#also that she has some kind of maybe meta perspective?? maybe??

[freytful]

Catherine misericorde is living in my head rent free btw I know she dies aprox. 30 minutes into the game but shes my fave. i love post mortem characters i love having to piece together different perspectives and i love messy dykes

#I've got some kind of thought within me about Catherine being the unnamed ''She'' the Mystery Nun mentions in the secret scene #and possibly even being Alex. Catherine has some kind of meta presence and she seems so. modern leftist. #that she might actually just be a modern leftist i.e alex #but timetravel in such a direct way doesnt feel right so idk #misericorde #anyway the Secret Scene is actually very easy to find but only about half of people who finish the game did so? #which. huh. do most people not go through the extras after finishing games? #anyway Mystery Nun only really says one thing about ''her'' #which is that she doesnt like it when you mess with her hobbies. meaning This Game. #and the two main traits we know about Catherine is that shes got a lot of hobbies #and that shes very passionate about everything #also that she has some kind of maybe meta perspective?? maybe?? #so. i wonder. #i guess Catherine is invested in Stories in a way alex is not. so maybe she isnt Alex. but.

[xamiipholia]

Since it’s been a year since Burning Shores came out, some thoughts on Seyka:

TL;DR: Great character, really happy with her as a love interest for Aloy. They do some really interesting things with her that I never really see addressed so I wanted to talk about them.

She is tangibly shown to be much more of a match for Aloy through gameplay. Compared to other npcs, she solves things faster, does more damage, is a much more formidable melee combatant, faster climber - she even has a fucking Valor Surge using her Focus that does pretty significant tear damage to large machines like Slaughterspines. Environmental storytelling- Seyka’s skiff has at least 2-3 Tiderippers’ worth of parts, meaning she’s been out on her own killing the things to build boat motors, and she has some ambient dialogue that strongly suggests she’s fought and killed Slaugterspines before. Is some of this npc tech advancements in Burning Shores? Maybe, but it feels intentional. 

Seyka has a natural probing curiosity about the old world that for the most part Aloy’s other companions didn’t have without some significant hand-holding from Aloy to get them started, and some of her close friend (but not base team) characters just don’t have at all. I don’t mean this as a moral judgement, everyone is different and has different strengths and priorities , but it’s absolutely critical that a partner for Aloy have that kind of curiosity - it’s such a big part of her character. While she lives in this new world, she’s never going to be entirely a part of it. Like she says, she finds belonging in individuals, and not really the tribes. I don’t really see Aloy settling down in Meridian or Mother’s Heart. She needs to have a life of exploration and discovery and Seyka seems cut from that cloth too, whether she was always that way or being marooned gave her a fresh perspective.

Seyka did risk death using the focus and decided to do it anyway- in Rheng’s notes he calls for capital punishment for her. The threat is never *too* present but honestly I think that’s a broader critique of the series and pretty consistent with the writing of conflicts in Horizon. I agree they could have played up the dramatic tension a bit, but this is a person who weighed the risk of a military execution by a totalitarian state and immediately decided it was worth it to save her sister and others. I think Aloy can intimately relate, given what she went through for Beta.

Even though it’s a DLC, she has a TON of screen time, probably comparable to Kotallo in HFW, and Horizon does SO much storytelling through gameplay and ambient dialogue. I think she’s given a LOT of narrative space to breathe. She’s also has her own musical cues and leitmotifs that do a ton of foreshadowing work through the DLC - in terms of musical cues and framing she’s very associated with the acoustic guitar, and the flute melody in ‘Her Sky, Her Sea’ has for Aloy and Seyka the same function that ‘It Can’t Last’ does for Ellie and Dina in TLOU2 - next time you play Burning Shores, listen for it. That and the guitar cues from ‘The Idea of Home’ and ‘For His Entertainment’ do a lot of emotional work. It’s great stuff.

Okay and lastly- YMMV on this one - I’ve def talked about it with friends before but I don’t think I’ve said it on Tumblr. I’m a firm believer that meta narratives and the way that stories are situated and created in our own world matter and that art deserves to be taken seriously and dissected. I love Horizon, but it, and Aloy as a protagonist, are absolutely drenched in white savior and colonial storytelling tropes. Every time I play Frozen Wilds, all I can think of is Jack Sparrow going “and then they made me their chief”. There’s a lot of iffy stuff in the games, as much as I absolutely love them. We’ll have to see how H3 goes, but Burning Shores is MUCH better about this and honestly Seyka is a huge part of it. The story centers itself on a queer woman of color who is pretty tangibly presented as Aloy’s equal with her own strengths and weaknesses throughout the story and takes the lead just as often if not more than Aloy does, which I find really refreshing. It doesn’t entirely fix Aloy’s white savior issues but I think it’s a really good move for the narrative that continues the themes found in HFW about community and connection.

Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds (2017)

#Seyka #horizon forbidden west #hfw #aloy #horizon #horizon zero dawn #guerrilla games #hzd #horizon burning shores #hfw seyka #horizon critical #The musical leitmotifs are gooooood shit #It was one of the things that really hooked me with the dlc because Horizon had never done that for a character relationship before #Also the last point is not a personal attack #I like lots of vaguely problematic things

[cosmos-dot-semicolon]

Leshy's Dual Nature (Act 2, Kaycee's Mod spoilers)

You know, I'm really divided on how Leshy is characterised in Inscryption. Like about everything he's portrayed as goes two ways.

He's both the world's spirit of nature and somebody intrinsically aware he's in a video game. He's revealed to not have been evil in the way that he kills actual humans for his card game, but he also did stab out one of his colleague's eyes and turn them all into animals and then lock them away for years. He's a game designer, but also a tyrant actively vying for control over his world.

The most interesting portayal of this is his friendship with Kaycee and his attitude towards human players as a whole.

I know a lot of people see this as purely good and wholesome because he only cares about making a good game (and his campaign clearly has more effort put into it than act 2 and 3), but the game itself hints that even that has more sinister undertones to it.

Rebecha is one of the few outsider perspectives you get on the Scrybes' enmity, and she chooses not to mention how he imprisoned his colleagues, but instead his relationships with the player.

He is in this for the thrill of playing the game, above everything else:

(sorry for the Docs screenshot I don't have the original on hand)

If anyone's played Doki Doki Literature Club, he almost reminds me of Monika, but like? Not romantically attracted to the player and actually fleshed out with a philosophy and character beyond edgy aesthetics. Which makes sense, given Mullins has cited that as an inspiration for some of the meta plot in Inscryption.

But regardless, that's what brought both Luke and Kaycee to their deaths. It could be argued that this is a neutral thing/survival instinct on Leshy's part, but I'd ask you to compare that to Grimora, who's portrayed as doing the right thing in bringing down the game (at least within the constraints of the meta plot)

And while I don't think the fault of this lies entirely on Leshy, you see Kaycee start to suffer from social isolation and weird behaviour long before she actually gets (presumably) assasinated by her company. Her death is by no means on him, but had she lived, I can't imagine she would've turned out to be a well-adjusted individual under the influence of the disk.

Like I get being attached to your own OC projects which maybe 1 other person in the world will enjoy (my AU of this game), but like girl. I think something is happening to you there.

Their friendship is absolutely genuine, but it's clear that the disk is a sort of cursed artefact that Leshy has no gripes with keeping her near. Like as far as Kaycee's Mod's plot goes, she never discloses this to the other programmers, and just continues to slowly obsess over her mod and the game's secrets alone.

And like. From experience, that's just not a healthy way to go about it. Even just having one other real person to discuss your creations with will go a long way in making you feel less stuck in your head.

I don't think any of this makes Leshy's characterisation worth throwing away or condemning or anything. It's fascinating that he has so many layers to him, even if they're not all well-executed (I want to comment a bit on how his philosophy is kind of blunted by the twist that he's not killing real humans, but this post is long enough).

But I think it's worth reading into this guy as more than just 'the least bad Scrybe along with Grimora'. He's the densest character you get from this game and I think it's a shame people don't explore that.

