#manifesting a fight between them in s3

[mrsquidgame]

yaoi

[kradogsrats]

Signs of the Fall, Pt. 1

Since basically... forever? Look, idk I wasn't around for the first half of this fandom so I don't know when Aaravos as "fallen star" was revealed. But presumably since then, it's been a big question mark as to exactly what that means.

We're told in places like the artbook that—along with whatever else it may mean—Aaravos being a "fallen" star means he's significantly depowered, and that his "fallen" status was a consideration in designing his look. So, reasonably, there should be identifiable features of Aaravos as a "fallen" Startouch elf, and we've collectively already spent a shit-ton of time overanalyzing them and what they mean.

BUT now that s6 is out and we have a chunk time seeing Aaravos before anything that would normally have been assumed to be his "fall" (more on that later), I wanted to return to some of the ones that have been most discussed.

The Eyes Have It

Previous assumption was that Aaravos's eyes not being the luminous Startouch pink outside of flashbacks was related to his status as a "fallen" Startouch elf and related to the darkening of his chest star:

This has not been cleared up by s6, where he is shown both with

and without the full-pink Startouch eyes

in contexts that are basically identical, aside from medium (one being a painting, and one being animated), in the same damn episode.

So what, if anything, does it mean?

First of all, I want to acknowledge that this may be entirely a choice of artistic convenience. Having arted a time or two, myself—characters without human-standard visual distinction between sclera, iris, and pupil are an unbelievable pain in the ass. A huge amount of microexpressions that humans subconsciously rely on to convey mood and intent are entirely down to the spatial/size relationship of iris and pupil to the surrounding eyelids. Leola and TMO are animated with full-pink eyes, with the irises barely distinguishable and pupils invisible, sure—but Leola has a shit-ton of emotional body language to compensate and let's be real, TMO is intended to be serenely inscrutable and alien.

It's just really, really hard to have a character convey the depth and nuance Aaravos requires when you're effectively barred from using one of the most critical aspects of facial expressions. Rather than fight that uphill battle, they may have chosen to handwave it in one context or another. (That is, the state of Aaravos's eyes is linked with his "fallen" status, and in the scenes with Leola they are meant to be different but it turned out to be way too annoying to handle.)

It could also, like Leola's single horn, be explained as a unique feature of Aaravos or this particular physical manifestation of Aaravos, except that they did go out of their way to include the full-pink eyes in not only the painted s4 flashbacks, but also the s3 promo art:

To be completely honest: I'm not convinced at this point that this is a feature we're meant to attach significance to. Unless we get additional context of another Startouch elf with eyes like Aaravos's, or conditions under which Aaravos is actually animated with the full-pink Startouch eyes... I don't think we can really know for sure.

Star Up, Star Down

In the same vein as his eyes, we've attached a lot of importance to the orientation of Aaravos's chest star. Since the Star primal symbol is actually used very rarely, and in just about every context up to s6 it was in its "upright" orientation—that is, the opposite of Aaravos's chest star. And like, obviously a fallen star would be upside-down.

It seems like s6 is determined to mess with us in that respect. For the most part, Aaravos's chest star is upright, or opening-down:

Until his grieving, when it is opening-up (and also darkened):

HOWEVER, when TMO appears in the same scene, their chest star is also opening-up, though lit:

We also get a LOT more usage of the Star primal symbol at the Starscraper:

And—excluding when it's on the floor so you can't know for sure what the "proper" orientation is—it is exclusively opening-up:

Also noteworthy is that we don't see the mark directly on Leola's chest, but on her clothing it is opening-up:

As is her star in the constellation:

So whatever the orientation is meant to signify—and unlike the eyes, I do think this is still significant in some way—it's unlikely that it's a strictly negative symbol. There's some other dichotomy at play that it's indicating.

Body Bling

This one doesn't come up as often, but it's suggested (at least in the artbook, IIRC) that Aaravos's body stars are brighter before he's "fallen," when he's at full power. Is this objectively true? Well... yeah, not really.

In arc two, they're very similar levels of brightness across s4-s6, independent of his chest star:

In arc one, the mirror effect tends to be more pronounced than the one scene where we see it in arc two, so it sometimes looks like they're not as bright. I think they actually are meant to be, though:

And then, of course, at the end of s2 when he's casting, everything is brighter:

So that doesn't seem related at all, except in the sense that magic is shiny. Maybe we'll learn something at some point about Aaravos's relationship to the primal sources that will explain that, but for now we can put this one to bed.

—

aaaaand I have actually hit the "images per post" limit so we'll be concluding in Part 2!

[lisascorner]

golden power theories ; the big messy version

okay i've fully rewatched the last two episodes of s15 and my notes are almost two pages long, so i'll give a brief summary of what i think happened to the golden power that was distributed among the ninja by lloyd back in s3.

the overlord

his armour before his transformation is quite golden. majority of his arms and like half his chest plate is gold. even after he transformers, he has gold accents on his chest, head, and weapon. and similar to golden power, they have damage reduction (i think) from both physical impact, garmadon's oni power, and lloyd's un-powered-up spinjitzu.

another important thing to note is that the overlord uses lightning. it may be purple, but it's still considered an element. and the way the overlord handles crystals is quite similar to the way cole handles rock. similar properties are also shared between ice and the action of "crystalising" (more appearance-wise), but i couldn't find any connections with fire.

this could be related to how the overlord, before his form completion in s15, still had remnants of golden power still in him, but not as strong as before since he doesn't have any powers that resemble fire.

harumi managed to chop off his hand with a mere sword made out of the same crystal he was using to corrupt the powers of creation and ninjago. do what you will with that information, i guess.

when the overlord is properly destroyed and his castle explodes, there is a shit ton of gold glitter falling from the sky. you could argue it's because of golden ultra, but i think it's still worth noting.

lloyd + golden ultra

unfortunately, we can't see if lloyd's energy element is negated by the gold on the overlord's body, seeing as he never actually properly used it in the fight. when conjuring his spinjitzu, he doesn't inject any of his own elemental power in it either, which makes it less powerful. HOWEVER, it is notable that lloyd's spinjitzu in the majority of this season has gold particles, instead of his previous seasons' green.

however, it is to note that this season's suits had significantly more golden than gis from previous seasons. lloyd's even more so than usual, with more than 50% of his suit being covered in gold.

furthermore, in his oni form, lloyd is very, very gold. given that his torso is merely expanded from the same suit he wearing at the time of transformation, everything that was given to him in his oni form (head, new pair of arms etc.) were all gold.

however, his purple eyes during this form could also be attributed to the overlord, since the overlord also tells garmadon that "your powers were a gift from me" while garmadon was in his oni form. this brings about a theory that i will explain later.

let's move on to the destruction of the golden weapons to unleash the elemental energy that they hold. energy cannot be created nor destroyed (it's just physics guys LMAO), which is why wu said that the elemental powers will be "cast out, to assume whatever form they originally had", with the original form being a golden version of ultra.

and i think that it is extremely important what the elemental powers do after they are free from the weapons—they go back to lloyd.

i feel that up till the events of s15, we're still operating on the idea that the ninjas' (except nya) elemental power, at its core, still stems from lloyd. and even though they've been slowly growing independent from relying lloyd's current condition, those elemental powers were always meant to be lloyd's, hence "assume whatever form they originally had", and it's why golden ultra had the instinct to save lloyd after being created by the unleashed elements.

not to say that the OG main four don't have innate powers that they can tap into—they most certainly do, seeing as the "quest for lost powers" book exists. but i think their innate powers manifesting is heavily reliant on their own condition. more on them later!

going back to golden ultra, its power could somehow negate the overlord's own, similar to how the golden power managed to defeat the overlord the first time. but what i find a connection with lloyd and golden ultra is that he isn't new to commanding a four-headed dragon. although why the elements were formed with a similar stature to the original ultra dragon (that was hunted by iron baron. that BASTARD), but it could be because elemental powers originated from the source dragons, as said in dragons rising.

