#s5 final battle

[hitlikehammers]

(and in your soul) forever's not so long 🤍🩶🖤

“I’d die for you, Steve Harrington. Kill for you. Burn the whole goddamn world and everyone in it, if it was for you,” and Eddie only pauses to lean that little bit more to kiss properly against Steve’s skin before he mouths there, the sincerity of it all straight through to Steve’s bones: “And it would be the honor of my life, only second to the privilege of loving you in the first place.” ♥️

rating: t ♥️ tags: established relationship, post-S4/s5 final showdown, canon-typical violence, declarations of love, heavy drama (because theses boys are involved, that’s kinda a prerequisite), open ending (that I could be persuaded to close on another prompt-day this month, who knows, kinda possibly angsty if not though) ♥️

for @steddielovemonth day five: "I would die for her. I would kill for her. Either way, what bliss." - The Addams Family

It’s the night before everything comes to a head. Not that they know it, in the moment: of course they don’t.

But it is that same night.

Eddie’s hands are more delicate like this, without the rings and lazily carding through Steve’s hair where it spreads across his chest, when Steve lies on top of him versus the other way around.

They’re skin-to-skin, as they most often are in bed whether they’ve fucked yet, or even intend to that night at all. They just…

It’s comfort. Routine. Magical in that it’s predictable; it’s who they are now, what they’ve grown into as superstar lives that starting twining inextricable like it was the easiest thing; not a path of least resistance but the direction they’d been waiting all their lives somehow to find, and run like hell with, hand in hand. It’s like a promise, almost, inside all that everydayness, built into what it is to fall quietly, incalculably joyful into the shape of togetherness like this, the most natural configuration.

To touch, and stay, and feel this deep and sure: it’s for always. It’s for keeps.

Or that’s…that’s kinda what it feels like.

Which is all that counts.

But that’s where they are: Eddie’s long, lithe fingers running through Steve’s hair, his breathing even and his heart loud and steady under Steve’s ear before he says the most ridiculous thing, something that should send a pulse racing for how big it is, how…how much it is, and fuck, how much more it is, it means, because Eddie’s heartbeat doesn’t shift a single stroke as he exhales warm against Steve’s temple:

“I’d die for you, Steve Harrington. Kill for you. Burn the whole goddamn world and everyone in it, if it was for you,” and Eddie only pauses to lean that little bit more to kiss properly against Steve’s skin before he mouths there, like massaging the intention, the sincerity of it all straight through to Steve’s bones:

“And it would be the honor of my life, only second to the privilege of loving you in the first place.”

And they don’t say it in words so often, maybe they should—but it’s clear enough, unquestioned enough that the declaration of love in it all doesn’t shake Steve’s breath, just maybe makes him nuzzle into eddies chest a little closer.

It’s more the rest of the statement—not a line in the sand so much as an observation of settled fact—that draws Steve’s hand to lace into Eddie’s and hold him still while Steve turns just enough to catch his eye.

“You say that like it’s a one-way street,” Steve half-whispers; “like you’ve got the corner on feeling exactly all that, and exactly that much.”

Eddie tips his head so his lips brush another kiss to Steve’s skin, almost incidental.

Almost.

“Do you seriously think that any part of that isn’t exactly the same, doesn’t go bo—”

The squeal of the walkie at their bedside cuts Steve off, because of course it would, just when it really matters, and the urgency of Code Red! called shaky across the line, well.

That is what kicks both their heartbeats up to racing.

——

The point is that of course they couldn’t have known. They couldn’t have predicted how it would hold happen that night, how Eddie’s declaration and Steve’s aborted reply would come to echo with a devastating underscore of prophecy, and worse: finality.

It’s growing clear by the second, the farther into the air that Eddie starts to float.

“Such a misfortune to love the one thing that could save him so deeply, that there’s no single melody strong enough to coax him back,” Henry, of the husk of him limping in that’s less physical form and more visceral, desperately-clinging power, all of him concentrated and unhinged, and so much more dangerous.

So much more devastating, as Steve watches Eddie’s eyes roll back to white, the capillaries bursting, the roar of Steve’s pulse something viscous in his ears, threatening to burst there in kind.

“It’s nearly boring, really, how desperate you all always are to save this one tiny, insignificant man, and always him, every time,” and fuck, if Steve’s chest doesn’t roar with a fire that would torch the fucking skies because how dare he, about Eddie, Steve’s Eddie, how fucking dare—

“I detest boredom,” the monster, no longer embodied enough to pretend at being a man; “so I offer a wager.”

They all know better than to indulge it, to even listen. They cannot even think to trust—

“One of you, for him.”

It’s Nancy who screams actual words over the violent raging that erupts from all sides; why the fuck should we believe you?

And Henry, what’s left of a face in him, sneers with pity:

“I had my fun with him once. And I told you. The most inane form of boredom is willful routine.”

And they shout more, they rage and they shoot at a figure that’s not wholly real, and so Steve doesn’t even know how it could be killed—doubts bullets almost as a rule though, on the point.

But here’s the thing. It’s a melee, it’s a shitshow, it’s the endgame and eddies limbs are pulled too fucking tight, too treacherous.

And Steve’s pulse is steady, anyway. His breaths come even, when by all rights they shouldn’t.

That’s the way he knows.

So he steps forward, meets eyes-that-aren’t-quite-eyes-anymore, but are close enough to see and recognize the gesture: him.

Him, for Eddie.

What’s left of the head nods, and there is and instant. One instant.

Eddie falls to the ground, screams in pain, but only for the impact.

Only that.

And before anyone can run to him, and before the focus of a psychopath can shift wholly, he meets Steve’s eyes in horror.

But under all the horror, that just deepens as he seems to process things he heard when not quite present, seems to unravel what’s about to occur: under all of it, there’s just love.

And since there were wasn’t ever anything misunderstood between them, no matter what was said in words or no, Steve takes the moment he has to clear up the only loose thread he can’t think of:

“It always went both ways.”

And then it’s just pain, and he can’t move his limbs, but he can still see eddies face, contorted in agony that Steve thinks hurts worse to see than any of this could hurt to feel, so long as it’s not Eddie feeling it, not ever Eddie, and he can’t hear—for which he’s grateful—but he tests his neck: a little give left. Henry’s slow, like this, compared to what he used to be.

Steve has just enough time to mouth, eyes trained unblinking on Eddie and Eddie alone:

“Fucking,” and his eyeballs feel like they’re about to cave in the way he fights to keep them steady, to keep Eddie in view as the last thing he ever sees, for the last word he ever speaks:

“Privilege.”

And when it goes white, as his eyes rolls back and he lifts to the sky, it’s okay. More than, even.

To give his life to loving, like he’d always hoped to, and to have gotten it back just the same?

That’s more bliss than most people ever get to know at all, no matter how it ends.

