#i'm just so.......... about all these theories about the ending

[twopoppies]

who/what is freddieismyqueen? Sounds familiar but I am returning to fandom since like a 10year break 😅

Who is @freddiesmyqueen? I'm surprised you're asking if you were here ten years ago. She didn't deactivate until 2020.

This is how the entire fandom reacted when she would post.

This is how fandom responded to Larry denials back in the day

This is how much love freddieismyqueen's videos used to get

This is how Harry and Louis reacted to freddieismyqueen's videos.

They also really enjoyed her video that used Medicine.

And Louis commented his support for fans using his music less than a month after FIMQ posted this:

Ask any Larry pre-2020 how they ended up here, and you'll probably get some version of this story from most of them.

And that was just unacceptable to antis. One of them, especially. freddieismyqueen (her name is Ellie) was doxxed and harrassed so much that the police told her the threats made to her and her family were real enough that she should take them seriously. Here is one of the many messages she got directly from that person, and a couple of the Instagram posts that were made about her.

So she deactivated and deleted all of her videos.

Even after that antis still spread rumors accusing her of everything from being anti-semitic to being the first person to start the babygate theory (neither of which is true).

So, her original uploads with the hundreds of thousands of views and comments are gone. But there are people who very kindly re-uploaded many of them. I don't know if I have them all, but I have a lot:

freddieismyqueen videos

You can also look through my tags FREDDIEISMYQUEEN or FIMQ

[sourcherrybites]

Loops and looms

Character: Arranged! Bruce Wayne x Fem!Reader

Submission by @mourakitana "Please, I want Bruce's reaction if he was forced to marry MC and in one of the missions he discovered that she was a superhero like him (please explain how he would find out and what his reaction would be) + please also add if she was jealous of Catwoman+tysm💕💕💕💕💕"

Disclaimers: No proofread, we die. Same universe as "Silly Billy scenario." I just wanted to post this so I could keep focusing on more submissions.

A/n: apologies for the delay and the... very sloppy ending. BTW reader is not white, don't let my Pinterest picks fool you, WE LOVE WOC IN THIS ACC

Word count: 2,003

Masterlist

Being married to Bruce Wayne was nice. Though you were bothered that people assumed that 1: you were a gold-digger, your own family had worked their asses off to reach where they were now and 2: you were just another brainless, spoiled little girl. You were a successful physicist in the middle of getting your PhD in quantum physics!! But anyways.

For the first months, it was a silent but comfortable time; you were just trying to get used to each other. Still, we know you weren't the best at hiding just how attracted you were to your sweet, buffed, kind husband, his soft, patient blue eyes, and the fact that he found his new form of entertainment, teasing you. He would wrap his arm around your waist during the night, his hand sprawled on your stomach as he nuzzled against the back of your neck, his stubble would definitely leave a rash behind by morning.

— "Did you even shave well today?"

— "I'm pretty sure I did..."

He'd mumble against your neck, pulling you closer.

A 'Mornin', honey,' and a kiss on the cheek. His warm hand on the small of your back and a smile on his lips as you talked about the string theory, how you talked about everything, every little molecule being connected, as if the universe was a big, colourful loom.

It made your heart flutter; it made you forget about the fact that you missed your hometown and the thrill of vigilantism, and it somehow soothed the ache for adrenaline, the itch you felt on your body when you left your powers unused for far too long — but it didn't quiet down that little, quiet voice in the back of your head.

Well, you knew. You were not offline — The hot, trendy romance between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle? The most stylish, trend-setting couple in all of Gotham circles? You weren't stupid to think you wouldn't be compared to Selina Kyle, she was freaking selina Kyle for crying out loud— you looked up at her too!! And, of course, you knew that there would be some die-hard fans of the couple in the comments of your social media ever since the engagement was made public, even if everyone knew or suspected it was an arranged marriage. But the comment saying that the only reason Bruce agreed to marry you was because you looked like Selina...

You absolutely didn't! At all! Your hair, your eyes, your body, it was all different!! You were a bit less defined, with darker eyebags... not as skinny... your skin was covered in scars, either from fights or as a result of your teenage acne... less... pretty? No, of course not! You were just as good! Just not ... better. It was a pointless comparison— you were you and Selina was Selina. Did you even want to look like her? Absolutely yes no.

Bruce noticed that there was something wrong with you, and he tried to do his best to cheer you up. Spending more time listening to your ramblings about your PhD, trying to get home sooner so you could talk more, sending you small gifts like chocolates to the university; everything but actually talk about it. Because you didn't want to talk about it, Because talking about it made it real.

"Anything in your mind, honey?" He asked one time as you two watched a movie on your big matrimonial bed, his arm wrapped around your shoulder while his fingers played with your locks damp from a recent shower. He wanted to talk about it.

—"I'm fine, Bruce, just thinking about the project..."

You smile softly, leaning against him. Once again, you didn't.

One of those nights you decided to just explore the city, maybe the adrenaline of running on top of buildings would clear your thoughts; and it certainly did, in some part. The feeling of the cold Gotham breeze on your skin was calming, it gave you a sense of home and familiarity, even more than Bruce's warm embraces did — your feet moving quickly against the concrete rooftops, your fingers digging into the hard material like it was sand as you climbed, it was fantastic.

But you were s bit out of practice after a few months out of business, so you sat down on the rooftop of a particularly tall building, trying to catch your breath, that until you heard a faint sound nearby and your stomach turning — it was quiet, like a gasp, probably a couple getting frisky in the middle of the nights with a weird exhibitionist fantasy, or maybe it was something else, you didn't loose anything by investigating, right?

A particular part about your powers was that you could spot people from a mile away, remember how you said the universe was one big, colourful loom? People were like drawings, it didn't matter how much they changed clothes or appearance, they were made of the same material, the same bright thread that you always thought was their soul.

And you could recognise Bruce's with one look, even under his Kevlar suit.

Why were you even mad? All of his affection felt like a cruel performance, a façade for the sham that was your marriage— platonic, fictional. But how he touched and kissed Catwoman was everything but. It was real. His hands had a purpose; he never touched you like that, so desperate and with an unspoken hunger. His lips had a purpose, desire emanating from their heated encounter. There was clarity in his actions that stung, a painful reminder that what he shared with her was everything you craved but could never have.

You counted one Mississippi, then Two Mississippi, then Three, four, five more until you couldn't look for a second longer.

You got back to the Manor with a speed you didn't know you had, and the comforting cold breeze of the night became painful, burning your lungs with every breath you took. You couldn't even cry or listen to the sound of anything other than your heart beating painfully faster and louder than you'd ever felt — you didn't even hear Alfred's voice calling you out and asking if you were okay. And you didn't even hear when Bruce got into bed with you like he did every night.

You just knew you didn't want him to touch you anymore.

And Bruce was worried, to say the least — he was used to the quiet of the manor, even with his new wife, but this was different. It wasn't the warm, comfortable silence he was used to; there was too much of it. You didn't ramble about your research, you came home late, or pulled away from his touch. It was like you couldn't stand the thought of him touching you, and it felt so, so painful.

The usual kiss on the cheek he gave you every morning made you tense, not in a good way, more like it repulsed you, that was if he even got to greet you in the morning. "Mrs. Wayne has left early" Became his usual morning routine, and it didn't get any better — He would barely even see you, and when he did, you either were just too lost in thought or you'd find a way to sneak away.

To make matters worse, something was causing too many strange phenomena around the city; some abandoned warehouses had walls that looked torn — not damaged over time or missing some bricks, but as if they were a big piece of fabric that had been crudely cut with a blade, threads, literal threads floating around the affected area. And they had collapsed more than once.

He had looked it up; there had been similar events a few years back in your hometown, an urban legend of a figure that could dissolve anything into thin air and impart justice for years in the night, creating and pulling the imaginary strands of everything.

"Maybe you should ask your wife," Selina suggested as they both sat on the edge of a building. "Strings, string theory. Ain'tthat her major?" She asked, "That's if she even decides to talk to me." He groaned, causing Selina to chuckle, "What did you do this time?"

The thing is that he didn't know what he did or didn't do, and she notices it

— " You should talk to her."

— "You think I haven't tried to?"

He is frustrated. Everyone has told him to fix it, but what can he fix if he doesn't know what's broken? Even the soft rain pouring over Gotham seemed to be avoiding him as well, like it was too repulsed to touch him just like you were. Hold on-

The rain fell normally over the rest of the city, but not on the space he sat on; droplets fell like thin strands of clear water. He raised a hand, touching one of the strands, and it burst and dissolved in the air with a sparkling sound; it reminded him of small diamonds or what fairytales describe as stardust.

Bruce stood up slowly, looking upwards to the tall building in front of him, when a faint 'Go home' left his lips — His hook stuck in the top edge of the building and inertia jerked him upward — and there you were, his beautiful bride on the other edge of the rooftop, in all your ethereal glory. Your hair in the wind, dancing just as the raindrops did once they touched your skin, stretching and splitting into cosmic strands that sparkled as brightly as the diamond in your wedding ring.

You looked… so melancholic, your tender face tired with grief, arms outstretched at your sides and hands constantly writhing from the cold, but it didn't seem to be important to you. Why were you doing this? How long have you been able to do that?

He has a rule: No metas allowed. but you are his wife, and you are so magnetic - even when defying the unspoken rules of the universe - His name left your lips like a soft prayer, just as he finally walked up to you, and when you turned to look up, he knew you knew.

— "Why are you doing this?"

His voice is soft; that's Bruce talking, and he hopes you finally do as well.

— "I just... why? When?"

— "When were you planning on telling me you still see Selina?"

You mutter, barely above a whisper, and he reacts by closing his eyes shut, taking a deep breath. So that's why you've been distant.

— "Don't change the subject."

