#which implies they're powerless

[worldbuilding-tomfoolery]

"We're just like you"

Next to the genre of photo that's meant to make you look up at the person in awe for their godlike brilliance

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

One of the more interesting aspects of Stayed Gone is the implication that, prior to his disappearance, Alastor must have been producing some quality programming.

Despite it's obvious importance in the modern world, TV apparently only started outcompeting radio in Hell after Alastor vanished. Seven whole years ago. And when Al returns, Vox's first response is to freak the fuck out about whether he's gonna keep his audience.

That's fucking crazy.

And we can be pretty sure that people weren't just listening in out of fear, either. Or because Alastor was making any major effort to crush all other forms of media.

If this was purely about which Overlord was the most powerful, then Vox's verses would surely have focused on emphasising his own strength. Instead, they're all about calling radio outdated. Vox is genuinely worried— apparently based on experience— that Alastor is going to outdo him in terms of sheer entertainment value.

Which raises the obvious question: what were Al's shows actually like? (Aside from those early broadcasts guest-starting the screams of the damned, obviously.)

We get kind of a taster in the song:

“Salutations! Good to be back on the air. Yes, I know it's been a while, since someone with style treated Hell to a broadcast— Sinners, rejoice!— instead of a clout-chasing mediocre video podcast. Is Vox insecure, pursuing allure? Fitting between this fad and that, is nothing working? Every day, he's got a new format! Is Vox as strong as he purports? Or is it based on his support? He'd be powerless without the other Vees! And here's the sugar on the cream: he asked me to join his team! I said no, and now he's pissy, that's the tea!”

Obviously he's doing it to music, so there's going to be some difference in the cadence of his voice from that, but still, he's talking noticeably quicker than he does in person. And he gets right to the point.

Compare it to his commercial in episode 1. There's a big difference in terms of both how much respect he's showing his audience (“well hello there, you wayward sinner!” vs “good to be back on the air”), and how much relevant information he delivers.

Alastor is a great character to watch, but most people who interact with him directly seem to find the experience either annoying, awkward, terrifying or all three.

Mainly because Al seems to go out of his way to put people off even when he's actively trying to get them to trust him, by making condescending asides or constantly dropping references to his own power. On air, however, he greets everyone politely and even drops what is almost an apology for being gone so long (“I know it's been a while”), then immediately gets to the information that he knows they're really listening for.

Alastor may not respect Charlie, Adam or Lucifer, but he does respect his audience.

And the content he's producing makes it clear why people are still tuning in. Al has the gossip. Katie Killjoy and Tom Trench may not be unbiased exactly, but they're clearly trying to provide sources for their claims and maintain some veneer of professional news reporting.

Al, meanwhile, is quite happy to provide strong opinions and baseless speculation about public figures, content that is less fitting with the professional image that Vox seems so desperate to keep up, but that is likely to attract a bigger audience.

What gets me curious now, however, is wondering what else he used to provide.

Again, radio was apparently the medium for news and entertainment in Hell until Alastor left. Implying that a) radio was at the time fulfilling many of the function that TV now provides, and b) Alastor was involved enough in this that it collapsed/got overthrown the moment he left town.

Did Alastor have an empire similar to the Vees? Did he run a bunch of channels? Did he have DJs and sports commentators and presenters on his payroll?

Given that radio seems to have collapsed completely after he left— did they all go running to Vox when he was presumed dead? Was the Vees new empire in part built on the ruins of Alastor's old one?

Or did he do the whole thing solo and just run like, a bunch of different shows. (In which case, since radio's bread and butter has always been music, Helluva Boss fans can now have fun imagining him interviewing Verosika Mayday about ‘Vacay to Bonetown’.)

[shannonsketches]

I noticed that the element of the triforce that the individual characters are supposed to represent, is also their weakness. Zelda's wisdom is being stifled by doubt and lack of experience; she's eager to learn, but her zeal is not enough and relies on faith and Link to save the day. I'm not implying that wisdom and faith cannot go hand in hand, but she needs to be able to represent her element more. Maybe her wisdom is knowing when to wait and allow someone else to bear the task? But it takes away too much initiative from her. Ganon's element is power but he's the one who ends up losing almost every time. And Ganondorf on his own, isn't powerless! He's a king, he knows magic, he can wield almost any weapon, he's patient, conniving and intelligent and knows how to make best with what he has. He isn't weak! And yet, the whole split happened, because he was feeling powerless.

They locked themselves in a self-sabotaging cycle that's powered by doubt.

Yeah! So one of the reasons I really love the Triforce lore is that it’s a three-way mirror that reflects both what the user has and also what they need (very wizard of oz).

Ganondorf is a very powerful man, physically, and magically.

Politically, though, he’s next to helpless, which is an awful thing for a king to be. He’s a king of thieves in OoT, because the Gerudo are not a wealthy or thriving nation there. In-Game they don’t have a local living area like the other regions (or even a store — just one floating bombchu salesman in the middle of the desert) — they’ve got a post-war fortress full of guards, and a temple that is being used as a secret base Hylians can’t get to.

Consider also, Ganondorf is the most highly decorated of the Gerudo, and he’s not decked out in gold. He’s wearing mostly iron and topaz. Nabooru and Twinrova are the only ones who have gold fixtures/jewelry along with the higher ranked guards for their protective elements (which is why I think it could arguably be pale bronze or yellow brass, which is a common and highly durable gold alternative).

The Gerudo are implicitly just surviving in OoT, and Hyrule speaks of them like they’re monsters (except for the one guy in town who has a fetish). More than that, WW establishes that his real grief comes from the weather, which any mortal is powerless to control.

So Ganondorf is powerful as a person, but powerless as a king, which is literally the only thing he was born to be.

Be that as it may, though, he is a well-loved king, and a survivor, and a thief, so he also has to embody both wisdom and courage too!

Zelda is the most obvious mirror to Ganondorf. She is a very powerful woman politically and magically, but physically-- compared to Ganondorf -- she's terribly meek. That's the obvious read, that they're 1:1 Parallels, but her real weakness lies in her courage.

Zelda (in OoT) leans on her massive political power -- In the child timeline, she literally sees a foreign dignitary executed before he does anything wrong, based on a recurring dream she has.

Do you know how insane that is? Do you realize how powerful she is?

Ganondorf is not just some guy -- he's a foreign KING. He's a KING that a TEN YEAR OLD had EXECUTED based on VIBES.

And we think she embodies wisdom because her vibes were (as we, the audience know) correct. But it's actually because as an adult, she understands that none of it needed to happen that way. That the only reason Ganondorf was able to pull off his stunt and get the Triforce at all was because she tried to control the situation, sending Link to gather everything Ganondorf couldn't get himself and put it all precisely where Ganondorf needed it to be.

Despite being a child at the time, by the end of the story, by the time she's Sheik, Zelda is taking full responsibility for what happened, and is doing everything in her now extremely limited power to fix it. She's so sorry to need Link, and at the end of it all is desperate to give him another chance to be a kid, and to be innocent, and to be happy, because she realized so quickly that she never should've involved him, visions be damned. She knows none of it was his fault or his business, and she's mortified that she dragged him into it in her own attempt to control the weather.

These other two items shift in other games -- WW and Twilight Princess show us a Zelda with tremendous courage and very little power, physical or political. And then the Wild's era, despite removing the Triforce narrative, shows us a Zelda with immense power and terrible guilt and insecurity -- her power locked behind her fear, and she is only able to access both when she embraces courage.

Which brings us to Link.

Link, on the surface, is a third wheel in a chess game between ancients. But the reality is that he's the base of the prism. He's the foundation that reflects both of the others.

