#or something like that I'm just spitballing

[mollysunder]

The Medarda arc of s2 struggled to be good, because the plot viciously smothered it. You can argue that Arcane was never about politics but you cannot say the Medardas were never explicitly a family defined by politics. So when the show shifted it's priorities from a drama steeped in political conflict where even though the setting was fantastical the stakes were grounded to a shift where magic is the end all be all threat to humanity, the Medardas are rendered largely irrelevant.

In s2 Mel's agency over her own story is both largely stripped from her and poorly communicated. Arcane has Mel abducted from the plot to be the Black Rose's captive. Even when Mel manages to free herself it's not through the traits the audience understands are her strengths, her cunning and social intelligence, it's through an innate instinct that natural to her and indecipherable to the audience.

Ambessa as a character is more or less a villain of convenience, which would be fine if she wasn't immediately following Silco's act. Once Mel is removed from the story Ambessa is largely disconnected from any emotional tension fuels conflict between the characters and previously drove the plot in s1. She's there to play the worse bad guy for Caitlyn and then give Viktor the man power for the Glorious Evolution.

It's frustrating to see the Medardas used the way they are in s2 because when they're together I can see how it could be good. When they're together Mel forces emotion out of Ambessa. In Act 1, Ambessa proved she could do circles around Piltover's court, which could actually put Mel in a tight spot.

Their final scene on paper sounds like a good idea where the true resolution to Mel and Ambessa's story was that Ambessa saw Mel's own ruthless behavior as she not only betrayed Ambessa to the Black Rose, but used her as BAIT to double cross LeBlanc. Ambessa died proud that her daughter killed her the way she did, and that's so cool and tragic, but the execution was a flop.

One, their final fight is completely unimportant to the actual Glorious Evolution, Mel's grief can't even be a highlight because it's interrupted by Viktor's mind trap. Two, their fight didn't rely on any of Mel's actual strengths, just magic and the poorly explained MacGuffin LeBlanc gave her. How did Mel even know it would do that?

It's like the writers had the bones for a great story for the Medardas, but then they're like the world's worst archeologists and fit those bones together in the worst way possible because they were convinced the bones made a stegasaurus instead of a T-rex or something.

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Hot take: the authors purposefully kept the Animorphs from ever properly taking advantage of a raccoon morph (until Book 52, maybe) because racoon morphs are too OP. Change my mind, tumblr.

I guess I'm not of the mindset that there are animals more OP or UP than others. It feels antithetical to the whole philosophy of Animorphs, which is all about all animals having unexpected advantages and there being no such thing as a "best" animal.

That said. What advantages does raccoon have? Genuine question — all I know about them is a) rabies and b) trash theft.

[camellia-thea]

okay. just rambling here, but, i think armand took more than just the end of the interview away from daniel.

we got that little moment about that night, saying 'you asked me to' to louis. 'you asked me to take this from you, you could not live with it,' leading into, 'i look after you when you cannot look after yourself, i make those choices for you.'

we know that during the chase and devil's minion era, daniel was an addict, who was, by his own admission, slowly killing himself. he was also addicted to blood.

it's really not too far to make the jump, if devil's minion occurred, that armand made the choice to step in, in his own mind, for daniel's best interests. i know this isn't a unique jump to make, but; again with armand's "i look after him when he cannot look after himself" continual reiteration, i think it's a fair assumption.

he can also replace and blur memories, which makes the discussion of alice and paris -- why the dessert from that night? -- and how immediate and sincere his answer of "she wanted to say yes, but she didn't trust you. you hadn't given her a reason to." this could be the night he took them away, replaced himself with alice, planted something similar for her to start the relationship, then step back and watch it fall. and i think the thing that stands out there is just how tender he is while saying it. there's an undercurrent of something else entirely underneath, it isn't a dig at daniel in the moment, despite the pushing earlier in the scene.

and then in s1, when louis say to daniel, "i'd give it to you now." and the cut to armand, still in disguise, and his micro-expression of horror, the way he stiffens and looks away... and the little moment of what i read as conflict when daniel says no. his jump to "may i be excused?" i can't tell in the moment, if he's horrified about the offer itself, the fact that it is louis offering to turn daniel rather than himself, or the fact that daniel denies it. because i don't think armand could actually let daniel die if this was the case.

