#she was so understanding about me having to verify her story first

[stil-lindigo]

HELP PALESTINIAN ARCHITECT EVACUATE HER FAMILY FROM GAZA

This is a verified fundraiser for a family of four to evacuate to Cairo. The fund's creator, Amal Abu Shammala, reached out to me personally to share this since she's failed to get her fund on Operation Olive Branch and Let's Talk Palestine's fundraising linktree.

As of right now, she has raised €2,397/ €42,000. You can see the breakdown of what the money will be used for in the fund description.

Please give generously!

[lukolabrainrot]

I am going to talk about some of my thoughts about why I believe N's behavior changed as the PR tour progressed. I am also going to talk about my thoughts on if L&N ever got "jiggy with it" 😂 I'll try to get to my thoughts on Toronto and Ireland tomorrow.

Before I start though, I want to mention that I am trying to come to my theories/opinions based off of things I have been able to observe, and verified information online. Obviously though, I don't actually know any of these people irl, so I am never going to understand the full story of what is going on between L/N. All of this is just my thoughts and theories on what is going on based on what has been put out to the public. There has been a lot of speculation online about everything, but I am going to try and not give that information too much weight when coming to my conclusions here. I am interested in hearing everyone's thoughts/opinions though, since this story has a lot of moving parts. Just wanted to put this disclaimer out before moving forward with more of my thoughts/theories.

Alright, on to the main course (this is going to be a LONG post btw)...

N on the PR Tour

I want to start off with the following that we know to be fact about N:

She is INCREDIBLY private about her personal life, especially her dating/romantic life (the same isn't/hasn't really been true about L). In fact, I don't believe N has ever publicly come out as being in a relationship with anyone since she entered the entertainment industry/been in the public eye (although I can't 100% confirm this, so please let me know if there are any articles/or something on her SM where she has publicly confirmed she was in a relationship at some point)

She is VERY online, and very careful about controlling her public narrative

She is a naturally touchy and affectionate person with people, but she seems to hold her true feelings a lot closer to her heart, and it seems to me, that she is kind of "on" in public (which is actually an important skillset to have as someone in the entertainment industry because you really need to know how to stay in control of your public narrative--your fans are your livelihood)

She LOVES photography/taking photos (it is one of her love languages I believe)

Now as I mentioned, L was always a lot more of an open book on the PR tour about his feelings for N (refer to my post here). N seemed to be a lot more reserved/gaurded during the tour when it first started in January, but everything shifted in like April when the world tour started. Below are my thoughts:

N started to become a LOT more obvious through her nonverbal cues about her genuine feelings for L as the tour unfolded. I will say that I believe PART of it probably had to do with getting a little "lost in the sauce" with the energy of the tour. However, I think the larger factor was that L & N were pushed together for many months (in close quarters), and were therefore forced to have conversations about their feelings for each other that I think they had been tiptoeing around for quite a while. From what we then saw from like the middle of Italy (I'm an Italy truther), there was more of a confidence, security, and contentment in how they interacted with each other that signaled to me feelings were shared and reciprocated.

Like I mentioned, she is a PR queen and very, very private about this part of her life. Therefore, why would she decide to be so obvious about her feelings on such a public stage when she knows people analyze everything? Well... I believe this is her way of publicly acknowledging their romantic feelings for each other without ACTUALLY publicly acknowledging anything more than "work besties" is going on with them. Which totally makes sense when you think about it because 1) The fandom would LOSE IT rn 2) That would put a LOT of public pressure on them, and I think these feelings they have shared with each other are very new (but had been brewing for a long time), and I don't think they are confident enough to go public. There is also, of course, the A of the whole situation, which L needs to figure out how he wants to move forward with that. TLDR, the situation is very messy, and I think there is a lot that L/N need to process in private regarding each other out of the public eye. I am pretty confident though that this tour put them in a situation to confront, clarify, and establish what their romantic feelings are for each other outside of the show (and they were reciprocated), and they are taking the space right now to explore that privately.    

Lastly, because I really like analyzing photos and N loves taking pictures, let's talk about those "boyfriend pics" of L she posted since the world tour started. Yes, she was promoting the show, but a lot of those pictures (especially recently) have a very specific vibe. She wants the world to see him the way she sees him. She loves that man, clear and simple. He shines around her, and she knows that. I think it’s also especially telling that she posted the most recent boyfriend pic of her last day of filming (which was the most obvious one in my opinion) now that A is publicly connected to L. It was a statement in my opinion, that regardless of all the drama unfolding, her and L have a really deep and meaningful connection that is special to her. I think it also served as a message that we don’t know the full story, which I think is a positive thing for us Lukola fans. Now I can’t predict the future with these two, but I am fairly certain we wouldn’t have been seeing the type of behavior we saw from them on the PR tour, and the types of photos she has been posting of him lately, if they weren’t confident in moving forward with their romantic relationship in the near future (especially since A has been in the picture for quite some time). I think these pics serve as another crumb that they are a little more than just work besties.

One last note, I think the reason our PR queen started slipping up and changing her answers to certain questions on the tour is because SHE WAS REALLY HAPPY WITH HIM. This can be a whole separate post at some point if people are interested, but I am almost certain from everything I have observed regarding N, that she is quite jaded when it comes to finding a romantic partner, and has been hurt in romantic relationships in the past.  I feel like L is the more sweet, hopeless romantic between the two. I think he allowed her to heal some of her relationship wounds. I think there is something about L and the experiences they’ve shared together that has reignited something within N to make her feel more hopeful about having a deep romantic connection while she can still be very independent and successful in her field. And I think it specifically has something to do with who L is when he is with her and how he treats her. I get the impression he has really altered the way she sees certain things related to romantic relationships. My whole point is that I think they both know what they have, and they know that if they can get on the same page, this relationship would get serious pretty quickly. Therefore, even though N is really private with this part of her life, for L, I think she would publicly acknowledge their relationship, but only when/if they are able to get to a point where they feel confident enough that their relationship would be able to withstand the pressures from the public. They just aren't there currently because of all the other confounding factors, but I don't think that necessarily signals where they will be in like 6 to 8 months imo...

Have L/N ever gotten freaky deaky irl?

From before the PR tour, I just don't have enough information to confidently say yes or no. A lot of people have different opinions on this, and some people think they casually dated near the end of filming season 3/sometime last year (but we don't have any proof of that). This is what I will say:

N still follows J (and vice versa I believe, please lmk if I'm wrong?), so I don't think there is any bad blood there. This makes me pretty certain that L/N never acted on any physical feelings for each other until after that relationship was completely over. I do think though that L/N have had a spark for a while (and tbh, I think L has kind of had a thing for N since they met, and his feelings for her have always been stronger). Therefore, this likely played a part in him emotionally distancing from his relationship with J when season 3 started filming, but at the end of the day, we will never know the specicifics of why they decided to part ways. My guess is that there were a lot of reasons that relationship did not end up working out considering how serious that relationship was.

Considering how WILD L/N's sexual chemistry is, it wouldn't surprise me if they hooked up at some point before the PR tour. But considering L was on Raya by February/March 2023 (from my understanding?), and the fact that N was SUPER busy last year and traveling a bunch, I just don't think there was any time for them to have anything more than something super casual/no commitment (if anything). Even if they did maybe hook up some, I don't think they really directly addressed the depth of their feelings for each other, which is why we saw all that behavior between them on the tour, because I don't think any clear boundaries had been put up and their feelings came flooding back.

Now I feel a lot more confident that somethingggg intimate happened at least once between them on the PR tour. Here are my theories:

I don't think things were great between them at the beginning of the tour (like January) because feelings I think started popping up again for these two during the reshoots in December 2023, and then the NYE kiss comes out, and N and L are feeling disconnected and aren't really on the same page about the tour.

I think they had some conversations in private, because by the VDay event, they seemed a lot more on the same page (and L was giving N those total heart eyes). The extra layer is that (I believe?) A accompanied L to the city the event was in (I think NYC?), but even though A was staying with him, L was STILL looking at N like THAT during the event (which I think speaks VOLUMES).

I think though there were a lot of things they still weren't talking about, and everything came to a head when they got to Italy, which is why the vibes were off at first and it seemed like there was tension between them. This also occurred soon after the Instyle stunt, so I feel like N probably had some feelingssss about that.

I have recently been converted to an Italy truther, so I believe that Italy was where L/N finally addressed/readressed some of their feelings for each other, and N was trying to get some clarity on WTH was going on with A, and making sure it wasn't going to mess anything up with the tour. But I think they "kissed and made up" 😉 and got back on the same page. Which is why there was the shift in Italy, and why we saw what we saw for the rest of the tour.

Not sure exactly what happened of course, but I get the feeling something physical happened after they started having some BIG conversations about each other that they had needed to have for a long time (and I think they continued to have these conversations with each other as the tour progressed). Let's also remember that these are two very non-confrontational people, so I feel like there must have been a LOT of pent up feelings/emotions for them to publicly show that they weren't super happy with each other/beefing during the beginning of Italy.

I also definitely think they physically acted on their feelings in Brazil (like they just had the "glow" imo 😂). And the eff me eyes, c'mon. Like Brazil continually reminded me of that New Girl quote "The stench of filth and lust is all over this room." It just seemed pretty obvious to me 😂 Especially considering the events that transpired right after that with A, and between L/N for the rest of the tour.

Lastly, I know a lot of people believe that L/N didn't physically act on their feelings because the tension would go away. However, I actually think it's a good sign that tension is still there, because I think it shows that there is a pretty deep connection between these two, and they are still feeling that pull/sexual energy after having sex. They kind of remind me of like two friends in a friend group who just admitted their true feelings for each other but aren't ready to go public, but are also having crazy good sex, so they are super obvious and can't really hide it when they are together LOL Regardless if they had ever physically acted on their feelings before the tour, I think these experiences (IF they did indeed occur), helped L/N get clarity if their strong feelings and attraction for each other went past the show and their characters. And I personally think they got that clarity 😉

Wowww okay that turned into an essay LOL, but I think the TLDR is that the situation seems very complicated right now, and I think there is a lot that L/N are needing to figure out in private. But I don't think that negates or invalidates what we saw between them on the PR tour, or that they were "faking" their feelings. Human beings are messy and imperfect, and that is okay. I think the part that still really confuses me is the whole A of the situation, because I just can't wrap my head around it. I would love to hear other people's opinions though on how she factors into all this, so if you have theories/questions you would like to add to that discussion, drop them in my asks. Because I have thoughtssss 😂

[fuck-customers]

I guess I didn't get the memo about today being Raging Bitch day because holy fuck these people were intense.

First, a Karen comes to my register and announces that she has a return.

As per store policy, I ask if she has her receipt, she does not. I tel her that without a receipt, we can only give her the lowest price in the last 90 days, as per store policy. But she is welcome to take her items and come back another time with her receipt.

Her: So how much would I get back from the lowest price?

