#thematic character parallels my beloved

[myfriendsdontlikehomestuck]

Thinking about the last of us and character parallels.

Started by thinking about Abby II Ellie, which turned into Abby II Joel II Ellie, which turned into Joel II Bill.

I like Bill and Frank's episode in the HBOMax series, however, I don't like the removal of Joel and Bill's parallels.

Bill was what would have happened to Joel if he had lost Tess and not developed a relationship with Ellie (similarly to how Ellie in the end of TLOU2 is like Joel if he'd stayed a hunter [presumably] and Abby if she'd lost everyone and never met Lev and Yara or never got revenge). Bill is calloused and trusts no one after his fallout with Frank, like how Joel was immediately after Tess died.

But in the series, Bill is just happy. Nothing wrong with that, though I'm not fond of the bury-your-gays part. But Bill and Frank being dead and happy is not a parallel to Joel. It's something Joel can never have. Which, I suppose, makes Bill more of a foil or shadow to Joel.

Tl;dr: hbomax took away my Bill-Joel parallels and I'm sad because I love parallels.

[ourlittleuluru]

Okay... So... I was on a spree taking screenshots for Xavier's Floral Blessing memory, right?

While I was taking the screenshots I heard this VERY SPECIFIC melody and the piano in the BGM of the memory. I could feel my brain just flip a dang switch like some kinda flash back or something...! ∑( 口 ||

Thing is, music is always important to storytelling, especially medias like games and movies.

Now, I won't go too deep into an analysis because there's an amazing analysis and breakdown written by @rose-tinted-kalopsia (i might chip in my own stuff that I noticed in another post in future...)

Some bits of spoilers I guess

OKAY

SO

It's plainly obvious this new Memory of Xavier's is something that kind of comes full circle, making parallels to his previous stories in our dearly beloved traumatizing Anecdote 3 (When shooting stars fall) and his Lightseeker Myths. A lot character building and development and seeing how Xavier's grown as a character.

Not much surpise there.

BUT

listen.. again... when I hear the BGM... I WAS HECKING LOCKED IN BECAUSE THE DEVS ARE VERY MUCH AWARE AND JUST!!!! 😭

I went back through ALL the Kindled of ALL of Xavier's 5 star memories, and took a listen to the BGMs.

As very much expected, all the kindleds just use either one of Xavier's BGM that you can earn from his Affinity Level, one of the more generic BGMs that's shared, or one that is thematic to the series (like No Restraint)

FLORAL BLESSING THO

THE MOMENT I HEAR THAT ONE LINE FROM THE PIANO...

Floral Blessing is using the SAME BGM that is played when you read his Anecdote 3. SPECIFICALLY ONLY ANECDOTE 3! (okay it plays when you're in his Anecdote menu too but it changes after you select an anecdote to read)

AND GUESS WHEN ELSE THIS BGM PLAYS?!

YES, HIS LIGHTSEEKER MYTH CARD, specifically Lightseeking Shadowrend

They are drawing ALL the Parallels, no holds barred

[moonchild-in-blue]

I need everyone to watch Kaos (from Netflix) right now, please and thank you. Quite possibly my favourite modern retelling of the Greek myths / Olympic pantheon.

The story revolves mainly around Orpheus and Eurydice (Riddy), and around Zeus and a certain not-so-great prophecy. Dionysus is one of our main stars and he's great and amazing and hot and absolutely babygirl.

Yes there are a LOT of references and myths and characters beyond the main Olympians (Zeus' famous kids don't even appear). Yes you see Prometheus having his liver pecked. Yes, we do get to see the Minotaur & Co. Hades and Persephone too, obviously. Yes, there is A TON of great poc and queer rep. Yes, there is blood and sex and violence and poignant society AND religious commentary. Yes, you do get old man yaoi. Yes, Jeff Goldblum as Zeus is incredible and no joke my new favourite portrayal of him (Zeus). Yes, they are faithful to the "doomed from the start" narrative of Orpheus and Eurydice. Yes, Hera does have her peacocks.

Please please please go watch it please it's so great and visually beautiful and amazing. Pirate that thang if you must.

My thoughts whilst watching the show - no plot spoilers but be warned for mild thematic/ character/ setting commentary. Generally safe to read if you haven't watched it yet and don't mind a little preview:

SOUNDTRACK IS WOW. Don't Fear The Reaper? On episode one?? The song I've been listening over and over because of a certain beloved band has made a cover of it???

Love how they portray the worship of gods as something that is part of their daily lives and culture without seeming too "gimmicky".

There are clear parallels to Catholicism in the way they conduct themselves (either in favour or against the gods; all the little rituals and traditions), and it's quite interesting to see how would modern society function if Hellenism (or rather the ancient practices. pls correct me if I'm wrong) were the primary (and as far as I got it only) established religion in the world.

The "Vero" declaration with the hand gesture as part of Olympian liturgy? Amazing. Interesting choice in using Latin rather than Ancient Greek, but very cool nonetheless.

A significant amount of casual mentions of horrifying violent acts by the gods, and even some healthy dose of violence/ blood. Thought it was very interesting to see Zeus discussing infanticide and natural catastrophes the way we discuss the weather or grocery prices. They really leaned heavily into the whole grandeur and arrogance of gods in regards to human life which I super appreciate. I'm tired of seeing passive, Cool and Hip and Benevolent Zeus & Co.

Also the amount of criticism by the god-haters (Blasphemes? Non-sympathisers?) feels very refreshing (and on the nose concerning irl organised religions), especially in contrast with the more devout and how they put their life in second place in lieu of worship (yes I'm thinking about the Tacitas AND the Celebration Ritual™ iykwim).

The subversion of the "doomed from the start" narrative surrounding Orpheus and Eurydice is done so beautifully it hurts. Right from the first moment they appear, you know how it'll go. And yet!!

You know what happens, of course. Their story was never meant have a happy ending. But the way they took that and put a modern spin on it it's just!!!! My heart !!!!

I was rooting for Orpheus the entire time, knowing damn well it was a lost cause. I can't blame Riddy, but my God is it painful to watch. LOVED the actor who played him, he just the right amount of earnest love and rockstar flair. Riddy is SO cool - there's not much I can say beyond that that isn't a spoiler but. Yeah. We love complex female characters.

I'm gonna be really petty and pedantic here, but for a show revolving GREEK mythology, set in Olympia / Krete, with sooo many little references to the myths, it is CRIMINAL that they insist on calling Heracles by his roman name (Hercules), and that they refer to Hades as God "Of Death" instead of God "Of The Dead" / King Of The Dead. There's a major difference there - Thanatos would like a word.

Troytown? Where the Trojan refugees (displaced war victims really) are *literally* segregated to (their exact words, segregation), and even use those nose lines/tattoos as way to identify them? Where they face scrutiny and police brutality and prejudice from the Kreteans? As a clear reference to minority poc urban areas and how they are unfairly mistreated and deemed as "others" by the same governments who put them there in the first place??? YES YES YES.

A lot of queer and poc rep. And I mean A LOT. The Fates alone are a whole vibe.

Again, it doesn't feel gimmicky at all, nor does it fall under the "okay they're definitely trying to hit all the quotas so everybody is gay and ethnic and uses neo-pronouns" trend some media are starting to follow, which really just end up falling flat rather than significant (looking at you Sex Ed 4). An actual diversity win.

If you're familiar with the story of Caeneus, you'll love how they portrayed him here.

Dionysus is everything and some more. I love him. Prometheus is incredible. Jeff Goldblum as Zeus goes above and beyond expectations - he brings that Goldblum Flair™ but with an intense violence and paranoia you could only pull off as King of the Gods. Hera is just wow, truly a queen.

Hades and Persephone have an *interesting* dynamic - have never seen him being portrayed like that before. Usually Hades and Persie are the "dom goth Mommy and Daddy" of mythology retellings, and yet here it's completely different. Certainly *A Choice*. I don't mind Hades, but would've liked to see "goddess of spring & dreaded" Persephone.

I understood the vision, but I don't think it worked *quite* as well as the other ones. She's still super cool nonetheless - that sandwich scene was incredible.

Also - VERY COOL how diverse the actors are. With the exception of Dionysus who is objectively Young and Hot, pretty much all the other gods (and adjacent) are middle-aged or up, with visible signs of aging (grey hairs, wrinkles, sagging skin, belly fat, etc), which is cool cus usually the gods are made to be a specific flavour of "hot".

