#they basically confirmed what the OG implied

[pilvimarja]

[inhuman-obey-me]

Celestials and Saltiness: Lessons 48/49

HAHAHAHA of course while we had irl stuff going on and couldn't go through the lessons for a couple weeks, was when the Big Stuff drops. But we have caught up, and hoo boy, there is plenty to discuss. So let's discuss! Strap in, it's a long one.

(MAJOR spoilers for NB lesson 48/49 below the cut)

The Situation

Let's start with what's actually happening. Hey, remember when the devs decided Simeon is a human now as punishment over the whole stealing the Ring of Light situation? SURPRISE, they've decided he's becoming a demon after all! You know, like all of us fucking expected of what happens to angels when they are punished and fall? Yeah, that.

As it turns out, despite the whole "I'm human now" gradual reveal across two whole fucking seasons, they've now decided this has been going on since basically all the way back to his human world cafe days in OG Season 3 to say he was starting to become a demon even back then, or at least so Solomon theorizes. So...basically the entire length of his "human" punishment thus far. Cool, cool, we're sure that's totally not a retcon due to the devs realizing they wrote themselves into a corner. Definitely had a plan all along, that's why they bought themselves 2 seasons of Nightbringer time travel shenanigans of time before getting into this. Totally.

Anyway, setting aside the salt (for now), we are told that this demonic aura has been starting to appear whenever he feels deep emotions, somewhat similar to how power manifests for the brothers. Solomon tells us that it's because Simeon has a unique ability to access his latent power - which is an interesting little tidbit to note, as it implies that they took away his angel powers but he has his own inherent powers which he was just never able to access until now. We have long held the headcanon that God artificially limits angels' power, so it's very interesting to us to see that it may be suggesting something similar here.

On a related minor worldbuilding note, this does confirm the detail that celestial power has a distinctly opposite feeling than demonic power, meaning that their magic and powers are not neutral. And we also get an in-game reminder that demons do not like angels, so in this situation, it would be expected that an average demon might think an angel deserves to fall and want to torture/kill them if given the chance.

By the way, all of this is going on during the Science Fair Chemistry competition specifically, which is...an interesting parallel to say the least. Chemistry is the science concerned with matter -- including its composition, structure, and how it changes down to the molecular level. We've always been of the opinion that Simeon just turning into a human was odd as it's been established that demons and angels have different physiology in comparison to humans (like how Demonus can get both demons and angels drunk, but doesn't affect humans). Simeon turning into a demon with the absence of his angel powers makes sense.

Celestial Realm Reactions

Now, the consequences.

First, let's look at the political implications. Diavolo, Barbatos, and Lucifer know that this does not bode well for relations between the Realms. After all, what will the Celestial Realm think, having one of their own turning into a demon after they sent them to the Devildom for the exchange program? Especially considering everything that happened with Lucifer and the Great Celestial War, it would be very easy to point a finger at Diavolo and the Devildom for being a corrupting influence.

Lucifer also mentions that Simeon is currently not allowed through the gates into the Celestial Realm without first obtaining forgiveness. However, that status as a human is an ongoing punishment (think of a kid being grounded by parents), not a one-and-done thing, opening up an implication that this transformation is not necessarily intended to be permanent. That's also totally not a retcon, we're sure! If he turns into a demon, that challenges the supposed punishment and calls into question which realm actually has a claim to him -- in a situation where both answers would have precarious implications for Diavolo's peace plan.

So, that's the Celestial Realm as a whole, on a political level. But let's take a look at the individual angels we know too, shall we?

First, there's the big question mark of Michael. We know that he's the one who called Simeon back to the Celestial Realm about the Ring of Light, and we also know that he is in fact the one Simeon stole it from. However, Lucifer assumes Michael is planning to bring Simeon back to the Celestial Realm when he gets the chance, so it seems like he was not actually the one to decide on this punishment and may actually be working to end it. And interestingly, this would not be the first time Michael has acted on his own to seemingly try to cancel out a punishment from God -- as a reminder, he also went off to the Devildom disguised himself as Raphael to try to invite the brothers back at the end of NB Season 1!

Considering Lucifer's insistence that Father would never forgive him, plus his Cocytus punishment at the end of NB Season 2, it does seem like Michael probably didn't have permission from God to go inviting them back. If he's also looking to reverse Simeon's punishment, that would show a surprising rebelliousness from the top angel of the Celestial Realm! So it will be interesting to see how Michael's role in this whole situation unfolds.

Then, we have our sweet baby angel Luke -- who ends up crying himself to the point of passing out when he finds out. He's grown a lot since he first arrived to the Devildom, no longer thinking that all demons are inherently evil monsters -- but he's still very proud to be an angel. He loves Simeon dearly, as the one who has acted as a parental figure of sorts for him this entire time. Luke is adamant about protecting and helping Simeon in any way he can, even if he's not sure what can really be done.

However, this sets up quite the conflict for the poor boy. He was too young to know Lucifer and the other brothers at the time of the Great Celestial War, so this is his first time reckoning with an angel he's known personally becoming a demon. And on top of that, this began with the Celestial Realm's decision to punish Simeon for taking the Ring of Light -- saving MC and Lucifer, and stabilizing MC's "ring" to essentially save all of the Three Realms.

In other words, Simeon is becoming a demon now for saving everyone. So it begs the question -- will Luke, who has unquestioningly believed in the Celestial Realm until now, start seeing his home in a different light after all of this?

Then there's the next-youngest angel, and the newest in the cast -- Raphael. We didn't see too much of him, but we get enough that it's clear he's not taking this news well either. It's assumed he was suddenly called to the Celestial Realm because of this development, though we don't know exactly what they say to him about it, and when he returns, he's in a daze. We see Mephistopheles being the one to actually first run into him and try to talk to him, but he is mainly met with a very out-of-it angel, and he then takes him out to have his family's special Demonus because it's clear Raphael is distressed. In another scene, we see Thirteen run into a now spaced-out Mephisto and he asks her a "hypothetical" -- what happens when an angel reaches their limit? Also, Solmare, are y'all setting up RaphaelxMephisto as a ship?

And then, of course, we have the angel of the hour -- or rather, ex-angel. And Simeon's reaction to this change is...not so bad, actually. It's one of understandable confusion but also a kind of near acceptance. We've always been convinced that the reason Simeon was demoted after the Celestial War was because he stayed neutral and refused to fight. And how Simeon discusses the past in Lesson 49 suggests similarly -- he has always had regrets over not joining Lucifer, because he couldn't. Now that it seems he is possibly turning into a demon, he can't help but wonder how things could have been different if he had.

He mentions how he feels less unsure about this than turning into a human, as he always did want to be closer to the brothers, and didn't like that he was different from them. In that sense, turning into a demon doesn't seem so bad to him -- though he also doesn't have control over these powers yet, so he needs to be careful. And, if you choose the "are you a bad boy at heart" option, he mentions that maybe his loyalty to the Celestial Realm is lacking -- pretty understandable, after all he's seen from them and all they've put him through...!

And Then There's the Shady Sorcerer...

Now, that's all complicated enough for that delicate, delicate balance between the Celestial Realm and the Devildom, but let's not forget there's one more realm in the "Three" Realms, with one very conspicuously powerful representative here in our cast.

And so, where is Solomon in all of this? Well, we know he placed a protection charm on Simeon to protect him when it was thought that he was a "defenseless" human, so that even if a lesser demon messed with him, they'd be in for a world of pain. He was also, it seems, the first one to notice Simeon starting to transform into a demon, but kept that information to himself until confronted about it. Lucifer opens up to us that he can't help but wonder if there's some kind of connection between the sorcerer's activities back in the human realm and Simeon's predicament, feeling some doubts even if it seems everyone relies on Solomon and trusts him. And after all, Lucifer would be a demon with a good reason to distrust Solomon, since the sorcerer has long been after a pact with him, even on top of all the many powerful pacts he already holds with others.

Lucifer brings up some of his concerns to Solomon by asking him why he's been going back and forth to the human world so much -- to which Solomon answers that's making some preparations for unlikely scenarios. He insists it's not important, but we wonder...

Back in OG Season 2, Solomon knew about MC's "ring" which was putting the Three Realms at risk, and he secretly swiped the Night Dagger from the Reaper's Cave as a potential solution. His top priority, as we've seen, has always been protecting humanity from the battling influences of the other two realms. We know that's also part of his mysterious deal with Nightbringer.

So what possible plans and preparations could Solomon be making, and for what unlikely scenarios? Another war? Another imbalance of power? We'll see what awaits with this whole new situation...

