#i really suck at theories because i just like to ignore details of canon that i dont like but ill let you read it in the tags anyways

[kits-ships]

told myself that i dont care for any of the goo/d ome/ns theories out there but for some reason my brain just went

[stars-irises]

My Cornley Drama Society family headcanons:

Warning: Their parents suck and none of them have good relationships to their families.

Chris:

Starting off with the man whose parents canonically suck. They were definitely very strict and conservative (*cough* tories *cough), and I mean they canonically didn't show Chris affection. But I feel like Chris is probably in denial about this because whenever you hear him talk about his parents it's very clear that they suck but he just talks about it like it's normal (ex: "my mother, like all mothers, abhors any physical contact"). Most of the others have picked up on the fact that Chris's parents suck but whenever anyone talks to him about it he gets really defensive really quickly. I think that somewhere deep down he knows that his parents are bad but he just forces himself to believe that they're not because he can't deal with the idea that they are. He also gives me major only child vibes.

Robert:

Robert canonically has a sister, but I feel like he probably has another sibling as well because he really gives me ignored middle child vibes. I get the feeling that his parents were kind of neglecting towards him and discouraged anything he did so now he is just desperately trying to prove himself to them, or at least prove their low opinions of him wrong. Sibling wise I think he probably has a younger sister and an older sister (the older one being the one who briefly dated Chris, and the younger one being Lucy's mother). When it comes to Robert's relationships with his sisters I feel like he's probably a bit closer with his younger sister.

Dennis:

A while ago I posted about the fact that I believe that Denise, the female variant of Dennis, is his sister and I still stand by that. He's probably the younger of the two. I think his parents got divorced when he was quite young and he doesn't really see his dad nor has a very strong connection to him (a big reason for why he seems so fine with calling Robert dad). From the small details that we've heard about his mum I don't think she's a good parent either, considering that the bits of information we've been given about her are:

She dated Robert. I hope that most people can agree that dating your sons friend and co-worker (and also future roommate, which I just want to mention cause I think it's funny) is maybe not the best thing to do.

During a performance of The Murder at Haversham Manor she straight up got up and left

When Dennis thought that Vanessa proposed to him he called his mum who said that she didn't believe him because she thinks that Vanessa is a solid eight and Dennis is a two. Which, surprise surprise, is a really shitty thing to say.

So yeah I don't think she's great either, but just like Chris, I think that Dennis is a bit in denial about this. But whilst Chris is kind of actively trying to convince himself that his parents are good, I feel like for Dennis that has never occurred as a possibility. It's so deeply engrained in his brain that this is what parents are supposed to be like that he's never even entertained the idea that his parents weren't actually that good at being parents. He just thinks that this is how all parents act, and to be honest being in the Cornley Drama Society hasn't really proven this theory wrong.

(Also Rennis exists. Do I know much about him? No. But he's important. Trust me.)

Max:

Max's family gives me "uptight old money family" vibes, and I feel like growing up he didn't fully feel like he fit in. I also headcanon him as being/having (idk) AUDHD and considering that I once again don't feel like a strict family was perhaps the most comforting and supportive environment. But still he tries to be around his family as much as possible in hope that it will make them closer, but honestly he is probably closer with his aunt than his actual parents. Sibling wise I think he has two older siblings, on sister and one brother, who are both probably a lot closer with their parents than Max is. When they were quite young they behaved quite similarly but as they grew older both of Max's older siblings stepped into a more responsible role and they grew apart from Max.

Sandra:

Sandra definitely strikes me as one of those girls who grew up in a household with just brothers and felt like she kind of had to fight for attention. I think she's probably the youngest, or at least like second youngest since I think she probably has like five brothers. Growing up I think she kind of had to fight quite a lot for her parents attention and that theatre was kind of an attempt to get that attention. Like if she succeeded she would finally be given just a sliver of that attention that her brothers basked in all of her life. And this has resulted in her not being very close with her brothers, and actually resenting them a bit which is something she feels quite bad about cause she knows that it's not their fault. Her and her family still meet quite a lot, but even as an adult Sandra tends to feel quite ignored. I think that this is 100% a thing that she and Robert, and also subconsciously Chris, bonded over.

Jonathan:

I'm kind of pending a bit between two ideas when it comes to Jonathans relationship to his family:

Jonathan is an only child but who is and has always been very neglected by his parents to the point where he often wonders if they even remember that he exists

He has an insane amount of siblings, like six or seven, and is one of the middle ones. Once again this leads to him being extremely neglected by his parents and once again wondering if they even remember his existence.

But either way I don't think his parents were all too good.

Also if we go with the second headcanon I think that that would have led to a similar relationship to his siblings as the one that Sandra has, where he kind of resents them for getting all of the attention growing up, and this was probably something he and Sandra bonded over.

Vanessa:

Vanessa strikes me as the type of person who endlessly defends her parents even thought they weren't the best. I feel like they were quite absent, both literally and metaphorically. When they were there they were "okay", but that was honestly so rare that it's not enough to attribute them the title of "good parents". But nonetheless Vanessa still defends them, and when someone tells her that they weren't good parents she kind of dismisses her experience and says that "others have it worse". She just in general strikes me as the type of person to ignore most of her issues because in her opinion she doesn't have it bad enough. Also gives me major only child vibes. I think her whole family relationship was something that she and Chris really bonded over, cause they had a lot of similar experiences but they're also both too deep in denial to accept that their parents are actually in the wrong. So instead they bond over their "normal" family experiences and the fact that they think it's weird that everyone else thinks that their parents suck.

Annie:

I think Annie's parents got divorced when Annie had already moved out, and her dad then got re-married and had a new kid that is now like twenty years younger than Annie which she finds quite strange and a bit uncomfortable. I think they probably still care a lot about their half-siblings and is very caring and nurturing but does find it quite odd to be so much older. On top of that I don't think her dad was there a lot when she was a kid so she feels quite distant from him and doesn't have a great relationship with him, and this got even worse when he got new kids and she saw how much more present he was with them in comparison to her (just thinking about the quote/monologue in The Good Place when Eleanor talks about her mum, "I just wasn't worth changing for"). So I think Annie probably has a lot more close relationship with their mum. Sibling wise she only has one sibling, her half-sister, who is really young (I don't know what age the Cornley Drama Society members are so I'm not sure what's reasonable).

Trevor:

Sibling wise I think Trevor is probably the oldest of three, one of his siblings being his younger sister named Tessa and the other one being his younger brother named Dale (who was mentioned on the in-character twitter account that Rob Falconer had for Trevor). His parents got divorced when Trevor was like twelve and his dad left a little while after that and none of them have seen him in years. His mum was pretty strict when they were growing up and Trevor essentially tried rebelling in a quite constricting household by striking out and doing things that he actively knew that his mother disapproved of. It's also canon that his mother cut contact with him and I feel like this is a consequence of Trevor not fitting into her box, and I think she probably cut contact with her other children as well. Then as she got older she developed several different medical conditions that resulted in Trevor and his siblings having to check in on her quite a lot, which is something she resents and actively tries to avoid so she'll sometimes just disappear and essentially runs away so she doesn't have to see her kids. Long story short: He doesn't have good parents either.

[lovemyromance]

"I can't believe the Ewriels want Elain, Lucien, Az, AND Gwyn to suffer by not being with their mates! they are heartless monsters 😫😫😫"

1. Show me on the page where Azriel & Gwyn are mates.

Not "sparky spark" - show me where either Gwyn or Azriel says "You're my mate" or realized he/she was their mate.

No takers?

2. Great, now that we've established there's only one mating bond to contend with between Elain and Lucien - Show me where it says they'd suffer from a rejected mating bond

The ONLY context we have about rejected mating bonds is this one page where Rhys is telling Feyre what could happen.

"There will always be ... a tug. For females it is easier to ignore ... for males, it can drive them mad. It is their burden to fight through."

Do I need to spell it out even further?

1. A mating bond can be rejected

2. There will always be a tug

3. That tug can be easier to ignore for females

4. It could drive a male mad, but that's his burden (no one else)

If anything, that shows that Elain likely won't be affected by a rejected mating bond. She'll feel a tug that she can ignore. Well, isn't it a good thing then that she already has a full mating bond tug that she is ignoring. Plenty of practice for her.

Other consequence: Lucien could go mad. That sucks. We don't have any further details on what degree of madness or whether he would truly "suffer" or what prevents some males from going mad vs doesn't - so it is an actual possibility. I tend to lean on the side that says he likely won't be going mad because he has his own powers and separate life and just like Elain - he seems to be living just fine ignoring the mating bond. If it was really that demanding of a "tug", he would be trying to at least see Elain when he's in the city but he doesn't even do that. He seems literally fine.

So best case and (most likely scenario) / Elain & Lucien rejecting their mating bond has no effect on the two of them, and they live happily ever after separately.

Worst case scenario - Lucien goes mad 🤷🏻‍♀️. Nobody wants this outcome of course, but i think it proves that a rejected mating bond really only has the potential to make Lucien's life harder. Which sucks, ig but in Rhys's own words - That is his burden to fight.

Aka: No, Elucien rejecting the mating bond does not cause Elain & Lucien & Azriel & Gwyn to all suffer and live lives of constant pain and heartbreak.

Enough of your lil tiny violin sad music!

The whole "they'll suffer and alwayssss feel it" is lowkey such a backhanded threat too? You're essentially saying "Well, there is a choice and you could say no - but then you'll suffer forever 😠".

What tf kinda choice is that? In a series focused on female empowerment and free will/choice - what makes you think that is the direction SJM will be choosing?

Stop extrapolating. Stop exaggerating. Maybe read the books without your own headcanons in place and you'll see the words for what they are. And I'm sorry, but the words in canon tell a different story than whatever theories y'all have cooked up in your head 🤷🏻‍♀️

[sneezemonster15]

Hello, sorry but I just wanted to rant about some things.

Regarding the Hetsuden, I just saw a SNS shipper on Twitter saying that they can’t “defend” Sasuke anymore and that he’s “over”. Other SNS shippers also said that he’s ugly. Why do they need to “defend” Sasuke when the said Sasuke they’re talking about is not even canon. He’s a fanon character from a SS shipper’s fanfic. Like yeah Sakura Hetsuden sucks but it’s annoying to see some SNS stans taking their frustration and hating on Sasuke himself. Like for me I just rather say that’s not Sasuke in the first place(because he isn’t) and will try to stay away from that SS shipper’s fanon version.

I also remembered that up until even before Hetsuden came out, I’ve seen multiple SNS stans hating on Sasuke. Have you seen these types of behaviors too from SNS stans or is it just me?

