#they are parallels and reflections of each other!

[imfierylilac]

I’ve been thinking about this artwork and wanted to share some observations.

Lenore and Annabel are reaching out to each other, and even though they’re positioned opposite one another—implying they’re on different sides—they’re still trying to connect. I feel like this reflects how deeply they want to be together, but circumstances are keeping them apart. They’re also the only ones with their eyes open, which might hint that they alone carry the secret of their relationship.

Morella is placed near Annabel, but her head is turned away. I think this suggests that, even though they were once close, Morella no longer wants to be part of Annabel’s team.

Berenice lies between Morella and Eulalie. Eulalie is one of her close friends, and it seems like Berenice might start interacting more with Morella in the upcoming chapters.

Eulalie is between Pluto and Berenice, and out of all the characters, she looks the most peaceful in her sleep. She’s holding Berenice’s hand, which reflects their friendship.

Next is Pluto, who’s resting his head on Eulalie’s shoulder—this might show how close they’re becoming, and possibly foreshadow him opening up about his feelings. His hand is touching Duke’s hand.

Now, Duke’s placement is interesting. His hand is touching Pluto’s, but not Lenore’s, even though they’re lying close together. That might just be a composition choice, but I also think it could be symbolic: after the truth about Lenore and Annabel’s relationship comes out, Duke might distance himself from Lenore emotionally. Still, his head is turned toward her, which I think suggests that, even if he feels hurt, he’ll continue to see her as a friend.

Ada is lying between Lenore and Montresor. It’s interesting that Ada and Morella are placed in parallel—both were torn between teams before finally choosing one. Ada lies close to Lenore, but her head is turned toward Montresor, and she’s holding his arm. That might reflect their recent relationship and the fact that she expected support and care from him.

Montresor, meanwhile, is turned toward Will. Probably because he didn’t support Ada, but did come to Will’s aid—showing that Will is someone who truly matters to him.

Will is curled up tightly, a posture of vulnerability. He’s lying close to Montresor—they’re not touching, but the proximity still speaks volumes.

Prospero is placed near Annabel, acting as her right hand. He doesn’t physically touch anyone, which likely symbolizes his fear of touch.

[linkcharacter]

I love your anti-AU in that the events of Mouthwashing don't happen to a T, just with the counter opposites of each respective character, but that the characters being the exact opposite of themselves changes the course of the plot ENTIRELY, so much so that it never comes into fruition in. The first place. Curly isn't a replacement for Jimmy, he doesn't do all that Jimmy has done in the game. He isn't used to justify a lack of originality, as Jimmy and Curly aren't polar opposites. They're both hypocritical, and flawed, and I feel like anti-jimmy wouldn't act the same way Curly does in Mouthwashing if these events were to happen.

I dunno, I just think it's pretty neat. They could get struck by a meteor some other way, by circumstance, leading us back to the OG plot, but there'd still be major shifts. Swansea wouldn't be a relapsing alcoholic, Daisuke wouldn't willingly crawl into the vents, Anya wouldn't go through what she did, so there's little to justify following the same format as OG mouthwashing.

I would think it's pretty cool that over the course of their trip, instead of things devolving into mayhem and destruction as the crew are personally victimized by Jimmy in some way, Jimmy affects them positively in a personal manner, changing them from the people who stepped onto the ship, to the people who will step off. This may be wishful thinking, because Anti-Jimpster isn't Steven Universe, but I like to dream.

It feels very sit-com esque. Jump up, freeze frame, roll credits!

I like your thoughts :)

You are right, the story doesn't happen the exact same way as the game BUT the events I have in mind follow similar story beats and are meant to parallel them.

The ship crashes but not via a random meteor. It is very similar to how it happens in the game, but it's not anti Jimmy who's doing it and the circumstances vary just enough for it to make sense for his specific set of characters.

And you're right about anti Jim being the ray of positivity here. He's not perfect but he means well. He's not exactly like og Curly and Anya but he shares a lot of traits with those two that I hope also reflects in his visual design.

I am down to get silly with them.

