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emeraldspiral · 9 months

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I feel like we don't talk enough about how Gaz is also a victim of Membrane's neglect and how that affects her sibling rivalry with Dib.

Like, I think because Dib is the deuteragonist of the show and Gaz is a supporting character it's easier to focus on analyzing him and everything going on in his life that influences his maladjusted behavior. But not a lot of people talk as much about why Gaz is the way she is. Why are her main emotions apathy and anger? Why is she the only other kid at skool besides Dib and Zim with no friends to hang out with at lunch or recess? Why are her revenges against Dib over things like cereal and pizza so over-the-top? Why does she purposefully try to destroy all human life and then get mad when it doesn't work?

Some of Gaz's behaviors have a pretty clear-cut cause and effect. She and Dib don't get to spend much time with their dad, so she gets upset when Dib's actions threaten their time together. Dib is also selfish and inconsiderate of Gaz, frequently stealing her food or talking her ear off about stuff she doesn't care about and expecting her to take an interest while never asking about her hobbies.

But I think some of her hostility toward Dib and general sour attitude can also be explained by Membrane's unequal treatment.

I've seen elsewhere that some people think Membrane favors Gaz because she's his "normal" child. He actually respects her gaming hobby and doesn't treat it like a phase she needs to grow out of. He doesn't talk down to her or try to push her into giving up something she loves in order to win his approval. Where Dib is constantly arguing with his dad about the legitimacy of his version of science, he and Gaz seem to have an easy rapport free of that kind of tension.

But is Membrane's behavior toward Gaz really a sign of favoritism, or just a different form of neglect?

The main conflict between Dib and Membrane stems from Membrane wanting Dib to be his successor. In Chickenfoot he specifically calls Dib "the future of the Membrane Empire", against Dib's wishes. In Mopiness of Doom, he and Dib finally bond when Dib decides to temporarily give up paranormal science and assist him with "real science". And supposedly, part of Eric Trueheart's clone Dib concept was that Membrane engineered Dib specifically to carry on his legacy.

But all of this begs the question, where does Gaz fit into Membrane's grand designs? Is she just the spare? She's just as smart, if not smarter than Dib, but we never see any indication that Membrane's trying to push her toward a career in science the way he is with Dib. It's one thing for him to not be bothered about her gaming hobby because it's not "disreputable", but there's no indication that Gaz has anymore interest in becoming a "real" scientist than Dib. So does Membrane just assume that since she's never shown any other ambitions she'll just fall straight down the path that's already been laid out for her, or does he just not care what she does with her life because he's only focused on living vicariously through Dib?

We don't know exactly how Membrane views his kids, but it's easy to see how a little girl might come to some pretty negative conclusions about what her status is in her father's eyes. Even if it's not true, Gaz might very well believe that he favors Dib. That despite Dib rejecting the legacy she was never considered for, despite him constantly getting into trouble and being weird and annoying and embarrassing, and putting his stupid hobbies ahead of their family, their dad doesn't give up on him as a lost cause. Even when he has another perfectly good child who mostly behaves herself and stays out of trouble, would never try to upstage him or ruin an important moment for him, who appreciates what little time they have together and would never jeopardize it by running off to play with some stupid alien, and who's just as smart and capable and not a weirdo paranormal-obsessed freak, Membrane still wants Dib to be his successor and not her.

Not only does this add more layers to her contempt for Dib, it could also explain her apathy and misanthropy. If her dad doesn't care about her, why should she care about anything? If he isn't concerned with her future, why should she concern herself with anything other than the immediate gratification of video games and pizza? Her dad and her brother both think their work is so much more important than spending quality time with her or talking about anything other than their "important work" whenever they're together. They both think they're saving the world, but they're either too blindly optimistic or too egotistical to realize that the slack-jawed idiots populating the planet are beyond salvation. But maybe if there was no humanity left for them to save, no heroic ambitions to fulfill, they'd finally treat her like someone worth paying attention too.

#invader zim #gaz #gaz membrane #professor membrane #dib #dib membrane #gaz is just as messed up as dib #her trauma just expresses itself in different ways

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hoyotournament · 2 months

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FINALS!!! Furina vs Kiana Kaslana

(Propaganda under the cut)

Furina:

the girl who saved fontaine. condemned herself to a life of silent pain and suffering without any warning or preparation. she could confide in no one, seek out help from no one, all while bearing the weight of her entire nation on her shoulders. not only did her willpower save everyone in fontaine, but after the prophecy was averted, she was finally allowed to live a normal life.

Kiana Kaslana:

TLDR: she's kiana kaslana what do you MEAN!!!! kiana is a beautifully written character who fully encapsulates what hi3 is about and she's so full of love and guilt and (most importantly) hope. she's a clone who struggles with her own identity/inhumanity and traumas extending from when she was a young child and her guilt but is so so resilient and so so so so compassionate which ultimately reinforces her humanity :)

kiana's character IS the honkai impact thesis statement. i don't even mean it as in she's the literal main character and face of honkai i genuinely mean it when i say she just IS honkai impact. she reflects every single theme that they portray [hope over nihilism (chapter 25 || the flame chasers and just. the previous era in general), having agency over your identity and your own story (himeko, her being k423 and being so linked to sirin, everlasting flames || the kaslana household name honestly, bronya, fu hua, mei, sirin), believing in the humanity's inherent worth (chapter 25, arc city || elysia <- important since as a current era herrscher, she is a successor to elysia AND as kiana kaslana, she is a narrative parallel of elysia), having faith in the youth (himeko, kevin || the other flame chasers! notably su), etc.] her character being so reflective is also sooooo OUGH to think about when you view it as a reflection of honkai's 50,000 year samsara because kiana is a representation of these themes coming full circle (especially since many of these stretch back to the previous era and elysia).

SHE FEELS SO MUCH. she's so full of love and guilt. she clearly prioritizes others over herself and part of her arc is her learning to value and love herself as well!!! she would give herself for the world ten times over because she holds so much affection for humanity!! (WHILE FEELING DEHUMANIZED BECAUSE OF HER IDENTITY AS BOTH A HERRSCHER AND K423) and it's actively apart of her character's growth :'')

dear god her growth… okok. so i think first you have to understand that a lot of kiana's growth obviously coincides w general maturity as she grows from a teenager to a young adult. but aside from that i think people often forget that younger kiana is incredibly self sufficient since her father literally left her with little to no explanation when she was like. what 8? the insecurity she feels at that! the anger she has to navigate while also balancing it with her own feelings of missing and loving him. basically: kiana has struggled a lot w instability and is thus kinda good at navigating it. ex: she isnt shaken by nagazora and literally tries again and again and again to save mei and convince mei to let her help. the thing is this fucks w her a bit though because a big thing that she does as a means to cope w instability is avoiding them (not reflective of real life of course, but in the fictional hi3 this is partially represented in kiana's repressed memories about her actual origins as k423). she can not stand the realization that she killed himeko that she's so deep in denial and doesnt truly realize it until more than 10 chapters after himeko dies! she's so horrified with her being a herrscher she actively tries to not use her powers out of fear, even when it puts her in harms way (the chapter XI-EX CG!!!!!! her literally trying to kill herself!!) she literally runs away from her friends and loved ones because she's so scared of hurting them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! which is why her promise to himeko to not run away is so important!! because it addresses one of kiana's biggest flaws!!!!! this is especially important bc her refusal to continue her avoidance feeds into her arc during the herrscher of dominion chapters where she both faces her own guilt/identity and deliberately chooses perseverance and hope over nihilism!! she is hope!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#hoyoverse women tournament #hoyoverse #tournament poll #genshin impact #genshin #furina #honkai impact 3rd #hi3 #kiana kaslana #hi3 kiana

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justthoughts1310 · 2 months

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Boruto's Love Interest is Mitsuki

So, in the last post, I made it clear why I believe that Mitsuki is in love with Boruto.

However in this post, I will explain why I believe Boruto is receptive to Mitsuki being his romantic partner.

My explanation will span across chapter 7 and 8, and it will compare and contrast them with each other.

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Up until this point, Boruto has three confirmed love interests: Sarada, Sumire, and Mitsuki, but he has shown no romantic interest in any of them. Until, maybe now.

I want to start by contrasting Ch.7 with Ch.8.

In Chapter 7, Boruto realizes that Mitsuki has tracked him with a snake. At first, it appears that Boruto sticks around to confront MItsuki because he's far enough away from the village to go ape mode, and also because Mitsuki has closed in on him and now he cannot escape fast enough.

Chapter 7, confirmed that the prior was not the case. Boruto actually scolds Mitsuki for causing excessive environment damage, and Boruto keeps his attacks and skilled and percise as possible. All the while, Boruto fights cautiously in order to ensure that he neither hurts Mitsuki nor destroys the forest.

Chapter 8, confirms that the latter was also not the case. As soon as Boruto learns that Kawaki is coming, he automatically uses flying Thunder God Technique to teleport away. Delta and Kawaki can literally fly, and by the time they reach Boruto's location, Boruto is nowhere to be seen.

Both chapters are paired by the fact that Shikamaru warns Boruto about both Kawaki and Mitsuki pursuing him before they arrive.

