#who have these big catalyst ties to the characters

[aimfor-theheart]

i have this big spiel about nobara in jjk and aside from the obvious ways, how wasted her potential was.

[aspoonofsugar]

Hi! Do you think Alastor and Lucifer are foils?

Hi!

Yes, of course they are!

Alastor and Lucifer's foiling starts in Dad Beats Dad (obviously), where they fight over Charlie's affection. They might seem as opposites throughout the episode, but they are actually the same, as they both try to impress Charlie with their powers:

[ALASTOR:] They say, when you're looking for assistance It's smart to pick the path of least resistance [LUCIFER:] Others say, that in your needy hour There's no substitute for pure angelic power!

Still, Charlie doesn't care and all she wants is for her parental figures to support her:

Charlie: How come he can have faith in me, but my own father can't?

In short, Alastor and Lucifer find pride in their abilities, but need to let go of it, in order to show their love for Charlie. By the end of the episode, they both accomplish this. However, they succeed in slightly different ways, that fit their shared motif of shadow and light. In particular:

Alastor is linked to shadows, as his abilities let him manipulate shadows

Lucifer is linked to light, as his name means morningstar and his powers manifest in light-beams

As a result:

Alastor's development happens in the shadows, whereas Lucifer's in the light - This is true also on a meta-level, as Alastor's arc is the secondary plot-line of the episode, whereas Lucifer's is the main one

Alastor acts as Lucifer's jungian shadow and becomes a catalyst for him to change. Similarly, Alastor himself is challenged to grow by his own jungian shadow, aka Husk

What is the jungian shadow? It is the repressed part of a person. In stories, a character might meet another one, who embodies this hidden part of the self. By integrating with the shadow, the character evolves. In other words, Alastor represents a repressed part of Lucifer and Husk a repressed part of Alastor. Let's see how it all plays out.

ALASTOR, HUSK AND MIMZY

Alastor and Mimzy's bond is unhealthy, as they both enable negative sides of the other. On the one hand Alastor keeps covering for Mimzy, no matter what she does. On the other hand Mimzy feeds Alastor's ego by praising his power and abilities.

So, Mimzy never faces the consequences of her actions:

Mimzy: Thanks for helpin' lil' old me out of a though spot. You're always such a pal.

And Alastor feels respected and appreciated:

Alastor: It's nothing I can't handle. Don't worry Husker. Who in their right mind would cross me?

However, the reality is that Mimzy is using Alastor and Husk points this out:

Husk: You and I both know Mimzy only shows up, when she needs something. That bitch is trouble and who knows what kinda demon she fucked with to come running to you this time?

Not only that, but he openly calls Alastor out on his pride:

Husk: Big talk for someone, who's also on a leash.

Which results in Alastor reacting in anger:

That said, Husk is proven right. It turns out Mimzy has willingly brought chaos to the hotel, so that Alastor could solve things for her. Because of this, Alastor finally cuts ties with her:

Alastor: You deliberately brought danger to this place just to have me clean up your mess. I can't have that here.

This choice is important and it shows how the people around him are slowly impacting Alastor. On the one hand the Radio Demon listens to one of his subjects' advice. On the other hand he acts to protect the hotel. As a matter of fact the moment Alastor steps up as the Host of the Hotel isn't when he sings to Charlie in Hell's Greatest Dad nor when he transforms into a giant and fights. It is when he sends Mimzy away and sacrifices a little bit of his pride to do so. interestingly, this happens as nobody is looking at him, so he isn't really trying to impress nor to trick the others. He acts selflessly in the shadows.

LUCIFER, ALASTOR AND CHARLIE

Lucifer and Charlie's bond is strained:

Charlie: We just have never been close. After he and mom split, he never really wanted to see me. He calls... sometimes, but only if he's bored or like, needs me to do something.

At the root of this conflict there is Lucifer's inability to show his daughter how much he cares. He struggles to express his feelings and hides them behind a prideful persona:

Charlie: I told you when you called me five months ago. Or did you not listen? Lucifer: No, no, no, no. Just, you know, I just forgot. I've just been really busy, ya know with um... important things.

Instead of openly admitting his depression and sadness he prefers to look cold and uninterested. Even dismissive and condescending, like when he arrives at the Hazbin Hotel:

Lucifer: Wow, this place sure looks, uh... Uh-uh. Yeah. Uh-uh. It's got a lot of character!

Lucifer is initially too focused on what he cares about - meeting his daughter - rather than on what Charlie wants - for him to help her with the hotel. He happily hugs Charlie and then immediately moves on to pet Keekee, Razzle and Dazzle, who are his own creations. Only later he considers the welcome Charlie and the others have prepared for him. Even then, he still misses the point and tries to buy Charlie's love by showing off his magical powers:

Haha, looks like you could use some help From the big boss of Hell himself

Except that what Charlie wants from him aren't champaigne fountains or caviar mountains, but an appointment with Heaven, which he negates her. Not only that, but instead of being honest about his fears, he deflects everything on Charlie herself, by dismissing her plan:

Lucifer: Alright, listen, I love that you want to see the best in people, but these sinners... You know, they're just the worst. I, I don't know how much you can realistically expect from them in Heaven.

Luckily, the Radio Demon is closeby, as he forces Lucifer to show his true self.

On the one hand Alastor brings out Lucifer's insecurity and fears:

I'm truly honored that we've built such a bond You're like the child that I wish that I had I care for you, just like a daughter I spawned It's a little funny, you could almost call me dad

He juxtaposes moments of everyday life and affirmations of affection to Lucifer's materialistic and fancy promises. In this way Alastor highlights the faults of Lucifer, as a father. He points out that Lucifer is never there for Charlie.

On the other hand Alastor embodies the kind of sinner Lucifer despises:

Lucifer: Ya see? What I tell ya? Charlie, sinners are violent psychopaths, hell bent on causing as much pain and destruction as they can. There's really no point in trying.

And yet, such a violent psychopath is more willing to help Charlie than Lucifer himself:

Charlie: Dad, stop! He's defending this hotel. It may be a bit more sadistic than I'd hoped. But he's doing it for me!

This realization leads to a confrontation between father and daughter and to an admission on Lucifer's part:

Lucifer: I just don't want you to be crushed by them like... like I was.

The problem isn't Charlie, but Lucifer himself. It is not that Charlie's dream is silly, but that Lucifer's one has been destroyed. This revelation is important because Lucifer's mask comes off and he shows Charlie his weakest and most broken self. He swallows his pride and has Charlie see who her father really his. In all his mistakes and his hurt. And to his surprise Charlie accepts him. Not only that, but she admires him:

So in the end, it's the view I had of you That showed me dreams can be worth fighting for

Symbolically the song More than Anything starts with Lucifer and Charlie in the shadows:

They are repressing a lot and have no idea who the other is. Still, as the song goes on, they get to understand each other:

All that I'm hopin', now that my eyes are open Is that we can start again, not be pulled apart again 'Cause in the end, you are part of who I am

And they end the song surrounded by light:

What is initially in the shadow comes to light in three different ways:

Lucifer shows Charlie his true self

Lucifer sees Charlie for who she is

Lucifer exhibits his weakness in front of the whole Hazbin Hotel. He lets the sinners he dislikes so much witness the mess that he is.

His fragility is in full display. It is in the light for everyone to see.

PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS! ITTY BITTY LIVING SPACE!

Another similarity Alastor and Lucifer share is that they are two powerful beings that give much importance to free will:

Alastor: You should know better than anyone what a soul can accomplish when they take charge of their own fate.

Charlie: Together, they wished to share the magic of free will with humanity.

And yet, they are both trapped:

Alastor: I'm hungry for freedom like never before The constraints of my deal surely have a backdoor Once I figure out how to unclip my wings Guess who will be pulling all the strings?

Charlie: As punishment for their reckless act, Heaven cast Lucifer and his love into the dark pit he had created, never allowing him to see the good that came from humanity, only the cruel and the wicked.

On the one hand Alastor controls many souls, but his own is owned by someone else. On the other hand Lucifer is the strongest being in all of Hell, but he is regarded as a disgrace by other angels.

Moreover, they both project their unhappiness on others. Specifically, Lucifer blames sinners like Alastor:

Lucifer: Our "people", Charlie, are awful! They got gifted free will and look what they did with it! Everything's terrible!