You want to laugh, but you're just way too worn out for it. He doesn’t even seem to have the words to justify himself. "Do you even realise how reckless your actions were? Someone could’ve been in those warehouses," he starts, his voice heavy with concern. You can feel the weight of his words pressing down on you, but you cut him off, your voice barely above a whisper: "Are you really going to leave me?"

Leave you? No, not a chance. He wouldn't leave you for anything in the world. He cares about you, and he knows how important this marriage is for you. Your hands ball into fists, the strands of rain water moving quicker and more violently. "Because I lied? Because you love another woman?" You choked out.

Bruce grabs your wrist, pulling you closer to bring you back to reality. "How long have you been doing this?" He inquires again. "Years? It hurts when I don't." You reply softly.

"Are you going to leave me?" You ask again. "No... that's not what this is about. It's about how much danger you could've put people in." He laces his fingers with yours. "Why did you do it?" He questions again. "Were you too upset?"

You nod softly, pulling away to wipe a tear from your cheek. "Can we go home now?" you mutter. Yes, you can. You can talk later. It'll be alright. He just needs you to calm down and stop tearing the universe apart.

"Yes... Yes, we can, honey."

You had a lot of time to talk.

©sourcherrybites 2025

[trappedinafantasy37]

I am sure many of you are aware by now that Minthara's Speak with Dead lines now have her mentioning a daughter. She did have these lines back in EA that were since removed on final release, but have now been reintroduced with Patch 8. @baldursyourgate did bring up a very good point that we could potentially be dealing with another breakup scenario where these lines were readded by "mistake" and may be reverted in a future hotfix. The only thing that has me feeling a bit sus is that unlike the breakup, tweaks to Minthara's Speak with Dead lines were mentioned in the Patch notes this time.

However, these notes are vague. Her dialogue "makes more sense" in Act 2? I don't quite recall precisely what they were before, but I'm pretty sure her lines made sense. But, this does indicate that Larian did deliberately change her SWD dialogue. There are one of two possibilities I can think of, 1) they intentionally reverted back to her EA lines where she mentions a daughter or 2) they recorded new SWD lines entirely but accidentally reverted to the old ones rather than add the new ones (although there is no indication of new recorded lines). If #2 is true, we can expect a future hotfix to wipe this one away. Another more anecdotal thing I want to mention is that Larian tends to respond to mass public opinion. I wasn't on Tumblr when the breakup went down, but I was on Reddit. And that period of time was the most any of the BG3 subreddits talked about Minthara, and most were not pleased with the breakup. It did not take too long for Larian to undo the breakup. Right now, it's almost as if Reddit is unaware of the new SWD lines even though some subreddits do, uh... enjoy the idea of Milfthara. Since there isn't a massive social response to it, I have my doubts Larian will do anything.

As a Minthara enjoyer, it gets very frustrating to have each new patch recharacterize her. It would genuinely piss me off if they take her baby away... AGAIN. We know this will be the last patch, but there will still be hotfixes for a little while. As excited as I was yesterday, I am going to reserve calling this canon until Larian completely moves on from BG3 (even though it is canon in my heart).

However, if this dialogue remains, it creates a continuity error with Minthara's character as she never mentions having a child while she is alive. She only mentions the kid if she is dead. But, it's not like I've recombed through all her dialogue with this new Patch and Death Domain Daedra just barely woke up on the beach so give her a minute. So far, the theory most have is Minthara keeps her daughter a secret to protect her. But, I do not see any reason why she would withhold info on her daughter to a romanced player.

Minthara does actively grieve her home and says she will miss it until the day she dies. She could, of course, be grieving a daughter she will never see again. But I would think that if she had a child, she would not resign so quickly on the idea of never going home. From the moment you recruit her, all her future speak is of her remaining on the surface. She really really wants to kill her mom, but accepts she never will because she accepts never going home again. Even at the end of the game, she still plans to live on the surface. You are the one who has to bring up returning to the Underdark and her sole intent is to kill her mother. That honestly would be the most appropriate moment to mention she has a daughter waiting for her at home.

It also isn't like Minthara to be so witholding either, even if her intent is to keep her daughter safe. But, once she reads your mind, she knows with certainty that you are a safe person to tell. Minthara also very much likes knowing your intent, and she explains her intent to you often. So she wouldn't hide her intent to retrieve her daughter if she goes to the Underdark with you. Yes, she does go to the Underdark on her own if not romanced. But I think she is compelled to go down there for a completely different reason and not for a child.

So, we have a Minthara who supposedly has a child, but never mentions one unless she is dead. Minthara is also very open about her life in the Underdark, but never once talks about how motherhood affected her life. And she never speaks of a kid to a romanced player when returning to the Underdark, the one person in the world who should know that they are about to be a stepparent. This child creates nothing but contradictions. Personally, I do headcanon she had a child anyway regardless of what Larian says. She is 200+ years old, has admitted to having many sexual partners, and would have had the expectation by her house to have a child at some point. I have thought this exact contradiction through many times over. My theory is that Minthara does not mention having a daughter because while the Absolute was erasing her, it also erased her memory of having a daughter. "Well, technically the lines happen if she dies after the Absolute torture." Ssshhhhhhhhh... I'm going to ignore that because this is the only way all of this works in my brain.

[chronologically-challenged]

Rambling some theories about @askoverkill AU~

1) Bodies from the previous loops stay. Not sure if it's just previous outer loops or both inner and outer loops. Currently have this theory is because the skeleton under the rock. Very conspicuous that the spot where Siffrins die first has a degraded corpse. We could be seeing more bodies from now on.

2) Dusk was the previous Siffrin before Dawn. (Which makes sense tbh. Dawn being the one now starting while Dusk is losing). I was trying to figure out their role in this AU, but looking back at the intro, the Siffrin who holds the star looks VERY similiar to Dusk's outfit.

The main differences are 1) under clothes are different (which could be just a design change or just a sign of depression. Who knows) and 2) the flowers on the hat, which I suspect Lupus gave him. Other than that, the hats are both pointy, the hair is placed nearly EXACTLY the same, they both have six eyelashes instead of the usual Siffrin three, the collar is very distinctive, and the triangles on the cloak. And considering how even the background Siffrins in the intro are very distinctive, it can't be a coincidence that there are so many similarities between the intro Siffrin and Dusk. Dusk has to have been the previous Siffrin, but how much Dusk remembers of the previous outer loop.... I'm not sure. (In many ways this makes Dusk more of the Loop parallel than even Loop. Overkill AU Loop has been through so much that everything is detached at this point. Dusk meanwhile... for them the feelings of self identity are probably all still raw).

Also uh. This ask? Anon asks if every Siffrin who gives up loses their he/hims and the answer is "Dusk still has their pronouns despite everything". So uh. Implication that they're a Siffrin who gave up!!!!

3) The Director is a bad end act 5 Siffrin. There's another post that goes more into this, made by 3rd-shrike. I'm convinced this is the case especially since Loop has been confirmed to still have been sasasaap Siffrin. So that means the ISAT timeline very likely has to have happened as well (ie: we're not starting from scratch with the timeline in this au).

4) This has to end with Siffrin choosing self care. The entire AU is Siffrin throwing himself into a death chamber for the sake of their friends, choosing to become meat for the meat grinder despite everyone telling him to stop. This can only end if they choose not to go in.

[theotherwesley]

I'm going to posit something that may sound a little weird at first: but I think the same kind of dissatisfaction that leads people into questionable or dangerous reactionary movements, is the same dissatisfaction that leads people to start witch hunts and dog piling on social media, is the same dissatisfaction that gets people into new age, vibes-based "health" and "cleansing your toxins" lifestyles, is the same dissatisfaction that leads people into an Marie Antoinette-style obsession with cottagecore and the nostalgia for an imaginary bucolic lifestyle that never really existed. It's estrangement from results, particularly direct results.

This is essentially just the Theory of Alienation, but the connective tissue between cult-of-action-to-cottagecore hit me in a particular way that made me want to dig into the specifics in terms of internet phenomena.

Just about every aspect of the computer-bound/computer-dependent lifestyle is geared towards separating people from process from product. We don't see the results, we don't see the mechanisms, we don't see the other people involved. So the prospect of working outdoors to plant something nourishing and be able to see and enjoy the results is intoxicating (especially if you don't rely on doing it for a living). So is the idea that you can just pick up a weapon and make something happen. So is the idea that you can punish people for real or much more often perceived crimes directly without waiting on due process. So is the idea that you don't have to throw yourself on the mercy of a doctor who trivializes and ignores your symptoms to the tune of hundreds or thousands of dollars. Hell, the obsession with generative AI being pedaled as a "solution" to the apparent "gatekeeping" of "talent" (or time/labor/compensation) is stemming from the same thing. There are plenty of examples but the roots connect. Returning to the theory of alienation for a second-- is not an accident that we have been separated from each other and from our labor, it is unimaginably profitable for the ones selling us things and keeping us beholden to them for scraps and pennies our entire lives. It is killing us. It has been killing us. Some people exponentially more than others. You know this, you're living in it.

I don't have a plan for the Revolution or whatever but I am pretty convinced that it is critically, vitally important that we Make Real Things, with our hands and brains and with other people-- real art, food, friends, crafts, tools, stories, clothes, fun; help with something, do things for people, grow something, fix something, learn something. Get a result you can see that's YOURS and GOOD and not a product of consumerism or fear. --Are there obstacles to all these things? Oh baby, are there ever! That's the point! That's the problem!! <-THE PROBLEM. This isn't a judgement!! We are all fucking struggling!!!

Making real things is essential not in a woo-woo way but in a practice so you can improve way. So many people are convinced they can't make things simply because they haven't made things before. Start somewhere, anywhere, and you can build the confidence to in yourself that you can do more. It will help you adapt and strengthen yourself in a world that is trying very hard to keep you powerless and isolated. Again -> The point. People end up seeking things that make them FEEL like they've made an instant change in the world, or feel like they're escaping the rat race, or anything that feels like regaining power over their lives.