the disguise itself-- why pretend to be rashid? i think part of it is to try and hide behind a human persona to keep those memories at bay; especially given the little moments of flashback that got triggered by little mannerisms. i can't decide whether they're intentional pushes or not, whether armand wanted/wants daniel to remember on his own, or wants to keep it under wraps. i think, even if he believes he doesn't want it to come forward, he truly does deep down.

and once he's revealed himself as armand, the way he gazes at daniel, his beautiful boy. the continued "our boy", from both he and louis, the "he's still in there, somewhere..."

and i think "our boy" is also really interesting, because why would daniel be armand's boy, based solely on the moments that louis initially remembered? armand didn't really have any emotional connection to daniel that night, sure, he saved him, but that doesn't really mean anything; he saved daniel for louis, not for daniel's sake.

and, jumping back "our boy,[...] he's still in there somewhere"... there's implication that louis might know about it? again, i don't think this is related to the original interview, or at least, limited to it? i don't have anything concrete here, just vibes, but again, why is armand's boy still in there somewhere?

and sure, some of these are reaches and i don't think i'm necessarily right, but god it would be deliciously awful if i was.

[theusernameiwantisntavailable]

Persona 5/ Persona 5 royal spoilers ahead!

Okay so I did this WIP a while back that I discontinued but I'm still going insane about the meaning of it and also the symbolism of masks in this game and also akeshu parrallels so I need to Yap abt them

Yap session under the cut!

The symbolism of masks in this game drives my so batshit insane actually. Like. So often we see in media that people are finally free when they take their mask off (both metaphorically and literally) but in this game we see people's true forms when they put one ON.

Like the palaces are where we see people's true faces and desires. It's the place where no one can hide who they are. And yet it's one one place where you wear a physical mask and disguise and have to conceal who you are.

I could (and will at some point) write an entire essay about that but rn it's akeshu hours

Because Joker is arguably the best example of that, he becomes alive in the palaces, where his face his hidden. It's his freedom

Versus Akechi

The first time we see Akechi show his true form to Joker (and the player) is in what is percieved at the time as the real world. The entire time we work together in the palace, the place that shows who you are despite the mask you wear he hides who he is. It's only in the gritty real world that he reveals himself.

Joker in the real world is perceived (at least by people outside of his circle) as closed off and someone to be cautious around, he has a criminal record so he could be dangerous. The exact opposite of how he is in palaces, the centre of the team and a flame people are drawn towards

VERSUS AKECHI

In the real world he is a celebrity, he is loved, people are drawn to him. But in palaces he's cold and heartless, his words are cutting and he cares for no one, not hesitating to kill to achieve his goal

Opposites in every sense

THE ABSOLUTE PARALLELS IT DRIVES ME INSANEASHBANANSJAKSS

They were both ruined by the same man. They both ended up in their current predicament because of said man. They both had the potential to weild multiple personas. They both have the capability to lead. They are the exact same and yet the exact opposite

They don't need to lie awake at night and wonder what would they be like if their life had turned out slightly differently. They don't need to because they have each other. EVERYTIME THEY GO INTO A PALACE THEY SEE WHO THEY COULD'VE BEEN, THEY FIGHT WITH THAT PERSON SIDE BY SIDE EVERY NIGHT I'M GOING MAD

[meeeeeeese]

Sometimes I wonder how much Abaddon knew about Tyria. Like, his whole motivation and the cause of his conflict with the other gods was that he wanted to keep the bloodstone unsealed to keep humanity as magically gifted as possible. However, letting more magic into the ecosystem could only accelerate the next Dragon awakening, and Zhaitan waking up right beneath their feet in Arah would have been very bad.

So like, what was Abaddon's plan here? The scroll of the Five True Gods suggests he and the others had at least some knowledge, but did he have a plan here? Or did his nature as the god of magic just compel him to act to maximise the presence of magic on Tyria?