The Furies, who could've been all snatched and sexy and token Femme Fatale characters, are actually older butch women with mean lesbian energy and I think that's very cool and awesome and wonderful.

Even the human cast is so diverse and interesting and REAL, rather than yet another yassified ensemble - it's great to see. Not everyone is conventionally hot and attractive, and THAT is sexy af.

All the little Easter eggs and references to the myths and general ancient Greece culture are SO nice to see. I giggled when Polyphemus first appeared. That first scene on the cereal aisle was very funny. Gagged at Cassandra.

Stylistic choice of the Underworld environment and on-camera portrayal is chef's kiss. That's all I'll say.

LABYRINTH AND DAEDALUS YES. Would smash the Minotaur, 1000%. That Scene™ was. Hmmmmm yeah.

Overall I loved it and high key might re-watch it again. What an amazing show. This was a win for all of us Greek Myth nerds, and I'll be truly devastated if Netflix doesn't renew it for a second season.

[fandom-flight]

I dont know if anyone's talked about this yet, but Lee Sookyung is such a thematically significant character for someone who doesn't get to be physically fighting alongside the main party most of the time

Of course, as Kim Dokja's mom, she definitely matters to the story, but I think it's so important that she's the reason that Kim Dokja loves stories. Lee Sookyung loves reading just as much as her son does, to the extent that she literally wanted to name him "reader." She showed him how to interact with stories, that stories are primarily a medium of empathy, and when she went to jail, she inadvertently was responsible for making Kim Dokja's life revolve around stories (specifically her fabricated story and the comfort story that Kim Dokja had to rely on as a reason to live). And maybe that doesn't seem like much, but Lee Sookyung's characterization makes it clear that humans' love of stories is hereditary. The first time we come to love stories is often the first time we get told one by our parents. Our ancestors pass down the stories that matter the most to us, and our parents influence the stories that we end up deciding to tell. Lee Sookyung is also the first person to show Kim Dokja the true power of being a reader, a writer, and a protagonist. After she taught him that books are beloved windows into other people's worlds, she then went on to show him the power of controlling the narrative by writing and starring in the book that kind of destroyed his life, but isn't that also the power that Kim Dokja goes on to use to destroy the Star Stream? By taking a story he knew, he inserted himself to change its trajectory, just like his mother took the story that she witnessed and inserted herself to protect her son.

And then there's also the way that Lee Sookyung helps Kim Dokja understand that people are stories that you only really get a small piece of. It's a major theme that people are stories made up of not only the actions they take themselves, but also the meaning that they hold to other people. To Kim Dokja, Lee Sookyung's story is that of a failed mother and a source of trauma, but to the Wanderers, her story is that of an inspiring leader and dear friend. The scene where he realizes that he alone isn't enough to tell her story in full, and that it's necessary for her friends and other loved ones to cooperate to put together a more complete picture of who she was as a person was honestly so beautiful and poignant. And it becomes even more that when this concept of a person's character being made up of who they are to a variety of people becomes the crux of The Kim Dokja Company's most significant attempt to bring Kim Dokja back in full. Just like when Lee Sookyung was dying and needed to have all kinds of people she knew to piece together her story, Kim Dokja ultimately needs all his friends and loved ones to do the same for him. And these parallels are so clear and intentional that I still can't help but want to articulate how clearly conveyed the themes of ORV were. They rarely ever drop a theme that they introduce, and they reinforce the significance of those themes with increasing strength every time. Every theme and piece of the puzzle has multitudes to it when you look at it for even a few extra seconds, and I think that's why this webnovel will continue to linger in my mind for way too long

[penguinkyun]

chapter 158 review

well so that was all bullshit

this is literally worst chapter in the entirety of the series so far and it spits in the face of rubys entire character along with the series themes

first of all, how has ruby surpassed ai? no seriously. how? what has she even done to earn this supposed transcendent idolhood? she only has this popularity because she nepotism'ed her way through the industry and stole literally all the work in bh mode from the rest of her group members (who couldn't even stream without her presence) and did absolutely nothing to make it up to either kana or mem (whose other jobs like streaming and acting were also impacted btw), loses any character she had in the incest subplot and then says shes going to surpass ai like a broken record when that was never her goal in the first place!

both sarina and aqua say it - ruby wanted to wear cute clothes and sing on a stage like ai, inspiring others. she never had the goal of "surpassing" ai, she just wanted to be an idol because she loves idols. her arc is supposed to be about connecting with her mother from her idolhood, inspiring others and understanding ai. all that warmth, inspiration, honesty and naivety literally disappears from her entirely. and while a corruption arc isnt bad, you have to actually, yknow WRITE THE ARC PROPERLY.

why does ruby want to surpass ai? theres no rhyme or reason to it. and also what surpass? your ceo adoptive mother made your group for you, your brother scouted your group members and landed you a spot in an idol festival for your debut concert and while i'm not saying ruby hasn't worked hard and/or struggled in her job or life, she definitely has worked hard in her job, but its a bit much to say she "surpasses ai" when if you think about all the factors that made ai's life miserable - i.e. excessive favouritism, exploitation, purity culture, toxic industry and fan standards - none of that has any bearing on ruby's experience as an idol because she is explicitly shielded from all of that by literally everyone around her. everything that made ai's idolhood difficult is nowhere presented in rubys arc as something she has to deal with and so when you try to compare their two careers like this it just rings as incredibly hollow - a parallel for the sake of a parallel

even when kana (rightfully!) blows up at ruby, all the shit ruby put her through in black hoshigan mode is never addressed and its just ruby going "ill be your friend if you like it or not!" as a barest bandaid on the true issues kana has with her and kana just accepts it! she doesn't have to deal with falling outs either because it gets fixed at the drop of a hat!

also what the fuck is that monologue lol. my girl would NEVER say that and would especially never use her beloved mothers death as some sort of embellishment on a speech about the transience of Idols or whatever she was saying there, especially when ai's death was deeply rooted in the toxicity and purity standards of the idol culture of her era, a culmination of her exploitation and entitlement the industry and fans had towards her and was not about how idols can only be idols for a short amount of time because of aging out - ai didn't age out she was fucking murdered in her own home.

which. what narrative benefit does ruby's stabbing even have? ai's death served as both a capstone to her narrative arc, an enormous shift in the series tone and themes, and commentary and indictement on the idol industry and fan entitlement as a whole. what does ruby's stabbing serve? what narrative lesson is being taught here? what arc is being fulfilled here? is she just being stabbed for shock value? because the anime episode is releasing today?

its stupid (and not only because of what it does to nino which i will get to) and also makes this look like a walmart version of ai's death with the same pose and none of what made it actually thematically interesting. also if you wanted to fulfill narrative parallels and death flags, kana should've been stabbed there i said it. she is the ai parallel in bkomachi, she's the one whose viewpoint we view the problems of the industry from, she has commentary on those problems of misogyny and the pressures of the industry, she's the one who should be the focus here because it is her graduation concert tour. she's even the same age as ai!

speaking of kana goddamn im so sorry for you. you lose centre focus IN YOUR OWN GRADUATION, and now your one dream from 151 wont even happen because of this narratively bullshit chapter. you deserve better truly (and i am also really mad they used kana sun moment her best moment where she is literally the fucking sun to compare to rubys inherited ascended form of idolhood)

(also akanes monologue was ridiculous and entirely forced)

also fuck what this chapter did to nino. my girl im so sorry this has been done to you, you deserved better. the twist COULD have been interesting if lacking the set up but noooo we had to make nino as somehow the spokesperson for how ruby has achieved the Final Form of an Idol when literally just over 20 chapters ago she coldly stated ruby was nothing like ai and then had to turn her into a murderer when literally why would she.

especially with her conversation with kamiki, where she very interestingly says "oh you think we can be forgiven for all the shit we've done?" and her apparent response to that is to go commit another unforgivable crime? really? way to reduce your character to just "no one should surpass ai" instead of all the complex feelings nino had before! and also along with making her an idiot this chapter somehow leaning even harder accidentally or otherwise into the "crazy lesbian" stereotype which absolutely sucks.

also ruby did you learn nothing from your mothers death. do you not have door chains. also i refuse to believe neither miyako or aqua instilled safety procedures or kept the door locked especially after their fame skyrocketed. unless they're like. still at miyazaki hotel??? even then did you not check who was at the door, especially after how your mother died like why is ruby being hit with the idiot stick again. this is again another contrivance just like 142 was so heavily contrived.

even madder at the sheer disservice rubys character has been done through the entire past three arcs.

also also the art is just. weird. the way the knife has been framed makes it look like it slipped completely past ruby and the entire panel feels washed out unlike ai's stabbing panel where its dynamic with motion, flowers falling past her, the knife in clear view along with ai's stunned expression. its beautiful in the most haunting horrific way possible and sticks in your mind. i'd forget about this panel in a second. i wish i could forget this chapter jfc. it better be a fakeout

anyways. break next week.........

