#which is possible but i don't think it fits into his character because it wouldn't serve Omega's arc

[eriexplosion]

At some point I want to write a whole thing about how Hunter is a complete deconstruction of the Mentor Figure. I often think about how he's definitely set up like one initially and then proceeds to teach Omega essentially jack shit because he never had any idea what's going on. Hunter cannot mentor he doesn't know how that works, he confronts every issue with the sullen weight of someone that needs an adultier adult but knows that there isn't one available.

[sysig]

Idiot hours 💖 (Patreon)

[cece693]

Hi, your tumblr is amazing, I loved discovering it. Can I make a request? About a slasher who discovers that the male reader is a serial killer as terrible as the ones in the real world. I'm not sure which one would fit best; I thought of Jason, Billy and Stu, maybe Michael or Norman Bates… whatever you think is best and/or are most familiar with.

Slashers With a Serial Killer Lover (Slashers x GN! Reader)

Sorry it took a while to complete this request but I was in a weird funk and uninspired. However, with this being more of a multi-character request/headcannon, it spurred me to complete it. I included the slashers you mentioned above, alongside Hannibal, Will (I'm aware he's not a slasher, but I just love him) and Patrick. I also changed it to be gender neutral because I want to be more inclusive :)

Norman Bates

Norman would be conflicted—after all, you're not only worried about his reaction but that of 'mother.' If your actions pleased her, Norman might be supportive. However, if they don't and 'mother' perceives you to be a threat, expect Norman to turn against you (with tears in his eyes.) However, even if 'mother' does approve of your hobby, this relationship is far from simple. 'Mother' might grow jealous of how much Norman is straying from her teachings and become vengeful. Expect a chaotic rollercoaster of guilt, affection, and psychological breakdowns.

Michael Myers

Michael would be indifferent to your hobby unless they interfered with his own objectives. He might view you as a tool or an ally in his pursuits, but wouldn't engage emotionally or ethically about whom you kill. Expect no romantic gestures, but be assured, Michael observes from the shadows whenever your out and about. He's ready to lend a hand when you need a show of brutal force or the tides unexpectedly turn against you. Michael doesn’t tolerate weakness, so if you proved to be cunning and self-sufficient, that would almost earn a silent respect.

Billy Loomis

Billy’s manipulative side would initially question if this is some trick or if he can use the situation to his advantage. However, deep down, he’d be excited at the idea of having a lover who’s just as twisted as he is. However, because you are a serial killer and Billy has this notion of being the 'brains' of the relationship, expect many fights. He wants to be the person in control, so he might never be fully comfortable in your relationship if he perceives you as greater than him. This relationship is a mine for mind games, but be assured when you find common ground, you're a deadly duo.

Stu Matcher

Stu wouldn't care about you being a serial killer. In fact he'll be ecstatic because it would be like living in a non-stop horror flick. Let's face it, he has murder tendencies but often allows you to take reign. He would join your hunts but see it more as a game: he'd want to do 'team kills', wear matching outfits, etc. Expect him to crack jokes non-stop or reference horror tropes, even if you're in the middle of killing someone. Stu is impulsive—“Hey, let’s kill that person!” or “We should totally sabotage this house party!” If you're down for it, Stu’s loyalty is intense, though erratic.

Jason Voorhees

Jason mostly kills out of vengeance or anger, and he’s not particularly intellectual about it. So when he discovers that his boyfriend is a serial killer, he wouldn't be bothered. In fact, he'll probably look up to you: learning how to better kill and dispose of his victims. However, he would get violent if you make a move unto his territory (Camp Crystal Lake) or disrespect the memory of his beloved mother. You are a serial killer and so is Jason, but a part of you likes to hide some of your more brutal and gruesome kills from him. He has a childlike mind so you thread carefully and are overprotective of your giant teddy bear :)

Hannibal Lecter

Hannibal, being a connoisseur of murder himself, would be intrigued and possibly delighted by having a lover who shared his proclivities. However, he would also evaluate your style and motives. If they matched his sense of aesthetic and intellectual stimulation, he would be supportive, but he might manipulate or dispose of you if deemed proved crude or unworthy. He has standards, after all. He’d encourage you to be more meticulous, to pay attention to the senses, to savor each detail. Hannibal would absolutely offer subtle mentorship—introducing more elegant methods, or guiding you toward “ethically chosen” victims. Expect a twisted sort of domesticity: lavish dinners, intellectual sparring, and an understanding that behind every polite smile, there lurks a dangerous mind. Hannibal would want a partner who challenges him intellectually and morally, even in their darkest impulses.

Will Graham

Will would initially be disturbed upon discovering that you're a serial killer. His empathy would reel from the moral violation. Yet, there might be a pull—something that resonates with the darker corners of his psyche. It would be a constant tug-of-war between love (or at least genuine care) and the horror of his partner’s violent acts. Will might try to “save” them, or rationalize why they kill, but he’d be tormented by guilt at the same time. Torn between turning you in or continuing to keep the secret, Will might become complicit in small ways—covering up your tracks or giving subtle advice to avoid detection. This would only deepen his internal conflict. However, once that love for you overclouds his morality, Will becomes a complicit partner and helps you with your kills.

Patrick Bateman

Patrick’s narcissism would initially cause him to feel threatened—he wants to be the center of attention and the “best” at whatever he does, including killing. But if your kills are stylish, impressive, or feed into his ego, he’d become enthralled. You best believe foreplay includes you killing one of Patrick's rivals and creating a tableau that fosters his view of superiority above everyone else. The relationship would revolve around status, wealth, and aesthetics. Your kills would become an odd game of one-upmanship: who can kill more creatively or remain more flawless in public. Patrick loves an audience—if you can provide him with the right blend of admiration and competition, you'll stay in his good graces.

[utilitycaster]

Hi, would just like to say thank you for writing up so much meta on campaign 3, it is keeping me sane seeing similar thoughts to what I’ve had written down coherently.

The last couple asks you’ve answered have got me thinking about how campaign 3 ended up like this (indecisive characters, weird nonsensical themes, only setpieces and maybe a ship or two being memorable) and I remember hearing that c3 was described by Matt as ”Pulpy” and I keep coming back to that and thinking that there was never even meant to be a big decision. From what I’ve read of old pulp fiction dnd novels it's pretty much “here’s the big bad go defeat/seal/slap them on the wrist, have fun on the way there with several cool setpieces and romance!” and I wonder if there was even meant to be a god debate at all or if it was just picked up in the middle of the story by the cast. It could explain why the characters wouldn't fit the story if this wasn’t meant to be the story.

Cause a character who goes with the flow is fine in those books and a character who only looks into what is thrust upon them works, but it feels like somewhere it tried to be more and just fell apart.

Because even now the story does feel pulpy but just held down by a narrative it isn’t handling well. 119 was a great episode and having the Raven Queen show up in the middle to give boons is an incredibly cool beat that would be memorable as hell but for it to end up as another god debate just sucks. But the rest of the campaign sort of does that with cool beats that end up dragged down in one way or another so its not unique I guess

I know you talked about the “pulpy”ness of c3 a while ago and was wondering if you had more thoughts now that we’re in the endgame for the campaign

I do - this is all rather speculative but in some discussions with other people one possible explanation that's come up is that Matt genuinely didn't expect the characters to be so hesitant to save the gods or stop Ludinus or sympathize with the the Vanguard, and has kind of pivoted to make a campaign that accomodates those doubts...but in doing so sort of fucked his end premise of "we must deal with Predathos". Which, you know, makes a lot of sense! What if Hearthdell was intended as a glimpse into why people might join something like the Vanguard to introduce an element of complexity to a party that (quite reasonably I might add) had said "these people are a fucking scourge on Exandria" but instead served to fan the flames of "well the gods didn't give me things when I asked so yeah we should let them be eaten"? What if the fetch quests to the Shattered Teeth or the scouting mission were like the quest for vestiges - something that the party desperately wished to do to achieve a deeply felt goal - and not something they had to be nudged along to do every step of the way? What if the party went into the final confrontation with any consensus or intention? Because then yeah a pulpier "you're taking on the Big Bad Ultimate Threat...but your MOTHER is on THEIR side" a la vintage superhero comics plays out much more coherently. I cannot stress enough that the cultural touchstone Matt brings up about the campaign is the 2012 Avengers film. Regardless of some posts I've seen (which tend to assume anything the cast has ever read/watched/played is an influence, which is. incorrect) that is your starting point.

The thing about all the "take a third option" and "status quo" talk surrounding this campaign is...this post is actually a good description of how it plays out in real life. Like yeah there's a lot of political constructs within the world that are stupid and unjust! However it is unproductive, naive, and idiotic to act as though just because you don't like them they aren't part of a complex system that needs thoughtful dismantling (at least, if you place any value on human life) or worse, that they simply don't exist because they shouldn't. Sometimes you genuinely do have two choices and neither is ideal and if you do not choose between them because you're holding out for a better option the choice is made for you, and often, it's the worse one. Sometimes there is in fact a problem caused by something stupid that you cannot undo in time to solve said problem, and it is selfish and childish to say "well I think this shouldn't be a problem" and leave it at that. You will fail in your endeavors if you do this. People will see that's your approach and stop listening to anything you say.

Bells Hells feel like that to me and it's not even entirely their fault. I think because Matt had such a clear endgame in mind in the sense of "face off against Predathos" and the party was so ill-suited, and the early pacing was genuinely already bad, he's sort of tried to pivot away by following every dumb idea Bells Hells have to perhaps funnel them towards that endgame. And this is a problem too, because it means the plot doesn't push back on them and they do not grow as people, which means that a lot of us are getting tired with their shit. It's telling that most of Bells Hells' loudest defenders are the "well, if you're traumatized, you're excused from all responsibility for your actions ever :)" types within the fandom because like, part of why people are sick of Laudna's shit (for example) is that it's like ok I agree you shouldn't have an evil wizard in your head but you do, so like, what are you doing about it. And because she hadn't done anything about it and because they had to get to Predathos we had our Deus Essek Machina situation, which to be clear, not mad about, but it also means Laudna never really learned or grew from this. And to be clear she's not alone; part of the frustration around Ashton is it seemed like they DID have a revelation around shardgate and then immediately discarded it.

There's many more factors I'm sure but just to sum up:

Matt has a very clear overarching plot in mind [and, also, probably was creating a campaign for characters who see point 3 had more realized worldviews and goals and investment in their communities]

Matt does not give the cast much guidance in creating characters for that plot; "pulpy" is really tonal and not even genre

Cast, having played characters specifically designed for the "complex and morally gray and must be from the continent the campaign is set on" campaign last, turn to wacky and go-with-the-flow types

Overarching plot kicks in; characters do not behave as expected

Matt tries to embrace/encourage this by getting the party to follow what they want to do

Go-with-flow/take no responsibility party doesn't know what they want to do

endless loop of a DM trying to adjust the direction of flow to a directionless party instead of imposing a direction/Cast trying to take direction cues from a DM who keeps throwing more options at them in the hopes one will appeal to them which turns into a "what do you want to do" "I don't know what do you want to do" situation.

[applepieshy]

I had an idea to redesign vox because I didn't love that a character obsessed with modernization would wear a top hat and bowtie. then after a brief stint into madness where I read my partner's historic costuming textbook I drew.... all this.

(side note: the idea of vox being a trans man who transitioned AFTER death was super compelling and absolutely inspired by @prince-liest so while this is not direct fanart of their series I wanted to give a shoutout anyway!!!)

okay some TRULY unhinged rambling about historic costume below the cut YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

1950s: for this design I very much did not want to go to the typical a-line housewife look, because I feel that is unfitting for vox's character. instead I went for a more business look, but there is still a level of femininity that he would have been expected to perform. i wanted to express his discomfort with that through the pose and expression, though at the time he wouldn't necessarily have a framework for why he hated it

1960s: this one was very fun. i loved the idea of vox beginning to eschew some of the expected feminine presentation, and he no longer wears makeup, jewelry, or hose (though its hard to tell in black & white); however, he's kind of at war with himself in this time period. he's obsessed with seeming perfect and having a respectable image, so he would not go in for the counter-culture movements that were so big in the 60s. he's still kind of riding those coattails though, pushing those boundaries while still not acknowledging his queerness.

1970s: to me, it was very important that the gender hit as he entered the world in color. in my mind the gender euphoria is physically manifested in a wizard of oz situation - he can become who he always has been. anyway, gender aside, I think it was very important to me personally that he wore an ascot. it was for my mental health.

1980s: I wanted the 1980s to be the period where he began to gain some power and notoriety because of the de-regulation of television during this period to allow more ads, mirroring real-world history. I think if the 70s were when vox gained some real confidence, the 80s are when he got an Ego (tm). "business casual" also began to become more acceptable in this time period, and the t-shirt/suit jacket combo was very important for me to include, as to me it epitomizes the commercialism and machismo of the 80s.

1990s: this was actually the decade I was the most nervous to design, and yet I think it turned out the best? the 90s are known for grunge, which I think is NOT vox's style at all. I decided instead to lean hard into the yuppie look, which I know is more associated with the 80s but was definitely still a thing in the 90s. I also allowed a little hip-hop influence in the form of a gold chain from val, which is not something I think vox would ever pick on his own.

2000s: if the 90s were the decade I was worried about and turned out great, the 2000s are the decade I thought I had down SO GOOD and then totally floundered in execution. I still love the bubble-mac inspired head, and I tried to make his clothes as "round" as possible. I also like that this is the time where his saturation got cranked. however, I don't know if I'm in love with the vest and super bright sneakers, because again, looking back on it, he kind of looks like he works at a movie theater or best buy or some shit lol,,,

2010s: I think it's telling that this is by far the closest to his canon design (2014 tumblr lookin ass). I really wanted to pull from that hipster tech bro era, but unfortunately that aesthetic has a veneration for "retro" which again, is not fitting for vox. I still think he would wear the bowtie during this time because, well... he sure does in the show!

