#one is her probable future love interest if what has been shown is set up for it

[baked-hylian]

Fuck yeah, I was wondering when we were gonna get to the real body horror stuff

[lamemaster]

The Monster Who Ate Words

Request: Hello (*^^*) Can i please request an Arranged Marriage AU story for Maedhors x Vanyar Reader? Let's say reader is a bit intimidated by Maedhors ( who has not shown much interest in her ). And Maedhors doesn't want to scare her so he keeps his distance.

Pairing: Maedhros x Reader

Genre: Arranged marriage au

Summary: Nelyafinwe was good. Good enough in your books. Good looking from the times you had met in childhood, a great politician if rumors from Tirion were to be believed, and tall enough to expect respectably tall elflings in the future. 

AN: Thanks for requesting! I hope you like this :3 I really enjoyed writing this. Unedited for now don't kill me pls I have 3 little fish to feed.

“He hasn’t bothered to show face even once!” You scowl adjusting the errant pendant. “So why should I be the one to write to him?” You turn to your father, who by now has folded into himself like a petulant sunflower at sunset. 

“He is a prince!” Your mother roars undeterred. “He probably does more than just writing children’s fables in his free time, daughter mine.” To this your father protests silently to your mother. Only to flail helplessly.

Such has been the case for your parents. Your father- the distressed damsel and your mother- a fire-breathing drake. 

And you were nothing if not her rage personified. Which was wildly out of place in most Vanya settings. Some astray friends of yours had even jested in passing about you taking after your father-in-law, Crown Prince Feanaro more than his eldest. 

An arranged marriage to Nelyafinwe hadn’t been the most unexpected. Born to Ingwe’s brother, you expected such. Given that you rarely held the passion and patience for sweet nothings for a romance of your choosing.

Nelyafinwe was good. Good enough in your books. Good looking from the times you had met in childhood, a great politician if rumors from Tirion were to be believed, and tall enough to expect respectably tall elflings in the future. 

Additionally, much to your ire and your friend group’s joy, if a certain Telerin minstrel was to be believed then, the son of Feanaro possessed worthy assets. A fact that you swore did not bother you to anyone who dared to bring up the topic. 

Your betrothal to him had been set up 2 loar ago. An agreement was established through embellished scrolls and a piece of jewel exchanged by each side. That jewel now the emerald that had been forged into the pendant that hung from your neck for the past 2 loar. 

Binding you to the Feanorian with the dignity less than that of a stabled mare. 

Love, you did not expect. But such coldness had hurt. Absence of even a single acknowledgement had hurt. This your mother knew well. Better than your soft-hearted father could ever understand. For even rocks nestled in the depths of Earth crack under the pressure of an unyielding hammer. 

“My letter or the absence of it will make little difference.” You whisper and what follows is your mother’s uncanny silence. 

You have written to him. For two loar, you have written. Every week at the beginning of your betrothal, letters about Vanyamar, about your favored writings, or scents and silks that you would like for your wedding. 

Those soon dwindled to monthly updates with perfunctory greetings and everyday happenings. Sometimes about stories that you wrote for the children in court. Or about elflings born to your siblings. 

No matter what you wrote, Nelyafinwe never once did reply. As if your letters by some sorcery never slipped past the borders of Vanyamar. 

The last one had been short. A last-ditch effort on your end. A simple request. To meet at the Feast of Trees. That is all you had wanted of your betrothed. And he had failed. 

Out of all of Finwe’s line, Nelyafinwe had been the one to not show his face. A fact that you bitterly swallowed with a forced smile and cheerfully chatted with your future in-laws.

At least Nerdanel and Feanaro seemed to possess basic decency of character to bear the Vanya thrust their way.

Nelyafinwe despised it. The lingering scent of a promise that his betrothal held. Unfailingly binding compromise. 

A business matter to be ended over correspondence. He hadn’t given it much thought. His resentment did not allow it. 

The piece of amethyst that arrived with the letter had been handed off to Curvo and his father, who within a week produced a hairpin that ended up somewhere in the mess of Nelyafinwe’s room or the drawers of his study on most days. Gathering dust away from his gaze. Next to the letters. 

He had desired a choice. Unlike the horde of brothers and cousins that fate had thrusted into his life, Nelyafinwe had desired love.

But that too had been stripped away from his hands when his grandfather in a matter of a single day roped his father, who on most days detested Vanyar to arrange a wedding with one for his eldest son. 

It started as a silent protest that soon became a habit. The letters from Vanyamar were thrusted into the farthest drawer where the light of the trees barely ever lingered. 

Why could you not understand his signs? Was it not clear that he did not desire such a connection? He did not want your words or get to know you. He did not want it because depriving himself was the only way of showing his father what this had done to him. 

For once, he did not wish to be agreeable, gentle Nelyo everyone had made him into. This was his rebellion.

Some part of him had protested such cruelty towards you. What fault was it yours that elders desired a marriage of convenience? How fair was it for you to be the scapegoat of his ire? But those voices remained quiet.

So it came as a surprise when one day, your words found him despite all he tried to run away from them. 

Crouching next to Ambarussar, who sat surrounded by the hurricane of their mess of toys and all the possible possessions, Nelyafinwe saw tiny books. Handwritten illustrated books that the twins read aloud as Kano snored next to them, sprawled on a chaise. 

“What are you reading?” Maitimo sat next to them, only for the twins to ignore their usual protocol of climbing all over him. Amras sighed, barely glancing up at his elder brother “The Monster Who Ate Words.” He replied, his eyes glued to the book.

The pages of the book, inked it a clean hand, next to the drawing of a long red serpent with blazing eyes caught Maedhros’s interest. “Sister-in-law wrote these,” Amrod looked up at Nelyo, thrusting the book in his hands. “She designed the serpent after you!” The twins giggled now sharing a book as Maitimo flipped through the pages.

A childish tale indeed. The story went- on a long lonely island lived a raging serpent with red mane and glimmering silver eyes. The serpent terrorized the island with his loud roars and ability to devour words. This left the world empty and elflings bereft of any tales or lullabies. 

The ridiculous tale further developed into a group of outcast elflings gathering the words hidden in their textbooks to fight the serpent that detested sums and numbers. 

Nelyafinwe scoffed finishing the book. He was perfectly capable of summing, and no, he did not hate numbers or mathematical calculations. 

It took a moment for him to spot the empty room. Ambarussar had fled to Eru knows where and Kano had left the room unnoticed by Nelyafinwe. Rays of Laurelin had dimmed casting a mellow light in the room. 

Suddenly Maitimo wanted to go far away from the cluttered room. He wished to get on his mare and wander until his mind calmed down. Until his heart rate evened out. He despised this restlessness. 

For his heart could not remember the last time he had held your letter. The last time he had the chance to thrust it into the drawer. He could not remember. 

He had failed to notice it. This settled like dread in his gut. That something had changed. Somehow, from a stranger he had become the monster in your stories. 

Nelyafinwe does not run away. He knows he cannot do that, no matter how much his heart craves for freedom from such obligations. He is the eldest-born Feanorian. Named after the high king of Noldor. 

So seated in the silent dark of his study he opens the drawer full of the same writing as his brother's books.

Picking up the Amethyst hairpin heavy in his palm, he pulls his hair back and uses his betrothal gift after 2 loar. It holds his hair with the comfort he is familiar with. His father’s work never fail their purpose. But this one in specific is achingly familiar as it settles into his hair. 

With a distant curiosity, he wonders what gem of his claim rests on your being. He cannot remember the conversations 2 loar ago. He had merely agreed to the first suggestion by Indis and his mother. 

One by one he reads through your letters. Words leave him heavy with guilt. His throat- scratchy with the fullness of his heart and eyes. 

He is one wretched betrothed. Worthy of all the villainy in your books.

He reads from the first letters of ill concealed excitement of introductions. Of likes and dislikes, ideas of works in progress, to rare fleeting letters about weather and courtly affairs. 

In a matter of hours, he goes through the process of getting to know you and losing you. But he does not stop reading. He does not deserve the respite of that ignorance. 

And so he picks up the quill and begins his labor. For days he sits in his study replying to the letters. His likes, dislikes, hobbies, courtly affairs, and a short review of The Monster Who Ate Words. 

To quell the heartache of his own making. This in the least was of his own choice.

[oo-delallymrcrow]

First Impression

Summary: You and Cooper met for the first time, the feeling is electric and your chemistry is undeniable. You want to be professional but you can’t help the feelings he gives you with his charms.

A/N: I’m so excited for the future chapters. The build up is honestly killing me because I just want all the love and feels. But I promise the wait will be worth it, especially since that carriage scene (iykyk) has been stuck in my head when writing this story.

No warnings still.

Walking into the studio that day was a little nerve wracking. You were dressed up in your favorite pink dress, making sure to make a good first impression with the studio executives. Today was your first meeting with everyone. The cast and crew getting together to go over how filming will go. When everyone's schedule was and where everyone needed to be on what day.

You were busy looking around the studio's lobby when someone came walking up to you. You turned and flashed your brightest smile as you shook hands with the young man.

“Good afternoon Miss. L/N. My name is David and I will be your assistant on this film.”

“Well hello David please just call me Y/N.”

He smiled at you before pulling his hand away to motion down the hall.

“Alright Y/N. We're all meeting down in this conference room. It's mostly the actors for right now but everyone will meet on the set in studio one, cast and crew.”

You nodded along as he lead you down into the conference room. The door was slightly open so you can hear all the voices talking inside. You took in a deep breath before you walked through the door with David following behind.

“Here she is ladies and gentlemen. Our fabulous Y/N has graced us with her presence.”

You smiled as the man at the head of the table stood to walk to you. He brought your hand up to hold close to his chest as you giggled at his praise.

“My dear you are perfect for this part. I am so excited to have you playing Eleanor. I told the studio that I would have no other person for the part and if it wasn't you I wouldn't direct the movie.”

“Oh,” you realized that this man was the director, “you must be Tim. I am so excited to be apart of your movie. When I read the script I fell in love with the story.”

He smiled and waved his hand like your compliments were making him embarrassed. He gestured around the room and introduced you to everyone. He introduced you to James, a rival to your love interest; Elizabeth, who was playing your friend in the movie; and a few others.

“And finally the man of the hour.”

You gasped as the last man stood and flashed a bright smile to you.

“Cooper Howard! I am such a big fan of yours,” you gushed as you shook his hand. You felt yourself get a little red as he chuckled, realizing you were probably embarrassing yourself. You realized you were still shaking his hand, you went to pull it away when he surprised you. He brought your hand up and leaning over a little, brushing his lips against your knuckles.

“I'm honored to have such a big fan,” he pressed a kiss to them before standing upright, almost towering over you. “Especially one so pretty like yourself.”

Your mouth fell open a little as you felt yourself get a little heated at his intense stare. Tim slapped his shoulder with a laugh before gesturing to a chair next to Cooper's. Cooper pulled it out for you and you said a small thank you as you moved quickly to sit. You cleared your throat as you settled in and took a quick peek to see if anyone was looking at you after that introduction. Thankfully, everyone was already looking at Tim as he started going into depth about the movies story and how he wanted the next few months to go.

“Alright now that we have a planned schedule I think it's time for lunch,” Timm glances at the watch on his wrist. “Then we'll meet in Studio One to get with the crew. After that you'll all be shown to your trailers and we'll call it a day.”

Everyone stood and left in their little groups. You went to stand before a hand caught your arm, you turned as Cooper stood and placed his hands on the back of your chair, pulling it back to help you out. You blushed as you thanked him and took his hand in yours.

“Everyone kind of left in a hurry,” he spoke as he lead you out the door. You took note how you were still holding his hand as he walked you both out. “Would you like to grab lunch with me? We can talk about how we want our characters to interact.”

You blinked up at him as your brain took a moment to process. Lunch. With him. Yes, you would like to have lunch with him. You gave him a small smile as he stopped and looked at you for an answer.

“I think that's an excellent idea Mr. Howard.”

He gave you a chuckle as he opened the door to lead outside, this time placing his hand in the small of your back to guide you out.

“Please sweetheart. We're going to be working very closely together, just call me Cooper.”

You turned your head to stare up at him as you spoke in a soft voice, “alright Cooper. I would like to have lunch with you.”

You swear his eyes darted down to your lips but as soon as you blinked he was pushing you forward to walk over to the little cafeteria that everyone was headed to. As you entered, you noticed a lot of people were looking at the two of you and whispering to each other. You ignored that as you walked forward and grabbed a sandwich and some cut up fruit with a water bottle.

You know what everyone was whispering about. Everyone has heard of Cooper Howard and the nastiness of his divorce and the roles he's lost. The rumors that flowed through Hollywood and into offices. Your agent, Amelia Evans, even gossiping with you about it. But you were never one to judge someone, especially in such situations that you have never experienced. So you decided to not listen to others opinions and get to know Cooper.

As you turned to choose a table you didn't like how loud and cramped it felt, so you decided to enjoy the sunshine and sit outside. You could feel a few stares as you walked toward the door, a hand shooting out to grab rhe handle.

“Let me get that for you sweetheart.” Cooper murmured close to your ear, making you shiver at how close he was to you. He followed you out to a table and again pulled out your seat.

“You really don't have to be so nice Cooper,” you muttered as you glanced at your fruit cup. He sent a charming smile to you as he sat across from you.

“My momma taught me that I should always be respectful and a gentleman to everyone, especially to women.”

“Well I would like to thank her for raising such a respectful man.”

You smiled at his explanation and took a bite out of your sandwich, the both of you eating in peaceful silence. You thought that you would be awkward around the actor, especially with how famous and older he is, but you were quite comfortable around him.

”I’m surprised you wanted to eat with me.”

That brought your thoughts to a halt as he said that. You gave him a confused look as you took a sip of water. He was avoiding your gaze at this point so you spoke up.

”Why is that Cooper?”

”Well, with everything that happened.” He brought his hand up to gesture to himself. “I ain’t exactly popular with everyone right now. Especially with all the rumors and being casted out like nothing. I’m just surprised you sat with me. I wouldn’t blame you if you quit the movie.”

You shot your hand out to hold his hand that was on the table. You were that a little shock traveled up your arm and cleared your throat as you both stared down at your hands.

”I was taught by my father to never judge a book by its cover. I’ve held that rule close to me and I think that's what gave me so many opportunities to live the life I’ve wanted. I never judged you Cooper. There are so many rumors and tabloids about your life, I didn’t want to immediately judge you on them without knowing your story. So of course I agreed to have lunch with you and I will gladly stay in this movie.”

The words you said brought a smile to his face. He brought your hand up, kissing the back of it. His eyes caught yours as he spoke very softly, his lips brushing your hand with every word he spoke.

”Thank you sweetheart. I say you’re smarter than everyone I have worked with. I appreciate that you still want to work with me, especially with how pretty you are.”

That brought a faint blush to your cheeks at his words and how he’s still holding your hand. You gave him a smile as you both went back to eating your lunch. As you both finished up, David walked up to your table.

”Mr. Howard, (Y/N), I was told that the crew is still building one of the sets on Studio One so we will not be meeting there today. Wednesday is when filming starts so please be here at five in the morning for makeup. Would you like me to show you to your trailers?”

Cooper spoke up as you went to stand, “I know where they are. I’ll show (Y/N) where they are.”

”Okay.” David smiled at the both of us then looked at me with a clap of his hands. “My number is next to the phone in your trailer. If you need anything from me, don’t hesitate to call.”

”Thank you David,” you smiled at him then he was on his way. You looked back to Cooper as he gathered the trash from lunch to throw away.

”Come on sweetheart. Your trailer is next to mine.”

When he flashed another bright smile at you and walked to the trash can, the thought of Cooper’s trailer next to yours made you feel heat in your lower belly.You shook your head and tried to stop a few thoughts from flooding. The man got divorced and has been through a lot, nothing would happen between you two. Plus why would anything happen? You just met the man and you already felt a certain attraction to him.

It didn’t help that he was handsome, even with the scruff and slightly long hair, but you did have a slight crush on the man. You had a little thing for his character in ‘A Man and His Dog’. His charm on screen and off screen with his sweet words and actions did make you melt a little every time he spoke, his accent helped as well. Plus his eyes, they wanted you to get lost in them. With the way they shined and were so expressive. You wanted to get to know him better and the thought of spending months together made you giddy with nervousness and excitement.

”Ready to go?”

“Yes sir,” you smiled at him and paused at an emotion that filled his eyes. You didn’t know exactly what it was but as you stood it quickly went away. He offered his arm to you and you took it, intertwining your arms together, placing your hand on his bicep.

Taglist: @danveration , @thespritepepsi

[ray-is-they]

WEDDING AU! SPICYNOODLES!

[I love them both and I'll try my best to explain whats in it from this au]

This whole au lore is gonna take longer than you expect so try well- take notes or try not to get your eyes sore while reading-

Let's talk about:

Designs:

REDSON- So in that wedding- Redson wears a dress and that necklace she's wearing is his mother's ancestory necklace that was passed down on every person that is getting married.

The dress is color white [theres also shades of red ofcourse]

Mei is the one who braided redson's hair

There is a wedding ring from redson's left hand ring finger (not entirely shown because they have ofc lego hands.)

MK- wears a suit that has the color of black

That bandana's design- instead of red from pigsys he's having the color of orange and the two trail colors of green and red that symbolizes the traffic light trio which is mei and redson-

The flower ring he's wearing at his right hand middle finger is mei's promise. It's the promise they both kept about sticking to each other even if they are faraway.

The left hand from him is the wedding ring and the other ring Redson gave him as proposal.

JUST A LITTLE BACKSTORY: The Engagement ring was spoiled from a demon attack that yin and jin have been messing with them. The engagement ring is shown after the box flew off redson's pocket, when Mk saw the box he came into a big realisation that the whole date that was set up was for redson to propose to him.

But now it was accidentally spoiled and ruined redson's whole plan and it made them very upset to the point they almost got out of control with their own power.

When Yin and Jin apologized, Mk let redson propose properly since a while ago was an accident- Mei had to take care of yin and jin (not harmful way she just- took them out on like a snack and released em-) yin and jin had NO idea that redson was planning this.

