#you can certainly do it without ignoring everything good about those characters

[itsabouttimex2]

Sooooo... How do you feel about the season 5?

In short? Mid. 6-6.5/10.

In long…?

A severely rushed season that bit off way more than it could chew. A season that had the characters pull powers from their asses more frequently than ever before. A season that had shitty “dramatic” moments for the sake of having dramatic moments. A season that lampshades issues instead of fixing them. A season with so, so much wasted potential.

It basically boils down: everything they wanted to do COULD have been good, but they just didn’t have the time.

I’ll go into some varied details below. I’d also like to make clear- I’ll be tagging all of my Season Five Posts with “Lego Monkie Kid Season 5” and “LMK Spoilers” until August 1st. Then the gloves are coming off and I’ll stop tagging them.

(I still liked the season, for what it’s worth- and you can watch it in full here! I’ve got some drafts and bots cooking as we speak!)

This was a cute send-off to Flying Bark! It was nice of them to acknowledge, in some way, everything that those dears did for the show- because Lego Monkie Kid would NOT be where it is without them.

Significantly less cute-

The absolute kick in the fucking face that constantly superimposing old footage over newer, worse footage is.

You don’t want us to be constantly reminded of the animation downgrade- that’s the literal last thing that anyone wants. Why would you constantly remind us that it used to be better?

What the fuck does this accomplish? Okay, let’s make comparisons, cause that’s the only thing that can result from pulling this shit-

This is what happens when you constantly reference the older, superior content.

PEOPLE CONSTANTLY NOTICE THAT YOUR CONTENT IS WORSE.

Also, why is it so saturated? How do you make a Lego Minifigure look like he has jaundice?

It’s just a bad look to constantly reference content you can’t live up to. I’m hoping they’ll just recreate old content instead of sloppily pasting it into the background of the show- it’ll be less jarring.

Alright, what else…

———

Yay, I called it! Nuwa is not MK’s “loving though bereft mommy”! Which I had been guessing ever since the Celestial Pagoda leaked, actually-

I mean, come on. He’s literally stealing the stones away from her as she reaches to take them back.

And the Season confirmed it! Nuwa might’ve be been MK’s creator, but she certainly wasn’t his momma.

And you know how the series subtlety clues you in to how little she cares about her “son”?

Nuwa didn’t give him a name. She had hundreds, maybe thousands of years to think on it- but no. No name.

We mortals name our pets, our vehicles, our art. We love them enough to bestow monikers.

Nuwa didn’t even bother to name her own sapient mortal creation.

But when he makes a move against her, does something she doesn’t want, takes destiny into his own hands?

She calls out to him with one word- not “son”. Not “MK”.

Nuwa angrily calls him “mortal”.

Becuase that’s all he ever was to her, really. A mortal pawn. A handmade puppet.

Someone designed to fulfill a sacrifice. Even though her intentions were good, MK’s sole purpose by her hand was to shoulder the weight of the world like a good little hero.

So… a potential “villain” in the making?

———

Lampshading the fact that you’re doing the “macguffin hunt” again does not excuse doing the “macguffin hunt” again.

Lampshading the “apocalypse after apocalypse” plots doesn’t make them any less exhausting.

Lampshading Macaque’s lack of narrative consequences does not undo the awkward and weak redemption arc.

———

They changed Mei “no longer wielding” the Samadhi fire, I guess.

Ignore that she never displayed a hint of concern or sorrow over “losing it” because now she’s sad and worried (after backlash from the fans over her losing it) about losing it.

Like, Subodhi knows so much about the world and the universe that he’s aware of his existence in the ink scroll- but he gets Mei not having an interplanetary level threat inside her wrong?

I smell a retcon.

———

Macaque’s redemption arc is still shit. I’ve got a whole rant queued to release soon, actually- I imagine it might be the final time I comment on his arc until Season Six.

To put it short- Macaque still falls upwards into redemption. No pushback or difficulty or introspection. He’s just a magically better person without any onscreen development to make the change believable.

But they reference this at one point?

Sun Wukong points out that Macaque escapes the trial without any punishment, and is just allowed to mope in place of an actual consequence.

So maaaaaayybeeeee they’ll do something in Season Six? I’ve lost all faith that he’ll ever be an interesting character again, though.

He’s essentially just “brooding rival #80058”. Instead of being a character that calls back to Seasons 1-3, from 4 onwards he’s just a brand new dude who totally didn’t commit any atrocities with a smile on his face- and he’s a worse and more boring character for it.

———

If I haven’t misjudged the intent, I think Monkie Kid will be going back to being an episodic series for the extent of Season Six. Again, they lampshade the “apocalypse after apocalypse” thing, yeah?

And now they have a perfect formula- find someone who’s having trouble with their new power, and help them.

And we might see Bai He again???

Let’s hope for a good breather season!

———

Rest in piss Li Jing their asses did NOT cook with you sorry papa

You could’ve been interesting in the writers didn’t try to pull a “loving father” bait and switch after you got like four scenes of being a raw jackass

If they were going to deviate from the source material and make you a good dad couldn’t it have just been:

“Li Jing, you were not invited to the trial!”

“STF that monkey son of a bitch hurt my baby boy-“

“Father I’m 300-“

“Hush son, let daddy take care of this- that monkey son of a bitch hurt my baby boy when he stole the Samadhi fire map!”

Maybe next season you’ll get to be interesting, hun.

(I’m still writing for Lotusfam though)

———

Drama for the sake of drama. 0/10 scene. Could’ve just had the interruption come AFTER they held hands, but no. Gotta drag shit out for the shippers or whatever. There was no reason to prolong this reunion.

I’m really not a fan of the “just wait another season for it”, mentality. Stop stretching shit out. You had a chance to do something sweet and heartwarming, and chose not to for the sake of trying to drag a conclusion out.

Ugh.

———

Characters just pull powers out of their ass for the sake of forcing dramatic scenes.

THESE ARE DOGSHIT SCENES

THIS MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE. THIS IS DONE SOLELY FOR THE SALE OF “MUH DRAMATIC FINALE” AND IS BAD

ITS BAD WRITING TO HAVE CHARACTERS PULL NEW MAGICAL POWERS OUT OF THEIR ASSES FOR THE SAKE OF DRAMA

IF WUKONG HAD THIS POWER FROM THE START HE SHOULD’VE USED IT AGAINST HIS FUCKING LETHAL ENEMIES AND NOT SAVED IT FOR HIS PRECIOUS STUDENT

MK NEVER LEARNED TO USE THE FILLET SPELL. THE WRITERS PULLED IT OUT OF THEIR ASS TO FORCE DRAMA BY HAVING MK TORTURE HIS MENTOR LONGER THAN EVEN THEIR ACTING ENEMY LI JING DID WITH A CIRCLET THAT IS CANONICALLY TIGHTER THAN HIS FIRST

WE SEE HOW FAST HE IS WHEN HE FIGHTS THE AZURE LION

MK CAN MOVE FASTER THAN WUKONG

HE COULD’VE BEATEN HIM THERE IN AN EQUALLY CLIMATIC RACE

I FEEL NOTHING WHEN I WATCH THIS BECAUSE IT IS FORCED DRAMA FOR THE SAKE OF DRAMA

—————————————————

💚💚💚

[sometimesraven]

re: the ableism in Dot and Bubble

I understand it almost certainly wasn't Rusty's intention for the "can't walk without the arrows" thing to be ableist, but the implications are there and it was so, so hard to watch.

As I said while liveblogging, I've noted that reliance on tech like Google Maps has caused a regression in skills like navigation and a frustrating refusal to even try. I'm frequently faced with that fact as I live somewhere you have to use your eyes to see and most fast food delivery drivers just Cannot Find Us bc the GPS goes wild and they can't follow the directions I always give them so I inevitably have to go out to find them myself. Believe me, I know what he was going for with that part of the script.

However.

When you exaggerate that point to the tune of "she literally cannot walk" without the aid, and then instead of it being deeply disturbing to the two 'kind, helpful' characters (Doc n Ruby), they actively roll their eyes at her and it's played as an "omg how stupid is she" moment, you have to see how that looks.

Let's reframe it: someone you've met was raised in a cult. A very insular, very strict cult that they literally have never seen outside of. At this point in time you know nothing about them but you do know they're in a very insular, very closed-off society. One day they tell you they have no idea how to,,,,,, idk, wash themselves without assistance. If your first instinct is to laugh at them and roll your eyes like they're overexaggerating, you're an ableist.

I struggle to believe anyone like the Doctor wouldn't perhaps initially react with confusion/incredulity but then, after realising this person is 100% serious, go "oh my god that's horrible okay uh let me try to walk you through this and teach you how".

It's a horrible, cynical response that would maybe track if at this point the characters already knew she was an entitled pissbaby. But they don't and that's why it comes across so terribly.

Especially when there's no indication that this is a side-effect of her entitlement and she's literally insulting herself "I'm so stupid!" and genuinely upset and frustrated that she can't even walk in the face of actual death. And yes, she miraculously can walk again once she meets Ricky but it wasn't because she was ignoring the Doctor's advice because racism because he had not given her any. She had literally zero clue how to walk without assistance until Ricky guided her.

This isn't a refusal to learn a skill based on entitlement, this isn't a heavy-handed metaphor, you have given this girl a disability (even if it is psychosomatic, it is still a disability). And in a time where social media + youth entitlement is being blamed for an increase of ADHD, Autism, chronic illness and DID diagnosis-seekers (among other things, but those are the ones people are most aggressive against) that just does not look good At All.

Russel could easily have made it so that they just had no idea how to navigate without the bubble and refused to learn.

Maybe at first show it as genuine frustration on Lindy's part that she can't find anything without guidance but slowly show that no, she's perfectly capable, she just doesn't care to learn.

