#so there’s my analysis on these two situations which probably no one else has an overlapping interest in to this degree lol

[throwthewine]

Listening to a former co-host of a podcast i loved which publicly imploded a few years back trying to explain the difficulties of his split with his co-host and the expectations of a trying to start solo careers with a Beatles breakup analogy but he’s assigning them incorrectly based on the wrong stereotypes !

[actual-changeling]

Welcome back to Alex's unhinged meta corner - although today it is less unhinged and more of a watertight analysis.

What I am about to present you is something most people have probably already noticed, but it has been three months and I still lose my mind while going through the final fifteen frame by frame (which is a normal thing normal people like us do, right? right).

You literally cannot convince me my following meta is wrong, and the only person whose criticism I will accept on this post is Michael Sheen and Michael Sheen ONLY. If you're not Michael Sheen (hi Michael Sheen who probably has a secret tumblr account) then your guess is as good as mine, though again, I think mine is solid.

So.

We all love and hate Aziraphale's "I forgive you", but what I find even more painful is the fact that before that he almost said "I love you". Then he stops himself and changes it, and the amount of micro-expressions on his face as he makes that decision is my current cause of death.

Here's the clip as evidence #1, and while it can definitely support itself, let's dive into the pain a little more, shall we?

One important thing I noticed is that Aziraphale doesn't look at Crowley while he stutters his way through his initial reaction. He blinks up at him for a few frames before averting his eyes again and only holds eye contact after the almost-confession (from here on referred to as IL-).

This is Aziraphale holding eye contact with Crowley (left) vs. him looking away (right):

The frame on the left is from the I forgive you (IFY) part of the scene, the other one from right before IL-. If we go through the above clip little by little we will find that he avoids Crowley's face the entire time and his gaze slips further and further down, which I interpret as him overthinking/trying to come up with something to respond to this entire situation.

He is overwhelmed and surprised, caught between his two main desires: Crowley and being a Good Angel.

Combing through the frames, we can actually nail down exactly when Aziraphale first makes eye contact before the IL- and when he stops. Keep the above comparison in mind! The angle is slightly different because his chin is lower and he straightens up throughout the scene.

So! This is where he starts looking at Crowley:

And this is where he stops:

Hard to see? Let's zoom in on his eyes (numbers are the file names):

Now, you might ask me "Alex, this is all fine, although a bit insane, but why is any of this important?"

Because, fellow tumblr user and good omens enthusiast, I think that looking at Crowley is what changes his mind about what to say.

He doesn't look at him -> about to confess his feelings.

He looks at him -> says the absolutely worst possible thing.

Partly to hurt him because they're both lashing out at each other during this argument, but he looks at Crowley, looks at the person that just kissed him, that told him they could have been an us, that wants him and has always wanted him, screw everyone else.

He looks at Crowley and he wants to say l love you but then what? Once he says those words, he can't leave. He just can't.

We have to remember that they have existed within a complicated dance, a game that they have been playing for centuries without ever telling each other what that game actually is, what the rules are - because they couldn't. It was based entirely on trust and knowing the other person well enough to play it safe.

Crowley just flipped the playing board. Nothing is the way it should be, he is refusing to do their dance, refusing to play. He is looking at him and daring him to stop trying to put the pieces back on the board. The only thing neither of them has done yet is actually say I love you out loud.

Saying those words would mean stepping away from the playing board and acknowledging the room they have been playing in. It would mean saying fuck you to heaven, yes, but it would also force Aziraphale to finally define himself outside of the role he has been playing for both Crowley and heaven, and he isn't ready for that yet.

Additionally, there is the fear and/or knowledge (depending on what else the Metatron might have said or done that we did not see) that heaven will retaliate against him and Crowley if he disobeys them now, and he does not want to risk that either.

All that is what, in my opinion, happens in his head when he averts his eyes and interrupts himself. I do kinda what to make a whole different post about his facial expressions leading up to the IFY, so I will end this one with one more bit of pain.

Ready?

Firstly, the face he makes when he makes his decision.

Look at the tight line of his lips, the pain etched into his face, the pure pain in his eyes.

This is the face of someone who knows exactly how badly he is going to hurt Crowley and himself. This is an apology, an I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, this hurts me as much as it hurts you. I'm sorry but I have to.

And then he winces afterwards. I don't know about you, but this is exactly the kind of face I make when I'm emotionally torturing myself with my own thoughts. For the final blow, please look at the picture very, very closely, especially the last frame, because Aziraphale isn't just sorry and he isn't just in pain.

Aziraphale is scared because he knows* that he might lose Crowley over this. He knows that saying I forgive you is (almost) unforgivable. He KNOWS.

He does it anyway because he will lose Crowley either way but he'd rather have him alive and hating him than dead.

With that I am concluding today's unhinged meta corner, thank you for your attention and you're welcome for the pain.

Also: If you want to call me a 'tin hatter' or insane or otherwise make fun of me - this is very much a girl, what were YOU doing at the devil's sacrament moment because you read my meta post all the way to the end. <3

-

*authors note: what Aziraphale thinks he knows and what is actually real is not the same thing but that's a different post

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I don’t know if you already wrote about this so forgive me if this is a repeat question but, what do you think about Leona’s depression? I feel it’s pretty obvious in game and yet it’s always glossed over as him being ‘lazy’ idk but I don’t find many talking about his really shitty mental health with any seriousness.

Surprisingly I haven't addressed this (at least not in detail)! So thank you for bringing this to my attention; I definitely feel like I've heard people (especially Leona fans) discuss this quite frequently. If you look in the right places, you’re sure to find insightful commentary on the subject! I know I certainly have, but I've yet to say my own piece on it yet.

Now, before I actually get to actually rambling, I want to preface this post with a few points so we can walk in knowing the perspective I'm coming from. Analysis isn't a "one size fits all"! My experiences and background will color the lenses through which I view Leona’s mental health.

First and foremost, I usually don't go out of my way to claim, "this character has X condition" beyond what is outright stated or implied in canon. That does NOT mean that I disapprove of fans who may have their headcanons that say otherwise or project onto or relate to characters' mental health. You can consume the media you like however you want! I am just saying that I don't have this preference so I feel somewhat uncomfortable speaking on this matter.

Secondly, I am trying to approach this situation from a very clinical viewpoint (as I do have knowledge in this area). This means that when I look for “implications” or read between the lines, I am doing so as objectively as I can. It’s how I choose to process and understand characters from a health angle. This does not mean that my opinion is certain; you could very well find someone else in this area that gives you the opposite opinion. As always, I warn you that my response is for fun, it is NOT meant to be taken as medical advice.

Lastly, PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE POST before you comment or share your own thoughts. I'm up for having a discussion, but I ask that you not do so without getting the full context of my thoughts. It’s a lot of information, and I did my best to break it down in a way that (I hope!!) is easy to understand.

CONTENT WARNING: due to the nature of the question at hand, I will be discussing or mentioning potentially triggering topics such as ***depression, suicidal ideation, dieting, homophobia, and substance abuse.*** Please look away if you are not in the right headspace to read about such topics.

Okay, let's rip the band-aid off now: I don't think Leona is clinically depressed.

Pause. Rewind. Take note of my careful wording there: clinically depressed. I don't think Leona is clinically depressed. What does that mean, and how does that relate to "being depressed"?

I think when people describe Leona as "depressed", they commonly mean that he "has depression", not that he is just feeling sad or has low self-esteem. By "having depression", I'm going to assume they are referring to "major depressive disorder", which is the technical term for the condition.

"It's just an abbreviation of the longer term. What's the issue with using 'depression'?” you're probably wondering. “You understand that we mean major depressive disorder.” Well, equating the two does NOT a diagnosis make.

Mental conditions such as major depressive disorder are documented in a handbook known as the DSM (or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). The latest version, the DSM-5-TR (5th edition with text revisions), was published in 2022. The DSM is a manual that sets forth criteria for each diagnosis in its pages. Of course, this includes major depressive disorder—and it may surprise you to learn that Leona does not meet its diagnostic criteria.

A diagnosis of "depression" (the term I will henceforth be using as shorthand for the disorder) is much more than having persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, being unmotivated/lazy, and wanting to sleep often. (I bring up these three things specifically because they are the ones I see being pointed at most frequently to “prove” the diagnosis.)

In order to be formally diagnosed, an individual must be experiencing at least 5 or more of the following symptoms during the same 2-week period:

Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day.

Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day.

Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain, or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day.

A slowing down of thought and a reduction of physical movement (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down).

Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.

Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day.

Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day.

Recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.

At least one of the symptoms should be either 1) depressed mood or 2) loss of interest or pleasure in activities they previously found enjoyable. Furthermore, the symptoms must cause what is known as "clinically significant distress", which is defined by impairment in important areas of functioning. This includes, but is not limited to, socialization, occupation, and/or education. The symptoms must also not be the result of substance abuse or another medical condition, and the individual must ever have experienced mania or hypomania.

Let’s briefly go through each criterion + additional documents and see what evidence there is or isn’t to support it:

We do not have his medical records to cross reference, so for the sake of convenience let’s assume no underlying or additional medical conditions.