Boruto had the option to teleport away in Ch. 7 and not deal with Mitsuki at all, but he (instead) stayed and had a conversation with him. He proved to Mitsuki that he could kill Mitsuki at anytime, but he refused to harm even one hair on Mitsuki's head.

In Boruto's fight with Mitsuki, he has two very prominent opportunities to escape, and he takes neither chance. This is even pointed out by Kishimoto, when Mitsuki asks Boruto why he does not simply escape when he has more than enough ability to do it?

Pair this with him evading Kawaki. When Boruto hears that Kawaki is coming, he doesn't even entertain a conversation with Kawaki.

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Now, let's discuss language.

In Ch.7 Boruto saying something that I've never heard Boruto say before:

He explicitly declares himself to be Mitsuki's Sun.

When Mitsuki exhibits concern with regard to Kawaki, Boruto tells Mitsku not to worry, and that this is a simple quarrel between brothers.

Now, I point this out to say, because a lot of no nuance nellys continue to infer that Boruto and Mitsuki has a fraternal relationship, and THEY DON'T.

The Naruto and Boruto series have never shied away from using words like Brothers, Rivals, and Friends, and all of these words have deep meaning in the world of Naruto and Boruto. They all have symbolic level meaning.

Yet, Boruto never refers to Mitsuki as his brother, and Mitsuki never refers to Boruto as his Brother.

Now, one might say, that maybe neither of them know what it's like to be a brother or to have a brother. To which, I'd say that's absolutely ridiculous because both of them are brothers and have brothers.

Boruto's the brother of Himawari. Boruto's brother is Kawaki.

Mistuki's brother is his older clone: Log.

If Boruto and Mitsuki, had fraternal feelings for one another, I think it would be really obvious to each of them as individuals, since the two of them are both not only children. In fact, they are the only new generation characters in all of Boruto that actually have siblings (aside from their siblings Himawari, Kawaki, and Log of course).

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Boruto tells Mitsuki that he doesn't need a sun, that he can shine on his own, but he also says if you need a sun then come find me.

In some translations, he says "Come to my place anytime" (oooo sexual).

Anyway, my point is that, if Boruto ends up being as astute as Eida and Sarada in realizing that Mitsuki has romantic feelings for him. Boruto may have just said to Mituski, "Come though and I'll give you what you need *wink, wink*".

Lol, I'm joking but I'm not joking. I don't want to perscribe sexual intention to this so early on.

However, I do think Boruto is saying that if you still feel that you need me in this romantic and relational capacity (once you realize that it's me and not Kawaki), I will be here to receive that, accept that, and be what you need in regard to that to the best of my abilities.

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Just the way the story had already played out, I think there's a good chance that the character of Boruto is bisexual.

#boruto x mitsuki #two blue vortex #boruto uzumaki #boruto #boruto x sarada #naruto #borumitsu #sarada #boruto x sumire #mitsuki #kawaki

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jewishcissiekj · 4 months

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hi let's talk about her

Honestly I have so much to say about her. so much. so here's some of it

-Asajj (NOT VENTRESS THAT'S HER LAST NAME ISTG PEOPLE JUST HATE USING HER ACTUAL NAME AND IDK WHY I GUESS IT'S A COOL NAME BUT ASAJJ IS ALSO A COOL NAME AND)

-Asajj was last seen in canon in the Dark Disciple novel. Where she died. I would never recommend that book to anyone so if you haven't read it yet please don't. In short, after becoming a Bounty Hunter in The Clone Wars she grew out her hair, got a cool yellow Lightsaber and for some reason teamed up with Quinlan Vos to try and kill Dooku. They didn't manage to do it. And Asajj died (was fridged) trying to protect Quinlan. The Bad Batch will not contradict that, as was said by the creators. So this is just a summary for anyone who hasn't read it because I wholeheartedly believe that book is bad

-I have not watched a single Bad Batch episode in my life. As a disclaimer. I started the first one, watched their TCW arc and saw memes screenshots clips and spoilers but I do not know this show. I will watch it now that Asajj's there tho

-She does not have the same outfit anymore! It's a change, and we haven't gotten a clear look at her new design so idk how to judge it yet. Might be to look less recognizable, but it has a very different vibe than any of her prior outfits. There's a leftover shoulder pad and probably some other stuff from her last design but I feel like they kinda clash with the new one and tbb's design language in general. The Bounty Hunter look has a very TCWish feel to it and this one is a sharp turn in another, much more casual direction. I'm not inherently against it but I guess we'll see how it looks in action soon

-In my opinion the hair looks like shit. I don't think she should have hair ever. I don't understand why she can't be bald. Why is she bald when she's evil and has hair when she's a padawan (good) and when she is "redeemed"? guess we'll never know. It's a leftover from the cancelled Dark Disciple TCW arc design (and the Dark Disciple cover and promotional material ofc) and it's bad if you ask me but to each their own and if you like it good for you

-Her Lightsaber!!!!! Same case as the hair in terms of irl development but I like it so much better. The yellow just fits her character and it's pretty. Would love for her to find another one and get back to dual-wielding (I know that won't happen)

-The bag and pouches make me so happy as a design element do you think she carries a (tooka) cat in there

-Now, visually she looks great and the animation style is smoother and nicer than TCW (as is the quality), but what about the direction the character's going in? I didn't like her being dead before, but I felt like it was somewhat better than her being shoved into being a cameo character in new content. If you can't touch her after a certain point, you also can't mess her up. But I do wonder where they're going with her. A few questions:

-Asajj in canon is a directionless character. Also, a partially nonsensical and inconsistent character in her choices and storylines. I've talked about it a lot but in short she just feels messy. What's her purpose in life? Her motive? Her origin story doesn't really make sense, even. She's a Bounty Hunter, sure, but why? If all she wants is revenge on Dooku and maybe money (which was pretty much the case in Dark Disciple), what's she doing after the Empire? And more importantly, why?

-Obviously, the question I haven't asked yet because I don't like it: How the fuck is she alive? Nightsisters have a weird relationship with death but seriously, how?

-She's a Force User after the Rise of the Empire now, so what does he do about that? Is she founding The Path? Fucking around and finding out? Making a not-Jedi-not-Sith order with other force users she finds? Is the Empire after her? Do they know she's live?

-What about her girlfriend? Is Latts Razzi safe? Is she alright?

-Why is she in The Bad Batch show? Are we making her into a cameo character or is there a purpose? Why'd they bring her back? For fun? What is she doing after the show? Floating in dead space? Cameo-ing? Will we have a book?

-OK enough for tonight but if we see Quinlan Vos in the show I'll become violent (/neg). We probably will (he might just get mentioned idk).

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nanabansama · 7 months

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Hi hi! why do you think Tsukasa kisses Nene ? do you think he likes her ? Do you think Nene will start to like Tsukasa after this ?

Hi! You're in luck actually, because I have been thinking very heavily about Tsukasa and Nene's relationship recently and have some #thoughts. (Err, but who hasn't been thinking about them, honestly...?)

Okay, so you're wondering if Tsukasa likes Nene, why he kissed her, and if Nene will start to like him... let's see...

First, do I think he likes her...? Well, I wouldn't say that's completely off the table yet. Look at how happy he gets after kissing her:

Cute, right?! I think saying something like... "he's in LOVE with her"... might be a bit too grandiose, but it's definitely giving off the vibes of a kiddy crush, at least. And like with any kiddy crush, he has a precocious way of showing it.

Consider: him offering her food...

...Leaning in really close to her face while her eyes are closed...

...I mean, it's not totally impossible, right? He even invites her on a PLAY DATE.

Haha, but to be real with you, I am having a bit of trouble believing he has an actual crush on her myself. It's certainly a lower priority to him than getting the Yorishiro destroyed and accomplishing his goals, anyway.

I'm also going to discount any instances of Tsukasa getting annoyed with the reverted child form of Nene as proof that he doesn't like her, because I think it's kind of ridiculous to expect any hypothetical crush he has to stay intact when she starts acting like this:

All this to say, don't let anyone tell you that Tsunene is fake or anything. I personally am undecided on it, leaning more towards Tsukasa not having a crush, but I could just as easily believe he has a small crush on her, too.

So, if Tsukasa doesn't have a crush on Nene, then why would we kiss her? Well...

Honestly, sometimes? I don't think Tsukasa really thinks much before doing things. Not always, of course...! But remember, this is the guy who just randomly decided that he was going to swim to Los Angeles:

I hope this isn't too lackluster of an answer, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Tsukasa only did it... just because! Maybe he saw Amane kissing her and wanted to copy him. Maybe he thought it'd be a funny prank, kissing her when he knows she likes Amane and Amane likes her. Remember, Tsukasa has never been above pulling pranks on his brother or his assistant.

Need I remind you that he tried to eat her?

He's just a bit... mysterious. The comparisons people make of him to an animal or toddler are not completely unwarranted. Still, he is a scheming 13-year-old ghost that has proven levels of intellect and cruelty on par with other members of the cast. It's best not to underestimate him too much... I just really can't see any benefit to kissing Nene other than getting a laugh out of it. Or, potentially, a little treasure for himself! ❤️

Finally, you asked if Nene would fall in love with him... this is actually my favorite part of the ask, because I considered how likely this was to happen and surprised myself with where my mind went, lmao.