2020s: this was fun because I had an excuse to pull from haute couture design rather than street fashion because of the introduction of velvette into his life. I truly do not think velvette would let vox and val walk around in the outfits that they do because it would be an actual embarrassment LMAO. for this, I wanted his decorative "robes" to be evocative of the time he depicted himself as a priest AND of a cape/robe of an emperor. he does think of himself as that bitch, after all.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Hi, do you think that Harry's personality was altered to fit with Ginny's in HBP? I can put my money on the fact that the Harry Potter from OotP would not put up with any of Ginny's bullshit. He wouldn't even talk to her if he could help it let alone date her.

If jkr wasn't on her trojan horse to make hinny endgame, Harry probably would not date anybody in sixth year. Not with Sirius's death, voldemort's horcruxes, his disastrous relationship (really, it's a stretch) with Cho the previous year and his new found obsession with Malfoy. His brain could only hold so much.

Hi, like, Harry's personality definitely changed in HBP, but I don't think Ginny was the only reason (Ginny's personality also changed from OotP, for the worse if you ask me). Harry's personality change between OotP and HBP isn't all that bad. Last time I read the book, a lot of it can be explained by his trauma response (his sass and even less self-preservation than before).

What is a little odd about HBP Harry is that he is way calmer than OotP Harry and tries harder not to annoy Ginny, even early in the book, before he supposedly realises his crush. Which is in stark contrast to Harry with anybody else and in any other book. Harry isn't scared of calling out people for bad behaviour, even people he likes (Lupin, Ron, Hermione, etc.), and who is outright rude to Ginny late in OotP. Basically, the transitions in Harry's opinions and behaviour towards Ginny didn't change naturally and go against how he usually reacts to people. Because you're right that OotP Harry would not try to appease Ginny when she gets all worked up over Fluer, he wouldn't care what she thought, and we don't see the summer between OotP and HBP when he supposedly changed his whole treatment of Ginny — which is a problem.

As for whether he'd date at all after Sirius' death... it can go both ways. I actually think it's very possible Harry throws himself into a relationship with Ginny — who he sees as a normal and safe dating option, she represents normal teenage life, and not being the Boy Who Lived — because of his trauma and Sirius' death and everything going on with Voldemort.

I mean, we are told pretty explicitly he sees his time with Ginny as a break of normalcy from his eventful life. It's a distraction and a coping mechanism:

“It’s been like . . . like something out of someone else’s life, these last few weeks with you,” said Harry. “But I can’t . . . we can’t . . . I’ve got things to do alone now.”

(HBP, Ch30)

So, I don't think that's inherently out of character, actually. What is, is Harry thinking he loves Ginny as much as he does, without knowing her and being chill with a lot of her behaviour he would have called her out for before:

“She’s a damn sight nicer than Phlegm,’’ said Ginny “And she’s more intelligent, she’s an Auror!” said Hermione from the corner. “Fleur’s not stupid, she was good enough to enter the Triwizard Tournament,” said Harry. “Not you as well!” said Hermione bitterly. “I suppose you like the way Phlegm says ‘ ’Arry,’ do you?” asked Ginny scornfully. “No,” said Harry, wishing he hadn’t spoken, “I was just saying, Phlegm — I mean, Fleur —” [...] “I wouldn’t go in the kitchen just now,” she warned him. “There’s a lot of Phlegm around.” “I’ll be careful not to slip in it.” Harry smiled

(HBP, Ch5)

First, Hermione and Ginny should lay off Fleur. Second, how come Harry finds Ginny's comments about Fleur funny after he just spoke in Fleur's defence? Why is he regretting having talked? He doesn't regret it when he speaks up to defend people he cares about or to say what people need to hear when it's the truth, even in HBP and DH. Ginny is the only exception, and we don't see what made her that exception in the books. Especially when Harry repeatedly shows he cares for Ron and Hermione more than her.

“And Ginny, don’t call Ron a prat, you’re not the Captain of this team —” “Well, you seemed too busy to call him a prat and I thought someone should —” Harry forced himself not to laugh.

(HBP, Ch14)

You're telling me Harry would find this behaviour funny, JKR? He would if he didn't like Ron, sure, but Ron is one of his most important people, more important to him than Ginny (as proven time and time again in DH), and he knows Ron's insecure enough as is. Harry would not stand for the Ron slander, even if it's from his sister.

Harry looked over at Ron, who was hunched in a corner, staring at his knees, a bottle of butterbeer clutched in his hand. “Angelina still won’t let him resign,” Ginny said, as though reading Harry’s mind. “She says she knows he’s got it in him.” Harry liked Angelina for the faith she was showing in Ron, but at the same time thought it would really be kinder to let him leave the team.

(OotP, Ch26) - Harry likes when people show faith in Ron's abilities! Wild that he's a good friend!

For context, Harry to Ginny in OotP when he's stressed over Sirius and annoyed with her:

“Hi,” said Ginny uncertainly. “We recognized Harry’s voice — what are you yelling about?” “Never you mind,” said Harry roughly. Ginny raised her eyebrows. “There’s no need to take that tone with me,” she said coolly. “I was only wondering whether I could help.” “Well, you can’t,” said Harry shortly.

(OotP, Ch32)

But I wouldn't say Harry won't talk to her if he could help it. He likes Ginny in OotP but not more than Fred and George. He finds some of her comments amusing and thinks she's alright. He doesn't hate her, far from it — but he doesn't see her as a romantic interest, he sees her as Ron's little sister. He's actively surprised she has any interest or talent in Quidditch and finds it unlikely. OotP Harry doesn't think very highly of Ginny, nor is he super interested in her as a person:

“You and Fred and George,” she said impatiently. “We’ve got an- other Seeker!” “Who?” said Harry quickly. “Ginny Weasley,” said Katie. Harry gaped at her. “Yeah, I know,” said Angelina, pulling out her wand and flexing her arm. “But she’s pretty good, actually. Nothing on you, of course,” she said, throwing him a very dirty look

(OotP, Ch21)

“Well, that was a bit stupid of you,” said Ginny angrily, “seeing as you don’t know anyone but me who’s been possessed by You-Know-Who, and I can tell you how it feels.” Harry remained quite still as the impact of these words hit him. Then he turned on the spot to face her. “I forgot,” he said. “Lucky you,” said Ginny coolly. “I’m sorry,” Harry said, and he meant it. “So . . . so do you think I’m being possessed, then?”

(OotP, Ch23)

And even the "best" hinny scene in OotP in the library (in quotations because that scene is really weird), Harry isn't really telling Ginny what's bothering him. He tells her he wants to talk to Sirius, but not why (Which is his doubts about James and what he saw in Snape's worst memory. He doesn't tell Ron and Hermione about it either, but it is an example of him not being more open with her than with Ron and Hermione. He isn't).

It's not all out of character in HBP, and Harry could get to a point where he treats Ginny and her comments the way he does, there's just nothing that happens in the books that justifies it — hence why it's so jarring. We didn't see Harry's emotions evolve to this point; they just sorta appear, and are really weird when they are there (god, I hate the chest monster).

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

What do you think will happen/what are your expectations for book 8?

I really wish that besides Grim, somehow Yuu also had an overblot, even without magic, maybe somehow when he is defeated Grim's blot passes to Yuu? It is said that Blot is only created by magic users, but if the blot comes from someone else, maybe it is possible for a non-magician to have an overblot, even because overblots are rare events, it makes sense that something like this would never happen before. I think it's very difficult to happen, since Yuu doesn't have a defined appearance, so they couldn't make an overblot Yuu sprite (unless it was some monstrous being without a human appearance), but it doesn't hurt to dream, right?

I don't have any specific predictions, but I expect book 8 to at the very least cover the following topics:

NRC vs RSA magift/spelldrive tournament (NRC wins?)

solving the mystery of Mickey Mouse in the mirror

Grim OB

Diasomnia returns to help us out with whatever

follow-up on Malleus's horn injury and/or character growth from book 7 (like what is he doing to repent for his actions)

Yuu has to make the choice to go home or to stay and/or something super convenient happens to keep them in Twisted Wonderland (like the reveal that they're dead or something)

reveal of Crowley's true motives

I've already spoken about my thoughts on Yuu ad nauseum but 💦 to make it clear where I stand on the question of "should Yuu have a bigger role in the main story?":

Yuu is the main character, but not the protagonist. MC =/= protagonist

Yuu is SUPPOSED to be ordinary, to show the arrogant and powerful NRC students that there is an alternative to their current methods

Yuu should be more involved, but in a way that doesn't impede the self-insert aspect of Twst + doesn't shift focus to make them the Most Important/Central Figure of Twst

I think the idea of Yuu OBing has been done quite often in fan content, but I don't think it will happen in canon. Firstly, it just cannot happen naturally since Yuu is incapable of magic (and blot is a magic byproduct). I don't think it's possible for someone to "catch" OB like it's a contagious disease either. The manga adaptation of Twst indicates that blot is caustic and literally eats away at whatever it touches, organic (grass) or inorganic (fabric, soil, etc.). It'd kill you, not corrupt you like it does with the mage from which the blot originates. Another issue is that the Phantom that arises with the blot leeches off a mage's magical energy to get by, and Yuu has none to offer. Maybe the one exception to this rule is Idia, due to the unique Shroud bloodline curse which easily munches away at the blot he accumulates and/or blot in the immediate area.

Secondly, I don't see a narrative purpose for this occurring in the script other than "it would be cool" or "it would make Yuu's presence seem ultra important". It'd also be pretty difficult to show in the narrative since each player has their own interpretation of Yuu. The OB form wouldn't fit everyone, and the post-OB flashback (assuming there is one) wouldn't be "true" of everyone either. We've never had an extended monologue of Yuu, we've never had Yuu talk at length about how they feel about being in Twst versus going home. In fact, they're given clashing dialogue options sometimes so you can pick whether your Yuu wants to stay or wants to leave.

I just think it doesn't make sense to throw in a Yuu OB. It's something that's best to stay in the realm of fan art and fanfiction, in my opinion. If it were to be canonized, surely there would be fans unhappy with the execution or the representation on their own Yuusona. Like you said, doesn't hurt to dream but it's unlikely to happen, so it's probably best not to get your hopes up.

[danieyells]

Who do you think the ghouls are???

I wrote this out between my trip to work(an hour or so) and my entire shift(three hours) with some breaks between to actually do my job. LET'S SUS THIS OUT TOGETHER KIDS

First thing of note. According to B's Log, this is an Inter-house Squad mission. According to Episode 9 Chapter 1 when they're first introduced, those require no doubling up on house members. This is to ensure that students can be evaluated individually when considering the Laurel Crown's winner in the future.

So there's one ghoul from each house except for one of them. This is important because it means that our guesses, if they're really going to make sense, probably have to conform to that. While it's possible that they break that rule on the second inter-house mission, I kind of doubt it. Nonetheless, my final guess is pretty dependent on that capacity to narrow things down.

Sinostra may be your immediate exclusion because they just had their episode but remember that Sinostra's second episode was the one before the first Inter-House Squad episode, and he lead the Inter-House Squad mission. That means any house is applicable.

While the show is supposed to feature celebrity guests it's important to remember that that doesn't necessarily mean that the ghouls chosen for the mission should be celebrities. Darkwick can and will make shit up to get people where they need them. This means we can't narrow things down based on that.

Finally I saw someone say that we can't rely on the nature of the outfits since there's probably a crew styling them. In real life that might matter but as artistic choices they're much more likely to show the character's nature in their clothes. So I think the clothes are a reasonable thing to examine.

Onto my guesses!!!

First one. Suit is very properly done, even has a tie clip. Hands are hidden, either behind back or leaned on something behind him. My first guesses are Rui and Subaru--covered up and closed off. But the suit is too fancy and decorative for Subaru. Too sparkly. The flowers fit Ruinfor his romantic nature and that Obscuary has a botanical garden and he tends to the garden in Obscuary all the time. Rui's also notably very attractive and could easily be excused as a little known celebrity or upcoming actor or something. While he'd be wary of going on such a mission, I feel like Rui would be a good candidate both for his nature and the power of his scythe, and he might agree to go to ✨win the pc's heart✨ or something(but actually have some other intention.) Almost certain the first ghoul is Rui. If it's not Rui it's Subaru.

I say if not Rui then Subaru because of the closed off and neat outfit and the pose which might be arms behind his back. Very Subaru fitted. Both want to avoid physical contact with others, so it's hard to say.

Others have claimed Towa because of the flower--Towa would never have his clothes so tightly done. He needs freedom, he needs to breathe. Towa may love humans for their fragility now but I don't think he'd tolerate humans fussing over his clothes and trying to keep them all closed up. There's also that they're on an island and surrounded by camera crew and he can't talk during the day--Towa surely wouldn't be nominated for a mission like that. He's too. . .obvious. The pose isn't lacadasical or natural enough either. If he were dressed like that he'd probably look uncomfortable.

I've also seen Ed as the first one and he has a similar loose, sloppy style as Towa most of the time. He's also very fragile in sunlight--and I don't think Darkwick would trust him to be on a mission with cameras either, and if sunlight can either kill him with extended exposure or weaken him he'd be really obvious on cameras too. . . .

Saw Jiro for the first one too and. Same issue. Jiro's uniform is too sloppy. The pose doesn't fit him either. While he'd probably sit still and let himself be done up cleanly I wonder if such tightly done clothing is safe for his circulation. . . also the character doesn't look big enough? Jiro is very tall and this character doesn't really look that way

Saw Jin as well and. Again. The outfit is too tidy to be Jin. Jin wears his clothes comfortably. Even his masquerade outfit was loosened. The pose doesn't suit him either.