(which, as an aside, there's some evidence (see: Balthazar's refusal to back down from a war with the dragons, the speculation in The Bastion of Knowledge and Abaddon's general obsession with magic) that the power of the gods changes their outlook and moral alignment, pushing them towards the promotion of their domain)

It's possible that, as the god of the ocean, he was in communication with Soo-Wan and had a plan with her to protect humanity in the event of a dragonrise (which would, as a side effect, clear out all the other major civilisations on Tyria, allowing humanity to become the sole masters of the world). But, with all the relevant parties dead any such deal is likely lost to time.

Finally, while I'm on the Abaddon speculation train, I do wonder if it's just a coincidence that the Human god of magic, and the dragon who first split void into Tyrian magic are both aligned with water. Maybe there's some kind of connection between magic, void and the ocean? (incredibly crackpot connection time but, well, mist is just a form of vaporized water... Call me a conspiracy theorist but maybe it's connected man)

[svtskneecaps]

ok the thing that is grinding my gears more than anything about the whole luffy thing is i keep thinking about what we could have gotten if the federation didn't re-kidnap luffy. like. ok.

right now, the federation has luffy. therefore, even if the islanders WANTED to, they CAN'T give luffy to the eye workers. they can't access the federation offices to get to luffy themselves, and the eye workers refuse to listen when the islanders try to explain this to them. the islanders are stuck.

NOW. imagine the islanders DID have luffy. imagine luffy has been puttering around with them the WHOLE TIME.

now they really have to have the conversation amongst themselves of DO WE GIVE LUFFY TO THE EYE WORKERS. nobody's really had this conversation to any serious degree since they CAN'T, it's just a hypothetical. in OUR hypothetical, it's REAL and it's PRESSING. do we risk the lives of our eggs to protect this eye creature? we don't know what its intentions are, we don't know if we can trust it. is it an extension of the big eye or is it just a silly creature? like, who's the first person to say, "fuck this thing, my egg is what's most important" ? WHAT WOULD THEY DO ONCE EMPANADA LOST A LIFE TO THE WORKERS? WOULD THEY NOW TURN IN LUFFY TO PROTECT THE REST OF THEIR CHILDREN? ARE THEY WRACKED WITH GUILT OVER THE FACT THAT THEIR INACTION WAS THE CAUSE OF AN EGG'S DEATH? because right now, it's the federation's fault that the eye workers are still fucking here. the islanders have no way to chase them off. but IF THE ISLANDERS HAD LUFFY? now em's death is their fault. WHO'S THE FIRST TO TURN THEIR BACK ON LUFFY FOR THEIR CHILD.

is em's death enough to make bagi turn her back on luffy?? LUFFY DREW HER WHEN ASKED WHO HIS FRIENDS WERE, luffy hung out with her and tina after the egg event and gave them a pretty boat and walked them home and he was green's Little Buddy bagi LOVES that fucking creature, NOW WHAT? when she KNOWS that her choice to protect luffy from presumed danger had been the cause of em losing a life?? they can't even be 100% sure if they NEED to protect luffy from the workers, if luffy's actually in any danger. like i don't personally think bagi would turn on luffy but I DON'T KNOW THAT AND I WANT TO. at the very least it would be so interesting to see her decision making process, if she struggles with the choice or sticks with her principles or WHAT. it'd be SO COOL.

and how do the EGGS react to all this? we know that phil wanted to protect luffy, and that chayanne was willing to come to his side, and i'm guessing bagi would want to protect luffy as well, but tallulah has already shown she HATES egg island and all reminders, and now phil wants to protect luffy? and then tallulah warms to empanada and then EM DIES TO THE EYE WORKERS BECAUSE THEY WOULDN'T GIVE UP LUFFY? i'm FEASTING. like what do em, sunny, and pepito think of the eye guys even?? would they ALSO be distrusting of luffy? and now how does that affect their parents' view on luffy?? what does LEO think???? she HATED the very IDEA of foolish even TALKING to em, sunny, and pepito and those were EGGS, now imagine it's this one eyed creature that looks so very like the one eyed freak that directly and PERSONALLY kept her and her dad separated and put her ENTIRE FAMILY in danger, NOW WHAT?

and NEED I REMIND YOU, if the islanders have luffy then all it takes is ONE person to decide that they're done with the eye workers threatening them and to throw luffy to the wolves no matter what the other parents say. would not be hard. THEN WHAT. ONE PERSON SAYS FUCK IT AND LUFFY IS GONE. WHAT DO ALL OF LUFFY'S PROTECTORS HAVE TO SAY TO THAT.

i'm frothing at the mouth at all the interpersonal drama this could have caused. tasty, delicious challenging of viewpoints.....