But if you don't also control where that feeling comes from, you are open to being manipulated by all manner of opportunistic and predatory forces. If you create something tangible/observable within your own means (and this does NOT preclude collaboration), you made something of value and that value remains with you, to do with as you wish.

That's empowerment. It can be practiced and nurtured, in fact it MUST be.

[biancadoes1]

I just wanna say, SLAAAAAY our Fave anon, glad to hear from you again 🥹

And I hope you are doing well these days Bianca ❤️

I don't know who needs to hear this, but if there's one thing that made me real secure in knowing N & L are together is this, the cause of all this drama, the spiraling and the hate people getting on all sides.

The vagueness.

Hear me out, because if there is really nothing beyond friendship between Nicola and Luke, we will never got the easter eggs (as I like to call them), the mixed messages and not to mention, the way they behave.

Their inability to deny that they are more than friends, the ability to say that we are just friends, and the way they keep on using roundabout on clarifiying things makes me real sure that THE feelings is there.

We saw how people around them keep clocking their asses and yet they both gloss it up by referring to Polin when multiple times we all know the interviews were not referring to their characters at all. Shoutout to miss interviewer at SAG who said she needs a happy ending. Plus 100 points for you for that side eye on both Nic and Luke.

I know they said on multiple occasions that they adore and love each other. That's a fact and sometimes it baffles me people in the fandom tend to miss that known fact.

But what I'm saying is that, they can express their love with one another freely and yet its like killing them to say that they are just very very best friends. It makes you wonder why. I have this theory about this but suffice it to say, they have no problem expressing their love and affection with each other but its almost like you have to pluck the moon from Earth to even hear them say, "We are only just great great friends."

That's why that vagueness is what makes me real sure they are together. Because they have no problem saying their love with each other in public and they have like this major problem saying directly the status of their relationship. Given that they all know about the speculation, the romance rumours and more.

Their hesistancy is what makes it more obvious. It's like its going to kill them to even deny that connection between them. They can't even admit it to themselves they are just friends, so it makes me even think what's going on behind the scenes.

And lastly, I see the claddagh rings on her latest selfie. Ireland is my fave among all stops. And the biggest easter egg that I like to keep bringing up is on Nicola's ig post, a picture of her and Luke on Dublin carpet, and she, out of all places, knee-tagged Luke. Up to this day, she never changed it.

Thank you anon ❤️

I totally agree with you. The vagueness and change in behavior are the most telling signs.

[nickrocketrodriguez]

I'm curious; how much, if at all, do you consider the audience while writing? Like are you ever like "this won't be received well so we can't do it" or something like that.

I want to be a screenwriter so I'm really interested in the behind the scenes processes. Anyways, loved S3 of Chaos Theory!!

So, in my eyes, storytelling is all about exploring the relation of a characters' wants and needs to their relationships with others and the world. Similar to characters, we all have wants and needs -- and usually, the two are diametrically opposed to each other.

When we discuss story, of COURSE audience reaction comes up at some point in the process, though not usually super seriously or even that often. Our job as writers is NOT to give the audience what they want -- just look at a lot of people's posts on this site. I've seen a ton of fans who want the characters to have easier lives, or to be more open about their thoughts and feelings so as to help avoid conflict. But here's the thing -- all of that conflict is what the characters need AND what the audience needs. We all want the characters to be happy and healthy, but that's not a story.

So, yes, there are definitely things we talked about -- and ultimately DID in the show -- that we knew would not be received well on the initial watch, but that we felt strongly about being the right direction to take the characters because of how honest it felt to them as people. But whenever we thought of something we knew would not be received well, we never backed down because of how we thought the audience would react in a negative way.

And that's one of the most important things to remember about being a storyteller: should you be lucky enough to have as many and as dedicated a fanbase as we do with this show, you're going to get so many opinions on what you do and where you go with the characters. TOO MANY OPINIONS, and they all contradict each other because of people's own wants and needs. So when you can't please everyone, the only option you're left with is to please yourself. To write what you believe is honest and says something and presents interesting conflicts that will get people to talk and even debate.

At the end of the day, you're still the storyteller -- you're the artist, and people are coming to you to experience joy and heartbreak and everything in between. You, the artist, are the owner of the story and you get to tell people what that story is and gets to be, not the other way around.

[lastofthewardens]

SPOILERS i'll probably be talking about mostly foggy but also some other things so read at your own risk

alright. i said i'd wait until the end of the season to be mean, but now the season is over, and i have no reason to care or be cautious anymore.

i'm the most livid about the foggy stuff so i'm going to start there.

last week, when they revealed vanessa ordered the hit, i was pretty hopeful. but i thought about what this episode could look like over the past week, and i decided my worst case scenario was if it was confirmed that vanessa specifically wanted foggy dead. if that happened, it was over, and i wasn't going to let them fuck with my emotions anymore. that was my line in the sand.

and so here we are. because vanessa ordered dex SPECIFICALLY to kill him.

i really don't think, after seeing that finale, that foggy is coming back. i already didn't after watching the way they chose to film his death scene, but against my better judgment, i let myself believe as the season went on, especially this past week, and i wish i had just kept the same energy the whole time now because this hurts way more.

but i'm also kind of glad i didn't because it makes me more angry too.

i've said it before, but they've been outright cruel in the way they've handled things with foggy. they've laughed about wrecking everything, they've done really weird interviews saying frankly really weird things, they've directly teased brubaker on social media..

the most cruel part though, to me at least, is adapting foggy's fake "death" from the brubaker comics without it being fake. filming the scene with similar or at least comparable shots, the matt hearing his heartbeat stuff, having it be an ordered hit, having matt think fisk was behind it only to reveal it was vanessa, having all the necessary characters and puzzle pieces around, using so much of that plot.. and then stopping short of having foggy be alive. THAT'S fucked up.

they have, i believe intentionally if i'm being honest, strung foggy fans along for most of this season. they had to know they were inviting brubaker theories, they had to know people would hope, speculate, wish for an adaptation of the secret life of foggy nelson. there's no way they didn't know exactly what they were doing when they chose these plot points.

i complained about the "maybe i didn't want to give you an excuse" line back when it happened because it doesn't make sense for foggy to be complaining about daredevil anymore given where the original show left off. and even after how stupid it already was, they somehow managed to make this line even worse too?

because karen told matt that foggy saw the true matt, light and dark, matt/daredevil/etc, and believed in him anyway. so what the fuck was that line of dialogue from episode 1 then? lmao. WHY did they have him say THAT, especially as his last words to matt EVER? i allowed myself to hope that if foggy was alive, that line would be out of context, that maybe he knew the red hook stuff was connected to fisk, and he was hiding it because of the deal matt made with fisk/not wanting matt to potentially accidentally break their truce. in that case, the dialogue could be referring to not wanting to give matt an excuse (to break the truce). but no, he had no idea about any of that, he thought it was a random truck robbery apparently and had no clue what he stumbled into lmao. great.

the only explanation i can think of is that they had foggy say that because it assisted the plot. they wanted matt to feel bad and just did it, and then by episode 9, they probably forgot because it made no sense to begin with. that's part of the problem this show has btw. so many lines of dialogue and other stuff is entirely dictated by the plot or wanting to sound cool or be quotable rather than anything that makes sense for the characters. i'm still not fucking over "my mistake was believing i was immune to the darkness". what a wildly bad misread of the character, just a horrible line of dialogue. i don't know if there's any basis for that in other materials that i haven't seen, but in the netflix show iteration of this character, matt knowing he's got darkness inside is half the plot, dude.

speaking of character assassination though. cole n*rth is probably going to go through some weird redemption plot next season i'm sure, but uh. wow. the things they've done with him have certainly been a choice.

and kirst*n mcd*ffie.. hoo boy. she's one of my top 5 favorite characters in the comics. i see the potential in her scenes, but they wasted her the whole time and barely gave her anything, and i'm annoyed as fuck about that too. i would've loved to see this actress play her alongside matt and foggy like in the comics (and being able to include karen could've been fun).

i also just want to say.. i'm a mattfoggy first and foremost, i'm sure anyone reading my posts can gather that, it's very obvious. but i'm also a fan of matt x karen, it's my second favorite ship after mattfoggy. and in a world where foggy wasn't dead, i'd be glad to see them work it out, but. watching them use foggy's death as a prop to make that happen makes me mad as fuck. foggy deserves better, i think foggy fans probably feel that way, but i think matt x karen also deserves better than that. and while i understand people do bond over these things, the way they did it here just felt weird to me. i've felt this way since "i refuse to believe a tragedy had to destroy everything", which is something the real matt would NEVER say about foggy nelson being dead. comics matt and even netflix matt would NEVER. and the scenes about it tonight only made me feel that more.

some of those scenes also gave me the impression they think they can just replace foggy with karen, which will never be okay. karen is her own person with her own personality and her own function in the narrative. neither of them can replace the other, that's not how it works.

like the scene where karen tells matt how foggy felt about him.. why her telling him that? it literally makes sense, i guess, but why? why not have a foggy hallucination at some point express those things? or even when he's 'dying' after taking the shot for fisk, he could've talked to foggy if he's really dead? or even a foggy who came back from being dead! because those words would've meant a lot more after a foggy is alive reveal! karen telling him that stuff couldn't possibly have the same impact as foggy saying it after "maybe i didn't want to give you an excuse". (a stupid line of dialogue, yes, but if they chose to roll with it anyway and try to explain it away). can you imagine after matt thinks foggy hated daredevil, he reluctantly picks up the mask against "foggy's wishes", only for foggy to eventually come back and tell him he knows him and believes in him?

i've said it before and i'll say it again, this show, EVEN THE NEW EPISODES BY THE NEW TEAM, is mostly just missed opportunities: the show.

also i clocked the clumsy attempt to explain how fisk got out of prison and it just made me laugh. 'oh there was fbi corruption so that's why my husband got acquitted' LMAO. what a weak explanation for a plot point that should've been adequately handled but whatever.