We must consider additional context about family, lifestyle, etc. which can confound his symptoms. For example, as a prince, Leona has grown up having most things done for him by servants. This is what he is used to. So when we observe Leona not doing basic things for himself (getting food, doing laundry, making his bed), how much of this can we truly attribute to an underlying condition and how much of this can we attribute to Leona being accustomed to a certain kind of lifestyle?

Leona (at least from what we know of) does not experience mania, nor is he depicted as taking mind or behavior altering substances.

Of the first two criteria, Leona must fit into one: either 1) depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, or 2) markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day. These depend on how you interpret his actions and behaviors. Personally, I don’t think Leona strongly fits into 2 because he still has an interest in his hobbies like Magift/Spelldrive and playing chess (though his involvement in it varies depending on the context). I will concede that there is stronger evidence for 1 over 2, as Leona has definitely expressed sadness and despair regarding himself and his future prospects. It is these thoughts that drive him away from home and keep contact with his family at a minimum. It is these thoughts that prevent him from seeing himself as worthy or even capable of change—a sentiment he shares in book 6, when he encourages Jamil but does not grant himself the same kindness or optimism. For this reason, we will go with the first criterion.

He has not experienced notable weight loss nor gain, nor a notable increase or decrease in appetite. Regarding his general diet, Leona has expressed a preference for meat and rejects vegetables. This by itself does not really provide any useful information in of itself; many people have this preference.

Leona does not experience a slowing down of thought. He is still very sharp and quick-witted in responding to his surroundings, especially in potentially dangerous ones, and coming up with an appropriate plan to counter. It can be argued that Leona has had a reduction in physical movement, as many characters often make remarks about how they perceive him as lazy or not doing much. However, this criterion actually refers to the speed at which one completes an activity and as far as I know, Leona is not said to be moving sluggishly, he only conducts himself in a manner that can be described as "lazily elegant". Even if we stretched the definition to encompass long-term goals he is putting off (like graduation), this criteria is still not counted for Leona since the wording used in the DSM-5-TR states “slowing down of thought AND reduction in physical movement” must be present. In other words, both must be true, not just one of them.

Leona does seem to experience some level of fatigue or loss of energy. This could be one way of interpreting his desire to sleep excessively instead of tending to more meaningful matters (like class). Fatigue, in this case, can also refer to emotional or mental fatigue. The sleep, then, can serve as a means of escape from reality for Leona, but it does not indicate actual physical tiredness. Rather, the tiredness can be intangible. This is also a potential explanation for his lack of motivation when it comes to some activities, especially those that demand him to take charge.

Leona does appear to experience feelings of worthlessness, though perhaps not excessive or inappropriate guilt. In fact, I would wager Leona does not demonstrate the latter, although this could be attributed to the fact that we are not in his head and he does not open up to others about his feelings. For example, we still don't know what his feelings are on almost killing Ruggie in a fit of rage. This does not discredit this criterion though, as the wording in the DSM is “feelings of worthlessness OR […] guilt” meaning one or the other suffices. It is no secret that Leona seeks recognition for his skills—something he was denied as a child and even put down for. While he is aware of his strengths, he has moments when he doubts himself (stating that he can’t change, or giving up when he realizes his plans won’t work so what’s the point in trying?), the contributions he can make (even when his older brother reassures him he can help their country), and encouragement from others (Jack telling him his play inspired him).

As I've said before, Leona does not have a diminished ability to think or concentrate. It has been shown to us time and time again that he doesn't do schoolwork not for lack of trying or lack of understanding, but because he thinks of himself as above it. Leona has already been tutored by the finest teachers royal money can buy, so he believes there is not much else for him to learn. He is also not shown to be indecisive--he can make decisions very quickly and can guide others or at least convince them to go along with him.

Leona does not have suicidal ideation or have recurring thoughts of committing suicide/death. While it's true that this is a game rated for ages 4+ (and therefore has restrictions on what content is and is not allowed in it), TWST has demonstrated to us that there are ways to imply suicidal ideation and other dark themes without explicitly saying it. (One notable example is Idia in late book 6, where he drops lines like "I'll go with you" and expresses dissatisfaction with "this world" to Ortho, who is known to be dead. To this, Ortho reassures him and encourages him to keep living. In fact, I could go on a whole tangent about how Idia better fits the criteria for major depressive disorder, but we're not going to get into that here.) The fact that TWST does not really imply this about Leona makes me think this is not true of him.

It can be said that the symptoms Leona does have are clinically significant, as his behavior is shown to have significant impact on his studies to the point where he was held back a grade. This was not because he did not know the material, but because he failed to find the motivation to attend class and to do his assignments. It also appears that Leona didn't really make an effort to work toward his future until book 7, when he actually talks his internship plans and about wanting to graduate.

We may guess that the symptoms persisted for two weeks or more (given Leona’s history and involvement in the main story), but the frequency of the symptoms is unclear since the game controls what we see of Leona and what we don’t.

Taking all of that into consideration, Leona does in fact exhibit depressive symptoms, but only 3 at most (I say “at most” because we have no idea about the true frequency at which some behaviors occur; we aren’t with Leona 24/7, nor has he reported it to us) out of the 8 total criteria. That’s 2 short of a diagnosis.

“But wait, there’s a lot of information missing here! We don’t have medical records, his weight and appetite changes, etc.” That’s true—but see, the main issue I take with diagnosing fictional characters in the first place is that we oftentimes do not know a character in detail enough to understand the full scope of their lives and symptoms. Noticing a few details is one thing and valid to an extent, but to evaluate an individual is not purely observational. This is particularly true for TWST characters, as even though there is plenty of content to refer back to for behavior, there is still a lack of really going into daily activities or deep feelings (beyond the one post-OB flashback for the OB boys). We cannot observe their behavior extensively. Because of this, tons of key criteria may not be visible to us from the audience’s perspective, let alone a medical history or other data to consider for assessment. We will almost always have an incomplete profile of a fictional character. Health is holistic and not entirely based on what we as individuals see or on all anecdotal evidence.

Just as health considers all parts of the individual, we, too, must consider individual cases of depression. It is possible for depression to exist without a diagnosis—many people (especially older adults), unfortunately, go undiagnosed for their condition. At the same time, it is possible for Leona to have depression which manifests in an atypical way. Each person with depression presents differently than the last, so I so not intend to make any blanket statements about the general population with this condition. The only statement I am making here is that based on my own interpretation of the current lore TWST has granted is, Leona Kingscholar does not satisfy the criteria for a formal clinical diagnosis, at least not for major depressive disorder as is defined by the DSM-5-TR.

Interestingly, Leona does fit the diagnostic criteria for a subclinical form of depression in a 1994 version of the DSM (IV). Minor depression or minor depressive disorder, colloquially known as “everyday depression”, is defined as having 2–4 depressive symptoms persisting for more than 2 weeks. One of these symptoms must be either depressed mood or loss of interest. It should be noted that this terminology is no longer recognized, as new information is added and dropped from the manual all the time. The information is flexible based on the consensus of a panel of hundreds of experts. Older versions of the DSM can be horribly outdated and it is not advised to reference them over newer ones. (As an example, "homosexuality" was legitimately listed as a mental illness in the very first version of the DSM. Yikes. Thankfully, this was dropped from the DSM-II. Other conditions like "multiple personality disorder" are granted new names like "dissociative identity disorder" or reworked altogether as our studies and understanding of mental health and science improve. It is important to keep up with the research coming out and update our approaches accordingly.)

We do not currently have a label for Leona’s situation aside from perhaps experiencing depressive episodes (periods of notable sadness lasting under 2 weeks) and exhibiting some depressive symptoms. I must stress that just because we lack a full-blown diagnosis, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t impact his life. Leona is shown to very clearly be struggling with his mental health. He spends a lot of time in bed, typically cannot be motivated to attend class or do complete assignments, and has moments where he thinks very lowly of himself in spite of the confidence he exudes to others. What's more is that because Leona does not speak to others about what he's going through, it comes off as laziness or arrogance to his peers. Think of it this way: if you have a bad day and snap at a stranger or an acquaintance, the stranger/acquaintance is far less likely to grant you grace or forgiveness for your behavior compared to, say, a friend. They are not as familiar with you, so they will have less patience and are less likely to consider what you may be going through on a personal level. This also applies on a fandom level; if a fan is not actively reading between the lines, they, like Leona's peers, may miss the depressive symptoms he is displaying because they aren't looking for it. How many people can we say are close friends with Leona for him to open up to them about his circumstances? I would say Leona barely even lets his own dorm members be intimate enough with him to let them know about this part of himself. He has Savanaclaw backing him, but he probably does not talk to the mobs extensively. Ruggie is his errand boy, but I doubt Leona pours his heart out to him. And Jack is the newbie who did technically betray their dorm, so Leona might not trust him. Forget about people beyond his dorm. Even his family is not much better off; we've seen that Leona tends to brush off his brother's friendliness and attempts to make amends. There is no strong support system in place for him, which is tricky because Leona perpetuates it by keeping others at bay. In the light novel adaptation of book 2, Leona has an inner monologue about how he is afraid of letting others give him hope because it will encourage him to try again, only to fail another time. I imagine similar logic applies here; he is afraid of showing his vulnerable side because it might give him hope for change when he as late as book 6 expresses that he has given up on himself. I think that this is the detail about Leona most look to when they consider his mental health. The hallmark of depression is, after all, the feeling of perpetual sadness and despair itself. Most do not realize that other factors are considered.