#inscryption #inscryption leshy #leshy inscryption #inscryption analysis #kaycee's mod spoilers #inscryption spoilers #'leshy inscryption is the better version of monika from ddlc' is not the take I thought I'd come up with tonight but here we are #i'm supposed to be revising for exams but I'm exhausted #dots dots dots

[wizardpigeon]

on austinshow (?) in generation loss

(austin viewers pls forgive me if thats not the name he actually uses bc i do not watch him so idk im using the one they introduced him with and assuming its good)

i know a lot of people interpreted austins whole thing with the wife and kids as him being forced to lie by showfall but honestly the whole time my perspective

was that he was actively lying To The Viewers because he knew he'd have a better chance if he appealed to a wider audience/didnt reveal that he was gay,

like, i know he was introduced as

Austin Show | gay

but they cant see that, and the puzzler immediately calls him out for lying, and throughout the episode repeatedly asks him the names of his children and how many he has, which austin fucks up multiple times, so i assumed that he was intentionally trying to mislead the audience to protect himself, and showfall had the everyone prompt him as much as possible (and maybe got him to mention them more himself) in order to point out that something wasn't right about what he was telling us

now, i also want to point out, (and this is from another theory ive seen tying back to the mind control) that austin doesn't have anything on his head, and one theory i saw is that everyone else, barring sneeg until the hat, had something on their head in that episode,

ranboo with their mask

niki, vinny, and sneeg with hats

charlie and ethan with their glasses

rats with masks,

and jerma/puzzler with the prosthetics although that ones a bit more meta since based on charlies commentary it actually looked a lot more real/seamless in person than on camera

but austin isnt wearing anything, and hes arguably the most freaked out, like sure niki is sobbing but she switches the second shes in the spotlight she switches to being collected and upbeat, the only other person we see as visibly disturbed as austin is sneeg during the hat sequence,

throughout the entire carousel scene austin is looking around, visibly nervous, and like others have pointed out, he kept staring at frank, who since the reveal of the filter thing, everyones been pretty agreed on is probably like, a full on rotting corpse that they were just carting around,

so i think that while showfall had some influence on austin, his actions more than anything, they didnt have full control over his words, and they were definitely letting him see at least some of what was going on,

whether they were allowing him to lie and behave so nervously is anyones guess, it certainly makes the program more interesting, but the way he talks so desperately about his many wives and children reads to me as something a queer person would probably do if placed in some kind of saw esque game show where we had to appeal to the largest majority of viewers to survive

i like the way people have taken it as showfall stripping him of his identity, but to me, i read it as them outing him, which, also in my mind works closer with the theme of what fans/fan culture will do to "celebrities" (see kit connor with heartstopper however many years ago that was), and the fact that showfall outed him without care that his situation was dangerous just drives this further home for me

#generation loss analysis #gen loss analysis #genloss austin #austin show #austin show gen loss #generation loss #gen loss #gen loss thoughts #gl austin

[flowerbloom-arts]

You know, after watching 2019 Moominvalley's episode "The Trial", I have been thinking about the portrayal of Sniff's character on that series. From a meta perspective, Hobgoblin's appearance at the end of that episode is the embodiment of Gutsy itself noticing the damage done to Sniff and quickly fixing him with a character development spell.

"BOOM! Now he has empathy! That's the episode's message, if there was ever one. Oh yeah, now there is! This annoying, selfish, greedy creature can now feel empathy for his companions. That'll teach the children and the adult viewers a lesson," so Gutsy proudly claims. Except that said lesson does not feel earned. The need for a cosmic being's interference at the episode's climax feels like a cop out in the narrative, as if there was no better way to bring it to a closure.

This reminds me of the same issue I had with "Mrs. Fillyjonk's Last Hurrah". It's a good episode, well, until the climax. To sum it up: Mrs. Fillyjonk is actually not dead, yay! She wants all of her furniture and stuff given to others back at home. Understandable. One of said "stuff" Mrs. Fillyjonk had in possession a plush toy called Cedric, which was given away to Sniff. Moomintroll finds Sniff and asks him to give Cedric back to Mrs. Fillyjonk, to which Sniff says no as he explains why he is not giving it back.

That scene was meant to be about how Sniff's feelings are not irrelevant, it’s not about his selfishness. He should be heard as well, not ignored, but guess what? Moomintroll ignores him, the message about how people who feel mistreated by others need to be heard, he says some crap about sharing is caring and that's it. That missed the point and the episode could only be brought to a conclusion by Mrs. Fillyjonk giving Cedric back to Sniff after Moominpappa told her so.

Of course Moominpappa is not a cosmic entity, but still, it feels like Sniff is not a character on his own right. He is the embodiment of selfishness, a simplification of a character flaw, and when he stands up to himself, pouring his heart out to Moomintroll, he gets ignored. Like, that's so mean coming from a series about compassion, honesty and other virtues that come from within. Also, the series keep addressing Sniff as this selfish being fueled with greed, but I feel they never explain why he is that way. It's only "Selfish Sniff, selfish Sniff, selfish Sniff" but never "Why is he selfish? Because he wants to be rich so he can live without taking any risks and be accepted by others," but nah, let's forget that interesting bit of character, forget Sniff as a whole, he is not important and does not deserve anything right.

And that's it. I just wanted to share my opinion on 2019 Moominvalley. I have no drawing requests, but maybe... Maybe 70's and 90's Sniff comforting their 2019 counterpart, that would be nice.

I think the writers at Gutsy has some kind of vendetta against him at this point and I could make a list of dozens of reasons why I think that. Maybe if I rewatch the whole show when season 4 comes out.....

I've talked about the Sniff issue so many times and like. Yeah... They just. Either don't like him or don't know what to do with him, and I hope season 4 breaks the pattern atleast once.

#moomins #moominvalley #moomin sniff #sniff moomin #long post #fb answers

[pupstim]

HRM I've been thinkin on it a lot on like Bad wondering what the right thing to do as a parent and I've not looked more into what other people but wanna just throw my 2 cents in. It'll be under the cut because it is a little bit heavy

Hrm this is just me thinking aloud and I might be getting jus a little bit personal but what really struck me was Bad asking what the right thing to do is. It's a moral conundrum and one I've had to scrabble with myself. What's the right action to take like with helping someone or figuring out how best to help them.. talking with my therapist though she's never said what the right thing to do is and when I asked her she said because really people are like so complex and multifaceted that the right thing to do with one person isn't the right thing to do with another. So there isn't really a right thing to do. Instead just the best thing to do and that's completely up to you.

That being said though I do think the best thing for Bad to do with Dapper is to talk to him about it. I know most of Chat wants Bad to respect Dapper's privacy but... I dunno... It just feels like all of Dapper's actions are a cry for help. Dapper knows he can talk to his dad about this but Dapper also has Bad's trust in coming to him, and Dapper is really worried about the wrong word getting out. Bad has Chat and it kind of seems like Dapper knows the Federation somehow is able to know whats going on with Bad when Bad's live. HRM This is hard for me to articulate.

I think Dapper is feeling like he HAS to keep this a secret to prevent the Federation or someone else getting this information about this potion. He's worried the info will leak out and obviously the less people know the better. Plus it sounds like in his own way he's trying to protect Bad and Pomme (and the thoughts of maybe he is being coerced by the federation) So anyway I think he's feeling like he has to keep this a secret but he doesn't want to. He wants Badboy to find out about this and ask him, He wants Bad to dig deeper and find out more and help him. To me all of Dapper's actions, at least from an RP perspective is a call for help. Which is devastating.

Just... He kept the book Bad read in the beginning for so long, adding more and more onto it and just putting off burning the book. It became he's going to burn this book after a few pages, after 10 pages, after 20 pages, after he finds a way to give it a proper farewell just... He put up these super secret documents right where Badboy is in his own room, he changed the shed so much that Bad couldn't have helped notice, he left the clipboard and blueprints where anyone could see it, he's come to talk to Badboy about this like 3 or so times I think.

And yea I know from a meta perspective most likely this is just Dapper's Admin trying to lay out some clues for Bad to investigate but purely from an RP perspective its just... This really feels like Dapper trying in some way subconsciously asking Bad for help. He feels like he has to carry this burden all on his own, he's always held as the most responsible one, the one that has a plan, the one that has the most resources and is considered a genius and one that OTHER PEOPLE always go to. He doesn't feel like he has the luxury of asking someone for help, maybe even especially because Bad is becoming unglued after the election but he's also just a lil kid. He's like 3 months old and still a kid and a baby but he HAS to do this even though he doesn't want too. Even though he desperately wants his Dad to come in and help him. Just... yea...

tl;dr I think Bad should ask Dapper about it because Dapper is asking for help in just about all ways except outright and he clearly needs it.

#qsmp #qsmp analysis #q!badboyhalo #qsmp Dapper #woof this is a long one and hmm #a little bit heavy I guess? #these cubitos man...

[aha-chuu]

Kaveh's Odd Desert Connections

Kaveh... Is weird. I hadn't thought that much about it until I very recently caught up with the Dirge of Bilqis quest (the new desert one with Jeht) and watched Ashikai's latest theory video. This post is just meant to gather my thoughts and share what I've learned.

So first what sent me down this rabbit hole was finding this during the desert quest:

In case you missed it in that wall of text, this record is addressed to "Mehrak". We know due to leaks that Kaveh's very cute briefcase is called Mehrak also.

Unfortunately,,, desert lore is like that and is pretty hard to untangle. These records recount the fall of Gurabad and the story of Liloupar - basically, they tell a story of a ruined civilisation from thousands of years in the past. Knowing the actual contents of them isn't really necessary to follow this post, because Mehrak (and by extension Kaveh) is only namedropped this one time out of all the records.

But we can theorise a lot just from this single mention. To me, there are two possible explanations for why "Mehrak" comes up in these records whilst also being Kaveh's present day briefcase. The first is mildly boring but kind of funny: there is no true connection between Kaveh's Mehrak and the Mehrak mentioned, Kaveh simply named his cute techno briefcase after a historical figure because he thought it would be cool. Kaveh is smart and does work on projects in the desert, so it is not outside the realm of possibility that he might learn of Mehrak and use the name. It makes him look a whole lot more nerdy, which I find amusing.

The second possible explanation (and pls do provide your thoughts if you have any other ideas) was provided to me by a redditer (PinkPrimrose05). Their theory is that Mehrak is in a similar situation to Ferigees, who I will remind you is the Jinni near the end of the Dirge of Bilqis questline. They were a person at a certain point in history, but has since been trapped in a mechanical construct. They cannot die until we release them.

(I apologise for the poor quality, Ferigees is inside that yellow mechanism.)