but the fact that lloyd has so much ease with commanding this dragon that looks very similar to ultra raises my suspicions. lloyd, in that moment when he and the elements collided, might have unconsciously conjured up the elements in the form of a golden dragon, just like he used to. the way he's steering golden ultra in s15 is very reminiscent of how he was training to steer OG ultra back in s2.

additionally, everyone knows that even though the individual dragons belonged to their respective elemental masters, that ownership changed when they shed their skin and combined into OG ultra. ultra recognises lloyd as their owner. so that relationship would be pretty big to lloyd in my opinion, and making a dragon just feels...right. to him.

i like to think that after golden ultra disappears, lloyd regains that energy slowly. he doesn't get back his golden power immediately, but the more he hangs around the streets of ninjago near the destruction of the sky palace, the more golden power he absorbs, eventually gaining back full power that was always meant to be his all along. and now, the OG four are fully independent in terms of elemental power, and are no longer dependent on the golden power lloyd redistributed to them.

garmadon

okay, so this is where the theory begins. the overlord mentions that "[garmadon]'s powers were a gift from [him]", referring to garmadon when he was in his oni form. so the overlord should be an oni? albeit an extremely powerful one, or maybe their leader that chased FSM all the way to ninjago. since the garmadon's bite from the great devourer was orchestrated, that meant that he had been planning for quite some time.

maybe the overlord came over with mystake to make an effort to bring FSM back to the first realm, but realised that FSM wouldn't leave, and vowed to take over ninjago in an effort to convince FSM. but because the FSM decided to break ninjago in two, the overlord could no longer reach FSM and was hence stuck on the island that he was on in s2.

it was quite painfully obvious that FSM would try to lead both his sons down the dragon path (aka the 'good path'), so in order to continue the fight between dragon and oni (good and evil), the overlord would have to make changes to his plan to bring back FSM to the first realm, and instead become the evil to challenge the good. i don't really believe in the whole thing about the overlord just being a by-product of the malevolent side of FSM's ninjago balance thing. he has unknown goals that are similar to the oni, hence why i am making this comparison.

so the change of plans just happened to include garmadon at first, which somewhat worked out in his favour until lloyd came along. then the overlord realised that garmadon was, in reality, NOT the perfect vessel for his evil plans. since garmadon was still the son of FSM, it makes sense that no matter how much oni blood he has, or how much venom runs through his veins, his dragon blood will always still be there to counter it. as lord ras says, there is always some good in the bad and some bad in the good. no being (except the overlord for some reason) is an exception to this rule.

so the overlord moves on—if he can't have a living vessel, he'll just make one himself. but his plan to be a virus and hence get a physical form using the very thing that destroyed him, which was golden power, failed in s3 for reasons still unknown. we still have no idea as to why zane had to make that sacrifice or how any of that power dissipated into thin air, which is the whole reason why i'm writing this damn post.

hence why the overlord tells garmadon that "now at last i have such a vessel" all the way in s15. which is quite telling that garmadon wasn't a vessel by any means. or maybe the overlord didn't consider garmadon a worthy vessel. after that, the overlord says "thus garmadon, son of the FSM, meets his end." the fact that he still refers to garmadon as that basically ties him to still having a dragon bloodline despite the venom that the great devourer injected in him. and if one side of your vessel is constantly trying to combat you for control of their body, then that's not a very good vessel, is it?

so yes. i believe that the garmadon resurrected was the full garmadon. it's just that his kind side has been suppressed unknowingly by harumi, since she constantly fed him ideas to make the world in his image. and it is because she was there since the resurrection. if it were only lloyd who was there at the time of resurrection, i believe things would gone very differently for everyone.

the ninja

okay to the fruits!!! let's get nya out of the way first since she's the easiest to tackle for this whole debacle.

nya's powers aren't related to lloyd. they have no correlation with lloyd's condition, and they're not dependent on him. because her elemental powers stems from wojira. similarly, if morro were here, he would also not be affected by lloyd's condition since his power is also from wojira.

this can fully explain why neither nya nor morro can do dragon form or use golden power respectively. they were never related to golden power in the first place, so nya not being able to achieve that form makes sense to me (although i would have liked to see her do more in s15, don't get me wrong. i think the way the writers handled her in that season is for lack of better word, preposterous).

moving onto the OG four. their spinjitzu, when conjuring up their dragon form, was gold. what else is gold? GOLDEN POWER. yup. i think i wrote more notes on it but i'm way too lazy to check back at my notebook.

however, now that the ninja have returned the golden power that was helping them channel their elemental powers, they only seem to have lost their elemental powers in that timeframe between the end of s15 and the events of quest of the lost powers. but it can be explained—if you put enough thought into it.

kai had to learn to ask for help, zane had to learn to forgive himself, cole had to re-embrace his family and learnt how to cope with the high expectations he had of himself (at least, that's how i interpreted it), and jay also had to learn to cope with the fact that he may not have his biological family, but friends are still family you can choose (yes pun FULLY intended in reference to friends are family from lego batman).

these were all things that gave the ninja to treat themselves better and to grow as people. their powers, without the help of the golden power that lloyd gave them, are all heavily reliant on their mental stability. it's the same with the elemental powers given from golden power—but instead of being reliant on the individual's state of mind, it's reliant on lloyd's state of mind.

conclusion

lloyd slowly regains his golden power, and the ninja slowly come onto their own without relying on that same golden power. it's only a matter of time before lloyd can fully utilise golden power again.

think of golden power as an enhancement of one's ability to use their element. like a power-up ability. only lloyd's powers are golden because it's that concentrated. there are several instances when we see all the ninja focus their energy onto one area and the result looks very much like golden power.

because lloyd had to redistribute the golden power to the OG four, the concentration of that golden power was no longer as effective, hence why we don't really see gold in lloyd's spinjitzu form anymore. that is until s15, when the overlord is back with remnants, and he manages to absorb (?) said golden power.

thanks for reading! i feel like i've written three ninjago essays in the span of a week what is UP with me

edit: THIS WAS LONGER THAN MY TLNM COMPLAINT POST. WHAT?

[pynkhues]

How do you think Lestat conceptualizes what Louis feels for him? Watching s1, especially with the context of s2, it really looks like Lestat genuinely thought Louis never really loved. I find the contrast between 1x1 and the latter half of s1 so interesting. It seem to me that without being able to read Louis' thoughts and with Louis' refusal to verbally affirm his feelings, he genuinely started to believe that Louis was interested in him physically at most, and then not even that (which must've stang especially, seeing how it can be argued that Lestat has a tendency to objectify himself and tie his self-worth to his desirability as a trauma response). We're really just speculating for now, obviously, but I'm wondering about your thoughts on modern day Lestat especially!

That's an interesting question, anon! Mm, I'd say that he must have known Louis had feelings for him at the very least before he turned him - he could still read his mind at that point after all, and they were courting for a year - but I tend to think that would probably have been a combination of deep affection and attraction more than anything else, given - - y'know. Louis didn't even know they were courting, haha. During their relationship - - I don't know, I suspect he probably pendulumed between knowing that Louis loved him, and having genuine doubt too.

Lestat's raised by Gabrielle to understand that love is something that's generally withheld, and depending on your reading of his relationship with Nicki, I do think that perhaps further entrenched parts of that. While Nicki can be generous, loving and affectionate, the way they break up with Nicki swearing he actually hated him all along and wanted them to die together in Paris would fuck anyone up, especially given Louis and Nicki have some similarities (although I don't think they have as many as parts of the fandom do, really, same with Louis and Gabrielle - I think all three of them are pretty unique characters).

Lestat's a chronic romantisier of his own history as a means of emotional survival, but I don't think he forgets much, and I imagine that the memory of his and Nicki's break-up probably coloured a lot of his and Louis' fights, particularly the one where Louis technically broke up with him before returning with Claudia (Louis, the disaster you are, ily), so in those moments - - yeah. I think he probably thought Louis had never actually loved him, but I think in the moments when they were good, when they were happy, he probably was unwavering in his belief that Louis did.

