#this is how the context gets lost for posterity

[britishdisasters]

…

[weaselandfriends]

Lucky☆Star (Anime)

How does art age?

There's a joke in Lucky☆Star where the four main characters fill out a questionnaire that asks them what they want to be when they grow up. Konata, the otaku, puts down "Brigade Leader," which draws as punchline an eyeroll from her sarcastic friend, Kagami.

The core of this joke is that Konata has taken a serious question and answered it with a fictional "occupation" from an anime she likes -- specifically, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, which was monstrously popular at the time. Almost everyone watching Lucky☆Star in 2007, when it first aired, would understand this reference. That understanding would then foster a sense of kinship with the work, the feeling of "being seen," the long yearned-for ideal of niche nerd subcultures laughed at by society at large.

Despite its incredible influence on moe aesthetics and anime culture in 2006, Haruhi Suzumiya is virtually forgotten now, unwatched even by diehards and unrecommended by the old weebs who were around in its heyday. I've never seen it myself. It's my next watch, with another friend who is even more of an anime neophyte than I am; our third friend, who did watch it in 2006, refuses to rewatch with us. It's too cringe, she says. The suggestion I get is that, if we were to modernize the what-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up joke, Konata might instead put that she wants to become a Skibidi Toilet.

Haruhi Suzumiya haunts Lucky☆Star like a ghost. She is in almost every episode, as either a poster or figurine or manga cover or cosplay or karaoke rendition or even, once, a voiced commercial. She has more presence than most of the supporting cast, the majority of whom do not appear until the 14th episode (but who also haunt the show via their unexplained presence in the OP). Konata is voiced by the same actress who voiced Haruhi, a fact that launches an armada of arcane metafictional injokes, including a scene where Konata sees said voice actress in concert. The sheer magnitude of these references wash over the 2025 viewer. They are meaningless. Haruhi Suzumiya is dead and buried. She is seen more by the shadow she casts in this show than anywhere else.

The inscrutability of this massive swath of the show suggests that Lucky☆Star itself has not aged particularly well. Indeed, compared to its zenith in 2007, it's not faring much better than Haruhi today. The sole advantage Lucky☆Star has, in fact, might stem from the "Out Of Touch Thursday" meme, which keeps some small shard of it alive in the anime community's consciousness. Even if you take the time to research the references, needing to research them at all gives the ultimate impression is that Konata is no longer the trendy otaku she once was, but passe, lame, dated, cringe, Out Of Touch. It's only the thin line of competent verbal skills that keeps her from becoming her dark mirror, Tomoko Kuroki.

But Haruhi Suzumiya is by no means the only obscure reference the show flings out, and some of these references I can only imagine were unknown even to the teenage-skewing anglosphere anime culture of 2007. At one point, Konata makes a reference (Timotei, Timotei) to a Japanese commercial for a Finnish shampoo brand from the 1980s. Karaoke segments feature Japanese pop songs from the 70s (with Kagami sarcastically asking Konata "How old are you?" whenever she puts them on). The entire Lucky Channel bit that appears at the end of each episode is an extended reference to a Japanese-only radio show that ran concurrent to the original airing. Even within that context, the fact that Lucky Channel co-host Minoru Shiraishi is a real person playing himself (and the other co-host, Akira Kogami, is not) is lost on anyone without highly specialized knowledge. That the credits sequences of the show's second half feature the real Minoru Shiraishi in live action is equally easy to miss. The bleeding edge transience of the references culminates with the show recursively referring to its own fame. In one scene, Konata reads a fortune at a Kyoto temple that says "Konata is my wife"; this is a reference to real-life otaku going to a temple in Saitama, where Lucky☆Star is set, and leaving the same prayer.

The show requires footnotes. It had them, on the 2007 anime forums where the show accrued so much buzz, entire Bibles breaking down every reference; it truly wasn't understood even when it aired. It makes perfect sense why Lucky☆Star wouldn't age well.

Yet, watching the show for the first time in 2014, long after its cultural moment, and again in 2025, I have found it extraordinarily timeless. In fact, I liked it better in 2025 than 2014, despite an additional 11 years of watching anime that enabled me to understand exactly 0 things I didn't get the first time around. And there are a lot of things I didn't get. The references I detailed earlier are only the ones, in complete befuddlement, I bothered to look up; so many more continue to elude me.

In many ways, Lucky☆Star is aware of how inscrutable it is and compensates for itself. Wikipedia describes Konata as the "main character" of the show, and to the otaku audiences of 2007 she was the most relatable of the cast and by extension the most popular character by far (something outright stated in one of the Lucky Channel segments, which reveals the results of an actual character popularity poll), but in terms of screen time, she is not appreciably more present than either of the Hiiragi twins, Kagami and Tsukasa. It's not as though Lucky☆Star has anything resembling a plot, either, that would frame a particular character as the "protagonist"; at best the cast can be described as ensemble. This decentralization of perspective enables a wide variety of ways for the viewer to connect with the show. Konata's authentic (in 2007) otakuism made her the darling of that audience, but the show itself does not innately weigh her so highly. In fact, even when her references are inscrutable, it's the confused response of Tsukasa, or the sarcastic response of Kagami (who tends to call Konata the 2007 equivalent of "cringe"), that provide a contextual framework for what the joke is supposed to be. I don't need to know what the SOS Brigade is when Konata expresses her desire to grow up and become a Brigade Leader, because I can understand through Kagami's biting remark that it is some frivolous anime horseshit.

More importantly, the show's equivocation in terms of perspective makes it possible to empathize with Kagami's position over Konata's. The simplest comedy dynamic is the comedian/straight man, but the reliance of most narrative comedy on some form of social stakes -- either in the form of argument, humiliation, physical or psychological pain, or so on -- generally leads to empathy with one of the duo over the other. The straight man might be a put-upon everyman who is unfairly forced to deal with an obnoxious oaf, or a too-serious curmudgeon who is getting what they deserve from a guy who's just having a little fun. In the first case, the straight man is the point of audience empathy; in the second, the comedian is.

Konata and Kagami follow this comedy dynamic to a T, with Konata an aimless slacker and Kagami the uptight perfectionist. But in Lucky☆Star, divorced entirely from anything resembling a narrative -- episodic, situational, or otherwise -- there are zero social stakes to their conversations. Nobody ever "loses." Nobody is ever hurt. Nobody is wrong or right. Nothing happens at the expense of one character or another. As such, it is possible to watch the show and see the joke from the perspective of any given character at any time. If Konata says some arcane reference you don't get, Kagami's clapback becomes the joke. If Konata says something and you do understand it, the reference itself is the joke.

This comedic ambivalence is structurally remarkable (jokes typically have rigidly defined punchlines, moments you are "supposed" to laugh at), but comes with the price of the jokes not really being very funny. What it does do is create comprehensible and even "relatable" situations out of incomprehensible bits of referential information. Not understanding the reference is not an impediment to understanding Lucky☆Star. As such, Lucky☆Star functions as both a hyper-specific time capsule of 2007 anime subculture and a work that can be engaged with on its own terms even when completely divorced from that context.

The advent of the internet has led to an explosion in the spread of information and the ascendancy of the niche. It has also led to shorter shelf lives for information and an increased focus on the immediate. Memes burst into prominence, linger a month or two, vanish. Media is buzzed about in some section of society, is unknown everywhere else. A social media influencer has millions of followers and yet is a complete blank in the wider cultural eye. How can a work of art reflect this reality without rendering itself incomprehensible in a year, ten years, twenty? Is it possible to make timeless art in such a milieu, without stripping away as many signifiers of the world we live in to rely solely on "universal" and thus generic themes such as love, death, etc.?

I've seen many ways of attacking this problem. Infinite Jest's famous footnotes are one, as is the genre of "hysterical realism" itself, which attempts to create the suggestion of information density via massive novels with tons of characters spanning many countries and even time periods. Homestuck builds its own internal language of memes (I warned you about stairs bro!) that the reader will always understand no matter how many arcane applications those memes receive throughout the work. (Hence why an audience of teens in the 2010s were able to laugh uproariously at jokes about the 90s action flick Con Air that none of them had ever seen.) Multiverse movies, from Everything Everywhere All at Once to Into the Spider-Verse, depict the density of information horizontally rather than vertically, with unlimited variations on the same core theme. Even if you have never read whatever obscure comic run Noir Spider-Man comes from, you can understand him immediately based on his relationship to a sort of Platonic ideal of "Spider-Man".

These are all highly controlled forms of conveying the idea of "current day information density" without actually wallowing in actual current day information density. What's remarkable about Lucky☆Star is both that it actually does engage with the incredibly niche memes of its exact moment in time, but that it does so through the complete ceding of narrative control. Lucky☆Star functions because, not in spite of, the fact that it has no protagonist, no plot. It doesn't even have situations, like an episodic sitcom. It is not especially concerned with being funny, or dramatic, or heartwarming, or any particular emotion.

As a sort of thesis statement for the show, its first episode opens with a six-minute scene in which Konata, Tsukasa, and Miyuki discuss various ways of eating different types of food. There is no buildup, no joke, no emotional payoff, not even any of the references I've spent this entire essay talking about. There is no progression. The girls discuss how to eat one type of food, then move onto the next. In a way, this scene is a more aggressive challenge to the viewer than the niche references it employs later on. It is a complete surrender to banality.