[dollypopup]

there was this very well accepted belief for a long time that Penelope was SUPER obvious about her feelings for Colin and 'wake up man and see what's right in front of you!' but going back into the story, there really isn't anything to support that. Other characters, including Penelope's own best friend, were not aware of said feelings, and what did we want Colin to do? Immediately become presumptuous of everything conversation and nice thing they did together? Assume she was sooo in love with him when she had really only ever done friend things with and for him? Colin recognizing his feelings after that kiss, something that DID indicate Penelope's interest in him, and then doing something with said feelings is a sign of him being a smart man! I mean, come on. We sat through HOW many episodes of Anthony and Simon hemming and hawing about their love interests and their feelings for them? Colin not seeing that someone who he called a friend and who always agreed they are friends, and who never did anything particularly romantic or obvious with him save literally just communicating isn't clueless. It's logical. It's the best way he could be.

Because you're right: It's that the friendship itself is devalued. When everything has to boil back to his romantic feelings for her and her romantic feelings for him, the focus doesn't become the facets of their relationship and how it grows and builds, but just the ending of it. Happily Ever After. Married with Babies. I get it as a Polin shipper myself, I love their romance. But I LOVE friendship. The foundation, the common ground they share, the parallels, how their actions in said friendship reflect on who they are as individuals, too. Their friendship is something so interesting to dig into! Not as a stepping stone, but in and of itself. It's special: heartwarming and sweet! Colin is genuinely such a good friend to Penelope and it makes my heart flutter. And when we look at it with the tenderness it deserves, we see how much they truly bond over being similar- nerdy dreamers who make bad puns and yearn for more than what they have, who feel safe with each other. Anyone who has care for these two as a pairing beyond just kiss kiss fall in love can see that Colin has never been clueless. He has always been very in tune with what Penelope tells him. She just. . .didn't tell him she wanted more in any way until that kiss.

no one who truly appreciates the friendship between Colin & Penelope would ever tag its existence as a character flaw on Colin's part, but not only that, it also paints Pen in a negative light to suggest that she didn't really want the friendship or that she's owed an apology for accepting it & "waiting around" for Colin.

I just loved that so much I had to bold it!!! No notes, amazing, excellent, phenomenal, I want to print it out and keep it in my house.

today I'm thinking about how the fandom so frequently characterized Colin as being an idiot (to the point where it's a tag on AO3 used near 1K times) and called him clueless and dumb almost entirely because he didn't recognize that Penelope had feelings for him

and then we find out in Season 3 that Eloise, Anthony, Benedict, Debling, Portia and literally no one else knew. by the time CRESSIDA said something about it, the whole city had been watching those two clowns on unicycles honk honking and circle around each other like water in a drain after going kissy kissy smooch smooch for like a month

'oh why is colin so clueless-'

he's not in the audience. he isn't privy to Penelope's pining like we are. every single other character, including Colin, do not see what we see

justice for my boy!!!! we spent like two years calling Colin an idiot and then my baby ended up being the most emotionally intelligent character on that entire show. apologize to him

[impriceless]

I am once again thinking about Tim Price and Patrick Bateman.

[taylortruther]

all her fuckin' lives flashed before her eyes is one of the main themes of ttpd actually. like, all those men with many faces, all those stories, they all return when she emotionally plunges through the ice.

[divinish-comedy]

"He was a defense attorney without peer. It sounds trite, but it's true. Well, he may have had one peer now that I think about it. Your mentor, Mia Fey"

[melljam]

oh, the way that jake and samuel were both originally introduced as suspicious associates to a shady business scheme

gave menacing looks, which immediately tells the audience that they are not what they seem

defeated respect given to a superior that they felt somewhat indebted to, and were willing to endure mistreatment from

with their strength alluded to, by swiftly putting down a security threat

‘i’m not who i used to be’ and ‘you don’t think you’re still the old you, right?’

and eventually reverting back to their old ways through an outfit change and a fight …

[doublel27]

I have to say, I really love the balance and parallels The Trainee is pulling off with their interns. Specifically though, the focus on BaMhee and Ryan as our central leads, because they directly parallel each other in this story.

Of our interns, BaMhee and Ryan are the ones that didn’t really mean to be there. BaMhee is there following Tae with no real aspirations of her own outside of being close to him. Ryan is there because his only friend encouraged him to try it and he got pulled into the wrong interview. They both show up relatively aimless and without a real objective which is contrasted by Tae and Pie who are so focused on their dreams/objectives they have a hard time seeing around their own plans. Pah has a dream, like Pie and Tae, but he lacks confidence in his ability to complete his dream, in the way that Ryan struggles with his confidence.

