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cynthiav06 · 2 months ago

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hi hello! i hope you're having a good day

i love reading your writing and analysis/takes on percy jackson ( the character and franchise ), and i wanted to know your opinion on perpollo. just anything you have to say on the topic. i find it so interesting as a concept itself and when it's explored.

I am sorry for the delay. I hope you and everyone else who sent me asks has found the pinned post regarding my hiatus. I will answer as many asks as I can in this week but I have exams coming up so I won't be very active for a while after this.

Back to the point, I really like the possibilities that the Perpollo ship presents. I know I have not made any Perpollo centric posts but given its popularity and how many prominent blogs have analyzed it along with some of my mutuals @ackerlikesmen , @deliajackson , @hermesmyplatonicbeloved I really haven't felt the need to. They will probably have great stuff to add on or correct in my analysis.

I have mixed opinions on the ship. My parameters for analyzing this ship may not align with you, but I just feel better when factual and practical nuances are considered. This is one of the few ships where the cons can be used as tropes to further bolster the pros of the ship. So let's start with that:

PROS:

1.It's a mutually respectful relationship with no toxicity.

Apollo greatly respects Percy even before the events of Trials of Apollo. He votes to save Percy in the Titan's Curse and also actively helps him and begins respecting him after he saves Artemis.

In Singer of Apollo, Apollo tells Percy that he is Apollo's favorite hero.

In the Hidden Oracle, when Apollo realizes that he is human, he wants Percy to be his master. Apollo the ( God of Ego) thinks that if anyone is worthy of commanding him it's Percy.

When Meg is being hesitant about trusting demigods, and Apollo wants to prove that some of them are good and reliable, he picks Percy as the prime example. Not anyone else of the Seven or even his own children but Percy.

In their initial conversation where Apollo is still repulsively high handed and egoistic and considers Percy declining him as self-centered he doesn't complain too much on it an even follows up by the thought that Percy has done him much goodwill. And this is before his transformation so Percy is that influential that even pre ToA Apollo can't really pick faults at him.

Now Percy began with disliking Apollo as much as he dislikes any gods. But he does remember Apollo thanking him at the end of Titan's Curse and declines Apollo's offer for free Archery lessons.

Percy acknowledges the change in Apollo and respects Apollo for it. Despite his annoyance Percy is one of the few to help him initially and consistently throughout the series.

2. Common family/friends circle and culture

Initially, one would question why this matters, but I think it's generally a comforting space to be involved with someone who knows your roots and is on good terms with your family. It's both wise and fosters a stronger bond. It's even more reassuring and I dare say easier when a couple shares similar cultures/family roots. It automatically trumps the trial and error phase of adjustment with another person's family and cultural norms.

Percy is a family oriented person and therefore likes that Apollo respects and thinks highly of his mother and his family.

Apollo is despite his progress, someone who considers status quo important, and he appreciates that Percy is such a high profile person on Olympus and obviously the most influential out of all demigods. Plus, he is a sea prince.

Percy is on good terms with Apollo Cabin and Will, Kayla, Austin and formerly Michael all respect Percy and are fond of him. Percy despite being mid battle and exhausted from his fight stopped everything and looked through the bridge rubble to try and save Michael and retrieve his body.

Percy is the only male demigod Artemis acknowledges and likes and he has saved her before and they are on extremely good terms. Apollo loves his sister very much so it's unlikely he would accept someone who wasn't on good terms with Artemis. No other demigod has that advantage.

Percy and Apollo also have an exclusive friend in common being Rachel, who is Apollo's Oracle and Percy's very good friend. In fact, Rachel was led to being the Oracle by meeting Percy and Apollo adores Rachel.

Percy is possibly the demigod that has been through the most hardships and Apollo has had a taste of what demigod hardship is like so he knows what it is like being in Percy's situation. And there's full understanding there.

Percy knows many gods and is aware of godly ways so he isn't a novice to divinity or the world of gods or what gods do in general. So, it's unlikely that Apollo's functions, roles and responsibilities will cause any misunderstandings between them.

3. There is no god mortal power gap that usually exists.

Percy is a prince of the Sea and Poseidon's favorite child. He has also been offered godhood before and is hailed throughout Olympus as it's Savior twice. Essentially, he is on equal footing with Apollo.

He might be mortal but given his high profile status in Olympus and in both camps, Apollo [yes Apollo already absolutely respects and thinks highly of Percy] would not be able to mistreat or hurt Percy in any major ways.

4. They have similar goals of bettering lives of demigods and are both in positions to do so and therefore collaborate frequently even in their work life. This is healthy in a relationship.

5. With Sally's own affair with Poseidon, Percy and Apollo dating create a nice sort of generational parallel.

6. Percy respects the domains Apollo stands for, and that's very important, I think to a god. Percy is grateful to healers, is friends with the Oracle and is Rachel's protector to some extent, is fond of music and is fairly artistic (writer as he does write/ narrate the whole orignal series himself) on his own. Though he sucks at Archery, it seems to amuse Apollo rather than anger him, and he offers Percy archery lessons from himself, so that could be a fun dynamic.

7. Percy and Apollo are very complementary, and their dynamic can really help both of them.

Percy has extreme self esteem issues and Apollo, proud and egoistic as he is can help Percy develop self assuredness and inner confidence. Apollo is narcissistic without understanding how damaging his narcissism can be. He learns about as much from his Trials so he can and I think he would like to learn from Percy his compassion and humility. I think they could really help each other and match each other quite well.

They are both very open-minded, so they can always try out new interests that the other likes and can develop completely new hobbies together. They both like not having important tasks thrust upon them, lol so they can find ways to dodge godly affairs together.

CONS:

1.Apollo's lovers often meet disastrous ends either at his hands or another's.

Percy is the one person who deserves to have a very relaxing and enjoyable life devoid of any excess trouble after all he's been through. So another death prophecy might not be something Percy wants and given how tormented Apollo is by memories of his past lovers, another relationship might not be the best idea especially with one he thinks of so highly. Apollo might intentionally stay away from Percy to not bring him any misfortune.

2. Percy dislikes gods.

No matter what, after all that's been done to demigods and all the wars they have suffered are direct results of godly mistakes. He generally tolerates gods and likes only Hestia and Poseidon and has antagonistic take on all other gods, rightfully so.

Therfore Percy might not be at all interested in pursuing a relationship with a god, changed or otherwise. He might have come to see eye to eye with many gods and he clearly respects Apollo now, it might still be a bit too far of a leap for him to consider getting together with a god.

3. Percy wants a quiet and peaceful life

Apollo loves grand things and grand gestures. He also loves being the center of attention as you know he is quite literally the Sun God. It might not align well with Percy's mindset for thea future or Apollo's mindset for a relationship.

-------------------------------------------------------

There can be a compromise found for all of these. And they all make for good fic ideas.

For the first one,Apollo being extra careful towards Percy's safety or considering the threat of Apollo's own enemies targeting Percy and making arrangements accordingly might help along with Percy's own reassurances as a powerful demigod.

Secondly, Percy might be convinced through seeing things with Apollo's eyes that even those inside Olympian systems suffer the wrath or Zeus regularly and chafe under the chains of ancient and archaic rules. He might decide to help them so that they can better help their own children. And he has made exceptions for certain gods before. Like Hestia, Pan and his father. So it's not far fetched to think that Apollo could also be potentially added to the list.

Lastly, Apollo might make Percy realize that wanting a peaceful and quiet life doesn't mean he should give up perks of enjoying his powers or his status and can and should be able to experience the joys of both.

That's my honest thoughts on Perpollo. I like them. I like their dynamic. I certainly have enjoyed my fair share of Perpollo fics and they could make a great pair together. But regardless of that, they can really help and understand each other. I love and I mean absolutely love the fics where Apollo hypes Percy up. I need more of those fics so would love recommendations. Also, fellow greek mythology enthusiasts, feel to chime in with obscure Apollo facts.

#percy jackson #perpollo #Apollo and Percy can honestly be so so good for each other #percy x apollo #apollo pjo #percy jackson supremacy #the trials of apollo #meg mccaffrey #the titan's curse #artemis pjo #poseidon pjo #greek mythology

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sapphiresaphics · 4 months ago

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I’m blocked from responding to this person (mostly because I’ve been extremely critical of their “criticism” of the show and they’re a coward), but I’d like to use these screenshots of their post dissecting an interview with Amanda Overton to show how their biases and hatred blind them to what’s really going on around them. So here we go!

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———

^^^ What’s FASCINATING to me about this piece of the interview is that it confirms what the writers have been saying all along: That both season 1 and 2 were written at the same time and that season 2 was completed before season 1 aired. All of the relevant plot points regarding Caitlyn and Vi’a journey were crafted as early as season 1! Additionally this confirms that a lot of the stuff people liked about season 1 was from Amanda, who stayed on for season 2. That really blows the “they had 9 writers! So of course season 1 was better” nonsense out of the water. No, fam, Amanda was brought on to FIX THE MISTAKES of the people who were originally writing it. You like season 1’s writing BECAUSE of her.

Additionally saying she’s “admitting the only reason they bothered with themes of police brutality is so it would be juicy drama” is a GROSS over simplification of the entire show. Police brutality snd the duality of the two cities was always going to be part of the show, that setup just gave the dynamic between Vi and Caitlyn a lot to work with. They didn’t start with the lesbian shipping snd work backwards you numbscull.

———

^^^ It is telling that this person DOESN’T think that actions speak louder than words. They’re demanding words. As if Caitlyn saying “I’m sorry” would change anything realistically. That’s why Amanda confirms something else that those of us with a brain knew all along, that Caitlyn is using her actions to make up for what she knew she was doing wrong all along. She can’t take back her mistakes, but she can start to atone for them.

And it’s SO WEIRD that this person doesn’t believe that’s good enough.

Oh and they make light of her actions by reducing the crimes of Jinx too. “By letting one person go as a personal favor to her girlfriend” really minimizes that Jinx is literal A TERRORIST WHO BLEW UP MULTIPLE BUILDINGS AND KILLED SCORES OF PEOPLE. It’s also not a favor for Vi, it’s a conscious choice to let her hatred go for herself! Jesus Christ are you an idiot?

Oh also she defends a whole city and potentially saves the lives of thousands of citizens and loses an eye in the process, but yeah sure… guess that’s not good enough atonement!

———

^^^ Finally this part about the sesbian lex scene is really telling to me. This person is not gay, are they? Because frankly this sounds like something a homophobic person would say. If you’re not gay and you’ve never had to experience the frustration with how much your sexuality is censored by media and people around you, you wouldn’t understand why Amanda wanted the sex scene to be “more” than the STRAIGHT sex scene between Jayce and Mel. Because frankly it’s not fair that it’s okay to show that but not show a lesbian couple doing the exact same thing. And the fact that it’s been confirmed Amanda had to fight just to keep in lines like “you’re hot, cupcake” back in season 1, it’s pretty clear to ME what she’s talking about here in this interview.

I’m not surprised a straight person doesn’t understand the importance and significance of what she says here.

#arcane #arcane season 2 #caitlyn kiramman #caitvi #violyn #arcane critical is a bad faith hashtag #bad arcane criticism #arcane character analysis #arcane s2

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geospiral · 2 months ago

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Extremely long post:

I recently got my Volume 1. CD Alien Stage merch, and I want to discuss the booklet that came with it!

Note that I will not be posting pictures of what is actually inside the booklet itself here or quoting anything directly; all other pictures in this post are from outside Alien Stage content that relates to what is being talked about. However, later if I come to think that I have unintentionally shared too much information, I will delete this post because I do not want to overstep (I wouldn’t be surprised if the images for this booklet eventually get leaked or if someone already has; I’m just not going to be doing it myself, but if images start floating around like with the artbook back in September, I might reblog them).

Edit: Harumio, the merch website, did an unboxing video where they flipped through the booklet fast which shows some images clearly.

If you do decide to read this, keep in mind that I just used a translator on my phone, which means I could be missing something important. Also that I’m not going to be talking/speculating about everything, just the things that I want to (which is most of it expect the notes on the song sheets which did not translate well lol).