Even within the context of the slice of life genre, which is full of comfy shows about Cute Girls Doing Cute Things, Lucky☆Star achieves phenomenal laxity. Other popular examples revolve around a specific theme that creates a sense of progression toward an ultimate goal; in K-On!, for instance, the girls are members of a band and work toward a successful performance, even if they spend a lot of their practices slacking off. Alternatively, without a clear theme, these shows might use surreal characters and situations to elevate the show above the mundane, such as in Azumanga Daioh, where a main character is a 10-year-old genius in high school. Or, in the case of Clannad, there might be a romantic angle to the laid-back character interactions.

This is all gone in Lucky☆Star. It has been stripped down past the basics of storytelling, akin to an abstract work of art that is three colors on a canvas. (Or four, in this case.) In this context, even Konata's deep cut animanga references sink to the level of banality, their impenetrability both an abstract confusion and a level of verisimilitude that other works can usually only suggest or evoke when they attempt to grapple with the reality of subculture. (To this end, Lucky☆Star is massively advantaged by its adaptation, as studio Kyoto Animation also made Haruhi Suzumiya and was able to mine its cultural relevance without the usual fear of copyright reprisals, in a prognostication of Ready Player One/Space Jam 2-style pan-brand media crossovers.) Similar to the best abstract art, there is an odd, ungraspable power to the starkness of Lucky☆Star's composition; also similar, much of this power emerges out of the work's context. Not simply its hyper-specific 2007 cultural context, which I've already discussed, but also the way it contextualizes itself internally.

Because I lied when I said the first episode of Lucky☆Star opens with a scene of three girls talking about how they eat different types of food. I'm not even talking about the actual first scene, which is a 10-second quick gag where Konata tells Tsukasa she doesn't join a sports team because it would cut into her free time to watch anime. No, Lucky☆Star opens in episode 1 the same way it opens every episode, with this:

The ambiguous 3 cm? Does that mean it's plushy? Wait! The wrapping is a uniform, argh, it's not an act, pooh Gotta do your best, gotta just do it That's time to catch n' release, eek Between sweat (whoop) sweat (whoop) Darlin', darlin' FREEZE! Kinda lethargic, something's kinda comin' out I love you... oh wait, one of those was different Worrywarts, high metal bars Tasty thoughts... and that's enough! The heated body of that flying you-know-who It's what you'd call a normal girlie Am I the only one surprised? Seconds on pork-bone broth ramen with wire-hard noodles Da da da da da! [Several seconds of indistinguishable chatter] Pom-poms cheer squad Let's get cherry pie [this line is in English] Happy fun welcoming party Look up! Sensation [also English] Yeah! Feeling of existence, dot dot small planet Collided and it melted away, in total awe Go all out to sing, shi-ranger! Take it away! I should be the one who'll be laughing in the end Because I have the sailor suit ← This is my conclusion It's only Monday! Already in a bad mood? What to do? I really prefer the summer outfits ← kya! Wah! Good! (cute!) <3 Until we approach 3 pixels, no hesitations please ☆ Do your best, be energetic My darlin' darlin' please!

The lyrics of Lucky☆Star's OP are nonsense, both in translation and in the original Japanese (and if you don't believe that, the English line "Let's get cherry pie" should be evidence enough). At best, they are a mishmash of schoolgirl concepts and oblique anime references, which at the very least is an accurate reflection of the content of the show. But the presentation is frenetic, erratic, aggressively at odds with the show's lassitude, without any contextualizing remark from Kagami to make it make, even in the abstract, any sort of sense.

Likewise, on the opposite end of the show is its concluding bookend, the Lucky Channel segment. This segment also sharply juxtaposes the show's core content, first in tone -- being far more cynical and meanspirited -- but also in structure. Lucky Channel engages in the exact stakes-driven comedian/straight man dynamic that the show eschews. When the Lucky Channel co-hosts Akira Kogami and Minoru Shiraishi banter, the results are either Minoru's physical or emotional abuse at the hands of Akira, or Akira's humiliation as a failed but narcissistic idol constantly upstaged by the unassuming Minoru. Lucky Channel also has another concept anathema to Lucky☆Star: narrative progression. Minoru grows bolder as the episodes draw on, Akira more violent; in a late episode, a mental breakdown leads to the destruction of the set, which remains destroyed in the final few episodes as Minoru and Akira finally and without reconciliation descend into blistering hatred of one another. At the same time, these segments are the location of some of the show's most indecipherable and multilayered injokes, injokes almost defined by their transience as most stem from a real-life radio show lost to time if you weren't right there listening to them as they went live. This segment is probably the most consistently funny part of Lucky☆Star; that's not because its jokes make sense, but rather the blunt slapstick and Akira's dramatic shifts from ultra-cutesy child idol to chain-smoking world-weary industry cynic.

The effect of the OP and the Lucky Channel segment is to sandwich the sedate, relaxed, mundane central content of Lucky☆Star between chaos, nonsense, and irony. Thus, the inner show contextualizes itself as a retreat from the storm of information and self-reflexivity, despite the fact that it deals directly with these topics. The show's indolence renders them harmless, comprehensible, and nonthreatening. Lucky☆Star is a world where the unknown can be easily and pleasantly demystified; the show's fourth character, Miyuki -- sometimes nicknamed Miwiki -- is an encyclopedic fountain of knowledge whose primary role is to exhaustively explain oddities on the fringes of Japanese culture with a polite and friendly smile. Miyuki is clearly secondary to Konata and the Hiiragi twins in terms of screen time, which gives her the feel of a supporting character despite her main cast billing, with an emphasis on the word "supporting"; like a servant, the other three will, after a conversation among themselves, call her to define some term or idiom. (That this obliging sense of service comes from the richest and most aristocratic character of the cast is another matter.) In Lucky☆Star, information is not chaotic and confusing, the way it is at the show's fringes, or in the "real world", but something that stimulates curiosity and kinship. So many scenes begin with a character saying, "I wonder why...?" followed by speculation and finally an answer. In the absence of plot, progression, or even humor, it's this sense of curiosity that renders Lucky☆Star's mundane scenes compelling. And it is their tonal juxtaposition against chaos that renders them so comfortable, so soothing.

As the internet grows older and more central to everyone's lives, as the headlines everyone talked about last week are forgotten today, Lucky☆Star's expression of retreat and reorder will only continue to become more emotionally satisfying, even as its 2007 references become more dated. What I find most potent in Lucky☆Star, though, is the steadily growing sense of wistfulness it fosters, not through any one scene or tone shift, but through a collection of tiny ones. New cast members are introduced in the second half, which dilutes the presence of the main characters and thins the tight-knit sense of friendship that unified the work. The characters increasingly ruminate on their futures (despite the lack of progression, time does pass linearly, and the show ends with the end of high school on the horizon), always suggesting a "real world" of adulthood lurking behind the corner. The show's artifice is explicitly exposed by the Lucky Channel segments, which metafictionally describe the show as "the show" and the characters as "actors." ("They must all hate each other once the camera stops rolling," Akira cynically suggests.) The ED of the show's first half features the four main girls in a karaoke bar; in the second half, though, this is replaced with live-action footage of the real-life actor Minoru Shiraishi from the Lucky Channel segments. Reality infringes on Lucky☆Star at its corners, slowly creeping inward. Its calm fantasy, a fantasy founded on verisimilitude rather than imagination, is gradually exposed as fake, a production. (Which it always was, no matter how real, how relatable it felt. For all the verisimilitude in its tone, these are characters who are more moe than moe, blobs of cuteness and distorted proportions beyond even the average CGDCT anime.) It ends, in the final episode, as the characters diegetically recreate the frenetic nonsense OP, with them all arrayed on a stage, the curtain rising to white light. And even more ominously, its final ED ends with Minoru Shiraishi intoning a few plaintive notes as he faces a lone and level plain.

This is Lucky☆Star's final shot. This what awaits outside of the show's dewy comfort. Bye-ni.

[ace1diots]

Also I finally figured out why “Raise Up Your Bat” gets to me so much, and the answer is the dichotomy of what Ralsei sings vs the actual lyrics.

