#ii analysis

[maxphilippa]

Nickel and Balloon's arc and why you may be wrong about it, and why you are wrong about Suitcase and Nickel as well.

Nickel didn't trust Balloon because Balloon was a dick on s1 (something that the fandom forgets so fucking much), and of course he wouldn't trust Balloon being a part of the alliance either since Baseball (Nickel's best friend) and Suitcase (Nickel's ally/Baseball's closest friend) were part of it. "But Nickel didn't care about Suitcase-" he did, Adam himself did say he did care for her, but he strongly lacks emotional intelligence to truly get her. So of course, he didn't want to risk it, even if he does believe that Balloon wants to change, he doesn't want Suitcase to get involved with the guy.

Although Nickel doesn't want Balloon near and is an asshole towards the guy, I think that all of you kind of also forget that at one point on s2, Nickel did say that he thought that Balloon wanting to change was something good, but that he still didn't want to be associated with the guy. Which is, yes, shitty on his behalf, but it makes sense character wise. It's a case of "it's great that you want to be a better person, but i don't want to be near you even so", which is something most people felt at one point of their life.

Adding to this behaviour of his, again, it wasn't just because "Nickel is a dick without excuses", protecting his loved ones (his alliance) is. Kind of his whole thing. You know. He cares about them but sucks at showing it (this includes how he treated Baseball, looking at you all), he has the thought that if he's on control of a situation, no one will get hurt. He sucks at communication. Hell, it's even said on the series, he is afraid of change and also about accountability. ACCOUNTABILITY.

So yes, the way he treated Balloon isn't justified, even Nickel says it himself, but he has his reasons as to why he acted like that. But I think that you guys also need to remember some more important stuff as well. Nickel wasn't like this because he fully wanted to, but his behaviour towards Balloon was also constantly justified by Baseball.

And so here's the main question that troubles everybody so fucking much it's stupid.

"Why did Nickel change his mind on Balloon on s3 like that? It doesn't make sense"

Listen.

The reason as to why Nickel actually gave himself a chance to know Balloon properly is because of two very important factors. So I know that some of you might not be familiar with the official II comics, but the first reason is in one of the comics actually.

Especifically on the Letters Comic.

The plot of the comic is Balloon writing letters to those who he wronged/had a bad relationship with, and this includes pretty much all of the S1 cast (excluding the ones that are still on S2). And guess what, Nickel gets a letter as well.

There isn't a canon outcome as to what Nickel did with the letter. We don't know if he threw it away or took a look at it. But to me, I think that he did took a look at it. I will explain why later on in this post.

The second reason as to why Nickel's behaviour with Balloon changed on S3 was because, Baseball wasn't there to try to justify Nickel's hatred towards Balloon. In fact, what he got instead was Box, and we know that Box is like, Nickel's best friend on s3. What Box does is basically telling Nickel to get his shit together, stop holding onto stupid grudges and do it for the team.

And he does! And mind you, that was on the first episode of season 3! He decided to put away his petty feelings so the team could work, which pretty much already tells you that meanwhile early s3 Nickel has as much snark as S2 Nickel does, he actually recognizes when it's time to play on the game and when it's time to be petty. He's more of an nuisance towards Balloon on the first ep all things considered, but it seems that unlike S2, Balloon has grown a lot of confidence as well, and isn't sad at Nickel's comments, but rather calls him out on them. And even IF Nickel didn't exactly like to side with Balloon, as the eps went by, despite Box was the main reason as to why they were hanging out, Nickel was actually experiencing Balloon's change. He didn't want to be involved on s2 because BB told him that his distaste was justified (and that ended up messing everything for the Grand Alliance), but now he's "forced" to accept and know the guy because Box told him it was the best for the team. On early s3 they tease eachother, yes, but their relationship seems to be better than before.

As well, it wasn't out of nowhere either way, since Balloon does imply that both Nickel and him hanged around just to mess with Yinyang back at the Hotel.

That's my main reason as to why I think that Nickel DID read the letter in fact, but still had very complicated feelings towards Balloon, because in his mind, to him, Balloon was the reason as to why Suitcase, someone who Nickel really got attached to (even if you can't believe it), "betrayed" him. But we know that's not true. But at the end of the day they do end up hanging around well.

"But Max, why did they end up having a fall again? Aren't they supposed to be healthy?"

First of all there is a reason, second of all, oh my god conflict won't fucking kill you. You see. Nickel SUCKS at communication. He can't let out his feelings as much as he would like to do so, because he's scared of getting hurt and such. So yes, Nickel and Balloon were good friends there, but the down fall was necessary for them in order to ACTUALLY be a healthy friendship. The problem is that Nickel doesn't get that he fucked up a lot more than he thought and that he is the problem.

He still thinks that Suitcase left his side because of Balloon and of course that hurts- but he feels so bad about the way he treated Suitcase as well, even if he's not fully aware of why he feels like that. So that's why the conflict HAD to exist. You can't just expect them to be okay like nothing without talking about S2 properly, it doesn't work like that. Yes, they both care about eachother, but they STILL had to talk about it.

Now, on the yet, most controversial scene when it comes to Nickel's arc: Clover's therapy.