✨permanent tag list: OPEN (lmk if you want to be added/removed): @ajeff855 @askitwithflours @awkwardgravity1 @bookworm0690 @bumblebeecuttlefishes @captain--low @depressed-freak13 @dragoon-ze-great @dreamercec @dreamwatch @dreamy-jeans137 @estrellami-1 @goodolefashionedloverboi @grtwdsmwhr @gunsknivesandplaid @hiei-harringtonmunson @hbyrde36 @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @kimsnooks @live-laugh-love-dietrich @mensch-anthropos-human @nerdyglassescheeseychick @notaqueenakhaleesi @ollyxar @pearynice @perseus-notjackson @pretend-theres-a-name-here

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[chirpsythismorning]

Joyce staying at the cabin with Hopper and El to keep them safe bc no one in Hawkins knows they’re alive. Will, Jonathan and Argyle staying at the Wheeler's bc they have more room and presumably aren't in danger like the others.

OH WAIT there's a witch hunt for the Hellfire club, which means all the boys are in danger from the townspeople. OH WAIT the boy who came back to life has returned from the West, the same boy whose assumed death jumpstarted this small town's curse in the first place! The same boy who apparently everyone and their fathers knew was gay...

THE END IS NEAR! THE GAYS ARE RESPONSIBLE!

+ Time jump early somewhere in between.

Now picture how that would look in an 8 episode story format, leading up to a final battle lasting about 2+ hrs, and that's loosely how s5 is gonna go down.

[atlasshrugd]

SPOILERS FOR MLB S5 FINALE

 bruh, if adrien doesn’t know that gabriel was monarch, but gabriel died and his mum is SUDDENLY LIVE???? does he not ask any questions?? how can he not figure it out??? 

[stellarspecter]

i can't believe i haven't seen anything in this fandom related to the fact that the day after the last episode of s4, march 30th 1986, was easter sunday. i realized this bc i'm writing a fic where chrissy wakes up in the upside down as a vampire after dying and comes back to hawkins on march 31st, making the date of her reveal to the public theoretically april fool's day, which is so funny i can't believe there are no other fic writers taking advantage of this comedic timing of events. so have this snippet which sparked this line of research

chrissy's got jokes! and also if anyone wants to beta this please please please please

[fluffypotatey]

Have we considered that Wukong's "don't make me do this!" is in fact, not because HE would ever think "welp, that's a darn shame. I have to kill you now." But rather, "Macosmo flower of my heart, pls stop being so freaking stupid bc I have a sworn duty to my Master and also the excruciating force of this circlet if you don't stop acting Macalooney I will have no choice but the literal will of heaven and the earth requiring me to kill you to put an end to what they all see as a worthless demon. I don't want to take the next step that will put my duty over how much you're my beloved other half, don't put that burden on me, stop please-"

oh yeah 100%

fighting Macky was also an internal battle between his loyalties. he still cared and love Mac but Mac hurt his Master (someone he may not have liked in the beginning but grew to care for despite their many disputes). it’s possible Mac even tried to kill Tripitaka, and that was something Wukong could not allow

the fact that if resulted in Mac’s death was not the plan. but, you know, Wukong has a tendency to pull a harder punch more than others

maybe he hoped Macky understood this and would stop. maybe, he thought, after leveling a mountain range, Macky would stop and leave them alone

but he didn’t

[lone-berry0]

Admittedly I didn't really like the finale at first, I think I was mostly confused and still processing everything that just happened. But after thinking on it a bit and seeing discussions like this I am understanding it a bit better and why the writers made the choices they did. And while there are some things I don't particularly like, I understand that I just need to be patient and see how things play out since everything probably will make more sense as the story continues.

I do agree things work better with Chat Noir not being in the final battle, and while I do wish he was at least in the episode in some way, I can see how that would take focus away from Ladybug and Hawkmoth's battle (very much an important part of Marinette's character arc) and just wasn't really needed.

Honestly I think my take on the "Chat Noir was not there in the final battle" comes down to the fact that I kind of just don't think a satisfying final battle between Chat Noir and Monarch was actually possible.

I read a lot of fic, for example, and I've read the scenario play out a lot of times in a ton of ways and I've never been fully convinced of it tbh (and not because they weren't great fic!!). It seems just completely traumatic for Adrien in a way that the scenario inherently cannot properly focus on, because it's all happening in the middle of an action scene and Adrien is too busy being Mid-Battle to properly have a cathartic breakdown about it all. I mean, Chat Blanc already showed us what would happen if he did have a breakdown mid-battle (and why wouldn't he?). And though it'd be fun to have a big triumphant moment of him defeating his abusive father, Adrien simply isn't a character who would find that scenario triumphant, or cathartic, or anything other than viscerally traumatic.

Also, I agree that it's unfair that Chat Noir was not present— like it was unfairly tilted in Ladybug's favor— but I don't think it'd be fair if he was present, either. Because Marinette is, in fact, the main character. The main character whose character arc is primarily focused on her finding her footing as a hero and discovering all the responsibilities that come with that power (as opposed to Adrien, whose character arc is moreso about freedom and identity). And let's face it, in a fight between Ladybug and Chat Noir and Monarch, nobody would be focused on Ladybug at all. It's not about her. It's not her fight. She'd just be there as moral support and an extra set of hands, which really doesn't work for her character arc at all and is completely unfair to her!

Basically, it would just be Chat Noir temporarily acting as the main character and having the worst time of his life in the most un-cathartic battle for him possible left completely traumatized with Ladybug in the background awkwardly trying to comfort him after the fact? And then the season ends? And then the next season presumably goes back to Ladybug being the main character? After a time-skip to the new school year? It's just an ending that I feel like is a lot better in theory than actually on paper. And you can probably make an argument for ways that it could be made to work, where it would enhance Ladybug's story in a meaningful way where she still feels like the main character, and would somehow be triumphant for Chat Noir despite it probably being the worst moment of his life, and somehow not make the rest of the series following feel like bonus content as opposed to a continuation of the story...... but, I dunno. I think it's a lot easier said than done.

The fact of the matter is, I've always been waaayyyy more interested in how the aftermath of Gabriel's defeat affects Adrien than the battle itself. Post-Hawkmoth defeat is one of my favorite types of fic for a reason, and it's because the aftermath can be so juicy, especially for Adrien as a character. I think whether or not Adrien is actually there in the battle itself has always been kind of irrelevant to me, because no matter how Gabriel is defeated, his defeat will have immense repercussions on Adrien's life going forward. And the way they did it, Marinette is now a part of it in a more active way, too. Which is good for her character!

