#so if there's any bits of lore in there that contradict this then please forgive me

[angels-are-sinning]

"his father killed a hooker in front of him, very traumatic)"

okay i know im reading too much into the comics but as someone who's obsessively read That one volume where it's his past....and is borderline insane about it, take this with a big gulp of salt, because i'm . again insane. okay? okay. i apologise in advance if this is long ahahm,

but ! 🤓☝️☝️nerd moment incoming..

it's not specified if they are a prostitute/hooker/sex worker! it is, however, implied that they are a drug-addict. it Can be read as straight up murder, or causes her death through negligence (lisbet's words in the ghost comic timeline post.) however it's pretty unlikely that it's murder, it's definitely leaning more into "overdose". im not going to pull up the panels because i will Sound more insane than i already do. it's not shown whether or not simon sees the death happen. but the corpse. uhm. it's also Not shown clearly if mr riley is having sex with her...(?)

he looks surprised that simon comes, but im pretty sure (🤓☝️☝️ moment forgive me forgive me please) he had sex with her Before simon. entered. and finished. another theory is probably necrophilia. but you know, she was seen alive in the previous panels before the death smile panel. (i am insane i am sorry again.)

ghosts seen how his dad treated his mom and absolutely hates abusers.

again this is a super Nerd commentary from me (ghost comic hater) but i think this is falls generally under more as a headcanon, because we don't see any abuse of mrs riley that happens in the comics. in fact (🤓☝️☝️) ., she actually is . kind of depicted on "good terms" with mr riley. ahah. (the "tommy stole the discs she was gifted by him to sell" and insisting simon see his father in the hospital)

also mr riley is Never shown to be. abusive to his wife. at least in the comics :"D you're of course free to read it as how you want but i just want to point that out.. it's never explicitly shown in any comic panel.

when simon tells him to never go back to the house, he shouts about his wife, and that he's not leaving her. so yeah. it's never shown in the comics. like ever. if there is however something that i missed... please do tell me. but in all my frantic readings of that comic there was no evidence of him being abusive to her. to simon? yes. to tommy? no, it wasn't shown, or depicted, or even generally implied. i know that since it's not depicted, we can fill in the lines, i understand..i just want to point that out. :"D (besides, expecting good storytelling from that comic is...yeah.)

im nitpicking at this point but. but it's in good faith op i respect your headcanons ! it's just that i'd like to add my own thoughts since i think it's interesting that someone made a post like this especially touching on the comic lore :"D especially as most people venture towards the reboot (who does not have 09 ghost comic backstory confirmed or denied.) ghost. but he can be whoever you want to be!

however, i just want to say one thing with a bit more Seriousness

in the comic, sparks (soldier he worked with) knocked out and attempted to rape a woman, ghosts literally looked disgusted and called the police (also why he’d never do that himself, i dont get the hcs that say he does).

so... uh . on a more serious tone,

they attempt that together. but simon's more worried about being caught than the woman being assaulted. he was the one fiddling for the keys too..,

i think it would be good to keep that in mind i think that this is a comic which has many outdated themes and very bad representations of people especially drug addicts and sex workers in general 😭 (and the blatant one man army revenge burn down house thing is. very 2000s.)

again these are just my own thoughts :"D no shame to any headcanons or readings that contradict them! :D also, i love the tommy part....he Is a committed man....... his relationship with his brother really isn't expounded on more, i'm happy to see tommy mentioned here!

ghost character analysis

tw: spoilers from ghost mw2 comics, nsfw, dead dove do not eat, mature content.

this is pretty much a part 2 to ghost headcanons except with more lore and analysis (im still not sure if reboot ghost has the same backstory as the og ghost).

ghost is not a cold, calculated, ruthless man. maybe in a separate au or something, but theres a huge difference between ghost and simon riley. in fact, we need to understand that the reason he even chose ghost as a new name for himself is because of all that's happened to him. his family got killed, he got tortured by roba, and had to eliminate many men on his own. before that he was simon, not ghost. in the comic he literally calls the child hostages he was saving ‘sweetheart’ and ‘love’. hes not that mean and cold yall

we know that PTSD does shit to it's victims, ghost lost his entire family and had no one. think of it as a coping mechanism to have a new name to be known as.

ghost is a ruthless killer. simon is just some guy.

ghost sets himself to an incredibly high standard of discipline. i think it's intuitive that military boys will need to be punctual and organized to some degree, but ghost takes this to a whole other level. considering his father's abusive behavior (explained by his disturbing statements said to simon, is a drug addict, and beats simons mom) his home life was likely chaotic as a child.

in the mw2: ghost comic (issue #3) it specifically stated the following: "discipline, precision, control. these are what riley built his whole life on. break those down and the dark stuff begins to ooze out..." again, this is probably a form of trauma response to his childhood.

so what does this lead to? well firstly, this probably means his room is incredibly tidy and organized (monotone design i know :,c).

would never in his life touch drugs. this is a promise he made to himself.

also kinda proves that ghost aint a reckless guy. he thinks things through before doing it.

ghost isn’t that hypersexual. theres no way of knowing his history with women, but i like to think ghost is not that horny 24/7 and needs a fuckbuddy. in the mw2 comic, he was on a mission and was in an area full of prostitutes (wasn’t actively on duty, but on his way) when they tried to hit on him he politely rejects one of them, and later tells them to fuck off😀 so yea contrary to popular belief i dont think he really enjoys one night stands or the idea of being entertained by random women. in fact, i hc he might actually be a virgin or just a really low body count.