Some people say that Nickel didn't have to just be talked like that and that they expected more, but dare I say, that's exactly what he needed. To talk properly about his feelings. It's like you guys didn't catch up on that. Nickel's thing is being overprotective over those he loves, and seeing the things that might harm said loved ones or himself as threats that he needs to get rid off in order to be okay, and that he is afraid of change. Nickel knew he messed things up, but he still kept on thinking that Balloon was the one that made Suitcase betray him, when that's not really true.

He needed the talk to realize that it was truly his fault. Please take note at the way he looks to the side once he realizes it. It wasn't just a recent thought, it was always there, but he was scared of it coming true. Clover's talk made him open up properly about it and Clover also says it, "but don't you want to?" and then he says "mhm, maybe", but he really does want to, which is why he changes so much on Ep 16.

So before you say that Nickel didn't regret what he did and that he only did because of Clover: how can you be so wrong about something.

And, oh.

Oh, episode 16.

It treated them so well.

What Nickel says here is that he was scared of falling in Balloon's tricks, he was scared of being manipulated. Again. It wasn't out of nowhere. The way he treated Balloon WASN'T out of nowhere.

Is it justified? No. Does II or Nickel himself ever say that it is? No. The series as a whole is telling you that it was awful of him, characters do call out Nickel on his shit behaviour (even if you think they don't, they do, calling out isn't always strong words, sometimes calling out acts as feedback. as pointing things out. of course he also gets called out in the other way on the series, but PLEASE don't say that he didn't get called out because of his actions, he quite literally died because of them), Nickel HIMSELF recognizes that he was awful to Balloon and he is okay with the possibility of Balloon not wanting to forgive him either way.

But they ended up talking things out in the end. They ended up okay, because Balloon can genuinely see that Nickel wants to change. The walls he put are gone. He can see how genuine the guy wants to be.

"But Balloon shouldn't forgive Nickel, not after all the pain he caused to him"

Listen. Both of them commited mistakes. Balloon recognizes that he wasn't a good person back then and wanted to change things. Nickel finally got that and Nickel also showed Balloon that he does mean well. People that had complicated relationships CAN work things out, crazy I know, and I'm saying this as someone who had beef with their now best friend over similar stuff. We apologized and now we're close. It happens.

Balloon really cares about Nickel. And Nickel really cares about Balloon.

And Nickel is okay with Balloon winning because that's his friend now. Nickel changed for the good. And it makes sese character wise.

Nickel regrets what he did to Suitcase and Balloon as a whole. And Balloon and him are best friends now.

So, no, Balloon and Nickel aren't a toxic relationship, much less a problematic ship given all of the circumnstances, and saying that they are is missing on the whole arc they went through. They were complicated and they both had their reasons at the end of the day. No, Nickel wasn't purposefully an asshole to Suitcase, he was seeking to protect her, but ruined everything on the process. Yes, Baseball and Nickel needed to be separated in order to grow because they weren't healthy to eachother. Yes, the Nickel and Balloon arc had to go as long as it did in order for it to end properly, and it's not even done yet, Baseball and Suitcase are still waiting. Yes, Nickel meant good with the things he did. No, it doesn't justify any of the things he did. And, finally, the Grand Alliance arc is well executed, just because it's complicated it doesn't mean it's bad.

And those are statements that can coexist.

Thank you for reading. :]

[drawingoddessy]

Hyper-analysis of Lightbulb season 2 episode 12

Part 1

(This is my very extra delve into lightbulbs character and arc during the episode)

We start the episode with Marshmallow getting kicked out of the challenge. Paintbrush was understandably sad upon loosing a friend they were remotely close to. Lightbulb however was upset over loosing Baxter, paralleling Paintbrushes grief but more exaggerated. I like to imagine Baxter works as a sort of Emotional support animal that Lightbulb connect herself to, so she was actually upset upon loosing him. But made it extra to be comical because she doesn't like being actually emotional in front of others. This will be one out of many times she would hide her negative feelings through positivity and jokes throughout the entire episode.

 Lightbulb notices Paintbrush is genuinely upset over loosing marshmallow and decides to connect to their emotion using Baxter

This doesn’t work because even though the intention is to cheer up Paintbrush, Paintbrush sees it as another nonsensical Lightbulb moment. Paintbrush expresses the idea of the splitting teams being a good idea for the two.

This visibly upsets Lightbulb, we learn later in episode 14-15 that Lightbulb easily feels lonely and loves her friends a LOT. She never thought of Painbrush as less of a friend even when Paintbrush was constantly angry at her. So now she sees they didn’t see her the same.

Paintbrush talks about how they were the actual leader and Lightbulbs was just..there… with their nonsensicality. This will impact Lightbulb and will be very important for later. Paintbrush says they’re still friends but Lightbulb thinks that Paintbrush just says that to make her feel better.

Lightbulb is the most visibly upset we’ve ever seen her in front of someone

She realizes that she’s actually showing she is upset and quickly corrects it using her positivity and jokes 

But the moment Paintbrush leaves she instantly allows herself to look sad again.

This conversation will affect lightbulbs decisions and problem solving for the entire episode. This also begins to show her toxic positivity and how she tends to hide negative emotions.

Cut to the next time we see her, she’s getting soda from Testtube

“I drink when I’m depressed” This is the first time she has ever vocalized depression…

She instantly stops herself and clarifies that she isn’t. You can see in her face that she definitely panicked a bit realizing her facade may have slipped. (which, if im correct, is the first time her facade has actually slipped in front ofothers)

So she turns it into a joke.