The lyrics he censors aren’t even inappropriate. They’re not really that at all. They’re kind of middle schooler levels of edgy but i just. I dunno. I think its interesting that he still refused to sing them despite that. Also, something about Ralsei saying the word “kite” and the original word being “night” and the two blurring together for a moment to almost read as “knight” when the lyrics are overlayed.

its like theres a double meaning layered over a double meaning layered over something trying to change the meaning thats inadvertently adding to it. like. what if both sets of lyrics are gonna be relevant somehow. blinks and loses my mind

(more rambles under the cut)

For posterities sake heres a link to the lyrics that contains both the original lines and what Ralsei sings

some of Ralsei’s lyrics are probably just there for nonsense reasons (like. the line about Mites.) but some of this with their additonal layer-over feels. idunno how to put this. almost like a prediction.? im thinking mostly about the festival here.

looking specifically at verse one and ignoring the mites line. the “sun shining brightly” line layered over the “blood gushing bright” line really gets to me for some reason. “Lets get your friends and fly a kite” sounds very festival type activity. i didnt know what to do with the “fur is looking white / future lost its rights” line at first but. toriel, asgore, asriel, even ralsei himself? could be about or related to any them. “raise up your hat for a funny sight/raise up your bat for a burning fight” just fit together perfectly- laying that line on top of the lyric feels like it adds additional context to the original line that was there.

the chorus is interesting because ralsei doesnt change Any of the lyrics. And the additonal added thing of this is the Freedom motif/Don’t Forget motif. it uses parts of Don’t Forget’s lyrics and ideas as well as just referencing it musically. It’s asking you to follow someone (the singer of the song, arguably most likely Dess) into the dark, that they’re with you, and that your heart will guide you through the waves (once again associating dark worlds/darkness with water.)

now lets look at verse 2. The only utdr related ducks i can think of are the small bird that carries you over a large gap and washuwas duck so this might not be relevant or we don’t know what its about yet. “And mom kiss goodnight” my first thought there was well, the end of the undertale pacifist route if you choose to stay with toriel- so this line is probably about toriel loving kris as her own child (that sung over the “blood gushing bright” line reads in very “the player has killed toriel in the past” type of way to me, but i dont know if thats intentional?) “When your pancake’s slowly frying” is about the opening of chapter 4 of deltarune (pared with the “hope slowly dying” line to reflect the new fears of our cast of characters, particularly susie here i think given that she gives a whole speech at the end of chapter 3 about how she hasnt had hope for a while and having friends has finally given her some). “and your future’s really bright/and your future’s lost it rights” is just very Yeah- not much to say about this one but it still feels Relevant to it all. “Bring extra smores to the campsite/raise up your bat and face the fright” this. this line in particular feels about how Dess was lost in the first place- all of them camping out in the woods behind the graveyard until something Happens and Dess goes to protect them, only to be dragged into darkness/the bunker somehow? and the last line of “i bet my friends still want a bite/lets knock em dead into the night!” feels like a proper last hurrah for the song, as well as a reminder that Dess misses everyone just as much as she is missed, and that theres still things that have to be/should be fought for no matter how much/who is lost in the process

[ven0moir]

So, Bychance is on my radar and ... I think it'll actually happen.

Disclaimer, I realize this is me going full unhinged mode and some of this might be because I'm so bored lately but the more I think about where we left Will off in S4, the more I think Will might actually take a chance ( lmao? ) to be with someone new, even if deep down he knows it's not in his best interests--it'll be more a coping mechanism, an attempt to move on from Mike, and without realizing he might be repeating the pattern of his parent's relationship due to trauma.

This will ultimately result in growth for him, of course, and the breaking of these cycles. Will Byers will be free in the end, but the road there won't be easy.

So here we go--by the leaks of Holly being taken, and the outfits they are wearing, we can infer S5 Byler will mirror S1 Jancy.

Yeah. And how did Nancy start S1?

Having a one-time, two-time secretive thing with a jock ( bully ) that left a note in her locker at the start of the season.

Something something bullies leaving a note in Will's locker at the start of the season.

Something something a bully leaving a note at the start of S5 in Will's locker with a place and time to meet.

And what is one of the most noticeable things that Stancy and Mileven have in common?

Yeah, they start seemingly very passionate, only to fall apart later. Add Bychance to that mix.

Now, about the place and time where Chance and Will likely secretly meet. At first I thought it would be Benny's Burger.

Benny's Burger, which also foreshadows Mike telling Eleven something about her Benny Burger's t-shirt in EP9. It is also established in these screenshots that Benny's Burger is a place commonly used for people to hang out, likely teenagers, to engage in illegal things like drinking ( and probably more, the 69 poster above Lucas' head notwithstanding )

We also have the whole 'WE ❤️ TIGERS' posters, and Christmas Lights which we have come to associate with Will, as it has been established that this is Will's favorite holiday as well.

However, Chance and Will would have to be extra careful not to get caught, so chances are they'll go for places that aren't frequented ...

Now, the main question is, why Chance? And I'll admit this is all oh so fairly loose and likely a reach, but if we are to believe Will is going to have a secret thing with a bully, then out of all of the ones introduced in S4, Chance is the one that I'd dare to say we can connect Will with through symbolism, albeit vague.

The first time we see Chance, we see the poster 'Defeat The Falcons' closer to him than anyone else on the team even though he was on the bench.

Now, correct me if Im wrong, but if there is an association with Mike and falcons, then it could hint at Mike having lost to chance this season. Foreshadowing he loses to a literal Chance next season? Since Chance didn't come out the bench this season. Yikes. Good luck, Mike. You're gonna need it.

We also notice he's sporting the number 22 in his shirt ( which considering the attention brought to t-shirts this season, I'd say this means something, especially bc 22 is Will's birthday and it is also speculated to be the date of the Creel Murders -- Chance and Will meeting at the Creel House oh god ... ).

Speaking of 22, this scene is interconnected with Will in California through music--it does have a similar context in which both Lucas and Will feel abandoned by their friends. But we also see what you could argue is an extra that is supposed to remind us of Chance behind Will wearing a shirt ( again with the shirts ) that says 'I love contact sports'

Moments before, we *just* saw Chance next to Lucas, in the same spot we see Mike as well--as if the two are being compared. ( Tiger vs Falcon? )

We know Will is associated with tigers, but we can also infer that he loves tigers, which connects him to the 'WE ❤️ YOU TIGERS' poster in Benny's Burgers.

This is as far as I have gone in my analysis, but I might rewatch S1 and S3 at one point to follow along the narrative patterns and see if I can uncover more.

My guess right now is if Bychance is established early on, then it might go for about a couple episodes before it inevitably crashes and burns--with Will being the one to end things, and then Byler happens at the end in a way that pays off.

[themeaningthemeaningthe]

can’t sleep for other reasons and my brain can’t stop thinking about a post i saw and initially ignored but keep having thoughts about. i didn’t comment on it or anything and now it’s lost to the ether and i don’t wanna go looking for it but these thoughts gotta go somewhere.

this will be long and rambling and probably a little incoherent cuz it’s 3am.

the post was someone saying that they finally picked up gideon the ninth after years of seeing locked tomb posts and griddlehark, then dropped it after like 2 chapters bcuz they think the dynamic between gideon and harrow is abusive (which is fair when u first start it) and they can’t believe people are into it as enemies to lovers. on the one hand, people are totally cool to just not like something for whatever reason, i myself just have thoughts about the Nuance that i didn’t express on the post that i now must here.

lots of important spoilers for GtN!! (and maybe accidentally ones to HtN)

ok here’s the rant.

that’s the point!!!!! that’s the point.

they are terrible to each other and they have always been. the growth and the development of their character dynamics together explores how this thing between them that has always been sharp and seething and spiky must buckle under the weight of outside pressure beyond anything they could have imagined.

in a very important pool scene (one that is ubiquitous in fanart and i have to believe this poster saw at least a few times) we get an explanation from harrow! and not only does this give us a more full look into the context of drearbruh outside of gideons narrow point of view, but it also makes more clear why they were like That.

i’m sorry but literally harrow is 200 dead kids that her parents killed to make her, and gideon is the one kid they couldn’t kill. and gideon realizes once told this, she is the living reminder of the war crime committed to save the house, and no one who knows can forget it.

and harrow has known the truth of her origin since she was old enough to comprehend anything!! so yeah, a traumatized child who knows she’s the entirety of a generation of her house is gonna lash out at literally the only other child on the planet who she happens to also have power over.

and i feel like the book makes this pretty clear!! this was bad!! but also, these are two traumatized kids growing up in a dying, creepy, planet that is lowkey hell.

the other key thing about the pool scene, is that it is a Confession. these books are sooo steeped in catholicism. harrow isn’t just explaining the true history of her life, she is Confessing all of the sins that make her up and all of the sins she has committed. bearing the entirety of the wretchedness of her soul for gideon judge. expecting her only friend whom she has made miserable for years to kill her.

and i know we joke about gideon being lesbian jesus, but there’s a reason for that (besides the obvious). bcuz after hearing her Confession, gideon baptized harrow in that pool.

one flesh one end, bitch.

and also like yeah griddlehark is an enemies to lovers in some ways, but i feel like also not in the typical way you would think about that trope?? bcuz correct me if im wrong but they never really become lovers (and i personally am not sure they ever will). yes they love each other and make the grandest gestures of love imaginable. but that love is inevitably fucked up in some ways and it’s impossible for it to not be.

god that was way too long. anyway. some Nuance is necessary.

[lovckett]

someone dent my head in pls i cant stop thinking about vampire tfone orion except he doesn't know he's a vampire i cant stop WONT STOP CANT STOP WONT STOP UAAAGHHGHHGHHGHHHH

yes writing these are ok . credit is nonmandatory but it'd be pretty neat to have it

TFONE 5 times orion pax looked stupid without context and one time everyone sees his plan in full action and realizes Oh he's kinda smart he just LOOKS stupid

TFP twisted beauty and the beast au . sacrificial lamb orion who's gifted to megatronus either for killing or eating but orion is Not willing to take that shit and keeps plotting to escape in the most unconventional ways . megatronus is trying and failing to explain that No he does Not eat the sacrifices and please get down from the chandelier he doesn't want orion hurt himself and spilled energon is really hard to clean from the carpet . they get along eventually with literature .

TFONE Whatever Job Isn't Really That Bad Until The One Person You Absolutely Do NOT Want Finding Out Finds Out Not Because It's Illegal But It's Really Kinda Embarrassing orion . he picked up the gig because he realized dee was willingly taking punishments by darkwing meant for him and he's given less and less energon rations each day so orion agrees to work for as long as he needs to . many repercussions like drowsiness and dee growing more and more concerned because Why is pax so tired and is pax giving me Extra energon ???? is he starving ??????