(It's kind of interesting to think about too that Louis did tell Lestat he hated him too, only where Nicki said it while breaking up with Lestat, Louis said it while getting back together with him, and I'm genuinely looking forward to those parallel gifsets in s3, haha).

I do think he took Louis saving his life as an act of love though, and I think in the long aftermath of that, both before the Trial and after it, when Louis chose Armand, it's probably the thing he clung to the most as reflective of that. There's so much that he feels - the cord between them, their hearts beating in time, the memories of the best of it all - but Lestat's also a character with just so much baggage (totally agree about Lestat objectifying himself as both a trauma response and a manifestation of insecurity, and that Louis no longer wanting to have sex [which is absolutely his right, and normal] was something Lestat took as a much deeper rejection than Louis realised), that I think can outweigh that sometimes.

So yeah, I'd say it probably varies based on his mood and maybe even the minute. A part of him knows, a part of him doubts, the only thing he can be sure of is that he himself loves Louis, and Lestat might withhold his history, but he rarely withholds his emotions.

[unaloid]

what are ur woy ships,,

CRACKS KNUCKLES ^_^ i answered this forever ago but i have more to say now. big shipping thoughts

skeletondance is my everything they make me ill. i am constantly putting out psychic beams into the universe trying to manifest more images of them. it hurts me so bad hater literally likes hanging out with wander so many times i am 95% sure hater would have been wanderized in s3. they are so weird tho seriouslyyyy

wander is not going to get married, he is very free and easy with affection, and relationships are kind of temporary for him but he values each one in his heart forever. but hater is very set in the way of like "find The One get married live happily forever" very limited view, so for wander to be so casual and, in his eyes, dismissive of romance, would freak him tf out LOL he would definitely get a complex about it. so i wonder how long their relationship would last, if wander just moves onto the next villain after so long and hater is fucked up about it forever, or if hater ends up being special and will follow wander to the ends of the earth. IDK thats where im at right now, i love hater being shy/nervous, and wander being sweet with him, it kills me hes so cute.

love sylava too, i think its easy to depict dominator being a flirt to sylvia, but to me dom is all talk LOL i think sylvia could put her in her place easily. syl called her "friend" and she got all flustered i know it... she was ready to rule a planet together with sylvia, which is like, dom you dont even rule planets what are you doing <3 you just met her and you're already planning your life together.... jk. crazy lesbian moment. so theres a lot of back and forth kind of fighting for dominance between them, i'd like if people put sylvia in charge more!!!!

i love to imagine tumblesquid, like if they were travelling partners to the extent of wander and sylvia now, it was probably so cute. since they are both so peaceful they probably had picnics in fields of flowers all day, and napped in sunbeams, they are so sweeties to me i wish they got to interact properly in the series. jeff is just really interesting. in my mind they broke up amicably cuz wander wanted to keep moving along to the next galaxy to help more ppl but jeff stayed and continued charity in the old galaxy (idk if jeff is supposed to be from a different galaxy or the same one idk but u get the idea..)

so those are the big favs, i also still like wansome as a crackship i realllyy wish they got to have a conversation in the series, i watched the party animal so many times just grasping for something lol. eyesome is crack too. i have fun

as much as i drew wandering eye before, im really neutral to them, just fun to draw cuz i kept having good ideas. to me its wander being like "peepers needs this, this will help him", wander knows what peepers is fucked up about and is trying to help him but it doesnt work. deathglare i cannot imagine reciprocated sorryyyy but i love the onesided obsession and peepers being crazy lol. it adds a lot of seasoning.

[theonevoice]

New item of my list of reunion options for s3:

Aziraphale and Crowley meet in the middle of a dangerous moment, at the eve of an apparently unavoidable Second Coming, while all the signs of the approaching end of the world are manifesting on Earth - inexplicable fights and revolts burst everywhere, earthquakes shake the ground, heavy rain keeps falling non stop. They are both transfixed at the unexpected presence of the other: but there is no time to speak, they are forced to collaborate to get out of the situation, and when everything seems lost they manage a last second escape by instinctively grabbing each other hands and miracling themselves away.

Next thing they know they are tumbling over each other in the bandstand at Battersea Park. For what feels like an infinite moment they stay frozen in the sudden proximity, half tangled on the ground, soaked, staring into each other eyes.

Aziraphale opens his mouth a couple of times, gasping for words or for air, until finally something clicks in his chest and his voice comes out like a cracked note from a broken carillon.

- I'm back. - he says with a desperate accent that seems to beg "please don't tell me that you don't want me back".

- Yes... - Crowley answers out of breath, with a whisper that sounds like it came from another world. - I can see that.

A long silence falls between them, their eyes still fixed on each other's face as the initial shock of the unexpected reunion turns into painful uncertainty, doubt, fear to attempt a word or even a thought. A coarse rope of hope and despair tightly woven together ties around them, tighter and tighter.

Aziraphale sniffles, something emerges from the fog in his brain - a warm memory, a dim obstinate little light shining over a narrow path that wasn't there before. The downpour roars on the bandstand roof, on the trees, on the entire world.

A silly idea. But it's really the only one he got.

- Do you... - Aziraphale's voice fails. Does he dare to say it? Does he dare to take that narrow path, to try that silly idea? Will he follow him or will he just watch him stumble from afar, without taking a step, maybe annoyed, maybe even angry at him for pulling such a ridiculous move? Crowley is staring at him and the expression on his face is impossible to read. The angel takes a deep breath and tries to make it sound casual, but despite his best effort his words come out as a desperate cry, half shouting half sobbing: - Do you want a big "I said the wrong thing" sort of an apology or can we take that as said?

There, he has said it. He has actually said the words. Their old silly words...

Crowley is perfectly still, like one who's been struck by a lightning. The raindrops still dripping down his hair, into his eyes, over his face. For an infinite amount of time they both sit there without breathing, the words that once were one of their many games of saying without saying - so funny and so painful, ever so charming - float in the air between them, waiting to be accepted or denied.

Finally a different whisper comes out, a little more present, a little less otherworldly, a little crackling like a small fire.

- I'd like the apology actually.

Being both still soaked by the storm, it's hard to say wether the drops on their cheeks are raindrops or tears, but now each of them can spot on the other's lips the faintest hint of what could be a smile.

- A proper apology. - The demon insists, - With a little...

But he doesn't get to say "dance", because at that point the angel his already kissing him.

[mistfallengw2]

Gimme 3, 4, and 12 for Tocchix! @ratasum

A New Commander Ask Meme

[This is for the AU in which Tocchix is Commander]

3. Is there an NPC your commander is closest to?

For most of the story: Taimi.

After Tocchix saves her from the Inquest in Dry Top and spends a lot of time with her to make sure she's okay, Taimi becomes his little sister as far as he's concerned. They are the only ones allowed to fuss over each other's well-being, and while the sarcasm levels of it varies and they still keep a lot of things from each other, it is done with the mutual understanding that when one of them insists with it, the other should drop the facade of being fine and take a break/care of themselves. For a time she's also the person he's the most comfortable with. Taimi doesn't (directly) ask about how he's doing, and she doesn't need encouragement to eagerly infodumps on things, which is often enough to drown his thoughts out, so much so that at times he even falls asleep with relative ease... which accidentally made her the only one who knew of his issues with nightmares. Her krewe in Rata Novus was also fairly good company, and he met Huki there, who also helped him a bunch and much later became his other partner. Taimi was openly heartbroken on the comm when he was found dead, and while she did not tell him of her condition getting worse until she was forced to, he wasn't surprised as he had still noticed the changes over time.

Notably, at the start of season 2 Tocchix would have said Kas and Jory due to nearby (former) fields of work, but after Iotta's decision to leave and the aftermath of that, things became... awkward. For years Kas felt guilty due to having been the accidental catalyst for it, and even though he doesn't blame her one bit, he still tried not to be alone with them to avoid making things weird (being a third-wheel was particularly bad for him + he felt guilty because they acted differently around him to avoid that). [Things get much better after Iotta is in the picture again, but at that point Caithe has nudged herself in between them and Taimi on the "podium" of most important bonds with NPCs.]