Hehehe. You know, I saw some tiktoks that were recced to my Insta account and it was hilarious. A lot of fans think Sasuke's character has gone downhill from Shippuden and that he has been totally nerfed and to underline it, they were making comparisons between Shippuden and Retsuden. 🤦

Like that scene where Sasuke struggles to fight the 'dinosaur' (a dinosaur, 😒) was compared with the scene where he fought the hachibi in Shippuden.

But like most casual fans, some underinformed SNS as well, don't categorically know what canon or novel or filler is. Most fans are anime only, so they aren't well versed with the categorizations and differences. All they are concerned with is how Sasuke is shown in anime, and all of it is subject to their judgment of Sasuke's character. You can certainly enlighten them and tell them the difference.

Man like doesn't Retsuden Sasuke have TWO hands? 😑

Most fans don't really pay attention to the details. Or even some of the more overt stuff.

Yeah plenty of SNS hate Sasuke. Some others have a very problematic and skewed understanding of his character. Like no seriously, some SNS maintain that he didn't suffer from trauma or PTSD. Because that would make him weak and he isn't weak. Smh. When the whole manga has consistently and necessarily featured major themes of war and resultant trauma and PTSD where several characters have suffered from it. It's the basis of the isolation and discrimination suffered by many important characters and their arc which contributes majorly to the plot. Like honestly, some fans unfortunately have a very limited and shallow understanding of how trauma and PTSD work. What's problematic is that they spread misinformation about these very significant issues regarding mental health. This needs to be addressed. Some SNS blame Sasuke for when he betrayed Naruto and abandoned Konoha. They only think from Naruto's pov but dismiss Sasuke's own very properly and detailed established pov.

Selective reading. Ignorance.

Lots of SNS don't see or stubbornly stick to their only partially examined theories for a complex character such as Sasuke and most of it is in response to Sasuke stans. Both Naruto stans and Sasuke stans can be silly. It's always this juvenile tussle - Who's better? Sasuke or Naruto? Who did the bad stuff and who did the virtuous stuff and where do they stand on the goodness scale.

These SNS judge them on the basis of easy binaries and keep an embarrassingly simplistic point system to attribute 'virtues and vices' to Sasuke and Naruto's characters and talk morality in just loose, underexamined terms without truly understanding the context. Every one suddenly and righteously becomes a philosopher, psychologist and ethicist in this fandom. Lol.

It's all very silly. It's important to ground these characters in their lived reality and established characterisation and then judge them while being cognizant of their worldbuilding and existing narratives of visible themes and concepts in the manga such as idea of a nation, war, loyalty to the nation, justice, individual vs collective, revenge, systemic oppression, systemic marginalization of a community, systemic bigotry and neglect, corruption, left inclined ideologies, existentialism etc.

If Kishi has featured these themes so visibly and stressfully in the manga, it would be remiss of fans if they simply ignored it by saying ignorant things like - it's just shounen, it's only meant for kids, Kishi isn't that smart, there's no deeper meaning, it's only entertainment, etc etc.

If you don't know about these themes, you wouldn't be able to recognise them. But those who do and have seen them in other works or media, even lots of Japanese media Kishi is influenced by, will identify them. Just a matter of experience, perception and information. Fans will differ in their capacities to identify these themes. If one is truly curious and reasonable, they will imbibe it without personal bias. Those who prefer to live in their echo chambers won't. You can't help those who don't want to be helped.

Yes I know some SNS who are either Sasuke haters and those who are Naruto haters. Both silly. But I don't really interact with them. They are quite visibly biased.

[cam-stopped-eating-candles]

Noel/Mischa?

Misha/Talia?

Heather McNamara/some fucking therapy?

McNamara/Veronica?

Thank you for you time

What made you ship it?

Nischa

-just the CONNECTION they have with each other, not even talking about Noel’s Lament, they just have this depth and understanding of each other that makes me so violently ill :pos

Passionflower

-Mainly the fact that it’s canon and just how much they love each other <3

Macnamawyer

-They just both need a hug honestly, mainly the bathroom scene where Veronica just had this insane instinct to know exactly where Heather was going to be able to stop her (very impressive)

What’s your favorite thing about the ship?

Nischa

-theyre such funny characters and they’re the kind of characters that SEEM like they wouldn’t get along but they DO. At the end of Noel’s lament, noel is visibly worried about what Mischa could say about him but then Micsha turns around and COMPLIMENTS him

Passionflower

-they just love each other so much, Mischa is absolutely on his knees, in love, with this woman. Also the funny detail that Talia leaves him “mostly” positive feedback, she’s very rough and tough and won’t hesitate to tell him if his song fucking sucks and he’ll be like “whatever you say babe <3”

Macnamawyer

-the ANGST. One of the things that leads to mcnamaras suicide attempt was chandlers death, which veronica CAUSED. Ough the guilt <33

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Nischa and Passionflower

-my (maybe not that) unpopular opinion for BOTH of them together is I fucking hate the catfish/code name theory, Mischa has two hands, and Noel and Talia get along really well. They’re best friends who do each others makeup and complain about stuff together. They’re cheering each other on

Other Nischa one, but I feel like realistically if they hadn’t died, they wouldn’t have ended up forming the same type of relationship/connection because of how paranoid Noel is about Mischa judging him, and how distant Mischa keeps himself from everybody

Macnamawyer

-it’s not as sweet and fluffy as everybody seems to write it as. They have so many issues and it’s not just heather being suicidal and Veronica having major ptsd, they have issues with each other. Veronica ignored her while her boyfriend assaulted her and left her alone with two drunk guy, and killed her best friend. I want ANGST

McNamara x fucking therapy absolutely yes, somebody help this poor girl and get her an autism diagnosis

[my-name-is-jefferooni]

I desperately need to sleep but THERE ARE SO MANY LITTLE DETAILS HERE THAT I HAVE THE URGE TO TOUCH UPON AND I WILL NOT REST UNTIL I DO JUST THAT SO STRAP IN EVERYBODY IM GOING GAME THEORY MODE

So for the first image, which is already gruesome on its own, is the bit where Amy quickly explains what happened to Cream’s mother in issue 22. (One of my personal favorites) And… Yeah. What happened is extremely deep!

Cream is a 6-year-old child, or in my head canon she’s like. 9. Still very young though, so we’ll go with 9. And this young, impressionable 9-year-old girl who previously had just been living her life peacefully before the Metal Virus, just watched her own mother die right in front of her eyes. Vanilla, Cheese, and Chocola were the only people Cream knew outside of the people in her village before meeting Sonic, and she’s been with them her whole entire life. Vanilla has cared for Cream her whole life, gave her food, a home, but most importantly, gave her love. Vanilla loved Cream unconditionally. She held the young rabbit up when she had no more strength to stand, helped her through so much in her life, and did everything that a mother could do a more!

And then she was gone. Just like that. While protecting the very person that she loved with all her heart. And on top of that, Cheese and Chocola were gone as well. No one in her family was left. It was just Cream. All alone.

When passing by Sonic, she hardly even greets him. Just gives him a small, depressed “H’lo Mr. Sonic.” Her eyes are devoid of any emotion, all the joy sucked right out of her voice. She’s just a husk of who she used to be.

And it is genuinely all Sonic!s fault. (More on that later)

The next image, with Metal and Sonic later in the comic, there isn’t really too much for me to say. Sonic is exhausted, he can barely stand on his own two feet, (Again. More on this later) and he is heavily infected with the Metal Virus. Metal is literally his only hope in this moment. Bro can hardly even speak by the way, and yet somehow, Metal fully understands. And when he does help Sonic, it’s at the cost of what little autonomy he had left.

I think this scene is important because while Metal is doing all this because Eggman told him to, us Sonic fans know better. Metal didn’t help Sonic up because it was part of the mission. If it was, Metal would have continued beating up the Zombots and he would’ve waited for Sonic to speak up. But instead, he listens closely to what Sonic has to say and ignores the other Zombots, focusing entirely on Sonic’s needs. It’s a very very small step and won’t get him anywhere for a WHILE, (Mostly because Sega demands he stays evil) but it’s still a step. So for now, we just have to wait until we get the Good Metal ending. 😭

The next scene is Sonic mulling over everything that’s happened. Everything that he’s indirectly caused. Sonic at this point in the comic has finally met up with Eggman for the very first time since his defeat a few months prior, and one of the first things the doctor does is mock Sonic for being infected. He mocks Sonic’s naivety, mocks the way the rodent wants him to be good, mocks the blue blur’s sense of justice, mocks his entire worldview. And naturally, that pisses Sonic off.

Because Sonic just spent weeks trying to justify letting Mr. Tinker live. He has been telling people this entire fucking time that Eggman was good now and that he would never do anything nefarious again. When the Metal Virus hit, the denial started setting in. Because while all the signs pointed right at Eggman’s mustache, there were hardly any of the obvious signs that it was truly him. Trouble started arising in the villages and Sonic chalked it up to Rough and Tumble just getting their hands on old tech, when deep down he knew what was really going on. And when he saw Eggman’s newest flagship parading around cities and towns like he owned the world, (Which he actually very literally did) something cracked in his resolve. Sonic had to admit that Eggman was back to his nefarious deeds once again, but he just… He couldn’t.

So when everything starts going wrong. When Eggman finally tells Sonic straight up that he will never go back to his life as Mr. Tinker. When he outright tells Sonic to his face that this was all his plan the entire time…

When Sonic is all alone, transforming into a Zombot, Tail’s device broken, his entire moral compass shattered within a matter of minutes… He finally allows himself to admit he was wrong.

Before he fully succumbs to his misery and guilt though, he thinks of his friends. He thinks of everything that could’ve been if he had just done something right for once! And he ZOOMS off into the night, the Metal Virus flaking behind him as he runs, his thoughts going just as fast as he is, telling him that he was wrong, and…! He starts to slow down. Because it’s been… How long? A week? 2 weeks? Who’s keeping count, even? And he’s been on his feet this entire time, never giving himself a break, never stopping to even take a nap longer than a few minutes, not having any proper rest since before this whole debacle began…! Everything hurts. His brain, his body, his heart! It all hurts so fucking much, and all he wants is for all of this to end. But he started it, so he has to be the one to end it.

Okay that was way more dramatic than intended to let’s just move on shall we?

BOOM. INSERT ANOTHER SONIC MORAL DILEMMA HERE FROM THE EXACT SAME ISSUE BUT FROM A WHOLE TEN MINUTES PRIOR WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Hoo boy, this is another relatively short one. I basically already covered a majority of Sonic”s moral issues above, but basically what’s happening here is Sonic is finally letting the weight of everything sink in. He knows he fucked up, so he’s at this point just straight up treading on eggshells. All Sonic wants to do is the right thing, but at this point he doesn’t even know what the “Right thing” even is anymore. He spent so long thinking that giving people second or third chances was the right thing, but due to what he sees literally right in front of him… That contradicts that very statement now, doesn’t it?