TFONE secret orion job but it Definitely Is Very illegal . he sells crack ( synthesized energon ......... hi tfp ratchet ) . orion needing to come up with the weirdest lies to save his aft .

TFONE/TFP orion finds a sparkling and decides You Know What I Can Totally Handle This . suspicious d-16/megatronus until the eventual Oh Shit Got Caught . humorous misunderstandings (" where is the sire?! does he not have the grace to even stay by your side ?!!!? ") (" oh my god you got sparked up???!? pax????? i thought— how didn't i— when?????? ") . no the sparkling isn't b-127 that is a grown man with huge balls .

TFONE orion misusing a word and the aftermath dragging out longer than it should've been .

TFP optimus x MTMTE lost light . after optimus jumps into the well of allspark he appears in the shadow zone with soundwave . theyre very wary and by soundwave's pov especially hateful but learn to get along . lost light suddenly appears to pick them up . i don't know enough about lost light to add anything but it'd be cool to see them both progress . someone give me fics to read pls anything

TFONE orion pax gets cybertronian equivalents to piercings and tattoos . or he USED to wear piercings and he now hides his tattoos . i dunno i just want to see d-16 jaw drop because What What Do You Mean Orion Pax Has Tattoos Excuse Me Did I Hear You Right Hello Repeat That Again Where Even Are They I Need To Know .

TFP extremely ticklish orion pax . except it's the kind of ticklish where megatronus keeps poking him and he slowly descends to the ground clutching himself each time and it happens so much that he grows paranoid of being tickled again so he goes to drastic measures to get Away from those horrifying servos . he somehow ends up on top of one of the archival shelves and can't get down . (" come now, little archivist, i swear on my servo that you will not be deceived! ") ("YOU CANNOT FOOL ME MEGATRONUS. YOUR SERVO WAS ON MY FRAME JUST MOMENTS AGO . I THINK I AM INCLINED NOT TO TRUST YOUR SERVO . ")

TFONE d-16 convinced that orion pax is doing something suspicious and each time he stumbles on orion it's either seemingly incriminating or seemingly innocent .

TFONE orion being a secret fanboy . he laughs at d-16 for his very open admiration toward megatronus but he's so much worse than d-16. he hoards pictures and figurines and posters and drawings of prima prime . he has a body pillow . he knows he can't hide it forever but the secret he will keep to the grave is that he's written fanfiction of him . he is either found out by dee stumbling on his collection of things or orion immediately getting into an argument with someone that hates prima .

TFONE miners knowing about the cybertronian equivalent to birthdays and orion having zero clue what that is . dee asks him when his birthday is and orion's reaction is that he sort of has this slightly horrified look because he has this extremely misconstrued idea of what's birthday sounds like it would be. Um . Dee , What The Frag Is a Birth Day . Is It like When You— vague motion OR he nods very stiltedly and roblox man face smiles and is like Ah Yes the Birthday the Birthday For me Hm yes that's i ah uh haven't decided yet !

[ninadove]

And because I now have fancy new tags to put to good use…

Thoughts on Miraculous S6 E2: The Illustrhater 🎨

Please note that this is a salt-free space. I do not want to see even a grain of salt in my notes. You will be blocked on sight. Cool? Cool. (And even if it’s not cool with you… well… blocked on sight… so…)

First things first: the new animation style is actually really cute and works really well in context! Chat in particular looks great, contrary to what that first promotional poster made us fear. Adrien as a civilian might be the one who suffered most, probably because of the hairstyle change… It will need some getting used to, but overall, I like what I’ve seen so far. So much love and care was put into the smallest details, like the sparkles on Mari’s tights!

Special mention:

SHE HAS SPIKES????? LITTLE HAIR SPIKES????? IN HER HAIR????? AND DRAGON SCALES????? AND SLIT PUPILS????? AND HER SUIT LAYS EVEN MORE INTO THE ASYMETRIC VIBE, HIGHLIGHTING HOW MUCH INDEPENDENCE SHE GAINED AND HOW COMFORTABLE SHE IS WITHOUT THE PRESSURE OF BEING PERFECT ALL THE TIME????? AND SHE LOOKS SO HAPPY????? LIKE SHE’S HAVING SO MUCH FUN????? LIKE SOMEONE IN HER LIFE HAS BEEN A GOOD INFLUENCE MAYBE????? 🥺🥺🥺🥺

… Apologies, I seem to have lost the plot for a minute. Where was I?

Oh, yeah. If one thing is clear from this first look at S6, it’s that Marinette’s secrets will catch up to her at some point. The writers lay it on thick in both Alyanette scenes and with the “Even as superheroes, they share everything” DJWiFi/Love Square contrast! It’s not exactly a surprise, but with how many people claimed we would never hear a single word about the Agreste plotline again, I feel somewhat… vindicated.

Marinette not knowing how to act around Adrien actually makes a lot of sense to me? She’s had to be his rock through his grieving process, meaning she has functionally not left Ladybug Mode since the end of S5. Of course when she gets a chance to chill and actually do regular couple things, she gets terribly scared! Seeing her trying to imitate other couples was so funny and cute… Did you know I love her… And Adrien was such a wet cold lost kitten through it all… Did you know I love him…

That being said, this felt like an Alyanette episode first and an OT4 episode second. I loved seeing these four work as a group again! Nino was simply too precious and I loved Adrinette “““covering up””” for Renapace. Rena grabbed Ladybug’s hand for their little manoeuvre like it was second nature to her, which is very reminiscent of Bumbleby from RWBY, aka the Sapphic Battle Couple!

(And that Chekov’s gun… I’m sure we’ve all seen Chekov’s gun…… We shall not mention it yet……… It’s there and we know where it’s headed…………)

But of course. Of course. The character who shone the brightest in this episode? Was Lila.

It’s clear from the get-go how different she is from Monarch!!! Smarter, more manipulative, but perhaps also… more compassionate, in a twisted way…? She gives her victims the illusion of choice (“Only if you agree, of course” // “And what shall I call you?”), making herself small when she first approaches them only to reveal her full size when the magic takes over.

AND YET it seems to me she must know pain intimately to leverage it so well… Really makes you ponder the Manon theory, especially when comparing Illustrhater and Puppeteer’s costumes…

Another key difference with Gabriel is that she is on the field, constantly observing and taking notes, which is extremely scary but also exposes her to more risks. I’m very curious to learn more about this chameleon magic of hers and what she means by “you’ll know nothing about me, about us, bout them”… She seems to think of herself as the center of a web, a spider rather than a butterfly, if you will!

(Also, the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that the Diabolo menthe reference was intentional!)

[chicken-blitz13]

An unneeded analysis on the Predator Badlands posters

So, I saw this tiktok about how worse some movie posters have gotten recently so I wondered how bad the Badlands poster is to an outsider and it's good, simple but good.

Also I just wanna fangirl about these posters.

Now, for that tiktok, yeah some posters for films aren't good and just come off as generic with the big name actors there to be the big advertisement of the film just to get audiences.

BUT BADLANDS DOESN'T DO THAT, ESPECIALLY AUDIENCES WHO AREN'T PART OF THIS FANDOM AND JUST CONSUME THE FILMS CASUALLY OR HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN THE FILMS

this poster is simple but so intriguing. It's an alien planet, we see some flying animals and large bones just to show how hostile this planet is. Dek is injured, been through shit but still determined to hunt, he's the focused with the heading saying "First hunt, last chance". It's HIS story and it makes you want to know if he succeeded at the end.

also the banner at SDCC

Ok, it's just as good and maybe even more intriguing compared to the first poster. Elle Fanning's character is there and,she's actually next to the yautja, they're not enemies, they're allies but she's being carried around by him because she lost her legs, she's a synthetic from the Alien franchise which hints at an AVP tease???

IT SAYS SO MUCH BUT OFFERS LITTLE CONTEXT OF WHAT'S HAPPENING MAKES YOU WANNA WATCH IT.

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

What do you think of season 2 of arcane? i've seen quite... a contrasting reaction from the public when compared to the reaction that s1 got

[cracks knuckles] ok, first some context: I was, and still am, largely unfamiliar with the League of Legends video games, which probably colors my perception of Arcane as a whole. The first season was incredible. 10/10 no notes. It's a masterpiece of animation hands down. One of its many strengths is that it sticks to a self-contained story that does not require lore knowledge or even knowledge of who the characters from the games are. It's a character drama wrapped in a steampunk/sci-fi/fantasy aesthetic. It tells a grounded story that follows its characters as their arcs play out all the way through to the end. I love it and habitually rewatched it while waiting for season 2.

...And then season 2 came and it kinda went. I enjoyed the season. The animation, music, voice acting, all incredible and it's what makes the season a joyride. But that's pretty much what it is. A joyride. That grounded story and character drama was largely dropped for bigger stakes and it feels like the season lost the plot. You were invested in the Zaun/Piltover conflict? Let's have Jayce give a half-assed speech about working together to defeat a common enemy and give Sevika a token seat at the councillors' table. You wanted to see how Jinx and Vi's relationship developed after the bombing? Well, Vi says "my sister is gone." Until Vander/Warwick shows up. But they don't really talk about their relationship or how much they've both changed. They're just cool with each other know.