There are MANY different personalities for Link, and personally my favorite gag is that Link is simply too stupid to be scared, but that's just a gag -- because something I've come to really enjoy and respect about him is that he consistently displays fear. Link embodies courage because he is full of fear and chooses to fight anyway. Link leads a good life. He is comfortable, he has family, he has friends, he knows peace. What makes Link courageous is that he is willing to give up his access to all of that if it means that everyone else keeps theirs.

Link will lock himself in a room with the apocalypse if it means he's the only one who gets hurt, and it's not because he believes this is his sacred duty, or his life's purpose -- he'd much rather be at home chasing chickens around or riding his pony through some pretty scenic route -- it's because he is so full of love for other people that he's willing to give up anything to keep them safe.

Link's not very powerful, but he is also unburdened by any desire to be powerful. Link's not very wise, but he is unburdened by any desire to be wise. Link is content in who he is, Link is happy to keep things simple. But Link is so brave that he becomes a leader, which actually makes him the most dangerous of the three.

Courage, unburdened, is fucking terrifying. To both Wisdom and Power. Because, unlike Wisdom and Power, Courage is contagious.

Link can empower and inspire and reveal truths others might not have been able to find on their own. Link doesn't need charisma or brutality. Link can build armies just by being observed.

"But Sketches, you haven't really said anything about how Link reflects the other two." It's subtle! But he does. I see it like this:

• Ganondorf reflects Link's relentless determination, refusing to stand down in the face of impossible odds. In this way, they're connected by their power and courage. • Zelda reflects Ganondorf's burden of being born in a crown, forcing them to learn leadership, and how to use their recklessness strategically, as children. In this way, they're connected by their power and wisdom. • Link reflects Zelda's sense of love for the faceless innocent, and her dedication to protecting all who can't protect themselves. In this way, they're connected by their courage and wisdom.

Because the inherent configuration of the triforce requires those connections to be balanced -- Separately they are overwhelmed by their traits. Ganondorf is willing to sacrifice everything he is in order to reach his goals, Zelda is so pre-occupied with preventing prophecy she ends up instigating it, and Link is so ready to step in and help that he never considers the consequences.

Every single one of them, left to their own devices, would rather see themselves destroyed than fail those who may or may not be relying on their success. They're all very similar, highly reflective characters who all represent compelling foils for each other and yes, display how their unfettered strengths are also the thing that damage them most.

[justmenoworries]

some unorganized thoughts about Vox and Valentino Hazbin Hotel

Spoilers For Hazbin Hotel episode 2

TW: Discussions and depictions of abusive relationships, sexual assault, extortion and financial abuse

So going by the promo material shown to us, a lot of fans seem to think that Vivzie has changed course on VoxVal and that it's going to be a much more healthy relationship than previously implied.

Not gonna lie, that disappoints me.

Because depicting an abusive romantic relationship with an imperfect and unexpected victim would have been extremely interesting. We already know Valentino is a piece of shit who doesn't care about anything but himself and profit.

The "Addict" music video and the prequel comic "Dirty Healings" make that very clear.

Valentino regularly assaults Angel, keeps Angel's earnings for himself and tries to keep Angel in the studio as long as possible, even getting angry when Angel goes out by himself. Even if it's to get money for Val.

And for all of his faults, it's very easy for the viewer to feel sympathy for Angel. Angel is a likable character who's been shown to have a much kinder side to him via his friendship with Cherry and him trying to comfort Charlie in the pilot after her pitch for the Happy Hotel flops.

Vox though?

Vox is slated to be a main antagonist. He's a fellow Overlord of Hell. Someone for whom it'd be much harder to believe that he'd let anyone treat him like Valentino treats Angel.

And yet...

To be fair, this artwork is from the in-character Instagram accounts, which were already confirmed as non-canonical. (The accounts themselves are sadly archived now due to some really messed up stuff that happened with the Octavia and Stolas accounts.)

Still, depicting Vox as one of Valentino's victims would have been pretty intriguing. It shows that this kind of thing can happen to anyone, no matter the gender or financial or social situation. It would also acknowledge that just because someone is a victim of abuse doesn't mean they're pure, innocent or weak. And that no matter the circumstances, no one deserves to be treated like Valentino treats Vox and Angel.

I'm honestly hoping that this aspect of the VoxVal relationship isn't entirely gone and I kinda think it isn't.

In episode 2 we see right off the bat that Vox doesn't really like Valentino. And it's easy to see why.

Valentino is a spoiled angry manchild with no self control. He needs Velvette and Vox to reign him in, otherwise he's going to do stupid shit like waltz up to the princess of Hell's doorstep with a gun in hand. Because he can't handle the idea that one of his employees is living somewhere he didn't approve.

If Vox hadn't stopped him and talked him out of it, Val would have gotten the VVVs into some serious shit. His violent streaks can also not be talked down completely, they need to be satisfied somehow. Vox needs to offer Val the lowest earners to shoot at and work out his aggression on or Val's going to continue to go on a rampage and most likely tear apart more of Velvette's models.

Speaking frankly, Valentino seems way more trouble than he's worth. Vox and Velvette appear to be doing all the work in their shared empire while Val just throws tantrums and forces them to go out of their way to calm him down.

So if that's the case, why do the other Vs puts up with Val?

In Alastor's and Vox' duet in episode 2, Alastor has this very interesting thing to say about Vox and his relationship to Valentino and Velvette:

"Is Vox as strong as he purports? Or is it based on his support? He'd be powerless without the other Vs."

What's also interesting is Val's and Velvette's reaction to it.

They're smiling. Like they agree.

Alastor also reveals that Vox was trying to get Alastor to join the Vs. Alastor declined.

Vox of course tries to deny all of that, but in the process gets so worked up he short-circuits himself and causes a city-wide blackout.

If Alastor is telling the truth here (and we don't really have a reason to believe he isn't), that puts everything in a whole new light.

Vox is he brains of the operation but is he also the only thing that's keeping it together? Val and Velvette don't really get along (Velvette insults Val behind his back, Val rips apart her models when he's angry) and both don't seem to respect Vox that much. Velvette lets him deal with Val's bad moods, Val doesn't hesitate to throw stuff at Vox when he's pissed (the fact that Vox nonchalantly dodges the glass Valentino throws at him implies this is not the first time). They both have a look of disdain on their faces when Vox hugs them during "Status Quo".

So why does Vox go to all this trouble to keep these two assholes in line if he doesn't really care for them and they in turn have no love for him?

Maybe for business reasons, but Vox already has a giant multi-media empire, right? So again, what does he need the other Vs for?

I think it has to do with Vox's need to be admired and liked and at the top.

See, another thing this episode tells us about Vox is that he's deeply, deeply, insecure.

He has a dozen different programs where he changes his outfits, approach and demeanor to cater to every single sinner possible, he throws out new business ideas on the fly so he'll always be the newest trend everyone follows. If something (or someone) comes up that cracks his cool confident businessman facade even a little he can't handle it and literally breaks down.

Really, Alastor puts it best:

"Is Vox insecure? Pursuing allure? Between this fad and that, is nothing working? Every day he's got a new format."

So Vox doesn't just want to be powerful and popular, he wants to be the most powerful and the most popular and his shows alone aren't going to cut it for that.

That's why he needs Velvette and Valentino. They provide the content that draws the viewers Vox so desperately craves. Without them he'd be all on his own, might lose large chunks of his viewership. And that's something I think Vox is deeply afraid of.

So no matter how little he might actually like them, regardless how shitty Valentino treats him, Vox needs these two. In his view at least, he can't afford to lose them.

