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elrics-inferno · 3 years

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Selim Bradley's name has always struck me as out of place, and I just realized why. It's foreshadowing, and it's absolutely brilliant.

I consider Amestris to be mostly based on Germany (although I do see influence from other Western European nations) with the exception that its lore and alchemy are connected to ancient Persia. The main characters largely have Western European/German-sounding names, such as Edward, Alphonse, Hohenheim, Roy, and so forth, which makes sense considering the setting.

Except for Selim.

Selim Bradley is the only major character whose name is Arab-coded. As an Arabic speaker, I noticed this difference immediately, but I didn't think much of it. In Arabic, the word "selim" translates to intact, safe, undamaged. It's a common name, which is why it eluded my scrutiny.

When we meet Selim, he is all those things. Before we realize he is a homunculus, he is just a normal boy. A harmless, happy, normal boy, whose innocence appears whole and unblemished.

However, when Pride reveals himself, we see that the monster that lives inside Selim, that is Selim, is fragmented. Any innocence we thought he had as a child is completely shattered, along with whatever knowledge of his character we thought we had. As pride, Selim is literally made of dark, glass-shard-like shadows. In other words, he is the opposite of selim. Anything but intact, undamaged, and safe.

This serves three purposes in the narrative.

1. It sets Selim apart from the other homunculi. Because he is Arab-coded, it automatically gives him a stronger connection to the Persia-inspired lore of Amestris, and therefore a stronger connection to Father and Hohenheim's origin story. Pride was the first homunculus, the first one separated from the Dwarf in the Flask because it recognized its pride as the biggest threat to its plan to become "god." As Father's fatal flaw, he has the strongest bond to Father/the Dwarf in the Flask. It makes perfect sense that his human identity would bear that cultural connection in name and in design.

2. Selim, both in name and character, is foreign. Even if the viewer doesn't catch on to the Arabic meaning, any English speaker (or anyone familiar with English or Western European languages) can catch on to the fact that "Selim" does not sound like a European name. Even before we learn that he was "adopted" or that he is a homunculus, we feel like he doesn't belong there. The name alone has us questioning things before we know we should even be asking questions. This leads me into

3. Foreshadowing, but mostly in hindsight (unless your critical eye is sharper than Pride's knife tentacles). Apart from the uneasiness that his foreignness sparks, the subtle but brilliant irony of his name being Selim when he is concealing the broken, deadly mess that is Pride in the adorable, innocent body of a child becomes dramatic irony when we rewatch the show. And it's not just because we obviously know Selim is Pride while the characters don't yet, but because we are aware of a completely new layer of deception with the aforementioned details in mind. The meaning of his name is never brought up in the show, meaning that it's not just Selim/Pride who is deceiving us and the characters, it's Hiromu Arakawa. With just his name, Arakawa is telling us to trust this character. It's ok, it's safe. The same way Selim so easily deceives Ed, Al, and Roy--a disarming facade. All of this contributes to the horror of realizing that Selim Bradley, this cute little boy, is not cute, or little, or a boy. And if your critical eye really is as sharp as Pride's tentacles, then it is absolutely possible to put together the oddity of his name and the visual, more obvious hints dropped throughout the show, to figure out that Selim Bradley is not what he seems, and that he might even be connected to the homunculi.

To conclude, I am once again in awe of the storytelling master who is Hiromu Arakawa, but what's new? I have a feeling I'm going to be discovering ways in which I was fooled and didn't even notice for years to come.

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j4gm · 3 years

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TOGETHER AGAIN SPOILERS

A thread of lore, Easter eggs, episode connections, and background details from Adventure Time: Distant Lands: Together Again! Let me know if I missed anything! This is adapted from my original Twitter thread.

Keep reading ⬇️⬇️⬇️

1. I was expecting them to perhaps do a classic style title sequence for this episode, but I wasn't expecting them to straight up use the original title sequence. The only difference is this final screen saying "Distant Lands".

2. The background of the title cards is also the hill from the title sequence.

3. The ice cream having "50 flavours" and having an image of an enlightened soul is an obvious reference to the 50th Dead World as we see it later in the episode.

4. Continuing with the metaphor, the dirt in the ice cream could be a parallel to the fact that Jake's Nirvana actually wasn't perfect, because his inaction was allowing for injustice to perpetuate.

5. This whole scene feels immediately slightly off. Finn has his Scarlet sword and is out on a classic Ice King adventure, but he speaks in his grown voice and all the slang feels much more forced than it did in the real season one. Turns out this was deliberate.

6. The snow golem speaks with a baby voice like it did in the pilot episode, even though in canon it has a deeper voice. This further hints that something is not quite right.

7. The first major break in continuity is these snow golems resembling Uncle Gumbald and Peace Master, who Finn didn't meet until later in his life.

8. LSP sitting on Finn's head like this is reminiscent of Pen Ward's piece for the 2018 Ble crew zine.

9. Finn being given the choice of helping somebody but ending up helping everybody reminds me of "Memories of Boom Boom Mountain". It's the kind of resolution that wouldn't happen so much in the late seasons of the show, which helps make this scene feel even further out of place.

10. Jake is half frozen by Ice King in pretty much the exact same way as he was in "Prisoners of Love", and even has a very similar line.

11. The Snail is seen here. The crew have said that the Snail has been deliberately left out of previous Distant Lands specials, so its placement here is another very deliberate hint that this whole sequence is "trying too hard" to be like the early seasons.

12. The book "Mind Games" appears a couple of times, as seen in several previous episodes of Adventure Time. The first is as Finn is approaching the library in his dream. It also appears as one of the items in Finn's backpack later.

13. Jake is hurt when Finn fist bumps him with his metal arm, revealing that this scene is not real. This is also a callback to the title sequences of "Islands" and "Elements".

14. A whole bunch of familiar skeletons are seen in the bird's nest: Dirt Beer Guy, Abracadaniel, Me-Mow, Lemongrab, Mr. Pig, and the Snail again. This doesn't necessarily mean that all these characters are dead, since this scene is just a hallucination.

15. Old Man Finn! He's still got the chest tattoo of Jake, and this time we know that Jake is dead, so the theory that Jake died before "Obsidian" seems pretty likely. He looks similar to his old man design from "Puhoy", with the same facial hair.

16. There are several cameos of familiar characters who apparently died at the same time as Finn. The first is this duck, who previously appeared in "Ocarina".

17. The second is Donny, from the episode... uh, "Donny".

18. This goblin guy is an unnamed background character from “The Silent King”.

19. This old lady first appeared in "The Enchiridion", way back in season one. Old ladies are a species in the Land of Ooo, so I guess she wasn't actually very old back then, given she just about outlived Finn.

20. This is the cobbler who first appears in "His Hero". Amazing that he lived so long given all the trouble he got into in that episode.

21. Land of the Dead! This place was first seen in season two's "Death in Bloom", and now we are finally learning its actual purpose. It's a sort of gateway and hub to all of the other dead worlds.

22. There are some more minor cameos at the gates: a house person from "Donny", a soft person from "Gut Grinder", and a wood person from "When Wedding Bells Thaw". And, of course, the gate guardian himself from “Death in Bloom”.

23. Finn completely ignores the gate guardian in the same way he did in Death in Bloom. This also has the convenient effect of not having to reveal how Finn died, leaving it up to the audience's imagination.

24. Mr. Fox! We already knew he would die at some point because BMO had his skull in the finale.

25. Finn has his design from the first Distant Lands poster in this scene. Turns out it's young Finn in old Finn's clothes. But they gave him a shirt in the poster so you wouldn't be able to see the tattoo.

26. The clapping that Finn does while he's looking for Jake is a callback to "James Baxter the Horse", when Jake tells Finn to listen for that same rhythm if they are killed and need to find each other in the afterlife.

27. Mr. Fox talks about a "past life quotient", suggesting that there might be some kind of limit to how many times somebody can reincarnate. Finn's reincarnations are also seen in this scene; a callback to "The Vault", and confirmation that reincarnations share the same soul.

28. Boobafina, the goose who Mr. Fox was in love with in his debut episode “Storytelling”, apparently reincarnated into a tugboat. We've already seen that objects can have souls in the episode "Ghost Fly".

29. Finn is initially assigned to the 37th Dead World, which is the same one that Jake went to when he died in "Sons of Mars". We can only guess at what the other numbers on the ticket mean ;)

30. Tiffany! Despite several lucky escapes throughout his life, Tiffany has finally died. I like the use of this imagery to express Finn's conflicted feelings about him.

31. The 50th Dead World has long been established as the "highest" dead world, and the one synonymous with Heaven within Adventure Time's universe. It was first mentioned in "Ghost Princess" back in season three.

32. It's unclear what happens to souls which are destroyed within the dead worlds. It is a similar question to asking what happened to the ghosts that were killed in "Ghost Fly".

33. Death doesn't speak at all in Together Again because his voice actor, Miguel Ferrer, passed away in 2017 long before production began.

34. Finn phases through New Death when he tries to attack him, just like what happened way back in "Death in Bloom".

35. The 30th Dead World contains Tree Trunks as well as many of her love interests; Mr. Pig, her alien husband from "High Strangeness", Danny and Randy who first appeared in "Apple Wedding", and several more who we don't recognise, including at least one who presents as a woman.