Hell, you could have everything play out the same way but have her genuinely get offered help to begin with by the Doctor and ignore it, only for Ricky to say the same thing to her later and she gets it immediately.

Idk, anything beyond literally disabling her. The show does a great job at humanising her before showing us that she was a monster all along, but I feel like Rusty himself forgot that he was still representing a Whole Entire Person (something that people on all ends of the political spectrum do All The Time: "person is bad therefore [___ism] is okay in this instance". Ableism especially)

[pluckyredhead]

ur post abt the green lantern’s political leanings was so interesting!! can you do one for the bat family? (but only if u wanna!!)

Honestly, I can't, because their politics are so incoherent.

Like, take Bruce. (And again, like with the Lanterns, I'm talking about canon here, not how I wish things were.) On the one hand, you would imagine he's pretty progressive, right? He's almost certainly a single issue voter and that single issue is gun control. He believes in rehabilitating criminals and in fact a lot of Wayne Enterprises hires are formerly incarcerated people. He is an active philanthropist who pours money into schools, orphanages, hospitals, public spaces, and the arts. These are all leftist values!

And yet the modern Batman is also a completely unrestrained violent anarchic-libertarian power fantasy. Bruce has invented his own law, which he enacts and enforces completely arbitrarily, however he feels like doing so. He obeys the laws he wants to obey and ignores the ones he doesn't care about, while insisting he is law-abiding. He tortures people literally constantly and considers it righteous. He uses the profits from his publicly traded company to become a one-man military industrial complex. (The emissions from the fucking Batmobile alone...!) He illegally surveils the entire city and sometimes the entire planet (Brother Eye, anyone?) because he has decided that his moral authority overrides literally anyone's right to privacy, anywhere. He allows his defeated foes to be locked up indefinitely regardless of their mental state in an institution that would make any qualified mental health professional run screaming in the opposite direction. He's sexist. All of these things sit on the right of the political spectrum, but imagine me pointing to the right like Charlie from It's Always Sunny pointing to his murder board.

And none of the Batfamily is any better. Some of them are honestly worse in certain aspects. Dick was a cop. Jason loves guns. Babs and Tim are even more in love with surveillance than Bruce is. Remember when Tim wanted to replace the police with, like, a Bat-army??? BECAUSE I DO.

It's not really "their fault," as much as anything can be a fictional character's fault. It's the result of being written by writers who are, for the most part, consciously trying to write the Bats as good Samaritans, but are also living in a world where we have had our brains warped by all of our blockbusters being funded by the US military, in a medium where badassery is prized above everything else, and so all this really problematic shit spills out onto the comics page without being questioned. It's also kind of a boiling frog situation: i.e. Batman has always had a cool car, so as he got tougher and tougher, of course that car would eventually become a tank, and no one stopped to go "Wait, what the fuck? What the fuck? How is this billionaire driving a tank around helping anyone???" I guess god bless Zack Snyder for inadvertently highlighting how fucking stupid and counterproductive a Batman taken to his worst extremes is.

To be clear, I don't think this is what most writers are trying to do with Batman (some of them are, but fuck those guys). But it's what happens when all you care about is rule of cool, and the more I think about it the more I'm like...shit, maybe Alan Moore was right and superheroes are just stupid.

Anyway in conclusion, comic book writers should consider the ramifications of what they're writing occasionally. But Bruce Wayne probably still votes blue, at least.

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

good omens mascot here: why i relate to crowley

Okay I know I've only watched the first season and there's a lot I don't know about season two But. I have a lot of feelings about Crowley and I'm trying to figure out why and this is what I've got. I'm sure at least some of you relate to some of these. I'm using he/him for him this post.

One. He's so disillusioned with almost everything (I say almost on purpose). Heaven? He lost faith in heaven when he fell, maybe before he fell, maybe he fell because he lost faith in it. He's so frustrated with Aziraphale's belief in the goodness of heaven, but he still respects that belief and even admires Aziraphale for it, only really showing how upset he is when Aziraphale lets that blind faith guide decisions. Crowley always says things that imply being an angel is a good trait, but that facade breaks when Aziraphale is fucking up, because he doesn't want Aziraphale to get hurt or this world to end. As for hell? He certainly doesn't have faith in hell, and doesn't belong in it. Mankind? Nope, he frequently points out how flawed and cruel humans are. Himself? Crowley doesn't have faith in himself, really, either.

And I relate to that feeling of... losing faith in all the things that are supposed to be Right and Good, like society and family, parents and friends, lovers and yourself, government and laws.

Two. I said almost, and that's because Aziraphale. He has such relentless faith in the fact that they are friends, they are best friends, they are lovers. 6000 years, and he keeps reading beneath the lines, continues to stand by Azi even when Aziraphale reminds him that he is a demon, that they are on opposing sides, that Aziraphale does not like him, that they are not friends, that Aziraphale couldn't care less about him. Crowley knows Aziraphale doesn't mean it, just like we know. And we're so used to seeing romances where one character says something they don't mean and the rift goes on forever and we get frustrated because idiots, he didn't mean it. But Crowley knows Aziraphale doesn't mean it. He doesn't stop saying they are best friends. That they are more. He calls out Aziraphale on his bullshit and points out that Aziraphale does love him. And he does it without pushing, just lines dropped over millennia, a reminder to Aziraphale that Crowley feels the same, that he knows, he understands. It's such a relentless, powerful optimism from a demon who has lost faith in everything else.

And I know how that feels, to believe in a love so strongly that you can take blow after blow to that belief and have it remain unshattered. To give gentle reminders that you see through the lies, and that you are there and you know they didn't want to hurt you.

Three. Another caveat, though. How much can that belief withstand? Yes, Crowley knows that Aziraphale is his lover and best friend. But how many doubts have crept in over those thousands of years? When Aziraphale said he didn't like Crowley, and the demon replied with you do, how much of it was posturing? When Crowley has been cast out from heaven and persecuted by hell, found no friends in humankind, it must have shattered his sense of self-worth. He calls Aziraphale his only friend, his best friend. Imagine your only friend repeatedly insisting you aren't friends. Yes, you know it is because to be friends is to put both of you in danger, that Aziraphale does not mean it and has shown time and again that he loves Crowley and that's why he's lying to protect him, but still. It must hurt. It must chip away at logic and rationality, bit by bit.

And I know how that feels, too, to begin to doubt that you are loved, because that objective knowledge that yes, you are loved gets broken and eroded by so many instances of being hurt, dismissed, ignored, betrayed.

Four. No one seems to be putting Crowley first. Not heaven, certainly, heaven threw him out millennia ago. As for hell, Satan and the demons only tolerate him, willing to kill him as soon as he betrays the slightest hint of goodness. Humans are too fleeting, gone before you can blink, and they have never paid any regard to the individual over the 'greater good', certainly not to a lonely demon who can't get close to them because they die too soon. And Aziraphale chooses heaven, chooses being good over Crowley every single time. Some of the time, he is right. But imagine being Crowley. Given the choice between salvation and Aziraphale, happiness and Aziraphale, anything and Aziraphale, he would choose Aziraphale. And he has to watch, time and again, as Aziraphale chooses other things over him, finally pulling back from the kiss and choosing the heaven he doesn't even like over what Crowley offers him. Crowley, as far as he can see, is no one's first choice, no one's first priority. It may not be true. But it does feel like that.

And that feeling is so real, to know that the people you would die for would not do the same for you. The people you put first wouldn't put you first. That you are giving knowing that you cannot take. It may be real, or it may not be, but the fact is it often looks that way to me and Crowley and a lot of us, and that hurts.

These aren't all, of course, there's the relentless questioning, the needing to be good, the needing to be bad, the horrible urges and battling them, the kinder impulses and figuring out how to fit them into an awful world, the consequences for being good, whether they are worth it, just everything about Crowley. But the four above I wanted to elaborate on.

I'm fucked, I love a fictional character again. Again, I might be wrong about a lot of things, so there's that. Aren't we all.

[sarabethsilver]

I just want to say that I love your posts about the whole Luke/Jess dynamic!! In my opinion, you are spot on everything.👏

Because yes, Luke was a good father to April and a good father figure to Rory but that doesn't mean that he was that to Jess too…in fact I will say that most of the time he was a complete jerk to Jess by often yelling and being angry at him (there are very few episodes where Luke speaks with a normal tone to him), treating him like a criminal, never showing him any love and comfort, being occasionally physical abusive to him, stealing his car, kicking him out when he actually needed him the most and caring more about him (not) graduating than his feelings about meeting his father, sending him back to NY knowing that Liz “is a wack job”, not caring that “he travelled” aka was homeless for months and had to sleep in a car-and he cared more about Rory than about his nephew in that situation, not listening to him the few times he actually is open to speak about how he feels. On top of that, ignoring that, HE kicked Jess out.

And then blaming, yelling, and insulting him because he didn't want to go to his abuser’s fourth wedding.

Like, I’m not saying that Luke didn't love Jess, because yes, he did, but he wasn't good at showing it. And I understand that he also had traumatic experiences, and didn’t know how to handle a teenager, but in the end, he was just one more adult that rejected Jess. That’s why I don’t understand when people say: “Luke was the only one that was always there for Jess” or “Jess has to be thankful for Luke” like NO just because he let him live in an apartment where he had zero privacy doesn't mean that “he was always there for him,“ especially when he remembered Jess that he can only live there if he graduates. Even without the Walmart job, there is no guarantee that a traumatized teenager will graduate. I really hate how the writers want us to believe that Luke was such a hero here. And yes, I like that “hug scene,“ but Jess deserved and needed that hug so much sooner, and he never got it.

With that being said, I still enjoy their dynamic when I need a good laugh, seeing them both ranting, annoyed with people, being sarcastic. There are many good moments, and when I remember that these are all fictional characters😅 but if we are overanalyzing everything, I have to say that the older I get, the more I struggle with the character of Luke in his behavior towards Jess. 