(Mei talked out the stuff about this to yin and jin to make it clear)

MEI- Mei is known in the wedding as the 'best woman/man' one of those groom's right hand

Her bun tied hair has a trail of red that is aka Redson's color

And on her front bangs were mk's that are orange

At the back of her hair on lose it's supposed to be purple because it's macaque's since he and Mei bonded together like uncle and niece- but i lost my purple marker right there- the earrings designed that were supposed to be green- it was redesigned of having Mk's color since he was marked as the side who never left her

Mei wears a suit [thats already cleared because who does NOT want mei wearing one am i right? She's so girl boss hehe]

ABOUT:

Married [future au]

Redson in the future au- the samadhi fire is now back to his control than having Mei control over it because [I really thought it would be interesting since Mei already has her dragon ancestry powers so redson had his fire ability] there was quite alot of adventure the traffic light trio went through ever since before mk and red got married.

There was a power so strong that could transfer back his samadhi fire and almost took out half of Mei's consciousness thankfully she recovered fast.

Redson can now have full control from his powers now that the samadhi fire is in his control he's more stronger now.

In original human form for redson- he sometimes feel like insides of him are hurting and kinda really itchy for keeping his form in- and he was sometimes shy and thought it would be embarrassing to show his form out to them but when he got too comfortable he shows it- he fully shows the form when his own powers completely lost its temper while fighting a demon.

At the current future au- mk's design is human form when he's outside- and he has the monkey form when inside the fortress

Mk and redson have their own fortress than dbk's because it was their time to move out and probably take care one another-

Mk's bandana is dark red [than the red bandana he originally has from pigsy] and it has the samadhi fire symbol stamped orange color on the left side [my right] and the demon bull horns fused with a monkey logo stamped black on his right [my left]

Mk- The one he's wearing is a plain shirt and a red robe- an extra one for redson's red coat where he usually wears is now attached to his back.

Mk has a permanent black tattoo of a heart on his right arm

Redson has theirs on his left arm.

The two of them made swore to each other that their love is strong and will never give up that easily. And marking by words- this is carved on their arms.

[Love the idea of matching tattoos]

Red's hair is cut short [mk's choice of picking-]

He doesn't wear the usual pants that were violets but it's red and there is orange patterns down.

His horns are grown out not the usually small ones since his powers gotten stronger and the samadhi fire he created that was given to mei was returned to his posession now- he has that cracked [chip?] On his left horn because of a demon attack.

[this was the proposal thing i explained back there- jin accidentally knocked redson off with a strong hit and chipped his horn that he did not meant to do it on purpose]

Redson has that samadhi fire permanently marked red on his right arm- to symbolize that him. Redson is the one who created it.

By the way redson sometimes wears mk's bandana when he tries to train himself for a fight [cuz his hair is on the way lol-]

Mei's design isn't shown on the future au yet but can be shown soon tho- her appearance is fully changed than her personality.

She's still the usual Mei as she was in the past but with memories and experiences of course.

She talks with Pif and Macaque [a headcanon that her and pif were setting on the wedding plan once they agreed to get married]

Mei and macaque talk about how strong mk and redson would be and their child at the future- and not only that- Mei sometimes teases macaque by actually marrying swk lmao-

Mei's hair is longer now- [s3 redson's hair limit when down] but she does a bun and half down hair- her dragon scales is shown from her cheeks and other parts of her body but not much- her outfit that she's wearing is her green jacket [not the one from the show but with the traffic light trio colors] pants are grey than white-

STUFF TO KNOW ABOUT REDSON AND MK'S FUTURE CHILD:

JUST TO TELL SOMETHING! IF YOU KNOW LEGO NINJAGO THEN YOU PROBABLY KNOW KAI!

Anyway the future au kai-

Kai- well we're unsure the fact of wether he's adopted or not that came out of Mk's thing but uh we stuck with not adopted-

Kai shows his true form when in the fortress but not outside where he trains with the rest of his friends [lloyd and the others except nya and master fu]

They both know about him and his parents so he couldnt hide this.

Nya [sister] isn't exactly part of the demonbullkey family but she's shown as a half/step sibling with kai when she comes to his fortress to play games and stuff like how mei and mk normally would do on arcades or monkey king games stuff.

So they stuck up with nya and kai pretending to be actual siblings from the group which master fu also sticked in,

Mk sees nya as mei to him because seeing how nya and kai get together in a platonic sibling like way- shows to him like he was seeing himself and mei in the past.

Redson-on the other- sees Nya [not a distraction] but a strong soldier like- that he would definitely want to adopt lmao but he doesn't say it because he and mk know that nya has parents and they would never adopt her without the parents's approval-

Nya's parents doesn't know about kai's parents but kai's parents knows them- but they never say or talk to her parents because of personal reasons- and especially being the known Monkey Successor and the Dbk's son aka the one who created the samadhi fire.

Redson and Mk talked to Master fu right after kai got in the group and accidentally showed his true form to the master- he was shocked at first- so kai told him that he'll bring his parents to understand some things-

In the end of the conversation masterfu will pretend that kai's parents are normal just like the rest of the groups parents and that him and Nya are siblings.

They didnt manipulate him or anything- masterfu has known the tales and gossips about jttw, the great sage sun wukong, and the new successor, hell even the samadhi fire- redson was the one who created the samadhi fire and samadhi's have many elements which include FIRE written down and there was no way he missed that.

What he didn't know was that the successor and the demon bull prince were courting and got engaged-

Because as far as he knew- sun wukong and Dbk fought before and used to be allies from the brotherhood now that it has been broken- turns out after hearing redson and mk speak about swk and dbk they both made peace and truce allies again- after years of separation since they still consider together as allies-

master fu was still kind of a fan but he doesnt show his energy, he covered up kai's secret and talked things out to them.

One of those- speeches where "ninjas are meant to fight enemies and yada yada stuff" "evil demons such as mortal beings who threats the whole world" which redson sarcastically points to himself saying that he USED to take over the world after freeing his father dbk out- and mk just chuckled-

Master fu arranged his own tone trying not to show that he felt like he offended redson. As he was saying- if kai doesn't do anything such as hurting the group physically meaning it to them then there is no biggie.

Kai clarified to himself that he wanted to join as a ninja to be part of a purpose and be stronger like his parents for the next generation.

This really made a big chance for his life to change and it did. Mk and redson are proud of him honestly.

Like Red was- "my son is grown up and he's stronger than me I'm tearing up" mk in the other is like "we're proud parents, we raised him well"

Kai's demon form:

He shows his true demon form at their fortress, since he's part of the DemonBullKey family he pays his own respect.

Kai has small horns [it was ok since redson used to have small horns as well]

He has bull ears, a monkey mark thing on his face, and a monkey tail.

His power has fire powers. And the other half is Mk's.

Kai has longer hair when he shows his true form.

Now some people question me alot from tiktok about some things:

Why is Nya not part of the DemonBullKey family?

Who is the top or bottom?

Why is it called Demon Bull Key family?

How is SWK and DBK handling this engagement with Mk and Redson?

Are SWK and DBK good with terms now that their sons are both married?

How is Pigsy and Tang?

What about Macaque and Swk's relationship from the future au?

How is Mei since she doesn't have those fun bonds or hang outs with Mk now that the two lives in a fortress and taking care of things?

Is Mei upset?

Is Mei overprotective?

How did she know that they both ended up like this?

Did Macaque knew?

Why headcanon PIF and Mei knowing about Redson and Mk's relationship?

Any reactions when Kai is borned?

Does Kai have a nanny or a babysitter when he was a little baby?

What about bai?

Did redson actually grew a beared?

Do they sometimes get into a fight?

What does redson and mk do now that they live together?

What job does mk work in?

Does he still work as a noodleboy?

Does redson still call him Noodleboy?

Do they both live the same room?

Do the two of them share the same bed?

What answer did mk or redson give to kai when he asked how they both met?

What did mk or redson wear on their first date?

Where was their first date?

How many dates did they take before redson's proposal?

Where did they go on their first date?

Who confessed?

When was the time did redson and mk told the squad that they were both officially dating?

Did the squad and the db family get to eat together while talking about it?

When and where was their first kiss?

Answers:

Nya isn't part of the DBKey family [in my opinion] because I dont find something that would fit on her but just as a step sibling to kai [she has water powers and the dbkey family uses fire and strength]

Mk is mainly top, Redson is bottom. Either of it. Depending on both of their moods- sometimes Red is top and Mk is bottom- theres even times they're both bottoms and both tops at the same time- [doesn't matter]

The reason why it's called DemonBullKey family is because Redson takes the name of their 'Demon Bull' family that was passed down to him. And mk as a 'great successor' of swk he also takes half of the name. [I didnt find the 'monkey' fitting so it's short for Monkey that's why it's called 'Key' only]

Since swk and dbk still stick with eachother they may be sworn brothers but they still treat themselves some respect. It was honestly shocking for them because neither of them knew that they were courting. But at the end they're good and talked things out.

Swk and dbk are in good terms, they promised their sons that they stay strong in the future.

Pigsy and Tang [are married before Redson proposed to Mk btw] they both used to hate redson because back in the days he was trying to KILL Mk for that staff now that redson doesn't want it anymore and helped them with things about defeating lbd or spiderqueen, not to mention when mk told them both about how he saved his, Mei, and Sandy's life from that desert. They approved their courting on one condition, it is to NEVER hurt Mk's life. Redson accepts and said he would protect Mk from his life.

Macaque and Swk's relationship are both taking it slow. They don't want to move fast or anything- so it's better if slow.

Mei is alright, she may not have seen or talked much with mk these days but they both still remember eachother from time to time. Mei has alot of things to do while Mk does to. But she oftenly visits the fortress occassionally or even when they're not doing anything important.

Mei is upset, not to the point that Mk got married and that they both dont see eachother often now. She's upset that things will never be the same again like how it used to be. But she lives on with it.

Back when Redson and Mk officially announced to them that they both are in a relationship, Mei squeals from excitement. She has their full support and warned Redson not to hurt him at all or anything in the future. He has her words.

If you guys remembered S3 and looked back- the first ring of the samadhi fire episode. Seeing the part where mei takes photos of mk hugging redson while he pushes him. And also S2 when Mei heared that he helped mk beat his dad with a smirk. I bet she knew right there that there was a part of redson that she didn't know but have this- chemistry going on with mk all along and continued to develop without them knowing.

Macaque surely knew about this, takes place after S3 Macaque and Mei have their own conversations and said also stuff about mk and redson would possibly get married in the future [which they did] Macaque just smiled knowing that they both will soon.

Theres a reason why. Back in S2 The Skeleton Key episode is the part Redson revealed where Mk lives, and on that location that was shown. I had a hunch Pif suddenly knew because Redson is having an obsession with Mk (based on how much he mentions 'noodleboy' heheh) in S4 at the end of the episode where the Db family and the Mkid Squad are at the beach. Mei and Pif both get to talk about redson and mk's status now, theres also Macaque on the other side who placed bets.

When Kai is born, his form is shown to have monkey tail and small bull ears.

Redson- he got too worried that mk wouldnt make it after he gives birth with kai, but after looking at the baby, he was really really happy and wanted to hug mk so much. [Also kiss him hehe]

Pigsy- he saw the beautiful baby sweet angel and is happy that Kai was born [like any other grandpa who wants grand children-]

Tang- he was glad that Mk didn't pass out- god it took longer. And the baby is adorable for him to look at.

Sandy- he gets to be the one giving the baby some baby bottles for milk because baby kai is just- CUTE

Mei- when mei first carried baby kai in her arms she was in tears of joy and really happy that kai was born in this world, she's proud of her bestfriend.

Swk- swk is shocked [how the baby has mk's features and redson's as well] he is really happy for mk

Dbk- the happier kai was born he wanted to cook meals for kai when redson and mk drops off at the demonbullking fortress. (Like any other grandfather what does to their grandchildren they give them really delicious meal 😋)

Pif- pif's reaction when kai was born, she's like any other bossy mothers who gives anything for her child.

Macaque- his reaction shows less but does enjoy keeping mk company. Even tho mk didnt want macaque here but he did apologize to him a bunch of times.

Nezha- His reaction shows that he is also happy and excited that this would include kai's celebration

Bai- since bai is mk's [lil step sister] bai doesn't see mk much but she talks to them over the phone, she's out for family vacation with her parents and well- doesn't get to visit them much. But bai still considers mk as her big brother, she hopes that baby kai would grow into a strong and a nice person.

And yes! Kai has a babysitter! He has three actually- theres Sandy, then there Mei, but if both of them are busy then theres Tang or Macaque- (honestly who even put Macaque incharge?)

Bai in the future au she's gotten older now and her long hair is still there, she still wears the same headband. When she has free time she goes to Pigsys Noodles to visit, or even talk to Macaque again about how things are going.

Yes, redson grew a beared. It was the part where i posted about- <Me and My Husband> after a few months has passed since the wedding and he started regretting his life decisions. But now him and mk are together everything just- changed. Mk and red had their little talks and they both smiled trying to carry the future on.

They both do get into little fights (not an actual problems) like- "hey im supposed to be the one to cook! Thank you honey" "You're cheating at this game" they sometimes have bigger problems but they still worked it out. It's not good if one of them handles it too much.

Mk does- well- help gardening with Redson, they both share moments and memories together and other stuff. Like a family.

For mk I'm still not sure what job he'd have now that he quit from pigsys noodles.

And no, he doesn't work as a noodleboy not after him and red are married now and moved out from the apartment.

Redson calls him Noodleboy sometimes but mainly he calls them by their real name now that Mk told him his name is Qi Xiaotian. (Sometimes red doesnt feel much of calling mk honey or babe since he doesn't find it soothing to him)

YES they both live in the same room. With a big bed! Theres a side from Mk's and the other side is redson's. There are also pictures of Mk and Redson at the wedding day, and also the day they both were officially dating.

The two of them share the same bed! Who doesnt? Married couples do!

This is actually hilarious, kai asked Mk how him and redson first met. They were at the dining table and redson spat out his drink after he asked that. Mk's reply was also funny! "Well- your dad and I met when I accidentally fell from the top- thats the part where i got the staff and well-' "we both used to be enemies- and that i-" "tried to kill me?" Kai's eye just widened and he was so speechless regretting that question he asked..

Mk and redson were wearing the same outfit that they both wore in s3

Lets say they both took 3-4 dates until redson proposed

The first date is took place on the arcade, mk told redson it was a 'hangout without mei' without him knowing it was a date. Next thing mk told him after was that- it wasn't a hang out and it was a date. This made redson thought about it and he was so dumbfounded.

The second date is before redson confessed his feelings to mk (not the 'i like you' part yet) but he told him how much he felt inside of him from. A long time now, and mk told him he felt rhe same as well.

It was after the second date, when Pigsy asked redson what he has been up to. Taking mk spending his own time with him- pigsy wanted to beat him up. Until mk gathered the squad around together. Mk slowly told them about him and redson's relationship while holding redson's hand. Telling them that they are both in a relationship now. Pigsy is in lost of words he almost fainted, Tang is supportive and also cares about mk's decision. Sandy is highly supportive and mei as well. 'Just dont hurt the lil guy'

Yes, the dinner is held at the demon bull fortress where pigsy and dbk both cook for each others taste. The feast and the conversations were great! And even dbk and pigsy talked about chang e's cooks.

For when, it was at the last episode of S4 where they both were in the beach. Redson and Mk were both playing on the sea until a big wave hit mk and accidentally put force from his whole body into moving towards redson. And then shwala they kissed

I think thats all of the questions, I tried to answer it (not good with grammar but I'm still trying)

Anyway- THANK YOU FOR TAKING YOUR TIME!