extra side note just for a bonus.. the slowmo in the fight with matt, frank, and the police in matt's apartment was horrible. no idea why they did that. it actively made the fight seem worse than it was lol.

and i'll say one more thing. there's a world in which foggy is like.. in actual witpro or something. like for example if there's a case being built against fisk that we don't know about yet, and he's stuck in real witpro until fisk and vanessa are dealt with. i hesitate to say that because i honestly do not think that's happening at all, but i have to acknowledge that it's at least a small chance. resuscitated in the ambulance unbeknownst to everyone, hidden away by actual law enforcement who aren't corrupt... idk, i guess it's possible, right?

but i seriously don't think you guys should get your hopes up at all. i don't want anyone to be sad or hopeless or anything like that. it's just that i think the only real possibility of foggy coming back now in the capacity he deserves is if people are angry.

because i don't think these showrunners (or half the people involved tbh, despite 'we care a lot' lmao) give a fuck about foggy at all. it's transparently clear they bring him up to inject easy emotion into scenes and that's it. i mean, come on, the avocados at law thing? don't get me wrong, in a world where foggy's not dead i'd eat that fanservice up, but they're purposely invoking these things for a reason. which doesn't have to be bad but reads as pretty shitty in the context of everything else they've done. they're doing it because it's easy to make you emotional that way. they don't have to write better dialogue that way. nostalgia bait indeed.

so i think if you're mad, you should use that, you should be open about this foggy stuff on social media and wherever else (don't be aggressive or hateful though; if you are, you'll just get blocked or ignored, and it's better if they hear you out). because if everyone sings their praises for these last two episodes, they'll think no one cares, and they need to know people are unhappy or they'll just carry on.

i don't know why they have elden in season 2, or what foggy's role will be, but let them hear you. even if they've started to backtrack on their own (press x to doubt), speaking up would only be good for foggy either way. they need to know fans do care and aren't happy with this.

[bonzos-number-1-fan]

TMAGP 38 Thoughts: German Lessons

It's another guest episode this week and much like the last one of those it's only co-guest written. This time it's Jonny and Amber Devereux of Tin Can Audio, who has done a lot of things I'm not familiar with. I thought this episode was really solid though so I'm sure it's great stuff. The statement is very Archives to me, but the rest is very Protocol and it's really picking up pace. Just good stuff all around.

Spoilers for TMA , and TMAGP episode 38 below the cut.

We start as all good things do, talking about Colin. I'm holding out hope for the eventual Colin read incident because I do miss that man in this show. I love that Alice doesn't cave to Celia's bullshit. There isn't much to really dig apart here. The mentions of alchemy and the specific elements aren't particularly meaningful outside of their reinforcement of those themes. But it's plot development which is all good stuff.

While Celia for sure deserves the attitude Gwen deserves better than that though, smh Alice.

ALICE Well, it looks like Freddie was originally made in Berlin, back in the late 80s, maybe early 90s. There’re a lot of references to someone called “Friedrich”, who I think might have been the original programmer.

While it is pretty funny that Friedrich might have named his app after himself in leet, might be worth mentioned that Dr. Welling's first initial is F and we don't know what that stands for currently. He's currently been on the periphery of things but has been their more than just a throwaway character would've been. So there could be some sort of connection there.

ALICE Colin was certainly thought so. He was trying to find out more from a contact over there, some guy called “Heinrich Unheimlich”. GWEN I’m sorry, “Heinrich Unheimlich”? ALICE Yeah. What? GWEN Alice, do you speak any German? ALICE No, not as such. Why? GWEN Unheimlich. It means… Creepy, weird. I don’t think it’s a real name.

This bit is a fairly big deal IMO. If you've read a lot of my stuff you're likely aware of my theory about what DPHW means. If you aren't this is a fairly large hint that I am on the right lines there. Very briefly I think DPHW stands for Death, Pain, Helplessness, and Weird and is a rating system for incidents. The reason I think it's those things is because we know from the ARG that the German version is TSHU. Those meaning Tod, Schmerz, Hilflosigkeit, and Unheimlich. The translations are all pretty direct with the exception of Unheimlich which would generally be more like uncanny rather than weird, but uncanny is also much more in line with Magnus' use of the weird as horror.

On to the incident and, man, I liked this one a lot. Just some good old fashioned weird stuff happening. I don't think it was super creepy or unsettling, it didn't surprise me or have me on the edge of my seat, but it was thoroughly enjoyable through and through. It's a somewhat novel twist on the bogeyman archetype and everyone likes a good bogeyman scary story. It's also very German and as has been made very explicit in this episode that's a big deal for the world building here. It's come up a lot before, and was all over the ARG, and is central to a couple of core mysteries. A German "external" in the form of Mr. Cat Eyes is also exciting to see given the origins of Freddie. Germany clearly has had a lot of problems in the spookem department. There are also some implications here about a network of spooky people doing spooky things so I'm curious if this will come up in the future. The ending gave a "time to join the family business" sort of vibe to me that I'm hoping will come back around.

Mum said that she thought it was an old toy, maybe from East Berlin. I guess maybe it’s because East Berlin was also old.

As I've talked about the ARG before in these but of note here is that a large portion of it was dedicated to an East German diaspora newsgroup, and we (members of StatementRemains+ Discord server, not me personally) ended up traveling to a Berlin bookstore to find some documents. Which is to say they've been playing the long game on this one and if season 3 was a whole new cast of German characters it'd make a lot of sense given its foundations.

For those curious about the rhyme, it's roughly this

Heinrich Unheimlich, will you play with me? Heinrich Unheimlich, are you in the hallways? Heinrich Unheimlich, oh, are you in sight? Heinrich Unheimlich, don't eat my parents.

in English. I was going to make it rhyme but then I ran out of time.

First off, it's great that Alice continues to not buy into Celia's "don't investigate my crimes" bullshit. Secondly, I'm really liking how much this episode is advancing all sorts of threads. Now we've got Gwen following up on that Starkwall offer which is another element from the ARG that now seems like it's pretty vital to the foundation of where the show started. All great stuff.

GWEN Meaning I know the risks! Besides, those are properly vetted externals who have signed an agreement with the British Government to-

Need a loicense to be spooky if you're Bri'ish.

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

Incident/CAT#R#DPHW Master Sheet and Terminology Sheet

Klaus Watch: C'mon this was prime Klaus territory. I've not forgotten about him.

DPHW Theory: 2153 isn't super interesting all in all, although it is also the DPHW of last week's episode. Which is fun. What's actually interesting is that they said the word "Unheimlich" nine times and Gwen translates it was "Weird". Which is further reinforced by the last episode she was in and her talk about balancing W and Mr. Bonzo, who is similarly a bogeyman-esque character. Albeit through a very different lens. I've not had much doubt I was right about this even from ep 2 but it would be wild for me to not get at least a little excited about this like this. It's probably the first major hint that I was on the money outside of how the numbers lined up.

CAT# Theory: My transcript had it as CAT1 so I had a whole thing about it but it's actually meant to be CAT13 which does mean I don't super care.

R# Theory: AB seems a little high. There is some evidence here in the diary and the mother's actual disappearance but nothing obviously weird like with RedCanary's eyes. B seems more apt to me. Assuming I'm right about it, I mean.

Addendum: So apparently my transcript was wrong on this too and it's actually meant to be ABC, assuming that's not an error of some sort (in or out of universe) I'm not 100% sure what to make of that. It's just weird. It's the first time we've seen them break from an apparent scale and implies these are non-exclusive categories, but also it makes there being an S even stranger because you could just add a D for something that falls outside of its scope. Very, very strange indeed. More data required on that one. Or someone can ask Alex about it.

Header talk: Carousel (Toy) -/- Disappearance (Parent) is a pretty explicit description of things. Hard to add much to that one.

[the-wordsmith-streetscarf]

An Assortment of Thoughts about Daredevil Born Again episode 9

Putting my (mostly positive) thoughts here because I wanted to talk about the episode and figure this is marginally better than just bouncing them around in my head.

First of all, to all my fellow whump lovers, we've finally been given a Major Whump Event, and I am quite pleased.

A couple things of note, that I can't stop thinking about:

Matt lying in a hospital bed calling out Karen's name in his drug induced state continues to live rent free in my head, almost twenty-four hours later. It's so cliché, but I'm so here for it this time.

Heather's reaction in the hospital was so interesting to me. Initially I only read it as her being hurt over Matt calling out for Karen, and then annoyed that he didn't want to rest. Which of course is Classic Matt -- a bullet hole in his body? No time for rest, he has work to do. But upon re-watch, the way she steps away from him, body stiff… and the way she points out that the Fisks were the ones being shot at… as though that makes them innocent of any potential wrongdoings... she's annoyed that Matt is trying to villainize the Fisks. Even before she joins the mayor's team, she's firmly on their side. She either somehow doesn't know about Fisk's criminal history, or she's so anti-vigilante that she doesn't care. Almost like her fascination about vigilantes was never about trying to understand them, but rather trying to justify the point of view she already had on them. And by the end, Matt has Fisk in his pocket, further illustrating the growing wedge between Heather and Matt regarding what they believe in and why they can't work as a couple.

Vanessa's cough. That had to be intentional, right? Early in the season, I had a theory that part of the reason she was distant from Fisk at the beginning of the season is because while he was away, she was diagnosed with something, and now that he's back, she doesn't know how to reconcile the two. Of course, the only reason I was thinking this was because I'm still convinced that Foggy is alive and in witness protection thanks to Vanessa, and if the show follows the comics, Vanessa being sick is a part of that. I had forgotten about that theory until that suspicious cough… the one in which Wilson responded with, "I know."

Buck with the Get Well bag giving Ranskahov brothers with the flowers vibes.

Now, just about everything that took place in Matt's apartment…

We were blessed with another classic "Matt Injured and Sprawled On The Sofa" moment.