[altocat]

I feel like Rufus doesn’t get enough credit. I mean everyone views Sephiroth as the master manipulator in FF7 but let’s be honest… without his powers he wouldn’t be able to manipulate a rabbit. This man was horribly socially awkward and the only way he can get to Cloud is by using Jenova’s influence to make Cloud hallucinate.

Rufus on the other hand- being a completely normal yet wealthy person- managed to control basically every player on the board by the time his father died. It’s strongly implied he controls the main AVALANCHE sector and is now confirmed to be the head of the Wutai resistance. Not to mention that whole stunt he pulled with the Turks to secure their loyalty, the Turks who are basically the CIA of the FF7 verse.

I think this man should get a smidgen more credit for his manipulation. He is the true queen of girlboss, gaslight, gatekeep.

I really love how he was portrayed in Rebirth...honestly one of the MVPs for me. He's not an idiot. He's VERY competent and figures things out faster than most. He even saw through Sephiroth's bullshit while he was pretending to be Glenn. He's very clever and knows what he wants. Honestly, I love this Rufus a lot more than how he was in OG, where he's comically evil only to have a change at heart at the very end. This version feels more in line with how he was portrayed in Advent Children. He's crafty. He's got his hands in a LOT of things. And it doesn't always work out in his favor but he's always got another ace in the hole somewhere else.

Honestly, good for him.

[ghouldtime]

Hiii it's me again lol

Okayokay, so I just finished reading your rant on the COD fandom's unique choice of pet names, and I'm gonna be straight up and say I'm going completely off topic and INSTEAD veer off to a side thing you pointed out to give my own opinion! This is a kinda hot take so I'm just screaming into the void hoping someone shares my thoughts 🖤

Sooo we all know the Ghost comics released alongside the OG MW2. I personally haven't read it due to the TWs but I've seen enough screenshots and summaries to get the gist of what happens. HOWEVER I believe those comics are only canon to 09 Ghost and doesn't apply to reboot Ghost, and this is what I meant about it being a hot take cuz almost everyone in the fandom agrees the comics happens for both. And I can definitely see why! I mean, we didn't exactly get any concrete backstory regarding reboot Ghost, so anything goes.

Where I stand on the line, I'm a firm believer of reboot Ghost being Just A Guy™️like he had a (relatively) chill childhood but there are some things that stay the same with the comics. Like Tommy scaring him with the skeleton mask when they were children, and Simon enlisting after the 9/11 attack (not sure if those are canon, it's just what I've heard so please correct me if I'm wrong). No abusive father, no Roba, no Christmas trauma. Sure it makes him less interesting but I find it pretty amusing how the person wearing a skull print balaclava has no real reason behind wearing it other than it looking cool lmao

Anyway, yap fest over! Hope you have a wonderful day/night and remember to hydrate! 🖤

- Biscuits 🌺

SALUTATIONS it's good to see you again, I hope you're doing swell as well :D 💚💚💚

Technically, what you're saying is true!

The '09 comics pair with the '09 character and are indeed cannon for only him as far as I'm aware (someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). The reboot lacks a true significant backstory. As in, if you search it up, you basically get "he joined the SAS and is super cool and is great at doing cool soldier things and probably can do a sick backflip". What we know about the reboot is basically what we experience in game. And until we get either another game focusing on his earlier life or have confirmed scenes of it, we really don't know.

Personally, how I distinguish "Ghost" as a being is as three versions.

You have '09 Ghost. '09 Ghost is the one we experienced in the OG games and the comics. He's the dead one - and the one with the actual official backstory. Those are both cannon and are tied to him as a character.

You then have Reboot Ghost. Reboot Ghost is, as the name entails, the reboot alone. Basically, what we have of him and know of him is what we experience in game. Technically, we don't know his backstory and the full extent of his life. Is it similar to his '09 counterpart? We don't know. He's kinda the "What you see is what you get". There's some things implied with his dialog but most of his story is up for debate.

And then we have what I'm calling Fandom Ghost who is the most common variant. Fandom Ghost is neither the reboot nor the '09 version - he's a middle ground. He's what everyone is thinking of when you hear 'Ghost'. Usually how I've seen him portrayed is the reboot with the '09 backstory or some semblance of that.

(Side note: I know it's quite typical to specify when you're referring to '09 Ghost specifically because he does, of course, have a very different history and outcome. Not to mention, the dynamics with him and Soap are very different than in the reboot which is another reason why people usually clarify and go "This is who I mean")

I've never actually seen a TRUE reboot Ghost that wasn't fandom based or fanon in writing, now that I think about it. Probably because it's not that easy to write about a character in a limited sense where you don't know much about them and you have to stick to the limited material you're given.

A lot of COD operators lack a significant backstory outside of their military history. That's mainly done because they're videogame characters of a military, shooting focused game and they don't usually have the time to go into depth as to why that character is the way they are. They're primarily soldiers who are saving the world and playing their role. You might see snippets here and there but the focus isn't on their background or the inner workings of their character in a very personal way, aside from what is revealed on missions to add a natural perspective and make them see more human

Because it's not like in the middle of a life or death situation you're going to sit down and explain that you had a dog growing up, you had three sisters, your favorite drink is Baja Blast, and you have a lifelong fear of Burger King.

'09 Ghost, however, we GOT a backstory. We were given something to work with. Clinging to that or melding it with the reboot, who lacks a backstory, is what a lot do because it's trying to make use of the best source material we got until we can maybe get something else too. Personally I was a fan of that backstory because it DID add depth to him, significantly so. I liked it.

Additionally, I think a LOT of people go that route too because it's something that's quite easy to look up so they don't need to make something themselves

(This is an entire theory and me putting on my tinfoil hat: There's a lot of people in the COD fandom who are just here for the big beefy men and don't do their research, haven't played the games - they're just assuming things. And when they see the fandom Ghost, they just assume it's true, and it spreads when they write their own stories. I hope this doesn't read like I'm trying to gatekeep or 'HOW DARE YOU NOT KNOW EVERYTHING' or 'you're not a true fan unless-', cause I really really really do not care. Do what makes you happy, but I'm going to avoid reading what I feel mischaracterizes him for sexual purposes alone hardcore)

I also like to imagine that maybe the team doing the reboots has enough common sense too to not entirely scrap such a backstory as hey, it IS interesting, so there's a strong possibility that reboot might share some origins. Kidding, I'm being fully delusional here and know they won't do that and will likely just ruin it and I'm hoping they don't have a chance. I know any new one they come up with -like the writing in the last campaign -would be utter carbonated hot dog water and I do not trust them at alllllll. I'm refusing to accept reboot Soap's death but that's a rant for another time

That being said though, there's technically no correct backstory yet for Reboot! Ghost aside from what we already know. Anything that adds backstory or melds anything else to him is making him fanon/fandom!Ghost (which is by far the most common iteration and the one people default too)

I love when people give him, and other COD characters, happy or somewhat not dramatic backstories. They already have enough going on with the wars they're thrown in, I live for them having a scrap of happiness and normality. I can't blame people for not wanting to write or deal with heavy backstories and it's nice to see variety and is SO super valid.

But at the same time, I also do like his OG backstory, I love seeing when people dig deeper into the gritty stuff too, exploring that side of characters because not everyone has the best life growing up. And joining the military and when they join can be telling too about their home life

Variety is the variety of life and when there's not exactly a cannon, then I love seeing people make their own reasonings and conclusions and write fanfics with their own theories. It's SO fun to explore what other people think and it really results in some of the sweetest fics that dive more into depth than the official writing team ever could hope to

The Ghost that I write are usually AU Ghosts anyhow so it allows me more flexibility in what I write. BUT if I'm writing for Ghost, I do the blend where it has more of the '09's backstory but his reboot vibes. THAT BEING SAID

I love making him just, A Dude©, still despite that. Having a bad past doesn't make him any less of a person - nor does it make him this ultra mega tough dominant edgy sigma bad boy. He's literally just a GUY. Sure, he has extensive SAS experience and training to boot. Sure, he's easily one of their top soldiers. He's a stone cold killer when he's Ghost. He's there to do the job.

But Simon? Simon's just a dude, like everyone else - they all are at the end of the day. Sure, they have their own personal struggles and do have to go through a lot, but they're still people. He goes to the grocery store and is genuinely confused about all the options of milk now (how the hell did they milk HEMP). He still makes his bed and has to fight the fitted sheet to stay on, using his size and strength to force it in place before it can do 'the thing' that all fitted sheets somehow do. He bought a bird feeder so he could watch the wildlife as he drinks his tea for breakfast. Speaking of tea, he has a whole collection! And the good shit, you know he won't settle for any less.