ghost is a feminist!😁 (misandrist too). ok let me reword that, ghost doesnt like men and respects women. one of the reasons why he doesn’t want to be around prostitutes and do one night stands (his father killed a hooker in front of him, very traumatic) is because he thinks the concept of quick, casual sex is not good for society and dilutes the value of meaningful relationships. but also, remember the discipline, precision, control thing? its apart of his principle. but also, in the comic, sparks (soldier he worked with) knocked out and attempted to rape a woman, ghosts literally looked disgusted and called the police (also why he’d never do that himself, i dont get the hcs that say he does). ghosts seen how his dad treated his mom and absolutely hates abusers. anyways onto misandry—i think ghost internally thinks men are violent and disgusting (ghosts would choose the bear over the man, even though hes a man) mainly because throughout his military career majority of the bad stuff hes seen was done by men, so hes much more relaxed in a room of women vs man. ghost thinks his dad is the epitome of pure evil (canon! he said this to his therapist). this doesn’t mean hes scared or hates all men tho!

ghost isn’t close with 141… including soap. now before you attack me let me explain. sure, he trusts them to some degree, but i dont think they naturally just hangout when they’re not deployed. in the end we need to understand they are SAS soldiers, they are working a real job that mainly consists of them shooting and dismantling others. considering ghosts betrayal in the past (in the comic, a few soldiers ghost previously worked with killed his entire family 😢) he isn’t gonna just trust his teammates because theyre his teammates. im also pretty sure they all live in different cities while not deployed, while also considering the fact that tf141 probably all want to separate their job from their personal lives, which includes co workers. but onto soap, i dont think him and ghost have a deep brotherly relationship. but i think they care about each other, but exchanging some dad jokes and bantering doesn’t mean they’re suddenly soulmates or brothers. think about it… you and you’re co worker joke around sometimes, never hangout outside of work, and now people are shipping you and calling the two of you besties. makes no sense.

ghost is extremely patriotic. in the comic (i reference this way too much but theres SOOO MUCH LORE i recommend reading it) ghost tells his teammates the reason for joining the military: queen and country, right after 9/11. he also said “the world has changed”. interestingly enough army enlistment did actually skyrocketed after 9/11 attacks, ghost was among them. he probably thought ww3 was about to happen, or that ‘theres no more peace’ or whatever. i hc being obsessed with soccer too lmao and getting mad if english teams dont win. also his playful banter with johnny “get us a tea?”. probably very proud of his british heritage.

ghost doesn’t have much friends. hes a really, reallyyyyy lonely guy. i hc him as an introvert in the first place, but trust issues make this worse. in the comic, he was literally in the newspaper for killing his family and then killing himself (he didnt, he was framed that way tho) so its likely most of his formers friends probably think hes dead. ghost likely got some sort of amnesty or exemption from the military after knowing he didn’t actually kill his family, but whats in the news stays true to the public. even if he does have friends he probably doesn’t share feelings with them or form a long term bond.

ghost is extremely cynical. this is obvious tbh, but i think ghost believes hes going to die in the middle of a battlefield, shot or stabbed, a painful death, body left to rot for weeks, and no one to remember him. just like that. and he accepts that fact too.

ghost isn’t a picky eater. growing up in an abusive household where his parents couldn’t hold a stable job, he had to eat what there was. some days he settles for cheap beans and toast and when people call him out for it, he tells em to fuck off😀

ghost is emotionally fucked up, probably kind of depressed. i mean this guys been through hell: got sa’d, buried alive, had to dig through underground dirt and worms with a jawbone, tortured in horrible ways, had his entire family killed, abusive dad, and the weight of his grey morales because he killed lots of people as a soldier. wow! would you look at that list, itd be more strange if he wasn’t emotionally fucked up after was has happened😅. even when tortured, seeing his family dead, ghost was never shown to have cried in the comic. i hc hes emotionally numb. however, i do think hes emotionally MATURE and able to communicate his emotions, but hes still emotionally fucked. for example a scene where he was talking about his experience with roba (guy who tortured ghost) and ghosts father to a therapist. i think ghosts may be traumatized, but this doesn’t stop him from attempting to get help and communicating how he feels and thinks about this world.

BUT WHAT ABOUT AN S/O???

i think ghost is the guy to not have one in the first place. obviously. but i lowkey think if he had one and really liked them, he would commit. in fact i find it hard to imagine hes a player or isn’t serious about relationships. when his brother tommy got addicted to drugs and fucked up his life, simon quit the military until tommy got 100% better and married. yup. he stayed to help him recover, for years. thats how loving and committed this man is🥹🥹.

more random headcanons:

simon prefers dogs over cats because dogs are loyal and stay with you until the end (stereotypically)

hates snakes and spiders

probably wouldn’t do 50/50 on dates, he pays!

avoids saying manchester slang when deployed

drinks and smokes. not always. he’s disciplined but he still does that stuff.. hes a british guy in his 30s whos kinda depressed, grew up with adults around him smoking 24/7, whatd you think😀😀 (its canon that most of tf141 smoke anyway)

listens to 80’s rock music. its canon that his mom enjoys the band siouxsie and the banshees :)), he probs does too

shaves his beard

is actually confident hes not bad looking. dude, hes 6’2, in shape with a jawline🙄

[artekai]

Can I ask? Do you believe in the headcanon that Azathoth and Adam kadmon aren't Maruki's real personas? If so way?

Well, my answer to this can’t be a hard yes, because I’m not great with Persona lore, but I’d say it’s likely! It would explain a few inconsistencies, namely:

1. The fact that Maruki has a Palace despite having a Persona. A Persona user could technically develop a Palace or have a Shadow if their Persona reverted to that state, but clearly he can have both at the same time for some reason. However, if we assume that Azathoth and Adam Kadmon aren’t Maruki’s Personas, then the only question left unanswered is what happened to his shadow, and even then we can just assume that Azathoth or even Maruki himself disposed of it for some reason.