Sonic no longer knows what the “Right thing” is anymore, and it’s confusing him. If it weren’t for him spotting Eggman in the next panel, our boy would’ve been left standing there for ages mulling over what to do. He’s so exhausted, so out of it, so utterly lost, that he can’t even do the one thing he’s been doing his whole life: Run.

And it’s eating him up inside.

And here is the moment where I unfortunately have to cut things short. It is 11:30 in the pm right now and I have school in the morning and I still got a ton I gotta do before I go to bed so I’ll continue sometime tomorrow, if my brain will allow me. Thanks so much for reading this gigantic wall of text, hope you somehow enjoyed, love you lots, have a great day/night, and bye-bye!

beautifully painful IDW moments that I could talk about for AGES.

(aka I miss the metal virus saga)

[eisforeidolon]

The problem with Hellers was/is that they rely on their assumptions, ''theories'' that they come up with, ''analyses'' of things like lighting, shot angles, and ''meta'' & ''subtext'' etc rather than focusing on the actual story that was being told to us.

They essentially built a whole new narrative that they came up with and wrote several ''analyses'' on that new narrative that they created. Their 'meta' had the same reason and point. By writing those meta, they were/are essentially trying to make their new created narrative reasonable. Because after all, not all Hellers' analyses and detailed meta essays can be wrong, right? In their logic it is like, ''Don't you see the theories/analyses/meta that we have? How something this detailed and ''intelligently'' analysed can be wrong????''

Then they were and are building a community, an echo chamber surrounding it. They posted their ''meta analyses'' on tumblr or elsewhere, and then trying to make other people believe in those analyses. They take stuff/scenes out of context from the show to prove their point. The slowed-down gif sets, the irrelevant ''bi lighting'' stuff, their trying to dig underneath the real narrative and actual story to find something that supposedly 'supports' their reasoning and meta analyses.... and so on so forth.

It is also not so great when other people who have not watched SPN believe in those things. Because like. They are being led to believe in things that do not even canonically exist in the show.

It also creates false perception, and overall toxic fandom experience when it comes to the point that Hellers lash out to people, even to the cast members like Jensen for supposedly 'being homophobic' just because those people/cast members do not believe in Hellers' so ''intelligent'' meta analyses.

It is also very tiring and... quite irritating and unhealthy when this is still ongoing even after at least 10 freaking years... People still believe in the stuff they come up with, or believe in their own delusions. They think Destiel is or will be made canon... somewhere, somehow, in some year, in some future. Oh, it is definitely going to be a thing in the prequel. Or somehwere in the future in another show for sure.

If it is not ''canon'', then it still is acually canon due to the '''obvious parallels'' the prequel puts on screen!!!!! But it is also queerbaiting because the show didn't show Castiel and Dean fucking on screen. and so on so forth....

This level of reasoning won't end. It will continue to exist even after years. Because it is something that is embedded in the Hellers community.

I agree completely. Except I am equal parts exasperated and fascinated by it. Just the whole process of how people get sucked into believing in something that's so patently false and as a group dig down to become so entrenched in that belief seemingly no amount of reality can shake it.

The giant house of cards that is their meta, where supposedly it's this epic narrative built over time - but if you examine any/every individual piece in its original context, the whole thing falls in on itself. The obvious logical fallacy where all their theories start by assuming D/C has to be made canon and work backwards to determine what can be used as evidence effectively ignoring most of the show. How its literally always the lighting or set dressing or some exhausting meta about real meaning of bacon and never anything in the explicit narrative telling the supposedly existent story. How literally the only person involved in making the show that eggs them on to insist it's intentionally part of the show is the guy who has ship-themed crap to sell them. If you look at it with any degree of objectivity, it's absolutely, obviously bonkers.

And yet.

Year after year, failed prediction after failed prediction, end of the show included? Here they still are, actively insisting that even though SPN is over, RC/TW/a reboot will show us all that it's REALLY REAL.

[haleigh-sloth]

Do you believe in the theory that Tenko was born quirkless and was given his quirk by AFO while Deku was born with a quirk and quirk was stolen at a young age? I know the latter sounds kind of far fetch, but it's a weird theory I have while on the other hand I do actually believe Tenko was born quirkless. Do you think Tenko and Izuku will both lose their quirk at the end?

Gonna say a Hard No to the Izuku being born with a quirk and it being stolen. Nothing substantiates that and it contributes absolutely nothing to Izuku's arc thematically or sensibly. I mean, in any way whatsoever, it adds nothing. So no I'm definitely not sold on that one.

But I'm gonna say that while I was on the fence about it for a long time before, I now am convinced Tenko was born quirkless and given decay.

I have one main reason backing up the idea that he was indeed born with it, but it's not enough to trump the reasons I think he was quirkless. So I'll just put it at the very end.

I was always on the fence about it because it could honestly turn out either way. If he had been born with decay, well, that sucks. It all still happened the way it did. If he wasn't and AFO gave it to him, then that sucks even MORE and adds more fuel to the fire. But either way, the story with Shigaraki would have played out to the same ending regardless.

But now I do really think we will find out that Tenko was given decay.

I say this because I always found it weird that in MVA it was pointed out that he didn't have a quirk. I feel like if he was really born with decay and there was nothing more to it, there wouldn't have been any need to make it A Thing that he was quirkless beyond the age expected to gain a quirk. Kotaro could have just said "no heroes no ifs ands or buts" regardless of quirk, like he did with everyone else in the family, and it didn't necessarily have to be a thing worth mentioning that he had no quirk at the time. I know that's like, nitpicky, but things are done intentionally in a story.

And then of course the mysterious man in the hat that dropped Tenko off at home at the beginning of his flashbacks, and then that same man in the hat picking up Touya's burnt body (who we know is AFO) in chapter 350--further tying AFO to his hobby of watching, manipulating, and eventually kidnapping of vulnerable kids.

Then even more--parallels to the MC. There are a few parallels already, and their stories don't parallel perfectly because they're meant to intertwine rather than run parallel, but this only adds more to it.

Then this is where I'm less keen to rely on the anime, but can't ignore a detail that it gave us--Tenko's eyes and hair. I always thought he just had naturally red eyes, and then his hair turned white from stress (yes I know it doesn't work fast that way but this is anime). But--I like the theory @helga-grinduil has about how when the decay quirk activated, that's what changed his eye and hair color. I mean I guess in bnha land, anyone who manifests a quirk could and would change appearance. But again, there is other evidence to support that his appearance changed because of a quirk that he was not born with. His eyes were originally gray, then changed to red. My biggest hold up with this though is that we are relying on the anime for this detail--and at that, season 5 of all seasons. Where I really am not sure if I should trust any detail they put in at all, honestly. But I don't want to ignore it. It's possible that's a clue. It's not like we would know by reading the manga.

Now I'm gonna walk into strictly prediction territory meaning I can't cite canon for this, where I can't say this is for sure a thing but something I definitely think is going to happen, very very likely so. Izuku seeing Tenko's memories. At first it was just a desired idea, a fanfic idea. But this is bnha, where fanfic ideas become canon quite often. And it just so happens that as things play out more and more, this idea seems more and more plausible and likely. For so many reasons that would make this post longer than necessary--but the main one being that this is literally the best way for us, Izuku, and Tenko both to discover where decay came from. Revisiting the memories once again, and seeing something that Tenko may have shut out before but Izuku sees it when he gets in there. Again--an idea and a prediction, can't say for sure this will happen. But it feels likely, at this point.

The biggest reason I think it wouldn't be that AFO gave him decay is strictly to disprove Redestro's take that quirk affects personality and makes someone act a certain way. He accuses Shigaraki of being destructive because of his quirk. Shigaraki retaining his quirk, having been born with his quirk, but still proving that he isn't destructive in nature would hold up as a powerful idea. "My quirk doesn't define me". And him having to learn to live with decay and everything that comes with that would hold up in the end as a good message. Great, yeah! But also the idea that he's destructive in nature can be disproved just as easily by showing that he never had that quirk in the first place, never wanted to hurt anybody initially. Not as powerful a message on the quirk front (cuz like, whoever had decay isn't inherently destructive you know?) but I am not entirely sure that this little detail is necessary in disproving that he's a destruction incarnate.

The entire thing with the Shimuras will disprove that he's a destruction incarnate and all will be well. But that's just me keeping my mind open to the possibilities.

Also, idk if Shigaraki will end up quirkless, but I'm convinced Izuku will. I'd like them both to tbh. But whether they both do, or one of them does, or neither of them does, isn't a deal breaker for me.

[alirhi]

okay. let's do this shit.

Guess what, bitches? Mama bear's back and angry all over again. Remember when I said I might dive into a ragepost about how Bucky's treated after completing the one about Loki? This is it. This is the post. Welcome to fucking Thunderdome.

I will actually try to keep it civil. No promises, but I'll try. and I will not be accepting "constructive criticism" about my rage. Just so we're clear.

Got it? Good. Let's dive in.

In case you don't want to read the whole thing (I know I get wordy) here's what this whole post will boil down to: BUCKY NEVER HAD A FUCKING CHOICE. NEVER. NOT ONCE IN HIS ENTIRE ADULT LIFE.

Now, quick reminder: I don't read comics. I know nothing about Bucky's comic canon, except what Sebastian liked to bring up as often as possible during TWS/CW promotions: at some point, Bucky boned Nat. XD Since Bucky only exists as a Marvel property, I won't be bitching about other source material being disrespected like I did with Loki. This is all MCU, my dudes. And honestly? That's enough, because though we don't see nearly enough of Bucky for my liking, we do manage to get a rich, deep backstory to him in the material we're given, partly thanks to better writing in the early days of the MCU, and partly thanks to Sebastian Stan's phenomenal acting. Unlike the writers of the Loki series, Seb knows how to show, not tell. And gods, what stories those eyes show...

Let's start with the army. In an old post illustrating what an absolute BAMF Bucky Barnes truly is, I mistakenly said he enlisted, and a kind soul educated me on the incredible attention to detail Marvel used to pay - in this case, Bucky's ID number. 32557038. As this kind, eagle-eyed soul pointed out to me, the first two digits of that number - 32 - signify that Bucky was drafted, specifically from the NY, NJ, DE area (that last part is rather obvious, as Bucky and Steve are from Brooklyn lol). Bucky didn't choose to go to war. He was drafted. He was forced to fight, or go to prison.

Bucky was born in 1917, which means - again, as someone pointed out to me a while back - he came of age during the Great Depression. As a child, he would likely have seen his parents living comfortably and able to shower each other and him and his sister with gifts and fun memories, and then POOF. Stock market crashes when he's only 12-years-old, and life becomes brutal and painful. He manages to have some fun with his best friend Steve, and spends his teens/early 20s chasing girls and keeping his stupid, stubborn, tiny friend from getting beaten to death.