( Also, if he was there to triumphantly defeat Gabriel, would that mean he would just.... watch his father die? of cataclysm? a-and.... nathalie would just.... die, too? so he'd have three dead parents after all that? who he watched all die (or, in emilie's case, saw her corpse)? or is this a scenario where MONARCH BEATS CHAT NOIR and still makes the wish? is that cathartic? for Adrien to lose to Gabriel? Frankly, I loved seeing Gimmi and The Wish, it's been teased for so long that I was expecting it, and I loved the fact that Nathalie got to live as her narrative reward for coming to her senses and trying to murder Gabriel with a crossbow. I like that we got to watch a full season of Gabriel painfully dying to a cataclysm— poetically inflicted on him by Adrien, but of Gabriel's own doing. I like that Nathalie has presumably adopted Adrien after having an arc of her trying to be a parent to him once she realized nobody else would, that's so much more interesting than any other alternative. I just don't see how all of these things, some of my favorite things that season 5 gave, can still all exist at once with Chat Noir present in the final battle in any way that's satisfying. )

[wchswift]

As the World Caves In ༉‧₊˚ 

Pairing: Dean Winchester x fem!reader Summary: The end of season 5 rewritten with you and Dean, inspired by the song As the World Caves in. Content: angst, apocalypse, spoilers for s5, canon violence, mention of blood, Lucifer, mentions of murders, not proofread, English isn’t my first language :) this follows the canon plot line but some things might happen and be described differently Word count: 1036 A/N: I was listening to As the World Caves in from Matt Maltese and this song reminded me so much of the last episode of season 5 that I had to make a drabble of this scene inspired by the music.

mdni 𖤐 18+

The ground beneath Stull Cemetery trembled, cracks snaking through the earth like veins. Lightning split the sky, illuminating the chaos in staccato flashes. Dean gripped your hand as you both stood in the Impala's shadow, the roar of thunder a cruel backdrop to the battle about to unfold.

“You don’t have to come with me,” Dean muttered, his voice rough, but the words were soft, almost pleading.

You snorted, tugging your hand free only to grab the lapels of his jacket. “You really think I’d let you face this alone? C’mon, Dean. You know me better than that.”

For a second, his green eyes searched yours, vulnerable in a way they rarely were. He sighed and nodded. “Just—stay close, okay?”

The fight that followed was a blur. You and Dean moved in sync, as if every step, every strike, had been choreographed in advance. Castiel’s grace flickered like a dying light, and Bobby’s shotgun boomed over the din. But it wasn’t enough.

When Lucifer turned his attention to Dean, you saw it coming a second too late. You didn’t think—you didn’t have to. As Lucifer raised his hand, you threw yourself in its path, your body colliding with Dean’s just as the blast struck. The impact hit like a freight train, ripping you off your feet and hurling you backward.

Pain exploded in your shoulder as you collided with the jagged edge of a broken gravestone. The sharp stone tore into your flesh, sending a fresh wave of agony through your body. The world spun, and for a moment, all you could hear was the ringing in your ears and Dean’s muffled shout.

A sting flared up suddenly, stealing the breath from your lungs as you hit the ground. Dean was there instantly, cradling you in his arms. His voice cracked as he called your name, his hands trembling as they pressed against your wounds. Blood soaked through your shirt, warm and sticky, and every breath was a struggle.

“Why the hell did you do that?” he rasped, his face inches from yours.

“Because I’m not losing you,” you whispered, forcing a smile despite the pain. “I promised, remember? ‘Til the end.”

His forehead pressed against yours, his breaths shallow and uneven. “You’re gonna be fine,” he said, though his eyes betrayed the fear he was trying so hard to hide. “I just need to—dammit, I need to stop the bleeding.”

You gripped his wrist weakly, forcing him to look at you. “Dean… go. Sam needs you.”

“No. Not until—”

“Go,” you insisted, your voice firmer than you felt. “I’ll be here when you’re done.”

His jaw clenched, torn between staying and going. Finally, he pressed a kiss to your forehead, his lips lingering. “You’d better be. Just hold on. Don’t leave me.”

You reached up, your fingers brushing against his stubble jaw. “You’re stuck with me, Winchester.”

But there was no time to linger. The battle called him back, and with one last look—raw and desperate—he laid you gently against the Impala and charged back into the fray.

᭝ ᨳଓ𓂃⋆.

Sam's knuckles were covered with Dean's blood. Each blow landed with a sickening crunch, Lucifer—Sam’s face twisted in a cruel smirk.

“Sam!” Dean called out, his voice rough with emotion, mouth full of blood. “Sammy, please! I know you’re still in there, man! Fight him! You can beat this!”

Lucifer’s anger flared. He raised his fist, and in the next moment, Sam—under Lucifer’s control—struck Dean hard across the face. The punch sent Dean flying backward, crashing into the dirt with a sickening thud.

“Sam…” Dean gasped, blood streaming from the corner of his mouth as he struggled to lift himself up. “Please... don’t do this.”

But it was too late. The punch wasn’t enough to keep Dean down. Sam’s voice was barely audible now, but Dean heard it, the desperation in his brother’s words.

“Dean...” Sam whispered, his voice breaking. “I’m so sorry…”

Dean’s heart pounded in his chest. “No, Sammy. You’re still in there. I know you are. You’ve got to fight him.”

Sam’s eyes flickered with recognition, and a final surge of strength exploded from him. Lucifer’s grip on Sam’s body loosened for just a moment, and Sam—weak but determined—mustered every ounce of willpower he had left. He reached for the Cage.

Dean’s voice cracked, his hands outstretched as he ran toward Sam, desperate to stop him. “Sammy, no! Don’t do this!”

But Sam’s hand shot out, and with one final act of self-sacrifice, he threw himself into the Cage, dragging Lucifer and Michael with him.

“Sam!” Dean screamed, his voice shattering as the Cage slammed shut with a resounding finality.

The first rays of dawn crept over the horizon, pale and hesitant, as if afraid to touch the wreckage left behind. You were leaning against the Impala’s crumpled hood, your wounds hastily bandaged with strips of Dean’s flannel.

He returned to you like a ghost, moving slowly, his face etched with exhaustion and grief. Without a word, he collapsed beside you, his head resting against your shoulder.

“It’s over,” he said, though it sounded more like a question than a statement.

You nodded, your fingers tangling with his. “Yeah. For now. We will get Sam back okay?”

The silence stretched between you, heavy with everything that had been lost and everything that might still be salvaged. Finally, Dean broke it.

“I thought I’d lost you back there,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.

You turned to him, your lips curving into a tired smile. “Takes more than the devil himself to get rid of me.”

A huff of laughter escaped him, and for a moment, the weight lifted. He pressed a kiss to your temple, his lips lingering as if grounding himself in your presence.

“𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩,

𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯”

As the sun climbed higher, you both sat there, bruised and battered, but together. And for the first time in what felt like forever, there was hope.

𖤐 reblogs and feedback are appreciated! requests are also welcome, ty!