36. Literally yelled when these two showed up. Joshua calls Finn a crybaby, which is a callback to "Dad's Dungeon".

37. The wall of weapons in Joshua and Margaret's house includes the iconic Demon Blood Sword, which was broken in "Play Date", as well as Margaret's auto-loading crossbow from "Joshua & Margaret Investigations".

38. Jermaine is sidelined a few times through the episode, in reference to his attitude in "Jermaine" where he feels that Finn and Jake were always their parents' favourites. I would have hoped things would be a bit better by now.

39. Fern gets name dropped while Finn and Jake are reuniting. A shame he doesn't actually show up in the episode.

40. In this scene, Finn says "What time is it?" This is a very subtle reference to the 2010 cartoon "Adventure Time".

41. In a couple of shots during this fight scene it looks like Jake might have a tattoo. It seems like it only becomes visible when he stretches out his arm.

42. New Death's amulet in this scene resembles parts of the Lich's cape, foreshadowing his influence on New Death.

43. There are several more cameos in the 50th Dead World: Booshy from "High Strangeness", one of the Marshmallow Kids from "Scamps", and Ghost Princess and Clarence, who were seen ascending to the 50th Dead World in "Ghost Princess".

44. Finn didn't interact with Booshy in "High Strangeness", but it seems they must have met at some point before they both died because Finn knows his name.

45. It seems like people in the 1st Dead World are slowly melted away until they become part of the landscape. Nasty.

46. Lots more cameos in this scene: a gnome from "Power Animal", a gnome from "The Enchiridion", a Bath Boy from "The Vault", Blagertha from "Love Games", Maja the Sky Witch, a troll from "Dungeon", Chocoberry, Choose Goose, Wyatt, a spiky person from "Gut Grinder", and possibly more.

47. Tiffany's insults are consistently nonsensical and amazing, as they were in the original series.

48. The Candy Kingdom looks extremely different. Peppermint Butler is wearing the crown so he might be in charge now, which is supported by the kingdom's very magical-looking augmentations. It’s not clear whether Finn and Jake were expecting to find Princess Bubblegum or Peppermint Butler, since both have the initials “PB” and both could be going by the title of “Princess”. Perhaps Peps and Bubblegum share the princess duties now that PB is living with Marceline more of the time.

49. Peppermint Butler has a "Boss" mug, although it's not the same colour as the one from "Obsidian".

50. Jake's ghost has the same design as he did when BMO killed him in "Ghost Fly". I also absolutely love Finn's ghost. This scene establishes that ghosts are just visitors to the mortal plane from the dead worlds.

51. Life has only appeared in animated shorts before now. Namely, "The Gift That Reaps Giving" which establishes her relationship with Death, and "Frog Seasons: Winter". This episode gives her a concrete place within Adventure Time's pantheon: she is in charge of reincarnation.

52. A translation of Life’s angry French dialogue by Shado: “After all I did for that boy. After all I did for him. No, it's not possible. It's not possible no, that... that makes me so mad but it's not possible.”

53. We finally have in-universe confirmation that Shoko's tiger is a previous life of Jake. This was previously confirmed by one of the writers, but wasn't canon until now.

54. I feel like Finn pulled off Shoko's look even better than Shoko did. I wonder whether Finn has gained the memories of his past lives now that he’s dead.

55. No Easter egg here, just want to appreciate this image.

56. There is an elemental symbol on the wall here, as seen in "Jelly Beans Have Power".

57. Tiffany's dramatic internal monologue is a recurring gag, as is his habit of nearly dying from falling into holes.

58. The Jake suit makes a cameo in the fight against New Death. It was last seen in the episode "Reboot”.

59. Finn's backpack contains a few familiar items: the t-shirt with the pocket from "It Came from the Nightosphere", Finn's underwear from "Little Dude" and other episodes, and a copy of Mind Games as I've already mentioned.

60. The Lich's Hand is present in the background of Death's... death scene. This is probably the unseen "friend" who New Death keeps talking about.

61. The Lich's menacing monologues often begin with a single command. Previously they have included "Fall" and "Stop". This time, the command is "Burn".

62. Jake uses the word "boingloings", which is a callback all the way to "Hitman" in the third season.

63. Jake's blue shape-shifter form from "Abstract" appears very briefly during his fight with Finn.

64. Finn's lumpy space person form also makes an appearance. This design was last seen all the way back in the second episode of the entire show, "Trouble in Lumpy Space".

65. Jake steps on the Lich's hand in a very similar way to how he stepped on Ash in "Memory of a Memory", which is itself a Monty Python reference.

66. The credits include a dedication to a few AT cast and crew who have passed away. Polly Lou Livingston was the voice of Tree Trunks. Miguel Ferrer was the voice of Death. Michel Lyman and Maureen Mlynarczyk were both sheet timers on the original series. Rest in peace.

67. The message that Finn and Jake write out on the ouija board is "BUTT", which Peppermint Butler takes as a distress signal. This message is also used as a distress signal by the Hot Dog Knights in "The Limit".

68. Peppermint Butler's reversed dialogue from the scene where he makes contact with Finn and Jake is "Kee-Oth Rama Pancake", the spell from “Dad's Dungeon” for banishing demons.

69. That appears to be President Porpoise with all of Tree Trunks’ other lovers.

70. In this scene, Life is humming part of "Lonely Bones", the song which Death tried to record for her in her debut short "The Gift That Reaps Giving". It's hard to notice because it's so brief.

71. Finn and Jake's cover is blown while in the Land of the Dead because Jake loudly farts, which also happened in "Death in Bloom".

72. The place where Mr. Fox explains the perception mechanics of the afterlife is the exact same location as the River of Forgetfulness from "Death in Bloom", which, as it turns out, was imaginary.

These are sort of out of order at the end because I was adding stuff to the Twitter thread as it got discovered. That’s all for now!

#adventure time #together again #finn the human #jake the dog #lorepost

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fermented-writers-block · 3 years

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PART 1 of 6 of the Owl Deity Hooty Theory

[NEXT PART]

[OWL DEITY HOOTY THEORY MASTERPOST] (in development)

(TLDR at bottom of post)

Over several long months of research and analysis since March of 2020, I have been following an utterly fascinating thread of potential misdirection and subtle details throughout The Owl House, and today, I would like to start weaving together of what I believe could become one of the biggest and most cleverly disguised twists in the entire show.

To begin, let’s take a look at the B plot of Understanding Willow:

On first glance, it’s an ultimately inconsequential sidestory with the sole purpose of justifying an excuse to keep Luz and Amity in Willow’s mind, as well as providing some well-needed room to breathe and release tension after the veryemotionally charged confrontation with Inner Willow. After half an episode of Eda and King outdoing the other in ridiculous ways to win Gus’ vote and Gus running off in frustration at the end of the episode from Hooty’s inane rambling, it’s easy to laugh off Gus’ pick and assume that nothing/of value was said when he closed the door for the interview.

However, if one pays close attention to that very scene, Hooty actually canstill be heard (if faintly) underneath Eda and King’s grumbling, interestingly talking about how “It all started with a hunt. Blood red skies. That’s right, I was created-.”

Now, while it may seem silly to focus on dialogue from Hooty of all characters, this A) tells us that there was an event in the past involving blood red skies and a hunt of some kind, B) that Hooty had been created close to said event, and C) implies that what he knows but can’t tell as a story worth a damn is EXTREMELY important to be included and be hidden in such a manner.

For comparison, the only other instance of dialogue being tucked away in the background in the entire show is in Wing It Like Witches:

During the lecture at the beginning of the episode, the history teacher openswith lore on Belos appointing a head witch to each coven over 50 years ago, immediately cluing in the audience to try and decipher the rest of the lecture as it moves to the background. Adding to this is how the musical sting when Luz shows off her movie obscures what he says even further, making it even more of a intriguing puzzle that the creators clearly intended for viewers to pick up on and attempt to solve.

In contrast, the hidden dialogue of Hooty’s interview is much shorter and not as hard to decipher as the teacher’s history lesson, but at the same time, there are few to no indicators whatsoever in that scene to clue in the audience to even check for something like that. It comes at the end of an episode where most viewers would have been paradoxically tired out and driven abuzz by the revelations of Amity and Willow’s relationship, doesn’t attempt to draw much attention to itself, and frames itself as a comedic subversion of audience expectations with neither the “greatest witch who ever lived” or the self-proclaimed king of demons being picked by Gus.

Instead, he picks someone that the show portrays constantly as an oblivious and gullible idiot after being described as a “state of the art defense system” at the very beginning of the series. Someone who, despite it being played for laughs, is scarily capable of casually subduing Lilith offscreen one episode and then beating her and an entire squad of Emperor’s Coven members without even the slightest change in personality or temperament.

Someone who, due to being the Owl House itself, could be considered the titular character of the entire show, yet is taken for granted by those who inhabit him and barely gets any respect from even the cutely patronized King - including when Hooty could be interpreted as having potentially been full on DEAD for a time given the use of extremely cartoony X eyes and a lack of vital signs in The Intruder.

