#lots of symbolism and foreshadowing in this series

[woundedheartwithin]

Kazama Kimichika: Kyojo Zero (2023)

[lovely080222]

Arcane Season 2

Lately, I've seen a lot of content creators and people online reacting and talking about Arcane season 2 in a negative way, to the point where they say that the season was trash. And honestly it makes me mad. If the ending of the story, or the story itself wasn't your cup of tea, is okay. Media enjoyment and appreciation is subjective, however, we can all be objective when it comes to the actual content of said media...and that is what has me so disappointed on their takes, because their reviews (that I came across with) are flat out lacked on media literacy and did not entirely understand the source material they were reviewing.

Let's start with the character arcs...in my honest opinion. THEY WERE GOOD. ALL OF THEM. I feel like a lot of people are exaggerating when it came to the arcs (especially Vi, Jinx and Caitlyn's) saying that they were not developed enough like in the first season, but I disagree. Most of their arcs for season 2 were HEAVLY hinted and foreshadowed in season 1, mostly Jinx's and Cait's.

One of the arc that gets more hate is Vi's, and is because of the s3x scene of season 2 episode 8 and the finale of season 2 episode 9, and overall season 1. As well as her forgiveness towards Caitlyn and how she acted selfishly in that episode. However, they don't take into account 2 things: 1. Vi is heartbroken (for what it feels the 30th time in both seasons) because Jinx/Powder tears and rejects Vi's help and unconditional love (Vi's fatal flaw is not knowing when to drop the towel, and establishing boundaries for herself, believe me, I learned that THE HARD WAY ) .

2. Vi and Caitlyn might not have enough time to talk about their feelings as deeply as they would've liked (a literal WAR is coming) so, they did it in the most raw and truthful form of love language, touch and eyes. No words, they weren't needed either.

Don't blame her for doing what it felt right in the moment, also let's be real here. Jinx gave her consent, and decided to leave Vi (Vi doesn't know the context, we do), for her sibling's benefit and love for her, because it hurts to Jinx that Vi is not taking care of herself and not pursuing what she truly wants, which is Caitlyn.

Was it in the worst moment of Jinx deteriorating mind? Yes. Was it out of place?...Maybe. But, was it necessary for the plot? OBVIOUSLY.

The s3x scene holds and magnifies the arcs of the couple and their vulnerability (Vi taking the leap and show her feelings, and Caitlyn responding and being truthful of hers). There are videos that explain the importance and the weight that holds in the arcs of Caitlyn and Violet, way in depth and detailed. They all point out the symbols and meanings of their gestures, which are wonderful. And ties together their bond and their strengths. As a younger sibling, strangely enough, I connect with Vi more than Jinx. That is because of the parental and family expectations that they have on me. I had to take a role of being the caretaker since "I'm more mentally stable". So I understand why Vi is the way she is.

Therefore, I understand and relate to Vi wanting to be selfish for once, without feeling guilty about it later. Not having regrets.

I recently rewatched both seasons and I have to say, it all played out perfectly, including the finale. And it payed off to all the build up in season 1, because of the foreshadows and plot devices used in both seasons to tell the story. The plot points and story arcs were very good, especially since they all connected to the main theme, which is forgiveness. Where do you draw the line in where there is nothing left to forgive or how far are you willing to do so. The plots truly showcased what is Arcane (narratively and character) and how does storytelling (mostly subtext, non-verbal and visual ) actually work. The way the writers handled it was MAGNIFICENT and TRAGIC. Which serves right for the story they conveyed in the series.

I think, one of the reasons that this season was received poorly (compared to season 1) is due to the already constructed ending and story lines that we might have thought of. Which might have more things or less than the main series but it was something to cling on before the premiere of the last season. And because of it, they judge it extremely and harshly without actually taking into account what the story was actually about. Would it have benefited of more episodes? No. Would it have benefited of more runtime? in some things, yes but at the same time, i don't mind it and I believe that it is good. Would it have been better if there was another season to wrap up the story? Definitely not. That is due to the story being pretty much a solid story with a few strong undertones that have unfolded before its finale. I LOVE Arcane, and I would watch it again and again (both seasons). I think, it is one of the biggest series of all time and also the most compelling one in modern media). This final season brought me to tears and this hollow feeling in my chest yet satisfied by the way it ended the main journey of Runeterra, and opened to many more.

Also controversial opinion, but I like season 2 a lot more than season 1. And that is because, I love the development of it (the show of progression and how it embraces the themes showed on the series)

BTW, THE MUSIC SLAPS. BEST OST HANDS DOWN MIC DROP!!!!!!

(P.S. As an english literature major, I might have more insight on this but don't be afraid to disagree/agree in the comments)

I want to know how y'all felt and if you want to ask me something or debate this, you're free to do so. I hope I can create a save space for all types of convos about this show.

love,

~lovely References:

https://youtu.be/dRvgb_CB9Ss?si=rQGmpPAYL5XrDR1u https://youtu.be/LZ6szm2fmB4?si=k7l-OuE018PpctjM https://youtu.be/0nhTS9-P7eQ?si=MkMntcyQZTHPzgYZ https://youtu.be/l0-We7fyCaQ?si=aP-fhcWxSspphBT-https://youtu.be/sIJEQjMqiNA?si=xF8rt77LKAG0Kpp6 https://youtu.be/NtDGwZxQyio?si=ZTKq1E2VetcXkyis https://youtu.be/30zVFfziBuk?si=AQpE6cntutdQvBfz https://youtu.be/9Lro6HmaWiA?si=PxPq4U8s138nlHw4. https://youtu.be/W3cNewkYB8o?si=LsyGnzC3iaMpr7K1 https://youtu.be/nD9cNowdBQg?si=jxqwX1tmuunnZpHi

[problematicsashawaybright]

One of my favorite things about amphibia season 1 is that they didn't want to foreshadow the color symbolism or the trio being on opposing sides later on in the series yet, so when they had a light hearted filler episode about wartwood having a rivalry over movie characters and the town literally being divided in half, they chose the ugliest and most nonsensical colors to represent the movie characters because you don't really have a lot of options when you can't use blue, green, or pink/red. One of the "colors" is literally plaid.

[moattemptstoarticulate]

"We need more complex characters!" You guys couldn't even handle Gale Hawthorne.

This is going to be a controversial post and probably very long, but I am and have always been a Gale Hawthorne defender. Not necessarily an apologist but I am a firm believer that the amount of hate he receives through-out the series is largely unwarranted.

I do think this is partially due to the fact that a lot of people who read the books did so when they were too young to fully understand the message. It being marketed as a young adult uprising story, similar to other dystopian series released at the time meant that the critique of politics and war theory wasn’t something entirely comprehensible to the audience it was aimed at. This is partially why Gale versus Peeta is minimised to a simple love triangle when it holds so much more nuance than that. 

As I said, what a lot of people seem to do when we look at Peeta versus Gale is treat it entirely as a love triangle and minimise the nuance of the two characters and how they work against each other. Both are symbols of the two sides of war and in my opinion are meant to show Katniss a middle ground in her morals and what are the "justified" lengths someone is willing to take in order to achieve relative peace and freedom.

From the beginning of the trilogy we get an idea of the society that these characters live in which I believe is best shown through the tesserae system. Immediately it is apparent to the audience that district twelve is in extreme poverty with food being used as a manipulation tactic by the capitol. Gale, with his father dead and three younger siblings, is forced to have his name in the reaping forty-two times. This sets-up the world view that will shape these two characters and their paths for the rest of the books. They live in a system where you must pick between starving to death or increase your risk of dying in the arena. Gale is quick to condemn the capitol and suggest a way to rebel, saying he and Katniss should run away. Katniss at the beginning of the books has become complicit in a system she cannot change. She doesn’t think that voicing her anger will change anything and so she opts to stay quiet, this causes her to turn down Gale’s wishful request by pointing out the lack of practicality in his plan. Suzanne Collins, with this unsuspecting conversation, foreshadows Gale’s role in the books and in Katniss’ life.

Inherently Peeta serves as Katniss’ moral compass or conscience. There are a lot of subtle ways this dynamic is shown with Peeta. His hope, altruism and kindness shows Katniss one outlook on war and oppression during the course of the books. We see it first when he gives Katniss the bread from the bakery. A small but kind offer with no expectations which isn’t often seen in district twelve due to the society they function in. I also find it interesting that everyone Peeta kills through-out the books is either out of self-defense or mercy. He refuses to engage in violence as that’s what the Capitol wants. This mindset is persistent throughout the books. Peeta isn’t opposed to the revolution but he is firm in his stance that they should always do everything in their power to do the right thing and he believes that violence and sacrifice is not the right thing.

