#the ancient magus bride theory

[boneheads-pet-idiot]

My brain is slowly turning to sludge from trying to understand how Elias's body could possibly work based on the little information we've been given so far.

So we know that he doesn't really have organs, as he says so himself at the beginning of the college arc and even states later on that he doesn't go to the bathroom.

These statements are backed up by the fact that when he splits himself there's no flesh or blood inside, just weird flowing shadows.

However, we see him eat and drink regularly, so like, where the fuck does it go? If he doesn't have guts and by extension no excretory processes, what happens to the food he eats??

We've seen that he has a sort of pocket dimension situation inside himself both when he threw his tantrum about Stella and when Chise's friends needed transportation alongside Chise during the red dragon incident.

It's also stated that Zaccheroni is "too big" to easily be transported into the space (though Elias may have just tied him to the wall for the kids safety and was bending the truth here). It's very unclear what purpose this pocket dimension actually serves for him.

I can't imagine that it's part of his biological processes in any way based on the fact that it seems like a small room made of wood and with the exception of the tongues(?) that he restrained Chise with, nothing in there looks like part of an organ.

Which sort of leaves it a complete mystery as to how this man even eats. I know he isn't just pretending to eat Silkie's food and puking it up later because she would kill him for disrespecting her cooking like that. Maybe it just gets sort of absorbed by the shadowy goop inside him? His stupid nonsense anatomy pisses me off so bad

[thornswoggled]

yori is fumiki and heres why: my manifesto

or: wait, we werent all on the same page about this?

i should have written this when i first read chapter 98, but im only getting around to it now. this is less me trying to convince you, the reader, and more hoarding all my collected thoughts on why yori is absolutely fumiki, if its a red herring its a silly one, and if he isnt or if its left ambiguous forever i will eat crow. here we go:

before i start let me say most of my evidence is the way yamazaki frames him visually rather than solid "proof." comics are an artform, theres a reason things get framed the way they do, and her artistic choices in ch 98 (i feel) are meant to serve as a big blinking neon light that says "you should be feeling this way about xyz right now"

iic, there were rumblings of "the young auditor" being fumiki as far back as his introduction in ch 51 due to to his unique ability:

which is essentially a refined version of fumikis innate ability to keep fae away. we know yori is part of a "family business," and it seems appropriate that with the proper training, he would be able to freeze fae in their tracks rather than simply ward them off

unfortunately this is where "evidence" ends and "vibes" begin

chapter 51 didnt get adapted into what was otherwise a pretty faithful adaptation in season 2, and i understand why - theres a lot going on, and this chapter is fairly out of left field. but theres one other quip that got left out of season 2:

this is a one-off thought that wouldnt have been difficult to include in the anime. imo, i believe this line from ch 62 didnt get animated because we hadnt met fumiki yet like we did in the manga. now, onto more recent chapters... (under a read more because this is going to get pretty long)

chise and yoris first meeting is framed in a very purposeful way. in chapter 98, elias is preoccupied with ousting all the outsiders so that he and chise can be alone, stuck on the idea that "christmas is for family only:"

and three pages later, who do we meet?

im really struck by the way chise and yori are drawn together here. personally, i dont read this as "chise is meeting a new unimportant side character," this is "the strings of fate have pulled us miraculously back together again"

waiter! waiter! can i get an order of drifting sakura petals and sparkles with this panel? am i waxing poetic here or do you see it? the way theres no background drawn here, no other characters, even in later pages when we know elias is standing right behind chise, he doesnt get included in frame so that its just the two of them:

while im at it, can we appreciate how theyre wearing the same outfit? black pants and a hip-length dark coat/sweater with oversized pockets, a collar, and six left-sided buttons. yoris dark gloves also evoke chises cursed arm here but i dont want to risk looking like a maniac any more than i already do. i mean... dude, look at them, theyre matching

speaking of matching, lets pop back to 51 for a sec

both yori and chise have canine familiars! actually, it looks like yori might have multiple - look at all those pokeballs i mean bamboo tubes in his coat. if my memory serves, we didnt know yori was japanese at this point, but everyone assumed so because of the appearance of this familiar... which was another log on the "this might be fumiki" fire

fun fact: this little dude is almost certainly a kuda-kitsune, which were said to be kept in tubes and summoned by a soothsayer, who could use it to perform curses, or tell the past and future

and the drama with which we find out his "name":

"i bet you were expecting me to say fumiki, huh. good luck im not giving you that this early you have to work for it." as far as aliases go, "ri" could be derived from "hatori," but neither of the kanji in "fumiki" can be read as "yo," so its probably just random

after yori leaves, we get another repetition of "christmas is for family," which at this point feels like yamazaki is leading us to water and dunking our head in it:

i think its awfully convenient that ruth was absent for chises exchange with yori. do you think he would have been able to smell that theyre related? or whiffed the kuda-kitsune in his coat?