[fondfamilies]

love final season(s?) therapised-reid talking about who he is or could be outside of his job - the farm with cows, the fungi talk about how he grows, going out to meet someone unrelated to his work :') GOOD he needed that

[marcirose]

Kairi's crystal flower thing from Re:mind/MoM isn't her heart but is instead a manifestation of the trauma she received from being experimented on and it acts as a Chirithy (protecting her from nightmares which in this case is said trauma) hence why she now has Chirithy imagery and parallels

[bayofwolves]

thinking about a harry potter au for the spirit animals gang... what if they were wizards and got into shenanigans

the sorting hat declares conor a hufflepuff with no delay. conor is more than happy to be in the house of the just and loyal, though befuddled as to how a lowly muggle-born like him ended up at such a school at all. he misses his family's sheep, his dogs, the rolling hills of ireland, normal things, normal life.

abeke's house is a little less clear. the hat figures she would make a good hufflepuff, but ultimately decides she's bound for ravenclaw with a mind and soul like hers. she still writes unanswered letters to her wizard father and non-magical sister, unaware or perhaps unwilling to accept that they were glad to be rid of her.

meilin gets sent to slytherin, which she is quite pleased at. it's the superior house, really. her pureblood status and wealthy upbringing gives her a judgemental outlook on the rest of her peers until she befriends conor, rollan and eventually abeke. disturbingly, as the school years drag on, she begins to feel less and less in control of her own body. she is susceptible to long blackouts, and awakes in unknown locations doing unexplainable things. she fears she may be losing her mind.

rollan is a gryffindor through and through. he was held back a year at one point (becoming so preoccupied with a friend's deteriorating health that he couldn't properly attend to his studies), so he ends up in the same year as conor, abeke and meilin. he still doesn't do so well at school because he's spending most of his time flying on his broom. he is the first one to catch on to the trouble brewing in their midst, though, intuitive as he is.

shane is a textbook slytherin (clever, resourceful, ambitious, good leader) so he's with meilin, albeit two years above her. he... seems okay. he's decent, knowledgeable and kind. there's just something unidentifiable beneath the surface. something dark.

devin/worthy is a gryffindor, something that only makes sense after his journey of self-improvement. as devin, he is simply insufferable. rollan and conor's worst nightmare.

shane and abeke, despite their different houses, become the best of friends. in fact, they are each other's only friends for quite some time. shane teaches her how to fly, and abeke teaches him how to handle certain magical creatures. shane also spends a lot of time teaching abeke various spells, some more questionable than others. abeke tampers down her doubts about these. she trusts he is good at heart.

lenori, the divination professor, takes an interest in conor for reasons she won't say. conor has cryptic visions from time to time, about a serpent in the dungeons and a boy in a mask, but he tries to keep those to himself.

the plot twist is that shane was delving into the dark arts all along and is growing to be a powerful dark wizard. he's working for someone who needs his skills...

his followers (the conquerors, in canon) are the death eaters and they all bear the mark. despite this, they are all under a foul imperius curse -- and no matter how total shane's authority seems to be, they whisper he is under the very same enchantment.

meilin's increasingly odd behaviour reveals that she is a victim of this curse as well. the worst part is, no one knows who casts it...

all of this is happening when the gang are like. 13-15. the four really only became friends in their third year, and that was when things started to pick up speed.

the great beasts keep their canon forms in this au. they're like their own class of magical, god-like beings. some have closer relations to wizarding society than others. gerathon has lived underneath hogwarts for decades (taking the place of the basilisk).

the people who eventually form the redcloaks (shane included) are animagi gone wrong, i.e., they did the process incorrectly and ended up as wonky half-human, half-animals with no ability to transform into either form. the whole lot of them were secretly death eaters who sought to master the skill to disguise themselves, but they failed. miserably. tragically.