If we look at Peeta as Katniss’ conscience/moral compass, we can look at Gale as her sense of justice and rage. Gale, like Peeta, actually seems to be a very loving character, raising his family after his fathers death, Putting his name into the reaping a multitude of times in order to feed them and his love for Katniss (which he definitely had even if he didn’t do so in the best manner) The first real thing we learn about him past being Katniss' friend is that he is sacrificing his safety to feed his family. From the beginning we know Gale hates the Capitol and wants to rebel and after Katniss goes into the games he is forced to play along with Capitol propaganda, get brutally punished by Peacekeepers and watches district twelve get destroyed. His disdain is only amplified as the books go on and the tyranny of the Capitol persists. He believes that the ends always justify the means, even if it means extreme violence and sacrifice. He is incredibly angry and having not met anyone from the Capitol like Katniss and Peeta, struggles to humanise the casualties of the war.

Both of these outlooks are shown very clearly in the Mockingjay. Despite Peeta not agreeing with a violent rebellion, what I feel convinces Katniss to partake in it is when she sees Peeta on TV after being kidnapped by the Capitol. As I’ve established I feel Peeta is representing her conscience and what is considered the “right thing” to do. Katniss is convinced to join the rebellion in order to save her conscience, Peeta. Joining the rebellion, which Gale is a major part of, is the first time I think we see Suzanne Collins trying to convey that neither side is “right” and that to win a war there needs to be a middle ground.

Katniss is us as we watch both viewpoints and decide where we fall on this spectrum. We are shown the downsides of both ideologies. With Peeta getting hijacked and Gale getting dubbed the "Prim Reaper" by fans. As I’ve said Peeta isn’t un-political, but contrary to Gale he tries to rebel without violence but manipulation of the media. We see Peeta waving out the window of the train trying to charm Panem and again in the interview he plays along with Caesar's jokes. He aims to humanise himself and Katniss to Capitol citizens when he mentions the crush he has on her. He does so again when he says his infamous “if it wasn’t for the baby” line. Now I could give an in depth discussion on the commentary behind this line alone but not today. The main point I’m getting at is that Peeta knows how to play the media. We see that after this line, suddenly the Capitol citizens no longer agree with the Quarter Quell or the idea of the hunger games.

Peeta becomes a beloved figure because he does not blatantly voice his rebellion. It’s so subtle that the Capitol Citizens see him as complying to the regime with a joking smile as he discusses something as mundane as the smell of the showers. He talks about how the showers in the Capitol are much nicer. He is playing up to the idea that Capitol citizens believe, that they should feel lucky to be where they are and be treated so nicely. They are not aware, unlike Snow and the other tributes, that everything Peeta says in an act of subtle rebellion. He comes across as humble and charming and a little cheeky. In TBOSAS Snow comes up with ideas to get more people to watch the games. A quote directly from him explains why Peeta’s tactic works so well.

“If we need people to watch we should be letting them get closer to the tributes before the games. To make the stakes personal.”

Peeta never clearly insults or condemns the Capitol making it so no one can recognise his want for a revolution. He becomes personable and likable in order to plant the seeds in the minds of the viewers by being outwardly complicit yet lacing it with a message. When he says that he can never be with his crush because they’ve both gone into the arena together, it saddens the citizens who are rooting for him because even if he does win, his crush dies in the arena, and if he doesn’t he never gets to be with her to begin with. To the viewers it's a movie and you root for a character (much like it is to us as the audience) but in their world, their favourite tribute dying doesn’t hold weight in the same way it doesn’t hold weight to us because at the end of the day they are fictional characters. This perpetuates what we already know, that the Capitol citizens are so desensitised that the tributes aren't real lives or people. There is definitely a message behind this but this post is already ridiculously long so I’ll save that for another time.

We know that the citizens don’t react well to condemnation when Johanna and Beetee speak negatively upon the Quarter Quell and we hear the crowd getting angry. Peeta takes the same approach that garnered him sympathy and love in his first interview when mentioning his crush on Katniss. In "Catching Fire" he says  the line “We’ve been luckier than most. I’d have no regrets at all.” This is him once again playing humble and lovable and he makes sure never to blame or speak negatively about the Capitol or the Games themselves. When he says “if it weren’t for the baby.” it doesn’t come across as rebellious but as a genuine unfortunate coincidence. Peeta is an adored undercover Rebel who the media and Capitol Citizens trust to be loyal and well-meaning and also put on a good show

Whilst this tactic worked well in Catching Fire, with Capitol Citizens needing to be mollified, not because of someone speaking negatively about them but because they are genuinely enraged at the circumstances, it is used against him when he is hijacked and he is forced to ask for a Ceasefire in an interview with Snow. Because he is now seen as a trusted Capitol Darling who is known to perform well on TV, no one suspects that he might be saying these things under duress. Seeing this interview pushes Katniss to be the symbol of the revolution. Her symbolic conscience is having his own non-violent form of rebellion used against him and also getting tortured and in order to save him she realises that sometimes violence is necessary.

SOMETIMES being the key point and why Gale is there to show that the other side of the spectrum is not good either. I feel like a lot of people like to point out that Peeta also lived in district twelve and didn’t react in the same way that Gale did. I need to point out that whilst both of them grew up in poor conditions, Peeta lived in the Merchant’s village as the Baker’s son. This is not to say that he didn’t have a hard life. Katniss learns that they couldn’t afford most of the ingredients they baked with and lived off of stale left-overs but we can also infer that the family was never so poor that they were on the brink of starvation like Katniss and Gale have faced. (The way I’m speaking implies that I think the food conditions for anyone in twelve or the other districts were okay. They were not, I’m speaking relative to the world and characters in this conversation.) Gale, in order to put food on the table had to sacrifice his chance of safety from the arena and have his name in the reaping forty-two times and I think this gives an interesting differential between the two when we’re discussing why they took such different paths in their reaction and stance on the rebellion.

Gale believes that anything they have to do in order to take down the Capitol is necessary, even if that means sacrificing people along the way. He is one of the leading voices of the rebellion and chosen to be Katniss’ right hand when she agrees to become the symbol for it. He is the total extreme of the measures one is willing to take and we see Katniss struggle with this a lot. Suzanne Collins took Peeta out of Katniss’ life in the books as a way to explore Gale’s ideology more. With her conscience gone, it leaves Katniss to decide on her own what she deems just action in this fight. The longer Peeta is away the more violence we see Katniss use. When the rebellion goes to district eight, we see her fighting as the circumstance permits. The difference between Katniss and Gale is that Gale doesn’t see the Capitol citizens as people but as numbers to win the war. I honestly don’t think this is absolutely crazy for him to do. Gale, unlike Katniss and Peeta, has never met anyone from the Capitol, and hasn't had the opportunity to humanise them like they have. Given that the Capitol are the people who view the deaths of the children from the district as entertainment and who put them in that environment, I find it hard not to be sympathetic to his outlook. It is not to say it is the right outlook but one I think can be understood.

There's a point in the book where Katniss comes across a Capitol citizen and when she goes to speak in order to warn people of their arrival. Katniss shoots her through the heart. She does this to the woman because if she doesn’t, they will almost certainly be caught, tortured and killed. Before she does this she describes how the woman looks. She isn’t just a number to Katniss, she is a human who she has killed. This is one of the best examples of the middle ground of the book and poses a question. Was it morally justified for Katniss to kill this woman? Most of us would say yes given the alternative. This is Katniss straying towards Gale’s view where the ends justify the means but the description of her beforehand, the humanising, that’s Peeta pulling her back to the middle. Yes, the woman had to be killed in order to protect Katniss and the rebels but she also acknowledges that it was A PERSON she killed, not a just another tally mark in aid of ending the Capitol.

It’s now time to discuss what we’ve all been waiting for. Prim Reaper.

Now, this is one of those conversations that I don’t think I’ll win anyone over if you don’t already agree with it to begin with. I do not think that Gale is the person to blame for Prim’s death. He was definitely complicit in it with the creation of the bomb, but if that’s the reason everyone blames him for her death, why not blame Beetee too? I also think it's worthy to note that Gale did not authorise the attack that killed Prim. We learn that he didn’t even know it was a plan, and it places doubt on whether it was actually Gale’s technology that killed her in the first place. The reason Suzanne Collins killed Prim was to show, like with Peeta getting hijacked, that too much of one ideology will eventually result in failure. Killing Prim, a character we know, rather than a group of random healers, portrays this enough for both Katniss and us as the audience to entirely rule out Gale as a plausible option in both his war tactics and as a love interest. Prim’s death is when Katniss, through personal loss, realises that whilst violence is necessary, sacrifice to the extent that Gale views as sufficient is no longer justified but rage fuelled vengeance.