While Alastor lashes out on his prisoners, like Husk:

Alastor: If you ever say that again, I will tear your soul apart and broadcast your screams for every other disrespectful wretch who dares to question me.

Still, the point is that Lucifer is exactly like Alastor. He is a gifted creature, who messed up royally and cursed humanity. Alastor instead is exactly like Husk, a powerful overlord, who still finds himself chained. Lucifer is the most hated being in all of creation and Alastor is on a leash. They are both lonely and desperate, but too proud to admit it. In other words, they are both losers:

Husk: There was a time I thought no one could relate To the gruesome ways in which I'm damaged But lettin' walls down, it can sometimes set you straight! We're all livin' in the same shit-sandwich

Just like everyone in Hell. And yet, this is not bad per se. Even if you hit rock bottom, you can still climb back up, as long as you let go of self-importance and start to earnestly empathize with others. As a matter of fact it is only through community and bonds that a person can be redeemed and heal:

Out for love Love Think of who you care about Protect them and be out For love Love You're gonna fight without gloves Long as you're out for love

This is what Alastor and Lucifer are learning through Charlie.

TWO DADS, ONE DAUGHTER

Season 1 sets up Alastor and Lucifer as two mentor figures to Charlie. They share this role in a way, which makes them almost perfect mirrors. Some examples:

Lucifer gives Charlie the hotel building and Alastor calls it Hazbin Hotel

Alastor helps repair the Hotel in the beginning, while Lucifer assists Charlie in building it anew by the end

Lucifer guides Charlie to Heaven, as he sets up her meeting with Sera and Emily. Alastor instead guides Charlie in Hell as he introduces her to Rosie and helps her inspire the cannibals

Both Alastor and Lucifer believe in Charlie, when she is at her lowest. Alastor does so before the final battle, whereas Lucifer after the fight

Alastor and Lucifer fight Adam (another foil of theirs) in the final episode. Moreover, both belittle his abilities and highlight how he is strong, but unskilled:

Alastor: You lack discipline, control and worst, you are sloppy!

Lucifer: So, this is what you've been up to since Eden? Gotta say, you really let yourself go buddy.

In particular, Alastor is the one supposed to take Adam down, but fails and Lucifer steps in by the end. This is just like in the beginning Lucifer is supposed to support and help Charlie with her project. Still, he is absent and Alastor fills the spot.

In other words, Alastor and Lucifer are unwillingly complementary and so far one has appeared when the other has been incapacitated. We'll see if this pattern continues. As for now, they are clearly framed as key to Charlie's development, so it is possible they will come to embody different sides of her:

Alastor represents the sinners Charlie wants to reach and all their pain and complexity. He is also linked to fear and the unknown. He is the ally she finds by herself. He is the found family Charlie chooses.

Lucifer represents the angels Charlie wants to communicate with. He is also linked to dreams and ideals. He is the legacy she inherits. He is the biological family Charlie wants to re-connect with.

In short, they are both parts of who Charlie is and she needs them to grow into herself. Just like they need her to mature and find redemption and happiness.

[sciderman]

I swear I have read your big post regarding Peter Parker's neurodivergence and why it is best to avoid labelling him, but he definitely has a weird brain

Can't find it and feel kinda sad about it cuz I deeply related to it

i know exactly which post you're talking about and i can't find it either! i've raked through my archive, and it's just - nowhere to be seen. i think tumblr eated it (it happens.)

really, tumblr's search functionality is so so useless, i don't know what to tell you. there are plenty of keywords i can search to find it that post, but the search functionality actually just does not work!

undiagnosed audhd-addled peter parker, my darling, my light, my life, my everything.

i think peter parker's such an interesting creature to write, because a lot of people will point to a certain behaviour about him and say "this is an autistic thing, right?" but a lot of those behaviours are actually, in my head, tied to certain traumas in peter's life too.

people say "oh, the food thing, peter's a picky eater because he's autistic" and yes, absolutely. but also it's tied to his trauma with his parents.

peter gets overstimulated, and yes, it's an autism thing, but also he was bitten by a radioactive spider and his senses are dialled to 11.

it's a similar case i've found for myself, too – where a lot of friends i have kind of diagnose me because i have autistic traits, but actually - i'm hesitant to claim the label or pursue diagnosis because, actually, i know where these certain behaviours come from, and they come from certain traumas. there are events i can pinpoint in my life and say "yep. that's where this behaviour comes from."

so - i think there's a lot of overlap between trauma and autistic traits. the brain is very complex! i think the reason for that overlap is maybe as simple as the fact that people with autism and people with trauma are both doing the same thing - developing behaviours to protect themselves or soothe themselves. so - i think it's nice to be able to see a character like peter parker, who may or may not be autistic, but recognise behaviours in him and see yourself in him.

people who go undiagnosed for whatever reason - people who are really good at masking - so good, in fact, that they have no idea they might be on the spectrum - everyone and anyone at all can look at peter parker and recognise themselves. because i think we discredit the thought that every single brain does the same thing! develops certain behaviours in order to survive. every brain has that same software - we've just all been faced with different hardships that we need to overcome, and that's were all the differences come in.

autism is a spectrum, i guess - everyone falls into it to some degree. and i think events in your life probably push you along on it. but i don't know, i didn't study brain science. probably what i'm saying is very stupid and uninformed. of course there's brain chemistry involved. but i know people in my life living with autism and certain events in their life have exacerbated certain behaviours or made coping with it a lot more difficult. so maybe trauma is a catalyst.

[seraphtrevs]

for the ask game…brbabcs? (either the combined universe or whichever of the shows individually) 💕

I'm just going to do a mishmash of whatever happens to come to my mind lol - STREAM OF CONSCIOUS POSTING INCOMING

my favorite female character - over the whole brbabcs, obviously it's Kim. She was a great character from episode one, but they really cemented her as the Character of All Time with her fall from grace in season 6. She's so complicated and layered, achingly human and relatable, but also extraordinary, which makes her compelling to watch.

She's a hard character to sum up because she's so nuanced, but I think what draws me to her the most is her deep rage at injustice. Her fall is ironic because it was that desire to make the world "right" that led her to betray her core values - but honestly, who can blame her? Haven't we all wished that the Howard Hamlins of the world would suffer consequences too, instead of consequences being only reserved for people who were born in the "wrong" race/gender/class? But at the same time, embarrassing one Howard Hamlin is not actually the same thing as making systemic changes, and her desire to punish him was a personal vendetta, not actual justice. I totally get how the two got mixed up in her head, though.

I'm also a big Skyler fan - more on her later

my favorite male character - For BCS, it's Lalo lol. I don't think he's the BEST character, but sometimes it feels like Peter Gould got the gang together and was like, "Listen, tumblr user seraphtrevs has been having a hard time - why don't we write a character that is specifically tailored to all of her deepest, darkest, and horniest desires?" And lo, they did. He's so charming and cheerful and evil and funny and so so SO hot - I was doomed from the very first paca paca paca 😭

Side note, I think i'm such a villain girlie because I'm so anxious. Characters who don't worry about anything except doing what they want are very fun for me to watch. Imagine the bliss of not caring! *_*

For brba, the character I have the most affection for is Jesse, but Jesse is made to be loved. So instead...I'm going to pick Walt. He is the worst man who has ever lived and I completely get why people can't stomach him. My own husband tapped out of brba because he found Walt unbearable IN SEASON ONE.

So as a person, yes, Walt is the worst. But as a character? He's unparalleled. He makes things happen, which I think a very underrated character trait (and one that a lot of writers overlook). Walt is an infernal engine, a perpetual motion machine, a catalyst of catalysts. Things HAPPEN when he's around, which makes him a really fantastic character.