[mdhwrites]

What did you think of Anne's sacrifice/death/rebirth, especially compared to Luz's? Do you think it's the sane Anne, or was she replaced by a copy?

So I've talked before about how the death/rebirth of Anne is beautiful. How death is the greatest change we as humans have to ever face and Anne embraces it to save the community she cared about. It's pitch perfect thematically and her understanding she's still a dumb teen and STILL embracing death instead of godhood not only helps keep the thematics on point but also is just great for her character.

As for the clone... Why does it matter? A large part of Amphibia's optimism with change is that our experiences shape us. That they and the people we have met along the way will always be a part of us and shape who we shall be. Since this Anne has all of her memories, all of her experiences, all of those connections... Why should we argue about whether the cells and the like are the same? That is Anne.

It's actually a fun parallel to the Ship of Theseus that doesn't require transfer of souls or the like. That is Anne because she has the spirit of Anne. The personality. The heart. She could be placed into a giant monster or a tiny robot and it would still be Anne. Arguing if she's the same or not is pointless.

Also, comparing it to Luz is laughable. TOH doesn't have themes that fit trying to portray death as an accidental thing you can't control, the only reason The Collector needs saving is due to stupid writing, the choice isn't hers and her going to see the Titan pretty much purely exists for LITERAL GOD to pat her on the head, give her a cookie, tell her she's special and then let her go. Hell, the fact that Luz gets given a choice barely works on a meta level, let alone a narrative one. Do you want to go back, save all your friends, be beloved by all and get to live out the same sort of consequence free fantasy you've always wanted to? Or do you want to die and let everyone you know die for no reason? Especially no reason when you've gone through THREE different character conclusions IN THIS SEASON about you forgiving yourself for your singular mistake that barely mattered to anything.

That is INFINITELY more stupid and meaningless than "Do you feel confident to control the fates of UNIVERSES or do you have humility and accept that you did good and are willing to die with that?" Because remember: Anne isn't revived because she asks to be. She's revived because her willingness to believe ANYONE can improve and no one is flawless, INCLUDING HER, convinces the god that hey, if I think she's ready now, just imagine what more life experience will do to her? Before she gets revived without it even actually being her choice. Though, she does say that she'd like to live again which stops it from being like the guardian is doing something she doesn't want.

It's beautiful and part of why I had to talk about how the fandom undersold it because sure, you can describe it as "Anne dies saving Amphibia and then is revived by god," but that is leaving out JUST how good the writing is. Then again, much of Amphibia looks just fine on paper but looking a little closer almost always yields so much more than you'd expect.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[azure-firecracker]

ATLA Live Action Stream of Consciousness (Episode 2, Part 1).

Hang on this show is rated PG? Did they not see the people burning alive last episode?

The fire nation theme with a full orchestra goes so hard. I need Azula’s version too.

Zuko tearing up the room looking for his fucking diary while Iroh just fails to calm him down is peak 16 year old and his dad core and I’m living for it. I, too, want to smash stuff when my beloved things go missing.

Zuko’s right, Aang is a coward which is good because he’s nuanced! Now the show should acknowledge that.

We’re going to Kyoshi island yay!

Another good Katara monologue. They seem to have grasped the hopeful aspect of her character well (and it’s clearly in Kiawentiio’s acting wheelhouse). Now let her break stuff!

Wait if Aang can fly why did he fall out of the sky in the last episode?

On the Waterbending Scroll: @juniperhillpatient talked about this in a great post so I’ll link that here.

The Gyatso memorial was a really nice touch. I think Gordon’s acting was slightly flat (emphasis on slightly) but the way his voice broke on the last line broke me. Since it’s the first time I’ve had anything bad to say about his acting, I’ll give it a pass.

I will say idk if it’s sets of CGI but the whole setting is gorgeous. I’m glad their budget let them add in those details that we didn’t get in the cartoon.

Yay Iroh comedy! Give him more!

They nailed Zuko and Iroh’s dynamic. No complaints. Also since the main trio is less funny (which is fine) the comic relief is much needed.

Kyoshi Warrior makeup looks awesome!

Ooh Suki’s mom is here! And Suki getting some more background/development, always love! Not sure if I would have called “kindness” one of her core traits but it’s not like she wasn’t kind. She didn’t have much characterization to begin with besides “cool strong girl!” so I like that she gets a softer side.

Sokka’s fangirling over Suki this is cute and also hilarious. And Suki is EVISCERATING him with her skills.

Iroh is comedy gold (makes sense since I know this actor has a background in comedy) This episode overall is lighter which I think is a nice break since last episode was pretty intense.

Zhao seems like less of an asshole right off the bat. Is he sneaky or just watered down? (Like Katara-no I won’t shut up about her).

Shirtless Sokka was not necessary I want everyone to stay far away from over sexuality the teenage characters I don’t care that some of them look over Netflix don’t Netflix this.

I like that we’re expressing Aang’s grief more overtly. Something the original couldn’t do.

I find Aang and Katara’s friendship really wholesome.

Katara talking about Aang knowing how to connect…BUT THAT WAS KATARA’S THING. Why are they taking her good traits and giving them to her male friends istg.

Suki is so cool I love her definitely no character crush here. Her literally being like “I like this boy. Obviously the logical choice is to show him my fighting skills” she’s so real for that.

“Only justice will bring peace” - please tell me Katara being the one to read that line is important because thematically it’s a very Katara line.

Aang’s backstory with people being scared of him and losing control is an interesting new touch that I think could be used really well. (Also seeing some Azula parallels especially with the “lucky” thing but I don’t think I’m that lucky).

I do miss Sokka’s Kyoshi Warrior uniform. The tension though! A little more of a mature tone than the original and idk how much I want to lean into sexual tension of any kind but the characters are 16 so I thiiink I’m okay with this but NETFLIX IF YOU OVERSEXUALIZE THEM ALL I WILL COME FOR YOU!!

Part 2 coming soon!

[found-wings]

omg just the thematic parallel alone makes me love this au more of etoiles having fought against the code over 10 times to protect people in the island vs now potentially having to fight (mainly defend) against the members of the island to protect a code (phil) aaaaaaaaa codebreakers my beloved I just want to shake them like a ball with a bell inside it the pure unbreakable bond they have is everything to me !!!! - 💿

YOU GET IT, ME WHEN!!

The urge to put the silly Codebreakers into a lil glass and shake them around <333 WHEEZE

I love the idea so much, I find it so silly that the man who‘s overpowered and fought the Codes so many times is now very much protective over one!!

I adore Characters who have this unbreakable bond and loyalty to one another that nothing can shake their trust. Even if Phil is partially a Code, Etoiles knows and has seen Phil protect them all from the hostile Codes too, risked his life multiple times for the sake of others and shown how much he cares about everyone, so why would that ever change his view on Phil??

I am so normal about them <3

[avelera]

So I spent the weekend watching “For All Mankind” on Apple TV with my love, and had a few thoughts:

- I think I would have watched it much sooner if I’d known it was created by Ronald D. Moore of “Battlestar Galactica” (reboot), “Outlander” (though I haven’t seen it), and DS9 fame. It definitely made the fact that Apple made this particular show make more sense.

- I somehow completely missed what the premise of the show actually was from the little marketing I saw for it. I think I clocked it as some sort of atomic age sci-fi adventure story but really it’s about the Space Race and it’s a whole alternate US history of what would have happened if the USSR got to the moon first and made the US spiteful enough to keep competing with them there.

- It’s basically a whole alternate history of the 1960s-90s (so far) and does a fair number of interesting and plausible alterations of the timeline.

- IMO the story is at its best when it cleaves closest to reality and makes you go, “Oh yeah, sure, that could easily have happened!” If only because then when they do make bigger leaps you can see how they’re grounded.

- The story is also at its best with its character stories. In particular Margo, Aleida, Molly (and Wayne, my beloved), and even surprisingly Karen after the first season arc really deal in a lot of pathos and I got choked up over them more than once.