The first thing we need to remember about Nene is that she is described as, and demonstrably is, a girl in love with love. She LIVES for romance. (Just keep this in mind always. It might even be the most important part of her character, idk.)

Now, not only is Tsukasa an identical clone to the boy she loves--the boy she's planning on asking to be her BOYFRIEND soon, mind you--but she sees the potential!!! She literally had an entire daydream about him showing up to be Hanako's "rival" for her love.

While she's very clearly still loyal to Hanako, take note of the fact that she made both of the twins look taller and more handsome in the daydream. This could be proof she finds him physically attractive. ...That being said, she seems more into the fact that Tsukasa is into her than anything else... but can you really blame her? She's always dreamed of being popular with boys. To have TWO boys be madly in love with her is something straight out of her wildest fantasies.

Okay, but you know what's kinda funny? This whole... "Taller Twins" fantasy... is um... kind of happening right now?!

While the height difference is obviously greater than the one between her and the Fantasy Tsukasa, it's still hilarious that this is even happening. And, while Tsukasa hasn't exactly been the best babysitter for Nene so far...

...she is having a ton of fun with him!!!

Also, I haven't brought this up yet, but during The Misaki Stairs Arc, Nene brings up having had a crush on her Kindergarten teacher. Is it so unrealistic that Nene might end up getting a crush on Tsukasa, too? Especially for a girl who falls in love so easily?

Well, if not, I'm still expecting her to be totally enchanted by Hanako if she happens to meet him when she's still a child, lol. Could you imagine how cool he would look to 5-year-old Nene, coming to save her?! She already thinks he looks cool when they're at their typical height difference!

JUST IMAGINE HOW STARSTRUCK SHE WOULD BE, NOW THAT HE'S SEVERAL FEET TALLER...!! Crazy.

Anyway. To summarize: I think Tsukasa could have a crush on Nene, I think Tsukasa either kissed her just because or because he has a kiddy crush on her, and I think Baby Nene could develop a crush on Tsukasa. Thanks for the ask!

#asks #tsukanene #tsunene #tsukasa yugi #nene yashiro #tbhk #jshk

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teenagemutantninjatrauma · 7 months

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So recently I was rewatching a few random Fast Forward episodes again (as one does when one is writing a massive AU about something) and BOY DO I NEED TO SHARE A THEORY

So like... Torbin Zixx, right.

This guy:

He gets introduced to us in the FF Bishop episode, of all times, as a mysterious vigilante who has avoided not only being captured but also getting caught clearly on any security footage anywhere! How strange! Anyways, Bishop introduces themselves to the turtles, Raph tries to attack his hologram, and the gang agrees to help Bishop catch this guy. Banger!

And then! We get to this shot.

Now, I don't know if this is a noticeable detail to anybody who like, has a life and isn't obsessed with this cartoon, BUT - boy does this face look familiar. The nose specifically is preeetty prominent.

YEAH I bet none of you were thinking THIS when watching that season (probably a good sign that you have better things to do), BUT I THINK.

ZIXX IS A BISHOP CLONE.

Consider the evidence - because there IS evidence, actually!

First of all, they get to stand back to back in the opening even though they both show up like twice? Three times? For mostly unrelated adventures? Why do they get to stand back to back instead of like, Zyxx getting a spot in the villain lineup that is also in the opening? He is ostensibly occasionally doing good but he’s mostly a trickster able to outsmart the turtles and get away - a trait Bishop has exhibited even when he almost fuckin died in Bishop's Gambit, by the way - so it feels meaningful to set him up here, back to back with Bishop of all people.

Second, they get introduced in the same episode, Bishop to Knight. I know we all rag on this season and the following season for not reaching the previous five seasons' standard, but I believe while Back To The Sewer was genuinely badly written, Fast Forward's issue was only that it wasn't given enough time to elaborate on all the things it set up - it is still written well. Things happen with intentions behind them, we are given as much closure as the show could manage, and so it feels like introducing two characters in the same episode has meaning. Combined with the shot from the opening, it really does feel to me like a point is being made here to compare the two.

Third, there is the parallel of both of them tricking Raph with their holograms - unintentionally and intentionally. It makes sense for Bishop, or someone made to think just like Bishop, to use new modern technology like this, because he's a resourceful bastard!

Look at him flinging himself at people he doesn't like. Me too, man.

"He and Bishop don't look alike!" - Well, not anymore they don't. But look at how Bishop used to look during the first five seasons, during his EPF era, and compare that to Zixx, and then compare Zixx to PGA era Bishop:

The nose, the face shape, the dual communicators? PGA era Bishop does look different and this could be attributed to either change of artstyle or the implication that his clone bodies have evolved and changed over the last century, but Zixx is a piece of who he used to be and has had to evolve differently, and thus looks the part.

(Additionally, we have already seen Bishop make clones of himself that didn't look exactly like his then-current body, when he made the Slayer army in Bishop's Gambit.)

This, by the way, would explain why there is no digital track of Zixx's face anywhere. Because hey, let's be real here - the opening of the episode is dedicated to how much information Bishop personally looks through.

If Zixx was indeed running around wearing Bishop's face, he'd want him gone, but Zixx, being a Bishop clone, would be smart enough not to get caught! Thus, the next best thing would be to get rid of any proof of similarity between them, hence these being the only picture Donnie, a de facto civillian, could find.

(Ironically, this could very well have lead to Zixx becoming the infamous enigma he is said to be in this world.)

They also fight alike, relying on acrobatics and on being able to push and pull their opponents around as needed. I am unfortunately too tired to get good screenshots/clips of this.

"But Zixx doesn't look human!"/"But Zixx has a different voice than Bishop!"/"But Zixx has green eyes!" - He's a vigilante in a scifi space show and has the face and voice of the most well known guy in all of space, is it truly a stretch to assume he might've gotten body modifications? We've already got one guy grafting alien DNA onto himself to survive and it's none other than Dr Baxter Stockman, notably another piece of Bishop's past that's come back to haunt him. Why not two?

You know this would also be in line with what I am now calling the Seeing Double Theme - Dark Turtles and a new Turtle Titan are in this story, confrontations of the future and the past self in some way, shape or form are a running theme of Fast Forward, so why wouldn’t there be a Bishop clone running around

No clue how or why Zixx would ditch the whole "protect all of Earth" mentality, but when Bishop reforms himself and swings into the extreme of establishing intergalactic peace to a point where he can't even be partial towards Earth anymore, does it not make sense narratively for his foil to swing the other way, become a typical "only looking out for myself" type of guy?

"It could also be said that maybe Zixx shows off traits that Bishop usually obfiscates, with the self-serving nature being a good example. We know all of Bishop's grand goals are really just covering for the fact that he's scared and wants to protect himself, right? If you look at the core of everything he does, it's to benefit himself. Zixx forgoes making up any justifications and says it like it is: he only cares about himself and what others can do for him." - additional comment, courtesy of THE Bishop Guy™, @violetvulpini, who's the reason I'm going this insane rn in the first place.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that Torbin Zixx is a Bishop clone gone rogue, similar in origin to the Slayer aka Rat King. He is Bishop shaped, he gets to stand next to Bishop in the opening like they're anime foils to each other, and it is SO interesting to explore.

This has been Trauma, and you've been Zixxed ✌️💜

BONUS: Headcanon territory!

Zixx's purpose was to be a "back-up" clone. Bishop has been recording his findings and work since at least the EPF era when we meet him, so maybe these recordings are then uploaded somewhere so that in case he dies and can't make the body transfer, a new clone is awoken and informed of his purpose. For some reason this system has at some point malfunctioned and awoken Zixx despite Bishop surviving - possibly during the collapse of the lab he and Stockman used to work in, or during the space war that gets vaguely mentioned at one point.

"clone six" or "version six" somehow becomes "Torbin Zixx"?

How did Zixx become a vigilante? Well, we know Bishop doesn't have human blood. Presumably the blue goop that we see him bleed at the end of Bishop's Gambit is something synthesized specifically for his body, so I imagine it would be VERY hard to come by. This, I think, would very easily lead to a life of crime he has more than the ideal set of skills for.

Bishop probably wants him obliterated but can't reasonably dedicate resources to catching or killing who he KNOWS is gonna be the ultimate most hard-to-kill guy in the known universe.