FOR READING THIS AU LORE! I REALLY WISH I COULD MAKE MORE! BUT THIS IS ALL I HAVE! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[jewishrizahawkeye]

hello fellow members of the tortured poets department.

apologies for my absence from meeting, was being a little to tortured and not enough poet lately 😑.

but i would like to enter into evidence the songs for the days i missed. because it is late i might combine some songs together if they’re next to each other and if the idea for both over laps.

because of that this post will be analyzing fresh out the slammer and florida!!! but specifically how these songs start to explore more about the “american dream” theme that runs throughout the album. i’ve been waiting until these two songs to fully explore it as florida!!! is well… the most obvious place for me to start.

previous days: fortnight; THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT; my boy only breaks his favorite toys; down bad; so long, london; but daddy i love him

references to america are prevalent throughout the album. this does make perfect sense actually considering taylor had set up home base in london and even wrote songs mentioning certain spots (and even liking a boy from london). so taylor choosing to focus the next album on america and coming home after being away fits very well. taylor spent years away because she was afraid of people and moved to a different country to get away. but when she was left all alone and the relationship ended (so long, london) she had to go back home.

this is what we see in fresh out the slammer. the song feels more like a transition song, ie. moving from one location to the other. the song over all is not one of my favorites on the album as while it is nice i don’t feel like it adds as much depth. though i do think it adds more details to certain things touched on. specifically with taylor personifying london as her former partner transitions a bit to this song as she refers to him as a place and what that place did to her. it’s especially interesting to me seeing her refer to it as a prison at times considering in reputation there was also those motifs too but with fame and she felt more sheltered with her then partner. but now it is shown to be also caging her. she ran from one cage to another to protect herself, which is valid, but is now realizing that instead of seeing it as a safe haven.

the main part i want to focus on the song though is how she refers to her next partner viewing her as “the girl of his american dreams”. this is an interesting line and totally not referencing the 1975 as it paints a very distinct picture. the phrase “the girl of his dreams” means the person he thinks would be the ideal partner. this is shown in the media though as negative or in a overwhelming personification with the “manic pixie dream girl” archetype. so already the phrase is on shakey ground, but there’s nothing wrong with saying a partner is “your dream” partner. it can be a compliment.

however, taylor specifically adding the “american dream” to the phrases changes it entirely. she’s now evoking the idea of the american dream that’s the pull yourself up by your boot straps and end up with a house, a car, a wife, and two kids idea. i’m not going to sit here and dissect THAT cause that’s a whole ass lecture. but taylor saying this man views her as “the girl of his american dreams” is saying that she is the ideal partner to settle down with and start a life with. to have a family and get married. which is also noted on many other tracks as something a partner did to her but never followed through. which is ironically what the american dream is. it’s a lie sold to people to keep working and they can hope for a better future. but in actuality they have to keep working and climbing relentlessly to achieve it and never can reach it.

so by taylor saying she’s the girl of his american dreams, he’s selling her a false narrative that she desperately wants and craves but he has no intention on following through and will just use her until he’s done. it’s a very interesting word choice i really like.

and how that idea connects to florida!!!

florida is probably one of the most notoriously known states in america next texas and new york. it’s a hub for weird stories and hurricanes and just all together a chaotic place. but people still love it. in fact, it’s also another part of the american dream as the idea for a lot of people is to retire in florida after they lived their life. which is why i wanted to combine these two as they flow into each other.

taylor uses florida as both a place physically but also metaphorically (and technically as a person if we view it as the “miracle move in drug”) which ties into her using london as both a place and person. florida is the “state” your in post break up and leans into the chaoticness of the actual state. she uses the wildness that everyone has of florida to describe a post break up high.

there are MANY things she uses to describe this. but let’s first look at her referring to her partner as a “hurricane with her name/i got drunk and i dared it to wash me away/barricaded in the bathroom with a bottle of wine”. hurricanes aren’t a stranger to florida and have done extensive damage to the state. but taylor refers to it as a storm with her name, ie. he was made just for her and in this state he’s out to destroy her because of how much damage their relationship did to her overall. but she acknowledges that she did tempt it, she did let it get this far and she had to drink her way through while hiding just to make it out alive.

but this florida, no one asks for questions about why you hate your ex because no one else in this state cares. in fact, they’ll help you hide the body if you help them. so taylor can throw her former lovers who she considered her home town (a reference to london boy “home is where the heart is, but that’s not where mine lives”/“but god i love the english”) but he never considered her more than a passing guest or her feeling like she was arrested there, because of her love for him and wanting to make it work or him keeping her locked away is open to interpretation. so she’s pissed, she’s running free and wanting to escape it all and is in the one state no one cares because they’re going through hell to and can’t bother to care about you.

in this case taylor is referring to florida as the clarity of post break up and running wild and free. which also does tie back into my previous days post about but daddy i love him as that plays into the classic romance piece of a forbidden love. it’s a very quintessential american idea of trucks through fences and small town elders saying to stay away from the good girl. and taylor even introduces it in fortnight by refrencing florida and “another night lost in america”. she is actively introducing the listener on page one to the idea of her longing to run away from it all and have freedom, but freedom looks different there than in florida.

bdilh->florida!!! just screams the idea of american hopes and dreams and young love. it’s wild and loud and messy and destructive and doesn’t see the future. which then later gets wrapped up somewhat in i hate it here from the anthology tracks. because taylor saying “i’d say the 1830’s but without all the racists and getting married off for the highest bid… nostalgia is a minds trick if i had been there i’d hate it” which can be her acknowledging that the idea this man sold to her and the freedom she fantasized about wasn’t what it actually was and hates it in hindsight.

this post is disjointed, and i apologize, but the idea of the american dream running through has been something i keep going back to on relistens and i wanted to introduce it to the community for discussion. thank you again for letting this be late.

[tooti-fruiti]

(Villainous) Blackhat rant

Blackhat is as old as time and is immortal. He's also retired and this is why he doesn't actually fight anyone and has Flug, Demencia, and 505 take care of everything. (I also believe that the reason he started the organization to begin with is because he got bored and wanted something new to do).

I believe that if it were absolutely necessary (which it probably never will be necessary due to how powerful and strong blackhat is) he would fight someone. He's destroyed countless heroes and has described it as "stepping on ants" and has said that none of them were a challenge to him.

Despite being incapable of love (and hating it actually) I feel like Blackhat has had lovers in the past and will have many more in the future.

Here me out.

I feel like he would use his charm to seduce people into doing what he wants for his own desires and interests, stringing them along to do his bidding all while never having any actual feelings. It's been shown that Blackhat is charming, seductive, and somewhat flirtatious. This doesn't mean that Blackhat feels love however, it's probably out of boredorm.

I feel like this is how Demencia became involved in the organization. What I think happened is Blackhat seduced her at one point and left her soon after. But Demencia being the crazy bitch she is, followed after Blackhat and became a villain just for him. Of course, I think she genuinely enjoys being a villain due to her crazy ass nature but I still think this is how it started. And after she was hired into the organization, she obsesses over Blackhat and annoys him to pieces at times. However, he feeds her obsession at times. Example Number One, at the end of one of the orientation videos, Demencia sets up an entire scheme to kill a hero to impress Blackhat. She returns with the hero's cape and shows it to Blackhat, she then asks if she did a good job. Blackhat then grabs her chin and gets close to her face, making her think that he'll kiss her. But he doesn't do that, instead he just says no and lets go of her. Example Number 2, as seen in the episode with the haunted house, he leans close to her and towers over her as he flicks his tongue out at her calling her dear as well, making her blush horribly. (I would too not going to lie) Those two examples are of Blackhat fueling her obsession. Like adding water to a gas fire. And there's no way Demencia would be this crazy in love and obsessed just by looking at him. He must have done something with her or said something to her to make her act this crazy for him. (Just goes to show how powerful Blackhat's charm is) And on another note, Demencia is so in love with Blackhat that she does anything at his command, such as taking off the wrestler's mask, despite the mask controlling her body.

(See?)

Fun Facts about Blackhat that you may or may not know:

Blackhat has gotten drunk off poison before, so drunk that he started giggling uncontrollably and foaming at the mouth. While he was drunk, he tore up one of his Hat Bot-Sentinals.

Blackhat celebrates Christmas. Probably for the sake of business sales.

Blackhat has conquered the world before. Twice.

Blackhat wears another hat under his hat. Who knows how many hats he wears to hide that bald head.

Blackhat drank brain juice and blood from one of his Hat Bots during the episode with the wrestler's mask.

Blackhat owns a "resort" for henchmen. While it's made to look like a resort, it's made to torture henchmens who are deemed unfit to work anymore, because they're not sent back after they arrive at the resort.

Blackhat also owns a camp for children to grow into villains, and if the children don't come out on top, they die.

This part may or may not be canon, but almost every villain in the cartoon network universe is under Blackhat's rule. (And he has punished and/or killed each villain he reviewed in the orientation videos)

Blackhat knows Villainous is a TV show and uses it as a brainwashing service to dominate the world and turn it all to villainy. (apparently)

Blackhat has blown up planets before.

Blackhat has had other employees before Flug, Demencia, and 505. In one of the orientation videos, it's implied that he threw up on a former employee and it killed them.

Since Villainous is originally in the Spainish dub, Blackhat able and allowed to swear.

We've only ever seen under Blackhat's coat once (during a musical that Demencia preformed when she asked why she loves Blackhat during the Q&A finale orientation video) Blackhat is seen lifting his coat onto his shoulders, but before he does that, we see a wears a long sleeved red polo shirt along with his black tie and grey vest.

Blackhat has torn through his gloves before. But in the new redesign Blackhat got about a month ago when Villainous was getting released on max for the United States, he taps his claws together and you can hear them click together, so he probably doesn't wear gloves anymore.

That's all I can of for right now.

Thanks for reading

I also think Blackhat's hot as fuck-

[goldeneyedgirl]

Hey! @sonyawix

This is an interesting take and I had to consult with the Holder of the Jalice Braincells (@volturialice) to really break this down.

It sounds like the author of that take is kind of more interested in perfect, idealized relationships and might not be a fan of Alice, honestly. Plus SMeyer made a lot of the relationship dynamics in canon a really odd thing - we see all three Cullen relationships as very one-dimensional because of the relationship triptych I've ranted about before.

Because of Alice's backstory and her gift, we know that she's going to be a bit of a weirdo. She's essentially bet everything she has that the pictures in her brain are a path to happiness, that Jasper will make her happy. She has no reference point to interpersonal relationships beyond her visions, she has no memories of humanity; we really aren't shown exactly what level she was functioning at when she woke up. Those 28 missing years would be fascinating in how she built herself into a functional individual, honestly.

She bets everything on Jasper, and I think that shows what an optimistic, determined person she is. She could have gone to the Cullens straight away and probably would have been welcomed warmly - there's nothing in canon indicating that wasn't an option. But for whatever reason, Alice commits to waiting for Jasper. That's loyalty and dedication and love.

Just because their meeting was fated/planned doesn't mean it isn't meaningful.

So Alice seeing Jasper for all those years is not going to necessarily match up with him in real life. It's one thing to know a person has trauma, it's entirely another to meet that traumatized, depressed person. It's one thing to get the greatest hits of the relationship pumped straight into the brain, it's another to have all those small moments, those in-between times.

We know from Jasper's time with Maria that he tends to deify the women he's involved with. He put both Maria and Alice on a pedestal. That's just how he loves and commits - fully and totally. His 'hyperfocus' on Alice is a sign of how much he loves and treasures her. I honestly don't think it would have mattered how or when they met, Jasper would have treated her the same - the most precious thing he has.

We also know that Jasper has spent the best part of one hundred years in a high-stress environment where nothing was guaranteed. He didn't trust Maria at the end. So being introduced to someone who could tell him which path would be safe? Where there was no risk or fighting? I think that would be an incredible support for Jasper. I imagine in the early days, he'd probably ask Alice to check the future more than necessary because of his PTSD. And I can imagine Alice checking every time he asked, and going over all the details with love and patience.

And we know that Jasper does go against her wishes - he disagreed with her decision to return to Forks when Alice thought she had died, and Alice went alone (side note, if Jasper had gone with her, there was an opportunity for a lot of Eclipse set up right there.)

As for dehumanizing all her relationships, Alice is very distinctively trying to help throughout the series. It might be over the top, and it might not go to plan, but all of her visions and guidance are meant to help the people she loves. Alice has never known life without her sixth sense, so of course she uses it like we use our five senses. Does it give her a God-complex? Yes. Do I think it's meant to be more of a nod to Meyer's insistence on calling her a 'pixie' and utilizing fae imagery since fairies in lore are supported to love helping? Absolutely.

I think it's pretty disingenuous to say that people are 'ideas' to Alice when she was changed and abandoned. It's more likely that Alice is more intensely aware of what makes them happy so that they all stay together and she's not left alone again. If she didn't see people as people, but as chess pieces, then she wouldn't have go to see Charlie when she thought Bella was dead; she wouldn't have gone to Volterra to save Edward; she wouldn't have taken Jasper with her to find the hybrid.

So yeah, I disagree pretty strongly with this because it feels more like a way to minimize and dismiss Alice and her relationship with Jasper. But this is just my take on the character, and I'm sure there are dozens of different readings and interpretations out there!

[colossal-niamh]

ok, so I've been keeping up with the new Ultimate Universe line Marvel started this year. the last of the initially announced books, Ultimates, starts next month so before it does I wanna get my opinion on the other books out there. so I'm going to list them from least favorite to favorite. I like all of these books so far but I definitely like some more than others Black Panther- I think the only thing holding this one back rn is it feels like the book's in a build up stage where it's setting up the board to do interesting stuff soon, but unlike the other two it hasn't done something that really grips me yet. I do really like the dynamics they've established, the twists on Moon Knight and Kilmonger are really cool, and Storm has my favorite redesign out of all the ultimate books so far X-Men- this was my least favorite until issue three where they delve into Mei a bit and the cliffhanger introducing the concept of mutants into the Ultimate universe. before that I thought the setup was fine but the thing keeping me on board was Peach Momoko's art style. her soft, expressive illustrations and great water color work make this the most visually interesting book out of the three so far. admittedly everyone who's shown up so far are character's I'm unfamiliar with (I'm not very well versed in the X-Men side of the comics) and I don't know if they're doing some cool subversion that's going over my head so if I am let me know Spider-Man- This one's my favorite by a long shot. This series is doing the most interesting twists on the formula, the most interesting takes on the Spider-Man supporting cast, and probably the best Peter's been in comic form in like, years. I adore Ben and JJ's news startup subplot and using the setup of this universe as a metaphor for how younger generations feel their future has been stolen is so good. each issue has had something that made me out loud go "that's so clever!" and I love it for that

Overall I'm really enjoying what this new Ultimate universe has to offer. I'm not the type of comic fan who keeps up with books week to week but I'll be damned, this line got me to do it. Can't wait to see what's in store.

[we-love-morioh-cho]

Chapter 58 - Kaato's Return

I try to avoid long, speculating posts for my Jojolion liveblogging BUT Chapter 58 has my mind racing with ideas and I'm so excited for the Higashikata family drama that I need to get this out of my system. This single chapter has more character intrigue to me than other entire parts of Jojo, that's how much I love this stuff 😭

This post is really, really long and messy and probably more headcanon than actual analysis and will not be very polished. It'll likely age poorly and be very wrong but this is legit some of the most enjoyment and interest this franchise has ever given me. To avoid spamming the tags, I'm shoving a lot of ideas into this single post so I apologize in advance.

Kaato

One thing I've had spoiled about Kaato is that she isn't the main villain but that everyone wanted her to be. So I'm already really excited for her character but I'm not sure what to expect. Given how Jojo is written, I'm expecting there to be more to the child murder. Her intro referenced Jolyne a lot, soooo I'm thinking she was pressured by someone / set-up.

Maybe I'm just falling for her scheme like I did with Damo, but her grief and pain here feels genuine to me. If there is more to the murder, then this is a tragic situation for Kaato - she was separated from her children and has been iced out of her own family. There must be a reason she could never tell them the truth too, maybe she's still in danger?

This series tends to neglect mothers in the narrative so I'm enjoying their focus in Jojolion, plus there's some sort of parallel with Holy being established. I'm trying really hard not to stan her before knowing the full story in case it's absolutely fucked up but god is she iconique. I'll talk about her in passing in other character's sections, there's already A LOT to say and already she is a very high tier character to me.

Josuke and Kei

Poor Josuke man.....I was not expecting the hospital scene and it really got to me 💔 I'm so glad Jojo has been exploring it's protags' internal lives more in later parts, I would say since Jolyne it's felt more introspective and emotional. I'm glad poor Josuke is getting to have his grief explored and shown, it makes the storytelling so much more impactful to me at least. I must ask why Kei wasn't at the hospital, surely she must know of Holy's condition and should be involved too. Have her and Josuke even really spoken since early Jojolion? I need more of Kei as Holy's condition becomes more and more important.

What on Earth does Josuke feel seeing Kaato show up? We don't get an answer in this chapter BUT I am hoping him and Kaato will interact in the future and this will be brought up. There's just a lot of directions to go with this dynamic and I hope we get it explored. He was pretty passive during Kaato's scene, I kept hoping she would point him out and question his presence but fair enough. Also, it was interesting how him and Kei were the two outsiders during this scene - as their mother is dying, the mother of the Higashikata family appears and is clearly involved with Jobin who is also vying for the miracle cure that they need too. Crazy potential here with these characters.

Norisuke

Not to be a Kaato apologist already but I have some things to say about this man. I'm assuming that, if there is a deeper secret to the murder, he's unaware of it, but I really have to ask why Kaato wouldn't tell him?

I get that telling your two youngest kids that their mother was in jail for killing a child would be rough but GODDDDD he couldn't even tell them when they got older or at least keep his story straight? Also, evidently Jobin and Hato never told their siblings about their mother - how did that conversation go? Norisuke had to be the one to enforce that rule and I'm sure it was not an easy process.

Did Norisuke ever talk to his eldest children about their mother leaving? Because with how Hato phrases it, it seems like he brushed it all under the rug. And while it's obviously sad the two young ones never knew about her, imagine what the two eldest kids felt having known her then watching her be dragged away????? He never even showed the little ones a photo of her, that is insane and just next level to me. Was Kaato's crime not widely discussed in the town? How did neither Joshu or Daiya ever hear about it somehow?

This section originally spiraled into a HUGE theory / headcanon / speculation discussion on how the Kaato situation might've led to a divide in how the eldest siblings and youngest siblings were raised, but I'm gonna wait on that thought until I know more and give it it's own post in the future sometime.

Jobin

Jobin was a pure menace this chapter and I fucking loved it. He really let his convicted-murderer mother into his family's house, didn't inform anyone of her release, and shows up as soon as she leaves to casually drop that he orchestrated this whole thing. And then he rocked up like this -

I'm guessing he watched / listened to the whole ordeal from afar and just chose to watch the chaos? I have a lot of thoughts and theories about how Jobin views his younger siblings and this chapter doesn't help lol. Why did he do this? What did he gain from this? Absolute deranged menace behavior lmao

I'm now thinking that Jobin and Norisuke's issues with each other may have originated from Kaato. Jobin is clearly close with mommy dearest and seems to take her side over his dad's. I'm not.......the biggest fan of potentially blaming Kaato for Jobin's issues and I hope this isn't just an 'evil mother turns son against poor father' situation because I am not a fan of that trope.

Kaato briefly mentions that she's helped the family's success so I'm wondering if she is behind Jobin's philosophy of advancing the family's greatness beyond Norisuke's smaller ambitions. You know that other trope of women in patriarchal systems using their cunning and male relatives to exercise great power from the shadows, a la Agrippina and Nero? Yeah.

Anyway, him and Kaato are obvs scheming and I am so fucking keen and ready - Jobin has been a great antagonist so far and I am here for the fucked up mother-son team taking on Norisuke. The Higashikata family drama has hooked me from day one and I really enjoy the focus on their dynamics. Norisuke's final line this chapter is incomplete as he ponders something about Jobin, I love the mystery set-up with what could be going on. I adore how character-driven this story is and how personal the stakes are - I've ALWAYS wished the series explored the Joestar family more in-depth and, while it's obviously different, this part is making me veryyyyy happy with the Higashikatas. A++++ content for me and Jobin remains both compelling and really fucking funny.

Daiya

Not too much to say but this shit is so sad to me. Her entire life, Daiya's father and two eldest siblings never told her about her mother, to the point she seems surprised to even have one? Maybe this is just meant to be a joke about her being dumb / she's more surprised her mother is alive but still. Norisuke couldn't show her a photo, or give her closure or anything? A memento to think of her? Even a story so she could at least know something positive about her own mother who she surely must have wondered about before?!?! Norisuke is on thin fucking ice istg.