2. Maruki’s awakening. Again, Persona users can technically summon their Personas in the real world, even without Evokers, but from what I remember it takes a lot of effort? Akihiko said he was training for it in the Arena games, I think. So it seems weird to me that a newbie who doesn’t even know about Personas would be able to awaken to his in the real world without any practice. Of course, it’s possible, especially since he has such strength of will, but the chances seem pretty low. Plus, there’s the fact that he didn’t fully summon him like people normally would when awakening to a Persona (Haru being an exception), but Azathoth seemed to be using his powers just fine even if he didn’t materialize.

3. This point is really subjective, but it feels like there’s a strange degree separation between Azathoth and Maruki. Like with Azathoth’s insistence that Maruki should “seek him” or the fact that Maruki didn’t even know what Azathoth was doing to Rumi when he asked him for help. I dunno, like I said, this is pretty subjective, but if Personas are supposed to be a manifestation of their users’ inner self (“I am thou, thou art I”), then why does it feel like there’s this weird disconnect between Maruki and Azathoth? And this applies to Adam Kadmon too. I mean, I don’t know about you, but  “use me” seems like a very weird thing to say to the personification of your sense of self. Though maybe that’s just because Maruki is a weird person.

4. This point is really, really small and might not even be worth mentioning, but there’s a line that bothers me, and not in the negative sense of the word, but in the “that has to mean something” sense of the word. And that’s the line where Maruki goes “And I believe you called forth your power like this: Persona.” which is pretty cool, of course, but it makes it sound like he’s saying it only because he heard the Phantom Thieves saying it first. I dunno, it just makes me wonder... It seemed like every other Persona user instinctively knew what their power was called as soon as they awakened, so why would Maruki word it like that, as if he were just imitating the PTs? Of course, this might just be me fixating on a line of dialogue that’s just there for cool points and doesn’t mean anything, but I can’t help but think about the possibility.

So yeah, I personally love that theory because it explains all of these little things that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to stop think about, haha. Besides, it’s simply an interesting way to look at the situation.

Generally speaking, though, I’d say it really is up to interpretation. The only point that can’t be explained if Azathoth and Adam Kadmon really are his Personas is the one about Maruki having a Palace and a Persona at the same time (after all, if a Persona user’s distortion were strong enough to generate a Palace, logic dictates that the Persona would turn back into a Shadow, right?), but everything else can be explained away through other means, so that’s why I’m not willing to say with full certainty that this theory is correct.

[gunterfan1992]

“Exploring the Land of Ooo” out NOW

Surprise!

To all the average Joes and Josephines who follow this blog: I am pleased to announce that my book, Exploring the Land of Ooo, is officially available for download!

Get a PDF copy FOR FREE through the University of Kansas’s ScholarWorks portal!!

If you were curious, here’s the cover:

And here’s what the blurb on the back reads:

Exploring the Land of Ooo is a detailed consideration of Adventure Time, the colorful and exuberant animated television series that initially aired from 2010–18 on Cartoon Network. Created by visionary artist Pendleton Ward, the series was groundbreaking and is credited by many with heralding in a new golden age of animation. In this manuscript, author Paul Thomas presents a thorough overview of the series, explicating the nuances of its characters, its production history, its storytelling methods, and its vibrant fandom. Based in part on interviews with dozens of the creative individuals who made the show possible, this book aims to ensure that, when it comes to Adventure Time, the fun truly will never end.

There are a ton of folks who deserve mad thanks, chief among them being the  crew members whom I interviewed (see below), the many fans who chatted with me about their experiences with the fandom, my ol’ Land of Ooo forum mates (who gave me suggestions and inspired me to keep writing), @j4gm​ (who read over a previous draft and offered me his never-ending wisdom about the lore of Ooo), and everyone who follows this blog (y’all kept me motivated and made me want to produce something I’m proud of).

I hope that you all enjoy it!

And now for a number of questions/comments that I anticipate I will receive:

“Who all did you talk to?”

This is an exciting question, because the answer is quite long! Over the year and a half I wrote this book, I talked to (in alphabetical order): Sam Alden, Alex Campos, Casey James Basichis, Ako Castuera, Ashley Eriksson, Evil, Graham Falk, Ghostshrimp, Polly Guo, Tom Herpich, Derek Hunter, Ke Jiang, Tim Kiefer, Derek Kirk Kim, Laura Knetzger, Sandra Lee, Kirsten Lepore, Patrick McHale, Jesse Moynihan, Justin Moynihan, Kris Mukai, Hanna K. Nyström, Kent Osborne, Jack Pendarvis, Gary Portnoy, Andy Ristaino, Lindsay Small-Butera, Rebecca Sugar, Soichi Terada, Rich Vreeland, Thomas Wellmann, Steve Wolfhard, Michelle Xin, and Niki Yang. That’s a lot of people!

“Why did you release this for free?”

This is a long story. You see, I was initially planning to release this through McFarland and Co. (they’re an indie book publisher that I’ve worked with in the past), but then something happened...

Our story begins around the beginning of this year. Around this time, I got in contact with Rebecca Sugar and Adam Muto, both of whom were willing to chat with me about their experiences on the show. However, CN’s PR department got involved too, and, after initially working with me, they suddenly sent me what was effectively a “gentle cease-and-desist” letter. At first, I assumed it was because of copyright—and that’s how they were framing their objections—so I told the network that I’d release the work for free and eschew royalties. This, for whatever reason, did not sway their judgement. At this point, I was confused, since my work had effectively become something like an open-source dissertation or a free Wikipedia article.