- The show does a good job of showing the personal things going on in a character’s life and the struggles they’re going through before and during major history-altering decisions they make. In that sense, it’s a very empathic show AND it builds a good causal chain for why some of these events happen. You almost always at least understand why a certain decision was made.

- That doesn’t mean you AGREE with every decision. By the time we got to S3, my chorusing cries of, “GURRRRLL NO” and “OH BUDDY, NO” respectively had become a familiar chant.

- There were one or two plotlines and decisions I disliked (mostly because they struck me as cliche, like Kelly’s in S3, or a bit culturally questionable even if they made sense thematically, like lauding the US pilgrims in one of the S3 voiceover monologues which makes SENSE because the show’s about exploration but also… no. Eh. Maybe pick a group a little less steeped in religious zealotry and colonialism, much as I understand their mythological place in the broader American zeitgeist, and how colonialism and exploration ARE hard to extricate when addressing broader themes AND since no life has been discovered there (yet), space exploration doesn’t carry the same controversy around those aspects of colonialism, and I get how as a writer of a space exploration show, you’re trying to address the spirit of daring and all but…. Yeah. It’s tough to find good parallels to wax poetic about without stumbling upon some complex legacies, shall we say)…

- BUT I will say as a writer that they made up maybe 10% at most of the show which is an objectively very small part of such a sweeping and ambitious narratives and I liked a lot more than I disliked.

- I don’t know if EVERYONE will like it but I do think it’s a solid sci-fi show that I find much more enjoyable and solidly written than, say, “Silo” and one with a great answer to the “so what?” of the story with its couching in the great events of the latter half of the 20th c and it’s intimate focus on well-depicted and complex characters.

[fumiku]

Coraline marchil AU(s)

Would Chilchuck willingly sew the button eyes on himself?

First of first, look at this coraline au art by Sanqiaori!!

Depressed divorcee with empty nest syndrome moves into an isolated house in an isolated town, and finds a hidden tunnel… On the other side is his Other Wife. His ideal type, blonde, young and pretty, bright and accommodating, though she can become black haired, cold and calm if that is what he desires. She materialized his daughters so perfectly after all, even from when they were still only happy children. She made them such a perfect routine, a perfect house, a perfect world. Like a better, more vivid, less marred reflection of the deserted home and dull life waiting for him before the looking glass, empty. 

Marchil server was cooking coraline AUs (shoutouts to Sushi_monster and Chau) so I’ll just be listing off a handful of collectively brainstormed versions of the same premise: Coraline AU where Chilchuck is the protagonist and Marcille is the demon, starting with the more straightforward ones then moving to the ones with twists and plots. It helps of course to have seen the movie or knowledge of it on an analytical level since the lore is rather mysterious otherwise. I discussed "what would Chilchuck’s perfect dungeon lord world look like and why?" in a post here, which is topical because there I talk about his avoidant tendencies in canon & in the same context as this AU more deeply, but in this post we’ll be focusing on AU brainstorming not analysis~

A Coraline AU starring Chilchuck is already fun without being marchil, the demon can be only fake Chilwife and similarly offer him the perfect family life, but I think adding a third separate distinct factor/character makes the plot & themes a lot more rich and interesting. You can have something that works with, well, the demon from Dunmeshi as the demon from Coraline, but shifting the demon into a more ambiguously antagonistic figure, with more of an identity…

A lot of Dunmeshi is about accepting reality over your ideal fantasies and coping mechanisms. And Chilchuck’s arc (paralleled by Marcille’s and their relationship together) to me is more about accepting loss and it still being worth experiencing for the risk of love & connection, rather than building upon the wrong you’ve done and regaining what you’ve lost, so Coraline feels very thematic for the two of them. It’s not about going back to how things were and never experiencing the setbacks of relationships but how to overcome loss and keep going and form new bonds, to accept reality even if flawed, like both their arcs in canon~ 👀 

A sad ending where Chilchuck stays in the other world is him failing at that lesson, and if the Demon dies it’s because Marcille refused to learn that same one and gripped too tightly onto her ways despite her second chances, and if they both have a good ending... Well. That’s hard to have that in the true sense because of the whole -gestures- situation, but not impossible… Learning to move on from relationships Chil vs learning to connect with people healthily demon Marcille……. Dual arcs my beloved.

This is also fun to do with them because out of everyone (besides Milsiril and Kabru), Marcille and Chilchuck have some plush imagery. With Chilchuck who regularly sews and fixes his clothes, the plushes at his home representing his history with his daughters, the past when they were young & when he still had a family life. With Marcille, plushes bring comfort, and even represent others like Falin in her nightmare. … Plus her habit of thinking she knows better than others and wanting to decide things for them, or thoughtlessly cutifying Chilchuck and infantilizing Falin etc etc- the whole dunlord thing where she wants to dictate the length of their lives and imprison them in her treehouse, Laios’ forcefeeding speech etc. Chilchuck mends plushes and Marcille treats people like them, changes people into them. Comfort teddies or dolls to manage that she still feels distanced from bc of her half-elfness and secrets. Does this not fit the themes!! Does this not fit a Coraline demon imagery!!! The whole Coraline opening oughhh.

Okok enough yapping!! Gimme actual deets actual plot!!

Marcille, the demon

So. What if the demon had more selfless goals than in Coraline, in a twisted way?

A lonely eldritch being in a cage-world of her own making, who gives people she takes an interest in everything they want, everyone they want at their most perfect pliant self, but doesn’t involve herself in that fantasy, only positions herself as a giver… Because she doesn’t think anyone would take an interest in her back, because that’s too unstable and risky, because that’s too new, because she prefers being a voyeur into others’ happiness……

This is what Ajo’s Coraline AU art, what sparked this whole marchil community horror and coraline AU craze all those months back haha, made me think of first. An Other Marcille, like herself as a dungeon lord, terrifying in its powers and in thinking it knows what’s best for you more than you do, yet innocently well-meaning though selfishly motivated by loneliness. Not unlike the demon in Dunmeshi, Other Marcille genuinely believes her relationship with her humans are a win-win, a mutually parasitic relationship. She’s making everyone happy after all, isn’t she? And if she’s slowly eating his soul, well, it’s the best death he could possibly have had, in the best world made specially for him, after she’s centered all her attention and life and fixation on him. And if she’s slowly eating his soul well, maybe she’ll feel like her pocket dimension’s a little less empty, if someone’s become part of her, someone that can never leave her behind not even through death.

She thinks she’s content with that, but… This is where the story can diverge. Is this only a tragedy? Is Chilchuck seduced by the life he’s shown and seduced to stay, or does it turn thriller because Other Marcille gets attached and he needs to get out and flee? Is Chilchuck only using her & it to cope, or does he catch genuine feelings? Does she only use him to cope or does she catch feelings?

I’m a monster x human romance enjoyer listen I’m all for any of these options— They could have a weird toxic-ish slow burn that gradually turns more and more healthy and genuine slowly over dinner table conversations and bugs in the matrix of the roleplay. Marcille would lose herself in the wife roleplay, playing the role of a wife and mother that she could never get to have any other way as a demon, something that was never meant to be hers but that he’s giving her in a warped way….. Get attached to the guy even if she sees him as "awww a human… Aww my food" in that classic holier-than-thou but still affectionate way that then may or may not turn into genuine respect. Very… Isolated romance you are literally 2 alone in the world in the same setting, the same made-up house for however many days as time blurs together and there’s only you and you and more of it for more of time. Other Marcille falling in love with Chilchuck, or thinking she does in that classic sort of twisted Marcille way, because she wants to romanticize any emotion and attachment she gets even if it’s born from desperation and misunderstood unhealthy attachment… And going "Why not me? Do mi ti" is so heartbreaking to me, bc yeah I’ve been obsessed with this Washing Machine Heart Coraline amv…

Cynical Chilchuck’s will to resist against the messed up supernatural situation crumbling like Laios with his succubus… It’d be fun seeing Chilchuck the straightman gradually rationalizing the situation more and more, because he wants it even if it’s obvious it’s an unwise decision to stay any second more. Yet seconds turn into minutes into hours into days into weeks. How long will they last? The Other World is neverending bliss and peace, joy and contentedness and pleasure, how could he give up on that? It’s Chilchuck Tims I bet he could do it but. He can be a weak man of earthly desires sometimes so! Flip a coin & gamble. Think depressed divorcee who moved into an isolated house, found a hidden tunnel and met this creepy but cute blonde witch, who created his children for him. Chil really could choose to stay on the other side. He’d go back to his life, his work, his alcohol, empty mailbox, no calls from his family and feel like he really has nothing left for him and stay on the other side. 