This has many more implications, since (if this is the case) Mehrak's current form does not really match the other ancient desert technology. Well, perhaps it has some similar patterning, but it definitely looks significantly more modern than other technology from that time -

(I could not for the life of me find a good model image for this, so sorry Kaveh's arm is in the way.)

Perhaps I should have mentioned this earlier - we know from leaks that Mehrak has some level of sentience, in that it has expressions (little pixelated anime eye reactions) and responds to Kaveh's instructions without necessitating verbal or physical inputs. This makes the Jinni idea seem more likely, since they also have sentience.

Okay, so maybe the briefcase has a rich history from the time of King Deshret. So what? Kaveh probably found it in the desert and repurposed it for his own needs - perhaps due to errosion Mehrak has no memory of its past life. Since the technology does not quite match, or at least not totally, perhaps Kaveh created the briefcase around Mehrak (as well as an architect he is also a student from the technology darshan, after all). Or maybe he just made additions. What does it even matter aside from being an interesting tidbit?

Well, then I watched Ashikai's latest video: https://youtu.be/h5rNMYwWjfA. It's not necessary watching to understand what I'm about to say, so I'll summarise some of her thoughts very broadly: she brings up the idea that rather than Alhaitham being the Deshret parallel as we all thought, it's instead Kaveh. If you would like to hear all her thoughts as to why that could be, I recommend watching the video.

This does not mean that Kaveh IS Deshret, or even that it's a reincarnation situation. Just that he could be a parallel, or have more connections/knowledge than we might realise. Kaveh is an interesting case from a meta perspective also, since he has had a strange amount of unnecessary story presence for an unreleased four star. He is in the archon quest and Alhaitham's story quest and in neither is his presence at all justified by narrative - Alhaitham's quest could easily end fifteen minutes earlier, and Kaveh adds literally nothing to the archon quest aside from some nice levity. Some lore relevant significance might explain this presence past just "oh, well Hoyo wanted fanservice".

Through the lens that their is some sort of Deshret -> Kaveh connection happening (and I say this so so loosely), his connection with Mehrak might have a more sinister implication. Deshret allowed, through his own ignorance, the Jinni he intended to protect on behalf of the Goddess of Flowers to be enslaved. He also lied about the Goddess' death to the Jinni, and it is largely due to their contract with him that their entire civilisation fell apart. An important note about Ferigees and Liloupar is that both crave an existence outside of their prisons - Ferigees purposefully trapped themself inside the mechanism but found the experience torturous, and Liloupar returns to Gurabad. If Mehrak is another trapped Jinni, Kaveh might be accidentally mistreating it.

However, I like the idea that Mehrak and Kaveh are friends much better. Its expressions are often positive ones, so even if it's forced to listen to Kaveh because he has its name, it doesn't seem too upset about it. Also, another part of Ashikai's video posits that Liloupar so quickly accepts the traveller because they have resemblance to Deshret (a whole other rabbit hole, watch the video if you want to know). In this same thread, Ashikai brings up that Kaveh looks very similar to the traveller, so I think that perhaps Mehrak (either knowingly or not) connects Kaveh to its previous master, which could explain why it listens to him so well.

Overall, I find this connection very intriguing and I'm excited to learn more. There is definitely something there, but whether or not it will be imprtant I do not know.

#genshin impact #kaveh #mehrak #kaveh's briefcase #genshin leaks #dirge of bilqis #lore #theory? #long post #also i had unrelated kavetham thoughts about why alhaitham has deshret's eyes #but is not revealed to be connected to him on a story level in any way #if kaveh has the connection instead and then has control of mechanisms #and alhaitham's burst looks exactly like the ASIMON attack which is a desert mechanism #idk there is a fanfiction there i swear to god #also more story esque leaks incoming but not really #kaveh is by leagues the main character in the 3.6 event #so next patch is truly his patch #so hopefully we'll get lots of info

[mooncaps]

Watching and Crying

I don’t know how this show can top the impact of everything it’s already done and I’m sure there will be a lot more I wish they could’ve done, but let’s go!

Okay, just straight in, picking up immediately where it left off. Kind of jarring.

Okay, I guess this is the Titan from the in between.

Ooh, the heart. I was wondering if there was something more to be done with that.

Um, what? Is she the Emperor? The Golden Guard? To quote Hooty from last episode: What’s happening?!

That’s different stained glass, right? I feel like they’re trying to tell me something significant, but it’s not clicking.

Thanks, I hate it.

Ominous vibes from Amity. I don’t think I’m ready for this.

I’m definitely not ready for this!

Okay, so it’s everyone’s worst nightmare. I’m catching up.

Eyyy, callbacks. It’s like an inversion of Covention.

Okay, they keep knocking that hat off and putting it back on. I feel like they’re trying to set up something, but I’m not quite sure what.

Let’s go, Amity!

Yes! More of the certified bop that is The Collector’s Theme. ♫ ♪

Okay, more callbacks.

I can dig it.

Well, uh, mad respect for the attempt, little dude, but I will be shocked if that works.

That’s probably not good.

And there goes the hat again. Tell me your secrets, hat!

Now we’re doing callbacks to Agony of a Witch. I see you.

Okay, but like, they’re not actually killing off the main character at the end of a Disney Channel show. I’m sad for the characters presumably thinking it, but I can’t pull myself out of the meta perspective.

Oh, whoa, it’s a Hooty eye. I didn’t even spot that before.

Oh, that is a look!

Yes! This is a callback I was fully expecting and I’m thrilled to see it.

Bookends in finales are one of my favorite tropes.

Yooo! Titan Luz looks sick!

Loving the new remix of the theme. ♪ ♫

Ooh! Okay, that rings a bell.

Y’all know I’ve been thinking about the hat. Ever since Camila picked it up in 3x01 it’s been on my mind. And when I was passing the time between 3x02 and 3x03, I watched reactors do 1x01 and the thought occurred to me that if the writers wanted to do a full circle moment, then maybe they’d throw back to...

And so this isn’t exactly what I was thinking and doesn’t really involve the hat like I thought it would, but I’m noticing the visual similarity.

(Hang on, let me from the next morning grab a better screencap and...)

Bookending with Titans getting their crowns. What they deserve.

Eeeee! These baby gays always give me life.

Awww, Hooty, you’re adorable!

Her.

Oh my heart’s not ready for this.

Of course she chose all of them. Oh, and she’s wearing Amity’s necklace!

Ooh, new door. Finally accomplished what Luz wanted when she tried to find The Collector in the first place.

Ahhhh! There he is carving palismen! I’m so happy for him!

And Dell gets to teach the trade to someone new. Oh, and Hunter’s got a new palisman.

Whoa. Alright, Amity. Get it, queen.

Eyyyy, Harpy Lilith. I was wondering if we’d ever get to see this.

Rainestorm looking fabulous.

Am I sensing chemistry? (And I’m not just talking about abominations.)

This looks neat, but it’s hard to get a good screenshot with the credits going.

Eda, also looking fabulous.

That’s a good shot. Even Boscha showed up. And I’m glad to see Tiny Nose survived the thorny situation she was in when Belos was taking over.

Also...

Same energy.

Oh, I’m just noticing Bat Queen’s kids growing up. Such precious little monsters.

Ooh, a new glyph.

Woop, Youtube shrunk the final image off to the corner. Me from the next morning has to step in again with a better screencap.

And there we have it.

So, yeah, I’ve watched this twice now. Remind me not to stay up til after midnight waiting for an episode of a show in the future. The second time hit way better when I was well-rested. Er, well, rested anyway.

There were definitely some spots where it felt kind of rushed, and I understand why they had to pack as much as they could into a short space of time, but it still leaves me wishing for more. The nightmares alone could’ve been an episode or two if we’d had a full season 3. But I suppose we can’t dwell too much on what could’ve been.

They did a lot with what they had and made something very meaningful and impactful in my life and I’m sure in the lives of many others. There’s also definitely plenty of room for them to expand into comics or spinoffs, should those opportunities ever arise.

I kind of wish The Collector hadn’t left. For one thing, that last screenshot will always be lacking one character that I would want in a full group shot. And I guess it’s implied that they helped build the new portal door at some point, but I would’ve like too see more of The Collector helping out with the rebuilding efforts. And now I’m quite curious about the Archivists and whatever else is going on in the stars. More potential left open for the future, I suppose.

Gotta say I’m surprised they killed Belos. Not that I’m mourning for him, but I was thinking Luz would probably use the last of her Titan power to imprison him between the realms. I figured that would be a fitting punishment, but maybe killing him was more merciful. And dead to rights, he’d already lived way past his natural lifespan by stealing the lives of others. I’m a little bit surprised that he even could be killed, stubbornly as he clung to life. And I would’ve been afraid to touch that goop for fear of getting possessed, but I guess maybe Luz was still exuding enough Titan power to prevent him from doing that. Anyway, I’m rambling on a tangent now.

Definitely quite a ride. I’m sure I’ll always wish there could’ve been more, but I’m equally sure I’ll always love what we got. And we got so much. Even if we never get anything else, I know this show will continue to spark fond memories in me.

#The Owl House #toh spoilers #Watching and Dreaming #Lumity #my first thoughts on this

[thewertsearch]

Asks Comp 13/4

I think he's behind that door. The platform bears his symbol, and it's his final chance to show up in-game.