I scan her items and tell her the price. I forgot the actual dollar amounts, but you get the idea.

Me: So the lowest price for this item is $19.99 and this one is $21.99 so you'll get $45.36 for your entire return.

Her: That's UNACCEPTABLE! I paid $75 for that! You're STEALING from me!

Me: I'm sorry, but since you don't have your receipt, I have no way of verifying what you paid, and store policy says that without a receipt, you can only get back the lowest price in the last 90 days. But again, there is no time limit, so you're more than welcome to do the return later when you find your receipt.

Her, going Karen mode: NO! You're going to give me back what I paid. You're STEALING FROM ME!

Me: Ma'am, when you purchase something from a store, it does not go directly to the employee. I couldn't steal it from you if I wanted to.

This goes on for a minute or so of me telling a grown woman no and her throwing a temper tantrum, then I call up a manager and a lead arrives. The lead tells her nearly word-for-word what I told her and ends up in the same argument loop for 10 minutes or so, during which I ring up other customers. Lead eventually calls up store manager, who, shocker, tells the woman the exact same thing that I and the lead before her told her.

Eventually, after a combined total of around 30 minutes, she gets it through her stupid head that she's not going to get her way and leaves without doing the return, yelling weird vague threats that sound like a cartoon villain. She didn't say "you'll rue the day!" but it would fit better in the story if she did.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!

About 5-10 minutes later, she comes slinking back into the store. Guess who found her receipt? You'll never guess. Of course not a single apology was uttered or even an acknowledgement of how ridiculous she was acting was made. I processed her return with receipt and she was on her way. She didn't utter a single word the entire time. Just to make her feel like the asshole that she is, I was sickly sweet in my tone of voice and overly friendly just to emphasize what a bitch she was being. I felt bad for the kid that was with her, I'm not sure if he was her son, grandson, nephew, etc, but he seemed all too used to her being a Karen in stores. I sort of wish he had the guts to stand up to her and tell her to knock it off, but I can understand why he didn't.

Then I had several other smaller interactions that basically amounted to: stupid customer can't read ->customer is already in a bad mood ->takes it out on me->I'm not a pushover and I'm one of the best and most knowledgeable workers at this store and everyone knows it so I am unlikely to get fired unless I do something extreme, so I push back-> customer argues for several minutes and eventually either gives up or demands manager->manager can't do thing for them->argue->eventually accept fate and leave.

Posted by admin Rodney

[aces-and-angels]

lunch break by the wonderfully talented @mimibayra (click for better quality)

hello friends✨

i am beyond honored to be sharing this amazing artwork i had done for @oh-so-youre-a-nerd and @saibug1022. elliott's done so many beautiful pieces for the windverse, it was about time i returned the favor🖤 mags is notorious for skipping meals, so to be sat down with wind over a basket of pastries is nothing short of a miracle 😂

this art was thanks to a donation i personally made to the following gfm campaign. i would like everyone to take the time to meet laila:

pictured above is laila and her four siblings; photo taken from laila's gfm page

(please read more below):

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an excerpt from laila's campaign (organized by ahmed shaqqoura, laila's uncle; note this is only a portion of what is written and i strongly encourage you to read the whole passage)

---

from laila's tumblr @lailashaqoura:

a ss of one of laila's calligraphy pieces (full post here)

laila reached out to me three days ago (see here) asking to share her story with you all. her campaign has been vetted/verified by multiple sources that i've double checked:

source one // source two (laila's campaign is listed as #152 on the sheet made by @/nabulsi and @/el-shab-hussein) to learn more on how to double check if campaigns have been vetted/verified: read here

since my initial post (6/7), laila's family has raised $1,839. those additional funds were made possible by people continuing to spread laila's message. to stand with palestinians is to see them for who they are. to read their stories and understand that they are more than the horrific conditions they have endured for years. they are mothers- fathers- brothers- sisters- and so much more. laila is one of many brilliant lights that deserves to continue to showcase her talents as an artist with the world. she deserves to live out her dreams- as well as the rest of her family

@/mimibayra is currently offering her time and talents to making art like this for anyone who donates to not only laila's campaign, but others she has mentioned on her donation commission sheet. feel free to reach out to her for any questions you may have!

another artist i want to highlight here is @palentonga who is also offering art for those able to donate. i know a few of my moots here are dnd fans- and she specializes in making portraits for dnd characters. it was actually through her account that i was able to find @/mimibayra in the first place. visit her 📌 for more info on her donation commissions

while it is heartbreaking to read the stories coming from palestine, it is also a privilege to know them. i may never get to meet laila and her family face to face- but i still feel connected to them in a way that i never thought to be possible. there is beauty in knowing that you can care so deeply- feel as strongly- about their cause. to quote @/fairuzfan (a palestinian blogger):

"there is still hope. say it out loud. palestine will be free. the palestinian people will celebrate their culture and heritage with each other. we will love and be loved. do not fall into the trap of despair." read full post here

for anyone who can, please consider matching my donation:

and if you can't donate, please share laila's story and continue to make space for her and her family in your heart. stay present and engaged for them and everyone else in palestine. listen to those who are sharing their lives and experiences so openly whilst facing tremendous suffering, not just here on tumblr, but on any platform you may have. it is never to late to stand with them. because we are not free until they are all free

if you made it this far, thanks for sticking around 🖤

[freelanceexorcist]

OK. I watched the first chapter of Ever Crisis First Soldier episode 2 and of course I have thoughts.

Cut for spoilers and length.

Sephiroth has officially become a sympathetic character. I mean, he always was, but there's no doubt about it being official now.

The way he's acting toward people, pushing them away? He's not being arrogant or sullen or a dick. He's a sad, traumatized kid with crappy self-esteem. He's in pain and grieving the loss of Glenn, Matt and Lucia's friendship. He's trying to convince himself that he's a soulless machine because machines don't have to feel what he's feeling. He's pushing everyone away because he doesn't want to make the choice he had to make between saving Rosen and saving himself and his friends. If you're cold, calculating and ruthless, such choices are a lot easier.

Except he's not any of those things or he wouldn't be acting the way he is. He wouldn't care, but he obviously does here. If you push everyone away and keep them at arms length, it doesn't hurt so much when they inevitably leave.

Except Angeal ain't havin' none of that. He's gonna make Sephiroth his bro if it kills both of them. The dynamic between these two so far is

And you know it works, too, and at least they get ten good years as friends after that.

So yes, the Sephiroth from Episode 1 is still there, but he's depressed and traumatized. If he returned to Midgar between episodes, he probably got a good dressing down from the top brass at Shinra and suffered who knows what at Hojo's hands. He's hurting and I think on some level Angeal knows that, which is why he's trying so hard to break through.

Now let's talk about Sephiroth's dream. I hope that was just a regular dream and not Jenova fucking with him because that would be a real kick in the nuts. I'm going to say it was an actual dream triggered by seeing Alissa "Definitely Not Jenova" Goldie and her uncanny resemblance to Lucrecia. And he was handed an empty bowl and told it was pumpkin soup because he doesn't know what pumpkin soup looks like. He just knows it would be good and that his mama would make him some if she could.

And speaking of Definitely Not Jenova. Nope, definitely not Jenova or Hojo mindfucking him. Not at all.

But since I'm a glass half full kinda gal when it comes to these things, I'm considering another angle. Yeah, purple and purplish pink are colors associated with Jenova, but those lights swirling around Alissa remind me of will o' the wisps or spook lights. Depending on which culture's folklore you're looking at, these can represent elemental spirits, the fae or demons (demons as in "spirit that never walked the earth in physical form" and not the Biblical nasties).

What if a forest spirit or similar entity took an interest in Sephiroth and wanted to get a closer look to see what makes him tick? Such an entity wouldn't really understand humans, so throwing Hojo in his face wouldn't strike it as being cruel or malicious. It was just curious to see how he would react.

Yeah, it's probably Jenova. "Those you hate, those you fear, those you love" after all. The other idea is worth considering, though.

Some odds and ends:

*i'm glad that the existence of female SOLDIER operatives has been confirmed. Not sure how I feel about them having to wear coochie cutters while the guys get real pants, though.

*I wonder how Sephiroth will get Masamune from its namesake. I'm going to be optimistic and say Mr. Epic Eyebrows will deem him worthy of receiving it, because that's how that seems to be shaping up at first glance. My prediction is that Masamune will pop up at times throughout the story to observe Sephiroth and test his mettle. He already knows Sephiroth is worthy, and these interactions will serve to verify that.

*Bachman's kind of a pain in the ass, isn't he? Sephiroth isn't your show pony, dude. He didn't even know you'd be tagging along.

*EC is really playing up how innocent and good these kids were back in the day. Angeal certainly had it helped along by his upbringing, but it took work for Sephiroth to maintain his goodness. He's the way he is despite his childhood, not because of it.

*I know I sound like a broken record but bog standard villains just don't get that kind of development. We're not supposed to see them sympathetically. At least not the ones for whom a redemption arc isn't in the works. We're supposed to cheer when they get what they have coming in a movie or on a show. We're supposed to feel accomplished when we beat them as the final boss in the game. We're not supposed to see their inevitable defeat as the heartbreaking last act of a tragic life.

*EC took pains to make the connection between the purehearted pre-Nibelheim Sephiroth and the Sephiroth at the Edge of Creation. It's looking more and more to me like EoC Sephiroth and the Sephiroth menacing the party are two different people. Or, more accurately, two versions of the same person from two different universes/timelines and one of them isn't answering to Jenova anymore (if he ever did in the first place).

*I mean come on. The symbolism. The white feathers (which pop up all over Rebirth, too). This:

*That's not there by accident or because it looks cool. It's a single white wing to contrast with Jenovaroth's single black wing and highlight the differences between the two. The battle theme that plays during the behemoth fight is called White Winged Angel, fercryin' out loud! I will die on this hill.

That's all for now. Thanks for sticking around to the end of this if you did.

[that-ari-blogger]

Something... new? (Moment of Truth)

Here is a question. In a story about repetition, where the central threat is the cycle happening again, where the very concept of the narrative is that trauma and abuse echo in on themselves… how do you tell an interesting story?

Like, on a general level, stories are about change, so something that is, by its nature, formulaic, would probably be inconducive to storytelling. Right?

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power disagrees with this premise in a weird way. The third season of the series has been questioning the formula in increasingly outlandish way. The first episode gave the same story but with a twist at the end, the second dissected the formula itself by examining the foundation it is built on, and the third flipped the direction of the spiral for a time.

Moment Of Truth features, overwhelmingly, some of the most skill on display that the series will have at all. This isn’t a fan favourite episode, but it is genuinely incredible craft.

However, it is important to understand that this episode doesn’t do anything new. Every moment in this episode, bar the last two minutes, has happened before in the series.

All Moment Of Truth does to iterate on the formula, is take events of consequence, and place them immediately after one another. This episode messes with internal context, and it causes the tipping point of the series.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD: (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

One thing that I thought was interesting, upon rewatching this episode, is how few and far between the jokes are.