[fanged-fanfics]

Hello! I hope you’re doing good! I’m not sure if this has been done yet, but I got an idea for a fluff (possibly a pinch of angst?) scenario!:

Any, all or two of the traffic light trio sillies (Mei, Red Son, MK), with an s/o GN!reader that’s an experienced healer who takes care of them after a tough battle against a monster of your choosing. Maybe they have a heartfelt conversation afterwards, or during the process of patching them up, about getting themselves in danger for the sake of saving the world? 👀

Been thinking a lot about this since s5 lmao. Haven’t fully recovered yet 💀

🍜💛 Healing a Trio —🐉💚 Traffic Light Trio x GN Healer!Reader HCs 🔥❤️

Genres: Fluff || they/them pronouns for reader || No warnings needed

₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁⋆˚｡⋆୨🍜🐉🔥୧⋆˚｡⋆✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ . ݁˖

- It had been a fight with a huge hawk demon, one that MK was pretty confident he could take, especially cause Mei could use her bike to move closer to the threat. Red Son was roped in by circumstance, begrudgingly working with the heroes to defeat the threat. The attack was a surprise, so there wasn't much the Trio was prepared to do. Once it finally ended, they were sufficiently scratched, scuffed, battered, and bruised

- The three had come to you a little hesitantly. They didn't like feeling like they were bothering you, especially because these always ended in some deep conversations about the nature of self-sacrafice and priorities. When you'd opened your door to the three and allowed them in without many questions, they filed in, MK and Mei attempting lighthearted jokes right off the bat to diffuse tension

- MK, for as much as he gets hurt, sucks at getting patched up. He hisses and writhes if the topical medicine stings, yelping and whining at the unpleasant sensations. He's a very dramatic patient, but a very talkative one as well

- He tells you about the fight, reassuring you that he already remembers the conversations you'd both had before about these things. He's not exactly happy having to sit still while getting bandaids and bandages applied, but he's obviously still proud of his victory

- He's more quiet when you're closer, focusing on the feeling of your hands on his skin, the gentle and reliable touch providing a sense of safety and warmth. He feels his heart swell seeing the determined expression you have while working, and little flutters when you occasionally banter back. This routine between you was familiar, it was comforting. He felt safe under your care

- Mei, meanwhile, is also a pretty passionate speaker, but much less of a whiner than MK. Her problems are mostly just squirming from being hyperactive and wound up on adrenaline, frequently trying to hop off of your workbench to demonstrate a move

- Your gentle chastising with Mei is unique, specifically taking time to address how she feels being on the sideline of missions these days, and having to hold things together for MK most of the time. She feels like she can have that full honesty with you, your complete confidentiality and understanding helping to hold her together

- She flirts with you more openly than the other two. Any time you're close enough, she points out something about your face to compliment. She offers to help you do small things, asking questions about your job and what kinda stuff you see outside of the Monkey Crew

- Red Son, like the others, is a talker. His ramblings are closer to ranting and raving, and outside of waving his arms or doing grand dramatic gestures, he's more still than the other two

- Conversations about his family are what come up most often, when he isn't bragging about his villainy or latest attacks on the town. More recently he's been talking a lot about working as a food vendor. It's nice to see him happy about something that doesn't come from malicious intent

- He allows himself to show past his anger and be more vulnerable with you. He's a hint softer, a little more willing to be honest and open with you. He loves your willingness to do this for them, and he tells you frequently how much he admires you and your work

- The three usually stick around for a few hours after each appointment, talking with you and telling you about everything you my have missed in their lives. They treasure their individual time with you, and Mei and MK especially try to hype you up all the time to show their thanks

- They invite you out every once in a while to have some hangouts without medicine or injury in the picture. They introduce you as a vital member of the team to others and get protective of you during battles

[quitealotofsodapop]

I had an evil little thought at midnight based on the fight under the mountain Wukong had. Specifically the "Everything I did was for US" line in a context separate from stone eggs.

I still think it's true. We discussed in the DMs how Wukong and Macaque met and fell in love, how Wukong's fight with Havoc had not been as easy as the book would have us believe and how a direct consequence of that fight was Wukong being dragged into Diyu. In the event of Wukong and Macaque being childhood friends who were separated after a very short interaction as cubs and then meeting again as teenagers during the mess with Havoc, he'd recognize his cuboid friends name as someone destined to die soon and panic because he had promised they'd meet again and he couldn't meet with Liu'er if he died! So in addition to wiping his name he wiped Liu'er and then as many other monkies as he could to cover the fact he was specifically protecting Macaque.

In the case of the Immortal Peaches, it was less about the insult to his hard work and more about the fact that Macaque was deathly ill, didn't even know he was sick too since he had always been sickly and simply thought he was jsut having one of his usual episodes, and only two known cures. One that is rare beyond belief and one being regular dosages of a certain type of peach that Wukong was tending to the orchard of at the time when Macaque's illness had worsened.

Thus when he was told that demons were not to partake in the peaches, the only thing that could save his mate's life, he made a desperate, drunken play. He'd already been sneaking peaches down to Macaque, usually the worst of the crop, the ones who still have the immortal properties he was looking for but wouldn't be missed by the celestials. But now he wasn't going to be subtle anymore. The Pills of Immortality were taken in error, being unable to tell what they were from his drunken stupor as after destroying the party and stealing all the peaches he could he had taken the wone and lost himself to it, drinking his sorrows over wasting his time trying to appease gods who never would have saved his mate away. The War was fought for the sake of seizing control of the Orchard for Macaque, nobody but Wukong knew this.

Which brings us to the fight under the mountain. And how Macaque had called Wukong out, claiming him to be a selfish demon who just did whatever he wanted and sought nothing but power for himself. When the truth was anything but that. And then later, the battle where Wukong himself became the very thing to claim the life of the beloved he had fought so hard to spare from the pain of death.

A spare copy of the Book of the Dead, an unofficial prototype of sorts, is found. And Li Jing and Queen Mother opened an investigation on many things, namely the true cause of death for the Jade Emperor, based on that information. One of the record keepers doing the investigation reached out to Macaque upon discovering the inconsistency in his cause of death.

We discussed this idea in the Dms for a while, and the work-in-progress name for the idea is "Drafted Fate" for reasons that will become clear soon:

"The Book/Scrolls of the Dead", like any real official published work, has a draft copy containing most of the details of the final product.

However, while the Draft Copy may have the information of those included in the final Book of the Dead, it cannot be altered to change the fate of those listed. It's also constantly being updated by a team of exhausted record keepers. It also can be pretty outdated in some sections, especially considering those who became immortal afterwards or had a revival or two.

Think of it like an entire room full of jumbled scrolls and files with stick notes and corrections sticking out of them.

After the events of S5 with the loss of the Ten Kings; the Underworld has been scrambling to stay functioning as normal. King Yama hasn't slept in weeks. A few times, Xie, Fan, Ox-Head and Horse-Face are so overworked that they legit forget to collect any souls to process and there was a straight week where no one died.