Why did CN snub me? I’m not sure—and I have to emphasize that this next bit is just speculation—but I think it’s because I was asking questions about Bubbline. You see, it was only after I received answers from Rebecca (who specifically addressed the origin of Bubbline) that CN said I couldn’t use any of her or Adam’s quotes, as they were “unauthorized.” What exactly did Rebecca tell me that was explosive? tldr, Bubbline was her idea, she pitched it to Adam when they first started to work on WWM, Pen et al. were supportive of the idea, and while the crew succeeded in getting the relationship confirmed (eventually), the homophobic culture of society/Hollywood made the journey very difficult. Rebecca told me that she also saw Marceline and Bubblegum as queer characters, and wrote them that way pretty much from the get-go. Anyway, I don’t think CN wanted me to delve into this, since it doesn’t exactly paint the company in the best light.

It was then that Dean Kevin Smith of the University of Kansas Libraries stepped in and allowed me to publish the book through the library and upload a PDF to the library’s “ScholarWorks” portal. This means that anyone the world over can download the book for free! At the end of the day, I think it’ll reach more people this way!

“Can I get a physical copy of this book?”

Message me for details, yo!

“I FOUND A TYPO!”

Excellent! Please let me know. I still have access to the proofs and can upload a fresh copy of the manuscript to ScholarWorks when it is necessary. I’d love for you all to take a look and see if you can find any typos or wonky sentences. With that being said, I already know that I love to put prepositional phrases at the start of sentences; I also heavily use (and likely abuse) semicolons and parentheses. (See what I did there?) I hope you’ll forgive me.

“Will you be expanding the book once all the Distant Lands specials are out?”

Right now, this is my goal. I waited to publish this until after “BMO” was released, as I worried that the episode might contradict some of my more speculative sections, but I do no think this came to pass. As such, the version that you’re getting is only slightly tweaked. Once more and more production info comes out about the specials, however, I would love to go back and expand pertinent sections. Keep your eyes peeled for updates! (And if I do release a new edition, it will be free, too.)

“I have a suggestion...”

Let me hear it! I’d love to take your input and work it into the manuscript. Like I have said above, I plan to release an updated version if/when that becomes necessary, so I’m always going to keep my ears open to any critiques or suggestions that will improve the work!

Happy adventuring, y’all!

[danidoesathing]

GREETINGS, I HAVE BEEN ABSORBED IN YOUR P5 WORKS SINCE 3 IN THE MORNING AND IT IS CURRENTLY 6 IN THE MORNING. MAY I ASK OF YOU TO SHARE ANY AU IDEAS OR OPINIONS YOU HAVE ON P5 IN GENERAL? I'D LIKE TO LISTEN!

GOD THANK YOU! BUT PLEASE GET SOME SLEEP

[opens 50 page binder] I’m glad you asked. 

So can I just say Atlus missed a HUGE fucking opportunity with Yaldabaoth? They have a whole Arcana with him and they use it for....weird cryptic things in the Velvet Room? Like, imagine if we had atlus actually built a bond between Akiren and Yaldabaoth? Like if Yaldabaoth took other forms/took control of other people’s minds to speak with Akira at random and that was the confidant rank ups for the Fool? It would have shown Yaldabaoth as a multi dimensional character and allow more of his perspective to show! And it would have made such a good contradiction to Yaldy’s plan with his view of humanity being greedy, selfish, sinful, corrupt, in need of his guidance, etc. and then how Akiren comes along and completely uproots that idea because he’s literal opposite if what he thinks humanity is. Yaldy is curious and the confidants are him trying to find where the corruption is in him and just....never finding it, and instead starts to actually be infected with feelings and starts to actually care for Akiren in some twisted and fucked up way. He’s the ideal and only pure person among humanity and once he is killed it will be exactly what Yaldabaoth needed to prove that humanity needs his guidance. And even better (worse?), when Akiren is offered the bad ending deal, it’s not just a trick; it’s a way fir Yaldabaoth to continue to keep Akiren by his side (under his control, but thats not how he would see it) and when Akiren turns it down, it’s not just him being too smart for him, it’s a betrayal to Yaldabaoth. Because after all his guidance and gifts, and offering the world to him, Akira still turns his back on him? Yaldabaoth could have been such a cooler villain!!!! He could have had such a cool dynamic with Akrien!!!! Ugh!!!!!

Sophia was also a bit of a wasted opportunity but only because of her name. There’s a demon in the SMT series with the name of Sophia of.....importance that easily could have been used but wasn’t but since I've never played strikers/dont wanna spoil it I can’t say too much, I'd suggest looking on wiki page for the demon Sophia.

Also, I have an AU/interoperation of Raoul that he’s essentially Akira’s version of Loki (I made a whole post earlier about my ideas of Raoul but didn’t touch on this one a whole lot) because Altus gave me nothing for Raoul lore so I'm gonna have to make some up myself. Raoul is not necessarily evil, just as Loki is, but is far less kind and forgiving than Arsene. They’re extremely protective and seem to only care about what Akira wants (compared to Arsene and Satanael which were born out a desire to protect others). Raoul could even be seen as having his own ability based on status effects which would be Phantom Snow (sleep as tool to put people in coma’s) compared to Loki’s infliction of rage. Honest to god I think Raoul could easily result in a palace due to Akira’s self-neglect (is that a thing?) and general disregard for his own emotions to the point of self destruction and Raoul (being made out of self love) is NOT fucking happy about that and just....steals him away. He just looks at Akira and goes “My treasure now” and boom! Palace. But you know, that’s a whole ass thing for another time.

[true-intha-blu]

In Regards to Kingdom Hearts UX: Dark Road; Baldr, Loki, Luxu, and Luxord

Hi there. This is True-InTha-Blue coming to you with some interesting lore I was discussing with some very wonderful people on the Destined Oath Discord server. Once again I thank them for helping me out with this analysis and mythos research, as well as asking questions that really got my brain thinking about what all of this could be. This, of course, is in relation to the Kingdom Hearts Union Cross Dark Road game that was released 6/22/20. Specifically for Chapter 1.