He steals Bishop's fancy car specifically just to piss him off <3

#tmnt fast forward #tmnt torbin zixx #2k3 torbin zixx #2k3 bishop #chatter #blasting headcanons #my writing #help me it's three am #why did i do this to myself #shoutout to fast forward for keeping me insane #shoutout to the writers for writing bishop's ending in this season in the way they did he is so fucking compelling!!!! AGH

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jellazticious · 5 months

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I don't know if you're okay with like, people messaging you or not and this is my first time actually mailing anything to someone on tumblr I'm so sorry I just want to say that the way you draw pepperman (or any character from pizza tower, you capture their vibes really well) to where he looks more like pepperman than pepperman does that make sense? Pizza tower characters fit your artstyle in such a way that if you showed me a drawing you made of the characters and told me it was officially made by mcpig themself I would believe it. Of course your art is less loose than theirs but I like that about your art because you capture shapes really well. I'm sorry if I'm being lengthy I just like your art and all. And your headcanons are actually really neat to think about as well! The idea that peppino's a clone is really neat to think about and could explain why he's so mentally gone, I like the idea of fake peppino and peppino contrasting eachother alot and I hope you don't mind if I adopt that headcanon. And the headcanon you have about pepperman's interest in peppino be because pepperman's a topping and being (for a lack of better words) attracted to chefs is really interesting to me as well. I also like how ypu characterize the characters as well, for example you have pepperman be a good balance of flamboyant and kinda goofy. I specifically like how you portray peppino the most, I like how you're able to portray how he's cutting corners at a drastic level to the point of probably risking his health. Because I can see that be a joke mcpig would actually make in the little comics they made (like the noisette's Cafe ones!) I'm sorry if I sound really stupid or creepy right now I just really like your art and your humor and shit, your content makes me feel giggly. That is the highest honor I can give any person online, genuinely liking their content. Because I do I really like what you do because I like you as a person you're really cool like genuinely. I probably wrote way too much to be considered normal and apologize for that, I'm sorry for rambling like a complete fool, an imbecile even.

OUGHH DEARIE THIS MEANS SO MUCH Every word...

Don't be sorry for this, I appreciate everything you said. I'm glad you're enjoying all the stuff I make and you understand the reasons why some of them are drawn the way they are. Love when people psychoanalyze how I write stuff or characterize guys, thank you

but really, thank you and don't sweat it, I love reading stuff and like this means so much. This brightened my day, seriously, thank you, I dunno what else to say

#jella answers

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spop-romanticizes-abuse · 6 months

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so i've been thinking about horde prime and what a wasted potential he was. when we were first introduced to horde prime, we are led to believe that he is an intimidating and heartless dictator, the biggest threat adora has faced so far.

and yet, as the series progresses, we are just left with questions as to WHY this guy is so powerful and feared. all adora has to do is save catra and horde prime is already fuming and frothing at the mouth. literally all his clones could be taken out by just hitting a weak spot, as demonstrated by catra and glimmer. any of the etherians (i.e. the princesses) who were brainwashed were also easily reversed. catra basically died but not for more than 5 minutes, before adora brings her back to life. basically, there's nothing long-lasting about horde prime's actions and nothing intimidating about him.

i've already mentioned some of the other problems i have with horde prime's character, the main one being that.. he's just boring. it's so clear that horde prime was only created because catra and hordak were on their way to redemption, and the show needed a new threat. but horde prime is so lazily written, you barely register him as an actual villain.

in my opinion, there are three things you can add to a villain in order to flesh them out:

sympathetic qualities: the typical tragic backstory, misguided intentions, moments of humanization and compassion. it's an overdone trope but if utilized well and in moderation, it can be very compelling.

complex motives: even if you don't agree with their way of carrying out their plan, you do agree with their ideals or morals. you get where they're coming from and you can relate to their reason for doing what they're doing.

parallels with protagonist/hero: if your hero and villain have similarities or something that connects them, the stakes are automatically raised. there's the fear that the hero could end up like the villain, if they're not careful. even if we know that the hero is not gonna end up like the villain, there's still something satisfying about seeing two characters who are fundamentally the same person but on different sides with different experiences to back them up.

good ol' personality: if you want to create a pure evil villain who is just evil for the heck of it, that's fine. just make sure you give them something that makes them stand out, whether it's a flamboyant personality, witty quip or even a catchy musical number. this is the reason why most disney villains are so memorable despite having no complexity or redeeming qualities.

so, which one of these would work best for horde prime? any of them, honestly, but i would probably choose not to give him a tragic past, just because of how both catra and hordak already got those. i don't want to redeem all the villains of this show.

the other three are very applicable and can even be used all together. horde prime can have a complex motivation, parallels with adora (or heck, even catra) and have a compelling personality.

but honestly, just one of these is enough to flesh out a villain. for example, bill cipher from gravity falls has no tragic backstory, complex motive or parallels with the heroes. but what makes him so likeable and interesting to audience is his personality alone. he's humorous, he's snarky, he's chaotic and calmly admits to being crazy. his unique character design and insane power also makes him stand out from regular villains.

for another example, lord viren from the dragon prince is not very compelling, personality-wise. however, his goal of protecting and fighting for humans at any cost, and his parallels with callum make us want to see more of him and how his story ends.

in all these shows, the villains aren't just a decorative piece thrown into the story last-minute. whether they were introduced from the beginning or later on, they have a purpose. they pose a real threat and the main plotline is about defeating them. the romance is only secondary.

but in s5 of spop, the main conflict isn't “will adora stop horde prime from destroying the world?”, it's “will adora make out with her abusive sister?” or “can catra act like a responsible adult for once?” (hint: the answer is no.)

so either, you could explain why horde prime does what he does. all we know right now is his vague past with mara and the first ones, and his egotistic desire to “purify” everyone. while this is a good start, the show never elaborates on it. horde prime's character supposedly has themes of religious trauma but it's portrayed in an almost cartoonish way. we could have gotten more details about why he thinks his actions are justified. what he hopes to accomplish by purifying everyone.

or they could have given us a connection with horde prime and one of our protagonists. preferably adora. but no, the only character horde prime had a direct connection with was hordak. they could have expanded on that and shown more of their relationship. but instead of showing religious guilt and trauma through hordak, they replaced that with chipped catra. because of course, the only character whose trauma is acknowledged by the narrative is catra.

there were some clear-cut parallels between catra and horde prime (brainwashing people to turn them into weapons, abusing a family member, attempting to destroy the entire world) but they never even mentioned that. because that would mean reminding the audience that catra was just as bad as prime. it would have made for an interesting narrative, especially if catra acknowledged all of this and felt insanely guilty for doing all that she did, trying to do better so that she won't be like horde prime.

or, as a last resort, they could have given horde prime a personality. because in canon, his personality is just evil™ and egotistic. that's it. he's just a garden-variety villain and while his character design is interesting, there's nothing that stands out about him. (not to mention, giving him a hairstyle that resembles dreadlocks when he is supposed to be a representation of a white dictator)

i just feel like they could have made prime a really intimidating and complex villain but they completely missed the mark. horde prime is just a minor inconvenience in s5, the real threat is the “gay pining and angst” between catra and adora.

#spop critical #spop #spop salt #spop criticism #spop discourse #she ra #anti spop

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attonposting · 1 year

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The last time I played KotOR II, it really struck me how much Atton and Bao-Dur have in common. They don't especially get along, which is fair – almost nobody on the K2 crew likes anyone other than the Exile. It is not a friendship cruise. And neither of them want to talk about the past, so it's understandable that they never manage to cross the threshold where they realize the other is a kindred spirit. But think about it.

Both of them were young men that got swept up by the Mandalorian Wars, chewed up, and spat out as broken wrecks. And this is true of most of the cast of K2, and a big chunk of the galaxy as per the game's theme, but Atton and Bao-Dur might have closer stories than anyone else in the crew, because they share hatred as their driving force. The guilt that haunts them isn't what they did in the war, it's why they did it and how they felt during it. Bao-Dur saw the destruction of his people and came to hate the aggressors for the senseless violence - Atton saw the destruction of his comrades and came to hate the so-called protectors that could have changed everything but left them to die, and had the gall to claim moral superiority for it. That hate festered and led them to commit mega war crimes that finally collapsed at one focal atrocity. Obviously Atton's path was a lot darker than Bao-Dur's, and his crimes were far more visceral, cruel, and repeated until he met the Jedi that broke him right back, while Bao-Dur built one immensely, unimaginably terrible thing that only he was capable of, and left a bloody and inescapably personal handprint on the fate of the galaxy.

But either way, they had the same response – an inability to find peace, a lot of self-loathing with no outlet, and a ton of drifting until they found the Exile. And their demons aren't so much regret for their actions as it is horror at the people their hate made them into – which is a really important distinction to make, because blowing up a planet with tens of thousands of friendly forces on it and torturing Jedi sound like things that characters would regret at face value, and in a lesser piece of writing, that would probably be the end of it. Not so, in KotOR II. Bao-Dur still believes the war needed to end, and neither of them hates any less now than they did then (though in Atton's case, it's important to note that his hatred of the Jedi later expanded to encompass hate for the Sith as well. He wouldn't do his actions over again, assuming neutral/LS, but it's less out of regret and more out of “fuck you all, you weren't worth my life.” The only action he actually wishes he could take back is killing that last Jedi. Everything else is just disgust and fear at what he realized he had inside him - and like Bao-Dur, that's not something he can unlearn, no matter what he does now.)

They are also unique in that they are the only two crew members that joined the Exile with no ulterior motives. Kreia is an ulterior motive, T3-M4 wants to bring aid to Revan, Brianna joins as a proxy for Atris, Mical is a scout for Carth Onasi, Visas is there to stop Nihilus, Mira is there because nobody else is going to horn in on her bounty, Mandalore is there for the clans and to find news of Revan, Hanharr was forced into servitude, G0-T0 is there to dole out orders, and HK-47 wants to pin down his clones (as well as engage in some good old-fashioned bloodshed, which he'll surely get next to such a walking storm.) These two boys are just deeply in love with the Exile, be that romantically or just a pure, rare bond of shared understanding, and follow them because it's the clearest way to make up for their past, but also because nobody else could get them so deeply.

