#if it confirms the villain theory. even better

[poinsciuri]

i think we need a star wars trilogy about jar jar binks's dark and traumatic past in the gungan grand army

[gotskamstuff]

CHAT PAUSE, I MIGHT BE ONTO SOMETHING (or once again might be clowning)

THE DEATH CURSE IS NOT REAL!!

‼️S4 SPOILERS AHEAD‼️

I’ve spent the last 24 hours stressing over that fact that JJ is part of a family with a death curse on them… BUT THE CURSE PROBABLY DOESN’T EVEN EXIST!!

I apologize in advance ‘cause this is gonna be long, like looooong but follow me.

Wes Genrette (basically JJ’s grandpa) is the one who seemed the most convinced about the curse on his family probably because he never recovered from the sudden and tragic death of his daughter and that’s when he started believing in it, remember how Hollis told Rafe that the land on Goat Island remained untouched for a long time for generations and ALL OF A SUDDEN they now think it’s hunted and wand to get rid of it? There you go! It started with Larissa Genrette’s death.

HOWEVER is it really hunted? Ok Wes Genrette died like he knew he would, BUT he didn’t just drop dead in an unexplainable manner after supposedly seeing the ghost…HE WAS CONFIRMED TO BE MURDERED, STRANGLED BY A REAL PERSON!!

But who did it?

One thing that the forensic doctor also said to Shoupe is that the body found on the beach died in the same way by the same hands, so it means it’s a recurring method used by the killer…and do you remember how Cleo was about to get killed when taken hostage and Pope almost didn’t arrive on time? EXACTLY! PINNED DOWN TO THE FLOOR GETTING STRANGLED!!!

The man that went to the shop to ask “you’re those treasure hunting kids” and tried to kill JJ and Kie underwater and then also took Cleo is the one behind the killings, is he the main villain? Absolutely not! As we’ve seen he’s clearly being used to do the “dirty work” and taking orders, working for the main villain.

And who is the main villain? ALL OF THEM!!

Let me explain better, I think that Dalia (the British lady who’s the killer boss), Chadler Groff (JJ’s biological father) and Hollis Robinson (the real estate developer) are all working together orchestrated by Chandler.

Let’s take it step by step because there’s so much I unpacked (or think I did lol) and I hope I can make it understandable.

One of the major plot twists at the end of part 1 that we are not putting enough attention on is the fact that we see Chandler Groff and Hollis Robinson working together AND ACTUALLY IT IS A BIG REVEAL!!!

It’s big because it explains the whole motive behind the villains goal for this season’s plot.

You remember what business deal Hollis was making with Rafe? What her estate development plan is about? YEAH, GOAT ISLAND!

Chandler Groff and Hollis Robinson (who are also most likely together in a romantic relationship) are after Goat Island and becoming the owners of that land that’s worth a fortune.

The only thing in the way with that? The Genrette’s family!

Goat Island is property of the Genrette’s family and has been for generations and they are the only rightful heir to the mansion and land, Chandler however is only a son in law and a acquired family member by marriage, he is not a descendant of the family and therefore he doesn’t have any claim over the property as long as a member of the Genrette’s family is alive to inherit the island!

This brings us to the fact that Chandler is the one behind both Larissa’s (and also attempted JJ/Jackson) and Wes deaths, why? Because they were all direct heir to Goat Island before him. Now they’re all gone and he’s the only surviving member of the family who can legally claim the land in the eyes of the law. A tale as old as time, family killing family for the inheritance.

This also brings us to why and how JJ ended up with Luke.

I think at this point it’s pretty safe to say that Chandler killed his own wife Larissa and planned to kill their son (JJ) along with her, masking the whole thing as an accidental drowning but of course we know that the kid survived, JJ is right there.

My theory is that Luke Maybank either used to work for the Genrette’s family doing whatever maintenance job on the property (remember how in the first episode Chandler said to the Pogues that many people worked there over the years and never seemed to stick around for long?) or simply he had some sort of rapport with Larissa and therefore Luke is the one who found newborn JJ alive on Goat Island, which clearly wasn’t in Chandler’s plan who wanted him dead along with Larissa.

To get rid of him quickly before Wes Genrette found out that his nephew survived, Chandler probably offered Luke some money and a house on the Cut (or whatever he found convenient) to just take the kid with him and tell everyone it was his, a Maybank.

And the question everyone has been asking themselves since the reveal: why did Luke take this kid if he clearly didn’t want him and abused him for his whole life? My personal theory over this is that 1. As I said he was probably offered something convenient for him and as we know he is an opportunistic asshole 2. Luke actually said something important while revealing the truth to JJ, he said “I did it to help Larissa” which makes me think that perhaps Luke and Larissa actually did have an affair and Luke truly loved her (or at least he felt some sort of affection for her) so when Chandler Groff tried to get rid of his own son, Luke must have clocked that he was the one behind Larissa’s death and tried to do the same with their kid and therefore Luke realized that Chandler would’ve probably still killed JJ if he didn’t take him away, so he did and took Larissa’s son just for her sake and because he loved her…which also explains why in S1 Luke says to JJ something along the lines of “sorry that sometimes I’m like this, it’s just that you remind me of your mother” and gets triggered ‘cause he loved her and she’s dead.

Another important thing that Luke says to JJ in the reveal is “I guess the old man figured it out eventually” referring to Wes and the letter he wrote to JJ before dying, which explains that Wes never had any idea that his nephew was alive up until recently.

This brings us to where we left things off, the Pogues have completely abandoned the necklace part of the treasure ‘cause they are just left at “ok Wes is dead, our deal is done and we got the 5k byeee” and moved on to the blue crown for personal reasons ‘cause it’s worth a fortune…however once they find out about JJ’s affiliation to the Genrette’s family and to the curse, they’re gonna get focused on retrieving the necklace again to break the curse and save JJ.

Chandler is gonna take advantage of that making JJ believe he’s next for the curse and hopefully killing him with this excuse like he did for the other family members, and while the Pogues are distracted with the necklace he will go after the blue crown which technically also is part of JJ’s family fortune since they are related to the captain who killed Blackbeard and took over his ships.

He’ll do that with the help of the mercenaries led by Dalia with whom he probably made a deal and promised part of the treasure, if not the necklace itself which is why the Pogues will struggle to get it back and focus more on fighting with those mercenaries to retrieve it.

Now Chandler still doesn’t know that JJ has discovered that truth and he’s playing nice with the Pogues, he still thinks that JJ will live the rest of his life convinced of being a Maybank, but once JJ confronts him about it the truth then his true colors are gonna show and the Pogues will probably figure it out that this curse doesn’t even exist and it was Chandler all along who played into it and took advantage of this old legend to get away with all his murders of the Genrette’s family.

This also would explain why in the end we see Rafe and the Pogues working together in Morocco, they’re gonna find out that Chandler and Hollis fucked over the both of them together (Hollis is definitely scamming Rafe so they can use the Cameron’s money for the investments) and Rafe is gonna propose to Pogues “hey let’s join forces and go after them”.

I hope I explained what my thoughts are clearly enough, sorry if some part weren’t easy to follow but English isn’t my first language and I try my best, and although I gotta admit I am patting myself on the back a little ‘cause it does make sense, PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THOSE ARE JUST MY THEORIES AND SPECULATIONS, IT’S STILL NOTHING CERTAIN SO TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT!!