And throughout the story, they’ve allowed Ryan and BaMhee to start finding themselves within the story. Both have become more involved and valuable to production as time has gone on. In the early episodes, BaMhee was usually texting Tae and Ryan was often silent and confused. Now BaMhee takes initiative and makes her own decisions. Ryan has taken to coming up with his own ideas and sharing them, as well as getting involved in scene set up and being better at handling extras.

Both had very significant revelations in today’s episode about who they actually want to be or might be that were explored in 4/4.

BaMhee realized she was still in love with Tae and while she likes Judy, she doesn’t like her enough to want to have a full relationship. I was always worried that BaMhee liked the attention and the confidence of Judy because we didn’t get to see much of Judy beyond her work persona (unlike Jane who we saw behind the curtain much earlier). I actually loved BaMhee’s speech to Judy about how no one person is an exact fit (which is why you cannot survive on one relationship alone - romantic, familial, friend - a person needs multiple people) and how both Tae and Judy have things that fit her and things that don’t. But it’s the love and feelings that she has for Tae that make her want to try.

And I find this evolved for BaMhee because it often felt, in the early eps, that she just wanted to be with Tae to be with Tae and not for her relationship with Tae. Like it didn’t feel like a thing she was choosing so much as clinging to. I know she knows that because she told Tae flat out what she wants, which BaMhee never did before. She laid out she doesn’t want grand gestures or big surprises; she just wants time.

Directly paralleled with Ryan, who has now had Jane in his home, and is finding his footing. We saw it some the last two episodes, but this episode had Ryan contemplating his dreams, and who he is, and what persona he might wear, or not. I loved the throwback to the interview and him explaining while he didn’t want to be porridge with side dishes then, just a person in the background supporting, now he does want to be porridge with side dishes because he wants to figure out what fits him best. Who he wants to be as a grown up.

I love that Jane pointed out earlier in the episode that no “adult” has it all together and even asked if people need big dreams. His own contemplation of his dreams and where he is over where he thought he might be was a lovely reflection in the conversation with Ryan. It’s beautiful how they talk about these things.

And @lurkingshan has a beautiful post on BaMhee’s relationships with Judy and Tae respectively, and how Ryan and Jane are slower, but Ryan and Jane are also deeper. Judy didn’t really listen to BaMhee, not really, or ask probing questions. Judy and BaMhee both operated separately, sometimes in concert and sometimes in opposition, whereas Jane and Ryan communicate about ideas and feelings and dreams. Another contrast I’ve enjoyed was Jane let Ryan in first, with the feeding and bringing him home, before he crossed into Ryan’s world in episode 10. Which is a contrast to Judy showing up at BaMhee’s family restaurant (entering her space first) and having BaMhee feed her while we still know very little about Judy. Yes she talks BaMhee out, later, but she doesn’t ask first. Jane always asks. It’s a very cool contrast of how both of their relationships with their mentors have helped clarify things for BaMhee and Ryan in multiple ways, while being very different.

Anyway, while I am sad my sapphic plans didn’t pan out, I still love this show dearly and it’s so well written and beautifully shot.

[raayllum]

If I said I was sorry for always being underwater, would you stay? You can take me There's no difference between you and me

[simplysparrow14]

Pikelan is probably the most complex CR ship and more people need to realize that instead of branding it as the "haha funny gnomes" ship.

because the entirely of Pikelan revolves around Scanlan, a very charismatic bard who flirts with literally everyone around him but is head-over-heels in love with his cleric friend but is tragically dogshit at expressing it so he resorts to doing crude bits and gags that ultimatly mask who he truly is.

And then you have Pike, a cleric brimming with self-confidence, who absolutely loves Scanlan for who he is, but is constantly getting mixed signals, because on one hand, he's constantly doing crude jokes and flirting with every person he sets his sights on (even so far as going after his unknown daughter) but on another, he tenderly holds her while she's bleeding and he's constantly at her side during battle and even tends to her emaciated brother for her and it's beautiful to watch, but the moment, the moment she brings it up, he reverts back to his crass personality and it just leaves her reeling about who he truly is.

And then we get to Bards Lament, and Scanlan, after tip-toeing around his true emotions for so long, finally snaps and lets everything he's been feeling (all the pain, and self-loathing manifested as anger towards everyone else, because even in his darkest moment, he's still so dogshit at expressing it for what it truly is) and Pike, who's been wrestling with these mixed signals, finally gets his true feelings on what he feels, calling her magic weird, hating that the same magic that has kept him alive and safe for so long brought him back to his sad existence, hating her for doing it. In the end, Scanlan leaves, just as Pike left the first time and the second time. And Pike stays behind, watching as he heads towards somewhere where she cant follow, abandoning the team and her and grog and everything they've built for themselves. She loves him, and him leaving brings her to that point.