Within the booklet is a 4 box model that places where the characters would be on a risk and return scale regarding investment. From best to worst in terms of reward we have:

Luka

Till

Sua

Ivan

Hyuna

Mizi

There is also a line chart that shows the characters market value as they age, which for the boys I believe to be precursor to their TOP 3 charts. Here’s the quick summary from best to worst:

Luka: remains highest from beginning to end

Till: ends second highest, has the lowest starting point along with Hyuna

Ivan: ends third highest but barely, and his value hardly grows after becoming an adult

Hyuna: almost tied with Ivan at the end, is tied for the lowest starting point with Till

Sua: ends fifth highest at the same value she started but was in third at her highest point, a point that was much greater than Ivan’s end value

Mizi: has the lowest growth out of everyone from her start point and ends a bit under where Sua starts and ends.

Here's the more indepth look at each of the character's and why this post is so long:

Sua:

Investing in her is a low risk that brings high returns.

Her market value line looks like a half circle with her highest value being from 19 to 20, not that far behind from Till's or Luka's. However, she dips back down after that, eventually returning to her beginning value, which is the second highest start behind Luka and higher than Mizi’s chart ever gets. The age her chart starts at is 16 and ends at 22.

What’s said about Sua seems to just reinforce what we already know; her main selling point is her looks, and she went into the competition with a large fanbase that she acquired while still in Anakt. Her market value starting point is the second highest behind Luka, most likely because her guardian was already an influencer. Her weakness is charming others.

(source)

Mizi:

Investing in her is a low risk that brings low returns.

Her market value starting point is higher than that of Till, Ivan (barely), and Hyuna, but out of everyone, she has the most trouble when it comes to gaining traction, which leads to her chart ending with the lowest rating (although not that significantly lower than Sua’s own). The age her chart starts at is 15 and ends at 21.

The reason Mizi's market value doesn’t start as low as some of the others seems to be because of one of her strengths, her personality, which helps her stand out amongst her peers. However, her weakness is what causes her to stagnate so much; she doesn’t know the direction she should go in or her charm. I feel like it could be said that she has trouble connecting to the Segyien because she doesn’t have a clear persona that they latch onto since Mizi has always been so authentically herself, and something about how that ties into her innocence before Round 1, but Till is also nothing but himself, so maybe it could also be something like how Urak exploits Tills true self, his rebelliousness, and turns it into something marketable (which hurts Till), and Mizi never had that happen to her and thus remained happy but didn’t know how to turn herself into something the masses wanted to consume.

Till:

Investing in him is a high risk that can bring high returns.

His market value is the most volatile out of everyone's, with extreme highs and extreme lows. He is at his highest point right before Season 50, with his second highest being when he was 16. His lowest was when he was 14, with his second lowest being when he was 19. The age his chart starts at is 14 and ends at 20.

Till’s strengths and weaknesses are what you’d expect. He’s extremely talented, an artistic genius; his style is an acquired taste, and he hates being controlled. Something that is extremely funny, though, is that it says one of his weaknesses is that he is BANNED from live broadcasts and appearances (?), which explains why he doesn’t have any interviews and all the censoring they put him through.

(source)

One last thing in this Till section is that the image that was going around and being talked about with Till scribbling Ivan's eye on his copy of CURE, I'm pretty sure it was leaked from this booklet and that it's actually implying that he did that before Round 6 and not after like a lot of us were thinking since all the other notes written for the songs seem to be from before the performances.

Ivan:

Investing in him is a low risk that brings low returns.

Although he does not have any dips, his market value growth slows down significantly once he turns 18 and barely increases until he gains a boost once in the actual Alien Stage competition itself as shown with his TOP 3 chart. The age his chart starts at is 15 and ends at 21.

Before I had gotten this booklet, I had already written a post before about Ivan’s popularity and how he may be viewed by the public, and I’m happy to say that it seems I wasn’t too far off from what I found!

Now with Sua and Mizi’s marketing value/popularity charts, it does seems that Ivan actually was in a pretty good position when he went into the competition, better than what I had imagined when making that other post, but I think it's important to highlight that even if he entered with a higher placement than someone like Sua, he was never able to reach the heights she did before Alien Stage, and at the slow rate he was going post turning 18, I don’t think he ever would have had he not entered unless Unsha decided to keep him around for the long haul.

But the part I’m most excited about when talking about Ivan here is how he was perceived by the general public because that part of my post still seems to be mostly correct as well as the part about him thriving in Anakt but not as much outside of it. His weaknesses in the booklet highlight his lack of personality and how his skills are limited to that of what he learned in Anakt. In a school-like environment, Ivan knows what is expected and wanted of him by the Segyein, but when those teachers turn into an audience, he doesn’t seem to know what to do. I think his lacking personality goes well with what I said about his in-universe fanbase grasping for something unique about him, like with his snaggletooth that I talked about previously in that other post.

I also found it really interesting that for one of his strengths, it basically stated that his looks weren’t really something that were liked or disliked, neutral. So given what he said about his looks in this interview, I’m wondering if he was told that he was average-looking and just accepted it as fact? I also wonder if he was told any other rude things to his face as a child and just believed them as truth.

Hyuna:

Investing in her is a low risk that brings low returns.

Like Ivan, her market value line never dips, but unlike him, she has much more significant growth spikes and has the lowest starting point along with Till. The age her chart starts at is 20 and ends at 26.

I think it's safe to say that a lot of people, myself included, were surprised when it was revealed in Weige that Hyuna lost her round in season 49 to a random background character, especially since a lot of us assumed that if she were to lose to anyone, it could only be Luka given her stats, but the more information we get, it seems that she wasn’t that popular among the Segyein despite all her pros. I said that I think the TOP 3 charts are a continuation of the ones in this booklet, but let's say that the starting point in their market value charts are the ages that Hyuna and Luka performed during their original season; if so, Hyuna would be in the worst spot imaginable with how low she is, and if we are to be generous and say that she was Sua’s age, then she would be right between her and Mizi but still extremely low given her potential.

One of her weaknesses states that her condition (?) is very inconsistent, and right now I'm interpreting that as her emotional state. We see the unhealthy ways that she copes (or doesn’t) when in the rebellion, so it wouldn’t be surprising if her grief affected her ability to perform for the Segyein and made it so she wasn't in the same league as Luka.

Luka:

Investing in him is a low risk that brings high returns.

His market value is exactly the same as shown in TOP 3, remaining in first all throughout. The age his chart starts at is 22 and ends at 28.

Like with Sua, there's not much to say about him here; his strengths are what you expect, his weakness is what you expect, and the Ruler Of My Heart sheet shown has notes by Mizi and not him. He did well with his outside entertainment work while still in Anakt.

I'm sorry for this section Luka enjoyers

#alien stage #alnst #alnst sua #alsnt mizi #alnst till #alnst ivan #alnst hyuna #alnst luka #alien stage analysis & official content #I hope this post is. something. I'm tired and want to conk out but I was excited by this little booklet and wanted to talk about it #there was also a tiny section about the recommended entertainment fields the characters should go into but--#I couldn't get Mizi and Ivan's to translate after a few tries and didn't feel like messing with it anymore lol #I hope didn't overstep with how much I talked about but the booklet

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itsabouttimex2 · 3 months ago

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Just dropping in your inbox to say that I enjoy in your writing and also in reading the criticism you have about the show. It's a nice feeling to see someone else's insights on some writing choices in LMK (ex: Pigsy's denial of being father figure to MK never made sense to me personally). I'm looking forward to seeing more of your future stories and takes and I hope you have a wonderful day.

Yeah, I am not a fan of that decision either. At absolute best I think the show is planning to go down the “Pigsy has daddy issues”, given that none of his photos feature a parental male figure, in spite of having both his mother and grandmother portrayed very positively. It might be that his father walked out, died early, disowned him, was racist against humans, etc, but clearly there either isn’t currently a father figure in Pigsy’s life or he never had one, at least not that he’s fond of.

Especially since, given how incredibly important heritage and tradition are to Pigsy, I doubt he simply “forgot” to put something up.

But, even if we do get a retroactive explanation for the absolutely insane “You’re not my son” -> “Okay never mind, you totally are!” we would also need flashbacks to his character growth between those two points, because as it stands his “Dad Arc” is basically just an extremely truncated version of the “Redeemed Iron Fan and Bull King” or the ongoing “Sun Wukong and Macaque Reconciliation Arc”, which already are not good. It can’t just be that a character changes, you know?

We should be able to watch how they grow and change, not have them come onscreen with a radically different personality or dynamic in play that got jerry-rigged onto them offscreen!

As it stands, Pigsy literally does not develop or grow as a character at all in terms to his relationship with MK- he simply goes from “I’m not exactly your dad.” to “Good job… son.” without actually bridging the gap between those two halves.

Which is… not great. So either the show cuts into an already very small running time (100-140 minutes, minus the intro and outro lengths!) to have his growth portrayed purely through flashbacks, or it simply gives us a reason why he reacted the first way without actual depicting his growth from Perspective 1# to Perspective 2#.

I can hope, but I don’t think we’ll get anything too satisfying in regards to that.

#Lego Monkie Kid #LMK #Pigsy #MK #LMK Critical #LMK Theory

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celestial-prime · 4 months ago

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Sonic 4 movie. Theories and predictions

Hello everyone! I finally watched Sonic 3, and I can confidently say it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in a movie theater! It had been such a long time since I felt so much emotion and joy watching a film. The last time I experienced these feelings was with Michael Bay’s Transformers movies, especially the fourth and fifth installments. Just like back then, when I was super excited for the next movie, I now have the same anticipation for the fourth Sonic movie.

In the post-credits scene, we saw the first appearances of Metal Sonic and Amy, which already gives us a taste of the continuation of the Sonic live-action franchise. That’s why I’d like to share my theory about what might happen in the next movie and which game from the Sonic saga it might adapt.

AND... Just as Sonic 1 was an adaptation of the first classic game, Sonic 2 represented the second game, and Sonic 3 was based on Sonic Adventure 2, I believe the fourth movie will also follow this adaptation formula.

My idea is that the fourth movie will be inspired by two games: Sonic CD, where Metal Sonic makes his first appearance, and Sonic Heroes, where Metal Sonic becomes the main antagonist. In Heroes, he evolves into Neo Metal Sonic and later into Metal Overlord, the final boss. I believe the concept of time travel, central to Sonic CD, could be key to the plot of the next movie.

Now, let’s dive into the possible plot of the fourth movie and how the story might unfold.

Probably, Metal Sonic came from the future and returned to the past with the goal of defeating Sonic, driven by frustration at never being able to defeat him definitively. In turn, future Amy, upon discovering Metal Sonic’s plan, decides to also travel to the past to protect him. This could explain the post-credits scene where we see Amy hooded.

This raises some important questions: How did Amy know where Sonic would be, and how did she know who he was? The most logical answer would be that, in the future, Sonic and Amy eventually meet, and she decides to go back in time to save him. Another key point of the potential plot would be the origin of Metal Sonic. After all, who created him, considering that Dr. Eggman died in the ARK explosion in the third movie? While Shadow survived because he’s practically immortal, Eggman is just a regular human, making it extremely unlikely that he escaped.

With that in mind, here are some possibilities regarding Metal Sonic’s creation:

Agent Stone as the Creator:

Stone, loyal to Dr. Eggman, could create Metal Sonic as a way to avenge his mentor’s death. This would continue Stone’s arc, showing how he seeks to keep Eggman’s legacy alive.

G.U.N. and Director Rockwell:

Another possibility is that Director Rockwell, who showed distrust toward Sonic and his team, decides to create Metal Sonic. After the events of the third movie, where the planet was nearly destroyed, she might use Metal Sonic as a weapon to eliminate Sonic, believing that he and his team are too uncontrolled.

Eggman as the Original Creator:

There’s also the possibility that Dr. Eggman created Metal Sonic a long time ago, perhaps after returning to Earth at the beginning of the second movie. However, due to the humiliation he suffered when defeated by Super Sonic, he might have abandoned the use of Metal Sonic and kept the project stored along with other copies. These copies could have been activated later, continuing the storyline.

Any of these options could fit well into the fourth movie’s plot, depending on how the writers choose to proceed with the narrative.