right after this, too, we get this line from elias which i have been thinking about a lot:

theres a few different ways this could be read, so im not married to any one interpretation, but it could be foreshadowing "if chise decides to pursue a relationship with her estranged family, what will i do then?" as gabriella would say, "i hate to be a third wheel"

given what we have seen of yoris aloof personality, i have to imagine there will be drama if/when the reveal is made. sadly i can picture him actually pushing chise away if she tries to reestablish a relationship with him

now! that is pretty much where my thoughts end, but i do want to share questions/doubts i have:

if yori read all of simons reports to determine he was an unfit observer, there is no way he doesnt know chises full name. i wonder whether he had any reaction to it? he may assume that its just a coincidence. i briefly wondered if the hatori name was an invention by yuuki, until i remembered that the family chise stays with in the OVA also has the same name. unless yuuki was adopted by another family like seth...? dont mind me, im going pepe silvia mode over here

have i mentioned i talked about yuuki before in another theory post? take it with a grain of salt, i already got proven wrong on one front now that jasper has been introduced

will yuuki be reintroduced if fumiki is? i desperately want chise to get that closure, but this scene from ch 42 has a sense of finality to it, a sort of "you will never get to resolve things with your father or see his side of things" stank:

... actually, now that ive mentioned the kuda-kitsune, can we look at this thing again?

another word for the kuda-kitsune is "izuna," which is read in modern japanese as "weasel." could the critter whos watching yuuki here come from the same place as yoris familiars? yuuki leaves his family immediately after this - getting summoned maybe?

okay, okay, let me stop myself here before i start looking like im ranting and raving. can we talk about the mail, please, mac? ive been dying to talk about the mail with you all day, ok? "pepe silvia," this name keeps coming up over and over again. every day pepe's mail is getting sent back to me. pepe silvia! pepe silvia! i look in the mail, and this whole box is pepe silvia!

if youre a fence-sitter, what are your thoughts? do you think we just dont have enough evidence yet? inquiring minds want to know

[junijupi]

ELIAS TONGUE THEORY (don't scroll away this isn't weird I swear)

Why does Elias, "I don't have any internal organs," Ainsworth have a tongue?

Tongues are organs. They stimulate your taste. But Elias has no organs, and no brain to interpret those signals. There's a whole bit in season 2 where he talks about how he doesn't experience senses the way other creatures do.

Elias splits his whole face in half to see Chise, and the tongue was nowhere to be seen when that was happening. So it's not an essential part of his being or anything.

It's also not for talking, bc he just opens his mouth and words come out. What.

What purpose does the tongue serve?? i'm talking beyond the ..obvious.. aesthetic appeal stuff.

"oo it's for healing!" there is no WAY that the most convenient healing spell Elias has is in his saliva. Do you know how inconvenient that is? Do you how how PLOT convenient that is??

There's also no way the tongue healing thing is just something he's born with either, because his ability to form relationships isn't a natural one. Why would he have a natural ability to heal others through close contact when his entire being is so deeply rooted in destruction? He looks horrifying in his natural form. He looks insane

On that note.. Why does he even want to eat humans? Why does he crave them? That insinuates that they taste good, which means he has a tongue, but he still doesn't have a brain. Idk

Either

a: Elias does have a brain, but the only stimuli it can sense is taste for some weird reason.

b: He purposefully altered his form to have a tongue, (if this is true, when did he do this?? was it when he met Lindel, Rahab, or Chise?)

c: he just is born with a healing tongue and no other organs for some reason

d: noticed Lindel and Rahab had it and just.. automatically gave himself a tongue , without really thinking about what it does, and uses it primarily as a tool. "ooh, i can use this to apply healing to my allies! brilliant!! and totally not sexually charged at all! Plus, I'll look more human!"

i'm so confused help me

[clau1r9i]

looking at the tags every day and seeing that there's nothing new and suddenly I find a very long theory

[lilyjigglypuff]

Mahō tsukai no yome

The longest day has an end

[robinmage]

ch99 spoielrs

had to go looking for this post

SO WHAT IS HE, KORE? WHY DO THE FAE SHUN HIM AND CALL HIM A HALF-ASSED FAILURE, KORE? WHY DOES HE FEEL IN INNATE NEED TO BE AROUND HUMANS, KORE?

[slowthypiglordblr]

Since Svfoe, it has been a long standing tradition for female protagonists to undergo a “Super hero transformation” in the final hour. Will Luz Noceda get her time to shine in the Finale?

(yes, this also ties with my Titan theory)

[angstandhappiness]

Interesting

im kind of neutral on the idea of elias being originally a human who got cursed or some shit But

how based would it be if it turned out his female glamour was his original self

[mae-i-scribble]

Since I am entirely too unwell about Ancient Magus Bride at all times of the day I have decided to break down the latest opening because I cannot do so for the friend I am watching season 2 with since she hasn't read the manga. Hands down this latest opening, Nemurasareta Lineage by Junna, is the best in the series to me. And I don't make that claim lightly, the first opening is iconic on so many levels from the visual to the lyrics, we ignore the 2nd opening bc it sucked (sorry to the fans out there I just do my best to pretend this one doesn't exist, no i have not moved on from my bitterness at its reused animation since 2016 next question), and season 2's first opening is also incredible.

However, what this latest opening brings to the table is some of the most spectacular visuals I've seen in a hot minute- and I don't mean from purely visual, I mean thematically, this opening is fucking spectacular. Every single moment has purpose and meaning behind it.

I will be putting the rest under a read more as to not clog anyone's dash bc this is gonna be l o n g

Starting off from the very first shot we already have so much thematic meaning crammed into this.

Firstly, the shot of Elias opening the book has many connotations, alluding to how he has read the Testament of Carnamagos while also alluding to the fact that him reading that book is ultimately what lead to this story happening at all. If Elias had never read it to try and transfer Chise's curse, Chise would not have done what she did and Elias wouldn't have learned how to let Chise be independent, and then Chise never would have gone to the college. In that respect it's a perfect opener for this "play," as it was the prelude to this act.