-

4. Is there an NPC your commander doesn't care for at all?

Tocchix not caring? Impossible.

Whenever he's brought up during s3-s4, Tocchix often snappily claimed not to care for Braham. He was still hurt and angry about their argument in s3 (which takes on a more personal bad turn than canon), but that anger came from a deep place of caring and he is a bit sad that, despite mending their friendship, they never managed to fully remove the layer of awkwardness between them.

As for genuine "not caring", he's not really close to most of Destiny's Edge. Eir and Logan always felt too far from what he knew to really bond with them beyond being "allies". While he was friends with Zojja, their relationship has always been mostly informed by Bunnie yet also filtered by her presence, so he doesn't really "know" her.

-

12. Did your commander die to Balthazar? If so, was their experience different from canon in any way?

Yup and yup!

Like in canon, the former god chucks the fireball at him after having toyed with him and used him as bait, but Tocchix doesn't die immediately and Balthazar leaves him to pass away slowly. It takes a few excruciating minutes to succumb to his wounds, burns and sheer exhaustion (the fight was long, and being healed so much by magic still takes a toll on the body), during which Tocchix still tries to rally and go save Aurene as he fades in and out of consciousness.

In the Domain of the Lost things go similarly to canon, but the memories he sees while following His Purpose are a lot more and more personal to his own journey. When he tries to reach for that one unknown asura who appears often yet he can't recognize, Tocchix somehow manifests specter-like powers, which help him defeat the Eater of Souls. Taimi later theorizes that it might have been the domain's influence activating some latent magic within him, but he's afraid he knows the truth, and he gets confirmation of it when he encounters Iotta again.

[sonicasura]

Like with Ushio and Tora one, you can blame this fucker from Kirby for my latest romp of being a gremlin to Troll Jim.

Troll Jim but he's the manifestation of Gunmar's positive nature.

Despite being a megalomaniacal hypocrite, Gunmar does have some morality and genuinely loves his son, Bular. You can't forget his origins either. The Gumm Gumm King was born when the Darklands' Heartstone, which used to be the trolls homeworld, rotted from the inside. Jim is the remaining piece that been stuck inside Gunmar. The last bit of the Heartstone's warm benevolent light.

When the Gumm Gumm King was about to be banished to the Darklands, that small sliver escapes with the provided opening. Jim would manifest as a troll whelp far away from Killahead Bridge alongside Camelot. One who is favored and healed by sunlight unlike any other species.

He's later found then raised by Camelot's "outcasts". Wizards, humans alongside other mystical folk like trolls who didn't share the king or their once fellow peers hate fueled views. Jim was given the name 'Avalon' and was raised by these kind souls before setting out into the world.

Centuries later, he will find himself in Arcadia Oaks during his teenage years. And on one fateful night come across a lonely Barbara Lake. From there, a small loving family of two would begin.

Now for some physical differences between this Jim, his canon counterpart and other Gumm Gumms. His stone body is a pure snow white that can honestly be mistaken for moonstone on dark nights. Jim is also quite fluffy with soft yet coarse blue fur that hides small yellow heartstone crystals. Basically he's got a starry mane in just the right lighting. (I love the idea of a fluffy Troll Jim too.)

Jim matches Gunmar in size but his horns go the opposite direction that it can be mistaken for a crescent and has softer features. A very stark contrast to Gumm Gumms, a brilliant moon amongst the darkness of space. Other trolls would have a difficult time noticing his species' traits but it's there despite being heavily muted.

Jim is Gunmar's mirror in abilities too. He heals others and purify any harmful ailment to those around him. Even being near him is like sitting next to a miniature Heartstone albeit not for Gunmar. Jim's presence is toxic to the Gumm Gumm King and can be lethal if close enough to the corrupted troll's weak state. Salt to a leech in simple terms.

He also has one thing that Gunmar but also many trolls have issues fully grasping: humanity. (A thing that sadly canon Troll Jim has a bit less of.) Jim is openly kind and can be quite forgiving as well. Even to his enemies with the worst being given a chance to repent. He only fights if needed to, otherwise he'll search for other ways to handle a issue.

A very odd troll whose a living middle finger to various skewed viewpoints for multiple characters such as Merlin. Glory means nothing to Jim unlike the 'Good of All'. The missing bridge between both worlds(the message that was snuffed from canon in S3.)

That's my opinion anyway.

Edit: Wouldn't that make Jim Bular's uncle or brother? The uncle summary makes me want to shove him next to Josuke Higashikata and tell them to bond over being uncles to someone way older than em. Man is a Joestar so being friends with a troll wouldn't be weird.

[kakerutori]

S2 rewatch highlights pt 2

Episode 3

AWW Dustin falling asleep reading about reptiles, invested immediately

“I need my paddles!” I quote this too much LOL

Oh the compilation of Hop and El cleaning up and the diorama she makes of it in s4 HJFDJFHHJFJ

Mmm Nancy can’t say, “I love you.” Ends up breaking it off with Steve. Mike can’t say, “I love you” to El until under extreme pressure. Result…?

LOL Mike’s the only one not grossed out by d’Art

Mike is such a good advocate for Will wtf my heart 😭 he just knew exactly what was going on with d’Art. Barely any questions asked.

“Things just can’t go back to the way they were” Hop and Joyce have similar conversations as Jonathan and Nancy this season :,) wow I love the endgame ships

HAHA omg Bob cutting blue and yellow wires. Heck yeah.

I wonder how in the world the video camera can capture the outline of the Mind Flayer - ooh hold on, what if they use video footage to find clues or something next season?? Maybe that can be Jonathan’s role???

Interesting how Mike just misses seeing El a second time! And a third time, twice at the school! Man they were so close to running into each other

“Because you’re annoying!” Mike says, snootily and annoyingly to Max, LMAO. I’m so glad these two got some screen time in s3.

“I’m not gonna hurt you.” DESPITE THAT BEING THE VERY THING HURTING YOU. THE WORLD NEEDS MORE COMPASSION LIKE WILL HAS WTFFFFF

Episode 4

Mike be clutching that walkie-talkie for dear life

The spinning shot of Will being taken is so hauntingly good oh my goihshkkkkd

“But it got me, mom.” THE LITTLE VOICE BREAK HAS SHATTERED ME COMPLETELY HELP GODJJK OMGJGJGLFK

“You put us in danger” awww Hopper is so protective. He’s not just mad at her. He’s mad with her. This isn’t fun for either of them 💔.

El is so relatable right now lmao isolation indeed drives a person mad. She’s so real for her anger and they way in which it manifests with her powers is such a cool use of her character

NANCY OFFERS HOLLY TOAST 🥺

Jancy has a bit of hesitancy but they’re ultimately in it together! I really enjoy the pacing that you can see they’re slowly starting to understand each other but aren’t perfect just yet

Okay quibble like idk if the American school system changed? but I did not learn physiology in 8th grade lmao

Geez just Billy is written so well. Hate him with every single encounter

The psychological repetition and sound with Jonathan and Nancy at the park really gets me ughh the discomfort. They’re so bold to go through with that

Now-memories = tunnel visions

True sight = Upside Down episodes

“Maybe we can help Will.” - Mike’s final words to Lucas and Dustin before he goes to the Byers’ 💙

I love Nancy glaring at Dr. Owens and Jonathan being just 🧍

“I have to stop the truth from spreading, too.” Ooooohhh and the different level of fire in Jonathan and Nancy’s eyes as they behold the gate is so omg I need fanart of them in that scene

Quibble number 2: there is no way in all hell that Hopper and Joyce connected those tunnel drawings in under a day let alone what looked like under an hour, I call bs

MAN the intonation and delivery of the fight between Max and Lucas is just so good. Like the anger could be acted so much differently with subtle differences but something about their back and forth was just great

“We’re family now” NOW, Billy??? Yeah as if she wasn’t your step sister for years before?? Geez and that’s not even the worst part of what he says

Okay I’m crying what the heck, UGH Millie is so good. Those sobs my HEARTTTTTT

“Let’s burn that lab to the ground.” S5 PLEASE LET NANCY COMMIT ARSON ON THE LAB. PLEASE!!!