Thank you! I appreciate this feedback, since I'm always trying (and failing) to tread lightly when I critically examine their relationship. Luke is beloved here, and I get it! I love him too! I enjoy Luke and Jess' relationship on a superficial level. I laugh at their funny moments, and my heart swells at their tender moments. But as soon as I look a little deeper, their relationship looks pretty fractured to me.

I get it, Luke was thrust into an impossible scenario when Jess showed up. I don't fault him for making mistakes along the way. But forget the complexities of "how do you build trust with a teenager who has never been able to trust adults"... Luke never even gets there. What about the basics? Jess needed kindness, safety, and stability. And he just doesn't get that from Luke. Constantly yelling, pushing Jess around, repeatedly mocking, threatening eviction, and then actually kicking Jess out isn't kind, safe, or secure. And those behaviors aren't the outliers - that's Luke's baseline behavior toward Jess. The moments of kindness are the rarities, and those moments are often surrounded with mocking or rejection.

S4 is, by far, the worst. Because at that point, Jess is no longer living with Luke. He's not disrupting Luke's daily life. He's not asking Luke for ANYTHING. But for some reason, Luke goes out of his way to be unkind to Jess... and for what? What's the moral of that story? Because it's CERTAINLY not to have us examine Luke's mistakes with Jess, the writers never go there. Am I meant to believe that Jess needed abandonment, heaps of anger, and continual mocking to... grow, or something? And this is the season I'm supposed to melt at the "reconciliation" between Luke and Jess?

Maybe we're both overanalyzing! Because, like I said, I enjoy their relationship at a superficial level. But also... Luke and Jess are not superficial characters. We see painful, vulnerable moments between them. Jess' arc is serious and evocative, and he's treated like an important character even when he returns as a guest star. So I can't just look at Jess and Luke's relationship on a superficial level. The writers wanted me to see Luke as the "hero" who saved Jess, and they gave me all these moments to supposedly demonstrate that, so I'm sure as hell gonna examine those moments!

EDITED because I'll add that I don't ever view Luke as abusive to Jess. And I think they DO have moments of kindness and comforting. Those are real, and that's what the audience is responding to when we fall in love with them. But imo the moments of kindness are few and far between, and they are not enough to balance out the baseline of irritability Luke puts out there.

[val-of-the-north]

Wanted to pop in and just say thanks for all your hard work with lore posts! Elden Ring is such a tough game to get a grasp on, leaving so many things up to interpretation. But in the end, there are also things solidly backed by actual lore, and you do such a great job of referencing and adhering to that canon pretty objectively. We all have our biases when we read this info, which leads us into the realm of interpretation. But when posters like you go to lengths to outline canon lore with screencaps and images to back your interpretations up, it's not just helping me see how you reached a conclusion but also laying the info out clearly so I can decide if I agree with that conclusion.

There's a lot of info that gets missed or plain old ignored in favor of either villifying/woobifying characters depending on what people think of them. And then sometimes people make these huge leaps from A to B that are just mystifying and seem to be purely based on "this sounds good to me so it must be right". It's refreshing to see someone trying hard to just present the facts and go from there, without these leaps of faith and desire to change the characters in one direction or another. It's easy to think you're reading things objectively while still clearly interpreting everything with a certain bias that will paint your favs/unfavs in a better/worse light, so your more neutral efforts are a breath of fresh air!

Hey! That's very sweet to find in my inbox... I am glad people appreciate the way I write my lore posts. I strive to be very objective when I tackle these topics, so I am very glad it's noticeable. I still have room for improvement, I will not lie, but I am surely getting better and better! The use of more images in my claims is something I started to pick up on recently, though believe it or not, I used to do it a looooong time ago too, for sillier stories lol. Now they are here to stay though, and they provide a very neat way to space out posts too.

I am honestly really flattered with your words ahahahah. Characters are probably the hardest ones to keep a purely objective lens on, as I do have my own personal opinions and headcanons on them as well as certain events that involve them… regardless, I try my absolute best to not rely too much on those and simply on things I have structured those headcanons after.

Of course, depending on what the lore I am discussing is about, I will be focusing and highlighting particular aspects over others, because I can't make an entire character study every time one is needed. Things would get really bloated and not as understandable really fast! I also avoid fandom tropes like the plague unless I am purposefully making a meme lol. I do dislike when meme/flanderized versions of characters end up popping up in genuine lore analysis (like "absolutely worthless fool" Godrick and "completely irredeemable fiend" Miquella, but there are many more)

To conclude... thank you so much for this! It was certainly a breath of fresh air that I needed too eheh... but I guess since we are talking about lore posts, I could tease that the next thing I wanna tackle has to do with the soul and body in Elden Ring! It's a topic that has fascinated me for some time, and the DLC actually helped me piece together some stuff I had missed from base game! I will try to make it as good as it can possibly be!

[sehtoast]

Is it me or not many people simp for Homelander compared to other villains? It’s like people can’t say they find him hot without getting jumped and i just don’t understand why? There’re villains who have done way worse and people still like them so why is it any different with Homelander, he is literally fictional and never harmed anyone in real life. What do you think is the reason?

Prepare yourself. This is gonna be a long one lol:

For what it’s worth, I feel like a lot more people do simp for him than are open about it for exactly what you just said. I’ve rarely seen fandoms respond to people liking a character the way people jump at us for liking Homelander.  The amount of hate mail I've received and seen others get and the genuinely FOUL things that have been said are just absolutely crazy. Like I’ve seen less kickback for people simping for real-world mass shooters and serial killers than I have for fans of Homie, which is WILD but yeah!!

I think it’s because Kripke decided to make him a Trump allegory that makes people so quick to jump us over it honestly. I feel like if he wasn’t, a LOT more people would openly like him too. 

More below the cut:

90% of the criticisms I see toward Homie fans is “he’s LITCHERALLY TRUMP” and/or something about Stormfront.  Some people go the “he’s a r*pist” route, which, sure, valid, but then this is not the same energy a lot of fans of r*pist characters have gotten.  I remember with shows like GoT, where characters could be any number of awful things (including r*pists), there wasn’t necessarily as much vilification of people for liking those characters, and, even though I didn’t watch much of the show, I know daaaaamn well we got some qualifiers in there.  That’s just an example, and there’s certainly others that prove the point. Soldier Boy was downright HORRIBLE to the women he was around, but we barely see criticism there and it's pretty heavily implied he's ignored consent many times in his own time given the way he treats women - plus we know he s*xually abused Gunpowder. Anyway, if that energy isn’t being directed in nearly the same capacity there or elsewhere, then it’s primarily likely to be either reason one or two, and I definitely would put my money on number one.  And like, being a Homelander enjoyer has not made me a Trump enjoyer. In fact, I have a pretty visceral reaction of disgust every time I see that rat bitch on the news lmao.  

Being a Homelander simp certainly does not mean we approve of his every act, but media morality police think this is not the case. I think a lot of people– and this was 100% exacerbated during covid shutdowns imo– have started to see media consumption as a form of morality and feel as though your enjoyment of something is a perfect spreadsheet of who you are as a person.  I mean, there have always been people like this, but it’s gotten worse and significantly more annoying in recent years.  I think the death of media literacy is also contributing heavily here because there being a lack of critical thinking associated with media consumption has so many people painting everything in a purely black and white context. Like this is good, this is bad, there is no middle ground in which people can consume this or appreciate that without it being a moral violation.  Which is… increasingly concerning lol.   

All media has problematic elements somewhere/somehow, and basically all characters do as well.  However, very few have the director jerking off and going “i’m SOOOOO smart for comparing him to trump omfg” and constantly shoving shoehorned political and social commentary into the script the way Kripke does (ask me how I felt about the transphobia ‘commentary’ this season and I will write you a thesis paper about how bad, ineffective, and mostly insulting to trans viewers it was). He’s so fired up to make the two a mirror image that even Antony Starr has said he’s sometimes checking Kripke and telling him that taking it too far reduces the character to one or two dimensional at best unless the comparisons directly relate to the narrative of the character.   The allegories have been effective in keeping people (for the most part) from viewing Homelander as a hero, but it’s also created a lot of senseless vitriol for people who actually do enjoy the character whether strictly because of the character himself or because they’re simping (I do both 😂).

So uh… that’s my extremely long two-cents. Hopefully it makes sense as I’m a little sleep deprived at the moment and just got out of a two hour long lecture lol

[the-somwthing]

i actually dont know how to infodump this w/o it sounding like a garbled mess so you just have to bare with me

Evil Watchers is so fun so so so so so fun to me like on a surface level being like "we're above the players" but having layers of realizing stuff like "they have thoughts and feelings and honestly aren't very different than us" then continue to be evil despite this knowledge? I'll eat that up!

But also to have evil Grian is like omg! what a guy! But considering Martyn's leaky lil lore of the watchers not liking Grian he can't really be evil for the same cause so my brains racking up ideas of how Grian could be evil without supporting the watchers, so like

Watchers are evil for the sake of pushing the world forward, these things have to happen for (what the watchers might consider) the "greater good"

Whereas, Grian is evil in the sense of "these things have to happen for shits and giggles" (E.i. The Life Series, although if we're counting on Martyn's lore then the watchers created the life series and Grian's evil for the sake of fucking everything over for his own joy and pleasure)

But I think here is where the morally gray argument comes in, even with everything we're handed it's hard to make Grian evil and still work with evil watchers, it's hard to make the watchers seem like these horrible beings because on a more metaphorical sense /we/ are the watchers, we're crafting stories and headcanons and playing with these cubes like they're barbie dolls and we as people aren't evil cause we might kill off a character in a story, so I think, that might be where the morally gray watchers come in

(No clue if any of this stuff made any sense, it started off as me dumping a half-baked idea I've had hung up for a while then turned back to your morally gray vs evil watchers thing)

Well towards the end there you get back into my whole “us being the same as the watchers doesn’t make them less evil, since for us it’s just fiction but for them it’s real people, so if anything it just makes them less serious”, but ignoring that…

Grian is a little menace for sure. I still feel like him being totally evil ruins his interactions with other characters, but I certainly don’t mind him getting into the game to cause chaos and have fun, end up feeling really heartbroken by the bad things that happen to those he cares about, them coming out of it like “….that was fun actually. I’ll do it again” LMAO.