Then we have the next shot of Elias hanging like a puppet, showing us an empty vessel-like appearance before being pulled upwards. There are a lot of different ways to interpret this, personally it drew me back to how the Wil O' Wisp described a magus as "someone bound to their fate." Elias, a tried and true magus, is bound to his fate like a puppet on a string while Chise, someone who is not yet fully a magus is free to walk around the stage as herself. Elias' removal from the set, and subsequently the way he claps to bring forth the next "acts" in the show, I think speaks to the way he is largely removed from this arc. Of course he is there, watching over Chise and pushing her along as best he can, but he has very much taken more of a spectator role in this arc. He guides his pupil the best he can but lets her make her own choices.

Now, onto Chise's entrance.

With the college/the sorcerer's society as our stage, the protagonist enters. Chise walks in and looks around confused, just as she did when first entering the college and when she first learned of the dark politics lying underneath it. She is the only one not a part of the performance, the one factor that ultimately destroys the narrative the Sargent and the Rickenbacker families were trying to create.

At first, I thought these cardboard figures were a representation of the 7 powerful sorcerer families we are introduced to, but then I realized there were actually 8 figures so that theory is thrown out the window. This is something I'm not actually that confident in so if anyone else has interpretations I am so down to hear it. Obviously the woman in red holding the spider alludes to Lucy. The wolf next to her is most likely then the werewolf mother. The hooded man with the hammer I think can reasonably represent Isaac. While the knight beside him I honestly see as Rian (his sort of knight in shining armor attitude when it comes to Philomela, his very straight-laced straightforward view of things). The nun-like figure with the owl is mostly likely representing Philomela/Lizabeth Sargent. I can see the jester with the snake wrapped around him to be Zoey. For the last two figures though, I am absolutely stumped. The two women with the songbird remind me of Veronica, from the way she was raised up by her family to be a bird in a cage while simultaneously holding Philomela in an even smaller cage. For the family on the far right though I have absolutely nothing. However, I know there is some meaning behidn it, this opening is too packed with symbolism for it not to.

Speaking of symbolism, the sequence that follows is chalked full of it.

Elias ushers in the entrance of Philomela, trapped in her cage. The design of the cage and the flowers around it make it seem extravagant, exactly what Philomela's life might look like to someone not aware of what's really going on. But a cage is still a cage, and this one comes with a guardian owl, keeping watch over Philomela in place of actually showing Lizabeth. The toys lining the bottom are representative of one of the key moments that made Philomela realize just how tight the bars around her were- that she would never have her grandmother's love, no matter what she did.

Then we cut to moments of Philomela's childhood, again deceptively happy with what we know of Veronica and how she treated Philomela. The baby bird hatching from the egg, Philomela when she was still young and innocent and far too fragile. This association of the baby bird with Philomela also comes back later in a heartbreaking way so :')

Then Chise reaches out with the potpourri, and Philomela becomes alive. It's so fitting, in that Chise's kindness to Philomela, the understanding she has to exactly the pain Philomela is going through, is what touches Philomela so deeply, reminds her of the time where her life was not structured in this way. Chise gives her hope that it doesn't have to be, Chise pulls her out of it and gives her a perch to stand on, and it all began with one fateful meeting.

The shot we get of Chise smiling and swaying in the breeze is all too perfect, in showing that this desire for connection is mutual.

Fittingly, we then see Chise reach out to her friends one by one. Lucy and Zoe's each have a bit more meaning behind them, as we're still somewhat in the dark when it comes to Rian and Isaac's histories, but it still examplifies the ways in which Chise tries to help those around her as best she can. It also makes it abundantly clear why Philomela, and subsequently everyone else, are presented as children in this sequence: a direct reference to chapters 86-87 in which they all are mixed up due to Chise's influence and Chise goes around helping them regain themselves. It marks the turning point in which Philomela tries to take a stand against her grandmother and start believing in the people who have come to try and save her.

There is one gaping hole in this in that Zoey is in fact, not present at all in the whole mind melding thing, but I'm taking that as the animators/directors wanting to include him in this sequence as another main player. Plus the shot we get of him is very cheeking in showing a broken shell- in the way Chise figurative helped him break out of his shell and very literally revealed him to be a gorgon/human mix by accident.

In that interpretation it is also crucial to think about why Chise was kept as her teenage self and not also scaled down to baby form as in the original chapter. But overall keeping her as a teenager flows with the story of the opening itself better while still keeping those same allusions and thematics.

The next big shot to talk about is this one right here.

Many have already pointed out how it is an homage to the classical painting "The School in Athens." Which is very fitting for the college setting of this arc. More so than the reference itself, the way in which the characters are placed is so meaningful.

We have Chise in the center of it all as the catalyst of course. But we once more get that repetition of Elias as a bystander, observing the situation while remaining more in the background when it comes to Chise. Parallel to him is Lizabeth, who is similarly an outsider but with none of Elias' good nature, she is an outsider in that she wants to watch this scene burn to the ground (and probably why the choice was to then introduce a werewolf who leaps forwards on the attack, still under Lizabeth's control.)

Ruth and Alcyone are also parallel to one another, highlighted in a shot mirroring the two of them. This is interesting in that Alcyone is far more often paired with Elias when being given a point of comparison. While she is quite literally an artificial familiar, her presence is what sparks the idea that Elias might be something similar to her, and yet here she is paired with Ruth. They do have their similarities in the way they would do anything for the person they live for. A thought that struck me was in this mirroring there is also a contrast, Ruth shares his life with Chise, if he dies she is to die as well. However Alcyone's death was meant to be a way for Philomela to live- it was crucial in ensuring Philomela's freedom from her grandmother.