OH NO skipping the Mews part. RIP buddy. RIP 💔

The tunnel flips upside down and THE CLOCK CHIME OH I GOT THE CHILLS

[basicallyjaywalker]

Does any of your Ninja ocs have elements?

What season are they introduced?

What are their relationships like with the ninja?

Good evening anon! Happy to answer :DD Putting it under the cut bc these tend to get. long

Most of my main OCs have elements! There are three (Willow, Jonathan, and Kyle, though the latter changes as of DR) who don't but otherwise we have

Nataly, Master of Love

Roxie, Master of Peace

Jasmine, Master of Nature (not related to Bolobo)

Jackie, Master of Magic

Hannah, Master of Music

Luna, Master of Dreams

Ivy, Master of Wind

And Master Twyla, Master of Light! (Not related to Paleman)

Their introductions are scattered throughout the seasons, but the basic breakdown is

S2: Jackie is introduced as a member of Garmadon's Stone Warrior Army who's a human. At the end of that season, she's pulled out of the rubble of a building and goes to study with Garmadon

S3: Jasmine is semi-introduced as a background character at Borg Industries, though she's not plot relevant yet. Jonathan is introduced as Borg's son but also isn't super plot relevant yet, he has his own adventure which is technically where we meet Willow

S4: Roxie, Nataly, Hannah, and Kyle are all introducing on the boat ride to Chen's, as well as Jackie and Jasmine. Roxie knows Cole from Marty Oppenheimer's, Lloyd and Garmadon recognize Jackie (who between S3 and S4 started studying under Master Twyla, a former friend of Garmadon's, as well), and everyone kind of recognizes Jasmine as someone from Borg Industries. At the end of the season, Twyla joins the EMs in the Corridor of Elders to fight. Prior to this she's only been mentioned by her students and a little by Garmadon

S5: Ivy is introduced when the ninja go to Ronin's pawn shop! She's Ronin's partner in crime and while she's there she and Nya form a strong bond too (daughters of Wojira my beloved)

No one is introduced in S6 or S7 really

S8: Luna is introduced by Harumi during Garmadon's resurrection. After it's presumed failure, she's taken to go stay with the Ninja

Another skip

S15: putting Willow here too bc this is when she's introduced to the Ninja at large during the fight with the Overlord 3.0. until now she's been chilling in the woods with occasional visits from Jonathan

Ofc having all of the relationships would be a bit messy but her are the basic breakdowns:

Nataly: she and Kai have a pretty close bond, partially forged on annoying the shit out of each other. Similarly, she and Lloyd bond a lot over complicated family situations (Nataly is Pythors's daughter, if that tells you anything) and also an innate sense of whimsy. Her related w the other ninja is pretty good! Aside from various pranks she's pulled on them

Roxie: she and Cole are really close and used to be best friends at Marty Oppenheimer's! I've made a post about their friendship before and if I can find it later I'll link it. She's also really close w Nya and I personally believe they have 3am conversations about femininity and womanhood that look like that one painting of Aristotle and the other guy. Gender studies minors after an exhaustive study sesh type jazz

Jasmine: uh. Complicated. She gets along great w Nya and Jay for a while due to a shared love of mechanics and inventing but she develops some more complicated feelings that lead to her shooting those relationships in the foot. She also discovers in S8 that she's Julien's daughter and thus Zane's sister but there is a veil of family drama over that entire thing, so that relationship barely manifests and becomes tense even after Zane finds out. She and Pixal get along amazing though. There's been no time to ruin that.

Jackie: she's probably the second closest to most of the ninja, but particularly Kai, Nya, and Lloyd. She and Kai are kinda like siblings. Often if a situation is full of Some Bullshit, they'll exchange a glance before diving in. They're like a pair in a buddy cop movie. Her and Nya are training together and I think would get along well by virtue of being insane tryhards. Her and Lloyd are really close after S4 and are the partners in crime to her and Kai's buddy cop movie. She develops a crush on him around the Oni Trilogy, but doesn't act on it because well. Oni Trilogy events. He starts reciprocating around the post-S11 pre-S12 era but they don't do anything about it til undetermined time (probably sometime pre-Seabound or post-Crystallized, they are definitely officially a couple as of Dragons Rising).

Hannah: Keeps to herself and her team but she and Cole get along pretty well. They share an appreciation for music, though she's a performer and Cole's not, so they mostly talk about artists they enjoy and he might help her hash them of her own work out. They're chill friends. She has this semi-antagonistic, semi-they just like to talk shit with each other, relationship with Kai. She's very tempermental and likes to call out his antics. Kai thinks it's kinda funny when she's mad about dumb shit so he purposefully pushes her buttons. It's like rats play wrestling. She and Kai and Skylor are in a triad (she's in a romantic relationship w Kai and a QPR with Skylor, Skylor and Kai are also in a romantic relationship) post-Crystallized. I would go into her relationship w/ Skylor bc there's a lot of backstory there, but this post is long enough as is.

Kyle: Mostly hangs around Jay and Cole. Third wheeling. He referees their Face2Fist matches to make sure no one is cheating. They're like... bros is the best way I can describe it. He and Kai are also pretty amicable on account of both getting the Older Brother Special Edition experience (orphans) and Kai hangs around Chen's, where Kyle works bc he and Skylor are actually besties

Luna: Her and Jay are nerding out over comics something fierce. I think she and him would host Jackbox nights for the team to boost morale too. She and Lloyd have a semi-tense relationship at first bc of the circumstances of their reunion but post-S10 they have a very "one is doing something very impulsive and stupid and the other is egging them on" sibling relationship. She would get him back into comics and also they'd do pinball tournaments at arcades that aren't about winning just about beating each other

Ivy: is kind of peripheral, but she and Nya get really close during S5 and stay in contact. They sit on the edge of a creek and skip stones while talking about random shit. Ivy brings her scrap for projects and Nya has to side eye her like "did you steal this" and Ivy never gives her a straight answer. I think she and Cole would get along too, funnily enough. They're just similar enough in their defiant rebellion that I think they could hold a respect for each other that manifests in sitting in the same room, quietly, working on projects and occasionally helping each other out. Ivy and Lloyd have a bond over bitching about Morro.

Jonathan: he and cole are vibing in a room together except Jonathan has no idea how to talk to him and so is nervously making small talk. Cole thinks he's neat and likes to hear him ramble about the various mechanical projects he's working on. They'd also bond about their dads. Jonathan feels like he has to live up to the Borg name and make his father proud (he already has, but anxiety's a bitch) and Cole gets that. He and Pixal are also practically siblings and are tight as hell. Between S7 and S8 he was def helping her w her Samurai X stuff.

Willow: she actually doesn't have relationships with the ninja! As said she's kind of a peripheral character who only interacts with Jonathan and her characterization and story rests within that bubble. If I were to let her out I think she and Wu actually would get along the best, which is a cop out, but there's something about feeling like the fate of the world is upon your shoulders and one wrong step will cause everything to come crashing that makes a silent shared cup of tea the most meaningful interaction you might ever have

Master Twyla: she's closer to Misako and Wu by virtue of those being her friends and comrades before, but I think she views the ninja as like. peripheral students. she's not their teacher and doesn't act like it but those are her kids in the same way the others are yk? She would see their parents in them but also feels a sense of pride at their own strengths and is happy to be someone they can talk to. I think she'd have a particular soft spot for Lloyd because she was closer to the Spin Bros and Misako so in another life that's her godchild

Thank you again for your question! I am so sorry this is so long! But this absolutely made my day to answer!