I could easily see Daiya latching onto Kaato moving forward and maybe even taking her side over Norisuke. Ofc she loves her dad but she's also a teenager finding out this critical bit of info has been hidden from her her entire life and is clearly so, so excited to have a mum 💔 Imagine how impactful it would be if Kaato managed to win over 2 of their 4 kids, the eldest and the youngest? I don't wanna get into speculating too much though.

Also - it was very sweet to me how Daiya was the one person who tried to approach Kaato and clearly wanted to help her up when Joshu tripped her. Regardless of Kaato's trustworthiness, I just thought that was very sweet of Daiya even if it maybe was naive 🥺

Joshu

Hate him and need to see him die rn. Kaato was completely justified and very based for attacking him and I hope she kills him with her bare hands. Literally the dinner table scene from Hereditary. What the fuck kind of parenting does Norisuke even do? Kaato's here for 5 minutes and puts Joshu in his place, while Norisuke just seems annoyed by him and has nothing to really say about him sexually assaulting Kaato in front of the entire family.

I don't want to imply that a strict mother would entirely fix Joshu's issues but holy shit, at least she would actually do something to discourage his behavior besides sighing and looking embarrassed. Is Joshu the way he is, in part, because Norisuke is a lousy dad who has implicit biases and an acceptance of his son's horrific behavior? Maybe. In an alternate world, could Kaato have whipped him into shape growing up and saved us all? I can dream.

Hato 👑

Fuck!!!!! I love Hato sm and am so so so happy she got a little spotlight this chapter 🥺. Initially this post was just gonna be about her because I'm in my Hato-obsession era so hard rn, but I had too much to say about everyone else. This will be a long section so I saved it for last but I will def return to some of these ideas when I've finished Jojolion.

From a writing standpoint, Hato is so valuable in this chapter. She fulfills a role that really no other character could and its cool to see - Hato is the only character who could realistically convey info to Josuke, and therefore the audience, about Kaato. The parents are too caught up arguing with each other and wouldn't want to tell the whole room about the murder. So who; a) knows about Kaato and her actions and b) has a good enough relationship with Josuke to convey this info to him? Hato. And what's cool is that Josuke knows this.

Josuke is perceptive enough to realize that Hato recognizes this woman and quietly asks her who she is. Despite how personal and emotionally-difficult this moment would've been for Hato, she opens up and tells him (and thus the audience) this family secret.

This next point is probably a bit more fanfic than analysis, but Hato would easily be the closest person to an ally Josuke has in the Higashikatas besides his complicated dynamic with Norisuke. It's really understated and maybe not even intentional, but Josuke and Hato logically should trust each other.

Jobin and Joshu just have an all-out antagonistic relationship with Josuke and have actively clashed with him multiple times. Josuke is on good terms with Daiya and Tsurugi, but not only did both begin by attacking Josuke, but they are both young and cannot always fulfill an equal role to Josuke because of this. Mitsuba and Kaato are currently unknowns, leaving Hato.

Unlike Norisuke, Hato has never antagonized Josuke. She has never gone after someone he cares about and, critically, is uninvolved in her family's shady stuff. She's not in the position to hide vital info from Josuke or scheme against him. All around, Hato seems pretty pleasant honestly and doesn't ever hurt others the way her siblings all seem to do - her eccentricities are harmless and Josuke doesn't judge her the way he judges other characters. In a house full of shady and bombastic people, I can see Josuke really appreciating Hato (Kei should really fulfill this role too).

In the Vitamin C arc, he specifically wants her permission before he kills Damo. Josuke can be ruthless at times, Damo is actively killing the family and it would be very justified for him to just kill the guy BUT he waits for Hato's approval. To me, that really says something - that he respects and likes Hato enough to go out of his way to consult her. Then, Hato and Josuke work together to defeat Damo, both using their stands to overcome Vitamin C. And Josuke's words on Damo being a threat and needing to be defeated helps Hato in her emotional journey - helps her reach the point where she fights back.

They're paired together a lot in this chapter and it's sweet seeing Josuke actually have a nice and healthy bond with someone in this goddamn family 😭 They really play off each other in a compelling and dynamic way, they're open to what the other says and they just generally seem to be on the same wavelength. I just see endless potential in them working together and getting along and maybe becoming like actual siblings and I hope we see more because I can see The Vision and I love them.

Focusing back on Hato, I desperately need to see more of what her childhood was like. What was her and Kaato's relationship? The only thing Kaato says to / about Hato is that she's "as beautiful as ever" and then a little quirk she had as a child. This doesn't give us a lot so I don't have a clear idea of their dynamic outside of wild headcanon. More importantly, Hato knows her mother well enough to anticipate her retaliation against Joshu. This makes me think that maybe Kaato was a stern mother who never took any disrespect and that she potentially had her stand even in Hato's childhood. There's so much potential here but it's too early to know anything.

While I know it likely stems from Araki not really intending for Hato to be a major character, from a Watsonian perspective it amazes me that Hato is as well-adjusted as she seems to be. The amount of disruption she faced as a child, losing her mother and then having her father give conflicting info is insane. Again, how did she rationalize all of this?

And then, worse of all, for her to have to look up her mother's crimes herself and find out about the murder herself - I am begging for a flashback to that event. Did she confront her father? Was Norisuke ever planning on breaking the news to her? Did she ever talk to Jobin about the crime?

I'm not gonna dwell on this too much, but this reveal makes the lack of Jobin + Hato moments so far really stand out. With their father having to raise the young ones and trying to brush everything under the rug, did the 2 eldest siblings ever confide in each other? It doesn't seem like it, their large age gap and Jobin's shadiness around Kaato gives me little hope Hato could find much solidarity with him but I might be wrong. I would love to have a scene of the 2 talking about this or really just interacting in a meaningful way.

This is much more fanfic-y and is my feminist lens coming in, but I can't help wondering if Hato took on a sort of 'motherly' role after Kaato's arrest. I'm not saying Norisuke like demanded she help raise her siblings buuuuuuuut I could see societal expectations and their family's situation causing Hato to take on this role regardless. Jobin was nearly an adult when Kaato left and seemed to go off and start his own family / pursue his own ambitions. He doesn't seem very close with his siblings and, with how much Norisuke has on his plate, I could see some responsibility and expectation falling onto Hato's shoulders. A maid could've helped but it is unfortunately a thing that eldest daughters in a family are burdened with these duties even when older sons are in the family. And with her mother gone and her male relatives set to run the family business, it just feels very likely. Would the eldest daughter even have a chance to run the business?

Hato is close with her younger siblings, she playfully teases Joshu and looks out for Daiya. While she has her own quirks, she is generally much more mature and responsible than most of her family. As the inheritor of the family curse and the business, a lot of focus would've been on Jobin growing up. Norisuke wanted to act like Kaato never existed and Jobin is distant, clearly knowing more. Hato would've been the primary female figure in both Daiya and Joshu's upbringings, she had to lie to them and keep the secret of Kaato for their entire lives. But she's not included in all the other secrets of her family, she's left out of a lot of subplots and the idea of her being involved in the business is never even suggested. Most likely, she'll remain a minor character, but god would I love for all of these intricacies to be explored. There's just sooooooo much juicy potential here, so much family drama and character arcs and social commentary and thematic stuff here and I know I'm overthinking this but idc I love Hato and her unique role in the story and this chapter has really opened my mind to a lot of ideas and possibilities.

Lastly, I just wanna point out Hato's current feelings towards Kaato and how she seems to be distancing herself from her mother. She seems distrusting and literally looks down on here in the panel above - please God give us some interactions between these two, I am so intrigued to see more of what Hato thinks about her. If there is more to the story of Kaato allegedly killing a kid, how will the family react if it comes to light? I hope we see lots more family drama and I am begging for more Hato focus especially, love her so much.

[science-lings]

I know the Zelda series has received fair amount of criticism (some justified) for its titular character often playing the role of the false in distress, but I particularly find complaints about TOTK’s Zelda being “damseled/fridged/sidelined/wasted potential” all because she sacrifices herself to save Hyrule a tad unfair. Most of these complaints come from people who expected her to be playable or at least an in-game companion, but I thought the sacrifice scene was effective and didn’t feel like a disservice to her character or arc. If anything, I felt respect as well as sadness for her because of her decision. What are your thoughts?

First off, I like Zelda's story in totk, I don't see her as a damsel in distress or a meek little princess who didn't do anything to push the plot forward, she was definitely involved in everything that happened in the past, she fought alongside the other Sages and set them up to be able to pass on their secret stones in the future, her sacrifice was the reason Link could defeat Ganondorf and I found the scene where she swallowed the secret stone incredibly powerful.

That being said, I am disappointed that we didn't get more with her, it was probably too much to hope for her to be a playable character in the past but it would've been incredibly cool to really get to experience how Hyrule was before it was founded and the characters we are supposed to care for.

I also don't think Zelda needed another impactful moment where she sacrifices herself for her kingdom. It wasn't some deep development of her character, aside from her feeling like she had a reason to be accidentally teleported into the past. We already know that Zelda is devoted to her kingdom, she already spent one hundred years alone fighting the calamity for her kingdom and all throughout totk, she's praised for being a humble, kind, inspirational person who people are proud to call their princess. Everyone loves her, to the point where when a doppelganger went around being an asshole, everyone was either so trusting of her that even when she did things that would normally start a war, they gave her the benefit of the doubt.

Making Zelda sacrifice her life, or what she assumed would be her life, for the wellbeing of her kingdom in the future, is incredibly in character, but not necessary to make the point that she is selfless and utterly devoted to her kingdom. We already knew she was selfless. and utterly devoted to her kingdom.

It feels like since botw her character has become slightly more bland, she's not really fiery anymore or shown to be anything other than a pleasant and calm presence. It's what made Ganondorf's puppet seem so unbelievable. If she was still shown to be a little snappy and have a little bit of an attitude, the whole sequence where there's an evil Zelda out there would've been more impactful IMO.

I don't think that her sacrifice was a waste, I'm really glad that she got her happy ending, though I think it would've been interesting if being a dragon for thousands of years could've left at least some kind of mark on her, but I feel like that's an idea that is explored enough in the fandom that it doesn't bother me that nindendo didn't really do anything with it.

Overall, I was really invested in her story and I was more interested in looking for her geoglyphs than many other main quest things. (though I did get one of the ones a little early that I definitely should've not seen as early as I did, but I was still really emotionally invested anyway) and the moment the truth was revealed, I ran to her, because I missed her, and I love her, and I was being led to believe that she never got her happy ending.

[lieutenantselnia]

🦅🧸😺

Thanks for the ask! I'm going to answer these questions for different f/os depending on who comes to my mind first :)

🦅: How good are their friends at being wingmen? Do they even help at all or just sit back watching the pining with a bag of popcorn?

Going to answer this for Davy! I could probably come up with scenarios for the others as well but I also don't want to let you wait too long with answering the questions😅 The first person that starts to notice that something is going on between Davy and Selena is Davy's trusted first mate Maccus. Although he and Selena initially don't like each other very much, he notices that her presence seems to be good for Davy. He's probably the closest to what could be considered a friend of Davy, and he isn't opposed to the thought of having a more hopeful outlook on the future, given that his captain has been wallowing in grief for decades and dragging the crew along with him. He'd probably try to set Selena and Davy up so they "coincidentally" run into each other more often than they would otherwise, ideally in situations where no one else is around and they can talk in peace. Over time, he would luckily also start to warm up to Selena herself and they would become friends. He's the first to find out about it once they actually are a couple. Davy would want to keep things private for a while, until he's convinced that Selena truly loves him and he's not just dreaming. Some of the other crew members might already have had suspicions by that time. Their surprise varies, but they end up being relatively content with it, as Davy being more happy means that he'd also be less cruel towards them, and would make their existence as cursed crew members more bearable.

🧸: Would they want to have kids together? If so what are their kid(s) like? How are they as parents?

Ohh I'm so happy I got this question, I love rambling about my fankids! I'm actually going to answer this for all of my main f/os <3

Starting with Selina and Heinz, they definitely want to have kids! It's an important part to their life and relationship. Their firstborn is a daughter named Elena. She's similar to both of her parents, but takes a little more after her father, she has his passion for science and inventing, but can also be a bit chaotic or impulsive. I'm not fully decided on how many kids they're going to have, I'm kind of going back between two, three and four😅 I want them to have many children but I also want the kids to have personalities and not be completely bland. At the moment I'm settled with three; their second child is a son named Oscar (I'm not 100% sure about the name yet though). Most of the time he's a more calm and rather easy-going child (at least when he's little; I mostly imagine their family at a time when the kids are still rather young, but it would be fun to explore how they're going to be like when growing into teenagers and young adults). He loves animals and playing with his sister, even though like all siblings they bicker and fight at times. Their youngest is daughter whom they name Catherine (not fully decided on that name either, I just feel like it should be something with C). She's taking a lot after her mother and is a very shy and dreamy kid. She has a strong interest in music; she always loves listening to her mother playing the piano (it's one of Selina's hobbies, she's not a professional though, just self-taught), and once she's old enough, she tries playing by herself and shows to be surprisingly good at it even at a young age already. Somehow I like to think that maybe she was a surprise baby😅 Selina and Heinz didn't intentionally plan to have another child when they found out that Selina was pregnant again, however they didn't mind in the slightest and were in fact very happy to welcome another kid into their family. They love all their kids very much and would do about everything for them. Heinz has already shown to be a very sweet and loving father with his daughter Vanessa (from his previous marriage), and he's just the same with his other kids. Vanessa herself is probably a young adult by the time Selina and Heinz are a couple, so she isn't around all the time, but she also loves her younger half-siblings and enjoys visiting them, and they in turn look up to her. All in all their loving and worry-free family life is a big mental safe space for me and even though they're not real, I love my made-up kids very much💕

For Selena and Hector, it might take a bit of convincing from her side. Hector isn't opposed to the thought of having kids, but being a pirate, his life is often dangerous and uncertain, and he wouldn't want to leave her behind alone with little children to take care of in case something happened to him. Also he would be worried about making life harder for them if they're being associated with a pirate as their father. They probably end up with one or two children of their own, depending on the timeline they may also search for Carina to reunite her with her father and give her a proper family, raising her along with her younger half-siblings. I haven't developed their relationship as much yet so I'm not quite sure about the names and personalities of their children. I feel like they're probably going to have a girl and a boy. Hector would teach his children many things he knows, from navigating and sailing a ship to handling a sword or flintlock. He'd probably be rather protective of them, but would also want them to be able to defend themselves. He tends to show it more in private, since he wants to avoid making them a target for his enemies, but he loves his family very much.

Lastly, for Selena and Davy, their first child is definitely a surprise. Due to the curse, neither her nor Davy himself were sure if he was still able to father any children until the time they actually found out she was pregnant. It was probably for the better, since Davy would be very worried. Would the curse affect his child - or his pregnant wife - negatively? (On a side note, I'm not sure if Selena is under the curse as well at that time, she originally joined the Dutchman's crew, but Davy would most likely relieve her from her debt later on out of love. I should probably make an extra post sometime talking about how the curse could effect their relationship and family life.) Would the child even be able to love him or just see him as a monster? His worries only start to fade once their little daughter (for whom I don't have a name yet at this point) is born and doesn't show any signs of discomfort around him, just love and affection. He starts becoming more at ease with holding and taking care of her. He's probably going to have his beard tentacles pulled a lot during the times she's a baby and toddler, but he could never be mad at her. It would make his heart melt when he realises that she doesn't merely tolerate him, but actually looks up to him as her father and loves him just as he is. He'd probably tear up when she drapes her braids over her mouth to imitate his beard tentacles, and proudly declares that she looks just like her father now (I've had this scene in my head for a while now and it's just the cutest I need to draw it at some point🥺). At this point, Selena might also be able to eventually convince him to give their daughter a little sibling as well.

🐱: Do they have pet names for each other, if so what are they? How does their partner feel about their pet name?

Going to give a quick answer for all of my mains for this one here! I want to mention though that I have actually no idea how I'd feel about pet names in real life, or if I'd use any for my partner if I had one. It might also be a language thing, I think in English I'm much quicker to use pet names than in German (maybe also because they're a good name replacement in x reader stories). Idk if I somehow find them too corny in German or maybe just don't really know which words I'd use for them since I usually write and even think about my f/os in English.

Heinz and Selina would probably use words like "darling", "(my) dear" or "love" for each other. Heinz would probably use a greater variety of words, also throwing in things like "sweetheart", "honey" or others, while Selina tends to stick to her favourite endearments most of the time. Hector would call Selena things like for example "m' lady" or "m' dear". Before they became a couple he'd also refer to her as "lass" or "lassie", when he was flirting with her he'd sometimes put a "my" beforehand. Selena would call him things like "my dear", "my love" or also "my captain" (the latter one probably particularly if she were either to tease him a little, or she wanted to be a bit seductive in a more intimate situation). Davy's most used endearment would probably be "my love", but he'd also use others, like "my dear", "my darling" or "my beloved". Selena would use mostly the same ones for him. One thing that he loves in particular though, is when she calls him "my Davy". The thought that she loves him so much to call him hers, and hers only, makes his heart melt. In turn, he'd also refer to her as "my Selena".

[fiberflxwer]

"Oh, Celica! You're back! Gosh, how long has it been? I've missed you so much! Alm left Ram. Did you know that? Just up and LEFT! I'm so desperately lonely... Anyway, I thought about going after him just to teach him a lesson, but I didn't. I'd probably get killed by some foul beast out there on my own, you know? Hey, wait... Are you on a journey or quest or whatever? Then maybe I could go with you!" - Celica recruitment quote

[ setting the scene | Still accepting! ]

[ Oooo this is a crazy good one >:)

Now it's hard to get an exact solid grasp on this moment - being optional, reading nothing like an actual conversation with Celica, circumstances being heavily dependent on player action (ignoring Faye outright, ignoring Faye & Kliff, speaking to and denying Faye, etc.), but it says a lot about her general goals and mindset at the time.

Moreover, there is no goal or mindset. She just wants to get to Alm, and currently Celica is the one answer that she has.