Romeo wears a tie clip like that and wears his uniform neat and closed up and thus comes to mind--I don't know enough about fashion to say whether or not that would fit him though. The pose also doesn't feel confident enough. . .with whatever's going on with his leg I'm not sure he'd want to be on a mission that involves being out on a beach like that or something, not to mention Sinostra's current plans against Hyde. . .he was also in charge of the last one which, on one hand, was kind of a failure so maybe they'd want him to observe how someone else leads the mission. On the other hand would they double up on him? Would he accept another mission so soon after the last one when they're plotting? I'm gonna say it's not him.

Second one. The pose is much more open and loose, although it looks like he's getting out of the limo so it may be that? The suit isn't as fancy as the first one, but it does still have the vest. The bow tie, friendly pose, and simpler outfit of the second ghoul strikes me as Haru. Not really a ton of notes, I don't feel like it really could be anyone else.

My other thought briefly included Luca, whom I've also seen other people guessing. But the skin we do see is too pale--that's a shadow on the neck, not an attempt at a dark skintone. You can tell because the surrounding area also has shadow on it. The suit also doesn't really look like something Luca would wear, or rather it doesn't look the way Luca would wear it. He also doesn't strike me as a bow tie guy. . .and the pose seems too un-serious for him as well.

Towa and Kaito fit the more open pose, but I've already ruled out Towa being on this mission at all(imagine the tempermental romance guy who controls the weather on an island where people are supposed to flirt with one of his favorite people. . .don't think it'd go well.) Kaito I'm ruiling out mostly because I'm certain Jin is also here, so that'd be too many Frostheimers. Also surely he'd be rubbernecking the whole time, unaccustomed to luxury and interested in celebrity stuff as he is. (Although that'd be so cute. . . .)

Ed being the second one. . .honestly, with the way the head is shaded, I can kinda see that if they were going to allow him on the show/he were to agree to go on the mission? Because he'd probably have his umbrella. . .but since I'm pretty sure the first one is Rui that rules out Ed because it'd be too many Obscuary students.

Saw Ren too and. . .honestly I can see him too. The pose is loose enough snd if he's like pulling himself out of the limo or something that'd make sense rather than it being an open, friendly pose. . .Ren is a pretty good guess too I think.

Third makes me pause. That is the exact way Tohma has his handkerchief folded. The looseness doesn't fit Tohma now but Vagastrom Tohma? Maybe. Maybe he'd be letting loose here. The pose feels confident, the style of dress is relaxed, the visible hand is un-gloved, unlike most of Tohma's appearances. The shirt is loosely tucked. Again I also think that another one is Jin. So that'd be too many Frostheim students.

My current guess for the third ghoul is Sho. The loose style and pose kind of suit him. His uniform shirt is loosely half tucked in, so the loose tuck suits him. The chain around the neck also resembles the one Sho wears with his uniform. Sho is physically strong and athletic so the somewhat larger looking size would fit too.

I already explained my doubts on Tohma. But if they're breaking the one-person-per-house rule that would make sense. Although if not for that rule and being certain one of the others is Jin I'd 100% say it's Tohma.

Alan is another great guess. The confidence of the pose could be stiffness/tension. The skin is too light though, unless they're making him look pale. . . .

Saw Taiga and honestly the posture feels Taiga enough to me! Like Taiga when he's in Quiet Mode and just kind of staring at nothing and not saying much and annoyed? The fit is kind of Taiga too, with the loosely tucked in shirt. . . . . Can't see his nails to see if they're painted though. But I think Taiga is a good guess, except I feel like they wouldn't trust Taiga Hoshibami in a situation like this. On the other hand I feel like he'd be great for a 'people are going missing' mission. He already makes people disappear--but also his stigma would be helpful.

Saw someone guess Yuri and. Yuri is definitely too neat of a dresser for it to be him. The outfit completely overrides any other evidence I think.

Ed also fits the sloppiness, but the hands being exposed and ungloved tells me probably not. And my previous points about Ed still stand too. Also the pose isn't. . .dynamic enough for Ed imo.

Man the pose here is a strong one. Loose clothes, jewelry, loosely worn vest. . .it fits a lot of the more slovenly and relaxed characters, but the pose. . .it doesn't fit all of them I think. I think the fourth ghoul is Haku. I think. Maybe. I feel like he kind of doesn't fit the pose tbh, but also kind of does?

Ed would fit here very well. The clothes are a mess and they match the way his uniform was a mess when the pc went into his room. The pose is pretty Ed to me. But I've also explained why I don't think Ed's in this one earlier. If the first isn't Rui this one is definitely Ed I think.

I've already attributed the second one to Haru. And I think the second one could be Ren too, he keeps his uniform surprisingly neat compared to this. He is a good candidate because of the laziness, but the posture doesn't suit him

Taiga would fit the outfit with its looseness and chains(his family name, Hoshibami, also means 'star eater' which also kinda fits the star necklace--Romeo's second name, Scorpius, is also the name of the Scorpio constellation) but less so the pose. Taiga also always has his nails painted and the pinky ring doesn't match the one he always wears. Aside from that I explained my thoughts on Taiga being on this mission already. I kind of feel like they wouldn't want to put Taiga in another mission right after the last one. But they doubled on Romeo in the first inter-house squad, so it's not impossible.

Ritsu fits the pose but not the outfit. God Ritsu would never dress so sloppily.

Same with Yuri.

Same with Tohma.

Same with Romeo--also the pinky ring does not match his either. He has that ring in all of his outfits except the Jade Pavilion one which he didn't choose. I doubt he'd hesitate to flash his style on national television, especially since it seems to be a signet ring so it's a family thing.

I don't think Leo would dress quite as sloppily. He'd have a loose style but the vest is too loose and messy, the shirt feels too loose--a little loose and unbuttoned like it is fits, but it's not stylish looking enough. If it were a touch more orderly I'd consider Leo more likely. Also feels like this one is too broad for Leo.

Sho has a sloppy enough casual style that I could see this as him. But the pose doesn't fit him either I think. . .I guess it'd depend on the expression or situation--I mean all poses are like thst but. If I think too much like that I'll get ahead of myself.

The fifth ghoul is Jin. No questions asked. Aside from the blue shirt it's the pose and the pasty white skin and the open but kind of loosely tucked in shirt. Very obviously Jin to me. If that isn't Jin I will be stunned.

The sixth ghoul is the real toughie. . .but we've only got Sinostra and Mortkranken left for the ghouls. It's definitely not Taiga--too put together--or Romeo--not stylish enough. The pose feels very Ritsu to me, as does how put together the wiole outfit is. Romeo was in the episode before the first inter-house squad so it's not out of the question for Ritsu to be in the episode following the last Sinostra one. He's also the son of a well known lawyer--he'd fit the celebrity vibe to some degree. While at first the character looks wide, I think that's because the left side if the pic is cut, giving an impression of girth. At first I took the car as a clue too, but they're all getting out of the limo from the preview I think. So the car isn't a clue.

It's not Jiro because the clothes are too orderly and the hand doesn't appear to have Jiro's scars. Also Jiro on an island sounds like a medical emergency waiting to happen.

Yuri would be more nervous in a situation like this. . .while the posture of the hand adjusting the tie has a Ritsu feel, I think the sixth ghoul is Yuri. The rest of the posture is hunched over and a little uncertain-looking, seemingly leaned forward rather than stopd upright. While Yuri is very proud and holds himself high and is happy to be admited, he's also very emotive in general and would be out of his element here on top of the nature of the game being about dating/pursuit of/getting the interest of a woman. I feel like the suit isn't stylish enough for him--he seems to have high quality tastes--but I don't know anything about fashion so. Grain of salt or whatever.

While I initially understood the guesses of Alan because of the perceived size and the car part in the background, like I said I think the size is because the pic is cut off and the vehicle is because everyone is getting out of/stood near the limo and some angles show the limo in the bg more clearly. Also the suit seems too tightly wound for Alan.

Same with Tohma as far ss the size theorizing goes.

Same with Sho.

Ren is another good candidate here tbh. Uncertain posture, kind of neat suit. . .but since I already chose Haru as my guess he's not applicable.

Ritsu, while I reslly think fits, I think would be standing taller and more proud than the image appears to be showing. The wrinkles in the vest make me think the person is leaned over. Of course they could still be lesned over from getting out of the limo.

Uuuuh I think that's it for my guesses. But we'll learn in uuuh 5 days!!!!

[solariex]

Animation Vs Addiction: how this could go REALLY well, or REALLY horribly

a ramble on the upcoming episode

PLEASE NOTE: i am not an expert on addictions, nor storytelling or writing, these are just my thoughts! you are free to your own opinion, take what you want, leave what you don't. also note, im writing this at midnight, excuse any typos or anything of the like.

so, to put it bluntly, i feel as if everyone is worried for how this episode is going to go, and that concern is rightfully valid !! topics like this, if not handled with the care they ensue, can go really horribly, and considering a majority of Alan's youtube fanbase is primarily children, this could leave either a positive or bad impression to them.

with things like these, there's the fine balance of "informative" and entertainment. arguably, steering too much one way or another could result in this not doing too well, in terms of the takeaway. id even like to argue that this steering too much towards informative could even be bad. lets start with that first.

WHY IS LEANING MORE ONE WAY THAN THE OTHER BAD?:

TOO ENTERTAINING: this one is the more "obvious" of how this could be bad, if the video is more in favor of being entertaining, the main takeaway wont be anything actually sustainable, blue's addiction will continue to be a running gag, and the younger audience will see it as a silly thing. this is one of the worst case scenarios

TOO IMFORMATIVE: now, you may be wondering, "why is being too informative bad ??", and it all boils down to what the audience's takeaway will be, after the video. being informative ISNT bad, but with how alan's channel is set up thus far, with storytelling animations, if its, lets say just facts on a screen, the information will be useful !! but you'll leave the video just thinking "wow, i just know facts". you won't leave with anything to make you think, or any actual connection, because the information was handed to you on a silver platter, you wont reflect on an actual story of why addiction is bad, to give you that perspective to think about. you'd just have the top 10 reasons you see when you google "why is addiction harmful??" our brains learn by doing, and experiences, even others, even in storytelling, make you empathize and connect with the character, and arguably, can be more effective than being told facts straight up. this is a reason why myths and fairytales exist, to teach a lesson without spoon feeding it.

SO, IF TOO ENTERTAINING, AND TOO INFORMATIVE IS BAD, WHATS THE BALANCE ??:

like i mentioned near the end of "too informative", the animation, for it to work well, needs to give a perspective, not facts

perspective will make the audience THINK, therefore learn, "oh, THIS is bad", showing rather than telling will help the audience make their own conclusions instead of spoon feeding it to them, which is what most of alan's channel has done with storytelling anyways.

arguably, green's influencer arc can be a decent example of this

it didn't tell you, "be careful of social media addiction" rather it showed the slow progression of green, being influenced, and how it slowly tore him apart from his friends and eventually started messing with his own wellbeing and how he ended up isolating himself, in order to prioritize content

i wouldn't say it perfectly fits the balance between informative & educational, as of how it ended with the third episode, but it definitely struck close in my opinion, at least for the second episode.

and thus, your takeaway from that is, "wow, that sucks for green, this is because he got addicted to social media !!" rather than just being told that. you got to learn alongside green as to the actual effects that can have.

ASIDE FROM THAT, WHAT ARE OTHER CONCERNS ABOUT HOW THIS COULD BE HANDLED ??

my other main concern is how its been treated in the past with the jokes, and how that might affect this upcoming video. can they turn around and turn it into a serious thing? absolutely that's possible, and there's no telling that netherwarts will even be involved in this video, it could be something entirely different, as this community post explains, blue is arguably prone to addiction in other ways than just netherwart, so it wouldn't be completely unordinary if it wasn't involved here.

HOWEVER, in my personal opinion, netherwarts or not, i do feel like however this video may go, if it resolves with blue overcoming addiction (as it most likely will), i do have the concern that blue would have this arc, and then the channel would go right back to including the netherwart addiction gag as a joke, as if the video didn't happen. does this mean i think blue shouldn't touch netherwarts after this? no, but i do feel as if there should be SOME difference in their intake of them after this, or else its just an arc for blue's character, that repeats as if it didn't happen, just for gags.

SO, HOW COULD THIS GO WELL, AFTER EXPLAINING ALL THE "WHAT-IFS" ??

if done right, this video could go well, and spread awareness, alongside expanding on blue's character. i think its great that Alan and his team are willing to tackle topics like this, and they have shown that they're able to do so, similar to green's influencer arc. i am hesitant on how it will be handled, but not in a way as to where i doubt the team's ability to portray this, moreso just due to how delicate a topic like this can be

but, overall, if they balance entertainment & education, and really implement this into blue's character instead of returning to a full force gag afterwards, i feel like it could be a good video :)) once again, these are my thoughts, my opinions, your free to your own & free to disagree with my points and ideas take what you want from this, leave what you dont !! :))

[avelera]

I reread Distinguished Innovator's and Progress Day and I appreciate how you write Viktor as someone who lives as healthy as he can (apart from the overworking tendencies and those glasses of champagne at the party which were clearly an exception)

I see a lot of Viktor smoking and/or drinking and/or using drugs and I personally really don't think he would. He wouldn't risk worsening his health it unless it's to further his goals to leave a mark (through the overworking since he does need to finish his inventions in time). (And I also liked that he's not necessarily judgmental about people who do, just conscious of how it would affect his health)

Thank you! I admit, "my" Viktor is somewhat influenced by my years of writing Hermann from Pacific Rim with regards to depicting someone with a disability that might necessitate regular use of pain medication and how they might be careful around certain lifestyle choices. In that fandom too, you saw a rather similar mix of some people writing Hermann as extremely careful with his health and thus avoiding smoking or drinking, and others as writing him as a chronic smoker or regularly having a drink because fuckit, the world is ending and he's a disaffected academic.