The series has a very distinct sense of humour and uses it in an extremely specific way. This is essentially a story about abuse, trauma, and war, which are objectively pretty heavy things. But it is also aimed at younger audiences, so it cushions each of its heavy blows with a joke.

This is why the character of Madam Razz is the most important character in the series. Her kookiness combined with her wisdom allows her to discuss some truly confronting and uncomfortable topics with grace and good nature. The humour is what makes this show approachable.

This is also why Aabria Iyengar’s style of game mastering for TTRPGs is so fascinating to watch. And, though I can’t verify that she is fun to play with since I have never played at her table (@quiddie please), her fellow cast members in Dimension 20 and Critical Role seem like they are having a good time. Essentially, she balances out heaviness with entertainment, effectively artificially shifting up the Garfunkel threshold of the players she is GMing for.

For context to the absolute mess that was that last paragraph. The phrase “Garfunkel threshold” is used by an English teacher that I had a few years ago and literally nobody else. It refers to the area of emotion where a person is out of their comfort zone, but not truly uncomfortable. Fun scary, essentially.

Back to She-Ra. Moment of Truth doesn’t waste time with jokes unless it really needs it. This episode runs at a breakneck pace, and only stops to give you breath at the last moment.

As a result, the jokes that this episode tells are really funny. Although, if they were told in a vacuum, they probably wouldn’t be. For example:

“You won't try to escape if I just pop out for a quick sec, will you?” “Uh... No?” “Okay, great, really appreciate it.”

This is iconic in the fandom, and for good reason. This is one of my two favourite jokes in the series. The other is also in this episode, weirdly enough.

But… it’s not that funny of a moment.

If you heard this conversation in any other episode of this show, maybe if Adora had been captured for a one-off episode like Catra was halfway through season two, this joke would maybe get a smirk, but not much more.

So why does it work?

One word: Context. This episode stresses you out like few other episodes of television can do, and a few seconds before this joke, it successfully makes you think that Entrapta will try to hurt Adora.

Instead, you get a moment to hold in the tension, then a piece of humour that is utterly incongruous with the tone of the episode so far, and you have to laugh.

This is the same premise behind the humour in Alien, directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O’Bannon. That film has some incredible one liners that allow the audience to breathe and excise some catharsis in what a pretty gritty plot would otherwise be.

The perfect example of what I’m talking about here isn’t actually that much of a joke. It’s literally half a second that abrasively interposes itself into the break in and forces it to stumble. But the build up gives it so much levity.

The scene is off the back of Glimmer’s teleportation and the tension of Angella trying to stop it, followed by the constant stress of how easily Shadow Weaver is playing Glimmer like a chess piece. Mermista makes a quiet comment on the décor, a moment of levity that Shadow Weaver deliberately undercuts. Then we loose Perfuma to a fight we can’t see, the uncertainty of which is more stressful than knowing definitively that she has been killed.

Then the gang runs into Lonnie and Rogelio, two formidable foes, but two foes they have outnumbered. Stress rises, then the music cuts out for barely a moment as Lonnie flicks the alarm lever that is right next to her

It’s not a joke, it’s a character making an eminently sensible decision in contrast to the entirety of the rest of the cast. But the musical cue pauses the tension of the scene for just enough time for you to give a brief laugh, then the scene resumes in earnest, and continues at its previous pace. It isn’t a lot, but it’s enough to keep the story fun.

Basically, the show is made up of seriousness and humour, and those are held together by a single piece of Velcro, and that is working overtime to a truly extraordinary degree.

Except, that isn’t true. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power doesn’t treat humour and earnestness as separate at all, they run together and punctuate each other.

The other main thing that this episode does is a perspective twist. Moment Of Truth is all about context, and so the events play through the views of unusual characters.

Case and point, Glimmer and co. have gone rogue to do their own thing countless times in this series, and every time they get back, Angella chastises them.

However, this is the first time we have witnessed Angella’s reaction to Glimmer’s disappearance, and we get a sense of desperation from her.

Angella doesn’t have to speak her thoughts out loud to let the audience know what is happening. She sees Glimmer has gone and immediately realises that she has gone rogue again, so she checks Shadow Weaver’s quarters, because she knows what her daughter will do in this situation.

Meanwhile, the shots of Glimmer are from Shadow Weaver’s perspective. Almost as if Shadow Weaver is positioning herself as a replacement mother figure for Angella.

I could comment on the animation of this scene, but my analysis there is very much limited to “oooh pretty”. Which is fine, but nothing anybody hasn’t said before.

So, instead, spoilers for the season three finale (skip to the next paragraph if you’re avoiding those), this is the last time Angella sees Glimmer, and she is powerless to stop her. Angella is a character riddled with guilt, and this will come up later when I discuss the finale.

Back to the episode at hand, a significant chunk of this episode is as told by Shadow Weaver, so we get the full breakdown of how terrifyingly competent she is at her designated skillset. Shadow Weaver is a manipulative character, and so she is playing chess with the plot of the entire series in a way that only one other character comes close to matching, and I’m going to start my discussion of that by discussing her powers.

Magic is a facet of narrative literalism, where a metaphor within a story becomes tangible. For example, Glimmer is impulsive, so she teleports around, jumping to conclusions without taking the time to walk. She is also stubborn, so her powers make her uncontainable.

Shadow Weaver, meanwhile, is a parasite. She has magical talent of her own, but in this episode, all she does is leach off Glimmer’s power to further her own ends.

In a series about freedom of autonomy, Shadow Weaver exists in contrast to Hordack. Where these characters focus on the freedom aspect to contain and confine their enemies, Shadow Weaver twists her victim’s autonomy and takes control of them in a way that is insidious and very realistic. She is like Light Hope, which is interesting.

That parasitic nature actually reflects into Shadow Weaver’s manipulative technique, as she never targets someone who is, for lack of a better term, strong. This is difficult to explain: Glimmer needs something, and Shadow Weaver positions herself as the answer. She finds someone who is at their lowest point, and makes them dependant on herself.

This is, fun fact, why Perfuma, Mermista, and Frosta are seemingly immune to her influence. I’m grasping at straws here for Frosta’s characterisation because she gets about two lines in the entire episode, but I’m onto something with Perfuma and Mermista.

Perfuma is a paragon hero who does not compromise in her beliefs. This causes trouble in the series, as is the nature of this story, but it means that in the several instances Shadow Weaver tries to get under her skin, Perfuma brushes it off. Perfuma considers what Shadow Weaver has to say, but keeps in mind at all times that she is an abuser and therefore not to be trusted.

Mermista, meanwhile, is the best character in the series and you cannot change my mind. In seriousness, Mermista is detached and cold, a strength which, like Perfuma’s ethics, causes conflict at other points in the series. However here, it means that we have a character who does not take Shadow Weaver seriously at all, meaning that her grandiose pontificating is meaningless. Mermista sees Shadow Weaver for what she is, a prisoner scabbling for scraps of power from someone else, and she sees an easy rout to stopping that.

Anyway, the interrogation scene.

There is a spotlight on Glimmer and Bow here. They are on a stage, and Shadow Weaver sits on a couch, watching them. They are performing for her. She is in control.

“You are smart, you want to stop the Horde, and you know I'm the only one who can help you do that. I must admit, I thought it would take you longer to speak with me.”

Shadow Weaver is easing Glimmer into thinking she has control. She compliments her, casually offering her own services as help to the princess. But she also positions herself as lower than Glimmer. The last line implies that she is surprised and that Glimmer has the upper hand, letting her into a false sense of security.

“His machine is complete? And they have Adora? We must hurry. If Hordak has the opportunity to open a portal, he will do so immediately. The Alliance will never get there in time – but perhaps...”

She is surprised again, apparently. Shadow Weaver has taken care to position herself as omnipotent, that’s why the compliment to Glimmer being unexpected is there.

Effectively, if the smart guy is outsmarted, they are on the back foot. If the smart guy is surprised, they are in danger.

So, Shadow Weaver emphasises the danger of the situation, stressing that the alliance’s inability to help. But wait… it just happened to occur to her, just now, that Glimmer might be able to fix this. She wasn’t planning this at all, it was spontaneous, and a piece of knowledge she doesn’t think would work.

Needless to say, I think Shadow Weaver is talking utter bollocks about this. For my evidence, I propose the following questions: If Shadow Weaver didn’t know about Adora’s capture, how does she know about the rebellion’s plans? Is it possible she is pulling facts out of her backside to further her own ends?

“I can make you stronger. I'm still the only sorceress who has ever been able to tap into a runestone. If you allow me to access your connection to the Moonstone, I can enhance your powers. You could teleport us all the way there.”

Here is Shadow Weaver’s gambit. She can solve the problem for Glimmer, she can give Glimmer the assistance she needs. It’s a Faustian bargain, and she doesn’t mention at all what she gains from this deal, that’s just something that slips her mind.

Of course, she could be doing this out of the goodness of her heart, kindness isn’t transactional, but this is Shadow Weaver we are talking about. Shadow Weaver exists on conditional affection and saw fit to make demands as a prisoner of war. I don’t think Shadow Weaver is the type of person to offer aid for nothing.

“I want to destroy Hordak.”

This is Shadow Weaver’s stated motivation, she says it again later on in the episode, and it is mainly used to distract Glimmer and give her a “an enemy of my enemy is my friend” type of bargain. But I’d like to examine this motivation a little bit, because I think she is lying about this as well.

In the end fight of the episode, Shadow Weaver casts two spells, both of which could have been aimed at Hordack, but neither are. Instead, she destroys the room, and she targets Catra. Shadow Weaver is a parasite, and a liar.

Which leads into Catra’s descent into madness, something that is told entirely from everyone else’s perspective. Until the end, but we will get there.

Shadow Weaver physically abuses a child in this scene. That is objectively what this is. The fact that this is magical is the only thing that let the writers get this through censorship. But I want to be clear here, this is not simply punishing misbehaviour, this is not tough love, this is not building strength. Shadow Weaver physically abuses a child in this scene.

This is a mirror of the scene in Promise, to the point where the spell is the same, and it is notable that it would have been easier to just zap Catra and leave her there, but Shadow Weaver decides to torture her.

And this scene is viewed from Glimmer’s perspective, showing her the true monster that she is aligned with, but also the power that Shadow Weaver exhibits. This is the deal Glimmer made, summed up, agency for complacency. Glimmer has to make herself ok, at least partially, with this side of Shadow Weaver, which makes her complicit in what is, again, the physical abuse of a child.

We have seen this scene before, but here it is through a different lens, and that changes how we read it, and keeps it interesting.

It is also notable that Bow is the one who stops Shadow Weaver and pulls Glimmer back. Which is interesting.

Bow is Shadow Weaver’s antithesis. Angella is too, but Bow is her main equal opposite. Bow is kind, uncomplicatedly so, and he is the final character who remains immune to Shadow Weaver’s tricks.