The other thing I really appreciate about Walt is that Vince Gilligan really stuck to his guns. He said he wanted to tell a story about Mr. Chips becoming Scarface, and by god that's what he did. A big problem with a lot of "antihero" shows is that they are often way too sympathetic to their protagonists and fall for their bullshit. And while a lot of the audience for brba fell for walt's bullshit, the writers were always very clear-eyed about what they were doing.

my favorite book/season/etc - an impossible question for bcs. all seasons are tied for best except season 2, which was a little tiny bit less good but only because it was necessary to set up the rest of the show's run, so actually it is also tied for best. I guess if you put a gun to my head, I'd say season 5 because it's the Lalo season

brba is an easier call - it's for sure season 4.

my favorite episode (if its a tv show) - for brba, I'll say The Fly, not necessarily because it's my favorite (too many favorites to choose from) but because I love character work, and that ep is all character work. Also, it's a good illustration of what I was talking about in my walt answer - it's an episode where "nothing" happens (or so claim Fly detractors!)...but making things happen doesn't have to mean making BIG things happen. Walt's monomania and willingness to do whatever it takes to "win" over something as stupid as a little fly shows what makes him such a great character

my favorite cast member - for brba, i think it's pretty widely known that bryan cranston and aaron paul have merged into one being, so I choose bryaaron.

for bcs, it's bob odenkirk. the entire show - or even the entire brbabcs universe, actually - rests on jimmy. like i know i just said that was walt, and it is for brba. but i think that now that bcs is done, you can make the argument that jimmy is actually the character that it was "about" (actually I'd put Kim in there too). Walt was always morally black, but Jimmy was genuinely morally gray for much of the series, and he maintained a human core that Walt lost. I think Jimmy and Kim are more relatable. (Not to leave Jesse out, bc out of the four of them Jesse is the most sympathetic in a lot of ways. But I feel like his story was more of a survival story, like Skyler's, and not so much a story about moral failure. Like yeah for sure jesse had tons of moral failures, but that never seemed to be the POINT of jesse, like it was the point of walt, jimmy, and kim.)

my favorite ship - for bcs, it's a tie between lacho and mcwexler. for brba, it's waltjesse.

i haven't talked about nacho at all so far which seems weird because I have a LOT of nacho thoughts (see my tag #nacho christ superstar). i feel like the cartel plot is like, the heightened version of the lawyer plot. or that's not right exactly - not heightened as in better, but heightened as more dramatic, more extreme, more literal. so lacho to me is like, what if you really were in bed with the devil? (i mean, maybe literal is the wrong word because he's not LITERALLY the devil, but lalo is a much more straightforward, morally UNambiguous character who is the personification of the evils of the cartel. so like. more literal. you know what i mean.) (plus i'm so horny for both of them. 😭😭😭😭😭)

mcwexler is the best on screen, canon romance i've ever seen. period.

as i've said before, waltjesse is the six-in-one shampoo/bodywash/conditioner of toxic relationships. jesse is walt's student/business partner/best friend/worst enemy/mistress/wife/son/dog. how can you NOT love something that twisted?

a character I’d die defending - SKYLER. Fortunately tumblr has the right attitude, but it still blows my mind that anyone could judge her for what she went through. walt destroyed her life - every action she took was her trying to protect herself and her children. what she went through was pure nightmare fuel, and it astonishes me that anyone could think she was ever unsympathetic

a character I just can’t sympathize with/a character I grew to love - someone sent me an ask just about these, so i'll save these for later! this is already so long lmao

my anti otp - I don't really have any for the brbabcs verse! in general, i'm openminded about even off-the-wall ships because fandom is for fun, and no one in this fandom has ever annoyed me with some of the shipping behavior you get from bigger, more annoying fandoms

[commsroom]

first of all thank you so much for having this blog and sharing your thoughts!! your eiffelposting (and heraposting) has literally got me through the post w359 Grieving Process after running though the whole thing in about 2 weeks and your character insight is. well. chefs kiss. Eiffel Understander Of All Time. 2 things: 1, if it’s ok, you’ve mentioned before about an eiffel version of change of mind, and the idea has (1/2)

(2/2) literally stuck with me since and i’d love to hear your thoughts on that if you have any! 2, are there active w359 discords about bc i got a deep need to yap about all this (apologies if the first msg came through twice, tumblr's being weird)

oh, it makes me very happy to hear that!! your art is a gift, and i'm glad i can offer you something in return.

as for your question... yes! okay. the basic premise is to frame eiffel losing (and regaining) his memory as a catalyst for character growth, as a narrative parallel to lovelace's death and resurrection, rather than a resolution. i think it's noteworthy that the finale has eiffel faced with himself from first a very internal (the final confrontation literally taking place inside his head) and then a very external (hearing his logs as an outsider after losing his memory) perspective and i think the natural extension of this is, well. to confront him with himself.

one of the most key things about eiffel's character arc is that he wants to escape himself. "it's taken me this long to realize that running from everyone else means that you're alone with yourself" but, as addressed in constructive criticism, he's also running from himself. he doesn't like what he hears on those tapes, but the eiffel of succulent rat-killing tar both is and isn't the eiffel of brave new world, and i think that's what's being set up/suggested at the end.

i think viewing eiffel's memory loss as a death is incomplete, while viewing it as a "fresh start" or anything of the sort is incompatible with his existing character arc. but if you think of it as part of this pattern of eiffel trying to escape himself, and ending up still stuck with himself...? if he makes the big sacrifice, "escapes" the person he is as much as anyone can, and then finds he's still stuck with himself, still has to live as the person he is...? then, what next?

(i think this also ties in well with maintaining sobriety; addiction, self-destructive impulses and the desire to not be present in his life, etc. are all rooted in the same things.)

my concept of eiffel regaining his memory would be this sort of... fever dream "life flashing before his eyes" sequence of stepping into significant moments in his life (as a stranger) and interacting with himself, and needing to accept / reintegrating all of these versions of who doug eiffel is and has been. that the question of "am i still doug eiffel?" is one of accountability for his past but that he's always been changing and will continue to grow. i think a key part of this would be him seeing these moments through a pop culture lens / as if it's a movie and then more gradually seeing what they really are. ideally, these would be moments tied to specific songs for him; eiffel's internal soundtrack is well beyond wolf 359's budget, i'm sure, but it's a hypothetical anyway. these would be real memories, in some form, but obviously none of this would be happening for real; it's just how i think his brain would make sense of it (while he's presumably unconscious.) it's like sarah shachat said about eiffel's story in limbo: to tell that story, he would first have to make it a story.

i like this because i think it works well with eiffel's existing arc. i like it because it provides a different angle on self-exploration via memory in the same vein as memoria and change of mind. i like it because it makes a good potential parallel to shut up and listen/constructive criticism, and to mayday (eiffel alone with the voices of others vs. eiffel literally alone with himself.) it feels like a natural extension + heightened conclusion to things that i feel are already implied + set up. and, while i like where wolf 359 ended and would never want to add to it, i like imagining what zach valenti would do with a bunch of different versions of eiffel at different stages of his life interacting; i think he would knock it out of the park with material like that.

i think the real core of identity in wolf 359 is in these moments where people assert who they are, or decide to be who they are. again, in parallel to lovelace... the same way that lovelace decides to be isabel lovelace, "even if [she] never has been before", eiffel would decide to be doug eiffel, all the people he's been, the person he is now, and all the people he's going to be.

(as for discord... i think there are some, but unfortunately i don't know of any that i would personally recommend. you are always welcome to ramble at Me on discord, but i know that's probably not the same.)

[lildoodlenoodle]

Not to be That Bitch but I’ve seen people talking about this so,,,

Who is actually most likely to die in BTSV?

Yep, yikes I’m going there. Again all theories so I’m open to conversation/opinions on this!

Jessica - She’s not gonna die. There’s no way. Spiderverse is known for breaking boundaries but they aren’t going to kill a pregnant woman.

Miles - Again spiderverse is known for breaking boundaries so killing a protagonist is not outside of their range but I do not think they can kill Miles because of how integral he is to the trilogy and general synergy with comics and video games. Miles is too important of a character outside of this film in a monetary and societal way for them to kill him off in my opinion. He is the character that people associate with ‘Anyone can wear the mask’

Peter B. - The man has a baby. They aren’t gonna kill him. It just isn’t gonna happen. Nor will they kill said baby.

Hobie - They won’t do it. I love him but I don’t think his death would be enough of a catalyst or whatever. Like I just can’t see it. Not to say he isn’t important to the story but with the role he takes on, his death wouldn’t make sense.