Also notably, Veronica is given a long, lingering shot. As a child, she is far more innocent looking, but the shot stays just a moment too long, as if trying to confirm the suspicions surrounding her (which manga readers will know are true). We also have Jasmine and Violet prominently featured, a very interesting choice considering how little a role they play in this arc, but I feel that current suspicions about how they will have a large role in the upcoming arc might be supported by their presence here. There actually isn't much to say about the shots with the werewolf and our first glimpse of how the show portrays the Testament as it gains a physical form.

While gorgeous there's just not much to say about them from an analytical standpoint. Besides for the way in which everyone is turned back into their play forms upon being killed, as if that was their original fate before Chise's interference with the story.

We then see Chise look devastated, the carnage of her dead friends behind her on the stage. It truly captures just how terrified she is of losing people she cares for. But then she looks at the thorn rune- plot relevant in the way her rune charms protected her friends from being killed. But it's also Elias' symbol, and yet another reminder of how he is still watching over and protecting her throughout all of this. It's only after she activates the magic that she looks up, determined to carry on and change this fate.

The start of our final action sequence for this opening is a bang, giving us this chaotic shot.

We see both bits of the classical painting and of our original stage figures being tossed around in the background referencing how the Testament literally rips its way through both the college itself and the students/teachers there. It also, notably, is not contained within the story, instead existing on the same plane as Chise. It's a being far too powerful to be contained in such a way, so it makes perfect sense for it not to be confined to the theatrical setting of this opening.

The next flash of shots is perhaps one of the most hearbreaking ones in this entire opening. First we're shown Philomela and her grandmother, then we cut to this:

Y'all the layers to this, the l a y e r s. We've already seen this bird represent Philomela in the opening itself as a hatchling. However the adult form of this bird is exactly the same as what Alcyone's base is, it is the only thing remaining once Alcyone dies. However we see all 3 stages of life here, lying dead on the ground. The Sargent family is a family of abusive cycles. Lizabeth passes down her abuse to her son, having been doomed to this path from the moment she was born. It's Adam who tries to break the cycle but ultimately fails, choosing to end his own life rather than return. This dooms his baby daughter to the same fate, nearly killing her as well. It's Alcyone, the last remaining gift Philomela has from her father and the one way he thought of to keep her safe even if he was gone. It's both about the cycles and about how they are broken and how Philomela will never truly escape the violence of the family she was born into, even after her grandmother is gone. This is then followed by the 1 picture of her parents that Philomela tries so hard to remember but cannot. Anyways I am going to be physically ill, next.

While the last sequence is just a build up to the final fight (cool as fuck but again, not much to say analytically), I do want to point out that when the Testament pulls in all the surrounding settings, it pulls in both the theatrical characters and the actual representations of Chise's friends with them. Which is such a cool little detail my jaw in on the fucking floor.

And after a brilliantly animated scene of Chise running to try and save Philomela from the jaws of this monster, everything abruptly comes to a close. Leaving us unsure of whether or not Philomela was truly saved, as the last set piece to fall away is that gilded cage, the angle making it unclear if Philomela is still inside before our title card appears. The quiet, peaceful shot of the classroom the title lingers over in favor of the chilling set pieces of the opening before it is an excellent place to end, leaving that sense of urgency and notions of the sinister lying in wait at the college.

All of this, and I haven't even touched on the lyrics- which I won't do so here. I am not a qualified translator and frankly this post is long enough as it is. It isn't as if this opening needs anything else to explain how fucking fantastic it is- the visuals themselves are stunning on a level few openings are these days. Not only does it tie into already existing thematics of the show, not only does it go through plot points we have seen and those yet to come in unique and engaging ways, the opening *itself* brings forth its own thematic reading of the college arc and Chise's place in it while telling its own story of events. Truly a masterclass piece of animation all around.

[thornswoggled]

on chises family, “a storm brewing in the east,” and future arcs

[ive written this post before, but its due for a refresh. now that jasper has been introduced, the whole last half of that post is moot, and i have additional thoughts on chika as well as more context on my thoughts on yori.]

now that fumiki is back in the picture, id like to theorize that yuuki hatori will soon follow. [see post: yori is fumiki and heres why.] more attention being paid to chises life in japan [ch 50, 75], chise wondering why her father “abandoned his role" [ch 57], and elias expressing curiosity over the circumstances that led her to meet seth [ch 74] are all hints towards yuukis story coming to light

one thing TAMB does that i love is how tertiary characters are facsimiles meant to help us understand our main characters. for example, all the dysfunctional pairs we see in the first arc that we are meant to compare and contrast elias and chise to, all in various ways that help us understand the ways their relationship might evolve. these minor characters may seem unimportant, but are preparing us to accept developments in the main cast. i believe there are two characters in the college arc that are prepping us for yuuki hatoris story - seth noel and adam sargent

lets first address fumiki, who ill just call yori. yori seems to have mastery over his eyes, which “have the power to bind [fae]” according to gabriella [ch 51]. this is a power both he and yuuki have, which protects chise and chika for a time. however, chika implies that he didnt always have this ability, or perhaps didnt have the sight at all until he became involved with her. which is strange, considering yori has a “family business” important enough to require he study abroad to train for:

[sources: ch 19, ch 98]

(id like to note that this line about training is almost certainly a result of his "reeducation" in italy, as we already know that his true purpose was to audit and replace simon. but i think theres at least a kernel of truth to it)

lets run with the idea that yuuki started off with weak or nonexistent powers. have any other men in this series been booted from their families because they lacked the skill?