Even though the three movies so far have adapted elements from the game franchise—two from the classics and one from the modern games—they contain many original elements. For example, Sonic’s origin was adapted for the movie, and the story takes place on Earth, not on his home island or planet of origin. Additionally, the Master Emerald wasn’t found on Angel Island but on Earth, and Shadow didn’t live on the ARK in space but also on Earth. So, it’s likely that the fourth movie will also introduce original elements while incorporating important aspects inspired by Sonic CD and Sonic Heroes.

Now, here’s my idea of how the fourth movie’s plot could unfold:

Just like in the second and third movies, Amy could appear after the movie starts, similar to how Tails was introduced in the second movie and Shadow in the third. The movie would likely begin with an introduction to Sonic and his team.

After the boys (Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles) decide to organize another friendly race, Sonic gets too far ahead and ends up in New York City. This becomes even more confusing due to the time difference since he, Knuckles, and Tails live on the other side of the United States with Tom and Maddie. It’s at this point that Metal Sonic and Amy enter, as hinted at in the post-credits scenes.

After Sonic is attacked by Metal Sonic and saved by Amy, he’s full of questions. He wants to know who she is, how she knows his name, and how she knew where to find him. His questions are similar to those he asked Knuckles and Tails when he met them. Amy then explains that she came from the future to help him defeat Metal Sonic once and for all.

With no other choice, Sonic decides to take Amy home. There, he introduces her to the rest of the team, and they begin discussing what’s happening. Amy explains that she came from the future to warn him about Metal Sonic and save him. She details Metal Sonic’s origin, explaining that he’s after Sonic to defeat him once and for all since he couldn’t win in the future. That’s why she followed him to the past, both to warn Sonic and help him in his mission.

With this information, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy decide to form a team to face Metal Sonic. However, upon realizing that their enemy is extremely powerful, Sonic concludes that the only way to defeat him is by using the Master Emerald again to transform into his Super form and destroy him once and for all.

However, there’s a problem: at the end of the last movie, Sonic 3, Sonic lost his Super form while preventing a global catastrophe. During that moment, Shadow was also in his Super form but stayed behind after the final explosion. This caused the Chaos Emeralds to scatter across Earth due to the impact. Now, Team Sonic must gather the Emeralds again to have any chance against Metal Sonic.

Meanwhile, G.U.N. also steps in. After the events of the third movie, the organization begins questioning how Sonic and Shadow were able to prevent such a large-scale catastrophe. They eventually discover the existence of the Chaos Emeralds and, upon understanding their immense power, decide to locate them to keep them "safe." After all, the Master Emerald is seen as an extremely dangerous weapon, capable of turning a person into something close to a god.

This is where Rouge enters the story. As a G.U.N. spy, she’s sent to locate the Chaos Emeralds before Team Sonic. This sets up a race between both sides: Team Sonic needs the Emeralds to save the world and defeat Metal Sonic, while G.U.N. wants to capture them to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands (even though, for Sonic, that includes themselves).

This intense competition between Sonic and his team against G.U.N. adds a layer of tension and urgency to the film, especially since both sides have legitimate motivations for wanting the Emeralds. However, G.U.N.’s belief that Team Sonic isn’t trustworthy might spark conflicts and tense moments between them.

During this race to recover the Chaos Emeralds, Metal Sonic comes into play. He ends up encountering both sides—Team Sonic and G.U.N.—leading to a major battle among everyone, adding more tension to the plot. At this point, Shadow, who still holds a grudge against G.U.N. for what they did to Maria, temporarily joins Team Sonic. His main motivation is to prevent G.U.N. from keeping the Chaos Emeralds, as he believes the organization doesn’t deserve that power.

Since Shadow has a direct connection to Chaos energy, similar to what we saw in Sonic Heroes, Metal Sonic manages to obtain one of Shadow’s quills. He uses the power contained in it to amplify his abilities and eventually evolves into Neo Metal Sonic. By combining Shadow’s power with the Chaos Emeralds, Metal Sonic reaches his final form: Metal Overlord, the final boss in Sonic Heroes.

However, before this happens, G.U.N. manages to capture the Chaos Emeralds, putting them temporarily ahead in the race. At this moment, Rouge, true to her nature as a jewel thief, betrays G.U.N. She steals the Emeralds, but her escape doesn’t go as planned. She soon realizes the situation becomes critical when Metal Sonic, now more powerful, begins transforming into his primitive forms, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

Seeing no other choice and recognizing that Team Sonic is the only hope to defeat Metal Sonic, Rouge hands over the Chaos Emeralds to them. With the Emeralds in hand, Team Sonic activates the Master Emerald’s power, allowing Sonic to once again transform into his Super form. With this power, Sonic faces Metal Overlord in an epic final battle.

Shadow’s role at this moment remains uncertain. He might join Sonic in his Super form, as he did at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes, or he might choose not to intervene directly. Regardless, this battle serves as a major climax for the film, bringing both classic and original elements to the story.

Although the previous films have adapted elements from the games, they’ve also added their own unique ideas, and it’s likely the fourth film will follow the same trend. The movie universe, after all, is separate from the games’ universe, giving the writers creative freedom to develop new stories and explore different dynamics between the characters.

Regarding Shadow’s presence in the fourth film, I believe he’ll play a key role, as his connection to Chaos energy is crucial for Metal Sonic’s transformation into Metal Overlord. Shadow’s involvement would also be an opportunity to further explore his relationship with his past and G.U.N., as well as strengthen the dynamics within the movie universe.

Introducing Rouge, hired by G.U.N. to steal the Chaos Emeralds, would be an excellent way to bring the character into the cinematic universe. This initial role, where she infiltrates as a spy and later betrays G.U.N., demonstrates her cunning and independence while establishing her motivations. By the end of the movie, Rouge could team up with Shadow and Agent Stone to form the famous Team Dark, opening doors for future storylines.

As for Omega, his introduction would be a bit more complicated. However, one possibility could be Agent Stone reactivating one of Dr. Eggman’s old robots, as Omega was originally created by Eggman to serve as a guardian and companion. This idea would fit well with the theme of reclaiming Eggman’s legacy in the movie, but his presence would need to be carefully balanced to avoid overwhelming the story.

Introducing too many characters in the fourth movie could be a challenge. While it’s exciting to expand the cast, it’s essential to keep the story’s main focus: the showdown between Metal Sonic and Sonic. In the first three movies, new characters were introduced in a balanced way, always keeping Sonic at the center. This balance ensured that Sonic’s protagonism remained intact, even with the addition of significant figures like Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow.

Therefore, while Rouge and Shadow’s presence seems essential, adding more characters like Omega could be challenging without diverting attention from the main plot. It’s important that the movie continues to highlight Sonic as the main hero, ensuring that new additions complement the story rather than overwhelm it.

The dynamic between Sonic and Amy in the fourth movie could indeed follow a friendship and camaraderie approach, similar to what we saw in the Super Mario Bros. animated movie. Just as they portrayed Princess Peach as a strong and independent warrior alongside Mario, Amy could be presented as a powerful and strategically important ally, without forcing a romantic relationship between her and Sonic.

Although Amy is traditionally Sonic’s romantic partner in the games and series, SEGA has already clarified that their relationship isn’t canon. This decision reinforces the creative freedom to adapt the character in the cinematic universe while maintaining the individuality of both characters. Sonic, with his adventurous and carefree personality, would hardly fit into a romantic role in the movies, as it could shift focus from his journey as the protagonist.

In the movie, Amy could be presented as someone who shares the same goals as Sonic, fighting alongside him and his team against threats like Metal Sonic. The post-credits scene of the third movie already gave us a glimpse of her combat skills and confidence, highlighting her iconic hammer as her weapon. This suggests her presence in the fourth movie will be more as a warrior and strategic ally rather than a character dependent on Sonic or hopelessly in love with him.

This approach also creates a more modern and inclusive dynamic for the audience, showing that a female character can be equally strong and independent without being defined by a romantic relationship. A deep friendship and mutual respect between Sonic and Amy could strengthen the development of both characters while maintaining the adventurous and lighthearted tone that characterizes the franchise.

Finally, let’s talk about the possible post-credits scenes of the fourth movie, which always leave clues for the next chapter in the franchise. Since it’s been confirmed that the fourth movie won’t be the last—the idea is to create a quintology (five movies) and not a sextology—it’s very likely that the post-credits scenes of the fourth movie will introduce a new character or hint at the plot of the next movie.

One of the strongest speculations among fans is the possible appearance of Silver the Hedgehog in the post-credits scenes. This would make perfect sense since Silver is a central character in the Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 game, whose storyline revolves around time travel. Just as Amy and Metal Sonic are essential to the plot of the fourth movie, introducing Silver in the post-credits scenes would be the perfect bridge to address the plot of Sonic 2006 in the fifth movie.

Silver could appear from the future, on a mission to alter past events to save the chaotic future he came from. His arrival would bring new dynamics to the story and expand the Sonic cinematic universe, exploring themes like fighting to change destiny and the challenges of time travel.

However, I prefer not to delve into theories for the fifth movie just yet, as the fourth movie hasn’t even been released. I think it’s better to wait for the official release of the fourth movie to understand the clues they’ll leave behind and then develop more solid theories about what to expect in the fifth film.

And that’s it, everyone! This is my theory for the fourth Sonic movie. I know some ideas might seem a bit out of the box, but as we’ve seen in the first three movies, they don’t exactly follow the stories from the games. There are many original additions and changes to fit the Sonic universe into the cinematic narrative, and I believe the same will happen in the next film.

If you’ve read this far, thank you for reading my theory! Now I’d like to know your opinion: what do you think might happen in the fourth movie? Share your ideas, and let’s keep this conversation going! :)

#sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sonic movie 3 #sonic movie universe #sonic movie spoilers #sonic movie 4 #shadow #shadow the hedgehog #rouge #rouge the bat #agent stone #amy rose #silver #silver the hedgehog #sonic theory

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yuikomorii · 1 year ago

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// I’m making this post, as a result of seeing way too much hate and misinfo regarding every character. Nobody stops anyone from voicing their opinion but the need to degrade a character, while providing BAD reasons or stating incorrect/out-of-context facts about them only for the sake of internet validation, is such a loser move.

We’re all in this fandom to have fun and even if you have something negative to say about a character you don’t like, keep it to yourself or in private with your friends.

Ayato:

“I don’t like Ayato, he’s overrated”, omg you’re just sooo different! Definitely not like other girls/guys!

Everyone is allowed to dislike whatever they want but if Ayato is your least/one of your least favorite DL characters, then your opinion ISN’T valid. This is a franchise full of abusive characters and he’s literally the most heroic love interest. Why would you hate the hero…?

“He’s dumb and annoying”, says the person who spends their time insulting FICTIONAL characters. 1) Japanese fans like dumb characters, since they come off as endearing; 2) Ayato outdid everyone throughout the routes.

He did more good than all of his brothers and saying that X, Y or Z deserves the main role more, is fake fan behavior because at this point you’re just setting up your favs.

Kanato:

No, you’re not cool for calling him ugly. It’s okay if you’re not into that type of characters but his design is not bad at all.

“He had no development”, he does in CL. It’s not major but it can still be visible.

The whole Teddy thing might be annoying to some of you, but his fans get why he acts that way. Let’s not forget that he is a victim of neglect.

Yes, he was sexually exploited too. Don’t forget this x2.

Laito:

“I hate Laito so much, he was so cruel in HDB 😢”; stop living in the past and move on already.

His development shouldn’t be overlooked only because your opinion about him was formed on something that came out more than 10 years ago.

He’s still the most fascinating DL character and I get that he might make some of you feel uncomfortable but don’t project your triggers on a character that’s merely made after a trope.

Shu:

No, it’s not Shu’s fault for the way Reiji acted. Envy is never a good reason to hurt someone.

“Shu roasts the heroine the most!”, I get that it’s rude but his insults are actually funny?? A bunch of people will like him for being brutally honest or a jerk because it’s literally a game for players with masochistic fantasies. They WANT to be roasted by good-looking men. That’s the point.

“Shu is lazy and stupid, he’s the only one who failed his school year”, genuine question: If you were an immortal creature that doesn’t need food or sleep to survive, would you still care about grades? Besides, he’s really smart.