To me, blaming Gale for Prim’s death is like blaming the gun rather than the person who pulled the trigger. Gale is as much of a victim of the Capitol as anyone else in the books. He becomes a ruthless revolutionary not because he is a horrible bloodthirsty monster but because he is a teenager raised in a society where he’s always been forced to make sacrifices in order to keep himself and his family alive. If the Capitol and the games did not exist, Gale would never have been in an environment where he had to become so desensitised. Is he a good person? No, but is he a bad one? Definitely not. He is there to show how any extreme ultimately results in disaster, as is Peeta.

The scene where Katniss shoots Coin and leaves Snow to be mauled to death by the citizens is where this attitude is best shown. The suggestion of a game for the Capitol children is completely obscene to Katniss. She knows that Coin is extremely similar to Snow. One could say they’re two sides of the same coin…! She chooses to kill Coin in order to achieve peace. These are the two ideologies finally settling in the middle ground. Ending the cycle of violence to achieve peace with one final violent act. It’s hard to predict how the books would’ve concluded without Gale. Would Katniss have rebelled so publicly in catching fire were it not for Gale’s influence? Would she agree to be the Mockingjay? Would Peeta’s rescue mission be successful if Gale hadn’t been the first to volunteer for the team? Would Katniss have shot that citizen or let their location be given up and have it ultimately result in their death and torture? Would she have killed Coin or let the tyrannical cycle continue? Obviously I can’t answer any of these questions because we simply don’t know what the books or Katniss would look like without Gale’s presence because he is important. He is fundamental in the war efforts, whether his actions are ethical or not.

I think the final note I want to leave is what Katniss thinks the final time we see Gale in the trilogy. Katniss, right before she goes to kill Snow and ultimately decides to kill Coin, speaks to Gale in the aftermath of Prim’s death. He hands her the arrow she’s meant to use, which I think is symbolic, the final act of violence handed off to her by her sense of vengeance before they never see each other again. After he leaves she thinks. 

“I want to call him back and tell him that I was wrong. That I'll figure out a way to make peace with this. To remember the circumstances under which he created the bomb. Take into account my own inexcusable crimes. Dig up the truth about who dropped the parachutes. Prove it wasn’t the rebels. Forgive him. But since I can’t, I guess I’ll just have to deal with the pain.” 

Katniss can’t forgive him because it’s just too personal, but she understands why he did what he did, knows that he did what he felt he had to do in the situation he was dealt. Do you really think Suzanne Collins aimed to villainise Gale? I don’t think so. She is too complex a writer to make us hate a victim of oppression. Katniss’ thoughts after their final interaction doesn’t scream to me that she thinks Gale is a villain of the story. Just another victim who ultimately went too far in their attempt to reach their goal. The line “Remember who the real enemy is.” is so consistent through-out the series that it baffles me that people have decided they hate Gale more than Coin or Snow. Gale Hawthorne is by no means a perfect person, no one in this book is. But he is not a bad person either, he’s simply a boy who couldn't see the middle ground through his need for vengeance against an oppressive power.

All that being said I may have completely missed and I am entirely open to hearing opposing opinions of this discussion. These books are so complex and there is no way I could do an entire in depth analogy of Gale or Peeta or their environment. That being said I hop you enjoyed my attempt to articulate my thoughts on Gale

[drstonefangurl]

The next charater in my Dr. Stone Tarot Card series Senku Ishigami as The Magician. Senku, our main character and genius scientist determined to save all of humanity makes for a very lovely Magician imho. Here is The Magician card for reference:

The Magician Meaning

Upright: Manifestation, resourcefulness, power, inspired action

Reversed: Manipulation, poor planning, untapped talents

The Magician card is labeled as number 1 in the Major Arcana. The card is represented by a man using his tools of his trade, which represent the 4 elements, to work his magic and manifest his desires into reality. The Magician has one hand pointing to heaven and one to the Earth indicating he can take what he conceives in his mind he can make reality with the proper tools and enough time. The infinity symbol above his head and the ouroboros around his waist represent his infinite potential, the cyclical nature of life and existence, and his potential access to endless thoughts and resources.

The Senku Ishigami card we see Senku with a bunch of science apparatus working on his next big project, bringing his ideas into reality. We also see the Medusa device in the background, looking like the infinity device, and the belt with more items and tools Senku will need for his infinite drive for scientific discovery. In the background we also see the moon behind the Medusa device, which has been Senku's ever driving goal to get to the moon, even before the pertification event even happened.

Based off of the card descriptions alone I think it is pretty obvious as to why I think Senku Ishigami is clearly representing The Magician in Gen's tarot deck. The Magician and Senku are also extremely representative of taking action, making thoughts and ideas come into reality, and resourcefulness which is Senku's whole character in Dr. Stone. If it wasn't for Senku having the ability to make his ideas reality there would be no show. For the sake of anime only watchers, I will keep some if my reasonings quiet because it will mostly be foreshadowing of what is coming down the pipe in the anime.

Now, I would like to address why I don't think Senku's card is representing The Moon (because that seems to be a common one that lots of folks like to assign to his card on the internet). My major argument against this choice, besides the fact the the symbolism is highly indicating it's The Magician, is because The Moon is a card about hidden fears, illusions, anxiety, intuition, and the subconscious. None of that fits Senku's character even though going to the moon has been an important task for Senku since the beginning of the manga and anime. Overall this card felt like it was quite straightforward, but I would enjoy any evidence that contradicts my thought process. Stay tuned, my next card analysis is on Ryusui Nanami. Get excited.

Sources: biddytarot.com & @ChifuyuEmma on Pintrest

[epicspheal]

A Strong and Upstanding Heart! A Lance Analysis

Imagine you're a kid in the 90s playing Pokemon Red and Blue…you’ve gotten all eight badges, made it through Victory Road and bested Lorelei, Bruno and Agatha. Now the only person that you think stands before you and the title of Indigo League Champion is a certain cape loving Dragon Master…

That’s right we’re talking about Lance! Lance is definitely one of those character who has very different interpretations depending on whether or not you’re looking at the anime, games or manga. For the sake of consistency with my other analyses…I’m only sticking to the gameverse and any media that corresponds to it (mainline games, Pokemon Masters EX and Generations). 

Let’s start with his name…in English it’s a weapon. Which is very befitting a dragon master as in many pieces of European Folklore knights wielded lances to slay dragons. But considering in Pokemon Lance doesn’t slay dragon-types but befriends them you could compare him to many of the heroes of dragon-rider fantasy who often had weapons they carried while on the back of their flying reptilians. Lance in the games is very knightly in demeanor and one could very easily imagine him riding on the back of his Dragonite wielding a lance. In French his name is Peter which is actually derived from petard which is another medieval weapon again reinforcing that knightly demeanor. His German name is Siegfried who is a legendary hero who bested the dragon Fafnir, further symbolizing Lance as a proud warrior. 

But then his Japanese is Wataru which has a couple of different meanings. First is “Watatsumi” who is a legendary kami and water deity in Japanese folklore that happened to be a dragon. But also it is derived from “wata” which means “cotton” which his Korean name also is derived from. When we think of the language of flowers we usually think of Roses and Forget-me-Nots. Yet cotton has a lot of symbolism. Cotton is known to mean “fortune, gratitude, cherish, well-being and receiving blessings”. When we think of Lance, he’s had a lot of blessings in his life. He was born into a prestigious dragon clan and was chosen as the heir of said clan before he went to the league. He became an Elite Four member which is an esteemed position many trainers could only dream to have. He even manages to become champion afterwards which as a title bestowed upon very few. So much of his life is very much blessed and Lance recognizes that blessing and cherishes it. 

Now let’s take a look at his team. His team varies throughout the series due to his changing roles from Elite Four to Champion so we’ll be covering both

Starting with his Elite Four team, the first thing that often stands out is that he lacks a lot of diversity on his team with him having 3 Pokemon from the same family and two of them being unevolved. While some people may consider it poor team building (at least from a more competitive mindset) it actually means a lot storywise. We have to remember that Pokemon was originally meant to end at GSC and we know by then Lance has ascended to the rank of champion. So him having two Dragonair actually makes sense in that context as it was foreshadowing his growth in his strength as a trainer. Now let’s take a look at his movesets. One thing that sticks out is that he really loves the move Hyper Beam, Outrage and SafeGuard. Hyper Beam is a very powerful move with the drawback of causing the Pokemon to not be able to move after for one turn after its use. It definitely establishes Lance as a power player with a hint of recklessness since the use of Hyper Beam does leave his Pokemon so vulnerable. However it also shows the trust he has in his Pokemon’s power to have that move consistently in the movesets. Outrage is another high-risk, high reward move that allows him to utilize STAB as it’s a dragon type. Again this further solidifies Lances hyper offensive strategy and his trust in his Pokemon. However this is where the move Safeguard comes into play as the move actually protects against the self-inflicted confusion status. This shows that Lance is strategic with his hyper-offensive strategy

Now let’s look at his team as champion! We can see he now has three full Dragonite which again shows that him having Dragonair in the Kanto games was an intentional choice to foreshadow his eventual ascent up the ranks. And now we also see that all of his Pokemon share the flying type which leads to the joke that Lance should be known as the “flying type champion”. His movesets for his Pokemon have also drastically changed. He has way more variety in types which helps to enable better coverage. He still relies on high-risk, high-reward moves but with more focus on moves that have lower accuracy (Thunder, Blizzard, Fire Blast, Dragon Rush). This change in strategy reflects his growth in the time between the original Kanto events and the Johto events. He’s had to step up to the role of Indigo League champion which warrants a change in tactics. That being said, he still definitely relies on his old faithfuls Outrage, Safeguard and Hyper Beam on his signature Dragon type.