[cruyuu]

Since the official art of them came out, I've seen some very hilarious takes about Yuuji and Sukuna. Some people coping HARD. "Yuuji is forcing him" Well gee, since when can he force Sukuna to do anything? Or is Sukuna that powerless against him? Even in Yuuji's domain, Sukuna didn't have to catch a damn crayfish or do archery, but he did, mind you all this happened BEFORE Yuuji said he could kill him (and even when this happened, he had support from Nobara). He's like, "ahggg fine I GUESS I can do this" lmao. In the official art, he's the one leading the dance. For what reason? Gege didn't have to draw them with their fingers intertwined, with Sukuna's arm around Yuuji's waist, and yet. Why have all this with the snow falling around them? (Yes the cat might be pandering, that's another valid reason) Right after we have the epilogue with Yuuji saying he still likes the snow and it's special to him?

"B-but he doesn't like Yuuji!" Well Sukuna called Yuuji by his full name when he was turning to dust. Have we forgotten that that's an indication that Sukuna respects someone/a sorcerer? Is it not significant going from "brat" to "Itadori Yuuji"? I'm guessing this does not apply to Yuuji then lmao. Also, I'm not saying Sukuna loves him or likes him like he loves, idk, fighting. But he at least recognized Yuuji. Another thing is that people forget that Sukuna usually says one thing and does another. Isn't this what Mahito implied? He literally called Sukuna a liar and he was like "Yeah so lmao". Their change/development is subtle, but it's there. Isn't the end of the fight an indication of this? Actually, Sukuna had an existencial crisis during this BECAUSE of Yuuji lol. For all his faults, I think some of Gege's strongest points in JJK are Yuuji and Sukuna. Sorry for the long rant btw!

Hi anon! Let me rant along with you!

I'm not on that app but I did see several posts here on Tumblr about how "there's suddenly so many skit shippers don't these ppl know that's a horrible ship" like bruh. Do you not realize Yuuji came from a brain inhabiting his mother's corpse? That Yuuji isn't even human? Are they not aware they're reading a work which isn't suitable for children?

Most are coping because sukuita is a problematic ship yet it's getting a lot of spotlight. Hell, Gege had drawn them dancing in the snow together on love day. "Yet they're related!! How could Gege :(". Well... they could lol. They clearly don't give a shit (and I say good for them!)

That's also the big issue to these ppl. Idk if they ship Yuuji with someone else and are mad that his "reincarnated uncle (grand uncle)" got the lovely romantic official art. Let's also not forget that Yuuji practically promised his forever to Sukuna. The finger that he's missing is literally the marriage finger. Am I to blame for that? Nope. Gege wrote it like that and I'm just pointing it out.

Dunno why that's stopping them from shipping their Yuuji ships. If canon's an issue, just focus on non-canon. No need to go shit on skit shippers lmfao

As for the arguments you've mentioned:

"Yuuji is forcing him"

Yuuji had also forced him to become so obsessed with tearing down his ideals and forced him to be in his close proximity while he's fighting him. He also forced him to call him brat and constantly think about him even while fighting others. The power Yuuji holds is, after all, that strong. He even forced him to change his own viewpoint and got him to hold his waist in that official art because he's now capable of using abilities which allow him to control Sukuna's actions. 👍

"B-but he doesn't like Yuuji!"

I think the right sentence is: he's obsessed with hating him so much so that it can't even be about hate anymore, it has to be that he's just in denial and that he loves him. There's a thin line between love and hate, after all. Who in their right mind spends so much time talking and thinking with delight about how someone-who-they-hate's abilities had improved? Who in their right mind changes their ways after their enemy confesses that they'd like to spend forever with them?

Their change/development is subtle, but it's there. Isn't the end of the fight an indication of this? Actually, Sukuna had an existencial crisis during this BECAUSE of Yuuji lol. For all his faults, I think some of Gege's strongest points in JJK are Yuuji and Sukuna. Sorry for the long rant btw!

Nice points and no need to be sorry, anon. It's hilarious how some ppl can't see it and are actively ignoring it lol. These two are tied to each other and are totally in love and to say otherwise is just ridiculous imo.

[ineffable-endearments]

Crowley and His Plants in Season 2

I've got this complicated post about Aziraphale and the bookshop brewing, but I want to give Crowley and his plants their own post.

It's really important that Crowley hung onto his plants for juicy characterization and symbolic and thematic reasons. It's a major character development portrayed with relative subtlety, an excellent example of Showing, Not Telling, and I think it's a thrilling sign for Crowley's character development.

Before having a chance to think about it, I thought keeping the plants in his car was a funny and odd - but sweet - detail to include. In fact, it was so sweet that it was one of those "felt like fanfic" things!

In Season 1, and in the novel, the plants were very much there for trauma reenactment, for Crowley to vent his hurt and fear and anger and betrayal onto. In a sense, they seemed to be Crowley's way of roleplaying with himself, if we assume they were only sentient because Crowley thought of them that way. Through the dynamic of yelling at his plants, which he assumed could understand him, Crowley could emotionally act out both the terrified, powerless plant (subconsciously) and the big scary entity threatening it with destruction (consciously).

If we take everything at face value, we can also guess that Crowley disposed of plants that he no longer liked because of their imperfections, which would seem to imply he didn't have much of an attachment to them. Where they went doesn't matter that much to this particular line of theorizing. He could have given them to his elderly neighbor, he could have plunked them in a community garden, he could have left them on a doorstep, he could have shredded them in the garbage disposal. In any case, they were gone from his kingdom.

And after Season 1, I wondered if he would care to keep the plants if he wasn't using them to act out trauma anymore.

But in Season 2, the plants are in fact the ONLY thing from the flat that Crowley has hung onto as he moved into his car. Sure, it's possible that he has other possessions squirreled away somewhere and he just carries the plants around because they need sunlight, but most of the other possessions go unmentioned, so we have to guess that the plants are specifically important. They're also important enough to follow him into the bookshop and back to the car instead of just staying in the car for the trip to Edinburgh.

We also don't see a single instance of Crowley berating the plants in Season 2, but they do still express his emotions somewhat (shaking when he's afraid). He still has whatever subconscious connection to them he was experiencing before. Notably, there's at least one scene where a brown spot is visible on a plant, so whatever Crowley's doing, he's not getting rid of the plants like he used to.

This seems like an obvious example of Crowley's attachment to Earth condensed into a handy symbol. Crowley has started to admit to himself that he cares about these helpless living things, that he just likes them for their own sake. They're not a sign of a job well done for Hell. They're not a memory of Aziraphale. They're not a tool to make life easier or numb the pain. They're just Life On Earth and Crowley likes to have them.

Crowley has gone from using his plants as a tool for trauma reenactment to holding onto his plants because he has a genuine attachment to them. And, for a character whose arc I believe is going to involve forming more outward connections to others, that's a big deal.

Crowley's still got a ways to go. He's carrying these plants around, but the Bentley can't be an ideal environment for them. The whole process of driving them around, not to mention bringing them in and out of the bookshop, has to be kind of awkward for Crowley, too. It's very reminiscent of a character whose attachment to Earth is ambivalent, but who is moving in the right direction.

I wonder what'll happen next. His progress could be relatively linear, wherein he just goes off and forms more connections to humans on Earth after Aziraphale goes back to Heaven.

My suspicion, though, is that he will return to Hell with the specific goal in mind of thwarting the Second Coming and possibly trying to bring the entire system crashing down. In this way, Crowley experiences a massive setback in his position (he wants to be on Earth, not in Hell!) but is actually demonstrating a redoubled dedication to Earth and humans, so what he's doing is not backsliding. Compare it to Season 1, when Crowley is charged with delivering the Antichrist and complains, as late as the Antichrist's 11th birthday, that he didn't want to be involved, that Hell shouldn't have chosen him - when Hell choosing Crowley was the only reason he was ever in a position to try to thwart Armageddon.