“Shu doesn’t care about Yuma, he just feels guilty”, in LE he sacrificed himself for him and reincarnated merely because he wished to meet Yuma again and get on well with him in another life—

Reiji:

“He hurt Shu and Yuma”, well yeah but he was shown plenty of times regretting it and trying to fix things. Stop reminding this to Reiji stans because that conflict is already closed.

“He is so mean in other routes”, obviously?? If you don’t teach him how to love, he won’t suddenly act nice towards anyone.

Without him Yui would fail her tests and the Sakamaki household would be in chaos.

Subaru:

“W-What do you mean baby Tsundere is not soft innocent virgin boy? 🥺”; he has never been like that, that’s how YOU perceived him. Stop acting so shocked every time Subaru does something bad because he’s still a vampire after all??

Also, why are so many people reducing his character to Kou and/or Yui—? He’s much more than that and has his own interests, struggles, likes, dislikes, and so on.

“He’s irrelevant”; Diabolik Lovers has 13 love interests, they can’t make everyone extremely important to the general plot. Just enjoy a character as it is, it’s not that hard.

Ruki:

The cat jokes were funny when the Meow Meow Vampire art came out but MOVE ON. I hate that scene and Ruki was in the wrong but come on now, that’s not even the worst thing he has done and MB happened in 2013.

I understand not liking Ruki as a person, because he’s mostly not a good one, but this doesn’t mean he’s not a good character.

“Ruki deserved what happened to him in the past because he was cruel towards everyone”; while I agree that Karma hit him, I wouldn’t say any child really deserves to go through that. He was just a spoiled brat, who most likely wasn’t taught by his parents about modesty or kindness.

Kou:

“He was so cruel in MB 😣”, and HE HAD DEVELOPMENT! He’s not the same anymore, nobody is.

“He overreacts”, sometimes he’s not in the wrong and has all rights to be angry.

Kou isn’t afraid of going against Ruki, even if he’s the brother he admires the most, as long as he knows that what Ruki is doing isn’t good.

Yuma:

“He beat Yui up in the MB bad ending!😡😡”, it’s a bad ending for a reason, lol.

Pretty reminder that Yuma always tries to help others with Kou and Azusa, and was even willing to save the ghouls in LE.

“Yuma doesn’t care about Shu”, did we play the same game or…?

Azusa:

“Azusa is so horrible, he threw Teddy in the fire!”; and he only did it to save Yui, it was not intentional.

While not all his actions are good, keep in mind that he never means any harm and is overall such a sweet guy.

“He is too clingy”; I know that might not be everyone’s cup of tea but is it really worth hating a character just for wanting affection?

The Tsukinamis and Kino:

“They were too easy to defeat in DF!”; Dark Fate wasn’t entirely about them to begin with. Most routes focused on the boys’ internal struggles with their trauma and how to move past it.

“Kino is sometimes mean for the sake of being mean”; it’s almost as if he’s the ✨villain✨

It’s dumb questioning the morals of characters supposed to have an antagonistic role.

“Kino hurt Ayato in LE”; out of all characters who have wronged Ayato, at least Kino felt bad and wanted to apologize.

Yui:

“She’s dumb and ugly”; Japanese fans literally love her for being an idiot because it wouldn’t be fun to see the heroine being the best at everything or not making mistakes at all. Plus, her design is definitely not ugly.

Stop creating your own version of Yui in your head and ending up disappointed when she doesn’t act the way you expect her to. No, Yui is not OOC for liking being bitten, having a low learning ability or saying things she shouldn’t in the wrong moments. Nobody is perfect and everyone has their own kinks and flaws.

“She’s too innocent”; she’s not?? If you really want to see her thirsty, go play Ayato’s routes, especially the heaven scenarios.

“She’s weak”, she’s the opposite. Yui is one of the most mentally strong DL characters.

I can’t understand people who hate on heroines when they’re present in all routes and are the most positive characters.

#diabolik lovers #yui komori #ayato sakamaki #kanato sakamaki #laito sakamaki #shu sakamaki #reiji sakamaki #subaru sakamaki #ruki mukami #kou mukami #yuma mukami #azusa mukami #carla tsukinami #shin tsukinami #kino #dialovers #admin

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rootspiral · 3 months ago

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i’m thinking about how agatha says “my thoughts are not available to you, toots. they never, ever were. so don’t go giving yourself a migraine” to wanda and then “you’ll get a nosebleed trying that hard to read my mind” to billy.

a few things about this are interesting to me, particularly because of the layered ulterior motives she has for saying it:

1- agatha’s need to brag about being stronger lol

2- the fact that it does sound almost protective, the way she chooses to let them know they might get hurt from trying too hard. idk if it was just wanda, i could let it go, but i feel like it’s meaningful that it’s wanda AND billy, you know?

because we know for sure agatha cares about billy and she would try to avoid him hurting himself, so the fact that she used such a similar tactic on wanda makes me feel like it might have been a tiny hidden shred of evidence that she didn’t want to cause wanda any more hurt than necessary, either.

and, most notably,

3- we don’t have an origin story for agatha’s ability to block out telepathy, but to me those scenes might indicate that she taught herself that skill, rather than having been born with it. because maybe, if beings as powerful as wanda and/or billy tried hard enough, they would be able to read her mind. and she doesn’t wanna risk that, so she just makes it very clear that they can’t and sorta hopes to hell they’ll believe it.

aaanyaways, this just crossed my mind and i wanted to share and maybe ask if you have any thoughts on it?

hope you have a nice day!

(also btw re: the tags on your response to my last ask, i completely understand needing to take some time! no need to explain yourself :)

First of all, YES to Agatha teaching herself how to block out telepathy. On the shows we only scratch the surface of her immense self-taught knowledge, which I think is a cornerstone of her character. We get plenty of clues, from a very young Agatha accused not of murder but of stealing "knowledge above [her] age and station," to Agatha being constantly shown learning from books and teaching Nicky, to her whole relationship with the Darkhold, not to mention how she seems to understand Wanda's and Billy's powers better than they ever could.

I imagine her being obsessed with chaos/reality magic as soon as she learned about it from the Darkhold (because it's the only thing powerful enough to go against Rio's laws of nature / bring Nicky back) and as a consequence she learned to block telepathy, or if she already knew how, she definitely set out to become the greatest thought-blocker in history, she's just the kind of nerd who would do that. Plus she's extremely jealous of her inner thoughts and feelings, she regards her sorrows and fears as her greatest weakness, so it stands to reason that she'd be eager to learn how to hide them from everyone. I've talked about Agatha not giving a damn about being physically naked, it's her mind she wants to keep secret, and that is why being so uncensored as Agnes was much more humiliating.

Agatha boasting her thought-blocking abilities to Wanda and Billy has layered reasons like you pointed out – that's what I love about her, she's both complex and very predictable in her complexity. She's showing off, she's proud she's better than them at their own game. She's also calculating because you never know, they could break her barriers if they tried hard enough so better discourage them. And I don't know if she was being protective of Wanda too, maybe unconsciously.

But with Billy there was more overt affection, and I keep thinking how important it is for Billy to have someone in his life that is not constantly screaming in his head, and how significant the little exchange they had on the couch is, in retrospect. "I like it here. It's because it's quiet. You're quiet, Agnes." I like to imagine the whirlwind of thoughts this produced in Agatha, because you know her mind is always going a million miles a minute. In that moment her relationship with Billy was truly born I think, in all its three aspects: selfish (this is Wanda's son with Scarlet Witch-like powers that I can steal for myself), selfish in a different way (this is a magical little boy that I can claim and raise as my own, like I never could with Nicky) and selfless (I'm sorry for this kid born with powers he doesn't understand, I need to protect him.) So yes, I guess that even if she was smothering out the protectiveness she felt for Wanda, with Billy she's more ready to embrace it.

#asks #agatha all along #agatha harkness #billy maximoff #aaa meta #I love to riff off your asks they're always so interesting #even if my answers are more rambling than anything coherent #and I love how fandom is inherently a group project and a group effort #but for fun instead of work!#fandom community my beloved #(can I publish your msg about recasting? I like it very much but it's okay if you want it private)

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goooofy-goooober1121 · 13 days ago

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TWST Overblot Boys from a Development Perspective - Riddle Rosehearts

Currently in uni studying human development from a psychological/neurological/cognitive standpoint and lowkey I want to analyze TWST's overblot boys (and Kalim) using my super cool Education™

(Also my ask box is open so pls send me asks! My guidelines are on my page)

So let's get into it!

When we look at Riddle's character, we need to first consider the environment he has grown up in, his identity development, and neurology-- and what that means for his psychological and cognitive processes.

Part 1: His Environment

As observed during his Overblot, Riddle grew up in an authoritarian household. His Groom-for-a-Day/Suitor Suit lines also imply that his parents do not get along. Both can have extensive psychological and cognitive impacts on his development.

It would be easiest to begin with his early-to-mid childhood experiences. Mrs. Rosehearts was obviously an authoritarian mother: strict rules, very punitive, a "because I said so" attitude while putting extensive pressure on work and effort. This parenting style is heavily associated with socially incompetent behavior; children raised on this parenting style are likely to perpetuate this cycle and become perpetrators of bullying. This can pretty obviously be reflected in Riddle's behavior over the course of Book 1; he is strict, punitive, and controlling, often acting like a bully when someone violates the rules. Additionally, children from dysfunctional families may also develop poor emotional regulation skills (outbursts and withdrawing from others) along with insecure attachment styles and low self-image (perhaps evidenced by his seemingly overzealous insecurity over his own height, for instance).

But why does he mimic his mother's behavior when it made him feel so awful in the first place?

There's a theory in child psychology that comes from a guy named Albert Bandura. This social learning theory states that individuals learn their behaviors by watching and imitating others, especially when those behaviors are perceived as beneficial. Riddle's mother was a doctor, so he must have interpreted her actions as the key to success and prestige, even if, in the moment, it hurt him.

His mother taught him that strictness and harshness is the proper way to show care and concern; this is therefore the idea he carries with him about what love (platonic or romantic) should be.

He may have also been conditioned by his mother through punishment. Positive punishment occurs when the punishment is added, like how his mother would make him study for extra time if he didn't achieve as much as she wanted him to that day. She also utilized negative punishment by taking away Riddle's ability to go out and play with Trey and Chen'ya.

Punishment, of course, is not necessarily wrong; parents objectively need to punish their kids to discipline and raise them. However, the issue arises mainly when said punishment becomes too extreme.

This leads me to my next point: lack of play. Play is so, so important in a child's path to developing into a healthy person. Play has several benefits to a child's cognition, contributing largely to the development of perspective taking, empathy, flexibility, and emotional regulation. Being completely and totally restricted from playing with his friends as a child contributed to Riddle's current-day personality. His isolation and lack of interaction with his peers resulted in his hot-headed, inflexible, and socially inept (taking things too seriously, being obsessed with rules) behavior evidenced throughout Book 1.

Because of his mother's actions, Riddle is cognitively stunted and was led down an unhealthy path of psychological and cognitive development.

And don't even get me STARTED on how she must have impacted his relationship with food by hyperanalyzing every meal she gave him lol.

Part 2: Identity Development

Riddle is regarded in-game as 17 years old; that places him right at the end of middle adolescence (14-17 years old). Lots of crazy things happen during middle adolescence, particularly in terms of identity and brain development.

According to Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, Riddle would be in the Identity vs. Role Confusion stage of life. This is the "who am I ?" stage, spanning from about 13-21 years old. Adolescents spend this time attempting to find out who they are; when resolved successfully, individuals come out with a strong sense of self, but when resolved unsuccessfully, individuals can feel lost, lacking self-definition and direction.

Additionally, James Marcia introduced the four stages of identity development:

Foreclosure - commitment without exploration

Diffusion - no commitment, no exploration

Moratorium - no commitment, but with exploration

Achievement - commitments and explorations have been achieved

So when we look at Riddle, we can draw from both theories. Riddle arguably doesn't know who he is for himself. His entire life has centered on what his mother wants for him; prior to his Overblot, he was stuck in the stage of Identity Foreclosure, in which he was committed to being an authoritarian, well-achieved leader (as influenced by his mother) but had no time to explore his options for himself. Combined with his insecure attachment and his stunted cognitive development due to his childhood experiences, deviation from this script is, predictably, distressful for him; this contributes to his outbursts whenever his authority was questioned. Post-Overblot, however, we can see that he's easing up and accepting that his mother maybe isn't the best person to be around (wow who would've thought). He's moving into Identity Moratorium; he's beginning to explore his options while letting go of his previous commitment (which is ultimately better for him in the long run).