The best theory I have is that Bilious Slick is the god of Sgrub, and he only appears to a party of Players who have truly proven themselves. Given that Sgrub's endgame involves the creation of a universe, his role probably relates to this in some way.

Maybe he's the one who grants the Players the 'seed' - or whatever else is mechanically required to alchemize a universe.

The thought has occurred to me, too! I've been skimming some old posts while writing asks, and a couple of things have stood out to me.

We still don't know who the pen pal is. I'm still convinced he has something to do with Grandpa Harley, and my best guess is that he's someone who contains Grandpa as an alchemical component.

The session monitor in Skaianet's lab has a new meaning now. Every single one of those sessions could spawn a universe. And it's been implied that every planet with intelligent life will eventually spawn Sburb sessions. If you do the maths, it's clear that each universe should spawn billions of sessions. Just how many 'children' does each universe produce?

Ooh, yes, let's think about the implications of all this on my 'sonas!

If we assume that the kidsona was on comic-canon Earth, then she's in the universe created by the Zodiac trolls. The universe that she and the trollsona could create could be a completely new one!

...that is, if they create a universe at all. There's nothing saying you have to use that grist on a universe, and they might have other plans...

I was actually thinking about Tinkers when I made that post!

I read Worm a couple of years ago. In retrospect, it would also have made pretty good liveblogging material, although probably not quite as good as Homestuck. There's some great stuff in Worm, but a lot of what I really like about it doesn't show up until close to the end.

I initially assumed that the Psychic Double Reacharound was a contingency plan that she'd prepared earlier, since she couldn't possibly have come up with something so elaborate in the heat of the moment, while bleeding out on the ground.

But then I remembered she came up with the Sollux/Mind Honey plan seemingly on the spot, and now I'm not so sure. God damn, Vriska.

This is genuinely super flattering. I hope the inconsistency isn't too much of an issue - and, yes, I note the irony of saying this immediately after a four-month hiatus!

If was clear from early on that things in Homestuck weren't always what they seemed. Hell, sometimes they're not even what we're shown.

We have to assume some of what we're being told is true, or else we wouldn't have a story - but we always have to remember who's telling the story.

[Lol I love this fic. lots of **GIANT** spoilers tho, just because of the nature of the fic. For example, big ones starting at 16, 55 and 57 - C]

Recommended, and does apparently contain spoilers - but this is one I'm particularly looking forward to.

It's kind of a funny question, isn't it?

From Davesprite's perspective, he did change the future - his future. John died, but he 'changed things' - and now John's alive, even though he was dead 'before'.

But if you zoom out a little, you can see that this change was predetermined by the Alpha Timeline, which always depended on these events. Davesprite changed the first-order future - but the meta-future was always set in stone.

The Medium's timeline is so weird, isn't it? Its retroactive existence is difficult to puzzle out.

I don't think you could see the history of your Land by travelling back before you entered. All physical evidence of that history is there, but it's generated in a single instance when you Enter, and can't be accessed. It's analogous to read-only-memory.

After all, John, Rose and Dave are in the past with respect to LOJADE, but they're never going to see its 'history' - and Jade's Entry isn't going to insert it into the Medium retroactively. It won't have been 'there all along' when John was flying around earlier on his jetpack - it'll only ever have been there from Jade's Entry onwards.

As for getting into Earth's past, I think Karkat had it right, when he described the kids' original universe as 'a set of points to choose from'. You can't get into Earth's past by time-travelling around the Medium, but that doesn't really matter, since you can open portals into any point in its history, as long as you have the gear.

They're fascinating questions, aren't they?

Pre-Exile, she was the Tradition Wrangler - a Prospitian lawyer who struggled to interpret the Medium's archaic laws!

DD is a man of action, and I'm sure he approves of any Player who acts decisively themselves.

Plus, I'm sure he can emphasize with Aradia's situation. After all, it sucks to be bossed around by someone whose motivations make no goddamn sense half the time.

Common Terezi W.

True - she didn't need to hold her there for long. The laser pointer thing is a better analogy, blinding her almost instantly. I don't think it's any less fucked-up - it's more like a different flavor of fucked-up.

That's a pretty impressive robotics feat for Equius, actually. I wonder what Aradiabot is actually made of?

Tracing the source of alchemy gear is one of my favorite Homestuck 'minigames'.

Hivebent's art is fantastic! I really see why the comic blew up around this time. It's really coming into its own, stylistically. Of particular note is the art of Make Her Pay, and the art accompanying Aradia's final monologue. I can't wait to see more!

Gamzee is just too high to be rendered in a less symbolic manner.

Sollux is broken, and probably another mutant. The Sgrub trolls don't seem surprised by his level of power - but considering their circle includes other absurd espers like Aradia and Vriska, they probably aren't the best people to ask about what's normal.

Damn, I wish we could have seen more of Alternia. I know some of the spin-offs dig into this, but I hope we get more in canon, too.

Terezi's dream self is blind, because that's the version of herself she identifies most with. There's very little doubt in my mind that your dream self would reflect your self-perception in other ways, too. Skaia is clearly an ally - thank you, king.

You could imagine a Player whose dream self changes after they realize - or conversely, a Player whose dream self cracked their eggy loking thign. I'd be surprised if there weren't many fanfictions where this is a plot point - and depending on how things shake out in the comic itself, I'm not ruling it out.

In asking about magic, Kanaya really does start to sound like the young child that she is. It's easy to forget, but heartbreaking when you remember.

A few people have talked about this, so I added all of my 'immediate reaction' posts to the liveblog tag! I think it got them all - other than LOLCAT, which I missed and will add now - but if there are others, let me know!

I guess Matespritship isn't explicitly described in terms of romantic love. It's described as a close analogue of human romance, which is 'rooted in strongly positive emotions'. I've been assuming, based on that, that Red Romance is effectively interchangeable with the human concept of romantic love - but I suppose that's not necessarily the case.

I do think you're hitting on a very good point, here, too, which is that the quadrant system itself is described as something that trolls need. I think the 'need' for these categories is enforced, artificially, for the benefit of the Empire. It wouldn't be the first institution to pull something like this.

Either way, it'll be interesting to see how the troll/human ships end up shaking out. It's going to be a challenge to merge their respective relationship frameworks. The best solution, of course, is for them to experience their own relationships without any cultural baggage, but I don't think I'm just speaking for myself when I say that that's easier said than done!

#asks #full liveblog #act 5

[thesherrinfordfacility]

so i saw this post and the reply underneath it

and what if ... god was turned mortal and born as ... agnes nutter ...

oh i love-loved that art, i know it was meant to be based on the moon meme but it's so good!!!✨ but let's get into a little bit of speculation, eh? now's a good a time as any!!!

hmm, came to earth as agnes nutter? it's an interesting thought and would be really cool, but im not entirely convinced. but agnes was absolutely meant to be a personification of god, i think that's without doubt.

but i think there might be some kind of clue as to what happened - and will happen - to god in agnes' brief but important narrative. if we take her story as a hypothetical direct parallel to god, agnes ended up being hunted down and burned on a pyre as a witch, but then did an ol' bait and switch and blew everyone and herself up (bitch behaviour, gorgeous, stunning).

but what if this is similar to what happened to god?

we know that the last canonical time her voice appears is speaking to job, when she starts challenging him on asking her questions. to me, she's essentially saying that he has no right to do so, which echoes the same kind of rhetoric that is implied by the fall. aziraphale and crowley can't seem to hear what she is saying - her voice from their perspective is muffled - and i know others have remarked that her voice sounds manufactured (like, in the narrative itself). also in job, there is a key lighting difference - heaven is swathed in golden heavenly light, compared to the stark white it is now.

however, despite the voice being fake school of thought, im inclined to believe that she is actually present. this, to me, is supported by aziraphale's dynamic in heaven; gabriel and michael obviously have the wrong end of the stick where concerns job's fate, that much is true, but i do think the general vibe is that they are a touch more collaborative with him than in s1, where it felt much more cold, and laden with subtle but aggressive superiority:

essentially, it feels more here that they are indeed following god (obviously still immoral in doing so, but they seem so much more innocent and almost teamlike?). im possibly projecting and misinterpreting here, but i do think nonetheless there is a big difference between the character behaviour of the angels between job and 2019.

now there was this brilliant meta put forward by @amuseoffyre✨ that looked at gabriel's weird iterations when he 'remembers', and how it overlaps with what sounds like god's voice. it frankly hasn't left my brain since, because to my mind, the book of life might come into this. the theme of memory being lost, but also possibly memory being scattered, is very prevalent in s2. my thoughts on the book of life are that it essentially doesn't necessarily erase life/existence, but in the context of angels specifically erases the essence of their divinity (ie. falling) - which maybe to angels is the same as losing who they are, and by extension parts of their memory.

so what if god was written into the book of life? well im not 100% convinced that it's as simple as that - it's GO after all, it never is that simple. in any case, for what purpose she might have been written in (other than metatron essentially being machiavellian by nature but that's by the by) is similarly uncertain; i could imagine a good ol' fashioned power struggle possibly has a hand in it somewhere. but again, this just doesn't seem to be quite right.