One too many goofs happen and Yama shouts for the Record Keepers to get him the Draft Copy so he can fact check what's written down in the book.

Soon afterwards, The Six Eared Macaque is summoned forth by the infernal collectors...

Ox-Head: "Liu'er Mihou, according to the records shown in the Book of the Dead and your official Scroll, you really should be dead." Macaque, bored: "Yeah, yeah. All those years ago when I fought Wukong." Horse-Face: "No not that. According to the Draft Copy - you were fated to die nearly two thousand years ago!" Macaque, confused on so many levels: "The what?" Ox-Head, reading a drafted Scroll: "Yup, right here. Liu Er Mihou. Prolonged chronic illness, before you reached adulthood." Macaque: "That... makes no sense. I haven't been seriously ill in ages!" Horse-Face: "The entry is no lie. Although your name is not in the official Book of the Dead, your cause of death was predetermined long before Sun Wukong scrubbed his and many other monkey's names from the records. There is one or two corrections added here for times you should have died later on but somehow avoided those fates as well." Macaque: "I mean... I remember not being the healthiest cub, but I figured that was from being born on the Moon and not adapting to Earth's environment so good." (*The collectors share a look*) Ox-Head: "If I am not mistaken... this particular illness can only be treated and cured by regularly ingesting divine plant life. Namely, either bloomed Crimson Jimsonweed OR..." Macaque, unease growing: "Or what?" Ox-Head: "Peaches from the Empress's orchard." Horse-Face, nods: "There's a reason why they act as an antidote for most toxins." Macaque: "Think the first time I ever ate a Peach like that was when..." (*realising*) "Oh no..."

It quickly becomes clear that the reason Wukong was so insistent on his best bud having his fill of peaches was more than a friend sharing the bounty of his work or theft. But rather it was Wukong's way of treating Macaque's illness without alarming him or making his condition known to those who would have exploited it.

See, Wukong got a good look at the official Book of the Dead when he disbuted his unlawful capture into the Underworld. He saw not only his true name and predicted death... but that of his closest and oldest companion.

A death that would come to pass with or without his name in the Book.

Macaque's mind is reeling with the implications. How long did Wukong know? When did he discover that the Peaches of Immortality could treat his condition? When did he start sneaking the forbidden fruit to him under threat of punishment by Heaven?

Did a loyal attendant seeking panacea for his dearest friend reach his breaking point upon learning he would be denied the same fruit that the immortals fragrantly feasted upon?

By the gods, did he stumble drunkenly into Lao Tzu's lab the night of that fateful banquet seeking a cure?!

Macaque: "Peaches, answer me this question honestly and I will spend eternity taking back the things I said." Wukong, nervous: "Yeah?" Macaque: "Did you know of my intended cause of death all those centuries ago?" Wukong: (refuses to answer) Macaque: (sighs deeply. More disappointed in himself than Wukong's inability to explain his actions) Wukong, quietly: "It wasn't fair… the immortals could eat peaches like candy and you were dying on earth..." Macaque, voice catching in throat: "And I- Under the mountain I had thrown it all in your face... you... you really did do it for us. For me." Wukong: (*smiles wistfully*) (*the pair share a hug. both smell heavily of peaches*)

Macaque never complains about Wukong's habit of offering him peaches ever again.

And the celestial royal family, upon checking the Draft Copy of the Book of the Dead, discover an unusual pattern amongst those Sun Wukong has had contact with...

Namely that they're all supposed to be dead according to the predictions deemed concrete since time incomparable.

See, in Journey to the West; the Buddha describes Wukong's powers as such:

"Knows transformations, Recognizes the seasons, Discerns the advantages of earth, And is able to alter the course of planets and stars."

Wukong seems to be confused by the last line. He's pretty sure he hasn't been tossing stars and planets around.

In the context of this Au/idea; the last part isn't (entirely) literal.

You see, one of the most popular forms of traditional fortune-telling and prediction-making in China comes from careful calculations of a person or thing in conjuncture with planetary bodies i.e the planets and stars.

The Buddha had basically warned everyone present that Wukong had the ability to literally change fate. For better or for worse...

Makes sense for a creature partially formed by the Goddess of Positive Chaos, Nuwa herself, to ignore the plans the universe had set out for everyone else!

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

I just realized that, in the 5 seasons finales, LB&CN NEVER won :(

-S1: Origins, the start of everything so it doesn’t exactly count. Volpina is the last chapter before those, but now that Lila seems to be the new HM, and since it was LB’s “mistake” that made her a nemesis, their victory comes empty in the long run.

-S2: Heroes’ Day, I consider it a tie, because the status quo changed to HM’s favor. After all seemed lost, LB&CN got a second wind and they managed to corner him, pointing to their victory; there was no way to foresee Mayura’s arrival. HM didn’t win, but is no longer alone against them. From a narrative pov, in my humble opinion, it is a nice season finale to set up S3.

-S3: Battle of the Miraculous, LB makes a mistake born of jealousy, leading to the capture of Master Fu, HM claiming the Miracle Box and Chloe’s betrayal. Aftermath: Fu’s gone, temp heroes’ identities revealed to HW and Mayura, the translation of the grimoire is in enemy hands, allowing him to repair the broken Peacock miraculous, and Chloe starts hating LB. The heroes recovering the miracle box at the end is just a small win contrasted to everything else.

-S4: Shadow Moth’s Final Attack, the Miracle Box is in HM’s hands after LB makes another love-related mistake by being deceived by Felix into thinking he was Adrien; behold the rise of Monarch. Our heroes have their worst defeat so far.

-S5: The Final Day *insert TLOZ: Majora Mask’ Last Day theme*. Gabriel, the person who antagonized our heroes these five seasons, the one who was supposed to be defeated, brought to justice, manages to outsmart Bug Noire because she had faith in the man, and makes the wish. (Though I heard that Mari won because Gabriel didn't wish for Emilie at the end, so... it is supposed to be the heroes' victory, I guess?)

I'm pretty sure this came up somewhere in the comments or reblogs of my post about Marinette being written like a villain, but in the context of the finals, Gabriel is written like a classic superhero. The only exception being Origins which isn't really a final so I don't think it counts. Instead we'll do Volpina into Collector.

Season One: The heroes almost out Gabriel's identity, but he makes a last minute brilliant plan to save himself and beat his enemies, forever putting himself off their radar.

Season Two: Gabriel almost loses, but an unexpected ally swoops in to save him at the last second. She then becomes his new teammate for the rest of the show.

Season Three: Gabriel almost wins, but fails at the last moment due to a deus ex machina. Still, he ends the season with new knowledge that will make him stronger than ever as he faces his enemy in the coming fights.

Season Four: Gabriel once again loses the battle, leaving him in his darkest hour, only for another unexpected ally to swoop in and give him a major powerup, allowing him to go into the final season ready to put it all on the line.