This does contain slight spoilers so for those who want to go in completely blind. I recommend playing through KHuX:DR first, then coming back to my theory. This will go over a lot of Norse Mythology, how it relates to this new game, what roles the characters play, and what it could mean in the future. Warning, I’m not one for screenshots so prepare for a large amount of text.

Theory time:

In KHuX:DR we’re introduced to the new character, Baldr, named after a prominent god in Norse Mythology. As the Son of Odin, Baldr’s murder is what eventually leads the world into Ragnarok, the Norse armageddon myth.

Let’s investigate the Mythos of Baldr.

Baldr is the Norse god of peace, justice, light, forgiveness, and love. He and his mother, Frigg, had prophetic dreams of his death. As such, Frigg made every object and being in existence vow to never bring harm to Baldr. Every object and being except one, mistletoe. This was because no one saw mistletoe as a threat and was too young to make such an agreement.

This made Baldr pretty much indestructible. As per usual with the Norse gods, they made sport of this by throwing dangerous stuff at the man since they knew he couldn’t die. That was until Loki decided to fashion an arrow or spear (Different tellings of the myth have different weapons) out of mistletoe. He handed this weapon over to Baldr’s blind twin brother, Hodr. Thinking that it would bounce off his brother like usual, Hodr ended up killing his brother.

Heartbroken, Frigg called upon Hermod, another one of her sons and messenger of the gods, to go to Hel and retrieve Baldr.

In Hel, the goddess Hel (it is both a location and a person. Also not to be confused as Hell), said that Baldr could be revived if everyone (objects included, alive and dead) cried for him.

In Norse mythology, “Hel” is both a place and a goddess. Hel (the place) is the norse underworld. Hel (the goddess) is the one who reigns over the Underworld. When Hermod reached Hel and asked how Baldr could be revived, he was told that if every being in existence cried for his brother, then Baldr would return.

Everyone did, except one.

Loki, disguised as the giantess Þökk (pronounced Tokk), did not cry. As such, Baldr is set to stay in Hel until Ragnarok.

Now let’s look at Loki’s role in Norse Mythology.

He is often (or always) depicted as a shapeshifting trickster. In fact much of the trickster archetype in modern stories stems from Loki’s place in mythology. For a large part of the Mythos, Loki either aids the Aesir (the Norse Gods) or is malicious towards them. No matter what Loki eventually comes to be the enemy of the Norse gods at the end of Ragnarök.

So where am I going with this?

There are two major groups of people: Those who see Odin and the Master of Masters as being the same person, and those who see Odin and Luxu as the same people. But I think that people are focusing on the wrong deity. Instead, I think that shifting the focus onto Loki is the key. As a shapeshifter, Loki has gone by many names. Luxu parallels this, as he’s most likely taken on countless different names besides “Braig” or “Xigbar”.

In fact, let’s focus on the meaning behind Luxu’s name.

Like all of the Foretellers, Luxu’s name parallels one of the Seven Deadly Sins, that of Lust (Luxuria). Loki, in a myth where he insults all of the Aesir, is called a “Pervert God”. Loki has also been accused of doing perverse things. Luxu may not have a sexual lust, but rather a lust for power. There is also the fact that Luxu is associated with the goat, a Catholic symbol of lust.

Also to note in this conversation of Loki insulting the gods. This is the one that leads Loki to being bound to a rock with a snake dripping venom over his eyes until he is released from Ragnarök. The context is that Loki killed a servant, was kicked out of a party, and then came back to ruin the party but the Skaldic god Bragi says that Loki shouldn’t be allowed back in. Loki however called on blood bonds with Odin (because they are half-brothers) to be invited.

There is one other thing of note in the myth about Loki insulting the Aesir. After a certain point, he got kicked out, only to return to ruin the party even more. The god Bragi said that he shouldn’t be allowed in, but Loki calls his blood bond with his half-brother Odin, saying he has every right to be invited. As things continue, this leads to Loki’s capture and his near eternal punishment of being bound with poison dripping on his face. Then: “Loki declaims a toast to the gods, with a specific exception for Bragi. Bragi responds that he will give a horse, sword, and ring from his possessions so that he does not repay the gods "with hatred." Loki responds that Bragi will always be short of all of these things, accusing him of being "wary of war" and "shy of shooting." Bragi responds that, were they outside of Ægir's hall, Bragi would be holding Loki's head as a reward for his lies. Loki replies that Bragi is brave when seated, calling him a "bench-ornament," and that Bragi would run away when troubled by an angry, spirited man.”

And this is also remarkably interesting because I have seen the Bragi = Braig/Luxu theory, but this kind of contradicts it. It makes me think that Bragi and Odin are red herrings in all of this. Remember, we do not know what happened to the Master of Masters, except that he ‘faded from existence’ one day. Nor do we know why or how MoM showed himself to Young Xehanort in the Keyblade Graveyard. Only Luxu has been confirmed to have the ability to change bodies

Keep in mind, the No Name Keyblade was passed down from Luxu to his student. When the time came, that student passed on the keyblade as well, the cycle continuing into the present. This was all so MoM could see into the future and author the Book of Prophecies.

Now I wish to bring up another name of Loki, that of Lóðurr. It can be translated into Lodur.

Please understand that the context between these two names is still being debated by scholars, but I think this is important to bring up nonetheless.

Lodur is one of the gods that helped create the first two humans, the others being Odin and Hoenir. Let’s assume this is just another name for Loki. Remember how earlier I said that Loki is the main archetype for both the good and bad trickster in stories? Let’s go to something you may have noticed.

Lodur. Let’s add an ‘X’, reminiscent to the old Org XIII style. It becomes Luxord.

Now remember that scene in the beginning of Re:mind DLC? With Xigbar/Luxu and Luxord asking questions about each other’s identity?