He's just A DUDE© at the end of the day and I love those mundane things because hell, he needs them to still feel human and to be reminded exactly what he's fighting for

I just find it so silly and ridiculous when he's consistently like "I'M Batman: I AM THE NIGHT" sheer dramatic levels of broody in stories or when he's put in as this mega dommy bad boy who is 6'5", growling constantly, and is like the posterchild for a wattpad biketok fanfic.

Lmaooo be for real, he's out here doing arts and crafts to make his masks. He has a whole paint collection and everything. He went into the craft store for paint and came out with two new hobbies and no, I'm not listening to anyone who says otherwise

[fountainpenguin]

Riddle watches New Wish - Post #25

Fairy For a Day

FAIRY CON!!! Third appearance SWEEP!

Okay, now THIS is more useful to me in setting up a timeline. Definitely saving that.

"Cosmo and I look forward to this convention all year!" -> Yeah, you've gone 3 times since meeting Timmy; I bet you do.

I actually own a Cosmo Con button IRL and it's precious to me <3

?? So... "Cosmo Con" and this episode both went with godkids not being at Fairy Con, but we know from the Season 10 "Fairy Con" episode, Timmy's gone every year. Hmm.

If we see the same tents that appeared in both "Cosmo Con" and "Fairy Con," I'm gonna lose it.

Fairy Con is at the CASTLE?? Are they allowed to do that?? We never get to go inside the castle!! I wonder if the Fairy King is still implied to be either dead or abandoned his throne, or...?

Hey wtf, Jorgen put his office on top of the Castle?? I missed that, if that's come up before.

oh my gosh, I can't believe even in the spin-off, King Northiae and Prince Eastkal are still out of the picture... Lmao??

"Eastkal appear onscreen when he's not dying" challenge (Impossible)

Disclaimer, they don't have canon names. These names come from my 'fics where I've written them alive and interacting with people until the war, so these random background characters have significance to me <3

We did see the title Fairy King in "Jimmy-Timmy Power Hour 1," but he was mysteriously absent then and any other episode about Fairy World, and "Balance of Flour" (the episode this screenshot is from) confirms the people I'm talking about were important in Fairy society even if we didn't have their names.

slkdfjskdljf, they're still getting their tickets scanned. And everything goes off without a hitch?? Somewhere out there, Chloe - who lost her ticket and was banned - is staring into the void.

Hazel looking at her cosplay options: Hmm, what's my fairy vibe? :)

She's so cute.

I'm glad Cosmo and Wanda's friends just... have accepted their goofiness and it doesn't damage their friendship.

Hmm. Godkids were able to attend in previous years, but not this time. I have suspicions Hazel will run into another godkid even though she snuck in.

Presumably Dev, but this would be a fun place to reveal a new kid (or see nods to OG characters)

OMFG, I know these are probably meant to be candles, but I said in Post #5 that I've always used these interior decorations in worldbuilding as memorials and/or representations of the soul:

- and they're so important in Fairy culture that in Frayed Knots Chapter 27, Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Sanderson used their presence or absence to check which Fairy homes had been evacuated from the fire. So... I just find this very funny :'D For incredibly specific reasons.

(Hazel's little hand gripping the pole)

SDLKFJSDF. Memorial for people lost to magical back-up this year.

I mean... I didn't think it was that serious considering Cosmo and Wanda have survived exploding from magical back-up multiple times, but... Good to know sometimes you don't survive?

Holy flip, this makes the Fairies dropping H.P. and Sanderson on earth and forcing them to drive / bike home without using magic so much darker. hey wtf.

Technically I did headcanon Pixies as getting inspiration back-up if they didn't inspire people to innovate rather than the magical back-up route, but... basically the same thing.

I just saw the Musical ending to get this screenshot and ?? I'm so glad Flappy stayed long enough to see Gary and Betty take over and make changes to the Learnatorium? In my memory, he ditched them instantly, but I'm glad he was there to make sure they'd be okay without him <3

F in the chat for Betty toppling over from a heart attack and Gary freaking out in the background while Flappy is partying onstage. lol.

I wonder if this is how Fairies pass when they're old as well, like if whatever magic they have at that age becomes too much for their physical forms.

Hm. Okay, so is the canon we're going with for New Wish that Fairies leave confetti when they die? In the OG series, it's heavily implied Fairies turn to dust and that's why Jorgen freaks out when he finds glittery dust on Cosmo and Wanda's beds in "Fairy Idol," but I'll take it! That's clever, and it's close.

Interesting move considering one of the Season 1 episodes depicts Cosmo exploding from magical back-up, because it's not like it was buried randomly in Season 7 or something- It's one of the things that people are first likely to encounter.

But I'm not really picky; just noting it down as a reminder to myself that this show is a spin-off and AU and I shouldn't try to jump through hoops to see if it will fit in my canon-compliant-with-OG-series Cloudlands AU. It's still fun to watch and this is a creative spin on the OG magical back-up!

I'm glad we're still playing into "Fairies don't leave skeletons and all the skeletons we keep leaving in jails are fake." lmao. Iirc, the canon from "Wishology" was "Halloween party that never got cleaned up."

I think bones are just really freakin' scary to people who are elastic and turn to dust. Like, what the heck is a skeleton? A dead human?? omg. doin' me a frighten.

Oh, maybe confetti is for this death specifically and other deaths can still be dust. Yeah, I'm good with that.

I was totally prepared for some kind of familiar face to show up on the board, like Mama Cosma or Big Daddy or Juandissimo, but I'm glad it didn't. But Cosmo and Wanda are going to be in trouble, probably later this episode...

Presto, old manager from the diner? Gonna make a note.

I like this tent dedicated to sleight of hand.

skdjf, you get a close-up on this tent in a moment and this guy also has the Shakespeare for Mimes book that kids always have at school. Reused assets...

?? There was one tent in the background I saw that made me say "Huh, they didn't put any detail inside this one except some boxes that haven't been unpacked," but I like how we get a new angle on it and it's just called Mystery Crates. That's fantastic.

I am OBSESSED with the fact that we are in the Pink Castle courtyard, so of COURSE there are still crossed wand symbol tapestries hanging on the walls. I love how much thought was put into the location.

I like the tent that says [word]-Free Books. I wish I could see what that first word was. I hope it's something like Curse-Free Books.

I'm LOSING IT at Hazel once again reminding us she likes paperwork.

Oh, and Wanda backed me up on that! ... PLEASE let her meet the Pixies, I am begging.

Surely they're setting us up for that someday. There's an established species that does paperwork and writes contracts. It's right there... We even have the cube head model already in play! My favorite boys are so close, I can taste it... and yet, so far.

I will actually have a meltdown if I get to see H.P. again. It's such a foreign concept, I can't even imagine. I just really miss him... I watched "Oddlympics" recently and it made me sad.

I wonder if Hazel likes official documents because she likes researching rocks :) Girls only want one thing and it's wonderful

Wow. I can't believe it's that easy? You can just sign a paper and be a fairy? Lol.

???? This feels like such a dangerous plot thread to play with. There's a million ways you could swing this. Are some Fairies former humans who chose the magical life?

Where is Timmy. Did he find out about this? I'm stressin' out...

Actually, wait... Godkids aren't supposed to be here. It's probably fine.

Now that Hazel's made herself a fairy, she's gonna experience magical back-up if she's not careful.

Oh, I love her dark, sparkly purple hair.

Holy flip, batgirl-

That's not the direction I thought this episode was going??

Oh no... And right after Dev's gone looking for Anti-Fairy info? He's gonna flip... This spells trouble...

I'm delighted Lezah was born in a gray smoke cloud like Foop :>

?? I like that she has a snaggletooth. I personally gave Teen & Adult Foop a snaggletooth in my design for him, but I think I like Lezah's blatant "the rest of her teeth are flat and she only has this one fang" vibe better than what I went with for him.

I think I already said this in Irep's debut, but... If Anti-Cosmo shows up, is he going to debut with the name Osmoc; is that legit the direction we're going? Lol.

At this point, seeing as Irep's griping implies he didn't have a choice in changing his name, and Lezah is the 2nd Anti-Fairy to have a backwards name (With Hazel and us as audience only knowing these guys in New Wish), I feel like they HAVE to commit to Osmoc and Adnaw.