Season Five: Gabriel once again loses the battle, but when all hope seems lost, his enemy's hubristic monologuing gives him the win, allowing him to achieve the victory he's been fighting for all along. He even gets to change his mind on what victory means for him, showing more growth than anyone else in this mess of a show. (For this, we're going to ignore the insane and deeply insensitive idea that being unable to live without your spouse is a happy ending and meaningful lesson about grief.)

To be fair, it's not totally unheard of for heroes to fail at the start or in the midgame, but I'm struggling to think of another show that did it this poorly. Usually, the heroes lose as a way to set up the plot for the next season or arc. During this follow-up plot, the heroes usually earn a new power or skill so they can come back and win. Miraculous doesn't do that. Things like Gabriel's season four win lead to nothing for the heroes even though a lot of us were expecting season five to see something like the heroes recovering a different miraculous every episode as Ladynoir came back stronger than ever now that the season four nonsense was done with.

But season five wasn't about getting the Kwamis back or about Ladynoir being stronger than ever. It was about Adrienette getting together and Gabriel being against that even though he was seemingly fine with it in both what-if episodes begging the question of what changed?

Season four wasn't about cool new guardian powers or rebuilding the team from scratch. All of the status quos were maintained. The only big difference was that Gabriel got the ability to use the peacock without dying even though it would have been infinitely more satisfying if season five had him dying from a broken miraculous instead of a cataclysm. Same plot, just without the complication of Adrien technically killing his father.

Season three wasn't about figuring out how to stop new villain Maurya. She only goes away because she gets too sick to fight. The heroes don't do anything to stop her. They just got lucky.

When you look at the various power ups that the show introduces - the potions, unification, new miraculous, etc. - there is no overarching narrative logic for why those power ups are being introduced. That's why they're often only used for something interesting in their intro episode. After that, they're just kind of there. I don't think they ever come back to save the day in a season final like you'd expect. The only one who gets lasting power ups that effect the whole season is the villain.

Heroes can also have less-than-perfect victories in satisfying stories. A lot of my personal favorites are a little bittersweet. But none of Miraculous' losses fit that bill either. The closest we get is the season five ending because the heroes did get the miraculous back, but it's hard to call that a victory. I'm not even sure why they need them back. Unless the story randomly decides that Ladynoir isn't enough for today's fight, the temp heroes aren't needed. That's why Ladynoir was perfectly fine for all of season five even though they were fighting a villain with every other power! It's actually really funny when you think about it. Heroes like Viperion should be at every fight because their powers feel essential. Yet Viperion only shows up a handful of times. Times when Ladynoir is suddenly struggling to win even though they've faced plenty of one-hit K.O. villains before. The show's internal logic is a mess.

Then again, this is also the show that consistently lets the villain's love empower him while the heroes' love leads to the end of the world, so I guess this is just kind of par for the course.

[emily-mooon]

You know I actually wonder if Mike’s conversation with hopper is about everything that has happened

Final seasons supposed to be like a war right? There’s going to be a lot of death that can’t be prevented. Hawkins won’t be the same after that. Lots of people who were farmers, bankers, teachers, librarians, auto mechanics, store owners, etc. are going to die and those deaths will be felt

Mike is going to see all of that death. Heck he’ll probably come across dead bodies lying on the ground that can’t be picked up unless the person wants to try and lose a hand. There’s going to be trauma added on top of the ones he already has. It’ll be hard for him (and even many of the other characters) to get back to the life they had before the upside down

Then you have Hopper who has been through war before. He has seen the effects of it on people and has experienced it himself. He knows how hard it can be to go back to life after the battles have been finished

Mike must be struggling to get back to that life. Two years have passed and peace still doesn’t feel real. Everyone else can easily go back to the lives they had before the upside down but he can’t. He saw all of the death, destruction and pain it had caused. He can’t pretend and go on like nothing happened

Having Hopper, who has been through both this and actual war, come and comfort Mike and share his own experiences, tell him it’s ok to feel the way he is feeling cause it is hard to go back to peace when you’ve spent years in fear of you and other people you love dying is really good. It would be a great way to close off their character arcs

Mike has always bottled his own feelings up and Hopper has done the same. So having these two talk about what they’ve gone through in such an open manner, is a really great way to show how far they’ve come

Sure, it could be about a death of someone’s close to them both, I wouldn’t put it past them cause even I am a bit suspicious about certain characters dying (and also very worried). But we should also try and have some hope. We haven’t even gotten a trailer for s5 yet, so why assume a character is going to die just based on leaked bts photos of a conversation we haven’t even seen?

But whatever that conversation is about, I think it’s going to be a really good one. Hopper-Mike father-son moments have always been good

[coffeegnomee]

What exactly are the lifesteal cycles? What does that mean?

I have no idea why the cycles are so hard to describe but like literally idk. they just are. they're like the sun and the sky. like the tides coming in and out. the seasons returning year after year. they come wether you want them to or not. poems can be written about them and never scratch the surface.

there will always be those who feel the cycles beating like a drum in their hearts, and they will always fight to preserve it. if nobody cared or if nobody liked the cycles, lifesteal would cease to be lifesteal.

there are two cycles. the small scale cycle of if you kill someone you gain an heart and if you die you loose a heart. and the large scale of the world ending at the end of each season.

it's too easy to say the small scale cycle is simply a cycle of revenge. it's not that. it can be that but that's not what it is. it's more the cycle of story. if you have a story thread you can pull on, the cycles encourage you to pull on it. and the cycles encourage that to be violent or a troll or an instigation. something to continue the back and forth of story threads.

the large scale cycle is that everyone starts the season fresh and clean, but then the players ruin it. murdering and greifing and killing and dying. the heart economy gets so bad some have near 100 hearts while others have only the max craftable. all this murder and bloodshed and alliances and betrayals and a mid season plot has dictated who cares the most this season and has set the stage for the end game. but it's not about the players not deserving the server because they are too violent. it's actually the opposite of that. it's bigger than that.

in the end one person or group rises from the bloodshed to end this server. by total destruction, removing all the revive resources, getting op, or banning everyone. this is the cycle. it must end. and it must end in war. everything must be destroyed or all the players banned.

the world enders fight to save the server by destroying it. if nobody cared about this final cycle, lifesteal would cease to be lifesteal. s5 nearly saw its destruction. one side thought they could end it in peace and expected to win. but if they won without a fight this would have been anathema for the server. unnatural. if lifesteal ever ends in peace that will be the end of lifesteal.

it must end in a bitter battle, fought for by the world enders, fought against by the resistance. the players prove they deserve the server by caring enough to show up and die. you fight for what you believe in, even if there's no hope.

in the finale you encounter your deepest self. what you are willing to do, how much you're willing to fight back against what you think is evil. you get a measure of who you are. what your limits are. and you get pushed past them. you learn the meaning of fighting for what you believe in, the true meaning. tested by all the resistance the world enders can push upon you. and they learn themselves to. for the same reason.

i think this is why it takes a full, start to end, season for a new member to understand lifesteal. they must begin innocent and safe, no more or less prepared than the best pvper. then the cycles press against them, start showing them how they really react to things, what they're willing to do, how much effort they're really going to put into it.

but during the season there's the ebb and flow of lore, sometimes it's the craziest best week of your life and then there's a month in between. parrot or bacon said that about the cycles actually. like the cycle is that ebb and flow.

but in the finale it's also a week(ish) but there is no continuation after. everything you've said and done all season comes together. you have to put your money where your mouth is. no more talking, no more threats, no more saying you'll do this if they do that. Whatever ending you want you have to fight tooth and nail for and there's no do overs, no second chances. and suddenly you know who you are.

and the next season everything is different.