for this next bit, where i think possibly god might have gone/done, im going to refer to nietzsche and his famous statement, "god remains dead, and we have killed him." to me, this doesn't mean that god never existed or a lack of belief in god is now absolute, but instead that other belief systems potentially will replace, and have replaced, god. now, that could be belief in science, or other theology and philosophy, or just plain belief in oneself. and the prospect is dangerous, as nietzsche also elaborates, because it's irreversible, and there will always exist the need to replace it with something in order to avoid complete nihilistic belief.

so going off of this, if god is no longer untouchable - unquestionable - where does that leave us? well, it leaves us like job; being put through trials and horrors that are being challenged for their necessity and the morality in exacting them. it starts us on the same journey as aziraphale - does god truly intend this to happen? if so, why would she? is this a system - a god - i want to trust and believe in anymore? (coincidentally, crowley on the whole, and particularly at start of s2, appears to have gone straight to the nihilistic end of the spectrum following the fall, and through his development since the fall is instead slowly working his way backwards to finding faith in something again, and meet aziraphale in the metaphorical middle).

but back to the story, and agnes: i think the above is going to be posed in s3, and would tie in narratively with what i anticipate will be a recounting of the fall. that collectively - same as the witchfinders and the village did to agnes - humanity and heaven and hell may start to question the power behind god, and whether god herself can be challenged in her plan, the morality and ethics of it, and what it means for true free will. the only issue is, i think, is that in god possibly having retreated after job, because that's when that line of questioning kind of started amongst her people and amongst her angels, metatron has rushed to fill the vacuum and pretends that he is still acting in her name.

the conclusion i come to after all this ridiculous rambling is this: i think that god did intend to step back from heaven, but didn't leave anything to fill the void - hence the absolute chaos that has ensued since. i think she has surrendered herself over to the allegorical pyre, seen it coming and has accepted that her death - the loss of blind faith in her - is needed for humanity to progress.

maybe the last thing she'll do is a bait and switch; who that metaphorical mix of gunpowder and roofing nails will hit, and why, i don't know...

or maybe it won't happen at all, and this is where the parallel diverges from agnes' story? actually reaching a peaceful and acceptable ending, where free will will actually flourish and determinism borne of her omniscience will dwindle into nothing?

if you or anyone made it to this point, well-bloody-done because that was A Lot!!!✨

#good omens #god i really do chat some shit dont i #god is dead theory... maybe??? #its all just good soup 🍲🍲🍲 #ask

[agirlprince]

Spinning Roses: The Cycle of Abuse in Revolutionary Girl Utena

This may not be the most comprehensive meta but my best friend and I were talking about the show and it got me thinking about cyclic abuse, abusive patterns, and how this applies to Akio and Anthy primarily. General RGU trigger warnings and major spoilers lay beneath the cut so be cautious! 

The first question: What's interesting is later (I think the beginning of s2) Anthy makes a throwaway line on how akio has become like her father.... AND IT'S NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN  Really made me think if he was good as a prince.... He's really more like a "king" now right? As the head of the school??

Akio as a King: Akio is a king now and maybe he stopped being able to be a prince when he became an adult because a prince is a boy (not looking at how nobility really works but looking at it from a fairytale perspective) which is extra interesting because when he met Utena and gave her the ring he was not yet a man and in the eternal flashback he kept being shown as different ages...of boyhood. Not as he is now.

Akio’s position as chairman solidified him as king - ruling with an iron fist but he's chasing the memory of prince hood (of boyhood) and forcing these boys into a "princely" role with the duels and then destroying them and they all lose their chance at princehood when he shows them adulthood (the trauma sex car) they're truly out of the game at that point. He shows them adulthood and the all have a final duel and lose.

(Side Note): It's also interesting that Juri is a duelist as a girl of her own merit but she's a lesbian and thus can occupy a prince role. Nanami is only a duelist as an extension of her brother until the end when she ditches the second sword and fights on her own merit. But I digress because this could be its whole own separate post.

Second Question: But then what does it mean for Anthy  what was happening what'd he do??? Was it worse than first thought?? Was she inherited??  Why'd they have her in that little dress

Anthy and Dios - The Trouble With Princehood: So what does Akio’s eventual King status and Anthy’s role as the Rose Bride mean for the children they used to be? Let’s look at some relevant threads from the anime:

Anthy as a "witch" - she wanted her brother to herself, right? She wanted him to be her prince.

Anthy became a "witch" as a child after she "locked her brother up for herself"

Remember the shadow girls play when the dad says "come keep my daughter company she's lonely and it's Christmas Eve" there's only one kind of company he would be keeping a girl in the middle of the night which is fucked up on its own because he WAS still a child

Akio says to Anthy at one point, "Why must you continue to torture me?” which is very telling in terms of where he lays blame and is a potential hint as to why he labels her (unfairly) as a witch

If you're not a princess you're a witch and princesses are pure, right? And princesses only ever go to bed with their prince (and typically this would be when she's a queen)

In RGU our characters are reflections of either Anthy, Utena, or Akio

If we take the swords as a metaphor for eternal suffering and pain and sacrificing your own innocence and purity not literally swords…

Then the theory is that Dios was also probably being sexually abused (parallels to Touga and Touga is Akio in our cycle format) and Anthy having always been observant probably witnessed this and came to the thought process that if she wanted to be her brother's princess she would need to sleep with him. She sacrificed her innocence and her purity to "make her brother love her" and take her away from all other princesses to save HIM from the abuse, right?

He was probably selling himself to support them and to protect Anthy from the abuse the same way Touga did for Nanami) and Anthy interfered with that to protect HIM but that made her a witch (a succubus, a siren, a Lolita).

Alternatively Anthy sacrificed herself to the mob for her brother...instead of having sex with him she may have sacrificed herself to the CLIENTS of the prince because he was too sick/hurt to do so. Which....a thousand swords, right? I'm not saying a literal 1,000 but I am saying that sacrifice was probably the most traumatic thing anyone has ever been through. She's scared of crowds. Their faces blend together. This really doesn’t imply anything good.

Not to say that's ALL Dios did. I'm sure he did work for whomever. Build things, run errands, do chores for a little bit of pay etc. I'm sure he was chivalrous and valiant and made young girls feel special and maybe saved a couple from a bad fall or saved someone's life (he was protecting his sister, young girls probably reminded him of Anthy) and got a princely reputation...but what do adult men do to princes that they're resentful of because they lost that in their adulthood? The same thing Akio does to Touga, and Saionji and countless others. And it's implied he is used to selling his body (the chairman's wife) to get what he wants. Touga is again a parallel here.

Regardless, Dios agonized over it and hated her for it and abused her because of it but she's trapped, right? Because now she's a witch. And because now she’s ruined and nobody will ever love her. And she "did this to herself" even though she was a small girl and didn't understand adult behaviors or what she was doing but she's smart enough to know that she made this decision (and takes the blame for it even when it was not her fault) and that she has no choice now but to live with it.

She "ruined the prince" she "tempted him to do something taboo and unprincely" etc OR she ruined herself and his image of her and now must be punished for it because he feels so incredibly guilty and she’s his outlet for that. He blames her because he can’t live with himself if he sees it as his fault.

(Side Note): With regards to the dress, I think it was was symbolic of her "selling herself" to Dios and others; it's VERY likely that after they had sex and/or the mob situation he started selling her off to adults as well. It was clear they were poor. And she's "ruined" now. The dress is red for a reason.

This is what makes Anthy the Rose Bride. The spoils to the winner. A possession, an object, a “heartless doll”. She accepts her place because she is trapped by her sacrifice and her pain and her prince is dead and now there is nobody to save her. Kings rule, they don’t save.

She is disillusioned and jaded and I’m constant agony but that’s not to say that she doesn’t understand the game now, because she does. And she tries to save people from it. I stand by that the tricks on Nanami (while hilarious and often deserved) they were meant to teach her a valuable lesson and to guide her away from the path that Anthy took that she is blindly following. And it works.

This is why Nanami says "I'm not like you!" to Anthy. Because Nanami said no. She said she didn't want her brother that way. That was never what she wanted. At most she had a child-like crush on him based on admiration and adoration that would have faded over time if he treated her nicely and normally and she continued socializing with her peers because it is NOT abnormal for little girls to idolize their fathers or brothers and little girls to declare they will marry their brothers/fathers one day because all they know is that marriage = love. They don't have a proper understanding of romantic or sexual love as children, and they shouldn’t. It is an adult’s job to appropriately guide a child’s love and affection not abuse it.

Something Eternal: Dios showed Utena something eternal...right? Anthy's eternal suffering. He showed her being repeatedly stabbed with swords...which throughout the history of literature has almost ALWAYS represented penetration. She probably witnessed Anthy being raped, actually, and Dios showed her this "an innocent girl, a princess" to show her what happens to little girls who are witches.

Except that Utena just saw a little girl being hurt and vowed to become a prince that would save her and she DOES she becomes a prince who is willing to save a "witch" and loves her regardless of what she's had to do to survive, which is all Anthy needed. Someone to believe she was worth loving. Someone to validate her personhood and her agency. All girls are like the Rose Bride - but none of us want to be.

Abuse is a cycle; most abusers were abused children themselves. Dios is the abused child. Akio is the abusive adult. Dios is the prince. Akio is the King. The morning star. Lucifer. The fallen Angel. He has tasted the fruit of knowledge (adulthood) and he has forced the fruit on others. The roses keep spinning.