Ben Reilly - I’m not even sure he’s currently alive lol. Gwen broke his watch and then tossed him into a random ass dimension. He’s probably fine… He’s fine.

Noir - unlikely. It wouldn’t have the emotional impact a death would need in the next movie. If, for whatever reason, multiple members of the team die then I could see it, but just him? No.(either way bro’s been resurrected multiple times in the comics, he’s fine.)

Ham - ok I could see it, but only in the comedy angel wings ‘death’ way. Like it wouldn’t be real, it’d be a gag.

Peni - ugh I can kinda see this ngl. She was the only member of team B we saw in the society and had a speaking role. Maybe I’m jaded but doesn’t bode well for a young female character… she will most likely be fine though.

Pavitr - People have said it and I do understand it. I don’t think they’ll do it but I could see it happening in a couple of different ways. His death would have be a perfect mid-late movie catalyst simply because of the parallels between him and Miles, ‘being spiderman is easy!’, and inspector Singh and Gayatri ‘escaping’ death. Will be crying in the theatre.

The Spot - I’m 50/50 on this. Like he could totally be too far gone where the only way out is him imploding but also he just wanted attention 😢

Gwen - God I can see this happening. I really hope it doesn’t but,,, Specifically, her saving Miles or one of his parents and that somehow being it for her. Her home storyline is tied up, her only remaining loose thread is with Miles, and once that’s done her ‘arc’ is over, and also the foreshadowing. Like if it happens that’s how it’s gonna happen and it’ll parallel when Miles was saving inspector Singh and that moment where we can’t see him god,,,,,,

Miguel - I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t know what they are going to do with this man by the end of the next movie. Dude has put his whole being into his canon events theory, cause remember he genuinely believes or is in heavy denial about this. I don’t think being visually proven wrong will fix anything for him. I genuinely believe it’ll destroy him. I could definitely see him dying in the next movie by saving Miles/his dad in some desperate attempt to do the right thing, or taking down the spot with him type thing.

Jeff - Look, we all know it’s a possibility. It’s like algorithmically predestined, so it definitely could happen and I wouldn’t be surprised necessarily. But do I actually think it will happen? No. It’s too built up, especially with Miles going to 42 where his dad IS dead.

Rio - I’m gonna be so honest, she’s more likely to die than Jeff. SORRY! She’s the one that dies in the comics, she’s the one alive in 42, and she has that big speech about Miles not being with her any more and to look out for himself for her. I really hope they don’t do it, I really hope cause I will sob in the theatre but if one of Mile’s parents is going to die, it’ll be Rio.

[panikkar]

thinking about how the three of the biggest relationships in bucks life are pretty significantly tied to helicopters/helicopter crashes,,, (partially inspired by this post by @maygrcnt)

taylor kelly: met her when her news helicopter crash. not the first person he seriously dated but definitely is the most serious romantic relationship he had yknow. can’t forget the whole couch metaphor arc.

eddie: i mean it’s pretty self explanatory but eddie’s helicopter crash when he was in the army caused him to be discharged and forced to be reliant on his family again, which is what made him move to la, where, of course, he met buck. they’re literally thee most important person in each others lives. they’re besties. coparents (when the only help eddie’s had as a coparent is shannon, who left (no hate to her it’s complicated shit and she did die but still she did), and his parents, who were controlling and not what either of them needed and also just generally really shitty to eddie at the time (ESPECIALLY re his parenting). and then buck comes along and like within a year he’s like i trust you with my life and my son and my sons life! after everything!! and puts buck as chris’ legal guardian in his will—) n e ways yeah that but also eddie’s ptsd related to the whole helicopter crash incident was super significant later in their relationship too bc eddie was at his lowest point (a place he’d been before but back then, his wife left him and his parents actively made everything worse instead of helping) and buck just like. steps in WITH eddie and gives him what he needs and like takes care of eddie and chris in they way they both need instead of forcing them into what he thinks they need like eddie’s parents did. yeah. and eddie actually did some healing then unlike the last time. so eddie is easily the most important and serious and intimate (like platonically but also Not) relationship buck has ever had, more so than any of bucks gfs.

and then tommy comes around!!! a fuckin helicopter pilot. he and buck first meet not necessarily in a helicopter crash but in a helicopter. in an emergency situation. and they draw SO MANY parallels between tommy and eddie and taylor (he and eddie have a lot in common like with the whole army and martial arts stuff and they get really close really fast and then BUCK HIMSELF drawing the taylor parallels. literally biting at my enclosure.) and wow! look at that! they kiss (and soon start a relationship) and tommy is literally not only the first man buck has ever kissed, but also the catalyst for buck realizing he’s bi. (or, at least, that those feelings bucks had for men in the past (cough cough eddie) are like mushy romantic/sexual/Very Not Platonic things.) literally even if they just kissed that once and had no relationship past that it’s still a massively impactful (non)relationship for buck!!!

and somehow. somehow the most important relationships in bucks life are all connected to helicopter crashes/emergencies. and they’re only characters who have such big connections to said helicopter crashes/emergencies. and they all have relationships that are incredibly important and impactful to buck. this is literally canon.

[katyspersonal]

Having many assorted Caitha thoughts as usual 🤔

But I really think her and Nahr Alma being related makes a lot of sense! Both are connected with death and darkness, but also the blood/tears duality! Caitha displays both as seen from her rings but her focus is blue/tears, so could Nahr Alma have focus of red/blood but also have the 'tears' somewhere on the fringes?

I considered the idea of them being siblings and children of Velka; her color is purple (so, red + blue) and she is another God connected to Dark (most prominently so, too!) Nahr Alma's statue also literally holds scales in one hand, a common depiction of justice, and Undead Purgatory is called 'Execution Ground' in Japanese! But at the same time, Velka herself doesn't bear any connection with death...

Titchy Gren, a spokesperson for Nahr Alma, however, uses Caitha's Chime, one of the only three catalysts that can only cast Hexes (so, Dark), and other three are created from souls of daughters of Manus! The Hexes Titchy Gren uses are also Dark Hail and Dark Orb - dark magics that originally were borne of corruption of Abyss of Manus! I joked that Caitha and Manus fucked, but it makes a lot of sense and I don't know if it's cursed or cute. So, Nahr Alma would be the child, reasonably falling for bloody, "evil" side of Caitha as opposed to inheriting the duality, let alone her learning into "compassionate" one! That'd make Nahr Alma half-God if not quarter-God, but it isn't a big deal in Dark Souls 2 lore as even a simple human (Pharis/Evlana) is revered as God! So, yeah, Caitha fucks every wet cat man with a sob story or...... Nahr Alma is a result of gay sex with Velka.... I mean we never know how Gods bodies work or what they can do ghghdhhjn I just think there is a good way to connect these three characters. The weirdos and the feared ones amongst Gods.

Another interesting thing about Caitha is subtle connection with the Curse as it is known amongst Dragons (crystallization)! 1) Her symbol in God's name selection screen is literally a Curse icon, that specific skull 2) Her tears literally turn into crystals 3) Nito, the only other significant person connected with death, seeks eyes of Basilisks who are small relatives of Dragons and cast curses too 🤔

@val-of-the-north convinced me on the idea that Caitha is just a daughter of Nito; even if he himself wasn't a God, his EX wife (mind an empty coffin next to him) was! And she was a titular Goddess of water and life (Mask of Mother that all acolytes of Nito have and not just Pinwheel sticks out and has watery motifs, Leydia Witches not only causing disease but healing too, water pool just before Nito's arena being birthing grounds for skeleton babies that always spawn). Nature of Caitha's tears is primarily that of grieving and mourning, she has connection to death like Nito and kindness and water like her mom! Also Church of the Deep used to be her domain before Deacons retooled it.. which could explain why Aldrich uses Nito's Gravelord blade (only drenched in purple light, trademark of Dark)! He could have simply appropriated it from Caitha!

The thing is? Daughters of Chaos were possibly involved in invading Nito's domain to steal his powers to kill Gods! Effigy Shield looks a lot like a face of their Demons (Ceaseless Discharge particularly), and Undead Dragons are simply severed upper half..... when, coincidentally, lower severed halves of dragons are found in Izalith... There is also Vamos oddly having small pool of lava to smith with, knowing how to use Ember from Izalith to weave Chaos into weapons and having mysterious ties to a royal family that he no longer wishes to speak of! I remind you that Jeremiah, another user of Chaos Pyromancy, is known as a King!