[itsnothingofinterest]

So it’s looking like we might be getting the ‘AFO gave Tenko his quirk’ theory confirmed and I gotta be honest; I am not in favor. I’m hardly the first to take this position, both before and after this chapter dropped, but if I may attempt to put into words why; it’s that I don't think it can really add anything except reveal postmortem some new way AFO is bad in the best case & handing Deku a potential deus ex machina in the worst case.

Like, the best case result of such a revelation at this point in the plot is that it's just to make AFO seem more evil by making him the root cause of the Shimura tragedy, except…only in a way that doesn’t even matter. Like, this reveal shouldn’t change any of Tomura’s motivations or talking points; he already knows AFO manipulated him & hates him for that, but he also hates Kotaro, Nana, All Might, and the greater hero society for the role they played in his tragedy, and AFO giving him Decay wouldn’t change how much everyone else I listed deserves that ire. It just means that some of the tragic happenstance of the Shimuras that seemingly could've happened to anyone was instead purposefully cause by that jerk we know.

It’s like if we learned AFO killed Endeavor’s father, leading him down the path to become the domestic abuser we know him as. Thus the tragedy of the Todorokis would also come back to AFO...but y’know…not in anyway that matters. Endeavor, Touya, and everyone else involved still made their choices; AFO’s just the root cause of it all by sheer technicality. How diabolical, I might care if he were still relevant.

The worst case result of such a revaluation of course is that it gives Deku an unearned & largely uninteresting easy out to solving the problem that is Tomura's rage. Because if AFO gave him Decay, then he's actually the one ultimately responsible for near everything, if not just everything wrong in Tomura's life (even if, again, just by technicality in some areas). Never mind the rolls Kotaro, Nana, All Might, and greater hero society played in it; AFO's the real root cause of it all whose been manipulating Tomura for longer than he even knows, so he should just stop caring about that other stuff.

Plus it'd also mean Tomura doesn't exist to destroy because Decay isn't his true quirk (never mind how that's not why he thinks that & he never even put much stock into that quirk-identity stuff anyway) so he can just stop being a villain now please.

Yeah this all just doesn't seem like the most interesting way for Deku to tackle Tomura's trauma, talking points, or motivations.

Plus, like a live action Disney movie, the idea's kind of felt like it’s tying up a ‘plot hole’ that didn’t need tying up; that might even work better as a coincidental tragedy. Like; people act like this can’t be just a tragedy, it's too convenient, it has to be some master machination of the grand demon lord who…is already beaten, dead, and doesn’t factor into anyone’s plot lines or themes anymore. At best, to make him seem more evil long after the point we have any reason to care; at worst, to give Deku an easy out (with the side effect of making him seem like a worse hero who can’t save villains in Tomura's position without unique circumstances to make it easy).

Also like a live action Disney movie, this almost feels like it opens up a plot hole in trying to tie one up. Because as we know; Tenko’s circumstances are identical to Eri’s, down to the signs of their quirks being random mutations. When I said the tragic happenstance of the Shimuras we're blaming AFO for could've happened to anyone; I know this because it happened verbatim to her. So if those circumstances (just so happening to get a deadly quirk that kills their families, which just so happen to be connected to the villain who'll use & abuse them, etc.) are seen as suspicious, early signs that AFO gave Tenko Decay…did he or another villain give Eri Rewind? Almost certainly not; but if not then why does she get a random mutation-caused tragedy, while Tenko must have been the victim of some villain’s plot that's already been foiled?

So my point is: I really hope this is just a red herring. Revealing that AFO gave Tenko Decay kind of feels like it undercuts the Shimura tragedy as something that could've happened to any kid in Tenko or Eri's shoes; and I don't think any payoff you'd get for that undercutting is worth it.

We should instead get the much funnier revaluation that the man who brought Tenko home that day was, rather than AFO, a completely different man who Deku would coincidentally recognize: Hisashi Midoriya.

[hana-no-seiiki]

Are you familiar with Ms Marvel (Kamala Khan)? What about Yandere Platonic Batfamily with a reader who is basically like Kamala (Comics ver).

Just imagine how hilarious to find that their Fangirl knows their identities and made a few fanfics about them. Like for example-

Red Hood vs The Monster truck possessed demon!

Batman and Robin vs Evil Sewer lizard's from another world!

Nightwing and the Smog-Breather!

Y'know just Fanfic writer who's also a superhero.

Also I love your content. Make sure to take breaks!

YANDERE BATFAM W/ MS MARVEL! READER

“Just to make sure. . . You’re totally Damian Wayne right?”

“What-“

“Cool! That means Batman has to be Bruce. And the robins…”

You may or may not have been knocked out during your first encounter with one of your favorite heroes. By Robin himself.

Look, Damian doesn’t usually knock out innocent civilians like they murdered his cat or anything but you were a liability and a half.

Yeah, maybe revealing that you knew everyone’s identities wasn’t a good idea.

Besides Damian was kind of iffy about you since you were feeling up his body when he swooped in to save you.

(Turns out you were just confirming your theories but still)

Now the surveillance started mostly due to your uncanny encyclopedic knowledge of the Batfam and basically every other hero and villain out there.

Once they figured out you were basically harmless and just needed to get a better filter when it comes to things you say, you were mostly home free.

The thing is, the Batsons might have formed an obsession with you. Since you’re asking a yandere blog here, it was definitely not healthy.

They liked the idea of someone knowing them in and out. You’ve had competitions with Tim to figure out who knew the other better while Bruce and Damian just deadpanned in the background.

Dick loved entertaining your ships and headcannon questions. Bruce was more reluctant but found it to be a great way to incentivize you to behave and work with him better.

Jason just adores you. You’re the only younger sibling that isn’t stuck up or reminds him of his low self esteem and struggle to be a good vigilante. He was definitely weirded out at first but grew to be like Dick and definitely fuels your fan habits. Both guys definitely not so subtly strip in front of you sometimes so you can get more “reference” material.

Which brings me to the next point, who you choose to write or draw on your blog definitely gets discussed. Your blog’s every post is actively monitored at all moments. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bruce installed a large monitor in the Batcave just to watch over it.

Him and Tim definitely analyze your stats and help you with growing your blog. Watch Bruce spend thousands of dollars to get your page everywhere (subtly cause the first time he did it, you were so embarrassed you refused to talk to him for a week). Alfred works as your personal assistant when it comes to timing/scheduling your posts and making sure you tag them properly + have the most aesthetic formats.

Anyways, back to the discussing your posts thing, you learnt to make sure your posts, heck even your drafts, are all equal when it comes to who it features. Otherwise prepare to get overwhelmed with love bombing.

It took Damian the longest to warm up to you, but when he realizes how much you mean to him there’s no turning back. It starts from him unconsciously humoring your questions to full blown out debates over how he’d definitely win in whatever battle you pit him in your fanfics.

Speaking of fanfics, Damian loves to blackmail you about them. He’s the type of brother to love tormenting you about your totally ‘weird hobbies’ while simultaneously reading every piece of literature/art piece in your blog as if you’re bringing out the modern bible and he’s a staunch believer in the God that is you.

He then proceeds to critique your art and written works if not outright bash them.

You’d have been in tears from the essays he writes about you if you didn’t already know it was him.

(Tim told you.)

Now when your powers awakened, you went from that one sibling that knew way too much to almost an essential part of their team.

Almost because every time you were allowed to go out, someone had to be on “mouth guard duty” for when you accidentally spill what you know.

(It’s usually Tim or Bruce)

You worked a lot with Bruce during those times. Who definitely flexes the hours you two spend in comparison to the batsons.

He doesn’t mind it if you get distracted by the boys, though.