Steve constantly has something to prove. He's absolutely got what my mom always called "little man's disease", and Bucky's just doing his best not to roll his eyes too much at this asthmatic chihuahua constantly trying to beat up Tibetan mastiffs. While Steve keeps lying on his enlistment forms (an actual crime) trying again and again to get into the army and prove what a badass he is (definitely not), Bucky's had enough trauma and upheaval in his life and he just wants his stupid friend to calm tf down and live. Enjoy the fact that he doesn't have to go to war and get his limbs blown off.

And then he gets fucking drafted. This sweet, resigned realist who knows exactly how dangerous the war really is, is forced to put on a uniform and go fight strangers alongside other strangers thousands of miles from everything he knows. And on his last night of freedom, when he just wants to hang out with his friend, see some cool gadgets, and dance with a pretty girl, his stupid angry chihuahua friend feels the need to lie and try to enlist again.

Okay. Gotta get back on track. Ragepost about mistreatment of Bucky, not how much Steve annoys me. Sorry. Anyway...

Bucky's drafted, accepts his shitty lot with a brave smile, and is shipped off to Europe, where he is captured by HYDRA and presumed by the Allies to be KIA. Instead, he's strapped down, tortured, and given the HYDRA version of the super serum against his will. Steve rescues him, and Bucky knows he can't leave his idiot friend to his own devices to get his head blown off, so he dives right back into the fray. And then he falls off a cliff, loses most of his left arm, and is declared dead...again. This one's pretty damn valid, though lol. Without the serum no one knew he'd been shot up with, there is no way he would have survived that fall.

Here is where Bucky's story gets truly heartbreaking: His autonomy, his ability to consent is stripped from him through electroshock torture/brainwashing. The trigger words are conditioned into him during this process, and boom. Ten words in Russian, and Bucky Barnes is gone. Even the confused, hurting shadow of him is gone, leaving only a perfectly obedient killing machine, with Bucky's pretty face. He's strong as all hell, though, so they can't keep him fully under their control for long, not without more torture, when the disorientation of being fucking frozen wears off on longer missions.

I cannot stress this point enough, guys: Bucky. Had. No. Choice. Not like the draft, where his choices (go and get shot at, refuse and go to jail, or dodge and run to Canada) just suck. No, he literally didn't have a choice. He had his ability to choose stripped from him. If that's too complex a concept to really sink in, try this: His brain was fucking raped. Repeatedly. For decades. Nothing the Winter Soldier ever did was Bucky's fault. Nothing. Ever. Not remotely, no matter how you fucking slice it. Bucky is not an assassin. I almost said "not a killer", but he was a soldier, and a sharpshooter. He definitely killed when he was himself, but that was in a war, not a series of assassinations.

So far, imo, so good. This is just a rundown of Bucky's pre-show backstory. I don't love what he had to suffer, but I do love how it was treated in the movies. People were afraid of him, but when they knew the whole situation, Steve, Nat, and Sam rallied behind him. Natasha had plenty of reason to want the Winter Soldier dead; he'd tried to kill her multiple times and almost succeeded. Sam had no reason to help Bucky at all; he didn't know him, didn't trust him, and again, TWS had tried to kill him. But he stood by Steve, and when Bucky showed the clear difference between himself and TWS, Sam stood by him, too, and fought alongside him.

And it's very realistic, imo, that Tony didn't give a single fuck that Bucky had no choice. He watched this man murder both of his parents on tape. If TWS had killed my dad and I saw proof of it, I'd try to kill Bucky, too. Grief wins out over logic. Most emotions usually do. And that's a very important point we're going to come back to in a few minutes.

Bucky was really only in like ten minutes at most of IW and Endgame, and for multiple reasons I hate those movies, so I'm just gonna skip them, kay? Kay. On to the main event!

Here's where I get pissed off. Even if I didn't have an unhealthy attachment to this character, or the depth of appreciation for his tragic backstory that I do, the lack of continuity between the movies and the show alone would still piss me off. It always does. Don't even get me started on Joss "Continuity? What continuity?" Whedon and his (iconic, but flawed) shows. Ahem. Back on track...

Let me just get one little thing out of the way real quick: I fucking LOVE The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I love it. This show amazed me when I first watched it, and I still love it after many more viewings lol. I have only ever watched it all the way through without skipping over as much John Walker shit as possible the one time lol but I love how Sam and Bucky interact, and I fucking adore how Sam's arc was treated. I just wish they'd show the same care and attention to Bucky.

Because what they did to Bucky in this show is a fucking travesty. There was a tiny ray of hope in the pilot, when he called out Dr. Bitchface for being a terrible shrink. I thought that would be the start of him realizing he needed to find someone else and ignore the damaging shit that woman was telling him. But...nope. No such luck.

The show really had a strong start, I'll give it that. We see Bucky having nightmares of his time as TWS and struggling to hide how his traumatic memories are affecting him as he tries to live in the world again. He befriends the father of one of HYDRA's victims, which can't be good for Bucky (and we're shown it's definitely not when he sees the shrine in Yori's home to his late son) but it's sweet, how he's trying to connect and reach out to someone who's hurting and lonely.

They drop the ball a little with the whole... Bucky can hack a fucking car, but can't figure out Tinder thing. Had they just run with the fandom interpretation of the tiger photos line, that it shows that Bucky is bi and left it at that, I'd have been okay with it (and no, that is not because I ship Sam/Bucky. it's because Bucky is and always has been a certified nerd who loves technology and has consistently shown very little issue learning to use new gadgets). The outdated flip phone he handed his terrible court-mandated shrink was a burner; I liked that theory when I read it, especially since it's the only time we see him even holding a phone that old lol. This all could have fit the "Bucky is a sassy bisexual nerd" narrative and it'd be okay. Instead, the director was like "NOOOOOO that line was just to show how old he is and how he can't figure out all this newfangled technology!" Woman, you had him remotely driving someone else's vehicle with a tablet. That is NOT a man who can't figure out a damn smart phone!

But that's just a minor annoyance. What fills me with absolute rage is how everyone - not just the shitty therapist who lashes out at and purposely triggers her traumatized patients, but EVERYONE - Sam, Zemo, people who should fucking know better ALL treat him like he's a psychopath and a ticking time bomb. Like he chose to take the serum and he chose to kill for HYDRA, and he's just seen the error of his ways. *barf*

Bucky in the movies is established to be a victim, through and through. His guilt over what he was forced to do is natural, and that he sees himself as a monster makes sense... but that doesn't mean it's correct. The one and only thing I ever liked about Steve Rogers is at least he got it. He pointed out that none of it was Bucky's fault, he tried to show him that he was worth saving. That's the other reason I refuse to talk about Endgame. This post will get a WHOLE LOT LONGER and a lot fucking angrier if I open that door.

Zemo supposedly knows everything about HYDRA and super soldiers... So why does he treat Bucky like he's a corrupt serial killer? (this, for the record, is why I don't like Zemo) Why does he never point out that Bucky was given the serum against his will, or that his actions, when he had control of them, proved that he was never corrupted? Bucky never wanted to become superhuman. Bucky didn't even want to fucking fight!

Sam, despite constantly resisting the label, is shown very clearly to be Bucky's friend. By episode 3, he cares. He worries about how Bucky is getting lumped in with the other super soldiers in Zemo's speech... But he never really defends him. He says "what about Bucky?" but he doesn't point out that Bucky's a good man, he's fought so hard to help people, he does everything he can to avoid killing... And that fucking speech in episode 5. I was with him on "you gotta stop looking to other people to tell you who you are." I was like "YEAH! Tell him, Sam! Bucky, you're WORTH SAVING, boo! Your value does not hinge on someone else's opinion of you!" And then... Sam dropped the ball.

He not only continued the disturbing pattern of victim-blaming in this show, and in Marvel/Disney properties in general, but he gave really dangerously bad advice! No one in their right mind, mental health professional or no, would EVER tell a traumatized former assassin (whether he was responsible for his actions or not) to go confront his victims' families out of the blue with no warning and no one to mediate and keep things from going to shit. Yori already knew his son had been murdered because he was in the "wrong place, wrong time." How is it being "of service" to tell him you're the one who killed him?! Remember how I said Tony's reaction to learning the full truth about his parents' deaths was valid and would be an important point later? Hi! Welcome to later. THAT is the natural reaction to facing the man who murdered your loved one(s). And even if Yori didn't get angry and lash out, HOW IS IT "HELPING" HIM OR BRINGING HIM "CLOSURE" TO KNOW THAT HIS FRIEND KILLED HIS FUCKING SON?!?!?! This man befriended him, bonded with him, watched him grieve... And now he's learning this is the man who caused all his pain and heartache to begin with? That is so toxic and psycho I just... I can't even... UGH.

And then there's the equally toxic and damaging "deeply traumatized person just needed a stern talking to and a hug to be ALL BETTER AGAIN" ending. I loved seeing Bucky happy and socializing, but it was too soon, and it was unearned. And it sends a fucking awful message to people actually struggling with PTSD, and to their loved ones who don't know how to help them. Heaping more blame on them and then hugging it out is NOT helpful!

This show could have been damn near perfect with just two changes. That's all. Just two. 1) Someone, anyone, bringing up the reasons why Bucky was never a villain in his presence. Someone being in his corner and reminding him, like Steve did, that it wasn't his fault and he's not going to "snap". 2) More time devoted to Bucky's healing. Actual fucking healing, not the shit they tried to pass off as a magic fix-all. He can have his happy barbecue moment, just don't frame it as "everything's great now!" Healing isn't linear, and there will be both good days and bad. Some of the most fragile people in the world have the brightest smiles.

If we get a season 2, which this amazing show absolutely deserves, and they address this stuff, all will be forgiven in my book. Expanding on his story and his journey toward healing will help to reframe that "happily ever after" garbage as something more realistic. But as it stands now... Fuck Marvel.