Just... geez. These boys would have a lot to talk about over a bottle of Corellian whiskey if they only had a reason to open up (and one of them wasn't violently allergic to emotional honesty.)

#atton rand #bao-dur #kotor #kotor ii #kotor 2

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oceanmoonstarz · 5 days

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☆ Introduction ☆

Hi! You can call me Starz! (I have a few other names but this one is funky lol)

I'm 21 years old, I use them/them pronouns and if you just give me a nudge, i Will talk your ears out about my hc about the valkyries and the black sisters. Oh also fuck Joanne, hope you choke <3

Working on a register of marauders nicknames because it gets confusing :(+ new idea for the girls.

I'm mostly into:

✦ The Valkyries

✦ The Black Sisters (and their parents & partners)

✦ The Marauders

✦ And a sprinkle of Slytherin Skittles, Batfamily and Golden trio era (mostly Drarry)

(✦ Merlin is always in my mind but also I don’t wanna interact with it too much bcs they genuinely make me sick like I feel so strongly about them.)

Favorite ships:

Dorlene, Marylily, Pandalily, Jegulily, Quillkiller (+ Zabini on the weekend), Nobleflower, Noblesilver (Narcissa x Zabini), Wolfstar, Poppy x Minnie, and Sybill x Peter.

But honestly I'm more of a multishipper and will read anything that isn't icky (big age gap, power imbalance, etc). I’m not a big fan of straight ships tho I’m gonna be frl… but any queer ship? Slay!

Fav platonic ships: Marlene & Peter & James, Marlene & Sirius, Moonflower

Favorite characters:

✶ Marlene McKinnon

✶ Peter Pettigrew

✶ Narcissa Malfoy

✶ Evelyn Zabini

✶ and honestly all the girlies ( Lily, Pandora, Mary, Dorcas, ...)

Beliefs, favorite headcanons and stuff under this (take a peek) :)

Things i believe in that can be controversial(?):

Begging people to stop making Peter fucking skinny I'm being so serious, I WILL block you. (also when people don't include Pete as a member of the group like he was chosen as Secret Keeper because he was their BEST FRIEND be frl)

Lily Evans is polyamorous and she's so real for that (with maybe a hint of aromantic vibes tbf)

PANDORA DOESN'T HAVE THE SAME PERSONALITY AS LUNA *cries* no but frl like Xenophilius is right there being a fucking Luna clone and you're gonna give her personality to Pandora?? (i need to get more into how i see her, will make a post at some point lol) Also I don't believe in the hc that she's a Rosier and Evans twin.

If you're gonna redeem Barty and Evan, you cannot go and shit on Bellatrix like let's be serious. You definitely can not like her but why are you over there calling her a psycho (derogatory).. have you seen your boys? (also people are sleeping on the Black Sisters as a whole)

Sybill Trelawney is such an interesting character and I think giving so much of her characteristics to Pandora water them both down. Also the angst is so good? Like come on guys (more on this)

I actually think Severus Snape is an interesting characters.

You shouldn't buy official merch or tickets to events or anything that would give money to jkr because that makes her believe people support her in her views about Trans People.

Favorite headcanons:

✮ Peter, James and Marlene being childhood best friends

✮ Fat Lily my beloved <3

✮ Dorcas and Marlene doing each other's hair every month after getting together (Dorcas dye Marlene's hair blonde and Marlene learn how to braid so she can do new protective styles for Dorcas)

✮ Bellatrix, Rita and Evelyn being the Diamonds and terrorising Hogwarts when they were there.

✮ Peter k!lling Marlene :)

More about me:

My first language is French. I have the shittiest sleep schedule known to man. I am a professional yapper.

I'm absolute shit with tone so might use tone indicator (but tbf the wonder of # here are making this much easier)

If you couldn’t tell from my choices up there, I fucking love angst. I’m writing sad shit and giggling, I’m writing happy shit so the angst is sadder. I Will make you cry (hopefully).

I’m also mad silly.

I have a few others account in the marauders community (Insta, Tiktok, Ao3, ...) but it's a secret (lol)

If you’re interested in what I like to say here, just look up the #starz yap tag, it’s what I use when I have ideas that I write more deeply about. :)

Alright i think that covers it up. Hope you enjoy my account! P.S: idm stalking of my page and spamming lol so go for it (I do it by accident all the time… #starz struggle)

☆Yeehaa☆

oh also i'm a Marlene kinnie. kiss.

🍉

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amyisherenowitsokay · 8 months

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I was wondering if you've seen MatPats Film Theory on Invader Zim? And if you have, what your thoughts were on the conclusion?

Okay so since I'm sick I finally got around to watching this video to fulfill this ask.

TLDR for the people who don't want to watch the video below the cut.

TLDR: the theory is that Professor Membrane is an Irken, based off of his lack of ears, goggles that hide is eyes, complete lack of mention of who Dib and Gaz's mother is, his random advanced technology, etc. It would also be an interesting self-folly for Dib, who's made it his life mission to seek out the paranormal, never realizing he is in himself a paranormal entity. There's also some hints that while Dib is oblivious, Gaz might know ("I have a squeedily-spooch" quote), and her acceptance/knowledge is why she's Membrane's favorite kid.

Onto my answer:

I can definitely appreciate the thought that went into this video. I'm a big fan of fan interpretations and secret messages. The Invader Zim lore is so open-ended in a lot of areas, leaving hints about character personalities and motivations all over, it's real fun. That being said, I have to firmly disagree with MatPat's conclusion (with the disclaimer of: to each your own fanfictions).

I think the reason we just can't see Membrane's ears are because they're just under his goggles.

I think this is a pretty good angle to emphasize that the goggles don't go OVER his ears, but under. I actually have a facemask that does that, as it's more comfortable than something going over your ears for hours. The heavier duty safety goggles also have thick ass bands. I think Jhonen and the art team just took insp from that and upgraded it to look futuristic, to where they cover his ears.

Another reason I disagree:

Membrane had a childhood. (The comics also show him with his parents, but I'll stick to strictly show material, since a lot of the comics are not canon). Yes, it could be argued that this was just a younger Professor Membrane, when he was still short. However, I think the childhood wonder of still believing in Santa Clause, even as a super-genius, is more pro-human than pro-secret-Irken. Zim studied Christmas, whereas Professor Membrane experienced Christmas, if that makes sense.

To explain his kids, I do think Dib and Gaz were clones. I subscribe fully to the theory that the Membrane also told them already, way younger than was probably appropriate lol. I think if they didn't know for sure where they came from, they'd both have way more questions on the regular about their theoretical mom.

As funny and interesting as it'd be to have Dib be chasing proof of, well, the existence of himself, I think the reason Membrane tries to keep him away from the paranormal is as stated: Membrane believes, and has always believed, that science is the only career worth chasing. He doesn't believe in the paranormal, because the spookies are just things that science doesn't yet understand. I think if we're lending to the clone theory, it'd also trouble him that his clone-son doesn't like science, and therefore is not the perfect clone. Dib's disinterest is a sign of something going wrong in his experiment, which is simply unacceptable. Furthermore, I think we don't give Membrane enough credit for just being a sentimental guy sometimes. Like any other dad, he just wants his son to think what he does is cool, and join in on his favorite thing.

I think Gaz's comment about a squeedily-spooch was just her being a glib little sister. Also, Dib literally had his organs stolen in that episode. Zim stole his organs to replace organs that he don't exist in Irken physiology. Sure, Dib could be part-human-part-Irken DNA, but if that was the case, Zim still would've noticed by now. He literally steals Dib's DNA signature on multiple occasions. Zim turns him into bologna one episode, and the both of them take extensive cultures of their DNA to try and cure themselves from being turned to meat. If not one, the other certainly would've noticed some Irken in there and pointed it out.

I can't find the episode immediately, but there's also episodes where Zim gets electrocuted and we get the humorous x-ray shots. There's also an episode where Membrane gets an x-ray shot. In both, their bone structure is different.

As neat as the idea is, especially in terms of a 'wow Dib's his own worst enemy' idea, I can't say the video swayed me, or that I could be convinced towards adding it into my own personal fanon. Very neat video though. Thanks for the rec homie

#invader zim #zim #gaz #dib #professor membrane #amyisherenowansweringyou #iz #gaz membrane #dib membrane

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strawberryicemoon · 2 months

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Why I can't watch the Ducktales Finale

I'm not the kind of person who struggles to watch the last episode of something. I love to finish a show, and let it sit in my brain. I'm the kind of person who often enjoys spoilers because it adds to my understanding of the media. I love to view the media in their entirety just as much as I love a journey to get there.

But I can't get past the first few minutes of Ducktales 2017, The Last Adventure. And it's because of spoilers that I couldn't deal with. I don't like them, and even years later after I've had time to digest, and have seen so many finale clips, that I still can't just sit down and watch it. And I've made attempts. I've looked through the summary of the episode to prepare. But I can't.

And there's... a couple of things that rub me the wrong way about the Finale that keep me from being able to just watch it.