From a clinical lens, it is not “obvious" that Leona is depressed. However, I understand why the prevailing sentiment tends to skew in the opposite direction. For the layman, it may be difficult to distinguish what is and is not clinically significant enough to warrant an actual diagnosis. Again, most will cite the same three pieces of information to support the depression reading: Leona's irritability, his unwillingness to participate, and the rejection he experienced as a child (which has now manifested as self-doubt and low self-esteem). Characters are often judged based on fans' own experiences, and this naturally comes with biases and subjectivity. Thus, some fans may project their own understanding or preconceived notions of what the "typical" depressed person acts like in their head onto Leona. This is normal human empathy at play. I believe that other fans see depression in Leona either because they experience it themselves or are familiar with someone in the same shoes. It can be difficult, and at times we can find solace and solidarity in fiction, especially if we find a character that “speaks to us” and seems relatable. That character may be Leona for some people. If you see do see him in this light or relate to his situation, I’m not invalidating your feelings. On the contrary, I'm happy that you were able to find comfort in him and that a piece of media you love can serve as a coping mechanism. You keep on doing you!

It is at this point that I will reiterate what I said at the start with a little extra nuance: I do not think Leona clinically depressed BUT I do believe he has depressive symptoms and poor mental health as the result of his cumulative circumstances. It is possible for him to have major depressive disorder, but we cannot determine this for certain with the information available to us right now. We are still missing several key components that would typically be considered in the evaluation process.

I think it's important to step back from focusing on labels and instead focus on the individual experience, and how you can still grow as a person and not let a perceived label define you. Leona is definitely working on himself! Changing, particularly changing a deeply ingrained mindset, takes much time and effort. We may not see the progress since Leona tends to hide it and/or we have limited intractions with him. We may not always see giant strides because the process is difficult. Even so, Leona is trying to jump over those mental and emotional hurdles. He's putting his all back into Magift/Spelldrive training. He's attending classes and doing the assignments. He's going home for the holidays. He has an internship planned. He wants to graduate. I've enjoyed following Leona's journey of growth and self-development and seeing all the intense discussion surrounding that. It all comes from a place of love and wanting to support the characters we care about, no matter how we may individually view him.

[lunar-wandering]

anyways as i mentioned earlier here is my absolutely nuts 'analysis' of Boboiboy having autism, and how each of the seven elementals kinda showcase a heightened version of an autism symptom-

so we're gonna go down in order (of manifestation for the elements)-

Boboiboy himself- he's just got the vibe, y'know? But also; it's been established he had no friends prior to moving in with his grandfather, which, y'know, is quite strange for a "normal" kid his age. He also tends to look at the people around him to know how to react in certain social situations (usually the person he looks to is Gopal which. Isn't always the best choice). Also the strong sense of justice is obvious (including that he goes so far as to help villains as well). (Yes this can be an autism symptom).

Halilintar (Thunderstorm). hear me out. Halilintar manifested due to overstimulation. I mean obviously the phobia of balloons is a huge factor here- but being in distress due to loud sounds is exactly one of the things that causes overstimulation for autistic people (could contribute to why he has this fear in the first place). One of the ways people might react to overstimulation is by becoming irrationally angry. Basically what I'm saying is that Halilintar spends most of his time on the edge of a meltdown-

Taufan (Cyclone). autistic joy. listen LISTEN. it's DIFFERENT from other people's joy, okay? a lot of autistic people experience emotions very intensely, it can full out take over you. also as far as i remember (it's been a while) he was the only one who had such an intense reaction to the mood changing potion- sure, the other people who had it were locked in one emotion, but none of them went as wild as he did- because he felt it a lot more intensely.

Gempa (Earthquake). i will admit, i struggled for a moment with Gempa- but honestly i think it's because he is, in my opinion, the one who's the most similar to OG Boboiboy. other than the heightened need to protect, which likely includes the sense of justice, I think Gempa is the one who masks the most out of all the elements. This is also why he seems to be the most neutral element.

Blaze and Ice. I'm doing these two together, because technically, their origin points are from the same thing: Burnout. It's just two very different responses to it. On the one side, Blaze is trying to, ironically enough considering the name, prevent burnout, by relieving stress (by doing things in the middle of night while no-one is looking and there's no pressure of social interaction). When there is too much stress, he falls into an overstimulated state similar to Halilintar's. On the other side, Ice represents the more depressed side of burnout- aka what happens after you actually burn out. It's why he's tired all the time.

Duri (Thorn). Okay so technically Thorn first manifested in battle but we're ignoring that. His tier 1 manifestation, as we all know, was mainly most definitely because Boboiboy got a concussion- but! Here's the thing; I don't think the concussion is why Thorn acts the way he does (though it's probably a part of it). I think, Thorn is just unmasked. The others all mask on some level, but Thorn just, doesn't. He doesn't really care how others might perceive him if he does 'childish' things or says things that no-one else understands because they didn't make the same connections he did, and he certainly doesn't care that deadpan telling someone their outfit is terrible might hurt their feelings, it doesn't even occur to him. He doesn't mask at all.

Solar. Again, technically manifested during battle. However once again we are ignoring that. It was established that the manifest condition for Solar (as Light), was for the elemental master (Boboiboy) to "expand their knowledge", and "read more". And, well, I know Boboiboy specifically read a bunch of science and history books and stuff, but honestly I don't think it really would've mattered what he chose to use to expand his knowledge, because Solar's main autistic trait is special interest. Because Boboiboy mainly focused on science and stuff, that became Solar's special interest, hence why he rambles off about formulas and stuff, and why he likes doing experiments. He hyperfixates on that stuff.

now. i could do the fusions... but honestly i haven't thought about the fusions enough to draw conclusions, so we're sticking with this

[faeruy]

Agatha All Along - Episode 6 "Familiar By Thy Side"

The Tower Reversed - Our first explicit mention of a Reverse reading, this one's triggered as Lilia reads Billy Kaplan's palm during his Bar Mitzvah. As I've said in past tarot posts, I'm an amateur, so I could be misinterpreting/missing things in my analysis. I do my best.

LET'S F'ING GO.

So starting with the obvious. The Tower is a notoriously scary card, and Reversed readings are often thought to be more negative, but it's not true in this case. The Tower Reversed is mostly about a personal transformation, a HUGE one. Like the upright reading, upheaval and change is a huge part of it, but Reverse is mostly internal. Billy Kaplan is about to become something more; he becomes Billy Maximoff. The upheaval in his life is so great, he doesn't really know WHO he is. Tower Reversed can also indicate an existential crisis, which is Billy in spades.

The thing about ANY reading of the Tower, is that the change is inevitable. There will be upheaval, whether one likes it or not, but the Reversed reading suggests that disaster can be avoided. In this case, Billy Kaplan is going to die in a car crash, Billy Maximoff is going to be unmade, but true disaster is avoided when the two events happen simultaneously. Neither of them is truly gone-gone. There's a reason both Billy Kaplan and Billy Maximoff are names protected by the sigil.

The thing that's clear to me is while Lilia was spooked by what she read in his palm at first, the Tower Reversed (and whatever else his palm said) was enough to tell her that he was going to survive in some fashion and would need protection from people like her. (Or Agatha, or Wanda even; who knows?) I hope we get to see what she sees when we get to her trial.

The thing I also want to talk about, is why she specified Reversed, when Upright could just as easily applied to the situation at hand. After all, Billy Kaplan didn't cause the car accident that killed him, Wanda was the one who undid the spell that had brought Billy Maximoff into existence in the first place. So one could definitely argue that those fall under more of an Upright reading; destruction, chaos, upheaval. Especially given Wanda's magic was explicitly labeled as Chaos Magic. I think its because the writers of the show are trying to tell us something; that the death and destruction that make up HOW Billy came to be is far less important than WHO he is; which is simply a boy becoming a man, and trying to figure out who he is and what he wants in the world. The whole Billy Kaplan/Billy Maximoff thing is a metaphor for a coming-of-age, and calling out the Tower Reversed is as much of a tell as setting the whole thing the day of his Bar Mitzvah.

One last note; I'm so pleased that The Tower came into play again, after it showed up in a promo poster which has Lilia holding the card Upright. My guess is that it's there to indicate a couple of things; 1)Lilia's the Divination Witch (and Tarot's a big part of that), 2)We can expect some form of chaos and destruction, 3)Definitely a nod to the fake "Coven of Chaos" Title. But I think the poster was a nod to the usage in episode 6, and the connection Lilia has to Billy, only with a slight misdirect by having it Upright instead of Reversed. And while I think that probably has more to do with readability and clarity than anything else, I wonder if some of that was to throw people off the track. IMO Tower Upright invites a pretty shallow, general take when thrown onto something like a Marvel promo poster. Tower Reversed, because it indicates that someone making these posters knows more than the bare minimum about Tarot and is using it to plant clues about the show, invites a LOT more speculation.