I feel like they're trying to make it easier to distinguish them or at least so they can have cool names or something, but I feel like that's actually harder on the audience?? At least without subtitles.

A lot of people headcanon Nega-Timmy as Timmy’s anti when they do fairy designs of him, so… Ymmit??

Anxiety girl...

Lezah: You're not cool and it's about time you knew. Hazel: If anyone already knew I wasn't cool, it was me.

oh no <3

Huh. That's a lot of blue structure. I like it.

I appreciate how Lezah, in traditional Anti-Fairy fashion, got bored in 2 seconds. I think that's the best part of Fairy-Pixie-Anti-Fairy dynamics to me:

- Fairies are nervous and jumpy, but they calm down when they have structure and rules. So the Pixies always take over by giving them new rules to follow and no one makes a fuss; Timmy always has to step in and rescue them because the Fairies (except Binky) just go along with it. - Anti-Fairies are super restless and bad at sitting still. They can't handle boredom, which means they can't focus on rules or plans. Even when they make plans, we know Anti-Cosmo gets so distracted that he switches pen colors throughout his notes, implying he leaves and comes back 4 or 5 times before completing one sheet of paper... which is probably why Anti-Cosmo defers to the Head Pixie, who gives off "knows what he's doing" vibes. lol. - Luckily for everyone, H.P., is always down to relinquish everything he took over for raves and soda <3

Shout-out to the totally real upcoming plot of Lezah kicking every rock she sees into the void because Hazel loves rocks

Saving Hazel's signature for my collection:

I like how Timmy and Hazel both sign fae contracts with only their first name. I hope this means H.P. would also call her Hazel at least sometimes... He used to call Timmy "Turner" most of the time, but he called him "Timmy" when he was prank-calling him <3

Holy flip, I can't believe Cosmo and Wanda touched butterfly nets so they could catch balloons. I think it would've been funny if they caught each other on accident.

Purple road gives me the same energy as Fairy World's purple grass in "Odd Squad."

Okay, so... the Big Wand is now inside the castle? Interesting.

??? I'm curious about what the logic is in designing Irep with a cube head. Lezah doesn't have one.

Me, who has an established square mutation in my 'fics, but it's for Pixies and not transferrable to Anti-Fairies :'D

Hm. Well, it is a kids' show. Maybe they weren't sure kids would recognize him without the cube head.

I'm sorry, I hate to be the one to say it, but... Since Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda were alone when Foop was born, do you think anyone ever thinks Foop has a Pixie parent? At this point, I'd be shocked if the Pixies didn't have square heads in this show, so ??

If A.C. and A.W. show up without cube heads when cube heads are established in this universe, I just feel like there would be questions of legitimacy??

Does Irep just look like that on purpose because he likes it? He WAS a cube for (implied) way longer than other anti-fairy babies, and the only other anti-fairy baby we've seen wasn't a cube but was of ambiguous age, so... Hmm. Is it just HIS biology? Does it run in his family? Huh. Well. Okay.

You want to give us pixies; you wanna reuse your cube head model for pixies so bad...

Them...

Those eyelash designs are super clever. Also, I like how the lightest parts of Hazel's sweater match the darkest parts of Lezah's shirt.

I'm really glad Fairy-Hazel is not immune to getting upset by her counterpart. I'm glad she's not trying to befriend Lezah; I'm not the biggest fan of counterparts getting along well. It's great. Give me weird complexity and bullied children <3

I was going to make a joke about how I couldn't believe Lezah had better magic when she was just born, but then she screwed up her magic and that's hilarious.

Hazel: I don't want more of me! I want less of you!

Brutal.

I like how we've been going the direction of "Hazel is a person who overthinks things." I'll definitely keep that in mind, because I didn't see that in the early episodes, but it seems to be a thing recently.

Lezah is 3 seconds away from dying. oh no.

She GONE!

..... I'm really uneasy about where the magical backup lore is going since it wasn't relevant in this episode. We've got a storm on the horizon, I'm sure. :'D Also that chip powering the Big Wand is definitely coming back.

I assume Lezah is a one-off character. I really like how much thought and detail was put into her design in spite of that.

Fingers crossed for Anti-Wanda to get a mild redesign (Ex: new clothes) if she ever shows up.

Me staring into the void: Hey, why were we shown the Hocus Poconos earlier in the season, and should I be worried that we're making new, detailed characters and ditching them?

slkdjf ?? Literally on the floor that King Northiae and Prince Eastkal have a second chance to indicate to me they're not totally dead, but we're not taking it. SKLDFJSDF.

I mean ?? I don't know what I expected since it's heavily implied the Fairies and Anti-Fairies called a truce to end the war after Eastkal's death, but...

Nobody cares about these background characters who appeared only once in a flashback in Season 7, but I care!! Eastkal, my baby!! D:

Stuck In My Head

For some reason, it's funny to me that Dev eats cafeteria food despite being rich and lactose intolerant.

I was going to make a joke about Winn being allowed to wear a hat in school, but I don't think I can when we had Timmy Turner.

I really enjoy these characters with new hair styles, especially after 3 notable characters with the same hair for so long (Timmy, Cosmo, Vicky, Anti-Cosmo). I always struggle drawing their hair and I'd like to draw some new guys :)

Dev has had some bad times lately, but he's SO ready for lunch.

Hazel, on the heels of the overthinking episode: I am once again overthinking myself into oblivion.

I love Hazel's parents. I love how Cosmo and Wanda are totally down to dance. They used to love dancing <3

I like how the Hazel museum has Hazel's drawings from past episodes.

Oh, I'm sad we can't treat everything here seriously. The fact she wants to be a comic book artist is likely true, but her inventing the sun... I don't think so.

I wonder if Hazel's going to learn something she doesn't even know about herself.

Oh no... Hazel's anxiety led her to try getting rid of stuff that embarrassed her by throwing it down the trapdoor she was warned to never, ever open... That’s so funny… She is 10.

The mind worm concept is funny and engaging. Nothing much to say except I enjoyed the bit with the bird and all of Hazel's negative thoughts.

Mind Worm: wow, what a loser thought you are. can't even exist outside a child's mind. lmao. cringefail.

Hazel loves and trusts her mom so much <3 She's saying things her mom's surely taught her.

Another good moral, and more fun Hazel lore. Hazel's got a good home life and we still get to see some messy parts of her, so I really enjoy that.

Winn and Jasmine adore Hazel and her creativity so much.

Mind the Gap

Uh-oh, Hazel's friends just made it clear they notice Hazel's tooth gap all the time...

Geez, Hazel was doing (mostly) fine in the early episodes of the season, and ever since her fight(s) with Dev, she's gone from 0 to 300 in the anxiety department. Girl, are you ok?

Crying, I love how Hazel's hiding spot is the janitor's closet. She's been going there ever since Episode 1. I'm so glad we get to see her struggle.

Tooth Fairy!!! I knew she'd be here for a tooth episode, and after Cupid's redesign, I was wondering if she'd change much. She looks the same and tbh, I enjoy that.

??? I was going to make a joke during Lezah's ep, I think, about how the DMV keeps coming up and it's always different. I should've made that joke. It clearly wasn't just me.

I'm disappointed they made a "Seal the deal" joke with the tooth exchange program and did not seal Hazel's tooth into her mouth with dentistry.

Jasmine: Did you get your gap filled? How'd you get a new tooth so fast? Hazel: Uh... the Internet?

slkdfj, oh no.

omg, H.P. and Sanderson would think Guzman is the coolest. I miss them so much...

I like how Hazel's mom was disappointed with her (Hazel's tooth) for booing her dad, but instead of snapping at her, she just gently suggested Hazel spend some time alone in her room. She's so good. I love her <3

I'm glad Cosmo and Wanda went to get their mail in human form again. They love mail so much.

skldfj, oh... They actually DO love mail.

If there's candy and soda at the tooth party, I'm going to lose it.

I am SO GLAD Jorgen is at the Tooth Fairy's gala! He supports his WIFE!!!!!!

SLKDFJSDLKF, there's soda at the party! Cosmo and Wanda are gonna get so drunk... They won't onscreen, but I'll know.

This is the final episode before season finale. I hope they get some good rest or they're gonna be hungover at a very bad time. oh no.

AAAH, it wasn't just coincidence! I was unsure since the gala was full of familiar models, but Jorgen IS here on purpose! He even dressed up nice for it!!

He loves his wife!!

[notimeliketoday]

Northern Crater Illusion (Tifa version)

I know people's been saying something about this part in like forever especially in the OG but I finally get the courage and spite to write my own take. That's what I get staying on twitter I guess.