[gasmeros]

ask game: Anger is also a trauma response and Dumbass (affectionate) pretty please

I genuinely love all your ideas

aaaa you're so sweet

so the first one is my own take on an atla fanfic trope ive seen a lot of, which is basically after the boiling rock in s3, zuko is super jittery around hakoda cuz he has dad trauma. but like, while i enjoy the hurt/comfort in most of these fics, im kinda bothered by the complete lack of anger/lashing out in most of them. it's part of fandom's tendency to woobify the whumpee so to speak. file em down the the perfect demure victim. dont like that much. SO. it's basically a fic where zuko feels unsafe around hakoda and it manifests in him being grumpy and angry and really not nice to hakoda at all, or anyone for that matter

this one is meant to be a oneshot for sure, and has been sitting at 926 words for over a year lol. content warnings for uhh, anger?? as a trauma response?? shouting.....? i guess child abuse, but that's just cw: zuko tbh. this one is all just plotting and should probably be in my mini wips document but i haven't moved it yet. so here's the climax plotting to enjoy

fun to have a break scene like they usually happen, hakoda shouts for some reason or moves too fast towards on of this kids and zuko thinks he's going to hurt them, and there's the usual fanfic response (zuko either flinches real fuckin bad at shouting, or moves to protect the kids from hakoda). things are different though, cuz instead of zuko's nervous protection or sudden panic over misunderstanding the situation, he just gets mad. like, mad mad. like, "i thought he was mad before but hooo boy i was wrong" mad. he yells at hakoda, and maybe hakoda's finally figured it out finally, so he doesn't get as defensive as he usually would. but the sibs havent quite gotten it yet, so everything dissolves into a huge fight between all the kids.

water sibs are pissed about how zuko's treating their dad, zuko maybe doesn't see his shift in behavior and denies it, aang brings up that no actually you're kinda really bad around him, and then toph jumps in like well maybe if hakoda wasnt a bossy bitch we wouldnt have problems, and it just keeps fuckin going. zuko feels called out and, in the throes of an angry trauma response, is gonna react with hostility, and that wont help anything. (aang? "you've been acting really weird." zuko "how would you know what's weird? you don't know me enough to know what's weird. maybe im just an angry fucking person.")

at some point hakoda tries to get everyone to chill, but believe it or not, him raising his voice to be heard isn't very helpful in this moment. so zuko responds by quite literally telling hakoda to fuck off, and the water sibs get even more defensive, and yeah that made it worse. great. eventually hakoda resorts to nudging one of the kids to try and calm things down, cuz he knows he cant do anything here. aang or suki? aang as avatar mediator is nice, but gotta see where everyone stands emotionally at this point.

eventually things end with zuko storming off, and maybe the implication that that might've been it for zuko being part of the group? obviously everyone's kinda reluctant when that idea is brought up, but katara and zuko's tempers are butting heads, so no one else really gets a say when they seem to come to the conclusion that it's over. and then zuko storms off, and aang is panicked cuz first of all emotions, but secondly firebending teacher??? toph goes after zuko and the others sit and have a chat about what just happened.

i have no idea if i wanna finish this one. while i stand by my sentiment that a lot of whump disregards anger as a valid fear response because it's not "cute", i dont know if i actually think zuko would feel unsafe around hakoda. like, it's soemthing you could definitely argue, but i dont know if i care enough to be the one arguing it agdjgsjf (also i feel kinda rude with this fic cuz it's quite literally me going "i dont like how anyone wrote this ._." and that's meeean)

ok dumbass (affectionate). you know that one scene in s3 dragon episode where aang just goes "i dont care what everyone says, you're pretty smart zuko" and zuko smiles for like a second before he figures out wtf aang just implied, and we get like 4 frames of him going >:0 as he slides out of frame? that scene killed me, but ALSO. what if i made it angsty

basically there's a sort of recurrent theme in atla where zuko gets called dumb in various ways. azula's everything, iroh's valid criticism of his lack of forethought, this scene. and im like, man that would build up if you heard that kinda shit your whole life, especially if there were some valid criticisms to make like the ones to zuko's rashness. so like. new to the gaang zuko not being really able to adapt to the friendly ribbing the gaang does when it comes to calling him dumb, zuko feeling basically bullied and therefore not close to the gaang at all, and the gaang eventually figuring out how he feels and going "oh shit wait no" and preceeding to maoe zuko feel even MORE mocked by making a hard u turn into genuine praise of his cleverness and general smarts. it ends happy i swear agfjhsbf (there is no ending atm)

this one is also a oneshot, 1,067 words. no real content warnings beyond yknow, dont read it if you dont like the premise i explained

this one i stopped because i have issues with executive dyfunction and also i had to go find references to every time zuko got called dumb in the show and i love to put off tasks. cuz of the executive dyfunction

"We could—" He stops before he really gets anywhere, shakes his head, and wishes they'd ignore him. "Nevermind."

But they've all got their eyes on him now, and he's the genius who picked the lull in the conversation to interrupt, so no one's exactly itching to move on. There's just the quiet, where everyone's hoping someone else will have something to say. And Zuko's gone and offered up his idiotic somethings.

"Got an idea, Sparky?" Toph asks.

"No, it’s dumb. Don't worry about it."

Sokka shrugs, and Zuko can't tell if it's because he really doesn't care or if that's just what he expected to hear. "We're fresh out of not dumb ideas, so..."

Right. Throw everything at a wall and see what sticks. Zuko suppresses a sigh. "My family has a vacation house on Ember Island. I know for a fact that no one will be there. Really, we purposefully avoid it. And it's nearby."

The group is silent, and Zuko wants to melt into the ground.

"I said it was stupid."

"No, no, hold on." Sokka's got a hand on his chin, stroking it in a weird mix of actually serious and playing it up. "That could work."

Zuko feels himself frowning. "You don't have to patronize me."

"No, really! It's the last place anyone would think to find us! It's so stupid, it might actually work!"

Great.

[bigdumbbambieyes]

okay, hear me out. S3 rewrite with Billy in Robin’s role while the Mindflayer makes Neil it’s host.

like, picture it for a sec: we’d get the Billy-Steve friendship we deserved, we’d have an actual human antagonist who was shown to be canonically abusive and controlling in S2, and Billy could be a reluctant (but important) addition to The Party for S4. he’s the brawn and brains that they need.

things to consider:

we’d get Steve and Billy in matching Scoops Ahoy uniforms. maybe they both applied as lifeguards but had a fight in front of the manager so they both didn’t get the position, and they applied everywhere in Starcourt once it opened and surprise!! they were both hired at Scoops and now they have to get along or else they’ll be broke the whole summer!

Billy watching in amusement as Steve fails to hook up with girls, maybe he even makes the same scoreboard. there also wouldn’t be a need to have the moms lusting over Billy bc he has no reason to meet Karen at the motel - no predatory behaviour from her in this timeline!!

imagine the banter. billy would have something to say to everyone and it would be so funny, especially between he and Max. give me one proper sibling fight please!

while a coming out scene would be great for Billy, and i would love to see Steve react to that (like, his reaction to a gay woman he had a crush on would be sooo different from a gay man he used to beef with, let’s be real), i also want more depth from Billy since he’s not flayed and El wouldn’t be looking into his past for us. so maybe instead of a coming out scene, they talk about the fight at the Byers’ during the bathroom scene. we get a glimpse into Billy’s carefully guarded emotions (maybe even his relationship w his dad) and both Steve and Billy get to move on from that night. closure and moving on from it together as newfound friends!

Billy could be shown that he is actually a smart cookie and cracks the Russian’s code (with Steve’s help). Dustin and Steve are impressed and Dustin begins to warm up to Billy a little.

new Scoops Troop!! Billy and Steve and Dustin dynamic omg. and Erica and Billy?? imagine she kinda confronts him about what happened with him and Lucas in S2, so she’s uncertain of him bc of that, but now Billy has the chance to make things right and clear up misunderstandings. and in this timeline, he apologizes to Lucas. because Lucas deserves that so. much. and Billy should have the chance to become a better person like Steve did. and maybe Lucas doesn’t forgive him, which is justified bc he doesn’t have to forgive him at all, but he gets the apology he deserves at the very least.