My take is that Luxord is the other role of Loki, the more beneficially trickster. Now this may be more of a stretch if not for the fact that we kinda believe/see Luxord’s somebody in Yozora’s time. As of now, it is a major point of both curiosity and contention within the fandom.

One theory is that Yozora’s world is connected to the breaking of the One World before the end of the Keyblade World. This is inferred because Yozora seems to know what a keyblade is and knows how to fight the wielder of one.

Since Lodur (the Norse god) has a hand in the creation of the world in Norse mythology, which (going by the KHuX:DR lore about the worlds’ development) may have been one of the first worlds to develop from the Keyblade War thus tying Luxord to the legacy of the keyblade war stated by Xemnas.

To add a bit on the Luxu/Xigbar and Luxord to Loki parallels:

-      Both fights with them have misdirection, trickery with locations or indirect fighting styles when confronted by Sora. This fits a trickster archetype

-      Also Braig/Xigbar uses arrowguns. In myth, Baldr was killed by an arrow (That may be a bit of a stretch though so don’t take it too seriously.)

In the end, we have a lot to think about here.

I am less inclined to look at Master Odin from KHux:DR and would rather look out for someone we have not seen yet, a Loki or a Þökk. And keep an eye on Baldr whenever he shows up.

There are many other connections to tie ‘Bad’ Loki to Luxu. Loki heralding Ragnarok could parallel the fall of Scala Ad Caelum. Loki being a Johtun but being able to hang around the Norse gods could be a parallel to how Luxu may be among the students but actually being a foreteller.

If any reader has any details they want to share to clear up some details about the mythos, want to correct an inaccuracy, or wish to elaborate on the topics more, please share them. I am always up for fun, healthy, and well-reasoned discussions.

My next theory will be about the development of the worlds and the foretellers and how they came back.

Stay tuned, Blue

[Edited by @SourCherryBomb]

[venus-says]

Kamen Rider Fourze Episodes 33-48 + Movie

The power of friendship.

The year has just begun but the journey with Fourze has come to an end. This was a rough ride but I managed to finished with no major throwbacks, for the most part.

Since I'm including the movie on this post too I'll do this closing post in the same fashion as I did with OOO and divide it into parts. As a final warning, this will be another shorter post because, spoilers, I didn't enjoy this finale and I don't wanna spend my whole Saturday dedicated to something I wasn't very fond of. In any case, let's start this movie by talking about the movie.

So the Fourze movie is kind of a mess. To starters it's pretty confusing, there are lots of characters and concepts that are introduced not in the easiest way to understand. Then there's the matter of plot that is almost non-existant and not interesting to follow, I think the only exciting thing that happens in the movie is the twist of they revealing who the bad guys really are and even that was a very predictable plot point so... meh, the plot also has the problem of referencing another movie which isn't a good thing because it immediately puts a barrier of understanding separating the people that by chance haven't watched the crossover movie which means they'll always be thinking that they're missing out on an important element of this story.

Not even the action can save this movie, which is sad since this is usually the forté of the Rider movies, in this one we have only two action sequences that are well choreographed and thrilling to watch that are used at the beginning of the movie and that's all, the rest is either heavily CG-dependant scenes or just a huge mess of Fourze rushing through all of his 40 switches which wasn't very pleasing to watch. Speaking of which his power up for this movie, much like his other forms, is very ugly and the way that this power-up comes to be is even more ridiculous like they tried to make something emotional but it just felt really flat, I'm sorry.

To my surprise, the best thing about this movie is the thing I hated the most in past instances: the cameo of the next rider. It did everything I hate about these cameos? Yes, it did. But even that was way cooler than everything else this movie offered, also Wizard has a dope as hell design which is a huge plus. In summary, this episode wasn't worth the time I spent trying to find a way to watch it, very disappointed.

And talking about disappointment...

This final stretch of the season was very lackluster. It was rushed, like how I imagined it would be, it had weird and ridiculous revelations, and the actual final fight was not what I expected.

I think this ending lacked a bit more of planning, not just from the boss rush but also for the Pisces Horoscope plotline. Ran and Haru were interesting characters the last part introduced, but after their first appearance, the show completely forgot their existence till the last minute where they decided they needed them. The concept of allies becoming Zodiarts/Horoscopes is interesting, they managed to do something very cool with Yuki and Gemini and Ran had the potential to be just as cool, but since we didn't see her even for a microsecond in any of the 15 episodes in between her appearances it loses a lot of strength. Another problem caused by the lack of planning is the contradiction (or just misunderstanding) of the lore because as far as I can remember a Horoscope have to evolve from a Zodiarts but we never saw any of candidates as Zodiarts before, and yes, in some cases like for Aquarius and Capricorn I can understand that we didn't see it since they were already Horoscopes by the time they're introduced to us but that's not the same for Taurus, Gemini, and Pisces and that's a problem. Another lore problem, they have all the switches for the 12 Horoscopes but, early in the series, we saw that the Horoscope Switch transforms when the Zodiart evolves so what's up with that?

Lore incongruences aside, another of my problems is the revelation that Kengo is an embodiment of Cosmic Energy and that he's a baby that came from the Core Switch. First, that came up out of nowhere, making him a sick kid isn't a foreshadowing that he's some sort of alien is just a trait. Second, this revelation happened in the most boring and uninteresting way they could've done, for starters, the Core Switch should've been introduced earlier and it should've been something that got more mentions rather than just one flashback and a couple of lines from Leo, second such a key revelation SHOULDN'T HAVE COME OUT OF A FLASHDRIVE A DEAD MAN HAS LEFT HIDDEN IN A ROOM, they could've made Prof. Emoto give the revelation JUST TO KENGO on his last moments and have Kengo internally fight with the knowledge of this information and have this be an element that makes him change and start treating his friends in a colder way rather than he just playing the "I'm a tool" facade that is just so boring. Also, another Phillip flashback, they kill him BUT THEY BRING HIM BACK making that emotional moment be thrown in the trash. Thanks, I hate it.