But that's a lot of speculation. The point is, the plants are a meaningful connection to Earth and Crowley is taking care of them.

[vickyvicarious]

When a couple of hours had passed I heard something stirring in the Count's room, something like a sharp wail quickly suppressed; and then there was silence, deep, awful silence, which chilled me. With a beating heart, I tried the door; but I was locked in my prison, and could do nothing. I sat down and simply cried.

This is heartbreaking, of course.

But all the more so because it implies that Dracula didn't just come straight in through a window and hand over the child to be eaten. This time is different from before in several ways, all of which seem designed to taunt Jonathan with his own powerlessness even more.

The feeding itself appears to be happening in the Count's room, right by Jonathan's. Or at the very least, he came in through his own window, and then silenced the child and carried it away to be eaten elsewhere. Previously, he seems to have come back in through his own window and then walked through the castle to deliver the baby to the vampire women, but I don't think they were actually supposed to be in that room either. I suspect they're meant to eat down where they sleep usually, because then it's easy for Dracula to come in his own window and go down the stairs to deliver their meals more in the chapel area. There's also a ready place to dispose of a body there if I recall correctly. So Dracula coming in through his own window isn't necessarily any kind of taunt so much as his own standard procedure. But the children being so quiet while they are carried in the bag suggests some kind of hypnotic control to me, or at least gagging/smothering them somehow - they'd be wailing or screaming for help on the trip over too otherwise, instead of only making any noise when the bag is opened. So the fact that Jonathan hears a cry, even if it is quickly silenced, suggests to me that some amount of feeding or at least 'unwrapping' is happening right next door to him. Where he can hear (and then hear the even more horrifying absence of sound) but not reach, thanks to his locked door.

But Jonathan's door was not locked when Dracula left. I suppose it's possible that Dracula ordered the vampire ladies to ensure he was closed up in his bedroom before he returned, and the hypnosis scare was just their way of doing so. I don't really believe that though, because a) Jonathan's breaking free seemed genuine, and b) Dracula doesn't seem to trust them to get that close to him as a rule. I suspect their little dust dancing was not quite allowed, any more than they were supposed to look at or touch him even when he went out of bounds before.

So that means that Dracula probably came back and then locked Jonathan in afterward, right? In which case, he would likely be carrying the child right up to Jonathan's door with him, right up to the very threshold where Jonathan could try to intervene - and then locking him in so he couldn't.

And this is all on top of the mindfuck inherent in Dracula dressing up in Jonathan's clothes to go out and do this. Not only did Dracula ruin any local credibility as a human Jonathan may have had left after months imprisoned in his castle, not only did he potentially create 'eyewitnesses' to Jonathan posting his letters, not only did he potentially convince a mother that Jonathan was the one who kidnapped and killed her child... on top of all that, he did all this in Jonathan's own clothes. He did all this just - but only just - out of reach.

Jonathan sits down and simply cries. Because there is nothing at all he can do, and he has been made brutally aware of this again and again and again. And all this happens even before the mother chases after. Imagine how aware of both their helplessness he was. He knew her child was already dead before she even arrived. He knew she wouldn't believe him if he tried to tell her anything, he knew he couldn't save her either. He couldn't do a single thing, and she blamed him for that, and despite being forced into this inactivity on some level perhaps he blames himself too. Perhaps he is jealous of her - the bravery to act despite certain death being the result of acting; and the release that death brings. But he still wants to live, even if he has no hope he will. And he also surely is aware that Dracula would take personal care of his death or at least give him to the vampire ladies, that his fate would be the same as her child, and his soul would be forfeit as well as his life.

Meanwhile, Dracula didn't even care enough to go down and kill her himself. She was utterly disposable to him, not even of interest as sustenance. It's so deeply utterly cruel - but perhaps Jonathan is a bit jealous of that as well.

[blushingdread]

((Thank you for answering! I love your take on Oppy and Hero. Adorable!!! 🥰))

Ok, one more question, and I'm done! Promise!

Now, Cold is, of course, deeply detached from emotions. But emotions are sticky confusing things. Cold (I believe) absolutely does care for the others and LQ. He doesn't care about dying because it doesn't really matter to him, and they seem to come back again anyway. It's a non-issue.

But what if the voices were all separate? What if death is permanent? And, what if it was someone he was close to?

Would he morn them? Would he pretend that it doesn't matter and sweep it under the rug with all other emotions he feels? Would he miss their presence in his life?

((This might be a bit disjointed, and I don't know if it even makes sense. I just like to think that Cold is low-key protective over the things and people he considers *his*))

No problem! I love rambling about my headcanons!! You can send me as many asks as you'd like, though I probably won't answer them quickly like I'm doing rn

I agree that Cold cares about the others, in Molment of Clarity when they were all saying things exactly opposite to how they usually are (I'm done fighting, my heart feels quiet, the fear is gone, ect) Cold says "I'll be free of all of you." Which implies that he usually likes them. Peek fiction. You get confirmation that he cares when he gets sick of them

I think the main reason he likes them so much despite... being himself is connected to the fact that Cold is most in tune with TLQ's godly nature. Something about that connection makes him loyal to them. The other reason is their free enrichment and amusing

Side headcanons, but think Cold would be the only one who would be like okay after getting his own body. Everyone else would kinda hate it. They're all so unused to being alone that I think it would freak them out. However, perma death would fuck him up. You mean to tell him that he has his own body and he can't even have some nice alone time with a hacksaw for fun?? There are so many things he can't try out now because they would kill him. He'd still be invested in trying a bunch of new things, but would be deeply annoyed at the limitation

As for the actual question. Would he mourn them? Show deep sorrow or regret for their deaths? No. I feel like he'd process death in a similar way that I do. When they first die, he skips straight to acceptance. I can see him saying something like, "They're gone. If we can die, then we eventually will. You should make peace with this fact." It's not like he doesn't care at all. He doesn't like the fact that one of them are gone, but death is final, its already over. At most you'd get a "What a shame." Out of him

Then, years later, and I don't mean like two closer to four, when he least expects it, he thinks something like, "Oh, they would have liked this." And it all hits him. He wouldn't cry or anything, hell I don't even think he'd really be sad, more like the absence of whoever died would suddenly become glaring and obvious, and it would annoy him. Primarily, he'd be annoyed that they're gone and annoyed at himself for being annoyed. Eventually, he'd settle back into acceptance, but this time, he's actually processed the fact that their gone and how he doesn't like that

(I think Cold would only get protective in situations like tMoC levels of trauma on the line. He doesn't want them to be that ever again. It makes them more annoying than usual and makes him feel powerless. -10/10, doesn't like it)

[greenboyfriend]

choose a fish to fill you with whimsy & glee! (tarot reading)

"what can you look forward to?" image 1: this guy's got it all figured out. he's able to breathe above water due to the bowl of water superglued to his face. one might even assume he has prosthetic legs, or perhaps even feet... image 2: the ideal male figure... you may not like it, but it's a fish with a broom as a tail and no internal organs. image 3: a fish that doesn't resemble anything in particular. no... not at all! image source not everything may resonate with you, and that's ok! take what does & leave the rest. don't force it.