[tenok]

@di-42 ok I was going to just write short reply saying that it's already too long and I'm sorry that I derailed your post in different direction, it wasn't my intention, but again it went out of hand lol

Now, I don't want to argue about details and theories and "what author hinted" there. It doesen't matter, because in the end it all boils down to how we characterisze Aziraphale and even more to what things have grave meaning for us, and not plot points. For exaple, I'm absolutely not bothered by Aziraphale's offer to make Crowley an angel: I can see several reasons for it and I don't think most offers can be disrespectful if it's just an offer you can refuse. For example, I get triggered when someone offer to involve third parties to solve my problems. I have valid reasons for it: I have unfortunate experiences and don't want to risk to be in debt to someone I don't know well. Most people, when they offer it to me, means well, so I try not to snap at them. Sometimes people close to me offer it, and then I *do* snap, unproportionally so, because you should've know better!! but stll by offering this they are not meaning disrespect, and sometimes they really do imply good solution I can't accept because of my trauma. I see this argument more in this way: at one side Aziraphale makes offer that makes sense to him (even if he knows that Crowley would hate being an angel, and we have no actual scenes of them discussing it, aren't we? — sometimes you can pick the thing you hate because you will have something from it! like, Crowley also hates children being killed but he had this idea in season 1, all by himself!), and Crowley, being hurt, blows up instead of calmly saing "no, I don't want it, there's why, and what we can do instead". No one really at fault, etc etc. Or with heavens being good/bad: I can argue that there's a big difference between "I know there's no good in heavens" and "I CAN make some good in heavens". So, when you see that "he won't say it because of character growth in season 1", I'll say that it's actually makes a lot of sense for him to say exactly that (now, I do feel that he was somewhat forced to take position, especially so soon, but it was *choise he made*, and the one he can consider beneficial to them both, the world and humanity).

Now, the glory of fandom is that we can all interpretations we want, and even after season 3 came out and some things would become canon and some won't, we still can say "nah, I choose to ignore it and live with my opinion" (I do this with whole season 2 sometimes lol). So you can see it your way, I can see it my way and we won't argue our way to truth. But, speaking personally, it's just a little lonely being in the point where only people that agree that Aziraphale could've mean what he said also the same people that insist that he's monster for making this choises, and people that defend Aziraphale mostly goes from the place where they insist that he actually lied and never meant even one thing in final fifteen, because, again, things he can mean interprented as... well, I won't say that someone in this corner would call him a monster, but your own argumants are about how this words would mean he regressed in his recovery or disrespected Crowley, etc. Like, very not favorable to his character, you see (and that's where it gets into my own personal territory!! Reading most metas suck so bad!! lol).

I don't thnink that Gaiman is a lazy author and I do thing that honest interpersonal/ideological conflict makes more sense for the story, but I'm trying to believe that if Gaiman will took the lying liar route, he will execute it in much more nuanced manner than I usually see in fandom, and I probably would like it! But this version of Aziraphale will be dear to me anyway.

Ok. *rolls her sleeves* You want face value? *rubs her hands* I'll give you face value.

Crowley hates his plants.

He shouts at them, belittles them and k*lls them. He says horrible things to them and the fact that he k*lls the plants off screen is no reason for us to doubt that he does. Because we trust his words in that particular scene. His behaviour throughout both seasons, especially season 2 where the only thing he takes with him from his former flat are the plants, is absolutely irrelevant of course.

Crowley thinks Aziraphale is stupid or that he is an idiot. If he says so in situations of stress, in situations where the context suggests he's desperate for the angel to see things his way the context is just irrelevant, because he says that Aziraphale is an idiot. If the rest of the series shows us that he trusts Aziraphale and his intelligence greatly, that's irrelevant because in a couple of scenes he said that Aziraphale is an idiot.

If Crowley had gone to Alpha Centauri he WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE THOUGHT about Aziraphale. That's what he said, so it must be true.

Crowley actually wanted Muriel to arrest him because he's a demon. That's what he said, so it's exactly what he meant. That the unfolding of the story suggests that was a trick to get to heaven is irrelevant.

In Rome Crowley was an aardvark. Obviously.

Aziraphale is just an angel Crowley knows. Exactly like Sandalphon.

Crowley clearly wanted to k*ll Job's children. The whole goats-turned-into-crows thingy? Irrelevant.

I'm sure that if you take Aziraohale's words towards Crowley during the final fifteen at face value you'll agree with me that everything else in the show is to be taken at face value.

I invite everyone to come up with more examples.

[kemendin]

More and more I’m feeling like I want to try RPing with my SWTOR characters, but I’m also rather hesitant, for a number of reasons.

One, just in general because I’m shy of strangers and always afraid of new roleplay experiences haaaa. Yeah I’m a wimp around people I don’t know. And it’s been so long since I put myself out there in a general roleplay community.

But also I’m like, uncertain of how this might work for SWTOR specifically. Certainly not everyone has their OCs following or even tied to the canon stories, but I’m sure a lot of people do. Like, I can’t separate Cas from a lot of the Knight story, or from the Alliance, but then in RP you’d end up with every other person having their character as the Alliance Commander, yeah? And then it gets into what romances people have for their characters and alllll this other stuff. I dunno if people just ignore that sort of thing for the sake of RP, but that seems cumbersome, you can’t do that for every little conflicting detail. Maybe you just need to find people whose character stories can mesh with your own? I really don’t know.

I don’t even know if I’m actually ASKING this stuff, I’m just sort of braining aloud here (that’s how shy I am of interacting with people, kinda sucks as a roleplayer lol). I’m just really invested in these boys of mine and I love thinking about them and writing them, in my head if not actually on paper all the time. So in theory I think RP would be interesting to dabble in, just in practise I might end up stressed out. Dunno really!

[haha-what-if-jk-unless]

If I Rewrote RWBY

First of all, I hate that most of the Faunus characters we see, especially the ones with the most screen time, are all white/white passing. I get that Remnant isn’t meant to have the same views and systems of race as real life but I still think it wouldn’t hurt to add more characters of color

I also think it sucks that Faunus can only have one animal trait. That’s more of me thinking that character design can be way more creative and fun than anything else though if I’m being honest

So on those two notes, I’d make both Blake and Velvet brown skinned and also give Blake a cat tail.

I’d love for Neon to be dark-skinned for honestly no other reason other than bright, neon colors looking absolutely fantastic on dark skinned women

Sun I’d prefer to stay on the lighter side since his Faunus trait is literally a monkey tail but I still think it wouldn’t hurt to give him a little bit of melanin instead of them being so pale

I think Marrow should also have wolf ears instead of just a tail.

Plus, it may be a bit on the nose, but I don’t understand how they literally named a character Fox and didn’t make him a fox Faunus. I’m not sure if I prefer him having a fox tail or ears or both but I just think he should be a Faunus in general

I personally really like the theory of Tyrian having bad eyesight just as scorpions in real life do so I think that should be his second Faunus trait

Moving away from the Faunus for now, I wanna talk about the Ace Ops and how CRWBY went wrong with them

Don’t get me wrong, their turning against Mantle was very well written and logical. My one and only problem is that the antagonistic, classist cops/military soldiers are basically all characters of color.

For a storyline like that, they should all be white since that only goes to further prove their ignorance and inherent bias against the impoverished and dispriveleged people of Mantle.

Sorta keeping the topic but also moving on to a new point, I feel like it was a missed opportunity to have none of the Ace Ops defect and decide to aid RWBY+ORNJ+Qrow in their mission

That being said, I think both Clover and Marrow should have been the ones to go against Ironwood and the Ace Ops.

Clover, aside from obvious reasons concerning CRWBY’s horrible treatment of mlm characters, was written with very clear foreshadowing of turning against Ironwood in favor of Qrow and the kids. I don’t feel the need to go into detail since many others have already (and much better then I ever could) but if you’d like to read meta posts about it I’d direct you to @lady-byleth or @fairgame-is-canon .

Marrow was also pretty widely speculated as being the one to leave the Ace Ops as far as I’ve seen in the fandom. As much as I love him, I was very displeased with how he was written. I won’t lie and say there aren’t “pick me” model minorities who would rather defend their oppressors than fight alongside their community but I don’t feel that was the best characterization they could’ve given Marrow. I’d have much preferred his story to be about a dark skinned Faunus growing up in a heavily racist society who very earnestly wants to help make change happen. Maybe they could’ve written him as still being naive and thinking his acceptance into the Ace Ops is making much more of a difference than it really is, but as whole, he shouldn’t have been as against Robyn and pro Ironwood and Atlas’ legal system as he was. I think Ironwood declaring martial law could have been the perfect moment for Marrow to decide that he had to get more directly involved if he really wanted to see change happen

Moving further on and going more into relationships because I won’t lie to you, I am in love with so many RWBY ships it’s not even funny.

Just as a forewarning in case y’all wanna just skip any of this but I’m gonna be talking specifically about: Bumbleby, Renora, Emercury, Fair Game, and Taiyang’s relationships with both Raven and Summer.

Now I love everything about Bumbleby and the way it’s written, I just want them to be more upfront with it. I want them to showcase it as obviously as they do with Ren and Nora. I understand that narratively speaking, Blake and Yang aren’t 100% ready to be together yet, and they probably won’t be until the tail end of the series unfortunately. But I don’t see why they can’t add more moments into the show. Yeah I love their deep moments that are meant to be analyzed but I also want cheesy gays flirting and blushing all over each other. Again, I won’t disagree or say I don’t like the pacing of Blake and Yang’s relationship development but at this point, it’s starting to feel like queer baiting. They’re just gonna keep reeling us in with “Oh next volume, they’ll be an official thing for sure!!” and then we get little more than small moments that aren’t explicitly romantic unless you take the time to analyze it

I honestly have very few complaints about how Ren and Nora’s relationship is shown and how it’s progressed thus far. The only things I’d change are 1) Nora is a trans woman and 2) Their disagreements in volume 7 are brought up and addressed more seriously. I mean, I feel like they showed them disagreeing once or twice and then dropped it as if their stances on Ironwood’s wasn’t a serious issue that they were arguing over. I wouldn’t take out the kiss scene or the Neo disguising herself as Nora scene but I think there should have been more content of Ren and Nora not getting along in volume 7 so both moments are much more impactful as reminders that Nora and Ren do love each other in spite of everything that’s going on

Now I’ll be honest, I know there’s been absolutely zero evidence from the series to suggest that Emerald and Mercury are meant to have some sort of romantic relationship but I am not immune to the villains being in love and working to be redeemed together trope. I don’t have any serious changes I’d make to their writing thus far since I think it’s a bit too early to really talk about their possible redemption arcs and relationship dynamic, but I would include more scenes where they are able to sit down and talk. I mean they are both still very young adults who were abused as children so it’s a pretty big miss for there to be little to no canon scenes of them showing how well they understand each other or how they look out for one another in small ways as they stumble into unknown and dangerous territory the further they get pulled into Salem’s inner circle

I’ll start off with the obvious for Fair Game, Clover’s death was absolutely terrible writing and blatant queer baiting/bury your gay’s. As I already said, I feel that Clover should have defected from Ironwood and gone on to help Qrow and fight alongside the kids (along with Marrow). It just makes no sense to include all the buildup and potential for development only to knock it straight down the way that they did. I honestly don’t even know how they expect to have Qrow come back from this and ever be a well functioning person again after that. If it were up to me, Clover never would have tried to arrest Qrow and would have instead almost immediately disobeyed Ironwood upon hearing him plan to declare martial law. He would have gone with Qrow to find all the kids and help them escape without being arrested

Now as for Taiyang and his relationships with Summer and Raven. First off I think it’s shitty of CRWBY to craft such an intricate background and then almost never give the character at the center of it any screen time or exploration. I mean we know that Taiyang lost his two wives and is sad about it and that’s about it. They never talk about what his relationship with either of the women were like or specifics on how they each ended. I mean what was Raven and Tai’s relationship actually like before everything went to shit, how/when did it start, when did it start to deteriorate, how did she really feel about Yang and starting a family with Tai? Why do none of these questions have so much as a fraction of an answer? And as for Summer, how much time went between Raven’s abandonment and Summer and Tai getting together? Was it a serious relationship or just a hookup that went wrong and then they decided to just roll with it (I ask this with all seriousness because once again, we don’t have a clear cut answer for this). We don’t even know exactly at what age Yang and Ruby were when Summer disappeared and if you ask me, that’s bad writing, especially if two of the titular characters are largely driven by their strained relationships with their parents

There’s definitely more stuff I can think of later but I’m tired right now and this post feels long enough already so I’m leaving it here for now.