And someone who Eda at best tolerates and at worst abandons in personal interactions and only occasionally acknowledges him when he’s actually doing his job. Yet at the same time is so implicitly trusted beyondprotecting her home to the point where - when up against the closest person Eda has to an equal outside of likely Belos - the only actually recognizable spells Eda used in combat were 1) stereotypical energy blasts, 2) a single shield spell in Covention, and 3) a noticeably large reliance on imitations of Hooty above any other spells she could have decided to use instead.

In short, the show repeatedly tells us he is just an idiotic gag character through and through, but at the same time demonstrates he has immense power through both onscreen and offscreen demonstrations, implicitly tells us his importance ahead of time through Eda’s imitations in actually serious situations, and treats his interview and origin story as - if not even more- important to keep secret than a long lore dump about how Belos’ reign works.

After all, there being only two instances of hidden background dialogue in the entire season is already intriguing on its own, but for one to get plenty of clues to draw in people’s attention and for the other to be treated as just another gag about a “mere comic relief character” - aka a good way to draw away attention and lower one’s guard - heavily suggests a far deeper significance buried under layers of misdirection, comedy, and conditioned audience expectations.

I mean, when Eda bragged about being “a bad girl living in a secret fortress,” Hooty followed with a remark about how “I’m the secret.” While that line may sound like Hooty simply being confused as part of a one-off on the surface, it’s an odd dialogue choice for the writers to pick when you think about all the other reminders of his nature as the house itself throughout the season. With the precedent these moments set, it would have been much more appropriate for him to latch onto the “fortress” side of “secret fortress” AND it would have been just as equally funny of a joke about his awareness skills, but instead, Hooty broke away from the established trend to say something that would make people suspicious were it to come from anyone else.

In a way, this reminds me much of the many subtle bits of foreshadowing strewn across the show, like Luz unknowingly describing Amity in Witches Before Wizards and Eda burning a hole through Luz’s coven type quiz that coincidentally selected the same track she had taken at Hexside as “a punky potionist.” At the time of airing, these initially seemed like one-off jokes, but eventually came back in full force several episodes later with Amity’s hidden sensitive feelings and love for the Azura books becoming clear in Lost in Language, and the reveal of Eda’s school track in Something Ventured, Someone Framed with her school misdemeanor pictures.

That said, compared to these individual bits of minor foreshadowing, the jokes about Hooty in Understanding Willow appear to simply be the most obvious pieces in a giant puzzle, implicitly and outright telling attentive viewers that there’s a major mystery to be uncovered here.

In fact, I feel bold enough to say that we could be looking at a twist on a similar scale to that of the Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz and Stanford Pines twists in Steven Universe and Gravity Falls respectively, what with this particular puzzle piece coming from how Gus wanted to make THE greatest interview of all time, and how he was looking for someone who was “interesting, accomplished, AND noteworthy:”

Note the emphasis on the ‘and’ here, as Gus had made a big deal that “people aren’t meantto be all those things” at the beginning of the episode, so as a result, stripping away all the comedic framing of his subplot leaves the intriguing implication that whoever - and, perhaps, what- Hooty is, they really are the most interesting, accomplished, AND noteworthy person out of everyone.

I could go further and talk about why I suspect the mystery surrounding King’s origins, whether true or not, is partially meant to misdirect us from paying attention to Hooty, or how the TOH crew’s could be disguising legitimate clues to his nature among made up and highly meme-able joke answers in order to proliferate said concepts throughout the fandom - thus letting us do all the dirty work of getting ourselves used to the ideas and used to dismissing them at the same time - but to bring things to a close for now, I’d like to leave you all with a question that I’ll start answering next time:

What does it mean when both the most powerful and notorious witch on the Boiling Isles and the possible actual king of demons/the Titan itself/something don’t match up to a house? And what do you think it is that makes him so special to warrant such misdirection?

TLDR: Between Eda’s golem spells, the show stressing his nature as the titular house, his implicit strength, and the odd dialogue and structure of Understanding Willow‘s subplot in relation to him, I believe I have good reason to suspect the show has been giving us many hints towards Hooty being much, much more important than it would like us to currently believe or even joke about. Particularly, through clever uses of comedy to establish and enforce a strong audience bias against looking closely at him or unironically taking him seriously, and to potentially plant the seeds for something I will start exploring in Part 2.

#the owl house #the owl house theory #owl house theory #the owl house speculation #toh theory #the owl house hooty #toh speculation #owl deity hooty theory #long post

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yes-asil · 3 years

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Ok so, I know nothing about the warner siblings so when I read your comic and the written version I could tell a lot of stuff went over my head, if you wouldn't mind can you explain the lore? Cause I am really curious!

Ooo here we go!!!!

What you need to know is that the Warner sibs were drawn in 1930; their purpose to make a boring cartoon funny with their antics. However, their creator was stressed and sleep-deprived when creating them, so when they jumped out of the page, they were acting completely insane, destroying the lot and terrifiying the lot staff. The cartoons they made were weird and baffling to the executives and no one could handle them.

So, to keep the studio safe, they threw the children into the water tower and bolted it shut. They were captured and stuck in there for 60 years (not consecutively, they escaped from time to time, but always got thrown in again) and were pretty much forgotten about

Since they are toons, they don't age. Yakko, the leader, is 14, protective of his sibs and a sarcastic smart mouth. Wakko, the middle child, is 11, always hungry, naive and the best in tune with his hammer space (he makes things appear from his gag bag and uses visual comedy). Dot, the cute one, is 10, while being sassy, smart and adorable all at the same time.

Then, one day, Spielberg decided that the world was crazy. Crazy enough for these 3 toons to get a chance in the lime light. Animaniacs started and the kids did sketches alongside other toons.

Cutting edge, political humor, parodies, puns, plain cartoon violence, that's what the show was about.

There were also parts that plainly showed the Warners in "real life". The staff of the Warner studios trying to get them into school and visit a psychiatrist for example. Or where the 3 hang out in the tower or travel the world

However a lot, A LOT of educational songs, were made, too.

Yakko's world was and still is the most popular, and gets referenced a lot in the show. Some people know Animaniacs simply because of that one, really impressive song. Mr. United States Canda Mexico Panama is pretty much Yakko's brand. He likes to yak after all.

Then the show ended in 1998 and the Warner sibs were put into suspended animation, (we're disregarding the movie here for the sake of lore, but it's a comedy show, who bothers) since keeping them in the tower had proven to be fruitless a lot of the time.

Now it's 2020, the Sibs have been reanimated and are back in action!

However, it seems like there is a hidden arc going on, which has never been the case before.

Yakko mellowed since 1998, and there are clear hints that something is going on. Since their come back, Yakko acts a bit more mature, at least he's trying to be, and he is confronted with a lot of his fears this season.

Not being heard, being ignored, becoming tongue-tied, becoming mute. Not being funny and being forgotten about. And it's subtle, but you see him struggle in those moments, his need to be validated by those around him and that hits really hard in a show that is supposed to be funny

It doesn't help that his sibs are not fond of his puns, or educational songs. They roll their eyes and warn him with looks, like "No, stop, you're being embarassing" multiple times.

Hence why my comic!

I tied the little Warners jealousy of their older brother's success in his songs with his fear of messing up something he was born to do: talk.

Yakko's world is outdated by now, a lot was already wrong back in 1998. And the pressure, to sing a song again this popular, that's stressful and simply perfect for Yakko to go panic mode over.

I made Wakko the one to talk down on his brother for a reason, too, since he is actually mad about Yakko's song. He clearly states it in one of the reboot episodes, since his own song, Wakko's America, is similar and didn't get half that recognition: "You're great at taking all the credit..."

Sooo... to sum it up:

Funny bunny/kitten/puppy children trio has an older brother who is trying his best to be their step-up dad in a world that hates them, full of fear of messing everything up while the other two have no clue and living their best life while occassionally stepping on that older brothers feelings without realizing

I hope that helped! I... simply love the Warners

#animaniacs #this.... got long #ask #anon #you can clearly read that yakko is my favourite #he just wants to be validated guys #give him a medal for trying so hard #and his sibs are baby #so they don't know any better

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fyeahnix · 3 years

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Pathfinder's Quest — Bangalore/Wraith, Voidstrike Shipping Speculation? (7/7)

I'm going to talk about my thoughts on the Apex Legends lore book in a series of smaller posts. I have a LOT of fractured thoughts on this book and it would be unnecessarily long if I were to list them out in the same post. If you want to skip to some other post because the content in this one doesn't sound interesting, please do so! I will be numbering the posts and tagging them with "nix talks apex book lore" if you'd like to follow these specific posts and "apex book spoilers" if you'd like to avoid them.

This special post will strictly be about Voidstrike speculation. Keep in mind that this is speculation with a theory based on available lore. You don't have to take this seriously, but if you ship Voidstrike in any capacity, you might want to read this. Caution that this post will be very long and will contain quite a few images from the book as well as Broken Ghost and other supporting material. Let's go!

Book Content + Supporting Material

All right. I've been waiting an entire month to write up this post. You all know by now that Voidstrike is my OTP for Apex Legends. The unfortunate problem with this ship, like some other ships in Apex, is that they have the bare minimum of interaction with each other. Even in this book that proves to be true, except for one interesting little exchange through Pathfinder...