Look at it this way: her recruitment dialogue contains next to no context to why Alm left or what his purpose in leaving is. Likewise, Faye does not push for more details on Celica's reason for travel. While it can just be a result of the one-sidedness of an optional recruit, I'd say it shows where Faye's true intentions lie in traveling. She was never in it for saving her country, the money, or seeing the land; she only has Alm on the mind.

Her hesitance to go outside of Ram is even shown here, in the line, "I'd probably get killed by some foul beast out there on my own, you know?" I like the choice of "foul beast" over something more realistic, when she should be aware that a civil war is active right outside of her doorstep. It really paints that she's in her own world when it comes to wanting to leave Ram Village.

To go back on that Celica train of thought real quick: Celica as a whole is a connection I want to spend more time working out, but this hypothetical scenario still presents an interesting base for it. This might again be a by-product of a one-sided interaction, but the way Faye delivers "missing you so much" sounds just...a little spiteful to me. Peeking into the future in Act 3 for a moment, look at (what is probably) the only other time Celica is mentioned by Faye post-Prologue:

Faye: You can’t expect Celica to understand what’s going through your head. Only someone who’s been with you the whole time could ever truly understand. Someone who knows you so well she thinks exactly as you do. [SoV Faye Base Conversation 2]

Sure the circumstances are a bit different, being after Alm and Celica's fight, but Faye's resolve is clear. She doesn't see Celica being worthy of Alm's love, as she does not understand him as much as Faye does. To her, Celica is a girl who just went up and left when they were a lot younger and nothing more. She doesn't want to even consider the priestess as worth Alm's time, seen as the focus of Alm in both the base conversation and here is Faye's relation to him.

At this moment, Celica is seen as a means to an end for Faye, one that is picked more for safety rather than comradery. Not to say that she does not see Celica as a friend whatsoever, but I doubt they have much to really talk about. Especially after Celica continues her pilgrimage. ]

[jackiestarsister]

OUAT Rewatch: Season 2

Possible spoilers for future seasons are noted in parentheses.

Episode 2x01 “Broken”

~ The first time I saw this episode, I did not realize that the opening scene was part of it, because it starts in such an ordinary, mundane setting outside of Storybrooke or the Enchanted Forest. It is only when the bird shows up with the Storybrooke postcard that it becomes clear that this is that story.

~ I’m quite confused about the timeline of Maleficent and Aurora’s relationship, given what they say about each other and what is shown in later seasons.

~ Although a tearful reunion might have been expected, Emma’s reaction to her parents makes complete sense. It’s weird and awkward because she has been carrying mixed feelings about her parents her whole life, and they’ve turned out to people she has already spent time with, and even considered friends/family.

~ Snow/Mary Margaret is right that they have lot to talk about, but she could have at least waited until they were alone before trying to initiate that catching-up conversation.

~ Dr. Frankenstein being the one to lead an angry mob is quite ironic!

~ Why/how does Gold have a selection of women’s clothing in his shop? Does he sell secondhand clothes too? That’s a funny scenario to imagine, if people come to his shop like it’s a boutique!

~ Mary Margaret improvising a blowtorch = badass!

~ Why does Regina play ignorant when Jefferson is mentioned?

~ How/when did Gold learn that the wraith was gone and Regina survived? Did anyone tell him?

~ Mary Margaret did the opposite of Gold when her child was being sucked into a portal to another world. He clung to the world he was comfortable in, whereas she leapt in to follow her daughter into the unknown.

~ While it is sad to see them separated from Emma and Snow/Mary Margaret, it is really nice to see David and Henry finally spend time together during this half of the season.

~ This episode is pretty confusing as far as the flashbacks/flashforwards go. Did the Land Without Magic storyline happen before the Enchanted Forest storyline?

Episode 2x02 “We Are Both”

~ Considering Emma and Snow/Mary Margaret have been kind of the main protagonists of the first season, it’s interesting to see an episode where they are absent for the most part.

~ Flashback Regina has a tree-shaped pendant, probably an homage to her apple trees!

~ Gold says that portals are outside his purview, but he knew how to get his hands on the looking-glass in this episode.

~ Gold uses “love” as a term of endearment before Hook ever does!

~ It looks like Henry has been prepared for a quick getaway for a while; or maybe he used the same method to sneak out on past occasions.

~ The cycle of a child becoming like the parent they hate is on full display in this episode. Regina stops Henry from running away the same way Cora stopped her from running away.

~ It’s amusing to see Sebastian Stan and Josh Dallas in scenes together, knowing they play very different types of characters in their respective Marvel movies!

~ I wonder what David would have done if he knew what Jefferson did to Mary Margaret and Emma last season.

~ I hope Ruby or some other townsperson eventually told Snow/Mary Margaret about David’s speech. She would have been so proud!

~ Where did Emma leave David’s sword after fighting Maleficent, and how did he get it back?

~ David and Henry sipping their drinks in unison is adorable, and the shot of them sitting together at the counter looks like Norman Rockwell's painting "The Runaway"!

~ Introducing present-day Cora at the end after seeing all the flashbacks is excellent. The audience spends the episode thinking that the flashback storyline was simply illustrating Regina’s past, but it was actually setting up for the future.

~ This is the first of three episodes that shows one of the main characters fighting a villain in the past, and then revealing that villain as a present contender at the end of the episode. First it’s Cora, then King George, then Hook.

Episode 2x03 “Lady of the Lake”

~ Parent-child relationships are a focal point of this show, but this episode really zones in on mothers: Snow most of all, as she gets to act as a mother to Emma for the first time; Ruth, as she meets her daughter-in-law and sacrifices for her family’s future; and Cora as she plots to reunite with her daughter.

~ Cora uses an apple idiom to describe Regina! It’s such an ordinary phrase, it’s easy to miss, but with Regina’s connection to apples, it is kind of hilarious!

~ King George using a potion to sterilize an enemy is really horrendous.

~ It’s beautiful to see that Ruth and Snow had a meaningful and positive relationship despite only having a short time to be together. Unlike in many other meet-the-parents stories, they love and respect each other right away. That really only makes sense given that one of them raised David and the other fell in love with him.

~ It’s amusing to see Snow White and Princess Aurora, two classic Disney princesses, fighting hand to hand!

~ Did the group camp for the night as they originally said they would, or did they press on to reach the castle that night?

~ Henry is kind of like Emma in this episode: he has been so used to operating alone that he continues to do so when he wants to check out Regina’s vault.

~ This is the first time Henry reveals the more selfish desire underlying his original goal of getting Emma to break the curse: he wants to be part of the fairy-tale world and be a hero.

~ A possible clue to my question about the other worlds’ religions: most of the Enchanted Forest characters say “gods” as an interjection, but Lancelot refers to “God in His mercy.” Of course, it would make sense for Camelot to be a Christian land, since the Knights of the Round Table famously seek the Holy Grail, which Lancelot alludes to during the wedding ceremony.

~ I hope Snow tells Emma at some point about how she’s indebted to Ruth and Lancelot for her life.

~ Snow and Charming’s music motif sounds so sad as Snow leaves the nursery!

~ Cora does what Rumplestiltskin does, bottling ingredients for magic to use in the future.

~ The final scene uses the same cinematography device twice, having a character watch other characters interact from a distance while sitting in a car.

~ Henry moves as though he has already done some sword-fighting!

Episode 2x04 “The Crocodile”

~ This may be the first episode in which Emma, Snow, and/or Regina are completely absent.

~ Evidence of Milah’s drawing ability can be seen throughout the episode. When Rumplestiltskin enters his family’s home, a drawing of a desert island can be seen pinned on a wooden beam. When they return, a sheaf of them can be seen on a table. It seems Milah had been daydreaming about her getaway for a while. (I initially wondered if she drew them, or if her pirate friends drew them for her.) Finally, near the end, a portrait of Baelfire is shown.

~ Killian Jones (not yet Hook)’s first scene is wonderfully understated. If you’re not actively looking for and watching him, he could be overlooked as an ordinary crowd extra; he only has a couple lines and doesn’t get any closeups.

~ Is Rumple trying to nurse Milah’s hangover when they talk at home? That would explain why she’s in bed and he’s making her a warm drink.

~ The way Milah talks, it sounds like she was thinking she, Rumple, and Baelfire could travel with the pirates, or at least get passage to another place to live. I wonder if Killian would have let Rumple and Baelfire come with her if she’d asked?

~ Prince Charming mining with the dwarves seems oddly fitting, like a rite of passage for him to be part of Snow’s adoptive family. But is his pickaxe magical like the dwarves'?

~ Ruby/Red Riding Hood bringing them meals is just perfect!

~ Rumple does the same thing in both storylines of this episode: he is looking for his love interest, who he thinks is in danger from another man, not knowing whether she left voluntarily or was kidnapped.

~ “A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets.” That’s almost like Killian’s thesis statement, a motto that he lives by. He fights hard for what he wants, whether it’s revenge or love. (Spoiler: I wonder if his thoughts on this change over the course of the series, as he ends up being a recipient of grace, receiving much better than he deserves.)

~ Killian’s devil-may-care attitude vanishes when he recognizes Rumple. He becomes dead serious when he realizes the danger he is in, and he tries to protect Milah by saying she died.

~ David and Gold’s conversation doesn’t make much sense, because David and Mary Margaret’s relationship didn’t work in Storybrooke. Rumple should have asked how Charming and Snow made it work.

~ Rumple foreshadows what he’ll later do to Milah when he says he wants Killian to feel as helpless as Rumple did when Killian took Milah.

~ Rumple seems to project his own regrets onto Milah: they both abandoned Baelfire in a sense.

~ Milah and Belle are very different in that Milah puts her own desires first and Belle puts others’ needs first. But they have one thing in common: they both want to see the world and have adventures. It seems odd, but could be a sign of learning, that Rumple does something to grant this wish for Belle by giving her the library.

~ Killian is shown to be a true scoundrel, given the way he treats Rumple; but his self-defining moments in the final scenes, as he becomes Captain Hook, are just awesome!

Episode 2x05 “The Doctor”

~ Although the present-day Enchanted Forest storyline doesn’t relate much to the rest of the episode, the first scene helps to establish the horror-genre tone.

~ (Spoiler:) Emma is the one who finds Hook! I guess finding people is still what she does, but it’s also fun foreshadowing if you know how things go for them later in the show!

~ Rumple really is like Palpatine and Snoke, urging his “apprentice” Regina to go further down the path of darkness on the pretense of training.

~ “So long as you live in your past, you’ll never find your future.” Not the most original line, but significant in a show that’s all about time and the relationship between past and future.

~ (Spoiler:) It’s not surprising that it takes Emma such a long time to trust Hook, considering their first-ever conversation was full of him lying, and even lying about not lying. Also, he talks about survival from the very beginning!

~ I’m surprised that Cora amassed so many hearts even before she became a queen. What reputation did she have before Regina sent her to Wonderland? Did people outside her family know about her and her abilities? I’m guessing those hearts were of people still living, since they were still pulsing, which would mean that she had a lot of people under her control.

~ If Jefferson had seen Cora’s heart collection, did he know, when he ended up in Wonderland, that she was the Queen of Hearts?

~ Rumplestiltskin, Dr. Frankenstein, and the Mad Hatter: three different varieties of insanity. They only share the screen for one scene, but I would have loved to see more!

Episode 2x06 “Tallahassee”

~ This is the first episode with flashbacks taking place in the Land Without Magic, and the first to show part of Emma’s past.

~ (Spoiler:) The way Neal first speaks to and looks at Emma kind of sounds and looks the way Hook would. I wonder how much of Hook’s personality or mannerisms might have rubbed off on Neal during their time together.

~ Emma basically does the same thing in both past and present timelines: trying to steal something with her love interest. Given how things went with Neal, it’s no wonder she doesn’t want to give Hook the chance to betray her.

~ Emma and Hook have to dress/equip each other before climbing up the beanstalk! He gives her jewelry/armor, and she gives him his prosthetic/weapon. Kind of intimate if you think about it.

~ The name “Henry” is visible among the keychains when Neal is talking to the cashier!

~ Neal likes the Apollo candy bars, just like Henry!

~ Bad dreams are discussed in both timelines: Emma teaches Neal about dreamcatchers, and Snow tells Aurora about David lighting a candle.

~ “You’d make a hell of a pirate.” Hook is more right than he knows: Emma kind of was a pirate in her old life.

~ Emma’s jacket in the flashbacks looks sort of like Snow’s old outfits.

~ It’s interesting to see Snow acting as a mother to Aurora since Emma is reluctant to let her fill that role for her.

~ How can August say that Neal was just “caught in the crossfire”? Does he think it mere coincidence that he and Emma met?

~ When August came to Storybrooke and found out Emma had a son, he must have known that it was Neal’s. So August knew, before anyone else did, that Baelfire, son of Rumplestiltskin, was Henry’s father.

~ The giants’ home couldn’t be very well-constructed if one giant could make the stones from the roof fall just by running.

Episode 2x07 “Child of the Moon”

~ “Once one controls something, one no longer need fear it.” A fitting quote for this episode, and very in-character for Gold.

~ It’s interesting that Gold does a favor for Henry, as if he has a special care or interest for him. Does he already suspect, at this point, that Henry is the boy prophesied to lead him to his son, and then be his undoing?

~ David says that it’s been “a few months” since Mary Margaret was framed for murder. That seems longer than what’s been shown or suggested: the last few episodes of Season 1 and the first few episodes of Season 2 only looked like a few days or weeks each.

~ Interesting stuff going on psychologically with Red/Ruby in this episode, and the werewolves in general. Not sure how much I agree with the way they describe it, but it sounds similar to the concept of “eating your shadow,” confronting and integrating the parts of yourself you don’t like.

~ (Spoiler:) Belle saying “I’m sort of an expert when it comes to rehabilitation” is funny, but not really true in terms of her overall relationship with Rumple, since he has ups and downs and she is still capable of being manipulated by him.

~ I don’t like Ruby’s emotionally-driven decisions. The last one especially, deciding to put herself in the mob’s way, doesn’t make sense because she could end up hurting them in wolf form.

~ This is a really emotional episode for David, and reveals a lot about his character—his bravery, his loyalty, his faith—but I feel like it didn’t go deep into his point of view.

~ As much as I love Red/Ruby’s friendship with Snow and Charming, I wonder if another character could have played David’s role in calling her back. That showed the kind of brave, selfless love that spouses, parents, or siblings show.

~ I wish the series showed Red and Granny reconciling after she finds out the truth about her mother.

Episode 2x08 “Into the Deep”

~ I think this is the first episode that does not have any flashbacks. I’m glad, because they aren’t really needed, since the action cuts between multiple parties in both realms in the present day.

~ I had forgotten about Cora controlling the dead with the hearts she’s taken. I’m surprised that wasn’t used more.

~ Looks like there are some autumnal decorations in Granny’s diner, suggesting that it could be sometime in the fall.

~ Do Belle and Gold ever have a proper, uninterrupted date? They didn’t even get a bite of their hamburgers before Regina showed up with a crisis!

~ Henry gets a scene with three of his grandparents: his two biological grandfathers, and his step-grandmother Regina.

~ “I was born to do this.” = a nod to Joan of Arc?

~ “Sometimes being a hero means knowing when not to run into the fire.” Sounds like a bit of Mufasa wisdom.

~ Aurora finally shows some backbone and integrity in this episode. Her scene with Cora is interesting; I hadn’t realized that she was thinking about starting a new life in Storybrooke.

~ The music during Hook’s scene with Aurora sounds noble, like he’s doing a good thing and genuinely hopeful of renewing his alliance with Emma. What I’m wondering is, had he already taken Aurora’s heart by that point?

~ I like Emma and Mary Margaret’s conversation about who is to blame for everything that has happened.

~ Cora’s bird companion and Regina’s laboratory setup both look like nods to Disney’s Snow White

~ Regina and Henry’s scene may be the first time we’ve seen them have an honest and positive conversation. It’s not exactly a bonding moment, but it’s a nice change!

~ Henry and David’s moment is lovely, and feels earned now that they’ve spent time together.

~ David’s journey to find the burning room could be symbolic of the journey to the subconscious.

~ It’s nice how Emma and Mary Margaret take turns encouraging each other.

~ (Spoiler:) “You must have a death wish” is a funny line to have addressed to Hook, considering how many times he’s going to die in the show!

~ Hook really is sleazy and slippery, kind of like Rumple—or, for a Marvel comparison, Loki. You’re never quite sure when he’s sincere and when he’s manipulative, or both at once.

~ That last scene with the princesses is intense! There’s a moment when it really seems like Snow is going to kill Mulan, and Emma is already shocked. How would things have played out if Aurora hadn’t arrived?

Episode 2x09 “Queen of Hearts”

~ It’s interesting to see Hook and Evil Queen Regina meet. They’re both characters who play up their attractiveness and try to use it to their advantage when they want to entice or intimidate.

~ Good on Regina for trying to continue her upward redemption arc! And boo to Rumple for trying to twist her motivation.

~ Apparently this is when Emma finds out that Rumple/Gold knew she was the Savior all along. Did she not get that when she talked with Regina and Gold about the creation of the Dark Curse in the Season 1 finale?

~ The scroll with Emma’s name fits with both Rumple’s descent into madness and his penchant for names.

~ Henry reads the storybook to David, just as Mary Margaret did for each of them when they were in comas!

~ Rumple has said that fairy magic doesn’t mix well with him, yet he harnesses the power of the fairy dust here.

~ Why would someone as smart and ruthless as Cora leave the princesses alive in the cell? They had no further usefulness to her. It’s the same thing that happens in superhero stories when the villain leaves the hero detained or on their way to death while they go off to complete their evil plot. The only possible explanation I can think of is that Hook may have requested that she let them live, and they would probably have died of starvation in the cell.

~ The way Regina’s theme plays, so light and gentle, over Henry’s lines twice in this episode is so sad.

~ If Regina didn’t want to have any weakness, why didn’t she just rip out her own heart, like Cora did?

~ Hook did a random act of kindness! And in the middle of a battle! Repairing the wrong that he did to Aurora! In spite of all his selfishness and switching sides, he still has a shred of compassion. Also, the way he saves the satchel from falling is like Flynn Rider in Tangled.

~ Not very subtle sexual imagery when Hook pins Emma down—not only in his words, but in the way he moves his weapons down over hers.