[source: ch 63]

its possible that this “family business,” assuming it exists in truth and is not a fabrication of yoris brainwashing (which i dont think it is, considering he seems specialized in exorcism), eventually learned that yuuki acquired his binding powers, as well as a child with the same ability. again, are there are other men who are forcibly dragged back to their family, to the detriment of their young daughters?

[source: ch 83]

theres a few reasons why i think such care and time was put into the backstory of philomelas family. chise has done much of the character growth thats possible for her at this time, and attempts to “fix” philomela as a way of fixing herself. she projects on her, and for good reason too, since we are meant to compare them almost 1:1. i believe that the amount of time sunk into adam sargents story is meant to warm us up to understanding yuukis situation, regardless of whether we are meant to forgive him for his abandonment. seths story, too, introduces us to the idea of magical families booting their unworthy kin. which leads us to:

[source: ch 42]

going back to the screencap for the beginning, lets give yuuki the benefit of the doubt and assume hes being truthful when he promises hell be back one day. this phrasing is really interesting, and i feel like it implies yuuki knows the place hes going is dangerous. if hes returning to his family, or to some sort of organization (which i say because yori is part of the church), perhaps hes afraid that theyll be taken advantage of. or… maybe he was just lying! there is very little we understand about the church, so there are all manner of reasons why yuuki and yori may have ended up involved with them

regardless of reason, i dont believe that yuuki left because he wanted to. rather, i think he was being summoned. lets look at this little fae that appears twice, just pages apart:

[source: ch 42]

this weasel-like creature appears as soon as yuuki gets home in the first instance, and appears again immediately before yuuki packs up to leave. it looks distinctly different from the abstract, blight-like monsters that trail this family day to day, and id like to theorize that it is specifically keeping tabs on yuuki. in my theory post about yori, i wrote that the fox yori keeps in a tube [ch 51] is a kuda-kitsune, a sort of familiar kept by soothsayers. another word for this type of creature is 飯���, or izuna, which is read in modern japanese as... the least weasel! yamazaki has solidified her reputation as someone who doesnt shirk on research, and i think this linguistic connection is enough to suppose whether the weasel that summons yuuki home came from the same source as yoris familiar

now, to discuss something i neglected to mention in the first version of this post. the ways in which we can compare philomelas and chises families doesnt end with yuuki. not only is alcyone a sort of elias, but iris is a sort of chika. id like to start with noting that iris' backstory of having been sold by her parents is a reflection of the original backstory yamazaki wrote for chise in the first drafts of TAMB. the dregs of chises old backstory finally gets used when iris' story is revealed:

[sources: merkmal, ch 83]

iris and chika are two mothers who deeply love their children, but are doubtful that they will be able to protect them when it counts:

[sources: ch 83, ch 42]

this next part might be a little controversial, but id like to take a look at the scene when chika snaps. specifically, the way her inner voice is framed:

[source: ch 42]

the black mist that we see in the apartment is similar to other depictions of malevolent magical energy weve seen before, such as the blight elias creates just one chapter before in ch 41 when he languishes over chise leaving him. it also seems to be pouring in from the same window where we've seen the weasel hanging out. the way chikas intrusive thoughts are depicted as a separate, shadowy figure is also remarkably similar to chises inner voice that tells her to kill the nucke-lavee:

[source: ch 61]

its possible that the voice that urges chika to kill chise is coming from somebody else entirely. like how chises curse[s] urge her to violence, i think theres a chance that someone wanted chise and chika to die, but didnt want to get their hands dirty. after all, if the family yuuki left behind died, he would stop trying to leave to reunite with them or retrieve them. being able to frame their deaths as a result of his abandonment would also be great manipulation fodder if he was summoned to wherever he went against his will

to be a naysayer of my own theory, i think it would cheapen chikas death if it turned out that she was not wholly responsible for her own actions. it would also make chises refusal to forgive her less impactful if it... literally wasnt her fault. but the way her attempt to kill chise is visually depicted makes me think theres a nonzero chance she truly didnt want to do it

lets take a look at the way iris' and chikas deaths are depicted:

[sources: ch 83, ch 42]

the visual of billowing curtains was often used in early chapters when it wasnt yet clear what happened to chises mother, and it gets used again when iris dies. and just as chika throws herself off the balcony, alcyone leaps through the window with philomela. im also stuck on the line of "we messed up and let his daughter escape." i dont mean to imply that i think we should hold up philomela and chises respective backstories as 100% 1:1, but they are remarkably similar in terms of broad plot points. if the same force that compelled yuuki to leave also compelled chika to get rid of the remains of yuukis old life, i wonder why it is that no one ever directly tried to kill chise again. did they lose track of her when she began moving from home to home?

speaking of... do we know whether chika took yuukis surname when they married, or the other way around? japanese law requires spouses to have the same last name, but husbands will sometimes take their wifes name. as far as i know, theres no explicit confirmation that the hatori family chise stays with in the OVA are related to yuuki or chika. just as seth changed his name when he was driven from the webster family, it could be that yuuki distanced himself from his past by taking chikas name. after all, if the hatoris who care for chise are truly so fed up with her, why would they not attempt to track down yuuki and "return" her if hes their relative?