1.・。.・゜✭

you guys!!! there is something very wonderful in store for you, so long as you’re able to get yourself out of this rut! you may be feeling powerless, suffering some sort of attack, and being forced into the role of the victim. however! justice means to tell you that there is a major change that must be made on your part. instead of letting yourself be victimized, take action! use those emotions you’re feeling to tackle this challenge with passion– take that risk!! don’t be afraid to get creative, too. above all, and no matter what it takes, you’re going to need to address this, and with confidence.  in a broader sense, this situation is teaching you how to overcome a fear of yours. maybe you’re not the best at asserting yourself, but that’s ok! we’re all learning!! take this as a step in the right direction.  the extremely right direction, i might add, as the 9 of cups and justice seem to imply, this will be a very fruitful endeavor for you. the 9 of cups is often referred to as the “wish” card, because it represents having your wish fulfilled. after you take action, i see this result leaving you feeling quite pleased with yourself, and even a little smug! as you may know, justice is no card to be trifled with, so keep in mind that the actions you take regarding this situation will heed important results. do what you know is right and believe in yourself! you can do it!!! all of these cards are reversed-- except 10 of swords-- indicating that they're meant to inform your future actions (in the next few days, or next week). so don't worry if you haven't thought about it too much yet. but please remember that justice does not play! believe in yourself, you'll know when the time is right. there is some 18+ info beyond this point... click the link to read the rest but be warned its literally 2 sentences and NO ONE UNDER 18 SHOULD fucking READ IT! /srs link

(10 of swords, page of wands reversed, 9 of cups reversed, justice reversed)

2.・。.・゜✭

hello my silly little broom fish. you’ve been working hard! if you haven’t, expect to work hard soon! you will be taking on a new project or adventure, which will require your full attention. i’m thinking, some of you guys might be taking a new class, or be receiving training of some kind. you’re going to need to put your all into this! you may already have an idea of what to expect, but some things will be new, too. take the time to really get into the minute details, tie up loose ends, and recheck, then rerecheck, and rererecheck just for good measure.  this may also be a way for you to expand your horizons, and become a leader. if you have a good idea, share it! you may end up showing others the way, and being a representative of some kind. remember, though, to be painstaking about this, and really brush up on those fine details.  along the way, make sure you’re keeping yourself on course. if you need a moment to reflect and think about where you’re going, consider it a part of the process. while it is also a good idea to consider other perspectives, keep in mind that you’re here for a reason. you may have to assert your position & really push for your way of doing things. again, if someone else has an idea, don’t underestimate it, but don’t underestimate yourself, either! this may take the form of having to resist authority, and you may have to be firm. in doing this, you may also be able to reap a reward of some kind! remember, there are so many people in the world that would push for their perspective no matter what, even if they haven't researched it at all. based on the 8 of pentacles, you most certainly have researched, so believe in yourself! make that stand!!... well, when it comes to. all of these cards are reversed, so this situation is likely to come into fruition in the future-- in the next few days, or possibly next week. mull over it for a while. when you start to see the signs, seize your opportunity!

(8 of pentacles reversed, 3 of wands reversed, 7 of pentacles reversed, 7 of wands reversed)

3.・。.・゜✭

ok go off!!!! or somefin it’s time to commit to that regimen. whether that’s eating healthier, taking more time for yourself, or, if you’re like me, trying to practice more self kindness, creating an organized structure/routine is likely to help. so, for example, i’ll take my own life into account: i’ll often think certain thoughts can make me feel bad about myself without me totally realizing it, and lately i’ve been trying to change how i talk to myself. i use a systematic approach, in that i recognize the thought, then force myself to replace it with a positive one, instead. it seems silly at first, but the more that i stick to this method, the more success i’m seeing! this is just my example, but can be applied to your own situation! it’s always tough to start something new, but a month or two in, or maybe even a week, you see improvement. & it’s ok to make mistakes! you may be focusing too much on what you lack, or your shortcomings. there may also be setbacks keeping you from achieving your goals, or maybe you’re convinced that you made the wrong decision.  know that it’s always darkest before the dawn!! you may be in a bad place right now, and if you are, consider how you can make things easier on yourself. instead of letting yourself be a martyr, or feel powerless, do what you know will make you feel better. like that new god forsaken ariana venti song, be your own damn best… friend. it’s wise counsel. both of the readings above this are about the future, but for you, i think this is very much about the present. with all cards facing you except temperance, there is a story unfolding, where you complete some unfinished business, and find peace. the peace part is likely in the future, with it being reversed and all, but the time for action seems imminent, or already happening. i think you probably know what you need to do. whatever those plans are that you’ve been sitting on, make them happen! i just keep getting “declare yourself openly”!!! so do with that what you will.  you may even discover some sort of missing truth, keeping you from seeing things fully. you may also be swept up into the tides of change, and witness all the elements fit seamlessly into place. so hey! enjoy!

(the emperor, 5 of cups, 8 of wands, 10 of swords, temperance reversed)

[turtlesocksv2]

Let's talk Fate

ok for #kpanniversary2024 the first prompt is Fate and boy howdy is that a good one to start a rewatch with. Because from the very beginning, as soon as Kinn and Porsche crossed paths there was only one way it was going to play out. In fact, even before that, Porsche's fate was sealed as soon as he was born and here's why:

Porsche was always going to end up in the Theerapanyakul family one way or another. Nampheung was basically kidnapdopted when she was child by Grandpa T, was raised by him, grew up with Korn and Gun who both end up in love with her (or at least psychosexually obsessed with her). And when she was old enough she got out of there. She married a man and had (what we assume to be) an ordinary life for at least 8 years. But here's the thing: Nampheung never actually got out.

Nampheung was allowed her little housewife cottagecore daydream by Grandpa T. I call it that kind of dismissively, we don't know anything about her life, actually, maybe she had a highpower job, etc etc. but the point is that as soon as Grandpa T decides to call her back home, back to the Theerapanyakul Mafia, she is powerless to stop it. In the flashbacks we see of the moment Porsche's dad died, The things that really sticks out to me are these 3:

1: Gun and Korn both came to visit and in at least one version, they are there at the behest of Grandpa T who wants to see Nampheung.

2: Pat says that they will never go back to that house and that the family is rotten. (which implies that Pat also has a connection to the family, I am a 'Pat was Nampheung's bodyguard and they ran away together' truther and this leads into the last point and perhaps the most significant

3) Porsche was hiding in the cabinets when Korn and Gun are there. Now, I don't know about how your family operates but i'm pretty confident that isn't exactly normal behavior when your family has guests. Like, little kids are usually pretty excited to have company, especially people who grow up to be as extroverted and gregarious as Porsche is. Korn and Gun are obviously unaware in the moment that Porsche is hiding. Pat probably knows because I'm convinced that this is a safety drill they'd run many times. Nampheung and Pat knew that someday, Grandpa T's generosity would run out, or he'd die, and the Theerapanyakuls would come calling again. They were trying so hard to keep Porsche out of that life, but it was never going to happen. If they'd lived, Korn and Gun would show up to darken their doorstep at some point. And since they died...well, how did that turn out, hmmm?

Porsche (and Chay but lmao Korn and Gun don't give a single fuck about Chay so we'll just ignore the baby for now ) ends up in the guardianship of an unreliable gambler under the thumb of loansharks. Porsche ends up in illegal street fights to make money. He is being pushed in the Theerapanyakul's direction. Make no mistake, at some point the loan on his house was going to end up in Theerapanyakul hands, or Chan was going to come up to Porsche after a fight, and that would be that. There is no world in which Korn lost track of his beloved Nampheung's sons, not when he's so obsessed with her he has her locked up in his attic. Gun, at least, has the excuse of thinking Porsche and Chay are dead along with their parents. Korn was just playing the long game.

Is it fair to call it fate when it's being orchestrated by someone? Well, I guess that depends how far back you think the hereditary curse goes.

It was never about Kinn and Porsche at all. Nampheung knew it was always going to end here. She tried to stop it. It didn't work. She was never going to get out. Her sons were never going to get out. And now they're more enmeshed than if she'd never tried at all. Sounds like fate to me.

[elias-rights]

What’s toxic about JonMartin in canon?

It's a really interesting question to get into because there are many factors at play. Under a cut for length.