~ All the dwarves watch over David under the sleeping curse, the way they watched over Snow!

~ Gold says that Emma needed to find the scroll so everything could occur; but he didn’t seem to know she would be able to use it to get back to Storybrooke.

~ “Maybe one day, they’ll even invite you to dinner.” Emma does, in fact, invite Regina in the next episode; and (spoiler!) Season 6 ends with everyone having dinner together!

~ How did the Jolly Roger get through the portal? In fact, where has it been all this time? Was it inside Cora’s protective bubble, shielded against the curse? Did they restore the bean’s magic at Lake Nostos and then bring it to the ship to make the portal?

~ What happened to the enchanted compass? Do they ever use it again? (Spoiler: My headcanon is that Hook later got it and used it to find Emma in New York.)

Episode 2x10 “The Cricket Game”

~ The opening shots of Hook are just him acting fabulous and slightly Byronic.

~ There are swans near the docks when Hook and Cora disembark!

~ It’s odd to cut from a Charming family scene to a flashback of the Evil Queen. Usually at least the first flashback is related in some way to the present scene—either the same character is in them, or a common item or similar situation. It would have made more sense to cut between Mary Margaret in bed and Snow White running through the forest.

~ They reused the “Welcome home Mary Margaret” banner from Episode 1x19, and added “and Emma”! I’d like to know who among their friends was so practical.

~ Emma and Regina’s conversation feels very real, like divorced parents trying to get along for their child’s sake. Regina’s music theme sounds so sad and wistful at the end.

~ This is a question I had from the pilot episode: who are the nameless soldiers who sit with Snow, Charming, and their more iconic friends at the round table?

~ When she’s looking out her tower window, Regina’s theme sounds a little more like usual, but still sadder.

~ The door between the interrogation room and the mirror room remains ajar when David and Emma go through.

~ What did Rumplestiltskin receive in exchange for giving Snow a way to test Regina?

Episode 2x11 “The Outsider”

~ Why is this episode called “The Outsider”? To whom does that refer? Greg Mendel seems the most likely candidate, but he only shows up in the last seconds.

~ It’s pretty messed up that no one notices the death of the person Cora actually killed. When the local conscience/therapist dies, everyone takes notice, but when some random guy without a famous story dies, no one comments? Do they take him out of Archie’s grave after learning it was someone else?

~ Belle is present at Archie’s funeral, even though she didn’t know him as long as the others. She really must have gotten to know everyone in the short time she’s been out of the asylum.

~ Marco/Geppetto must feel so alone thinking that both Pinocchio and Jiminy are gone!

~ Belle wears brown, for the first time, in both storylines of this episode. Her outfit in Storybrooke is my favorite of them all.

~ I love the concepts behind Belle’s flashback adventure, but they’re not super well executed in terms of dialogue.

~ Belle reminds me a little of Desdemona in Othello: she has so much love and faith, she doesn’t seem capable of imagining what horrible things the man she loves might do.

~ Smee must have gone to Hook and told him about the way to cross the town line; but Hook must have been spying on Gold if he was able to find out about the shawl and where it was hidden.

~ It’s brief and only visible through the window, but Gold’s reaction to realizing the shawl is gone is to cover his mouth, just devastated.

~ The first thing Gold smashes is a model ship! Clever.

~ Belle carries the gun so casually as she searches for the Jolly Roger.

~ Belle is extremely book-smart, but not very street-smart, and she’s rather reckless when she tries to do things on her own. The safe, smart thing would have been to tell Gold her hunch, or at the latest, when she had found the ship. But I wonder if she kept it from him because she did not want him to confront Hook himself.

~ Did Hook see Archie leaving? Did he simply let him escape?

~ Emma finally shows a desire to be with her parents!

~ It’s strange that Belle isn’t more disturbed by Hook’s revelation that Rumple killed Milah.

~ “Why do you think anyone who’s gotten close to him has either run away or been killed?” It sounds as though Hook believes Baelfire ran away from Rumple.

~ “Your [heart] is rotten.” / “You’ve no idea.” Does that mean Hook believes his heart is more rotten than she thinks, or not as much?

~ Does Hook have an actual death wish? Twice, he tries to goad Gold into attacking him, knowing that he can’t defend himself against magic.

~ How did Hook get to the town line so quickly, if he was walking and Gold was driving?

Episode 2x12 “In the Name of the Brother”

~ Who called Emma and her parents to the scene of the accident? Are all three of them on night patrol?

~ Emma is very sensitive to Hook’s circumstances: she notices him after the accident, diagnoses his injury, and has the presence of mind to tell the hospital staff to hide him so Gold can’t get to him. When she sums up the situation to him, there’s a note of genuine concern in her voice.

~ “If I had to pick dead guy of the year, I’d pick you.” Foreshadowing on multiple fronts!

~ Emma and Hook give each other such nasty smirks!

~ Greg Mendel’s ringtone is Star Wars music! I guess that was allowed after Disney purchased Lucasfilm.

~ “We don’t let go of people.” Interesting line, especially for Frankenstein!

~ Cora snooping around Regina’s house is actually such a mom thing to do! Did she need to see a picture of Henry so she could impersonate him?

~ I did not notice until now that Henry’s bedroom is full of clocks!

~ Cora knows exactly what Regina has always wanted to hear from her. But she stops short of an apology for killing Daniel, and she doesn’t exactly apologize for forcing Regina into a loveless marriage, just says she shouldn’t have done it.

~ I laughed at Regina referring to “Emma and Henry and the two idiots”

~ Cora says they see Regina as a snake, but Cora is really the one acting like Satan, sowing doubt and convincing her that she can’t make things right with the others.

~ What became of Gerhardt Frankenstein? Did he die at some point before the Dark Curse?

~ That high tinkling music sounds eerily like “Rock-a-Bye Baby”

~ Even in hospital, Belle still wears yellow and blue!

~ Belle smashing the cup is heartbreaking! You can see how much that crushes Gold, like shattering his hope.

~ It’s odd that Ruby and Belle both have several scenes but don’t interact with each other in this episode. Ruby is later shown to be aware of Belle’s situation. Did she not try to check on her when she arrived?

~ Gold seems to be looking at Henry when he threatens to kill the whole family!

Episode 2x13 “Tiny”

~ Hook seems to be done being a “gentleman,” as he said he always is. Is it because he’s no longer with just women, as he was in the Enchanted Forest for a while? Does he start making innuendoes about Mary Margaret just to irritate David and Grumpy? Is that his way of making himself feel powerful?

~ How was Cora able to abduct Anton? Did he come down the beanstalk, or did she go up?

~ Hook seems to slip away when Anton attacks David. Did the others simply forget about him? Shouldn’t he be in either the hospital or the jail?

~ Ruby continues to play the role of delivery girl for the sick!

~ James is dressed like an attractive villain, similar to Hook: black clothes, low V neckline, necklace.

~ The Jack introduced in this episode seems to be a different character than the one Hook described to Emma when they went up the beanstalk.

~ Jack slayed the Jabberwock!

~ Emma really does act like a daughter, or daughter-in-law, toward Gold during the airport security scene. In that moment, he’s not a wizard or the local miser, he’s just an old man who needs reassurance.

~ Cora must have had the mushrooms to make Tiny small, and then big again, because she brought some from her time in Wonderland.

~ The way Emma and Henry look at each other after Gold leaves clearly says, “What are we going to do with him?”

~ Why is Tiny’s small size the one he now reverts to? Does it not wear off the way the growing mushroom does?

~ How did David manage to hold Anton’s weight? And how does Anton come up before him?

~ The dwarves seem to accept Tiny as one of them, with an axe and everything. So why didn’t he accompany them for the rest of the series? Did the actor lose interest, or did the writers not know how to include him?

~ The sound of the plane taking off is an effective way to show Gold’s increasing anxiety!

Episode 2x14 “Manhattan”

~ Milah is sewing Baelfire’s shawl in the first scene, and later he’s wrapped in it as a baby!

~ I appreciate that Hook is still moving like a man who was injured in a car accident.

~ Gold seems to think that Henry has already fulfilled his role as the boy who would lead him to his son, since Henry brought Emma to Storybrooke.

~ The Seer could have overheard the soldiers call the saddles “cows,” so it’s not much of a confirmation of her clairvoyance.

~ Neal and Snow both have lines, addressed to their significant others, about never having to see each other’s face again.

~ If Emma thought she could still bring Neal to Gold, how did she think she could keep him from meeting Henry? Did she think they could be introduced without them realizing the truth?

~ Why does Gold think who his son loves is pertinent information? Would he have used that against him?

~ Does Gold really think he could beat Emma in a physical fight? He’s shown that he can be brutal even without magic, but he still has a bad leg, and she’s much younger than him.

~ The fact that Neal came back to defend Emma, after spending his life hiding from his father, speaks to how much he cares about her.

~ Having the scene where Rumple meets his son right before the scene where Neal meets his son is brilliant.

~ The Greg Mendel scene should have been at the end. It feels like a random interruption in the midst of so much drama.

Episode 2x15 “The Queen is Dead”

~ How are they not suspicious of the package arriving on Snow’s birthday? Cora is one of the few people who would know that date.

~ Having Hook emerge from hiding and reclaim his hook is a great way to end the teaser!

~ Why couldn’t Regina and Cora just use magic to dig, instead of a shovel? And that conversation was way too convenient—were they trying to be overheard, so Snow would look for the dagger?

~ Emma, Henry, and Gold must have stayed somewhere in New York overnight and met up with Neal again the next day or two.

~ I’d forgotten how violent Hook and Emma are to each other: he pushes her aside to attack Gold, and she hits him in the head with a fire extinguisher. And she locks him up again, this time in a storage closet.

~ Why did Cora impersonate the Blue Fairy to talk to Snow White? Why did she want to give her that candle? What did she expect Snow to do? Did she want to darken Snow’s heart, or cause a particular person’s death?

~ Snow losing her mother as a child is even more tragic knowing that she was the one with her mother when she died.

~ King Leopold’s absence in this episode feels off—not that it mattered to the story, but that it’s out of character for him not to be present and involved at his wife’s death and funeral.

~ There might be an inconsistency about how much time passed between Queen Eva’s death and Snow’s first meeting with Regina. It wouldn’t make much sense for Cora to wait long to arrange the meeting after the queen’s death, but in Episode 1x18 King Leopold says it’s been years and that he’s searched the land for a new wife.

Episode 2x16 “The Miller’s Daughter”

~ Mary Margaret is holding an apple during her first scene. Why is that, when their family, in general, does not like apples, and she has a negative association with them due to Regina?

~ How and when did Regina and Cora tap Mary Margaret and David’s phones? Must have been after Emma gave Mary Margaret the news about Gold’s son, since they don’t know about that.

~ Regina says Henry would never forgive Cora; does she mean for killing Gold? But Regina doesn’t yet know that Gold is Henry’s grandfather.

~ Cora speaking to Regina about never bowing is first time she actually comes across somewhat sympathetic.

~ Past Cora adds a rose to her hair—a nice nod to her future as the Queen of Hearts!

~ This episode kind of ruins the timeline that was described in Episode 2x02. Prince Henry said that Cora knew Rumplestiltskin long before he met her, and it sounds as though Cora’s relationship with Rumplestiltskin lasted a fairly long time for him to teach her magic, to the point of her calling him “master,” and eventually meeting newborn Regina.

~ “You’re selling off your own flesh and blood” is a strange line to give Cora, who basically sold Regina into a loveless marriage for status and revenge (and did more, as season 3 reveals).

~ I like how the ridiculous boast about turning straw to gold comes about, starting as a jest in their verbal sparring.

~ The look that David gives Neal after being introduced!

~ I don’t like the way David talks to Mary Margaret, saying she has to “stay” pure of heart, as if she doesn’t get to choose for herself.

~ It’s nice to see that Henry is still optimistic and encouraging toward Emma, despite being angry and distant with her after finding out she lied to him.

~ Cutting from “You won’t let her get away” to Cora being trapped in the tower is pretty effective.

~ (Spoiler:) Cora questioning the “firstborn child” clause is more significant knowing that she had already given birth to her first child by now. Did she think Rumple would want Zelena?

~ Gold and Emma have a mentor-student moment, probably their first real one—and it ends with him praising her!

~ It’s cool to see Regina and Cora using magic in sync. But what did Emma, Neal, and David expect to accomplish against them with just swords?

~ Rumple encouraging Cora to use her bloodlust to fuel her magic explains a lot about her.

~ When he shows his face, you can see they did a good job of casting young Prince Henry; he does look very similar to the old man.

~ Cora and Rumple���s relationship is so twisted and toxic … and yet, it rings true because of their similar motivations. It’s completely based on their tendency toward darkness, a sharp contrast against his relationships with Milah and Belle.

~ How was Mary Margaret able to get into Regina’s vault? Does she not have any locks or protection, even after living in hiding there?

~ Emma’s theme music is played twice over Mary Margaret’s scenes; it sounds so eerie and ominous when she takes out Cora’s heart!

~ Interesting that Cora took to heart (no pun intended) the advice of the king she hated.

~ Rumple’s three greatest loves are on display in this episode to compare and contrast: his destructive love with Cora, his wounded relationship with Baelfire/Neal, and his pure love for Belle.

~ Emma and Neal both struggle—particularly in this season—with forgiving their long-lost parents for giving them up.

~ Neal and Rumple’s scene after the phone call is wonderfully realistic: there is still anger, but also love on both sides, and it’s as close to a reconciliation as they can expect to have at that point.

~ The worst thing Mary Margaret does in this episode isn’t using the candle; it’s tricking Regina into being the instrument of Cora’s death. That whole conversation in the vault, Mary Margaret manipulates Regina, weaponizing her desire for her mother’s love.

~ How powerful can protection spells be if Cora and Regina are able to break through them so easily?

~ Cora actually seems regretful when she says that any baby she has will not be Rumple’s.

~ Did no one in the royal court have any issue with Cora, a princess by marriage far down the line of succession, declaring that her daughter would one day be a queen?

~ Cora’s last moments are so tragic, because all at once she feels the love that she should have had all along for Regina, and she realizes that love “would have been enough.”

Episode 2x17 “Welcome to Storybrooke”

~ The orange car is such an appropriately vivid contrast against the dark title card!

~ This episode is a fascinating exploration of Regina’s psychology in both the past and present.

~ Did Mary Margaret give her students the exact same lesson about birds every day for 28 years?

~ Is Gold being genuine when he talks to Regina, asking her to give up her feud? Does he really care about her happiness or Mary Margaret’s life?

~ Regina’s reaction to Owen is so sweet—it’s probably the first time anyone has shown her unsolicited kindness.

~ When did Regina get Kurt’s phone number?

~ Regina tearing her mother’s clothes is powerful.

~ Gold and David, too, can apparently just walk right into the vault. But Gold makes more sense because his magic is so powerful.

~ Gold’s take on Cora and Regina’s different reasons for being dangerous is interesting. Which is more dangerous, being too led by your heart, or not letting your heart lead you at all?

~ Henry is acting in the role of a prophet again, calling everyone out and reminding them who they are (supposed to be).

~ Neal can understand exactly how Henry feels about his evil magic-wielding parent. Henry’s idea to get rid of magic is strikingly similar to Baelfire’s original goal to rid his father of his power.

~ “He’s your son!” In that moment, Neal realizes exactly what that means: Henry can be just as deceptive and conniving as he.

~ Greg Mendel crossing paths with Henry is more ironic when you know that Greg’s goal is to destroy magic, which is exactly what Henry is trying to do in that moment.

~ You can hear Greg’s phone camera go off as he picks up Henry’s bag. That must have been when he figured out Henry was Regina’s son.

~ Regina actually let Owen go in the end, rather than trying to use his father as leverage or have Graham restrain him. Maybe, on some level, she did care about him. At the very least, she realized she could not force him to love her—and she has the same realization about Henry in the present day.

~ Why was Storybrooke visible to Kurt and Owen at the beginning, but not later? Did Regina do something to change that, like a cloaking spell?

~ I know Regina had a lot on her mind in both episodes, but she must have wondered who Neal was and why he was so protective of Gold and Henry.

~ Mary Margaret’s bookcase has clocks lined up across it, like in Henry’s bedroom!

~ Gold’s advice to Mary Margaret is phrased in such a way that it sounds as though it hasn’t worked yet for him.

~ They did a good job of casting two actors for Greg/Owen. They have very similar faces.

Episode 2x18 “Selfless, Brave and True”

~ Neal wears his coat and scarf like Henry!

~ One minute Emma is bemoaning the fact that outsiders are coming to Storybrooke, as though Tamara is a threat; the next, she urges Neal to tell Tamara the truth about where he comes from.

~ Snow White listening to “Reputation” while doing archery … is one form of self-care.

~ Where did the abandoned trailer come from? Was it always there as part of the curse?

~ Neal and the Blue Fairy/Mother Superior don’t interact, but their scene with August/Pinocchio may have been the first time they saw each other since she gave him the magic bean.

~ The scenes that connect this episode with ones before and after don’t have much setup/payoff within the episode. For instance, Henry hasn’t been shown pulling away from Emma the last few episodes, but she decides to talk to him after seeing Geppetto/Marco and Pinocchio/August reconcile. And we don’t see any of Regina’s thought process prior to her conversations with Greg Mendel.

~ Greg and Tamara are each separately shown using their phones a lot—and there is one time Neal looks at his caller ID and says “It’s her,” like she’s labeled on Greg’s phone!

Episode 2x19 “Lacey”

~ Neal is so into his swordfight with Henry! He may not have much practice, but he really throws himself into being a dad when he finds out he is one.

~ At first, Gold seems to respond the same way everyone else does to Belle’s claim that she saw magic, like he’s gaslighting her; but he’s not. He acknowledges that she’s been through a lot and been under the influence of drugs, but he doesn’t say that what she saw wasn’t real, he just assures her that it will become clear when she remembers.

~ The flashbacks of this episode show just how horrible Rumplestiltskin was to Belle when she lived with him. That period of time was mostly glossed over in “Skin Deep.”

~ I don’t know what’s funnier: David making a pun of Dark One and Don Juan, or Gold’s claim that “Don Juan was nothing before he made his deal with me.”