Part 3: Neurology

I think it's important to also point out his neurological processes, too. Not in a "I think he's neurodivergent" way but in a "what are his brain structures" way.

See, when we grow into teenagers, our prefrontal cortex (PFC) actually is still developing. It's the brain structure associated with reasoning, decision making, and self-control. Several clinical studies such as this one also note that the PFC is heavily involved in emotional regulation.

And when your limbic system, specifically your amygdala, which is responsible for the processing of emotion, matures BEFORE the part of the brain meant for emotional regulation does, it leads to a lot of emotional behaviors such as Riddle's proneness to anger, along with impulsive actions such as Riddle's immediate response always being to collar someone rather than stop and think about their reasons for breaking a rule. It's like sending out a level 100 Regirock (limbic system) out against a level 2 Caterpie (PFC) lol.

This will probably be a common thread in all the OB boys but I think it's important to note how Riddle's neurological development affects his behavior.

IN CONCLUSION

Riddle's mom sucks

Riddle most likely has an insecure attachment style

Riddle is likely going through an identity crisis

He's a teenage boy going through teenage boy things (exacerbated by an unhealthy/emotionally abusive childhood)

#riddle rosehearts #heartslabyul #twisted wonderland headcanons #twisted wonderland #twst hcs #twst #doing this instead of studying #Heartslabyul headcanons #Heartslabyul hcs

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anim-ttrpgs · 5 months ago

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The skill point allocation system in Eureka is very elegant.

Is the principle of evening out to 0 something that has often been used in ttrpg design? If so, can you name other games that inspired Eureka in that regard? Or did you come up with it for Eureka?

"All skills can be -n to +n with a cumulative total of 0" seems too usefull, too elegant, as to never been utilized before the year 2024.

I came up with it independently and have literally never seen it anywhere else. I have thought the same way about the Eureka! Point mechanic, though similar things have been done before in other RPGs, just never applied to mystery investigation gameplay. Why hasn't anyone done this yet?

I feel like it must have been used somewhere else at some point in the 50 years of TTRPGs that have been made, I've just never seen it. i agree it feels like too good of an idea to not, like, practically be industry standard, but then again, TTRPGs are not a very innovative industry. It's very stagnant. Most TTRPGs that have come out in the past 50 years have just been D&D clones to some degree or another, and most "innovation" I see has just been "what if we unknowingly reinvented the wheel except this time we made it hexagonal instead of octagonal," total Tesla cybertruck style innovation.

The industry is kind of uniquely set up for that. It's one of the most monopoly-dominated industries/artforms in existence, with one game (of greatly varying quality and thoughtful design between editions) completely dominating it for all 50 years of its existence and being allowed to basically fully define what a "TTRPG" is. The biggest alternative to D&D for the past 20 years has been Pathfinder, which is just like D&D but a little better designed, and before that its biggest competitor was World of Darkness, which, if you actually read their rulebooks, are also designed pretty much like D&D except for some text at the beginning which basically says "you can ignore these extremely dungeon-crawl-y rules to focus more on narrative, don't be like those dumb dungeon crawl players," which if you have been following this blog you know is a load of crap.

Call of Cthuhlu, another big veteran contender for the industry that is still going pretty strong, has been the standard for "investigation" gameplay for nearly 50 years, but it's just a Lovecraft hack of RuneQuest, which was designed for, you guessed it, fantasy dungeon crawling. That's why even though CoC adventure modules do tend to play pretty well with Eureka, most of them are still structured as a short line of like 1 or 2 clues to follow to get the PCs into a spooky scary enclosed dungeon-like monster-filled location as quickly as possible, and you have advice like (uncharitable hyperbole) "if the PCs get stuck, make evidence fall from the sky and land at their feet."

Plus, you have big "actual play" podcasts who really really champion the whole "ignore the rules when they get in the way of your pre-planned three-act-structure plot" and the mega-monopolgy with marketing money making it a selling point that if you ignore the rules enough "D&D5e can do anything."

TTRPGs are also a relatively young artform without a ton of mainstream attention until pretty recently (which, as I mentioned, has been eaten up by D&D5e, Pathfinder, and big "actual plays"), and they are a hard one to participate in because playing a single TTRPG requires a ton of time investment compared to most other popular art forms like books, video games, music, and movies.

All this results in many, many people who play and even design TTRPGs literally never having played anything that wasn't WotC-era D&D, barely one or two degrees of separation from WotC-era D&D, or "it's not important if it's WotC-era D&D or not if you just ignore the rules!" Oh and PbtA and BitD players and designers, you're not immune to this! Those are just the "D&D5e can do anything!" of the indie scene and no they really really are not the best framework/engine for every single game ever!

For all the talent, study, effort, and respect for the artform across the A.N.I.M. team, not even we are immune to this. I haven't played nearly as many TTRPGs as I would like to have before calling myself a "learned" TTRPG designer. There might be some obscure game from 2004 I've never heard of that does some of Eureka's stuff already, that if I had read, I could have made Eureka even better by improving upon and learning from the mistakes of others rather than working in uncharted territory.

So, in conclusion, to use the film industry as an analogy, it's like if, during the past 10 years of every fucking mainstream movie being about superheroes, aspiring film makers, who have watched between 0 and 1 movies that weren't about superheroes, are having the "novel" idea of "what if.. a movie wasn't about superheroes!" and then trying to make a movie not about superheroes with no non-superhero experience or study. And Eureka: The Movie is good and innovative because A.N.I.M. Studios watched a measly 10 different non-superhero movies and studied film theory before making it.

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beauty-and-passion · 22 days ago

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TMA - Chapters 151-160: Explosions, explosions everywhere

Hi, it’s me, I’m explosions.

I thought: “This finale will probably be a lot, but I can face it. I mean, how insane it can be?”.

More or less this amount:

<< Main Masterlist < Previous post _______________________________

MAG 151 - Big Picture

I would’ve placed my bet on everyone, LITERALLY EVERYONE… except on Simon Fairchild being the one who will give Martin (and us) some answers.

And yet, here it is: the most chaotic man alive.

And yes, of course I love him. And not just because he answered some questions.

But let’s recap what we learned thanks to him:

1) How do the Powers work?

Short answer: no rules, just feelings. Which means my theories are all wrong XD

However, it’s still fascinating and it can lead to some lingering, unanswered questions. Like, why do they work like that? Why are they radicated in feelings? Does that mean that, before life developed enough to have feelings, these Powers did not exist?

Also, my “positive gods” theory still stands: if Powers are radicated in feelings, why in negative ones only? Where are the positive god-like Powers? I hope the answer is not some bullshit like “positive feelings are not strong enough”, because I dare you all to tell me joy, happiness or love are not strong emotions. Let alone hope, which is so goddamn strong, it can save people from suicide.

2) When is a new Power born?

Short answer: when it feels like doing it. And it can emerge naturally or through a ritual/birthing ceremony or whatever. The only criterion is that enough creatures suffer a distinct kind of terror it can feel its own.

I suppose that answers my previous question regarding a 21st-century Power based on the fear of the rise of AI: it can emerge.

3) Is every avatar getting a very long life?

Short answer: no.

Simon clarifies his patron gave him a very long life and that “a paltry few centuries is nothing really, but it’s more than most get”.

So that means not every avatar get an absurdly long life… and that means Jonah Magnus is probably very dead, because The Eye can barely keep its avatars safe from all the shit trying to kill them.

4) How to stop a ritual?

Short answer: guess what.

We all know the answer and Simon Fairchild just confirmed it. He tried his ritual in 1853, gave it a cool name, even designed a special diving bell… and then it failed because there wasn’t enough fear, sure. But mostly because someone throw shit in it - in this case, a Hunter who destroyed everything and throw Simon into the ocean.

Throwing shit is truly the solution to everything.

5) How to be relatable?

And I really REALLY want to talk about how Martin’s point of view is extremely human and how it can both enhance nihilism and a sense of uselessness because we’re just specks in a dot in a big, too big empty space (hence the connection with The Lonely, but also with the whole conversation about how alone we are in the universe, if we’re truly alone, the Fermi’s paradox etc)… but it can also emphasize our luck, the beauty of life, the importance of living life every day and enjoying every moment, the importance of ikigai, etc.

It’s just too big of a discourse and if I start it, I’ll ramble forever. And I know these chapters are going to be intense and extremely long. So I’ll just say that I love everything about this, Simon Fairchild gains something like one million points and I hope to see him again very soon.

6) What the fuck is everyone doing?

Short answer: follow their gut feeling.

That’s basically what Melanie said in the previous MAG, isn’t it? There isn’t a reason for what they do, it’s all just a fear machine and everyone feeds more fear to it. Everyone is just interpreting the impulses from the Powers the way they think makes more sense.

So no, I supposed there isn’t a difference between collected, rational Powers and more instinctual ones: they’re all just impulses.

And that means my theory about Jon subconsciously already doing The Eye’s ritual can be right and if it is, I swear I will explode.

7) How can you gain even more points?

Simon Fairchild, you insane bitch. 10 more points for being so funny and chaotic.

8) How can you learn anything from the past seasons?

Short answer: be like Martin and decide you will become a martyr to save everyone.

“I’ll do what I have to. If I’m right, no one else needs to get hurt.”. Do you know what that sounds like, Martin? That sounds like Jon in the previous seasons. Jon “I’ll sacrifice myself so everyone will be safe” Sims, that guy. You know which guy, right? The one who tried this shit, then realized he was being stupid? Because this is a stupid thing to do? You know?

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MAG 152 - A Gravedigger’s Envy

I find this statement very interesting for two specific reasons:

1) It shows another interesting aspect of The Buried

And the strangest thing was that it was wonderful. I had never felt such safety as within the crushing weight of earth all around me, the pressing embrace of the buried. In that instant, I knew what it was to be dead, and I ached with envy for them.

That’s one of the things that make The Buried so fascinating for me. One is the curiosity, the “attraction” of the underground, of going down into the ground and what you could find - secrets, mysteries, even surprises.

The second is this feeling of being… embraced. It’s like having a weighted blanket, being surrounded by something huge and warm that protects you. It’s one facet of the whole “being underground” feeling, the part that conveniently ignores the layers of ground above you blocking your air. But it’s a fascinating aspect. And it’s even more fascinating that the concept of “being underground” can carry both feelings - the warmth of an embrace and the terror of being stuck with no oxygen.

2) The slow change and the relationship with religion

I’ve worked so long, so hard. Do I not deserve a rest in the mud from which I came? Commit my body to the earth and let it stay there. I’d do the same for you. For worship of the Most High - though it may be earned, perhaps, by He that made the heavens and the earth - well, to my mind, all that prayer still sounds a lot like work.

At the beginning of the statement, Hezekiah Wakely was very Christian and insisted a lot on how he wanted to follow God and he wasn’t suicidal at all and he will respect His will and so on.

Then The Buried’s influence grows and, for a while, Wakely insists that he’s still following the word of the Lord, he’s still very Christian. But then, he starts to question it. And we get gems like the one above. Where you can clearly see how his mentality changed and how smooth the change is.

It’s not like he went from “I follow God” to “I don’t follow God anymore”. It’s more subtle, more about things he doesn’t like anymore - like the idea of being taken away from the sleep to do more work.

While speaking of the conversation between Jon and Helen, there are three more points I like:

A) The maze under the Institute

Now tell me if this isn’t a huge Checkov’s gun. I can see it on the fireplace, ready to shoot. I just fear when it will do it and what it will bring.

B) Jon’s thoughts in retrospect regarding Jane Prentiss

That’s very funny because I remember how I felt when I read her statement. I was intrigued by it, and I talked about how she almost looked like prey hiding behind a big predator to feel safer.

Glad to see Jon thinking the same way. It took him a little longer, but I appreciate it.