Really, he’s glad you haven’t asked how your family has been doing or when you’re going home.

‘Cause he’d have a lot of explaining to do.

General Batfam Taglist: @the-sander-fander

[gaybananabread]

♡~A Mother Always Knows⁠~⁠♡

~I’ve been reading a ton of sad books recently, so I needed something fluffy to get myself back together. So, here’s a completely self-indulgent fic I felt needed to exist. Fair warning, I haven’t seriously written in a few weeks, so this might suck. If you’re still here, I hope you Enjoy!~

Lee: Miles

Ler: Rio

Summary: Miles’s job as Spider-Man has been weighing heavier on him, and school and the Spider-Verse isn't helping. Rio notices almost instantly, and while she may not know what's causing her baby to feel so stuck, she knows exactly how to give him a little boost.

Warnings: none! This is a tickle fic, so if you don’t like that, scroll away!!

THIS IS NOT A SHIP! IT'S A MOTHER LOVING HER SON! DON'T BE WEIRD!

Groaning, Miles keysmashed on his laptop, trying and failing to generate ideas. He’d done everything: rewarding writing websites, the Comic Sans trick, drinking electrolyte-heavy beverages. Nothing was working.

His English teacher had assigned another essay, and he was completely stuck. Miles was an artist, not a writer; the creative essay assignments loved to kick his ass. That, coupled with the actual routine kicking of his ass from villains, left him all sorts of stressed out.

Deciding he needed a break from staring at the white screen, Miles got up and went to the kitchen. He had all weekend to complete the creative essay; unfortunately for him, that was prime villain attack time. He had barely gotten to sit down and work for a cumulative of two hours.

Rio had been noticing her son’s off behavior for almost the entire year he’d been Spider-Man. It was negligible at first: forgotten assignments, baggy eyes, messy appearances. Those were typical for teenagers going into High School.

So, when she saw him stumble into the kitchen while favoring his left side, her mama bear instincts kicked in.

Over time, however, it had progressed to very noticeable, very worrisome changes. While she hadn’t confronted Miles yet, Rio was definitely not oblivious.

After all, a mother always knows.

“Miles, siéntate ahora.” Her voice was loving, but undoubtedly stern; he’d be smart to listen, and listen he did. Miles sat down at the kitchen table, doing his best not to limp. It wasn’t enough.

Rio set a bowl of Cheez-Itz in front of him before sitting across from him. Miles could feel the heat grow beneath his collar; she was using her Mom Face. For a solid four minutes, she just sat there, watching him as he snacked. Just act natural, just be cool, just eat the damn crackers…

“You gonna tell me what’s going on, or are we just gonna sit here?” Yeesh, there was that tone. Miles knew there was zero way of getting out of there without some sort of conversation.

“Just…loaded up, Mami. I’ve got a lot on my plate with Visions, ya know?” He tried to pin it all on school, hoping that would be the end of it. It wasn’t technically a lie; he did have a lot of stress due to assignments, especially his English teacher.

Rio sighed a bit; that was true, sure, but not the entire story. It worried her to see her baby like that, even more so when he wouldn’t let her help. Still, she had to find a way to get him to de-stress, even if she didn’t know the full cause.

“Hmm. Couch,” she ordered, standing and heading to their living room. Sure, it was a short walk, but she could still be mysterious.

Miles knew better than to argue, setting the empty bowl in the sink before joining her. He was stiff, his mind spinning with all sorts of theories and questions. Was she gonna press the issue? Did she know, and was just trying to see how much he would lie to her? Was she gonna ground him indefinitely for not coming clean?

Instead of confirming her son’s fears, Rio just pulled him into a hug by the shoulders. Miles’s eyes widened, but he quickly relaxed, resting his head on his mom’s chest. Man, he was tired…

“I love you, Miles. I know something’s wrong, and I know it’s hard for you to tell me. Just…remember that I’m always here for you, okay?”

Miles felt his heart lift at her words. She…she really loved him. She knew he was lying, but she still loved him. He swallowed a small lump forming in his throat before nodding; he didn’t trust his voice.

Now that she’d gotten him nice and emotional, Rio decided he needed to cheer up a bit. Miles was so stressed and reserved most of the time. She missed the days where his bright, unapologetic smile would light up their home - especially his giggles. How Rio longed to see him happy like that again…

Oh. Lightbulb.

“Thank you, baby. You just seem so sad anymore. Me encantaría verte sonreír de nuevo.” Shifting her hand down Miles’s side, she tried to hide her growing smile. If she wanted to surprise her son, she had to be crafty.

Miles's brain lagged a bit as he translated her words. Smile again? What...why was his spider-sense going off?

"Lucky for you, I think I remember how to fix that," she crooned. Then, in a gentle and teasy way, she started wiggling her fingers into her son's side.

The teen's eyes shot wide open, a giggle slipping out. His mom was...tickling him? It wasn't something they'd done in a while, thanks to his constantly loaded schedule and isolating tendencies. It immediately made him giddy and lit his nerves on fire.

"M-Mahahahahahami! W-Whahahat?!" Miles was shocked, kicking his feet against the couch. How could just a few fingers tickle so much?

"What? It's kinda obvious, Miles. I'm tickling you!" Her other hand joins the fray, pulling her son against her. While Miles was a helluva lot stronger than her, he couldn't risk overdoing it. So, like a true man, he giggled his heart out.

"Dohohon't sahay thahahat! Mohom!" Right as Miles tried to pry her hand off, Rio started to scribble on his belly. His giggles shot up for a moment, turning to adorable belly laughter.

"HEHEHEhehey! C'mohohon!" Two hands was just being mean. Rio was loving all the giggles, and she could feel the tenseness in his shoulders melting away against her. There was no way she could stop at that point.

"Don't say what, papa? Tickle? How about this? Cosquillas cosquillas cosquillas~" Rio quickly whispered the words in his ear, loving the squeak she got in return. Her son was just the cutest, even when he was trying to be all macho.

The teasing fried his brain, leaving him a squirming mess of nonsensical babbling and giggles. The t-word in one language was bad enough, but two? And in his ear? His mom was killing him!

Deciding to be cruel, Rio suddenly jammed both her hands into his underarms. Miles was tired, so she had to hit the sweet spots quickly.

"NAHAHAHA! *snort* MOHOHOHOHOM!" Miles shrieked and thrashed, absolutely losing his shit when his mom targeted his worst spot. Her nails were torturous, far worse than Hobie's lanky fingers or Pav's loving squishes. It shot ticklish lightning zipping across his skin, sending him into near hysterics.

Rio cooed at her son's near manic reaction, giggling as he snorted. Miles was always trying to act tough, but he just couldn't get any cuter.

Miles was sort of exploding inside. He was already tired from patrols, and now he was laughing his ass off; the boy was ready to crash. His mind was a goopy mess of flustered joy and giggles, rendering him unable to speak. Still, he could feel his stress melting away, leaving him in a stupidly happy, ticklish bliss.

Still, it tickled like crazy, and he couldn't last forever.

"MOHOHOHO- *snort* OHOM! IHIHI CAHAHAN'T!" Small tears of mirth pricked at the corners of his eyes as he tapped out. Rio stopped as soon as he said that, moving to pet his hair and rub his shoulder soothingly.

"Te tengo, Miles. Take a breath." She held him close, trying to help him regain his composure.

Miles was still reeling, giggling off the phantom tickles. After that lovely attack, he was completely drained. Thanks to his mother's gentle pets, he was on the verge of passing out right then and there.