and naturally, the characters' patronuses appear as their spirit animals! except they have more agency and sentience as patronuses. the four are the only wizards whose patronuses have taken the form of the great beasts who died in the first wizarding war. it fulfills a prophecy. briggan, uraza, jhi and essix are gone from the world, but their spirits live on in the four heroes' patronuses.

if a character is not marked in spirit animals canon, then either the spell is too advanced for them to perform or their patronus is incorporeal... with a few exceptions.

for years, shane can only produce a silver wisp of a patronus. it is only after his betrayal of abeke, during the war of his own making against the rest of the wizarding world, that his patronus takes shape -- and he is humbled before the familiar figure of a leopard.

[brutalmasks]

nooo, but thinking back on the ending of the second bunny mask series (which would be 'the hollow inside') and how bunny literally just... DUSTS this spirit that's been causing people trouble as if it was nothing makes me? wonder more about the 'code' she made up as to when she can punish someone / kill someone consists of?? particularly whenever it comes to other supernatural creatures, like fellow spirits???

because it was showed multiple times throughout BOTH comic series that bunny mask will be pretty much merciless towards any humans who hurt other's (animals included) but. suddenly, this other spirit shows up and it seems to be a different story, even though they were causing trouble the instant they appeared. like i can't help but keep on thinking about that line she said regarding the hollow, which is the spirit that showed up + started to harm humans. and this is right after tyler asked her whether she was going to do anything about them...

and bunny mask said 'i could stop them, but the real question is, will i stop them?' which really makes me scratch my head because could it be that there is some sort of rule against killing other spirits when you ARE one unless certain circumstances take place? or was bunny mask saying this because she was willing to overlook all the trouble the hollow was causing, until they actually tried to mess with tyler?

because in the comics, bunny mask dusting them happens right after the hollow actually tries to kill tyler, coincidentally enough. orrr is it something else like i'm overthinking things? that could also be a possibility LOL but it's just weird to me, because everything bunny did in the comics seemed to have some sort of purpose to it. it almost makes me think that maybe she didn't have enough power to ''dust'' them, perhaps, and/or didn't want to get involved in killing them for one reason or another

[gynaiko]

ㅤㅤㅤSTELLA   IS   NOT   A   GOOD   MOTHER,   AT   ALL;   QUITE   NEGLECTFUL,   ACTUALLY.   THE   KIND   TO   SAY   ‘THAT’S   NICE,   DEAR’   WHILE   NOT   EVEN   LOOKING   AT   VIA.   HOWEVER,   I   DON’T   SUBSCRIBE   TO   FANON’S   GENERAL   INTERPRETATION   WHERE   SHE’S   APPARENTLY   WILLING   TO   KILL   HER   JUST   TO   SPITE   STOLAS.   WE   STILL   HAVEN’T   SEEN   HER   INTERACT   WITH   OCTAVIA   BUT   IF   SHE   TRULY   HATED   HER,   SHE   WOULD   HAVE   THROWN   A   FIT   WHEN   ANDRE   POINTED   OUT   VIA   WOULD   GET   EVERYTHING,

ㅤㅤㅤ&   WHEN   SHE   WAS   SCREECHING   AT   STOLAS,   ASKING   IF   HE   WAS   ‘TURNING   HER   ( VIA )   AGAINST   HER   ( STELLA )’   —   CLEARLY,   SHE   CARES   FOR   VIA.   AGAIN,   SHE’S   NOT   A   GOOD   MOTHER,   PERHAPS   NOT   CODDLING   OR   ‘MOTHERLY’   BUT   ENOUGH   THAT   VIA   HAS   GOOD   MEMORIES   OF   HER   ( PER   THE   LOO   LOO   LAND   EPISODE ),

ㅤㅤㅤREAD   THE   TAGS   FOR   MY   TINFOIL   HAT   RAMBLINGS ,

[amtrak12]

Okay I still don't know what the pocket watches are in Pushing Daisies, but I learned grave robbers who stole bodies for anatomists to dissect were called 'resurrectionists' and um... I feel that's relevant to Ned and his powers.