At the end of the day, all my problems come down to Gentaro and this show's concept of friendship. In a cursed line of thought I had earlier today, Gentarou is the Aine from the Kamen Rider world and by that comparison alone you can probably see what my problem is. Gentarou wants to make friends, but he doesn't actually make friends, he makes acquaintances that he calls friends and to him that's enough, that's the whole basis his character is built around and this is the shallowest thing ever. And if he was punished or at least reprehended by his "concept of friendship" I'd be okay with, but the only time the show acknowledges that he's a bad friend is on that Yuki episode where she become Gemini and even in that situation he wasn't all wrong so calling him a bad friend there is done but not for the right reasons.

What pisses me off the most is that episode where the club is "disbanded" and because Gentarou is sad and won't be able to use the power of the Cosmic Switch the show decides to frame all the other members as cowards WHEN THEY WERE JUST TRYING TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES AND THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE THEY LIKE. WHAT KIND OF FRIENDSHIP IS THIS THAT MAKES YOU FEEL BAD FOR DOING SOMETHING TO KEEP YOU SAFE??????? The moment I saw there was going to be a "separation" episode I thought, "Great! They'll disband but they'll show that friendship exists even though you're not together all the time, this is so important, I love this!" But then they hit me with one of those stupid food droids and laughed on my face. I'm sorry Gentarou but you won't be befriending me anytime soon.

To not end on a bitter note, I must say, the ending was unexpected and as much as I don't buy how that final confrontation came to be, it made sense that it ended in that way using the symbology of the graduation and with both sides coming to an agreement in the end on a "pacific" way, it was a good message about forgiveness (even though they weaken it by bringing Kengo back). Also, the final episode hinted that Ryusei and Tomoko are going to become a thing and since they're the only members of the cast I slightly care about I'm on the wait for a Kamen Rider Returns focused os Meteor where we can see the two of them together.

Well, that's pretty much it. Next week we're leaving Star Twinkle and going to Mahou Tsukai and I'm hopeful if the story sucks at least the Rider design looks awesome so it won't be all that bad. Did I offend any of you guys? I hope I didn't, but if I did I'm sorry, but these are my honest feelings on this show, you can let me know yours on the comments. In any case, I'll be signing off now, hope I'll see you all the next time.

[onyx-archer]

Reimu “Godhood” Theory

I’ve had this theory kicking around in my head for a little over 2 years, and I forget if I’ve mentioned it in the past, so I’m covering it now. As the title may confuse some people, I want to clarify that the “Reimu” in the title is in fact Reimu Hakurei from the Touhou Project, so this is obviously a Touhou Theory. I don’t talk enough about the series, and since I’m drafting an idea for a project that uses this theory, I’m going to be discussing this little fan theory I have relating to the lovely Destitute Armpit Shrine Maiden. If you’re interested, I’ll put it under the cut, as to not flood you with a wall of text right away.

To preface this, while I have played the majority of the official games, and have a good understanding of the series. It’s not perfect, since I haven’t played any of the spin-off games from Fairy Wars onward, and have only dabbled in the most recent game. This means I may be missing an important piece of information from, say, Hopeless Masquerade, and will be referring to a wiki for anything I need from a few games. I will also be referring to a wiki for info about the canon manga stuff, so I’m probably going to be missing a lot of stuff from that. I only ask that you don’t be a dick with a correction of a mistake. I’m not an all knowing source of Touhou information, so don’t expect me to know little things.

Now, to start the theory proper, I need to establish a key point. Namely, the fact that I’m working under the assumption of “the PC-98 games happened in the Windows continuity, but with subtle differences to better fit within the current canon.” This is because the Windows Era is seen as something of a soft-reboot by ZUN, in that if conflicts arise in the events between eras, the newer game is the “correct” way of looking at it. So I’m choosing to see them as two different timelines, with the Windows Era having events that are similar to the PC-98 Games prior to Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, especially since Alice and Yuuka have interactions with Reimu that suggest that they have met before. I plan to expand upon this aspect sometime in the future, but for now, it’s just something to be mindful of when reading this theory.

(Of course, you can also view this as being one timeline too, since it doesn’t really matter, I just think the changes to the lore in the Windows Era that sometimes contradict events in the PC-98 Era make it a little easier to separate the two a little, though that is just preference. Just make changes in your head to adjust for the difference, since there are few at the end of the day.)

The first thing is basically addressing the elephant in the room: what about the purple hair? Reimu’s sudden change from purple hair and flying on the back of a talking turtle, and the black/brown hair of the armpit miko that can “float away from reality” without said flying turtle is a bit of a drastic change. So what happened? Did Reimu, in this hypothetical parallel timeline, have purple hair at all, or am I saying that she didn’t?

I like to believe she did have purple hair. But why it changed plays a little into a bit of speculation based on the words of one character, and the appearance and “race” of another character. Those characters being one of the Goddesses of the Moriya Shrine, Kanako Yasaka, and the Living Goddess Shrine Maiden (and my favorite character in the series), Sanae Kochiya.

What do I mean exactly? Well, it is stated by Kanako in “Symposium of Post-Mysticism” (“The Goddess Yasaka”), and by Sanae in Reimu’s Mountain of Faith Scenario, Shrine Maidens have the capacity to become Gods themselves by gathering enough faith from worshipers of the shrine. Sanae herself is living proof of this, as she is, in fact, a “Living Goddess.” This means she is technically a Goddess that, if she were to lose all faith, would still be able to live as a human. I believe that Reimu was, at one point, a Living Goddess, but fell out of favor with humans due to her not tending to the Hakurei God’s desires, and her tendency to befriend youkai post-incidents.