His rematch team in HGSS shows more Dragon types and a shift in strategy to involve more set up (Dragon Dance, Swords Dance and Double Team) as well as some more evasive techniques (Roar to get rid of bad matchups)

I also wanted to bring up his team when pairs up with his cousin Clair. His signature Dragonite in these match-ups knows the move Dragon Meteor- a powerful move that can only be learned by Dragon types that have a high enough trust in their trainer. This shows that he has a strong bond with his dragon types which is something Clair at the time hasn’t quite yet gotten to.

"Ah! I've heard about you, <player>! I lead the Elite Four. You can call me Lance the dragon Trainer. You know that dragons are mythical Pokémon. They're hard to catch and raise, but their powers are superior. They're virtually indestructible. There's no being clever with them. Well, are you ready to lose? Your League challenge ends with me, <player>!"

I really like this introduction quote from Lance as he does a good job selling the power of Dragon type Pokemon to the player. Not only that you can see how much pride he has in being the leader of the Elite Four.

"I still can't believe my dragons lost to you, <player>. You are now the Pokémon League Champion! …Or, you would have been, but you have one more challenge left. There is one more Trainer to face! His name is… <rival>! He beat the Elite Four before you. He is the real Pokémon League Champion."This quote here gives us a look into the mindsight of Lance in Gen 1 where he’s a little overconfident in the powers of his team. Which makes sense because as we know up until Blue and Red no one had managed to make it to the league at all meaning that he’s held the title of the strongest for a long time. So him getting beat by not one, but two 11 year old kids in succession was definitely a shock to the system.

"That red Gyarados wasn't acting right. As I feared, somebody must have forced it to evolve… Did you come here because of the wild tales? You're <player>? I'm Lance, a Trainer like you. I heard some rumblings, so I came to investigate… I saw the way you battled earlier, <player>. I can tell that you're a Trainer with considerable skill. If you don't mind, could you help me investigate?" This is our first conversation with Lance in the Johto and you can actually see a change in his demeanor. He’s not boasting about the superior powers of dragon types or his own skill as a trainer. He’s actually more humble with his approach saying he is a trainer “like you”. Also right now he’s focused on trying to solve the mystery of the Red Gyarados, showing that he is taking the mantle of being the champion of the Indigo League very seriously

"Dragonite, Hyper Beam."I just had to put in his iconic phrase in this analysis. We know what’s coming here- he’s about to blast a poor Team Rocket grunt to kingdom come and give him PTSD (as we know from Pokemon Masters as the grunt he hyper beamed is currently on Pasio). We see here how he has no tolerance for evil-doers

"Sorry, <player>. I saw how well you were doing, so I just hung back. Now all there is left to do is to turn off that odd radio signal."A lot of complaints about champions prior to gen 8 were that they let the protagonist take down the bad guys with little to no assistance. But here we get some reasoning from Lance as to why he took a backseat. He noticed that the player could handle the grunts by themself so there was no need for him to step in. 

"It's this machine that's causing all the problems. I don't see a switch on it… We have no choice. We have to make all the Electrode faint. That should stop this machine from transmitting that strange signal. It's no fault of the Electrode, so it makes me feel sad. <Player>, let's split the job.I really like this quote because it complements the “Dragonite, Hyper Beam” quote. Even though he is no-holds barred when it comes to evil, he recognizes that the Electrode are innocent and don’t deserve to suffer even though they have to be fainted in order to help save the Pokemon affected by Radio transmission.

"I've been waiting for you. <Player>! I knew that you, with your skills, would eventually reach me here. There's no need for words now. We will battle to determine who is the stronger of the two of us. As the most powerful Trainer and as the Pokémon League Champion… I, Lance the dragon master, accept your challenge!"Lance’s pre-battle quote before the champion battle is a nice progression from his pre-battle quote when he was an Elite four member. Again he comes to this battle with a more measured, less haughty response than three years prior (although he does kind of borrow Blue’s “I’m the most Powerful Trainer” bit). You can tell how much he’s grown not just in strength, but in attitude.

"…It's over. But it's an odd feeling. I'm not angry that I lost. In fact, I feel happy. Happy that I witnessed the rise of a great new Champion!"

Again we can see more of this growth from the defeat quote as champion versus when he was the leader of the Elite Four. Here we see he’s not in disbelief, nor is he upset that yet another kid bested him. In fact he’s happy to have seen the growth of another champion. 

"I'm glad to be on your team, Silver!"Alright now onto some Pokemon Masters EX quotes. I chose this one of the team ups because I like how we see throughout the game, we see how much Lance looks out for Silver and is proud of him. A far cry from when they first interacted in the Johto games where Lance had to give him some tough love by completely annihilating his team. It all comes full circle for Silver during the Johto Neo Champion arc where he’s finally able to win against Lance, and Lance couldn’t be prouder of him. 

"You all haven't changed one bit, I see! I must admit, I'm looking forward to these battles myself!"I really like this line from the Normal Champion Stadium where the original Indigo Elite Four and Blue team up. It’s nice to see how he interacts with some of his former colleagues 

"(I guess he's right. I was very happy to witness my challengers surpass me.) But maybe that means I'm starting to forget what it feels like to WANT to win.) [...] I still remember how frustrating it was to lose to Red and Blue back in Kanto. Both Dragonite and I need to approach this like challengers, not Champions..."I really like this quote from the Arc-Suit chapter as we see Lance coming towards an important realization. He’s been so focused on being an ideal champion, a trainer who can be a role model to others and mentor as well, that he’s forgotten what made him want to aim for the title of champion in the first place. His drive to win. His joy for the taste of victory. He thinks about his losses to Red and Blue and how he was frustrated he was bested by kids. And now he’s realizing that if he wants to continue to grow stronger, he has to approach battles like he’s not at the pinnacle of what it means to be a trainer.

"It's true that you're strong, Clair. And it's good to have confidence in your own abilities...but there's a limit to what's good and what's not. Too much pride can make you overconfident, and overconfidence can make you vulnerable." 

"You can be a little impulsive sometimes, Clair...but that earnest, straightforward attitude of yours is one of your greatest strengths as well. If you can learn to hone that, the sky is the limit!"I really like the relationship Lance has with his cousin Clair. Even though their personalities clash a bit, we see how much he does care for her even when he is chastising her. He wants her to be the best version of herself that she can

"A long time ago, when I was a member of the Elite Four but not Champion, I was defeated by a Trainer.He claimed to be the greatest of all, and he had the strength and skill to back it up. But eventually, a stronger Trainer came along, and even he was defeated... It was then that I realized something. That title—"the greatest"—can inflate your ego, but it doesn't really mean anything. It's an illusion, there one minute and gone the next...The way I see it, seeking to grow and improve yourself is far more worthwhile than chasing a fleeting illusion of greatness."

This quote here shows the moment where we can see the shift between his Gen 1 and Gen 2 personalities. It was the quick succession between Blue and Red as champion that allowed him to temper himself when it comes to chasing success. Sure he still values the title of champion, but he realizes that just because he obtained it that he can’t rest on his laurels, lest someone else come by and snatch the title away from him

"Leon, I think that capes should be more simple! When you're the Champion and greet new challengers with a swoosh of your cape...I understand that the details of your cape speak volumes about who you are. But for me, the simplicity of my cape helps me stand out more!" The dialogue about capes between Lance, Steven and Leon was a cute little interaction between the three champions regarding capes. We see Lance prefers simple capes compared to Leon’s whose cape is filled with advertisements. We know Lance has a huge fondness for capes even back from the Fame Checker where a woman from the Celadon Department Store mentions he comes by to purchase capes frequently. Even though he disagrees about designs for capes with Leon, we know from further into the conversation that he still greatly respects the symbolism Leon’s cape has showing him to be an open-minded and respectful individual

"I noticed you weren't your usual self right before our match.It was almost as if you were so worked up, you couldn't tell what was happening with your partner. Iris, you must remember that you're no ordinary Pokémon Trainer. You are a role model to others, and you represent Unova as Champion. I hope you can understand that and conduct yourself accordingly."