Also, if there’s specific things y’all want me to talk about in RWBY and how/whether I’d change it or not, then feel free to send asks and I’ll answer them asap

[randomnameless]

Edel's reaction to her allies's quirks is...

Pretty mild, when it comes to dealing with Bernadetta, but iirc when Linhardt opens their support chain with "I have a new theory about crests and relics that contradict the CoS's version" she quicky shuts him, calling his theories "meaningless blabber".

Maybe he could have discovered the real "secret" behind relics and revealed the plot!

Oh well,

The Emperor Class is so... well, when you compare it to Dimitri and Claude who can solo armies, Edel is supposed to have a lot of def and res? But it doesn't really work.

I've heard a lot of people reclass her to wyvern classes, because her canonical classes suck so much lol. Just you wait until you see the exclusive class skill, iirc, it's something that gives you res+4 when you wait.

Given what happens in the next chapter, sending the brunt of the army towards the capital while the BESF targets Cornelia is a good "decoy" tactic - but I'm pretty sure the Imperial Army sent to the capital was destroyed (since they are fighting both Rhea AND Dimitri!).

Too bad for them, I guess.

Lysithea in this route is... well, you could have expected another reaction learning that the Empire was in cahoots with the people who ruined her life and turned her siblings in, hm, whatever they were turned into before dying, but no. She's happy to be trusted by Edel, and she's going to fight Cornelia. Please ignore how she might have conflicted feelings for fighting with the Empire that used Cornelia'n'pals tech and bioweapons, or have conflicted feelings for fighting for the Empire (they are the ones who sent the "dark mages" to Ordelia, lore wise, after the Hyrm story!). That kool aid must be something really really strong!

Felix's descent to, well, "boarness" is dramatic in CF lol, it feels like he joins the Empire on an emo whim (fuck Dimitri, fuck Dad, fuck Faerghus) and now he tries way too hard not to regret it...

Granted, even if Felix's negative character development is really interesting in CF, Ingrid being here explains more or less why in 3 Nopes, the devs said "stop" and made every BL unrecruitable (save for Ashe and Mercedes), because quite frankly, it doesn't make any sense for those characters (Ingrid, Sylvain, Felix, Annette, etc etc) to ditch the Kingdom when it's being invaded. CF tries to wash it with "Byleth sensei uwu" but it doesn't cut it.

Ah, the unfamous portrait scene! CF in a nutshell, being tone deaf about what your allies and your protagonists are doing, vs the "enemy side", preparing to be invaded and fighting for their lives.

The tone deafness is even more jarring when you realise people you were supposed to be attached too died (Randolph and Ladislava?) last month, but now we're back on drawing and blushing around the avatar. For comparison, if you killed Seteth'n'Flayn, Rhea loses it (even if, as the weeb i am, I still find Inoue's performance more interesting, she's angry, she sounds broken and somehow crying?). So while Rhea is spiralling in her worst nightmare, during the exploration scene (after revealing the plan to strike down the Agarthans!), Edel draws your portrait.

Oh well, it's still not on par with Raphael's "I wonder what's for dinner" during GW's last map when he engages the final boss (I am barely exaggerating), but we're close.

The Insurrection of the Southern Church is more detailed in a book in Nopes, but basically, House Varley back then had two kids, one kid was supposed to inherit the House and the other the Ministry of Religion, Southern Church supported one over the other, one of the kids lost and the Southern Church was kicked out.

Caspar's supports with Shamir and Petra could have been much more interesting, but we're definitely not talking about death tolls in possible supports that can be unlocked in CF lol. For a good Caspar support, if you have the occasion on other PT, I'd suggest to get the one he has with Catherine (that is unavailable on CF!)

Funny to see some people apparently being resentful that Arianrhod became part of the Kingdom when it was built with Adrestia's "tech and money", especially in the route where you are set on demolishing Nabateans and the CoS, who helped create Adrestia (and gave crests to your characters!). I swear it started off as a joke, but the Adrestian Double Standard (TM) is real ^^

Indeed, Cornelia has no lines against Edel, but her end quote is directed to her, even if the lolcalisation lolcalised :

She sorts of praise Edel for having turned against them and made a plot she couldn't anticipate. I guess she's a fair player, and gives praise where it's due? Kuddos to her?

The Agarthans nuking Arianrhod is supposed to be a warning shot - but as I've said on a previous post, CF's plot armor is thicker than an atomic bunker so...

Let's say the Agarthans don't nuke the BESF at the end of the route, or don't even nuke Enbarr at the end CF, when their goal is achieved, and without the excuse of the plot armor, I really can't see why this never happened.

Oh well. Just CF things!

For the next chapter, you have two alternate endings, depending if you kill someone within a certain turncount or not. And Rhea cosplays!

Staring the Kingdom half of CF!

The standout point is obviously the interplay regarding Arianrhod. Taking it is part of a strategy to attack Fhirdiad in a pincer maneuver, but a side goal is killing Cornelia, who Edelgard and Hubert know is an Agarthan. The whole thing is cloaked in plausible deniability and doubletalk, but Arundel pretty much immediately retaliates by dropping javelins of light onto Arianrhod as a warning. Of course, Edie then proceeds to lie and claim the church did it. Woof.

As a side note, there was a lot of supports this chapter because I went to the monastery a few times and ate a bunch of meals. I don't care too much for the Black Eagles, so I didn't have too many impressions (though some pairings seem to work better than others imo), but one interesting thing is that Edelgard is... hm, more patient that I would necessarily give her credit for?

I know people say they admire her drive and determination, but given her nonsense and unfounded goals, I never really saw those as positives. However, I have to say her self-control is quite impressive. She really can keep a straight face through anything (only giving actual emotional reactions to Byleth once she's very comfortable with them) - compare to Claude quite easily losing his cool and getting defensive if something hits too close to home. But she also keeps a very even keel when dealing with the Black Eagles' "quirks." In particular, she's quite calm in regard to Bernadetta's nonsense in a way that is quite humanizing.

It's not anything deep, but I did find it interesting.

Live blogging:

Hum... the way they go "we're marching to Fhirdiad!... except we're not! we're going to Arianrhod!" really feels like they realized they needed to squeeze in at least one more chapter to pad out the route. Edelgard's promotion to Emperor class also feels very random.

In-universe, we're sending most of the army toward the capital, while our little group goes to assault a famous fortress. Somehow. How are we even reaching it...

Hubert and Edie know about Cornelia having a "weapon" (Titanus, as we see later).

Lysithea is touched at being trusted with this secret plan (as part of the strike force) and says she's now fully into Edie's cool aid. Petra likes surprise tactics. Leonie... does not. She slips up and calls it cowardly lol.

Felix insists he's totally cool with betraying his homeland and his family, he'll kill his king, his father and the goddess, you just watch... but his sword feels heavy u.u

Ingrid says she's... not cool with being a traitor everyone who ever loved her, but you see, she must because uh Byleth said so and she trust Byleth (and their C rank in lances or whatever it was).

Sylvain is thinking about Dimitri and wants to train. He's mentioned before that he's afraid he'll get killed in battle, as well as the rest of us.

Dimitri is called the Tempest King because there's nothing left in his wake, like after a storm.

Edelgard has locked herself in her room. She also painted a portrait of Byleth. Sure, ok.

120 years ago, the Southern Church in the empire "had a massive insurrection" and the bishop who participated was exiled by the emperor. Boy, the Empire sure has a lot of insurrections, huh?

Bernie has decided she wants to travel and draw pictures of (cute carnivorous) plants she sees.

Caspar's supports with Petra and Shamir both bring up his feelings of guilt about his father's and the empire's war and the human toll of that. It's... kind of something that both of them seem to mostly sidestep the issue in the end.

I think the quest to get the dark merchant to appear on this route only gives you... Brigid and bandit battalions, so the Morfis battalion being linked to it on SS was just a coincidence, I guess.

Arianrhod is a fortress city that was built about 400 years ago. It was built by the Empire (using their "money and technology") against the Kingdom, I guess during their independence war. However, the head of House Rowe betrayed the empire and sided with the kingdom, making it change hands right before its completion. It has not fallen since. It's called the Silver Maiden due to its beautiful white walls.

Cornelia brought some Titanus with her, along with dark mages and... Gwendal. She tells the Titanus(es?) to go ahead and kill Kingdom troops too.

Doesn't seem to be any special dialogue for Cornelia vs Edelgard.

Immediately after we beat up Cornelia, Arundel comes over lol. Lots of double talk between him and Edelgard but the main point is that, per the paralogue, Edelgard is beginning to act more impudently toward the Agarthans, since she is gaining more and more power and getting closer to her goal (after which, they're next on the chopping block). This includes intentionally targeting Cornelia while still maintaining deniability about how she totes didn't know Cornelia was an Agarthan mole.

btw, the fact that I know we do not have a section for fighting the Agarthans on this route is high-key ridiculous, given the buildup.

The Agarthans nuke Arianrhod as a warning, though that's uh... quite pointless, honestly. Based on Hubert's panicked reaction and Edelgard's obvious surprise, they did not know this was a thing.

However, they had previously investigated Aillel and thought it was the goddess's doing. They know better now... but that won't stop them from blaming it on the church anyway!

The scene of Edelgard calmly lying to the crew is amazing as a contrast. I haven't seen whatever equivalent there is on AM, but iirc VW had a pretty direct parallel where Claude explains stuff to the team. It had the usual Church Bad issues, but that's at least his honest perspective and not... flat lying. This route is really just lies all the way down.