Undead Dragons appear to be Dragons wounded by Nito's "miasma of death" but unable to die because... well, they're Dragons... So, if Chaos Daughters had Dragons by their side upon invasion, perhaps this is how Caitha got harmed by Dragons crystallic curse? She was protecting her father! As a (demi)God, she would not just turn into mass of crystals and perish, but some effects were set. Like her crystal tears. Maybe her very body was slowly suffering from crystallization, too?

And you know what else? Titchy Gren sells Great Scythe, that is in Dark Souls 1 found IN Nito's Catacombs, and the only magics he sells are Chaos Pyromancies! These might have been remnants of the defeat of Chaos Daughters that were appropriated by Caitha's allies!!!! Who would also be Nahr Alma's allies, even if they don't really give their compassionate mother a good name!!!!!

[cupcraft]

Feel free to completely disagree w me i just want 2 share my thougjts after rewtaching bombshells last night: As much as Cuddy wants to believe that she left House because he couldnt be there for her in the way she wanted to (which is valid but its rlly not what happened imo) She ultimately broke up w him because he relapsed. Forgive my poor memory i may be recalling wrong but the end of the episode vicodin relapse reveal hinted that house had been back on vicodin since before cuddy’s cancer scare, and the moment that Cuddy found out she dropped him. The vicodin was the catalyst in a sense she saw him relapse back into drugs and she was like Nopeee. like it was the longest he’d been sober since he developed the addiction which is a good thing but its like. the expectation that you will relapse at least once. and yeah cuddy had just gotten a big death scare but she had also found out her boyfriend had fallen back into his addiction and instead of allowing them both to comfort eachother on their respective issues she left him liek broo😭😭😭youre dating a known addict and the minute he starts addict-ing you turn away. Also ntm even though cuddy told him outwardly she didnt want him to change, she definitely had inward hope that She could he the one to change him, that he’d love her so much he wiuld change for her and that didnt happen so she quit

No your 100% right and now I'm going to rant about huddy and a missed opportunity for her character's writing.

Cuddy historically has been a character who has understood House's addiction and thus in turn his chronic pain and disability almost the least. She has a repeated history of ableism in the show towards House, but I am going to focus on her lack of understanding around House's addiction and how that ties into why she dumped him and ultimately was a failing on character growth on behalf of the writers.

In season 7 it is implied House has relapsed before the surgery date, and it's implied that he relapsed because of his intense fear of losing Cuddy due to cancer and he loved her and WANTED to be there for her, and in a way this triggered a relapse. In the world of addiction relapse can happen as addiction is a lifelong chronic illness and moments of stress, loss, etc can be a common trigger for relapse. And the fact House wanted to be there for her without panicking, definitely also makes sense why he considered relapsing. Cuddy's problem here, is that she moralizes it. It's understandable she doesn't address her subconscious thoughts on "huh, I wonder if House has relapsed..." because she's actively undergoing a panic of "am I going to die", so it makes sense she doesn't address it until she's finished surgery. But her problem is she MORALIZES this action. Think about what she tells House. She does think House couldn't "be there the way she wanted" and that "he'd never change", but those are the excuses to rationalize how she feels being in a relationship with an addict. She tells House by "being high" he wasn't "REALLY there" for her when she had the surgery/medical scare. Though House might have been pretty high (which is hard to confirm it's never really stated, and House does have a high opiate tolerance to consider), but in the end it doesn't matter if he was. Cuddy thinks House being on Vicodin is in a way subverting his love/care/attention away from her. Instead of seeing the relapse as a concern, as her terminal illness scare, fear of loss of her, wanting to be there for her, she sees it as a means of NOT being there for her. That of course, in the end, House chooses "drugs" over her. Here's a few notable quotes:

Cuddy quite litereally says the pills mean something, as in his addiction is a moral choice in which House chooses to be a careless loveless asshole who is selfish and only cares about himself and in turn cares only about avoiding pain instead of "being there for Cuddy" which is an insane way to look at someone's addiction, and blatantly fucked up. She quite literally dumps him because of this, the relapse, of because he is an addict.

Because the reality is, like I stated, House wasn't afraid Cuddy would hurt him. House isn't afraid to be there for Cuddy. House has also gotten to a point in their relationship by season 7 that he isn't afraid to love Cuddy. He didn't fear experiencing pain, he feared losing her. And he knew, and he WANTED to be there for her in her potentially dying moments because he loved her. And that in turn triggered relapse. Cuddy's interpretation here is that House never changes, but in reality we should see this as Cuddy has never changed. She's never changed since season 1, not understanding how addiction operates.

Early seasons in which Cuddy has a history of the following: Making House go cold turkey and being cruel when he experiences withdrawal instead of intervening to help him, Cuddy telling House his "pain" is just made up in his head and worsened by the Vicodin (not in a medical sense, in a moralizing sense) such that she ignores his bad pain day and tricks him into getting a saline shot and then uses his brief "distraction" from the pain as confirmation it's in his head/drug seeking behavior (again not from a nuanced position of how mental health and chronic pain intersect, instead moralizing it), she doesn't at all ever understand how opiate addiction operates nor how to treat someone's addiction (ie with methadone...foreshadowing for later) and again moralizes his choice to remain on Vicodin (The entire tritter arc), she is ANTI methadone entirely a known medical treatment for opiate addiction enough that instead of recommending House go to a methadone clinic for increased safety and monitoring threatens to fire him unless he agrees to let her control everything about his methadone treatment plan, and etc.

The writer's have posited Cuddy as someone who cares about House, who loves House, but at no point takes a moment to understand his disability, chronic pain, and his addiction. She moralizes it. And when he enters a relationship with her sober just nearly avoiding relapse, she's almost ashamed to be with him. She enters this relationship, ashamed she could be with someone like House. She takes that scene intervening in his relapse as a moral commitment he will prioritize her over drugs, thus entering the relationship without ever really wanting to understand or be compassionate dating someone who has a history of addiction. This is a missed opportunity for her to develop as a character.

Instead, the writing goes as Cuddy doesn't get to change but the narrative wants us to believe it is House who never changed or cared about her enough, because drugs and addicts bad. Which is really fucked considering they took a lot of time making Wilson grow more understanding of addiction. There's that one episode he fears House has relapsed and he says "relapse is common!" ready to help him and when he relapses after the breakup he recommends House get help instead of moralizing it. He even yells at Cuddy for leaving him, not just as a partner but as a friend.

Sorry this is long but I hope...this makes sense

[kara-knuckles]

As much as I liked the Darknights bits in Episode 13, on the whole I found it pretty frustrating, because it kinda devalued every storyline from Episode 12.

Amiya once again gets an arc about generational Sarkaz bullshit. The Revenant is barely mentioned, despite being a really damn big deal.

What about the Dukes? Last chapter has shown that they are willing to become more involved in the conflict, and now that their forces barely avoided getting hit by The Shard, surely we will get more from them? Nah, the Duke of Windermere probably holds the record for the shortest amount of time it took an established character to die, the biggest impact her forces did was GTFO-ing for the sake of Siege's arc, and the most the other Dukes managed was finally lifting their asses and telling us to tune again in half a year for Episode 14, where they maybe will do something. Maybe. Probably.

Speaking of Siege, remember all the introspection she did in 12? Morgan's realization that they aren't some heroes of legend? Who cares! Let's go full superhero comic, complete with hyper aggressive fighting, deep wound in a polluted area with no consequences, being given a convenient banner to rally people around, and even returning a fallen friend we knew for a week and mourned deeply!

…Baird who? Her buddy Delphine doesn't even get a line connecting her to Glasgow, let alone actually include her with the group in the archives. Nice CG with the real heroes, though!

Last time we saw Paprika she was with Manfred, one of our main antagonists. Will we learn more about him? Will it have some kind of effect on her? LOL. LMAO, even.

Remember all the soul searching Damazti did? How the climax of the chapter was their death? Forget it, we got not one, but two of them, complete with reset personalities!