"Ohoho crap... Whyhy?" Miles failed to stifle a yawn and rubbed his sides as he asked. His mother chuckled at his attempt before answering. "Because you needed to relax, Miles. You're too stressed anymore."

He rolled his eyes, but she wasn't wrong; he was practically limp against her. "Ihi...yeah, I guess. Still though, that was overkill."

She chuckled and booped his nose, making him grunt. "Maybe a bit. Now, do yourself a favor and take a nap."

Miles begrudgingly closed his eyes, mumbling something about not being a baby anymore. Still, thanks to her gentle head pats and his exhaustion, he was nodding off in seconds.

"Te quiero, Miles. Sleep tight."

Rio couldn't help but smile at the sight. Her son was finally relaxed; she couldn't find a trace of the earlier stress on his face. After he relaxed, she'd work on the essay with him. It might not get far, but they'd struggle together. That was what mattered, especially to her. She kissed the top of his head with a small, happy sigh.

[agentrouka-blog]

Dany fan here: I think other Dany fans think Jonsas are over the top with Dany hate because of pol!Jon. I follow many Jonsas because I’m perfectly fine with Jonsa. It’s not for me but I see the vision. That said I’m a bit of an unusual Dany fan in the sense that I’m a big fan of the Meereenese Knot essays and think the interpretation of Dany presented there is pretty spot on. I personally think Dany has a good heart but that circumstance and experience and terrible coping mechanisms have led her to act in villainous ways and whether or not a character is a villain is determined by their actions regardless of whatever goodness is in their heart. But anyway I do not like the pol!Jon theory. I think it’s out of character for Jon and needlessly cruel to Dany. I think it’s possible that he ultimately kills her and that could be fine and I don’t reject that theory, but I think the idea of Jon deceiving and sexually abusing Dany and then killing her for the sake of Sansa is what Dany fans think of when they think of over the top hate because they assume every Jonsa shipper also believes in pol!Jon.

I do understand why people thought Jon was deceiving Dany in the show though because their relationship was just so poorly executed and Kit and Emilia had no chemistry on screen. Imagine fucking up your show’s romance so badly that people think the script confirming that the love was mutual must have been tampered with.

Hi there!

(I think Dany is a compelling tragic villain, and it's lovely seeing someone loving her for it!)

I do think that pol!Jon (under duress, esentially) is a not unreasonable theory that grew out of the way the show presented their relationship. If there was sexual abuse I think it's fair to say it was in the hands of the more powerful party, though.

That said, I don't see it happening that way in the books at all and I think all characters will be better off for it. I agree it wouldn't feel right.

Certainly not in a punitive "you thought he would love you but he really loves Sansa, now die!!!" way. That cheapens jonsa as much as it cheapens the complexity of the conflict between Dany and Jon.

It's just a deeply uninteresting way to explore their existing conflict or their respective strengths. Not to be a hater but it's not exactly riveting literature watching Dany be manipulated by Daario and it's unlikely to be more so in a repeat performance with Jon who isn't even her type. Same as watching Jon go through a repeat of the abusive Ygritte plotline would be less than compelling.

We'll have instances of romantic manipulation. Littlefinger is practically begging Sansa to use his own obsession against him, and Arya gives us a preview when she lures Raff to his death wearing "Mercy's" face. That's been set up since the first book, and it works as a satisfying response to the way everyone has been telling Sansa how weak and simple she is. It's very personal, very steeped in their respective histories, very poetic.

But for Jon and Dany I think we can expect something more universal and even-handed than that. They are both at varying points manipulative and earnest, highly clever or unexpectly outmaneuvered. And neither will be in this conflict all alone and without advice. Not to mention, we have both of their POVs and watching one just miss all the clues of the other manipulating them would be flat. This only ever works with one POV withheld. The show tried that with Jon Snow live on the screen, to disastrous results. No way is that GRRM's plan.

I'd rather watch two clever adversaries play a big game of chess. And given GRRM's love for that game, I am certain it's also what he would prefer to write.

[1moreff-creator]

Now that you've had some time to cool down from the Fuckfest of Friday Night, I'm a little curious on what you think of MonoTV's whole deal, because I haven't seen anyone actually talk about it much and that makes me so upset because wow Dev somehow managed to get me to care about this piece of steel

Spoilers up to the end of CH2

Hey! Yeah, MonoTV, huh? With everything else going on, this thing kinda got pushed aside, but there's been some really interesting developments indeed. I agree though, it's genuinely pretty incredible dev managed to get me to care about what up to this point had been nothing but a device for plot and humor.

You know, I originally wanted to keep this brief to give my full thoughts on the full part 2 analysis I'm working on, but maybe it's better if I just talk about it in full here and just link to this post from that one. Let me start by the theory side, because that's easier for me to write about :v

While MonoTV's creation being connected to XF-Ture Tech was always a very real possibility, the confirmation that at least its personality drivers come from them is nice. And there doesn't seem to be any type of repurposing going on:

MonoTV: Whenever I make a decision, ultimately, I must make the choice that fulfills my purpose [to run the killing game until the death of every participant]. After all, that was why I was created.

While we don't fully understand how this all fits together yet, I'm glad XF is being brought up because that might mean Min content in the future? For me, please? :,D

Anyways. Having a clearly stated goal for the killing game (killing all the participants) is also pretty useful for theory-crafting purposes, so look forward to seeing that line referenced in mastermind discussions moving forward. Not to mention, the secondary purpose of MonoTV playing the villain, with the reasoning:

MonoTV: This so-called TV show is more about appearances than you'd think.

So... ignoring the weird phrasing of "so-called TV show" as opposed to just "TV show," because I will go crazy if I look too deep into that, the confirmation that the appearances of the killing game are important seem to confirm a suspicion Teruko had back in CH2 Ep2.

Teruko: And also, [MonoTV is designed the way it is] as a way to reference that "past killing game," right?

Assuming via context that she's talking about THH, MonoTV being specifically created and programmed to look and act sorta like Monokuma could have some interesting implications moving forward, especially given things like Duke Spurling being alive to see the Tragedy and maybe wanting a recreation of the THH killing game. Thankfully there's no character with a talent for recreating things, such as art, an art forger of some kind, because if there was this could realistically point to them as the mastermind. :)

Final note about theories: I... called it? Sort of?

[Extract from Vivisection of the David MV] What I think is the best idea [regarding the multi-colored "original"] is that all the characters [which includes MonoTV] got the word. [...] I think it makes more sense to relate them to the meaning of "original style" under my interpretation, where "original style" means a change of heart.

Well, MonoTV sure had a change of personality, albeit briefly, now didn't it? (Please ignore the fact that I dismissed the possibility of MonoTV changing in the lines following that one :p) Admittedly "characters in DRDT will have character development" is possibly my least wild theory ever, but a W is a W (?).

Alright but screw theorizing that's for insane people. Let's go for character analysis, because the fact that MonoTV has become a genuinely interesting creature to study is possibly even wilder than the XF-Ture Tech name drop.

Now, a lot of what we hear character wise is similar to stuff we heard in MonoTV's previous character building moment; CH2 EP3.

MonoTV: Does a toaster know why it toasts? Does a calculator know why it adds and subtracts? They are simply machines that do their job without needing to understand why. To that end, I don't know who made this TV show and why. All I do is carry out the directives programmed into me.

MonoTV: I have no conscience, no sense of morality, no will at all. I am merely a robot, subject to the laws of my code. I have no choice but to perform the actions that my creator dictated I must. [...] All the decisions I make were already decided by whatever entity created me, because I am a robot.