Although Bow stays above Shadow Weaver by playing the same game as her, just more fairly. Bow is a tactician, and a damn good one at that. He isn’t as good as Shadow Weaver, nobody is, but he is easily the second best in the series by a long shot.

But Bow plays fair, at all times. He lets people know what their roles are, he communicates, and he relies on other people as much as they rely on him. His relationships are mutual, where Shadow Weavers are parasitic.

Bow exists on trust.

Speaking of which, when Catra betrays Entrapta, the scene is shot from Scorpia’s point of view, and we again see her utter powerlessness to stop the situation. This is the cycle of abuse in full effect. Catra was denied her own agency, and so the way she tries to reclaim it is by removing others of theirs. Scorpia can’t do anything as her friend is carried away to a death sentence.

The final scene, however, is from Adora’s perspective. We see Catra’s world fall apart around her, quite literally, and we see Adora watch her oldest friend descend into madness. Once again, the watcher is powerless, as Catra continues the cycle of abuse.

You understand that Catra has nothing left to lose, and while you don’t agree with her decision, you can see why she did it, which is important. Reason and justification are not the same, but they do both make analysis easier, which I am grateful for.

This sets up the next episodes and Catra’s characterisation there. Catra doesn’t care about her own safety or the continued existence of the world itself, she just wants to feel better by exhibiting some kind of control over the people she perceives to have hurt her.

Which also sets up my diagnoses of Catra, and I’m not sure how the fandom will react to this, but I think Catra is the villain here.

Catra, in this episode, and in the next few episodes, is abusive, manipulative, and controlling. Essentially, she fits all three of the parameters for evil that the series has established.

Yes, she has a reason for her actions, but she isn’t morally grey anymore, she is choosing to burn the world down out of spite. Cool motive, still murder. Catra is the villain.

But is she irredeemable? I would argue “no”.

Spoilers for the rest of the series, but I can’t really explain why Catra’s redemption is possible to me other than the fact that she was redeemed, and it worked for me.

I don’t believe in good and bad people; I believe in actions. Sure, there are people who do unconditionally horrible things, a lot, but I would argue that the best way to redeem oneself is to stop doing those things and get better.

It’s as if morality is a quality you have to work at, with enough practice, you can improve.

And I think Catra’s redemption is so well executed, specifically because of the fact she is villainous here. If she hadn’t hit rock bottom and then sunk even further, her climb wouldn’t be nearly as compelling, at least to me.

Micah's memory casts a shadow over Angella as she makes her decisions, colouring her argument with her daughter. I wonder if there is some symbolism there.

Final Thoughts

The reason that Moment of Truth isn’t as popular as Promise or Save The Cat, is that it isn’t spectacular, it’s just impressive. By which I mean, the shot composition of this episode is stellar, but I can’t exactly point out every Dutch angle or perspective warp, or how many emotions Entrapta goes through in a single close up.

Also, the pacing of this episode actually slows down, rather than gaining momentum. It increases in tension, but the scenes get longer and more drawn out. We are reaching the event horizon, essentially, and time is getting wibbly wobbly. But that isn’t exactly something that wows an audience.

So if I was to recommend this episode, I would point to the teleportation scene, or the fight between Catra and Shadow Weaver. Both of which look cool, but don’t hold up by themselves when contrasted with other episodes in this series.

Basically, Moment Of Truth is competent, but in a way, its playing things safe on a majour scale, which is unfortunate. This episode deserves more love.

Anyway, next week, I will be looking at Remember, and taking narrative literalism to its extreme. So stick around if that interests you.

Previous - Next

[cyberlights]

Amulet Rant Time

Okie dokie Waverider is out and thus has concluded the series…so it’s time for a little…bonfire, we’ll call it.

Now don’t get me wrong. I still love this series and always will. I’ve been in the fandom since about Prince of the Elves. I literally have grown up with this series in my backpack from the moment I checked it out of my school’s library. I spent my first summer job paycheck buying all the books out at the time. This series holds a very special place for me.

I also understand that after Book 5(? I’m typing this out on mobile so I can’t verify), Kazu got very sick and lost a lot of his memories, which affected how he wrote Amulet and thus the rest of the story, so I’m not going to say he was a trash author.

There are just certain things that just…have not worked out post Escape from Lucien. And honestly, this is going to be more of a venting ramble than anything, so for the new readers coming in, take it with a grain of salt. You can still enjoy the series, fall in love with the characters, etc. That’s why we enjoy it.

Now I’m gonna do everything else under read-more so spoilers ahead.

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We good? Okay, good.

I already stated that I give Waverider a 1/10. It actually is not my least favorite book, to be honest. (That “honor” goes to Supernova)

Trellis leaving the throne?

As others have pointed out, after Escape from Lucien it made no sense for him to just up and skedaddle. That boy was adamant he was going to lead his people. That’s what his whole plot was in the book, and him accepting more of that role in Firebird/the beginning of Supernova. Heck, they even pointed out that Gabilan, even though… voted in(?) as the new king was not doing a good job of it. Gabilan himself fully expected Trellis to take back the throne (albeit by force which is not really Trellis’ style). It felt very much like unnecessary step back from three books worth of development.

I can’t say much about Gabilan because while he did establish in The Cloud Searchers he wanted to be king, it didn’t feel right. Like there was nothing driven past that, that would say he wanted to be king. Honestly besides a tiny bit in Firebird he didn’t get as much character development as he should have, if at all. Which is why, if he was planned to take over from a while ago, probably should have had happened sooner.

Ronin and her Students

Speaking of introducing sooner, this is where I feel having a whole ‘nother two books would have helped the story, because this was just…so terribly executed.

I can’t tell you a single thing about her students except one turned into a turtle and another Cthulhu. I can’t even tell you anything about Ronin beyond her “I was right” mentality (and the mask, not sure why she was wearing a mask).

They all felt very shoe-horned in. I have no attachment to these characters, no real interest in seeing them succeed. They were brought in to fill a plot hole, while simultaneously making another plot hole in their wake.

Overall Problems with the Series

Genre Confusion

I think we’ve already established that Amulet would have been better off as a fantasy series than sci-fi. That is honestly my biggest problem with Supernova, was that was a giant Sci fi wedge in what was predominantly a fantasy series (I know we started more in Escape from Lucien and Firebird, but this is where I feel we veered too off course)

We honestly could have completely cut the sci-fi bit, changed a few things around between Escape from Lucien and Firebird, cut out most of Supernova -which yes, would have wrecked Navin’s sideplot, but there was different options that could have happened.

We don’t need the additional aliens/planets. Those characters could have easily just been Alledian on different parts of Alledia and we would have never known. We don’t even know what most of Alledia looks like because we’ve only been to a handful of places that predominantly look the same.

Which brings me to

Ikol and his Masters

I was so confused by the end of their story. They’re aliens but not. They were created by Silas but they have been around for eons. Everything was Made by Silas to Protect his Family. I just…*sigh*

It felt like they were beating the already dead piñata (pun partially intended).

Silas died in the first book. The consequences of his actions were established to be that he got a bunch of students killed and he ended up passing a huge burden onto Emily that should have gone to her mother. I don’t know why he had to be brought out as this.

Ikol could have very much remained a Chaotic Entity that thrived on the turmoil, his “masters” being a lie to convince Emily that he too was not in total control of the situation so he could slip her more into his control. We already know he likes collecting powerful stonekeepers who are vulnerable enough to fall sway to his side.

Heck, he comes back every 500 years to wage war with the elves and probably (should he have remained the entity) thought of it as one big game.

Having him turn into a somewhat malevolent AI that was just following orders to a T just…does not make sense to me. Especially if he was causing havoc with the elves for so long as implied.

Time-Travel

Okay honestly this is my biggest gripe with the later books.

We established, Books 4 and 5, time-travel was not possible.

All it does is send them back to interact with their memories. They don’t actually change anything about their lives outside the Void.

So having Future Emily and her son come back and save Present Emily throws all of the continuity out the window. And Future Emily’s little interaction with Ikol where it’s implied that they’ve done this over and over? Felt so weird after they actually dealt with Ikol. It felt like a useless little tag on that we ended up not actually needing. (Again, Supernova is my least favorite book for a lot of reasons)

Stonekeepers Good but Bad

*sighs again* Yes. This part would feed into the Problem of Too Many Characters Amulet has going on. But. We were not shown examples beyond our current group (Meaning Emily Trellis and somewhat Vigo) of good stonekeepers.

The Guardian Council that ruled over most of Alledia for centuries? Corrupt.

Silas? Self serving. (Despite being called hero numerous times, we were not actually shown anything he did besides stopping the rampaging stonekeepers back in The Stonekeepers Curse, and even then we weren’t actually shown, just told he did it.)

The Elfking(s)? Corrupted by their stones.

Most of Alledia in the early books respect Stonekeepers enough to kinda hold them in reverence. But we’re not shown anyone (beyond a couple panels of someone building stuff) notable enough to say Yes. Stonekeepers good. Anyone else who is mentioned is “Yeah, they were good, but they listened to their stone and turned into a rampaging monster” (Honestly Gabilan has more of a point here)

I get that’s why Ronin and hers were introduced, but they were introduced way too late into the series for it to feel that there could be some sort of balance.

Emily is one big outlier too here. She’s good but because she feels she has to be and has been told she has to be. Firebird honestly put a nice spin in this because we do see her fall. But Supernova kinda nixed that development sooooo.

*cough*ThisiswhatOCsarefor*cough*

Conclusion

Now those are the biggest ones that have bugged me for a while in addition to the new stuff from the new book. @motherstone has already touched upon multiple times some of the other issues that I tend agree with (go check them out, their art is amazing and I love their ideas. Also looking forward to their rewrite!)

Is there some technical issues with the books as well that bug me? Yes. (The later books are very over saturated in comparison to the older ones and it kinda shows, and I believe that Motherstone already touched upon the “smoothification” that started taking place about book 4/5, and there were quiet a few panels that felt very unfinished in the later two books)

Am I sad to see the series end? Yes. But Kazu at least finished as best he could to the end instead of half assing it or completely dropping the series altogether, and I can respect that.

Do I already have my own post-book 6 AU that I’m willing to ramble about at the drop of a hat? Also Yes. (May also heavily be influenced by some OCs)

Overall, I enjoyed Amulet enough to see it through the end. Books 3-5 will remain my favorites. I still will cherish the characters that we got. Amulet is probably the first thing that actually got me into interacting with Fanart and Fandom, so I’d say it’s a pretty big part of what developed me. And for the newbies. Hi! I see you! I look forward to seeing what you do with the series!

See y’all around!

(And btw, if you drop something in my ask box, I’ll apologize in advance if I don’t get to it. I tend to forget I have one)

[talokanda-forever]

Oh boy.