C) My theory about the Watcher’s Crown has even more confirmation

Why, WHY is everyone confirming my theory regarding The Watcher’s Crown and Jon subconsciously doing it? Among all theories, this is one of the few I definitely don’t want to be true! Why couldn’t the “all Michael theory” be canon, uh? That was a funny one, I wanted that to be canon!

Jokes aside, I also really like how Jon keeps struggling. He’s trying his best, he’s trying to keep himself tied to his humanity. But just like Wakely and just like every other avatar, the more time passes, the more he slips away from it.

He still does it while being weirdly human and relatable, so either his humanity is very strong or I’m too similar to an avatar.

Don’t know which theory I fear the most, so in doubt, I’ll just explode.

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MAG 153 - Love Bombing

The statement per se isn’t particularly interesting: just a cult, a poor woman indoctrinated by it, the umpteenth religious-mystical-bullshit theory at the foundation of said cult, a supposed messiah and so on.

Oh, and let’s not forget the eldritch flesh-y abomination. That’s also typical of every cult, check them out ;P

According to Jon, that was the Corruption with “echoes of Fleshliness”. Uh, so the Powers can take inspiration from each other? Or was that a collaboration? If that’s the first case, then I get the confusion and the doubts regarding The Extinction, considering it could’ve been just another form of one of the already existing Powers.

While if it’s the second thing, I said it in my previous posts: working together could only benefit the Powers. It would be shit for humanity, but if we’re talking about what’s best for them, collaboration is the best solution.

Holy shit, Trevor Herbert and Julia Montauk are still here! And they found Jon! And they want to take Gerry back!

Now, I am more than happy that Gerry has been able to finally rest and they didn’t deserve to keep him tied to the Earth… but I cannot blame them for being pissed at Jon. I mean, he literally stole their best weapon. Without telling them a single thing. They are a tiiiiny bit right to be pissed, come on.

Still, I was very very happy to see Daisy chasing them away, but I’m also super concerned for her being so thin and I can almost hear the sound of another Checkov’s gun being put on the fireplace every time she talks about The Hunt, how strong it was, how she is doing her best to resist it and how she made a choice and won’t come back to it.

*Slowly places a bet on how quickly she will come back to The Hunt*

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MAG 154 - Bloody Mary

Oooof, that was heavy.

First of all: Eric Delano! Gerry’s father! We finally get to see what happened to him! And his life! That can be conveniently resumed as follows:

find a job in the Worst Possible Place

work with Gertrude, Michael and Emma (who tf is Emma?!)

fall in love with a woman you literally say is “beautiful like a shark”

don’t be too surprised if she kills you in the end

leave the Archives with the biggest “FUCK YOU” possible to The Eye

So, there is a way to leave this godforsaken place! And it’s so simple, I would’ve NEVER guessed it.

But yep, it makes sense: if your eyes are not useful anymore, why should The Master Of Peepers still use you?

I’m just sad Jon didn’t find this out when Tim was still alive: he would’ve blinded himself in 0.2 seconds.

And as soon as Jon finds out what is the only way to escape from The Eye, he immediately runs to Martin and tears my heart apart in teeny tiny pieces, by basically begging him to escape together.

Together.

The two of them.

TOGETHER.

But since this is The Magnus Archives and we can’t have nice things, Martin tells him that’s all fake, Jon doesn’t really want to blind himself and he ran to Martin only to find an excuse to NOT do it.

Which is understandable, because I also would not blind myself - but the drama, the pain, the pining…!

Delicious, painful and painfully delicious. Love it.

Why am I surrounded by so many Chekov's guns and why do I fear so much Martin won’t tell shit because he wants to become a martyr?

Jon, please, save your future husband before it’s too late.

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MAG 155 - Cost of Living

You know, when they say that character development is great? Well, it’s a lie. It’s not great. Either your favorite characters die or have a shitty life or have to make shitty choices. Or all three of them.

Unless you’re a bitch or Elias: in that case, you'll live your best life.

The statement is a wonderful food for a million thoughts. Among all of them, the ones I found more interesting are:

how it was hubris and frustration to push Mrs. McHugh to get the doctor’s life (and all others)

how hubris kept being her main motivator: she does good in life, hence she deserves to live more than many others

the wonderful irony of her doing “oh-so-good-for-the-world”, while taking the lives of other people who do good as well

how her hubris leads to less good in the world, because no matter how good you can be, you cannot do as much as 20 people who were already doing good before you stole their lives

how it’s the power of affection and human connections that help her live longer

And of course there are related questions the readers can ask themselves, like:

Would it be fair to kill Mrs. McHugh, to stop her from stealing other lives?

What if by killing her, this power goes to someone else, like a dictator?

What would be more morally acceptable to kill: someone who kills to do good or someone who kills to do evil?

Is it even possible to judge? Can you judge her? What would you do, if you were in her place? Would you really not do the same and take other lives, to keep yourself alive? Where is the line between selfishness and selflessness?

It’s just very heavy-themed and I like that in statements. And yes, it also sounds like a cautionary tale made specifically for Jon: he can become like her, a monster who doesn’t care anymore but eats what he needs. Because he cannot afford to die. Because he has things to do. Because he has a world to save.

Wonderful, I just needed another proof that Jon will die in the end. Just wonderful.

Oh my gosh, both scenarios are hilarious.

Elias: “Mrs. King, I cannot believe you decided to blind yourself now. Where is the two weeks' notice, uh? I’m sorry, but your failure to comply with this obligation will be deducted from your next paycheck.”

Peter: “Who tf is Melanie?”

Wonderful, it almost makes me forget Melanie is going to blind herself. Almost.

But seriously: she has the biggest balls ever, while at the same time it was obvious she was the one who was going to do it. She hated the place and wanted to leave since day two. Still, I felt a heavy pit in my stomach while reading this part:

It’s raw, it makes it real, something that is going to happen. And in the gruesome, awful way she hinted. Also, I might be a bit more receptive to this, because I have myopia, hence I try to be extra careful and take care of my eyes. So imagine how I would feel, to the suggestion of putting my face on some pointy stuff.

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MAG 156 - Reflection

I love how Martin is the only one who talks with Tape Recorder, best character of this series. And his question is valid too: does Tape have batteries? I would love an infinite supply of batteries, they’re still pretty useful!

But only if that doesn’t hurt Tape: I don’t want to do anything bad to it :(

The statement is interesting: the distorted mirrors made me think of The Distortion, but then Dekker said this could probably be an expression of The Extinction. A world where there are survivors, but they are barely human, consumed by hunger? Mmmh, it can work as a facet of The Extinction, but I personally don’t think it’s very fitting for the kind of fear it is. I mean, The Extinction should be about the total disappearance of humanity, right? Having humans sounds a bit… off? Weird? Strange? I liked the first statement about The Extinction a lot more.

Great, so we finally get a hint of what Peter’s plan is! And his plan is… weird.

So, there is a device in the tunnels under the Institute. A device you can reach only by using a map. A device that can help them know everything about The Extinction.

And Martin is the only one who can use it, because, as Peter said, he needs someone “touched by The Beholding”.

On a scale from 1 to 10, how much is this thing Eye-related and how obviously is it stored in the Panopticon?

I mean, this famous ex-Millbank prison has been mentioned a lot of times already and the concept of the Panopticon is too much Eye-related to be ignored. Hence, I am quite sure this structure (or its remnants) are still somewhere and this famous device is there.

One last thing: Peter can reach this place through a map. The last time someone got a map, was to reach the center of a Power. Could this map lead to the center of The Eye? And how could this screw everyone up / connect to the Watcher’s Crown?

I am deeply scared.

And I am EVEN MORE SCARED because goddamn Peter Lukas drops that, once Martin will use that device, he will never come back. Fuck you, Peter Lukas: I gave you my trust and you want to exile my boy somewhere? And I don’t care if Martin doesn’t care, because I CARE and if anything happens to him, I will explode and bring Peter Lukas down with me.

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MAG 157 - Rotten Core

Obligatory summary of another incredible business plan - this time, made by Adelard Dekker:

enter the infected city

find The Extinction

Psyche! It’s not The Extinction, it’s John Amherst starring as New Face Of The Corruption

Find stretchers, quarantine sleeves and a syringe with poison

Stab Amherst with the poison

Wrap him in the sleeves

Throw the fucker in a pit

Cover everything with cement

Set yourself on fire

Best plan ever: it worked, it featured throwing shit somewhere (which is the solution to everything) and there was fire. Adelard Dekker, it’s a shame you died, but at least you did it gloriously.

Wait, no, don’t tell me this Extinction thing is a scam. Don’t tell me this fucking Power is not a real Power, but just a theory and oopsie, maybe it doesn’t actually exist lol.

Don’t tell me this NOW. Now that Martin is who knows where.

Fucking series, playing with my heart and my mind.

So, what does Jon do? First, he tries to get Melanie’s help but fails: Melanie is now rightfully happy with Georgie, good for them, they deserve some peace of mind. Basira and Daisy are who knows where, Martin is in danger… so our hero goes to the last one who can help him.

Okay, that was a low blow, but come on: she’s a little bitch, I cannot be angry at her. Helen is still my Good Gurl.

Shit is about to go down and I am on the verge of my seat.

Come at me, TMA, show me what you got. My body is ready.

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MAG 158 - Panopticon

WOAH. Just… WOAH.

Okay, let’s tackle one storyline at a time.

Daisy, Basira and the smaller threats

Not-Sasha has been freed and she went roaming around, trying to find Jon

Trevor and Julia also conveniently came and tried to find Jon

They are friends!

Psyche! They’re not friends!

They fight because the enemy of the enemy is a good distraction for my enemy

Daisy will probably succumb to The Hunt. And Basira will kill her in the future

I am very sad for Daisy. She was really trying, she really wanted to change her life around.

But as we learned from the previous seasons, once a supernatural shit puts its eyes on you, you are fucked. There’s no way to escape. Unless you are extremely lucky, extremely stubborn or both.

The Panopticon

GUESS WHO WAS FUCKING RIGHT ABOUT THE PANOPTICON STILL HAVING A ROLE TO PLAY.

Okay, fine, it was obvious, so it’s not a big surprise. Still, it was nice to know the place still existed - even if with some of Jonah Magnus’ adjustments - and that it truly serves as a place from where you can see literally everything.

So, from what I got, the Panopticon is a room with a tower in the middle and sitting in the center of the room, there is Jonah Magnus’ corpse without eyes.

What a cozy place, I would’ve put a few flowers to light up the atmosphere given by the century-old corpse, but I suppose it’s fine like this too.

Jonah Magnus pulling the best plot twist ever

As soon as Basira said “Asshole could have left at any time”, I knew she was talking about my favourite bitch. He was literally staying in prison, only to get free food, free time, special treatment and to play the evil villain mastermind while sitting on his ass as always.

So, Elias is free and he reaches the Panopticon.

And then, he pulls out the best plot twist ever:

This.

Bitch.

I love him so much <3

Let me get this straight:

Jonah Magnus put his ass on the Panopticon’s chair

Since he was growing wrinkly and old, he decided to do the “Rayner jump” and get a new, younger body

That’s why Elias went from stoner to baddest bitch ever

He kept the eyes because of course

I cannot believe my joke was true. All the time I laughed, saying “Ahah Elias sitting on his lazy ass 24/7”. All while his actual body REALLY SAT ON A CHAIR 24/7 for something like a couple centuries.

I’m going to explode.

Gertrude’s death

So, Gertrude’s final plan was something like:

Find a shit ton of fuel

Burn the Archives

Kill Jonah’s body

Stab yourself in the eyes

Profit!

Short, valid, could’ve worked if she didn’t plan it against the biggest bitch of all the land.

And so, with the efficiency he only uses when it’s killing time, Elias kills Gertrude. Just like that. He even says “Pity” after doing it, which I think is very telling.

In the past, I questioned myself about the actual reason why The Eye let Elias kill Gertrude. She was an avatar - despite trying to stick to her humanity as much as possible. Why get rid of her? What was the real reason?

Well, it seems the reason was a huge middle finger to both The Eye and the foundation of the Institute. So yes, of course Elias has to intervene.