[chirpsythismorning]

Vecna’s plan requiring Mike to leave for California means nothing. The number 1 following Mike cryptically at the airport means nothing. Them barely giving us Mike’s perspective the last two seasons (despite him being the original protagonist) means nothing and it isn’t setting up his POV to be revealed in s5 bc the entire audience is completely comfortable with where Mike stands as a character in regards to his deeper feelings/motives. No confusion there so no need to address that. Mike saying How will I survive a whole week without you guys at the start of s4 wasn't foreshadowing his fate at the end of said week. Mike standing in front of exit signs 3+ times in s4 is probably just a coincidence. Mike being associated with gaping mouths in multiple moments spanning the entire series, even going back to his very first line on the show, means nothing at all. Nancy’s vision about her family (Mike) dying was mentioned at the end of s4, but it didn’t happen so probably won’t ever happen, even though there’s still another season left set directly after the events of s4. Will calling Mike the heart and how without heart they’d all fall apart, was not in any shape form foreshadowing something happening to Mike and them all falling apart, bc Mike is definitely just a prop and everything in relation to his story only holds meaning on the surface or for other characters arcs and couldn’t possibly be hinting at something deeper that’s being saved as one of the many surprises for the last season.

[morrowalker]

some lloyds. ive been brainstorming a design for him since i wasnt very happy with the one i had. firm believer in him continuing to wear garms robes even after s5. though i think he stopped wearing them around s9 purely because he didnt want to. ruin them.

plus a lloyd around dr & a little lloyd

- i think using his powers gradually bleaches his hair. with more use making it more drastic. in dr hes absolutely fucking blasted because he keeps overworking his powers in trying to stop mergequakes

- hes always had the oni markings on his nose, but gains more post-crystalized. plus noticable scales.

- his eyes have been gold ever since the s2 battle. they glow when using his powers. the scales on his tale are also gold and reflective...

- the areas around his eyes and hands are from the final battle as well. which is also why it gets Worse and starts spreading during dr. his ass is getting radiated

[tomb-of-flora]

Okay so I am VERY late to adoring Supernatural. I watched it for the first time last year and I've been wanting to share thoughts but I feel like I'm just so late to the party it's all been said. But then I realized it was stupid to care about that, so I'm going to talk about probably my favorite line in the show.

In the S5 finale "Swan Song", right before Lucifer posesses Sam he says, "A fiddle of gold against your soul says I'm better than you."

Now obviously this is a fun reference to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and it's a super well delivered line. It's funny to have Lucifer himself reference the song and it's an intimdating opening to their internal battle. But my FAVORITE thing about this line is the fact that the Devil loses in the song. The Devil is both cocky and desperate and because of that he picks a fight he absolutely cannot win and Johnny humilates him.

Lucifer isn't just goading Sam, he's reminding him of a story where someone bet against the Devil and won—of a time where human pride overcame demonic pride. He is literally goading Sam into being cocky by implying that he's being too cocky himself. He's telling him that he thinks he's gonna win, but maybe that's the reason Sam will win. And then, of course, Lucifer does win and steal Sam's body.

I just think it's such a brilliant and nuanced line packaged in such a perfect reference. I've thought about this line nearly every day since I first heard it.

[kradogsrats]

Revisiting the Arc 2 Opening

So particularly @raayllum had done some detailed analysis and predictions based on the comparison of Viren and Callum's variant arc 2 openings, but I want to return in the post-s6 space now that we have Claudia's opening as a third point of comparison because that addition has an impact on how the original two relate to one another and what each one is saying.

The basic sequence of each opening is the same: from the initial star-map zoom (associated with destiny/time-blind vision of future events) the camera circles the principal character, placed at the celestial Sea of the Castout, as they turn to stone. Aaravos's giant hand swoops down and plucks up the statue, now contextualized by size as a pawn or other game piece, to admire from within his prison with a satisfied smile.

The most important point to understand about this sequence is that Aaravos doesn't personally turn Viren, Callum, and Claudia to stone, but is able to capture and manipulate them as pawns because of it:

This doesn't seem like much of a distinction at all, particularly because the petrification that results in Aaravos's satisfied claim on each mage is a representation of dark magic, which is... what allows Aaravos to influence/control those who resort to using it.

We get the direct link between the heart, dark magic, and Aaravos's influence/control explicitly spelled out by s6, and (as many noticed before)... go figure, in all three openings the corruption petrification begins at the heart.

Now, Callum is actually the only one who knows explicitly about the connection between dark magic and influence/control by Aaravos. Viren has sort of intuited it by the end of s5, in that we can see by portions of his dream that he's aware on at least a subconscious level that he was not in his right mind during at least the latter half of s3. This is why the distinction between the petrification being a factor allowing Aaravos's control, rather than an effect of it, is important—the conflicts and dynamics being represented are more complex than that. For example: Viren's opening, it turns out, isn't about Aaravos at all.

That's a Reach

When the primary arc 2 opening, featuring Viren, was revealed as part of the lead-up to the s4 release, there was a decent amount of speculation as to what it meant—the connection with Avizandum's death was recognized immediately, but what did that signify? Would there be further-reaching direct consequences of Viren's involvement and the archdragon-killing spell? Would Avizandum himself somehow have expanded significance? What is Viren reaching for: Aaravos, redemption, another chance at life?

Mostly, it set the tone for s4 and arc 2 in general, particularly regarding Viren's character arc, with strong mood and themes of helplessness, the past, regret and consequences, cyclic harm, and (of course) death. Not even to mention the looming presence of Aaravos and his relationship with Viren as his pawn. It was a vibe.

It wasn't until after s5 and/or s6 that the opening came into full context: Avizandum, in his final moments, turns his back on the battle with Harrow—the cycle of violence that he, himself, has contributed to perpetuating—and reaches for the child he will now be unable to protect from that violence.

Viren, as it turns out, does the exact same, as we see explicitly in s5 and continued implicitly in s6. Like Avizandum, he reaches for his children, unable to save them from the damage he has already done—all of it through dark magic.