This post went a lot longer than I thought, but I hope you all enjoyed it, and if you want to check out my analysis of the Tarot cards from past episodes:

Episodes 1-3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 7 part 1

[kataraavatara]

No, Corlys and Otto did not do the same thing here.

And this is in no way defending Corlys, so please don’t twist my words. These things are both awful, one is just worse.

Look at Laena and Viserys. Corlys and Rhaenys openly approach Viserys and say they have an offer of marriage. Laena and Viserys then take a walk outside, where they’re both visible to lots of people, including her mother.

However, Alicent is instructed by her father to visit Viserys “in his chambers” ie alone and without supervision. While Viserys is definitely a creep for marrying his daughters best friend, I (and I would also say Otto) don’t believe he would ever force himself on Alicent or that anything “untoward” would happen, and nothing physical did happen between them. But that absolutely would not stop the rumors that something happened from springing into existence, just like they did in F&B. There’s no way to keep these “meetings” a secret. In the best case scenario, Alicent marries Viserys and people whisper about the circumstances under which it took place. Worst case, Alicent’s reputation and chance to make a decent match is ruined.

Although obviously both these scenarios are disgusting, the Velaryons being very clear about their intentions and having it take place in a public setting is much more “honorable” in Westeros than Otto essentially telling Alicent to sneak around with the king and gain his trust. Although Laena is rejected by Viserys as a match, it doesn’t negatively affect her standing or reputation. This is not the same for Alicent.

Let’s go back to our worst case and say that Alicent’s “Vizzy Visits” become a scandal- while we, a modern audience, recognize fifteen year old Alicent is a victim, Westeros is a society that A) Regularly practices child marriages, at least among the nobility and B) Sees sixteen as the age of adulthood. Alicent would 100% be painted as an evil seductress who seduced the poor grieving king- hell, a lot of people in the fandom paint her that way in the 21st century! Otto, in an attempt to save face, could easily throw her under the bus. “Omg I can’t believe my daughter engaged in such scandalous behavior, things just haven’t been the same since her mother died :( poor me, pls don’t be mad, I had no idea.” If it’s Otto’s word vs Alicent’s, people will believe Otto.

Not to mention how aware he is of her friendship with Rhaenyra. And yes, Rhaenyra is just as much a member of Westerosi society as everyone else. She does not have the 21st century view of things we do. She at 14 has the responsibility of being heir to the Iron Throne with people swearing oaths to uphold her succession. Even if Alicent told her afterwards her father forced her into it, she just wouldn’t (and didn’t) understand- to her, Alicent and her both are becoming adults now and handling adult responsibilities and are accountable for their actions. Rhaenyra is headstrong, rebellious, and fiercely protective- “Because my dad told me to” is not going to cut it as an excuse. Otto knew this would ruin her friendship with Rhaenyra and didn’t care.

Now, the above analysis is mostly about the secrecy of it all. Rhaenyra didn’t seem to hold any ill will towards Laena in particular, which is why I believe her anger was as much about the secrecy of it as it was at the actual marriage itself. I think if Alicent was like “hey, my dad wants me to marry yours” there’s not much I can really do about it” she’d still probably balk but be much more accepting and sympathetic.

Now, look how they’re respectively dressed. Laena just has much more fabric covering her, with the cape sleeves and two layered dress, while Alicent’s is pretty form fitting. Not to mention the creepy incestous undertones when Otto instructs her to put on her mother’s dress and says how much she looks like her mom.

While both fathers are disgusting for doing this, Otto put his daughter in a much riskier situation where the question wasn’t if there would be fallout, just how much fallout there would be. By never formally and publicly declaring his intention to present Alicent as an option for the new Queen Consort, he put Alicent’s reputation and livelihood at stake in a way Laena’s was not. And this is not to take away from how inappropriate Laena’s situation was for a little girl. This is just to say-

When the bar is literally in hell, Otto Hightower finds a way to keep digging.

[let-roman-bite-someone]

it's been a while since i made an analysis here but as anyone else in this fandom, i've been speculating on orange. i know that by now, most people are convinced that orange is anger or something related to that.

however, we need to look at the previous patterns in order to figure out who orange might be. “the dark sides” were all facets of c!thomas that he was unwilling to accept or acknowledge. his anxiety, his ability and capacity for deception and probably the most jarring for him, the violent and/or disgusting thoughts that pop into his head without warning.

despite virgil's arc, anxiety was probably the easiest for thomas to accept. virgil didn't even have to introduce himself; thomas already knew he existed and while he was not happy about that, thomas had already accepted by that point that anxiety was a part of him. janus's existence was a harder pill to swallow and remus's was even harder.

so with all this, orange turning out to be anger (or wrath, rage, whatever you want to call it) would be a little underwhelming. while anger is not an emotion that is always encouraged, it's certainly not that hard to accept. especially compared to having repetitive intrusive thoughts about murdering people.

besides, thomas has already acknowledged his own capacity for anger before.

here, he refers to logan and roman having short tempers. they've shown this multiple times in the series too. if logan and roman are prone to anger, then it follows that thomas is also prone to anger and that he is aware of it. and regarding the nonchalant way he addressed it, i doubt he's troubled about his temper at all.

since there were only two short episodes before the introduction of virgil, we don't have enough context as to whether thomas was aware of his anxiety or how accepting he was of it. for janus and remus however, we have several instances of thomas either being in denial or being completely unaware of their existence.

regarding the concept of lying, thomas chose not to lie to people to the best of his ability. regarding intrusive thoughts, while there's no instances of thomas straight-up refusing to feed into them, he was a lot more "clean" before remus came along. he didn't swear as much and when he did, usually censored the swears (probably a conscious decision from thomas & co. but i think it had a canon reason too) and using more technical terms for sexual activities.

anyway, all of this is just a complicated way to get to the point, so i won't bore you any longer. my point is that orange would have to be something bigger, something more terrifying and that thomas would likely be in denial about.

one thing thomas has constantly been shown to fear is losing his friends and loved ones. this has surprisingly been a consistent theme from the early stages of the series.

a lot of the episodes like Making Some Changes, Can Lying Be Good and the SvS duology were centered around thomas's fear of losing his friends. friendship is very important to thomas and different situations in his life often feeds into the fear of being left behind.

now what is a common theme in all the scenes that orange has been hinted at?

the feeling of being ignored or belittled. logan gets mad at roman because roman mocks his attempts at trying to communicate honestly. SvS Redux has thomas feeling irritated and upset that lee and mary lee barely paid attention to him during the wedding. the intrusive thoughts asides video, of course, has both thomas and logan getting angry over being ignored.

so, with all this, i conclude that orange is desperation (n; a state of despair, typically one which results in rash or extreme behaviour). a need for validation, a need for attention and affection. thomas, at this point, is especially disturbed by a lot of things going on in his life. but a recurring theme throughout the show, especially after the introduction of janus and remus, is thomas's fear of driving away his friends. he is overly judgmental of each of his actions, worried that they may lead to him being lonely and left behind.

and again, in WTIT, thomas is also desperate to be noticed by nico. he fears dying alone but at the same time, he struggles to reach out to people. still, he makes the first move by texting nico but the fact that nico doesn't reply makes thomas more and more fearful of ending up alone. he is desperate for love and support, he is desperate for validation; but he needs to focus on himself and fix his own issues, if he wants to maintain a healthy relationship with other people.

like all the other sides, i think that orange is also only trying to help thomas. he's trying to get thomas to come to terms with the fact that nothing is stagnant. most things in life are temporary and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll be able to let go of any worries weighing you down. thomas just needs to face that fact and focus on living in the moment, instead of worrying about what could be. he also needs to have a little trust in himself and know that he's trying his best to be a good person.

and logan is the right person to target for this. because first off, logan himself is suffering from the desperate need for validation, he is visibly struggling to get to thomas. secondly, a sign of deteriorating mental health is when logic becomes clouded due to emotions and this affects a person's basic functioning, such as decision making, problem solving and if gone too far, even everyday activities. the one time logan temporarily left the group, we saw how much of a chaos the others were. i believe orange thinks that this is the only way to make thomas understand how dire the situation is.

so yeah, that's just my take on this whole orange deal. i could be completely wrong but it's still fun analyzing these things.

[moonshine999]

Team Green promotional stills

side note : this “analysis” is only limited to the promotional stills and I’ll probably do the trailer/posters a bit later. Also that this is just speculation and most of it is probably bs because I just woke up from a nap and decided to start typing.

this might be one of two things

a) Larys talking to b&c in the dungeon..possibly informing them of their punishment OR watching their punishment unfold

b) Him talking to Aegon about fleeing King’s Landing or actually fleeing King’s Landing

now this also may be where Larys says the “survived dragon-fire” line if it is the second scenario

I would really like to think of this as a scene where Aemond expresses more emotion to Criston about what happened at Storm’s end.

If you notice then Criston seems to be in his night clothes while Aemond is still in his “fighting” or training clothes (if that makes sense).

possibly to indicate how at ease Criston would be trying to make him feel while talking about this but Aemond just keeping his guard up.

it also does look like Aemond is trying to avert his gaze while Criston talks

Also if the above is true (which is highly unlikely actually), then it would serve as a great parallel to Alicent & Aegon with the candles of the sept vs the candles Criston has lit in …possibly his chambers?