However, she was still a very strong avatar, she was trained and clever and capable. It was a shame to get rid of her.

Hence why, I really like that “Pity”. It makes sense Elias felt this way: she was a threat, sure, but she was also a powerful force on his side.

Martin is still the best character ever

Martin isn’t just clever, strong and wonderful: he’s also a mastermind who looked at two evil gods in the eyes and said “Let’s play your game, but let’s do it MY way”.

Martin deserves everything, in life AND in the afterlife.

To summarize his masterplan:

He was desperate when Jon was in a coma, so he got closer to Peter to satisfy his death wish

Once Jon came back, he decided to sacrifice himself to satisfy his martyr complex

When Peter started to talk about saving the world and “You’re the Chosen One, Harry Martin”, he started to smell some bullshit

Since everyone was bullshitting him and underestimating him because no one fucking learns, Martin decided to take matters into his own hands and play along, to see where Peter was going.

Result: Peter gets fucked and throws a childish temper tantrum, while Elias is extremely satisfied and laughs like an evil villain.

These two are avatars of eldritch supernatural gods, just a reminder.

Jokes aside, this leaves one huge question still unanswered…

What’s behind all of this?

Let’s recap, again:

Jonah Magnus’ body is in the Panopticon and knows everything.

If you want to take him out, you have to kill him and take his place.

(Not sure about the eyes, if you do it)

Peter Lukas makes a huge plan to push Martin to kill Jonah’s body and take his place.

Elias pushes Martin to kill his old body and take his place.

Elias and Peter talk about a bet and how Peter lost, once Martin refused to kill Jonah’s body.

Now, what was Peter trying to accomplish?

I suppose Peter wanted to use the Panopticon for The Lonely. He said it should be used by someone touched by The Beholding, otherwise it would be chaos. So Martin was perfect, since he was both Lonely and Watching.

Hence, I suppose all Peter wanted was more power on his side, by claiming something from another Power.

Still: why was he trying to fuck The Eye? Weren’t they working together? Or was that one of my theories?

On the other hand, what was Elias trying to accomplish?

He didn’t truly stop Martin: on the contrary, he almost pushed him to kill his body. But if killing him means taking his place… wouldn’t that make Martin the new body for Jonah Magnus? What stops Jonah from ditching Elias’ body and taking Martin’s?

That makes Peter’s plan even weirder, because it almost looks like he’s helping Elias, rather than working against him. Sure, killing Jonah’s body might kill everyone in the Archives, but what stops him from taking the new body that will sit in the Panopticon?

Maybe I’m still missing something about this “body transfer” or whatever. For now, we have more urgent matters at hand…

Go save your husband!

And Jon, ignoring every threat in his life as always, immediately asks how to save his future husband from The Lonely and tries to get into it.

Fuck the world, fuck Elias and his evil masterplan, fuck the body jump, fuck the eyes, fuck this whole thing (that will definitely become important in the finale) and fuck everything else: it’s time to save the best character of this series.

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MAG 159 - The Last

Okay, let’s start with the less important things: Peter Lukas and the plot.

The Extinction wasn’t a total scam, but Dekker’s theory. Thank god, we weren’t completely wasting time.

According to Peter (and other avatars), completing a ritual would stop the potential birth of The Extinction. Well, this explains why all rituals happened so close to each other. I like that there’s an explanation and I like that it makes sense.

Peter attempted this Silence ritual with the lonely building and failed because Gertrude - guess what?, threw shit in it. This time, in the shape of 200 journalists and articles and community service.

While speaking of him and Elias, we finally get the details of this bet. And the bet was something like:

Peter wins: he gets one of Elias’ staff member, the Institute, the Panopticon and probably all the rent he still has to pay, considering he’s still one of the Institute’s founders.

Elias wins: he gets Jon.

Now, that Peter wanted more power was obvious, so okay, Elias has been very clever to trick him with this, good job my esteemed bitch.

But Elias’ prize makes me think. And it reconnects to my last theory. What if “getting Jon” means getting his body?

Think about it: Jonah made the “Rayner jump” (yes, that’s the official name, I decided it) multiple times already and, every time, he was the head of the Magnus Institute - first as James Wright, now as Elias. What if Jon is the next? What if the plan is to make Jon stronger and more powerful, so when Elias gets his body, he will ascend as a super powerful avatar? What if this is the reason why he selected Jon as the new Head Archivist - and every Head Archivist before him? This could put the “Pity” said during Gertrude’s death in a new perspective: maybe she was Elias’ first choice, the new body he wanted. But she was too stubborn, too hard to manipulate.

While Jon… well, now he’s strong enough, to literally rip apart other avatars. From one side, that’s pretty cool. From the other, that’s pretty terrifying.

But enough with theories and the plot: it’s time for the REAL important part, which is the ship, the pining, the longing, the sweet moments and the feels. Especially the feels.

ASJFSDGHKFHDNKG, I’M DYING PLEASE SEND HELP.

And yet, Jon still searches for him and calls him and fights for him because he might be asexual, but feelings are another thing entirely and he HAS FEELINGS and these two together are so SUIFHSDFHDSK

And this is SO GOOD and SO RIGHT because sure, every man is an island and we’re all alone in our minds, but we have others too, humans are social creatures, we need others and even the most introverted person in the world still needs others. You can survive alone, but why spend life, only to survive? Why not live? And why not with someone you love?

YES! YES! Jon finally got his future husband back and they hug and I am an emotional, incoherent mess.

In doubt, I’ll explode.

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MAG 160 - The Eye Opens

This title isn’t foreboding at all.

You know what, let me explode. Just in case.

Oh… OH! Now I get the cows meme! I remember this meme in the past and I was thinking what the fuck meant. This is where it comes from!

And awww, it comes from a delightfully domestic moment between my favourite boys! Who, finally decided to:

run away as I said since season 1

get unofficially married because I ship them

live together away from all the shit in a little cottage in Scotland

But since things were going too well, Martin was too happy and Jon - god forbid - was content for once in his life, the series decided to FUCK EVERYTHING UP FOREVER IN THE WORST POSSIBLE WAY AND FUCK ME AND FUCK EVERYTHING I AM GOING TO EXPLODE AGAIN.

Okay, I’ll contain my explosion for now, but let’s resume everything.

So, since Elias is the biggest motherfucker since the dawn of humanity, he decided it was time to finally tell Jon everything in a huge villain monologue, so he can talk extensively about his evil masterplan and how immensely fucked up he is.

“I am to be a king of a ruined world, and I shall never die.”? You insane motherfucker are even more insane than I thought.

So, about Smirke and the Panopticon:

Rayner was the first motherfucker we have to blame, because he told everything about the Powers to Smirke.

Smirke is the second motherfucker we have to blame, because he gathered other people around to tell them about these Powers.

Who tf is Scott: part 2

While Smirke was all about balance and perfection, Jonah was more like: “Sure, that’s all nice and good… but you know what? I like to live.”

I hate that he’s relatable, because I also like to live. But I don’t think I’ll ever go as far as to become an evil motherfucker like him.

Speaking of the Panopticon: it was originally meant to be “a temple to all the Fears in equilibrium” and that makes me think. Considering it was supposed to be a place of balance and not destined for one single Power, could this be the final place to visit, in order to put everything back to normal?

About Gertrude and the rituals:

The Watcher’s Crown really was a metaphorical crown, made by the circle of cells around the Panopticon. Very aesthetic.

THE MOTHERFUCKER DID IT! Sure, the ritual didn’t go exactly as planned, but he still made it! The ground crumbled and the place was almost destroyed, but he gained infinite knowledge. To me, that sounds like a win. He managed it. The only one who did it! This motherfucker truly is clever.

Gertrude started her rampage against all rituals, because the Desolation killed her cat. Just like Jonah, I don’t know if she was joking, but if she wasn’t, I would understand her. If some supernatural shit hurt my cats, I would also wake up, choose violence and throw shit at everything.

But most importantly: the reason why the rituals never succeeded. THE ACTUAL REASON WHY THEY NEVER SUCCEEDED.

It scratched my brain in the best possible way and I am in love, once again, with this series.

That’s why these fuckers have always been influenced by each other! That’s why we had The Corruption with a hint of Flesh, The Lonely with Distortion vibes, The Extinction getting elements from other Powers, some of them being weirdly similar right from the start and, in some cases, almost looking interchangeable.

It’s because they’re all part of the same thing. They’re all parts of a whole. A mastodontic, eldritch, immeasurable whole.

And that’s why all rituals failed: because they pulled the whole from one thing only.

What a fantastical explanation, what a wonderfully creative choice! Not only it fits perfectly with all the pieces that have been left until now, but it also makes the Powers even more terrifying. Not single eldritch, terrible fears, but part of a whole that is so big and so terrifying… URGH I LOVE IT SO MUCH <3

About the Archivist:

JONAH MAGNUS, KING OF ALL MOTHERFUCKERS WHO EVER MOTHERFUCKED.

The plan never was to make Jon powerful for the Watcher’s Crown: it was to make him stronger, so he could face all Powers, experience all fears on his skin and call all of them at the same time.

And that means my theory is partially true because I said Jon had to become strong to make the ritual happen and he knew nothing about the Watcher’s Crown, because he (subconsciously) was already performing it.

And do you remember what I said I would do, if I got this right?

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In conclusion

The world is totally fucked, Jon is uber fucked, Martin is fucked, everyone is fucked.

And here on top stands Jonah/Elias: The One Who Fucked Everyone.

And no, I still don’t hate him. How could I? He’s GREAT. He was just a meme and a funny villain before; now he revealed himself to be the biggest and the most clever antagonist of the whole series, an ancient son of a bitch who carefully planned everything to go the way he wanted.

And he succeeded. In the end, he got his rightful victory. He did everything right, he deserved it. This conclusion was fair for him and for the story: if you’re a clever fucker, you deserve to see your plans succeed.

But that means our heroes should now get extra clever and find a way to put him down and bring everything back to normal, because of course we cannot end without a fight.

And yes, I fear Jon is growing a huge “DEAD” sign on his head too… but let’s ignore it for now. We have a motherfucker to bring down and a world to save - again and, hopefully, for the last time.

This season was insane, an emotional rollercoaster filled with information, answers, and hints leading to even more satisfying answers. The characters are insanely good, Martin is the best man alive, Elias/Jonah is the king of motherfuckers and I could rant about how complex and interesting Jon is for days, so let’s stop here before this post becomes even longer than it already is.

But just to be sure, let me explode once again because I have too many feels and only this can express the mess inside me.

We will meet again very soon with season five because I physically NEED to see how this chaos will end.

-> Next post

(How about a coffee? ☕)

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📌TAGLIST: @mudpuddlenl @allmycrushesaredead @aquatedia @whatishappeningrightnow @effortiswhatmatters @bella-in-a-bag @doydoune @forever-third-wheeling @payte @hypnossanders @idontreallyknow24 @imcrushedbyarainbowoffical @patton-cake-and-crofters @hereissananxiousmess @purplebronzeandblue @cynicalandsarcastic @lost-in-thought-20 @andtheyreonfire @riseofthewerewolf @rosesandlove44 @arya-skywalker @csi-baker-street-babes @reesiereads @dracayd-universe @starlightnyx @stubbornness-and-spite @averykedavra @joyrose-fandomer @mihaela-tbg @thatoneloudowl @grayson-22 @softangryfuckingdepressed @theotherella @nevenastark @coldbookworm @boopypastaissalty @varthandiveturinn @roses-bubbles @cuter-on-the-inside @snixxxsmythe @analogical-mess @emphasis-on-the-oopsie @yangwalkerao3 @the3rddenialist @hehimejoshi

#the magnus archives #tma #magnus archives #tma podcast #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #melanie king #basira hussain #daisy tonner #peter lukas #elias bouchard #jonah magnus #simon fairchild

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gallusrostromegalus · 2 years ago

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I've always said that kubota did orihime soooooooo dirty >:( she literally has god powers and they get diminished so harshly... I've always viewed her power as her having the ability to Reject phenomena. In canon she rejects the fact that people are injured. What would happen if she rejected the fact that someone was alive? That someone was in her way? Reject the injustices that led to her and her friends' world being turned upside down. Anyway I love that your hime has the spine she deserves and I'm so excited to be completely normal about aeiwam

Some Important facts about Orihime from canon:

Orihime is the #3 student in her entire (fairly large) high school. Girl Ain't Stupid- if anything, the fact that she's wildly unorthodox in her projects and STILL pulls those kinds of grades and test scores suggests that her teachers are grading her like that because her weird-ass approaches to assignments demonstrate a thorough understanding of the material, so she may actually be smarter than Uryuu, the #1 student who gives me very strong "I'm very good at taking tests and telling teachers what they want to hear, so I can pull good grades even if I have no clue what the subject is" Vibes.