(by the way, what yuuki did in taking fumiki was legal. japan is only just now going to start allowing joint custody in 2026, "parental child abduction" was not illegal at the time we're to suppose TAMB takes place, and yuukis disappearance can be considered an instance of jōhatsu. i just think its important for cultural context, because as a western reader i know i tripped up on "wait, WHY was yuuki allowed to do that without consequence?")

do i think that yuuki will ever physically appear in the story again now that fumiki has? i would love him to, but i dont know that chise will ever be allowed the closure of seeing his point of view:

[source: ch 42]

theres such a sense of finality to this line. just as philomela was only able to speak to her father in the form of a curse taking his shape, i dont know that chise will have the luxury of meeting yuuki again. theres a strong possibility that hes already dead, especially if he persisted in attempting to reunite with the rest of his family. frankly, i always thought he looked unhappy with his life in the scenes from ch 42, but his instinct in wanting to bring chise with him makes me believe that only death would ensure he never tried to see or support her again. though, if this is a safe space for me to express a little self-indulgence:

[source: ch 51]

we still dont know who sent yori to audit simon. the church is such a large organization ("a loose collection of private armies," as gabriella puts it in this same chapter) that yori being taken to be reeducated by another branch of the same organization that sent him to audit simon in the first place is not unusual or contradictory. let me first state that i dont think yori has ever been aware that he has a sister, or that he knows chise is in any way related to him (again, this post supposes that yori is fumiki). but in my heart of hearts, in my very soul, i do think it would be just so wonderfully dramatic for yuuki - or any member of his family, for that matter - to send yori off to ensure that elias, and chise by association, are under the watchful eye of someone they can more reliably control. if chise was not worth anything to them when chika died, perhaps their interest in her is piqued now that shes a mage-in-training under the apprenticeship of a vastly powerful creature. even if its not yuuki trying to figure out what the deal is with the mage who bought his daughter, perhaps his family is interested in how she can contribute to them

again, to be a naysayer to my own theories before someone else can be, i doubt that yoris reeducation and months-long stay with simon would be overlooked if a member of yuukis family sent him for the initial auditing. though theres a chance alonza had a hand in making sure his stay with simon continues. we just have to wait and see

under what context might we meet the rest of chises family? i have some ideas, but this soon into the arc everything is too subject to change. im also not convinced any of this will be addressed in the fiendbane arc. after all, yori was first introduced at the beginning of the college arc, and is only now becoming relevant. so all of this may only be laying the groundwork for yuuki to return in another arc, if not this one, which already has a lot cooking with the dragon, the new mage, etc. but then again, we get oberons little prophecy:

[source: ch 99]

it doesnt seem that oberons phrasing in the JP text matches what the great wall of china is called in japanese, but i dont think we are meant to interpret "a distant land" in any way other than japan. yamazaki has a quirky tendency to refer to japan in her works as a faraway land in the east, which extends to spinoffs like wizards blue

with the growing interest elias has expressed in chises life before she met him, and with the appearance of yori, perhaps we will learn more about yuukis story and circumstances when the brewing storm finally breaks. her family may even have something to do with it! but i doubt that any of this will come to fruition during the current arc. so until we get the next arc several years from now... ill leave you with this theory!

[juminhandfs]

So... Let me tell you about my wacky theory about how Jumin is actually Decim who was allowed to live a life as a human after the change his experience with Chiyuki produced in him, (and that's why he has such a hard time connecting with people because his is a brand new soul) and how as a human he gets to see Chiyuki again who is no other than MC herself reincarnated, and how this is a one time experience because once his life comes to an end he gets to go back to his old function instead of reincarnating as another human, hence how he only has one chance of living a life with MC and now is condemned to see her reincarnate over and over again while he remains in the same place with the memories of their life together and... Angst

Death Parade AU with Jumin in the role of Decim, slowly learning about the joys of the human soul after a mysterious person ends up in his bar

[adolph649]

Hey! (Sorry 4 my bad english)

🇬🇧This post is to show y'all the fandoms I'm in and in case you want a request for x character/reader or character/character

🇪🇦Esta publicación es para mostrarles a todos los fandoms en los que estoy y en caso de que quieran pedirne que escriba x personaje/lector o personaje/personaje.

🇬🇧⚠️Before starting with my long list of fandoms.

🇪🇦⚠️Antes de comenzar con mi larga lista de fandoms.

🇬🇧I want to say that Hazbin Hotel is a fandom that you can request me, thanks to the fact that I was a big fan when the pilot came out even though I watched series 🏴‍☠️, but let me tell you that I DO NOT support the creator. I will probably ONLY write about it if yall ask me to.

🇪🇦Quiero decir que Hazbin Hotel es un fandom que me pueden solicitar, gracias a que era un gran fan cuando salió el piloto, y de que vi la serie 🏴‍☠️, pero déjenme decirles que NO apoyo el creador. Probablemente SÓLO escribiré sobre la serie si me lo pedís.