Did you want to see how Jinx deals with the fallout of killing her father figure and embracing the role of the Mad Bomber? Well, she kinda mopes for a bit. Finds a street urchin that magically cures her of her mental instability. oops, street urchin is dead. Jinx is depressed now. fun. It's not like the marketing lead us to believe that Jinx was going to be an actual antagonist, right?

right?

Now, I know trailers and posters can be misleading but come on. Season 1 ended with her fully becoming Jinx and I feel like she was more Jinx-like there than in season 2.

We got less of the sisters than in the first season despite being the emotional core of the story. Part of that is the escalating conflict and having far too many antagonists. We have Ambessa, Viktor, and the Black Rose and they all take up too much screen time (this last one was a huge ??? for me as a noob to the games. Actually, Mel's whole arc in season 2 was so divorced from season 1 that it feels like they just gave her magic powers just so she could participate in the fight). The other part is that when the sisters are together, they don't really say or do anything meaningful. The dialogue is rather boilerplate and there's no emotional weight to their scenes. It's just there.

That's really my problem with season 2 as a whole, it just feels like it's ticking off boxes to get to the big action sequences, and even some of those felt superfluous (did we really need a fight scene with Smeech? Smeech? Who the fuck is he and why should we care?). The funny thing is that, there are a lot of good ideas here. Jinx feeling conflicted about suddenly being seen as a symbol of the people? Awesome! Caitlyn falling under the sway of Ambessa as she mourns her mother and gasses innocent civilians in her mad pursuit of Jinx? Great! Viktor slowly losing his humanity and becoming the Machine Herald while Jayce struggles to right what they have wronged and get his friend back? Excellent! The problem is that they're all crammed together and don't get room to breathe, so everything is rushed and unsatisfactory.

When your first season ends with four people at a dinner table that explores their character dynamics and your second season's climax looks like a Marvel movie, there's a problem.

(also, side tangent: Silco and Vander's backstory was shoddy and contradictory. Making them BFFs with Vi and Jinx's mom was a bad idea. It cheapens Vander's decision to leave behind a life of violence and adopt two orphans. It introduces a plot hole that Silco wasn't around for the kids' childhood and makes that moment when he tries to kill Powder extra weird. PLUS, we have the ever lovely trope of fridging a woman and making her the catalyst of conflict between two male characters 😒

although this season did make me ship these two, so there's that👍)

(another mini tangent: I'm not fond of making a time traveling Viktor the one who gave baby Jayce the rune stone. That scene was one of my favorites from season 1 and the mage actually being Viktor just makes the world feel smaller and less enigmatic YMMV).

So there you have it. An overall okay season but one that pales in comparison to its predecessor.

[szilverer]

BREAKING NM NEWS!!

a while ago i saw this pin and produced the sketch. now coloured this anime shipbait poster ass thing to commemorate my ghostie's getting their first ever nat20 on their edcard rolls.

Big Things were always set to happen the first time either rolled a nat 1 or nat 20, so... this means they're Aware of their Feelies now. still laughing my fucking ass off at these circumstances however RNG continues to be one of the biggest nm fans.

so, context that led to this latest groundbreaking development in TL;DR format:

rei gets invited to a wedding. edward finds out

they argue abt their weird fucking marriage

he's forbidden from attending, as expected, but it still pisses him off incredibly. he stays home nicely though drinking wine til he passes out instead

rei attends but is haunted by the conses of their own quences regarding matters of love and couples

they end up dreaming of the orphanage the very next day again and finally puts 2+2 together about Some Things

well .

more context!! context for the context god!!:

two days prior. we receive an invitation to a extravagant wedding. the literal next card draw was poor fucking edward i kid you not. he knew.

these two argued badly (read: in a non-fun way) like they hadn't in quite a while. it's less about the event itself and more what it represents. this particular kind of thing – romantic partnership that isn't there despite both still clinging to the "marriage" word – really triggers edward. and when he gets tilted he gets really antsy & full of violent thoughts about wanting to ruin things for his terrible horrible spouse somehow.

here's the thing: reisz has always been putting quite the work in making sure he still Is. which means that although

the guy in question can technically manage to sneak out when they're not looking just fine. He doesn't because he feels compelled to stay in the Orphanage, and the sheer reality of the Is after so long in the mirror makes him feel nauseous and smothered to almost an incapacitating degree. But he can.

i rolled again to decide the outcome. first was how much he was okay with complying. he got a whopping 2. (if it was a nat 1 I'd have to bite the bullet and say he actually went to commit a faux pas of some sort and this would set their relationship back really hard LOL.) then whether he actually complied. got a 18. he was a good boy despite it all

rei goes to the wedding and does have a great time But. it's a marriage. there's couples everywhere in the afterparty. there's love mentioned all the time. they didn't feel like courting anyone bc they kept uncomfortably being reminded of the fucking guy on their basement. also known as their husband lmfao

it's not that they wanted him there, or anyone to know; but the concept of bringing someone along to go to an event, the fantasy of having an actual partner they could lock arms with and take a walk around town; all these silly things they loved doing & that they gave up on when they removed themself from the dating pool and chose to keep him...

it was a little lonely.

the next day, on rei's 16th (or 17th) edcard draw (fuck i lost count), their subconscious yeets them on the Orphanage again and. 20. the day finally arrived. the Realization comes like a trout jumping out of the water straight to their face:

- they really miss doing actual couple things

- they ? are okay with the idea of doing these with him ?¿

- they DID wish they could have him there .

- they DO feel kinda ??something about the things he said in the argument

- whenever they think too much about love or romance or company they end up drawing an edcard dreaming about their husband. this was a pattern.

maybe they actually like him?

huh.

ok.

what do they do now?

(and the answer so far has been: literally nothing . this got them so destabilized they started working on the railway board again. cheers!)

anywho og pics below :3c

[funnynamehaha]

Wisdom teeth removed. In hella pain. Time for more deltarune posting

So the prophecy right? At first it was kind of incidental but then it became crazy important in chapter 4, and I wanna talk about my main theory about it. But first some context!!!

So we know how the prophecy as presented in chapter 4 goes, relatively speaking. But the most interesting part of the prophecy is everything else around it, so that's mainly what I'm gonna talk about.

So. In Deltarune, the main religon practiced in home town is about. Well. The Deltarune. And in fact, the original prophecy is seen as some sort or religous text. It's read aloud akin to how the bible would be in church, and they write hymns about it and shit. It is also stated that a lot of the prophecy has been lost to time, which is very important so remember that. Now, if you've been following deltarune for a while now, the focus on religon might seem kind of weird, given that it has been largely about escapism through media and games and television, but that's where Lord Of The Hammer comes in.

Lord of The Hammer is confirmed by Gerson to be based on the prophecy, with a lot of creative liberties taken. Gerson is all about writing your own stories, your own endings, and is overall a pretty chill dude. Despite deviation being looked down upon in real life religon, most people seem to think Lord of The Hammer was badass, and they even keep copies of it in the church. Lord of the Hammer was apperently so baller that they MADE A VIDEO GAME BASED ON IT.

Dragon Blazers drives me nuts. It is referred to heavily in chapter 2 and the sweepstakes, and might be the NES game we play in chapter 3, given that it features the Ice Palace. It has been generally accepted that Dragon Blazers was used by Deltarune to sort of refer to itself, but since it was loosely based on the Prophecy, it makes perfect IN UNIVERSE sense for there to be parallels.

So. Back to the whole "most of the prophecy is lost" bit. Because it really seems like it ISN'T, given that a lot of Darkners got that shit memorized. So it mostly seems like the light world is clueless about it, right? Well, here's where I get into conspiracy theory territory.

Ralsei's explanation of Dark Worlds is largely what most people expected, with darkners being real world items turned into full fledged people with thoughts and feelings. But the way he describes how this happens is the important part. He says that, when it gets dark, objects can appear as something else, such as a chair looking like a monster, or a poster looking like its moving. Dark worlds are what happens when you get "Darker than dark." Other than being a sickass gaster reference, this reveals something important about Darkners. That they're interpretation of their given object made manifest.

So the prophecy. What does this have to do with the prophecy. Well, again, Lord of the Hammer is a loose adaptation of the prophecy. A what if scenario based on Gerson's creativity, world view, and vision. It's his interpretation. Like wise, Dragon Blazers is it's own interpretation of HIS work, based of the dev's own worldview.

Dragon Blazers is a game that seems pretty important to Susie and ESPECIALLY Noelle. Even if Susie has never heard of the prophecy, she has learned it via Dragon Blazers. Kris and Noelle have also been to church, and the Knight, (presumably Dess) has a connection with Gerson, author of Lord Of The Hammer, given that he manifests as mostly the same when he was alive. Basically everybody important to the Prophecy has heard about that shit before through various mediums.

I think its notable that Lord of The Hammer is unfinished. Gerson died before he could complete it. We don't know if Dragon Blazers ended, but given it was based on Lord of The Hammer, its doubtful. And, of course, most of the prophecy is lost to time.

It really makes you wonder. What if Gerson finished Lord of The Hammer? What if Dragon Blazers had an ending? What if we found the missing parts of the prophecy?

In darkness, our minds fill in the blanks. The silhouette of a chair can be seen as a monster, and the poster can seem like its moving. In complete darkness, you can't see anything. You can't know anything. You can't know the ending.