She coughs out Baxter (somehow) further implementing it was a joke but she has her emotional support crab!  

She says “he never gets depressed” as a projection of a part of her. Her toxic positivity makes her feel like she isn't allowed to feel sad.. So she projects that part of her to the Baxter, the crab she's grown really attached to.

Lightbulb wacky hijinx insue and her and Testtube get sent back to the past. Upon this new realization that time travel actually is a thing and her first instinct is to joke about the situation.  

One of the realizations I had while I was rewatching the episode to make this is the fact that Lightbulb seems super excited to be back in time to season 1. Now it could just be the coolness of time travel.. but think about it. Lightbulb wasn’t the only one who was quirky and chaotic, the entire season was full of characters that were insane and less…sad. She states later that “things aren’t so simple anymore” showing that she does in fact miss the simplicity of the first season when it wasn’t so emotionally complicated.  

Anyways to continue, she waves to paintbrush bc this version of paintbrush still “likes/wants” her. This is her past, and showing a time where she belonged more. This also shows she still rlly like paintbrush even after their “falling out” (in her eyes)  

When test tube smacks her hand away she realizes this is not “her” paintbrush. Not the one she left behind. This was a less morally complicated one, one that also partook in all the nonsensicallity and chaos with her. In a way, Lightbulb misses that simplicity.  

After this realization she hears Salt and pepper talking, salt says “off that?? no way!” Kinda like how Paintbrush questioned Lightbulbs judgement 24/7, which is why she looks almost irritated. The emotions of the conversation with paintbrush is literally constantly spilling out of her through these mini expressions. This entire episode is affected by that single argument and their dynamic of logic vs Chaos.   

This one is obvious, Lightbulb sees salt and pepper as her and Paintbrush. She pushed them off together as this is what she wants to do with Paintbrush. She wants to stick together because she herself likes working with others. This judgement is made entirely by her mental state at this point. We all know she wants to stay with Paintbrush and teamwork their way to the end. And this is just her way of expressing that desire. 

Now time to go in the future! Here she meets the cast of Inanimate Insanity Infinity, and they’re all like her, nonsensical, whimsy, chaotic.

 A bunch of character introductions later and we get to see another instance of Lightbulbs struggles with emotions and understanding how to deal with them. Testtube shows signs of distress and the first thing Lightbulb does is make a nonsensical joke to attempt to help her and breaks the calculator. Only for it to backfire and anger Testtube.

This leads to another person being mad at Lightbulb for her hyper and chaotic personality. Leading to her feeling more of a disconnect with the world she’s from.  

Eventually Lightbulb takes leadership as she’s used to, but now her team is like her.. she didn’t like the intense competitive environment of the game that only grew tenfold after season 1. She just wants to have fun with friends that like being with her.

 More instances of her fitting in more here and living the ideal she wishes was realistic the reaction they have to Baxter. They all love Baxter and let Lightbulb talk about him. While in her world everyone ignored Baxter or really cared about him until later.

 This place is perfect to Lightbulb, everyone is like her. Here Lightbulb can just have fun and enjoy friendship without complexity. And so she gets to live out her dream, a competition that no one is competitive or sad. Just fun. This is a form of escapism to flee that disconnect she feels from her world.  

Next Part

[cringefailcabitha]

Cabby and Bot in Spring on the Breakfast!

I've been thinking about Spring on the Breakfast and the clumsy way it handles Cabby's memory disorder and how that handling makes it a little harder to deal with what is going on between Cabby and Bot. And I kind of want to share my interpretation of some of what was going on:

By the beginning of Spring on the Breakfast, Cabby has been back in the game for 3 challenges, her return coming 2 episodes after Bot discovers the circumstances surrounding their creation. At this point, most of the remaining contestants, Bot included, do not see Cabby in a positive light. In particular, Bot's opinions about Cabby are heavily informed by what Test Tube has told them about her, and the general attitude of the other contestants towards her. Cabby, on her part, only figures out the circumstances of Bot's creation somewhere during episodes 11 and 13, and the two spend little time together before Spring on the Breakfast. Though not for lack of trying, Bot continues to be the contestant Cabby knows the least about by far, and that's what they are both working with when they are paired up for the Springtastic challenge. Let’s skip ahead a bit:

And Cabby obliges. Now, on one hand, there is an attitude towards Cabby and the files in the show that goes almost completely unchallenged up to this point that initially makes this scene feel like it's just piling onto that. Bot has already shared false information with Cabby under the impression that she doesn't care about them as a person, so this scene feels like a continuation of that thought process; an insinuation that Cabby immediately moving to write down Bot's words is an uncaring, or at least misguided gesture.

On the other hand, we can consider why Bot responds the way they do to Cabby's question. Firstly, the fact that they are willing to answer this question at all is notable and indicative of their changing opinions about Cabby. Bot quickly becomes defensive when Cabby questions the dissonance between Test Tube's presence upsetting them enough to hide from her, and the positive relationship she thought they had. This moment makes it clearer how reluctant Bot is to confront how they feel about Test Tube. (Small note but I think that even though Cabby wasn't there for The Confrontation in episode 8 and never worked with "Bot" before episode 14, one could argue that Cabby of all people having zero clue about Bot's complicated feelings towards Test Tube is also testament to their aversion to admitting it). So of course in the moment they don't want Cabby to write it down because it's intensely personal for them and they are ashamed for even feeling that way about the people who created them in the first place. Additionally, Cabby has said multiple times in previous episodes that she will share any information she has if asked; In this instance it's not unreasonable that Bot ends up requesting this.