Steve and Billy getting tortured together oof. that would hit hard bc imagine Billy is being punched and slapped and he’s just laughing and taunting and Steve’s like wtf. it would be a great set up for the bathroom scene - like ‘why were you laughing while we were being literally tortured??’

Billy getting to see Steve draw a charge during his ‘fight’ with the Russian soldier and being proud of him, clapping him on the back with a grin while Steve gives him a shy smile. perhaps even…a meaningful, lingering look?? a spark between them??

also Steve and Billy high as fuck together lol i just want that so bad, please!!

and while Billy is with the Scoops Troop, The Party is focused on Neil. it would be a great chance to see Max’s relationship with her step father and she notices how weird he’s being. he’s nicer to Susan, even nicer to her, but then her mom starts acting weird, too. and when she finally meets up with Billy at Starcourt when the Mindflayer manifests, they discuss everything and Billy is conflicted. he’s happy that his old man is finally getting what’s been coming to him all these years, but that’s still his dad. it’s complicated but not really touched upon but implied. (and i think that would also be a great set up for S4. he gets those weird feelings in S4, thinking ‘i wanted him to die’ but also feeling guilt because his relationship with his father is so twisted from years of abuse).

we could explore Neil’s past a bit with this timeline, too. we could get a glimpse of why he is the way he is, like we did with Billy. El could see the abuse he put Billy and his mom through. she sympathizes with Billy, but she also sees how Neil was abused, too, and feels this empathy for him. which is how she brings him out of the possession, because El is empathetic by nature, under all that anger and naivety. she knows what it’s like to abuse and be abused and want to be better than those who hurt her. and when Neil does break through, he is killed just like Billy was in S3, and Billy runs over once his dad flops to the ground. Neil grits out ‘i’m sorry’ but Billy doesn’t say anything, doesn’t forgive him. he doesn’t even cry. he just…stares, looking like the lost little boy he’s always been. and Max finally runs over to pull her brother up, to drag them both away from Neil, and Billy can’t look away from his dad’s body until it’s finally out of sight.

and ofc the season ends with Steve and Billy both working at Family Video!! with Neil and Susan gone (she would’ve been part of the MF’s army), it’s just Billy and Max now, living in that trailer. that would be such an interesting dynamic to write for S4.

anyways that’s all!! that’s my silly rewrite. Billy deserved to have a support system and a real relationship with his sister and a boy his age and it could’ve been done in S3. 🤍

[rigatoniiiiiiii]

I posted this before but tumblr was being weird so I had to delete and then repost ^^’

So im curious about what R, Y, B, and G could have seen in the black hole during episode 30.

what do we know about the void?

- we know it’s mostly empty, except for the individual and a place/symbol of emotional importance to the person.

A good example of this is mango’s void, where it’s only him and an empty house, a place where mango spent most of his time planning vengeace and festering in rage and grief.

- usually the subject of the void has to deal with some sort of regret or inner struggle. For mango, it was his empty lonely house, with only himself and the angry violent pictures scribbled on the wall.

For purple, it was a completely dark and empty space, with the only light highlighting them and the petals falling around them. A reminder that they are completely alone, no father around and a dead mother.

- each of these voids/spaces are likely places where their deepest and most hurtful thoughts manifest their surroundings. And it’s hard to break through to these spaces, but it can be done, as mango demonstrated.

So, given what we know, what would RGBY’s voids be like? They were also in the void for a brief period of time before second was able to save the day, so what would they have seen?

Of course it’s all hypothetical, but I think it presents an interesting way to try and visualize and analyze each of the CG’s flaws and insecurities, and how they might find hope in response to that.

Reblog/share your theories!! I think this is very interesting. I’ll put my personal ideas under the cut, but go wild :)

Red: I think Red’s void would be about their character flaw of rushing into situations without thinking/letting others know about mews plan, and how their friende get hurt as a result of that. It could also be about how Red’s feelings have been continually dismissed by the CG (but specifically Second) and how Red feels because of that.

Blue: xer space would involve guilt over indirectly causing harm to his friends. Between the many accidents with potions, the nether incedents, the witch event, and starting off the S3 arc, he probably feels like xes done a lot of damage. Maybe he is afraid that they will get hurt/reject xem because of this.

Yellow: in past episodes, yellow’s power in situations has come from knowledge. For example, theres the entire arcade game episode, the lucky block episode, redstone, learning to fight with a command block. Yellow always wants to learn more, and the result of that curiosity and intelligence is the ability to help/give to yellows friends. So it would stand to reason that yellow would be very insecure and helpless in a situation where yellow couldn’t learn anything. There is no knowledge to be gained, no secret code or strategy to find a way out. But yellow can see the CG being hurt, and yet yellow is powerless and can’t help them. I imagine yellow would feel absolutely helpless.

Green: im.. honestly not too sure about green? It feels like there’s a lot to work with, and not enough to work with. I dont feel i have a good enough grasp on his character/insecurities. Some possible ideas i had were the amount of times green has died, or greens flaw of being a bit too show-offy. Green is definetly one I would like to hear everyone’s thoughts about!

And i know second didn’t get voided, so its even more hypothetical, but i think if second DID fall into the black hole, their space would either be about their powers (which would be confusing and distressing for him), about all their friends dying again like in the showdown and second being powerless to stop it, or maybe even himself being the reason its friends are hurt. However I also think second would be the first to break out of its void, and the first to get to their friends and bring them together, and tell them how much he cares for them, no matter what the void showed.

Anyways yeah thank you for reading!! Just some thoughts I had :) im curious to hear everyone’s theories!

Tagging @lunafandoms !

[kaleidoscopic-quiddity]

food for thought: the true potential of will byers

alright buckle up girlies i finished stranger things 4 and i have many thoughts

let’s start with what we already know:

henry’s existence proves to us that it’s possible for someone to have telepathic/telekinetic powers even without brenner’s fucked up human experimentations

we still don’t know how or why henry has powers, or whether or not he was born with them vs them manifesting over time, but the fact remains that as far as we know, neither he nor his mom were involved in any kind of experiments/torture/drug trials/etc

we now know that the upside down is frozen in time, but not the day el opened the gate, nor the day henry killed his family, nor any other major upside down/telepathy related event, but specifically the day will got taken

barb was killed near instantly upon being taken to the upside down, yet somehow will managed to hide/survive as long as he did

all the other humans who were possessed by the mind flayer were unable to resit it (billy only could for a brief moment thanks to el’s telepathic interference), yet will managed to fight back against its influence through, for lack of a less ironic term, sheer force of will

this could just be main character plot armour, but my point is the upside down has been incredibly lethal to pretty much all of its victims, except for will byers, who keeps on managing to survive, and we still don’t entirely know how or perhaps even more pressingly, why

as other people have already pointed out, back in s1ep1 the garage light at the wheeler house seems to ‘follow’ will and at the byers house the deadbolt slid to unlocked without anyone touching it

obviously, this could just be atmospheric affects meant to hint at the demogorgon’s presence that have aged poorly as the creative team have developed and hammered down the in-universe rules for upside down and/or telepathy/telekinesis related fuckery, but we know that this show has engaged in some major  long haul foreshadowing before

switching our focus to the idea of henry and will as foils, victor described henry as a ‘sensitive child’, joyce said the exact same thing about will back in season 1

this one is definitely a reach but as we know will is obviously gay coded (i mean, alan turing as his ‘historical hero’? could they be any less subtle), and we also primarily see henry in the rainbow room

similarly, we know that virginia, henry’s mother, disliked him and wanted to get doctors or exorcists/priests to fix him, or get him sent away somehow, and obviously this was down to all the spooky shit going on, but also it’s not as if gay people were particularly thought well of in the 1950s

we’ve also seen that henry, just like will, had an affinity for art, particularly colour drawings, which has been stereotyped as a ‘gay ‘ or ‘effeminate’ interest for boys to have, especially in toxically masculine 1900s america

basically im not saying henry is also gay coded but im also not not saying that

on the topic of henry, whilst he was presumably born with his powers, it doesn’t seem as if he really came into them until his family moved to hawkins when, based on his appearance in the flashbacks, he was somewhere around 11 to 14 years old, and we know that will was 12 when he was taken