To take on a cuter role, he knows it’s not his real wife, of course he does, so he ends up saying let me see the real you, and she thinks he’ll run away but he’s like holy shit she’s hot. Lmao. Chilchuck: I love my 16th century creepy witch gf. Marcille is astounded that someone actually likes her for herself and doesn’t have to impersonate anyone when that’s all she knew how to love… Marcille sees his ex wife and thinks taking on her appearance is the best way to get to him… But for once what Chil craves isn’t an illusionary shell of the best but true actual companionship so he starts talking with other marcille and trying to push her to be more authentic and vulnerable. Since it’s literally another world, dreamlike, he feels like he can be vulnerable himself more easily too.

Another take could be that Chilchuck takes the role of Coraline’s father (just more dead eyed, drunk, and miserable rip) and Marcille sees how good he is with his ex-wife and kids and wants him for herself. Starts making a fake family for him and replaces his other wife with her. Dunno how that’d fit into the timeline ehhh 🤔 Definitely a more thriller horror take where you have this eldritch entity obsessed with you trying to veer your life the way they want to so you fall into their hands. Good god

Lore wise, I like the thought of being the demon is like being a dungeon lord, where these pocket dimensions are like dungeons that you get trapped in once you make a contract by the demon. Like maybe it’s a relay race thing where you can get the limitless powers you’re seeking but for it you have to take its place trapped in the dimension. Then becoming demons themselves… Gradually forgetting who they are and just succumbing to instincts and cravings as they lure in and hunt their prey each in their own way.

There are so many ways to handle her appppearance too. Did she always just loook like Marcille, or was it his wife (blonde or not), mayybe even an inbetween with herself as a half-foot like her bicorn theorizing. I like to think it’s a slow transformation, from his older black—haired wife to a younger blonde half-foot woman to a talllady with pointy ears dressed in black... Spider other mother transformation style pretty much.

It’s a premise that’s fun to think of as deeply or as shallowly as you want for daydreams… Like if nothingggg else the imagery is cool. 

Marcille, the neighbor

Coraline AU where Marcille is both the demon and Chilchuck’s perky overly nosy and friendly neighbor. Together they will defeat the Other Marcille! Her parents, whom she lost in a mysterious freak accident, were the original owner of the house, and she’ll be damned if she just let this mystery rest. She lives in the knowledge anyone who lives there might disappear at any moment, worried. She wants to save anyone who moves into it and that’s why she moved to the very next house, befriending every new neighbor, eventually trying to convince them to move away, but Chilchuck isn’t only a stubborn ass, he spits in the face of superstitions.

Her parents being the previous owners of the house who mysteriously disappeared, and then Marcille moved out of the house but could never really move on, and watches the new people going to live in that house to see if it’ll happen again…. Marcille trying to prevent tragedy from happening again, obsessing. Good reason tp obsess over someone all in all.

So then, Chilchuck does get targeted by the demon and sucked in, and when he comes back the investigations truly begin and he can’t brush her off anymore. She breaks into his house when he’s away in the other world at one point I feel. Interrogating him after like "There wasn’t one peep or move coming from your house for days, what were you up to?" "Umm I was hungover mind your business." Maybe he tries to hide it from her at first to keep living his blissful parttime demonic forbidden fruit fantasy or maybe he asks for her help straight away because he’s wayyy out of his depths.

People might ask: "why Other *Marcille* why does the demon take her form?" and I think, the parents being the previous victims of the demon... Other Marcille has that look (and name?) because her parents were the last people she got to, so she stuck with that appearance, the last appearance she took on from her victims’ memories, her parents baited by visions of her daughter forever happy, never experiencing pain or hardship or loss or loneliness.  That and/or down bad lonely Chil took one look at his cute neighbor and the Other demon said yep I can tempt him with this, lmao. Chilchuck, seeing Other Marcille for the first time: (am I really that sex deprived?) OTL

Alternatively, a happy ending (or at least one that doesn’t question if you can achieve happiness in an isolated world of makebelieve with 2 people one being eldritchly powerful and immortal 😰 I guess souls exist so maybe he could be too hm) would be he defeats the Other Marcille with the help of Marcille, his cute blonde neighbor. Maybe right as he’s about to give up and go to the other side, she starts visiting him. Notices he’s lonely and become obsessed with him and his personal life haha like how she behaves in canon. She inserts herself into his life and makes him hesitate on his decision to stay in the other side. Then maybe after enough visits she can learn about the tunnel or the other marcille and second half of the plot kicks up…

And this is where we thought of the next step: Her parents being the previous owners of the house who mysteriously disappeared, and then Marcille moved out of the house but could never really move on, and now watches the new people going to live in that house to see if it’ll happen again…. Marcille trying to prevent tragedy from happening again, obsessing. Good reason to obsess over someone all in all.

The unhelpful cat is Izutsumi lol. Enough said.  Chilchuck and izutsumi fighting each other: Other marcille:  Chilchuck: what the fuckkkkk is going on help meee (　ﾟдﾟ) Izutsumi: Izutsumi (walks away) Coraline Izutsumi being the one link between reality and the Other World bc she’s the cat, kinda fitting since she has a connection to both Chil and Marcille if that makes sense… Between humans and monsters too. In Coraline the cat is more of an antagonist to the demon so it’s interesting the different ways that can play out in an AU

Closing thoughts

Chilchuck moving into an isolated house in an isolated town after the divorce™️ expecting things to be boring, perfect for his currrent mood, but instead he gets thrown into a v scary yet enthralling magic world with a v scary yet v pretty witch-woman-thing and a digestive hallway and oh god. Also an unhelpful talking cat Izutsumi (Izutsumi).

I like to think about a Chilchuck Peter Pan motif sometimes and it feels topical for this a little bit… Guy who doesn’t want to grow up and acknowledge relationships take effort. Ok I need to pull myself together

But you know. If eyes are the windows to the soul then, it can be that they need to sew buttons on their eyes as in ‘closing their eyes’ on something and living in denial because ignorance is bliss, no need to self-reflect or see yourself in others’ eyes like they’re mirrors. Her black buttons are matte, without shine, there is no stray reflection of light that could ever give him a distraught glance of himself…

So yes yes that’s it that’s it. For now. We really do need fics of this au badly omg

Would Chilchuck willingly sew the button eyes on himself?

Opposite actually. Marcille would rip out her eyes to be with him.

[llumimoon]

Talk to me about marloakworthy. I am begging you

hehehehehehehehehe YOU ASKED SO YOU'RE GETING A HUGE ANSWER !!!!!

marloakworthy.......... my beloved ............... a part of the reason why I love them so much is because I feel like they kind of complete or make up for each other's qualities if that makes sense . Or like they fill in the weaknesses of the individual pairings? Which is why I love them TOGETHER.

LIKE I LOVE OAKWORTHY but there's always been this inherent problem where Normal is obsessive because he's desperate for affection and Hermie is flighty because he's afraid of commitment and vulnerability. And I looked at that and went THE SOLUTION IS POLYMORY. Because if Normal has a consistent and stable relationship he can fall back on than he wouldn't be as intense with Hermie and therefore Hermie wouldn't feel as trapped and could open up more. I think Hermie is very afraid of just how much Normal loves them because he cannot reciprocate to the same degree and it makes him feel guilty trying to do romantic scene partner stuff because it feels like leading Normal on for feelings that they won't ever have in reality.

ENTER SCARY !!!! I think Hermie and Scary DO have good chemistry their relationship would be a lot more loose and casual which makes it fun! It's like they're both really good actors and so it's fun for them to do more of Hermie's scene partner stuff and having a safe space for Hermie to act and play around with roles is good for him I think he needs it for enrichment JABEVAHAHA while with Normal Hermie would feel some pressure to Just Be Himself despite not knowing what that is. SOMETHING HE CAN RELATE TO WITH SCARY! I think the two of them can really connect on the whole. Lying about who you are so much that the mask BECOMES you and you lose track of whats real and not. I think it's really interesting to compare their identity struggles and they can give each other a certain perspective that Normal wouldn't totally understand. Scary and Hermie are both very cynical people and even though they try to be better and more soft and comforting it is not entirely natural and they're learning as they go and sometimes its nice to have someone around who's also really imperfect and learning beside you.