1. Webby is Scrooge's Clone Daughter

2. Webby is April, of April May and June

3. Donald and Daisy are going on vacation.

Now, I don't actually hate any of these... conceptually. And I'm well aware that Frank Angones has stated the Webby twist was planned from very early on. And usually I am completely down for whatever a finale is, as long as I can tell that this was something the creator really believed in.

I'm a fan of such "controversial" endings as, Amphibia and Digimon Adventure 02, because I know exactly why they ended like that. It's written in the themes. Even if it took me time to understand Adventure's ending, I've grown to understand it and love it once I learned more about the original Japanese version and the shows production (and also grew up myself). Amphibia ended exactly as I expected based on one of the very earliest things I heard about the show from Matt Braly: "an ode to past friendships". Even if I think there are things they messed up I GET IT. I wouldn't want them ending any other way.

So I understand WHY the decision is made. Conceptually it does make sense. Webby exists as a composite character of April May and June, and I believe shares the same name as April in one language. Webby being Scrooge's clone daughter is an effective way of full-circling her relationship with him. Strangers in each other's home to father and daughter. She's family not BECAUSE of Blood, but because of Love. She still loves her Granny, it's just the non blood relationship wasn't the one she thought it was. And Donald deserves a vacation, and to have the more down to earth life experiences he wanted, especially after raising his sisters kids alone for 10 years.

But they still twist me up inside.

And I think it comes down to three reasons: 1. Lack of Continuity between episodes 2. An over-focusing on Scrooge 3. Handling of Word of God

1. Lack of Continuity between episodes Part of what got me to fall in love with Ducktales was S1 and the continuity of the Spear of Selene subplot. We got hints at a semi-regular pace, but it successfully overhung the entire series. It was what separated Scrooge and Donald. It was why Della was gone. The subject matter was of course not something that needed to be overstated, as most of it was being kept hush hush. Sure it was a mystery, but not an urgent one. Dewey had never had his mom, so it wasn't like he couldn't focus on anything else for a while

But in S2 I started noticing that the show stopped explaining or foreshadowing things. Maybe it always did, I haven't re watched it properly. But I definitely noticed something off about the storytelling then. But it was definitely a problem throughout the show.

Webby never brought up Lena after her sacrifice until the relevant episode.

Lena living with the Sabrewings was something never brought up until episodes later we saw her with them.

We had Della talking about the boys with their "Uncles" setting up the pain of not knowing how things fell apart after her departure, only to get no payoff.

We didn't get ANYTHING about Webby's parentage until the final episode, and barely a hint in 1 season 3 episode.

Almost every finale episode changes the status quo in some way. The question is how much. Lots of final episodes kind of have things going back to the way they were before plot kicked off but better (like with new friends or a new government). Sometimes someone dies.

Webby being Scrooge's clone is paradigm shifting. And that kind of thing needs to be set up. You CANNOT catch your audience off guard with something like that.

In Digimon Adventure 02 the series ends with everyone on earth with a digimon partner which is controversial but at least built up throughout the series at hints of other digidestined until an arc near the end showcased many international digidestined. Hilda ends with the reveal that Hilda's mother is half-fairy, and despite not being present throughout the first two seasons, it was hinted at through the third season, and contextualized some of the few things we did know before about Johanna's childhood. The Hollow's first season ends with you finding out it was all a game, but it had been hinted at before with the video game nature of the world. Sure Avatar didn't hint at Aang getting the power to take away bending, but we knew he was a pacifist who didn't want to kill so was looking for a solution, getting the power to remove bending (ie power over others) works thematically, in the same way Anne using the power of the stones and getting brought back to life by a god like being worked. Sure, Scratch turning out to be a wraith at the end of The Ghost and Molly McGee was rather sudden, but people had been theorizing that Todd was Scratch's body for a long time, so it wasn't like there weren't any hints, and while the show was cut short and had to rush to end, the build up of Scratch's memories at least gave some sort of foreshadowing link to what was going on.

There's a reason people rarely throw in new characters at the very end of a show. It can absolutely work. Amphibia and The Owl House threw in "God" at the end, but that gets a pass for being the kind of figure they meet once and then move on with their lives. On the other side, you can sometimes have secret big bads that were pulling the strings the whole time too. I can't speak for the finale of Ducktales (because again, can't bring myself to watch it), but adding two new characters on top of changing the entire dynamic of how the family is set up at the very end of the show does not sit well with me. We won't get to see how this change in status quo effects the characters. We saw how learning about their mom affected the boys relationship with Scrooge, her return and having to build a relationship with her and her presence conflicting with Launchpad's. But we don't get that with Scrooge and Webby? Basically too many status quo shifts in the finale all at once.

All we got was Beakley was a spy, was overprotective of Webby, and a few episodes before the end it was revealed Beakley was lying to her. Webby didn't seem to care about her parents. And this was a girl who was very dedicated to unraveling the secrets of clan mcduck. Couldn't they have had one hint at some point in the show where it was unclear if it was the boys or Webby who were recognized as a McDuck? Some offhand mention where the boys ask her about HER parents, because she helped them with her mom?

You couldn't tell what was or was not going be important in the way they dropped. It's very hard to set your expectations when you had no clue what to expect. And while there is something to be said for unexpected surprises and twists in a story, an audience really needs to know what is or is important or they're going to go on wild goose chases and get disappointed when they build up hype for something the show then refuses to address.

In HINDSIGHT, I find it extremely odd that Huey and Louie, prior to finding out about Dewey's investigations, did not pry at ALL into the fact that hey: if Donald was an adventurer with Scrooge, then he had to know their mom. Like that’s weird right?

2. An over-focusing on Scrooge Scrooge is the Center of the Universe.

I'm not a Disney Ducks fan. Aside from 2017, and pop culture osmosis, I know very little. But the thing is I am someone whose first inclination once I become a fan of something is to check out the wiki pages for information. Find about what longstanding fan mysteries there are. I understand the importance of cross continuity callbacks. I'm a fan of other longstanding series and have rubbed elbows with several others. I get really long franchises with several iterations.

Which is to say that I, despite not having a horse in this race, understand how this works and how it should work.

Now a bit of this is the fact Ducktales is ABOUT Scrooge. But Scrooge isn't the center of the Duck universe. Something I find pretty interesting is the fact that Donald has reasonably fleshed out family trees on both sides of his family. That's cool. That's how real people work, a meeting point of the stories of those who came before. But Ducktales doesn't care, the only adult the show cares about is him. I get that to a certain extent it was the show execs insisting on focusing on the kids. And again, he's kind of the main character. But you brought back Donald, and Della. There are other characters here with rich lives, he doesn't need to take over everything.

It's especially egregious ANY time the McDuck clan gets involved. Could Matilda be the youngest child now? Sure. But that's a really arbitrary change, that they don't use for anything. And even if that was purposeful, the fact is that the first thing they established is Donald's mom is still Scrooge's sister, so Donald is the grandson of Fergus and Downy McDuck. Not nephew? Surely they could recognize him? But where is Hortense and Quackmore? They brought them up in the first episode, and then they never made any appearances aside from references. Why were Donald and Della staying with Scrooge for Christmas? Never clarified. Fans (reasonably) assumed they were dead. Scrooge called Donald his ward (admittedly when he also called him Fergus and Downy’s nephew rather than grandson). I mean where else would they be when their DAUGHTER DISAPPEARED. Would they not want to meet their grandchildren? But that was never clarified. And I've seen some fans alternatively interpret them as bad parents, which I think is just really unfair. Scrooge gets to be the good parent? It's once again Scrooge to the rescue. The CAPITALIST? I mean it's also a little bit just a family issue in general: It's Uncle Gladstone and Cousin Fethry when they are theoretically the same: technically cousins but old enough to be honorary uncles. It's fair enough. But really that brings us to the Duck family in general.

Grandma Duck? What about Gladstone and Fethry's parents? Gus Goose? Are they all dead? Does Fethry have any siblings? Do the boys not know or not care about the Duck side of the family? They know Gladstone but no one else? I mean Scrooge's parents, who should be dead, were magically kept alive but nothing for the duck family. Speaking of which, they constantly bring up how old Scrooge and occasionally refer to the causes of his supernatural age, but that does not explain how young Donald and Della are compared to him. Overall, we get nothing on the Duck family except for its existence at least, so even removed from the context of Disney Ducks legacy its weird to introduce a side of the family and just gloss over it.

The one episode about the Duck family legacy is a Webby episode. Which, fine, she's not a Duck, but she's part of the family. Except wait. She's Scrooge's daughter/clone, and you gave her the focus on the one episode about the Duck family not the McDuck's? You couldn't leave Scrooge out of anything?

So for Webby's great twist in the finale, was taking not just one, but two characters NOT related to Scrooge (April and Webby), and tying them to Scrooge. I think I could deal with Webby being April, and (HUGE MAYBE) Webby being Scrooge’s clone or April being Scrooge’s clone but not both. Not to mention April, May and June are DAISY's nieces... not random three girls who are her boyfriends uncles clone and and boyfriends uncles clones clone? It doesn't sit right with me that a character who I thought was supposed to be learning that he was sometimes in the wrong, and not the center of morality (see how he made Glomgold a villain through his own ego), continue to be made the center of the universe in ways he simply shouldn't be.

He's literally an old rich guy. Like there is historical context for why this character is like this, but why does the world revolve around him in this show.