First of all is the simple fact that they don't know each other. From MAG 159:

PETER

It’s odd, really. You each think you’re so focused on the other, but how much do you really know each other? How much time have you spent together when not working, or bickering, or fleeing from that latest thing that wants to kill you? So. What are you seeking? The image you’ve each created of the other? The people you think you love don’t exist. Not really. And that’s a very lonely place to be.

ARCHIVIST

(cutting off Peter’s echo) Shut up!

Yes, it's a manipulation attempt, but Jon notably doesn't offer a counterargument to his reasoning. Furthermore, it's true: they haven't had the opportunity to get to know each other, at least that we've heard. Not even Jonmartin enthusiasts seem to agree on the question of when exactly Jon started reciprocating Martin's feelings; most of my mutuals share my experience of being completely blindsided by MAG 159/160 and the confirmation of their feelings.

"I need him to be okay" is often cited as proof of Jon caring personally about Martin, but I always viewed it as him clinging to the concept of Martin as his last surviving original assistant; he obviously feels responsible for him and also views him as a symbol of simpler times.

Then there's the fact that they're incompatible. To put a simple example, they don't even get each other's jokes. A brief selection of instances where this happens:

They have the highest ratio of missed jokes I remember seeing between characters in this podcast. This sharply contrasts with, for instance, Gerry, who instantly clicks with Jon's style of communication.

Okay, but this is all about why they're incompatible, which doesn't necessarily imply toxicity. That factor comes in because, throughout season five, Martin is (to put it bluntly) an absolute dick to Jon.

In MAG 181, for example, he joins in on laughing at Jon with Salesa for being powerless, when Salesa at that point was an unknown variable that could've easily been an enemy:

ARCHIVIST

[Compellingly] Tell me what happened.

SALESA

No.

ARCHIVIST

I – uh… W-What?

[DEEP CHUCKLES FROM SALESA]

SALESA

The look on your face! Look, he’s so confused!

[MARTIN LAUGHS A BIT TOO]

ARCHIVIST

Martin!

MARTIN

Sorry. Sorry. Y-You did look kind of funny. It was l-l-l-like you were flunking an exam or something.

Notably, this is after they cross an unknown threshold into the place where an agent of the Web is living, which puts Jon (again, powerless for the first time in a while) in a position where he's at the mercy of the fear that destroyed his childhood. Either Martin is being very insensitive or Jon didn't tell him about Mr Spider, which wouldn't mean anything good re: how well they know and trust each other.

From the same episode:

SALESA

And you?

[SOUND OF A DISGRUNTLED ARCHIVIST]

MARTIN

He’ll behave.

You can make an argument that I'm reaching with everything else in this post, but "he'll behave" is an inarguably disgusting thing to say about your partner, especially when he's in such a vulnerable position.

And then, of course, is the matter of the killing spree.

It starts because Jon impulsively avenges his friend, which he wasn't going to do until the Not-Them basically baited him. (Of course he then felt more secure in his power and part of him enjoyed it. He's in this situation because he was systematically traumatised on purpose by Jonah and forced to read his statement.)

And then, when Jon admits to being ashamed of himself for having these powers, for enjoying them, Martin just bluntly tells him that they should "get their murder on" because "these things" (avatars, of which Jon! Is! One! Nice job implicitly dehumanising him!) are "just evil" (never mind that some of them might have circumstances similar to Jon's). (Also, never mind that revenge fixes nothing, but that's neither here nor there.)

The most egregious example is with Oliver Banks. I know "I'm not going to kill a man just because you're jealous" became a meme line, but it's really not the sign of a healthy relationship.

MARTIN

…Cool, so what’s the problem, then? Take another monster off the hit list; job done.

ARCHIVIST

…It’s not. That simple?

MARTIN

Well, what does that mean. (slight pause, insistent) What does that mean, John? What, what happened to Kill Bill? (barest of pauses) John? John, you said –

ARCHIVIST

I know what I said, and I don’t – (sigh) I don’t know, Martin. I just – I don’t think he’s – (sigh) I don’t know; I don’t think he’s evil.

[Something creaks.]

MARTIN

(really?) Oh, yeah, sure; he’s probably a really kind, benevolent ruler of a hellish fear prison.

I get that Martin is trying to project evil onto every avatar in order to distance himself from them because he's coping badly with having a domain of his own, but maybe don't do that in front of your boyfriend who's struggling with his own avatarhood and whether that makes him a monster. Martin's phrasing even parallels Jon's "all you lose is another monster" line from S4. Tying Jon's worth to some arbitrary definition of humanity that he giveth and taketh away on a whim.

Also, Jon is very notably a person who likes to think things through before expressing them. If Martin can't even be patient while he tries to explain something complex, they're clearly not compatible.

This is from before they kill Jude Perry:

MARTIN

…No. No, I’m not going to choose; I don’t, I don’t think that’s a fair decision to put on me. It’s your revenge; your choice, not mine.

This strikes me as hypocritical. Martin can push Jon to kill the avatars he doesn't like even when Jon clearly isn't comfortable with it, but then places the weight of the whole thing on Jon, as if the killing spree had been his idea. Why isn't it a "fair decision to put on him" when Martin has tried to choose every time until now?

And, I mean, Martin apologises for the pressure, for what it's worth. Except no, the topic comes back, and not in a good way.

ARCHIVIST

What happened to “Kill Bill”?

MARTIN

You weren’t meant to enjoy it this much!

This is about Jon suggesting using his power in a way that would actually make a bit of a difference. Of course it's a fallible suggestion, but Martin's response is just ridiculous. Martin clearly enjoyed the killing spree until it was Jon who put an end to it.

Martin casually dehumanises, dismisses, and belittles Jon on many occasions: treating those Jon's obviously projecting onto like monsters, being whiny and impatient about the statements he needs to survive, or interrupting his train of thought.

Finally (for this post--there were many scenes that I skipped), there's the matter of how the entire crew, Martin included, systematically dismisses Jon's input in the last few episodes. It's like his opinion doesn't even matter, when he's the one arguably best equipped to understand what's happening.

It's genuinely painful to listen to.

[beevean]

"Surge and Kit didn't kill Clutch because he has the answers to their past that they want! They still care about their past! Plus they're scared traumatized kids!"

The issue opens with Surge gleefully announcing to Clutch that they want to quit. If they want to break the deal, it means they care less about the answers than their newfound desire of being "heroes". No, they didn't have a "Shadow moment" of deciding that the past no longer matters. They had it offscreen :)

Clutch's only leverage is "I can make you monsters just as easily", implying that he can ruin their new positive reputation. Which is, again, something Surge and Kit should not give a shit about. What happened to the girl who "aims to misbehave"? Why does she suddenly care about how people perceive her?? Not too long ago, she laughed at Whisper's scorn and praised her for not trusting her!

You're right, Surge. I know you hate when people tell you what to do. You have always butted heads with Starline when he prevented you from causing mayhem, even before learning the truth about him: your trauma response has always been attacking, not cowering. And look at Clutch, making a fine impression of Starline! Oh, no, Surge went from being under the thumb of one abuser to being under the thumb of another! She even points it out!

So. Starline could wipe your memories. Clutch's only power is to paint you as the bad guys you are. What exactly is stopping you from attacking an old, defenseless man who can't physically do anything to you? What is stopping you from doing this to Clutch?

Waterboard and electrocute Clutch and tell him you'll be the one dictating the terms! You are not powerless, guys! You were built to go toe-to-toe with Sonic and Tails!

So is it just a mental block? Is it morals? The fear of losing your newfound reputation? Really? Being clapped at once was enough to rewrite 232 sessions of brainwashing that led you to be this?