But what if it was darker than dark?

What if you're brain sees patterns between what you do know. What if the cool new girl at school reminds you of the dragon from dragon blazers? What if your stoic friend's demeanor reminds you of the stoic Knight? What if you could meet your cool older brother when he was your age? What if you think Jockington would look badass with a beard.

Basically, what I'm saying is that, rather than being the actual prophecy, it's simply another interpretation? Another interpretation of a story told over and over and over again. Each time a little different? A story built on greif, lonliness, and curiosity? A story about you and your loved ones overcoming hardships, making new friends, and having adventures.

But this adventure has gotten too real. Somebody might get hurt, you start to worry about how it all ends, somebody you think knows everything is burdened with that knowledge. The cool badass new girl wants to be kind, to be a hero. It's what happens when your world view becomes real.

Anyways I call it Interpretation Theory and its my weird pretentious son. My face hurts like fucking crazy but hey deltarune is pretty cool. Anyways

[demigod-shenanigans]

More goofy thoughts about the Jason needs godly recommendation letters for college fic I’m not going to write (original post I made about this concept here):

-For context, this is in a universe where Leo did the whole Orpheus Eurydice thing to resurrect Jason, so assume ToA happened more or less the way it did in the books. Jason is staying at the Waystation with Leo.

-Because Percy has a Nereid as a guidance counselor, I think Jason should have a wind nymph. Objectively the funniest option: Mellie. She already has a connection to the lost trio, plus her husband was their satyr protector for a while. She’s also gonna need a new job since Tristan probably won’t need an assistant anymore now that he’s no longer working as an actor.

-The thing is Mellie actually tries really hard to be helpful. She makes sure Jason has all the information he needs and can call upon her whenever necessary.

-However. She’s also a sleep deprived mom and definitely mixes things up occasionally. Chuck is a year old now but because satyrs age at half the speed of humans you get to enjoy the whole “baby crying at night to be fed”-period for twice the human baby amount of time.

-She has to bring baby Chuck with her to counseling a few times because she couldn’t find a babysitter.

-When she initially tells Jason about the whole recommendation letters thing she’s really apologetic about it. She feels so bad he has to put up with this nonsense after everything he’s been through. Jason just sighs, resigned, because of course the gods (his dad) would do this to him and just bonks his head against her desk.

-But also Jason wants this. NRU has been his plan since he could walk basically and he may still not remember his childhood super well but he knows he loves New Rome. It was his home for ages. And he likes the thought of it being his home again, at least for a time. Of getting to fall on love with the place a second time. Of getting to spend all his time with Leo and Piper (at least theoretically, if they’re going, which he doesn’t know for sure but he does love the thought of that so much) knowing that they’re safe and get to just be for a few years.

-So, yeah, as annoyed as Jason is with the whole thing, he’s absolutely doing this.

-Jupiter also tried to pull the 25 recommendation letter shit on him that he tried on Percy. Juno talked him out of it and they settled on the same three letters Percy had to get.

-If Juno did the whole “putting a picture/poster of Jason on the godly pinboard”-thing that Poseidon did for Percy you can bet she used one of him from back when he was praetor, in uniform and everything. Jason is not thrilled about this because he looks so capable in that picture and he’s really worried that’ll mean he’ll get very hard quests that he’ll then screw up

-Leo definitely makes a joke about Jason looking like a dorky cosplayer in that picture (he’s not getting into the fact that he actually thinks Roman armor Jason looks kind of hot. They may be dating but there’s no chance in hell he’s admitting this bit)

-Jason goes back and forth on whether to ask Leo and Piper for help with the recommendation letters. Leo’s already done so much for him with the whole resurrecting him ordeal and Piper had to watch him die on the last mission they went on together and isn’t even sure how much she wants to live in the mythological world anymore. He can’t ask even more of them after everything.

-But Leo is also his boyfriend. Who Jason lives with. They go to the same school. And Jason is shit at keeping things from him. Leo immediately realizes something is up and needles him until Jason eventually gives in and tells him. Leo reminds him that the last mission Jason went on without him got him killed so he’s absolutely not letting Jason do this alone

-Leo is also immediately like “hell no we’re not keeping this from Piper. She’s still pissed at you for keeping the prophecy from her for so long. She was furious I didn’t tell her about my plan to wander off into the Underworld. If there’s one thing we really shouldn’t do is lie to her about another thing that could get us both killed”

-And yeah. Piper is not super pleased Jason considered keeping this from her but she’s also immediately down to help. They’ve always been able to handle anything as long as the three of them were together, after all.

-Leo teases Jason about the fact that he’s such a nerd that he’s actually willing to do quests for the gods to get into college. But, well, he supposes NRU was the dream Jason left behind in the Styx when he died, so he did know that getting into this relationship

-Leo also makes at least one joke re: “sorry for resurrecting you I should have read the terms and conditions more closely”

-The first mission is purely light-hearted shenanigans. Maybe Apollo gave them an easy quest to apologize for getting Jason killed. Who knows. They do still find plenty of trouble (as you do when you’re walking around in a group that’s three of the most powerful demigods of your generation, one of which is a big three kid), but they’re fine. Maybe the other two missions won’t be too bad (spoiler alert: the other two missions are significantly worse)

[emblemxeno]

I was talking with a close friend during a write-up on a badfic, and talking about Fates made me really think on something; honestly, I don't even hate the Deeprealms, but it needed way more time to explain itself for what's effectively an Excuse Plot to justify a sidequest for the second generation.

The core story it represents is still damn well excellent if you actually piece it together, it's just so that Fates's biggest sin (and only real sin as a story, IMHO) is that the core story is legitimately excellent with great ethos, logos and pathos… and that due to the limitations of the console it's on and time limitations during development, has an absolutely horrid way of conveying its core thesis much in the way my friend kind of went off the unintended path on his analysis; lots of plot devices that existed solely to string things together as well as leaving really fucking important story details baked within single-line dialogues despite it really being crucial to understanding the core story… and even then, that's not getting into the localization fuckery further muddling things. I'm of the opinion though that Treehouse probably saved Fates in the West and probably the greater series; I know Japanese and have translated the Japanese script version of the Prologue and Conquest's Chapter 27 for posterity, and... oh, dear lord, the sheer difference in quality and prose is fucking noticeable. The writing genuinely comes off as childish in the Japanese version, as well as a lot of the nuances that were present in Kibayashi's draft were straight-up lost in the Japanese version (and mind you, Conquest Chapter 27's one of my favorite chapters in the entire franchise from a story perspective, only really beaten out by FE4's Chapter 5 and Birthright's Chapter 26 IMHO)... I may be happy to link you the script sometimes, but by far the best thing Treehouse did was make Nohr seem less overtly unsympathetic and dial back the cultural posturing (which was bad enough even the Japanese hated it; Hoshido apparently provoked cultural uncanny valley due to how unlike Hoshido acted compared to the Japanese, to the point that to them, Birthright was regarded as the worst story of the three), and comparing the two, they did a fucking lot to add depth and context back from the original draft that was just… absent, and adapted fucking horribly from the Japanese version of the story, which reads as a first draft, frankly. Still, I'm adamant Fates is a great story told poorly; fix how the story is told, and a lot of the problems fall into place or fix itself. What people hated wasn't the story (contrary to what they think), they hated how it was presented.

But yeah, all of it's a shame, as Fates is legitimately just a victim of its development than anything actually bad; if anything, if you bother to analyze it, it's Fear & Hunger and Cruelty Squad-levels of deep analysis as a story to a degree that, in my opinion, utterly eclipses Three Houses or pretty much the majority of other FE games before and since; even the well-written ones don't have the same level of depth and implications Fates had. What kind of FE game seriously uses symbolism of Chinese geomancy and friggin' Taoism for its core points? Fates feels like a victim of its own genius, and to me, Treehouse is kind of misblamed for a lot of it; even if they've made a lot of questionable decisions, seeing how the Japanese version butchered one of the most cathartic realizations of ending an abusive cycle was just... ugh:

Japanese Version Garon: What…? Marx, are you going against me…? Marx: Shut the hell up.* [Lit: Damare/黙れ]. Don't call me by my name so casually…you strange person. Garon: What…? Marx: I realized that by looking at your behavior now. You are not the father I respect. I know my father best. My father used to be strong… However, he never imitated raising his hand to his own child. He did not try to dominate the enemy's country and do all he could to plunder it! Garon: What do you know about me, you fool… Marx: You aren't the one who knows what my father knows…! …I pretended not to see it the whole time. I did not disobey any order. I believed that someday you would get back to normal, and I fought for it. However, my father back then was…

English Version Garon: What is the meaning of this?! You dare point your blade at ME, Crown Prince? Xander: Silence! Do not speak as though you know me, foul beast. Garon: What?! Xander: You are no longer the father I once looked up to. All has become clear. I know…knew my father better than anyone. I always wondered what changed his heart, made it grow cold. Now I know. When I was a young boy, my father was strong and brave… Stern, but fair. But for all his power, he would never have used his strength against his own children. He would never have needlessly conquered or ruined another kingdom! Garon: Fool! You know nothing. Xander: It is you who knows nothing! Of my father, of me, or of my brother/sister here. All this time, I have strived to be a good son and a worthy heir. I have faithfully followed your orders, even when doing so