Obviously, this means we don't get more insight from them about Golding, and Heidi is long forgotten by the narrative, but look! Lettou's arc is hitting rock bottom, perhaps he can spare some thoughts for his old friend he drove to suicide? Maybe even do some elegy about how it ties into Gaul's fate? Nope! His catalyst is actually some rando with a dementia (which I loved on a thematic level, but, you know *gestures at the list*).

Even Ines, who frankly barely did anything in 12, got her injured state completely ignored in favour of telling us Hoederer got a haircut, so that she could do some acrobatics atop a flying skeleton a few days later. But hey! They actually acknowledged her big moment of jumping from the airship, now that's a progress!

[deathsweetblossoms]

a Pro-Elriel Theory For Upcoming Books

Disclaimer: This is FOR FUN, I repeat, FOR FUN. Theories. Conjecture. No character bashing below the cut, no ship wars -- I want no part in it, and if I get some trash in the DMs or in the comments, I am deleting it. But, it is a pro-Elriel theory, so if that bothers you, then, respectfully, keep it moving <3

Here me out -- two of the most popular theories for the upcoming books are 1) the mating bond is fake 2) there will be a blood duel.

Upon trying to mind my business eating dinner, listening to the owls outside my window, I was hit with the following theory. I'm not sure how to present the information, so please bear with me.

Koschei is the Big Bad. He has been pulling the strings for awhile, and there was that quote in ACOSF which seemed to be directed to Azriel; "I've been preparing for you for awhile". Something to that effect.

Additionally, Koschei wants Vassa, who at the moment is tied to him via her firebird curse.

We know Beron is connected to Koschei now - either by proxy or they confirmed it (I actually can't remember). It only makes sense that with Briallyn out of the way, and with Beron & Briallyn having a working alliance, that he would step in as Koschei's next partner to Do Bad Things and Claim Power. So, for this theory, Beron and Koschei are working together.

This is where the Blood Duel comes in -- the only way I can see L*cien initiating the Blood Duel at this point is if he's being puppeted by Koschei. Puppeting L*cien can maneuver two things to his advantage: direct access to Azriel via the Blood Duel, direct access to Vassa by simply being close to L*cien. How would this happen? I wouldn't put it past Beron to somehow make L*cien and Koschei cross paths, especially if everyone still believes L*cien is his son.

This would also bring up an opportunity for Lady Autumn to speak up about L*cien's true parentage, in a bid to save his life from having to unwillingly participate in a Blood Duel. I can see this going two ways 1) Helion finds a way to break L*cien's bond to Koschei 2) Helion claims that Blood Duels are outlawed in Day and L*cien lawfully cannot particpate, thus saving everyones life. Perhaps he sacrifices himself in the process - which I fucking hope not.

This is where Pro-Elriel discourse comes into play via Elain rejecting her mating bond. With either a true mating bond or a fake one, the rejection of that bond would be the catalyst to start this entire war. For a fake mating bond - if Koschei is the mastermind I think he is, it's totally plausible for him to have manipulated the mating bond to be able to move the chess pieces around in such a way that it would give him access to Azriel, via puppeting L*cien. Especially if he's been preparing for Azriel FOR AWHILE, and Azriel's fondness for Elain has been going on FOR AWHILE. If Briallyn could see that Nesta and Cassian had feelings for each other, then there is definitely a way for the information about Azriel's feelings for Elain to get back to Koschei. (Plus I have that theory about what Azriel whispered in Eris's ear...but it's all conjecture at this point, and won't include it here). But a Blood Duel between L*cien and Azriel gives Koschei literally a front row seat to Azriel. If Koschei is as ancient and all-powerful as I think he is, so much so he had to be bound to a lake, so much so that his siblings were hiding from him, then it's entirely plausible for him to maneuver something like this.

I, PERSONALLY, don't know if it's a fake bond anymore, and I think it would give so much more weight and significance to Elain's story if it was a true bond that she still chose to reject. But, again, it could work either way.

Why not just go directly for Azriel, you ask? Without all of this complicated mess of a political problem and bonds and puppetting? Good question. It seems he can't actually do that, since he had to pull so many strings just to get Azriel to him via Eris's rescue. Also, there wouldn't really be a story if he could just ZOINK Azriel into his clutches. Plus, werent the Valk*ries whisked into the Blood Rite purely for Briallyn and Koschei’s machinations? He isn’t above using people, or creating a completely convoluted problem, to reach his end goal. That entire plan actually demonstrates how far he will go just to get what he wants.

All of these strings just fit together TOO conveniently for me to ignore, and the one piece I was missing was motivation for L*cien to start the Blood Duel. Because I don't think SJM is writing a love triangle where Elain is going to play both of them against each other. L*cien is very much at the center of two things Koschei wants, though, so ...it all just seems... a little too convenient a ploy. Like, if I thought of it, I'm sure Koschei also thought of it.

EDIT: ALSO, Azriel isn't f*cking watching L*cien because it's an invasion of Elain's privacy! It could easily slip through the cracks that he would be under Koschei's control. Aughh the more I think about it, I swear!! The fact that this was made clear in ACOFS, the book that planted seeds for future books, is such a big key. I never thought L*cien would betray anyone, but including this tidbit was too juicy for it not to lead somewhere.

[arisenreborn]

I got Brant from @soloavengers for the character thoughts prompt, thank youuu! <3<3<3

1. What my Arisen thinks of them -

Reverie is admittedly a little intimidated by him, especially when she first meets him. Being called 'Your Majesty' and all of that is... oof, it's a lot. She'd think it was a joke if he wasn't so serious (and did definitely give an awkward laugh the first time he said it, only to stop equally awkwardly when he just stared back at her). But she's ultimately inspired by his dedication and desire to serve the people of Vermund, and it's really nice having someone so reliable she can... yanno, rely on. He's one of the first catalysts that gets her moving in the 'right direction', and in some ways is a bit formative for someone with no memories to call her own. Though she's naturally inclined to help, she takes in a bit of his dutifulness of his. Gradually, she hopes to live up to at least some of his expectations. She does lowkey worry that he doesn't have enough time to relax and unwind. Like, sure he's at the tavern a lot, but is he actually using that time to chill at all when he's still in his armor?

2. What my Pawn thinks of them -

Rann is slightly more guarded about the captain, but that's mostly out of his watchfulness over Reverie. At the start of things he doesn't have the entire picture, but a clearer one that she does, so he takes it upon himself to consider things like: anyone with close ties to the palace could possibly betray her like they did before. Those thoughts are pretty swiftly dismissed though, and he is mostly relieved Reverie does have a true and staunch ally she can rely upon beyond the pawns. He takes a certain measure of pride in such an honorable man supporting her. On the nights where they meet with him, he sometimes get an uncomfortable twinge in his chest watching them huddled close over the table, voices low and unheard across the din of the tavern. Something about the way the captain calls her 'Your Majesty' tugs at him, but he can't place why...

3. What they think of my Arisen -

At the initial announcement of the Arisen's arrival, there's a sense of relief and pride. It's not until later when he meets her post-memory curse that a tinge of concern mixes in there. Without all of those burn scars, he did some research into her history, and finding connections to a guild of thieves was more than a little worrying. But her kindhearted nature and insistence on helping others shone through any of those concerns. To the point he has a whole new set of worries about their Sovran perishing before she's even been crowned. Of course, there's not much that can be done for it given the circumstances, so he can only trust in her abilities. He believes she's a little naive and her memory loss is a great potential danger, but endeavors to cover for these possible risks. His loyalty to the laws of Vermund and the seat of the Sovran were one thing, but by the end his loyalty to Reverie as a person, who has overcome many odds and risked herself for others time and time again, is even greater.

4. What they think of my Pawn -

Initially he regards Rann the same as any other Pawn: with the respect due to those of such unwavering loyalty to the Arisen, but it doesn't go much deeper than that. Getting glimpses of just how much Rann supports Reverie, however, he does feel of a sense of deeply owed gratitude. The Arisen should be leading armies to face the Dragon, not skulking around untangling Disa's plots after all, having to scrounge for coin and food. In some ways he's almost envious of the pawn, being so close and serving her so openly. I think while he's very perceptive he's honestly a bit clueless about just how deep that bond between them goes later on.