The back and forth that comes so easily with the two of them. Frank doesn't bother to ask if Matt's okay, just admonishes him for not having any way to make coffee during a power outage. How he asks "did you clock that?" about the van. Matt flipping him off. I don't ship Fratt, but their love language is snark.

Also can't help thinking about how Frank met Matt at his home, not at the hospital. So did he go to the hospital first, realize he wasn't there, and then beat him back to the apartment? Or did he just already assume he'd find him there?

And then there's Frank asking Matt why he'd take a bullet for Fisk, and Matt answering with "that's a good question." I don't have anything more to say about this one yet, but I want to think about it some more.

Now, I've seen some criticism of the choreography, which yeah, I think it could have been better. (Less slow-mo, please). But I saw someone compare it to a specific fight from the OG show that took place in a large open space, rather than inside a confined and crowded space like Matt's tiny apartment. It's gonna be different. It has to be. I think the chaos was intentional and necessary. But the second Matt dropped down from the skylight, I was locked in. I felt like I was watching the OG show for much of it. The chaos… Matt trying to knock out as many people as possible before Frank just kills them, but not trying very hard to actively stop Frank because the stakes are too high in that moment. Matt fighting injured. Matt still adhering to his code, knowing that killing Cole won't change anything, just like "killing" Dex didn't change anything with Foggy. (I'm not entirely convinced Cole killed Hector though. He never actually admitted it. Unless I missed something). Matt and Frank arguing and Frank's continued casual murder "how about him, is he worth it?" * bang * as he tries to push Matt.

On that note, it did throw me at first, how much Frank was pushing Matt, especially when in season 2 of the OG, he said "just this once? you cross that line you can't come back." But…. Matt did cross that line. Sure, Dex survived, but Matt still pushed him. I don't see how Frank would see that as anything else.

Something else to think about: While Matt and Frank are arguing, Matt says he's "always a liability." In the heat of their argument, Matt says "shut up" and Frank does -- immediately. When he tells Frank to run, he does. Neither of them hesitate leaping off the balcony, at least five stories up, as Matt throws an arm around Frank and slows their fall with his grapple. I don't know about the rest of you, but all this screams to me that they've worked together more than once in the years since the original show. Frank knows that when Matt says to shut up it's because he hears something important. Frank knows that Matt is reliable with his grappling hook. Love that way of world building. The show doesn't have to explicitly tell us, we're shown it in how they interact with each other. And my goodness… the fic possibilities this produces.

Though I'm very curious if or how Cole North survived. I think he's supposed to be in season 2?

The og DD theme played when Karen pulled up in the car. Beautiful in more ways than one.

Karen… I've missed her so much. "Will you be my eyes?" "Anytime."

"Do you remember I once asked you what it was like living in the darkness? Remember what you said?" "It's not dark, it's like a thousand suns." (That last one in particular is a scene I want, maybe need, even if only in fanfiction).

I just really like the scenes we got with Karen and Matt. It really feels like they had found a good place with each other in the time between the shows, where they've found a way to be much more open and honest with each other, allowing them to really understand each other. Chaos and mercy and everything in between. Which also just might further explain why Karen left when Matt's grief closed him off to her. The way she talked about Foggy too? Like… ugh, why did they have to break up our avocados!? I know why, but yeah.

Speaking of, AVOCADOS AT LAW!!!! I don't care if it's fan service. I'm a fan. I'm being served.

I appreciate the detail of showing the stars in the sky because the blackout means no light pollution, even if it probably wouldn't look like that. And I can't tell you how much I love the moment where Matt sat listening to the chaos of the city while he was at Red Hook.

I miss Brett, but I don't think the man's mental health could take this. It's a good thing he most likely retired to Florida with his mom.

And at the end, we have The Fisks being comically evil and I'm here for it. They aren't afraid of anything. They're leaning fully into themselves.

Admittedly, I'm disappointed that the end credits scene wasn't a Foggy reveal, in the same vein as the stinger at the end of that one Brubaker comic. (Imagine Foggy reading a headline about Matt Murdock taking a bullet for Fisk, then going missing, and wondering what he's up to, while being told he has to get away from the windows because he has to stay out of sight?) But I'm also somehow not surprised. If he's alive, (which I still 100% believe he is… I think Vanessa intended to kill him, but he was revived in the ambulance and lived, so she tucked him away. Especially after re-watching the last episode and noticed that she was watching Matt when he arrived, and then she told Matt "you need to relax" as he accused her of putting the hit out on Foggy, and of course… the cough) then I wouldn't be surprised if they drag out the reveal until later. But I was half expecting, the way they kept showing Frank look to the side, that they'd pan out and show Foggy in another cage. Glad he wasn't though. That'd be some shitty witness protection. (But I mean, I guess, they are storing rich people in a dungeon.)

But what we did get was Frank's escape. My first thought was: Frank sitting in that cage like "I've been through worse." And sure enough, that cage couldn't hold him. I so love the way he just managed to use his personality to get himself halfway there. All of this Frank stuff has me really looking forward to the Punisher special that we're getting.

A couple more things of note:

I'm so curious what they're going to do with Dex. Not just because we know he'll be in season 2, but because he looked so sad at the end. (And the beginning of the episode). He's been so lost, and now that he's out, he's still lost. And I think Matt saving Fisk really messed with him.

And are we to assume that Josie knows now that Matt is Daredevil? Not that I think everyone in the bar knows, but they did make a point of Josie noticing Matt leave without using his cane. And also those season 2 leaks of DD interacting with Josie may mean something.

And they showed a shot of Kirsten holding onto Foggy's paperwork at the end… I'm guessing she's going to take the reigns on that while Matt and Karen are in hiding, but I can't help but wonder if she knows something more.

Hopefully there's some others out there as excited as I am with what we got and what's to come. It's a weird feeling watching this show in real time when I watched the original years after it ended and the fandom was existing basically on life support. Now there's other people actively posting about it, making gifs. Much of it buried under hate and disdain.

It's not the original show. It was never going to be the original show. And I feel like I keep coming across others who are holding that against DDBA. Does it have its flaws? Yes. Especially when compared directly to the original show. I would have liked less licensed music, slower scenes, and less instances of two scenes cutting back and forth between each other, four more episodes, better fight choreography, I think Muse was underutilized, and I wish we got more out of the side characters like Kirsten, Cherry, and Heather.

But I can't stress how much good we got in this show. More than I'm willing to list because I think the majority of the show is good. Bendis and Waid are wildly different from each other, and I love them both. DD and DDBA are different, and I feel the same. There's an excellent story being told here. A story that takes place seven years after the original, where things are naturally going to have changed from where we left off.

I don't know, I know not everyone has to like it. That's fair. But I guess I'm just tired of being made to feel like I'm dumb or wrong for enjoying or at all liking DDBA. But personally, the finale felt like the closest we've gotten to the original show. And if the last two episodes are any indication, I think the next season is going to be even better. Better than the worst episodes of DDBA season 1, and better even than the best episodes of DDBA season 1.

[wizardpartier]

I really really hope that Lumon didn't just outright kidnap Gemma and fake her death, because I think that would be too over the top for Lumon and would make the show lose some of its subtlety. I think what the show has done really well so far is satirize the evil pharmaceutical companies that exist in the real world by just enough to be impactful. If severance was possible today, I think it really would appeal to enough people that the debates about it we see in the show would be happening, and corporations would be lobbying to be able to use it. Lumon is raised to a level of absurdity by their cult-worship as well as the science fiction to the entire severance procedure, but the underlying themes about worker exploitation are very true to life.

And while real life corporations are absolutely capable of doing this kind of heinous shit - see Coca Cola's murdering of union leaders in Columbia or the Boeing whistleblower who was likely assassinated with no recourse - the idea that Gemma - a random person who posed no threat to Lumon - was just randomly kidnapped (out of all the people who passed through Lumon's system struggling with infertility, why her?) - to me just seems like a reveal to make Lumon seem scarier and eviler.

A lot of people are resistant to the theory that Gemma ended up with Lumon because she volunteered for some experimental fertility treatment, and I understand that urge - it feels almost victim-blamey to imply that she volunteered for the torture she underwent! But a theme that I see the show playing with a lot is consent. Can you meaningfully consent to be severed and work for 8 hours a day as a completely different version of yourself, when the person who experiences the work is not the one doing the consenting, and the person consenting has no idea what they are consenting to? If Gemma volunteered in some capacity for whatever she thought she was going to undergo, was she able to meaningfully consent to that without full knowledge of what it would entail? I see this also reflected in the hurt and betrayed Helly feels when she learns that Helena stole her identity and had sex with Mark. She feels ownership over her body, even though it's a body she shares with Helena. Similarly, Helena is afraid to allow Helly back onto the severed floor, I think in part because she's afraid of not having control over herself, and Helly doing something that she doesn't consent to.

Alternatively, I'm also partial to the theory that Gemma really did die on accident in a crash, and Lumon cloned/revived her. I think taking things in that direction could open up an interesting discussion about corporate ownership of personal data and lifesaving technology. If Lumon cloned Gemma and instilled in her all her previous memories, because she had already signed away the rights to her genetic information or whatever during her fertility struggle, she may be functionally the same person, but Lumon may 'own' this new version of her. Maybe in Season 3, Gemma goes the the media to expose Lumon, only for the courts to determine that actually Lumon has the right to do whatever the hell they want because they created her?

All this to say, I think it would be more interesting if the show goes in a different direction from where I see most fans assuming it will :) I think it's already pretty clear that Lumon is evil, and I'd like to see an explanation for how she came to be in their torture basement that builds on existing or creates new interesting ethical questions.

[goldcleaver]

I'm gonna put my two thirds of a classics degree to work here

When I said Phaidei can be seen as an allegory for Odysseus and Penelope, I meant it

Penelope encounters the returned Odysseus posing as a beggar. From a mural in the Macellum of Pompeii

Spoiler warnings: 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, as well as leaks towards the end.