🇬🇧Now with the list♡:

🇪🇦 Ahora con la lista♡:

1 Unicorn Wars

2 Heathers

3 Lorax

4 Tangled the series

5 The owl house

6 Gravity Falls

7 Amphibia

8 Little witch academia

9 Kid cosmic

10 Kimetsu no Yaiba

11 Re-animator

12 Camp Camp

13 Hanako-kun

14 Diabolik lovers

15 Bee & Puppycat

16 Takopis original sin

17 Hilda

18 Carmen sandiego

19 Melanie martinez

20 Harry Potter

21 She-ra

22 Uglydolls

23 Mphfpc

24 Dirk gently

25 Kill la kill

26 Danganrompa v1

27 Studio Ghibli

28 Madoka magica

29 Shimanami Tasogare

30 Blood soup

31 Ephemeral

32 Moonlight lovers

33 Mad Father

34 Ib

35 Wicht house

36 Mogeko castle

37 El coleccionista de demonios

38 Adventure time

39 the willoughbys

40 The amazing digital circus

41 The promised neverland

42 Over the garden wall

43 FNAF

44 FNAFHS

45 Liar liar

46 La princesa sofia

47 The hunger games

48 Marionetta

49 Hooky

50 Scott pilgrim

51 Evangelion

52 Six

53 Hamilton

54 Big bang theory

55 Trolls

56 Crimen en el paraíso/Death in paradise

57 Centaurworld

58 jelly jamm

59 mean girls

60 the ancient magus bride

61 Futbolísimos

62 arcane

63 my little pony

64 sakura card captor

65 Hoppscotch

66 Agatha Mistery

67 Avatar the last airbender

68 el príncipe de la niebla

69 marina

70 kipo

71 mimes and clowns (webtoon)

72 school busca graveyard

73 The leyend of korra

74 Mentira (libro)

75 Creepypastas

76 julie and the phantoms

77 eltingville club

78 inside out

79 the loud house

80 calimero y valeriano

81 desencanto 

82 tragones y mazmorras

83 the order/la orden secreta

84 EPIC the musical

85 an extremely goofy movie

86 IHNMAIMS(i have mouth and I must scream)

87 Carol and the end of the world

88 Blood of Zeus

89 The umbrella academy

90 Dandadan

91 Assassination classroom

92 Caseoh

AND MORE AS TIME GOES ON!

Y MAS A MEDIDA Q PASA EL TIEMPO

🇬🇧I will surely add more fandoms over time. / 🇪🇦Seguramente añadiré mas fandoms con el tiempo

🇬🇧What I will write:

- Character x Reader

- Character x Character (some ships are not allowed)

- platonic relationships

- hcs

- one-shots

🇪🇦Lo que escribiré:

- Personaje x Lector

- Personaje x Personaje (algunos ships no están permitidos)

- relaciones platónicas

- hcs

- one-shots

🇬🇧What I will NOT write:

- romantic big age-gaps ships

- comships in general

🇪🇦Lo que NO escribiré:

- ships románticos con grandes diferencias de edad

- ships de comships/proships en general

🇬🇧Examples of how to request:

- "Hi! Can I get hcs of *character*(fandom) with a S/O with male pronoums who likes shiny things?"

- "Can I request a one-shot of *character 1* who sees *character 2* as a sibling"

- "Hey, can you write *character*, *character* and *character* with an S/O with female pronoums pls?"

- "Can I get *Character* dating hcs? With GN reader pls

🇪🇦Ejemplos de cómo solicitar:

- "¡Hola! ¿Puedes hacer hcs de *personaje*(fandom) con un S/O con pronombres masculinos al que le gustan las cosas brillantes?"

- "¿Puedo solicitar un one-shot de *personaje 1* que ve a *personaje 2* como un hermano"

- "¿Puedo obtener hcs de citas con *Personajes*? Con el lector GN, por favor

🇬🇧I would like to tell you that this is my first time writing and that please be a little patient with me, I hope I can learn from this experience and if you have tips to tell me, don't be shy!

🇪🇦Me gustaría deciros que esta es mi primera vez escribiendo y que por favor tengais un poco de paciencia conmigo, espero poder aprender de esta experiencia y si teneis tips que decirme no os cortéis!

🇬🇧Unfortunately it won't let me add more than 30 # :(

🇪🇦Desgraciadamente no me deja de poner mas de 30 # :(

[csolarstorm]

The Eternal Flower Files: The Sun King

Let's talk about King AZ, the king that became a wanderer.

Pokemon X and Y draw a lot of connections between King AZ and King Louis XIV of France. Remember that portrait in Parfum Palace? The one that reminds our player character of AZ?  Well, Parfum Palace is based on the Palace of Versailles, and the painting looks a lot like like Louis XIV. He called himself the "Sun King" for reasons that will be clear later in the post.

Screenshots from Pokemon Generations Episode 18: The Redemption

Notice how in AZ's last scene at the end of Pokemon X and Y, the sun is beating down hard on him in nearly every shot, including during the battle. Then when when Floette appears, she descends down from the sun.

While X and Y compare AZ to the Sun King, here it seems like the sun symbol...is Floette herself, as if the sun is Floette watching AZ. Floette's Eternal Flower is likely associated with light, but the sun itself? I don't have a full theory about this. Not yet anyway.

Another symbol associated with King AZ is the inchplant, historically known as "Wandering Jew".  It's a vine that shares some similarities with the Eternal Flower, especially the reddish-violet variants.  It even has three-petaled flowers, like the trillium.  The zebra-like stripes on the leaves especially remind me of the black triquetra markings on the Eternal Flower's petals. 

Sources: Succulent Depot, OrchidWeb: Tradescantia zebrina

If you've listened to Z-A theories lately, you might have heard of AZ's widely agreed on other inspiration, the story of the Wandering Jew, or "Eternal Jew". This is the antisemitic folk tale of a Jewish man who was cursed with immortality after mocking Jesus on the morning of crucifixion, and made to wander the earth until the end of days. This story has fueled centuries of antisemitism, even being used by Nazis for propaganda in WWII. 