It's stated in a much more melancholic tone, given the music in the background, the sprite pose, and the generally less silly "default personality," but it's nothing really new. MonoTV is a machine, it follows programming.

Except.

MonoTV: Even if I feel pain or guilt, I cannot stop. That is the fate that I have, to make others suffer. And there is no diverging from that fate.

Hey MonoTV what the fuck does this mean.

"Even if I feel pain or guilt"? Instead of "I can't feel pain or guilt"? The choice of wording here is very interesting, because it seems to imply that MonoTV does feel pain and guilt over the killing game, regardless of how impossible that should be. The "fate" drop is pretty huge for thematic reasons, as I'm sure you're aware; Teruko explains her own feelings about it in the rest of the scene, there's Xander's speech to Teruko before he attempted to stab her, Ace talking about how he was too much of a coward to fight his fate, Arei actually defying a similar fate in a way, David with the LGI lyrics, Whit and J and Rose and so many other people, all interconnected by this damn concept. I think it'd be fine if this is all we hear about MonoTV in relation to it, but there's definitely fun parallels to explore regardless.

Given how little we have of these particular character details so far, there's not much I can say about it other than I love the concept of an AI being forced to do something it doesn't "want" to because of code, and I'm interested to see if MonoTV will act differently in the future. It's supposed to reset to its previous personality in the full reset, I imagine, but it's not like we can just ignore all the shit it said here. I'm very curious to see where dev takes this.

That said, I also wanted to point out how this vague allusion to feeling pain and guilt and possibly hopelessness against fate aren't the only feelings MonoTV exhibits. Because for some unfathomable reason, it seems to care about Teruko to an extent?

MonoTV: Is something the matter, Teruko? Everyone else has already left.

Like, maybe I'm misreading because the personality change is fucking with me, but this feels like a concern more genuine than I would expect from pre-2-16 MonoTV. And...

MonoTV: You have to decide the answer for yourself.

This, along with the little speech about Teruko's humanity that precedes it, again comes off as MonoTV genuinely trying to help her through her emotions. I don't see how this correlates with its purpose, unless it somehow "believes" that giving Teruko advice on this will somehow lead to Teruko killing someone or something to that effect, which makes no sense.

If it doesn't help kill the participants, isn't necessary for the killing game, and doesn't make MonoTV seem like a villain, then it's not related to any of its purposes. It isn't code making MonoTV say this things. It's MonoTV's... consciousness? I guess? It's very, very interesting.

I am genuinely super interested in where dev is taking MonoTV, and if you told me that was a sentence I would unironically type before this episode, I would have called you insane. The writing in this series is genuinely immaculate, I can't believe we're getting genuine basis for MonoTV angst and it's compelling. Dev does it again!

Thanks for the ask, this was fun to ramble about!

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

What do the misogynists who threaten Maria da Penha, the woman after whom Brazil's domestic violence law is named, want?

It even sounds like a movie plot: a woman, after suffering numerous attacks and two murder attempts by her then husband, becomes paraplegic as a result of the crimes, but does not lower her head. She goes to fight. And her battle for justice is so strong and important that she becomes the name of a law that criminalizes domestic violence against women. And it changes women's rights across the country for the better.

I'm talking about Maria da Penha Maia Fernandes, this incredible activist who gives her name to Brazil's Maria da Penha Law. This woman should be celebrated as the hero she is and today, at 79 years old and still fighting at the head of the institute that bears her name, and should receive only our tributes, honours, and respect.

But no. Last week, the Minister of Women, Cida Gonçalves, confirmed that Maria da Penha would be included in the state of Ceará's Program for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (PPDDH) after receiving online attacks and threats from far-right fanatics, including incels, red pills, and other types of woman haters.

"It is unacceptable that Maria da Penha is going through this process of revictimization even today in Brazil, 18 years after lending her name to one of the most important laws in the world for preventing and combating domestic and family violence against women", stated the minister. And she's right.

Fake news

Attacks don't happen out of nowhere. They follow a very common logic to attacks carried out by digital militias. At the end of last year, Maria da Penha's attacker, Marco Antonio Heredia Viveros, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for trying to kill her and has already served his sentence, filed a request for a review of the case, claiming that he was innocent and victim of a flawed process.

Along with this, there are several theories circulating on social media that Maria da Penha was the victim of a robbery and not a crime committed by Viveros. The Public Ministry of Ceará rejects these statements: "The process took place with all the possibility of contradiction and ample defense, on both sides. Upon analysis of the evidence, the Court determined that Maria da Penha's ex-husband committed a double attempted murder against the victim." I'm talking about serious institutions of law and the rule of law. He was convicted. The Public Prosecutor's Office claims that the trial followed all the rites and was correct. End.

But, in times when the truth is worth so little and hatred is on the rise, websites and channels linked to the extreme right in Brazil have started to raise suspicions about the process. Maria da Penha would be a big liar. And her aggressor, the victim. In the narrative spread throughout the basements of the internet, Maria da Penha became a villain, a horrible woman, who allegedly set up a plot against a "poor man".

This is not a new procedure in times of fake news (and I repeat that I am sticking to court decisions here and not to fanciful stories).

It is also not uncommon for women who are victims of violence and abuse to be "revictimized" in abuse proceedings. From victims, they become evil women who invented things, to crazy women (and many other misogynistic clichés used against women).

The reason for so much hate

The story of Maria da Penha is old. She suffered murder attempts in 1983. But her strength is still enormous. And for that very reason, she is attacked. How dare she fight for justice? Who does she think she is?

Furthermore, there is also, obviously, an attack on the Maria da Penha Law. Calling into question the honesty of the activist who names the law is a clear attempt to discredit the Maria da Penha law.

Other than that, threatening to kill activist Maria da Penha is still a symbolic way of trying to end a law that is so good for women and so bad for its haters.

After all, for those who like to attack women with impunity, this law is quite a problem, isn't it? What do they want? To attack women without paying for their crimes? For women not to have the "privilege" (sic) of defending themselves from their abusive husbands or boyfriends? The return of "in a fight between a husband and wife, no one interferes?" The most radical ones, yes. On X (formerly Twitter) there are several comments to this effect. “F*ck Maria da Penha, I’m going to hit her in the face anyway,” says one guy. Is he talking about the activist or the law? I think both.

In a country where several feminist women are threatened with death, it is not surprising that the same thing happens to Maria da Penha. But how violent is that?

The activist, let's remember, is once again a victim of misogynistic crimes, more than 40 years after surviving two femicide attempts, when she is attacked online (threats and defamation are crimes, although many ignore this fact).

But you can even understand why there is so much hate. Maria da Penha (the activist and the law) mean respect and justice for women. Everything that misogynists hate most and also want to destroy. They won't make it.

Source, translated by the blogger.

[onlymurdersintheafterparty]

OMITB S4:E8 "Lifeboat"

This episode was really interesting. More questions answered and even more created now that we know what went on with the Westies. Given all the theories out there the ending wasn't too surprising but I do wonder how all of this will be explained in the final episode. At this point I don't have many theories left I'm just waiting on the denouement. All in all I enjoyed it. Spoilers ahead!