(You best believe I will post this there but on concentrated amount - character limit is only the blue checkmark's friend on that island.)

Most specifically I want to have a closer look on how Sephiroth pulled his attack using this *truth* that he and Tifa share and how this translates to Tifa's own personal conflict with Sephiroth himself.

Yeah, got so tired in that Sephiroth hates Tifa because of her interference to his plans for Cloud and the only one who can fix him takes.

No, fam. That's what the Rebirth seem to imply to y'all but Sephiroth already hates Tifa in OG separate from Cloud. (Or does he?). Heck, him leaving his Masamune beside her father's corpse is a literal taunt daring her to go after him and use his weapon to inflict damage to his person. This is before Cloud made himself known by stabbing him due to his own grief by the way.

Even with all this, we see he doesn't really seem to care to remember the name of who killed him until Cloud had to point it out in Junon.

CLOUD had to point it out. His KILLER has to tell him his name just to make him remember.

Tifa though?

Getting talked to so intimately with faux kindness - the very same treatment he now shows Cloud in Rebirth, imagine that.

Now let's also remember that this is the OG and therefore any trappings of Rebirth's new plot doesn't exist here because this is the beginning of it all.

Anyway, I revisited this scene because of an itch urging me (it's the spite) and a thought suddenly occurred to me.

If we remove Cloud's side and trappings in that part of the illusion (basically all things Cloud) and look at this from Tifa's perspective as a standalone thing for her own character, it paints a very clear picture of Sephiroth attacking her.

People always miss this because Cloud once again overshadowed Tifa's own trauma and unresolved conflict with Sephiroth as the one more openly attacked in this scene.

Let's look at Sephiroth's lines:

The lie has been set. Obviously Tifa won't let this unanswered if she could help it. So this is her response:

With Sephiroth's response to this being the first images I posted above.

It's been made clear how extremely pressured Tifa was at this scene especially when Cloud reveals he hinges all his faith in her while suffering her own trauma again AND attacked by their enemy.

It wasn't just Cloud Sephiroth gaslighted in this scene.

That's what this part is trying to show us and regardless of who gets attacked here the outcome is the same: Cloud is just an illusion created by Jenova using memories of people, most especially Tifa.

Sephiroth doesn't hide his attacks to her at all and it astounds me how everyone who played this game back then believed only Cloud was dealt a great mental blow. (Most of y'all are kiddies I guess that also tracks.)

Tifa actually had it much worse!

She was so overwhelmed from it all she accidentally made the wrong move of answering Cloud in the negative:

When I said she's under tremendous pressure it isn't just because of reliving her trauma and carrying the burden of Cloud's mental state alongside her own increasingly damaged psych.

It is the fact that Cloud wasn't the only one relying on her affirmation - or lack thereof - to validate which one was speaking the "truth". Sephiroth was also using her to confirm his claims and he knew very well he's got the upper hand to the "truth" she has known, all the while gaslighting her that it IS the only truth. There's even a picture to prove it!

This is not the picture but this is also that picture.

Of course, Sephiroth made sure to include her into the story. She's not part of it simply because she was there but because according to his statement..... her memories are part of Jenova's knowledge used to make *Cloud* - the failed clone.

The Cloud who by Seph's own words is just a construct of Hojo after Nibelheim's burning. A clean slate born from collective memories thanks to Jenova.

The sheer implications behind these statements are our clue to the underlying conflict that exist between Tifa and Sephiroth outside of Cloud. That the hatred is not a one-sided thing, and just because it isn't readily understood why it exist doesn't mean it isn't present.

Sephiroth drives the knife further to twist the mental wounds even more. Tifa being the one to carry the most burden of all:

Now here's a pretty interesting thought: a girl who is just plain ordinary is important enough to have Jenova's effort in molding a clone after her own desires - her childhood friend. Sephiroth is basically admitting he's got one special clone just for her. (He even gave her one in Remake but that's a slightly different story).

Ignoring the fact that Cloud is not a construct it still makes you wonder: why use her for that lie? Why her in particular?

(We are using Tifa as our center focus for this so I'm going to exclude the "she's Cloud's childhood friend reasoning. This is not about him.)

Then it can be answered if you look at it as his own way of tormenting Tifa - using a clone imbued with her memories.

A mutual on twit said that maybe because she's the one who the group trusts the most, however more than half the party wasn't there yet when *Cloud* (who Sephiroth consistently claims is just his clone) appears in front of her on that bench.

AVALANCHE as it was at that point doesn't have anyone else with a connection to Cloud.

So it goes to show she is the target of said clone's manifestation.

That is, if we believe the lie Sephiroth weaved and take it as he said it at face value, which definitely is what his claim would be to Tifa who can't refute it, especially because apparently *Cloud* really did show signs of "clone behavior" when they first met but the tech limit back then doesn't show us how it should be like to its fullest extent.

(As someone points out here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/hartofhearts.tumblr.com/post/665525778591694848/the-implications-of-tifas-familiarity-with-marco/amp) My phone isn't cooperating 😭

How could she when his "truth" matches exactly everything she knew five years ago? How could she say he's wrong when Cloud's behavior was suspect when they met for the first time in years after Nibelheim (and for her part after he left for SOLDIER)?

She tried refuting but it's clear she has her own doubts about him as well, as she couldn't continuously defend Cloud from Sephiroth's persistent claim about his current identity.

By gaslighting Cloud he doesn't exist, he also gaslights Tifa into thinking her real childhood friend is gone and it's all just in her head now.

Sephiroth KNEW so well she wanted to see Cloud five years ago but didn't see him and use that to his own advantage. It's why this is so effective a gaslight to both.

As far as Tifa knew, the last time she saw Cloud was when he left to join Soldier. This Cloud's fate is unknown to her, maybe he died or maybe he forgot about her and all such insecurities Sephiroth could use with that solidify his claims that he was all " Aw, poor Tifa. Waiting for someone who never came. Here, Jenova's made you a clone with your memories of that boy to play with you."

That's what it looks like if we only see this scene through Tifa's eyes.

Again, taunting her in the same vein as when he first did leaving Masamune besides her father's body.

Why would he do so if Tifa didn't caught his attention in the first place?

Sephiroth is clearly playing around with her and toys with her emotions just as clearly as he attacked Cloud.

He just couldn't break her like he could him no matter how hard he tried because Tifa's mental fortitude is so strong.

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

"There isn't enough of two guys just being friends!" Is such a weird take to me cuz like...

Yugi and Joey, Tristan and Joey, Judai and Manjome, Judai and Sho, Judai and Edo, Yusei and Jack and Crow, Yusei and Bruno (yeah I ship it but it's not canon), Yuma and Shark, Yuma and Bronk, Yuma and Kaito, Yuya and Sora, Yuya and Sawatari, Yuya and Gong, Yuto and Shun/Shay, Yusaku and Takeru, Yusaku and Kusanagi, Takeru and Flame (again I ship it but there's nothing canonical about it), Yuga and Luke, Yuga and Gakuto, Yuga and Roa, Yuga and Nail

And that's just within Yugioh. There are so fucking many. Even outside of Yugioh, I can name just tons and tons of male characters who are just friends and don't end up romantic.

Meanwhile, every single male/female relationship either has one of them (usually the girl) have a crush (Judai and Asuka, Yuma and Tori, Tristan and Miho) or they end up romantically involved in the end (this latter option is admittedly more of a problem in western media since most anime I watch don't like confirming relationships but I could still name so many).

So often I'll watch a movie or show that's not even a romance and they still manage to squeeze in some romantic subplot no matter how forced or pointless it seems. Edge of Tomorrow comes to mind immediately for me, what even was the point of pairing those two outside of "the lead two characters are a man and a woman"? Do we really want to set a precedent that men and women can never be friends? Because this happens. All the time. Indy gets a new girl in every single Indiana Jones movie. Leia was the only woman of the group in the OG Star Wars trilogy so she had to get paired with one of the guys and one of them was her brother so that can't happen. But it was happening romantically (even if only slightly) before they knew. What even was the point of the romantic sideplots in the Equestria Girls movies? Oh and Fox and the Hound introducing a female love interest just so she can be the female love interest. The boy and girl in Mr Peabody and Sherman are both like nine and the movie still insists on pushing a romantic angle between them when one of them tried to choke out the other. Nearly every Disney princess movie gives their lead a prince, with some being more pointless than others. Doppler and Amelia are implied like twice then randomly have children at the end of Treasure Planet. Don't even get me started on Warrior Cats. I could go on but I'll stop for now.