TL;DR: Mydei is Penelope, Phainon is Odysseus.

Mydei and Penelope

Now, I know it may seem tempting to say that Mydei, being the big, strong, burly man that he is, is a parallel to Odysseus, but he’s actually Penelope! This whole fever dream of a "theory" actually stems from the parallels between Mydei and Penelope, specifically. Phainon was a secondary thought lmao.

Point 1) The theme of buying time

It cannot be understated just how much of Mydei’s core themes center around buying time, not just for others, but also for himself. 

On multiple occasions, he goes to some pretty extreme lengths to do so, namely in 3.0 when he offers up his own immortal body as a means of keeping Nikador occupied in Castrum Kremnos. In that moment, he completely puts his own safety on the back burner – the team needs to hold Nikador off long enough to render them immortal once more, and Mydei has the solution, no matter the personal cost of dying a couple of times. Later, in 3.1, he puts his own personal feelings aside to shoulder the divinity of Strife, despite the fact that he was hesitant to do so in 3.0, simply because it would be for the best. Then, at the end of 3.1, he completely disregards his own wants and fears, and takes the fight to the Black Tide on his own because he is the only one capable of doing so. By sacrificing himself in this manner, he can buy his fellow Chrysos Heirs enough time to usher in the new dawn, and the miracle of Genesis.

But Mydei doesn’t just buy time for others, he also does so for himself. Throughout 3.0 and 3.1, his story leads up to one massive decision: what to do about the Kremnoans. He is torn between claiming the crown – his birthright – and leading his people back to Castrum Kremnos, or leaving them in Okhema. 

However, to the Kremnoans, Nikador is synonymous with kingship, judging by Krateros’ reaction to Mydei surrendering the Coreflame to Phainon. In Krateros’ eyes, Mydei giving up Nikador’s divine power is the same thing as him “giving up the throne of Kremnos and forsaking his people”. 

As previously stated, Mydei is hesitant to claim Nikador’s coreflame for fear of ending up like his corrupt forebears and leading his people down the wrong path, so obviously he wants to put off that decision for as long as possible. First, he enters a (frankly, pointless) competition with Phainon just to decide who gets to deliver the final blow to Nikador, and gives up his win ridiculously easily if Phainon loses. That way, they can ignore the decision they have to make for a while longer. Then, when Nikador is dead, he is quick to surrender the Coreflame to Phainon, and promptly shuts down Phainon’s attempt to discuss the subject any further. So, by sending Phainon to the trial of divinity, Mydei can avoid making his own decision regarding the fate of the Kremnoans, if we take Krateros’ words about kingship and Nikador’s powers into consideration. Effectively, Mydei makes sure the decision is out of his hands – he didn’t technically reject the Coreflame, after all. 

So how does all of this connect to Penelope, exactly? 

Well, Penelope’s themes also center around buying time – for herself, and for Odysseus. She also has a big decision to make: who should succeed Odysseus as the king of Ithaca, and just like Mydei, she wants to put it off for as long as possible. Naturally, she doesn’t want to choose, and comes up with increasingly desperate ideas to keep the suitors at bay. In the end, she does succeed; she buys Odysseus enough time to return home, and as such she never has to choose a new suitor. Unlike Mydei.

You see, Mydei actually fails in avoiding his decision. In the end, he is forced to take on the Coreflame when Phainon fails the trial. As a result, Mydei has to make a decision regarding his people and his potential kingship. In this sense, Krateros and the rest of the Kremnoans are the suitors, encouraging Mydei (Penelope) to make a choice.

If we view Mydei’s actions through this Penelope-esque lens, we can draw some pretty convincing parallels!

Point 2) The challenge

At the climax of Penelope’s story, right before her reunion with Odysseus, she makes a last-ditch attempt to hold off the suitors by presenting them with a seemingly impossible challenge. She sets up twelve axes and demands that the suitors shoot through them flawlessly using Odysseus’ old bow. What she doesn’t tell the suitors is this: the bow is nigh impossible to string. Then, as a sort of fail safe, she sits down behind the axes. That way, if a suitor succeeds, she is immediately killed and doesn’t have to marry them.

While this is more far-fetched than point 1, a connection to Mydei’s actions can still be made, in the sense that he, too, has made arrangements for the worst case scenario. In case he is corrupted by the Black Tide, and thus cannot buy the Chrysos Heirs enough time to bring about the miracle (i.e buy Odysseus enough time to return to Ithaca), Mydei has arranged a fail safe for himself by telling Phainon about his weak spot. Phainon is the only one who knows about it, and as such, he is the only one who can shoot through the twelve axes with Odysseus’ bow. The parallels may not be perfect, but the narrative is very similar.

Point 3) Sparta/Castrum Kremnos

My last point is their origins. Penelope is Spartan royalty, though she was never its ruler. It’s no secret that Castrum Kremnos is vaguely based on ancient Sparta, and Mydei is the prince-turned-king of Castrum Kremnos. It’s a pretty obvious connection, but I’ve chosen to highlight it, nonetheless.

Phainon and Odysseus 

I'll admit that Phainon's connection to Odysseus is vaguer than Mydei and Penelope’s, but I can totally see it. 

Point 1) The one time is being bought for

Penelope buys Odysseus time to return to Ithaca, Mydei buys Phainon and the other Chrysos Heirs time to a) render Nikador mortal, and b) bring about the miracle of Genesis. Now, post-3.2, we know that Phainon is meant to take over the authority of Kephale. If the plan proceeds smoothly, he will be the last one left alive to reforge the new world with his, in Anaxa’s words, “complete, intact memories”. While we cannot be certain that Mydei knows this, it can still be argued that Phainon himself is the one Mydei is buying time for.

Point 2) Nobody

Odysseus initially evades Polyphemus by calling himself “Nobody”. Phainon is called the “Nameless Hero”, and we have no idea what his real name is. Just like Odysseus, he has crafted a persona for himself.

Point 3) The journey to Ithaca

Phainon going on the Flamechase Journey is his version of Odysseus' journey of going to war and then trying to make it back to Ithaca. They're both put through the wringer a million times over on their journey, and express desires to go back home. In the end, they are both crumbling under the weight of their past actions and losses, and become increasingly more brutal because of it, if Phainon’s behaviour towards Oronyx in 3.0 was anything to go off of.

Also, LEAK WARNING:

.

.

.

Going off leaks, we know that Phainon is both the Flame Reaver, and the final boss for Amphoreus. For whatever reason, we can guess that he lost his humanity somewhere along the line, and, if you can forgive the EPIC reference, became the monster. In the Odyssey, Odysseus ends his journey by slaughtering the suitors vying for Penelope’s hand, showcasing his potential for great violence, much like Phainon. 

TL;DR: Mydei is Penelope, Phainon is Odysseus.

Now, this was obviously mostly for shits and giggles, but the parallels are pretty convincing, ngl.

Bonus: Phaidei = Patrochilles

Now, additionally: they can ALSO be seen as an allegory for Achilles and Patroclus, especially since the game has already drawn parallels between the Iliad and the Amphoreus story.

The game is obviously hinting towards Mydei being Achilles considering his whole weak spot-thing. Naturally, that makes Phainon Patroclus. If we regard Mydei as the “true” heir to Nikador’s divinity, Then Phainon was technically taking Mydei's place in the trial. Ultimately, he fails to pass, which is a nice parallel to how Patroclus dons Achilles' armour to lead the Myrmidons, and dies against Hector, who Achilles later slays in a fit of rage. In this case, Hector is Nikador, who first dies by the team’s hands during the fight, and then later dies by Mydei’s own hand in his trial.

[marisandini-chu-blog]

Is is just me? Or is Hero X truly as powerful as the fandom make it out to be?

Okay, hear me out! I know it's a hot take. But there's so many theories of what Hero X's ability actually is; from time traveling, space bending, warping reality, 4th wall breaking, omniscience, omnipotency. All of them being absolute OP abilities that makes your eyes cross.

And while all those theories are valid, I began to wonder... is Hero X actually that much powerful... or are we led to believe that with the little information we have?

Think about it. We know him as the No. 1 hero, right? So by that admission, we automatically ended up coming up OP ability that would make sense for him to be at the top. But aren't we just assuming he is OP?

He's powerful, yes. The 6 minutes trailer has greatly established that. And his PV also hinted his follower to believe his omnipotent.

But that's a simple bias words from one person. What's to say that her words are misdirection. Like a magician who talks to the audience, planting ideas and preconception to make you believe in one thing instead of the other.

That we, the audience, are meant to both question and believe in the power of the enigmatic Hero X.

Just like how Nice was perceived to be the "perfect hero", but in reality he wasn't really perfect, wasn't he?

And let's just... let it sink in that what we, as a fandom, are collectively are doing is exactly what the citizens in the donghua must be feeling. Trying to rationalize and understanding his power from what they witnessed. Trying to understand who he is as a person, his values, and his ideals.

Like, the creative team is soooo cool to give Hero X as much info as the average people in the donghua. Helping us be more immersive in the world while hooking us with bait in every turn.

After all, the first two episodes is already a direct allegory for the toxic idol business. And accidentally or not, I'm sure there are audience of To Be Hero X who have been guilty of participating such culture, so of course it's reasonable to make the fandom understand why people would follow and trust in Hero X despite his enigmatic status.

We know only half a page about his character, and already he is amassing his fans.

URGH, I just love this meta-strategic marketing. The studio is COOKING!!!