#revolutionary girl utena #rgu #utena #anthy himemiya #utena tenjou #akio ohtori #shoujo kakumei utena #meta #rgu analysis #my bestie literally sent me gun emojis for writing this and making it sadder

[v-arbellanaris]

irt the sera discussion from yesterday I would like to add that she's also dismissive of city elven culture—it just doesn't come up as much bc inquisition does its very best to ignore city elves' existence. the most memorable example for me is a quote from her WOT entry—"stupid tree. didn't go, didn't stay" or something like that. You're definitely right, her whole deal is just internalized racism, it's not strictly prejudice against the dalish like some people claim lol. (I believe anneapocalypse has a meta on this exact subject actually) very frustrating that there's barely a hint of growing out of it though—if it were some other flaw, maybe id be fine with it (I do love when characters get worse.), but given that it's a white writer writing internalized racism. well. but that's a subject that's been meta'd to death by better writers than I.

yeah, i love @anneapocalypse's sera meta, it was very compelling to think about!!! and idk! unfortunately, i DO know people irl who are like this (and don't seem to be getting any better about it). again, on its own, i think there's a lot of value to sera's story, even if it's not my story - the problem comes when we look at specific details in sera's writing and how her writing fits into the overall portrayal of elves - and dalish cultures, as well as city elves which as you've pointed out are almost entirely erased in dai which is truly horrific when you are directly dealing with the aftermath of the slaughter of thousands of elves in WEWH.

from that perspective, coupled with how minimal sera's growth is (especially if you're a lavellan that didn't romance her but had to deal with her internalised racism with no way to call it out as the PC without resorting to ableist insults) (and i use minimal here not to discount that her growth exists but how tiny it is compared to what we have to face in-game in terms of her internalised racism, and how most of her growth is shoved into codex entries or into trespasser and even then it's a couple of throwaway lines, at best)... it starts to feel a lot less like a well-intentioned portrayal of internalised racism, with some hits and misses, with the intention of resolution and self-love being the outcome.

and again, what IS IT with bioware and having their white characters dealing with fantasy racism??? like, i'm sorry, but sera is literally white. there's a black woman IN GAME and no one even ACKNOWLEDGES that racism/colourism towards her exists except for one tiny banter with cole for a SPLIT SECOND... and vivienne, a black woman growing up in a heavily andrastian-influenced circle of magi with chantry values... literally has no character arc... even though she's a black woman supporting incarceration of her own people... but the white elf's got an entire arc about internalised racism???????????????? what is the narrative reasoning behind this???

AND ANOTHER THING! the issues with sera are also an issue present with a lot of the other characters in dai - you discuss slavery once with dorian, where he gets defensive of it, and even as a lavellan romancing him, it never gets brought up again until bloody tevinter nights, which isn't even in-game material. you can't argue with cassandra to disseminate the cure for tranquility or get to change her mind on ANYTHING; you can't argue with cullen about mages; you can't argue with vivienne about the circles (not with actual logical arguments with any kind of nuance, which is a limitation OF THE GAME when they can give vivienne lines of nuance for her arguments for why the circle should exist); you can't argue with varric's centricism, etc, etc. even if you do get to confront them, it's one or two lines that are then mysteriously never touched on again in game. in da:o and da2, they didn't do this well either, but at least they had leliana come up to an elven warden after they correct her to apologise - there's clearly an acknowledgement of where she went wrong, and an intention to be better, etc, which is SUCH a fascinating writing direction. you don't have that in... any of the other games. none of the characters are allowed to be wrong, unless they're pushing for justice or equality or freedom in which case they will do something evil (like slavery or mass murder) to make you doubt the validity of their argument. instead they're representations of a specific stance and you're expected to just accept what they say as fact - which is incredibly ironic for a game that hides most of it's deep lore via conflicting codex entries for a sense of realism when it comes to reporting real life events.

it's incredibly exhausting.

#asks #bioware critical #sera critical #dai critical #dao critical #da2 critical #dorian critical #vivienne critical #cullen critical #cassandra critical #varric critical #fuckin hell we're going all out on this one. this is touching a LOT of different things and meandered off the main topic slightly but #[shakes bioware writing] HIRE MORE PEOPLE OF COLOUR. HIRE SENSITIVITY READERS. HIRE LITERALLY ANYONE OTHER THAN THE SAME 3 WHITE CENTRISTS.

[wakebymoonsleepbysun]

Possible Ch 4 Toys?

Void

This is the one I think is most likely.

There's a VHS called Report: Void, which details a doctor (Dr. White, I think, he seems to be the nicer of the two doctors we're aware of based on his line delivery. The name was mentioned in Samuel's last day so I'm just going to use it here for ease.) is reporting on subject 1322, aka Kevin. Based on the number he's one of the more advanced experiments, and I assume Void is the name of what he eventually became. In this tape he's still human, but for his monster/toy form, we can look to another of the VHS tapes.

In the Claire Harper Debrief vid, she mentions Marie waking from a Red Smoke-induced nightmare and saying she sees something "colorless". Claire herself cannot see it. Now, this could be the nightmare/skeletal CatNap, though I think Claire would have noted Marie looking at CatNap frightfully as she spoke if that were the case. I've heard some people guess it was the Prototype, as "colorless" might fit him, but I also think this is a stretch. BUT! Colorless would fit something called "Void", no?

I think Void is something that can only be seen when under the influence of the Red Smoke. (Given that his higher experiment number, he may have abilities that feel even more supernatural than the monsters we've already encountered.) This could be a way to add some depth to the gas mask mechanic, as in Ch 3 you really don't have much incentive to take it off other than it blocking your vision slightly. It's more like you see gas, put it on, go through gas, then take it off. Maybe in Chapter 4 we'll have to balance how much Red Smoke we inhale at any given time and make decisions on when it's "worth it" to put the mask on or take it off.

Baby Longlegs

The evidence for this is flimsy. There's some kind of child-like giggle during a certain point in the Home Sweet Home section, that as far as I know is never explained and doesn't really match any characters we already know.

So what else is in the Home Sweet Home? Cardboard cutouts of Mommy, Daddy, and Baby Longlegs. They seem kinda out of place, because as far as I'm aware they were part of the Game Station, not Home Sweet Home or Playcare. Mommy and Daddy play only static when their buttons are pushed, which I take to be the devs confirming they are both dead. Baby has no button, meaning their status is unknown.

Secret Smiling Critter

This could also be the one responsible for the giggle in Home Sweet Home. The existence of this toy may be a bit of a stretch, but Ollie has a line where he says there are "eight...I think?" Smiling Critters. It's possible this is just in reference to CatNap being removed from the lineup, or the fact that all the Critters but DogDay and CatNap are deceased. (Maybe Ollie doesn't realize that for whatever reason?) But I think it could also hint that there were originally even more planned and Ollie's unaware of who made the cut.

--

Now...do I think any of these will be the MAIN villain? No, not really. I feel like for meta reasons they won't hint much at the main villain until we get the Ch 3.5 round of ARGs and teasers. But they could be a side villain, on the level of Miss Delight, or a minion like Bunzo and PJ, or possibly a potential semi-ally, like Kissy or DogDay. But! I could be wrong about that too. I do think part of why Chapter 3 took so long is them wanting to get things really set up and planned out (both from a story-telling and game-design/programming perspective) for Ch 4 and 5 (because I do think there will be only 5 chapters ultimately. I feel like after that we'll get PPT 2 or some other arc). So it's possible they feel more comfortable hinting at the main villain of the next chapter this time around.

#poppy playtime #poppy playtime chapter 3 #poppy playtime theory #ppt theory #poppy playtime chapter 4 #poppy playtime spoilers #spoilers #ppt chapter 3 #smiling critters #poppy playtime void #experiment 1322 #poppy playtime experiment 1322

[weirdcat1213]

ok i guess this is it

the end of the road

i may do an actual post about it later but fellas, its been an honor suffer read with all of you :3 the meta, memes and reactions? priceless

thank you @revenantghost for bringing us together for the best group activity ever: suffering and crying in a corner :D

lets go one more time

vol 14 thoughts

chap 1:

-THIS ONLY HAS 8 CHAPTERS WTF

-longer than he has been alive? oh thats adorable

-"that is how...i lived my life" why do i feel so sad all of a sudden

-OH YIKES WHAT

-ok damn i get that now, legato is really fast damn

-again, when did vash's coat turn black

-oh shit chronica no

-pls leave vash alone legato

-for some reason vash feel really quiet right now. thinking back to other fights, those didnt feel as quiet as this one, i wonder why

-yeah,,,,sadly i dont think he can control his body either...

-oh ok i didnt notice that the 1st time but thats so interesting. spoilers for 98 but in that one vash's decision is quick, a decision he made against the ropes. he thought about ways to avoid it and then gave up at the last second. here however, he has been thinking about it the moment he started to fight legato i think. like only one man could survive that encounter. he knew from the start it was either the plan (cuz cmon he doesnt care about whether he lives or dies) or legato. at least in 98 the decision was in a quiet setting, imagine giving up your values (and with them a huge part of what you think is your heart) while you are fighting to the death

-HE DOESNT WANT TO DO THIS BRO LEAVE HIM ALONE

-GEESUS oh god no. is he even there or is it vash's imagination

-oh nvm he is here, hi livio

-"dreaming saint" may be one of the saddest nicknames he's ever gotten :c thats kind of what he is and that makes me sad

-and...there he is. not even a word, just him

-:c

chap 2:

-"overkill" huh? maybe

-you did that to choose :c you did what you could. god, he needs to hear more how him trying is enough.