We know anime can't resist playing with European history and western religious symbols. Pokemon wouldn't be the first anime to be inspired by Ahasuerus (Fate/Requiem), Xerxes (Fullmetal Alchemist), or Cartaphilus (Ancient Magus' Bride), which are all names associated with various versions of the Wandering Jew.  Personally though, I imagine this story catching GameFreak's attention because of the plant, considering how much flower symbolism runs the Pokemon franchise.

Sources: (1) Getty Images, via History.com, (2) Internet Archive via Wikipedia

So here we have a set of conflicting inspirations for AZ: the Sun King, and the Wandering Jew.  "Conflicting" is an understatement, because Louis "the Sun King" XIV actively persecuted French Jews. He called himself the Sun King because he considered himself God's representative on Earth.  Not only did he expel the Jews from the French West Indies, he stripped Calvinists of their religious liberties, and sometimes even went after other Catholics. (Source: History.com)

What do we make of these conflicting inspirations? Well, fiction can be cathartic. I think GameFreak switched the roles of the Sun King and the Wandering Jew for their story. In real life, the Sun King enjoyed a nice, long reign, unscathed by the people he persecuted and exiled. But in Pokemon X and Y, it's not the innocent religious minorities that wander the earth. It is the Sun King himself, forced to live eternally with the crimes he committed as the ruler of Kalos.

...

Multiple drafts of this post were reviewed by @fluffybunnybadass, who helped me cut straight to the substance. Thank you!

Want to know more about Eternal Flower Floette's connection to sacred geometry? Or how about all the Pokemon characters named after the fleur de lys? Ever since the announcement of Pokemon Legends: Z-A, I've been serving up lots of Gen VI theories, so check out them out below:

The Eternal Flower Files: Flowers of the Fleur de Lys

Eternal Flower Files Short: Thismia

The Eternal Flower Files: Sacred Geometry

Xerneas and Yveltal are Fungi: Let Me Explain

Poll: What Does the Λ in Legends Z-A Symbolize?

Pokemon Legends Z-A: What Is the Λ?

Aaah, it's an A! Is the A in Z-A the Tree of Life?

How much longer am I going to have to wait for a freakin' Unova remake?!

[robinmage]

im going to take this time to introduce/remind everyone of the best mahoyome fic of all time (in my opinion), i read it years ago and to this day i still think about it so often. truly and genuinely changed my life.

canon divergence after fighting joseph, chise ditches elias' dumb ass and leaves england. turns out facing your past traumas and learning how to heal and forgive isnt as easy as shoujo manga makes it seem

[lieblingslok01]

Thank you @nerdywriter36 😊 Wow, 10 characters are really hard but I'll try it.

1. Erik- The Phantom of the Opera

2. Elias- The Ancient Magus Bride

3. Chang Yi- The Blue Whisper

4. Prince Léon- The Beauty and the Beast series

5. Sheldon- The Big Bang Theory

6. Gomez Addams- The Addams Family

7. Lucifer- Lucifer

8. Road Runner- Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes

9. Professor McGonagall- Harry Potter

10. Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce- M.A.S.H.

Tags: @night-unfurls-its-splendour @deeznutsthethrid and anyone who wants to play are welcome to do 😊

10 characters, 10 fandoms, 10 tags

I was tagged by @rainintheevening!! thank you so much friend!!

In no particular order...

Hiccup Haddock III (HTTYD)

Luke Skywalker (Star Wars Original trilogy)

Peter Parker (Spider-Man)

Tyler Galpin (Wednesday)

Edmund Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia)

Will Parry (HBO's His Dark Materials)

Damian Wayne (Wayne Family Adventures)

Zuko (ATLA)

Scrooge McDuck (Ducktales 2017)

Kai Smith (Ninjago)

No pressure tags (if you already did this you don't have to again lol)!!: @gangst3rswife, @the-old-fashioned-girl, @offendedteaspoon, @wednesdayandherhyde, @thee-antler-queen, @clawedandcute, @i-am-a-stupid-robot, @magpie-trove, @conazpi, @last-aid-kit

[dukeoftheblackstar]

[4] Mood || Plo Koon

I, II, III, by scent.2002 || Meta

In which Plo tries to cheer me up because he knows me so well. He is also not particularly opposed to saying improper things because he is, after all, 400 years old.

Let him say shit or fight me.

[Personal rant down below, don't bother]

In line of my recently unbridled tirade of screaming over The Ancient Magus' Bride who literally just left me in an absolute wreck episode by episode in addressing so much trauma and baggage in my life, I am a mess of emotions.

And you know who can fix that?

Not Husband #1: Jango Fett and my 1mil theories of his beautiful tragedy, not Husband #3 Castis Vakarian and all the silly AUs I have of him with Candy, not precious and free bachelor Bossk (who has climbed up to Husband #4 but is having a wee bit difficulty holding the line), not Husband #5: Saren 'Mr. Imma steal yo girl if I want to but lucky for you I don't want to' Arterius and equally silly AUs I have of him with Candy.

Definitely not #husband #4 (taking lead) Elias Aisenworth — who is the root cause of all this sudden decline and outbursts of emotions.

It's Plo. It's always Plo. It will always be Plo. Husband #2: Plo Koon

I think I was not prepared to have indulged in anything wholesome and happy after being such a sap for angst and tragedy. I feed and thrive on the toxic fumes of pain as it reminds me how to feel like a human being. This show wrecked me in a good way, I think.