[threewaysdivided]

I saw your conversation about Sam Manson. I was talking to Imekitty about this, but I’ve noticed a few things that (sort of) make Sam’s relationship with her parents seem more like teen-drama than actual hardship. If you look closely, she’s got a lot in common with them: outspoken political-activism, possible shared-interest in vintage clothes, and no shame in saying they don’t like certain people. Also, after the Fentons, they were the first to volunteer to use the Ecto-Skeleton, risks and all.

(In reference to this post.)

It’s been a little while since I rewatched DP so I’m not well-placed to do a detail-analysis implication-breakdown right now, but yeah - that fits with the overall impression I remember getting.  To me they came across as being sort of old fashioned set-in-their-ways conservative and snooty, and maybe a bit too Pleasantville -  but more often in the way of parents who do genuinely want good things for her and to be able to be proud of her despite not really understanding her interests, choices or friends and being very bad at expressing it.  Plus she seems to have her grandmother fully in her corner a lot of the time.

I really wish that the writers had committed to one or the other; either making it clear that Sam’s martyr/ persecution complex is mostly just regular self-inflicted teen-drama BS and giving her an arc addressing it, OR fleshing out the idea that she faces a lot of judgement/ pressure/ control/ nonacceptance in her home life and that her negative traits are a bi-product of defensive/ coping mechanisms resulting from that strained dynamic, rather treating things with Roger Rabbit Rules.  

(Which isn’t to say that a person can’t have similar interests/ personality traits to, and positive interactions with, their parents while still having a strained, broken or even abusive relationship with them on a deeper level, but the show never really goes hard enough in either direction to make it work.)

As mentioned the last post, this is kind of a consistent pattern across DP - the writers tend go with the low-effort first answer for whatever is Funny or Awesome or Convenient in the moment rather than putting in the work to find a solution that’s consistent with the characterisation, themes and world-lore overall.  There’s enough internal contradiction in the show that I don’t think it’s actually possible to take every canon detail as canon without fundamentally breaking things.  And in some ways that’s kind of cool; it makes the series more open to interpretation, and trying to distinguish authorial intent from authorial incompetence and come up with theories that account for as many pieces of canon as possible is really satisfying.  But, you know, it’s also kind of bad writing in general.

I think the thing that bothers me about Sam’s characterisation in particular is that - where it tends to be more obviously out-of-character when it shows up in other places - there’s a pattern to the inconsistency with how the writers handle Sam:

Throughout the series there’s a double standard in how Sam sees herself/ seems to expects others to act, compared to her own behaviour:

Despite being pro-pacifism she’s okay with smacking Tucker and encouraging Danny to destroy the trucks she doesn’t like

Sam values self-expression and is a feminist, but derides other girls for wanting to express themselves in a conventionally feminine way

Sam doesn’t like being forced to conform to others’ values but is okay with forcing others to conform to hers

Despite being anti-consumerist she shows very little discomfort at, or awareness of, her lavish home life and material belongings

She encourages Danny to take the moral high ground towards his bullies but has no problem antagonising and getting into petty verbal spats with Paulina herself

Sam stalks Danny and his love interest out of jealousy/ protectiveness but threatens to end their friendship when he does the same

In Mystery Meat, when Danny tries to express his discomfort/ anxiety, Sam hijacks the conversation to complain about her own parents instead of listening.

In One of a Kind Sam photographs Danny and Tucker hugging in their sleep, without their knowledge, with the stated intent of putting it in the yearbook, then uses it to blackmail them into silence. 

Side note: this joke is also tacky on a meta-level because it boils down to “male intimacy ha ha toxic masculinity no homo amiright?“ Would have been nice if show didn’t use low-key sexist humour as much as it did.

Instead of expressing that she’s hurt by Danny’s “pretty girls” comment in Parental Bonding, Sam retaliates by pushing him to ask Paulina out - a move she knows will most likely result in him getting publicly shut down and humiliated.

Then, after getting the result she wanted, she comes over to gloat and insults Paulina, rather than dropping it now that her point’s been made, which is what ultimately sets off the episode’s subplot.

In Memory Blank Sam permanently physically alters Phantom’s appearance to better suit her tastes while he’s not in a position to understand or give informed consent, then lies when Danny notices and asks about it later.

To be clear this definitely isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of her character and it’s not there 100% of the time - there are plenty of moments when she is loyal and generous and helpful and sincerely kind and where her stubbornness comes in handy.  But it’s the aggregate pattern of all these small instances that drives a crack through the foundation of her character integrity; producing this insidious undercurrent alternate-reading of Sam as someone who, at a deep level, just doesn’t respect or recognise that the emotional needs, pains, opinions, autonomy and boundaries of others are as real and valid as her own, and who responds to criticism with passive-aggressive hostility.

Again, I think that’s why people are so quick to point out that line from Phantom Planet, even though we all know the episode was a complete mess.  None of the examples above are particularly bad in isolation - you can’t really point at any one of them and say “oh no, bad girl” without sounding like you’re making a mountain out of molehill and irrationally hating on her just to hate on her.  It’s an uncomfortable slowburn pattern of subtle micro-transgressions that accumulates across the series - a “you might not notice it but your brain did”.  And it makes sense that it would be the worst-written episode that amplifies and brings that regular bad-writing undercurrent close enough to the surface for people to consciously recognise and use it to articulate those frustrations.

To wit: Not because it’s most telling of her character but because it’s most telling of the specific bad writing that regularly hurts her character. 

And again, from a storytelling point of view, it’s okay for Sam to have flaws.  She’s a teenager!  She’s learning.  She’s allowed to be egocentric and self-important and do things that aren’t the best at times.  It’s okay if these are her character weaknesses and a source of conflict with the rest of the cast.  But again, for that to be satisfying something really should have come of it.  It would have been nice if the writers were willing to have any self-awareness about these flaws being flaws that a person should recognise and grow past in order to have healthy relationships with others.  But they didn’t - because it’s easier to keep her as she is - to the point that they’ll actively bend the narrative to roll back or skip over moments that would have necessitated that growth.  So, even though they call attention to her flaws, the writers end up rewarding and enabling them instead of letting her learn.

And again, this isn’t meant to hate on Sam.  Hanlon’s Razor in full effect: it’s clearly a result of authorial/editorial incompetence rather than deliberate malice.  I know this isn’t the intended interpretation.

My preferred reading of Sam Manson is that she’s a Rosa Hubermann/ Hermione Granger/ YJS1 Artemis Crock-type character.  Someone who’s passionate and forceful and maybe a bit abrasive and hard to love at a glance, but whose core nature is compassionate and sincerely kind and loyal-to-the-death for the people they value.  I wish I could 100% like her without caveats; to be able to say that even if I don’t agree with her flaws I can at least understand that they’re a valid product of the life she lives, that they make her who she is and that she’s trying her best to be a good person who will get better despite them.  

But I can’t because the writers don’t give her that.  They’re always prioritising other things over the integrity of her character.  They don’t give her background enough time and context to make her negative traits feel resonant with it (because that would take time away from the Wicked Cool Radical Ghost-Fighting Superhero Action™) and the framing and plotting doesn’t give her chances to recognise or grow past them (because that would mean character development and those negative traits are an easy source of cheap conflict).  The writers just don’t seem to care all that much about Sam - her actual character, who she is, how she came to be that way, what she wants or how her negative traits would actually play against Danny and the others.

And that sucks.  Because she has a lot of potential to be a well-rounded and great character.  I’ve seen plenty of fics that seize that potential and roll with those gaps and the result is very good.  I wish I could like her canon depiction without feeling like I have to actively ignore a bunch of latent behavioural red flags as the price of entry.

She deserved better.

[aion-rsa]

Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 3 Easter Eggs & References

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This Star Trek: Discovery article contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 3. Read our review of the episode here.

As the USS Discovery starts to explore the galaxy in Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, the first stop is, understandably, to check-in on how the Planet Earth is doing. Unlike Battlestar Galactica searching for Earth forever, Discovery decided to get the whole Earth thing out of the way right away. In Episode 3, “People of Earth,” the crew returns to the home planet of the Federation and learns things are not remotely similar to how they left it.

Along the way, “People of Earth” references a long-running TNG-Douglas Adams joke, a quip from Kirk in The Wrath of Khan, a famous DS9-era alien species, and more! 

700 years after we left…

Burnham’s opening narration fills in new details we previously didn’t get about the Burn, including the idea that prior to the Burn, about “700 years after we left, dilithium reserves dried up.” This means that around the year 2957 or so, the Federation was “trialing alternative warp drive designs.” We don’t know much about the 30th century in the existing Trek canon, other than Daniels from Enterprise had knowledge about that era. To put it in perspective, this time period would still be 500 years in the future for Star Trek: Picard. The idea of the Federation trying to change the way warp drive operates vaguely references the TNG episode “Force of Nature.”

47

When Burnham talks about being a courier, someone hands her a sliver containing the Starfleet registry NCC-4774. We don’t know what ship this belongs to, but it seems like this is a visual joke which references the long, and intentional inside joke about using the number 47 (or 74) throughout all of Trek which began around TNG Season 4. There are literally hundreds of appearances of the numbers 47 or 74 throughout the franchise, so many that there is actually a “47 project” devoted to finding all the occurrences of 47 throughout the franchise. 

The origin of the joke references the number 42 from Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In that novel, “42” ends up being the answer to “the life, the universe, and everything.” Burnham is searching for similarly vague answers in this montage. In the ‘90s, “47” became the “42” of Star Trek canon, and Rick Berman joked once that 47  was “42, adjusted for inflation.” The number “47” is also an Easter egg of sorts for alums from Pomona College, sprinkled throughout TV and film history.

Terralysium and Burnham’s mom

Burnham tells Saru that during the year she’s spent in this future, she’s connected the planet Terralsyium and that “they had never heard of my mom.” This references Season 2 of Discovery in which we learned Burnham’s mother, Gabrielle Burnham transported humans from the 21st Century to a planet called Terralysium in the Beta Quadrant. In theory, Terralysium was supposed to be the tether location where Burnham and the USS Discovery ended-up. In “Perpetual Infinity” Burnham’s mom was sucked into a time vortex, which, in theory, could have deposited her into the future version of Terralysium. So far, though, that’s not the case.

Captain Saru

Saru is promoted to captain in this episode. This is a long time coming for Saru. He’s been a First Officer for two captains thus far, Captain Lorca and Captain Pike. And, in the Discovery novel Desperate Hours, Saru was upset that Burnham was promoted to First Officer over him prior to the Battle of the Binary Stars. This 2017 book by David Mack is slightly non-canonical, but it did establish Detmer’s first name as Keyla, and doubled-down on Number One’s name as Una. Anyway, the point is, Saru has been working for a long time to become Captain.