In my own personal headcanons, Grian can eat his own emotions from when he’s inside the game, which makes him want to cause suffering for himself (hence doing stupid things he’ll regret like killing his allies). Cuz his negative emotions from suffering in the game are so tasty 😋

There’s so many ways to make Grian look as weird and morally “wtf are you doing” as possible. Definitely have fun with it.

[mintedwitcher]

It's taken a hot minute but I think I can finally articulate why I dislike Martha Jones as a companion (NOT as a person or as a character independent of the Doctor, but STRICTLY as it pertains to her behaviour/actions around the Doctor himself). (Please keep in mind this is all just my opinion and analysis, I'm open to discussion about it but not discourse.)

Obligate disclaimer, this is not character bashing, I think Martha has a lot of potential that the show flat-out ignored or wrote over or just forgot about, I think she could've definitely been a BETTER character, but by no means is she a Bad one, she's just not my personal favourite when it comes to companions. (At some point I'll probably sit down and make an actual ranking of my favourite companions but not yet.)

Martha is smart, like incredibly smart. She's well educated, she's compassionate, she's brave, she's brilliant. But she's also stubborn to a fault, and she has a sort of entitlement we haven't seen from other companions (until Clara). Not a personal entitlement, where she believes she's owed everything just for existing, but specifically regarding the Doctor; she believes she deserves his life story, his secrets, his memories, because he chose her to travel with him.

A scene that comes immediately to mind is just before they were supposed to leave New Earth, and she planted herself and refused to budge until the Doctor divulged details about Gallifrey to her. Now, the interesting thing there, is that this entitlement actually does the Doctor some good. He's never had someone ask about Gallifrey before, and he hasn't needed to talk about it in any detail yet beyond "my planet's gone." No one's pushed him to talk about it yet. Martha doing that was a benefit, because from that point on, we see the Doctor talk more about Gallifrey and his people.

See, none of Martha's inherent traits are necessarily Bad. Martha also loved the Doctor, but that's never been my problem. My problem with it is the way that she pushes those feelings onto the Doctor and then becomes irate, petulant or just plain catty when the Doctor either doesn't reciprocate, ignores her, or mentions Rose.

An argument could potentially be made from Martha's point of view that the Doctor led her on, but I don't really get that, because he never showed interest. And really, a random kiss in a hospital while under siege by alien police from a man she just met is not interest. Especially when he was insistent beforehand that it was nothing, and that afterwards it was a genetic transfer. She was being used as a distraction. She read into it more than there was, and pinned her hopes on it, and that is what ultimately undermines her as a companion in my eyes.

It's one thing, I think, to be pining. But it's the pressure of expectation that makes me grind my teeth. Nearly every episode, there is some kind of Moment where Martha acts as if this will be the time the Doctor makes a move on her, or where she lets herself think there's more to their interactions than there really is. And that's tolerable, for an episode or two, but for an entire season? You really can't expect me to believe someone as smart as Martha really cannot see the writing on the wall here, which is that the Doctor is not looking for a girlfriend, he's looking for a friend. He isn't ready for another relationship, (as undefined as it was with Rose) he just wants company. And yes, he wants the adoration and validation and the awe that comes with taking a human out into the universe, but he certainly doesn't want to date. And he makes that clear in his actions, as much as he can without bluntly stating it, probably for fear that she'd choose to leave, and maybe that's where it falls apart. He won't communicate clearly, and so she won't pay attention to the obvious cues he's giving out. It's a game of cat and mouse to her, while for him it's a tightrope walk.

It's the expectation, though, that because he took her travelling, that means he has to have some sort of feelings for her. And he does care for her, as a friend, as a companion, but he's still mourning Rose and the relationship he had with her. For Martha to expect a new relationship to bloom under those conditions, it was naive. I've never much been a fan of the whole "date hopping" trope, where a character bounces immediately from one relationship to another without pause, so the expectation of it here irritated me.

(I'll have to make another post about the Doctor's side of this whole thing, because it really is a mess of miscommunication and expectations.)

And then, finally, we come to my least favourite Martha moment of her entire season: her goodbye. Not only did she spend an entire season putting the pressure of reciprocity on the Doctor, putting her feelings on him, lashing out when it falls through again and again, but then when she decides to leave him for good, her initial farewell would've been enough. Should've been enough. But no. No, she went back inside, and she decided to just add guilt to the already unstable emotional state of her friend. She tried to guilt him for not reciprocating, by comparing their relationship to a toxic one that her friend had. It was underhanded, and completely unnecessary.

And in the context of that episode, given everything that happened, it was entirely out of place, and it undermined her decision to leave in the first place. I respected the hell out of her for choosing to stay on Earth with her family after the events on the Valiant, and then she turned around and made it about her unrequited feelings for the Doctor, and it just felt Weak.

The show does that annoyingly often, I've found, especially when it comes to the companions. They get a brief moment to shine and be powerful and be brilliant, and then it's undercut very quickly afterwards by either killing them off, sending them away, or doing something pointless. And this scene was no different in that way.

Compare this to the Martha we saw later in the show, after her time as a companion was over, and look at how she shines there. Brilliant and smart and brave, working for UNIT, happily engaged, healed. She was absolutely fantastic. That was a version of Martha I would've LOVED to watch as a companion. We got the dulled down version of that as a companion, only really coming out on rare occasions, but imagine if we'd had that ALL the time.

Martha after the Doctor is without a doubt one of my favourite characters. Martha with the Doctor makes me want to tear my hair out.

[navree]

Not sure if this has been asked, but if so then you're free to ignore this message. I was wondering if you could articulate why you like Aemond Targaryen as opposed to Daemon Targaryen. The latter seems to have more prominence in the story than the other.

I'm gonna go off the show, since that's what I'm currently more invested in when it comes to Dance stuff (I read all of F&B but the parts I reread the most are always about the Conquerors, as I love them).

So, part of it is that, quite simply, Daemon's a misogynistic ass and Aemond, as far as has been portrayed, isn't. I don't care for Daemon trying to groom his fourteen year old niece, I don't care for Daemon calling his wife misogynistic slurs when she didn't do anything except be married to him, I certainly don't care for him bashing her head in with a rock and getting away with it, I don't care for him trying to ruin Rhaenyra's reputation, I don't care for him then literally leaving her half naked in a brothel in a city notorious for being dangerous (she could have been raped, she could have been killed, the fact that she got back to the Red Keep without a scratch is a miracle), I don't care for him calling Alicent a whore because his half-rotting brother finally croaked, I don't care for his neglect of his children by Laena and even Laena herself (and I don't care for it in metaverse either, I really liked Daemon and Laena's book relationship and I hate how they screwed that AND how it's yet another example of how poorly the Velaryons, the only prominent characters of color, are being handled by the writers), and I definitely won't care for when he orchestrates Blood and Cheese to go after women who had fuck all to do with what happened to Lucerys's boring ass. He's a dick, which already isn't gonna endear me to him, and he's a sexist dick at that, and I don't like it.

Getting a bit deeper into it, my dislike of Daemon also comes from the fact that there's just nothing there. I've complained about this before, but everything that's actually interesting about Daemon seems to come primarily from stuff admitted about him after the fact or from Matt Smith's own acting choices beyond the script. In the actual writing of his character, he's an asshole and he wants to be king and he has a sexual obsession with his niece who he's known since she was a baby; that's it. It's left to the audience to then lean into Matt Smith's choices for the character, extrapolate what we can from creator interviews and some pretty heavy subtext, and then try to craft something ourselves. And even canon events about Daemon that I could get invested in, like his relationship with Nettles (problematic? yes, but it still tickles my fancy because there's a Lot there), just hasn't happened yet and isn't enough to get me pre-invested.

That's not the case with Aemond. The stuff about Aemond I enjoy and that endear me to him as a character, like his struggles with bullying, his bond with Vhagar, his contentious but ultimately loyal relationship with Aegon, his love for his mother, his internal issues surrounding justice denied and the need for retribution, even just his basic characterization in the four episodes we've seen him in, those are in the script. Those are integral parts of his character, that are present and visible and impactful to other characters and the story at large in the broader narrative. There is actual substance to Aemond as a character in a way there just isn't as Daemon. And even Daemon is going to be more "prominent" due to his connection to Rhaenyra, the storyline at the ready for Aemond is FAR more interesting than Daemon's. Daemon in season two is going to orchestrate the worst thing that happens in the Dance and then bounce around Westeros doing God knows what, the only thing I'm looking forward to from him are any interactions with Alys Rivers, but because I'm excited for her, not him. Aemond, on the other hand, has a lot of good set up. Because of his actions, he created an accident that he tried to avoid that has had profound repercussions on his family, and is tied to a horrible act that is going to affect the people closest to him. How is he going to deal with his emotions regarding his own culpability? How much hate and blame is he going to place on Daemon? On Rhaenyra? How will this impact his relationships with the people affected, his mother and his sister and his brother? How is this going to duel with his feelings of superiority, especially once he becomes Aegon's regent? What's gonna motivate him to take the regency but also never allow himself to be called king and remain steadfast for his brother? Is he going to enjoy it or not? We seem to be getting more stuff with him and Criston, how's that gonna be affected by Blood and Cheese and their subsequent military campaign together?