Why do I think this? Surely there isn’t really any proof, right? Just because Sanae is a Living Goddess, doesn’t mean Reimu has ever been one. I mean, she’s thought to have no followers, so how could she have the faith to even touch the title of “Living Goddess?” Well, I think the key is, funnily enough, her hair color. Yeah, I know, weird right? Hear me out on this, it’s where things get really knee deep in speculation territory.

To make it easier, I’m going to provide visual references. Sort of. It’s more so you can look at the appearances of the two Reimu and Sanae so you can get a decent grasp of what I’m talking about. Sanae and Windows Reimu are from HIsoutensoku and Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, respectively, whereas the PC-98 Reimu is fanart in a similar-ish style, that I found on Google, though I couldn’t locate a reference, so forgive me for the lack of credit.

Looking at the image above, I want to direct you at the hair color of PC-98 Reimu and Sanae. Notice something? They are both a unnatural hair color for humans. Most of the humans we see in canon Touhou (which is very few, in terms of memorable characters) have natural haircolors, typically within the realm of browns and blacks, which would match the dominate natural hair colors in Japan. Now, I know you can shrug this off as “it’s an anime-esc style of character design, what’s the big deal?”

Well, Sanae, unlike most of the humans depicted in Touhou, has green hair, which is something that resembles more of more supernatural characters. I propose the simple idea that hair colors for beings that are beyond humans (Youkai, Gods, Hermits, Monks, etc) have a distinct “unnatural” coloration to them to signify their more mystical natures. In this case though, I’m saying that the color is/could be a visible sign of attaining some kind of divinity. It’s a stretch, sure, but it’s not something that can be discredited by lore in Touhou as far as I’m aware. It’s not like it isn’t possible... right?

Basically, what I’m saying is that I think that the reason Reimu had purple hair is because she had more faith from humans, and thus, was visibly divine. I think her inability to communicate effectively with the Hakurei God, which in turn makes the God angry, and her tendency to befriend youkai (intentionally or not) after incidents led to people losing faith in her, and by extension, the shrine. Thankfully, it’s not a complete lack of faith, but it’s diminished compared to what could have hypothetically been a golden age with the previous Shrine Maiden, who was likely Reimu’s mother.

I should also throw in this little bit: I think that Reimu’s initial faith from the human village is likely due to the legacy of her mother, whom I will assume was the previous miko of the Hakurei Shrine. She likely did a lot to earn the faith of the public, and maintained a good balance within Gensokyo’s population. She may have even ascended to become a goddess, or she could have been killed, but we have no way of really knowing any of this.

Reimu’s actions, due to her inability to communicate with her Shrine’s displeased God, have lead her down a path more akin to a youkai than a God, which brings forth a comparison between Gods and Youkai within Symposium of Post-Mysticism by Kanako, and how Reimu actively starts rumors of youkai problems in the Human Village to get work, which is akin to a youkai needing to stir up a commotion of some kind as to not be forgotten; both are survival tactics that are a little underhanded, if necessary for both parties.

Obviously, the more she does this, the more she’s making her life harder in terms of being the Shrine Maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, but as it stands, the only thing that can fix this is forming a better relationship with her shrine’s residing deity, as to quell the God’s anger, but she has yet to do so. As far as the series is concerned, we’ll probably never. We, like Reimu, don’t know who the God/Goddess (let’s be real, it’s probably a Goddess because Touhou) of the Hakurei Shrine is, and we likely never will. All we know is that it channels it’s power through the Yin-Yang Orb, which grants Reimu abilities to deal with youkai. This connection between the God and it’s go-shintai could have also channeled the divine energy of the God through Reimu, much like how Sanae can invoke the powers of Kanako and Suwako easily, presumably through the snake and frog accessories in her hair. This could grant Reimu divine energy, which would put her closer to the status of a Living Goddess; she’d likely (still) be a Living Goddess if she didn’t piss off her God through her negligence of her duties to her patron/matron deity.

I also want to briefly mention the fact that Reimu is likely also a descendant of a divine being, much like Sanae is the descendant of Suwako. I believe this to be the case, as she shares the name of the Shrine of which she resides/looks after, and because only people of the Hakurei can use the power of the Yin-Yang Orb, which is the God’s means of assisting her in her incident resolving duties. This may be why she has yet to turn into a youkai, despite having a youkai-like nature when it comes to some of her habits.

Oh, and finally, real quick, since I mentioned him in the beginning, but didn’t really need to mention him beyond that: I do believe Reimu still may have used Genji when she was younger, and still learning how to utilize the powers of the Yin-Yang Orb and her divine abilities outside of said orb. I, much like, ZUN himself, believe that Genji is still around, sleeping in the pond at the shrine, just out of view to us in the official games’ depiction of the Hakurei Shrine.

In conclusion, I believe Reimu is either a former Living Goddess, or was close to becoming one, then her inability to please her God, her habit of being youkai-like to make money, and her tendency to become friendly with the youkai she deals with during incidents has lead to her losing the faith, and as such, the loss of a divine aura, which is visible through the purple color of her hair at the peak of her ability to gather faith. The color of her hair, as a result, changed to a more natural hue of dark brown/black due to her lack of faith. I also believe that she is related by blood to the God of the Hakurei Shrine, which is tied to her ability to use the Yin-Yang Orb. Finally, I also believe this to be the case regardless as to whether or not the PC-98 Era and Windows Era are in the same timeline, or if they ran parallel, with minor differences up to the events of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil.

If you have any questions about the theory, hit me up and I’ll try to give an answer as soon as possible! Thanks for baring with me through this long as hell post. I could trim it down a bit, but I like it