Orihime cooks weird damn food, and enjoys it. She also has strange ideas about what's cute, exceptionally brightly colored clothes relative to everyone else, and does things like get lost following dragonflies for hours on end. Screams sensory processing Weirdness to me. Maybe I'm projecting a bit here, but Sensory processing disorders come with sensory euphoria too- I get to enjoy a huge variety of strange foods and the sound of rain gives me physical joy.

Orihime's best friends* are: -The School's Self-affected "weird boy who might be a delinquent or possibly just insane" guy -A Butch Jock With Anger Issues -The Crafts Club president who has So Much Gender Happening, and also sort-of grew up in a cult -The Giant, scary-looking guy who keeps smuggling small animals into school. -A Genuine sociopath whose family probably has Yakuza Connections -An extremely powerful supernatural being who is like five times her age -Keigo. This is not the friend group of a "Normal"

Taken together, these points form a constellation of THIS GIRL GOT AUTISM. LIKE SO MUCH. LEVEL 999 AUTISM MAGE. She's full of strange joy and magnificently weird and experiencing reality four steps to the left of everyone else AND SHE IS SO, SO SMART.

So in the fic, when she sees Ichigo freaking out because Rukia has been Kidnapped back to Soul Society on Bullshit criminal charges, Orihime does what every autistic person I know does, and immediately begins drafting a Solution.

Namely She begins drafting an extraction plan. She gets slightly in over her head with details about what data they need, how much and what kind of resistance they'd be facing etc. etc. until she realizes she needs some concrete answers and, without regard to social conventions like "time" and "Personal space", more or less kicks in the door to Urahara's shop at 2AM, marches directly into his bedroom and starts interrogating him about the civil services in soul society, yes it's weird you sleep naked with your cat sir but I'm not here to pass judgment I'm here to get answers you can put pants on later.

After the resounding success of their operation in Soul Society, the hardest part when Ulquiorra comes to kidnap her and gives her the completely insane circumstances of "you will be invisible and go through walls for 12 hours, prepare yourself." is not vibrating with the absolute mania of the chance to go to Los Noches and FUCK. SHIT. UP.

#AEIWAM #An Elephant Is Warm And Mushy #bleach fanfic

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daily-hanamura · 2 years ago

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If Rise is a proxy for the game trying to give Yu a thinly veiled "default romance", then her parallels with Yosuke and the way they interact with Yu make for a fascinating comparison

(aka follow me down this weird delusional rabbit hole. Strap in because this is going to be a long and very weird one.)

1. Similar patterns of flirting

Unlike Rise, Yosuke is of course a lot less intentional and a lot more oblivious to what he's actually doing, but his behaviour is actually very similar to Rise's in some ways.

For example, the both of them find an in with Yu through "being shown around" Inaba.

(actually there's a scene with naoto's first day at the school, where a few girls are trying to flirt with naoto using the same lines of showing him around, so that's fun.)

There's a difference in context here - Yosuke is playing that senpai-adjacent role for Yu, whereas Rise is asking Yu to play it for her (even though Inaba is Rise's hometown, and when you take her to souzai daigaku she says she's always wanted to go there).

But this difference is also important because...

Yosuke's type is someone he can look after. (Btw, this is an extremely common male response in Asia - that men like dating someone they can look after. Remember this because it'll come up again later.)

I think throughout the course of the game Yosuke is very much consistently someone that likes taking care of people - quite obviously he looks after Teddie, but he's also always looking out for Kanji and everyone else, actually.

But there's something that changes slightly between him and Yu - as their relationship develops, Yosuke becomes more willing to be the one being looked after, but by Yu especially! This is something that is picked up on by others in the group, such as when Kanji says that Yu tends to spoil Yosuke, or when Chie tells Yu that Yosuke is going to come begging him soon.

Neither Kanji nor Chie talk about how Yosuke asked them for help - because Yosuke, for the most part, is pretty resistant towards asking people for help... unless it's Yu. Yu is the exception in this regard, because where most people see Yosuke as being reliable, they also know that if Yosuke has issues, it's Yu that he turns to. And he does! In front of Yu, Yosuke lets himself be vulnerable, both in more serious settings but also in casual ones. Look at how Yosuke playfully ask Yu to "save him/them" (from Yukiko, Rise and Chie's cooking). It's a little dramatic. It's a little whiny. And it's all part of that role!

But this is exactly the kind of role that Rise is playing as well.

In Japanese culture, there is the concept of 甘え (amae), which is closely related to the (perhaps more commonly known) Chinese notion of 撒娇 (sājiāo). It's hard to explain this in English because it's not really a concept that exists in Western contexts in the same way, but I think it's important because Persona is ultimately a Japanese game, and so the cultural norms and contexts that inform the relationships there are important. It's been talked about in more detail by people smarter than me (see: Takeo Doi, 1971) but the tldr is that it refers to a kind of childishness employed as a means to seek indulgence from a loved one - it's a little bit affirmation, it's a little bit flirtation, but really, the point is looking for someone to care for them. And it works the same way for the other person as well - to indulge is to love! (Remember Yosuke's response of wanting someone he can look after? Yeah.)

When Rise drawls out the word "senpai" and whines a little, that's one example of her playing up that role so Yu would pamper her (actually I don't play in dub, so I'm not sure if she does this in EN too). But we see this with Ai as well, when Ai tells Yu to carry her shopping or buy her coffee. Ai is of course perfectly capable of doing both things, but the point is to have someone like you so much they do things for you.

Compare this to the way the others ask Yu for help - there's hesitation, and it's framed in a "if you have time, could you..." sort of manner and is markedly less playful. I think to some extent it's also their personalities, but that's kind of the point here.

I think it's important to caveat at this point that this "submissive" role during amae isn't, like, a fixed role that they assign themselves into in their relationship - critically, it's temporal, contextual and momentary. Yosuke and Rise are only playing up their childishness so they can get attention from Yu in that moment, but it in no way speaks to how they expect their relationship to function, because it's just brief instances of flirtation. For both Rise and Yosuke, their relationship with Yu is still primarily defined by their equalness and what they can do for Yu as well. It also goes both ways - Yu is also welcome to do the same with Rise and Yosuke! It's also very much a purposeful demonstration of vulnerability, because if you've read the signs wrongly, then it may not be perceived as flirting, just general annoyingness. Which is why...

I think they're both particularly sensitive about accidentally being a bother to Yu, and the way the both of them speak has these layers of boldness and shyness interspersed and folded into each other.

To put it another way, you can think of this indulgence as an extension of the love language of acts of service - and amae is essentially a way of pretending to be helpless to encourage that act of service. (this is an extremely dumbed down definition stripped of nuance)

The point here as Rise flirts with Yu in this manner... I think so does Yosuke, even if he's not totally conscious of it.

2. The shared fear of loneliness

Both Yosuke and Rise express this same fear - Yosuke's shadow reveals his fear of being alone so he actively surrounds himself with as many people as he can, while Rise reveals in her slink that she was a shy, lonely child and became an idol because she thought it would help her connect with people and make more friends. There's this powerful desire of acceptance on their part that forced them towards behaviour that they felt would make them desirable and liked - Yosuke makes jokes and buys food for his friends and tries to be a dependable big-brother type, and his shadow says he's only like that because he's terrified of being alone, while Rise's idol image is about being bright and enthusiastic and bubbly, but her vulnerable moments reveal her to be withdrawn and she says it was all an act.

I think there's a really interesting parallel here, because they both learn that it doesn't really work the way they hoped - the relationships that they had previously formed can be superficial (Yosuke talks about this point with Marie and Yu on the rooftop, while Rise learns that people only see Risette but not her), or temporary and easily forsaken (Yosuke doesn't really have anyone calling him back after his move, while Rise talks about how quickly people moved on from her).

Critically though, it's also in how they are resolved, and in both cases, Yu is the catalyst that helps them understand that not only is that desire normal and understandable, but that both that desire and their responses to it are all part of them. Yosuke's and Rise's cheerfulness and care are not any less meaningful just because of where that sentiment came from. There's no real Yosuke or real Rise, and while this is also a theme for the rest of the IT, I think it's with Yosuke and Rise especially that this particular thread of a fake self created to be accepted and help them make friends is especially pronounced.

(for Kanji, his violent, abrasive self was created to hide away and push people further away, while Naoto wasn't seeking acceptance amongst peers, but their individual ideal of whom they should be).

The distinction here is meaningful insofar as it then speaks to how Yosuke and Rise subsequently perceive Yu in relation to themselves and the rest of the team. For both of them, Yu was the first person where they actually felt Seen with, and in Rise's case, it's what sparked her attraction to him, with her starting to flirt aggressively with Yu after her rescue. I think that in Yosuke's case it's very much the same thing as well, which is how we have Yosuke calling Yu his 相棒 (aibou) shortly after the fight with Yosuke's shadow. I can't place exactly when Yosuke starts doing so, because it can be as early as Marie's slink rank 1 if you did it right after, but in their conversations after the fight at the liquor store, I think the foundation is already there.

In English, 相棒 is translated as partner, which I guess is a fair translation that is captured by the sentiment of "partners in crime". It's a term that is also used in, say, buddy cop pairs (like Reno and Rude in FF7. It's also how Adachi refers to himself, as Dojima's aibou), but it's intended to capture that essence of someone that you trust above and beyond everyone else. Working on a case and your boss and colleagues say no? Doesn't matter, you aibou's got your back. It's the person that you share this absolute connection with, that knows you like you know them, maybe even knows you more than you know yourself.

But imo there's a bit of nuance that is lost, because there's also the weight of exclusivity inherent in the term - you can have a lot of friends, but only one aibou. It's one of the highest, most intense and exclusive relationship that you can have with someone... platonically.

Kick that platonic label off and we find that Yosuke and Rise are the only two that end up attached to Yu with that same, absolute intent, and hold this similar wish for some exclusive relationship with Yu. By helping them understand their loneliness and what the intimacy of being seen means, Yu has triggered the same reaction in both Yosuke and Rise - just coloured slightly differently, romantic for Rise and platonic for Yosuke. But Yosuke's route wasn't even intended to be necessarily platonic so

3. They're the two that ask Yu about his type the most

I think that with a heteronormative lens, it's easy to interpret Rise's question as one coming from romantic interest and flirtations, while Yosuke's questions are coming from patterns of locker room talk, but fuck that, I think they're both testing the waters of romantic interest and looking to see what Yu would say.

Of course, if Yu takes that one opportunity he has to say Yosuke is his type, Yosuke gets flustered and his hair-trigger nohomo reaction kicks in... but then he goes into a thing where he talks about how yeah, he'd make a pretty good boyfriend! He likes Yu's answer here, he even has the little flower animation of happiness!

In contrast, if Yu picked Kanji, the conversation derails into a thing about Kanji's manliness. Furthermore, considering that Yosuke's romance route was cut but all of the previous conversations and interactions remained, there's no reason not to think that Yosuke wasn't responding positively to Yu's affirmations, even if he didn't necessarily understand what they meant at that time.

In the same way, if Yu responds positively or goes along with Rise's questions, Rise is also noticeably happy about it.

Because at the end of the day, they're not actually asking because they want to know what it is - they're asking because they want to hear Yu say that they are Yu's type. And I think Yosuke is guilty of this, even though he hadn't realised it yet.

#p4 #p4g #persona 4 #persona 4 golden #hanamura yosuke #yosuke hanamura #debated posting this one because im not even sure if im making sense to myself anymore but if you see my vision i am here to shake your hand #going in with a proper post today because my headcanon is not only very weird but also very very long #he's good with his queue

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