Bonus: An extra headcanon I have about them -

It might not be especially ground-breaking but I do think once the armor is set aside, Brant is a big teddy bear and would make an excellent cuddler. He also has frighteningly high alcohol tolerance.

[castlebyersafterdark]

so i was listening to a podcast about screenwriting all day at work today and its soooo good and also, as someone who already thought they knew a fair bit about craft in writing etc, i was intrigueddddd

the woman hosting wrote Pixar's Inside Out, and it was just... so much info about what byler in s4 means if i applied her knowledge. i might even write a whole thing up about it. im so excited haha

especially the parts about 3 act structure.

if you consider ST overall in the 3 act structure, which means s4 into s5 is the end of Act 2 and into Act 3, where rising action crescendoes and then climaxes. So basically the protag (ensemble in ST which makes things harder to deduce but we are focusing on byler) in Act 2 has gotten to the point where theyre learning all these lessons that contradict what they thought when they began the story in Act 1. And you think they're going to make a good choice, cos theyre on the up, but then a good writer hits them with a big ol 'think you were doing well? Cope with THIS bitch!' and its like the biggest ever test and they regress all the way back to their former self. It's then in Act 3 where they step up and learn the final lessons necessary for their evolution, by consciously letting go of the things they believed in Act 1. So until this point, it's all been subconsciousness dictating the way they behave and the choices they make.

I kept thinking of mike most of all because his storyline oddly feels more tied to Will than Will's does to Mike? Because Mike's is so about servicing others, and in s1 he was For Will. Whereas Will was being caught up in drama away from Mike, about his own identity and what Vecna wanted. I think s5 will reveal Mike's conflict away from Will in more detail, but till then, I kept thinking of Mike.

But if you think of what lessons from s1 Mike needs to unlearn... well, what will they be? Because honestly, mike wasn't very conforming to society in s1, was he? He was defying at every turn. But then remember the family pressure, his little suit and tie at the funeral? 'Dad you're choking me' is a pivotal line for me.

But mainly it just shows that mike's monologue is the final push from the writers that challenges him. the thing that makes him regress at the end of Act 2. The external force is el's life in danger and the collapse of the world. The internal force? Believing that Will's van confession was from el after all, and that it's hopeless to love Will. This must mean that in the van, he was finally waking up - becoming aware, to himself and his feelings, and even to will's.

And as for will, the van scene lead to him finally pushing mike towards el - that's the big test for will that has him regressing back to his s1 beliefs. the painting was the most he'd progressed in this aspect of his arc; courage to paint, finally tell mike. then he chose to regress and accept he'll be alone by giving away his confession.

and the meaning of this end of Act 2, according to the podcast, is that the character is now aware of how they failed, due to a catastrophe that occurs at the end of Act 2 and which is the catalyst for the climax of the story in Act 3. Two options: the character does not learn their lesson and regresses = a tragedy. We know ST is not this. So this means the characters must have learned the lessons they need for growth by the end of Act 2, which means growth. they're awake and aware, and they learn that regressing to their former beliefs does not serve purpose and has actually caused the catastrophe. Was there one?

Yep! Hawkins is burning!

So, the confession not working, El ignoring Mike. Mike chooses to stand with will. he is taking conscious action. He is changed, his goals and relationships have changed. Hop even says it to his face: 'You've grown.' Mike nods.

But the key thing is, it's necessary for the character to still not know exactly how to resolve things yet. Or what's left for Act 3? And the audience shouldn't know before the character does, or this is dramatic irony, and is only used for certain parts of a story. All we have instead is an itchy feeling that something is amiss. It's this that is the writers doing a damn good job, leaving us hanging. But milevens' hate it because they don't want it to be true, and bylers' hate it because they wanted more from byler by the end of s4 (somewhat selfishly, i might add - because the story needs to go at it's own pace, and it actually is not obligated to audiences just because they can't wait any longer, or even for representation reasons. Sorry to be harsh, but a story serves itself first and foremost. It's not political propaganda or educational material - representation is important, but not the main purpose of art by any means. Besides, ITS NOT FINISHED. The podcast just really drove home to me how insane it is not only to expect answers when the story is literally NOT DONE, but to demand that art should adhere to certain peoples' worldviews rather than be a story that reflects the artists' personal beliefs about the world. If you want good rep that badly, go write the story you want to see. Make the art).

So in short, if we (meaning the average audience member) were already able to guess how ST and byler would end, it would be a failure on the writer's part. It's their duty to make an unpredictable story that captures us until the end.

It was just fascinating and i recommend the podcast (The Screenwriting Life), because it made me so excited about this story in the way I was when watching S4 and figuring out byler.

other interesting observations I made were: even passive-seeming characters are active and have agency, because they are actively choosing to be passive and to resist change/exposure/doing something etc, which is actually difficult because theyre going against the grain and flow of the narrative. So when people call Will passive, it's bull because he's always moving the plot forwards, for example giving mike the painting was one of the most meaningful actions that influenced the narrative in s4.

And a common tool is a character could say the same sentence they said in act 1, but the meaning changes in the new context or situation, or because another character says it to them.

What do you think Mike and will’s could be? 

The whole i cant lose you thing from the van? Maybe the true meaning of Mike's monologue finally recontextualised. This isnt a new theory and I think it's very on theme

Or it could be Will's s3 line 'I'm not going to fall in love.' Could he end up having this conversation with Joyce, where she tells him 'oh sweetie, you already have'. Or even Mike, saying something like 'but I'm the one who had already fallen in love with you.' Or something subtler, like their 'I didn't say it' 'You didn't have to' but it's about the fact that theyre in love with each other. 'You didn't have to say that.' 'But I wanted to' etc

Or perhaps the famous crazy together re-contextualised. Cheesy af, but totally on brand for the show.

Sorry for long ass post.

Thank you for the long ass post, loved it! Super insightful read 😁 Excellent points and detailed break down of this story structure, especially the one that hammers home something I always found bothersome - the frustration felt by many fans at the end of season 4. Being bothered by the state of things, the unresolved arcs, the possibility of Byler not realized, the big questions unanimous. Well... yeah? There's a whole other season. It's important for things to still be in progress. We're not there yet. A lot of story to tell, lessons to learn, mysteries to unravel.

Thanks for sharing, I'm not gonna break it all down because it's an excellent read on it's own!! Loved this ❤️

[synonymroll648]

Listen here, if Fintan isn't dead, then Kenric isn't dead. I am in a constant state of denial

Theories

- Kenric was "protected" by the Neverseen and is now probably a pale, beaten thing on the floor

- Kenric was brainwashed by the neverseen and Oralie's true loves kiss saves him or something cute like that

- Kenric did light leap out of there, he never went back to the council because he decided that the council is Bad™️

whaddup i am over a month late to answer this :D anyway. i am not necessarily in denial about kenric being dead but i am sure as hell in denial about a lot of other things in life so. i get that. let us vibe in elf hell mostly under the cut because i know myself and my response is going to be long. warnings for mentions of immolation, torture, etc that tend to come with talking about kenric!

response to theory one:

there are a lot of fascinating potential implications with the use of quotations around protected. obviously, the implications are most likely under the umbrella of 'taken by the neverseen and isolated from the public and its knowledge'. but there's a lot of different ways you could do that! my first thought is that fitnan somehow managed to get kenric out of the fire before he burned to a complete crisp.

and then kenric was taken as a hostage. maybe they told him that if he told them council secrets, he could go free. he probably didn't give in, and that's why he's a pale, beaten thing on the floor. but who knows, maybe he did - sooner or later, your pick - and they kept him beaten and pale on the floor anyway. sounds like something they'd do. sure would hurt as a reader :')

response to theory two:

kenric being brainwashed by the neverseen is another interesting concept!! interesting and o w on the emotional scale. i'd like to think that gethen's the one that does it. so it's a character we already know and we can have connections to crescent bite marks and frostbitten ridden nails and other things associated with gethen that could contrast with kenric as we used to know him and/or who he is now. it'd also be nice to come back to kenric in person, someone who was a huge comfort - almost father-like - figure to sophie before everblaze and what went down at oblivimyre, but twisted. well, not nice, it'd hurt like hell, but that's the fun part! taking a beloved character that's become more relevant through the opening of his cache in stellarlune (and legacy? i don't think so. but i can't really remember) and seeing him again would make me go :O (/pos or /neg depending on execution, but i'm leaning toward /pos)

as for the part about oralie - first thought, incredibly cheesy but i love cheesy. plus, considering the series we're talking about, i can see it working and being in-character and lore-compliant. kenric and oralie weren't ever together, but they are like. undeniably canon. and important to canon, because the nature of their dynamic was ultimately the catalyst for a lot of aspects of the series. i mean, like, sophie probably wouldn't exist biologically in the way we know her today if it weren't for her being close enough to kenric for him to consider her as a moonlark dna donor and for her to trust him with something like that.