I can't believe Dudenoff's death was that simple. I'm not even going to lie I just found the whole thing so sad. He was lonely and grieving his wife and then created a found family that he loved so much he wanted to protect them even in death. Poor Helga who was so scared and convinced that someone did something to him. What I don't understand though is why they called her the wrong kind of Westie and scratched her face out in the picture. They acted like she was a villain or something when all she was trying to do was figure out what happened to Dudenoff. There was a theory on the subreddit that Helga was the one giving Sazz information and now it's confirmed so this is a new turn of events. I'm with Mabel on not ratting them out but with Dudenoff confirmed to be dead how are they going to continue this rent scheme? The police know so the jig is up. Or is this reveal just so that the trio would sympathize with them and not rat them out to the police?

Glen being the stuntman that Sazz was referring to still feels like a red herring to me. We know that he is mentally unwell because of the hallucinated rats but I still don't think he's our killer. I'm thinking Glen is part of the group that killed Sazz and the mastermind shot him to keep him from confessing or it's as simple as the common theory that Marshall is the killer and shot him because he recognized him outside of his disguise. With Glen being in a coma we probably won't learn either outcome until the season finale or the very end of the next episode. Sazz said that this stuntman messed up badly and would be the death of her. She's dead and he's in a coma so she was right but the fact that he was shot means that some sort of cover up is in place for whatever it is that he did and whoever else knows it.

The Westies showing up and waving a knife and everyone just going along with it is so wild to me. It was 6 against 5 and I know Rudy is fit but surely they could have still held their own. It makes sense they didn't react though because they needed the confession. Rudy doing the entire monologue and everyone progressively getting emotionally drained was so funny. Zach has had the funniest quotes this season and I hope someone does a video edit including them all.

Charles really needs therapy when the case is solved because the way he's unraveling and doesn't even know how to process his anger is so sad to watch. Eugene better be careful what he wishes for because when Charles fully snaps and lets all his anger out it's not going to be pretty. I wouldn't be surprised if upon learning who killed Sazz he attacks them (not fatally) and has a full breakdown.

Every week I see the same theory that Loretta will die and I'm starting to get scared this may actually happen. I get them being sentimental about The Arconia but it's full of so much death I can't believe that they would plan their wedding there. Oliver has lost so much and Charles just lost his best friend so do you think the writers will really go there? Maybe it will be a bridesmaid or someone else in the bridal or groom party who is killed. I just feel like instead of killing her off they can just write out her character by saying that she and Oliver travel back and forth to see each other and that explains why she's not onscreen. They've been making it work now so no need to take such a dark route.

I'm so excited for the last two episodes and to see how this all plays out. The Westies never confirmed that it was them sending the letters or bugging the apartments so the mastermind is still out there waiting. This also means that there must be another murder that has gone unnoticed. On a recent youtube video, Matt & Jess TV mentioned Charles' quote in the pilot about the bodies buried in the back of a 14 story building as well as Marv mentioning the Sixth Street Slasher so it looks like there's still a cold case to solve.

And to wrap this all up I just have one question: WHERE IS THEO?

[amber-in-the-rough]

My biggest shock in s6 was that the craziest theory about Aaravos got confirmed. He's a freaking GIANT AAAAAAAAA So, not only is he dragon size, but also the master of all arcana and- it's a like a multi-arcana archdragon with a thousand-year revenge plan and he also lacks any semblance of a working moral compass. NOW I see why Zubeia said he was no ordinary enemy and why they couldn't fight him directly. Such a being is better not triggered at all, imho. Otherwise you'll get a walking catastrophe, oh wait, we just got that, thank you the Startouch council or whatever it is you are called.

My second biggest shock were Ezran's words to Viren. "Good. Because you don't deserve any". It came unexpected and left me at a complete loss. In Russian I would say как удар поддых, like a punch to the stomach that leaves you breathless and gasping for air. I never thought Ez had such mercilessness in him. He always tries to solve things without violence, with peace, he always believes everyone deserves mercy, a second chance or at least compassion. And here... He showed none of that. As if Viren was an exception that couldn't change and would always remain a villain. It really makes me scared of the moment Ez would meet Runaan. Oh boy.

And the third biggest shock was a parallel "You keep calling it a monster". Whenever I rewatch Sarai saying it, it always hits so hard. <Does it think, does it feel, does it have a family? Maybe it's the last of its kind?> The Behemoth thought, felt and had a family he missed terribly. So, when I heard Rayla say that line, I knew immediately some moral dilemma was coming. Thankfully, it resolved in the best way possible. "Luna's love is with you even when the Moon is not". 🥲🥺😭 I saw the reference to Ethari, I did and it also caught me off guard, this time in a good way.

[skidtheperson]

Will Finley be evil??

Some things I noticed about Indigo Park...

With the character designs, something I had noticed about them was that while Finley is one of the main people in the group with Rambley, Lloyd, and Mollie, strangely enough, he's the only one without white pupils.

In fact, the only other person who has them is Salem, who is speculated to be bad, or at least IS bad in the cartoon/games. Why would Finley share this small detail with the villain?

At first, I thought it was because eye color was too close to white, but that isn't the case with Salem. Her eyes are a vibrant pink, so white would be fine against it. Maybe Finley has a better chance at this explanation, but there's still OTHER similarities the two share.

They're the only two not really looking at the camera, looking instead to the right. They both have yellow tinted sclera, and are also the only two with rounded highlights in their eyes.

Along with this, there are things in the intro I at least haven't seen people point out.

Firstly, on a sticky note, although it's difficult to read, the words "Power in Park?" are written out.

This does align with the game, as somehow the park still has access to electricity and power, even after being shut down for 8 years. Why they'd keep supplying an empty and abandoned theme park with power is beyond me, but it could show that maybe someone is keeping the place running, or at least on.

Another thing I noticed is that when we're shown the Oceanic Oddesy poster, next to it is a sticky note with "Replaced?" on it.

This could mean multiple different things. Finley got replaced, Finley replaced someone, or there was a replacement of some sort with the mascots. Sone of these could be possible (with Finley being replaced the least possible since he's still here), and fans have already speculated a replacement did happen with Lloyd and Rambley.

This is a Finley post, so I'm not gonna go into detail about that, but you can find the multiple posts about that theory by yourself.

But anyways, Finley replacing someone could make sense on why he shares similarities to Salem. He could have been the right hand man to Salem, helping her out, but being more of a shy and quiet follower/minion before the creators decided to put him in the main gang, replacing someone else in the process.

Anything could have happened, but overall, I think all of this evidence could point to Finley being evil in this. Almost everyone else who has white eyes has been confirmed to be good (Example : Rambley being confirmed by UniqueGeese to not be an plot twist evil character, and UQ also confirmed Lloyd will be an important/good character), thus filled in/black eyes could be a sign the character shown will be a bad character in the future.

Anyways, that's my two cents about things no one else has pointed out yet. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[alexas-fandom-and-random-blog]

I need to get it out of my chest so here's some Striker theories/speculations fandom has come up with that I heavily dislike and why.

Striker has some royalty blood from one parent or both.

Oh God that would suck so much if it became canon cause it absolutely defeats the purpose of his character so far, that of being a lower class imp hating royals with valid reasons even if his actions are violent and sadistic.

As he is he has such an interesting antagonistic role in the story and offers a bunch of good lines directly opposing and questioning the heroes values, choices and morality.

His mere presence and open bashing of the upper class is just good social commentary! If his hatred stems from a combination of his narcissistic nature and bitterness that being born an imp (even mixed or hybrid) robs him from ascending further into the social ladder or even if he survived a traumatic encounter with a royal as its implied and it's fuelled by anger or a combo of all those things all are good for telling a compelling story! All can be done in very interesting ways!