there’s also an obvious parallel between will and henry when it comes to music

playing a song, particularly a song an individual has emotional attachment to, is the only known way for someone to break free of vecna’s curse

will sang ‘should i stay or should i go’ right before the demogorgon got him in fort byers back in s1, and in s2 it’s by playing that song (plus being reminded of good memories) that will is able to momentarily escape the mind flayer’s control

we also know that will’s first dnd character was a wizard named will the wise, and vecna is described multiple times as a ‘dark wizard’

its also worth thinking about how will’s arc is s3 was about letting go of his childhood and finally accepting that he had to grow up, and vecna still has a very childish mindset as a villain that he doesn’t seemed to have matured from at all, what with his dreams of world domination and all

additionally, traumatic memories and the prolonged effects of trauma were a big theme this season, and in el’s case, specifically repressed memories and false memories as a result of trauma was a major narrative beat

in particular, this season dealt with el subconsciously repressing her telepathic/telekinetic abilities, as a result of trauma

to summarise:

there are some very obvious parallels to be drawn between henry creel and will byers

we now know that people can have telepathic/telekinetic powers even without them or their mothers undergoing human experimentation

repressed memories and ‘forgetting how to use’ one’s telepathy/telekinesis are already central narrative concepts this season

will has a unique relationship/resistance to the upside down that’s been put in focus numerous times but never fully explained, although it does seem to mirror el in some ways

in conclusion:

im not saying that i think will byers might have superpowers, but i think will byers might have superpowers

[sterlingarcher23]

- Elumax -

Something that Season 4 manifested in the finale is Elumax - while even originally written as an Elmax only scene, that was changed and El and Lucas crying over Max and the reviving was then Elumax.

Basically, the original idea wanted to separate them to show who is the intended lover for Max in which realm. However, they kept the concept anyway:

El fights and saves Max in the nick of time in the mind.

Lucas does the same in the real world (otherwise Max would have a spinal injury if he wouldn't have caught her)

El is the dreamcatcher, protecting Max from the monsters within "If you touch her again, I kill you again."

Lucas is the protector in the real world "Don't touch her!"

Both are overpowered at first but found their strength to fight for Max.

Both have their own ways of love:

This is why Max can't feel or see anything - Henry stole love from her. He took away these abilities as Brenner explained - it just looks like an injury. Both abilities are important for the characters, symbolizing the way they mainly give and receive love (the final talk between Lucas and Max was by passing notes!) - so bestowing these abilities to Max is of great importance from a narrative perspective alone. ST has a countermeasure in the drawer to what happened and that's El (Please read my post about El & Henry build as foils) , one needs to read a bit between the lines but it is also right in front of us: forget traditional thinking.

(Side note: No one is confused about a psychic guy killing kids in their minds but as soon as it goes the other way, the reaction is "Nah, you can't do that magically." but they are okay with El reviving Max via mind over thousands of miles away. Makes sense. - They can and planed that long time ago.)

It's symbolism, the show is full of symbols and therefore getting these abilities symbolizes Max opening up to love, understanding and accepting who she is.

Of course it will come with a price tag. Because:

That price is someone elses life: El's (and maybe has already given a part of her life when she resurrected Max) - and Max will have a weak left leg, likely wearing a leg brace like her namesake Mad Max. (Foreshadowed in S3 in the shopping scene and in Will's painting). Her own ability of vision is gone but she'll have a substitute and likely will cover this condition with sunglasses as it will change her eye color like Will's changed. Possession is signaled by change in eye color. Max will however, unlike Will, be possessed by a benevolent force. But I digress...

Furthermore there was an interesting symbol smuggled in by the pinecone that Lucas holds while talking to Max.

It is one of the many "Neverending Story" references that are mostly about El & Max (the whole song is).

"In your hand the birth of a new day." = rebirth of Max, not just revival because El holds her hand later.

The pinecone is symbol for resurrection, eternal life and regeneration, enlightenment, the third eye and creativity. The latter is important in the mindscape and demonstrated by the fact that Max just altered her surroundings. Who can do that? She just knows, that she can. (and is able to walk across the borders between minds when a link is established when she entered the mind lair)

El herself is wearing a shirt with flowers on it throughout the finale.

The whole fighting for Max, the symbolism through the pinecone Lucas is holding and El's flower shirt, even the song makes it fundamentally clear where things are heading:

Max been reborn and Elumax as the Endgame.

Because:

"Someday love will find you. True love won't desert you. You know I still love you. Though we touched and went our separate ways."

And of course:

PS: Max is no damsel in distress or better won't stay that way. Once she's back, it's her turn to fight (with El's help) and we saw glimpses of that when she freed herself the first time and injured Henry. That was a teaser of what her role in 5 will be.

[spotsupstuff]

Another question I have is about Clem. As she eventually starts to grown into a teenager and a young adult does she ever struggle with gaining further independence /freedom from her 3 dads? I would imagine they would gain a sense of overprotectiveness due to LBD.

I DID get ur og question about this! (Im so fuckin sorry its been over two weeks now) N I’ve had a multiple brainstorm sessions between me myself n I cuz of it which is the main reason that it’s been takin this long Originally I wanted to say No mostly cuz I haven’t written parents like that before n I’m not,,, exactly familiar with that kinda parenting so I wasn’t sure if pokin that kinda stuff is smth I could Do Right, but egh fuck it, makes sense for them to go into a hyperdrive n I could use the practice instead of shyin away from it

Therefore; Yah! Each is a bit different tho Mister Gao is the only one who ups his protective game Because of the whole WBS deal- both cuz of the obvious long term of Clem’s absence which yanno basically means she was declared dead And because mister Gao already lost his wife so Clem is the last surviving biological part of his family. One can understand why he’s internally screamin bout this

Sam Gao-Woods is the only one who’s trynna hold back on the protectiveness cuz he sees how apeshit mister Gao is with it n so he’s like “Aight, I’m p sure the wee thing needs a breathin room Somewhere, so I’m gon be it.”. He still cares so so much for Clem, but he lets his love manifest rather as freedom than a methaphorical choke hold

Now Six Ear is interestin cuz his overprotectiveness doesn’t have anythin to do with WBS at all. Even after s3 finale he is still kinda in love with the idea of her. Six Ear with therapy is still Six Ear which means tendency to be a control freak is a thing and stalkin is basically a second nature to him For the first few years it’s not that bad especially cuz Clem doesn’t have any desire to really Expand her personal space n rather wants her dads to be as close as possible cuz of depriving her time with WBS- possessed or not- was

But Yah, as she starts growin she starts requiring more privacy, as she starts healing n going into teenagehod her emotions start to get more intense (therefore kinda explosive) and on TOP of All That at 16 her WBS powers start to show up more than just making her pupils glowing white Thats gon end up bein an arc between her n Six (n kinda mister Gao- he gets spooked by the stuff happenin between the former two which prompts him to address his own overprotectiveness). The fact that Six still harbours positive feelings towards WBS doesn’t sit right with Clem and when she tells him, as her only magically skilled father, what’s happening with her, his reaction is mostly positive and as if he was Expecting this which pisses her off cuz she is absolutely distraught about this They end up having an argument during which Six pulls the oppressing parent card cuz he obviously knows best and Clem ends up blurting out something serious that she didn’t actually mean which results in Six gritting his teeth and walking away This part isn’t 100% solid yet, but cut few days later, Clem hasn’t seen a single sign of Six Ear yet, he isn’t answerin text messages or calls and when she comes to lao Zhu’s noodle shop to ask about him everybody just shrugs. So basically the “child chases after a parent to fix everything” thing (😬) happens on purpose from my side n from HERE I ain’t got the events solidly planned. I’d LIKE to sneak a physical fight between the two in Some kinda way in here- Six is obviously not goin all out, maybe it could culminate in Clem blowing up with the ice powers (similarly to canon- who knows, knows. 👁) which forces Six to take this seriously, idk yet