If I may ramble on the subject and get a bit philosophical, since you got me thinking about it, for Viktor, like Hermann, after examining my own feelings about the character I wanted to write and my own interpretation on what I saw in canon, namely that neither of Viktor nor Hermann is shown smoking, drinking, or otherwise partaking in any kind of substances for recreation, I opted for "paranoid about his health" rather than "dismissive of his health". And as for him being ok with others partaking, I saw it that since it's not a moral choice or a chosen lifestyle, I wanted to stress that he's not judging others. "My" Viktor in particular would partake too, if his body allowed it.

(Cut because I got to rambling a bit, as I am wont to do)

I can see why people might opt for "disaffected academic" Viktor who is cool and a rulebreaker from Zaun with a devil-may-care attitude and a sordid past, but that's not what I see on screen, personally (well, besides the rule breaking, but that was in pursuit of SCIENCE).

For example, the one time we see Viktor partaking in any kind of "substance" it's Shimmer, which he views with deep suspicion and only reluctantly partakes in. That to me doesn't read as someone who was a regular in the party-drug scene. Indeed, we see Shimmer used as a party drug by Salo in S2.

Then again, one can totally partake in alcohol, cigarettes, and party drugs while being rightfully wary of, say, meth, so people can really go any way they want with the character. Viktor's caution around Shimmer doesn't need to mean he doesn't use drugs recreationally, but to me at least it was a point of reference to use for my take on his general reluctance to partake in substances.

Speaking formyself, I am someone who regularly drinks, circumstances permitting, quite possibly in excess at times. I've smoked, tried some substances though never really taken to anything except alcohol, but l I have a live and let live attitude towards those who do, even if I was never one of the "cool kids" who got invited to many parties.

For me, writing a Viktor who can't go out and have even a casual drink, who must be meticulous about his health because he's trying to squeeze every second of life he can out of his failing body, because he feels a higher calling to better the world with his mind while he can, not only feels truer to the character to me but also is the sort of limitation I like writing. Having characters loosen up over a casual drink is the sort of scene I love to write.

But the Viktor I like to write can't do that, not because of moral reasons but health reasons, and he feels the inability keenly. He resents that he can't risk his health, he feels it's just one more thing that separates him from fitting in and being able to mingle with others. It's one more damned thing that makes him not the sort of person that Jayce deserves to be with, which is someone who can stay out at all hours, wining and dining and shmoozing with the elites. It feeds Viktor's profound social anxiety and sense of physical inadequacy that he can't loosen up over a drink and be like "everybody else".

To me, this feels truer to the character that there are myriad things in his life where his body keeps him from being the person he wants to be, from doing the things he wants to do, going all the way back to chasing after his boat as a child. His inability to safely partake in even small amounts of alcohol fits thematically. We see how Viktor wants to see himself on numerous occasions, in the astral plane in S2 but also back in S1 we see that reflection of Viktor in Singed's vat and he's no longer unhealthy, but he also doesn't have his moles. That tells us that Viktor keenly feels his "imperfections" and would remove them if he could.

But just like choosing, by choice or necessity, not to partake in alcohol or other substances, these things aren't imperfections. As Jayce points out (though the discussion around disability and the framing of Jayce's speech at the end is much more complicated and this isn't the place for it).

To go along with that theme, what Viktor doesn't realize in my fics is that Jayce doesn't care about those things. He doesn't really care about drinking or partying, he does it because it's socially expected. But Jayce would rather be back in the lab with Viktor. He doesn't need a partner who can stay out at all hours and get hammered with him, he wants Viktor exactly as he is.

Once again, these things that Viktor perceives to be barriers or deal-breakers for a relationship with Jayce are nothing of the sort. However, perceiving them as such is something that I think is very much in line with Viktor's character, even if admittedly the choice to make substances like alcohol into one of the many things he can't partake in that make him feel "othered" is somewhat arbitrary on my part and mostly based on vibes and my own tastes.

This got away from me but to conclude, it's also worth noting that Viktor clearly does stop taking care of himself later in canon, sometime during the post-1.03 time skip. He sleeps at the lab, he's not eating square meals as far as we see, he is neglecting himself. I very much see that as part of the trajectory of the Viktor I'm writing too. When he's young and relatively healthy, he is meticulous with his health because he's optimistic that he can beat his disease or at least squeeze out a few more decades. The Viktor we first meet in 1.01-1.03 is quite healthy! And he's the one I see getting enough sleep, eating well, and doing his best to make sure his mind is sharp to dedicate to science.

But I see it that during the 1.03-1.04 time skip, the period my fics largely take place in, something happens where that goes away.

I think, ultimately, it's because of the betrayal by Viktor's body of all his hard work. He did take meticulous care of himself, but it wasn't enough, so... fuckit. Better use as much of the time he has left and screw sleep, screw stopping to eat healthily, screw all of it, because it didn't matter, it didn't help, and he's just getting worse so he has to use as much of the time he has before he gets worse to try to leave some mark on the world. The body becomes wholly a prison to him at that point, not a machine that he can tend to and maintain.

At least, that's how I like to write him :)

[ckret2]

Psst Ckret...Do you also write x reader headcanons? If so, then for which fandoms?

I don't. They kinda squick me out, sorry.

As a reader, it makes me uncomfortable to imagine myself inserted in a fictional setting—I'm just the voyeur watching what the characters do, I don't wanna be part of the action.

And as a writer, it makes me uncomfortable to create because of the constraints: there's an element of obligatory wish fulfillment to the genre, which means no matter what I actually think about the characters' characterization, I have to contort the characterization to fit what the asker wants, or else I'd be kind of a dick wouldn't I.

(ex: if there's a character who's a Tree Person whose family was incinerated by Fire People and now he canonically has an unquenchable burning hatred of Fire People and somebody sends an ask like "how would this character react to a reader who's a nice Fire Person who feels bad about his family's deaths? 🥺" then what the asker wants to hear is "this character will be surprised to meet such a kind Fire Person and learn to let go of hate thanks to them" or something, but what I'd probably really believe is "reader's gonna have to do a helluva lot more than be 'nice' if they don't want character to murder them in the middle of the night with a bucket of cold water." But that would be rude of me. That's not what the x reader genre is for. But I'm not gonna write something I think is OOC just because I know the asker wants to hear it.)

Plus, aside from the pre-assigned traits ("what about a reader who's goth?" "what about a short & fat reader?" "what about a reader who plays the same video game as character?" "what about a reader who's kind of a grumpy asshole but cares for the character?" ) the expectation is to keep the reader insert character as bland & non-specific as possible to maximize the amount of people who can picture themselves in that role. And I don't do well with that. I need to get deep in a character's head, and "aside from XYZ trait you've gotta make this character as average as possible" is by necessity pretty shallow. You can't give reader an in-depth backstory or anything.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the genre itself—perfecting the art of uninhibited wish-fulfillment that satisfies the desires of as many readers as possible is a noble profession that requires a specialized writing skillset. But it's not the genre for me.

If you wanna ask me about any of my headcanons or thoughts on scenarios & characters in a non "x reader"/non-self-inserty-wish-fulfilly capacity, I'm happy to do that. As long as there isn't the like, expectation that I'll provide a certain kind of answer.

[samsayswhatever]

Why I like that Tim found Lochlan

I understand why people (mostly saxloch shippers) would have preferred if Saxon found Loch's body, or if the whole family did, not just Tim. But his siblings love was always just a band aid. I think Loch never got the love or care or attention he needed from his parents, and since he got a little from his siblings, he thought that was what would make him happy and fulfill his needs.

I actually really love that it was Tim who found him. Because Loch finally got a taste of what he really needed, rather than what he desired (thinking it was a need) which was Saxon and Piper's love. It was a pretty short scene, but it was clear to me that Tim didn't want Loch to die, and that Lochlan knew his dad was worried about him. Yeah, love is not the same as worry, but it's a great start for them. And I think it was the first time in the show any character had showed they cared about Lochlan without condition; just because he was him. I think it's showing a positive trend where Tim might start treating his family with more respect and love, especially Lochlan.

I also love that it was Tim who found him because Tim knew what was at stake. If the others had found him laying on the ground, they might thought his appendix burst or some sudden random thing happened. I don't think their first thought would be poison. So Tim knew he needed to puke it up and whatever, and would maybe be able to help him in more specific ways once the scene was over.

As much as I want a saxloch fic where Saxon finds him and realizes he loves him more than a brother and all that, I don't think the show's themes would have been helped by a scene like that. Many parts of the show discuss being confused about what is a need, and what is a desire that you have because you didn't had your needs filled as a kid. Like Greg and Lochlan. And since they don't know their desires aren't needs, they go down a bad path, desperately seeking something, and end up unfulfilled. Like Jaclyn with her affair, Saxon with masculinity, Jim with his Thailand empire, Rick with his father, and even Chelsea with her desire to help Rick.

But if they had even one set of characters who weren't confusing their desires with their needs, I think it would have to be really far in the other direction. Loch would have had to think his need for love was a desire, and think desires are bad, and then not seek out love. That would have worked as a good foil, but it would have been a totally different character and arc. If they ended with them just simply loving each other, it wouldn't fit with any theme they had been setting up for their characters. There is a small theme of love, but it's only ever used in relation to deadly desires. Like Chelsea loved rick, but her desire to mother him and heal him lead to her death. So if Saxon admitted he loved Loch, or the other way around, I think, based on the themes in the show, one or both of them would have died in the attempt to fulfill their false needs. And it wouldn't make sense to have two nearly Romeo and Juliet style lovers die. If they lived as a foil to Rich and Chelsea, then they would have to have a whole arc of overcoming their false needs, which would mean Loch's false need couldn't be Saxon's love, because that was just a real and fine desire in this scenario. So again, he would need a different arc, and they wouldn't have probably had the threesome plot line and idk. It would have to be very different to make their plot line have the same level of connection to the themes as the others.

Maybe a saxloch lovers scene or plot line was cut or not chosen because of the possibility of backlash to having a happy incest plot, but I think it's just as likely that they did it this way to send a clear message. The message being that we don't always know what we need, because we haven't always had out needs met.

And I think Lochlan being found by Tim (and his dad doing that whole speech on the boat) was so Lochlan could realize that he needs unconditional love, and that he shouldn't try so hard to change himself. I think the unconditional love he needs doesn't even need to be his parents, but I think showing a parent in that scene is a metaphor for how good parents are supposed to love you unconditionally. And how Loch said he saw god, I think that ties into how some religions see a gods love as unconditional. And I think if Lochlan didn't almost die, that Lochlan's character trait of never giving up would have made him jump right back into his old bad habits of changing himself to try to get love. This way he can really and truly know that it's dangerous to stay on the path of seeking conditional love, and that he needs unconditional love instead.

[fairestbeard]

Why Fakrichie makes sense

I know when a lot of people in the bear fandom think about Neil Fak and Richie, they think comedically sexually charged banter but not actual flirting or possible romance.

One of the reasons is probably because Neil is accidentally a little bit annoying even though he is written to be a kind of comic relief character - a little bit cute, a little bit (or a lot) stupid and a little bit useful. Some people find his stereotypical-ness a little bit much and it doesn't help that he goes around complicating a certain matter.

The other reason, and I know a lot of people will hate to admit it, is the aesthetics of it. What it looks like. It's an unusual sight for a guy like Richie to be smitten with a guy like Neil Fak even in the queer world and especially in media and this is exactly why I eat it up.

1. Because woke

(Richie breaking the 4th wall for the first time while making his infamous announcement to the Ball Breaker nerds)

I love wokeness. I love woke shit. I love inclusion. I want to see all types of people and all forms of (adult and consenting) relationships on my screen. With Fakrichie, as with Sydcarmy, I know that the unspoken sentiments and unacknowledged theatrics of desirability politics is always obviously in play in different forms. And just so you know, everything is political. Everything you see in media plays a political role and there's no such thing as leave politics out of it (for those getting ready to yell at me lol).

I've always read Richie's announcement to the nerds as a way to subliminally convey to the public that some wokeness is going to go down on the show (which I'm still waiting for). Calling out the incel, 4chan, Snydercut crowd who expectedly would naturally be a part of the audience in that manner couldn't have been for nothing on a show where every interaction has several layers of meaning under the surface. It is also very interesting to me that this announcement was made by the most reddit bro-y character on the show as at the time (and still current messiah of the reddit bros). Talk about a perfect messenger.

The general assumption is that Jess is the one and obvious choice for Richie. This is because people tend to naturally favour more heteronormative relationships and Jess is the only woman Richie has really had a close friendly interaction with apart from ladies of the bear family. Also he's been known to be in and pursue relationships with women.

And Jess is fine. She's beautiful, intelligent, ambitious, driven, kind and all the good stuff. If it is the story they want to tell, it makes sense. It is perfectly normal and interesting. They fit aesthetically in the desirability hierarchy of things which makes them acceptable to the wider audience and there's nothing wrong with being acceptable.

However, personally, I don't think that is Richie's story. It's a good story but I don't buy it. Interestingly, the possibility of Richie and Fak being genuinely into each other is never brought up in mainstream discussions and even any suggestion is dismissed even though these two have had very sexually charged interactions throughout the seasons. Everyone just assumes they can't be doing anything else but trying to be funny. Because Fak is the exact stereotype of the fat, gluttonous, idiot comic relief character.

But what if they're not?

2. Richie is written as a queer character

You can't pay attention to Richie, in my opinion, and not see that this guy has a little sugar in his tank. I wouldn't imagine there's a lot of people who see Richie as a straight guy (except his subjects on reddit). I know I've seen a few posts and comments on other platforms pegging him as bisexual at least.