Like, see? There's so much more richness available for Aemond's character, because there's so much more to Aemond's character than Daemon's. Daemon may be more prominent, yes, but he's incredibly shallow on a writing level, and combined with the fact that he's mostly a shitty person, he becomes something I dislike (and I love characters who are shitty people, my favorite character in The Magnus Archives is Peter Lukas and I constantly blab about how I want his cruel sadism to be given more attention by the fandom). So prominence doesn't really factor into it for me, because there's just too much working against Daemon beyond that, and conversely, too much in Aemond's favor.

[mystic-headcanons]

Hey so can I request a something. So I wanna see your interpretation of what would happen if Rika got adopted by Yoosung's family.

I myself had made some headcannons like yoosung's mom gets Rika's parents and the p*do priest arrested. Around the time she adopted Rika (who is older than her own daughter by two years) she was pregnant with yoosung.

And while she was a good mother to Rika life wasnt the smoothest cuz I could see yoosung's sister being jealous of Rika and Yoosung cuz Rika herself had severe traumas and yoosung was literally a baby and since her other siblings had more needs she was getting ignored which led her to lash out at Rika (like she cut Rika's hair short one time out of jealousy) and eventually at baby yoosung. But eventually their conflict get resolved

So these are the few headcannons I have what do you think??

ooohhh this is a very interesting idea!!!

okay first, i firmly believe that rika would’ve founded the rfa no matter what. she definitely still struggles with her mental health, but it isn’t as severe as it is when she isn’t adopted.

i can definitely see her absolutely adoring yoosung the moment he’s born. i feel like she’d be one of those kinds of little girls that carry around a baby everywhere and a stroller, so she’d love to do the same with yoosung

yoosung’s sister not liking her would hit rika very hard. she tries so hard to be as perfect as she can be because she is terrified of losing her family

of course, the sister doesn’t realize this and all she sees is rika, with her perfect grades and perfect attendance and her perfect behavior. and so, when the parents pay more attention to rika than their own daughter, it does cause her to lash out quite a bit

i don’t know if she’d go as far as cutting her hair, but she’d certainly pick fights and even go as far as destroying something rika likes. like, maybe cutting up her barbies or ripping out the pages from her favorite book

it takes a lot of counseling and a few rocky patches until rika and the sister begin to make amends

rika and the sister would have a very strong relationship, i feel. they would ABSOLUTELY have one of those talks that go ‘so why did you hate me so much?’ ‘because you were perfect!’ ‘perfect? i was petrified every single day of doing something wrong.’ with lots of tears

would have a VERY close relationship with yoosung. she’d be both his bestie and another sister to him

rika would grow up to be a genuinely warm person without a devil inside of her. i think she would still date v, but it wouldn’t happen as fast as it normally does. like, they start dating nearly as soon as they meet because they’re both desperate for more- v for his artistic stuff, and rika as a last-ditch attempt at controlling her devil

but they would still fall into a very deep and genuine love with each other.

it’s also interesting to note that this would drastically change the character routes

if everything else stays the same, and v still takes saeran and still has saeyoung become a hacker, then saeran would be a completely different person

saeyoung and saeran wouldn’t be able to reunite for a while still, but saeyoung gets a lot more photographs of saeran

saeran would act a lot more like ray- minus the. threatening to hurt himself and all that on v’s route

yoosung would also be the complete opposite of how he is right now. he probably would not have touched lolol, would be very intent on staying on course to becoming a vet

v would not be the self-loathing and anxiety ridden person that he was when you met him. his relationship with yoosung would be a lot better, too. they’d regard each other as brothers, and yoosung wouldn’t be as untrusting of v as he is

i’d like to think mc would still join the rfa, too. maybe rika would convince mc to be a party planner once she and v got married and started thinking about creating a family.

all in all, rika would be a much better person if she got to grow up with yoosung. there wouldn’t be any mint eye, any tragic secrets, any of the shadiness on v’s part.

[microraptorreactor]

Im just. gonna hammer out some thoughts about Ep 17/18. Because man I have thoughts. Spoilers (and bad words) below the cut.

So the very base of the story, Golden Cheese herself, is fucking heartbreaking man. She's lost everything, her friends, her family, her kingdom, and it drove her insane. She built a massive digital city where everyone she lost can live in utmost luxury, but she still isolates herself to a small circle of cookies, probably to try keeping an airtight seal on the true nature of the kingdom. Her deepest desire is to keep her citizens happy and she'll do just about anything to achieve that. Because what is she without her treasure?

And her conversation with Rasine at the end TT-TT Those two bounce off each other so well. I hope they kiss.

And then there's Smoked Cheese!! God, after ep 17 I really wasn't sure about him, but he's such a fucking good character. He's just as scared as GC, if not more. But unlike GC, he's not quite as clouded by grief. He realizes that his god-queen is delusional, and quite possibly has realized for some time. OF COURSE, he'd flip his shit when he finds out DE is back and GC plans on doing nothing! He watched the kingdom burn down for the first time! And he has to watch these cookies who it's his job to protect, that he quite possibly grew up around, walk around like nothing's ever gone wrong. He has to keep up a facade that everything's fine and there isn't another massive threat looming over the city while his queen berates him for questioning her. He has every right to be angry and scared! And I can't particularly blame him for turning on her and airing out the truth. Trying to blow up the kingdom was 100% a dick move tho. But the scene where he's LITERALLY BEGGING GC TO KILL HIM??? It's my personal interpretation that he was terrified to go back to the Digital City, and therefore going back to ignoring all the trauma of the war.

Honestly, I feel like SC's whole villain ark might have been avoidable if GC and her little circle of friends sat down and had a heart-to-heart about the Dark Flour War, but that would require any of them to be emotionally vulnerable. Something that everyone in this kingdom is alergic to, apparently.

Mozarella cookie I certainly have. Feelings about. Her whole deal with erasing cookies memory so that they don't catch on to the digital kingdom is a detail I really like, but as a character, I just don't really care for her. It's probably just my personal taste, as I like the angsty characters and she just doesn't have that going on. I haven't finished the mineing missions story so maybe she has some in that. I feel the same way about Burnt/Basque Cheese, he's cool he just doesn't have enough going on in the backstory department for me to care.

Fettuchini Cookie's concept is terrifying. She's slowly losing herself to factors outside her control. There are literal bugs eating her brain. But the narrative doesn't really do anything with that? She's just kind of Olive Cookie's weird adopted child. To be fair the story is long enough, both chapters together clock in at about two and a half hours assuming that you have the best possible team. But she could have been so much more with that concept! Especially since she's playable instead of actually-really-important Smoked Cheese.

Olive Cookie is Olive Cookie. She's there to be an exposition archeologist. She serves her purpose in the story. I have no complaints about her. Y'all are being too harsh.

anyways, back to working on my OCs!

[thenationaltreasuregazette]

ND for NT? Neurodivergence in National Treasure

(Ben Gates Edition)

Previously, we discussed what the casting of Nicolas Cage brought to the role of Ben Gates, namely

age

a different relationship with attractiveness, and

Weirdness™

But for a lot of fans, Cage’s performance brings something else to the character as well: autism.

I have to admit, though I am no stranger to bestowing neurodivergent headcanons on my favorite media, National Treasure never caught my eye as a potential subject.

However, y’all have spoken.

So let’s explore this!

Because it seems relevant before we dig in, I am an official member of the Squirrel Gang (ADHD) but I’m probably not autistic. I did have a “what’s the difference/do I have both?” phase, so I’m a bit familiar with the criteria, how masking affects diagnosis etc. I’ll do my best to be faithful to your experience.

Okay.

While official diagnosis is definitely not everything when it comes to neurodivergence, we’ll start with the DSM-5 criteria for autism so we have a common framework to reference from.

I thought these two sites had particularly good breakdowns, one in table form and one in infographic and prose form.

Basically, there are two main diagnostic ‘buckets.’ Group A is about “Persistent differences in communication” and consists of three subcategories. All three must be present for diagnosis. Group B is about repetitive behaviors and interests, and two of the four subcategories are required for diagnosis.

Parts C-E are more of a check after A and B are met, so we’ll deal with those last.

I’ll also be adopting the convention of changing the DSM’s language of “deficits” to “differences” throughout, because fuck that.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN GATES

A1. “Differences in social-emotional reciprocity.”

In adults this can look like “difficulty initiating or sustaining back and forth conversation; tendency to monologue without attending to listener cues; unusual response to greetings or other social conventions.”

Ben certainly does have a few unusual responses to conversation. When he meets Abigail for the first time, he’s on a very serious mission (his last chance to save the Declaration of Independence without committing a felony) but the first words out of his mouth are about her accent. Then at the end of that conversation, once he realizes she’s not going to engage with him on the topic anymore, he jumps up to end the conversation quickly and awkwardly, only reengaging with her when he brings up the GW buttons again. Ben offers no small talk that is not related to American History.

During the gala, he doesn’t seem to realize that Abigail and Stan are weirded out by his toast to high treason and enthusiasm for entrail-based punishments.

After he and Riley rescue Abigail from the catering truck, he asks her “Are you hungry?” This reads to me as an attempt to startle her out of her shock long enough to get an answer to his actual question (“Are you alright?”), but still.

And Ben Gates doesn’t not have a tendency to monologue. This is especially apparent in Book of Secrets, where he consistently talks over Abigail and Riley without listening to them. Though, as always, I do not think BoS was well-written or particularly in-character, so I treat it as canon only when it suits me.

A2. “Differences in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction”

This section is about difficulty understanding non-verbal social cues, tendency to minimally communicate through facial expression and gesture, dislike of eye contact, and difficulty moderating tone/volume of voice.