~ It makes sense that the first thing Emma does after learning about the beans is to read Henry’s book. (Spoiler:) The sentiments she expresses in this episode are fleshed out more fully in the second half of Season 3, particularly in the season finale.

~ Gold wears a blue pocket hanky on his date! And while it’s painful to watch Lacey’s behavior, he is so adorably happy when she acts like the Belle he knew!

~ Rumple takes the Sheriff’s tongue so effortlessly. Was that a nod to the BBC Robin Hood episode, “Sheriff Got Your Tongue”? Can Rumple do that with any part of a person’s body? That’s terrifying.

~ I’m surprised Rumplestiltskin didn’t already know Robin Hood’s name.

~ Belle basically plays the angel on Rumplestiltskin’s shoulder. It’s heartbreaking to see Lacey become the devil on his shoulder.

~ “You are not the kind of man to leave a child fatherless.” Ooh!!! He has probably wanted to hear that for centuries.

~ David driving all the dwarves in the back of his truck is so familial!

~ Emma and Neal seem to do pretty well with co-parenting.

~ I wish we got to see Henry becoming friends with young August/Pinocchio!

~ Neal says one of Emma’s characteristics is, “You don’t stop till you find what you’re looking for.” What Emma is really looking for—now and throughout the series—is a happy ending, only she doesn’t know what that would look like. (Spoiler:) Perhaps it's intentional that the next scene brings back Hook!

Episode 3x20 “The Evil Queen”

~ Why are David and Mary Margaret talking about something so sensitive in a public place?

~ I knew that fisherman was … well, fishy, given the way the camera focused on him.

~ Funny that Emma bumps into Tamara, kind of like Tamara did Neal. Did Emma do it on purpose?

~ Regina seems to have such a warped perception of herself and her capacity for good or evil. Does she truly not recognize how she has earned the name “Evil Queen”? Does she really believe all her actions are justified? Does she truly think Snow is evil, after living with her for at least a decade?

~ Rumple was the one who caused King George’s kingdom to go bankrupt!?

~ I’m not a fan of when shows wipe characters’ memories so they can have interactions without any consequences. In this episode, it happens in a single scene!

~ Is Hook being sincere when he talks to Regina about Cora? Does he actually feel bad for her and want to help her win?

~ It’s interesting that Hook shows an understanding that revenge is an end, not a beginning, and that he’ll be empty without the pursuit of that goal. In that sense, he may be more mature than Regina, who has always put her revenge first and was angry that it did not satisfy her.

~ Did Hook ever meet Maleficent, or did he just piece together what Regina had said?

~ Did Regina saving Snow really have such a profound impact on her faith in people’s goodness? That’s rather ironic, and if true, Regina’s descent into evil should have shaken some of Snow’s faith, because it would have been an upending of her understanding of people in general and Regina in particular.

~ Emma and Henry doing a stakeout together is great to see, harkening back to Season 1. But she’s not setting a very good example for him by breaking into hotel rooms and teaching him how to give a warning signal.

~ This is the first time Henry has seen his parents argue, and you can see how awkward it is for him, but it’s also kind of sweet that he finally gets to experience that.

~ It’s significant for Henry to tell Emma that he believes her. For one thing, no one believed him about his fairy tale theory, so he knows the feeling. For another, he now trusts her not to lie to him again. (Spoiler:) Sharing that ice cream is the last peaceful, happy moment they have together for a long time.

~ Giving a stranger a weapon and the instruction to stay behind her isn’t really smart of Snow.

~ Such a strange interaction between Regina and Snow at the end … Regina leaves her alive, which is good, but how can she insist upon her own goodness when they’re standing in front of the village she slaughtered?

~ (Spoiler:) “The one thing I excel at is surviving.” Hook saw this as a characteristic of his all along!

~ Hook takes no pleasure in the way Greg and Tamara taunt Regina, and he actually looks kind of concerned at the end.

Episode 3x21 “Second Star to the Right”

~ Pulling in the story of the Darling family is a great way to transition to Neverland, which so far has been mentioned but not explored.

~ This show chooses odd moments to use title cards to establish time and/or place. There’s no need for “London, England” when they just showed Kensington Gardens and Big Ben.

~ It seems Baelfire/Neal began his thieving career at the Darlings’ house!

~ Wendy is one to talk about “unusual” names: there were hardly any Wendys before the publication of Peter Pan.

~ Odd to have Hook, the one-handed guy, be the one to restrain Regina. She may not be able to use magic, but she’s not afraid to use physical violence, as seen the time she hit Emma. Did he threaten her with his hook to make her comply?

~ Mrs. Darling deciding to take Baelfire in without even knowing his name … is fast, but fits with how the Darlings adopt the Lost Boys at the end of Peter Pan.

~ “Never underestimate the power of a guilty conscience.” Interesting words coming from Gold!

~ Mary Margaret’s emotional state must be really bad if she can summon a tear so easily.

~ Emma tells Tamara that Regina is missing, as if Tamara knows Regina, but as far as Emma is aware they haven’t met yet. She would only have been a name on Tamara’s list.

~ The music at the end of Emma and Neal’s scene is so pretty and sweet—such a contrast from the usual emotional tone of the show. The music usually evokes wistfulness or suspense.

~ Interesting that Greg and Tamara’s feelings about magic are similar to Baelfire/Neal’s, except that they want to destroy it while he just wants to stay away from it.

~ It’s nice to see that Baelfire/Neal got to be part of a decent family for a while. He’s experienced parental love in the past, but his time with Wendy, John and Michael is his first experience of sibling love, and he proves himself a wonderful big brother.

~ The way the lights go out is like when Tinker Bell arrives in stage productions of Peter Pan.

~ Wendy and Emma both experience losing Baelfire/Neal in this episode. But it’s different than when Rumplestiltskin lost him through a portal, because now Neal is urging them to let him go, sacrificing himself so no more families will be broken. Only he doesn’t see that they will be broken because he won’t be there.

~ Regina wakes up the same way she did in the flashback in the previous episode, startled by Snow/Mary Margaret pressing a compress to her face.

Episode 2x22 “And Straight On ‘til Morning”

~ This is the most Hook-centric episode so far. Up to this point, he’s been seen mostly through the eyes of other characters (Rumple, Belle, and Emma). In this episode, he has multiple people, at multiple points in time, asking him about who he is and what motivates him.

~ “Well aren’t you quite the hero?” Hook doesn’t know how true that will be!

~ Even with Lacey influencing him to do evil, Gold deciding to kill Henry makes no sense with Neal back in his life. Why would he inflict that pain on his son?

~ Hook says, “The things we do for our children,” so knowingly, like a father!

~ I love that Grumpy cares so much about Belle!

~ I wish we got to see Sneezy getting his memories back. His brothers must have missed him over the last several weeks, while they’ve been working in the fairy dust mines and beanfields.

~ There are soooo many layers to Hook and Baelfire’s conversation at the helm! Hook must be thinking and feeling so much—obviously calculating about his revenge, but also thinking about how Rumple and Milah both abandoned Bae in some sense, and how he had a hand in Milah’s actions.

~ Hook has to watch the Charmings’ family discussions twice, and you can tell he’s uncomfortable.

~ The idea of sending the wraith and the failsafe through portals to other dimensions actually isn’t all that selfless. They don’t know where they are sending those dangers. The wraith attacked Philip when they sent it through. They are basically passing their problems on to strangers.

~ Hook’s theme music sounds so sad and reflective when he’s contemplating his choice.

~ (Spoiler:) Was “I’ll track them down in Hell if I have to” foreshadowing the Underworld arc?!

~ Hook looks at Gold so icily when he realizes they’re going to be working together.

~ Once the six of them are on the Jolly Roger, the heroes and villains automatically congregate to opposite sides.

~ Hook’s expression when he says they’re going to Neverland = he knows better than any of the others what kinds of trials they’re in for.

~ Are they actually helping to steer the ship, or just hanging on to parts of it for the ride?

[gumitoes]

Jay and Mark (Trolls oc) lore dump!!

Soo since ive gotten into the trolls fandom and made myself a few ocs (jay and mark :3) I HAVE BRAINSTORMED HER LORE‼️‼️

This is what i had in mind, it kinda also involves her ancestors lore and pretty much how like the place that involves jays parents are connected with it as the story progresses

Alternative rock trolls

Yes completely fanmade kiw kiw

Back in trolls world tour, we are introduced to a set of every ancestors of each individual genre that was shown in the movie. Since alternative rock/Indie rock is a kind of sub genre that comes from the rock genre

In short, i have an idea of one of the fellow ancestors from the rock trolls had discovered The sub genre of rock which was the alternative rock sub genre. Founding a new discovery— it felt like a "Eureka" moment HAHAHSA and then that founder of the sub genre showed it to the other rock trolls and some reactions were positive ones

Making them also joined in wanting to expand and explore more onto the sub genre, but some really didnt like the idea of adding an extra genre to their list, let alone a new alternative version of their genre. Like the metaphor of not accepting new things in their circle🧍‍♀️and all this all went down and had resulted an argument of the 2 groups and was soon split into a set of different of troll groups (rock trolls and alt rock trolls). With nowhere to go, the known founder of altrock trolls were leading their new members had unfortunately got themselves into a bergen attack, but luckily all of them avoided getting eaten by a bergen as they are running away and hiding from the bergens. Soon enough they have founded their 1st home a.k.a their first shelter and soon to be called their "home" or "utopia". As time flies, their home is mostly can be considered done as finished??? OH AND I FORGOT TO MENTION, the home of the alttrolls were secluded so they were pretty convinced that theyre save from any bergen attacks near in the future.

Mark and Jay lore starts brrr😼

NOW THIS IS WHERE WE GET TO THE PART OF JAY AND MARKS PARENTS BACKGROUND and them too! :3

Havent really dive into the parents love story but maybe ill make a seperate thread for them(?) Hehe

I just imagine either one of the parents are rock trolls and the other is an altrock troll (enemies to lovers plot giggles)

Mark was their 1st born, and jay was the 2nd

Marcus was their 3rd born and Jill was the youngest out of the 4 (suprise!!! Sibling name reveal, designs probably soon giggles) and happy fam!!

But then again, struggles endure them

Mark had set his mindset of being the eldest, everything is his responsebility, his siblings included, but yet he cared deeply for them including both his parents. And grew a passion to create music, and show it to his people.

On the other hand, Jay was a marks helping hand

And probably the one thats been on marks side when he was at his lowest, and that applies to mark being always on jays side. In her younger days, she questioned herself if she can always rely on her brothers help at that time before marcus and jill was born, mark. She was abit different compare to the jay we know currently, the difference was back then she used to be timid and rather quiet– as she also cant seem to keep up with the other kids in her age, but to jay that wasnt much of her problem anyway because mark has her back. Knowing how 2 siblings go, they bicker, fight at some occasions but still they have eachothers back. Jay also grew an interest in music ever since she had saw a travelling musician that visited her home and asked mark whether she can start learning from him.

As time went by, and jill was still born as an egg

An unfortunate fate has fallen among them, a bergen attack landed on their home (dun dun dun) and resulted permanent fatal damage to the alttrolls utopia. Some ran away to safety, but for some.. got eaten by the bergens

Unfortunately, Jay and Marks parents were victims of the bergen attack. Morelikely to be the ones who lead the other trolls to escape and the one who sacrificed themselves as a way of distraction so the remaining trolls can hopefully be saved. A traumatic part of jays and marks childhood is that their mother had put her trust to both of her proudest eldest siblings to take care of their siblings when theyre gone.

They ran away as the buildings fall apart, watching from afar that their parents figure was slowly fading away from their sight.

"It was a faint memory, but never to be forgotten among the three of us." recalls Mark

As Mark, Jay, Marcus and still in egg jill catch up with the other trolls. For them,it felt like they were going no where. They felt the 4 of them were completely lost without any guardian by their side as they are presumed to be deceased.

Lacked of resources, and the constant pressure for mark as he worries for his siblings survival runs through him at that desperate time. Jay isnt any different from her brother, shes as paranoid as her brother, as she felt like she was drowning from her own breath. Poor marcus had no clue whats going on either while the 2 eldest was in a spiral. Fortunately, luck for them began flowing again as them and the other trolls who survived from the bergen attack found their 2nd home, which is known to be the home that currently mark and the other lives in.

Life for the siblings starts to settle again, as Mark regains his stance and began to start building his passion in music while also can be a piller for mark to gather enough resources for his siblings. On the other hand, Jay was right behind him. Both had recruited a band and started to do mini street shows when they can, and getting alot more recognation as time goes by, and now– Marks band is popularly known in the neighborhood. Especially Mark, now growing a sense of charm and excellent leadership towards his bandmates and others.

Jay on the other hand admitted on how far the progresses has gone for Herself and her siblings, Mark has gotten to prove himself capable to be a pillar and support for their lives aswell as being a guardian for them, Marcus also has gotten abit stable after the incident and Jill hatched out from her egg without her seeing the chaos that had happened back then. Jay thought to herself... what can she rely on herself? She really never thought this question for herself, as she started to feel like shes wandering aimlessly with questioning further with her identity of the responsebilities being the eldest while also what do others think of her presence, what is she to them? She asks herself (falling into impostor syndrome in this stage)

This accured as she starts to notice how she barely becomes anyones attention when shes onstage, meanwhile her other bandmates have received all the cheers from the crowd. Especially Mark, she cant help but recall how the crowd cheered loudly for him as he gave his best. She hates herself for it as she slowly realizes this, hated the fact how she also craved for that attention, and hated the fact she thought herself as her brothers shadow on stage. That led to her being silent about her internal conflicts, but Mark notices this slowly while showing more concern to Jay as her behaviors began to change. She became more quiet than usual. He had enough of seeing jays condition and finally confronts her about it. Jay, letting all her thoughts come out, felt like a weight was lifted from jays shoulders, as she finally have the courage to open up to someone. Mark letting her know that she shouldnt think of changing herself to what people wished her to be, or even doubting your own skills with it. Jay also let Mark know that she lost her joy performing on stage ever since she starts to let her thoughts wonder.. what is it like to be in the outside world?

Back in her younger days, mentioned that she was quite timid and shy at first glance but, she has her dads trait of being quite adventerous, her curiosity is beyond the border if its about her interests of exploring the outside world.

But then again, Jay is basically the 2nd eldest and probably considered to be as 2nd guardian for her other siblings. It was a hard choice for her but Mark shook that off and encoureged her to go with what she had desired in order to find herself there. Mark was a little hesitated at letting go Jay to the outside world but regardless, he can garuntee that the resources that jay and mark have made were enough for their livings in their home, so either way if Jay decided to travel on her own itll be okay, since Mark will be taking care of Marcus and Jill while also having enough funds for resources.

Resolevement, and the start of jays adventure!!

Finally set their decisions, Jay hugged his brothers and sisters and went off to see the whole world for herself aswell as finding joy while she does it.

Leaving behind her Impostor syndrome and becoming herself again, and learning from her past

She can admit that she's pretty independent with herself in terms of reaching her goal (which is exploring and experiencing different types of troll genres and learning from it) and also her choices that she makes along her way.

Though deep down, all the efforts she made till this point on, wouldnt be achieved if there wasnt the support of Mark and her Siblings. She promises to herself that when the time comes as she finally finishes her quest on travelling the whole nation, she can go home while her sibling awaits for her.

Though in her early days of travelling, it was a rough start for her as she stumbled upon problems of her own she she set a few injuries on herself. Soon enough, she really couldnt give two Fs about the pain and go straight to finding a solution to stop the injury to further worsen HABASBSB a few problems such as her vehicle that she comes travel with frequently looses alot of engine oil along the way, sometime making her push her vehicle to the nearest refill station for her vehicle to work again (she orders 1-2 galons of engine oil incase she runs out again in the middle of nowhere 💀)

Her character resolved as she starts travelling, to the jay we know today

She described as having a carefree and chill personality, and gets along with others pretty easily! though she likes to put a little of sarcasm from time to time lol (in certain situations, claims jay). She can be REALLY jokingly sarcastic when Marks around aswell, funnily enough he gets the joke and Mark often puts on his game of also putting sarcasm to his remarks (which doesnt end well, it would become a whole roasting session for them)

Okay thats all i have for now its currently 1am but COUGH im not sleepy yet so too bad🤷‍♀️ happy reading folks

[dekusheroacademia]

An attempt at a balanced meta on BNHA's female characters

(reddit version here)

This post is an attempt to write a comprehensive commentary on BNHA's female characters. I will divide this in a positive look, and a critical look. The first part will be the positive one, the second half of it will be a critical look on MHA treatment of female characters. All data used has been linked (if external), and all data on panels count comes from this post, where Heinous-Hare counted panel presence of characters up till chapter 342.

There will be spoilers up till chapter 367. There will be mention of sexualization too.

The reason why I started writing this was because of a tweet I saw circulating, regarding Mirko's condition after her fight with Shigaraki, when Deku finally reaches the battlefield and see her missing limbs. The tweet made a connection between porn/fetishization and Mirko's representation in MHA. It felt more like a window into the poster's mind than actual objective description of what was happening so I decided to reply, and I wrote down my opinion on what Horikoshi did of positive for MHA female characters.

1) THE POSITIVE

A) No fridging (more or less)

Fridging is more than the death of a female character. It is the death of a female character for the sake of a male character, often to give them motivation or to let them go through a painful arc/realization. While this trope is extremely common, both in Western comics and manga, this doesn’t happen in BNHA.

There are four female characters who die: Magne, Curious, Stars and Stripes and Midnight.

Curious and Magne are both villains, both die in battle, and Magne is the only female character who could probably be considered a case of fridging. Her death is shown to sour Twice and Toga’s opinions of Overhaul and it seems to affect Twice the most, but it is not use to develop their characters or give them pain. Twice's character has some pain related to Magne's death, but it is more related to the betrayal of his friends than her actual death.

Stars and Stripe and Midnight both die for the future generation, in a way, to let them have a chance to be heroes, and not for a specific character’s pain or growth, especially not a male character.

B) No damsel in distress

I have my criticism of how Ochako has been out of focus many times, but she is not a damsel in distress. BNHA is about the students helping each others, working together, and none of the female characters, not even the supposed “love interest” Ochako is set up to be the damsel in distress. Female characters are not in danger, to be rescued by male characters, and they are not hurt for the sake of male characters' pain.