Im not very sure about this particular shot at all so even though I’d like to, going into detail on the above point seems useless

SERVING CUNT

okay so all possible times we may see Aegon at the coucil basically come down to a) the first episode as an introduction and b) after b&c

If it is his introduction, then he is probably zoned out here - thinking of something else and playing around with his dagger until (according to the leaks) he is snapped out of it by either a council member or a guard informing that Helaena needs him

But if it's after b&c then he may be zoned out because he refuses to listen to other council members dictate what he should "rationally" do at this time. His mind would be struck with grief and a want for revenge and maybe the placement of the knife near his face like that is no ordinary mistake.

He is probably plotting something here on his own (could be the reason he could ask Larys for help) and it would be such a good parallel, if he's sort of snapped out of it again by the thought of Helaena

phia saban is turning your kids GAY

so we know this is the funeral dress…the two main questions are whether it’s after the funeral or before the funeral and who she’s looking at

my personal bet is before the funeral. This is because she still looks a bit composed as she not seen her son’s body / refused to see it since that night probably because she realises she can’t handle it

(don’t exactly know if the above bit is phrased properly at all but hope the point gets across)

also in details of the shot itself…her veil isn’t tied on yet and her hair is undone/not braided yet..signalling that she is still getting dressed.

As for who she is looking at…the safest bet is either Alicent or Aegon (considering the situation these two are the people who would understand her emotions best)

If it is Alicent.. then it’s most likely her providing comfort to her daughter and sharing feelings/thoughts of what it means to be a mother

And if it is Aegon (which I do think is more likely and that is not just the helaegon manic shipper in me)… then it would probably be him trying to justify not being there (in the room when it happened) and probably promising that he will get revenge for such a heinous act (or something along those lines)

another note : I did not do Alicent’s promo shot because I think that shot could be anything and I personally did not notice any details that could specify the situation or what she may be doing

[emeryhiro]

Do you think Carol would have continued to stay with Ezekiel had Henry not died? For me, Carol's married era in the Kingdom is a conundrum - because on the one hand, I love that she got to experience some peace and happiness after being put through the wringer both emotionally and mentally. I love that she was able to save Henry and at least partly come to peace with the fact that she was able to find and save this kid - when she has lost so many in the past (which makes it all the more heartbreaking she has go through all of that again in s10 - I love s10 but it so emotionally hard to watch as a Carol fan). But - in the second half of s9 whenever Carol is shown in the Kingdom, it feels a little wrong - like maybe she doesn't belong. She is smiling so widely and brightly - and it is so great to see her lighthearted - but something somewhere just feels off. Even her appearance - her clothes - they don't feel like her. I can't quite pinpoint it. Or I could be just looking at it through shipper goggles. Lol.

I absolutely adore your narrative breakdowns of these two. I don't have much hope for Caryl in TBOC but I am definitely looking forward to your analysis of the episodes to come.

Hi Anon 😊

Thank you so much for the kind words! They truly mean so much to me 🩵🩵🩵

I already have my thoughts/breakdown of TBOC episode 1 written up, which should be posted as soon as episode 1 is released to everyone. I honestly can't wait for everyone to see it and get everyone's thoughts on it as well.

Now, regarding your question...

This is such a good question, and I really had to think about it for a bit to be able to express my thoughts properly.

The short answer is yes, but ultimately, no. I think Carol would have stayed with Ezekiel if Henry had lived, at least for as long as they were in a good place. I know that seems like a cop-out of an answer, but I'll flesh it out a little bit.

Carol was happy enough with Ezekiel, and she would have probably continued to be with him until their situation changed and they had to go through some form of hardship as they naturally would've at some point or another in an apocalypse. Even if it wasn't for losing Henry, there would have been something else that would have pulled them apart because despite them being happy enough, their relationship lacked the depth to withstand severe adversity. They loved each other, but they weren't IN love, if you know what I mean.

If by some miracle they didn't face any hardship of any kind, then yep they probably would stay together for two main reasons (and trust me, this hurts my Caryl shipper heart to say):

Loyalty/Convenience: As we've seen, Carol is an incredibly loyal person. We don't know Ezekiel as well as we know Carol, but from what I could tell, he seems to be a very loyal person as well.

Trauma/Sacrifice: The only person that Carol would hypothetically leave Ezekiel for would be Daryl. But both Carol and Daryl have experienced way too much trauma to actually come clean about their feelings, not unless something huge happened to push them to do so. Daryl would never ever think he's good enough for Carol, or that he could make her happy compared to how Ezekiel appeared to make her. And Carol would feel the exact same way about Daryl, and she'd also be content with (as you said) the peace and happiness of staying with Ezekiel because she would never think she deserved anything better than that.

Ultimately, the perfect circumstances that would have kept Carol and Ezekiel together are near impossible in the world they live in. Starting a family with Ezekiel and Henry definitely helped Carol heal from some of her past trauma with Ed and Sofia, but ultimately the deeper traumas and wounds that she had yet to face and heal from (as she will in TBOC) would have never healed if she stayed with Ezekiel. They would have eventually been naturally pulled apart because neither is made for the other.

I also think that Carol always sensed/knew that her relationship with Ezekiel had an expiration date, and she had probably prepared for that inevitable end from the start of the relationship, while Ezekiel on the other hand, was less willing to accept that their relationship was at its end when Carol tried to return the ring in S9EP16.

Regarding Caryl...

I honestly don't blame you for not having much hope for Caryl, especially with all the mixed messages being sent around with the current publicity campaign. And I'm not sure if this will mean anything or change anything for you, but I'm personally still confident that canon is where we're heading. And as I've said in my previous posts, especially in the summary section of my last one (here), it makes sense (at least to me) for them to wait until season 3 to finally make Caryl officially canon.