Once of the main points of evidence of this is that fact that Ben seemingly did not have any idea that Ian was a criminal, that Shaw brought a gun on the Charlotte expedition, or that they were going to turn on him at any moment.

Ben Gates is a smart man, but he’s blind to this either because he’s so desperate to find the Charlotte that he’s ignoring any troubling signs, either consciously or subconsciously, and/or he genuinely cannot read them. He might be completely unaware of the power dynamics between Ian, Shaw, and the rest of the crew, with are portrayed via tone and body language throughout the film.

Ian and Ben also agree that Ben cannot bluff. While he does manage to fool Ian at the end of the film, both other times when Ian brings up bluffing—on the Charlotte and in front of Trinity Church—Ben looks like a deer caught in the headlights.

When he gets the instructions to jump off the Intrepid, Ben doesn’t have to fool anyone, because the agents are too far away to see what he’s doing and he straight-up tells Sadusky what he’s going to do.

Headcanon alert: We know Ben has played poker with Ian. While you could certainly believe that Ian and the gang were play low-stakes cards sometimes to entertain themselves, I absolutely prefer to believe that Ben was running out of resources for the search and found his way into a back room poker game in a desperate bid to buy himself a little more time. At first, Ian saw a mark he could swindle out of his last few hundred dollars, but as Ben kept going on about this treasure and a girl named Charlotte, he got a much more lucrative idea.

In the tone of voice category, we have the exquisitely delivered “Rheallhy?” Ben also has a tendency to mumble to himself, as when Sadusky is playing with the glasses and he says,

BEN There’s more to it.

It’s hard for me to tell how Ben does as far as eye contact goes, but what’s very clear is that the time he does purposefully make extended eye contact it’s awkward as shit.

A3. "Differences in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships"

This is the part where I just copy + paste the Nic Cage and the Art of Weirdness article to answer this prompt.

As a recap, we looked at the version of Ben presented in the 2003 script (just before Cage signed onto the movie) and the final character, and noted how Ben became less social and more isolated in the final film. References to previous girlfriends and an ongoing friendship with Riley are gone, as is the landlady whom he’s friendly with, etc. The film version of Ben Gates is someone who doesn’t seem to be particularly close to anyone, other than the people he needs for the treasure hunt (Ian and Riley).

So there’s some plausible evidence in all three subcategories of Group A. Let’s move on to Group B! (Remember, we only need 2/4 here.)

B1. “Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech”

Ben does not strike me as a particularly stimmy person. Unless he’s doing actions directly related to the treasure hunt, he’s often framed as the still, stable center while Riley bounces around him.

(In these scenes, this blocking represents Ben’s resolve and the peace he’s made with his decision to steal the Declaration, versus Riley’s reticence and need to find another way out.)

He does do this thing, where he circles a finger over his temple,

which I adore because he’s being so intense and patiently righteous about it, but without other similar examples, I wouldn’t call this more than neurotypical levels of stimming.

B2. “Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior”

We meet Ben Gates during the two wildest weeks of his life, and he doesn’t seem to be clinging to a set routine. We get so few glimpses of his regular daily life that it’s hard to support.

B3. “Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus”

Do I even have to answer this one?

Boy hears story.

Boy spends next 30 years obsessively pursuing story.

Boy steals Declaration of Independence to prove story is true.

My guess is that it’s Ben’s lifelong fixation on the treasure and American history what gets people looking at whether he’s ND in the first place. Lmk if it was something else for you though!

B4. “Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment”

I don’t know that I would have considered this outside of the scope of this topic, but yeah, I could see a case for Ben being hyposensitive. He stabs his thumb on the Charlotte like it’s a pretty easy and normal thing to do. It’s Riley who really flinches, not Ben.

When he jumps off of the Intrepid, he doesn’t seem sore or cold afterward. Yes, the henchmen bring him dry clothes, but he doesn’t seem physically phased by such a dramatic stunt.

So we can meet the two out of four requirement here as well.

Groups C-E

These groups can be asked as three questions:

C. Were the symptoms present in early development?

We only see young Ben for a few minutes, but when we do he is already interested enough in the treasure to sneak into the attic to learn about it, and we know he gets obsessed with the legend that night and never lets it go.

Without additional information, we can say yes.

D. Do the symptoms cause clinically significant impairment?

While none of what we’re discussing here seems to impair Ben’s treasure hunting ability, I do think it’s be easy to make a case that this globetrotting treasure hunter gig is one of the only ones he’s well suited for. If Ben were forced to work an office job, for instance, I do not see him succeeding in that environment. I don’t know that he’d get the hierarchy, why he can’t just do what he wants, when he wants, that not everyone is driven by a greater purpose larger than themselves, etc.

So sure, check that off.

E. Are these disturbances not better explained by intellectual disability?

No. This seems self explanatory.

Congratulations! Benjamin Franklin Gates is fully diagnosable with autism if you so wish!

But what if you don’t wish?

Caveats and such

Well, first of all, you’re allowed to see fictional characters however you want to. The Ben Gates you have in your head is ever so slightly different from the one I have in mine, and the one another reader has in theirs. If it’s important to you that he’s autistic, or allistic, or whatever, then he is.

And there’s a big asterisk I have to put on this assessment. Well, actually 2.

One, I am not a trained professional, and fictional character Ben Gates was not here to answer these questions himself.

Two, there’s a caveat to all of this analysis, a loophole, and I already brought it up:

We only see Ben Gates during the two weirdest weeks of his life.

So yes, could he struggle with eye contact and reading social cues and that’s why he’s so unhinged during the toast? Absolutely.

But he’s also like, a would-be history professor about to commit a major crime with one week of preparation. He’s not the slick professional we’re used to seeing in heist movies like Ocean’s Eleven, nor is he a highly trained Bond-style hero who’s ready for anything. He’s a regular (ish) person about to do something he can never take back. How is he supposed to be “normal” in that situation? What does that even look like?

The only food we see him eat is a microwaved Stouffer’s lasagna. Is that because he relies on the predictable taste and texture of processed foods, or because he’s been planning a heist all week and doesn’t have time for anything else? You decide!

Is he hyposensitive to pain, or is he just an action-adventure protagonist who’s expected to action-adventure without getting a scratch until the plot demands otherwise? He could be both!

Conclusion

Personally, while I like this reading of the character, I’m not sure I consider it ‘basically canon’ the way I do some other ND headcanons, in large part because we spend so little down time with Ben. I have no idea what his regular life is like.

I was looking through my favorite/personal ND headcanons, and most of them are from TV shows rather than movies. I think that’s precisely because long-term behavior patterns are so much more apparent in people you spend weeks or years with.

However, as a matter of fic and headcanon, I love this! Because there you can spend as much time with Ben as you want to. It opens up so many opportunities to add my very favorite thing in fictional narratives: texture.

Did Ben truly have no idea what Ian was capable of?

Does all this adventuring make his samefoods hard to come by?

Does he hate the feeling of wet clothing, because hoo boy, he is having a Bad Time™ in Book of Secrets.

Is a tiny part of what keeps him pursuing the treasure the knowledge that he can’t function very well in any world except the one he’s created for himself?

So many possibilities!

What did I miss?

What are some of your favorite autistic Ben moments and headcanons?

Next time, Abigail!

[myfairstarlight]

You have truly spoiled me today, gentle author, thank you so much for taking precious time to respond to my ask <3 You have put into words so many thoughts I've been having, jumbling around in my head, and much better than i ever could! I am grateful for you!

I agree with you on all counts, especially Colin's jealousy!! It's rather sad that it had to be relegated to the backburner in order to fit everything else, when them being writers was one of the ways they truly bonded in the book. And that Penelope was old hat and had something to teach him--as an accomplished writer herself-- which paralleled the fact that he could teach her about sexual intimacy, that was nice too.

If I may ramble some in your inbox a little longer, although I admittedly lean more towards enjoying the show than the books (not to say the books aren't also enjoyable, of course, its just a matter of preference), another thing that the books have over the show as a whole, in my humble opinion, is because they are so exclusively focused on their primary couple, we get so much more time and attention on them as both individual characters and a couple--apart, together, in a room full of people, just the two of them, etc.

The shows side plots can be a bit of a double-edged sword in that way. On one hand, it's nice to meet characters and see interactions we didnt have in the books--we got to know Penelope so much earlier as a result, for example, which I liked a lot. But, I feel some show subplots dont always make the most sense or are resolved in such a way that it's kind of like "what was the point?" As a result, we also lose time with our primary love match of the season, literally LOL

Both mediums certainly have their pros and cons, but I guess what I'm getting at overall is I'm so glad we get to have both ha!

Good night and sweet dreams, gentle author, thank you again for your kindness <3

Dearest anon, the pleasure has been mine!

What a lovely message to wake up to, thank you (let's ignore that I'm answering in the afternoon as I type this).

That is the main reason I always try to not compare books and show too much, or you just sign up for disappointment if you only care about the main couple.

I personally like that the show decided to make it an ensemble show, like you said it allowed us to be introduced to Penelope much earlier, and even other characters have already been introduced like Sir Philip who casual viewers won't think much of, but those who read the books get excited as they point to the screen. It allows us to see all the Bridgertons be a family as well, and see them grow and expand, as well as see new relationships the book would never explore (Penelope and Madame Delacroix come to mind, they were a delight this season! Gen is the only woman who understands what it means to have a business and not wanting to let it go, she is the only one who understands Penelope in that regard). Now the downside is that, with only 8 episodes per season, and such a large rooster of characters, there's only so much they can fit without things feeling overwhelming or rushed, and that's an issue all 3 seasons have in my opinion. I do feel like it could be easily fixed by having more episodes per season because it is clear they have a lot to tell, but oh well.