Japanese Version Takumi: I'm going to kill you… I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you… Kamui: Takumi! Stop the attack! King Garon is no more… The war is over! There's no need for any more pointless battles! Takumi: I'll kill you… I'll kill you… That's what I decided… Kamui: Damn…! Listen to me, Takumi! Aqua: Wait, Kamui! He's not someone you can persuade with! I don't want to believe it, but…* …Just like King Garon, he is also being held prisoner by someone. Kamui: What!? No way!! Aqua: It's a shame… but it's already too late for that appearance… Perhaps when Takumi threw himself off the Susanoo Wall, he already… Kamui: It can't be…! So, does that mean we have no choice but to defeat him? Just like my father?! Aqua: ………… …Yeah. Kamui: …No!! Takumi: It's your fault… Because of you, the Byakuya Kingdom… Our country… has become a mess… If only you weren't here, things would be easier… I wouldn't have to feel like this…! If only you were gone…!! Kamui: ! Are you crying…? Takumi… Aqua: Let's go… Kamui. That child's hatred has reached the point of no return. We have no choice but to stop it before the casualties increase. Kamui: No…wait. Aqua: Kamui…? Kamui: Takumi's anger is understandable. This White Sun Kingdom… has become like this because of me. I have to take responsibility for the path I chose. That's why… Aqua: No way, you… !? Wait, Kamui! It's dangerous! Go back!! Kamui: ………… Takumi: Kamui… I'll kill you… Kamui: Takumi… When I think about it, I couldn't do anything like an older brother to you. At that time…I couldn't even stop you at that Susanoo Wall. I'm not going to collapse here. But at least… Your anger… I'll take it all. Takumi: I'll kill you… I'll kill you!!!!! Kamui!!!!!! Kamui: That's right, Takumi. You're aiming for…me alone. Come on…come on!

English Version Takumi: Betrayal… Death… Murder… Betrayal… Death… Murder… Corrin: Takumi, stop this! The war is over! King Garon has been defeated!! Please, Brother! There's no reason to fight each other anymore! Takumi: War…betrayal…death…murder… That is all there is… I will not…be swayed… War…betrayal…death… Corrin: Dammit, Takumi! Please, stop this madness and listen to me for a change! Azura: Corrin, wait! I'm afraid he can't be reasoned with. You're not going to want to hear this, but… I believe he is possessed by something, just as King Garon was. Corrin: No! Please, it can't be so… Azura: I'm sorry, Corrin, but look at him! The way he's moving and speaking… Takumi is…no longer with us. I'm afraid it's too late to save him. I'm guessing when he threw himself off the Great Wall of Suzanoh he was already— Corrin: No! I can't accept that!! Are you saying I must now defeat my own brother? Killing my father wasn't enough?! Azura: sigh Yes, that is what I am saying. I'm so sorry… Corrin: This can't be happening… Takumi: It's all your fault… Hoshido is dead… All…your…fault!! You destroyed…my kingdom…my family… If you die…I can rest… If you die…the pain… The pain will stop…if I kill you!! Corrin: Takumi!! Please, my brother. Please don't cry… Azura: We have to fight him, Corrin. His mind is…not well. The monster has latched on to his regrets, to his resentment and bitterness. His heart and mind have been pushed past the point of no return. We have to stop him before more innocent lives are lost. Corrin: Wait! Don't move. Azura: Corrin? Corrin: Takumi has every right to be angry with me. I am to blame for much of the heartache in his life… I chose this path. I do not regret it…but I must take responsibility for it. There's only one way to do that… Azura: Y-you don't intend to— ?! Wait, Corrin! It's too dangerous! Please! Come back!! Corrin: … Takumi: Corrin… Betrayal… Death… Must…kill you… Corrin: Takumi… I know I've never been there for you like a brother/sister should… I've caused you much suffering, and I couldn't save you at the Great Wall… This all grieves me more than you will ever know, but I will not fall here on this day. I won't let you kill me, but the very least I can do…is accept all of your anger. Takumi: Death! Murder! BETRAYAL!! I will kill you, Corrin! I…WILL…KILL YOU!! Corrin: Takumi! If you're going to aim that thing at anyone, aim it at me. I'm the one you want! Go on then. Loose your arrow, brother!

Functionally, they're the same, but the way it reads is just completely devoid of the context and subtext that was so rich in the version I've played, almost as if that they were two completely separate versions altogether... especially Azura seeming so utterly detached from Takumi's suffering (even referring him to as an 'it' in the process), or none of the subtext that was present in Xander that confirmed he was in denial coming off in the English version... and for a language fundamentally built on context and subtext, this reads absolutely horridly in Japanese and comes off as completely bad writing. If the unabridged Japanese script was what we got translated literally... I most likely would've straight-up disliked it. So I'm pretty adamant when I say that Shin Kibayashi was an amazing writer, but Intelligent Systems lost the sauce on how to properly transcribe it's writing; much of the good writing we've gotten from Fates and even other FEs in the neo-FE era, it seems, was the localizers hard-carrying the script and even redrafting it in a way that was far more legible.

I'm not even talking out of my ass with this. There has been Japanese videos covering this dissonance "Fire Emblem Fates is a great game that has a very bad reputation for its story, but I will explain why the setting was surprisingly good":

https(colon)//www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=kLxMsVtZotQ https(colon)//www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=hCJ4vk9X958

It... pretty much confirms what I've noticed since Day One, and it's stuff that, simply put, I would have not been able to appreciate if Treehouses didn't do such miracle work conveying a lot of the lost context. Hell, if they didn't, they could have seriously damaged the reputation of FE even worse than it was originally thought to have been. The Japanese version straight-up reads so flatly, to the point I was baffled comparing the two, but yeah, I'm pretty adamant now that Treehouse probably did a lot to fix it, and likely a major reason you liked it to was because of those localization fixes. And it's such a goddamn shame, because Fates is amazing, and if only more people realized how good the setting was as good as it was.

Anyways, this is just an interesting discovery and I'm aware my post is a lot, so take what I've said with a grain of salt if it's too much. I'm only sharing this because I've had a lot to say.

Also, seems that I copypasted the transcript incomplete with the English version of Xander confronting Garon.

Garon: What is the meaning of this?! You dare point your blade at ME, Crown Prince? Xander: Silence! Do not speak as though you know me, foul beast. Garon: What?! Xander: You are no longer the father I once looked up to. All has become clear. I know…knew my father better than anyone. I always wondered what changed his heart, made it grow cold. Now I know. When I was a young boy, my father was strong and brave… Stern, but fair. But for all his power, he would never have used his strength against his own children. He would never have needlessly conquered or ruined another kingdom! Garon: Fool! You know nothing. Xander: It is you who know nothing! Of my father, of me, or of my brother/sister here. All this time, I have strived to be a good son and a worthy heir. I have faithfully followed your orders, even when doing so tortured my soul. I brushed aside my early memories of Father and accepted you as our king. I fought in your name, hoping one day you would reawaken as the man you once were. But that man is dead and has been for a long time now...

I know I've stated it before, but this is just strictly better than the Japanese writing. "I have faithfully followed your orders, even when doing so tortured my soul" basically confirms that Xander was always having cognitive dissonance in his actions and separated his self from the job (and it's this cognitive dissonance and persona vs. his true self, hilariously, that people thought were the "two faces of Xander", not realizing they are the same character), with stuff like "I know... knew my father better than anyone." and "But that man is dead and has been for a long time now..." showcasing Xander knew he was an impostor, he was just unable to believe it due to it being such an awful truth. It's extremely careful and masterful expansion of given text that, frankly, read extremely flat to me and came off as the equivalent of banging toys together and making up a story in your head kind of childishness, which is probably where a lot of the extra vitriol from Japanese fans come from. While all this subtlety and depth in the localization wasn't enough to save Fates for most people outside of Japan, it gave just enough that it seriously lessened the blow of what I'm now convinced could've tanked the series through word of mouth, and ensured enough people who were truly adept at reading (like you or I) could actually parse what it is at its brilliant core. It's a shame.

I have mixed feelings about this, because on one hand, I know and am aware of how the script in Japanese came across to a Japanese audience, as has been expressed to me. It wasn't received well.

But ultimately, my perspective is different when I criticize the English script. While the JP audience may criticize it for lack of detail and poor/childish prose and dialogue (from what I could tell from the videos you linked, thanks for those btw! I love new perspectives), I criticize the localization for outright changes that were never the intent in the first place.

What I mean is the constant removal of crucial lines and inserting of made up lines out of nowhere by the localizers. While you argue Xander's speech to Garon in chapter 27 is better written in English than in Japanese, I argue that the opposite, because Xander in the localization has been constantly badmouthing Garon both behind his back and too his face up to this point, including a time where he actively tries to strongarm Garon into killing him instead of Corrin, which is something that flat out does not make sense in the context of Xander's core character being a prince trying to keep up apperances and trying to do the right thing simultaneously. The JP versions of those lines either don't exist or are otherwise Xander just being silent.

This also includes the infamous line in his supports with Corrin where he says that he's "able to stand up to Garon now" when the entire game has shown that it isn't true. That sole line that was nowhere to be seen in the JP version, was the primary reason why Xander has been described as being two different characters within Fates' narrative.