[laurelwinchester]

one of my many many many arr*w related grievances is that people in the fandom (including in the laurel lance sub fandom) are very hesitant or even outright refuse to admit that quentin lance was an extremely emotionally abusive father. i still don't understand why that is.

[burinazar]

"moments where everyone else is introducing themselves with their pronouns and i weigh the odds of honestly saying my pronouns are it/she and letting that land how it's probably gonna land versus more 'acceptable' ones, all the while knowing my awkward silence as i wrestle with this may be mistaken for me feeling normie-awkward that they shared their pronouns" shaking hands with "moments where someone else at the event just enthusiastically and unselfconsciously shared they have ADD and i'm working out whether i can choke out disclosing my diagnosis of the same that i still feel really fucking weird about versus say nothing, knowing my silence may be mistaken for me feeling normie-awkward that they shared theirdiagnosis" with the clasped hands in the middle of the meme labeled The Ebil Does Not Know What To Do slash Fears Its Silence will be Mistaken for A Judgemental One Instead of a OHNOWHATDOSIWJAKJRARAJKL One

[rhys-ravenfeather]

Small Welcome Home theory/prediction:

The ARG is going to start with a live-action clip from, or at least audio of, the ‘real’ puppet show.

[svtskneecaps]

my biological peer reviewer (sibling) called this theory “fun” and said i should send it, so here goes

my personal theory is the feds ((”federation”)) created the eggs because they decided the best way to enforce “you can never leave” was to give the people something they couldn’t lose, like in the post by tumblr user alexaloraetheris (no relation to the smp) where their friend who might be a deity had said,

"When you die you descend to the underworld with nothing to lose. To keep you, they give you something to lose. When you want to return, they will demand it back. That's why nobody ever leaves. The only way out is to never enter."

i’m thinkin that on egg D-Day, at the end of the countdown, the feds weren’t gonna give the eggs back. they were just gonna hide them forever, or do something else, anything else, just keep them away from their surrogate parents, because then the people would just be STUCK, because people could theoretically take their eggs and leave, but if the eggs are missing, gone without a trace, then the residents CAN’T LEAVE, because presumably the eggs are STILL THERE, SOMEWHERE, IN NEED OF HELP AND RESCUE, if only the residents could find them ON THE ISLAND. if they leave the island while the eggs are missing, they are abandoning these things that have become their children.

but then in came the brazilians. and shit went south. because see, the spenglish (spanish / english) streamers were INVITED, but the brazilians CRASHED; the feds didn’t INVITE THEM, they weren’t EXPECTING THEM, but they can’t let these guys leave either, so they PANIC, and they scramble to give the brazilians the same thing--something to lose. the new egg had a brazilian jersey, homie was TAILOR MADE for them to pack bond with. the feds didn’t have time to send out multiple eggs, it was all or nothing, so they picked something they could reasonably assume all five of them would find endearing because they don’t know shit about these guys--they had a week to observe the OG batch, but all they know about these newbies is the brazilian flag on their boat--and so they sent the little egg out to become THEIR THING, the thing they couldn’t afford to lose.

it leaves open why the eggs are cracked too, bc idk what’s going on there lol, either 1: the eggs cracked because they’re hatching and the feds picked that date bc they wanted to yoink the eggs before they got Too Powerful, or 2: the feds were the ones to crack the eggs as an excuse for why they vanished--returning the eggs untouched would open too many questions the feds don’t want them asking; this way, instead of being concerned specifically with “why were the eggs missing”, the residents presume they know the answer--the cracks.

but yea i’m just gonna add as an aside that personally i think cucurucho / osito bimbo / the white fucker is way more active again because the feds are still scrambling to keep up with the brazilians (which, again, the feds weren’t expecting), and the binary fuckwad came in to put the fear of god into the newbies--maybe so they didn’t get too focused on the morse code transmissions; iirc max was theorizing that both osito and binary were part of the federation ? and if so it does make sense that the binary entity went to fuck with cellbit immediately after cellbit was introduced to the conspiracies of the island, yknow, a warning shot. i think they want them to be focused on the eggs.

BUT THAT’S JUST A THEOr