Richie is written as a common trope in my opinion. He is the queer guy whose struggle and character arc is based on his identity. He has built his entire identity around things that can be taken away from him but who is he, really? When you take away his being Mickey's best friend and Tiff's (ex) husband and Eva's dad, who is he? He keeps trying to hold onto being a fringe Berzatto and the ex who wouldn't let go or the dad who wonders if he is enough of a dad because deep down he has a hard time accepting himself for him. He is all of those things but his struggle to define himself based on these things points to a struggle to accept himself as something else that is a crisis for him.

He is portrayed initially as a homophobic and sexist character all the while displaying very homoerotic behavior. He seems very strangely fixated on Fak, showing very aggressive homophobic and simultaneously homoerotic displays to him. He's is a very old and unpopular queer trope; the guy who struggles with his sexual identity and manifests it as a violent aggression towards the person he's most attracted to. Even his baseline bodily mannerisms and the way he carries himself subtly hint that he's a little sweet on the inside even as he tries his hardest to display classic toxic masculinity on the outside.

3. The material is there

Even as we sydcarmys scream that the crumbs for that romance has been strewn around since S1, this has also been happening for Fakrichie. The same way a lot of people never see Fak as a viable love interest is the same way a lot of people deny seeing it with Syd. It's a classic desexualization of certain characters on TV as a way to diminish their personhood. Even us sydcarmys are guilty of this as well and vice versa, because there are layers and filters to desirability politics and what is being perceived and allowed in media.

Richie is strangely obsessed with Neil Fak in my opinion. He zeros in on him once he's mentioned in the episode, eavesdrops on his conversation with Marcus, sexually harasses and bullies him (think Adam and Eric in Sex Education), singles him out unprovoked when Carmy is telling the story about the scar he got on Mickey's 15th birthday, works with him on fixing the machine in the S1 finale with all that flirty compliment Fak was giving him about getting stabbed.

We see him carry Neil along as he improves on his own lifestyle, getting him to not say the banned words, making him wear suits like him and being sweeter and more encouraging to him as he learns to be a better person himself. He defends Neil when he makes the hilarious mirepoix mistake during service. All in all, this could be explained as him having a soft spot for Fak.

The curious case of Phil

This is the scene where I firmly clocked Richie as queer. There is a scene that is never explained further in Dogs (an episode which I find very exposing for both Carmy and Richie).

Remember this guy?

Phil.

There was never a real explanation for why this very short but insanely odd and charged interaction took place. The way this guy came by and made Richie clearly uncomfortable- calling him by his full name "Richard", the only time anyone ever called him that on the show with Richie mumbling a response not wanting to engage with him.

He looks clearly hurt by Richie's lack of acknowledgement and very abruptly walks away

Cicero of course notices the strangeness of the interaction and comments as much wondering whether Richie had ruined any of his property with his neglectfulness which Richie jumps on and explains in terms of what was happening between him and Cicero at that moment. What Richie never actually does is answer honestly what the real deal actually was between him and that guy. He just deflects.

Richie is been known to love to squabble. He's not afraid to get in a fight with anyone especially guys like him. But this guy? Crickets. He couldn't wait for him to get out of there. Why was that?

For me I read it as him encountering someone he had a secret with. He wouldn't acknowledge him because he wasn't ready to deal with that side of his identity. The DL queer man. If he had tried to have a conversation with him it probably would have been too obvious so he avoids it and so does the show.

Another thing I noticed was how the guy looked. Does he bear a resemblance to anyone else on the show? The chubby guy with a mustache? To me he looks like Fak in another font. Just a cleaner, more put together and a thinner version of Neil Fak. So not only that Richie might like men, he might actually have a type LOL.

I'm even suspicious of this interaction

I feel like it was awkward and charged for no reason. The way this guy kept beating around the bush with the subject as if he was going to say something more serious, only ending up just saying that he should have given Richie a heads up? The conversation felt like a waste of time to me (the only interaction I hated more than Claire's) which is why I started overthinking it. I feel like more was being said than what was said. I feel like they know each other way more than what is being shown here.

There may have been a hint that the Berzattos know him a little more than just the guy Tiff got with after Richie. Their relationship with Frank seems to go way beyond that based on this little sneak (now, of course, it could be a different person but what are the odds?)

However, whatever extent to this relationship is not known. In fact, the history of Richie and Tiff's relationship has been neglected through the storyline and that might throw some light on this. But the conversation feels weird to me. The way it seemed like Frank had more to say and Richie had his guard fully up. Frank commenting about his looks in the middle of this "important" conversation. He was talking to Richie like he knew him differently to what was assumed all along. Cornplating? Maybe. But it still seemed very strange and left a lot to be seen.

All of this is to say that there's enough material to explore Richie's arc as a queer man coming into himself and finding love in a relationship that has been there and has been fleshing out under the surface. Classic slow burn style.

4. Subverting tropes and stereotypes

A trope is a plot structure, theme, storyline, character trait, motif, or plot device that is commonly used in storytelling.

There are a million tropes you can find in the storytelling of The Bear. They deliberately lean in ever so slightly into those tropes with the aim of subverting, upholding, subverting the subversions and so on and so forth. There's so much going on in there.

The characters are also very archetypal, as expected, with some leaning ever so slightly into the stereotypical. Now the problem with stereotypes is not the image in itself, because characters like these actually exist, but in the perception and subsequent flattening of whole groups to that image, making the stereotype.

Not to wax too academical about it, I'm trying to say, for example, fat, gluttonous, goofy people do exist but fat people do not exist solely to be gluttonous and goofy. And there are many iterations of this but I want to focus on the fatphobia of it all and Fak for now.

Society and media has made fat people a subject of derision and the butt of jokes. It's like they exist in media only to make people laugh and to be laughed at, so much so that they almost seem to have no value as anything else. You see a fat person on your screen, you instinctively expect them to be comic relief. Then especially when they fit that bill, it is almost an absolute impossibility to also see them as people who could be an object of desire or adoration.

Sydcarmy has received pushback from the media simply because, in as much as they deny it, they can see the potential of them breaking out of a particular trope they love to see with a black female lead. They write unnecessary think pieces waxing lyrical about the beauty of complex platonic relationships because they do not want to see Syd as an object of Carmy's desire. They have to do this because one thing they can't deny is that Syd is objectively beautiful and believable as desirable.

But with Fakrichie, it's absolute crickets. I haven't even seen a just for fun article about the chemistry between them and if it means something, haha. And this is even after Ebon has kissed Matty on live television!! It's like Fak doesn't even exist. I saw a random post talking about the brotherly love between Richie and Fak and they didn't mean the Philadelphia kind. Sure, they've joked about "calling mom" and all that but I doubt (normal) brothers want to dry hump each other in the bathroom.

Now I'm not saying Fakrichie is absolutely a thing or have to be. Maybe all he's meant to be is a fat gluttonous goofy character. Maybe Storer meant for him solely to be a joke as per usual. Maybe all that flirting and tenderness is meant to be for the laughs after all, because fat people amarite?

But imagine if it wasn't a joke. Imagine if Storer set this up to shake things up by making them real lovers. Imagine if a character can be fat and even goofy and still be an object of desire and adoration to another objectively beautiful main character. Imagine if this wasn't some fucked up queer bait (maybe alongside an equally fucked up straight bait) but a real slow burn love story simultaneously happening.

Goofy? Nah, I think, iconic!

[marronje]

Now having gotten somewhat used to the void in my chest I can finally drag all my thoughts about the epilogue into one pile

I know it may be getting old for some of you guys already, but I haven't seen some things being discussed anywhere

My problem with the ending is actually with the audience, I literally have almost no issues with how the epilogue is written, all the minor ones I have don't come from the epilogue but the previous plot building which wasn't perfect by all means.

1. People forget that this chapter isn't the Epilogue but the Epilogue pt. 2

TWO PARTS YOU KNOW

Please reread 430. You did? Now let's compare.

a) Can you see what the chapter is focused on? 430 is a lot more shallow, it focuses on facts and tries to contain all the changes at once and looks VERY rushed. Hori didn't have much time with his schedule, so of course he tried to fit all at once and nothing at all. This chapter is more about the system and facts, trying to answer the more crucial questions fans may have.

Chapter 430 has ~20 pages

431 has almost 40 (!)

b) 431 finally has time to look at the characters up close. Why there is so much about Uraraka? Well, because in the pt. 1 she's got one panel and a couple of words. That's why half the chapter is about her now, because she and Izuku are the male and female leads of the manga.

c) Why didn't we have more of Katsuki? Well, this character isn't very known for huge inner monologues and all this sappy stuff. We can get enough from character interaction and subtle cues, as always. Despite being a big asshole and a major loudmouth (I say this with all my love and adoration guys), Katsuki is a really stoic character. And this kind of character doesn't need a whole 5 pages writing down their motivation and inner thought process. I like this. This man remains the most conscious person here and has the greatest development in the series (and Shoto, sure, these two are on the whole other level compared to others in terms of writing)

Izuku and Ochako are more open to us, and it shows in the chapter's way of storytelling

And Shoto is still the most relatable dude here, me too, Shoto, me too...

2. Izuku is NOT shutting Katsuki out of his life. He basically invited him to TEACH TOGETHER just like Katsuki invited him to BE HEROES TOGETHER.

To me it shows clearly that these two just found their two paths that don't align fully. Izuku has been teaching for years after his quirk was gone. Sure, he still adores hero job, but he already has stability and purpose and it's IMPORTANT to him. He's only been back to heroics for a month after all. Izuku has matured significantly, and I respect that about his character even if it's not perfectly written.

"Izuku wouldn't ever decline the offer". Do I need to remind you that it's whole 8 years after their school days?

Imagine yourself 16, dreaming to start a rock band with your best friend. You're both so passionate about it, you think music is the most beautiful thing in your life and you'll never be over it.

But you get your fingers injured severely, and you can't play your guitar anymore. You're devastated, but your knowledge is valuable and you get a whole teaching degree and go to work in a musical college. It feels very fulfilling to you. But your friend is very talented, he continues and pushes forward and actually becomes a worldwide known rock star! You're so glad for him!

But the time passes, and your friend, now famous and loaded, states – you're getting most expensive treatment and surgery, and we – I and our old band bros – pay for this.

And your fingers, they work properly again. You had a whole life of 8 years, and now there are so many possibilities open. You know your friend wants you to join his band and travel and rock the stage together, he offers it to you without expecting much, because he knows you have your life settled already, you can't change that with a flick of a wrist. He's an understanding friend, even if his passion for your old shared dream burns brighter still. You can join his band for a concert or two once in a while, it's a good reprieve from your everyday life. But as much as you love music, your priorities shifted significantly since your youth – and now teaching is as important and precious to you.

You even invite your friend to give a lesson of two in the college where you work. It's a way for you two still remain in each other's lives even if your paths are a bit different now. Your connection is built on compromise and genuine support from both sides, and it's fantastic!

I know the analogy isn't perfect, but it works I suppose.

3. About Himiko and Ochako. It's a painful one, but

No, Himiko wasn't haunting Ochako for the whole 8 years, it's probably a time to time occasion. It's not because Ochako is tired, it's because she can't let go of her guilt and at particularly taxing times it manifests in these visions.

Dreams are still a big mystery for science, but what we know is that they're almost always NOT about what you see, but about the hidden layers of meaning.

And of course we know this is not REAL Himiko, it's just Ochako's mind.

So I don't understand all the weeping around Himiko now being DEAD FOR REAL OH. This is Ochako's mind, not a literal Toga's spirit no matter how much Horikoshi wants his symbolisms to be literal in this story. It's still open to interpretation if Toga is dead or notnot (she's coping).

Tsuyu is so Tsuyu 😭😭😭

Right, my girl, this dummy really thought there's something wrong with her health while she just needed to see a psychologist...

I remind you that psychotherapy is severely underdeveloped in Japan. There's still a lot of stigma around mental health there, so please keep this mentality in your mind while reading manga. "They could just go and see a therapist." No, they couldn't. Their culture doesn't work like this, and societal norms aren't a joke in Japan, they're literally overwhelming.

And about how this chapter "ruined" Himiko. To me, it didn't.

"Himiko was written for Ochako". Exactly. Ochako's main negative character trait was inability to open up about her true feelings, putting up a cheerful front and all that.

Himiko was created to get her to understand what suppressing emotions does to people. Unfortunately, it seems she didn't catch this message fully until Himiko told her with plain words and freaking pushed her forward.

And isn't it a torture for Himiko seeing Ochako beating herself over her death, putting up a brave front to avoid her inner struggle which is COMPLETELY OPPOSITE to what Himiko tried to convey?

And Himiko loved both Izuku and Ochako, so of course she wants them to be special for each other and open up to each other too.

Because Himiko LOVES love in any form (pun intended), and wishes happiness for her special people, and sees how they have been holding back from living how they wanted.

Do you really think Himiko would prefer a depressed Ochako having hallucinations of her over an Ochako who's opening up and rebuilding connections with the man she yearned to reach out to for so long?

And of course I'm not about the ship. This manga was never about the ships. We've got a clue that Izuku barely had any contact with his former classmates since graduation in 430. This chapter is created to gives us hope that it'll change, starting with Uraraka because Uraraka was the one to reach out to him first in the beginning, and now it's his turn.

I imagine that it's just a start of the reconnection arc. Izuku can do this with the rest of his classmates too later, and knowing his tendency to butt into others' business he certainly will.

(Yeah, it's an actually good idea for a new tome for you Hori, not Boruto 2.0, never Boruto 2.0 please...)

4(?). This one has gotten me confused...

They studied 3 years... so they must have become class 2-A, then 3-A.... I hope it's a bad translation.