I intentionally avoided posting any thing about the allegations against Tenoch yesterday because I require time to process information. I needed time to give my brain a rest. This still feels a bit too soon. I will never be one to say Tenoch or anyone else would, "never do something like that." Because I have no idea. I'm hoping that the allegations aren't true. This post is my way of venting. It is in no way meant to persuade anyone else on what they should think or feel about this situation. And certainly not meant to be proof or evidence of why it happened or didn't happen. I don't know. None of us knows.

1. The framing of the dissemination of this information as "news." My biggest issue is that I've seen a lot of Twitter accounts pick up the same link that appears to be the outlet that first brought the Tweet by Maria Elena Rios to light (reforma.com). I don't know what journalistic standards this outlet follows, so I won't speculate. I did check to see if any well-established US outlets had Tweeted anything (Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, MSNBC), and as of roughly 30 min. ago they had not.

So far, all we really have are glorified Retweets, not a news story. There are A LOT of accounts with well designed pages that have all the hallmarks of looking like "official" news organizations, but they are not. It takes virtually no time or effort to Retweet something and start an avalanche. It's a trend that has bothered me for the last decade or so. Journalism requires independently verifying information you have received. It's going to multiple sources to corroborate the information. It's at the very least attempting to reach out to the involved parties to get their statements. It's reviewing public records and court filings to see what has been officially documented. And not to say that WON'T happen at some point, but it sure as hell isn't going to happen within 24 hours. It will take time and we STILL may never know the full story.

2. We should believe victims. ABSOLUTELY! In this particular instance and from this vantage point, Maria is only his accuser. It has not yet been established that she is his victim. I understand that she is a victim involving another individual, and thank goodness she survived that horific attack. However, as it pertains to Tenoch, I don't think interjecting alleged sexual assault in a Tweet focused on a different issue is enough to automatically leap to saying she was absolutely, 100%, without a doubt victimized by Tenoch. If it happened I would hope Maria would take legal action, given she was comfortable enough to make the accusation publicly under her name. Even then, she is not required to do so (which is why I say we may never know what did or didn't happen). I would imagine navigating the justice system in Mexico is no less stressful as navigating the justice system in the US. There are valid reasons for women not subjecting themselves to (potentially) years of legal struggles. But I also hope she wouldn't be so reckless as to throw out an allegation and not allow Tenoch to formally defend himself, assuming he denies these allegations. Once again, something that requires TIME.

3. To all those I have interacted with over the past few months on this site, know that I luv ya! I value our time together here. Regardless of what you've said or haven't said about this situation, that hasn't changed. I'm choosing to reserve judgement because that's how I am and how I will always be. I respect that everyone is not like me (thank God). Like many others, I will suspend posting here because, if for no other reason, I know how to read a fucking room. Let's all be kind and respectful to one another. To those folks who interact with me regularly, don't hesitate to DM me.

[imaginebetterfutures]

"After the sporting time, comes the legal time."

On Sunday it was reported that boxer Imane Khelif had hired a legal team, and that they were filing a complaint on her behalf. The letter begins with the line "Apres le temps sportif, vient le temps judiciaire." Which translates to "After the sporting time, comes the legal time."

The complaint was filed with the "the anti-online hatred center of the Paris public prosecutor's office" and argues that the case "will determine who initiated this misogynistic, racist and sexist campaign but will also have to focus on those who fueled this digital lynching."

Some reporting I've seen says that Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan may join her on the case. I haven't been able to independently verify that.

I'm not a lawyer and I certainly am not familiar with defamation laws in France, so I don't have much to say about how likely it is that this case will go anywhere. (I know from personal experience that getting any kind of legal remedy for online harassment and threats can be very hard.)

But there is some historical precedent around cases like this! Here are two examples that came to mind for me immediately:

On episode two of my podcast Tested, we talked you about a newspaper article about Helen Stephens that accusing her of being “too fast” to be a woman. What we didn’t tell you, is that she actually sued Look Magazine over a related story, which used her picture and the headline “Is This A Man Or A Woman?” And she won! The court awarded her $4500, according to the papers, which is the equivalent of $98,179 today.

Here is the spread from Look Magazine that Stephens sued over, and won. Stephens is the one on the right, under the caption “Is This a Man Or a Woman?”

In Caster Semenya's memoir, she tells the following story about a strip club in Johannesburg using her image: “The owner of Teazers had come up with some clever advertising for his club. A giant billboard on a main highway in Johannesburg that featured a naked, blonde, White woman with the words “No Gender Testing Necessary” written across the bottom half of her body.” Caster’s team sued, and won R20,000 (about $1,000). Here's an image of that billboard if you want to see it.

Obviously these are not legal precedent that could be used in this case, but it's a reminder that this kind of case isn't new.

Two other thoughts on this:

This actually will not be the first case filed at this office coming out of this Olympic games. The very same office has opened a case to investigate harassment and death threats aimed at Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the opening ceremony. Jolly alleges that he has been facing death threats and harassment, largely stemming from his use of drag queens in a segment that some assumed was based on the Last Supper (Jolly says that the painting was not his inspiration).

I'll be very interested to see the line of argumentation that the lawyers use here. The harassment that Khelif and Lin endured was awful, and/but there's a tricky line to walk here I think. Will they argue that simply being called trans is bullying? I understand that for Khelif and Lin it amounts to misgendering them, which is a form of bullying. And it also strikes me that if not handled with care, that could be a precedent we might not want to set. It reminds me a bit of the cases in which people have won defamation claims for situations in which it was suggested that they were HIV positive. Because that suggestion is still so negative that it rises above the level of the usual bar for defamation in the United States.

If you want more about the history of sex testing, listen to Tested!

[sleepy-vix]

hiiiii i came here to talk about jane spring because i know that you have opinions and i have opinions too! yay!

so. i think that you are so right saying that people who make jane to be a villain are wrong. but i also think that sometimes trying really really hard isn't enough - sometimes it doesn't help. and that isn't the our fault, because sometimes trying is all that we can do. BUT in the same time i feel like my main issues with jane and julio aren't the things that are openly adressed in the books. it's not the things tori accuses them of. it's the fact that tori is so busy with helping charlie. how old is she, 17? she shouldn't be the one taking care of charlie. she shouldn't be the one trying to convince him to eat breakfest. she shouldn't be the one that oliver calls when charlie locks himself in the kitchen. i feel like that's the part that really makes me feel weird about jane and julio. why isn't oliver calling them? why isn't he calling his parents, the people who are supposed to care for charlie, the adults? why is he calling his teenage sister? because if i was in a situation like that i definitely would not be calling my sister.

i think that jane spring is a very well written realistic character and that's what most heartbreaking about her to me.

i think that people who call her abusive are crazy. like have we even read the same books????

anyway. i would love to hear more of your thoughts about her

bye

oooh okay this is a very interesting thing to point out. Thank you for sharing! i love talking about this :)

ok here i go-

Firstly, adressing the fact that Oliver called Tori when Charlie was in danger, i think that it is quite likely that Oliver would have thought of calling his parents first. I don't remember the events of solitaire word by word because i read it a while ago, so do correct me if i'm wrong, but this is what i think:

i think oliver spring trusts and loves his parents. now, i cant say for sure because obviously he doesnt get much screen time, but everytime we do see him (unless he's with charlie or tori) he seems to always be carried by his parents or staying very close to them. also, remember when oliver really wanted a dog but jane spring wouldnt let him? she was so nice about it. even though some people may think that she isnt the best mother to tori and charlie, it is very clear that she is a good mother to oliver.

so, i think it is reasonable to assume that he DID think of calling his parents first. However, they probably didn't pick up (which is not their fault- these things happen. how could they possibly have known?).

Or, another explanation is that he didn't want to bother his parents, because he was still young and he didn't really understand the urgency/weight of what was happening inside that kitchen (although i do acknowledge that he had a hunch that it was bad.)

Btw, I am the oldest child. I have a sister 2 years younger than me and i have another one 8 years younger than me. I think i am quite verified to about the spring sibling dynamics. If my youngest sister called me when i am out and said that she is worried about something weird that my other sister is doing, i wouldn't think that it is a reflection of how trustworthy or reliable my own parents are.

i personally always assumed that it was normal to trust your siblings more than your parents because your siblings are more understanding and also they don't have the power to punish you (is this not the case...?)

Also, about Tori having to constantly ask Charlie to eat and look out for him, that's honestly just an oldest sibling thing, imo. Of course Tori would try to always look out for Charlie, because she is older than him and cares about him and feels responsible for him.

Jane and Julio have to go to work. They may have to leave really early or come home late, and that's not their fault. I think that when they have time, they obviously do look out for charlie (duh because hes their kid lol), but the story mostly shows tori looking out for him because its tori and charlie's story.

Of course that manifested negatively and impacted Tori's mental health, but i wouldn't say that it is Jane or Julio's fault. Even if Jane and Julio spent every hour of the day looking after Charlie, i think Tori still would have worried to death over him.

Oh also, i do agree that Jane and Julio probably should have paid more attention to Tori and her mental health, but that only means that they are flawed parents. i do acknowledge that they are flawed, but then again, all parents are flawed (i know this doesnr make it right, but it does put things into perspective... imo)

i think my greatest irritation at the fandom is when they act like jane and julio played a big part in worsening tori and charlie's mental health 😭

i look forward to your reply! i typed this out on a long bus trip while half listening to my sister tell me a story so it may be a little messy, do correct me if im wrong abt anything

:D

[taihua]

omg can you please talk about beefleaf as a ship, dynamic, friendship.

oh also what are your thoughts on that scene in last arc - when he xuan diguised as hua cheng comes to help them out for a bit and gives back sqx's fan - and when he sees sqx being himself still, his talking way and brag?, his laugh/antiques. he snorts/ humphs/ scoffs. honestly to me i loved that seen i just don't know how to explain my thoughts on hx reaction to that but i loved it.

thank you<33 [i love your blog sm]

*english isn't my first lang so forgive me for the grammar and wrong words that i might have used ig..

Sorry for taking so long to answer, this landed while I was on my way to Boston and I wanted to wait until I was back on my laptop to answer!

I also really like the scene where He Xuan gives back the fan because of how subtle it is--it's the kind of thing that you can miss if you're not paying attention. I think I probably missed it the first time I read the book and had to go back to verify. Doing it undercover is such a He Xuan way to handle it, too. He spends most of the book in disguise so it feels right that a big gesture like this would also be done in disguise.

My thoughts on them as a ship are mostly that I don't like the fanon focus on them as cute silly girlfriends. From what I've seen in fandom, their female forms are kind of just taken as representation for its own sake, but I think what it's doing as a metaphor is showing how both He Xuan and Qingxuan are not who they say they are. It's almost like a fun game to Qingxuan to flit around in pretty dresses and act like the arbiter of justice, but he's not even supposed to be there and the fact that he is there is actually the ultimate injustice. (Compared to Ling Wen, meanwhile, who is forced to present as male to even be taken seriously, Qingxuan just seems frivolously out of touch.) And He Xuan is obviously pretending to be Ming Yi, so there it's just like... a double reveal about "she's not who we thought she was." It's all disguises to He Xuan anyway, so why not throw some gender on there too.