Actually, Horikoshi specifically put Bakugou in that role, making him the weakness of Deku, the one who gets kidnapped or hurt to get to Deku’s emotional journey. And this holds so many less negative consequences because we usually do not see male characters (and men in general), but also because of the kind of character Bakugou is: someone who needs to learn how to accept help, and that "weakness" is not a weakness. Iida is also put in the position of being saved, same for Todoroki (emotional saving) and Deku himself.

Instead, we have Tsuyu fighting with Deku, Ochako also saving Deku multiple times, and being saved mainly by Tsuyu, another female character. Momo is also never put in that position, and nor is Jirou. Momo's whole arc about accepting herself is indipendent from Todoroki... Todoroki is the representation of impostor syndrome, for her, someone she accepts as a friend - it is in being able to accept herself that she gets her development.

C) Fighting, not healing

I see often that in manga anime that women becomes healers or ends up in supporting roles (ex. Dragon Ball, Naruto). This coule be a female character (often a love interest) calming a raging male character or healing his “heart”, or full on women reduced in the role of non-fighters in a genre that is often battle shounen, so where the most focus happens through fighting. This is not to say that the only way to write a good female character is if they fight “Just like the male characters”, but in a battle shounen the emphasis is on battle, and by definition other roles are often sidelined. Putting all your female characters into “healers” is… bad. It somehow shows that there is something inherently pure and non violent about women - othering them from being humans.

Interestingly, in BNHA we do have Ochako jumping in to help a raging Deku - but she is not successful. She actually uses her quick thinking and not her “womanly calming powers”, and she immediatelly call on Shinsou to use his quirk. That is how Deku is calmed.

And we have Ochako as set up, alongside Tsuyu, in a major fight. A fight where it is only them and no other main male character. We also have a major female villain having an amazing solo fight herself, against the protagonist, and of course we have Mirko. Her character is, sadly, not as deep as other pro-heroes (compare her to Hawks amazing backstory or Endeavor development)… but at least she is an equal to other male characters in the field of battles.

D) The Mineta situation

Mineta is a horrible character and I do believe Horikoshi uses him to give snippets of “sexy female characters” to the readers (I will talk about it later). We have him (and Kaminari) convincing the girls to wear cheerleader uniforms, just for the sake of drawing them in such uniforms. Then we have him spying on the girls in two occasions, just to show US, the audience, these female characters naked or half dressed.

Still, AT LEAST, Mineta’s behaviour is condemned in story. Iida, Deku, Kirishima, Mina (and even Aizawa) remark at least once about his behaviour. It is not excused (even if kept in the story). Compare it to something like The Seven Deadly Sin and it is a big improvement.

The clothes (tight clothes) are also in my opinion a problem, because of the higher percentage in female characters. Horikoshi tries to give it the “marketing, heroes also have to be marketed” excuse, which is quite flimsy… I wish we had a clearer explanation of how the in world sexism influences the heroes’ uniforms.

E) Villains are not sexist

Another point is that there is no sexual violence in the show. Villains never remark on “being a woman”, or comment on girls and women. For all things considered, in the story, gender is irrelevant from the villains’ perspective (a part for Overhaul misgendering Magne, which is seen by the narrative as something negative and another puzzle in the reasons why we should like the LOV over Overhaul). This is not the same in other shounen or comics, where often the targeting of a female character by a villain is correlated to them being a woman.

I think an element of “sexual violence” can be seen in Toga when we look at the way Horikoshi draws her with Uraraka, but in the text, the violence is more related to her love/crush and almost innocent in nature. Plus, it is not about Uraraka being a woman or even the love interest, it is indipendent from it as Toga loves both Deku and Ochako.

2) CRITICISM

A) The deaths

When we look at all the characters who died, we might want to make sure that we consider characters with at least a bit of "personality" (not just random guest stars). If we consider characters that have at least 40 panels (excluding vestiges, given that they live even if dead), these are the casualties: (female characters) Midnight, Star and Stripe, Magne, Curious, (male characters) Twice, Nighteye, Native, Crust. Considering that we are talking about characters with more than 40 panels, we in total (whole manga) 38 female characters, and 90 male characters.

This is the percentages of deaths:

While the deaths are similar, the fact that there are so few female characters create an unbalance. If MHA had a more balanced number of female and male characters, this point would not be here.

On this note...

B) MHA is a world where male characters do, female characters exist less

My main criticism of MHA is the way the world is shown. There seems to be no limitation for having a quirk - a woman or a man can have amazing quirks, can be heroes. But still, the majority of the characters we see in MHA are male.

Almost 3/4 of all characters are males. Almost 70% of all students are male, just look at how many male characters class A and B have, and we know that Horikoshi admitted to turning both Tsuyu and Hagakure into female characters, the first one because of lack of female characters. Vilalins are 88% male characters, heroes are also 75% male. The only category where male characters and female characters are 50/50 is if they are relatives (Inko, Rei, Endeavor etc.). This means that heroes are shown, in the MHA world, to be not 50/50 but somehow be in the majority male. There is no explanation for that, unless the quirk appearance also killed half of the female population.

What does this mean? It feels like Horikoshi's immediate instict for creating interesting characters is simply making them male. As someone one time told me "It looks like there has to be a reason for a character to be female, otherwise the `normal` status is male."

C) Mineta as a peek into sexualizing female characters

I said before that Mineta gets the disapproval of the narrator and other characters, but still - Horikoshi still uses him to allow the reader to peek at female characters. The status is not equal between male and female characters, for example, male characters changing is shown to have them talking and discussing. The "peek" into the female characters' changing room happens after Mineta attempting to spy on them, and it show the girls as static, reacting to it... and the comedic moment is Jirou commenting that she feels disappointed she was not sexualized given that Mineta named every other girl but her.

Another example comes from the forest scene. I kept the dimension of the two scenes:

You can see that the scene with the male characters have them playing, being themselves, acting (Jirou and Kaminari), look at Tokoyami with his calm exterior, other characters are completely submerged and hidden, others are in the background, walking. The scene with the female characters is bigger, they are not talking, just posing, not really showing any particular character trait. And their nakedness is much more visible (look at Mina).

Also... two of Ochako's few double-spread-pages are the girls in cheerleader outfit or bikini... for absolute no reason.

D) Costumes (and Hagakure)

Another difficult point is the way Horikoshi created quirks... and costumes. None of these characters are real. There is no reason for Hagakure to be unable to off and on his quirk, no reason for Momo to need skin to create, or to even have a create quirk, no reason for Toga to be naked. Horikoshi decided that. Not only he did so, but we know (from the chapters comments) that the reason he decided to make Hagakure a girl is specifically because having a girl naked walking around would be funnier than a guy.

There is no reason for Momo and Hagakure to have such costumes because we know that in world Mirio himself wears a costume. This was a choice, from the author.

Remember that women (and men) have hair on their skin. If Mirio can have a costume made of hair, so can Momo, given that what she creates passes through her skin... and the skin's hairs.

In general, female characters tend to have more thigh skin costumes (even Uraraka comments on being a bit uncomfortable at wearing it, so Horikoshi is aware), and less elaborate costumes. Let's look at numbers:

And these are the costumes of female characters:

Such an extreme difference does not happen casually.

E) Female characters get less focus / development (Mirko vs Hawks, and the Ochako situation)

This is probably the longest point, so, please, bear with me.

Let's look at the characters with the most panel presence. Excluding Deku, these are the top 30 characters that have focus (panel count) in the manga. I colored in pink the female characters:

So not only we have in general less female characters in the whole manga, but they also have less focus. We have only 7 characters who are girls, in the top 30 characters (23% female characters). And look at what we have... Sato enters the top 30. Also notices that we have a bit of a jump - we have characters over 1000 panels and characters under. The characters over 1000 panels are the protagonists of MHA: (Deku, not in graph) Bakugou, All Might, Todoroki, Uraraka, Shigaraki, Iida, Aizawa, Kirishima, Endeavor. Only one female character.

So it is hard to give female characters as much plot as male characters, but of course, panel count does not mean that they do not have a character arc. Most of the female characters do. But let's look at characters in the same "category".

The big three: Mirio, Tamaki and Nejire. These characters are introduced together, there is no order of power/importance in the presentation but we are quick to find out that Tamaki and Mirio not only gets more panels, but also battles. They get a full arc, meaningful interactions with their mentors, emotional fights that they win/succeed at. Nejire, on the other hand, has fights off screen, has very brief flat interactions with her mentor (no arc there, just pleasantries) and her character arc is the beauty contest. Nothing wrong with a beauty contest, but this is a battle shounen... the contest was nowhere as near focused, dynamic, emotionally deep as Mirio's fight or Tamaki's. Even their names are not the same: Mirio wants to save a million eaters, Suneater admires his sun, and Nejire is... Nejire-chan because she is cute.

The teachers: Among the teachers presented in the manga we have only two female characters. Among these characters only a few actually have scenes and importance (plot importance): All Might, Aizawa, Present Mic, Nezu and Midnight. Present Mic, Midnight and Aizawa are also put together as a trio in the prequel, showing that they have been to school together... but only two of them go to see their old friend. Midnight character is also very sexual related, and all her jokes are about how she loves students and their youthness. Her quickly added plot point about recognizing Momo as a future leader really goes nowhere as she is never shown to be a real mentor until the actual war, just before she is killed. All Might and Aizawa, on the other side, are full round characters, with backstories, emotional arcs and focus.

Villains: Villains are overwhelmingly male, the only surviving villain who is a female character is Toga. She actually has a big arc, and I have really no complains here, as she gets as much focus and backstory as all the other villains. La Brava and Gentle Criminal are also having comparable stories/arcs and focus. Nagant is another rare female villain who is still alive, and her backstory has been shown to be comparable to Hawks (by Horikoshi, given that he wanted to add more and he connected their characters)... except that Hawks gets arcs, chapters, focus, interactions and Nagant gets a fight only and then she is out. My point here is... there is no reason for Hawks to be the male character and Nagant to be the female character, but here we are.

The only comment I would like to add here is notice how the female characters (a part from Nagant) in these four female "main" characters all have characteristics typically associated with femininity in common. Nothing bad with being feminine, but notices how Mirio's arc is about saving (nothing inherently masculine), Nejire's arc is about beauty (something that society values in women). Notice how Aizawa's character is being stern and rational, Midnight is bdsm and sexyness. How Dabi's arc is about revenge, and Toga is about love. How La Brava's quirk IS love and her motivation IS love, while Gentle Criminal manipulates elasticity and wants to be known for who he is.

Top Pro heroes: Among the top 10 pro heroes, the ones introduced together in chapter, we only have two female characters: Mirko and Ryukyu. Not all these heroes have the same focus, and we can divide them in "top heroes/acting as heroes" and "mentors".

When we look at mentors we have Best Jeanist, Endeavor, Ryukyu, Hawks and we can add Fat Gum. The reason why I chose these are because we have actual focus on their internship, especially during Overhaul and during the war, and we have multiple interactions between the mentors and the students. Mentorship is tricky... we do not have significant and deep mentorship for any of the female students. Ochako and Tsuyu, the closest we have to this, are with Ryukyu but we have no emotional pivotal moment that is focused on their mentorship. Even Ochako big emotional moment during Overhaul (her desiring for a future where everyone gets saved), is connected to Nighteye more than Ryukyu... Ryukyu is just there. We never see her giving important pivotal advice to ger students.

Let's take Hawks: his mentorship led to Tokoyami to get a new move, we also have a very emotional moment of Tokoyami saving Hawks and wanting to learn from him. Best Jeanist gives Bakugou important life lessons, and then he is back again and he is the reason why Bakugou held his name secret for so long. Fatgum is shown interacting with both Kirishima and Tamaki, supporting them and reassuring them. Even Endeavor, in the context of the internship, is shown to give advice that results in actual developments. Other good mentorships shown are the ones with have with Nighteye, Gran Torino, All Might in general etc. We do not have any female hero being a mentor that is focused upon.

Reagrding the heroes with focus, I decided to see what heroes have at least one fight or backstory. Excluding the teachers, we have Endeavor, Hawks, Edgeshot, Best Jeanist, Mirko, Kamui and even Mt Lady if we consider her role at Kamino a fight. What I want to describe is how we have no female heroes that have the depth Endeavor and Hawks get. Mirko is the closest we can get to that, but even her character is mainly revolving around being aggressive, and fighting - nothing wrong with it, but it is uncomparable when other characters in the same category (at least two other male characters) get a backstory, a character arc and a development... plus fights. Mirko only has fights.

The class 1a: Not all characters in the class have character arc. Let's see which ones have a focused character arc that we can pin point: Deku, Bakugou, Todoroki, Iida, Ochako, Momo, Jirou, Kirishima, Tokoyami. Secondary characters like Jirou, Momo, Aoyama, Kaminari Kirishima and Tokoyami all have minor but compelling arcs even if very small (ex. Kaminari). We still have more male characters but that is probably because there are more male characters in general.

Now, let's look at the protagonists: Deku, Bakugou, Todoroki, Iida and Ochako. Here, we do not have equality in treatment. The most glaring issue is that all these arcs revolve around Deku, but only one character ends up never applying what they "learnt" to other characters.

Deku teaches Todoroki that his power is really his and that he can still save people - Todoroki applies it to save Iida (with Stain), to take care of his friends, and later on to save his brother

Deku shows Bakugou how to be a hero who saves - Bakugou applies it by saving Jirou and his class, saving Natsuo, and later on is also shown to help the class during Dark Deku (specific scenes where he supports Todoroki)

Same happens for Iida, what he learnt he applies it to Todoroki during Class 1a vs b, and to Aoyama too.

Ochako is the only one whose character arc... puts her in the background. This is a streamline of Ochako's arc:

She joines the hero course to help her parents, wanting to see them smile, so treating hero job like a job. She takes things not as seriously, at the beginning (we see her laughing a lot), and then faces Deku's determination and a loss at the sport festival. The consequence of this is her deciding to be more serious, admiring Deku, wanting to be like him, learning new skills. She applies these skills at Overhaul, by taking him down.

So you can see we have Deku's impact on the character, and then we have the character doing something/growing and then applying what they learnt to the world of MHA.

Later on, the main problem is that Uraraka stops interacting with the class. So in the next jump of her character arc we have:

Ochako sees hero work for the first time, fighting in Overhaul (notices how in this fight she and Tyusu were the only students who did not get a solo fight), she manages to take down Overhaul, but Nighteye dies after her attempt to save him. This really shakens her, making her realize that she not only wants to do her best, but she also wants to save people.

And then... we only see her saving Deku (black whip). That moment is also connected to her realization that heroes needs to be not left alone, but supported by the people. Still, even when she sees a hero quitting during the war, she does not offer comfort. Her arc at this point is completely sidelined. Her desire to save is only shown through nameless characters, but after her speech on the roof (closing the chapter of making sure that the people support the heroes) Horikoshi never shows us Uraraka being as present as kind as she was before Overhaul. All her interactions with other characters disappear - Tsuyu reassures her once, but that is it, everything else revolves around Deku. Her next step is Toga - and I won't say anything until I see the actual fight.

Add this to the fact that she is the only female main character, and that she gets less panels than other main male characters and you can see my worry.

I hope this post was clear enough!

[trafficlightchild]

There has been a lot of biphobia going around with the release of Urban Legends #6, so I've decide to make somewhat of a critical post analysis both of what was said in the story and what's begun to be said outside of it.

First and foremost, wanting bi/pan/omni/poly characters and heroes is valid. Wanting gay/lesbian heroes is also valid. The discourse happening is a reflecting on the lack of representation there is as a whole within the DC world.

Let's start with what happening in this issue

1. Tim expressed excitement, happiness, and interest by the idea of going on a date with another boy, Bernard. This story has shown that Tim in some way has felt lost and that accepting this date is also a way of him accepting himself.

Tim is interested in datings boys. That's a fact.

2. Tim declares his love for Stephanie. While this can be interpreted as him loving her as someone other than a romantic partner, he says that he didn't understand why he wanted and did need to feel to break up with her. This implies that, at least up until very, very recently, he was romantic interested and attracted to Steph.

(I think it should also be noted that Bernard shares similar features to Steph, such as having blonde hair and blue eyes)

I would like to focus on Tim's comment "If she didn't understand, you sure don't" and look at previous issues in Urban Legends

We don't really have a timeline for breakup and the aftermath since it all happened off-panel but my guess is that it wasn't too long ago. Steph is clearly trying to talk to Tim and Tim doesn't seem to want to speak to anyone. I think this is important to note because it implies that Tim didn't know how to express what he was feeling or going through to Steph. Obviously, and this should go without saying, you don't need to tell anyone you're queer or questioning unless you want to. But it makes me wonder how can Steph not understand what Tim's going through when there isn't a chance for them to talk.

I want to be clear, I am a major Stephanie Brown fan yet even if I wasn't, I highly doubt that Stephanie will be written as homophobic or biphobic. She has been shown various times to be supportive and friends with various people who are apart of the LGBTQIAP+ community. Stephanie, like Tim and many other characters, has also been the subject of queer-coding - most recently in Future State: Batigrls

Lastly, these of are some the response Meghan Ftizmartin (the author) has made. She hasn't corrected anyone's interpretation of Tim being bisexual. Nothing has been stated in the actually text but I think this indicates that Tim Drake is bisexual.

I hope this is helpfully for all those who are wondering. As someone who identifies along the multi-sexual spectrum, I want to see this open more doors for queer-plotlines and characters.

Edit: I suggest reading Meghan’s interview with Polygon, as it helps clarify why Tim’s sexuality wasn’t directly labeled in this issue. She references Tim’s feelings for both Steph and Bernard as real and current. It’s clear we are going on a journey with Tim as he figures things out.

We should also keep in mind that DC may be waiting to officially refer to Tim as bi or gay due to non-comic media with Tim that was finished but has yet to be released prior to this issue. Tim is set to appear in season 3 of Titans starting this month and most likely will appear in Young Justice: Phantoms starting in October. Both shows have been in production for a while and before this story was even green-lighted by DC themselves. They probably don’t want to confirm that a character’s sexuality in one media only for it to be different in another media.