Do you trust Jirou? She certainly did put a whole ton of wasabi in his food, look at her face

Katsuki not toasting because he's the sober friend for his whole bunch of idiots>>>>

(he really has come here for the food)

Katsuki, when did you undergo your Syndrome arc?

[corvidexoskeleton]

Actually fuck it. The lich path isn't bad for Emmrich, and in this essay I will explain to you why that is, as well as some of the strange shortcomings about the way the lich path was handled that I don't think make any narrative sense. This is gonna be long, so please bear with me

1. Manfred and Johanna

So before I get into any of the "why the lich path isn’t bad" stuff, I'm gonna start out with what I believe is a genuine flaw in the narrative of Emmrich's personal character arc: the way it handles Manfred and Johanna.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't think there's any problems at all with Manfred or Johanna as characters existing in the story. I find them both absolutely delightful and loved all of their interactions in the game. However, Manfred's death - and in turn Johanna's undeath - don't quite fit the narrative they've set up for Emmrich, nor does Manfred's death fit into the established narrative of dragon age broadly. The problem is that the source of conflict for whether or not Emmrich can accept the inevitable loss that comes with immortality, is Manfred's death, when it should be Johanna's.

Now before I explain why it should be Johanna, I need to explain why Manfred's doesn't make any sense. I don't judge anyone who might not know because they either never played inquisition, missed the quest, or just simply forgot about this, but one of the things you learn from Solas in inquisition is how death works for spirits.

Normally when you fight and kill spirits and demons in the games, the spirit is just banished back to the fade, but it is also possible for a spirit to be properly killed instead of simply banished. Solas explains that if a spirit properly dies, then the energy and magic that made up its being is reabsorbed back into the fade. That energy can potentially go on to form something new - eventually - but it won't be the same spirit. It may even be similar to the being that that energy and magic was made of before, but it’s not the same being. It will be something new entirely.

And this is why Manfred supposedly dying and coming back makes no goddamn sense. Manfred is a spirit of curiosity, he's an incorporeal being made of magical energy and emotion. If Manfred were to truly die during the fight with Johanna, then his energy would have been absorbed back into the fade, and that would be it. There wouldn't be an option to bring Manfred's wisp back, because it wouldn't exist anymore. You could maybe wait an indeterminate length of time until the energy that used to make him up formed something new - provided you could actually do that - but it wouldn't be Manfred. It would be something else entirely, someone else.

But of course, Manfred can come back. Clearly he wasn't killed, just banished back to the fade. In which case it makes no goddamn sense for the lich lords, and also Emmrich, to act as if Manfred made some grand sacrifice and died because of it. He's still alive! His wisp is still out there, in the fade! Stop telling everyone I'm he's dead!

So, if Manfred isn't actually dead, and you couldn't bring him back anyways even if he was, who does that leave? Well, as I said above: Johanna.

Johanna is, by all accounts, Emmrich's oldest and closest friend. Even though Manfred is near and dear to Emmrich's heart, Johanna objectively has a much deeper connection to Emmrich than Manfred does, rooted in decades of personal history between the two of them that dates back to when they were both kids, or at least students. And while their relationship is currently going through an admittedly rocky patch, it's clear that they both still care deeply about each other.

But, at the same time, Johanna is a disgraced former member of the mourn watch who was exiled for her gross mistreatment of spirits and the dead. The way that Emmrich talks about it makes it seem like he agrees that her exile from the order was correct and just, that he does disapprove of whatever it was she did, but the way he discusses her seems to imply that they still maintained some degree of contact afterwards. In fact, the two of them stayed friends through all of it, and it was only after her exile occurred that the two of them had a falling out and lost contact with each other, rather than her exile being the cause of their falling out. The way that Emmrich talks about Johanna in the gardens betrays the great deal of care and loyalty that he held for her even after she was disgraced and banished, and that he still holds for her after everything.

When Emmrich is explaining how Johanna attempted to become a lich, he explicitly states that she figured it out because of him. Because he told her about a highly kept secret among the mourn watch - and from the sound of it, some of his own study into becoming a lich himself - Johanna put the information from Emmrich together with her own research, and figured out how to become a lich on her own. Regardless of whether or not Johanna was a still a member of the mourn watch at the time, Emmrich still revealed highly classified secrets about the order that she shouldn't have had access to, and this little oopsy resulted in her stealing an entire section of the necropolis, attempting to murder and steal the life force of a great number of mourn watchers and mortalitasi, and attempting to construct a massive golem for her soul to inhabit and use to wreak destruction.

Emmrich is undeniably loyal to Johanna, no matter what she does or how much they drift apart. Hell, he even admits that if she had sought him out, he would have helped her become a lich. He would have helped her conduct this extremely well-hidden and secretive rite that is probably hidden and secret for a very good reason. And one can only assume that attempting to become a lich is explicitly forbidden within the mourn watch, considering Emmrich has to undergo several years of tests and ritual in order to even have the opportunity to attempt it. The lichual isn't just some expert-level conjuration shit; this is significant, serious shit that the mourn watch doesn't seem interested in fucking around with if the application process is so rigorous and difficult to pass, so there should realistically be some degree of repercussions for Emmrich letting something like that slip to someone just because they happen to be his friend.

So, you might ask, what should happen, then? Well, what would make much more sense for Emmrich's character arc, while also keeping in line with both the previously established series lore and the lore introduced in veilguard, is if Johanna was so severely injured by what happened when the souls and spirits in the lantern were released, that it essentially completely killed her physical body, as well as damaging her soul in a way that people really shouldn't be able to survive. But, because she attempted to become a lich and failed, Johanna's soul is still bound to her (extremely dead) body and is unable to either heal or move on.

Emmrich's choice should be between healing Johanna's body and soul from the damage she caused by undergoing a failed lichual, thus allowing her to be alive once again and live the rest of her natural life, or for him to help her damaged soul move on from her already deceased body and into... wherever souls go when they die in Thedas.

By choosing to help Johanna's body and soul heal and be revived, Emmrich would be accepting the role he played in the situation, and also choosing to bear the (probably massive) mark on what would otherwise be a very impressive track record and history. He would also be forfeiting his chance to attempt the lichual, for one because he went against the mourn watch's rules by telling Johanna such a dangerous secret, and for two because choosing to bring Johanna back from undeath is exactly the type of thing that the lich lords would be forbidden from doing as a way to prevent them from abusing their power.

But, by choosing to help Johanna's soul move on, Emmrich would be accepting the role he played in what happened, and choosing to try and make amends with the order that raised him and that he's dedicated his life to. He does genuinely believe in the ideals and tenants of the mourn watch; from his view, he's not just a member of an insular group of mages the way that the circles are, but he's someone who is responsible for the care and processing of his nation's dead, for making sure they're respected and given dignity in death in accordance with Nevarra's cultural practices, so of course he would put a lot of value on making amends with the mourn watch and righting any wrongs that he might've accidentally caused. Not only that, but he would be proving in the eyes of the lich lords that, even if he may make mistakes or break some rules, he's still capable of recognizing his mistakes and attempting to fix them, and most importantly: of recognizing when it's time for someone to move on, even if they're someone he cares deeply about.

Neither of these things should be seen as inherently good or bad, because they're not. Johanna is objectively doing more harm than good to herself ingame, and is so stubborn that even Emmrich can't talk her down from what she wants to do. Eventually, she would end up hurting herself - or her soul - in irreparable ways. Emmrich already steps in before she can do too much damage to herself and others, but I think that this should have played a much greater role in his journey to find peace of mind than it did ingame.

Now then, with that all being addressed and out of the way, we can get to why we're all here: why the lich path isn't bad.

2. Fear and Death

There's an incredible misconception about Emmrich's fear of death and where it stems from, and a misconception about how he might deal with the deaths of people he loves and cares about. I don't blame anyone for believing that he simply is just afraid of dying, because I also thought the same thing until I sat down and thought about it for a bit. It's also just easier for a lot of people to look at him and go with the first thought everybody has, that it's ironic for a necromancer to be so terrified of dying himself, even if that might not necessarily be the case.

To start, I think the idea that he might be new to dealing with the death of someone close to him is, frankly, pretty stupid. Even if it's not something people outright say, it's clear that that's what's being implied when people react to how he expresses his fear of rook dying before tearstone island. However, I want to point out that he deals with death every day: the death of strangers, the death of colleagues and associates, and the death of friends. And his recruitment mission involves you helping him kill people - venatori, to be specific, but they're still people.

If you go with the datamined info, he's in his 50's. If you go with what Sylvia thinks he should be, he's in his 60's. With how many people he's had to have met and/or befriended over the years, he undoubtedly has already experienced the loss of those he cares about besides just his parents. And during none of this, does his fear arise, because it's not death that he's afraid of. I don't think he could possibly do what he does - to the extent that he does - if it was just death that scared him.

Ultimately, his fear of dying is not borne out of death itself: his fear is driven by control. What Emmrich is really afraid of is not having control of things in his life. He controls everything else about himself to a fastidious degree; his speech, his vocabulary, his mannerisms, how he looks, all to try and keep his life under his own control, to control the way that people perceive him, to control the way he reacts to things in order to prevent himself from acting out as a result of his anxieties. It's not enough that he appears confident and assured of himself, he needs to give the illusion - to himself and to others - that he is in control. It's a compulsive behavior that he's developed in order to soothe his own fears that he can't control things, borne out of the death of his parents. He couldn't control the circumstances that led to their deaths, and he couldn't control whether or not they survived. It's also implied that he didn't manifest his magic until after they died, so I imagine that for him, manifesting the ability to use magic - something he could have potentially used to save them, if he'd been able to use it - felt like another nail in his skull when it came to things he had no control over.

Now, typically - barring extenuating circumstances like suicide - people can't control when or how they die. You can put it off, you can take care of yourself to the best of your ability, but death is the one thing you can't ever have control of, and that terrifies him. He can attempt to soothe himself by compulsively trying to control everything else about himself and his life, but he knows that death - his own death, to be specific - is the one thing he can never have total control over, because death is the one inevitability of the world that cannot be skirted or avoided, no matter what you do. And that is what drives his fear.

3. Becoming a Lich

So, I think the logical next step in thinking for a lot of people would be that attempting to become a lich is merely the result of him desperately trying to soothe his fears and give himself the illusion that he is in control of his death, but again I have to disagree.

There's this idea that he wants to undergo the lichual entirely because he wants to skirt death, but that's simply not the case. Emmrich could have undergone the lichual before the events of veilguard even take place, before Bellara begins exchanging letters with him, before rook seeks him out for his extensive knowledge of the fade. He explicitly states during the scene where he reveals it to rook that the reason he hasn't already undergone it, is because of his fear. Emmrich's fear is what is holding him back from it, not what is driving him towards it. At that point in the game, he is incapable of going through with the lichual because he still hasn't made peace with the fact that, even if he would be choosing when and how he dies, he still doesn't have control. His life would be in the hands of the lich lords and Vorgoth, not his own. And in order to be able to go through with it, he needs to accept that he cannot have control, no matter how much he uses the delusion of control in order to comfort and soothe himself.

The choice for whether or not to bring Manfred back from the fade - or the theoretical choice to save Johanna that I discussed previously - isn't about him making peace with death and others dying around him, it's about whether or not he can accept that sometimes things really are just outside of his control. It's actually a very common method for dealing with obsessive compulsions and other things in that vein, because fighting with your own compulsions in order to try and overcome them by force of will doesn't really work. What you need is acceptance. You need to accept the things in life that you cannot change or do, and in Emmrich's case, the things you can't control.

So... why does he want to become a lich, then?

Emmrich wants to pursue the lichual, not because he's so unbearably afraid of not having control of his own death that he'll do anything to feel as if he has control, but because he is a person who finds genuine joy in life and in loving people. He's a teacher for god's sake. He's unfailingly kind and polite even when he has no reason to be, but most of all he finds purpose and beauty and joy in even the smallest things in life. He loves the people he meets, he loves his friends, his family, the partners he's had over the years, he loves life itself and everything and everyone in it, be they alive, dead, or something else entirely.

And he finds genuine satisfaction with his work and the ways in which his work allows him to help people in ways he might not be able to otherwise if he were just a common mortalitasi, or as a botanist. He helps people mourn, grieve, and find closure during extremely difficult times in their life, and even uses his corpse whispering to help those who have already passed on, instead of just using it to the benefit of those who are still alive. He does this because he has the ability to do so - to help people in ways he might not have received when he was a child - not because it's just another part of his job that he has to do.

For Emmrich, becoming a lich isn't just a means to avoid his obsessive, compulsive need to control things, or to avoid dying. He wants to do it because he is, as his writer Sylvia put it, a man of big emotions. He has such a deep and genuine love for life and everything in it that he wants to continue to experience all of the joys of life, and to continue helping both the living and the dead.

Another common misconception is that Emmrich's intense emotions and deep care for people would be a detriment to him as a lich, because having to watch everybody he knows age and die while he remains would be too much, but I think it's the opposite: Emmrich's love and care for life and people in it is precisely why he is a candidate for lichdom. Dialogue from Emmrich and the lords imply that the lords have strict rules in order to prevent themselves from becoming corrupt and abusing their power, and that it's exceptionally rare for a watcher to be accepted as a candidate. I suspect that the lich lords specifically try to select for people like Emmrich, who are unfailing kind and hold a genuine love for life, who are also able to accept the inevitabilities of life and death as off limits for them, even if they have the powers to circumvent them. Someone who hardens themself to death and keeps themself from becoming too attached, or from caring about others in order to become numb to death, would make a shit candidate for a lich, because inevitably their callousness and disregard for life and death would lead to precisely what the lords are attempting to avoid: corruption and the misuse of their power. Emmrich's love of life is a feature, not a bug.