Also, while I accept the argument that the JP version may have a juvenile script when it comes to JP fan reaction, the localized Birthright script at least matches it, as it comes off as try-hard, immature and victim blame-y.

I'm also skeptical of the reasoning behind the assertion that the English version better captures the essence of the story, because while translating/localizing a script with appropriate prose for a different audience can improve things, I doubt that the people at Treehouse knew better/understood more how to capture Kibayashi's themes and writing. Like, I would think if the JP writers couldn't do justice to a script/draft they had access to, I don't think the English localizers would have much better luck.

I'm open to being wrong though! Fellow Fates-heads, please chime in if you have opinions on this and if I'm a dumb-dumb.

[ven0moir]

S4 Mike was playing a risky game - PART I

You choose how much of this to ✨ Believe ✨

At the conclusion of this exercise I will be trying to piece together what the hell Mike's thoughts were in the van scene, how much he picked up on and what his 'next move' might be following the show's context clues and ideas.

One of the first things we see this season is kids playing games in a rainbow room. This is one of the first show themes the writers want us to stay with.

Next we see El's room. We see her Mike shrine, etc. No games.

When we see Will, we see games + we also learn that he's been painting a lot and El says it is for a girl that he likes because he's been acting "weird." This is the exact information that Mike has.

Then it cuts to Mike and we see games in his room as well.

The objective of Yahtzee is to roll dice ( luck ) to get the highest total score & to get the right combination. Whereas a jigsaw puzzle is based on observation + trying out the placement of each piece to put together the bigger picture.

Bowling, which we see underneath, is about aim & precision ...

Yikes. Important to note that he got so caught up reading El's letter that he lost track of time.

Does he hope the painting is for him? 100%. Does he genuinely believe it is? This is Mr.

We're talking about here. The Worst Assumption, the Worst Case Scenario for Mike is: there's someone that Will likes, and it's A Girl. Will is Straight.

But he can't acquire more knowledge until he is in California, so meanwhile he's probably wrecking his brain re-reading El's letter to see if he can make any new 'connections' that could reveal to him if it's him or not. ( That Dungeon Master strategic brain working overtime when you have a crush and things are out of your immediate control huh, he's so me )

The episode progresses with Mike being moody downstairs because he's currently wrecked with doubt ( talk about meta ) and then Ted says this to the audience ( Karen ).

Ironic, considering Mike saying in S3 that 'women act on emotion, not logic' so his dad hinting he's not being reasonable = Mike is acting weird.

The scene continues. Suzie is using her smarts to help Dustin change his grades, which is something that later wracks her with guilt.

Next we have Robin and Steve, and the conversation is literally them talking about Vickie's queercoding, which according to Steve she 100% is but Robin refuses to believe because she has to be cautious and cannot take a risk unless there's some sort of textual evidence. The comment she makes connects back to Mike through the labyrinth poster in his room, right above his head when he bends down.

Mike, like Robin, can't just act on their feelings because they don't know if they'd be confessing to the 'wrong' person.

Why does this not fit Will? Because Will is deciding to give Mike a painting with a heart on his shield. He's confident enough to make that move. At the start of the season, Will is optimistic that the thing with Mike might be real, whereas Mike is pessimistic that the thing with Will might've been a figment of his imagination.

Anyway, let's continue. I'll summarize what happens next with 'Mike is moping all day at Hawkins High'. Of course, other things he cares about happen that add to this mood, like Lucas ditching him and Dustin to play at the basketball game.

Speaking of games, we have that sequence of the DnD game vs the basketball game. Both games end in victory so we know in the end the good guys will win. But it also means that Mike and Will are going to, inevitably, get together.

Here's the formula their romance follows according to my Byler Master Doc that I'll finish & post one day lmao:

With this in mind, let's go back to Mike ...

PART I CONCLUSION:

Mike starts off the season assuming the worst: that Will is painting for someone he likes that isn't him because he's straight. But a small part of him deep down is hoping it is for him. He decides to acquire more information before deciding how to proceed but at the airport, he was trying too hard to be indifferent when the truth was that he cared a little too much, and self-sabotaged by discouraging Will from giving him the painting.

He succeeded in making Will believe he didn't care. But at what cost?

He failed to acquire the item he needed/wanted: the painting.

Now in Part II we will explore what happened that gave Mike ✨ Hope ✨

[shadowsofdread]

it’s ever so slightly unfortunate but maybe simultaneously interesting (in the sense of getting to see other people’s interpretations) that whenever a post of mine about theron starts going around, inevitably there will be an addition that on the whole aligns with my interpretations of the text and then the poster puts something in there that makes me grimace and go “oooooooh, i don’t agree with that actually”

anyway. theron does not hate the jedi order. one might even suggest, judging by one of his good friends being one, his mother also being one (and though the relationships with those character are complex, he still values them), him having partnered with the sixth line on ziost and took personal responsibility for what happened to them (and was fiercely defensive of surro and wanted to make sure she got back to the order), and whenever he talks about ngani zho, he still calls him master — sorry, i just don’t think a guy who hates the jedi or the jedi order or feels any lasting resentment towards them would do all of those things.

i do think there are particular kinds of jedi he doesn’t get along with (there’s a line floating around in my brain from annihilation but i can’t fully recall it), and he makes a kind of bitter comment about mind-reading in forged alliances if a jedi player gets mad he wasn’t more clear about the operation he was asking you to join (iirc). but these are, like, two instances stacked up against all his other interactions with the order.

like, again we’re going off of memory, but i don’t really think he get too much specific dialogue with him as a jedi as it pertains to your relationship. which, because it’s swtor, could’ve been a cut-content sort of thing, and i do argue it was a missed opportunity, and at the same time, the only reason i think it’d ever be a big deal to theron is in a romance route specifically because of the Attachment Rule. this is one situation - one - where i really think it should’ve come up considered how theron Happened, but, like, if you’re friends with him, why would it matter to him if you’re a jedi or not?

of course, i don’t think it’s the game that people get this interpretation from. what i think it’s from is that godforsaken series of panels from lost suns that gets posted here out of context, and people take that one snippet of a scene from the lost suns comics and go “oh, so theron hates and resents the jedi and so jedi x theron is weird” NOOOOOOO!!!!! [casts fireball]

[cleolinda]

Weekend links, June 8, 2025

My posts

Seasonal reblog: a post about Donna Summer and Disco Demolition Night.

I seem to have crashed a bit and taken a week I couldn't really spare to rest a little (while still going to physical therapy three times). This compilation of Maria getting in my way for five and half minutes shows a bit of the next SH2 commentary, but that's about as far as I've gotten. 

I am now developing quite a little Steam library of deep-discount games I have no time to play, as is traditional. This week I learned that the Epic platform is a thing, and also that it has Alan Wake 2 as an exclusive, or else I would own the latter by now. The rest of Alan Wake, I got for $5. When will I play all these games? Nobody knows, including my physical therapist who wants me to get up and stretch every fifteen minutes. 

Meanwhile, Ian's band has a new YouTube channel; he talks about a special song here. He doesn't know when I have time to play these games either; he's the one who got me to buy Silent Hill 4 off GOG.com. 

Reblogs of interest

Remembering Marsha P. Johnson, Stonewall, and her activism (I hadn't seen the Pay It No Mind arch before; it's beautiful).

Remembering muppeteer Richard Hunt ("he originated the characters of Scooter, Beaker, Statler, Sweetums, and Wayne, but also became the primary performer of Janice and is responsible for the flower child personality she is now known for"), a joyous performer lost to AIDS in 1992. 

Sir Ian McKellen on the trans community: "The connection between us all is we come under the queer umbrella – we are queer. [...] The problems that transgender people have with the law are not dissimilar from what used to be the case for us, so I think we should all be allies really."

Writings on what queer masculinity can be

Aro Books For Pride

Community support isn't rainbow capitalism

Disability aids from Active Hands (here's the website; I haven't tried their products, but the posters are very happy with them)

A tale of two Mondays: sweet and beautiful and weary of life at age 0.

(Not What I'm Called: Manul Edition)

"Builder.AI just declared bankruptcy after admitting that they were faking their AI tool with 700 humans"

CatGPT is just as reliable.

Xuanji Tu, the Chinese poem that can be read 8,000 ways

"sometimes you just want to look at the qing dynasty jadeite cabbage again"

Poll: Which setting is sexier, lighthouse or clock tower?

Tallulah Bankhead: blonde and ambisextrous

Beautifully colored dice, and also, it's a painting

Always reblog the sunwoof

Out-of-focus summer fun

Perfectly synchronized with mama (I realized that "let's eat shit with mama" isn't something you say out of context)

Two very different artistic kinds of bats

The majestic Steller's jay (not sarcasm)

I should not exclude the Swedish blue tit

Pride for one thousand years

Video

New gameplay trailer for Silent Hill f; it looks hard as fuck and twice as scary. I watched it again and said, ".....I bet I could do that," which is how we know that gaming has fully eaten my brain.

Happy Los Jibbities!

I don't know why this made me laugh so hard, but it IS very ewok-coded, yes

Puzzle the tree kangaroo loves cauliflower. Our lives are so rich

Now, this starts off as a discussion of sign language in a production of Hamilton, but ends up as a master class on translating "Not Like Us" to ASL

The sacred texts

"MY NAME, IS FRICKIN MOON MOON"

Personal tag of the week

Let's say House of Leaves, because I never get tired of house jokes.