AND NORMAL. MY SWEET PRECIOUS BOY EIEBWFAHAHAHHA. I think he brings a lot of light to the two of them. Like I said they're both very cynical so while it's nice to have someone to relate it's also easy to get trapped in a downward spiral feedback loop. NORMAL THOUGH. He's the one who pulls them out of it. He's the kind of person who loves with all his heart and his earnest and steady affection is just very comforting to people like Scary and Hermie who are used to people leaving. Norm and Scary just Get each other due to them being foils and thematic parallels JWBEGAHHAHA I think out of all the individual pairs normscary is the most stable. I FEEL LIKE I DONT EVEN HAVE TO EXPLAIN IT? The way they understand each other and can support each other . It's just kind of inherent to their characters and their dynamic. But I think Scary can be afraid that she's going to push Normal away or make him leave and so that can lead to stuff like her not pursuing or being vocal about her affection or swinging hard the opposite way and panicking purposely shoving him away because it hurts less when she chooses it. Thats what its like. Hermie is there as a third person another perspective to be like HEY. YOU GUYS ARE BEING DUMB.

I really see marloakworthy as more like. Normscary is the steadyfast main romantic relationship while Hermie comes and goes but these two are his favorite people.

I'm a known polywagon enjoyer and while I DO love all the other inner dynamics within polywagon I think marloakworthy has my favorite parts boiled down. Which is why it's my favorite dndads ship atm!

[imminent-danger-came]

I can't wait for the S4 finale episodes to solidify MK as monkie. Maybe we get a scene with MK's war form and Azure going "...fuck."

Also good mentor Sun Wukong moment where he apologizes because he has no idea what's going on but he's pretty sure it's fault and he manages to calm MK from war form.

ME TOO. The way MK being a monkey has been playing out is so thematically delicious for MK as a character. IT'S GOT IT ALL. His identity being literally shattered, all roads leading "to pain", being "just like Wukong", his self-worth being lower than it's ever been—as an MK fan, it does not get any better than this let me tell you.

I've discussed here and here why I think MK's creation is 100% Wukong's doing (or at the least partly his doing) and that he knew about MK's origins the whole time, but dear anon, you and I agree that Wukong will have his good mentor moment.

The end of 3x14 was a good start, but Wukong has hurt MK, and this is something MK has never confronted/discussed with Wukong himself. Mei did so on his behalf in 3x10, and Curse MK did so in 4x07, but we haven't had MK really and truly express himself to Monkey King directly (more on that later). So now we've had 4 seasons and 3 specials worth of building and unresolved tension, and you can see MK's hurt bubbling beneath the surface.

In the Revenge of the Spider Queen special, Sun Wukong unknowingly made MK feel like he couldn't help. Like he "couldn't do anything on his own". He—in a way—abandoned MK at the beginning of s2, "leaving him to figure out everything on his own". He wasn't honest or upfront to MK or the rest of the gang about his half-formed plan to defeat the Lady Bone Demon. Honestly, even expecting MK to face Demon Bull King on his own was...a debatable choice. Yes, fighting demons just like that was how Sun Wukong learned (it also being what he did in JTTW), but that doesn't mean that's what MK needs. Plenty of characters have pointed out that Wukong is a terrible mentor (Macaque in 2x07, Pigsy in 2x10, Mei in 3x10, SWK himself in 3x14), and I'm inclined to agree.

This isn't to say that Wukong doesn't already have any good mentor moments, or that he doesn't care about and love MK (he truly does), but he's flawed. Wukong's choices and mistakes have affected MK, and now MK doesn't want to hurt the people he loves in the same way Wukong has hurt him:

Curse MK: "We’re just like Wukong. A fraud! A trickster! Destructive! Why would our legacy be any different? Actually, no no- the chaos and destruction we’ll bring upon the world will make Wukong’s past look like nothing."

(4x07 Pitiful Creatures)

-

MK: “And the most messed up thing is, I- I never even realized, never even questioned who I am, or where I come from, or why, or- Until I know what I am, what my destiny is? I can’t risk hurting the people I care about—the one’s I have left.”

(4x08 The Brotherhood)

-

And oh, is it BEAUTIFUL irony. The 4x08 scene I listed above is a direct parallel to SWK in 3x10. MK, in one sense, doesn't know anything about himself, yet he knows everything he needs to: he's exactly like Wukong, fated to "hurt the people who care about [him] the most". After all, that's exactly what just happened. MK, desperate to save Monkey King from Azure Lion, gave into his anger and frustration and went full on monkey demon. His goal was to free his beloved mentor from his prison, yet it only led to Wukong's scroll piece getting sliced in half.

And so, motivated by fear, MK in 4x08 does the exact same thing Wukong does to him at the end of 3x10: MK runs off, MK leaves (JUST like he does in 2x05, 2x10, and the entirety of s3). This causes the people who care about him to worry, inadvertently hurting them in the process. And, oh, is it SO GOOD. LBD was right, there is no running, destiny will always catch up.

[The rest of the meta will be under the cut!]

MK ran away because he didn't want to hurt anyone more, which is the exact reason Wukong ran away at the end of s3 and even disappeared for hundreds of years:

MK: "*sigh* You think Monkey King ever felt like this? Maybe that's why he stayed up on this mountain, just having a good time with you guys. You know cause- cause he knew he'd be out of the way where he couldn't hurt anyone he cared about." (4x09 Roast of the Monkie Kids)

Wukong wanted to stop hurting MK, to keep him out of his fights, so he ran away from MK and towards his own demise. Doing things alone has never worked out for anyone in this show, and ultimately, Wukong only ended up hurting MK more. It's tragedy at it's finest.

If you'd like another punch in the gut, this 4x01 scene is particularly great for doing that:

MK, staring into his reflection, compares himself to Monkey King—seeing every bad trait in himself and none of the good. "We're just like Wukong." MK believes he's a fraud, tricking all the good in his life into being there.

Curse MK: "You can see it, can't you? This is your fate. Your friends will turn on you, seeing you for the monster you will become. They will destroy you, harbinger of chaos. It's just like the Lady Bone Demon said—despite your efforts, all you'll ever do is cause pain and suffering." (4x07 Pitiful Creatures)

So, let's finally go back to MK having never confronted Wukong.

There are already plenty of reasons for MK to feel hurt, but now we've only added to the pile with MK's past, and how Monkey King hid it from him. The end of 4x08 already parallels 3x10 in so many lovely ways, however, I believe we are due for a second 3x10 parallel.

Mei: "You knew. All along you knew I had this THING inside of me. And you hid it from ALL of us! Why? What were you afraid of, that you were going to have to TEAR me apart to get your precious Samadhi fire!?" (3x10 The Samadhi Fire)

This scene alone is paralleled to with MK and Curse MK in 4x07. It's another piece of evidence for the fact that Sun Wukong definitely knew about MK, but it's ALSO evidence for MK finally confronting Wukong after the truth comes out. Just like Monkey King knew about the ring inside Mei, he also knew about MK. Just like Mei snapped and revealed all of her pent up anger towards Sun Wukong, MK will do the same thing.

I don't particularly know what war form is, but I have heard a cry in my notes of people like me who want to see MK go berserk, and I am hear to provide evidence for those people of that likely happening. Let's look at the couple of times we've already seen MK flicker into monkey demon form:

(I hope you enjoyed my "Scary MK Moments" compilation.)

MK's cracking the ground around him, he's flickering, he's even catching some of his friends in the sheer force he's emanating. When MK becomes a Monkey Demon, it's never treated as a good thing narrative-wise. The first time MK fully enters this form it's at the end of 4x07 when he defeats the curse, which then directly causes Wukong to become trapped in the scroll and Azure to free Peng and Yellowtusk. The next time MK goes full on Monkey Wukong's scroll piece get's cut in two. Both times, MK doesn't feel in total control.

In fact, MK choosing NOT to indulge in his monkey demon form is met with much more success:

Macaque: "You don’t want to fight Azure because people might get hurt, you don’t want to not fight him because people might get hurt--so do something else! Only you get to decide who you are kiddo." (4x10 The Jade Emperor)

And then that's what MK does, he chooses not to fight and instead steals back Wukong's scroll piece. His choice to save and protect the people he cares about rather than to fight back is the right one—he even runs away with his loved ones rather than without them. But even then, MK has to choose to resist his Monkey form:

It's all very in line with "harbinger of chaos" and how we could ever get to a point his friends would ever turn on him.

At the end of 3x10, Mei herself goes out of control—but MK refuses to let her go or abandon her. Instead he runs directly towards the fire, reaching for his friend, successfully bringing Mei back to herself. I 100% believe that Mei will do the same thing for MK. At the end of 4x08, we even see her start to make that same reach:

But MK leaves before she's able to.