Ah so this is dialogue from the Iris event that definitely rubbed some people the wrong way. We know from earlier in the event that Iris was struggling with knowing that people seemed to find her an embarrassment as the champion from Unova. And then her Hydreigon goes out of control. We see here Lance actually could tell that something was up, but didn’t know the full context. His words do come off a bit harsh here to someone who knows everything going on with Iris, but you can see that he was trying to help her out. He understands the weight that comes with being champion, and also the weight of being a dragon tamer. 

"It's never too late. You can start with whoever needs you most."I really liked this line from Lance to Diantha once Iris is able to regain confidence in herself. Diantha was lamenting the fact that she didn’t think about mentorship as a champion (as she was kind of removed from the Team Flare plot in the gameverse canon). And we have Lance who's not admonishing her for that but showing there’s room to grow.

"Someday, stories about me will be passed down to future generations of our clan as well. If I think about it that way, it reminds me that I have to be on my best behavior.I'd like to be a good role model for all future dragon masters."This quote from Lance really helps to shine light on why he is so passionate about being a good role model and having a strong and upstanding nature. He realizes that he will forever be immortalized in his clan’s history and in the Hall of Fame. He wants to make sure the legacy he leaves behind is one that makes people feel energized and not ashamed

"This outfit shows off Gyarados's power as a dragon! What's that, you say? Gyarados isn't a Dragon-type Pokémon? Haha, not all dragons are Dragon-type Pokémon!" I remember this quote making rounds on social media as we get to have some in-universe acknowledgement that dragons =/= dragon types! It’s a distinction that you would expect a dragon master like Lance to know!

Lance is an iconic character and he’s a really good case study on how Gamefreak has always cared about their characters even as far back as gen 1. A lot of people deride the first region as being barebones but he’s one of the many characters regions that has had layers woven into him from the beginning as we can see his growth between the events of Kanto and Johto. He grows from the proud (and just a tad cocky) leader of the Elite four to a wise noble Champion and Dragon Master

[izanna]

I’m taking over this theory since I helped with it, I will not tolerate hate or harassment from EITHER side of the ships. If you are an Elriel and you don’t like this theory, MOVE ON. It was made in fun to troll and then we found merit in it and actually had fun with it.

If you are a GA and you don’t like this theory

That’s okay but respectfully move the fuck on, yall didn’t wanna claim it until we did this.

And for anyone who comes at me saying because that would make Gwyn evil and the evil elriels only said it to make Gwyn evil, a vast majority of elriels do not think Gwyn is evil even if she is a LS.

The current and most recent theory is that LightSingers will probably be like Suriel. Misunderstood because that is what SJM does commonly with her creatures.

A vast majority of elriels believe Gwyn if she is a lightsinger does not know and her powers are unintended.

While my friend did write this up; the hate she received was unjustified and disgraceful from every side. So I will take it all. if you're going to be rude, say it with your chest. my asks are open, and you can comment all you want. I won't respond to anons tho ;) you might as well be invisible dirt to me if you ask anything hateful anonymously.

Link for the OG theory post down below. 👇🏼

Now, obviously, there isn’t solid evidence for this, but hear me out. Lightsingers are described as lovely, ethereal beings—charming, beautiful, seemingly harmless. They can lure someone into their trap. Which, okay, is not something Elain has done yet, but let’s be real—if anyone in this series has the range to be cute and terrifying at the same time, it’s her.

And if we’re going with the idea that each Archeron sister has a symbolic “sister peak” to conquer—Feyre’s was Under the Mountain, Nesta’s was Ramiel—then Elain’s might be the Prison. Which would make a lot of sense if she had some kind of power to soothe or control the monsters lurking inside.

Another thing about Elain is that she is always associated with light. She’s the loveliest and most beautiful of the Archeron sisters, the one described as “a face that could bring kings to their knees.” And yet, despite all of this delicate imagery, we know she’s capable of violence when necessary. Perhaps not as a warrior with a sword, but with her own deadly ability.

Which brings me to the thing that made this theory really click for me: the phrase from the Book of Breathings that’s been haunting me. Love me. Touch me. Sing me. Feyre is love. Nesta is touch. And Elain… is sing.

Think about how Truth-Teller was described as a “bridge” between light and dark, between death and the lovely fawn. Azriel, a literal shadowsinger, paired with Elain, a lightsinger? Two beings who balance each other in ways no one else could? It’s the ultimate yin-yang dynamic, two sides of the same coin, opposites that only make sense together.

And this is where it gets even more interesting. In House of Sky and Breath, there’s a moment where a six-pointed star is described: “Two intersecting triangles. Male and female, dark and light, above and below … and the power that lies in the place where they meet.”

That six-pointed star represents balance—two forces that seem opposite but are, in truth, complementary. And when we apply that same concept to the ACOTAR world, we get something eerily familiar: the three sisters and the three brothers. Feyre and Rhys, Nesta and Cassian, Elain and Azriel. All of them marked by power in some way, by a connection to darkness and light, by abilities that—when combined—could be necessary for something far greater in either this next book or the one after it.

One last thing to think on: in ACOWAR, Feyre looks at a painting she once made of the Spring Court and realizes, “The painting was a lie. A bright, pretty lie, bursting with pale pink blooms and fat beams of sunshine.” What if that line wasn’t just about the Spring Court? What if it was foreshadowing Elain? A character who appears soft and lovely and warm—who is those things—but who also holds something capable of darkness beneath the surface? The whole “fanged beast and trembling fawn” duality?

I don’t know. I just think it would be so interesting. We’d understand more about lightsingers and shadowsingers, we’d get to see a whole different side of Elain, and it would cement her and Azriel as two halves of a whole. Light and Darkness. Not just opposites, but the kind of opposites that cannot exist without each other.

The true fated pair.

[animebookworm16]

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story

Lucy always survives. She is also consequently always left behind. The other characters are always protecting her, always making sure she has the biggest chance of survival. Even in the Grand Magic Games Arc, when we see Future Lucy, while she isn't the only one from that future left alive (see Future Rogue), she is the only one from Fairy Tail.

Not to mention she is always following the lives of the other members of Fairy Tail. Whether it's the very start with her reading about them in Sorcerer's Weekly, or later on when she literally has a red string conspiracy board tracking all of them after the guild is disbanded

Add to that the way it is somewhat implied (if this isn't a thing from fanon that I'm confusing for canon) that the book she's writing throughout the entire series is in fact the story of Fairy Tail.

It feels kind of like there might have been foreshadowing that Lucy was meant to be the sole survivor that would go on to tell the story of her generation of Fairy Tail.

I don't know it just feels like there's a lot of symbolism in the fact that she's a writer who fights using constellations, literally stories of the stars, and works in a guild called Fairy Tail. It feels like there could have been a very bittersweet ending where Lucy is using her adventures with Natsu, Grey, Erza, Wendy, and Happy as a fairy tale for the next generation.

[becomingbuffypodcast]

S5. Ep6. Family

One of the most beloved episodes in the series, “Family” is unique for many reasons. Not only is it the first episode of the season that is both written and directed by Joss Whedon, something that is typically reserved for episodes 1 and 7, but it is also the first and only episode to focus primarily on Tara.

In a lot of ways, the episode is a part two to “No Place Like Home,” as the show broadens the theme of family to encompass the family we create as well as the family we come from. Buffy confides with Giles about her estranged father and embraces Dawn as a sister, Riley’s wrestles with being estranged from his Initiative family, and Tara rejects her blood family.

Dawn and Tara’s status as outsiders has naturally created parallels between them, yet the show has linked them even before Dawn appeared. Willow’s dream in “Restless” mirrors the opening scene in “Family,” where both Willow and Tara watch the cat (symbolizing Dawn) while Willow shares that she feels safe. Tara’s response that Willow doesn’t know everything about her, foreshadows this episode, and Tara’s predicament.

The style of the episode is also a bit different, with Passion of the Nerd pointing out that it feels like a bedtime fairytale. It begins with Tara telling Willow a story about the little cat searching for a family, and ends with Tara being accepted in the Scooby family, and Dawn being accepted by Buffy as her sister. There are damsels in distress, wicked families, magic, and of course, a happy ending.