Cabby, when asked, then shares some intensely personal information of her own, that she, too, has never shared with anyone else. This sort of exchange is common when forming an emotional bond with someone and I think it's the point where Bot goes from just doubting the negative things Test Tube and others have said about Cabby to fully deciding those things weren't true, While also starting to feel a lot safer around her. And at this point they share more about themselves, without Cabby writing any of it down. Afterwards:

This. It's very reasonable to be put off by the way this scene is framed, knowing that Cabby needs the files to remember things. It gives the impression that Cabby no longer using the files since the people around her can just remind her of things would be a positive thing. Which is an unpleasant message that encourages her to give up her independent nature and leave a lot of her perception of events up to the whims of the people around her. In fact, Cabby's takeaway from her interactions with Bot leads to her deciding not to rely on her files in the subsequent episode, in service of not making others uncomfortable, and even with encouragement she seeks permission from Bot to use her files.

However, one can also view this scene as Bot trying to convey they feel safe and comfortable enough around Cabby to want her to write about them. Not as them saying, "I'll tell you again so you don't need to write it down", but as them saying, "I'll tell you again so you can write it down". It is frustratingly indirect, as Bot tends to be at times, so it isn't a very obvious way to take it, but Bot seemingly having prepared a new folder for Cabby to write about them in between their elimination and Blue Buried supports this idea. Further, in preparing that folder, Bot tries to engage with Cabby on her level and show that they want to understand her, instead of further convincing Cabby that she can only make friends if she stops relying on her files that she needs, that she enjoys writing, and that are an important part of her identity. Bot choosing to get closer to Cabby is also a symbol of them breaking away from the expectations Test Tube places on them in that doing so directly contradicts Test Tube's sentiment towards Cabby and desire to keep Bot away from her. Test Tube keeping Bot away from Cabby in previous episodes is meant to be seen as part of Test Tube trying to hide the truth from Bot, and Bot deciding to form a bond with Cabby irrespective of what Test Tube thinks about her can be seen as them accepting and welcoming the truth. All of these things are important for Bot to do as a character whose development is centered around them finding and being proud of their own identity.

And in a way, if you interpret this scene as Bot wanting Cabby to write about them, it is also representative of Bot becoming more secure in their identity. Cabby's goal is to keep accurate data, and though she can and does change that data when new information becomes available to her, the act itself of writing things down can make things feel more concrete. So Bot inviting Cabby to write about them next time almost becomes an invitation to have that information be "official" because they feel surer about who they are,

[asphodelzthornz]

Ii17 spoilers…

Knife and suircase promised theyd come back for 3gs and now hes waitinf but rheyll never come back cause they literally got deleted dont fucking ralk to me BEOO

[mikokiara]

Going to use this as an opportunity to say how crazy was the fact that the team choosed to show us knife's reaction specifically after taco gets revived. First off, taco and knife can be considered foils of sorts of one another (not as much as taco AND balloon but that's another thing) All I can say is that both of them had done fucked up things in the past and that even now they still feel the repercussions of those actions, a crucial difference however is that knife by the end of the day ends up confronting this. He looks at the truth as unpleasant as it may sometimes forcefully other times not. Taco REFUSES however, she actively avoids looking at the truth, her truth. She doesn't want to confront the truth that has been eating her inside out Knife KNOWS this, and yet. Despite sounding harsh and cruel he does an attempt to direct taco in the 'right' path, even though he dislikes her he is aware that this is what he needs, and he needs to push her further in a way that she won't shun him down or look away like she did with mic or mepad. Taco of course, is unable to take it. So she literally and metaphorically breaks apart. Now with that out of the way, the show basically tells us how even though the contestants can come back to life it can still be upsetting or traumatic to them (lightbulb being upset at knife for all those times he shattered her) which is why is so important that fucking KNIFE is the one to see taco coming back to life as she falls to her knees having to wipe away her tears because it makes him confront the fact that he was trying to deny Yes, they can come back to life. That doesn't mean it's not fucked. So now he is just staring at taco with pure concern etched on his face as she is on the ground trying to process the fact that she is fucking back, both of them knowing that hadn't mepad forced mephone to revive her she would have probably be gone for good. And god knife hates her guts but he doesn't want her permanently dead by any means possible. I don't know man it just makes me insane that the camera specifically focuses on him and his reaction to taco being visibly vulnerable and scared. It's just such a really good scene and I can't get enough of it

do you guys ever think how scary it must have been for taco though? like, dying. Do you wonder how traumatic and scary that must have been for her? how she literally accepted that she wasn't coming back and how shocked and shaken up she was when she did? do you guys think about that?

[aroaceleovaldez]

i have suddenly become obsessed with a theme that HoO established but never proceeded to extrapolate on, which is:

You are Percy Jackson, and you have been swapped with a boy who was allegedly everyone's favorite person, but they have decided to replace him with you. They just met you. You stand next to his best friend and the people he's known his entire life. In his home. In his cloak. In his place. They stopped looking for him.