I'm just gonna fangirl here for a second, but I believe (since the first time I saw them 12 years ago) that Carol and Daryl are soulmates, and I don't just mean platonic soulmates, but soulmates in every sense of the word. So, in my mind, based on all the evidence I've seen, one way or another, they will be together in the end. But like I said, that's in my mind. The final outcome for Caryl depends on Norman and Melissa's vision for the characters, which I understand may not align with mine, but I trust that no matter what they end up giving us, it's still gonna be a fantastic story ♡

~~~~

Thank you again for the really interesting question ♡♡♡ I hope my answer made sense and got my thoughts across properly.

I can't explain how excited I am about TBOC and seeing Carol and Daryl in the same frame again. ONLY 19 DAYS TO GO!! 🥰🎉

[brainjvice]

So…I just binged reading your ryusaekai posts (love the stuffs) and its gotten me thinking about ryukai , although ryukai have around 11 ff on AO3 but not a single one on here aka tumblr is making me kind sad😞

I'm so so sorry it took me this much time to reply to your ask! It's been sitting in my drafts for a month because I wanted to give you a proper reply and fill it with ryukai hc but Life Life-d and Here we are. Still, I'm super sorry. I loved this ask, and I'm glad you enjoyed my ryusaekai posts, they're very dear to me!

So. Premise: to me ryusaekai is strictly a V poly relationship: i find Shidou and Kaiser fundamentally incompatible. At the same time they would be SO HOT together and, aesthetically speaking, they match way too well (this is so ironic, considering how bad their personalities match).

chara analysis under cut (it's. a bit long. oops)

To me it would be so Hard to make them work in canon, but at the same time we still lack Shidou's backstory so tbh maybe after it will be revealed I may reconsider their compatibility. Alas, for now... putting someone who easily resorts to violence with someone with Kaiser's trauma... doesn't seem like a good idea.

Kaiser also looks pretty touch repulsed unless he's the one doing the touching. On the contrary, Shidou is very much ok with physical touch and affection expressed via physical contact.

Also... their life philosophies may crash too. Shidou seems to have an optimistic approach to life and has a strong sense fo who he is and what he is doing Here and Now. He looks very in tune with his body in its whole. Also sees football as a way to express himself, a way to feel free, to "explode". He Loves playing football and looks like he's actively chosen it as a sport.

Kaiser, on the contrary, lives in regret. He barely feels alive and it seems he lives his life at 50cm of distance from his body. He is very disconnected from himself and his identity and crafted one by scratch just to be able to mask better in front of people. To him, football is a way to survive. To not go back. Does he like it? Yes, he seems to enjoy football from an early age. But the way he was put in the industry it didn't give him more choices about what he actually wanted to be. It was that, or death.

They do have their similarities, though. They are both eccentric as fuck and do not like to conform nor want to. They also have a weird relationship with the concept of impossibility, although they have a different approach to it (Kaiser wants to embody the impossible, Shidou, on the other hand, denies its existence "who decides whats impossible?").

They also both have antisocial tendencies and but while Shidou looks genuinely amazed by people and what they can do, Kaiser has probably an inferiority complex towards "humans" which he constantly tries to compensate for.

Anyway, as you can imagine, making these two assholes interact can be hard. But there's ways they can bond. Maybe Shidou can pspspsp hard enough to make Kaiser actually get closer to him. To me it's easier if there's someone else inbetween them to "mediate". Not that Sae is the embodiement of the perfect mediator, but his presence may deter both shidou and kaiser to be too asshole-ish towards each other.

.....Another personal hc I have of them is that Shidou enables Kaiser's hidden antisocial traits. A scenario I have in mind is Shidou challenging Kaiser to steal Sae's wallet. That's because to me Shidou would SMELL Kaiser is a tad fucked up without Kaiser having to opening up at all. Unfortunately, Shidou is extremely good at reading people and would use his ability to sliiightly mess up with Kaiser, trying to make him drop the mask.

Also. Imagining them having beef over who manages to steal Sae-chan's wallet first and without him noticing is HILARIOUS to me. That and the three of them being in a situation where they need to open up a door without having a key. So you see Kaiser and Shidou discussing the best ways to break in without causing too much damage to the door. Kaiser would use a credit card, Shidou propose to use one of his hairpins to help. Sae looks at them slightly worried about how both of his boyfriends apparently knows how to break open a door.

So yeah. All the scenarios I have in mind for ryukai is them bonding over Illicit activities. They should smoke weed together as well and just chill. Maybe Shidou makes a dark humour joke about his own childhood and Kaiser snorts (tries to cover it up via coughing) but doesn't reply. Maybe they can reach a mutual understanding of each other, which doesn't necessarily mean mutual respect but, hey, it's *something*.

Hope you liked this analisys and comparision! :>

[dedenneblogs]

quincy doodle world hc / analysis time— long post so beware!!!

Quincy gets attached to others really easily. It’s mostly because he’s so used to people abandoning him, whether that be his “friends’” fully chastising him or his father being absent and leaving massive shoes for him to fill.

So he pushes people who genuinely care about him, to an extent, like Portia and (maybe) Reginald away out of fear that the people he’s naturally made to be close to in life will one day abandon him like everyone else, so becomes distant and cruel because of that.

(on the topic, i say “to an extent” because Portia’s (unhealthy) attachment can very well be rooted in her own issues which i’ll get too someday because i love sharing my crazy thoughts and Reginald could very well just been being playing butler for pay, unless his and Quincy’s history goes back further who knows though we haven’t seen the guy since the first key)

Because of this, when he’s placed into a situation where he’s forced to gain independence (after Reginald is teleported to DoodleCo City and his private jet is destroyed) he grows the closest he’s ever been to anyone in his entire life: Player, Suzie, and TJ.

Since he lets his true colors shine (which is first seen near the end of the Book key arc when he finds solace in healing your Doodles), he forms this attachment where he always feels like he has to give back to others to make them stay (the already mentioned healing, the Miracle key arc (which i’ll get to), plus really wanting to help you out in the future while you’re rescuing Suzie).

This could also tie back to his background as the son of Charles. The bullying he endures is obviously rooted in him being “DoodleCo Jr.,” so he tries to defy this image of a spoiled brat when he’s surrounded by people (you and your friends) who see him as a person.

Then again, the Miracle Key arc shows him join forces with DoodleCo again. I see this as him falling back into old habits when he was reliant off the company’s luxuries, but it seems he only joins their “side” because of TJ doing so first; if TJ hadn’t done so, it’s very likely he would’ve stuck by our side.

So I see his decision based either one of these two factors or both:

1. Quincy understands how TJ must feel. He knows what it’s like to be perceived as something you’re not (universal anomaly; spoiled brat). Not to mention it’s eluded to in game of the twos’ character arcs ironically paralleling one another (Quincy starts as a rude only to become kinder at the same time TJ to become more rude, their worst attitudes both based in the expectations placed onto them).

(it’s also funny and weirdly poetic to think the person who is causing TJ’s torment and thus behavior would very well be a Quincy from the future / alternative timeline, Zavier)

This is why Quincy sticks by TJ’s side during the Miracle key arc and why it probably stung even more to feel like he lost him after he departed from the group and devolved into a worse person. And if this continues, we could see TJ become more horrid then Quincy was at the beginning of the game, which would be REALLY interesting to see.

2. That being said, another factor that could’ve influenced Quincy could possibly be him having a crush on TJ (ok listen).

The Frigid key arc shows TJ calling out your friend group for someone having a “crush” on someone. Now, if I’m being honest, this is probably referring to Quincy and Suzie, who very well could be endgame based off their bond strengthening PLUS helping Quincy get over his issues of abandonment, which is a theme that’s revisited at the beginning of this arc through Quincy falling back into old attitudes in the aftermath of TJ leaving.

However, from the perspective of those in favor of what seems to DW’s most popular ship (look on AO3, it’s yaoi slop central there), it’s possible this mysterious pairing is Quincy and TJ. Quincy claims that TJ is his best friend, and would add onto reason for him joining him during the Oasis key arc and could further tie into his need of helping others.

That being said, I see as being unlikely. If this pairing is to exist in any form, I’d see it more as being one-sided on Quincy’s behalf, giving so much of himself for TJ but never reciprocating anything from TJ (ah… toxic yaoi— checkmate Quilt shippers /j).

BUT YEAH uh that was a lot lollllll

(thank you @taruth3mighty for influencing me to vomit my doodle world thoughts)

[thewertsearch]

Asks Comp 4/8

The thing is, Davesprite's situation is more complicated than an unfulfilled time loop. His timeline isn't an irrelevant offshoot - in fact, it's integral to the existence of the Alpha Timeline, and presumably always was. Davesprite forms part of a weird, fully intact time loop which spans multiple timelines.

And since this is a future Dave, you have to assume he knows about Bro. The two clearly had a complicated relationship, but he's surely shaken by his death - if nothing else, it's a sign of how serious things have become.

That'll be a fun thing to check out when I've finished the comic! It reminds me of those Hunger Games simulators that were doing the rounds a couple of years ago.

That's true. Dave knows how strong the Underlings have become - and yet, he's still confident that Jade can stand up to them. Presumably she finds some sort of workaround for their First Guardian powers?

Sunslammer is so good! A standout song, even in a comic with as many bangers as this one.

Honestly, part of why I'm dragging my feet on the album reviews is because I want to hear these songs for the first time in context. If I'd heard Descend before watching Descend, I feel like it would have robbed the song of some of its dramatic weight.

I assumed it was just because witches are associated with frogs.

That would have explained why they're part of her Land, but I'm pretty sure that Kanaya's glitched planet was also a frog Land, and she's not a Witch, so...?

*The rest of Sal's response has been redacted, lest we fall once more into the Frog Theory Black Hole.*

I'm pretty sure that's a statue of Echidna, the mother of monsters and Jade's Denizen. Dave's probably close to LOFAF's Palace!

The Seer sees all - and sometimes, she understands the implications before we do.

It'd certainly be interesting. I just reread that conversation, and the biggest takeaway would have been that the kids were going to befriend the trolls, and get involved in their personal drama. This would certainly be consistent with the tone established by an Act 1 Hivebent!

Yup. Vriska was only able to 'create' Perfect Jack because Becquerel didn't object.

Really, he could have prototyped anything he liked, no matter what Vriska did. Even if she tried to shut the Entry down by incapacitating Jade, he could simply have activated the piñata himself.

I mean, that's basically what happened!

If any Aspect is geared around survival, then it's Feferi's. There's no breath left in her body, but our girl is still in the game!