Do you see this comment? I asked Tom Casiello, Senior Writer of Apex Legends and Target of Internet Scorn (just poking fun at his twitter bio here), about it on Twitter and this is what he said:

Yes, that's right, y'all. These two have beef. I can imagine Wraith is little pissed about the whole "headcase" thing from Season 5's Broken Ghost quest:

I mean, can you blame Wraith? Anita’s kind of an asshole in canon, if we’re being honest, so Wraith wanting to get back at her in some way makes sense. She went the fuck off on Mirage when he made a similar comment about her in the Season 6 comic posted on Twitter. What's even weirder is Anita's response when Pathfinder tells her what Wraith said:

Now. I know what you’re thinking. “Nix, it’s not that deep, Anita’s just being a sarcastic dick.” And you would likely be correct, and I would not disagree with you. On the next page, however, this exchange happens:

First of all, why would Anita ask "why would Wraith tell me anything?" Has she tried talking to Wraith before and Wraith may have been closed off and/or hesitant? Or maybe she doesn't fully trust Anita because Anita has such strong feelings about the IMC? Is she... hurt by Wraith not telling her things? Did Wraith try to open up once before, get shot down by Anita's reaction to the IMC, and Anita's been a little salty about it since, henceforth, the shitty "headcase" comment? Maybe Wraith is being a little shit and getting back at her in a weird way. This comment initially sounded vaguely flirty but what do I know except the writers haven't been known to just write things for literally no reason...

Lots to think about here, but I'm hoping we'll get a follow-up to this in-game at some point.

And second of all, why would Pathfinder ask if they're best friends? I know he has an interesting view of who he considers friends...generally people who have talked to him for more than a minute:

But a “best friend”? What would give him that assumption about these two? Is it because they have some things in common? Or has he seen them interacting more than we (the players and lorehounds) know of? Is it because of their one exchange in Broken Ghost? I don’t think so at all. Granted, right on the next page Anita calls Wraith a lab rat (pretty shitty!), but as we learn later on, she is really sensitive and defensive about people who speak badly about the IMC (more on this in my post about Bangalore). I'm thinking Path mentioning Wraith being IMC pissed her off because Wraith, overall, blames them for what happened to her.

In any case, it's an interesting question to ask, and I do have to wonder if Wraith and Anita have been seen talking to one another for more than a minute lol. But Anita's answer is intriguing. She doesn't flat out say no. We know Anita to be very direct—sarcastic, sure—but generally you'd expect a straight fucking answer from her. Here, she doesn't even give one. She beats around the bush for an answer. What I think is happening here is about the same as her talking about Octane and Mirage. Remember that loading screen from Season 3? No? Well, let me refresh your memory...

Send in the Clowns (Season 3 Loading Screen)

Numbnuts! That’s what Mama used to call guys like that. You know the type. Big jokes, big trucks, big wallets...they need all that big to cover up what’s small. I got four brothers. Real gentlemen, raised with respect. They don’t have to woo-hoo their way through a battlefield like it’s a joke and they’re the punchline. Sorry, Laughtrack. The only punchline is you’re going home in a box.

Maybe Silva isn’t so bad. He’d take a bullet for anyone… mostly ‘cause he’s already fifty paces ahead, charging in with no game plan and even less strategy. Witt’s had my back more than once. And whatever, he’s gotten a chuckle out of me. Occasionally. Maybe they’re good. For morale, I mean. I mean… I just need them to stay out of my way.

She's just... like that. Anita is the type of person who won't openly admit that she actually likes or respects anyone. She's guarded, and she's probably been this way since her brother Jackson died. And that's where Loba comes in.

See, I think Loba has been making Anita rethink some things about opening up. Anita initially pegged Loba wrong, and in her chapter, Pathfinder basically figures out that she initially hated Loba because Loba reminds her of her older brother's shitty girlfriend:

I think Loba's purpose in her and Anita's budding friendship is to eventually lead Anita to opening up to others, especially Wraith, since Path mentioned they have a lot in common, which is something I've been saying for fucking months. Now, Wraith and Anita haven't really had any interaction that we know of outside of Broken Ghost and the book, but there have been some....very minor hints/foreshadowing. I'm going to preface this by saying you may think I'm being a little...out there with these points, but trust me, we'll touch on why these matter later. For now:

Back in Season 1, both Bangalore and Wraith were the first two Legends to get Legendary skins in the Legendary Hunt themed event. First occurence is an incident.

In the Season 3 opening trailer, Caustic throws a gas canister inside a room and you can vaguely see Bangalore and Wraith in the room on the same team:

In the Legend select screen, these two were right next to each other up until they were separated in Season 6. They were together. Five. Straight. Seasons. Was there another, more subtle reason they were separated? Common sense would say no, it's because we're getting more Legends and the UI needs to change to accommodate. Shipping and speculation sense would say maybe it's metaphorical and foreshadowing a story element. Maybe something happened between them that we aren't aware of yet and they've separated.

At the end of Season 6 for the Fight or Fright Halloween event, we got a bundle of skins called the Wicked Wraith bundle. Guess who's in it? Bangalore and Wraith plus some gun skins. But only these two Legends.. Hm.. Two's a coincidence.

In Season 7, we got the Black Friday event where we got both Airship Assassin and Outland Warrior back in the shop, two beloved Wraith and Bangalore skins respectively. Three's a pattern, and with this lovely banner:

In Season 8, for the Two-Year Anniversary Event, both Bangalore and Wraith received stat trackers of their concept art... We typically only get two Legends' trackers per each event with a prize track, and we got these two for this event? I predicted back in October 2020 that they would get stat trackers in the same event, but I didn't expect this event out of everything.

If one's an incident, two's a coincidence, and three's a pattern, then what's four very similar occurrences?

If you've read up to this point, you're either deprived for Voidstrike content like I am, or wondering just how much further I'm willing to dig for hints to support this ship. Trust me, I have a little more.

I am predicting that Anita and Wraith will start having some interaction starting Season 9 or 10. Why? Well, back at the start of Season 7, there was a Reddit AMA with the senior team members of Respawn. It was mostly to address the battlepass issue, but Manny Hagopian, the Lead Writer for Apex Legends, was also there answering questions, so I took a shot and asked him one:

You can totally chalk this up to typical “I can’t say anything right now” PR talk, sure, but I think he's hinting that this was in the plans. Tom has also said something:

Now, granted, this is Tom and mostly everyone takes whatever he says with a grain of salt, myself included, but it's worth keeping an eye on since what Manny says kind of lines up. We were supposed to get a follow-up to Broken Ghost, but that story, whatever it was, ended up being... let's say, "altered"? Tom has a thread on what actually happened on Twitter (that I did link here, but removed for fear of this post not appearing in the tags), but the follow-up was essentially "axed" and bits and pieces of it had to be kicked down the road in various different formats in the lore. What does this have to do with Season 9 and my theory?

Well, there's supposed to be some crazy stuff happening in Season 9 and I think we're going to start to see some elements pop up from what was supposed to happen in Broken Ghost. Why? Well another thing Tom said from that same Twitter thread:

I think whatever Tom was working on was related to IMC, Bangalore, and Wraith. And the reason I believe this is because of a now-deleted video from Chris Edgerly’s twitch stream from back around May 27th, 2020 or so where Tom was a guest. I unfortunately didn’t think to archive the page or video so I don’t have it, but I can say with confidence that I asked a question about Anita and Wraith having some future interaction about the IMC stuff, and the answer he gave was...suspiciously vague. He said something along the lines of:

"I just started writing something dealing with that and you should get to see it before the end of the year [2020]. And that’s all I’ll say on that :]"

I know that’s...well it doesn't say MUCH, but it is making me think that it's the same content he may have been working on. I have a feeling it may be in comic form, but who knows how the format may change. Season 9 is supposed to be fairly game-changing for Apex overall, according to the devs.

The last bit I wanted to mention was character development. I said earlier how I think Loba is helping Anita open up a bit more overall, and eventually that will turn towards others as well as Wraith. Anita, compared to other Legends, has seen character development through voice lines. And Wraith is kind of doing the same. Like sure Loba talks to Anita, but she hasn't really...progressed as a character much. She's remained fairly flat so far. We're actively seeing Anita's walls break down as she becomes more vulnerable as a person. And no one else is really doing this much except for, arguably, Wraith.

Wraith has had some very introspective voice lines to herself while on Olympus, basically wondering if the Rift explosion was a result of her experiments, wondering what type of person she was to have partnered with Singh. Wattson even mentions she looks more lost than usual, and Wraith responds that she needs to handle this on her own for now. We know from the end of Season 6's comics that she's learned she was apparently a shitty person in her past life with anger issues and a severe lack of empathy. She wonders about this and is actively working towards... not being like that lol. She's also fairly sarcastic as we've seen with her voice lines with Rampart, but she's developing as a character, albeit slowly and more subtly than Anita.

So now that that's all out of the way. Where do we go from here? Well, this brings me to a theory I've manifested due to the points in the post so far.