You are Jason Grace, and you have just found out you have a long lost sister who completely replaced you in her life with this girl you just met. Your lives and personalities are mirrors. She is you, living the life you were robbed of.

You are Annabeth Chase, and you have just become starkly aware that you have been inhabiting the void left behind by your best friend's long lost brother. You and Luke were just replacements for him. Now you have to look him in the eyes when he has nothing and know you took that life from him.

You are Piper McLean, and you have just found out your relationship is fake and built entirely on the memories of Annabeth Chase. You have been given a boyfriend when hers has been taken away. You have no idea how much of it is real or not but regardless you feel like if your relationship isn't exactly in their image that you have failed.

You are Leo Valdez, and you have just learned that you are the echo of your great-grandfather. You are not your own person. You just exist to be a mirror of him. A doppelganger. An actor and stunt double facing all the danger he never had to but wearing his face. To be there for his best friend decades later simply because he couldn't. You are playing a role. A seventh wheel and a pawn for a goddess who carefully sculpted your entire life for her own purposes.

You are Hazel Levesque, and the only reason you are alive is because your brother couldn't save your his sister. You are a consolation prize. An apology. Your existence here is misplaced in every way but you inhabit it anyways.

You are Frank Zhang, and you are a shapeshifter. Inhabiting your own body feels strange and clumsy when you could be literally anything at any time. You are anything and everything and live your life with the simple certainty of knowing exactly how you will die.

[wwwhateveryouwant]

i think the main reason people didnt like the brothel scene with aemond was because they could no longer precieve him as a dominant man. i think that people truly are not watching because they enjoy the characters and the plotlines. they’re watching cause they’re attracted to characters, so they’re molding them to what they like personally. aemond was depicted as a child who was bullied and abused (s wordly and emotionally). the writing for his character is probably one of the most realistic in the show. he grew up being denied the things he wanted and forced into things he didnt want. its all hes ever known. of course when hes hurting hes not gonna go give somebody fucking backshots hes gonna crawl back to someone who already knows him. this is really a useless rant but i just think it’s interesting how people perceive people they’re attracted to. completely changing his character to fit the narrative of some 50 shades of gray shit when truly hes a teenage boy who’s incredibly traumatized.

[tessarionbestgirl]

Alicent & her kids.

Exactly, everything she despite about herself she sees on Aegon and Aemond. Aegon her softness and emotional side that she sees as weakness. Aemond is her vengefulness and rage that she find ugly. She loves and despite them both for it.

Helaena is the innocence she lost. She tries to protect and feel guilty of her lost. Daeron is her spelling image that she can't even look at.

[monzterbatz]

thinking about the relationship between bot and mephone oh my god (analysis post)

so, it's known how it's heavily implied bot is mephone's favorite contestant in iii, right? there's quite a bit of evidence to back this up:

• "listen yinyang, you're great. possibly my second favorite contestant still here!" <- well, what's his first favorite?

• when bot gets eliminated: "any chance you'd... want to co-host?" mephone obviously wants them to stay and is upset when they DO leave:

• "that's what happens when two alliances get SO caught up in their own drama, that they force out the greatest player!" <- he thinks they were the greatest player out of everyone in iii

• + him standing up for them with the springtastic contract ofc ("i don't like how they treated you.")

well yeah, that's all nice and dandy, you may or may not have realised that already, but then you think about... why specifically is bot his favorite out of everyone? well...

what if it's because bot is the only contestant that mephone didn't make?

what if its because they werent restricted by his creativity and basic personality ideas/stereotypes like how the others were made, outside of the narrow mindset he inherited from watching just reality tv in his past? what if it's because bot is also a robot that was made for a specific purpose, just like him? what if he looks up to the fact bot found themself and CHOSE who they were, something that mephone always wanted to do but couldn't because of cobs?

mephone looks up to bot because they're something that he always strived to be; something unique. they might even have felt more alive to him subconsciously, which is ironic cause they're a literal robot, but that also makes them familiar to him in a sense; mephone grew up in solidarity next to a bunch of lifeless or barely sentient technology and no people from the outside world except for steve cobs (which is DEFINITELY not saying much) so to see another robot that's actually full of life must be something new to him, something special

oh yeah also the fact bot had actual good parental figures 😭 definitely something mephone wishes he has

it's honestly quite heartwrenching to see the parallels between the two, and the fact bot might be one of the only ones who survived after ii17 makes it hurt so much more considering both of them lost everyone else they cared about; they're both kinda in the same boat in some ways

but yeah thats abt it, thank you if u read this far lol 🙏 making analysis posts like these r rlly fun these two r silly

[fictonrantsworld]

My headcanon is that helaena stitched aegons outfit and I think it's so cute that she was making a similar one for jaeherys so he could match with daddy

Edit:yeah I understand it's a shroud, but the thing is Helaena didn't even know she was making a shroud, remember what phia said that Helaena has intuitions more than dreams at this point of time...but it's still cute she tried to match with his daddy.

[yawnderu]

Simon ''Ghost'' Riley - Character Study

Ghost mourns the death of Simon Riley to this day. When Simon Riley faked his death and switched his dog tags with the ones of the colleague who killed his entire family, he burnt his family home and Ghost was born. His arm sleeve has a tattoo of dog tags, which belong to Simon though the engraving is not visible.