Bridgerton as a show is definitely more of a drama than a truly romance show in my eyes, especially with the way they used Lady Whistledown compared to the books where she did not have as much of a power, and with the addition of Queen Charlotte as a character. S3 challenged that a bit by introducing rom-com elements especially in part 1, but part 2 did show that it thrives with drama and tension as well. But the books are definitely a good addition for those who wish for more content focusing solely on the couples and their struggles. The show is adjacent-enough, but it took a lot of liberties. I suppose it depends on the individual to decide if that is a good or bad thing, personally, I like that it's so different (especially in how it portrays the men, actually, though I would still like to duel Show!Simon), you still get to be surprised, whether you start with the show or the book. I know people have been complaining about the lack of more polin scenes this season, but I fear that is just the standard Bridgerton formula, saphne and kanthony were not spared this issue either, and I fear the other couples will find the same fate. We can still complain though, we definitely did not need so many cuts back to Benedict having a threesome in e8.

Finally dear anon, if you ever wish to continue discussing even more on our mutual love for Colin and Penelope, know that my messages are open <3

[fujoreads]

Umineko: Episode 1 // Review & Thoughts

I was initially NOT going to do this since I played Episode 1 long ago last year, but since I'm doing this from episode 3 to 8, might as well have these.

I have daily logs with my reading sessions' reactions and thoughts, but I'll try to find my highlights and summarize everything!

VNDB | Steam

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

CW: Murder (duh, it's a murder mystery); ableism + dysfunctional/abusive family talk

P.S.: There are youtube previews but they break inside my blog's theme, so they won't look as good, but I refuse not to show them, hmph!

This Episode was definitely more of an introduction, even though we seem to get introduced to new concepts, characters and even plot points with each chapter—just like with Higurashi. They do have the same author, after all.

One of the most common complaint I hear from folks about this episode is that it's too much of a slog at the beginning and while I can understand people's issues with pacing in general, I disagree. Maybe I just read too fast and am used to slow pacing, but I feel like people are just too used to having everything quickly presented to them without having to wait at all.

I see this same complaint with Higurashi and I gotta say: it's exactly BECAUSE it's not scary and mysterious from the bat, that when it does become crazy, you feel it. And it's gradual, even at that stage. You can see that as you go further: so far, this is the tamest episode yet and each ones outdoes the previous.

Anyway: I really enjoyed this as a first episode. It truly felt like an Agatha Christie and then it went 180 on it, just like I was expecting from Ryuukishi.

The incest jokes are fortunately short and quick to end, and I get why they'd bother so many people looking for a serious story, but at the same time I feel like people made too much of a ruckus over it. Battler is a horny teen and hasn't seen his family in 6 years; while that doesn't excuse him being a creep, this is clearly meant to be a funny scene and not be taken seriously. You can either laugh it off, roll your eyes or just ignore it, not drop the VN altogether—though if you can't take some tasteless jokes, you wouldn't last the entire ride for how long it is (lol)

I really like how similar yet so different the MCs from Higurashi and Umineko are. While they are both lovable perverts, Keiichi is quick to paranoia and doubting his friends; meanwhile, Battler shows a strong resolve to never doubt his family to the very end. ...This might age poorly depending on future episodes.

PLOT

Honestly, the score doesn't matter that much to me anymore. Especially not when I've read further and have been therefore corrupted with more exciting scenes.

This might be the less out-there scenario, and I appreciate it for what it is. This is basically Ryuukishi saying "hold on to your seats, this is gonna be crazy, but for now, just take it all in and get ready."

On the other hand, the family drama got INTENSE. Eva being voiced by Takano's VA makes so much sense, her being so sly and scheming. Poor Natsuhi, she's a bit too serious for her own good, but Eva is just a bully T^T

The scene where the first twilight happens is too much of a banger!!! I was not to control my emotions: I didn't know whether to dance or to grieve/be shocked. Ugh. But I'll talk more about it in my Soundtrack part.

Also, I just fucking love all the subtle (and not so subtle) references to Higurashi. It's really lovely to see a connection to one of my favorite VNs ever.

And those are my thoughts for the plot itself! I'll be talking about other aspects of the game after, but before, we still have the Tea Party and ??? chapters to talk about!

I knew beforehand there would be something akin to the All-Cast Review Session (from Higurashi) but it certainly surprised me. I was expecting a 20-minute read and I got 2 hours of reading AND a direct connection to the main plot??? Bonkers.

Plus, Battler was so badass the whole time, even if I called him an idiot a few times before this.

Oh yeah, and he was a bit of a savage at times LOL

(this hurt even ME)

CHARACTERS

Since this is the introduction, most characters are still very barebones compared to how far they've come where I currently am. HOWEVER! Ryuukishi is a fucking madlad writing characters.

Everyone feels like their own person with their own faults and liking points. Hell, he plays you like a puppet whose strings have been cut masterfully, shaping your opinion of certain characters just for that illusion to be broken along with our tame expectations of them.

Ushiromiya Battler

My cutie patotie, my little meow meow.

He started off a big incestuous weirdo but he's more mature than he shows, being all considerate for people around him and never being malicious. I love him.

Oh yeah, the whiplash I got from hearing Akasaka's voice is no joke-

Ushiromiya Rudolf

He's a dork and not a great father, it seems. I like his character but I know I wouldn't stand him irl. Though to be fair, I would be more like Maria—but we'll get there in a sec.

Ushiromiya Kyrie

MY WIFEEEE 🛐🛐🛐

I just love Kyrie no matter the episode. She's badass, reliable, but always mysterious. I never thought those "cool" mysterious characters were all that until I met her.

Ushiromiya Eva

MY QUEEN, SLAY 💅🏻✨ Jokes aside, she's a fucking great character. She might have a venomous tongue and be very shitty at times, but that's what makes her her.

Ushiromiya Hideyoshi

Hideyoshi is my utmost "can do no wrong" pick. What a wholesome and cute husband, especially to someone like Eva. God have mercy on this man.

Ushiromiya George

George is another cutie patotie, but he makes me a bit suspicious. I don't know, while Battler is just a pure-hearted goofball, George seems a bit more formal, more intentional with his behaviour and acting. Maybe it's just the glasses... Probably.

I gotta say though, some of the phrasing in his scenes with Shannon (or Sayo, I guess) are uuuuhm... I'd call this a red flag. Unless they were both into it, I guess lmao

Ushiromiya Krauss

I still remember my first impression of him:

He doesn't stand out particularly in this episode, so I won't make any comments. He does remind me of one of my uncles. As I said: insufferable.

Ushiromiya Natsuhi

So far (currently on episode 3), this is her episode. Maybe we'll get further character development (I hope so!) but for now, this a Natsuhi-centered episode. She starts off rather traditional and even cruel to servants, but she quickly earned my respect as the leader of the group, when the murders start happening.

Kinzo acknowledging Natsuhi as an Ushiromiya made me tear up 🥺💗

So many queens in this game 👑

Ushiromiya Jessica

I find Jessica a bit lame as a character. Maybe I'm just an adult, but her whole teen drama felt a bit too much. I mean, I get it; hell, it could even be envy... My own mother is mostly a Natsuhi-type and I can relate to Jessica's feeling, but I have grown up more contained—afraid— than her, let's just say. (Growing up autistic + ADHDer and undiagnosed with a overworked mother who now rejects my official diagnosis does things to you lol)

Ushiromiya Rosa

Rosa started as one of my favorite characters. As the younger sibling to a Eva-type of sister, I could relate to her struggles so much. That is, until you see how she is as a mother. I can still sympathize with her own individual struggles and I don't suddenly hate her because she isn't perfect, but again, as someone who grew up undiagnosed and was the "weird thing" that freaked everyone out and shamed my mother for exisiting, Rosa's behavior towards Maria was hard to watch.

Ushiromiya Maria

I will say: Maria's behavior is a bit weird when the occult is involved, but I daydreamed my whole family would die in a traffic accident at 11 so I'd be free of them—who am I to judge?

I could relate SO MUCH to Maria. I swear to God, Maria is so autistic-coded it hurts: ecolalia (the "uu"s, even if it's also supposed to be a moe? trait lol), lack of facial expressions, special interests (occult, Beatrice), not understanding jokes (even if she is a child)…

She's just like me fr. Her meltdown over the Rose reminds me so much of my own childhood, even if I don't remember much. Beatrice should just adopt her, heh.

Also, pretty sure Maria is the one writing these character profiles.

Ushiromiya Kinzo

OOOOOOH BEATORICHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Nothing much to say, he's painful to listen to. I mean, I guess that's intentional so hey, the VA did a wonderful job!

I think this is how my family must feel as I shut myself in my room all day long, only leaving to walk the dog and eating lol

Shannon

As of this episode, Shannon isn't given much spotlight. I'll be commenting more next episode!

For now, she's my little cutie patotie (3)

Kanon

I didn't love Kanon at first, but he’s just a teenage boy, it’s understandable. I still don't love him, but he's grown on me.

Genji

Genji is an interesting character. I don't remember much from him during the first episode, but I basically saw him as the reliable type.

I wouldn't be too surprised if there were any Kinzo x Genji fanart, not that I ship them

Kumasawa

Ah yes, the only able to outdo Battler in the pervert lines.

Kumasawa is a fine supporting character, but we don't see much from her. I mean, there are some things about her during episode 3, but not really? I can't explain without spoiling, so I'll complain more when I get to it.

Nanjo

Nanjo's cute mustache my beloved. That's all.

Gohda

Gohda might be the funniest character, actually. The fact that he is just a random dude caught in the whole mystery is so funny to me.

Other than that, I absolutely hated Gohda this episode. He gets a bit less insufferable for the next episodes, but maybe it's just me sympathizing for the poor guy just trying to do his job.

Atmosphere & Soundtrack

FUCK. I LOVE BEING ABLE TO HEAR.

Seriously, what a divine soundtrack. Especially the ones by zts.