Anyway, Shuangxuan aren't really that interesting to me as a ship until Qingxuan is being held prisoner in the creepy underwater prison--to me, they're a darkship that I would compare to Xuexiao in MDZS. I guess that's like... the moment that they're honest with each other? He Xuan reveals who and what he really is, and Qingxuan comes to the understanding that he didn't ascend on his own merit. That's when it's interesting to ask "so what if they're attracted to each other?" because now they have to contend with the issues.

The thing is that both of them care about each other, which is important to me for a ship (and also something that I think tends to be dismissed by people who don't ship it). Qingxuan clearly feels remorse and understands that he stole something irreplacable from He Xuan (who he genuinely saw as a friend while he was Ming Yi), but He Xuan doesn't blame Qingxuan and doesn't go out of his way to hurt him even when he had the opportunity to. It's not really enough for them to reconcile, but it sure is enough to play around with a doomed and toxic post-canon relationship.

Lastly... ghosts in TGCF can disperse if they give up on whatever's tying them to the world. I think Xuan Ji gives up her resentment for Pei Ming and is able to disperse and move on since that was what kept her there as a fierce ghost. He Xuan's revenge is supposed to be what keeps him around, but he doesn't disperse even after enacting his perfect revenge plot. His story is deliberately left unfulfilled because it's supposed to show that revenge is unfulfilling, but that also leaves a really nice opening for He Xuan to rediscover what it means to love instead of hate.

Also, Qingxuan definitely ascends for real sometime post-canon so they have time to work it out. MXTX herself told me so in a dream

[nsk96]

So on my rotation, I'm working with another student. We have to do topic discussion together, except we're both expected to do our own work, and we're also expected to create handouts for our preceptors or the people teaching us. This whole time I've been feeling like shit that my topic discussion handouts are nowhere as good as hers and that I feel like I don't understand the topic enough by the deadlines. I've been struggling to keep up while she seems to have everything done on time and she even goes beyond sometimes.

I've been trying to give myself more grace with everything considered: 1) Oncology is my weakest topic, and much of my classmates, myself included, wouldn't have passed that class if it weren't for exam curves. I'm taking this rotation to help with gaps in my oncology knowledge, while the other student is taking this rotation because she's interested in the subject. 2) This is the only rotation so far that I've had to make handouts for every Topic Discussion. Previously, I was expected to just study up on the topic, make some notes, and then have an open discussion with my preceptors without needing to present anything. 3) Oncology is a whole new world to me. It's so different from the other fields. These oncology topics are heavy and would normally take me a week to do, but we have about two days to do them (realistically a few hours on each day. I've stayed awake just to get them done, not going to bed. I keep falling asleep while driving). And we have two topic discussions per week.

As frustrated as I am, it's been great working with her otherwise and I've been amazed by her capabilities and knowledge. She's also kind and really cool. I've learned a lot on this rotation so far and I'm getting better as well just...slowly af. I'm happy for her progress though, proud even to see a fellow anime fan do so great. I just feel like I'm constantly in her shadow, while our preceptors are impressed by her and I feel like I don't stand a chance now to get any recommendations for residency.

At the end of my first week, my preceptor (we both have a different main preceptor) was telling me to be more curious. We did a topic discussion with her the following week and she said to the other student, "it's good that you're curious". I want to think she meant it genuinely but looking at how she spoke to one of the residents later in the week, her statement is starting to feel like a stab at me idk. She kinda has mean-girl vibes like the type where you question if there's sarcasm in what she's saying. She's been nice, but we all know niceness ≠ kindness.

Then I found out this week that the student has been using chatGPT for topic discussion. It creates the handout format for her and "gives her ideas on what information to put on the handout". Her biggest task is to find the articles to support the info it gives her and verify the information with the guidelines. A great way to save some time on creating the handout, and using the saved time to actually learn the topic.

So, now I don't feel as bad, but I'm questioning if I should be tossing my moral stance on generative AI aside just to get where I want to be. I've refused to use chatGPT so far because we know all genAI feeds on other people's work without permission. I've even caught it using lines from one of my fan fictions. I don't even want to imagine what it has stolen from my original short stories and poems that I've posted online. I hate it so much but I feel like I don't have a choice if I want to keep up with her.

[mymarsmoonandstars]

ONE THING I ABSOLUTELY LOVED about wakanda forever is how shuri never admitted to seeing killmonger in the ancestral plane. nakia asked her twice, and she disclosed not a thing. so i've been mulling over two questions: will shuri ever admit to seeing killmonger? and if so, who will she tell?

i was thinking of writing up a meta, but i saw the scene too clearly in my head. so i wrote a story, a short one, about 1.4k words. tw death mention. i call it, cat's got your tongue. i'm kidding. it's untitled.

i haven't written fanfic in years, until wakanda forever, apparently. the power of black women front-and-center on screen, eh?

anyway, i think yes, shuri will eventually admit to seeing killmonger. but to whom? well. . .

.

.

.

Even the loud cascading water of Warrior Falls could not mask the sound of footsteps on rocks. A perk of being the Panther. So when a certain former member of the Dora Milaje appeared behind her, Shuri did not have to turn and look back over her shoulder to verify. She remained sitting on the edge of a rocky outcrop, legs dangling over a crystalline pool of shallow water. "If you're here to vent about your new suit, Okoye, your very long list of edits is still underway," said Shuri, keeping her eyes straight ahead. The golden horizon made the reservoir shimmer.

"It is not my suit I am concerned about. At least, not today." Okoye went to Shuri's side, and this close, Shuri not only breathed in her faint, reassuring scent of steel and lotus flower, but she could hear her heartbeat. Another Panther Perk that felt less like an advantage and more of an annoyance. She heard not only the heartbeats of humans, but the ancient thrumming of elephants, the flitting ones of birds. Sometimes, she wondered what her heartbeat had sounded like to her late brother, T'Challa. She knew it couldn't be like Okoye's, whose heart's drum beat as resonant and steady as the tama, speaking to her in a powerful but welcoming rhythmic language only she could understand. For the first time in days, Shuri felt the tensed Panther Spirit inside her head ease.

"Then what is it, Okoye?"

"You. If you wanted to challenge for the throne, I'm afraid you are a few weeks late. Though still fully within your rights."

Shuri looked down, twisted the Kimoyo beads on her wrist. She had programmed them off so that no one, not even Griot could reach her. "I did not come here to challenge for the throne."

"Then why are you here?"

Shuri furrowed her brows. She did not know the exact reason. She hated Warrior Falls, actually. As a child, she'd always associated it with being forced to wear itchy ensembles or watch boring fights. That is, until a few years ago, when T'Challa fought M'Baku and N'Jadaka here. She now thought of Warrior Falls as the place her brother not only once, but twice nearly died in. So why did it beckon her so?

"Okoye. Do you ever think of your tribe? Before you left it?"

Okoye sat beside her. Being that she was not in her Midnight Angels suit and no longer a Dora, she wore casual Wakandan wear. A sight Shuri was still getting used to. "Of course I do. I come from a long line of shepherds and farmers. But do not be fooled, as The Border Tribe was and still is Wakanda's first line of defense. We obliterated any threat before they had a chance to even feast their terroristic eyes upon Wakanda's protective barrier. We've earned our bragging rights, as your Americans say." Okoye bumped her shoulder against Shuri's, teasing a small smile out of her. Okoye's voice softened as she sank further into memory. "My father used to grow the sweetest yellow yam. Better than W'Kabi's, but do not tell him I said that. And my mother. . . she sang me songs full of stories about the king's personal protectors, instilling in me the dream of becoming a part of the Dora. After their spirits answered Bast's call, I decided to make that dream come true."

I'm so sorry the dream doesn't exist anymore, Shuri wanted to say, but couldn't bring herself to. She blamed herself for Okoye no longer holding the title. But Okoye often assured that she had let go of the position and was ready to move on to the something more. "I do not understand, Okoye. Why must violence always be the price we pay for transformation? For progress?"

"Hm." Okoye tilted her head, thoughtful. For the first time in her life, Shuri saw shadows of black hair peeking through her tatted scalp. "Is this why M'Baku sits on the throne now, instead of you?"

"My father sat on the throne only to die. My brother sat on the throne only to die. And my mother, just the same. That throne is cursed." Shuri's voice was as bitter as heart-shaped herb tea.

"Cursed? I thought scientists such as you did not believe in curses."

"I've visited the Ancestral Plane. I—I have senses," said Shuri, struggling to explain the black-furred soul trapped in her mind, "that tread the world beyond physics. What I believe in, I am no longer sure."

Okoye turned and took hold of Shuri's hands. She rubbed her callused thumbs over Shuri's tattooed skin. "I've served under many Panthers, and from them I've learned that Wakanda's Protector is never alone. The herb is always there for you, if you are ever in need of ancestral guidance."

Shuri stood up, so quick, a cat alerted to danger. "Taking the herb is not an option for me."

Okoye stood with her, pose straight, electric, determined. "How, when it has been this way since Bashenga?"

"Because of who I saw, the first time I went there." Shuri swallowed hard. The first and only time she'd went there. She backed away from the rock's edge. The Panther Spirit growled, paced in its cage.

Okoye took hold of her arm. "And who did you see? What troubles you, Shuri?"

Shuri's dark eyes shone. She'd never admitted this to anyone, not even Nakia. "My cousin. I saw my cousin, and only him."

Silence. As deafening as the Falls. The wind blew at them. It was only until Okoye spoke that Shuri realized it was not a surprised silence, rather one where Okoye was waiting for Shuri to explain. When she did not, Okoye quirked an eyebrow. "And what have you learned from it?"

"I. . . learned?"

"Yes." Okoye circled Shuri. Even without her spear, she looked like a warrior. The water shifted around their ankles as if it, too, were intimidated. "I served Killmonger, once. Though it was brief, I have no shame in that. He taught me something valuable, that the throne matters just as much as whoever sits upon it. So. . . what did Cousin teach you?"

Ah. Shuri shut her eyes. So this is what she needed. Okoye's voice was not laden with pity or concern. But purpose. She did have a general's heart. And perhaps that's why she confessed to Okoye. They shared so much. Ramonda had stripped Okoye of her entire world; she understood what it was like to feel Queen Mother's rejection. And she understood what it meant to be pinned underneath Killmonger's sway.

Shuri recalled T'Challa once telling her that the Ancestral Plane was a very purple, but beautiful and fitting retirement. And for the most part, he had been right. The plane had been very purple, but also orange and yellow and red from the flames burning all around her and Killmonger. She felt a deep shame, seeing him. She regretted the words she told him. How he influenced her so quickly. And what type of leader succumbs in such a way? For the past weeks, a shamefaced Shuri had hid herself from everyone. They couldn't even find her in her lab. But the same compassion she extended to her enemy. . . perhaps it was time she offered it to herself.