Male/female friendships who stay purely platonic and aren't siblings (Luke and Leia) or different species (Nick and Judy from Zootopia) are so so much rarer than male/male or female/female friendships, which are basically everywhere. And what kind of message does that send? That a man and woman can never just be friends? I'd rather not go into how much this exact mindset ruined or just confused so many of my past friendships so just know that my frustration with this is partially personal.

I'm so tired of the most obligatory milk toast straight couples being shoved into every movie or show I watch, especially if it's said female character's only trait or purpose to the narrative. Meanwhile, LGBT pairings are still fighting for representation in media. Steven Universe and The Owl House were revolutionary in terms of representation and they both got canceled early.

It's one thing if the movie is about romance (ie: WALL-E and Elemental are two of my favourite Pixar movies) but it's another when the romance or one sided crush is just shoved in because "that's what men and women have to be doing." It's a stupid mindset and it needs to stop.

This is why Judai & Asuka, Yusaku & Aoi, and Yuga & Romin being purely platonic matter so much to me.

[captainshyguy]

for the salty ask meme! - 1 and 19!

aa ty kat! ^^ these are fun ones lol 1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

hmmm since we're saying otp im gonna try for at least semi pooular ones ive seen people go for

hollow kight- quirrel/t*so sorry y'll like get better taste lemm is right there. also l*ce/horet like....bro we dont even kow her yet. i worry that she wotn live up to peopes expectatiosn and they'll get really salty lol

spm- dim*mi and dim*gi both do prtoulrly nothing for me and i find the latter especially boggling

19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

huehueue [puts on my little bitch gloves]

hollow knight- the vast majority of people characterise ghost horribly and seem very convinnced about somethig that is literally not confirmed to be canon, and theres' a line that heavily implies what they think isnt the case. they all still believe it aywaya bc 'uwuwu short feral gremlin babbeyyyyyy. little babbybyy tiny child creecher heheheh 'like can u like afford them some dignity and autonomy or are they just a little animal to you guys

spm- basically no one in this fandom listes to each other they just yell into the void about their thoughts and their feelings and igore people and talk at them. do better fandom jesus christ, build an actual community and listen to ur fellow fans, jesus!!!

tcw- i havent been involved in a long time but whe i was people were horrible at characterisaing fives sorry gkjsngkjds, idk if this is still an issue but making him out to be hardcase two and being so silly and stupids areound the ship is. not the perosn he is. he rocks the boat on important issues because he cares deeply about his and his brothers autonomy, and doig the right thing, he's alos not a chaos gremlin

pokemon- people are so mean and basic about subtle shinies even when a lot of them actually look bettee tha nthe og like m sorry i'd rather have a seel that is a slightly more pleasant cream colour than making it bright eyesearing pink man. yes some subtle shinies suck, but not bc they're subtle! sometmes the palette just looks bad, dont compare it to the og! shiny sunkern looks way better for example!

[agonycrossbow]

Genuinely curious to know when did re4r producer confirm that og and remakes are separate when all he said was that OJ plays out differently in the remake and that was about DSC as a game yet he never implied anything of the sorts for the movies whom he also produced like degeneration, damnation and ID

while yes it would make alot of sense for them to be a different continuity due to the lack of profound writing and consistency it really doesn't say anything about them at all. it's no difference from someone trying to argue so hard that both remakes and ogs exist together without any proof and source that confirmed this other than a wiki that's ran by fans and only say so because the majority of them agree on it lol

>Genuinely curious to know when did re4r producer confirm that og and remakes are separate

>he said that OJ plays out differently in the remake and that was about DSC as a game

You just answered your own question.

Something that was canon originally is not canon in the remake.

That's what was said -- unless you really want to sit there and try to make the case that DSC's Operation Javier was never canon to begin with.

The very most basic of human logic would tell you, from that statement, that the remake team does not feel bound to the original canon storyline when they're writing their stories. Nothing is set in stone, and anything from the original storyline is subject to change at any time.

Needing him to say the exact words or to specify every single title individually is pedantry.

If you really want to say that Hirabayashi's words are no more valid than fabrications by fans on the wiki, you are either trolling or stupid.

[oddlylongtelephonecord]

setting aside the definitions of queerbaiting and queer-coding (bcuz i dont rly agree w the way u use those terms and i think discussions of them should start with definitions bcuz ppl keep using them differently) I think you might be overlooking the real polygamous undertones in VNC! Vani's relationship to Jeanne starts out forced for thematic reasons beyond orientation, and its settled into something very sincere atm. This does not discount the stuff going on w vanoé. That scene in s2 for example-- it's doesn't just cut to Noé. It's INTERCUT between Vani's developing feelings for Jeanne and Noé's support and presence in his life! The stuff going on between Jeanne and Domi seems real too, so we are looking at WAY more than Vani.

OKAY OKAY so this person actually brings up some fantastic points!

(side note: I literally had to hunt through the manga volumes on my shelf to confirm the stuff about the scene being references in s2/chapter 42)

First, I want to clarify the definition of queerbaiting that I understand. The definition I have been using is the oxford dictionaries one [the incorporation of apparently gay characters or same-sex relationships into a film, television show, etc. as a means of appealing to gay and bisexual audiences while maintaining ambiguity about the characters' sexuality.] I have adjusted the original post to more accurately explain this!

But more importantly, I think that your point about the polygamous undertones is actually really fascinating, because I think you're right.

I think it would be really interesting to see the author explore the relationship between Jeanne and Dominique too, BUT BACK TO THE POINT! You brought up something that I actually forgot about! Now we just have to dissect what exactly the scene in s2 cuts to both Jeanne and Noe. There's a ton of nuance in this, and unfortunately I look too deep into things and tend to get lost in my own thoughts, so the author's intention is lost on me LMAO, but here's my thoughts on it:

I believe that it was because Vanitas is split. I think it would def be even more interesting if the author were to explore the polygamous undertones, (because I actually totally believe that Vanitas is in love w both of them, again, ch 42 implies this heavily) but I will be so honest, I think that these themes ever becoming more overt is unlikely just because of the general opinions surrounding polygamy.

ANYWAY, I think that it was likely split with the intention of showing that Vanitas is having split thoughts between the two. While I'm not quite positive that this was the author's intention, (primarily because of what anon brings up, actually; it's very possible the intention was to subtly pull in polygamous themes) I do believe that it is very likely that it was intended to show that Vanitas' feelings towards Noe are developing into something he never anticipated. Now, he is trapped in this weird limbo in which he has feelings for two different people.

I also want to add that there is like a shit ton of other stuff going on in this series right now. I chose to focus on Vanitas in the og post because it's just something that I personally find incredibly interesting. I don't intend to take away from anything else going on, I just chose to zero in on that in particular.

Basically, I actually agree with everything in this ask, so I really appreciate this stuff being brought up because it gives me a chance to go in depth on more stuff that I didn't explain as well in the first post!

[narwhalandchill]

(4.7 TCG leaks but Big Lore Implications? Maybe)

Well. This is (was) certainly an interesting Moment.

See. narwhal coming in TCG right? i obviously lost it we are all aware. so i was checking that shit out Instantly the second it was uploaded onto hakushin to see the kind of playstyle theyd given my beloved

but there was something else. see. tldr the narwhal starts at only 5hp but it basically eats all your discarded cards to increase its own max hp and dmg dealt (also takes into account the dice cost of the discarded cards). which i Love its so on brand and lore accurate. but anyway. its ult is to summon the electro dude whose dmg and duration is also affected by the cards eaten and their dice cost. such a cool kit right?