But making him yet another character tied closer to royalty than just being a random person that got screwed over is honestly an underwhelming concept.

Getting screwed over for no good or justified reason should be common with Hell's racist and classist system as its been presented so far and we should get confirmation of that instead of having Striker added to the trend of each of the main characters having special connections with higher ups. It's not only redundant at this point but would make his motivation and social commentary that much weaker.

I swear if it just becomes another daddy or mommy issue imma rage quit so fast!

Striker is half shark demon

His sound design is explicitly constantly emulating the noises a rattlesnake makes. Since he's most likely a hybrid and he says to Blitzo how they are "superior to most of our kind" he's definitely part imp. So we got two halves and we got snake demon and imp, so it's basically covered? lol I don't know how this theory became so popular😅

He doesn't even look close to the design of the other sharks

he only looks like Chaz a little bit.

And lots of characters share similar characteristics like that snout.

This one had some merit with the ringed eyes and imma be real I haven't noticed those elsewhere but like even if he had a grandpa shark what purpose would that serve?

Bah I just don't like it. Let the man be a slimy snake! Its more unique and it suits him better!

Striker is asexual cause he got grossed out by sex jokes

No...just no..

To be clear you could totally read him as asexual! But the reason being the damn sex jokes is giving me whiplash. Striker got flustered and frustrated at best cause the timing of each sex joke was inappropriate as all hell and cause everyone did it as he tried to be intimidating and threaten/kill them. If anything they were bruises to his ego not any indication to his libido.

But like... In all seriousness asexual confirmation deserves more than a reaction to sex jokes.

Hellaverse does it better with Alastor. In his case it does tie in with his sexuality.

Same goes with all the theories that he's homophobic too.

He did the sexy villain thing trying to seduce Blitzo like so explicitly and smiled when Blitzo called it hot then! What are you talking about?

Different situation, more receptive to sexual undertones and instigating them too. That's what I'm trying to say!

And again. Asexual reading can apply. But it can't be just the sex jokes alright?!😭

(yeah yeah it's a joke on itself. still valid I get it.)

Striker is related to Crimson and Moxxie.

Oh this one is the worst one and absolutely gives me a heart attack and thank goodness for the crew's soft confirmation that they aren't via strixxie fanart cause no joke I'd cry since its my favourite ship!

It's just similar horns!!! Striker was designed as a mix between Moxxie and Blitzo and that's the only reason why!

Striker also had sexual tension with Blitzo on screen are you gonna tell me they are related too cause he was designed with half of him in mind?

I hate this theory so much.

Granted purely for shipping reasons but holy shit it got popular and I hated that!

I've had enough with turning every ship into potential incest just cause and harassing fans over it!

Got such "Fizz and Blitzo are siblings" deja vu😬

Ahem...

Anyways yeah that's all.

To end it more positively I love the snake man! Didn't spot him on the trailer but still hope we see him in the upcoming episodes🥺

Preferably doing shit like this and traumatizing everyone lmao! (with no godawful statue jokes in sight thank you very much)

[beanghostprincess]

I have seen a wild amount of people complaining about the context of Wind Breaker and how "unrealistic" it is for the characters to go to school but without any teachers or adults being shown or protecting them and... First of all, realism is not what you're going to find reading a Shonen and if you want a full-on high school experience, read another manga. It is very common to skip those details as a writer because they are not interesting in the slightest and they have confirmed multiple times that all of their grades are awful, so you won't get a silly little arc about them studying, because they directly don't. To say it is "unrealistic" is to ask for boring, pointless, plotless occurrences in a Shonen manga about fighting. Are people even hearing themselves when they complain?

But it's not only from a writer's perspective skipping what's unimportant that justifies the lack of teachers and responsible adults, but the plot itself. At first, it is confusing, but I think you only have to look a bit deeper into the cultural context of the story to understand why there aren't teachers/adults shown.

I'm around chapter 100, so I am not sure this gets explained further in the manga, but my theory as to why they behave this way is pretty simple, honestly: They are poor and in ruins, and adults with the power to change things do not care about them. Easy as that.

Whether it is real or just an exaggeration of what's actually going on, it has been shown countless times (especially in Umemiya's backstory, explaining directly how authorities don't care about the kids or anybody, really) that the whole city is made for outcasts and left to rot by the government. It is not some apocalyptic bullshit, it is stuff that happens every goddamn day in real life. They go to school but they aren't shown studying and the place itself is a mess. We only see Umemiya running the school but it is confirmed that there's staff and somebody grading them somehow, despite never being shown studying or doing anything other than patrolling. But they have shown us that the city used to be extremely problematic and chaotic and only recently have things started to change for the better. Most villains and even main characters are orphans and live on their own. There's a whole arc about a group of kids being left to rot in poverty without any means to study or live a normal life. Even our main character lives on his own in a horrendous apartment. Like--

I believe you have to be blind to not see that, if this isn't just literally some people turning their backs against poor kids in a place in ruins, it is at least an exaggeration of these things happening in real life. Because they could have classes and teachers and everything you want in the manga to make it more realistic, but this is, after all, from the perspective of teenagers who can't rely on anybody but themselves. There's only so much a teacher can do, and we know most of them do nothing for these kids. So if it is "unrealistic" perhaps you aren't aware of what damn hyperboles and metaphors are, but this is from the students' points of view, and when you live in a place like this, it doesn't matter how many teachers there are or police, because they won't help. So they are directly erased from the story to be replaced with Sakura's point of view of Umemiya running the whole place.

So I think that instead of looking for realistic interpretations of their high school experience, perhaps you should empathize a little with the actual real high school experiences of people like them.

[tsprants]

NIGHT TWO! three? I DON’T KNOW!! 🎉

i’m thinking about stanley parable again, shockingly. more specifically, the countdown ending, and the narrator’s voice lines, and what all of that has to do with his role in the game and story (yes. another one about this. i find it to be a compelling topic). if the narrator is to be believed in the countdown ending, then he would most likely be considered the main antagonist of the game, and quite sadistic, at that. according to himself, he erased stanley’s coworkers. this ending does confirm that the endless repeating of the game is actually happening (similar to the apartment ending, where stanley repeats the story over and over in his head), as the narrator describes other runs where he torments stanley for his own pleasure/enjoys his being miserable (e.g. “i turned off the machine; i set you free. of course, that was merely in this instance of the story. Sometimes when i tell it, i simply let you sit there in your office forever, pushing buttons endlessly and then dying alone. other times, i let the office sink into the ground, swallowing everyone inside; or i let it burn to a crisp”). but is it fair to call the narrator an antagonist in this ending? most of the narrator’s actions in the game are almost entirely reactionary, and the countdown ending is no different, as what sets him off in the first place is stanley/the player attempting to gain power by taking control of the mind control facility and machine, therefore derailing the story (“you were supposed to let it go, turn the controls off, and leave. if you want to throw my story off track, you're gonna have to do much better than that.”). short answer: yes! long answer: technically yes, BECAUSE he literally fucking bombed the whole office, admitted to killing hundreds of people, and admitted to torturing stanley over and over and over. it would also work with other endings, such as the cold feet ending, apartment ending, insanity ending, etc. of course, my saying yes is predicated on the assumption that the narrator is being truthful in what he was saying. presuming that he is, that would have several large implications surrounding his character, fan theories, and the game itself. firstly, the narrator is flat-out confirming that yes, he does have memory of every run of the game (this is further emphasised by the fact that his dialogue in the countdown ending changes after you do the ending several times). stanley most likely does note seeing as narrator is having to tell him about other runs. secondly, yes, he is in control of what happens in the game, but not stanley, it would seem. but unpacking that! what would all that mean? starting with the narrator remembering previous runs, that would obviously mean that he remembers the zending and skip button ending, and the not stanley ending (the holy trinity of sadness). he literally remembers just sitting there for billions, maybe even TRILLIONS of years, waiting for stanley to return. He remembers stanley killing himself to stop him from being happy, which is a good jumping-off point for why the narrator is NOT the antagonist (i’m going insane)!! there are multiple endings or paths you can take in the game where stanley/the player intentionally causes the narrator distress, and therefore takes on a more antagonistic role himself. there is, i believe, no set “villain” in the stanley parable, as both stanley and the narrator are consistently villains and victims to one another, which i will expand on in my next 2am rant (maybe if i can be bothered), by talking about the museum ending! yaaaayyy