DOT-7 Bots

We briefly see the outside of Discovery’s hull being repaired by DOT-7 robots. We first saw these little bots in “Such Sweet Sorrow” in Season 2, when they emerged from the Enterprise and effected some repairs. One of these bots, of course, was the star of the Short Treks episode “Ephraim and Dot.”

“Galavanting”

Georgiou mentions that Book has been “galavanting through space with Michael.” This could be a reference to The Wrath of Khan in which Kirk says, “galavanting around the cosmos is a game for the young.” 

Saturn 

Although the planet Saturn is famous to us here on Earth — not counting the opening credits for Star Trek: The Next Generation Seasons 1 and 2 — this is seemingly only the fourth time Saturn has appeared during an episode or movie of Star Trek. Previously, Saturn appeared in the TNG episodes “The Best of Both Worlds,” and “The First Duty.” In Star Trek (2009) Saturn appears when the Enterprise hides near Titan. 

“One aye”

When Booker sarcastically says “aye, aye” commander, to Burnham, she replies, “One ‘aye,’ we’re not pirates.” This might reference the original TNG episode “Lower Decks,” in which Riker tells Lavelle that “One aye is sufficient acknowledgment, Ensign.”

Georgiou pretends to be an Admiral

When the Discovery is inspected by the Earth ships, Georgiou dons an Admiral’s uniform to “make it believable.” This is the second time Mirror Geogoiu has worn a Starfleet uniform even though she is not really in Starfleet. The first time was in Discovery Season 1 when she was authorized to impersonate Prime Georgiou to lead the mission against the Klingon homeworld. 

Generational ship

Saru’s cover story for why the USS Discovery is still in operation in 3188 is the idea that they are a generational ship and are crewed by their own ancestors. This concept actually occurs in the Enterprise episode “E²,” where the crew of the NX-01 meets an alternate version of the ship crewed by their descendants. 

Synthehol 

Book is furious to discover he’s not drinking actual booze, but instead, synthehol. To be clear, in Trek canon, synthehol can get you drunk, but mostly if you’re an alien or a former Borg. In the TNG episode “Relics,” Scotty complained about having to drink synthehol in Ten Forward

Quantum torpedoes 

It’s briefly mentioned the Wen’s raiders have “quantum torpedoes.” This tech was first mentioned in Star Trek: First Contact, which, at the time, made it very new. 

Starfleet does not fire first!

After Georgiou suggests Saru take swift and aggressive action, Saru remonstrates her by saying “Starfleet does not fire first.” He’s actually quoting… Georgiou in the very first episode of Star Trek: Discovery. Though, in that case, the Georgiou who said “Starfleet doesn’t fire first” was the Prime Universe Captain Georgiou, not the Mirror Universe Georgiou who we’re more familiar with.

Titan

After it’s revealed that Wen (Christopher Heyerdahl) is actually a human, we also learn that he’s from the Titan. In real life, Titan is the largest moon of Saturn, and, unlike most moons, boasts an atmosphere. Trek canon has mentioned Titan a bunch. In “The First Duty,” Wesley was training near Titan, and again, in Star Trek (2009), Chekov hid the Enterprise behind Titan.

Adira’s revelation 

We learn very quickly that Adira (Blu del Barrio) is a human joined with a Trill; specifically a symbiont called “Tal.” Burnham and Sura discuss their general ignorance of Trill symbionts, but Saru tells Burnham everything he knows about the Trill comes from the “Sphere Data.” This references the giant alien sphere Discovery encountered in the Season 2 episode “An Obol for Charon.”

The fact that Burnham and Saru don’t know much about Trill symbionts makes sense. It’s not clear that in the 2250s that the Trill were open about being a joined species, but by the time of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine the Federation obviously learned about them. In fact, in the first TNG episode “The Host,” a human, Will Riker, was joined with a Trill. But, Burnham and Saru wouldn’t know about that because it would have been in their future back in 2257, and certainly, the Sphere didn’t know about that either.

Captain Georgiou’s telescope 

Saru unpacks Captain Georgiou’s telescope and puts it up in his new ready room. This telescope was presumably salvaged from the USS Shenzhou and given to Michael Burnham as part of Georgiou’s will in “The Butcher’s Knife Cares Not For the Lamb’s Cry.” But, after that, Burnham gave it to Saru instead. Saru and Burnham both used this telescope for practical purposes in the first Discovery episode ever, “The Vulcan Hello.”

Read more

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Discovery Season 3’s Latest Twist is Straight Out Of Star Trek: Insurrection

By Ryan Britt

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Did Star Trek: Discovery Just Tease the Michelle Yeoh Section 31 Spinoff?

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Which Quadrant?

Burnham says that Book has “a fresh start, in a new quadrant.” We know Earth is located in the Alpha Quadrant, which seems to imply Book and Burnham were previously operating in the Beta Quadrant. 

Starfleet Academy and Picard’s favorite giant tree

Although Starfleet is no longer operational on Earth, the crew visits the grounds of Starfleet Academy in San Francisco. There, they find what seems to maybe be a huge elm tree. If so, this tree was actually referenced by Jean-Luc Picard in the TNG episodes “The Drumhead” and “The Game.” In theory, if this is supposed to be the same tree, it was tended by Boothby in the 24th Century which would imply it existed at least 100 years before that, in the mid 23rd Century, too.

Golden Gate Bridge 

The final shot of the episode pans out to show the 32nd Century version of the Golden Gate Bridge. The last time we saw this bridge chronologically, was in Star Trek: Picard in 2399. Though, prior to that, the bridge had been partially destroyed in the Dominion War in the 2370s. That is if you believe Changelings are real…

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Star Trek: Discovery airs new episodes on Thursdays on CBS All Access.

The post Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 Episode 3 Easter Eggs & References appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[nonipsduck]

Hey fellas, I’m back again with our Indruck- oriented server, Eggnostic! I’m Alexander, and 1/3rd of the mod team, but more importantly, I’m here to say that we will be accepting members again for a short period of time! Details under the cut.

We’re friendly, chatty folks- if you’re not interested fast-paced convos we probably aren’t for you! We do our best to keep things fresh and active, but as a result of such, have found it necessary to implement several rules. I ask you read over them before you decide if this server is for you or not.

1) Be Cool

   1A) This includes respecting these creators. Don’t say anything you wouldn’t say to their face, both in terms of subject and tone. The language you use conveys a different meaning (ie saying ‘griffin goofed that a little vs berating him) and that matters.

   1B) Going off of the above point, we have decided to ban hypothetical “maybe whys” regarding late episodes. While often well-meaning in giving them credit for not being perfect-content producing machines, it does not change the fact that theories are for characters, not real people.

   1C) We also have decided to ban anxiety-ridden “What-ifs” regarding on why episodes may be delayed: if it is causing you serious emotional distress, it belongs in vent (however if the conversation spirals into people spouting off what-ifs we will intervene).

2) c'mooooooon

   2A) We discourage hyper-analysis of TAZ as it is simply put, not built or meant for that and will not stand up to such analysis, which can be a big downer on a server about loving TAZ. There is no actual prohibition on such conversations… for the time being.

   2B) Our stance on art/fic shaming is as follows: If it falls under obama's second amendment, such as whitewashing tones or features, conflicts with LGBT/ND/POC canon or headcanons (bearing in mind lots of folks are projecting their own real-life struggles), or the content is so horrifically awful (:remyvore:), you're fine. Direct attacks on the arts style, quality, and general artistry will not be tolerated.

id like to make sure everyones actually reading these to some extent, so please tell me your favorite amnesty character n why when you ask to join!

   2C) Related to the aforementioned headcanons, there will be little tolerance for "but why"-ing POC,ND, and LGBT headcanons. It is also unnecessary to insert that you disagree with someone else's headcanon on such topics. Serious, genuine discussion is fine.

   2D) Minimum server age is 14, Maximum 25. Please do not invite anyone to the server without privately asking a moderator. Public requests will be ignored and/ or deleted.

   2E) We want to highlight everyone art fairly, so #art-and-stuff has a 5 minute (ish) cooldown between art posts. We just ask you wait five or so minutes before posting your art after someone else.

   2F) Please be conscientious in both vent channels. Obviously ‘mood’, ‘same’, ‘kin’ ‘f’, ect are entirely inappropriate and won't be tolerated, longer messages with the same message (‘yea i’ve been there sucks man, oh yeah me too, ect) are equally unwelcome. Overly dismissive, Overly aggressive, or condescending (in nature or tone) solutions are also not appropriate.(edited)

3) nice.

   3A) We love goofs and japes, and for this we have #really-wild-shit . For serious and horny NSFW discussion, we have exactly no channel because we don’t want it here. At all. Thanks.

4) We'd like to keep a deeply connected server, and in that case it does not make sense to have everything fall under the mods jurisdiction. If you find something to be in poor taste or in violation of OMA, simply respond with an :eye: emoji. If you need immediate action, or would like a mod to address a situation in any way, simply shoot us a ping.(edited)

5) Blacklist content. Not to be discussed or mentioned in any context. DM mod to add.

   - Drug Use

   - Alcohol

   - Self Harm

   - Suicidal Ideation + Threats

It is worth noting that these are rules for members already within the server, who have already established that they have many hc’s, theories, ect in common. While we cannot ask, much less enforce the following, know the following going in:

> Duck content is all presumed Trans unless stated otherwise… although if you feel the need to state otherwise you probably won’t enjoy the server anyways.

> George is the result of a 3+ hour debate over voice call and is the collective child of not only Indrid and Duck, but our server as a whole. He was and continues to be something we bond over. I’m not saying you gotta know all the lore (because good lord I dont even know it all) but realistically you’ll wanna at least enjoy the little raccoon king we’ve created.

> The rules are clear about NSFW content, but to elaborate on an area in particular: this server is Indruck and Barclane oriented. Chatter of other, conflicting ships isn’t… restricted, but folks are allowed to nip and tease ya. The exceptions only being age gap content (Duck/Pidge, Duck/Leo, Duck/Ned, basically anything around a 20+ age difference. ) and Anyone x Beacon content (he’s a sword with a mouth, and we know you aren’t thinking of him whispering sweet nothings).

> That being said we loooove a good goof. There are several running jokes and recurring topics that may make you uncomfortable, including but not limited to: vore, oviposition, piss, monster and robot fuckers, ect. They’re 110% ironic, but do occasionally spill out of the wild-shit channel for the sake of us being funny bastards.

if you’d like to join, reply to this post, do NOT dm me. im busy this week and it lets the other mods help out too.

We’ll be accepting 10 new folks, and its not super first come first serve. If you join and find that we aren’t for you, no worries: we do not have public exit messages. Thanks for reading!