The two are split apart, and despite the anger and hurt, the need for connection with each other is so strong. Scanlan reveals that he dident fully leave Taldorei at first, that he was only 20 miles away in another town entirely, listening to Pike's earing conversations. And eventually, when Scanlan is on another continent, he finds a temple of the Everlight (or just simply begins talking to Everlight) and prays, prays for guidance on finding forgiveness for what he said and did. He's deeply in love with pike, and still is, going to her god for answers to his problems, the quickest connection to Pike that he has between one giant ocean and a continent.

And Pike, despite holding a very rightful disdain for what he said to her, keeps him up to date, informs him of her happenings with the people of Whitestone. She should fucking hate his guts and yet the person she wants to speak to at the end of her day is a bard who (for all she knows) threw his earing away and traveled to some far off place, forever gone from Vox Machina, from her. Yet she keeps speaking.

They switch roles, with Scanlan becoming the quiet solitary one seeking forgiveness for his actions and Pike becoming the people oriented one.

When they reunite, it's tense and sad and angry. So many things said in anger and hurt and they don't really know where to step in the case that something, anything might send them back to that angry, angry place. And suddenly their back at the same place they were before, before the fight.

Pike is, again, trying so hard to sift through the mixed signals he's giving because he's being Scanlan again! Charming bard, essential party member, more confident than he's ever been! but now he's standing near the back and holding his hands and apologizing with a soft voice that she hasn't heard in over a year and a half and rebuilding the bridges he's burned and she doesn't know what to think!

And Scanlan is giving an honest effort at trying to fix what he's broken. He's working harder than ever, he's apologizing. He tries very hard to have conversations with people and fixing what he can. But, again, he's Scanlan, who is less dogshit at expressing what he feels, but still pretty dogshit none the less, and now he's a crime boss and still a beloved bard, but he's also surrounded by the friends, some of them he loves so dearly and he's trying, he's trying so hard

Eventually, everything is forgiven and in the end, Pike and Scanlan come to term with themselves and each other. Pike comes to terms with knowing that Scanlan is a complex person, a broken person just trying to figure his way through this world, just as she had done.

in the end, Pike becomes the person Scanlan feels the most free to be around, one where he doesn't have to put on the mask of a performer, where he can just be Scanlan the gnome instead of Scanlan, bard extraordinaire. and Pike comes to terms with knowing that Scanlan is a complex person, a broken person just trying to figure his way through this world, just as she had done before.

and together, they are beautiful reflection of each other.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Imagine if Jin Zixuan DID yeet his brother from another mother (🥲) down the stairs.

Meng Yao: I'm your brother. Happy birthday! 🥰

Jin Zixuan: There can only be one. YEET

I am truly sad he didn't; think of the 'No Doubles' memes that we could have had...

[skipporeity]

DOKUZU!

[distortedmoondisc]

Do you ever think about the parallels between Rinne and Aira

Not only they have a shared interest in protecting Hiiro and ensuring his well-being/growth as a person, (and it's extra interesting given how Aira sort of dislikes Rinne for how he dealt with Hiiro in general—by leaving him alone at their hometown and disowning him in the summer of the MDM—, so even though they have the same interests and goals regarding Hiiro, they aren't exactly friends nor like each other — though this is mostly from Aira's part, because Rinne does like Aira and even acknowledges him as someone important to Hiiro that he must keep in his life), but Aira kinda is what Rinne used to be, before his dreams of becoming an idol we're crushed by the new rules of ES.

!! Main Story, Episode 171, "Revolution"

I've seen many people talk about how Rinne and Aira would get along because they're both idol otakus, but I believe that's a common misunderstanding of Rinne's character, because Rinne isn't an idol otaku (at least not anymore). He doesn't like the current idol system and the way Ensemble Square is running the industry. That's why he tried to change it by force in the !! Main Story by acting out. This is different from Aira, who loves the idols born from this system, and is a participant in the ES system that is going to hurt the industry in the long run (because ES is mass producing idols like a factory, stripping them from their own individuality and what makes idols especial in the first place — which is why Aira likes idols to begin with! Because they're different from ordinary people!)