Unlike some may think, Ghost isn't cold or rude. Throughout the entire campaign he remains polite and even cracks jokes with Soap to help both of them to calm down, something that certain spec ops do in real life as well during tense missions to ease the tension.

He doesn't enjoy killing, his voice lines in multiplayer show it. He's quiet, reserved, and gets the job done simply because that is the path that he chose.

Ghost isn't completely averse to touch despite his trauma, though touchy people could easily make him uncomfortable unless he knows them and feels comfortable around them. Pats on the shoulder, handshakes, and maybe even a quick hug are some of the things Ghost doesn't seem to mind.

Contrary to popular belief, Ghost/Simon would never lay a hand on you or be too rough during sex. Even Ghost, the rough around the edges soldier, would never slap you, degrade you, or even roleplay CNC/dubious consent scenarios with you. This man has been raped and sexually assaulted by men and women multiple times, and he literally has nightmares in which he's violent sexually towards women- he would never let those nightmares become true.

When and if he's ever comfortable having sex with someone, he'd be gentle, asking multiple times for your consent and testing your reactions to see if you're into it. At the first hint of hesitation, he'd stop. It would take him months and maybe even years to feel comfortable touching someone in that way, and it would never be just a random person- it'd have to be someone very close to him, likely a partner or a teammate.

Simon/Ghost is not aggressive. He'd never be abusive and quite honestly, it's frustrating seeing all the headcanons about this man possibly being abusive or putting his hands on his partner when he's mad. This man has been abused his whole life, both as a civilian and as a soldier- he'd rather die than become an abuser like his father or Roba.

Horribly afraid of losing the few people he trusts. His entire family was murdered, he's scared of getting close to anyone just for them to meet the same fate.

He knows how to stay calm extremely well, he's an experienced soldier and even when he's about to die- he manages to be calm and gentle, as heard on his voice lines in multiplayer.

Anyway. This man is a gentle and caring soldier, despite the fact that he's rough around the edges and extremely reserved, always keeping it professional. Befriend him and you'll find a loyal companion for life.

[maxphilippa]

Character Analysis Masterpost:

The Grand Alliance (Nickel/Suitcase/Balloon/Baseball):

1. Nickel's and Balloon's arc.

2. Nickel as a character.

3. Suitcase and Nickel.

4. Suitcase and Nickel pt 2.

The Grand Slams:

1. Microphone's and Taco's arc and how it's misinterpretated and sugarcoated on fanon heavily (will get a remake at one point).

2. Knife character study.

The Bright Lights:

1. Lightbulb character study.

Meeple:

1. Mephone4's love language.

Ship Analysis:

1. Nickloon, Lightbrush, etc.

Other II related analysis:

1. Taco's character flaws and how the fandom doesn't get her because of sugarcoating.

TDOS:

1. Cobalt Blue as a character and Computer's unknown powers.

[drawingoddessy]

Hyper-analysis of Lightbulb season 2 episode 12

Part 2

And cue escapism.

She sees this and most likely got reminded of the game back home.

She literally recoils.

But then she shakes it off because in this reality she doesn’t have to worry about that. She’s willing to stay here forever. The lyric “I’m finally feeling free” insinuates that this is the first time she feels not trapped in her role.. Maybe doing this challenge 2 seasons in a row, with growing tension and emotions makes Lightbulb feel trapped within her persona of “the silly one”.

More escapism!

This entire song just talks about how Lightbulb is finally happy with the reality she made. It was her escape from the stressful life of competing. Here she no longer is the only one thats impulsive and unserious. Unlike how in the reality she's in where she is surround so many different personalities, where she clashes with her friends and fails to connect with others due to her "oddness"

But here she won't ever fail at a relationship, not if they are all like her.

After the song we cut to Lightbulb talking to the Inanimate Insanity Infinity. We see Lightbulb attempting to confide in them.

This is first time (to my knowledge) that we rlly see Lightbulb vent to others. She probably never wanted to vent to the others because she didn’t want to show her more sad side. Maybe she doesn’t think they can cheer her up? But these people are just like her, so maybe they’ll know how to?

Until they start spewing nonsense to her.. mirroring how Lightbulb usually attempts to help. This shows her directly how her methods are percieved by others.

Yk how I said they’re just like lightbulb? Well.. they do miss one thing.

Testtube can also symbolize Lightbulbs own logic and emotional side (and vice versa, the arc’s parallel).

Eliminating the logical, emotional ones can possibly symbolize exactly what Lightbulb does to her own negative emotions. She purges them only allowing the silly ones to stay and be present.

They get snapped to Elimination, the thing Lightbulb hates.

As much as she wishes to stay in this ideal world. She sees Testtube in danger and she goes to put a stop. This is when Lightbulb tries to gently and lightheartedly stop them because that’s what she’s used to. This can also be her actually trying to be serious but struggles to do so.

This is the best place to talk about what I mean when the contestants miss one thing..

They miss Lightbulbs negative human feelings. The ones Lightbulb doesn’t want to have. But remaining 2 dimensional and unemotional make the contestants off and inhuman. Did she really want to be like that? So positive all the time to the point shes inhuman? This is how she is seen by the other contestants, overly happy, unserious.