This makes me think it will happen later, and that we'll get to hear her say "We can figure this out together!", as done previously many times.

I imagine it playing out something like this: MK goes into SWK's scroll piece to fix it from the inside, going through Wukong's memories along the way. MK comes across Wukong's memory of his creation—this is when things take a turn for the worse, as MK slips into Monkey Demon form and confronts the real Wukong about it (this scene would be a lovely parallel to 3x10 and Samadhi fire Mei). Wukong—meaning well—says the wrong things/reveals information that only makes everything worse. This pushes MK to go fully berserk and instigates the Sun Wukong V MK fight of my dreams. Their fight causes the two to break out of the scroll, giving Mei the opportunity to calm MK down.

Wukong being Wukong, is going to want to make it up to MK. With everything now out in the open, I think he's going to be able to do exactly that, and we'll get our good mentor moment.

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY: Something that will forever bother me is that I thought they would change their outfits. I dont like v7 outfits too much so wehn I saw they might be on a beach. I thought, 'Cool. Maybe they'll remove some layers of theit WINTER outfits and they might look better.' BUT NO. I thought weiss and blake would lose their jackets, yang gets a ponytail, im not sure about ruby, shes fine ig. But still pretty unhappy. oh well

Yang in a ponytail, my beloved. So near and yet so far 😭

I get that it takes more time, effort, and of course money to create the new models (even overlooking the fact that RT is no longer the struggling startup it once was...) but for me, missing details like that really hinder my sense of immersion. They don't actively take me out of the story, but they don't help me stay tethered to it either, which is much more of a problem when the writing is struggling like RWBY's is.

As I mentioned in another post, I've started Demon Slayer (which is excellent) and little moments with clothing really help the storyworld to feel real. Why doesn't Tanjiro's uniform tear during all those intense battles? Oh look, here's a scene with his mentor explaining precisely how that's possible. Why doesn't Inosuke's mask fall off? It does after a particularly vicious headbutt, finally revealing his face. Here two of the characters are removing their outer layers to give someone a pillow and blanket. Here they are changing into a new set of clothes while their uniforms are washed. Zenitsu hangs onto others' robes when he's particularly scared, pulling them askew. Inosuke wears or doesn't wear a shirt depending on the situation. People comment on the bamboo in Nezuko's mouth. Tanjiro's earrings are slowly being revealed as significant... Clothing is a part of the characters and the story actually treats it as such.

In contrast, RWBY has lost almost all of that work despite starting out as a series built around the thematic significance of outfit colors. Not even their weapons, tools through which the ENTIRE conflict is built around, are given any true acknowledgement anymore, not when Weiss finds hers in a heartbeat offscreen, getting Blake's back becomes fodder for jokes, Ruby shows no inclination to get Crescent Rose back (with, more significantly, her teammates ignoring that uncharacteristic passivity), and Jaune apparently has never tried to mend his sword. Only stealing Yang's arm is even somewhat significant and likewise treated in a jokey, ultimately-unimportant-to-her-development manner.

Now take into consideration everything they DON'T do, including reacting to the tropical nature of the Ever After. Give me scenes where Yang puts up her hair, Blake takes her stockings off, Ruby tears the sleeves off her shirt, Weiss cuts her skirt to make it shorter, and she and Yang both loose their jackets because holy shit it's hot here. Also we're literally lost in a parallel fantasy world, maybe dead, who gives a crap how we look or if we need to buy new clothes later?? Give me the girls pulling off extra layers to cushion Ruby's head after her faint. Let them tear off a strip to bind a wound. Who's going to trade something like their jewelry to gain what they need? (Something we did get with Ruby's rose pendant, but it happened so fast and with no emotional punch it was just frustrating. Great idea, terrible execution.) Who's going to pick up new pieces while traipsing across the Ever After, perhaps visually signifying their acceptance of the place (something we could have gotten with Ren in Atlas)? Who's outfit gets scorched or torn or soiled because unlike Demon Slayer, there's no canonical reason for why these clothes should still be looking pristine after all they've been through?

Obviously RWBY doesn't have to do all of this, but it should do something to sell the idea that these are real people post-battle, traveling a hostile, tropical-esque land after they've been prepped for the ARCTIC. Keeping them exactly the same doesn't help me fall into the fantasy of watching RWBY, it just makes me go, "Oh, they probably want new outfits for Volume 10, so they're not bothering to change anything now :/" The viewer is already well aware that Volume 9 is a filler season that's struggling to be significant in the grand scheme of things. You don't want anything that's going to add to that feeling.

To use an old meme:

[freshlybakedspiderbread]

seiga kaku?

im gonna actively try to keep myself concise and to single points because its been so easy for me in the past to get lost in wicked hermit thoughts and veer off who knows where... Part of it surely has to do with how a long time ago i used to have an rp blog on tumblr where i spent everyday thinking about seiga to some extent!

General opinion/How much I care about them: there was a long period of time where i would say without a doubt she was my single favourite character in touhou. I couldn't properly point to any one reason, or any tidy chain of events that might have led to it, other than learning about her, reading and seeing various very formative doujin works featuring her and the th13 crew, and maybe some old-fashioned projecting led me to latching onto every aspect of her... These days, there's a lot of touhous I obsess and go wild over and to even greater extents than her, but seiga objectively has the longest history of making me go a little nuts, whereas even aya took a little more time to nettle into my brain.

I like Seiga a lot and ive thought about her a lot, is what im getting at!

A ship I love: seiyoshi (seiga/yoshika) is funny in that it has a lot of little 'requirements' to me. Like if intepreted as just purely the evil hermit controlling a tool that she herself murdered to obtain, i think thats boring. But likewise, if its intepreted as just the hermit tragically trying to preserve her departed beloved, well that might be better but still lacking to me.

i couldnt possibly get across my ideal backstory for them right now, but the ultimate gist of it is that Seiga definitely did care for the living Yoshika who then died unexpectedly, before Seiga could decide herself whether she would commit to teaching her the ways of the hermit or simply get bored and move on. Her main motivation in performing the most ludicrously evil magic and create a jiangshi was because she refused to let even the natural order of life and death take anything away from her.

....Thaaaat all aside, i think their interactions in present day are just really funny 😄 Seiga 'spoiling' her dear Yoshika who laughs off being a meat shield because its not like she can die again!

A non-romantic relationship that I love: I think Seiga and Futo have the most oddball dynamic among the taoists and also Futo is probably the only one Seiga wouldn't have intense romanctic tension with. Futo who is a weirdo herself, acknowledges Seiga as their wise teacher of the arts (calling her seiga-donno) and yet also does not think of her as above any of them in their little personal hierarchy because Futo knows Seiga has no interest in being a proper retainer to Miko, so all of Futo's formalities almost come off as either sarcastic or as a really esoteric form of endearment. Meanwhile, Seiga probably thought a long time ago Futo would grow weary of things like loyalty and matters of noble blood or talking like an ancient old person, but none of that happened and Futo remains the same as ever, which has been altogether surprising, charming, and exasperating for Seiga (and everone else but they're all mostly charmed 😊)

The NOTP: i guess you'd have to work especially hard to get me to gel with pairing her up with any of myouren temple's folks. I get the temptation since every other taoist has one or two easily paired up counterpart there, but its not enough to just cross a checklist and leave it at that!

(that said, if you were gonna pair up buddhists and taosists thematically, i get why one might put seiga with shou since they were technically most vital in backstory with miko/byakuren respectively, and also because they both have a servant, one jiang-shi and a mouse. but i always thought seiga made a better parallel witn nue personally)

My biggest headcanon about them: most of this post is already headcanon, but as for another 'big' one...

I believe over the last thousand and whatever years, Seiga made semi-regular (as in maybe once every few years or a century?) visits to the tomb where Miko and gang slept, indulging and refreshing her memories of them, chatting up Tojiko who is now a ghost. And then sometime in 2011 right as her hermit senses told her it was finally time to meet them all again, she went to to tomb to greet them all only to find out literally the entire place was gone 😨

so all within like a week or something, Seiga had to go on a mad investigative quest where she discovered they had all been whisked to Gensokyo at some point, had to learn what the heck Gensoyko even is, how to get herself there, and then arrived just in time to get blasted by the incident resolvers. Really busy time in her life!