On its own, it's an elegant implementation of the parallels TDP is so fond of to demonstrate that both sides of this long-time conflict have inflicted harm on each other and themselves in very similar ways for generations. Even at the time of s4, however, we had Callum's opening obviously derived from Viren's, and after s6 we have Claudia's, as well—both of which come with their own context that builds off of Viren's in different ways.

Lost Child

So while Viren's opening actually has very little to do with Aaravos (prior to Aaravos's actual appearance grasping him as a literal pawn), Claudia's (and Callum's, which we'll come back to in a bit) is difficult to interpret as not being related to her personal dynamic with Aaravos.

Interestingly, Claudia's opening places her at a very specific point in time, since it's visibly between two major physical changes to her body/appearance—her lower leg is missing, severed by Rayla in the Sea of the Castout at the end of s5, but she still has her long hair from before prompting Terry to cut it off for her early in s6. Even more specifically, she has the half-and-half split of black and white hair, which is already majority-white in s6e1:

This is Claudia in a moment we don't see on-screen—when, having failed to collect Aaravos's prison and not knowing that Viren has been offered and rejected the Infantis Sanguine spell, she turns to Aaravos in the dark of night and is willing to do anything to save her father.

I could do a whole thing here about the nature of Claudia's perception of Aaravos as both a paternal and divine figure, but the relevant part is that her only association between dark magic and Aaravos is a positive one—as far as she's concerned, Aaravos gave humanity dark magic as a benevolent gift, and her main reason (at least that she's willing to voice) for hesitating to give it up is that Aaravos kept his promises to her and it would be right to keep her promise to free him. In her opening, she goes from pained and defeated to looking upward with total trust and hope—looking to Aaravos the way she would have looked to Viren.

Her petrification shares the single tear with Viren and Avizandum, really cementing her place as another loop in the cycle of harm between humanity and Xadia that has dark magic at its heart. That callback to Viren's opening also puts hers in dialogue with him as much as with Aaravos, placing her in the same position as he is in a reflection of his horror and dismay that she has followed his path and example so closely.

Given that Claudia dramatically changes appearance (and, to an extent, attitude) immediately after this opening is introduced, it's possible that we'll see a different variant for s7... but given the end of s6, she actually hasn't really changed all that much. She has doubts about how to proceed with her life after Viren leaves, but as soon as Aaravos re-enters the picture, her conviction is back. She may not have done any dark magic after s6e1, but I don't think that's because she's decided to give it up.

Key Framing

Given the context of Claudia's opening, Callum's opening becomes unusual because it references Viren's without tying back to Avizandum and that cycle of harm. It's still on some level about dark magic, but Callum's relationship with dark magic isn't tied up in family and inheritance like Claudia's and Viren's are—instead it's focused entirely on fate vs. freedom, and on Aaravos specifically.

Callum's opening appears only for s4e4 ("Through the Looking Glass"), where he is possessed by Aaravos and it is established that his single use of dark magic is what allows that control, and for s5e8 ("Finnegrin's Wake") when he uses dark magic a second time. The shared opening puts those two episodes in obvious dialogue with each other, since s5e8 never makes explicit that the danger of dark magic for Callum is control by Aaravos—something he has already asked Rayla to end his life in order to avoid.

The focus in Callum's opening, both by its visual prominence and Callum's own gaze directed at it, is the Key. While Viren and Claudia's petrifications end the way Avizandum's does—with the single tear—Callum's ends with the Key in a blaze of light.

I expect we will see Callum's opening return for s7, possibly even as a primary opening, but it will almost certainly be recontextualized at some point and possibly even changed to a variant that reflects that new context. The Key is an element that will contribute to Callum's doom or salvation—or both, as a key can both lock and unlock—and its prominence in his opening reflects that and will likely be informed by how that resolution develops.

All of Us, Stardust

Speaking of alterations to the openings:

The final, altered version of the Viren opening kicks off s6, acting as a last, fun little extension of the "is Viren dead?" cliffhanger of s5. Aaravos's hand reaches down as usual, but instead of firmly grasping the petrified Viren, he very briefly hesitates before pushing it slightly, instead. The petrified Viren then crumbles and collapses into dust.

We first saw (or rather, had described to us via frantic convention attendee note-taking) this opening at the first reveal of s6e1, which was originally shown without any of the scenes revealing Viren to be alive. There are a lot of ways it could be interpreted, from a straightforward "he'd dead, Jim," to my own kind of fanciful theory from the time regarding Viren, dead or alive, having been made unusable by Aaravos as a pawn.

One way to contextualize this opening is with this old illustration from Patience, which ties in closely with the Aaravos chess/pawns motif (and was a significant part of contextualizing the arc 2 opening as "pawns"):

Now, there are a lot of things about this image that are important, not least the confirmation/reinforcement of the chain of manipulation of dark mages by Aaravos across thousands of years from Ziard to Viren, with the implication of Callum in the future. What I'd like to call attention to is that in chess, tipping over a piece is a gesture specifically used only with the king, and specifically to indicate that you are resigning the game and the opponent is victorious.

I don't think there's anywhere we've seen Aaravos truly lose, except for possibly when he was imprisoned, because his plans have levels of redundancy that mean they don't depend on any given individual—a game of chess hinges on the king, but Aaravos is essentially playing six or eight interconnected games at once, and a loss on one board only reinforces his remaining pieces on another. Losing Viren, deliberately or not, empowers his influence over Claudia... exactly as we see in the sequence of arc 2 openings. It would be difficult for them to have replicated the tipped-over/toppled king imagery with the petrified Viren without having to do some labor-intensive camera work on the existing opening pattern (e.g. do they show the ground when he falls? What even is the ground?)—so I think there's a strong likelihood that him crumbling to dust is meant to have a similar resonance.

Anyway, I'm kind of dancing around some complex theorizing and analysis of Viren's death that I go back and forth on depending on the day, but basically I do still think the important takeaway from this opening variant is that as far as Aaravos is concerned, Viren is off the board. That it's the opening for s6e1, rather than a special use for s6e8 (as Callum's variant openings are handled) is also IMO a positive sign regarding Aaravos's loss of control and direct manipulation of Viren over the course of s6. I don't think we've heard the last about Viren, and between Claudia, Soren, and Kpp'Ar there will definitely be a multifaceted interpretation of his legacy with significance in s7.

Opening the Final Season

Ultimately, given the dialogue between the three (four?) variant openings we have seen so far for arc 2, I think for s7 we can expect:

the Callum variant will appear at least once

at least one new Claudia- or Callum-based variant, OR possibly even an Aaravos variant

a new variant (possibly one of the ones from the previous point) to close out the arc for at least s7e9

That's my fevered ramblings about this 20-second repeated sequence, thanks for coming to my continuing insane TED talks on this and other ridiculous topics.