She then realizes.. sometimes goofiness needs a balance and gets serious (in her own way). She tries to be serious-

-But they keep laughing.

LOOK AT THAT FACE- anyways I feel like another problem Lightbulb has is the fear of not being taken seriously due to her abnormal nature. And this is apparent in this one frame. The face shows as if she was proven right. They won’t take her seriously.

Testtube begins to get angry at lightbulb for her nonsense just like Paintbrush.

She begins to feel a negative emotion and instantly redirects it to something funny, because she probably now thinks that Testtube won’t take her seriously like everyone in here. That and

Another instance of people thinking she’s just nonsensical idiot that stumbles into solutions.

Ok so a bit to unpack. So it’s shown that Testtube struggles socially but we see that she’s better at emotional connection (shown in future episodes more of and later in this episode) Meanwhile Lightbulb tends to be social but struggle with emotionality. Lightbulb tries hard to understand and comfort others when in need but tends to not be good at it.. She does try. And contrary to Testubes belief, she fails, a lot. Evident in her relationship with Paintbrush. People find her insufferable, and she knows it. Another reason to escape to this future.

Onto the solution! This entire solution is a projection of how lightbulb began to see herself with paintbrush.

Paintbrush was the one that tried the hardest and “took care” of competition for the team (like how they say salt does to anger pepper)

Lightbulb sat back and goofed off.

Paintbrush was the evident leader of the group even though Lightbulb was the designated leader.

And in lightbulbs point of view that’s what she thinks others viewed her as, a parasite that latches on.

Previous part ———Next Part

[affectionatecorpse]

I'm once again getting overly philosophical over horror movies, so here's a study of the death angels from A Quiet Place as observed by a very enthusiastic animal loving veterinarian.

Every time people talk about death angels, it is, understandably, about how violent they are. These creatures are brutal and merciless, and will tear apart anything that makes too much noise. Hence the title of the movie.

Death angels are frankly terrifying, and show no empathy towards the creatures of the planet they invaded. No living thing is safe from them.

... so here's why they COULD be--

Look. Death angels are simply not suited for our planet. It's a noisy, chaotic place full of noisy, chaotic animals. From humans, to raccoons, to birds, to cats, nearly everything in our world is a potential trigger for a noise sensitive animal such as these.

But that's exactly what they are. Animals. And no one seems to remember that fact. People talk about them as though they themselves are sentient, anthropomorphic monsters, but the way these creatures act mimic many real life animals. Animals that don't belong here, but are trying to survive here. On a noisy planet covered in water, which they despise and cannot swim in.

Death angels are completely blind by nature, as seen in many other creatures such as cavefish, moles, and my personal favourite, the olm. Due to a lack of sight, they very clearly use echolocation in the film, to scan their surroundings and... well, not get dead. But echolocation is far from their only tool, as their ears are the strongest asset they have.

Their ears are INCREDIBLY sensitive. Just the slight ticking of an egg timer when heard from their perspective in the first film, is like a pounding drum in their ear. This is fine in a naturally quiet planet, but if a very subtle tick is that loud, then imagine the rest of the noise. Screaming. Explosions. Crashing. Little toy planes. Holy CRAP, that's gotta hurt.

Sounds that loud would definitely cause extreme hearing problems from pressure over time, and easily result in lifelong illnesses and disabilities such as deafness, infection, and so forth, if not stopped. It's going to be painful. It's literally bursting their ear drums inside their heads, and you can't explain to an animal why it hurts. You cannot rationalise with wildlife about treatment and self care. An injured and scared animal is always going to turn hostile, no matter how docile they may be normally. You can't explain to a lion with a knife in it's belly that you can stop the pain if it just doesn't attack you. You can't explain to a death angel that it needs to go somewhere more isolated instead of just destroying the source of the noise to shut it up.

Going to backtrack here a sec. Remember how I mentioned echolocation being another asset this creature has? Which means the slightest movement, the tiniest breath, can immediately allow you to be seen by it. With ears that good, too? It can see you from ages away. It knows you're there. Which means they DON'T attack for sport.

'Evil' is a concept rarely seen in nature. Yes, a lot of humans can be evil. And yes, many creatures can be too. Animals hunt for sport as well. Cats, for example! Although even then, I wouldn't describe it as evil. Calling the death angels evil implies they're attacking out of malicious intent, which just isn't true. In moments of panic, they'll destroy. But they are fully aware of humans around them.

Humans need to breathe, and can't stay perfectly still very easily. The death angels would be able to see our main cast at several points, even when they're being quiet. They don't attack whenever they locate a sign of life. For example, the scene in the basement. Being that close, whether the water was running or not, that alien absolutely would've heard Evelyn and the baby's sharp breaths. It didn't care. It was clicking at them almost curiously before it heard the bang of the silo, to which it ditched them to stop the sound.

This scene is a great example of why they don't kill for sport. Injured and young animals are especially easy prey for a creature built so strong and nimble. Evelyn is shown to be terrified of the mere presence of this thing, but it never actually does anything in the scene. It moves about. Ignores her movements in the flooding water. Investigates the baby. Clicks curiously at her while she backs away. It moves slowly and on all fours, when we know while aggressive, they will stand up on their hind legs (unless sprinting) and move very fast.