The Theory

What if Anita and Wraith were on pretty okay terms with each other previously and we just haven't heard about it yet? What if they’ve known each other for a while?

Anita has been in the Outlands with a small group of IMC soldiers, her brother Jackson and General Lewis included, for about 18 years. She's been in the Apex Games for about 3 years and the Hestia incident happened about 3 years ago:

That lines up. Since the start of the Apex Legends lore takes place in 2733 (as of Season 8 we are now in the year 2734 in lore), that would mean she had to have joined around 2730. What about Wraith?

Well... I think Anita and Wraith joined the Apex Games around the same time. In the book Wraith mentions that she took a few years to hone her skills before she ended up in a qualifying match:

She arrived at our Kings Canyon in 2727. If she took a few years, she had to have joined around 2730-2731. What if they met and actually were amicable? Closed-off on both ends, but mutually respectful towards each other as coworkers? And maybe this is what causes Pathfinder to assume they're "best friends" in the book.

...That is until the Repulsor incident happened and the IMC labs under Kings Canyon were eventually unearthed. Wraith learned her real name and what the IMC (ARES more specifically) did to her and so did the rest of the Legends she was somewhat close to—Mirage, Pathfinder, and...Anita.

What if Anita took the IMC disrespect personally, thought Wraith was placing blame on the IMC instead of taking responsibility for her own actions like Anita mentions in the book, and Anita blew up about it? Wraith would probably feel extremely hurt by this and withdraw from opening up even more. At this point, Anita would hold a bit of a grudge about the IMC bad-mouthing.

They continue to work as coworkers and on a team when necessary, but the mutual respect has been...lost. Wraith finds friendship elsewhere in Wattson. Fast forward to the events of Broken Ghost. Anita is stressed, annoyed, dealing with too much shit at leading the operation, and hurls an insult at Wraith, the infamous "headcase" comment. It's extremely shitty and uncalled for and while Wraith doesn't explode at her in the moment because of dire circumstances, she absolutely doesn't forget it. It hurts her deeply.

What if after the events of Broken Ghost, their connection is severed. There's some bad blood between them. Wraith's friendship grows with Wattson while Anita's friendship grows with Loba. That separation in the Legend Select screen starting from Season 6 onwards seems a lot more metaphorical...

So fast forward once again to Wraith's comment directed at Anita in the book. It was an opening Pathfinder inadvertently provided and it was an opportunity to take a jab at Anita. But instead of being overtly shitty, she makes a relatively teasing comment. Maybe an olive branch to squash what they have and move on? Anita's response is to thank Wraith when she sees her again. Sarcasm? Maybe. But what if she's being genuine? What if the comment was a joke reflective of the type of humor they shared when they were on better terms with each other?

Anita has been opening up more to Loba, and though shes's still sensitive about the IMC, what if she's more willing to...apologize for the initial shitty comment?

The Theory Continued

Anita has recently, in canon, mentioned Jackson to Loba. Jackson is a VERY sensitive topic for her, and so far, the only two people we know of who have heard her discuss Jackson are Loba and Pathfinder. An interesting thing about Jackson that can be tied back to Wraith is this:

Anita clearly does not accept the ARES Division as part of the IMC, but more than that...Jackson found out the ugly truth about the IMC overall and believed it. Wraith was part of ARES Division and it's why Anita doesn't consider her IMC. Here's where the connection can work:

Continuing the same theory, what if Wraith reminds Anita of Jackson in the worst way possible because of what he told her about the IMC and ARES? Wraith revealing her name and what happened to her conjured up old, painful memories and caused Anita to lash out and close herself off again. Now that Loba is bringing out discussions of Jackson in canon, what if this leads to Anita and Wraith coming back together and rekindling their friendship? There's a lovely quote from Jackson's letter in the book that I feel could foreshadow that happening, too:

"...But in all seriousness, I'm so proud of you. And always remember, what's broken can be fixed. What's shredded can be mended. And what's torn apart can always be put back together again. Love always, Jackson." (82)

What if eventually—slowly, but surely—rekindling this lost friendship leads to Anita opening up to Wraith again? What if it leads to Anita being open and vulnerable enough to learn more about the IMC and ARES Division with/through Wraith via the labs under Kings Canyon? That place is a goldmine of classified information and she very well can see and hear firsthand all the terrible shit they've done. It would be extremely hard to do this, of course. And that's where Manny's comment from the Reddit AMA comes into effect: "...There's much more for both characters to learn and when they do, it's very possible to experience a moment between them, but patience is important."

This is, of course, all just a theory based on what we know about the lore. Is it ridiculous? Possibly! But I also don't think it's entirely farfetched either.

In Conclusion...

I imagine once we get to Season 9—potentially 10 at the latest for quarantine padding and last-minute changes—maybe we'll start seeing them begin to acknowledge each other in some way, and I'm thinking mostly negatively at first. And I don't think it'll be a lot either. Maybe a snarky location voice line or two. Maybe a little mention in a comic or Twitter lore bit. But only a little.

I definitely do think we can expect to see them getting to the point of interacting in the future, but it'll be a slow ride and slow burn. And hey even if we don't... I'll have this post to keep me warm for the rest of my days playing Apex.

Anyway, that's all I have for you! Thanks for reading if you made it this far, I do appreciate it. I love this pairing a lot, and this was really fun to write! Remember, it's just speculation based on....stuff, haha. You don't have to take it or like it at all, but what else am I to do when I'm starved for interaction of my ship? :]

#Apex Legends #Bangalore #Wraith #Voidstrike #Bangawraith #Apex book spoilers #nix talks apex book lore

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yumeka36 · 3 years

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Thoughts on Rebuild of Evangelion (all movies plus ending interpretation)

*Artwork credited to リオ on pixiv*

Now that Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, the last movie of the Rebuild of Evangelion saga, has been released, I'm finally ready to discuss all the movies as a whole, including my interpretation of the ending...

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!

I've been a fan of Evangelion for nearly 20 years, starting back in 2002. After hearing the series praised by some classmates, I asked for the DVD set of the original TV anime for Christmas that year. I was 15 years old and a fairly new anime fan at the time, so naturally I was blown away by the show. The Internet was young then, and since there were no fandom wikis or YouTube explanation videos available in those days, I had to rely on a few scattered fan sites and my own resources (mostly bonus features on the old DVDs) to try and figure out the lore and symbolism. Even though many aspects of the series, as well as the eventual "true ending" movie, End of Evangelion, left me scratching my head, I still loved it and it left a long-lasting impression on me. And now, here I am almost two decades later, sharing my thoughts about the new movies...

-Before Thrice Upon a Time was released, I hadn't touched Evangelion since 3.33 came out in 2012. I had forgotten many details, and since Evangelion is a franchise that is fraught with nuances and subtleties that can be key to understanding what the heck is going on, I wanted to watch all the Rebuild movies again before watching Thrice Upon a Time. So I plowed through all four movies this week, and I gotta say, after being away from the franchise for so many years, I'm happy to report that I still thoroughly enjoyed it. But I can also recognize that it is definitely not a series for everyone. The drawn-out technobabble, constant introduction of lore jargon with little to no explanation, and the ambiguity between what's real and what's symbolic, can certainly turn off casual viewers (it gives Kingdom Hearts lore a run for its money!) Funnily enough, as I was watching the Rebuild movies, I was thinking, "I understood the lore better 20 years ago than I do now, lol" (maybe it's because I was younger and didn't have as strong of a theorizing mind as I do now!) But after reading through a bunch of pages on the EvaGeeks Wiki, I learned enough to get a gist of the story's vaguer elements. But unfortunately, the fact that information necessary for understanding the plot can only be found by Internet research, could certainly be a turn-off for viewers. But at the same time, for those willing to make the commitment, or at least appreciate the series' other qualities even if you can't follow many aspects of the lore, it's definitely an anime unlike any other. There's a reason it's been such a well-known franchise in Japan for so long.

-Asuka has been one of my favorite anime characters ever since I saw the original Eva TV series, and thankfully, I'm happy with what they did with her character in the Rebuild movies. My only complaint is that I preferred her original backstory that emphasized her relationship with her mother, rather than having a "clone-complex" similar to Rei. However, her character development in this new storyline made up for it. The Rebuild movies really nailed her abrasive, no-nonsense personality that hides depth within. There were also more scenes that showed her "softer" side, something I always felt was lacking in the original series, such as when she confides in Misato towards the end of 2.22 and when she confesses her feelings to Shinji in Thrice Upon a Time. I also felt her initial dislike for Shinji and Rei was a bit more warranted this time; despising the fact that they were able to become Eva pilots purely by connection to Gendo while she had to work hard for it. But again, we get more hints at her kinder side when she makes the sacrifice to help Rei get Shinji and Gendo together. This is pretty contrasting to the original series, where she was always oozing hate for Rei. Even their infamous elevator scene ended differently in 2.22 compared to the TV series, where instead of hitting and yelling at Rei, she agrees to help her (in her subtle, Asuka-way). Asuka and Rei also had a brief scene together when they were at Village 3 in Thrice Upon a Time, and the way Asuka talked to her made me feel like she actually cared about her, or at least didn't hate her. But even with the Rebuild movies giving Asuka more scenes to show her goodness, they still stayed true to her tough-love personality - it's not like she suddenly started smiling a lot, or gave Shinji a passionate hug, or broke out in tears...they developed her character without making her do a 180 change, which I appreciated. Even in her final scene with Shinji on the beach before he saves her (loved that scene, and the shoutout to End of Eva there) she still reacted in her "tsundere" way (though not as harshly of course). I'd also like to mention that they made the fourteen year time-skip in 3.33 very believable in terms of Asuka's growth. I really liked the hardened, lone-wolf, protector role she had in Thrice Upon a Time because it makes sense - fourteen years had passed and she not only matured during that time, but she had spent all those years being the sole Eva pilot along with Mari fighting to protect humanity, so settling into that kind of identity makes sense for her. But yeah, Asuka's always been a great character, and the Rebuild movies made her even more awesome in my opinion.