And also? If it really was just fear of dying that motivated him, then Emmrich could have just as easily gone and done the lichual on his own, or gotten Johanna to help him. It's not like this is something that only the lords know how to do, he could just Do It if that's all he really wanted lmao. Becoming a lich isn’t the end goal, it’s just a step in what he actually wants, which is to help people. 

4. Necrophilia and Romance

Well, that's all well and good, but there are also quite a few people who seem to think that the lich route is bad for Emmrich's relationship with Rook, for some reason. The various reasons I've seen thrown around have varied from legitimate doubts of whether or not it's actually Emmrich's soul in his skeleton or not, to people being understandably put off by the thought of their Rook engaging in necrophilia, to just straight up parroting some rather ableist and acephobic talking points without realizing that that's what they're doing.

I'll start with the necrophilia stuff first. And it is necrophilia, I should note. Just because he doesn't have any skin or organs, doesn't mean that Emmrich's body is any less dead. He's a soul possessing his lifeless skeleton, of course rook having a sexual relationship with him is necrophilia, regardless of whether or not it's something you the player or the character is into or not. Letting someone tie a belt around your wrists even if you're not necessarily into it is still engaging with some degree of bondage, mild as it may be, and having sex with a skeleton is still engaging in some degree of necrophilia.

But, there's nothing wrong with being uncomfortable with a character engaging in a necrophiliac relationship. You don't have to be into it in order to like the lich route, or even to like Emmrich as a character. It's Fine if your main issue is that he's a skeleton and you think having sex with a dead body is weird and gross and creepy, It's literally OK. You don't need to justify the disgust.

That being said, the ways in which I've noticed some people try to justify those feelings of disgust have been... interesting.

For one, what exactly intimacy - emotional or sexual - looks like between people in a relationship is not something you can just summarize as a list of boxes to check. The exact ways in which Rook and Emmrich engage in sexual intimacy aren't shown ingame; the most explicit examples are them kissing and a fade-to-black of Emmrich - fully clothed - climbing on top of Rook in the sarcophagus, and those scenes really don't differ much depending on if he's alive or undead. That is to say, the game leaves a lot of room open for interpretation when it comes to what the physical aspects of their relationship looks like.

I think the idea that the relationship between Emmrich and Rook would inherently be worse off because of Emmrich becoming a lich - whether because he wouldn't be able to love them the same if he's undead, or because Emmrich would no longer have skin or genitals and thus be unable to have traditional sex anymore - are just incorrect. It's one thing if you want your Rook to have these difficulties in their relationship with Emmrich, because the sudden change in how they engage with intimacy and the difficulties in it are legitimately quite interesting and worth exploring! But those things are not inherent to their relationship as it is shown, and I think acting like it's indicative that Emmrich being a lich is bad is just silly.

And that's not to say that there wouldn't be challenges in figuring out how to be intimate once he's undead - there absolutely would be - but to say that Emmrich or his romance is somehow lesser because of those challenges is just wrong. This line of logic that tries to justify that disgust or disinterest by painting it as something else doesn't come across how you might think it does.

It's just wrong to say that someone is inherently incapable of pleasing someone, or receiving some form of pleasure, because they have lost some aspect of themself, be it an ability they previously possessed, or a body part that they lost. Many people in real life have to deal with the loss of function of their bodies while also figuring out how to navigate their own romantic and sexual relationships when something about them has been lost. As a disabled person myself who has lost some of my physical mobility over the years: there's nothing bad about it. There's nothing about any form of loss of function that makes loving someone inherently less capable of loving or of being loved, only your own prejudice.

It is absolutely something that comes with difficulties, but if you are in a romantic relationship with somebody that you genuinely love, that you care about as a person because of who they are, then you love them even when they change. And everybody changes over the course of their life. If things become difficult because of something that has happened to them, then you try to find ways to work through the challenges together as a couple, try to find different ways to be intimate - emotionally or sexually - or find different ways to satisfy your individual needs, because you love them.

And, I might add, as an asexual person, this conflation of romantic love and sexual intimacy is stupid as hell. While Emmrich as a character is very much not asexual himself, he is a tried and true romantic. Sex may play a large part in typical romance and in his own relationships, but it's not the only thing there is. I do believe that, while Emmrich may see sexual intimacy as an extension of his own feelings of love for somebody, he still understands that desiring someone is not always the same as loving them, and what Emmrich wants is to be loved. He doesn't want to just be desired, he wants Rook to love him for who he is as a person. I think that he would be genuinely hurt if he discovered that Rook's love for him diminished or disappeared altogether just because he [checks notes] can't have traditional penetrative sex with his own body parts, as I’ve seen a concerning amount of people tout.

As if that's all there is to sex, anyways. As if people haven't been finding creative ways around barriers like that for thousands of years. If you really want Rook to get dicked down nasty style by Emmrich as a lich, you can just? Slap a dildo on that bad boy? And he's literally a MAGE. Man can use MAGIC and you're worried that he can't have sex without his own set of genitals? Conveniently ignoring the fact that he explicitly has a glamour that looks exactly like his living body, and that the game never addresses just how much substance this glamour has, if it's just an illusion or has any proper form to it. The world is your oyster to fuck. Or to not fuck, if you'd like.

5. Life, Death, and Grief

Ok this is the last section to this I promise. The last thing I want to address is Emmrich's state of mind and how he interacts with the world as a lich vs. as a living person. I think the idea that he can't love Rook, or anyone else for that matter, as much as a lich is very silly, as well as the idea that his love for Rook would be diminished by him potentially outliving them. Also the weird idea that Emmrich eventually finding someone else to love as a partner after Rook dies is somehow bad? Not to mention the fact that some people seem to claim that all he's doing by becoming a lich is shifting his fear of death off of himself and onto others.

But anyways. The game doesn't really go into too much detail on how exactly being a lich works in Thedas, but myself and @rockshortage have been discussing it, and our best guess is, that by becoming a lich, what is happening is: Emmrich's soul is being disconnected from his physical body without letting it pass beyond to wherever the hell souls go in Thedas after death, and then he is possessing his own dead body the way a spirit might possess a person or object. I don't think there is any doubt that it's Emmrich in there, because the souls of a physical being and a spirit from the fade, while having similarities, would still be distinctly different.

Emmrich explains that, as a lich, some of his physical senses would dull - makes sense, since he would just be a disembodied spirit - he would still be in possession of his mind, and would have access to other senses that physical, mortal beings just Don't have. I've seen some claims that he's completely losing his physical senses since he's becoming undead, but I actually think that the description of his physical senses dulling is more accurate than a complete loss. If Emmrich is becoming more akin to a spirit than a physical being, then it would make sense for him to eventually be able to project his senses out to a degree. I mean, christ, he can see and hear things for god's sake. Sight and hearing are types of physical sense that are usually tied to the possession of eyes and ears, and their ability to function properly and communicate with a functioning brain. You know, things that Emmrich objectively doesn’t have as a literal skeleton. It may take some time to learn how to do and get used to, but Emmrich should logically be able to project his other senses, like smell and touch, outwards from his body, or whatever form he happens to be taking at that moment.

As for his mind, I think this is another way in which Emmrich is becoming more similar to a spirit. With people, our emotional states depend on our brain chemistry and our environment. Spirits, on the other hand, are beings made of magical energy giving shape to emotion. As a disembodied soul, Emmrich wouldn't quite be a being of pure emotion the way a spirit is, but he also wouldn't be restricted by brain chemistry either. As a lich, I think that he would be experiencing emotions in a different way to how he did before. It's still him, and he still feels the same big emotions as before, but it's just a different way of existing. His memory is also no longer dependent on the physical synapses formed inside of his brain, which means that he can apparently recall everything in his memory with perfect clarity. These two things, when combined, would likely give him a type of clarity of mind that is probably quite literally unfathomable to someone who hasn't experienced it.

And he can apparently see shrimp colors now, too. These shrimp colors specifically being the literal life energy inside of living beings, which he describes as a "thread of diamond flame", and also I think he can perceive literal magic in a very tangible way that people just straight up Can't, given the way he describes certain things after the lichual. Think about how much life there is in any given place in the world, from grass to bugs to microorganisms in the water. Now think about how much ambient magic there must be in a world like Thedas, flowing and being manipulated by the world around it as it moves. Can you imagine how overwhelming it might be to suddenly wake up and be able to perceive all of that? How the ability to perceive these things might make someone like Emmrich feel? He's a man of big emotions who feels things very deeply, and holds an intense love for the world and the things in it. To suddenly be granted the ability to see even more layers of complexity and beauty in the world would only make Emmrich love life and the world around him even more. That's not to mention the flowers he loves so much. He expressed concern that they wouldn't be the same for him as an undead, but with his new lich sight, the flowers would be more beautiful than before, not less.

To tie it back to the stuff about his relationship with Rook, Emmrich is clearly just as devoted to Rook as a lich as he was when he was alive. He's arguably a lot more upfront and willing to be an absolute sap on main, as he constantly calls Rook "my love", starting from the very moment he steps out of the lichual chamber.

I do actually think that there is some credence to the idea that Emmrich’s fear shifts from it being centered more on himself, to being centered on those around him. That is to say, it seems perfectly logical for him to become more worried about the well-being of the people he cares for once he is a lich, because he can quite literally see their life energy in their bodies. However, becoming a lich doesn't inherently change anything about his emotional or mental state. It changes some things because he needs to adapt to how different things are for him, but it doesn't automatically mean that he doesn't need to put in the work to manage his fears or compulsions, and this is not a bad thing. I think it would actually be worse if his mind was stuck in a static state, to be honest. Him still needing to put in the work to regulate his emotions and fears is not bad, nor is him still sometimes falling victim to his compulsions of wanting to control things about his life inherently bad. It’s something he needs to manage and keep on top of, but progress and overcoming problems does not necessarily mean that the problems disappear entirely; it means that you’ve found ways of dealing with those issues and know what to do when they resurface, and are able to adapt and figure out how to deal with other problems that may arise afterwards. 

Likewise, Emmrich’s OCD and fear of not having control does not go away just because he accepts that he can’t control everything as a self-soothing technique. Is he afraid of rook and other people around him dying once he becomes a lich? Yes, he absolutely is, but to say that this is indicative of an attempt to overcome fear only to shift it to something else, isn’t entirely accurate. I think it also ignores the fact that Emmrich is very much concerned about the well-being of rook and the other party members even if he remains mortal, as seen when he attempts to push rook away right before tearstone island. He’s afraid of losing them, so his fear drives him to try and remove the source of the fear, which is rook.

Him continuing to have fears and intense negative emotion responses to things as a lich is not inherently bad. It’s just something he has to be mindful of in order to not let those fears control him or dictate his unlife

The very last thing that I wanted to address, as I mentioned above, is the nature of Emmrich’s relationship with rook as an undead. There are several things that I’ve seen people discuss that seem incredibly short-sighted and ignorant of the ways in which real relationships work, the first being that Emmrich outliving rook is bad because it would mean he would have to spend the rest of his unlife missing them. I think this is ignorant of how real relationships work in real life, because death itself is a fact of life that every single person in the world has to live through and deal with at some point or another. 

I actually had someone say I was being disingenuous for allegedly saying that Emmrich dying before rook is the same as rook dying before Emmrich, but I think that response really betrays how much they didn’t understand what I was trying to say, which is: there is no way to know how much time you will have with somebody that you love. No matter how young or old you may be, no matter how old or young - or in good health - your partner may be, there is no guarantee that you will spend the rest of your life with them. One of you might die, or you may decide to go your separate ways at some point down the line for whatever reason. There is infinite space for you to play in and explore the different ways in which Emmrich’s relationship with rook might conclude - regardless of which choice you make - and I think painting the lich route as bad because Emmrich would outlive rook and leave him sad and alone forever, is, I might say, pretty damn stupid. It also sounds like the things someone would say if they haven’t actually experienced the death of somebody they love or care about.

Grief, especially grief over losing somebody, isn’t something that goes away eventually. It stays with you for the rest of your life and can change you as a person in significant, often extreme, ways. But how grief affects you and how you live with that grief is largely dependent on how you choose to handle and deal with it when it happens. Many people are unable to cope with their grief because they simply don’t have the tools or support network to work through things like death, and many people are capable of accepting and moving on and living happy, fulfilling lives with their grief. To state that rook dying would condemn Emmrich to grieving rook forever (or however long Emmrich exists as a lich) is only half right; yes, Emmrich will carry that grief with him for the rest of his unlife, but he is also someone who understands the nature of death and mourning. 

Emmrich experienced the traumatic death of his parents at a young age and it fundamentally changed him for the rest of his life. He also had the mourn watch to help him grieve, accept their deaths, and to live with his grief afterwards. As a mourn watcher, he helps other people to mourn and find closure both for the deaths of others. As a corpse whisperer and necromancer, he helps the dead move on. You’ll have to forgive me for thinking that Emmrich might be the type of person who is capable of mourning and grieving the loss of those he loves, and also of living with that grief without it metastasizing and rotting him from within. That doesn’t mean he won’t miss rook or anyone else, it doesn’t mean that the love he feels for them is in any way diminished or less real, because that’s not how that works. 

Being able to work through the death of somebody you love in a healthy way doesn’t automatically mean that you didn’t actually love the person, nor does it mean you can’t then go on to love somebody else afterwards. People do not have a finite amount of love - romantic or non-romantic - in them that they can only give to one person ever, nor are people only capable of having one true love in their lives and that everything else was either Not The One or Will Never Be Just As Good, because that’s not how people or feelings work.

So no, I don’t think that either rook or Emmrich outliving each other is the exact same in terms of how it will affect either of them, but I do think it’s shortsighted and ignorant of the ways in which people think and feel to act as if lich Emmrich outliving rook would be so much worse for him just because he would have to live with the grief for longer. 