[inkblotsonmyhands]

----- SPOILERS FOR SUNRISE ON THE REAPING BY SUSANNE COLLINS + BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES + HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY-----

one thing about me is that i loooove to overanalyze a piece of media. i just finished reading sunrise on the reaping after highly anticipating this book for a couple of months and now need to put down my thoughts about it somewhere so here we are.

for the majority of this discussion, im going to be comparing sunrise on the reaping, the ballad of songbirds and snakes, and the hunger games trilogy as three stories. im regarding the entire hunger games trilogy as one story because i see that as the story of katniss. the ballad of songbirds and snakes is the story of snow. sunrise on the reaping is the story of haymitch.

i think sunrise on the reaping is the worst hunger games book. that doesn't mean it's a bad book; it's just that the original trilogy and tbosas (which i personally loved) set a very high bar. i'm starting this off with a disclaimer that, although most of this post is criticism, i definitely did enjoy reading the book and i think it's generally pretty good. it's just not incredibly good.

this story explores two main themes: the first being propaganda, and the second being the question of why an oppressed population does not fight against authority. i think it tackles the theme of propaganda pretty well. we see multiple instances of media being altered to represent a certain narrative. haymitch operates within the games as a character he makes up, the "rascal" and tries to put out his own propaganda, but the capitol beats him at his own game and uses the rascal against him. there's also the posters in district 12 and the capitol, haymitch's reaping, louella's death and lou lou, and certainly many, many more examples im forgetting to mention. this is done well. however, i don't think the book does an amazing job at tackling its second topic. the thing is, susanne collins' books have a pattern of posing a question which, by the conclusion of the book (or series, if you look at the hunger games trilogy), the main character answers for themselves. the hunger games is about just war theory, which asks what is an acceptable cause for war and what are acceptable actions during a war. the series explores different takes on the answers to these questions through different characters, most prominently peeta and gale. simply put, gale stands for violence and peeta stands for diplomacy. by choosing peeta at the end of the series, katniss makes a decision about her own stance on the topic. the ballad of songbirds and snakes is about the social contract theory. snow has to decide what the purpose of the hunger games is, and he concludes by the end of the book that the hunger games exist as a representation of the natural state of man as described by thomas hobbes. sunrise on the reaping asks why haymitch, all the tributes, district 12, or the entirety of the population of the districts do not rebel against their oppressors: snow, the peacekeepers, ultimately the entire capitol, who they outnumber easily. and haymitch's answer to this question is... nothing. he just thinks about it a bunch of times but doesn't get anywhere beyond that. and yes, the reason he doesn't manage to answer that question is probably because he is busy attempting to carry out a rebel plot and failing, which is reasonable, but the story as a whole suffers from that question remaining unanswered. the propaganda point, while well done, is not a question. the book is just showing many examples of something. interesting, but not necessarily engaging. the other hunger games books invite the reader to think about the moral question of the book themselves and give deep insight on the main character through the way they go about answering it. sunrise on the reaping largely fails to do that with the kind of depth that the other books did.

this brings me to my second point. sunrise on the reaping (before the epilogue) ends with haymitch on a complete low, having failed to carry out his rebel plot and lost his family and girlfriend. the hunger games ends with katniss still traumatized and recovering, but free of the oppressive regime. the ballad of songbirds and snakes ends with snow ready to rise to power, having destroyed all evidence of his wrongdoing, and the one person who knows it all vanished. basically, the other two stories do not end on entirely sad notes for the main character. there's nothing wrong with a sad ending in a book, but it definitely took away from my enjoyment of the book because there was no reward at any point. the entire story felt futile, and, to make it worse, i knew throughout the story that it was going to be futile. the happy epilogue is also not particularly rewarding because it has basically nothing at all to do with the events of the book. i would say that the book's sad ending didn't even really impact me because it wasn't a surprise. the saddest moment to me was probably louella's death, but it had been so long since that happened by the end of the story that it didn't really compound at the conclusion. even then, louella's death was not particularly devastating, because i barely had any attachment to the character.

i think sunrise on the reaping suffers most severely from being an unplanned prequel. what i mean by this is that it was obviously not planned out while the hunger games trilogy was being written. this is absolutely normal and expected; the ballad of songbirds and snakes was also obviously unplanned. the difference, however, is that tbosas takes place 64 years before the start of the original trilogy. the only character from tbosas who is present in the main books is snow himself, and he's the villain who is not having regular intimate conversations with the hunger games' main character and multiple other characters. snow is in a position where his backstory could really be anything and it wouldn't throw off the hunger games; it would only recontextualize it. do i think susanne collins' had thought up lucy gray baird when she said that district 12 had only had two victors before katniss and peeta? no, not at all. she may have had a vague idea that she wanted district 12's first victor to have a history with snow, but i highly doubt she was a fully realized character. in fact, i would guess that the reason why she said two victors but only introduced haymitch was to give herself a nonspecific character she could come back to later. if you asked her while writing catching fire, "who was haymitch's mentor in his games?" her answer may have been "the first district 12 victor", or "that's a secret", or "i haven't decided", but you know what i think was definitely, definitely not the answer? "katniss's unlikely allies, wiress and mags."

sunrise on the reaping reveals that haymitch was close to many significant characters from the hunger games trilogy, then says that the reason why we get no indication of this in those books is because he decided to distance himself from everyone after snow ruined his life. the fact that he knew all these people so closely, though, does recontextualize a lot of the hunger games, but instead of adding fun gotchas, it just makes a lot of the story baffling. for example, we are told that haymitch is so traumatized from his games that he doesn't associate at all with any of the people he knew from that time in his life—yet, when beetee, who hatched the rebel plot that got beetee's own son killed and ruined haymitch's life, hatches a new plot centered around haymitch's childhood best friend's daughter, her boyfriend, and several other people he knows, haymitch simply goes along with it with little to no protest. if haymitch is apathetic to everyone and everything, why isn't he apathetic to the concept of revolution entirely? isn't his motivation not hurting himself and his loved ones no matter what? another example is the dynamics of the youth of haymitch's time in district 12. if maysilee, merilee, and astrid were the best of friends before the games, how is it that by the hunger games trilogy merilee and astrid had basically nothing to do with each other?

moving on. lenore dove suffers from a serious case of tell-dont-show, admittedly because she was off screen for most of the book. i will say that i found it very difficult to care about her and their relationship given how little time she spent actually doing anything in the story. her most important moment, i would say, was the conversation she and haymitch have the morning of the reaping, where she says that the reaping is not an inevitability, although i did think that haymitch didn't actually engage fully with that idea and there could have been more done with that line of thought. i also found her death to be, for lack of a better word, silly. lenore dove's death hinging on her happening to find a bag of poisoned gumdrops in a wholeass meadow and haymitch happening to feed them to her is just too chance-y to me and not the kind of calculated move snow would pull.

going further, snow fully ranting to haymitch about the covey for no reason and basically voluntarily revealing to him that the first district 12 victor was his sweetheart also seems very out of character for snow. it is definitely in character for him to be obsessed with lucy gray even after such a long time; but i found the verbal reveal of it all to haymitch rather contrived.

i don't want to end on a negative note, so im going to talk about some things i did like about the book. like i said before, i think the point about propaganda was displayed well. i think the book's greatest strength, however, is that it shows how long the revolution in the hunger games was in the making. admittedly, the failed rebel plot isn't wildly interesting to read, but i appreciate how it shows that the rebels successfully managed to break the arena in the 75th games but had been at it for years. i would also like to add that most of the criticisms i have stem from understandable causes, like lenore dove being tell-dont-show because she simply cannot be present during the games. the main thing i think didn't really need to be done was the abundance of cameos. i think a couple small cameos would have been a nice nod, but the way almost every character we got to know in this book was present in the humger games was a bit much to me.

in conclusion, sunrise on the reaping adds an interesting new perspective to the world of the hunger games of the role of propaganda in an authoritarian regime and the slow, failure and sacrifice-ridden rise of rebellion. its shortcomings betray the traps of writing an unplanned prequel to a very tightly woven and intricate story, but is still overall a decent book. in fact, i would say that without the hunger games and tbosas for context, sunrise on the reaping is a wonderful book, but given those masterpieces exist, the most i can truly call it is "decent".

essay clear.

[themcomicsofficial]

Welcome Home next update theory IDEA!

HOO-WHEE!! THAT WAS SOME UPDATE, HUH?

You this reminds me of? ANOTHER THEORY WH UPDATE YEE-HAW!!

*cowboy spinning on horse shooting guns*

Okay, I'll calm down...

Well, let's see what will happen next!

MAIN PAGE

The main page still has the goofy, lovable Julie Joyful as usual!

News

The news page will talk about how they found Frank Frankly related merchandise on their findings. There on more about learning on bugs and they said they found educational storybooks of him teaching about bugs.

The Neighborhood

Wally still has that telephone ringing noise, however when we click on Julie's--we hear anonymous breathing, anxious hyperventilating--almost seems like crying.

Discoveries

Storybooks

The WHRP finds a book called "Frank Frankly's Guide to Bug Anatomy"

Here's how it will play out, in the first page--Frank Frankly is looking at the audience on teaching about bugs.

"Why, hello there! Greetings and salutations! I am what you call, Frank Frankly! Today, we're going to learning about the culture of bugs--"

"BUGS? Aw, Frank don't ya think you're giving the audience a snooze fest?"

"Oh, get out of here! Barnaby I'm trying to teach here!"

"Okay! But don't come CRAWLING back to me when someone sleeps!"

(BA-DUM, TEESH!)

"OUT!"

*Barnaby laughs*

--And here we learn about the anatomy of my favorite species of insects, the Butterfly--

*Barnaby fakes snores as Frank groans in annoyance*

OH! Oh! Why hiya there, Frank! Boy! I almost had a dream of you boring us to death--OH! Wait that was a nightmare!"

"DOOOOOHH!! BARNABY!!" *head spins*

As he continues the lesson on the butterflies the record warbles and distorts as we hear a woman crying and in 17:59-18:02 Frank Frankly concludes with him thanking us for listening to his lesson.

"Yeah! Make sure you didn't fall asleep for this snooze fest!"

"OH THAT'S IT YOU!! C'MERE!"

Frank chases Barnaby as yelling ensues, objects fall over as the record ends.