I just couldn't stop banging my head!

And I've heard Umineko has around 200 tracks—I can't wait to get through all of them <3

I'm kind of sad I don't know what else to say, but I'll just leave this video here. It's what made me pick up Umineko once and for all:

Ooooh I almost forgot about the Voice Acting, so I'll include it here. I LOVED IT. A lot of VAs from Higurashi came back so it's always fun to notice these little things. It makes the drama much better too.

Art

I've chosen the PS3 sprites. Yes, I know: heathen behavior. But personally, I love them. I know that compared to the OG art, they may not be as expressive, but I just enjoy them a lot more. I've grown to appreciate Ryuukishi's art a lot more as I played Higurashi, don't worry.

The Pachinko version, on the other hand, is fucking awful. Say what you will, I just can't swallow it down.

Writing

I know Ryuukishi's forte isn't his prose, but it's actually not bad at all!

I don't have anything in particular to comment on, so I'll make this one short. Great writing, even if a bit convoluted at times.

Mechanics & Gameplay

This is a weird section, as Umineko doesn't even have choices, let alone "gameplay", but hear me out: I'm playing with the mods.

The visual and sound rain effects, the lip sync, the overall visual effects... chef's kiss! I doubt my enjoyment would be so great without these. Call me spoiled, but they are truly amazing.

Final Thoughts

Phew, I wrote a lot!

Umineko is not an unknown work for those into visual novels so I don't think I have to particularly recommend it, but I am absolutely loving it. No wonder people praise it so much.

My final score for this episode is a solid 8.5/10, aka 4 stars!!

If you want to have an idea whether this is for you, don't drop it until the first murder happens, please! It's considered to have a slow start, so take that into consideration. If you're a fast reader like me, you'll get there in no time!

For reference, the first episode took me around 15~17h to finish, a length somewhat close to Higurashi's Episode 1. Episode 3 and 4 are said to be the longest ones and they average a total of 30h, but when you get there, you'll be hopefully fully immersed. I certainly am, at least!

Well then, I'll be writing my thoughts on Episode 2 soon! Look forward to it~

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Thank you for reading it all to the end! I’m working full-time and looking for another job to make my life possible; would you be so kind and consider giving me a little tip? It can be as low as 3 bucks and it’d make a huuuuuge difference!! If you tip 10€ (or higher), you can dictate my next read and be credited (if you’d like) on that review! Have a nice day!!

[gamebunny-advance]

The Disappearance of Kul Fyra (Theory)

(Skip to the Read More to start the theory.)

This was originally a response to someone else's theory/headcanon that they left on one of my posts, but after what happened the last time I tried to engage someone in a theory, I've decided to just post my response on its own without tagging the person.

I'm just... tired of accidentally making people feel bad because they take me disagreeing with them too personally. But, I still like the theory/headcanons I made in the end, so I still want this out there.

I'm sure if that person really cares about my response, then they'll find this post on their own time, and those of you that care about what this is a response to will likewise just click the link and look through the reblogs.

So yeah, that's why this post is written like I'm talking to someone: because I originally was. But even if y'all don't wanna do the extra footwork of finding the original theory, I think you can figure out what I'm responding to through context.

---------------------------------------

Whoo, time for some good old' theory debating~ Haven't done one of those in a while.

This is an interesting theory, but you are jumping through some real hoops and over some sharks to get there friend, so I'm sorry to say that most of your points just aren't sticking for me. >A<;.

So, I'm gonna offer my counterarguments~

Firstly, I cannot ignore how you're just wrong about the characters' skin color.

I don't know where you're getting that Tatiana is a "slate gray" unless you're talking about a totally different color.

(DuckDuckGo search for "slate gray")

Tatiana is white. Maybe not a pure #FFFFFF, but certainly not "slate gray."

(Tatiana's Briefing Profile)

But, even if you don't want to say she's "white" because she isn't #FFFFFF, Kliff under NO circumstance has lighter skin than Tatiana.

I know that I just made a post joking about how he's "WHITE 🫵," but he still has *some* color to him.

(Tatiana, Kliff, and the photo desaturated)

He's still obviously light skinned, but he's still a little darker than the literally white Tatiana. The only reason she isn't pure white is that she would lose a lot of dimension and detail if she was, so she's shaded a little more harshly than other characters. But it's still just shadow, not her actual skin.

The point is: I cannot fathom how you can think the figure in the middle of the signed photo is too pale to be Tatiana, but somehow pale enough to be Kliff. It's just contradictory. But since your entire theory depends on the idea that the middle figure resembles Kliff more than Tatiana, I can't ignore it, and the entire theory falls apart for me.

However, if we put that to the side, there are still interesting things to talk about the theory.

I have also wondered how literally no one in the entire city besides Kliff seems to know that Tatiana was Kul Fyra. But, I propose that Tatiana used her power as NSR's CEO to erase that part of her history.

We witness first-hand how NSR uses propaganda and otherwise manipulates the media to be in their favor, so it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that Tatiana would have done everything in her power to erase her ties to The Goolings once she got into power. This would be especially easy to do if she already kept her private life and stage persona separate, like you suggested. (Though, I still don't think she'd be so secretive as to *never* appear in photos).

The way Barbara talks about Tatiana implies that she knows that Tatiana has had some experience in the music industry before NSR, but doesn't know the exact capacity. So, it would appear that Tatiana was mostly successful in burying her identity as Kul Fyra, but anyone who digs into it will find that the story isn't complete.

With that in mind, it's not unlikely that Mayday wouldn't make the connection either, simply because she doesn't have access to the information (and let's be honest, she's kinda stupid). She became a fan after The Goolings had already disbanded and after the hypothetical cover-up, so she wouldn't be able to learn anything that wasn't public knowledge.

It could also be that Tatiana has just changed so much since that time, that younger pictures of herself don't have an obvious resemblance to her current self. Mayday never saw The Goolings live, so she wouldn't know exactly what Kul Fyra looked like. It's even established early on that Mayday has a hard time recognizing people from photos in reality, given that she doesn't recognize Kliff when meeting him for the first time, despite him apparently sending a photo of himself with his message.

However, her first guess about Tatiana's identity is Kul Fyra's mom, so Mayday must see some resemblance, but can't fully believe that they would be the same person without direct confirmation.

For why Kliff knows about it, in his own words, "Everyone turned their backs on you when The Goolings disbanded, but I stood with you." This implies that he was close to Tatiana even after the breakup. It's very possible that this is the real reason she hates him: because he kept trying to drag her back to her past failures that she was trying to escape.

Additionally, none of the other characters we meet ever describe themselves as fans of rock. Most of B2J's supporters that aren't Kliff support them because they do something else to earn it: they give Zam a place to run his radio show, Gigi disagrees with the injustice at the Lights Up Auditions, and Robot appears to just be friendly. They do convince Yiruk to start a career in rock, but it's obvious that he didn't start with an appreciation for the genre. Also, given the additional evidence from the Ex-Jay poster in Akusuka that rock was already dying in Vinyl City before that point, it's clear that there just weren't that many fans or performers of rock left in the city. Thus, there weren't many people left who would care enough about The Goolings to know the truth, let alone people that were also in a position to reveal that information. So while at first, it might seem strange that only one person in the entire city seems to know the truth about Tatiana/Kul Fyra, there's actually a lot of evidence that Kliff truly is one of the last people in the city that could possibly have that information and use it against her.

As for the photo itself, I also don't think Tatiana really looks like the figure in the center, but none of the people in the photo look like the same people from the Goolings poster.

(The Goolings Poster and The Goolings Photo)

Granted, the photo appears to be in sepia and both are somewhat abstract, so the colors and designs probably aren't going to be 1:1. But just the style of the hair is what stands out the most as being inaccurate. That said, I've always interpreted the photo to be The Goolings "off-stage" where they're in more casual clothes/hair. We know that Tatiana can turn her fire off, so her natural skin color might have always been white, and later her hair started as another color (likely red) and turned white with age.

Then for whom the photo belongs to, it could just be Aunty's. If we follow the theory that the photo is of the "off-stage" Goolings, then it's possible that the photo was actually taken and signed in Aunty's shop when the band was having a lunch break or something. There are plenty of places that will take pictures of the famous people that visit and display them as a sign of prestige without actually being invested in the person.

This would explain why Aunty doesn't seem to have any special dialogue regarding The Goolings despite having a signed picture of them and (probably) knowing that Mayday is also a fan. Although she's genuinely nice and supportive, Aunty is also using B2J's popularity to increase sales by introducing new menu items named after them, so she's not above using the fame of her customers to boost her shop. She may have been a legit fan of The Goolings, but just not to the same extent as Mayday or Kliff. She might not have been invested enough to know what happened after the Goolings disbanded.

Finally, this post is very old. I posted it only 5 months after the game came out and information was still coming out from data miners and the devs. I know now that the signatures aren't supposed to be "real." I know that NSR has some pretty tight world building and lots of little extra details, but the signatures are officially not one of the things with a lot of thought behind them. They're just symbols designed to resemble a signature because if one of them is obviously a real character's name, then that opens up all the others for interpretation, and the devs wanted to leave that kind of thing open-ended. It's the same for the 1010 signatures: no "signature" in this game has a special meaning or is supposed to resemble a real word/name, and that is confirmed by the devs. So the signatures probably belong to Kul Fyra and the other 3 members, but it doesn't matter which one is which, and it would be impossible to figure it out.

Anyway, after all that, I think there being a secret 5th member of The Goolings that's actually Kliff's relative is cool, but I just don't think your theory as you've written it supports the idea strongly enough for me to personally believe it.

But, there's nothing wrong with having a headcanon that doesn't fit into the actual canon. Even everything I've said is just speculation based on my interpretation of the game. If what you said was your honest interpretation of things, then I can't really take that away from you or change your mind.