And yes, as a reminder, Surge knows that the PR is Sonic, she saw him. By all means, she should be delighted to fight him, regardless if it's an order from Clutch or not. But I guess she just got over... uhhh the very essence of her being?

I don't even like Surge and somehow I'm offended by this sloppy writing

[freakenomenon]

IDK if u have mentioned this much but i love your analysis posts and I wanted to say something that’s been on my mind. AM calling both Ted and Ellen by petnames in the game like love or sweetheart to be condescending, with Ellen it’s more obvious because she’s a woman and talking down to her when she’s clearly a strong individual who is reduced to just her gender and stereotypes a lot, or maybe offering mock affection to make her feel worse. Idk it can be interpreted however

But also the way he speaks to Ted and calls him sweetheart, I know that’s been TedAM fuel for a while but that doesn’t even make sense because AM talks to everyone like that, and I always saw it as AM mocking how Ted would speak to women, like he’s trying to emasculate him and mock how he used to flatter women like that idkk anyways. Ty for the influx of ihnmaims lately I love my two little freaks. So tired of them being reduced into closeted gay and token female because fandoms are bad at media literacy 🙏

one. THANK YOUUUUUUUU SOOO MUCH <333333 two. god you are going to regret mentioning this to me of all people i am going to be so annoying. i wish i could say AM calling ellen petnames had more depth than her being. a woman. but truly i cant say that with ANY certainty considering the other writing....choices...within the game. BUT. within my own fucking delusion. id like to think its also because ellen is constantly talking about love ( at least from teds perspective in the short story ) and the fact that its remarked several times in her psychodrama as well as in the others descriptions of her. that she isnt as experienced socially as she is with her work ethic and her studies in general. not only because of her own beliefs, but likely because of societies view on her as a black woman as well. remarking on moments in her childhood where she felt mistreated because of it. "I curl up my lip, the way I practiced in the mirror for days when I was in seventh grade, so I could tell the kids in school to go to hell when they teased me."

"What purpose could you have here other than to steal something?"

" The question stirs up a lot of bitter memories from when I was a little girl. Sometimes, I'd go into a convenience store, and the clerks would think I was a thief just because of the color of my skin. " ( side note, alongside her being pushed aside and metaphorically spat at obviously for being a little black girl. ellen also gives me the vibes of an autistic person who was never told that they had any mental conditions simply because their parents, her grandparents in this case, didn't want them to "use it as a crutch" .. but thats just me )

perhaps even growing anti-social because of this, struggling with human connection and often seeing her own emotions as illogical, getting angry at herself for wanting to cry or for rushing into things. which are just. generally very humane things to do. and implied to render others as illogical for "wasting their minds" . her character background stating "she knew in a deeply superficial intellectual way that "a mind is a terrible thing to waste," i imagine that after her being assaulted, losing her husband , and their child. alongside the trauma within her childhood, LITERALLY watching people she loved die whilst in "the ghetto" ( its still so crazy to me that they never mention this in the GAME. ) , and her incredibly flawed views on emotional status. she detatched herself from personal connection more and more. not only out of a belief that she didn't NEED it , but out of a fear of being incapable. being undesirable unless the other person wants something out of her. after losing so much because of it, rendering herself as incapable of connection. running away from it as much as she did her emotional problems. they're illogical, hysterical, why should she waste her time with them? why should she waste her time with people. but, under AM. completely powerless with nowhere to run away. all she can do is take in everything and let it consume and destroy her. even if it is something that isn't initially meant to hurt her. words of love, of care. being treasured. alongside furthering her paranoia by telling her she should be afraid of the others. being reassured, with the wrong message. being coddled and warmed by words of affection, but still with the wrong intentions, by the wrong person. and she cant run away, she cant fight, she cant redirect her attention. kill em with kindness, i suppose. or torture them. that works too. oh and ted too i guess... this post is too long for me to scream about the ,, weirder TEDAM likers who generally dont gaf about anything that makes them actually interesting and just like the haha gay stuff. i would get too mad

[bite-the-bloody-hand]

There was a fun conversation happening in the Owlcat discord a while back where someone just could not understand why Iomedae is so against any mythic path that isn't Legend or Angel.

The two factions were Team 'Stupid Lawful Iomedae' and Team 'Stupid Writing' and unfortunately both of them are wrong. Trust me, my cousin's a lawyer.

It's not that being Lawful makes Iomedae stupid, it's that being Lawful means that she has to do some pretty heinous, backhanded shit to secure the legitimacy of her worship - and this is because that's what her church wants.

Throughout the game's narrative it's made abundantly clear that the Crusade isn't about preventing loss of life or retaking the blighted lands or even just saving people from horrible demise: it's about 'restoring order' and 'returning to the status quo,' for the purpose of insinuating Cheliaxian law on that region of Golarion. It's always been about expansion and conquest "done by the right people." It was convenient to sit for years letting the indigenous Kellids and Sarkorian population die out when the Wound first opened, so a Cheliax-backed conquering force could move in from their already established bases and annex all of that land for themselves.

That's why Lady Konomi is always pushing for the Knight Commander to kowtow to the Capital and the Capital's Allies in Cheliax. Mendev is excellently positioned to become an "ally" (read: vassal state) to Cheliax and secure their holdings in that central region - something that had already been in motion.

If you played Kingmaker, it was heavily implied (if not outright stated) that Pitax was the Chelaxian wedge in the River Kingdoms; losing that land to the suddenly extraordinarily successful barony-to-kingdom would have been a HUGE blow. Pushing even harder to have Mendev pick up the slack - especially with them being neighbors - would have been a major priority. It has never been about saving people.

Yes, by Gods, the Angel path does a lot of lip service towards the cause of the righteous, the inherent horror and sympathy of Galfrey's position, and the relative powerlessness of the Angelic Host to do much of anything without a mortal champion at the tip of the spear. But that mortal champion must also be aligned with the wants of the church, which are the wants of Cheliax. That mortal champion cannot be tainted by, say, a personal belief that slavery is wrong even if it is the law. Even if the Angel by their side also carries that belief*.

Demons are chaotic, and their hierarchy is lawless, therefore it MUST be Iomedae and her Crusade that heals the worldwound because that proves the rule of law. It doesn't matter to Iomedae and her followers that the Azata are often THE guys to go to for stopping demon incursions** - it's about proving that their method is superior, righteous, and good. Even if that means allowing slavery, standing by as an indigenous population gets wiped out, and outright stalling the war effort if it gets in the way of political landgrabbing.

@thedosianexplorer also makes a good point about how the Crusade in-game reflects the real-world historical attitude of 'Crusading as an Act Of Love:' "if the good townsfolk die while we're not stopping this demon incursion, as long as they already loved and followed Iomedae, so they're saved, so it's fine."

All this to say, I don't think this is a case of Stupid Character or Stupid Writing - it's very deliberate. I also personally theorize that the other reason Iomedae('s Church) is so obsessed with proving her legitimacy is because Iomedae personally took out Aroden to 'prevent him from falling to darkness.' Iomedae and her church are very 'if you have bad thoughts you are a bad person' so I feel as though presuming that starts with her icing Aroden because he was having Dark Thoughts isn't totally out of line here. Iomedae needed to kill Aroden because what else would she be if her God turned out to be corrupt?

*The Hand of the Inheritor's downfall during Act 4 is my favorite ingredient of this whole fucked-up recipe: He left the service of an angel that had risen from being a devil only to find himself in the service of a mortal-turned-god from the Slavery Is Good And We're Bros With Asmodeus Country. No wonder he freaks out so bad.

**I find it deeply compelling that even in our own real world cosmology, it's essentially Yazatas vs Demons and Angels vs Devils. So having the Angel faction come in and say 'actually we're way better for this job than you, and we're going to prove it and then everyone will see that the real righteousness is the righteousness of law' is a WILD narrative choice that I really jive with.