But then i saw what they Call the knight summon guy in the first uploaded version of the card kit in ENG

...SHADOW OF THE ANCIENT WHAT NOW????

and like. okay. okay. thats pretty fucking insane this is why i was looking so forward to the narwhal getting a card bc . sometimes tidbits like these just. Happen thru TCG. just casually like that (like parsifals Curiously Familiar Appearance for another relevant one).

bc like. an ancient nemesis huh. on one hand could reference surtalogi since the descriptor for the phantom in 4.2 patch previews in several languages (not sure what the in game stuff says these days) did have some similar wording to surtalogis CN title. also obviously fuels my personal foil hat agenda of surtalogis whole "keeping this very much sentient cosmic being as a Pet TM" being something that from the narwhals POV is very much like. a demeaning act of imprisonment and being used against its will as a pawn (im such a surtalogi hater dude. i Dont trust him). so like thats one option for the. whos the nemesis whose shadow is summoned. its surtalogi. but also ancient is a funny wording for when the guy is very well around to this day so

then theres the other option. bc the narwhal 4.6 namecard speaks of ajax intent on challenging the narwhal again and references hunting for the same whale the "third time" which like. most simple route u could just be seen as. okay despite just freezing up during their 1st encounter at 14 and doing jack shit to "challenge" it he still considered that the "first" hunt, fontaine was 2nd and next is 3rd.

but theres also the. what if the first hunt was the historical ajax of the myth? whose reincarnation our ajax may be? bc if His destiny was also to oppose the narwhal back then in celestias grand plan and possibly had the same constellation tying him to it too. would THAT be the ancient nemesis the knight in the narwhals stomach is the afterimage and shadow of? hmmmmm.

like dude i was. Actually losing my fucking mind bc this might be THE closest thing to a direct confirmation that If ajax has reincarnated over the samsara/cycles whatever . if That is the case. then this "ancient nemesis" being og ajax would then Very Much Imply that both his and Our Ajax' destiny in all incarnations has Always been tied to the narwhal in some way and that his "role" and "duty" in celestias decreed fate is to be its counterpart and opponent (read: tragic soulmate) . of Some sort. like yes inconclusive still but this couldve been such a massive fucking deal dude

Anyway .

then they removed that descriptor in the next update to the beta info on the new TCG cards 😭😭😭😭

so now its just called a dark shadow whatever 😔😔 this is So Sad. but. i have Witnessed the original so its not getting out of my head. what does it meannnnn

why would the narwhal be emulating its nemesis as the force that protects the source of its power that lies within it (like. we Had to be eaten in order to get close to that source in the AQ fight)??? did it eat that doomed soulmate nemesis (og ajax moment Surely) in the past and is now carrying its remnants and constructed shadowy afterimage within itself?? or does it represent some sort of control/power source surtalogi (if hes the nemesis) has inflicted upon the narwhal in order to keep it weakened and/or sufficiently subservient to be kept as a "pet"???? MANNN

obviously. since this was a clearly incomplete beta version text (like the narwhals kit was unfinished in ENG during this part) that was Very swiftly deleted (whacking myself over the head for not checking what CN said while this version was still up) its not like. something that can be referenced as legit confirmed canon lore for the narwhal since its not making it to live. but im just. Curious. like. even if its outdated text that was removed. Surely there HAS to be a Reason that description was originally written to describe the dark shadow summon.

so is this a case of. its no longer meant to represent an ancient nemesis, that was old ass lore for the phantom knight dude thats never going to happen and thats why they cut it. like fair enough it happens. old pre launch beta genshin stuff was directly a honkai sequel/spinoff but they changed that. it could always just be that

ORRRRR then. hear me out. that its STILL true but that the writers simply realized they dont want to reveal their cards (ha ha) on the subject just yet??? they dont want to leak this potentially Massive lore drop through a random TCG update?????? we arent meant to know the meaning behind the shadow just yet????????? 🤨🤨🤨 Surely

anyway. forever mourning shadow of the ancient nemesis as a descriptor . but i Have to post it here so that yall can at least know. this existed. this WAS a thing. so whats it mean...

(also if this turns out to be all legitimate and og ajax Was the ancient nemesis. Possibly the funniest way my original "who the fuck even thought the purple dude in the whales stomach was going to be childe" take from way back could be Technically proven wrong JSJAISJSJSISKD . if it was ajax. but just not. this one)

[akirakirxaa]

personal really cool HC of anon: every shard has a WOL. OG Golbez or Zero (depends) for the 13th, Ardbert for the First....

OG Sphene for the 9th? Would make endgame DT fascinating.

and, ofc, 11th shard has XI player character as the WOL there.

I really love Zero as Akira's shard specifically. I know that the MSQ really leans hard into implying it's Golbez, but with the 13th and the source being so close, and Zero being so similar in several ways to Akira, and then they're both reapers to boot, I can't help but believe it.

I'm not super wild about Sphene in general, but based on what little we know about the real Sphene I could see her being an Azem shard, what with the caring little for her own safety and putting the needs of her people first which are both things that are extremely AzemShard canon features. But since she did die the question does become what happened to the Azem soul for that shard. And while I don't need to have every shard confirmed to me, I do hope we meet some new NPCs in the patches from there that might make me wonder...

I never played XI, but I think that's a really cool idea! I thiiiiink Vanadiel has been confirmed as connected to Eorzea in some way, but I'm not super familiar with XI's lore so I can't say for sure. Could be something interesting in the 24 man when it drops!

My personal hc for a very long time (and there's really nothing saying this could be wrong) is that the 13th is the ruined future of XV's world. It gets a little complicated but basically, the way that XV ends, there is nothing stopping the starscourge from coming back and enshrouding the star in darkness, since there's no ring and no oracle to cleanse it anymore. And so, eventually, it falls to darkness again (if you haven't played XV, the last part of the game is literally permanight so I'm not being dramatic lol). And so, of course, that means that Noctis was an Azem shard, and thus a shard of Akira, that she got to meet because of time shenanigans through the XV crossover quest. It's also part of my headcanon that he's one of the heroes summoned to help her fight Hades in ShB. Now that we've been to the 13th it's hard to maintain but I like it enough to do it anyways lol.

[you-can-be-what-you-want-to-be]

What’s the Elias Martin soulmate au 👁️‍🗨️

sigh…… so I wrote out an outline with a friend and promise I’ll get to it SOMEDAY… I’m just not that into TMA anymore.

But the idea is basically they all have soulmate marks but they’re on the persons body, so through sheer misfortune, OG Elias was supposed to be Jons soulmate. maybe make him take a fucking hit and chill out. Fancy academic dude who went to fancy college who tells him to stop worrying about snobs opinions or something. Idk it doesn’t really matter to the plot, what DOES matter is Jonah uses this to his advantage to manipulate Jon worse and make it a more difficult time, especially in season three where Jon is realizing he’s less and less human and Jonah is of course like answering the questions of Jon’s morality questions with just. Comparing them. And the archives are worse to Jon bc. That guy trapping them is his soul mate of course they can’t trust Jon.

and this is about the time Jonah sees Martins soulmark for the first time, and takes it as fates sign he was supposed to live this long and destroy the world. Why else give him a soulmate over a hundred years from his life span? This makes it far more interesting for him and makes it potentially easier to solve? He just doesn’t get why Martin of all people yet, doesn’t see him as manipulative and complex yet, but he’s going to slowly be realizing how much alike they are.

then season 4: he’s in jail and making things worse fkdkdkdkd. For shits and giggles Elias is trying to push Jon closer to Martin and then guilt trip him about how he’s getting closer to another man while leaving his soulmate alone in jail, and also implying without saying that Peter might be Martins soulmate, comments how he knows who it is and it’s an older man who’s a bit manipulative and is involved with the institute, ect. It’s mostly for the laugh but it ALSO works for his bet with Peter. He needs Martin to not be cut off enough that he’ll actually kill him and he needs Jon attached and guilty enough to chase him.

then there would be a long LONG bit in the safe house where they now know elias is martins soulmate, but they’re choosing each other. But it’s a horrifying realization for him for sure, he worries about the kind of person he is, and the fact he is dating Jon who Elias had fooled around with is also not helping him both because 1) it proves that they have something in common and 2) does this mean he’s hurting Jon as well? If his soulmate is a monster doesn’t that make HIM a monster? And maybe Jon’s just with him out of guilt or to do damage control? Jon is also spiraling in a similar matter but got most of his out of the way when he thought Elias was still his soulmate. Still though, so much of his talk of being a monster was dependent on his relation to Elias and now his boyfriend is ACTUALLY the man’s soulmate, so it’s a bit of that situation where your parents insult themselves and you see it and put it on yourself? Like Martin sees Jon aligning himself with being a monster as confirmation HES a monster, so you get a similar situation to season five with the push to repress the inhuman bits.

there was supposed to be something about season five with Martin and Elias kind of duking it out via Jon but that was planned pre season five so I’d have to redo that 😅

[thelaurenshippen]

#i have been unwell over brytz for FOUR YEARS#i have tweets from the og luminary release talking about how insane they are#and how insane i felt when it ended and the Weird Tension was never addressed#and i had that stewing in my brain for FOUR YEARS#and nobody thought to tell me that lauren said they were basically canon#okay yeah sure i can feel my whole worldview changing right now#fucking. beeee whoyou areee for your prideee#tbs

via @pinesicle

I am so sorry that you've been suffering out in the wild but yeah, while I completely agree with anyone who might be like "if it doesn't happen in the show, it's not canon!" it is certainly what all of us writing the show thought and it is implied in aforementioned planner! it's been years since that planner was made available, so here's a screenshot of the most relevant page (alt text in image description). Frankie is purple, Caitlin is pink, Caleb is green, Mark is blue, Adam is black.

the planner (which you can buy a digital version of; if you're a plus pal, you have a doc with all the content in a more readable form) has lots of this kind of stuff! this planner was written in about eight months after the events of TCT. when we made TCT there was also the possibility that we were going to get to do a third and final spin-off (which sadly Luminary didn't go for), and in that we would've probably confirmed it in show canon too!