so having oralie, someone who was incredibly important to him before he supposedly got roasted at oblivimyre for many years, kiss him? something he wanted for so very long but never got in canon iirc? that might snap him out of mind control. not just 'cause he's like head over heels in love with her but also because he has so many memories that are important to him tied to her, whether it's like. romantic or council shit or something else. considering the lore in kotlc surrounding the idea of triggering memories and/or resurfacing a form of someone's consciousness through things that are deeply tied to their past, big or small, this seems like a solid solution. and some fluff and/or hurt/comfort that shannon would probably lean into. also the consequences of a current councillor kissing a former councillor would be fucking DELICIOUS. probably angsty. still very scrumptious

response to theory three:

oooooh i'd never considered that! i'd always thought of kenric as the kind of guy that wasn't necessarily loyal to the council first and foremost - considering how much he cared about sophie and oralie and possibly/probably the black swan or at least certain members of its organization - but cared too much about the elvin population to abandon his post as councillor willingly. though i do suppose there's always been an element of longing for a different life with his character, isn't there?

this is largely expressed through his love for oralie, but i'm sure there's more layers to it than that if you look close. i never really fixated on kenric, so i can't think of concrete evidence from the books off the top of my head that doesn't involve oralie, but you could probably pull from moments between him and sophie. she literally asks - forkle, i think? - if he's her father. and, y'know, she's wrong (unless shannon decides that was a lie), but. to stand up for a kid enough that she asks if you're her dad? definitely can be read as wanting a family at one point. which isn't a stretch, considering how oralie literally tells sophie that she gave the black swan her dna for project moonlark because she'd always wanted a kid but she couldn't as a councillor, and that was her one compromise available. and kenric is, as previously mentioned, infatuated with oralie. them secretly wanting a family together makes sense.

also, like, the entire series makes a point of him being a lot more mysterious than he looks on a surface level. some parts of the mystery of his character compelling him to leave the council behind when he gets the chance? understandable. heartbreaking, to know that he left sophie and everyone else he swore he'd protect behind instead of coming back, and unknowingly leaving them all to deal with the menace (/neg) that is alina as a councillor, but alas. it could work. i'd want reasons, though. lore as to why, lore as to where he went once he disappeared, what he's done with his new life.

random side note: it's an interesting thought to muse about whether or not kenric saw keefe while he was hiding in the forbidden cities. if he decided to get closer or further. if it was closer, it was probably in disguise. but chances are, he probably walked off as soon as he could.

if you read through to the end i'm proud of you holy shit

[thisisadonaldduckblognow]

i wish i had the energy and eloquence to fully and properly get into the family therapist mikey thing tbh it’s so hard to just. explain what i MEAN. 

(ftr i am an adult who does regularly touch grass. i understand interpretation and ymmv on characterization. i understand the catharsis of vent art and vent fic and projecting issues onto characters to process them. i don’t read through stuff i’ve found issues with and then seethe about it, i keep scrolling or hit the back button and find something else. 

i am still gonna talk about trends i’ve noticed and things that i don’t get or that rub me the wrong way. please don’t come into my posts about my personal thoughts and opinions to, however well-meaning or politely, judge me for expressing them. consider doing what i do and keep scrolling. i won’t engage with that. i would ask that no one else engages with that in replies or comments.

i also legit don’t Get tone indicators just ftr. they elude me.)

bc so much of the draxum moral realignment stuff was mikey being motivated largely by what mikey wanted. he wanted to see barry as family, he wanted barry to become part of the family, he wanted the story of their mutation to be less uh. objectively crummy.

now, mikey’s wants in that area served as a CATALYST for other development, him pursuing that (often very hamfistedly and despite many objections) wound up paving the way, but it was ultimately in the spirit of his personal desire. which ftr im not criticizing that’s very much part of the character.

he brought draxum to the big hidden city day out because it was a Family Event and he personally considered draxum family. splinter and draxum kinda coming to a truce, splinter reconciling that his mutation (despite the horrific trauma and long-lasting impact of it) was still what gave him his sons who he loves more than anything, that was all splinter and draxum. mikey’s action of bringing barry along was a catalyst, he was able to speak to his own feelings about it to splinter when it came up, but he wasn’t sitting there going “tell me how that makes you feel and we’ll talk through it” yknow?

and it’s the same with the dr feelings thing with donnie, which is arguably as close to Playing Therapist as mikey gets on screen. bc that was just a very Extra way of confronting donnie about the shelldon stuff. like. that was mikey inserting himself into the situation so he could give his personal opinion about how donnie was messing up, just with a sweater and a powerpoint. like. an intervention i guess. if donnie hadn’t gotten the picture from the slides he was probably all lined up for a dr delicate touch meeting.

which like, was also not being donnie’s therapist as much as a once again very hamfisted way of addressing something that mikey felt in the right about?

i’m wondering if maybe what i picture when i hear about a child having to play therapist for the family isn’t the same as what modern fandom means by saying it. because i picture like, what steven universe went through. which was practically singlehandedly, as a child, walk a bunch of adults through their own grief and insecurities and shortcomings with unending patience and support, to a point of pushing all his own needs and emotional issues aside.

where steven seemed convinced there were things that he wasn’t allowed to express or outright things he never got to learn to express, mikey is probably the most emotionally open and honest of all the brothers. he feels more outright sheltered. 

especially where his big brothers are concerned. the entire episode about his first solo mission he was chafing about being unnecessarily overprotected by raph. there’s a lot tied up in his relationship to raph if we take what the creators said about them growing apart as they’ve grown up into account. 

so i guess for me, in my understanding of the trauma of playing therapist at a young age, i can’t really reconcile what canon gives us with the idea of any of the other brothers or splinter (who is notably emotionally disconnected from his sons at series start) genuinely dropping their issues on his lap. 

but in that vein, for as much as he’s emotionally open and honest, i’m sure there are also insecurities and issues that mikey doesn’t express. or. that canon for some reason just decided to not dig into in any of the episodes that actually got made.

but ohhhhh that’s a whole separate can of worms.

[ride-thedragon]

Now I haven't looked at the leaks but people are saying that Rhaenyra sees herself in Nettles in a script leak.

That makes sense when you think about the characterization of Rhaenyra in the show.

She's maternal, she involves the women that surround her, she would relate to Nettles for no other commonality than being a woman in this world. It's a common experience.

I understand the hesitation towards them making Rhaenyra kinder, but I think that was always going to be the case. I think a bigger issue would be the downplaying of Rhaenyra’s grief that practically incapacitated her during the dance.

But it's not interesting to see that happen to a main character throughout a season so her playing an active role makes sense.

I genuinely think the showrunners are going to make the grief of losing Jace and Viserys the catalyst for her mindless grief.

It would make her grief and subsequent insane actions more impactful when we see her capacity to be good. To be on this girls side only to sideline her.

Adult Rhaenyra also carries a lot of regret from her past . You can see that in episodes 6, 7, and 8 reflected in her actions that continue to escalate but only at the cost of her family.

I think using a willful young girl who has come into an unbelievable source of power in a short time is a good way to reflect and differentiate them while not letting Nettles be a major catalyst just yet.

This also ties into a beautiful display of animosity that can be built seeing as they both have big reactions to Jace’s death in the books. A line in the sand for their relationship perhaps.

(A link towards an action they could take to push this further).

Overall, I don't think adding an emotional weight between them would be a bad idea, I just hope they remember that class and race play into these interactions and that Nettles is a character outside of it.

Seeing as the show likes to play with thematic points and parallels, I'd love to see a reiterating of the "this is a vile accusation." scene between Nettles and Rhaenyra at some point.