3. Word of God Word of God is useful. As are interviews and statements made by the creator. It helps to provide insight into the themes. I love seeing the person behind the art.

But here's the thing. Word of God is clarification, insight into how you should look at the work to set expectations. It's supplementary. It doesn't replace text.

This is a little bit difficult to really talk about now that I'm several years removed from the experience, so grain of salt and all, but I really think the way Word of God was handled did the show a disservice.

Back to Lena becoming a Sabrewing, we didn't get that in show. Lena just dropped off the face of the earth, not until S3’s premier we got a clarification on that in show.

We never got Della's reaction to learning that Donald and Scrooge were estranged, she just suddenly stopped speaking under that assumption.

So Word of God became an essential part of understanding the text, because a lot of necessary information was left unexplained by the canon its a huge problem. And Word of God is often fluid. It can be changed later if during the writing process something changes. (We should probably cover this topic in show and want to do it a bit differently, I have a great Idea of what we can do to turn that error into foreshadowing, I was lying to the fans to keep a secret).

But when word of god is necessary, word of god becomes essential for tempering expectations about the show.

This is probably going to be less of an issue for people who come and watch the show later. Sure, things are still unexplained, but when you can binge the show Lena's unexplained absence is less obvious, you're so busy moving on to other things that Della's change in understanding about the situation is clearly unimportant and you can move on.

But what ended up happening is that Frank Angones struggled to balance clarifications, keeping show secrets, and a sometimes changing story. Which sometimes left characters completely sure on where the story was sitting, only for it to be ripped out from under them. Also, tying back to the first point, of plot points being dropped until the episode where they where they were relevant made it VERY difficult to tell what was or wasn’t going to be relevant, and what emotional beats to get emotionally invested in.

Prior to the finale there was a bit of a community of Webby/Triplet shippers. Personally, I see that as a complete dismissal of the themes of the show and a bit heteronormative. I avoided all such content. But at the same time, shipping doesn't hurt anyone. At the end of the day, the boys and Webby were not related by blood, and hadn't even met until age 10. There wasn't... really a reason you couldn't ship them. There are TONS of shows out there with 10 year old characters and love interests. Just off the top of my head: Any Ship with Ash Ketchum, Sprigivy, Phinabella, Kenyako, Sorato. Even if they don't get together at 10, (or at all) the fact of the matter is 10 year olds getting shipped is old news. I'm still attached to Pokeshipping and Takari to this day, even if I tend to see them more as platonic relationships these days. So I avoided all shipping with them, but I understood why people (particularly younger people) were shipping them. Until the finale hit, and the ships that people thought never going to be canon, but were safe, weren't. To a certain extent, that's the game you play with shipping clearly noncanonical ships. But I feel that the way questions about shipping were answered didn't help, because iirc he tended to say the show wouldn't focus on that more than he explicitly stated the kids were family. He called Webby/Triplet shipping highly unlikely for example, giving it more legitimacy than a no, which leant to it being taken as a solid fact prior to the finale that Webby was definitely not related to the boys, because a lot of what else was said was solid fact.

4. (Bonus): of course, I do also feel it kind of isn't enough to justify breaking the found family. So much of Webby's arc was being accepted into the family. Becoming the 4th triplet. So for her to have been blood all along is a little cheap. Sure it doesn't break the becoming family despite blood before. But, having meta-knowledge of Launchpad probably finding family with Gosalyn and Drake Mallard, it's just Beakley whose left as not blood related (and she's technically the help...). And yeah, there's the Granny/Grandaughter adopted relationship. But....

Webby is one of four kids. Again, she became one of the kids. So yeah. I'm happy that she became one of the kids. Able to call him uncle scrooge. But it feels weird to me that she, the kid who already lived in the manor with Scrooge even if they kept their distance, displaced the triplets as Scrooge's natural heirs. The uncle relationships in this show being parental/grandparental was already good. Not all families look the same, some people parent their siblings' kids for one reason or another. Scrooge's presumed "heirs' ' was his sister's descendants, not his, but he loved them like his own. That's good. So to not only break the "not blood related at all" to "actually daughter", kind of ALSO meant a "my niblings are my legacy" got overtaken with "my daughter is my legacy".

And maybe I'd feel less sour about it if we had more time after the show. But on a fundamental level it didn't just alter Webby's place in the family, but her grandmother's, and the Duck Twins and Triplets. Again, especially with the triplets. I wanted the four of them to become functional equals. The 4th triplet. But for her to have a secret Scrooge connection that overtakes the one she was jealous of the triplets of having doesn't sit right to say the least.

I feel I could get over this one, especially maybe if they gave us more time. But it just didn't make it worth it to me.

5. (Bonus Bonus): Now I don't use the term Mary Sue lightly. But what I do think of canon Mary Sueism is a tendency to make female characters on predominately male casts "special" in some way to justify their presence. They have to be the level headed smart ones and the ones with . They have to be likable so they're robbed of character. I wouldn't say Webby is a particularly bad example of this, and it's not like Ducktales lacks other flawed female characters (Della my beloved).

But the way Webby is treated reminds me of April from TMNT 2012, and Allura from Voltron Legendary Defender (and kinda Larmina from Voltron Force). All are 80s characters in shows that had a predominately male cast of characters, and who were both an outsider, and defined by being a girl. And then the reboot both doubled down on making them special, integrating them into the group more, but also making them generally tougher the boys in some way, and also sometimes more in the know about things. Webby is aged up to match the boys age rather than aged down to match the boys age like April but the effect is still the same.

The girl is now a peer to the boys, 4th triplet, rather than a little sister. Webby is more capable and well-read than any of the boys. And at the start of the series she's socially awkward enough it feels like it will work. And I'm not saying Webby isn't flawed, she is. But when it comes to the things the family finds important: adventuring, she doesn't have any obvious shortcomings. Louie quits easily and isn't as coordinated, Dewey is reckless and generally uneducated, and Huey isn't flexible. And Webby... used to be socially awkward???

It’s kinda trading 1 sexist trope for another. And yeah, all shows do have OTHER female characters who kind of avert this. But it doesn’t change the fact the leading lady is more “special” than the boys. Like being a girl has to be special.

In short, at the end of the day Webby being Scrooge's daughter doesn't help her character, her grandmothers, or the rest of the family. It kinda helps Scrooge’s character, but while I haven’t seen the episode myself, I’m not sure there would be enough time for it to be meaningful. And again, I think a lot of the characterization and worldbuilding of other characters were already sacrificed for Scrooge’s sake in the show already.

Oh and the Donald/Daisy thing.

The reason Daisy/Donald's trip doesn't sit right with me is we barely got any Donald and Della having to coparent. Get used to each other again. We barely got any of them and we're heading back into separation. It doesn’t feel cathartic when we still have unanswered questions from this stage in their life. And even if the trip is well, a trip. It feels weird.

It feels kind of unexpectedly "conventional family", even if it's still really unconventional. Donald is going to go be happy with his love interest, away from the boys he raised who aren't actually his sons (and yes, I know he takes May and June with him but still, knowing that May and June are by default Daisy's nieces kind of has "new kids with new wife" implications to me but that's neither here nor there). Adding this to "Webby being Scrooge's daughter is a good plot point for him" and it's just really weird, and kind of feels like the final nail in the nontraditional family dynamics coffin. If feel only way they could have buried it more is if Beakley died or something.

I was already kinda uncomfortable with the “Daisy being the only one to understand him” thing because like. That’s sweet. His soulmate is the only one who really hears him. But also that’s a fucking speech impediment Donald has. Are you telling me that no one in his family cared enough to effectively communicate with him despite his disability? Like if it is REALLY that much a problem he should have an effective communication method. Sign-language for example?

The triplets he raised don’t always understand him. His twin sister doesn’t always understand him? But this random woman does? I am all for Daisy and Donald being basically soulmates. But uh? This feels both ableist and allonormative in a show that really wasn’t those things before. (well okay it was kinda ableist about Donald but it felt less weird to me when there wasn’t one person who could magically understand Donald). And Daisy understanding him still could be a big thing? The first person who understood him without getting to know him first/wasn’t literally raising him/raised with/raised by him?

I want to like Daisy so much, but she just feels a bit like Webby does: a legacy female character they are trying to make too cool, who gets some of their coolness incidentally defined by a male character, rather than a full-fledged character on their own. (For instance if we saw Daisy with anyone other than Donald, her overbearing boss and… whatever Storkules is).

I feel some of these may have been resolved with more time. But some of these problems had their seeds planted as early as S1. That said I think if the quality of S1 was maintained they would have been fine. Overall, I think Ducktales is a good reboot, and a good show, but it really could have been better. Was so close to being better.