Hiya Lauren! I remember a while back you reblogged something about mark being romantically involved with nearly all other queer atypicals and it did mention oliver/mark as unrequited and I wonder if you could elaborate a little more on that?:D I'm just curious:) You don't have to of course! Ty!

oh gosh, I WISH I remembered this - I don't reblog very much that isn't fanart, so I'm having a hard time recalling what post this would've been and what I might've said/added to it!

I don't think of Mark/Oliver as unrequited at all. That said, in The AM Archives specifically, we were not writing toward that ship - it wasn't the intention and we had no idea that Andrew and Kristian had that chemistry until we were recording the whole season all at once. And then we weren't sure if we were going to get another season at all! So there definitely was a period when I was more uncertain about it, mostly because it was unclear what the future would hold for any of the characters.

While they don't get together in The College Tapes, I do think that they very slowly figure things out in the months and years afterward. In the TCT planner (which is technically the last bit of canon that exists in the Bright Universe, in terms of timeline), there's heavy implications that they're living together - or at least spending a lot of time together - and I think all of us who made The College Tapes were thinking of them as a romantic ship when writing that show.

They both have buckets and buckets of trauma and unresolved issues (as did Mark and Sam - and their inability to work through it together/the way they first met and got together, etc. is one of the reasons they didn't ultimately work out) so I can't say what their future holds, but as far as I'm concerned, they're headed toward romantic involvement the last time we hear from them (or already there).

I hope that answers your question!

[fountainpenguin]

Riddle watches New Wish - Post #7

"A Dinosaur in Dimmadelphia" - Full moon in the title card!

Hazel's parents are really engaged in having fun. I'm a little curious as to where this is going, since if we follow the OG lore, Hazel should lose Cosmo and Wanda once she's no longer miserable. I'm curious if they're going to push that direction or retire that bit of lore.

Also, C and W kind of snuck in under the radar and are retired otherwise, so Jorgen probably won't ride them as hard as he used to.

SLKDJF- It's a WHAT?

Obtuse Rubber Goose - 2001 B.C.

Of course she's more into the rocks.

/sweats at the billboard for Atlantis Condos even though it's painted in a mural. Cosmo... (Also I love the dinos by the water coolers in that image).

Man, this is a playground for both Cosmo AND Wanda's destructive histories!

I have feelings about the Fairlysaurus. I question nothing.

They're so cute.

The unfortunate thing about this show is that Whisper can tell me some scientists believe dinosaurs wore top hats and had electricity and unfortunately that's 100% possible in this world.

I like how Hazel's creature-hunting dad listens to Whispers Fred's podcast. That's gonna go well.

I like how Cosmo and Wanda can understand dinosaurs. She would be the type to understand them and wipe them out of existence anyway.

Confirmed 10k-year vacation through time!!

Hazel wishing "I wish people weren't afraid of dinosaurs" after bringing one to the future is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. Welp, that solves that.

sldkfj, Wanda proudly talking about the comet that wipes out dinosaur life as if she didn't personally launch that comet.

"If I can't send [the dinosaur] home, I'll do the next best thing: Get him a job!" - I changed my mind, that's even funnier. Hazel, why?

I love the background hills:

I like the implication that people are totally ready to accept the dinosaur as an actor because they're no longer afraid of him, so he can stroll in and not only are they unafraid, they also don't question it. Yeah, that sounds about right.

This vibe is very funny since Timmy usually tried keeping his wishes under wraps. Hazel's just been changing her surroundings and people play along.

I like that Whispers Fred and the museum guy had a bet about dinosaurs having electricity and the museum guy just sighs and pays it. Yeah, okay.

... Do I know that screaming man? Why does he sound familiar? Is he from "T.U.F.F. Puppy?" I know him... Is it Meerkat, my beloved?

-> I looked it up and Meerkat's VA is Daran Norris (Cosmo's VA). So... Yes, it was probably him using a Meerkat-adjacent voice, SKLSDJF.

Mystery mayor...

Is that #1 Dad in the crowd? Where is your baby?

SKLDFJS we're keeping the dinosaur. Okay.

"Fearless" time! - This title card has SPOT-ON Cosmo and Wanda in their old designs. Nice!

Did Hazel share a room with her brother, hence the bunk bed?

I like how Hazel's wardrobe is filled with identical outfits just like Timmy's closet used to be.

I like how the movies are also in 2D animation style.

Dev loves staring at Hazel and judging her in the background, doesn't he?

The kid on the voting poster reminds me of Imaginary Gary.

Note to self, include a trigger warning for this episode if I recommend it to anyone who doesn't like horror. It's no "Dark Harvest" or what-not, but they do a good job of making it creepy to kids, but... whoa.

I like the idea of Jasmine's fears coming to life as separate people outside her body, which is different than when Timmy wished he was fearless and became numb.

Hazel wishing for a Hazel stand-in to hold her place in class was smart. She and Chloe would be friends.

sldkjf, bug spray with the cockroach from "Wanda's Day Off" on it.

The plot about Jasmine having to be the one to face her fears is clever. Also, Hazel implied she has to avoid revealing magic, so it looks like she did get the basic rules explained (and they're still in play in this spin-off).

Wait, why is the girl who was reading "Shakespeare for Mimes" afraid of clowns?

I'm glad the crowns make metallic sounds when they fall since they're magnetic in the OG series.

OH SNAP- Hazel getting called out for "trying to make this friendship into what she had with her brother." That's rough, kid. Forcing Hazel to face her fears is a clever way to introduce her insecurities to the audience. I like it.

The list of champions on the school's wall goes up as far as 2019, and we can't be THAT far in the future since there aren't others.

I did worry where this plot was going, so I'm glad Hazel opted not to watch scary movies and instead pick something her friend wanted to do too :)

[kendrixtermina]

Tl; Dr re: Azure Gleam

As far as I’m concerned, Edelgard died at Arianrhod. There was nothing meaningfully left of her in that vacated meat puppet. She’s dead in every way that matters (& everything is worse off for that). & if I hear one more person being like “Finally all 3 survived” i will strangle them myself.

That said, the ppl who are getting into moralistic tiffs, reading all sorts of implications into it & throwing around loaded terminology here should chill & realize that this is not a statement about them but simply a story that is not about you or even anything real / where some of the endings are bad.   

Also, Dimitri is arguably a worse leader than in (the last third) of Azure Moon. He basically got influenced by his conservative old retainers because he’s weak-willed doesnt have any real vision. 

In AM you could forgive him for not being in his right mind during the worst moments but here is he is outright chosing the status quo because Divine Right Of Kings (which is 100% consistent with how he acts pre-snapping in White Clouds, tho.)

Arguably the outcome would have been undeniably better in every possible way if he had just not taken Rhea in/ not chosen to join the war. The unrest he wanted to prevent by doing so happens anyways. 

Mind you, Dimitri is obviously a good person - sincere, well-intentioned, caring in theory about equality etc. he’s just a bad politician. which would not be any sort of moral failingin and of itself, but matters a lot if youre arguing that he should be running the landmass. 

All useful things were pretty much done by Claude (who its heavily implied might be planning to backstab the kIngdom & Church once the dust is settled)

The implementation of the emotional beats were done better in the OG game but I don’t think anyone was OOC. 

it basically confirmed a lot of what i said from the first - dimitris an incrementalist/traditionalist, anselma was evil hes just in denial etc. (which im glad they confirmed cause it would be too ridiculous that the king couldnt ever be alone with his wife) plus the way that Dimitri tended to see her through rose colored glasses sounded so much like an abused kid in denial. 

I really liked the relationship between Shez and Rodrigue though. 

im not mad about it, it makes sense that this happened for this au scenario. but in-universe its a negative, nothing-changes outcome worse than azure moon or even silver snow, even if the kingdom & alliance stay allied. At least in azure moon rhea steps down & dimitri invents constitutional monarchy.