An idea for a fanfiction I would like to write/read about them: ha... one day, my multi-part seiga backstory fic incorporating every stray headcanon i've ever had. and then i quit writing forever maybe n_n

That aside, a funny scenario would be Okina appearing trying to stir drama because Seiga is basically the reason why Miko divorced Okina. And Seiga has no idea who she is or about any of that because Miko never mentioned it 😌

Something that makes me think of them: pretzels.

also its someone elses fault but luo tianyi is just the seiga vocaloid to me 😑

[mykingdomforapen]

if you still feel like answering the writing ask meme: 1, 11, 13, 18, 22, and 68? Hope you're doing well!

Hehehehe I love answering questions :))

Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike?

I love daydreaming about it first! It makes me excited about the story, and I also love rewatching the movies in my mind of blorbos and stories hehehe. I've had something of a beloved routine where I sort of imagine certain scenes as I'm about to fall asleep.

11. Do you write scenes in order, or do you jump around?

I almost always write scenes in order! There are many moments that I can only fully realise after going through the journey of the story as the characters do. Certain emotional arcs that I would have missed had I only went with Plan A, or motifs/parallels/foreshadowing that I didn't think of including until I'm in the moment. I will jump backwards, but never forwards.

13. Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what have you been listening to recently?

YESSss I listen to music when I write, and very specific mood setting music. Whether it is thematically relevant, or its melody evokes emotions in me that fit the mood of the story even if the lyrics are not entirely relevant. I have certain songs that I associate to certain stories for sure.

For example, in spinning silk I listened to a lot of Kuchikamizake Trip during Chapter 6, when Cheng Xiaoshi falls through his different death scenes. For the finale, chapter 8, I was exclusively listening to Katawaredoki on loop, and I was sitting in the middle seat of a plane to Hong Kong and I had that song downloaded because I had no internet access. courage of stars wouldn't be what it has become were it not for Saturn by Sleeping at Last, naturally. But I also listened to Mercury by Sleeping at Last while writing chapter 12 and Repentance by Gable Price and Friends while writing chapter 13 & 14. And because these are about future chapters, I'll go ahead and say that they were for mood setting melodies, rather than because of their lyrics.

Right now, I'm playing with a new Link Click WIP. I'm listening to the Boy and the Heron OST by Joe Hisaishi on loop, mainly for its relevance :).

But in general? Sleeping At Last is THE band to listen to while writing. They have rescued me SO MUCH and they're beautiful. They have both lyrical songs and orchestral instrumentals, the perfect balance.

18. Do you enjoy research? Which fic of yours required the most research?

Because I love history, and I tend to write history-influenced fics, I do love research! I love aiming for accuracy in my stories, not to be pedantic about it but to make it feel as immersed into the setting as possible. One time, I was writing a fic that took place in Reading, England. A place that I've never been to, but because of looking things up and incorporating what I learned, a reader who actually was from Reading left me a comment saying how much they appreciated that, and it made me happy that those details could be meaningful to someone!

The fic I researched for the most....it could either be here be dragons (1917) or indeed, courage of stars. The difference is that here be dragons, which takes in WWII-era Reading, England, I did a lot of external research about the civilian experience of war, a day in the life of during that era, rationing, etc. as well as drawing from my uni background. It's weird calling courage of stars research when it was really me asking my family lots of questions, for purposes outside of fic, and I just happened to be able to incorporate what I learned into fic.

22. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

It depends on the story! Fics that I knew very quickly what the title would be, in some cases even before I finished writing it, are: here be dragons, today is such a good day, (Ted Lasso), and Jacob and Esau say their goodbyes (Thor). Others I have to finish it until I can tell what they are meant to be because of a theme of the story that had grown as I wrote it, like finally (The Bear), irreplaceable (Falcon and the Winter Soldier), and priceless (Squid Game). I also LOVE quoting poems, Bible verses, songs, etc. that are relevant to the story: greater love has no one than this (Trigun Stampede) which is part of a Bible verse, therefore, dark past, (Ted Lasso) which is from one of my favorite Mary Oliver poems, the prison disappears (FatWS) which is from a letter written by Vincent van Gogh, and more fics drawing from a line from The Little Prince, A Separate Peace, and various Sleeping At Last songs. Those usually come to me upon after writing it.

68. Are there any fics that influenced you to write the way you do?

There are so many fic writers that I admire and wish to emulate, but end up never being able to. There are also fics that, especially when I was younger, left SUCH an impression on me that they inspired me to write an original novel (if I got a nickel for every time this happened, I would get two nickels, which is not much but it's weird it happened twice). Both those fics were not on Ao3 and are essentially impossible for me to find again, btw. One was a Durarara!! fic and another was a Thor and Loki fic. I'm definitely a Frankenstein's monster of many writers I admire, both fic writers and published writers.

I will say that Markus Zusak a la The Book Thief fame has definitely influenced the way I write metaphors and turns of phrases. Hands down, that man makes magic with words, it's insane.

Thank you so much for asking me questions!! I love to share my thoughts heeheehee.

From this ask meme!

[marenwithanm]

OK SO EPISODE 11: TRAUMA GOT ME LOSING MY MIND TONIGHT READ BELOW TO SEE MY THOUGHTS

Shou and touichiro seemed pretty much the same except for two things. 1) touichiro's vision of Shou and his wife which was just... So good... The way that the coloring paralleled his vision of his wife in season 2 has me 😭 2) the other one I noticed was the double charge bomb they did together. This could have been in the manga and I just didn't remember it, but I'm pretty sure that's anime original and I am LIVING for it. Shou's trump card which he originally used to try and bring down his dad is now being used in tandem with his dad to help someone. It's so so good. (What's NOT so good is Shou's outfit, why is bones so determined to slander his sense of fashion?? But that's a post for another day lol)

(for an episode titled "trauma" it was rather hopeful in the end. Wonder if that has any sort of thematic meaning)

first, all the changes. I really adored all the build up they gave ritsu. His arrival was a bit abrupt in the manga, and I will forever love bones for not only having ritsu find the crash sight, but also find and take care of Teru. Literally yesterday I was thinking about how sad it is that Teru just gets left naked and hurt in the middle of the road, so that was very very nice.

Back to more Ritsu changes since I'm following the episode's progression of scenes! I really miss the "man this is overkill" line. I know it doesn't fit the tone but it was just really funny ok?

But for some bigger changes, I noticed they took out the rhubarb wire that Ritsu saved a body improvement club member from. Which is interesting, I wonder if that's because of change of setting or censorship concerns.

They also took out a lot of the implications of Ritsu's plan later in the fight. In the anime, he said something along the lines of "a big shock might stop nii-san" whereas in the manga...

Yeah, he basically flat out says "maybe if I get hurt nii-san will snap out of it" which hoooo boy sure is a line of dialogue.

The final change I noticed was between the two "Mob" and "Shigeo", mainly in the art. I LOVE how they're doing it, with Shigeo being a blank white outline and Mob having blue lineart. It really helps differentiate them and make them pop. Super cool.

Now, do I miss some of the manga content and am I sad to see it go? Yes. But did bones do an utterly incredible job at adapting this? YES!!! so even if i don't like some of the changes, I like some of the other changes, and I love it overall.

As for overall hype:

OH MY GOSH 100% RITSU IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT AND BOY DID IT DELIVER I AM FROTHING AT THE MOUTH I LOVE THIS I LOVE THIS I LOVE THIS

Also all of the parallels to previous things like having their fight on the bridge where mogami world Ritsu ignored him is spectacular. And the whole "I'm your little brother so let me help you" paralleling mobs "in your older brother, so I have to take care of you". And the music being the same as their original fight in the alleyway. I can't even...

SHOU CONTENT!!!! YES!!!! I CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO DESCRIBE HOW HYPED I AM TO SEE MY BELOVED

Studio bones really just adores the super five huh? Hatori is still here lol and Joseph too

REIGEN AND SERIZAWA JUST SPRINTING PAST THE POLICE AKFJSKFKR YES THAT WAS SO GOOD

Tsubomi please move out of the way of the active tornado this is not a safe place my girl (and what an interesting character choice for her to wait, Tsubomi is such an enigma in all the best ways)

Oh rip to sakuri and koyama, you did your best. (Side note, imagine your ex CEO falling from the sky to duke it out with a magic middle schooler who just destroyed your workplace. Seasoning city is so wild lol)

Random side characters getting one frame my beloved! Minori moment!! Tokugawa and Shinji moment!!

In conclusion, episode 11 makes me lose my marbles and it was 100% worth the wait!