tells Finn to listen for that same rhythm if they are killed and need to find each other in the afterlife.

27. Mr. Fox talks about a "past life quotient", suggesting that there might be some kind of limit to how many times somebody can reincarnate. Finn's reincarnations are also seen in this scene; a callback to "The Vault", and confirmation that reincarnations share the same soul.

28. Boobafina, the goose who Mr. Fox was in love with in his debut episode “Storytelling”, apparently reincarnated into a tugboat. We've already seen that objects can have souls in the episode "Ghost Fly".

29. Finn is initially assigned to the 37th Dead World, which is the same one that Jake went to when he died in "Sons of Mars". We can only guess at what the other numbers on the ticket mean ;)

30. Tiffany! Despite several lucky escapes throughout his life, Tiffany has finally died. I like the use of this imagery to express Finn's conflicted feelings about him.

31. The 50th Dead World has long been established as the "highest" dead world, and the one synonymous with Heaven within Adventure Time's universe. It was first mentioned in "Ghost Princess" back in season three.

32. It's unclear what happens to souls which are destroyed within the dead worlds. It is a similar question to asking what happened to the ghosts that were killed in "Ghost Fly".

33. Death doesn't speak at all in Together Again because his voice actor, Miguel Ferrer, passed away in 2017 long before production began.

34. Finn phases through New Death when he tries to attack him, just like what happened way back in "Death in Bloom".

35. The 30th Dead World contains Tree Trunks as well as many of her love interests; Mr. Pig, her alien husband from "High Strangeness", Danny and Randy who first appeared in "Apple Wedding", and several more who we don't recognise, including at least one who presents as a woman.

36. Literally yelled when these two showed up. Joshua calls Finn a crybaby, which is a callback to "Dad's Dungeon".

37. The wall of weapons in Joshua and Margaret's house includes the iconic Demon Blood Sword, which was broken in "Play Date", as well as Margaret's auto-loading crossbow from "Joshua & Margaret Investigations".

38. Jermaine is sidelined a few times through the episode, in reference to his attitude in "Jermaine" where he feels that Finn and Jake were always their parents' favourites. I would have hoped things would be a bit better by now.

39. Fern gets name dropped while Finn and Jake are reuniting. A shame he doesn't actually show up in the episode.

40. In this scene, Finn says "What time is it?" This is a very subtle reference to the 2010 cartoon "Adventure Time".

41. In a couple of shots during this fight scene it looks like Jake might have a tattoo. It seems like it only becomes visible when he stretches out his arm.

42. New Death's amulet in this scene resembles parts of the Lich's cape, foreshadowing his influence on New Death.

43. There are several more cameos in the 50th Dead World: Booshy from "High Strangeness", one of the Marshmallow Kids from "Scamps", and Ghost Princess and Clarence, who were seen ascending to the 50th Dead World in "Ghost Princess".

44. Finn didn't interact with Booshy in "High Strangeness", but it seems they must have met at some point before they both died because Finn knows his name.

45. It seems like people in the 1st Dead World are slowly melted away until they become part of the landscape. Nasty.

46. Lots more cameos in this scene: a gnome from "Power Animal", a gnome from "The Enchiridion", a Bath Boy from "The Vault", Blagertha from "Love Games", Maja the Sky Witch, a troll from "Dungeon", Chocoberry, Choose Goose, Wyatt, a spiky person from "Gut Grinder", and possibly more.

47. Tiffany's insults are consistently nonsensical and amazing, as they were in the original series.

48. The Candy Kingdom looks extremely different. Peppermint Butler is wearing the crown so he might be in charge now, which is supported by the kingdom's very magical-looking augmentations. It’s not clear whether Finn and Jake were expecting to find Princess Bubblegum or Peppermint Butler, since both have the initials “PB” and both could be going by the title of “Princess”. Perhaps Peps and Bubblegum share the princess duties now that PB is living with Marceline more of the time.

49. Peppermint Butler has a "Boss" mug, although it's not the same colour as the one from "Obsidian".

50. Jake's ghost has the same design as he did when BMO killed him in "Ghost Fly". I also absolutely love Finn's ghost. This scene establishes that ghosts are just visitors to the mortal plane from the dead worlds.

51. Life has only appeared in animated shorts before now. Namely, "The Gift That Reaps Giving" which establishes her relationship with Death, and "Frog Seasons: Winter". This episode gives her a concrete place within Adventure Time's pantheon: she is in charge of reincarnation.

52. A translation of Life’s angry French dialogue by Shado: “After all I did for that boy. After all I did for him. No, it's not possible. It's not possible no, that... that makes me so mad but it's not possible.”

53. We finally have in-universe confirmation that Shoko's tiger is a previous life of Jake. This was previously confirmed by one of the writers, but wasn't canon until now.

54. I feel like Finn pulled off Shoko's look even better than Shoko did. I wonder whether Finn has gained the memories of his past lives now that he’s dead.

55. No Easter egg here, just want to appreciate this image.

56. There is an elemental symbol on the wall here, as seen in "Jelly Beans Have Power".

57. Tiffany's dramatic internal monologue is a recurring gag, as is his habit of nearly dying from falling into holes.

58. The Jake suit makes a cameo in the fight against New Death. It was last seen in the episode "Reboot”.

59. Finn's backpack contains a few familiar items: the t-shirt with the pocket from "It Came from the Nightosphere", Finn's underwear from "Little Dude" and other episodes, and a copy of Mind Games as I've already mentioned.

60. The Lich's Hand is present in the background of Death's... death scene. This is probably the unseen "friend" who New Death keeps talking about.

61. The Lich's menacing monologues often begin with a single command. Previously they have included "Fall" and "Stop". This time, the command is "Burn".

62. Jake uses the word "boingloings", which is a callback all the way to "Hitman" in the third season.

63. Jake's blue shape-shifter form from "Abstract" appears very briefly during his fight with Finn.

64. Finn's lumpy space person form also makes an appearance. This design was last seen all the way back in the second episode of the entire show, "Trouble in Lumpy Space".

65. Jake steps on the Lich's hand in a very similar way to how he stepped on Ash in "Memory of a Memory", which is itself a Monty Python reference.

66. The credits include a dedication to a few AT cast and crew who have passed away. Polly Lou Livingston was the voice of Tree Trunks. Miguel Ferrer was the voice of Death. Michel Lyman and Maureen Mlynarczyk were both sheet timers on the original series. Rest in peace.

67. The message that Finn and Jake write out on the ouija board is "BUTT", which Peppermint Butler takes as a distress signal. This message is also used as a distress signal by the Hot Dog Knights in "The Limit".

68. Peppermint Butler's reversed dialogue from the scene where he makes contact with Finn and Jake is "Kee-Oth Rama Pancake", the spell from “Dad's Dungeon” for banishing demons.

69. That appears to be President Porpoise with all of Tree Trunks’ other lovers.

70. In this scene, Life is humming part of "Lonely Bones", the song which Death tried to record for her in her debut short "The Gift That Reaps Giving". It's hard to notice because it's so brief.

71. Finn and Jake's cover is blown while in the Land of the Dead because Jake loudly farts, which also happened in "Death in Bloom".

72. The place where Mr. Fox explains the perception mechanics of the afterlife is the exact same location as the River of Forgetfulness from "Death in Bloom", which, as it turns out, was imaginary.

These are sort of out of order at the end because I was adding stuff to the Twitter thread as it got discovered. That’s all for now!

#adventure time #together again #finn the human #jake the dog #lorepost

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