Shuri's eyes opened, and they sparkled with renewed confidence. "I learned while anger is a valuable tool, vengeance is its puppeteer."

Okoye smiled, wide and beautifully. She stopped circling. "And you are no one's puppet." The corners of her smile faded, and she looked down at her deep blue dress, then out at the Falls. "Not even a puppet to tradition."

Shuri nodded once, understanding. She was never one for tradition, and she knew Okoye was slowly learning that about herself, too. "I will suggest to King M'Baku that we end Challenge Day. There are better ways to find a king or queen."

"Just bring with you a bowl of vegetables. He claims he cannot hear council on an empty stomach."

They laughed together. Okoye pulled her in for a long embrace. "Thank you," Shuri whispered in the former general's gold-cuffed ear, holding her tight. She and Okoye were both women who had shed old skin, who were finding their footing in newfound roles. They faced uncertainty. Restlessness, even. But they found stillness in each other, and through this, they would persevere.

The Panther Spirit leapt, bound, wind beneath clawed feet. Weight lifted. Free, at last.

[gren-arlio]

Folks, one and all, Welcome to Episode 4 of (Waku) Puyo Extras, along with some fairly big announcements again.

(There's no real context for these images. They're basically title cards and the table of contents.)

Hello everyone, and welcome to the fourth installment of Waku Puyo Extras, the filler series before I start Arle's route where I post things about this game, what I can find, and maybe even another game sometimes if I really feel like it. The more lore, the better, eh? After getting verified into the English Puyo Puyo Community Discord, I've been speaking there while doing this sort of stuff.

I'll start off with a quick announcement, a time change, if you will.

Yes. I will translate Arle's route. WHEN though is a bit...in the air. I know I said in a week or so, but... School is starting soon, and obviously, I won't be having as much time as I usually do making this stuff, so I decided ahead of time to prepare.

It's basically certain that I won't be posting every week. Maybe sometimes, but there might be a post every 2 weeks, or longer if needed. School and home life is more important after all. Even in a rare case of me not posting for a while, I'll still be quietly working. In that scenario, I'll again mostly, if only, post on weekends. I don't want this stressing me out, after all.

There's a chance I may be taking a hiatus during that time. Even I need breaks sometimes, and I also want to make time for my friends, family, and my education.

Basically, expect my schedule to be fucked up from now on. Hope you'll understand. I'll try to keep a schedule though.

So with this, what're we covering today? Simple, really.

A new video. About the latter half since I've done the first half on Episode 1 of Extras.

This really won't be factual stuff, but me talking about Lagnus as a whole. (Madou Saturn, Puyo Chronicles, etc) Consider the 2nd parts of these to be...random trivia, games, etc. Spices things up. The manga section will be for next time...didn't have enough time.

With that, let's talk about what'll happen today.

Whole new video.

Thing is about this video, I did...half of it already. It's the first Extra episode actually, the one where Witch sees Schezo and blasts him and me with the ♡'s. The latter half is with the OTHER 2 protags, which is the part I'm properly translating.

(Also the song for the Battle Castle is actually alluding me to an annoying degree, I'm still trying to find the song.)

Timestamps:

Satan 1 (Rulue): (22:13)

Battle Castle Explanation (Rulue): (22:44)

Succubus Boss 1 (Rulue): (23:12)

Witch Trade (Rulue): 25:25)

Satan 2 (Arle): (26:03)

Battle Castle Explanation 2 (Arle): (26:32)

Succubus Boss 2 (Arle): (27:05)

Witch Trade 2 (30:15)

God, Witch acting normal is gonna be so uncanny to me now after like 6 months of working on Schezo Story. I'm used to her being a menace to society.

With that little remark, hope you enjoy.

Satan 1 (Rulue): (22:13)

Rulue:

What the!?

Minotauros:

Umo!? (God I still do not like this bozo)

Satan:

Well...there's the last tower.

Rulue:

Oh, Satan!? (Here I believe she says the one honorific with someone who's highly respected/they like. San? Kun? Don't fully know.)

Satan:

The magical item is in that tower.

Rulue:

Is that so?

Satan:

W-well, I think so...

Rulue:

...?

Satan:

No, hahaha...it must be in there! (Can also be interpreted as "Must've been the wind!")

Rulue:

If I can get my hands on that magical item, I'll finally be able to have magical powers...

Minotauros:

Master Rulue?

Rulue:

Darling Satan... ♡♡ (And thus, they return...)

I'll certainly come back with the magic item!

Satan:

Oh, you're motivated. Keep it up, and do your best.

Rulue:

Yes, Satan. ♡ (again an honorific here. I think San?)

Minotauros:

...

------

Battle Castle Explanation (Rulue): (22:44)

Succubus:

Welcome. Nice to meet you in such a place.

Rulue:

Oh...who are you? Are you the boss of this place?

Succubus:

I'm a Succubus. I guess I'm the boss of this place here.

I'm not trying to lure in people...I'm an usher.

Rulue:

Well...let me ask you this, what is this place?

Succubus:

Huh? You haven't heard? Eh, I'll explain.

This is a special attraction where many of the bosses you've fought wait.

The guys there are at least level 50, and at their very best, well over level 100.

If you're good, you'll make it halfway through, but if you're not confident, don't go.

Rulue

Heh...do you really think that'll stop me?

Succubus:

If you want to go in, be my guest. Do as you please. ♡ (With Succubus it feels much more normal because...she's a Succubus.)

Rulue:

(Who is this woman...?)

------

Succubus Boss 1 (Rulue): (23:12)

Rulue:

Oh? You're here this time?

Succubus:

Fufufu...♡ Yes, I'm surprised you made it this far.

Rulue:

Heh? Who do you think I am? It was easy.

Succubus:

Heh~ I really don't care... (Man she's different compared to her talks to Schezo.)

Rulue:

You don't care? What is there not to care for!?

Succubus:

Your face, your voice, the way you talk, everything!

Rulue:

Oh, now you've done it!

Now that you've said all that, you ready for this? It's far too late to apologize...

Succubus:

Hm...you seem rather ready.

Rulue:

Oh, you're unforgivable!

[Putting these here, I've translated Succubus loss quote too many times for my own good, and when Rulue gets to the chest at 22:10, it says Rulue got a book.]

-----

Witch Trade 1 (Rulue): (25:25)

Rulue:

Oh my goodness! All of that hassle for a book. (She can also say my god.)

And I got no clue how to use it! (...By reading it, genius. Granted it's Meteor but still.)

Minotauros:

Master Rulue...

Rulue:

Ugh! What do I do with this junk!?

Witch:

Hey!!

Rulue:

What do you want!?

Witch:

It's outrageous that you would try to destroy my grimoire!

Rulue:

"Your Grimoire," you must be joking! It's mine.

Witch:

What're you talking about? Aren't you unable to use magic? (Harsh, but true.)

It's like giving a pearl to a pig, so give it to me! (The Pearl to a Pig thing is something I'm a lil unsure about but yea.)

Rulue:

What the hell!

(Either way she gives it.)

Witch:

...Finally, I got my hands on the "Meteor Grimoire" I've been searching for.

...yes, in return, I'll give you the "Ultimate Queen's Secret Manual".

Rulue:

Huh...

Witch:

Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go.

Rulue:

I see. Even with that special manual, that girl wouldn't be able to use it.

That's her "Pearl's to Pigs".

Minotauros:

Good for you, Master Rulue.

------

Satan 2 (Arle): (26:03)

Arle:

W-what!?

Carbuncle:

Guu!?

Satan:

Oh...that's the final tower.

Arle:

Eh!?

Satan:

There's a great magical item in that tower.

Arle:

What? I thought you didn't know about any item.

Satan:

What's so funny? I was upset at the time...

Arle:

...This place is weird. You sure you're the owner?

Satan:

I'm for sure the owner of "Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land."

Arle:

Then why...

Satan:

Well, I've been busy with a lot of things.

A person like me can't check every single attraction.

Arle:

You...I guess you really don't know anything about this, do you?

Satan:

N-no, that's...

Arle:

Guess I have no choice...Let's go, Carbuncle!

Carbuncle;

Guu!

-----

Battle Castle Explanation 2 (Arle): (26:32)

Arle:

Huh? What's a castle doing here... seems like a new attraction.

Let's go for now, shall we?

Carbuncle:

Gugu!

Succbus:

Welcome. Pleasure to meet you.

Arle:

Hello...who are you anyways?

Succubus:

Im a Succubus. (Hm...haha...) [I wasn't able to find the parentheses text out. Sorry.]

I'm not here to lure you in... I'm an usher.

Arle:

Hm...my goodness...

Succubus:

Why don't you go into this place without sounding so harsh?

Arle:

Well? Can I enter?

Succubus:

Yes, you can. ♡

Arle:

So, is this a new attraction?

Succubus:

Huh? You haven't heard? Well, let me make this easy for you.

[She then explains the same thing she told Rulue.]

Arle:

What? I didn't know enemies could get that strong...

-----

Succubus Boss 2 (Arle) (27:05)

Arle:

I met you outside...

Succubus:

Fufufu...well, we're finally here...

Arle:

Err...

If we're talking now, by any chance, are you the boss here?

Succubus:

Well, you're right, I am the boss here.

But don't talk to me like I'm just a boss, talk to me like I'm a queen.

Arle:

Queen?

(Her and Rulue share a lot in common...)

Succubus:

Did you say something?

Arle:

Uhh, it's nothing...

Succubus:

Then I'll make you my special servant.

You should be honored, I usually only take very good looking men. (THAT explains Schezo's Route...)

Arle:

A servant!? I don't want that!

Succubus:

Oh...you're a funny girl. You're missing out on a lot.

Arle:

Are you...is your head okay? I think you need to see a doctor...

Succubus:

Shut up!

I think people with your attitude need to be taught a lesson...prepare yourself!

Arle:

Ugh, what a mess!

[Once again at 30:05 it says "Arle got a book."]

-----

Witch Trade 2 (Arle): (30:15)

Arle:

That was fun, Carby!

Carbuncle;

Guu!

Arle;

...But I don't understand what this grimoire is for.

Witch:

Hey!

Arle:

Ah! Don't just appear like that randomly!

Witch:

Oh, sorry about that. (WITCH? The horrors beyond my comprehension? Apologizing? I'm too used to Schezo's Route...)

But I'd like to ask, may I have that grimoire that you have right now?

Arle:

W-Well...

(They give it.)

Witch:

Finally...I got my hands on the "Meteor Grimoire" I've been looking for.

...Yes, in return, I'll give you the "Jugem's Grimoire." (Idk what Jugem means...Probably just call it the Great Mage Grimoire.)

Arle:

Huh...

Witch:

Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go.

Arle:

I'll do my best to use "The Jugem Grimoire"!

Carbuncle:

Gugu!