-When I first watched 2.22 years ago when it came out, I was puzzled that they decided to put Asuka in the Eva that Unit-01 ends up destroying rather than Toji. But looking back on it it now, it worked better since they had a plan for Toji's character that had nothing to do with the Evas. I did kind of miss Asuka's friendship with Hikari though (they could have tied that into her staying with Toji and Hikari at Village 3 instead of with Kensuke). I actually wrote a WYDS fanfic for End of Evangelion way back in 2003 that emphasizes Asuka and Hikari's friendship (that's somehow still on Fanfiction.net!) But she got a friendship with Mari instead, so it's fine, lol (I also liked that they removed her crush on Kaji, which I never thought fit well in the original series). But I do wish we got to see what was going through her mind while she was stuck in the Eva and getting attacked by Unit-01. We know she was aware of what was going on because she knew what Shinji did (that he didn't try to save her or attack) so it would have been nice to see a scene or two of her reactions.

-Misato was always my second favorite character after Asuka, but I wasn't thrilled with the coldness she exhibited towards Shinji after the time-skip in 3.33. I know she probably got hardened after all those years and maybe still felt resentment towards him for initiating Near Third Impact (which killed Kaji among others). But even so, I felt like her coldness was more to keep the suspense rather than stay true to her character (plus she was the one encouraging him to do what we wanted at the time of Near Third Impact). It makes sense for Asuka to be cold to Shinji, since she was always standoffish like that, but Misato was always shown to be a source of warmth and the most "human" of the characters. But at least she made up with Shinji in the end and got to finish her story arc with a bang (literally).

-I'm not sure if it's still a thing now, but back in the day, Shinji got a lot of hate from anime fans for being too whiny and indecisive when confronted with his task of piloting the Eva. But even all those years ago, I always thought those reactions made him believable. Maybe it's because he's compared to anime shonen heroes like Naruto and Luffy, who are always cheerful and brimming with motivation, while Shinji is pretty much the opposite of those kinds of characters. But it makes sense for him to be like that...if I were a fourteen-year old kid who never knew my mother, had a father who abandoned me, and had to live on my own in a crumbling world while witnessing death and destruction all around, I'd be pretty hesitant and scared too. He's definitely not a "wish-fulfilling" protagonist like many shonen and super heroes are, but a protagonist grounded more in reality, representing a disillusioned youth. So it was nice to see him finally get over his insecurities and be proactive with saving everyone at the end of Thrice Upon a Time (compared to everyone giving him the pep talk at the end of the original series). Though I did think his personality shift was a bit abrupt...he was at his lowest point at the beginning of Thrice Upon a Time, but the one kind gesture from Rei seemed to immediately snap him out of it. A little more gradual build-up to his change would have been better, but it's a nitpick.

-Mari was an enigma in 2.22 and 3.33, so I was hoping Thrice Upon a Time would give us her origin story. Unfortunately, it didn't offer much and maybe brought up more questions than not. My main question is, we see that she knew Gendo and Yui when they were younger, yet if she was their age then, that doesn't match up to the age she appears to be when Shinji first meets her. So she must have been afflicted with the "Eva curse" all those years back, which means she must have become an Eva pilot around that time, but it seems too soon. I thought the first Evangelion pilots didn't exist until after Yui died, so Mari should have been older...I don't know, I'm still having trouble figuring out her place in the timeline. But besides that, I did like her relationship with Asuka that we see in Thrice Upon a Time. Again, it makes sense in terms of the time-skip that they'd develop a good friendship after spending all those years being Eva pilots together.

-I don't have a lot to say about Rei, since I feel her story arc is one of the simpler ones (which isn't saying much for this series, lol). The scenes of her in Village 3 in Thrice Upon a Time were endearing, though I knew they would end in tragedy. Actually, that whole part of the movie with the characters spending time in the village was great. The world-building in those scenes was fantastic too - it really felt like what a post-apocolyptic survival camp in that situation would be like. It was nice to see the characters partaking in and reacting to situations that don't have to do with Angels and Evas (spin-off series for this when?)

-And lastly, how did I interpret the end of the Rebuild saga? Was I satisfied with how it ended? Right after I watched Thrice Upon a Time, I wasn't totally sure. But after reading some more wiki pages and watching some explanation videos, especially this one here (it's a great explanation if you can forgive the bad pronunciation of the names), I've realized just how brilliant of a conclusion it is. There's been speculation that the story involves a time loop, with the events of the original TV series, as well as the Death & Rebirth and End of Evangelion movies, being different versions of the time loop, while the Rebuild movies is where the loop ends because Shinji finally overcomes the pain of his past and can restore the world this time (while he had failed to in the previous loops). I don't think it's a time loop so much as a cycle that keeps resetting and repeating. Further support for this theory is that Kaoru acts like he's met Shinji before, since he's reborn in each cycle to meet Shinji only to be killed by him later (all the coffins seen on the moon are for his past/future selves). I think the final movie title is symbolic of this too, with "Thrice Upon a Time" meaning "three times upon a time," the three times being the three cycles of the Evangelion story: the original TV series, the movies Death & Rebirth and The End of Evangelion, and finally the Rebirth movies. But mostly, the scene towards the end where Shinji meets Rei in the anti-verse, and they're standing in what appears to be a filming room while projected images from the Eva TV series are shown behind them. This to me symbolizes that the original Eva series exists in the Rebuild movies as one version of the cycle, and Shinji has now finally broken out of the loop. Once Shinji has saved everyone, the filming room (which symbolizes the old versions of the story, as I believe it's supposed to be the room where live-action footage used in previous Eva works was filmed) fades away and the literal animation around Shinji begins to break down into its purest forms, as key animation, then layouts, etc., - a near 4th wall-breaking depiction of the world resetting. However, Gendo and Yui had sacrificed themselves so that Shinji wouldn't have to, so Mari is able to pull him back into the world, just like she had promised. In the end, Shinji is able to join his friends in the new world that's free of Evas. Without the Eva curse, all the pilots are now their proper ages as well. The movie closes with Mari and Shinji heading off somewhere in their new lives while the environment merges into live-action footage, representing the fact that the story has now transcended animation and is now "real" because the cycle has finally ended and a true Neon Genesis took place. Like many aspects of the franchise, there are many ways to interpret this ending, but this is the interpretation I've settled on.

-While I am satisfied with the ending overall, I do wish the epilogue showed us more of what the other characters were doing, especially the survivors from Wille and Village 3. I know we can assume they're living out their lives as well, but it would have been nice to get confirmation of that with a few quick cameos. But there are some main characters whose fates are uncertain, particularly Misato, Kaji, and Fuyutsuki. I'm assuming the only people Shinji was able to save were the ones whose souls were still bound to Evas, namely Asuka, Rei, and Kaoru. I don't know about Kaji since I'm still not clear on exactly how he died. Maybe Shinji couldn't save Misato because she died "for real" and wasn't just trapped inside an Eva/Angel. But it is implied that many souls, not just Eva pilots, were saved when the world was restored...so maybe she was too? And like Kaji, I'm not sure what happened with Fuyutsuki. Did he turn into LCL because he gave up his humanity in some way, like Gendo? I'm also a little salty that we didn't get a decent shot of adult Asuka at the train station, lol. I'm not sure if the ending was hinting at Mari and Shinji being an item...possibly Rei and Kaoru too, maybe even Asuka and Kensuke. Like many things in the franchise, the eventual pairings, or lack thereof, could be interpreted in many ways.

In conclusion, while there were some aspects of the old Eva TV series and movies that I liked better, the Rebuild movies overall did an excellent job of retelling the story with the same rich lore and thought-provoking symbolism that we're used to for the franchise, but with enough new twists to make it stand out. And as I mentioned in my interpretation of the ending, these movies weren't just a retelling but a redefinition of the franchise as whole, bringing together the previous versions of the story and giving them true closure. Though we could see some spin-off material at some point, Thrice Upon a Time does seem like it was intended to be the final installment of the Evangelion series. While I was satisfied enough with the endings for the TV series and End of Eva movie, having watched the Rebuild movies, I do believe they're the "retelling we didn't know we needed." It's a tad bittersweet to know that such an influential franchise, and one of my favorite anime for years, has come to its true end. So, to translate the text in the below fan art...

"Thank you , Evangelion."