[somerandomdudelmao]

i was writing this all out in the tags of one of your recent updates (part 9 of 'donatello') when i realized i might as well just send it to you directly before i hit tag limit. (i hope you don't mind haha) this recent comic really reminded me of a concept that i've seen in your work that i haven't seen commented on a lot (though i could be wrong.)

casey jr and donatello's relationship as you've portrayed it is interesting in a number of ways. one i've been thinking about recently is the aspect of physical touch, and how you use that to represent the underlying themes/ideas behind their dynamic (and the story as a whole).

in the series, donnie is generally the least physical of his brothers, in that he prefers to be the one to initiate contact. (as a fellow autistic, i relate to this on a visceral level /lighthearted.) however, in your portrayal, this rule bends for casey's sake.

you've been setting up casey to follow in donatello's metaphorical footsteps for a while now, with this coming to fruition (to an extent) in recent storylines.

but going back a bit further. there's this major theme of... i guess i would call it 'responsibility?' that has been weaved through the story from... basically, day one.

in the first comic, his conversation with f!leo following leo's brief foray as a nugget (one of my favorite lines from this series overall is "...and leo-nugget." amazing, genuinely), casey admits to him that it was scary being responsible for someone that could get hurt so easily.

in one of the following chapters, we see the question asked: 'but who is there to save you?' (this chapter being a bit of a microcosm of the theme/story as a whole haha.)

though it was a chapter i had originally assumed was just for funsies and angst opportunities, i now realize i was wrong (though, i don't know exactly how intentional you were being with all of this, so i could be missing the mark here.) it actually sets up his arc rather nicely -- with casey being the one to save donatello when he was injured/knocked unconcious.

now, bringing this all back around to the original intent of this ask: how physical touch is used to represent their narrative dynamic (is that a thing? 'narrative dynamic'? am i just making shit up right now? whatever its fine /rehtorical)

taking everything in account, i want to return to a specific moment that really struck me in the comics leading up to donatello's death. it's the time where the resistance is being attacked, and donnie, despite being sick, goes out and uhhh... extirpates the problem (its always fun to see donnie go apeshit with dangerous weaponry /positive.)

during his dramatic reveal and attack, casey is by his side, clutching onto him not to cling, but to physically support him (at least, that's how i think that moment was supposed to be interpreted? i could be totally wrong here.)

i can't help but feel this is emblematic of the larger themes at play here-- i.e., casey's arc in relation to donatello.

i can't help but find it interesting how donatello, backbone of the resistance--

(despite his soft shell... which is why him no longer wearing his battle shell when he got sick was actually symbolic foreshadowing of-- *sound of gunshots*)

[editors note: i'm gonna stop myself right there, before this goes from ungodly long to "will break your dash and ask box if allowed to continue further"]

-- and certified plot mechanic (oh, so that's why he named it convenient plot-twist serum... finally, the mystery has been solved /joking /lighthearted), who is a very independent/self-sufficient character, allows casey jr to subvert his rules with casual touch. enough so, that when he is so weak that he can barely stand, he trusts casey jr to keep him upright.

out of everyone, he trusts casey.

casey jr, who, at the very beginning of the comic, saved donatello's life, physically carrying him back to the base. and casey jr, the one who, now, has rescued donatello from a fate worse than death, only to once again bring him back to safety.

(...can you tell i'm a little bit obsessed with your comic? lmao)

[also to note those most recent panels: a return to the "norm," with casey clinging to donatello's side, also providing a nice parallel. i know it's because he is very much reunited with his uncle who has been dead for two years, but c'mon. let me have this /joking.)]

anyway, i hope this made sense, and if you did manage to get through my pretentious (and probably somewhat far-fetched) rambles about the "symbolic narrative significance of touch" in a fanwork about the teenage mutant ninja turtles (/lighthearted), may i just say: i am in love with your work, and can only aspire to tell a story as engaging, heartfelt, and clever as the one you have woven.

you are a blessing to this fandom, and i am so excited to see where you go with this story.

I have to say that I didn't specifically do the mental planning for all of this. Most of this theme is simply because I do what I feel will be right. It's more of an intuitive desire than a prescribed plan, so it was pretty surprising to me to see this thought actually being formulated haha

Thank you:>

[bailey-orphic08]

Virgil's Gift: An Analysis on It's Symbolism and Possible Foreshadowing

Obvious spoilers for Thomas' newest Sander Asides video: What Makes the Perfect Gift? Go watch it if you haven't.

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So the yearly Sander Sides Christmas special dropped hours ago. (Yippee!) And there's a surprisingly large amount to be said for it to be a 13 minute long Christmas special. In fact, I'd say it's the most story focused episode since Can Plushies Improve Our Health?, and that was an ad for the Sander Sides plushies. There's just so much to talk about this episode. There's the implications of Janus and Remus being invited to play Secret Santa; the mystery to what Thomas' message was with his gift to Nico; the underlying tension between all the sides that reminds us of the angst we've already seen and how things still aren't completely alright and that the worst is yet to come; and, most notable of all, the question as to WHY THE HELL REMUS WOULD WANT TO F*CK ANDREW JACKSON??

But the most interesting thing to me is Virgil's gift to Logan, his reaction, and how it reflects Logan's current situation.

Virgil gives Logan a newspaper, claiming that it seems like something he would like. Logan however, does not read newspapers and is very disappointed by the gift. Remus and Janus make some comments on how unthoughtful Virgil's gift appears. But at the end of the episode, Logan finds out that the newspaper actually has a secret message and is the first puzzle of an entire scavenger hunt, which excites him a lot.

This is by far my favorite part of the episode. Not only is it heartwarming, it also symbolizes how Logan has been treated as a whole, and may even foreshadow future events in the series.

When Virgil gives Logan the newspaper, Logan is very confused, and asks him why he would give him a newspaper. Virgil replies, "Cuz' you're the Mr. Smarty Pants of the group. You like reading and all that." Logan is still confused though. Yes, he likes to read, but that doesn't mean he will read anything. Roman chimes in with Virgil, reinforcing that they think Logan will like it. Logan says, "Is that all I am to you? The reading guy?..." And Virgil replies, "I don't know man, give it a read! I'm sure it has something you like."

This entire interaction represents how Logan has been ignored and misunderstood throughout the entire series. Virgil gives Logan a newspaper, something he doesn't actually want, because he assumes he will like it since he likes to read in general. He made an assumption on Logan's personality based off things he already knew, something Thomas and all of the other sides have been doing since the beginning. Throughout the entire series, Logan is considered the smart one of the group who always provides information and exposition, and little else is expected of him. In ACCEPTING ANXIETY part one, Thomas assumes that Logan knew what his problem was because he provides, "the explanatory exposition in [the Sander Sides] videos because all the other characters are too zany or relatable." And in Selfishness v. Selflessness, Logan is benched after providing information that supports both Patton and Janus' sides because they assume he has nothing else to offer. Time and time again Logan is reduced to his function and the traits that go along with it, such as liking to read. And why these things about him are true, he is far more complex that who they see him as. But, as Virgil didn't seem to care to get him something he would actually like, they don't seem to care to learn more about Logan...

They do care though. And that's shown through the twist at the end. When Logan discovers that it's a puzzle, Virgil jokes, "And you thought I would just get you a newspaper. Tsk. What do you take me for?" Though it appeared Virgil didn't put much consideration into the gift, and though Logan believed Virgil didn't, he did, because he truly cares about Logan. And throughout the entire series, though they don't always listen to him, Thomas and the sides show that they care about Logan. Patton is always nice to him, Roman, while the most harsh to him, does secretly respect him, and Thomas, as shown in the song, "Incomplete," is not only aware that Logan has feelings and is more than just logic, he wants Logan to accept it as well. He also seems empathetic when Logan is disappointed with his gift. This represents how Logan's insecurities get in the way of him being fully accepted. Logan is convinced that Thomas and the sides will only ever see him as his function, and that they do not care about his other traits. This is one of the reasons he represses his emotions, and is shown by how quickly Logan believes Virgil got him a newspaper simply because he likes to read. Though Logan may not realize it, Thomas and the sides love and accept him fully, and Logan needs to see that.

However, it seems that someone doesn't want him to see that...

And that's where the foreshadowing comes into play.

After the conversation Virgil gives Logan his gift, Janus chimes in, saying, "Wow Logan, looks like Virgil put a lot of thought into that one!" He emphasizes how little consideration Virgil's gift seemed to have. In doing this, he reinforces the idea to Logan that Virgil didn't care enough to give him a gift he would like, even though that's not actually true. And if he his doing this intentionally, he may also be reinforcing the idea that they don't care about him.

And Remus soon after joins in, proposing, "Kinda makes you wanna scream, huh?" This is obviously a callback to Logan's outburst in Working THROUGH Intrusive Thoughts. In that episode, Remus showed great excitement towards his outburst, implying that Remus wanted him to get upset. And now again, he suggests that Logan should get angry about it. It is very clear that Remus is trying to make Logan lash out on purpose.

Based off this, I believe that in future episodes, we will see the dark sides, or Remus at least, try to manipulate Logan into believing that Thomas and the sides don't care about him. In doing this, they'll persuade him into joining their side. Perhaps they'll make him a puppet for the Orange Side, or if Logan is the Orange Side, they will make him embrace it. Of course their plan won't work out though. Because even if the do get Logan to join them for a little, the other sides will show that they care. And perhaps if they do, Logan will finally be able to see that, and he will finally be able to accept himself.