I would like to end on the caveat that I wrote this mainly because I feel there’s been a lot of misinterpretation of aspects of Emmrich’s character and the different options for his storyline that have led to people expressing genuine concerns, fears, and anxieties of theirs in ways that veer too far into things like ableism, acephobia, and of how things like obsessive compulsions manifest. Especially the ableism, if I can be honest, because as a disabled person, seeing people gripe on about how lich Emmrich is bad because he “can’t have sex”, or at least can’t have “normal sex” really grates on more than a few of my nerves. 

I also want to say that I didn’t write this to try and say that somebody headcanoning the relationship between Emmrich and their rook having some of the issues mentioned above are wrong for doing so. By all means, please explore the space and the different ways in which their relationship could unfold, I think it's much more interesting to explore how problems could affect a relationship in fiction. I just don’t want people to automatically write off the lich route as inherently bad and not worth it just because the difference between Emmrich's storyline choices are a bit more nuanced and different than “do you want to forgive or get revenge”. 

[maxwell-grant]

The Penguin Episode 4: Cent'anni Breakdown

She goes through all these different levels of all these different personas: excellent daughter, overachiever, and this horrific feral state in Arkham. And it's not until the yellow dress that she finds the one that fits.

Kind of like sharks can't stop moving or they sink. It's that relentless pursuit of justice.

This changes her forever. She never comes back. Something so much bigger than her takes over in order to survive - Cristin Milioti

This was pointed out to me by my friend and, show of hands everyone, who else thinks it's unbelievably fucking sick that it is Sofia who gets to show up at the Falcone dinner table, wearing a thematically appropriate embodiment of her childhood trauma, and do a "None of you are safe" speech?

(Episode 1) (Episode 2) (Episode 3) (Episode 5) (Episode 6) (Episode 7) (Episode 8)

It probably felt odd to spend time with Sofia when we’re in a show called The Penguin. But I think it’s just as important so you can understand Oz psychologically. Even though I don’t view Oz as a hero or a villain, he is a greater villain in the show than anyone else. And for you to feel that way, I think you have to understand his primary antagonist more. And that’s Sofia.” - Lauren LeFranc

I gotta say I'm generally not enthusiastic about Penguin being depicted as overtly disgusting, like drooling and eating raw fish and all that Burton stuff (actually I do think the black bile is cool, but only so far as as that version goes), but for that opening scene, that was a spectacularly well-placed bit of grossness. Like this sheer craven animalistic ugliness of DeVito's Penguin descending for a second to show us how Sofia sees Oz, and even how right she is to do so at the moment because holy shit hahahahahaha

From what we can see of Sofia's pre-Arkham life, she was basically the Meadow Soprano of the family: The smart, overachieving golden child, whose social standing and eligitibility for leadership wouldn't even be up for debate if she was born a man like her loser brother (love AJ, relate uncomfortably to AJ, he's not at all morally comparable to Alberto, but he is very much a loser). Socially conscious and sticking up for victims but only if you don't poke too closely at her victim-generating family business, aware of some things but willfully blind to her own hypocrisy and insistent that daddy is still in average a good man who isn't as bad as people around her may say he is. I'd even say that the Sofia we see here is a more moral person than Meadow, although obviously being the daughter of Carmine Falcone is a much scarier, more isolating and horrific prospect than growing up the daughter of Tony Soprano (the ways in which the two Sopranos kids diverged and majorly prefigured American socio-political developments that kicked off after the show is a topic for another post).

(Also, I don't really want to bring up Sopranos comparisons because the shows are similar, they're really not, but I finished The Sopranos yesterday so they're gonna come up still)

I think Mark Strong does a really good job here filling in for John Turturro's role, even if he's not quite as good in it as Turturro. I think he plays the character differently in a way that works really well for this being a past version of Carmine, filtered through Sofia's vision. He is imposing and quiet and mighty, a lone titan of unquestionable power over the entire world, not even remotely someone to be defied or displeased. Turturro's Falcone was charismatic and affable and oozing with unspeakable yet casual cruelty, and I would have liked that here, but I like the idea that we're seeing a Carmine from before he was invincible, when he still needed Sofia to help him get Congressman Hill on the phone and still worried about the future of the family at Alberto's hands, a Carmine from when the Maronis were still around and he wasn't the sole ruling power in Gotham, who could still possibly lose even without vigilante intervention.

He is larger, more imposing, a stern and stoic father who had little use for pleasantries, and with no mirth to be had at the expense of the little people who think they can do anything against him that matters, even if he is getting there. I think the difference here adds a nice little arc to Carmine: there was a time where he needed to keep up appearences, there was a time where he raised his voice above a whisper to get things done, and there was a time where he wasn't the real mayor of Gotham. There was a time where he was a "proper" Don, when he acted like his comics counterpart, and none of that really became necessary over the following decade, when he grew more and more invincible and isolated and comfortable in this nightmare he made the city into.

They also confirm here that apparently the Iceberg Lounge/44 Below existed way back when Oz was just Sofia's driver, and it was already Carmine's prostitute slaughterhouse even then and Alberto knew about it. Possibly explains why Oz was handed the club in the first place, because the Falcones already called him Sofia's penguin and putting The Penguin in charge of the Iceberg Lounge would fit their idea of a laugh (and given how much Oz hates being called Penguin, he would hardly come up with the name himself)

Lmao, those dog comparisons I keep making really don't stop justifying themselves.

Credit again to Mike Marino and the prosthetics team for this younger Oz make-up, he strikes a very nice middleground between current Oz and the one we see as a kid.

Really like what we see of Sofia and Oz's dynamic here, again reinforcing that for all intents and purposes he was the sidekick in her HBO protagonist life. We see how Sofia likes his company and how she even kinda defends him from the family, but she really cannot bring herself to respect him very much and disdains him from the same very upper-class perspective the rest of the family does, she's just nicer about it. And in turn we see parts of where Oz's resentment to her comes from, and also the extent to which Oz was always lying in wait for an opportunity to get ahead regardless of her, his justified grievances as well as him being a conniving fuck. The really thin line this treads though, is that it establishes that neither of them were lying about how they meant something to each other, even if it doesn't help.

Sofia did have her life ruined partially because of Oz, she did endure horrific things while he got a promotion because he ratted her out to Carmine, and he very much did in part because he wanted to get ahead and saw an opportunity to do so. But also, Oz genuinely had no idea that this is what Carmine would do, and I think in large part this was also about keeping himself safe. It's not even that unbelievable that he was genuinely looking out for her, because holy shit you do not talk to the press about Carmine Falcone, daughter or not, and he tried warning her in the car before she rebuffed him and insulted him pretty deep for good measure. If Sofia talked to the press and would not stop talking (since he didn't know in the car that she rebuffed Gleeson) and shit started happening because of her snooping around, he would have absolutely gotten punished/murdered for it, it is not at all a stretch to assume that Carmine would have done something to Oz as punishment to Sofia.

Oz didn't plan any kind of misfortune, at no point did he mastermind her admission into Arkham (or even help keep her there with the letters, like the rest of the family), he just told Carmine something he shouldn't have, and neither of them expected anything too terrible was gonna come out of it. They both wildly underestimated what a complete scumbag Carmine is, but with Carmine (and the others) gone, there's nobody else to turn those grievances to.

Even if Oz could claim deniability for the Arkham thing, which he kinda can't but Sofia even tried to grant him anyway, he sure as shit can't for everything else he does in the opening minutes.

Oh hey it's Mr Mustache With The Broken Nose.

A thing that came to mind when I was watching the episode was the story of Rosemary Kennedy, JFK's sister whose father arranged for her to be institutionalized and lobotomized at age 23 as a reponse to "difficult" behavior. I'm not recounting it in more detail here because the rest of it is just too horrific, look it up yourself if you're curious. I remembered it because reading about Rosemary Kennedy ruined my fucking day and it still pumps up the breaks in my train of thought every now and then, so it came to mind watching this story about a young woman horrifically institutionalized and butchered for the sake of her wealthy family's image. Later I heard the podcast, and turns out that actually was exactly what Lauren LeFranc based Sofia's story on, which was nice. I'm glad it also fucks Lauren LeFranc up and that we both agree she should have gotten to wreak revenge on the entire family over it, thank you Penguin Show that continues to be made for me, this was nice.

Oh hey, Magpie. Just the name, yeah, but that was another nice surprise. I used to have a bit of a soft spot for Magpie, occasionally I thought there was something to get out of her and Penguin together, so a part of me likes that they put Magpie in The Penguin show even if just in name. Yes, she only exists to be annoying and die, but that's what she already tends to do anyway. And y'know, much as I may like her, she is still a John Byrne character, so she doesn't really deserve much more than that

Jesus Christ this episode gets uncomfortable.

I like that this establishes that Julian Rush kinda did make an effort to help her and kinda felt bad about it, but not nearly enough, and that he is very much a complicit contemptible creep who has it coming as much as any of the people who put Sofia in there.

Cannot state enough how much I appreciate that they didn't put any actual named Batman villains in the Arkham Asylum episode, guarantee a lot of creators would not resist the temptation. I mean okay I guess there is a Ventris already in Batman but, come on, you know who I mean. This did not need any references to like, Jeremiah Arkham or Jonathan Crane or Hugo Strange or any of that, and that's not a diss on any of those guys, it's just that unlike pretty much every other Batman story, this episode does not undercut it's point about the horrific institutional horrors dehumanizing and destroying Sofia by pinning it on a chief boogeyman supervillain that Batman is going to fight later. Dr. Ventris is not responsible for the systemic rot that got her there nor is he the sole orchestrator/perpetrator of the abuse it's inmates suffer, he simply answers to those, and thus perpetuates them, by doing his job in a mental institution.

I am still haunted by the inmate committing suicide with a fork. It is so fucked up that Sofia was tortured and goaded by the doctors into murdering another inmate, and when that failed, they tortured her again and again and again until she snapped. The whole point was to push Sofia beyond the breaking point to justify further incarceration. The doctors just standing there letting her kill Magpie.

I want Dr.Rush to die.

I have more thoughts on Arkham, but I'd call this the most horrific take on Arkham so far, because it is the most honest take on Arkham so far. Even at it's most run-down and monstrous, it is usually never at all into question that Arkham Asylum is necessary, because if it wasn't there, all the crazies would run rampant in Gotham. Over the years, it's monstrousness has always been tied directly and specifically to it's inmates, and whenever people have pointed out the shoddy conditions and inhospitable environment of Arkham as a factor for repeat offenders, it's pretty much always as a fandom joke outside of Batman stories proper, and if there is anything wrong with the way the Asylum works, it is always the fault of particularly evil villains attached. A Lock-Up, a Jeremiah Arkham, a Hugo Strange, etc. Arkham Asylum is in general a Batman concept that's raised a lot of discussions and calls for revision over the years, and a lot of the issues with it tie into larger issues around superhero depictions of the carceral system, that @artbyblastweave went into here.

Here, in large part because this is a realistic world and a Gotham without a rampaging supervillain contingent of repeat offenders who can magically break out constantly, it is never into question that the patients are the victims of this system, and if they are being turned into potential supervillains, it is because of Arkham inflicting this on them. This is an Arkham Asylum that remains a nightmarish, horrific force in this world, but not because it's Castle Dracula where all the crazy villains hang out, not even just because the rest of Gotham is hopelessly rotten and corrupt, but because it's a mental institution and depicted accordingly. It gets to dig into the real life horrors mental institutions inflict on it's patients without having to justify those measures as benign or necessary to keep crazy crimes from happening. Frankly, this take on Arkham Asylum has been long overdue.

In every form of Batman media, just about the worst thing that can happen at any given moment is Arkham Asylum falling and it's inmates escaping into the streets, that's generally what happens when Batman needs to deal with apocalyptic stakes (which is why of course it happens all the fucking time now). Here, that scenario would be regarded with cheer, because the worst thing that can happen in this universe is being sent to Arkham Asylum. It isn't just Batman's unofficial personal prison / punching gallery, if anything it massively raises the stakes on this Batman's next adventures, because now we know this is what's waiting for him if he gets caught and unmasked.

I like that Sofia and Oz are both trying to save/protect those they see as younger versions of themselves, while inflicting on them the kinds of tragedies that ultimately created them

Oz reached out to this poor disabled kid from the streets and is showing him the ropes, while also belittling him as a nobody and distorting his worldview and dragging him into life or death cornered scrapdog situations chipping away at his morals. Sofia saves her little niece who laughs at bad table manners and doesn't quite do what her family says, gently lulling her to sleep so she can kill her mom and her entire family.

Extremely important that Sofia Falcone makes her formal arrival as a villain by showing up dressed in a sexy yet fitting extension of her trauma / cultural reference (The Yellow Wallpaper / the walls in her mother's bedroom), before putting on a mask and enacting Gotham's first Mass Casualty Gas Attack, we love to see it.

I was frankly already calling Sofia one of my favorite Bat-villains even before this episode, I'm just glad everyone seems to be on the same page with me now. I'm seeing a lot of posts on Twitter and Instagram talking about how they're rooting for Sofia instead of Oz, that she deserves to win this war, and good, fucking amazing that they're doing this, again, this show is hitting home runs I could not have foreseen.

It is incredible what a character they've made out of Sofia, and the fact that we now see Oz as her antagonist as much as we see Sofia as his, and the fact that if Penguin wins, he will win this as a villain. He will steal a victory he does not deserve and rub it in your face and he will make the children of the world cry for it as any villain worth his name should be doing, and it frankly wouldn't be much of a fight if Sofia wasn't every bit the complicated, engaging protagonist he is. Lauren LeFranc claimed that she sees Sofia is the closest the show has to a hero even if she is not, and this is the episode that sold everyone on it.

Halfway through the show and it's only gotten better and better, can't wait for what's coming next.