*Artwork credited to リオ on pixiv*

#evangelion 3.0+1.0 #neon genesis evangelion #evangelion #rebuild of evangelion #evangelion spoilers #rei ayanami #asuka shikinami langley #shinji ikari #evangelion thrice upon a time

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metalbvcky · 3 years

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Rose Blue: Chapter 2 (Bloom!Verse Series)

It's been a little over a month since I updated, but the good news is I have a much better grasp on the lore of the universe! Plus, I have many, many oneshots planned :) Hopefully now that I've split the chapters into separate docs (was all in one before), the editing process will be much smoother so updates can be had!

I'm a visual person, so I made this moodboard of their house :3 I'll more than likely also make one for their playroom when that chapter happens~~~

Pairing: Steve/Bucky Rating: Explicit Words: 8,005 (2/8) Tags: Modern AU, Established Relationship, Married Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, BDSM, Dom!Steve, Sub!Bucky, Age Difference (see the full list of smut/non-smut tags on AO3)

🌹 Chapter Snippet 🌹

“Alright, Kitten,” Steve says, a wide grin on his face. “Put on a show for me.”

The sweetness in Steve’s voice has Bucky standing within seconds. He pushes the coffee table back, giving himself more space to walk around freely. This way, he’ll be able to show off every inch of his body, excluding his calves and feet.

Bucky begins to sway his hips, pacing his movements to be soft and subtle. His fingers dance across the buttons on his shirt, each one slipping free with a light tug. The left side of his shirt falls open, gravity helping him along the way. He can’t help but grin as the little surprise underneath remains mostly hidden. If Steve looked closely, he would notice just a hint of black lace starting to peek out.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Bucky says, gradually turning around as he rocks his hips in an obscene fashion, “but I made a change to the outfit you picked.”

Read on AO3 | Original Tumblr Post

#stucky #stucky fanfic #stucky fic #stevebucky fic #steve rogers x bucky barnes #bucky barnes x steve rogers #stucky au #rose blue #bloom!verse #writing tag

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timeforelfnonsense · 3 years

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The Lusty Eladrin Maid (3/3)

Dafni x Astarion || E (very spicy) || Ao3 || Previous Chapter || Sunshine & Starlight: My on going bg3 series ||

All of Sunshine & Starlight is written as one shoots that can be read alone for the most part but there is a passing reference to The Bargain in this one. It’s not necessary to read it before but it might clear some things up!

Italicized quotes are implied elvish Translations (via Candle Keep) & Lore: Veluthe - Beautiful Arael’sha - Heart-Friend (term of endearment) Lore on elves (just the basics)

Marsember - the City of Spices, a metropolis and the busiest port in the entire kingdom of Cormyr.

Dafni’s breath hitched as Astarion hulled her by the waist, pressing her snugly to his own body. His hips rocking gently against her own. Dafni was able to wiggle her hand between them, with a bit of fumbling, Dafni worked the buttons of his breech falls free. She gave him a light caress, her thumb teasing its way along the underside of his shaft. Dafni felt him twitch in her palm, a proud grin tweaked at her lips. Astarion buried his face in the hollow of her throat, muffling a husky groan. Dafni only ceased her attention to rid him completely of the meddlesome fabric of his pants.

He really was beautiful everywhere.

Astarion framed her with his lithesome form. His narrow hips coming down to meet her own, teasing his length against the tender, pink, flesh between her legs. She kept her expression reminded wide-eyed and demure as she shamelessly skimmed her wet slit against his cock.

“Veluthe,” he murmured, kissing along her pointed ear. Dafni squeaked as he nibbled lightly at her earlobe.

“Come to me, arael’sha.” She coaxed, arms draped loosely over his shoulders, Dafni toyed with the soft baby-hair at the base of his skull, twirling the snowy wisps of curl gently around her index finger. She lifted her hips up to meet him, “I’m aching to feel you inside me.”

A delicious pressure started at her entrance. Her nerves were still alight from her first climax, the sensation of Astarion’s manhood sinking into her, inch by inch nearly brought tears to her eye. Stretched tight around him, her caves wrapped around him, heels digging into the top of his backside, urging him forwards. He set a slow, pleasant rhythm, his length delving delightfully deeper with each roll of his hips. Astarion dropped to his forearms, hilting himself at last.

A musical keen rattled through her as she writhed below him. He felt utterly perfect, buried so deep inside her. A warm, resplendent sensation enveloped her with each thrust.

She was tipsy on intimacy and lovemaking. The feeling of their shared pleasure buzzing around her. By her nature, Dafni was a creature defined by emotion. Fashioned from boundless joy and playful whims, she took in the delight of others like lungfuls of crisp spring air. She could sense Astarion’s trepid excitement. Feel his need in every stroke.

That’s the way, dear heart. A little tenderness won’t kill you.

Dafni drew him into a kiss, her lips locking against his with increasing passion. She could still taste the floral tang of her own arousal on his tongue as it swept between her parted lips. A bright smile took shape across her face when she broke the kiss. A single, iridescent butterfly had come to rest on the tip of his nose. It’s translucent, faerie fire wings illuminating his face with their whimsical glow. Astarion wrinkled his nose, a low, warm laugh filling his chest as the illusionary creature fluttered away.

“I’m sorry,” she giggled, her hand cupping his cheek.

“Don’t be.” He insisted, “I find your quirks endearing.”

Calling her wild, glittering charms, endearing quirks, was really a disservice. She turned what was once nothing but a grassy clearing into a lush meadow. A little slice of the Feywild brought into creation with nothing more than her bliss.

Spellbinding would have been a better discretion, however, he wasn’t exactly eager to add yet another item to his list of embarrassing, mid-coital confessions. It was frighteningly easy for Dafni to turn him into a besotted idiot. Between her honey-tongued kisses and bright laughter, it was hardly a fair fight.

Add blood lust to the mix and he had a proven recipe for trouble. For that very reason, he’d come to the conclusion that separating feeding and fucking would be the wisest course. He enjoyed both far too much to fully surrender either. But it was hard enough to keep himself in check with his cock nestled inside her. He took in a deep breath, savoring the heady sweetness that clung to her smooth skin. Lilac and primrose, just a hint of bergamot. An aroma that left him feeling totally beguiled. The finest perfume from Marsember, could not hold a candle to Dafni’s heavenly bouquet.

Her neck and thigh still bore dark purple reminders of their last encounter. He slid a hand along the soft skin in her inner thigh, his fingertips lingering on indentations he’d left behind. Dafni’s palms pressed into his chest, fingernails lightly scraping along his skin as he worked himself in and out of her snug cunny. A bolt of pleasure skipped down his spine at the memory of her blood, sweet and sharp, coursing through him as she came undone in his arms.

Yes, separating feeding and fucking would be the wise, but by the Hells, was it getting harder and harder to listen to wisdom when she was around.

“May I?” He asked, nuzzling lightly at the side of her throat.

Dafni gave him a quick nod. His lips made their way down the column of her neck, his tongue running along the healing puncture marks. Dafni braced herself for the sharpness of his teeth as his lips whispered across her fluttering pulse. Dafni whimpered as he pulled out to the tip, her body aching at the loss of perfect fullness. With one forceful press, he hilted himself once more, sinking his fangs into the crook of her neck as she cried out. Dafni’s whole body felt as if it were alight, euphoria coursing through her every vein. Warm tears threatened to form in the corners of her eyes as she unraveled around him. He took just a few deep swallows before breaking away, a trail of red dripping from the edge of his mouth.

“Dafni…” His fingers laced through hers pressing her hand to his heart, a steady thump jumping beneath her trembling palm.

A glimmer of remembrance tugged at the back of her mind. A taste of something once known, lost to time. Dafni tried to chase the sensation but it was gone as quickly as it came, hidden beyond the bittersweet veil of mortality with her idyllic memories of Arvandor.

Though she’d only known him for a short time, the friendship that had blossomed between them meant more to her than she’d dare say. She thanked the Gods for allowing him to fall so serendipitously into her life. She’d grown quite attached to all of her new friends, of course! But, there was something about Astarion and the easy familiarity between them that felt so very right.

Her thoughts drifted to their conversation in the hag’s cottage. He’d spoken as if he’d known her for centuries then days. He had no recollection of their conversation when he awoke the following morning. In truth, Dafni had been a bit relieved.

However, he came to know her true name- Whoever he might have been to her so many lifetimes ago, it didn’t matter. What mattered was the here and now, the people they were in this lifetime, and the person he now did not need the burden of any past affections he may or may not have had muddying the waters.

If Astarion was to care for her, let it be on his own terms, free of influence and expectation. If by some slim chance, more memories resurfaced, they could deal with it then. Until that moment, if it ever came, she would continue nurturing their friendship and allow the tenderness budding between them to grow in its own time.

His hips slapped against hers with increasing desperation. His eyes were heavily lidded, a subtle flush glowing across his cheeks and the tips of his ears. His hold on her left hand tightening with every movement. Her intimate muscles tensed around him in the aftershock of her climax. His cock twitched, emptying inside her with a low, gratified sound.

“You are an incredibly seductive little pixie.” He dropped to his forearm, his full weight pressing down against her, “I was sent out to bring you back to help pack and somehow I ended up naked in the woods with a ravished cleric.”