Getting back to the trolls will be interesting, especially since - I assume - we'll be zipping back to when Feferi was still alive. The Veil is a much less friendly place, now - but does Feferi know this? What, exactly, is about to happen to the trolls?

I suppose. I guess there's no reason for every Carapacian to be created with knowledge of the Rings.

Actually, Sburb might not want them to know - Jack's probably not the only one who wouldn't respect the Ring's rules. There could be potential ringwielders out there who are far more dangerous.

Thank you! I feel like I've been doing a lot more character analysis in Act 5 versus previous Acts, where most of my speculation was about the lore. It's a fun change of pace.

Damn, I didn't think we'd actually be explaining these!

It's moments like these which really enhance the comic for me - justifications for things that I genuinely thought were just nitpicks on my part. It's really gratifying, honestly.

@thelegendofgreg asked: Here's some commentary from the jade enter flash, theres uh. alot to read but its all neat stuff "I talked about this way back, maybe even in an earlier book? Well, here I go again, so hold on to your ass. There are four entry items: Apple of knowledge, Bottle of wine, Crow's egg, Dog piñata. A, B, C, D. All of them are related to new life or new beginnings. You bite the apple, you fall from grace, enter a new world, begin this wild journey. You smash a bottle to christen a ship. An egg hatches, creating new life. You break a piöata to celebrate a birthday. Each involves breaking or puncturing something. Each involves a form of sustenance, or something to consume (piñatas have candy inside). Two are vessels for the substance (bottle, Piñata), two are the food items themselves (apple, egg), and one arguably counts as both (egg). Two of them drop from the same basic tree template (apple, piñata). They ramp up in complexity. John's is a simple test: bite the forbidden fruit. Not much to it. A single unit of departure, almost conceptually elemental, like an apple, as Rose goes on about later. The challenges get trickier. Rose has to break a bottle. Easy enough idea, but things go wrong, and she has to take a blind leap to get it done. A sacrificial gesture, and one of faith in a friend (Jaspers). Dave's is even more obscure. A simple test of patience, but one that's not clear. He isn't told what to do and just has to wait. Non-action is the key, and in a way it's another gesture of faith under dire circumstances. Finally, Jade's challenge incorporates a lot of these elements. It's another "blind faith" situation. She has to take a shot in the dark. There's a sacrificial gesture, but instead of risking herself (like Rose), Jade must symbolically sacrifice her friend via effigy and cannot complete the sacrifice without help from that friend. (Bec must redirect the bullet. There's no way this works if he doesn't.) It is also a signifier that the pet she knew as a friend her whole life is about to, in a way, become her enemy. Like a good dog gone bad, who now must be put down."

So they are all intended to be foodstuffs! And, apparently, alphabetical - although I think 'Crow's egg' is a bit of a stretch.

There are also themes of sacrifice and faith that I didn't really think about before. Choosing to enter Sburb at all, knowing the stakes, is absolutely a leap of faith - and it's a game which sacrifices your whole planet. Skaia's been telling us the score this whole time.

Homestuck absolutely deals with dark themes - but they start out buried under the surface, and even now, are still in the process of revealing themselves. This makes sense for Homestuck, a coming-of-age-story whose protagonists are slowly coming to terms with some dark truths about their lives.

Awful Hospital, however, immediately says: here's our protagonist. Her baby is dying. She just woke in a strange room. She doesn't know how she got here. Her baby has been stolen. There are monsters inside her brain. By the way, here's a quip, because this is actually a funny comic. It just felt... dissonant, and not in a fun way. I don't really know what it's going for, tonally.

Don't take this as a negative review, though! I only read a couple dozen pages, so I'm really not qualified to rate the comic - I just wasn't feeling it at the time, so I shelved it. I enjoy a lot of Bogleech's writing, and Awful Hospital's lore sounds pretty interesting, so I'll probably give it another shot at some point.

Not for the most part! I'm super into time travel stories, though, so I'm well-Primed to understand their intricacies.

So there might be intermittent stages between the four we've seen in the kids' session? That'd be interesting - I'd love to see the intermediary stage between John's 2D chessboard and Rose's 3D cube.

There are, at this point, too many awesome songs for me to pick favorites. Umbral Ultimatum and Sunslammer are excellent, but what songs aren't, at this point?

I can't imagine what we're in for when we reach the Act 5.2 finale...

Ooh, interesting. Considering how many accidental references Hussie seems to make, it's honestly up in the air whether that was intentional.

That said....

Jack is looking awfully divine these days.

I suppose Tavros has probably logged the most rocket-hours, yeah.

I'm sure all Breath Players probably learn to fly, unless there are some oddball classes which don't let you interact with your Aspect.

Anonymous asked: forwarding this message to you from someone who doesn't have a tumblr account. ~DJ "Important fact. Dave and Aradia both use musical instruments for time travel, but different ones. Aradia’s is a music box, it has a single prerecorded music, the only way to “play” it is to turn it so it plays the music that was always in it. Dave’s is turntables. They contain a preexisting music, but what you do with them is to jump, cut and shuffle this music, creating something new, having full control of it. - RM"

I like it! As Time Players, they both follow the set path of the Alpha Timeline - but Dave gets a little funky with it, multiplying himself with a complex series of time loops.

Aradia, ever the fatalist, instead turns to doomed clones for reinforcements. I don't think we've ever seen her make a stable loop.

[cloudofash]

Riku and Kairi are Still [Somewhat] Friends Even If They Had Instances Where They Treated One Another Poorly

Since I wrote my Article exploring Riku's Jealousy and Possessiveness and I covered the topic of how Riku and Kairi barely felt like real friends, I have received some feedback stating that my take was wrong to even one person saying it was a flat out "stupid idea". So I'd like to take the time to address that take and why I still stand by it.

First and foremost, I said in my initial article that Riku and Kairi still show that they care for one another and stated that they're still friends. I put the disclaimer there because I didn't want anyone to think that I didn't view them as friends. Re-reading that article I can see how I worded some things poorly since I kind of let my thoughts explode and barely proofread it (bad habit of mine) and the truth is that I ran out of characters for that article so I couldn't explain my thoughts further. My thoughts were convoluted and sloppy but so much time has passed I've decided to keep the article as is and add correction here.

----

I do think Riku and Kairi are still friends and have always been friends even if there is some tension between them.

I do think Riku still cares for Kairi and cares about her wellbeing.

When I wrote the article I was expressing my intial thoughts of how I perceived the two when I first played the game. To me, they hardly looked like friends. To me, it seemed Riku didn't care about Kairi at all. When I first played Kingdom Hearts I was fully grown, I went into this game viewing the characters through the eyes of an adult who had experience with problematic and toxic situations in friendships. That's what I was attempting to convey, my initial reaction as an adult who recognizes problematic behaviors.

I acknowledge I should have been clearer about separating my initial thoughts from my actual analysis after playing the game, because the two are not the same. My initial thoughts of Riku and Kairi were based on KH1 when the two were probably at their lowest, and I thought that they were either the worst kind of friends to one another or barely friends at all, but of course after playing the entire series I saw that no, these two characters do have instances where they care for one another.

Kairi opted to help reunite Sora and Riku in KH2 which is an incredibly selfless act on her part, considering she could have let Riku go and kept Sora's attention on herself but she knew Sora was being eaten alive by not knowing where Riku was. And she knew Riku was casting himself away because he was ashamed of himself. This moment from Kairi is to me, one of her best in the series because it shows that she genuinely does care about both boys and not just Sora.

However, we can not ignore that Kairi in KH1 wanted to leave Riku behind and take the raft HE built and run away with just Sora. She has developed as a character for sure, but my article was about Riku's Jealousy and Posessiveness was about Riku's initial darkness and downfall. We weren't really exploring the rest of the series even though I brought up some points from later games, I was focusing on the behavior of the characters initially in KH1. And in KH1, Kairi wasn't the good friend to Riku we saw her as in KH2. She tried to leave him behind because she sensed he was changing and falling into darkness. In KH1 it is established that Kairi didn't like and accept change, she was stuck in the past and wanted things to remain the same forever. And this in itself isn't bad behavior, but suggesting she and Sora run away and leave Riku behind IS problematic for someone who is supposedly Riku's friend.

However, being problematic or toxic doesn't mean you're not friends. It SEEMED that way to me because Kingdom Hearts 1 is our very first look at the Destiny Trio and it leads one to believe that they've always been that way, it was the first game and we had nothing else to go by. If you're constantly toxic and problematic then it's fair to assume you're either horrible friends or not friends at all. But if you and your friends are just going through a bad time, or if you fight and argue that doesn't mean you're toxic and awful friends. Your behaviors may be toxic and problematic, as Riku's and Kairi's were in regards to one another, but they were and are still friends just trying to deal with each others' changes or lack of change and their feelings for Sora.

However, I still stand 10 toes down in that Riku and Kairi's friendship is barely explored and that also plays into why they don't feel like true friends, rather they feel like two people who are friends because they share the same friend. We're told they're friends and we see some instances where they do care for one another which makes their friendship almost believable, but to me we're just not given enough between the two. This isn't, again, to say they're not friends, the story just doesn't explore their friendship enough because it spends so much time focusing on Sora and Riku's relationship. The series is about Sora and Riku after all, so that's most likely just how it'll be. KH4 seems to be re-enforcing Kairi on the sidelines with Riku running off to save Sora in Quadratum but we'll have to see what becomes of our Destiny Trio.

Hope that clears my initial article up a bit more!

[fangswbenefits]

Your post about twitter being morons hit my analysis nerd button. So I gonna ramble here a bit if that's okay;; it's probably going to get long >.>

The thing that people seem to be flagrantly ignoring is the difference between a Villain and an Antagonist. Because while they tend to overlap in a lot of media, they're quite different things. An Antagonist is at its base someone who is in contention with or opposes another (and in literary situations is in specific opposed to our protagonist). A Villain has multiple definitions, those being a character who opposes the hero of the story, a deliberate scoundrel or criminal, or the one blamed for a particular sort of evil. There is overlap, but not every antagonist is a villain (kind of like every square is a rectangle, but not every rectangle is a square)

Now, the big thing is, both villains and antagonists can be traditionally good, evil or anywhere in between which pulls even bigger sets of nuance to it.