------

And that's translations. I won't deny, I delayed them a good bit, but they're done. Expect Part 1 of Arle's Route within'...maybe a week or two depending on how long the first episode is. Might split it in half like Schezo's.

And with that...We're on Random Puyo Extras. Filler INSIDE of filler where I speak about a Random Puyo thing very unprofessionally.

Today, it'll be on Lagnus/Ragnus Bishasi.

So, my boy Lagnus. Top 3 character in Puyo/Madou IMO, and I'm just kinda here to talk about the man, and how different he is COMPILE vs SEGA Era Puyo, least personality wise. And since I don't want this to JUST walls of text...I'll throw in a few images.

Let's start with SEGA Era, shall we?

Let's begin with Puyo Sun, his first introduction.

(Concept art of Lagnus, along the Puyo Sun cast as a whole.)

In Sun, he's portrayed as a bit of a fool. He's trying to become stronger and all that, which power to him, powerscaling in Puyo seems mad fun, and you see him in Arle's route first killing a Puyo to transform into his teenage self. He then challenges Arle...only for his pants to fall down. This is why we wear belts.

You then see him in Schezo's route next, fresh off his loss against Arle. He notices Schezo is a Dark Mage, and rushes in to attack, only to fall down when Schezo dodges, reverting back to a kid, before throwing a temper tantrum...Not the best showcasing of the man. However, in the novels, it IS said that he only turns into a kid due to Satan being a bit of a jerk.

Minna De Puyo Puyo has a similar beat with SUN Lagnus. Here, he offers to help out Arle out with her journey, but unfortunately, guy is still a kid, so Arle assumes he's joking. Guy can't catch a break.

Oh. But Chronicles got you covered, right?

No. It doesn't.

He appears in Purplune Aqueduct, basically gaslighting himself into thinking he's The Great Hero, when it's Arle...and he's stupid pissy about it. He challenges Arle, loses, and runs into the final dungeon alone. Arle sees him again, is still annoyed with him, and beats him again, before joining your team.

I genuinely don't like how he's portrayed here at all, probably my least favorite version of him ever.

But COMPILE got you covered. For real this time.

(Concept Art of Lagnus and art showing the major characters...and Witch/Draco.)

In Madou Saturn, he's basically the 3rd protagonist of the game, next to Arle and Rulue. You start off the game playing as the man, who's kinda cracked, before he uses all of his power to slay Yoggus, the main antagonist, before he realizes that a portal opened up and that the Yogs (Main villain group) are in other dimensions, before the portal sucks him in. Thankfully, Satan saves the guy and traps him in a crystal to prevent the man from dying.

However, not all was lost. He's able to transfer his soul into Schezo's body, and be able to control it for a small period of time, though he does get removed due to the large amount of darkness in Schezo. It's the reason why Arle and Rulue were so confused when Schezo decided to help them sometimes. He even fights Satan with you in Schezo's body.

When Arle finally meets the guy fairly late into the game, he's turned to a child due to his curse, before telling Schezo that he had to keep controlling him for his own good, annoying Schezo. He starts to tell Arle and Co. about what went down in his world.

(This happens after, but it's always fun to throw in.)

After tons of trials and tribulations, they finally reach Yoggus, and...win the first time around, and Lagnus gets his Reactor Blade back, turning him back into his teenage self, and he fights Yoggus as his full power with Arle and Rulue, and slay Yoggus.

As the place they fought in begins to collapse, Arle and Rulue run off, and Lagnus and Satan...stay behind. Least for a bit with Satan. At that moment, Arle wonders where Lagnus is, and Satan breaks the news: He went back to his own world.

However, what went on was slightly different. Lagnus decides to stay in the collapsing area, saying he'll go back home, as he thinks he was one of the main causes for the problem, and risks being sent to another dimension just for a chance to get home. Satan says otherwise though, as not only did he remove the curse, but indeed was helping Lagnus, pulling things behind the scenes, like deliberately putting important things in obvious spaces.

Satan did this...mostly because we wanted to show the people of his world a reason to defend it. That and he was bored. After that, he gives Lagnus the Azorecrack, a pendant that allows him to transfer between his and Arle's world, saying he was intentionally hiding it. Lagnus, quietly cursing Satan, thanks him, and says he'll be back another day.

With the plot synopsis of SATURN for Lagnus, it shows that not only is he fairly smart and has a strong sense of justice, but he's pragmatic to boot, never going too far with everything, besides the start of the game. He develops a good friendship with Arle and even Rulue, and Schezo kinda hates the guy. He even develops a small acquaintanceship with Satan, thanking him for a lot but also cursing him for not stopping everything. In a game like Saturn, where a lot of characters are hit or miss, Lagnus stands out as probably the best written one out there...until Chronicles kinda messed him up badly.

With this little image, I think I did the man a tad bit of justice.

That'll be all. Thanks for reading.

[imthediamondintherough]

@0lympian-c0uncil

Lore Chthonic Order

Character stuffs!

(Sorry for the ping if it shocked you)

Tartarus relationships

Tartarus has a mostly ok relationship with many other Greek deities... By this I mean most of them fear him or at least have a verifiable wariness of him. (Understandable he is a primordial)

I can't reveal all his relationships but I can tell you the important ones.

As far as things go with his son... Anthony, They are improving. Sometimes they may act like siblings rather than father and son but at least they don't go out of their way to cause problems.

*Zeus, the notepad use it.*

Terrified of Demeter "a little bit". And by default her Daughter.

Respects Hera for tolerating Zeus. Sometimes teams up with Ares to yell at Zeus about his affairs...

Zeus is wisely and uncharacteristically quiet and behaves well for a few decades. Then does his own thing... This cycle repeats.

Everyone will probably hate me for this but Tartarus relationship with Gaea is a bit strained.

Initially Tartarus loved her (and he probably still does) but she more or less had a affinity for Ouranos. Not wrong. earth loved the sky; Tartarus probably thought it was ironic at best (don't hate him. he doesn't know what soap operas are and to be fair at that time they didn't exist..) He respected Gaea's decision and contemplated sending a gift and then sort of moved on.

He tried at least.

Flash forward some years a few of Gaea's children are thrown down. Ok Tartarus really didn't like the new complaining voices but he couldn't be bothered to get rid of them. He let Nyx make some new friends-- anything to get them to stop whining about how things weren't great with Ouranos.

Tartarus didn't give any fucks about what was happening above ground. And for a little while was out of the loop of info so he was understandably confused when gaea (haha former crush) came sobbing to him about how her grandchildren had been disrespectful! killing their own father and whatnot and how she just wanted her family to be happy but they couldn't stay peaceful to save their lives. So she'd start from scratch. But she really wanted his help. Yeah Tartarus actually fell for it and agreed.

It was good. It was fine. at first.

Gaea's last relationship didn't go well so it's understandable she'd keep her new partner at arms length. Tartarus could understand that. Tartarus was extremely patient with Gaea but her behavior drastically altered when she realized her exact position in Tartarus's mind.

If you're confused think Morticia and Gomez from the Addams family. But morticia is more manipulative (in subtle ways)

At some point it occurred to her that Tartarus had assimilated Kronos her son. Well she figured Tartarus couldn't be too bright given his location and his seemingly despondent disposition; this meant he could be fairly simple to seduce. Gaea is almost successful. Yes they have kids together but she didn't get any of the pieces of Kronos from Tartarus. Mostly because Tartarus's apathy interfered and he couldn't be bothered to play search and find

After Typhoon was sired Gaea decided the relationship was over since even she hadn't gotten what she wanted she did still get something to her advantage. Tartarus immediately fell into a depression from heartbreak and didn't recover for a few centuries. Rhea spent a lot of her time trying to get him to snap out of it. That was probably the best since her own children didn't appear to need her...

Although Gaea seperated, (since she felt it was time to explore her existence without a male) she did appreciate and thank Tartarus's kindness. Tartarus being classified as gloomy and depressing lived up to that description by making his apathy more obvious. On occasion more damned souls were carted there for imprisonment and Tartarus could care less.

At some point thirty years prior the start of the story he decided to learn why humans were so interesting to the other deities.

Yeah I know it's not accurate to the myth but I'm really imaginative and kinda self centered and it's mythology! Should be fine.

If there is a goddess or deity you wish to know about, I'm pretty sure my ask box is still open.

Any complaints let me know and I'll do my best not to be a dick about it and fix it.

Happy New Year's

[call-boy]

This one girl was in with her bearded dragon that may have already been dead so i ran out to the lobby with the Doppler to do a life check the second she came in and she was like can you please not do that in the lobby? And I was like ok… you said your pet may be dead?? But follow me to a room immediately and then did the life check in the room. It was 100% dead and definitely died like either during the 1.5 hour drive she had to the hospital bc we’re the only exotic animal hospital in many miles that’s open full hours but also actually decent that’s open on Saturdays smh… she was heartbroken and was so emotional and not realizing how her energy was coming off at first but was totally understandable considering the situation until I started talking to her more and getting more info about the dragon, she got so much kinder and explained that it was her first ever pet and she’s just processing the mourning and loss of life for the first time, so was really empathetic to her especially bc she got it to a double digit age as a first time pet and first time reptile owner which is massively impressive tbh she really did try to find out what was wrong with it for months too and we didn’t have medical records from the other vets so we can’t verify what she did and didn’t do tbh. Story she told us was that she was taking her to a local vet near her that said they’d see exotics but clearly should not have been offering those services which is honestly so common in exotic animal medicine tbh she found a vet that was highly recommend on instagram but was 3 hours away, we know the doctor who owns it and she’s apparently that bitch, like she writes many of the reptile books that exotic veterinarians use for their own cases world wide, they did blood work and X-rays and the owner said they assumed it was fecal impaction/blockage situation, maybe even potentially a foreign object that the dragon swallowed? It was dead on arrival our first time meeting it so we asked if she wanted to do a necropsy for peace of mind/answers. And she said yes. When we cut that thing open… it had an enormous mass that had the dragon’s entire uterus, a kidney, and a large portion of the GI tract all fused and morphed into one disgusting ass vascular mess???? My doctor wants to send it out for biopsy, it’s obvi cancer at the bare minimum, but origins has to be uterine mass or renal mass… I’m personally leaning towards renal mass just bc it’s ovaries were completely normal?? Where like if this was a funky reproductive tract you’d likely see more potential reproductive issues like egg laying, follicles trapped in the abdomen? Idk it was bizarre but also was glad to tell the owner liek even if she had taken this thing to surgery yesterday, let alone a few months ago the size of this mass and the amount of organs it had fused to would have killed her just to even remove. My doctor was literally like if I had opened this during surgery and saw this I would have sewn her abdomen right back up and opted for euthanasia. All around sad situation but I was glad I was still able to give that owner like a good experience and some answers tbh I was like when you get through the mourning process plz get another exotic pet bc you clearly loved and cared for this dragon so so so well and we would love to see you back