Miscellaneous

The WHRP did found what it looks like a flower which sort of belongs to a Julie Joyful related toy advertisement what the description says that's "the last of the Julie related merchandise they have..."

Toys

Since this a Frank Frankly related update, the WHRP found bug plushies called "Frank Frankly's Baby Bug collection!" and they are twelve of them. As we reach the twelfth one, it has a black hand-print on it...

Hidden Links

Back on the Baby Bug collection there's a hidden link on the seventh bug's eye as we click it. We see footage of Frank Frankly's point of view examining a cockroach skeleton.

"Why aren't you a big one?"

"Hello, Franklin Franky! What are you doing in this gorgeous day!"

"Oh, hello Sally! Just nothing just looking at his bug..."

"Ugh...You know Franklin, I appreciate your um...admiration of insects but doesn't that seem--gross?"

"Gross? Now, now Sally! You can't judge a book by its cover! I mean look at this one!"

*Sally covers vomit*

"I mean look at it! It has green and blue texture it ain't beautiful? Why you would you call this gross?"

*Sally swallows*

"I-I guess it's alright...Franklin..."

*Sally looks over*

"Uh, Franklin?"

"Hmm...yes?"

"Look at that flower, it--it hasn't opened..."

"What?"

"Isn't it Julie's job to bloom the flowers?"

"Y-yeah...she is--she hasn't been outside since..."

----

*STATIC*

Hidden Link 2 (on Plushie Bug #5)

The camera shows a cobweb as Frank and Howdy are talking to each other.

"So, Barnaby told me 'I rather see paint dry then listening to a lecture on bugs!'"

"UGH..."

"Oh, come on, Frank! Barnaby is a pretty good jokester! Even he can interrupt your bug lectures!"

"But that doesn't mean he can act so immature on these topics! He always perfectly good moments! Especially when he HONKED that STUPID horn on my lecture on slugs!--TWENTY-FOUR, SEVEN!"

"Now, now Frank, no need to raise up your voice! We all know Barnaby is good at rolling people up!"

"I understand that, Howdy! But I'm just trying make people understanding the culture of bugs! Yet, I get no respect! No respect at all!"

"Well, you can take lectures on caterpillars--ah, ah?"

"I did that on Friday..."

"Okay, just pulling your leg! *chuckles*"

The POV footage switches to (WARNING: ARACHNOPHOBIA) real life spiders on webs.

"Speaking of which, how's you and Julie?"

"Um...Julie's been--acting odd..."

"Odd?"

"I check up in her room she's been acting--weird...I gave her food and hasn't touched it in a week..."

POV Camera shows a a moldy portage and what was once milk now looks like white clay on glass with small flies all over.

"I-I don't know what happened to her after her siblings left..."

"She doesn't want to talk to me...Or anybody...I think something's wrong with her..."

Wally appears behind Frank.

"Did. Something. Go. Wrong. Frank?"

*STATIC*

Radio

WHRP shows us another episode of "A Darling Broadcast" this time is on bugs with guest, Frank Frankly is with Wally on talking about different shapes, sizes of bugs. As with Barnaby mocks and makes fun of Frank in a crude, but friendly way.

As the interview goes to Poppy, Eddie, Sally, Howdy then to Julie as Frank continuously knocks at her door. No response...

"Julie? Julie? Julie it's Frank! Wally is just--"

Is. She. There?

"Hang on, JULIE! *checks her windows* C'mon Julie! don't do this to me today! *knocks again* JULIE--CUT THE SCENE, CUT THE SCENE!"

*RADIO STATIC*

"Geez, what got him rallied up? Guess he got the dose of the bed bugs!"

(BA-DUM TEESH!)

*Barnaby laughs*

Away from Prying Eyes

W is starting to lose his mind--he's making Welcome Home his entire lifestyle, he hasn't left his house in weeks in comedic hindsight. He started ordering fast food from the internet.

However, he said he found a "Lookie-Loo" storybook and vinyl where he stated it was a Sally Starlet play on bugs but it was destroyed when delivered. The pictures showcases a BIG INK SPLAT on the vinyl sleeve, the book missing its cover, and the pages that have Julie and Frank are torn up!

Audio on AFPE:

"*disturbing noises, and deep laughter, and record scratching--(Julie) BEHOLD I AM THE QUEEN BUTTERFLY! I AM THE RULER OF THIS LAND! YOU WILL FEAR MY WRATH--*distorts*"

W said he was sick from doing research after drinking a five decade soda, "Joy" he even told us we was vomiting twenty-four, seven. Yet, he calmed he puked black sludge on the toilet...

If you brighten up the image it shows a grotesque image of his toilet covered in black goo...if you look on the top right corner a cockroach is there...

Hidden Link 3 (On AFPE on bottom center left on page)

POV shows a a worn out corner of a room, it's filled with termites.

"*a door creaks open* Julie? Julie? You okay?"

"Frank? Frank what's going on?"

"SSH! Sally!"

"Hey, Julie--I know it's been days...It's bright and sunny out and you've been on your PJs for a week now! Do you think you need some exercise?"

*POV switches to a window*

"A-hem...So, anyway me and Sally are planning on another play and you did great as queen butterfly! and--and I think you make a great role as a good witch in Sally's...story..."

-----

"Franklin, Franklin! she's still isn't responding do something!"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know! try to cheer her up! Create a game or some sort!"

"Why would I create a game?"

"JUST MAKE ONE! THIS ROOM IS STARTING TO SMELL!"

*Sally leaves*

"Okay, Julie--and--*sniffs* UGH! What is that stench? Is that your portage? You haven't touched it? Julie, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE??"

*silence*

"Julie? Julie? What's going here...Julie, tell me! I'm not leaving until you tell me WHAT IS WRONG."

POV shows Frank holding Julie's shoulders with a worried look.

"Go away..."

"WHAT."

"Go. Away..."

"Wh--"

"I said (loud) GO AWAY!!!!!!"

*STATIC*

Final image:

We click on a hidden empty link as click it--It shows an image of Julie Joyful with a deranged look, messed up hair with file name;

itshouldbloombynow.png

Welcome Home is owned by Clown Illustrations.

[void-bitten-ghost]

Thinking about Lucanis going back to that brothel. Thinking about him seeking out that card player for something so stupid he refuses to ask thier name out of sheer embarrassment.

"How much for an hour of your time?"

"A whole hour?" Not-Rook grins, brow practically up in thier hairline. "Feeling a bit ambitious tonight, I see."

Thier current company, a busty woman with a feather scarf in thier lap, snickers. Lucanis doesn't rise to it.

"I need advice," he relents. "And I know your time is valuable."

"Huh." They sit up, gently helping the woman to her wobbly feet. "That's a first."

They stand themselves, much more stable but hiding it under the guise of merry drunkeness. They give a flouncy wave and a blown kiss to the rest of the table.

"Alright, birdy. Let's go somewhere you're more comfortable talking."

They go upstairs, into a series of hallways with many a closed door, and thankfully the entertainer facade drops. They enter the second door from the end and the silence stretches as Lucanis tries to put together the sentence that best says what he wants it to without making himself look like an idiot.

Remember this is younger Lucanis. Wee lamb. Still figuring out some things about himself but needing to be the best Crow he can.

The silence is near unbearable. They shift in thier seat on the end of the plush bed. One he hadn't even noticed but really should have. He knew the exits (a window just beyond, another back at the end of the hall), sure, but knowing the obstacles was probably just as beneficial.

"You know, an hour isn't that lo--"

"I need to know how to kiss someone properly," he barrels ahead, arms crossed and fingers tapping on his elbow. And Rook-but-Not just stills, mouth slightly agape, brows crinkled in a concerned sort of curiosity.

"I have a contract," he states, as if that clears up everything.

"Riiiight." They look at him, all tense muscle and evident sleep deprivation, and decide to throw him a bone.

They pat the bed next to them. "Alright. Come here."

"That wont be necessary. I just need instruction--"

"No you don't, Birdy," they sigh, and they see the nickname grates at him. They love that. "You need guidance. And you ain't gonna get that from six feet away."

They pat the bed again, scooting over as to not crowd the man who looks about ready to bolt. "Sit. I don't bite unless I'm asked to."

That, surprisingly, gets a snort. Quite a nice reward to be honest. Felt properly earned.

He shakes his head, looks like he's about to leave, maybe leap out the window, and then slowly, in measured strides, makes his way over to sit.

"Okay," they grin, weirdly proud of him for deciding to stay. "So. You need... kissing? Lessons?"

"Meirda, it sounds even worse when you say it--"

"No no no, this is some weird, deadly, Crow business yeah?"

He nods.

"Then you need to do it right the first time," they encourage, turning to him, one leg folded under them. "It's not easy, you know. It's a skill like any other. Right--" they lean forward, think better of it, sit back with thier legs crossed rogue-ishly under thier elegant robes. A glint of Something in thier eye at spending thier time doing something different for a change.

"Okay. Let me try and explain--"

After the second hour of learning 'proper tongue placement and maneuvers' Lucanis feels like his plan for some simple training has run away from him.

They're clinical about it, which puts him at ease. As much at ease as he can be at least, given the situation. And they only touch him to tap his jaw once, telling him to relax the muscles there.

In the end, Lucanis has enough theory to write a full report on the subject of, of all things, kissing.

"Why didn't you just ask that brother of yours? He clearly gets around."

"Cousin," Lucanis sighs. "And he'd be insufferable about it."

"Ah."

"Thank you for your help."

"No problem. The Old Lady downstairs takes the payments. Oh wait--" They ruffle their own hair before leaning over to do the same to him, and strangely enough, he lets them.

"Need to look like something happened," they explain, purposely rubbing thier eyes to smudge their make-up down their cheeks. "The old lady likes to overcharge if she thinks we're just taking up a room for no reason."

All in all, that is one of the most bizarre nights Lucanis has for a good long while