[highladyluck]

Wheel of Time season 3 episode 1 Liveblog

Chesmal uses HEAL. It's SUPER EFFECTIVE

oh no it's giving Anakin Skywalker

Mat honey this is how you develop kinks. Both the ones in your neck and the ones that are going to get you in trouble later

Lan: "She'll be all right" me: "She will not, in fact, be all right"

Classic Verin

Love the Red girl gang Oh, shit got REAL with no other Reds

Leane's bonking staff

I see your true accusation [about letting the Dragon go] and raise you another [darkfriend] Oh DAMN are they gonna Oath Nyneave? "I tried" now it's go time

Wow that is way too many [Darkfriend] Sitters ooof Nyneave :( [Liandrin choking on blood] oh jeez

Verin like 'let's go to the armory' oh no it's FUCKING CHESMAL EMRY Chesmal WTF Oh wow, is that an own goal for the BA? actually maybe it kind of implies that she knows. Very ambiguous.

Joker Liandrin it's so interesting that the Black Ajah in the tower is so public so early ok why are we sending the shortest person to grab all the stuff? rude

hot DAMN Alanna that's a lot of swords. but unfortch Chesmal uses HEAL. It's SUPER EFFECTIVE cool Air sword fist and bye-bye Ihvon, we knew you were doomed

the ringing of the bell compels thee Moiraine with the assist? yep [shot of the destroyed Hall of the Tower] It's called symbolism, sweaty

"These ridiculous Tower rules" -Egg (lmaoooooooooooo)

Egwene did her homework on the Prophecies Lmao was that Mat Old Tongueing? Ok who do we think could actually keep the Aiel in. come on.

Mat like "ugh I hate it when there are reasons I need to obey the rules" …MAT DID YOU LEARN NOTHING

Nyneave's look of sympathy is coming off as weirdly aggressive to me homoerotic trauma :(

Mat honey you are having a manic episode or something Lmao Mat do not go there re: fated lovers

I SUPPORT BAIN AND CHIAD PEGGING MAT …Mat making it weird

Verin is taking the failure of her research project very seriously

Perrin you gotta get over yourself [it will take so long] awwww faith in Mat <3

oooh miniatures mentioned! I love these references to the material culture of the books so much

GASP it's HER …I ship it oh no [Moiraine/Lanfear] "Ishy was a gentle soul with big dreams" I mean… kind of? "coming to him in his dreams" …more than to him. if you know what I mean. where is this 'we' coming from? Man the Tower of Ghenji is gonna be LIT good luck with that [killing her]

LMAO drag Elayne to filth oooooh neat lion windows "I would do anything for love… but I won't do that" we'll see about that [Nyneave not being strong enough against the Forsaken]

Accepted Test!!! Thanks for giving her clothes you know, there's quite a lot of doorways/archways in this series

The reference to Nyneave's regrets about the arches/potential lives is a great setup for the Aiel rings

…Elayne, do you know the price of apples? GAY!!! AVILAYNE REAL

Study session with Loial <3 "Impregnable" my brain: "preg it"

Elayne here with the logic God we stan a bi queen princess

WHAT BANGER OUTFITS oh no it's giving Anakin Skywalker yeah foreshadowing OH MAN what a good smash cut [to bloodied Egwene]

Lan get therapy challenge ok yeah they'll come after you guys too, but not Demandred. Demandred is gonna be homoerotically obsessed with Rand

high alcohol tolerance Elayne- a departure from canon but it works here Elayne's eyeroll is great. Loial taking notes Mat honey this is how you develop kinks. Both the ones in your neck and the ones that are going to get you in trouble later

Damn girl you know how to flirt [at the 'it will be lonely' line] YEAH!!! Elayne tops (for now)

Rand that sounds kind of self-absorbed hmm, the 'did I hurt you' is interesting. more the opposite lmao Everyone needs therapy and all we have is Graendal. And we don't even have her yet

Mat needs to be a better kisser. Either that or he's already into being stabbed, which is good news for him I guess

I love Mat and Nyneave's relationship oh interesting! I like it! The memories come from the Horn yep, lotta memories of people dying. PTSD for everyone. You get PTSD! And YOU get PTSD! EVERYONE GETS PTSD <3 at the Mat and Nyneave interaction again. Unreliable narrators who can be honest with each other

I would give EVERYTHING fora way to pause on that 5-card spread. That one on the bottom right better be the Empress

Bubble of Evil time! I wish it was not so dark :( I can't tell what's going on Mat paralyzed and not paying attention while Nyneave gets stabbed- that'll give him a jolt right to the saving women complex. He's going to feel like he owes her protection now

'no one got permanently hurt' ok but have you considered the psychological damage? grey man! (Moggy?)

Rand buddy you gotta work on your god complex. (make it even bigger!) GUILT [from mat] and a vote of confidence in Nyneave as well, right when she needs it. Mat is really good at supporting his female friends when he isn't being self-absorbed. This makes sense although I'll miss Mat in the Waste.

Engagement <3

AVILAYNE REAL Nyneave with the good therapy to remember who he is despite what he may become

YEAH LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

…WAIT but how is Mat gonna get his hat? We need Lanfear to sell it to him

Shit is this Elyas? oooooh it's Carridin! Man, Semirhage is gonna be a different kind of freaky

really like the 'to lead is to know where you came from' in the preview- reinforces the ending episode themes step back in time w/ each step forward wooooo Sad Bracelets ooooh Egg vs Lanfear

[maniacwatchestheworld]

Hey! As a fandom and community, can we please please PLEASE talk about searchfortheblindeye more!???

It's obscure! It's considered noncanon! But I also think that it's interesting and worth looking at! Especially if you fuck with Fiddleford and the Society of the Blind Eye as a concept at all! I personally think that it's the first instance we have and can see Fiddleford being Alex Hirsch's very special man and Blorbo for his own series and honestly I love that for him! I also think that it was Hirsch's first unofficial testing ground to see how far he could push the cryptogram stuff, what the fandom could solve, whether we would actually engage with that kind of stuff at all, and is basically the spiritual predecessor the Cipher Hunt and ESPECIALLY thisisnotawebbedsitedotcom.

I URGE you to read the Gravity Falls wiki page about it because I have my own thoughts biases and blind spots concerning the page! The website no longer exists, but was thankfully fully archived on the Gravity Falls wiki, so go read it to understand it and the kind of experience that it was! But I guess that I should give a summary for newcommers who can't be bothered read it right now to describe what it is and why it is interesting, even if only on another surface level.

So at the end of Gravity Falls' season 1 finale "Gideon Rises" the audience watching is given a cipher. Search for the Blindeye. Later this would be revealed to relate to the series of animated Gravity Falls shorts that Disney would release between the ending of Season 1 and the start of Season 2 known as "Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained" that would reveal the symbol that would later be revealed to be the symbol for the Society of the Blind Eye in piecemeal sections.

A day before Gideon Rises had aired a website had launched. Searchfortheblindeye.com. How curious. It was a website that Alex Hirsch had addressed before in a handful of ways while it was online. Hirsch specifically said that it was not affiliated with Disney... But he didn't say that he didn't have anything to do with it! And we sure do know how much Hirsch likes to mess with the Gravity Falls fan community when he can!

On the surface, it really didn't seem like searchfortheblindeye had much going on. It featured a gif of Bill floating and had the remixed iteration of the main Gravity Falls theme that was featured at the end of Dreamscaperers as the website's audio. But in the source code there were encrypted messages! The messages seemed to feature 2 characters who didn't like one another very much. One is pretty undeniably Bill Cipher and the other seems to be the person hosting/programming the website. I'm going to be fully honest, I think that the other person, the person who is presumably the site's programmer is Fiddleford. One of the very first messages on the site was "LIAR. MONSTER. SORT OF OK DRESSER. TRUST NO ONE." Which establishes this person as someone who is aware of Bill, the Journals and what is written in them, but is decidedly NOT the Author (Ford)! Given the name of the website, the person running it has to be someone that is entirely fine with being associated with the Society of the Blind Eye. And again, they are someone who can program a website, and- from what can be gleaned from the person running the site and Bill's interactions- very much dislikes Bill (the feeling is mutual), and is quite the intellectual. Fiddleford meets all of these criteria! The messages and things on the website would foreshadow things that would show up/happen/be said in the series itself long before they would actually be seen or happen. I think that it's pretty damn safe to say that someone who worked on the show was involved with this website if Alex Hirsch wasn't behind it himself! So it might not strictly be canon... But it IS a lot of fun and is interesting! And I think that it gives us an interesting insight into what was happening as Alex Hirsch and the rest of the people who worked on Gravity Falls were thinking as they were fleshing out Fiddleford as a character! And I think people should at least mention it sometimes! Also fun fact, the website features Gompers' backstory lol. Like the Gompers backstory stuff as it appears in searchfortheblindeye.com still gets vaguely mentioned in new Gravity Falls media sometimes. So while it may not strictly be part of Disney's Gravity Falls' canon... I like ti imagine that the website and the things featured on it are kinda sort of part of Alex Hirsch's headcanon lol.