#ducktales 2017 #it's been years and I'm still thinking about this #for my part #I disregard the finale #Webby has dead parents that she knows about hence never needing to learn more #I disregard the family not understanding Donald #because Daisy being the first STRANGER who understands him right away is just as sweet #idk what I’m doing about Boyd or April May June yet though #I can do what I want its not like Ducktales was wholly original or anything #probably still better than vld's finale #but I started to have critiques in s3 #and all of s8 was a dumpster fire so I was emotionally checked out by the time it actually came to that point #again I haven't seen it so maybe I'd like it more if I did see it #but the fact that knowing this has put me so intensely off watching it really isn't a good thing either #and I have never had this issue with a show before even if it's bad #to be clear though I do overall like 2017 Webby and Daisy I just wish they were allowed to be a little MORE #to fuck up a little more #I really do want to finish my abandoned ducktales fics but also staring at the finale and trying to figure out what I should do with this #ah #ducktales

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kanansdume · 1 year

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I was really rooting for a well-done Bo-Katan redemption arc in this season. As weird as it was that Bo-Katan just sort-of took over as the main character of the show and sidelined Din, I've been wanting someone to focus on Bo-Katan's motivations and history for a while now and it seemed like we were primed to get it.

And in some ways, we did. We heard more about her relationship with her father and her faith, which definitely helps put a few things in perspective! I appreciate that!

But in other ways, we didn't. Not once did they actually have Bo-Katan or anyone else actually acknowledge the truly horrific things she's done or how she was the one who helped bring down Mandalore. Since the memory of her taking the Creed sort-of makes it near impossible for her to have joined up with Death Watch as a teenager and far more reasonable for her to have done it in her late 20s if not early 30s, she was fully aware of what she was doing when she made that choice. And she's refusing to take responsibility for that.

We're also not truly acknowledging all of Bo-Katan's FAILED attempts at leadership, from the way she had to rely on the clones and Ahsoka and the Republic to clean up her own mess with Maul, to being handed the Darksaber by Sabine only to lose it like a year later, and then to trying to find the Darksaber again afterwards only for all of her followers to completely abandon her the moment Din won the Darksaber instead. She's never been able to save Mandalore on her own, she's never been able to lead Mandalore into success or peace, and despite not really seeing any sudden growth or development in that area, I'm supposed to believe she's the Chosen One who will unite all of Mandalore now because she saw a rare creature in the water.

We see Bo-Katan lead a war party twice, sure, but she's ALWAYS been good at violence and war, so that's not exactly evidence of actual good leadership because she had that before and still failed over and over again.

What I want is to see Bo-Katan actually acknowledge the mistakes she made and recognize that the reason she failed was due to arrogance and a desire to live up to her father's high standards and expectations of her. What I want is for Bo-Katan to recognize why Satine was opting for pacifism and non-violence and try to find a middle ground between her respect for Mandalorian warrior traditions and Satine's attempts to stop the violence that was destroying them. I wanted to see more build-up to the whole "walks in both worlds" comment. I know we're 5 episodes in already, so things have to get moving, but I feel like we skipped steps and rushed this conclusion to her arc.

They don't have time to truly let her develop and grow because we're wasting time on this Imperial/New Republic bullshit that doesn't have any impact on the Mandalorians and shouldn't be here. We lost an entire episode to that storyline that could've been spent elsewhere. We should've had at LEAST one more episode with Bo-Katan bonding with the covert before getting to this point, let Bo-Katan acknowledge her mistakes more so that when she agrees to take up an attempt at leadership for a FOURTH time, I believe that this is something new rather than the same thing she's done the entire time.

I don't think Bo-Katan can move forward without acknowledging her history, who she's been, and what she's done. Pretending as though she's done nothing is an insult to the complexity her character could have if the writers were brave enough to allow it. Maybe they'll still have it happen in the upcoming three episodes, but at this point I'm a little skeptical.

#bo-katan kryze #star wars #the mandalorian #the mandalorian season 3 #the mandalorian s3 #mando s3 #the mandalorain spoilers #the mandalorian season 3 spoilers #the mandalorian s3 spoilers #mando s3 spoilers

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lunarsilkscreen · 6 months

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FF/Nier/PSO/DR. WHO/DRAKEN GUARD/Chrono Trigger--Connection

The ultimate theory of everygame.

I got this idea from watching an FFXIII stream where they were killing shoopuffs from FFX (Tortoises)

Which links those two worlds together via shoopuff.

In FFXIII, the humans are living in/on an artificial planet called cocoon. Which could be thought of as a moon to the inhabitants of Gaia. Which there aren't any until they come down from the moon to escape persecution.

Because life was good in cocoon, why leave. The "Gods here" protect and feed us. (kind of an artificial Eden.)

But what's interesting is that, a second uninhabited planet isn't a foreign concept to the FF series. In FFIX they call it the "Red Moon". And "artificial humans" reside in it. They look like Saiyans, without the super technically they can go super Saiyan, but the regular humans can do it too. So I don't know if there's a difference like in DBZ.

There's a lot of lore connecting the Red Planet and Gaia, non as much as in the movie "Spirits Within" which said that the inhabitants of the red planet (which were monstrous in comparison to humans) were actually human souls from earth. And the whole plot of the movie is a war between the humans and the red planet.

Except for the main character "Aki Ross". Who has constant dreams about the red planet. Except there's a sort of "minority report" thing going on where they monitor your dreams, just in case you're being "mind controlled " by the moon people.

So she understandably erases the records of her dreams, and starts pursuing a "reunification route". Which was just allowing those human souls to return to earth, and to not continue hostilities, which were kind of started by earth as a form of self-defense.

To which she also becomes a villain in her own home, but the real villain is the General Hein. Who ends up trying to blow up the entire red planet. And pursues this with hyperfixation, because he doesn't believe there can be another way with a being he can't communicate with.

In Neir 1, the humans are affected with the "black scrawl" (the flood from Dr. Who on Mars) and humans try to figure out a way to save the affected humans, while also trying to create a kind quarantine for the infected individuals)

In Neir:A we learn that the humans were sent away to the moon. And the Androids believe this to be the actual moon. But the robots, and the Androids continually keep being infected with a kind of virus said to come from the black scrawl itself. Which is why the Android Team keeps creating new Androids as a replacement. Because if they can all be infected, then they'll all infect the human population when they eventually return too.

But it turns out, in the game, the "virus" is built into the Androids core (their black boxes, which they share with the machines)

Here's the Theory; the "Moon" they were sent to was to the "Red Planet". And the humans didn't leave that info behind so that anything left on the planet wouldn't know.

Now I connected Dr. who in here, somehow. (So maybe it's just a coincidence) but what about the other stuff? Well we already know the black scrawl comes from drakenguard. That's the premise of Nier 1.

And the black scrawl infects both humans AND machines. Just like the villain from PSO: Dark Falz (Fals? Falls? False?) (Wait. Does DFV stand for Dark False Value? Like, a null value? Or like a bit that can switch from false? Like viruses and malware tend to do?)

What does that also sound similar too? Demise and The switch Zelda Games Gannon? Are the chosen ones *also* robots?

But here's the thing, The FFXIII earthlings aren't *actually* from Cocoon. They were from earth, they were put into stasis from *before*. Something that happened to a lot of humans left stranded in Nier one. And the waking up of humans to reunite their bodies with their *souls* created replicants. Or cloned humans with their own souls, memories, and consciousness.

A big portion of the ending was accepting that for humanity to continue, was to let the replicants, to continue to exist. Because trying to revive themselves, trying to live forever just meant them fighting against their "replicants" or rather "humanity's children".

But a visitor from Drakenguard, an Android, Accord, undoes the choice Nier made, because Kaine couldn't let him go. (If you get the "good" ending, your save file gets erased. But then you unlock a secret bonus game from the Nier:Replicant remake which undoes that decision.

Because neither could live in a world without the other.)

This is why I'm Nier:A Emil is left alone without anybody. (His head kinda looks like the Moon from Majora's Mask, doesn't it?)

So now there's this cocoon that travels to the dark reaches of the galaxy and isn't always visible to the telescoped eye on earth, and that planets name in the Phantasm Star Series? RykRos.

What other cataclysmic event forces humanity to this moon?

Lavos, deemed an "alien parasite" responsible for all the evil in the world. And responsible for the end of the world, per the future timeline in Chrono cross.

What else exists in Chrono Trigger? Time gates. Where did these time gates come from? They were created by the Goddess Etro which is explained during the events of FFXIII-2, and used by Hope with the "hopes" of reuniting with Lightning (his mentor and mother figure on FFXIII-1.)

What ends up happening is a null timeline is created, which Lighting ends up herding all the leftover souls from that timeline, to a new one which is possibly earth, thanks to Lightning cutting a deal with Louis Vuitton as spokesperson and model. But I'm not so sure about that.

PSO2 is a video game in the Earth that the heros travel to which is supposed to represent the "real world" as well. And in our real world, both PSO2 AND Lightning are not *real* places and people. As far as I know.

So it must be an alternate earth, and who's to say they aren't connected?

Who's to say their souls weren't trapped into some giant computer that simulates earth? The main *not villain* of that particular PSO2 chapter is a being called "Mother". And the only other time we see a "Mother" is the "Mother Brain" both present in PS2 and Super Metroid.

Lightning in "Lightning Returns" was shown to have a personal battle herself, being split into two characters; Her logical side, controlled by Bhunivelze, who wants to scrap humanity, and her emotional side, influenced by the Goddess Etro, who wants to save humanity as it is.

What if; Lightning was separated in twain by the Black scrawl, and that's why her counterpart "Lumina" is distinct. What if, Lumina is a Replicant, and Lightning is what's left of her logical soul.

Just like Nier in Nier 1.

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