-oh god hes spiraling, this is not the time :c i get it tho

-"you always give up hope so easily" and thats what he did when he chose

-its too early for me to cry, tears go back in

-wait chronica was in the nomad right? is she...yknow...

-i love that panel with meryl picking up vashs head a little bit cuz it gives me the feeling finally someone can protect him from everything, let my man rest pls

-oh shit bro you good?

-oh :c.... oh

-oh god ok its time for the cable

-oh god not the fucking feathers

-if i keep reading today im gonna start crying

chap 3:

-oh my god its the beginning

-he IS a clever bastard ill give you that

-the feathers :c

-oh my, things are happening (aka my cue to cry)

-its time knives, youre gonna fall and hit your stupid head so hard

-YES MERYL YES YOU ARE SO RIGHT MERYL

-NOT THE SCHOOL TRIPS OMG THATS ADORABLE

-...ok i get why *hes* saying that. the conflic, i think, pretty doesnt exist anymore for him but for knives is very real and really present. he may be a little stupid to understand balance and how wrong he is, but at the same time there was a reason for all of this. he committed the same mistakes humans did doing his stupid little crusade but you cant tell little knives, the one who hoped to connect with humans, that he is foolish and reigniting a conflict. its just 2 really different perspectives

chap 4:

-knives is a bastard, and an asshole and he hurt vash so much but damn it. i cant hate him, not after processing trimax for the 2nd time.

-anyway

-oh god not the cable

-VASH OMG MY SON MY MAN MY LITTLE MAN

-GET TFO LEGATO PLS, CANT A MAN BE UNSCOSNCIOUS IN PEACE???

-WOLFWOOD PLEASE TAKE THIS BASTARD AWAY AND TELL VASH HOW MUCH YOU LOVE HIM

-IT HAPPENED AGAIN, WHY DOES MY BODY REACT SO VIOLENTLY WHEN I SEE REM. ALSO WHY DID IT HAPPEN AGAIN

-also im always gonna say this is vash's mind and not ghosts cuz...idk....it doesnt feel like it. the ghosty presence feels more real in stampede but thats just me

-HIS LITTLE EYES AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

-THATS WHAT I MEAN, THATS TOO MEAN FOR A GHOST

-ALSO :C

-hes so tired, hes so fucking tired

-oh wait oh shit

-im granting you nothing you bitch

-oh god knives are you good

-oh yeah hes still there

-oh ok so thats why that plan doesnt work. ok continue

-oh he looks so weird and majestic...you really have to wonder what was nightow thinking when he designed this

-they are so positive, can i have some of that? a gram should do it

-you can easily replace "because i stand with vash the stampede" with jeesus but vash the stampede is cooler im sorry

-also kudos to them for never having a "yknow what im sick of you, i never needed you" kind of arc. thanks nightow. they are married from the beginning til the end

-im...not really sure about where did vash come from but at this point it doesnt matter, im glad hes here <3

chap 5:

-vash in a fucked up mind palace, i win

-"ticket to the future" oh no

-I DIDNT NOTICE HIS ARM IS MISSING???? FUCK???

-HES UP! REJOICE

-FEATHER

-"what a cruel joke" :c

-ONE LAST TIME BABY CMON

-FUCK OK THAT WAS SCARY

-OKOKOK WOWOWOW THAT SO INTERESTING. stampede knives was like "hey this place seems nice for plants, me and my bro. lets keep it" but trimax knives want to literally yeet everything humans have touched. in his mind he can live with other plants idk, in like the middle of space? thats so interesting...

-"what is that noise" YOUR MF SIBLINGS BITCH

-....cmon man. cmon

-were you united by hatred tho? i believe some plants hated humans but not all of them

-leave your own brother alone ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

-"this is insane" it is insane, so you better fucking appreciate what hes doing rn

-AH GEESUS NO HERE IT COMES, THE FUCKING CABLE

-LEAVE HIM ALONE YO

-HURRY VASH HURRY

-"dont touch me" not even us....just him

-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :c

-i fucking love those panels where nightow puts a lot of details and dark lines only to make the next page the softest traces seen by man

-FUCK HIS BODY NOOOOOOOOOO

-OH I FUCKING LOVE THAT PANEL. GIVES ME "ANGEL WHO JUST FUCKING FELL FROM HEAVEN" VIBES

-ALSO KNIVES SHUT UP

-[sidenote: emptiness from the signalis ost just started playing and now i want to bite someone]

-TICKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET :C

chap 6:

-THATS MY FUCKING GIRL

-shut up vash, pls shut up

-oh vash...if it was that easy. but i guess thats the point. its not easy, it will never be easy to communicate, but we have to try. more people should remember that

-"what matters, is that you communicate. that you understand the person next to you is breathing and existing" fucking beautiful nightow

-"i wonder if he'll laugh again. if he'll follow his ideals again" im so...

-oh knives hey buddy

-i hate it, i fucking do but he looks so fucking sad when the plants let him go. when they decide if he wants to keep going down the path of hate he'll have to do it alone. and in his mind i dont think he has ever being alone. it makes me sad im sorry

-using the feather is so smart actually

-oh hes here

-ITS THE SCENE FUCK HERE WE GO NO

-FINAL BATTLE TIME MFSSSSS

-YO KNIVES YOU GOOD CUZ WOW

chap 7:

-OH ON THIS ONE YOU DIDNT EVEN GET TO HEAR HER FINAL WORDS? THATS MESSED UP

-THIS IS IT HERE WE FUCKING GO

-YES PLS KNIVES CMON

-honey...no...pls. let it go, theres literally nothing left to do.

-THINGS WILL NEVER BE THE SAME BUT STILL CMON VASH

-DONT BE A LEGATO RN KNIVES

-oh?

-OH SHIT

-[the promise is playing. the fucking promise is playing]

-YOU "WERE"???? WELL SHIT ON MY FEELINGS NIGHTOW SURE????

-KNIVES???? YO????

-WELL FUCK ME NONONONONON PLS GIVE ME REM BACK PLS PH GOD OH FUCK

-OH SHIT TF IS THAT

-SHIT

-YES PLS RUN, THATS LITERALLY WHAT YOU GUYS COULD HAVE BEEN DOING ALL THIS TIME. YOU COULD HAVE RUN AWAY TOGETHER (IN A FRATERNAL WAY)

-he is sadly a stupid idiot but HES MY STUPID IDIOT

-LIVIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THE FUCKING MVP

-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PLS GIVE ME BACK WOLFWOOD PLS, I NEED HIM BACK. WHY CANT HIS GHOST TALK TO VASH HUH?????

-ah fuck...them flying away together it looks so beautiful

chap 8:

-HERE WE ARE HERE I AM FUCK ME

-its is a never ending song isnt it

-my man deserved to rest more than 6 months

-hey knives honey why are you saying "hes crucial for you"? is it because you have internalized that humans will keep you around if you seem to be valuable for them? do you think that if vash is crucial they wont kill him? in the many years you have lived you dont know any other ways to ask for help than guaranteeing there will be something to be gained? huh?

-that kid has to live with one of The Traumas ever huh?

-IM GONNA CHOOSE TO BELIEVE HE LIVES IN THE FUCKING TREE CUZ HIM JUST DISSAPEARING IN THE AIR? TOO SAD. TOO FUCKING SAD. I WANT HIM BACK AS WELL

-YES YOUVE DONE MORE THAN ENOUGHHHH, HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO YELL THIS *looks at publication date* right

-i dont remember your name doc but damn, you are everything.

-ALSO 1ST AN OLD LADY WITH HER GRANDDAUGHTER SAVE VASH AND THEN A DOC WITH HIS KID SAVE VASH??? SOMETHING SOMETHING ABOUT FAMILIES AND MAKING A SPACE FOR VAHS WHO LOST HIS FAMILY

-you are so fucking stupid and i love you

-also where did he get...yknow...everything

-you should do that...im begging you to do that pls. get all of that, just live peacefully pls

-MY GIRLS ARE HERE :'D

-YOU SHOULD FEEL ASHAMED, LEAVING MY GIRL MERYL LIKE THAT

-stooooop :'c my heart, this is too many ":D"

-THEIR FACE GOD I LOVE THEM SM PLS DONT LEAVE ME HERE

-GIRLS WHERE ARE YOUR GUNS LMAO XD

-the dumbest little song ever, god i could eat this man

-LINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA MY BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

-LIVIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

-ah fuck...i ended up crying again and i still dont know why :'D

what a fucking, FUCKING TRIP. this is literally one of the best things the internet has ever done. i want to hug everyone who participated on this. we did it. we fucking did it

#trigun #trimax #trigun maximum #trigunbookclub #the end of the fucking ride #what a fucking beautiful journey #love and peace everyone #now im gonna go to the corner and fucking stare at the wall

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Have you ever wondered why eliza chooss to find a prince in NRC instead of RSA?

Not really? 💦I mean, on a meta level, it makes sense for Eliza to come to NRC instead of RSA because that’s where the bulk of the cast and the player are. It just makes things more convenient from a storytelling perspective, because if Eliza had gone to RSA instead, it would overcomplicate the reasoning for the NRC boys getting involved and being willing to help a rival school they dislike, or for MC to go to RSA. However, it does seem that NRC is built upon land that once belonged to Eliza’s fallen kingdom, so that may factor into why Ramshackle was picked as a base of operations.