[genericpuff]

I reread episode 24 of LO after having dropped off between seasons 1 and 2 and it genuinely brought me to tears. I feel like there’s no way the theory about Rachel not intending this to be a depiction of SA can be true. The way it’s written feels so powerful and intentional, and I honestly think that makes her dropping the plotline that much worse.

I mean, maybe I’m projecting because of how similar the scenario was to my own experiences, but I just don’t feel convinced that she didn’t fully intend to write this as SA.

The shots of Persephone trying to physically push him away, of her standing shell shocked in the shower, after the fact, her internal dialogue about wanting it to stop but feeling like she can’t take back the “okay” she gave. It’s gut wrenching. And Apollo commenting on her hair and saying she should leave it long is such a brilliant piece of writing that hits like a punch in the gut for us readers who know why it grows.

And honestly, I think that chapter being so well written is what hurts the most. Because it feels like myself and other survivors were lured in by the prospect of seeing our stories told, and getting catharsis through Persephone even if we would never have it. The conversation she has later with Eros, where he states plainly that what happened was rape, not dancing around the word, validating what Persephone and so many real readers have gone through… It’s so, so painful to read that back and know that this plotline was dropped. That we were led to believe we would be seen only to be completely swept under the rug with no resolution to that story.

And I know people criticize that it’s immediately followed by a phone call with Hades, but honestly? After rereading that too? I loved most of the phone call. They had real chemistry, and you could still feel the weight of what just happened in how Persephone carried herself, but as they talked and she had something to distract herself, the burden got a bit lighter, at least for the moment. It felt resonant. Emotionally intelligent.

It’s like you said. Lore Olympus wouldn’t be so easy to hate if it hadn’t been so easy to love. I think it could have been good despite its flaws and problematic elements, because no media is 100% pure— but somewhere along the way, Rachel stopped caring. And THAT is what ruined it.

No but this is so valid, everything you just described was pretty much why I loved the SA plotline in the first place.

I think the scene itself is beautifully written, but it's odd how it becomes more about Persephone simply wanting an "easy way out" of TGOEM, not just in the 'decision' to have sex (i.e. she was coerced and assaulted) but later when she tries to get out of TGOEM, like... is it because she wants to actually date guys, or is it because she doesn't feel like she "deserves" to be in TGOEM anymore due to the assault? The story tries in some places to explore this but never commits to it fully so it's really hard to know what point it's trying to make at times when you actually peel back the layers.

Really the biggest reasons I 'suspect' Rachel of not intending to write a genuine SA plot from the very beginning is because of how... 'back of mind' it is. It only seems to be brought up whenever Rachel can be bothered to remember, but then it's completely juxtaposed against scenes where it should affect her (or reasonably would) and it doesn't. Case in point, a few episodes after she tells Eros what happened and he confirms it was rape, he tries to convince her to go into Hades' office dressed in a trenchcoat and nothing else underneath and it's like bro... this girl just told you what she went through, why are you suggesting she try to seduce her boss who she doesn't even really know yet LOL

As a result , it really does just make it feel like the SA scene is just there to make Apollo an easy villain, and Hades an easy hero, with the only definitions being "well, Hades didn't assault her, so he's definitely the better choice!" (as if Apollo was ever a 'choice' to begin with, Persephone didn't like him from day 1 so there was basically no chance of there being a love triangle setup except for the audience members who quickly latched onto that "I guess he's cute if you squint a little" line). And with the way episodes are chopped up, separating points of the narrative from each other, it feels like whenever stuff does happen (esp surrounding the SA plot) it's because Rachel's finally bought herself enough time to come up with something, like the therapy episode, Eros confirming it was assault, Persephone stealing the lyre with the intent of hiding it from Apollo (only to then willingly show it to him alone in her bedroom with him a handful of episodes later), etc.

If she did intend to write an SA scene from the beginning, it doesn't feel like she thought the plotline through fully to make it actually feel genuine (and this goes for a lot of the subplots in LO, they always seem to start off as these base "get your attention" ideas but with no actual follow through). And with Apollo now being written as this "huehue you fell right into my trap!" villain (and very poorly I might add) it just feels like the SA is now taking a backseat to, "Actually, Apollo is the bad guy because he wants to overthrow his dad or some shit. Forget the SA happened, I don't wanna write about it anymore."

All those points aside, I agree with you fully, if Rachel cared about what she was trying to write back when the SA was first shown, then that level of care definitely doesn't seem to be there anymore and it's such a shame to see. It just feels like it's being used for artificial drama and nothing more and that's so frustrating and disappointing for many of the SA victims who are critical of this story (including myself) to see when that plotline originally felt like comforting visibility.

[blue-rose-soul]

Wait then for raised together au: what would be alastor reaction when he learn about Lilith's deal with the angels ?

Then again it still in theories.

That's a hard question to answer, since, as you said, we don't really have much information to go on. I have fun speculating but I don't like to assume mine or anyone else's theories are true with any amount of certainty until we have on screen confirmation. All we really know is that Lilith had some kind of deal with someone in Heaven, and that deal involved Adam.

With that being all the information I have, that's all the information I'm allowing Alastor to have in this AU.

Even in the scenario where Lucifer rescued young Alastor and brought him home, Alastor doesn't really see Lilith as a mother-figure. Things are pretty awkward between them early on, with him being a result of her husband's drunken indiscretion. But she doesn't resent Alastor for it. She's a tad cold towards him at times, but she seems to genuinely care* for the people of Hell, including this child. And there's a bit of solidarity between them, since they both became demons without dying.

Before Lilith disappeared for seven years, Alastor had some idea that she had her own plans in the works. He saw her actively working to better the lot of the people in Hell while Lucifer shut himself away. Saw her be an actual leader. But he wasn't brought in on her plan and so he was suspicious about what, exactly, she was doing. If he found out she had some kind of deal with the angels, that suspicion would grow with him starting to question whether or not she actually has Hell's best interests at heart. While he doesn't care too much about the sinners at large, he does care about Charlie and, over time, the hotel. While this version of Alastor is softer than his canon counterpart, having grown up under very different circumstances, he is still willing to step in to make hard decisions that he sees Charlie as unwilling or unable to make. And he knows how much Charlie cares about the people of Hell.

Alastor gets himself comfortable with the idea of seeing his mentor as an enemy, and prepares to take drastic action to stop her plans if they put Charlie's in jeopardy. But! He won't act until he's done some investigating and knows with certainty what Lilith's plans are. After all, she's still Charlie's mother.

(*I do enjoy portrayals of Lilith as a villain or a sinister figure, but that's not the interpretation I'm going with in the case of this scenario specifically. She's just sketchy.)