!! Main Story, episode 220, "Despair"

Aira is aware that the idol industry isn't perfect, in episode 171 he even acknowledges that the mass production of idols similar to items of consumption made in a factory is wrong and it strips idols from their beauty and value, but he doesn't have the insight and first hand experience with heartbreak as Rinne had, so he doesn't have the motivation to protest or change the way ES is running the industry. They both love idols and dreamed of becoming one, but Rinne isn't an idol otaku, because he can't be a fan of idols mass produced by the current system.

What Rinne does instead, is support underground idols that would otherwise be trampled or forced to disappear by ES because they don't fit their sets of standards (and because ES has monopoly in the idol industry, they can easily do this without much repercussions or public outcry) and gives them his protection. This is explained throughout the course of the story of Night Club.

Nigh Club, Epilogue 2

Aira tries to impersonate an ideal idol persona, as the ones he watched when he was younger. He wants to embody a model idol and inspire others as idols inspired him in the past. Rinne used to be similar, but ES arbitrarily destroyed his solo career making him lose that dream, and that's why he embodies the wild and rebellious persona he portrays on stage, which is a complete opposite to how a traditional idol should act (and this is a constant point of conflict between him and other idols, such as Himeru; Himeru tends to scold Rinne for being so wild and doing whatever he wants because it goes against what is expected of an idol, but in Night Club he comes to understand that this is Rinne's soft way to protest against ES, despite having lost to them in the first part of the !! Main Story).

(Sometimes, I wonder if Rinne is happy being the wild and playful self he is with Crazy:B, or if he would prefer to be on stage as an ideal idol like he used to do years ago....)

However, despite their differences and the dislike/intimidation Aira might feel towards Rinne, he admits he understands his feelings and where he comes from, and that he can't help but to relate to him due to the fact that they both love idols. Aira scolds Rinne in episode 220 "Despair" to make him stop his pity party, but later in episode 224 "Flutter" he comforts and encourages him instead—telling him that he should not give up being an idol, because he recognizes that Rinne loves idols as much as he does, and that he still has a reason to live because he has fans of himself and of Crazy:B waiting for him among the crowd, meaning that he is still loved and accepted by someone, despite all the wreckage he had caused.

(And if I'm allowed to get personal for a moment, I just need to make emphasis in how important Aira is to the development of the Amagi brothers in the last arc of the !! main story, and this scene is a perfect example of that. Aira is the one who encourages Rinne to join the others on stage and sing, and after that it is Hiiro that pushes Rinne to give that step which finally leads them to perform on stage together 🥹)

So as we can see, Rinne and Aira have a lot of similarities, but they act in completely different ways due to their circumstances. They have similar backgrounds as idol lovers but they have different views and feelings about the industry and the profession, (however, they seem to share the same ideals as to what an idol should be, and love the same type of ideal idol inside their hearts). Adding to that their shared most beloved person, Hiiro, and how the two of them want what's best for him but they have a point of contention due to Rinne's bad actions in the !! Main Story, and their relationship becomes x10 more interesting, and I wish we talked about it more!

And we know Happyele hasn't forgotten about them, because Aira appeared in Rinne's recent relationship chart, just below Hiiro.

(also, a little unrelated, bu i think it's funny that despite having a heart to heart at the ending of the main story, their relationship is still "want to tease him" and "he's a little scary" ahdks Aira, who scolded Rinne in front of hundreds of people in the MDM, regressed to feeling intimidated and troubled by him. A couple of friends commented that it was probably because Aira had a burst of courage in the MDM because of the severity of the situation, so he had the determination to call out Rinne, a senior that he particularly feels intimidated by, publicly without second thought. It is canon that after the fact, Aira admitted that looking back on the MDM he felt embarrassed for doing such a bold thing. Idk, it's just something i find very interesting and fun about their dynamic www)

So this leads me to believe that they haven't forgotten about the history these two had in the main story, and all I can do is just wait for them to expand on their relationship and dynamic more eventually in some future event.

[to-proudly-go]

Star Wars has Force dyads and Star Trek has t'hy'la

Both concepts make me wanna take someone by the shoulders and shake them into oblivion if only to make them understand how I feel about soulmates

[some-pers0n]

Every once in a while I think about the ship I've been obsessed over for close to two years now and feel like I'm ascending to another plane of reality. Like sometimes you just encounter a ship that hits every single mark and is perfect in every regard and you're left stunned how something like that can even exist

[kald-dal-write]

Realized with the context of the narrative of TOFS, Blight name fit perfectly because he is a blight in Maureen’s life by just being there