This implies it was in... well, not a submissive position, but a nonthreatening one. It wasn't baring it's teeth (as best it could), it had it's claws tucked up and unused, and was in no way in a primed-to-attack mentality. Until the silo made a loud bang. And even then, it could've quickly sliced up the two in the basement before running off, but it DIDN'T. It just left, without a moment of hesitation.

Let's also acknowledge the anatomy.

This is a carnivore. With sharp teeth for ripping apart prey, sharp claws for defence, and thick armour for protection from it's natural climate, as well as strong, long legs for running, this is absolutely a meat eater. The fact it's so well equipped makes me wonder if their natural prey is just as dangerous as them, which is why they have such tough skin. Or if they themselves have something above them in the food chain.

They seem to be pack animals, as usually others aren't far behind when one is about. Such as the trio by the Abbott house, the few at the docks, the ones by Emet's hideout, and even that group sliding down the building in the Day One clip I keep seeing as a gif. With their knack for running included, I wonder if they function like lions? Blending into their environment back home, clicking to hear prey, then the whole pack going on the chase when their target is vulnerable, in a way.

I got distracted. My point was, in a year, all the bodies from past victims vanished. All those people in the town who were swiped left and right just vanished from the town. They couldn't have decomposed in such short time, which means something moved them when it was safe. Something like a carnivore needing food after it felt comfortable in the silent aftermath. The argument that they do it for sport is one I see all the time, and it's just not true.

Everything needs to eat. Carnivores need to eat. Animals need to protect themselves from suspected danger. They never eat on screen because whenever they're on screen, they're surrounded by noise and are DISTRESSED. Have you ever had a sick pet? Most of the time, it won't eat when it's ill because it's too stressed, uncomfortable or in too much pain. When having their ear drums assaulted, a death angel isn't going to sit down with a cup of tea and a grilled cheese. Also, I won't add it because there's blood, but in the scene with the old man screaming in the woods, after it attacks, you can actually see it go back on all fours and sniff about the aftermath, like a hungry predator catching prey to eat. This was probably the first and currently only on screen proof of my claim.

By all means, not all animals are meant to be tamed. Jordan Peele's Nope said that best. Yet I can't help but wonder about the individual. Every animal is completely unique. Some will tolerate more than others. Due to their realistic nature and the similarities to actual animals, in specific circumstances, could they be befriended?

Anyway keep an eye out for A Quiet Place 4 where someone has a pet one that wears doggy ear protectors and accepts meat in exchange for pets-- /j

[asphodelzthornz]

I think my favorite part of ii15 is how they included little details that are barely noticeable but really add to the episode.

Knife and suitcases little look at eachother when baseball says it was nothing personal compared to suitcase and badeballs look at eachother after he calls her a victim of circumstance yada yada.

My favorite small detail is how the music affects the scene, if you listen closely during taco and mephones little back and forth you can hear how the music reflects their arc.

When the cameras on mephone the notes are bouncy and dramatic. Hes playing up for the show, he probably is genuinely suprised to see taco but he has a sort of added flare that comes off as fake. He doesnt want to face his feelings, the only way he knows how to is to play it up for the camera.

Meanwhile tacos song is quiet, and more somber. It still definitely has a dramatic flare but its very quiet under her voice. Shes been hiding for who knows how long, she still is a bit dramatic but she refuses to play for the camera.

In a way they are polar opposites. Mephone needs the show, he doesn’t know how to cope without it. To him the shows have been the few years he can atleast slightly hide from the abuse he got from cobs. Meanwhile taco views it as the reason her life was ruined. She knows that she is part of the problem but the show doesnt exactly help her reputation. It doesn’t matter where she goes, ii is canonically popular in their universe, there is no escape.

I really hope we get more of everyones past in ii16, especially taco. I wonder why they all joined, especially since im assuming that if they had a contract it had to acknowledge that theyd die. The fact that theres no other method of revival is so interesting to me.

Sorry to my sweet2th moots lol, i swear im still writing that bear fic i just got kinda burnt our

[greenqueenhightower]

Alicent's Domestic Performance in 2x06:

After being dismissed from the small council, Alicent heeds Aemond's advice to occupy herself with "domestic pursuits." She spends time doing her hair and changing her coiffure, she's sat hours upon hours next to Aegon as the use of the blanket denotes, and she takes Helaena along to light candles for their "lost souls" in the sept.

More importantly, she has time to ruminate about motherhood and question her effectiveness and ability to become a good mother. Hasn't she proved her worth by performing her domestic duties to her husband and family all these years? Can she never seek escape from them? Has the pursuit of her own ambitions been the root cause of all her troubles and the pain inflicted on her family?

Once again she finds herself trapped in pursuing power and performing household duties. Having to tend to Aegon who becomes the embodiment of the consequences of her actions and the manifestation of her guilty conscience for daring to desire beyond domesticity, Alicent oscillates between devotion and despair. As she clutches her seven-pointed star, it becomes evident that Alicent is losing faith in herself and her abilities as a mother and ruler.

Outside the King's chambers, Alicent is framed against the two pillars of her faith and worldview: her duty to her family and children and her craving for freedom and control. She cannot reconcile the two. As she readies herself to put on a display of domesticity, the pillars close in on her, and so her atonement for any deviant behavior and ambitiously driven transgression begins.