So let's look at Spiderverse. We've got a lot of antagonists in this movie, but really only two villains. Because only two characters are acting out of pure malace. And that is The Spot, and The Vulture. Both are out there deliberately harming others, causing destruction. Now looking at antagonists, technically, most characters in this movie could be considered antagonists at some point or another toward one of our main protagonists, Miles. (Gwen is also a protagonist, but since my focus is gonna be on Miguel, we're looking at Miles)

Miguel O'Hara is 100% an antagonist. No ifs ands or buts about it. But he is not a villain or evil or whatever else people want to say. He's a morally gray character, with generally good intentions though somewhat questionable methods (and a rather ends justify the means and pragmatic approach which is an interesting choice for a spiderman). His actions are, as he believes them to be, what is required to save billions of lives. That is not the sort of thing a villain or someone who is evil would do.

His methods have a level of brutality to them for sure (and I think it actually makes for an interesting juxtaposition between his antagonism vs the antagonism of Mile's parents. On one hand, you have smothering in an attempt to save the world from the individual, on the other, to protect the individual from the world), but these methods are to his mind what is necessary to save lives. That certainly doesn't excuse them, but it makes for a logical line of motivation. Something else that makes for a generally logical line of thinking in how illogical it is (to me at least) is that I would bet money on this man having never gotten the sort of counseling you need after a massive trauma. (Namely from anecdotal evidence, though don't worry I'm much better now :D). Because is just. Does things to you. Especially if there's guilt involved.

(Uh. I had more but it's getting close to time for me to sleep so now the words are vanishing on the wind TnT rkfjdsjk, sorry)

💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

[noelle666]

Heinrix van Calox - a collection of headcanons

I was thinking about headcanons for Heinrix for some time after rewatching his romance dialogues for several times (to search details I might've missed), thinking about his life before the events of Rogue Trader. So I am making a little collection of them.

Warning! These thoughts are fanfiction/headcanon, some of them may be close to what we see in game (or maybe even repeat some events), some of them related to my RT Noelle (because they are in relationships and of course it is a great base for fan thoughts) and maybe to Maarden too. So please don't take them seriously. =) I think I'll be adding new thought to this post from time to time if I come up with something new.

As I mentioned in this post it was not necessary to remove Heinrix's psyker implants he recieved after completion of his training - he was stripped down of them because Calcazar wanted to test his new acolyte, to see if he is good and strong (and maybe stubborn) enought to recover himself.

Heinrix doesn't waste his powers on small things, like shaving, but he is very picky about his hair (as Tanakia mentioned in chapter 5), so he controls his haircut.

He sees dreams almost every night. He tried to use different technics to sort of "discipline" his slumber because even after many years he still from time to time sees dreams about his past which trigger different emotions he would like to forget on one hand, but on the other they make Heinrix overthink the events of his whole life. This overthinking and analysis makes him "alive", it reminds him he is not emotionless servitor but his longing for home and sisters can be very distractful. Over the years Heinrix learnt not to dive deep into those thoughts.

Heinrix's and Noelle's hearts literally beat in unison but only under specific circumstances: when two of them are together and no one else is around or if one of them is nervous and the other one is near (the heart beat of the one who is calm sort of affects the other one's). Heinrix knows about this detail, he noticed it during Commorragh events: he thinks Tervantias the Archmachinator did something to both him and Noelle. Probably during his experiments he somehow learnt the interrogator has feelings towards Lord Captain (maybe Heinrix was screaming Noelle's name while being tortured and/or something else related to her, or maybe the haemunculus used Idira's telepathic skills to read Heinrix's mind before putting his monstrous device on her). At first Heinrix was worried that such effect could cause a lot of trouble especially if it is permanent and can work on long distances, so he started his observation and research. After discovering that only some conditions are needed to trigger this unison effect, Heinrix felt some relief (but he is still cautious and makes notes about anything unusual).

Heinrix is a tactile and a touch-starved person. Most of a time he distances himself from physical contact because it is not necessary at his work field, plus during his psyker training the discipline was very strict: don't touch if you are not allowed, dont speak if your are not asked, don't look if you are not ordered to do so. He thought he got used to it; even brief contacts with women who were his short-term lovers, did not trigger strong emotional reaction and desire for developing long serious relationships (mostly both parties from the very start new it is only an affair and all were comfortable with it). In the situation with the rogue trader Noelle von Valancius everything was different: she sincerely wanted to know Heinrix better, step by step, she sincerely started to sympathize with him after learning what he had to go through, she saw him as a human being with his own desires and feelings and never treated him as the Inquisition's tool. When Noelle kissed Heinrix at her Magnae Accesio ceremony, the interrogator felt something he never felt before, a pure bright feeling, so strong it could've broken you into pieces and revived the moment after. At this very moment he wanted time to stop, he wanted to never let Noelle go (warmth of her body and lips were something he desperately needed as he realized some time after) and at the same time he experience fear which was as strong as this new emotion born thanks to a woman next to him. Heinrix tried to use all his discipline skills to put out the flames in his chest but eventually realised he failed. Between the ceremony and Commorragh events, Noelle and Heinrix played regicide couple of times, and after each party he was holding Lord Captain's hand in his hands for some time and then he was kissing each of her fingers. In responce Noelle was caressing his cheek: a little gesture, but very important for someone who wanted to feel real human warmth, real touch. After some time, when the two of them developed stronger and deeper relationships and started to share a bed, Heinrix allowed himself to satisfy his "touch hunger" during long foreplays (and Noelle was not against it, on a contrary - they both enjoyed mutual touches with hands, fingers and lips).

Neither Heinrix, nor Noelle never could've thought their first intimate moment would be spent in one of the most cursed places of the galaxy, but both of them agreed - now or never. The place was not the most comfortable: no proper bed, eyes are everywhere, the time they could've shared together was terribly short and both of them were not in the best shape, so they had to act as fast and cautious as possible. Heinrix noticed bruises and scars on Noelle's body (the result of Tervantias and Malice's "surgeries"); this view broke his heart, he couldn't hold himself: he started covering Lord Captain's wounds with kisses while using his powers for healing. Noelle felt cold breath of Heinrix and asked him to stop and to not wasted his talent on her, especially after the torture he survived, but the interrogator only shaked his head: "I cannot just look at you and do nothing. I know we do not have much time now, but please, allow me to heal your wounds. I promissed to help you and be here for you and this is a part of it". In the end, when Heinrix finished his job, they still had time for intimacy. When Noelle and Heinrix were spending their first "proper" night together in Lord Captain's quarters, the interrogator inspected his beloved's body: he was looking at her silently and very attentively checking if all her wounds are healed and to make sure he hasn't missed one.

At first Heinrix didn't really like a company of Maarden: the interrogator found the pyromancer annoying because of his almost endless desire for chatting. After some time two psykers became more open and friendly towards of each other: Maarden explained why he acts as he acts and reduced the degree of his blabbering and Heinrix helped his "collegue" with some technics when Maarden's telepathic powers became stronger. From time to time Maarden was allowed to enter the interrogator's quarters and talk to him on different topics while two of them were drinking recaf.

Heinrix bears a great amount of self hatred. He learnt to suppress it over the years, he almost forgot about it but the problem was always there. Noelle's attitude towards him, her strong empathy, love and sympathy opened old wounds, cleansed them and helped them to start a process of healing: Heinrix slowly started to understand he can show his "weak" sides and not to be judged. Noelle become his "home", her quarters now are the safest place, hence when the "breach" happened whole Heinrix's being, his instincts automatically led him to his beloved's room. He experienced animal terror when Lord Captain was not found in her quarters, he started to call her mentality even understanding it will have no effect since he is not a telepathist, but the sound of her name in his head brought some comfort and helped the interrogator to focus for some time and not be swallowed by ice.

[hobiebrownismygod]

hELLO, maybe you would like to write an analysis about the color palettes that appear on Hobi throughout the film and his emotions? we would be interested to hear someone else's point of view on this topic👀 /g, srs

Hey, I already wrote an analysis on Hobie turning pink around Miles and Maydays, which you can access here, but the rest of the colors are pretty hard to explain. He only switches between about 5 or 6 different color palettes throughout the movie, but the idea that they could be symbolic of something is very interesting. Below are some of my personal opinions on what the meaning behind a few of these different palettes could be.

Black and White - SERIOUS:

I think that Hobie turns to a monochrome color palette in serious situations or when he is serious. The two main times we see him turning black and white are right before being blown up in Mumbattan and right before they enter the portal to headquarters.

Right before the collider blows up, we see Hobie turn black and white for a second, which I believe symbolizes his sudden switch in personality from the quippy, in action spiderman, to a more serious side. It could even be his spider-sense working, signifying his body's reaction to knowing that it was going to blow up if that makes sense.

Hobie turns black and white again to symbolize the fact that he knows whats going to happen in headquarters and whats going to happen to Miles' dad. You can also see how his demeanor changes slightly when his eyes widen right before Miles leaves his grasp. He grabs his face in annoyance because he knows that Miles doesn't know what the Spider Society is actually about.

He was also black and grey in this scene, which was a pretty intense and serious scene, so I thought I might add that in

Dark Blue and Spider-man colors - Fight Scenes

From what I've seen, in 90% of the saving Mumbattan scene, Hobie was a dark blue color.

He also turns into the original Spider-man colors

These are the main color schemes I recognized when I watched the movie, and I think they're also the ones that have real symbolic meaning behind them, but I'm sure there's even more. The animators put so much time and effort into his design and I could watch his scenes thousands of times and never get bored!

Now its important to recognize that he's not black and white in every serious scene and he's not dark blue in every fight scene, but the fact that he's mainly these color schemes in specific moments has to have some kind of hidden meaning.

There's more scenes that I didn't include, so next time you watch the movie, keep an eye out for his color scheme cuz you'll probably be able to recognize it!

I might add onto this list as time goes on, but for now these are the only two I could find enough scenes to analyze <3