[thecryptidzenith]

Thinking about powerless witches in TOH. Like, for all the magicless characters in the show, for all of the reasons why they're powerless, none of them are born as powerless witches. In fact, it wouldn't be entirely unreasonable to assert that witches who are born powerless don't actually exist. The only confirmation of it is Hunter telling Luz a lie that Belos told him, and even Willow who was a late bloomer did eventually show incredible magical prowess.

But what if they do exist. What about the witches who could never go to school because you need to preform spells to get in. Witches who could still be considered wild witches despite being physically incapable of performing magic because no coven would have them. Witches thrown out of their houses as kids for not developing magic quickly enough, or even at all. What about the people who took 'low skill, low paying' jobs because those were the only ones that could be done without magic. Luz stumbles into the Boiling Isles thinking that it's a magical place, a safe haven from all her struggles. A place free from the racism and homophobia she would have inevitably experienced in the human realm. Luz projects a lot onto the Boiling Isles, I expect that little could shatter that image as much as knowing how much society hates people who are functionally the same as her. How much they hate people who don't have magic, and how she avoids it by virtue of being a human, by virtue of being exotic. Hell, what about a little human kid who fell through a puddle and didn't get picked up by Eda or by anyone for that matter. What about them?

If we want to go back farther--remember that there's no evidence that wild magic existed as a concept before Belos, and everything to suggest that he just made it up as a scapegoat. Before that, before people could actually buy the concept of wild magic, who would have supported Belos? What kind of witches would be interested in equality between them and magic users? Who would have had nothing to lose by supporting the restricting of magic that they never even had? Belos could have promised opportunity and greatness for powerless witches (or perhaps, magicless witches--for after this, they would not be powerless anymore) at a cost that they would never have to pay. Besides, the witches would only be limited to one kind of magic, they can't use any. It's just leveling the playing field. Once he had enough support and his rhetoric was legitimized, Belos switched gears, learning that it's better to have the people who can summon fireballs with a gesture on his side than those who can't. What happened to powerless witches then? How betrayed were they, and how did they fight Belos' targeting after that?

What about those few who managed to create something beautiful despite their lack of magic? Who managed to carve out a niche for themselves in an area which didn't involve magic? There's no evidence of mechanics schools on the Boiling Isles, and Alador's abomination contraptions are complicated mechanisms. Why would he have had any reason to learn mechanics when abomination magic was enough? Furthermore, who could he possibly learned mechanics from? Mechanics might have been disgraceful work when a powerless witch did it, but when Alador Blight (emphasis on the Blight) incorporated mechanics into abominations, he was hailed as an inventive genius.

Obviously, this is all the realm of headcanon. The effect of powerless witches and their place in the Boiling Isles goes unexplored in the show, and that's fine. TOH did what it set out to do, with significantly less time than it should have had to do it. TOH is a story about oppression in the broad and soft terms. It's about individuals who become powerless and their struggles which features a rebellion populated by only a few characters. The communities of the Boiling Isles, the covens themselves and Hexside and the implied powerless witches, are not the point. Their stories are not relevant to the story of TOH.

But it's interesting to think about, isn't it? To imagine how these systems and communities would have actually worked. TOH is chalked full of allegory, specifically allegory of marginalized groups (most specifically, queer groups.) Hell, the thesis of the first episode is 'we weirdos have to stick together.' It might as well be: 'we queers have to stick together.' Powerlessness is quite obviously a disability allegory, Eda's curse is treated like a chronic illness, etc. The scenarios presented above just get a little more specific with it.

I understand why they these ideas are ignored by canon. The Boiling Isles are magical, that's the whole point. How drab would it be to follow characters who don't participate in that magic, who may be actively resentful of it. You want your audience to relate to your characters (generally,) and the audience of a show about a girl falling into a magical world is going to want to see that magical world and the magical people who occupy it. A character who despises magic and society's reliance on it would be at odds with an audience who is enthralled by magic. The exploration of the specifics and complexities of oppression is superfluous to the story, so why include it beyond broad allegory?

Cause it's fun, is the obvious answer, but I suppose that's the fandom's job, isn't it?

Anyway. Thinking about powerless witches.

[dynared]

I wanted to like EarthSpark. I think it does some interesting things. I really like Twitch, they somehow got me to enjoy Good Guy Megatron and I love Bumblebee’s almost meta characterization. But it just felt like a very weak show which never explored its concepts with any depth. That and the finale was a garbage fire. Oof.

Though I think one of my biggest problems is the weird disdain for humanity as a whole. Where you’re either part of the absurdly kind and accepting main family or stupid and/or evil. Where even the slightest discomfort with the people who dragged humans into a massive war they had no business with makes you despicable while the robots deserve to be treated well no matter how awful they are. I get it’s meant to be a bigotry allegory, but if I’m honest I just think it’s a really bad one. I’m not even a person who generally likes the human characters in Transformers stories, bar a few exceptions, but it really grinds my gears.

I also just get the really weird feeling from it that the writers aren’t comfortable writing for kids. So everything just feels dumbed down to an at times condescending level and feels weirdly afraid of interpersonal conflict beyond the first batch of episodes. Though I could be exaggerating. I’m kind of glad it got a second season since I think it can improve but I somehow doubt it will last long.

I don't want to hate Earthspark, or come off as a contrarian just because I like super robot stuff and don't like IDW stuff. I mean, there are things to like in Earthspark, but as I've discussed with a friend of mine, Earthspark feels like it's a bunch of characters in search of a plot. For better or for worse, I associated Twitch with Suletta Mercury because the two had that similar wide-eyed innocent energy and red motif, which endeared me to her almost immediately. I can take or leave Megatron as a more sorrowful/heroic figure, but at least he felt like he was genuine about wanting the kids to avoid the mistakes he made.

The problem is as characters, they don't really do anything. GHOST and Mandroid, as much as I adore Diedrich Bader's usually (he is the guy you want when you want a more Silver Age Batman) were not interesting villains because they weren't allowed to really do much besides be a blunt bigotry allegory, while at the same time, not really fitting the allegory. Readers of the recent Skybound comics know the kind of damage out-of-control Decepticons can pull, and humans aren't exactly being unreasonable in not wanting to deal with giant killer robots whom Earth's military has no reliable way of stopping, besides the goodwill of other giant killer robots, and a population that feels powerless. Considering Skybound has been implying such a situation horrifies the government into founding Codename: GI Joe specifically to combat the Decepticons, people are well within their rights to be scared. It's not a good allegory because most oppressed people don't have built-in chainguns!

The IDW era of Transformers stories, I presume as a reaction to the Michael Bay movies and the Unicron trilogy, did have a significant and notable hatred of the human characters. I mean, Cyberverse has a human in one scene. One. I think it's just using that framework to make your bigotry allegory, except the allegory doesn't work, and people have resoundingly rejected shows like Cyberverse.

As for your last point, I don't know if it's a case of the writers not understanding how to write to a children/family audience (if there's one thing kids hate, anyone hates, it's being spoken down to) or if they're just that adamant about hammering the life lessons to the detriment of everything else, hence the low stakes, flat villains, and blunt allegories.

I feel like most of my negative comparisons ultimately are based on the fact that the Skybound comics have proven that there's a better way to do this since those comics seem to be the first time since Animated that people writing Transformers stories get why people like mecha/super robot stories. And while I have no idea how the second season will turn out, I'm admittedly not expecting them to have learned their lesson. Then again, with the rumors that they want to get the live-action TV show going again, I imagine we're going to be in this weird sort of "leftover IDW" style writing malaise for a while since it will likely be years before enough Skybound comics are ready for a proper adaptation.