In any case... If you want more drips of sweet, sweet Fiddleford content and context, read the wiki on the website!!! If you want to see Bill and Fiddleford directly interact with one another on a speaking level, read the ciphers as they were catalogued!!! And... Well... If you're not a coward and enjoy FiddleBill or want to see the appeal of the toxic love triangle disaster polycule's least popular and least loved side, read the wiki on this website because I seriously think that you will get a kick out of it!!! Also it might be the most we may ever get out Cult Leader era Fiddleford! A part of his life that I find deeply fascinating and for which I scream to heaven high that we don't get to see more of!!!

Basically... PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS THING! I WANT TO SEE PEOPLE PLAY WITH THE IDEAS IT PRESENTS AND SEE PEOPLE ACTUALLY TALK ABOUT IT SOMETIMES AND NOT JUST MEEEEE!!!!! Also I think that I might have solved a mystery that went overlooked about it...? But that's neither here nor there

[elainsgirl]

I knew I wanted elain and azriel the moment he gave her truthteller. so despite all the theories and stuff, im sticking with this ship until the next book. people can call me delusional but im just going off on what I read and feel.

Hey anon 🫶

That scene was quite monumental, wasn’t it?

Azriel giving Elain his TT, a dagger he has lent to no one else. Elain choosing to accept it and its with this dagger that always strikes true, Elain stepped out of the shadows and stabbed the king ultimately saving her sister, her sisters mate and turning the tide of the war in their favour. Sweet little Elain, who would have thought?

It was one of the scenes where everything stops and you’re just focused on whats happening, really locked in. This scene made me see where Elriel was going and exactly what Mass was imagining. Especially when you now think about Hofas and the prison plot -> the TT scene is symbolic of the future Elain and Azriel will accomplish together. And I’m not even sorry to break it to the antis but no author would ever put in such a huge significant, may I add Romantically inclined scene, between two characters who aren’t endgame. By this point - she had an idea for the spin-offs AND the fact Az giving TT to Elain specifically was brought up in acofas - the bridge between the og series and new books as well as THE book that sets up the main foreshadowing for the future novelS, says a lot.

That scene should’ve been written for Az and his final Li to make it so impactful, if his Li was Gwyn - Mass would have written the scene between them. But she didn’t. Why?

🗣️ ELRIEL IS ENDGAME 🗣️

I cannot believe this fandom has gotten so misguided that people call others delusional for literally reading the books instead of jumping onto whatever is the most popular ship. You are no where near delusional for picking up the clues the author intentionally wrote. Its there for a reason and its not to fill up a word count.

[lovemyromance]

Oh my god enough about Elain wanting sunshine 😩

Let's run through some facts (and if you don't believe these are facts, please open the books for the first time and read it for yourself):

Elain says she wants sunshine

Nesta takes her to the sunny garden

Lucien does not sit with Elain in the garden

Lucien has one uncomfortable conversation with Elain

He says she needs fresh air (not sunlight)

Lucien has ALWAYS been associated with fox and flame symbolism/motifs (NOT the sun, not "light" in general)

We do not know if the IC (including Nesta) tried to take Elain outside before Feyre arrived.

Feyre & Rhys believe Lucien is the love child of LoA & Helion

There are 3 SOLAR courts: Dawn, Day, and Night. They ALL have sunlight

Helion is the HL of the Day Court. He is the only one in this series that has sun imagery. Not his court, not Lucien.

The NC crest is 3 mountains, 3 stars. The NC crest is NOT a moon.

We do not know the Day Court crest, or if they have one. Who is to say it would even include the sun?

Azriel was not present in the scene where Elain said she needed sunshine

Azriel, unprompted, takes her to sit in the sunny garden. How did he know what she needed without hearing her voice it?

Azriel even after the war, still sits with her till the late hours of the night, going over Elain's gardening plans

Now, out of these facts, can someone tell me how this foreshadows Elucien? If we are using that logic of Elain wanting sunshine, then are y'all trynna say she wants Helion or something?

Because how is saying she wants sunshine in any way related to Lucien personally?

She said she wants the sun, not the son 🤪 (side note I'm really proud of this one I'm sorry I'm so unserious lmao)

ANYWAYS

An endgame pairing can be foreshadowed, but the clues have to be directly associated with the couple in question.

Ex: Feyre looking up at the night sky, painting the drawers

But foreshadowing of an endgame is not going to be some distant tie between Elain asking for sunlight once and her mate's father being associated with the sun.

Sometimes descriptive writing... is just descriptive writing.

When it comes to giant fantasy books like these with intense world building, a lot of things can get lost in translation. You need a lot more description because what the author is describing likely isn't something that exists in our world today so it's hard for people to picture and understand.

So then how do readers know what to focus on? How do they understand and process books like these?

I saw this a while back but when it comes to fantasy, the rule of thumb is if you are really looking for clues and foreshadowing vs just descriptive writing, look at what the author is repeating.

Repetition is key.

Repeated words, repeated phrases, repeated messages, repeated imagery - these are all ways you can tell something is important, especially in fantasy books.

So - in conclusion -

Elain saying she needs sunlight ONCE is not foreshadowing or code for "she yearns for Helion The day Court Lucien"

SJM constantly repeating how Elain will wed for love and beauty, Elain had hoped that love would trump even a mating bond, the constant questioning of the cauldron -

These are the things SJM is telling us to focus on. If it wasn't important, it wouldn't have been repeated so many times already.

Facts don't lie, people 🤩

[frostfires-blog]

Hello! I don't know if you've seen or not the epilogue of BNHA, but I'm sad about that. You can't imagine how happy and excited I am when founding out that BKDK is in your top 10 favorite ship. See, because mainly your favorite are het ships, I thought you'll ship IzuOcha but you really saw the dynamics between the characters before you ship them and I really admire that. Thanks for sharing your metas.

Oh when I saw Maid sama, felt nostalgic, now I'm not into it like I used to (especially for the romance) but I still love her character, have you read the manga? It's finished already.

Hi, apologies for the wait... As much as I wish I hadn't, I've seen the epilogue... I've been relatively quiet about it though—mostly because I was processing things and didn't want to voice half-baked thoughts...

Over the years, I've dealt with plenty of harassment from other shippers and didn't always handle it in the most mature way... So I mostly try not to post inflammatory statements that I know would provoke rival shippers. However, I won't shy away from defending my favourite ships from misinformation and unjust ridicule. Seeing how terribly many people in this fandom have treated BakuDeku shippers since the epilogue was released has incensed me. Just when we were finally treated somewhat decently—the rug has been pulled out from under us. I feel like I've been transported back to the pre-season 4 days...

I don't think one ship being made official necessitates that other shippers need to "wrap it up and leave"... I've gone through this before in other fandoms—so I'm going to continue standing strong. In any case, objectively speaking, IzuOcha wasn't officially confirmed. The hints dropped were very subjective. Horikoshi's words about the series' conclusion seem to lean towards leaving things open to fan interpretation…

I hope that most BakuDeku shippers will band together and remain steadfast. People can call me delusional all they like—but one epilogue doesn't erase years of symbolism, foreshadowing, and development. Sorry for using your ask as a place to vent... I honestly don't think I'll be making any other posts about the epilogue—other than the one I made comparing it to Jujutsu Kaisen's epilogue—since I don't want to give the bad apples in the fandom the satisfaction. Even that post, which I made half-jokingly, turned into a tiring back-and-forth argument trudging vitriol into the new year. I'm not mature enough that I can say I'll never provoke rival shippers again—but I want to try my best to keep things civil. All in all, I'm glad to hear from another BakuDeku shipper! Thank you for appreciating my work and supporting me.

Regarding Maid-sama, I have finished the manga. Maid-sama was actually the first shoujo manga series I read. I don't think my affection for the series has faded with time—which is likely because I wasn't very young when I started it.

Looking back, it does have some problematic scenes... However, I think that a lot of people forget that society's concept of various things—such as boundaries—has changed a lot compared to when the manga was released (2005-2013). Other shoujosei series from that timeframe have the same problematic tropes. In fact, there are far worse series and characters that are still being praised to this day. While I'm not excusing these things. I do think many people read into things way too much and misunderstand the series' overall tone and message as well as Usui's character.

While I greatly appreciate many of the newer romance series being released—as they align much better with society's current conventions—a couple of older shoujosei series like Maid-sama will always hold a special place in my heart. While I would love for them to continue the anime, I fear it will not be received well by the masses.