In-universe, I didn’t question it because Crowley states that the ghosts always use Ramshackle as their base of operations during a certain part of the season every year. The way he phrased it... “To have [Ramshackle] get chosen between all the abandoned buildings in this world, and approved by royal ghosts is an honor [...]” kind of implies that the ghosts were just looking for any random abandoned building large enough to host them all 😅 so I guess RSA doesn’t have large ratty vacant buildings lying around for the ghosts to claim? It’s also mentioned that NRC land has a lot of magic, which creates a suitable environment for ghosts. Alternatively, it could be that maybe the Ghost Bride felt a certain attraction to the land NRC is on because it could be closely related to her own home country when she was alive, or because there’s some magical quality to the land that makes it appealing for ghosts (but there’s not much canon to lend itself to this theory).

Something else we need to keep in mind is that just because there’s information that we, the players, know in hindsight, doesn’t mean that the characters in-universe have the same knowledge. The ghosts probably don’t know about NRC’s boys having an atrocious rep or not really being “ideal princes”. They may not even know RSA even exists, or how their students compare to NRC’s. They’re just ghosts picking a place out of convenience. It probably isn’t that deep (but I’d honestly love it if there was more lore to that; it would really help flesh out Eliza and the lore of ghosts in Twisted Wonderland).

#Ghost Bride #twst #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland theories #twst theories #twst theory #twisted wonderland theory #notes from the writing raven #question #Eliza #disney twisted wonderland #spoilers

[meta-squash]

(This meta went from being one structured thought to a lot of rambling about Kieren and Rick, so I’m sorry.)

I wonder if Kieren would have ended up staying with Rick if Bill Macy hadn’t killed him.

Kieren’s resurrection after his suicide means he has a chance to start up again where he left off. When he first comes back that doesn’t really mean anything to him; he didn’t want to be alive in the first place, he’s scared and alone and uncertain and as far as he knows, everything is still as shitty as it was when he left, plus now everyone also hates him because he’s PDS. He meets Amy and that puts some light back into his life, of course.

But the revelation that Rick is also back is massive at first, because it means that the Rising not only undid what Kieren did to himself, but what happened to make him do that in the first place. He’s not starting where he left off, he’s backing up even further.

To Kieren, this is a chance at a do-over. He can rekindle his relationship with Rick and maybe it’ll be better this time and maybe they can be more than they were before and do more than they did before.

Only, Rick sees it in essentially the opposite way. He’s more beholden to his father, and the only times he does stand up to Bill is when Kieren is in (potentially) mortal danger. Kieren tells Rick more than once that he doesn’t have to listen to Bill or do what he says and Rick responds with “He’s my dad” or gives him a look or whatever.

Rick is 100% right when he says Kieren shouldn’t blame him for his own death. But Kieren is also 100% right when he accuses Rick of not saying goodbye (and implies that it’s not the first time something like that has happened) and without saying it outright essentially accuses him of leading him on.

Which is why I feel like if Rick had lived, Kieren would have ended up leaving anyway. Every single scene has Rick unable to meet Kieren emotionally. Rick is not wholly to blame; he was under Bill’s abusive, controlling thumb before and he is again now. But even the brief scene when they’re alone, Rick can’t meet Kieren where Kieren needs him to. Kieren loves Rick, but he has an independent, rebellious, self-aware streak that Rick doesn’t have. He wants to fit in, sure, but he also can’t help but stand up and call bullshit if he thinks that needs to happen. And I think if Rick had lived, Kieren would have been less and less interested in hiding, in trying not to rock the boat, in having their relationship confined to the den or the dead of night or “day trips” or whatever.

This was supposed to be a do-over, starting again from before they left off. In fact, starting again from when Rick left off, not Kieren. But Rick is unable to to change the cycle while he’s still alive, and I wonder if he’d ever be able to even if he stayed alive. Because that conversation in the car, and the confrontation in front of the cave, all of that reveals to Kieren that maybe the do-over isn’t all that worth it, because he’s not being treated like it’s worth it. Rick is treating him just as distantly as he was before -- maybe even more distantly, since his relationship with Kieren and Kieren’s feelings for him are 100% confirmed by Kieren’s death, so maybe he’s trying even more to hide their relationship now that it’s known. And he now has this outsider perspective of Amy to show him what she sees and thinks about it, and I think even in the brief time Kieren and Rick have together in series 1 he’s already kind of frustrated that nothing seems to have changed for the better. The good thing is that Rick is back, and it certainly hasn’t been long enough that his love for Rick has waned in any way, but I think his expectations went from “What’s the point of coming back when I wanted to go anyway?” to “If Rick is back we can start over again and things will be better.” And when things aren’t better, when they’re the same as they were before and in fact are maybe even worse because now their relationship is out there which means Bill is watching for it even more, that massive upswing Kieren experienced is now deflating with each pinprick of frustration or disappointment or physical threat or whatever.

So if Rick had lived for this to be a proper do-over, Kieren would have expected change, would have expected something that would make their past actions and their present state worth it, or that would change the path they had been on before to some other, more positive direction. Would Rick have been able to do that?

I don’t think Rick ever expected to have a sustainable future with Kieren. He sort of says so in the car when he talks about Kieren getting into art school and leaving for “new places, new people.” But it’s not even the expectation that Kieren would have a future and he wouldn’t or something like that. Aside from Rick’s fear of his father, I don’t think he was ever comfortable enough in himself and his own feelings to be as in love with Kieren as Kieren was with him, and I think he either expected for Kieren to go away to uni and find someone else, or for Kieren to go away to uni and Rick would gradually be able to comfortably distance himself.

Because Rick had friends in Roarton, had a social life and some sort of positive status in school and in the town, in a way that Kieren obviously did not. Kieren talks like Rick was quite literally the only thing he had in all of Roarton that was keeping him grounded and who accepted him and even bothered to speak to him. He talks like without Rick he was completely alone. But it also means that Rick’s friendship with Kieren, in the eyes of the rest of Roarton, was a weird little black spot on his otherwise acceptable self. So if Kieren went away to art school, found someone new who loved him as much or more and could actually express and match it, Rick would have been able to just continue to exist in Roarton. The hiccup of course is always Bill, and would Rick be able to even have a happy existence in Roarton always under his father’s eye and thumb, I don’t know.

But it certainly seems as though he was very aware of the intensity of Kieren’s feelings for him and the way his own for Kieren didn’t match in strength. (Side note: I’ve always wanted to know if Kieren was at all self-aware of being in Rick’s shoes re: Simon’s feelings for him at the start.) And they were both young and I’m sure it was something Rick both didn’t understand how to and just plain couldn’t handle. Especially when something like that was so obvious to someone like Bill. So his own escape to Preston (whether forced by Bill or by his own will) is not only an escape from Bill but also an escape from having to confront Kieren’s feelings for him and his for Kieren.

And since Rick didn’t know about Kieren’s death until he was already back in Roarton, his reaction to the lack of letters as well as the comments about what he expected Kieren to be finding at uni means that he fully expected to return to find a (living) Kieren who had moved on from him or at least whose all-consuming inferno of love had cooled to easier to maintain coals. Perhaps he even expected to return to no Kieren at all, since it’s 5 years later and Kieren could easily have stayed in whatever city he would have gone to art school in.

Instead he finds a Kieren who has not only not moved on, but who died because of his feelings for him (among other things). Is Rick able to give Kieren the kind of do-over he wants at this time? I doubt it. Would he have ever been able to give Kieren the kind of love that he wanted? I sort of doubt that as well. Even without the stifling, toxic influence of Bill, I think Rick’s love for Kieren was much tamer, more casual.

But Kieren’s intense love and need for that love to be returned also means that I think he would have been much more aware of the things that he wasn’t getting in this do-over situation. The first time, he was just taking whatever he could get. This time, it’s obvious that he wants to be able to be with Rick (literally and metaphorically) in certain ways and he’s going to push until that happens, more than he did before, and I think if his pushing affected no change he would have eventually said “fuck this.” Not because he doesn’t love Rick just as much the second time around, but because I think he gives slightly less of a fuck about how people see him, since he’s already been through that pain once and he’s still gay and still an outcast the way he was before and he’s PDS on top of it all. Rick still very much cares about how people see him. Especially his dad. And if none of that is able to change and somehow meet Kieren in the middle, he’s going to realize that it’s just never going to happen and he’s going to have to deal with that disappointment and then he’s going to say “fuck this.” Because the benefit of this second life is the chance to change things and I think he kind of already has that thought in his head to some extent, and if he’s the only one trying to take advantage of this second chance and it’s not being reciprocated with the same energy, he’s not going to be able to emotionally stand the stagnation, even if he desperately wants to. And I think if his trajectory still wound up in a similar place that he is at the start of series 2, he’d be self-aware enough not to want to stay because there’s a difference between wanting to escape and wanting to grow, and Kieren before his death was the former but Kieren after, especially in series 2, is definitely the latter.

#in the flesh #in the flesh meta #bbc in the flesh #itf #sorry sorry i'm just falling back into the rabbit hole of this show #i'm sure all of this has been said already but it's been 7 years and i can't remember anymore #is this even a coherent meta? i don't know it might just be word vomit