“I’m innocent in this situation!” Dafni chirped with laughter, gently freeing herself from his smothering tangle of willowy limbs. “I was seduced!” Astarion resisted her attempts to disentangle with playful flare. A flash of pearly fangs glinting beneath his upturned lips before landing on the ground beside her with a soft thud. Dafni rolled to her side, her hair tumbling down her bare shoulders as she came to rest on the swell of her hip, “I like seeing you smile, I wish you did that more often.”

“I promise to smile all you like if you come back and help me pack our things for the Underdark.” He quipped tapping his index finger to the upturned tip of her nose.

#elf writes #elf gets spicy #astarion #dafni of gwynneth #sunshine & starlight

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crusherthedoctor · 4 years

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It goes without saying: the first level always matters. If it doesn’t leave a good impression, it would hardly motivate you to give the rest of the journey a chance, would it? Being in fanfic form aside, Beyond the Stars is no exception, and because of this, Gleaming Meadows was actually one of the longest zones to work out. Viridonia is meant to stand out from previous Sonic settings after all, and kicking things off with a poor man’s Green Hill wouldn’t cut it.

Since the first level in a Sonic game usually tends to be either a hilly area (Green Hill, Emerald Hill, Seaside Hill) or an urban area (City Escape, Westopolis, Windmill Isle to an extent), I decided a good way to set this zone apart would be to... combine the two! This was inspired very much by Neo Green Hill from Sonic Advance, since although that zone wasn’t a city, it did add some minor urban elements the further it went on, most notably the bridge at the end where you fight Eggman. So as tribute to a forever underrated installment, Gleaming Meadows does that too, but in a different way.

Creating Zone 1: Gleaming Meadows

1-1: Blossom Fields

What’s a good way to make your first level stand out from all the Green Hills? Give it more than green, obviously. While it’s important that the entire adventure is full of interesting locations, I really wanted the first level to sound as gorgeous as possible in order to leave a strong first impression for this new journey, so what better inspiration than tulip fields, particularly those of the Netherlands?

The added use of yellows, oranges, reds and pinks already help set it apart, but there’s also the fact that although there are some lakes and rivers here and there, it’s not particularly coastal.

This aesthetic not only serves to get things off to a good start, but it also sums up the running theme with Beyond the Stars in general. Namely, that although plenty of the basic level tropes will be familiar to us all, many of them will be handled in rather different ways, thus proving that as long as you can think outside the box, there’s plenty of life in them yet. Some examples are more extreme than others, but other times, even a simple change of colour, weather, or time of day can make all the difference.

I mentioned in Chapter 1 proper that the cliffs in Blossom Fields have unique markings that convey a vague, lore-hinting narrative. I couldn’t find a better image to explain how this would look, so I’ll have to resort to this shot from Paper Mario:

See the cliff behind them, with its starry patterns on the soil? That’s basically the gist, but with a more complex pattern.

Also mentioned was the addition of a tunnel near the end of the stage, which is one example of the Neo Green Hill-esque hillside with minor urban elements that I intended.

Don’t assume the inside is drab however. On the contrary, it comes with abstract graffiti in a style reminiscent of the Colinton Tunnel in Edinburgh:

Very Jet Set Radio, eh? In addition to simply being more interesting this way, I figured it fit Sonic perfectly.

But you might question what a tunnel inspired by Edinburgh is doing in a level inspired by the Netherlands. Well, this is another running gag with Viridonia. While not always the case, a lot of times there’ll be combined aspects of real world inspiration, as opposed to Unleashed and its clear cut Not-Greece, Not-New York, etc. This is not just me throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, there is in fact a purpose to it, as it’s one of the more subtle ways of showing how peculiar Viridonia can be compared to other places in Sonic history - partly due to the Ethereal Zone - with only the Little Planet truly competing with the island in that field.

And y’know, it gives it that extra bit of identity and variety, eh?

Now, with music choices to explain what sort of musical atmosphere I’d have in mind for each level, I’m gonna have to use basic links from now on, since I rediscovered the hard way that Tumblr only allows up to five or so direct posts. It’s also worth noting that if this were a real game, it would do what SA1 (and, uh, ‘06) did before it, with each level having at least two different bits of music for the appropriate sections to add even more flair. I’ll still be listing two examples each for extra comparison’s sake, so with that said...

First Section (the fields): Opening Demo (Sonic Mega Collection) Ending B (Sonic Advance 3)

Second Section (the tunnel): Topical Tropical (Sonic: Before the Sequel) Shooting Ristar

1-2: Swanky Suburbs

Continuing the Netherland theme going on, the local town has a touch of Giethoorn to it, with its calming rivers and little pathways. Though unlike Giethoorn, there would be some cars and short roads sprinkled about.

Again, really wanted to convey that feeling of low-key beauty and coziness, and provide more justification for why Sonic and Co would come here for a vacation. But that’s not all: when it comes to the houses and other buildings, the red and white colour scheme is more based on those of Portugal:

And of course, you have the local parks as well. You can even interact with the slides and swings if you want, because you’re never too old to make the kids wait their turn.

First Section (calm): Neo Green Hill Classic The Amazon (DuckTales Remastered)

Second Section (when Badniks start wrecking things up): Wave Ocean ~The Inlet~ (Sonic ‘06) Andy’s Neighborhood (Toy Story 2)

1-3: Yellow Hills

As we go on, we leave the Netherland influence behind, and with the countryside in sight, the clue is in the name. Lots of yellow to be had indeed.

And inbetween all these fields, we have some villages, of which the rural vibe suits the place just fine.

Then as we go into farmyard territory, the yellow actually starts taking a back seat in favor of red, because I guess even I’m not immune to the subverting expectations fever. Hopefully I’ve done it in a way that isn’t asinine though.

The barnyards would be the stereotypical red and white, since it works well enough with the autumn colours, and can still pop out despite there being so much red surrounding them.

And yes, there are many farm animals hanging around here.

Yes, that includes horses.

No, they’re not Trudy’s family.

First Section (yellow): Tornado Alley (Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex) Mount Lineland (Super Paper Mario)

Second Section (red): Green Hill ‘12 (Tee Lopes) Menu (Mario Tennis)

1-4: Rusty Mill

A wooden mill doesn’t leave a lot to the imagination, so it would look pretty much exactly as you’d expect, albeit a tad more old and worn.

The same goes for inside, really. Since the interior of mills are tricky to find interesting images of when elaborating on your quirky Sonic the Hedgehog zone, I’ll be using another game for comparison instead, specifically Donkey Kong Country 3:

Except multiply the cobwebs by five.

It’s decayed, and a bit grim, but not enough to the point where it would feel like it’s near the endgame. Yet another thing I go in hard on in this story: escalation. In order for later zones and climactic moments to be more striking and impactful, you gotta start off by taking it easy. There’s still action to be had, and there’s still mysterious and/or ominous touches here and there, but it’s for the purpose of organically building things up, so that when things do escalate, you actually feel it when shit starts going down. Pacing, boys and girls! Learn it!

Then again, as with Angel Island in S3&K, this place gets set on fire halfway through, so maybe I need to remember my own lessons. But on the other hand, also like S3&K, it still pales in comparison to what happens later, so...

Lastly for today, when you’re fighting the fearsome Paindozer, the section of the mill that you confront it in suspiciously takes a form more akin to a old fashioned warehouse. Like... IKEA, I guess. But on fire.

So congratulations, you got through IKEA Zone. Looks like Eggman should have stuck with B&Q Zone instead.

First Section (calm): Pogo Painter (Crash Bash) The Walk of Life (Rayman 2)

Second Section (on fire): Vs. Rotatatron & Refreshinator (Sonic Colours) Set Point - Match Point (Mario Tennis)

#Creating Viridonia #Sonic the Hedgehog #Fanfiction

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fizzingwizard · 4 years

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Ok well! Episode 5 was a huge improvement! This genuinely felt like Digimon, at least early Digimon anyway. It was fun and action-y, and not completely devoid of character moments. The heart of this episode was Koushirou and that is SO EXCITING. I have crossed all my fingers, toes, and even my eyes that Koushirou will continue to be muy importante, just as much as heavy hitters like Taichi and Yamato are. None of this “backseat crunching numbers” nonsense!

I was disappointed last ep that we didn’t get to see the actual first meeting of Koushirou and Tentomon, but I suppose it probably went something like this:

Tentomon: Koushirou-han! I’ve waited for you!

Koushirou: A digimon! I must analyze your data!

Tentomon: Analyze my...? *blush* At least buy me dinner first!

more under the cut...

Well we also get Plotty McPlot stuff right off the bat. Remember the old series where we knew nothing about anything till like right before the first big boss battle?? They ain’t beating around the bush this time. Not sure how I feel about that - as I’ve said before, I loved the “where are we! guess we have to rely on our own incompetence!” concept of Digimon Adventure that siphoned off some of the blatant “this is an RPG” aspect. We don’t have that too much this time around - Taichi is REALLy goal-oriented and seems to even have magic powers?? as in he can read digi-code. My guess is they ALL can, courtesy of their digivices (and maybe I’ve already forgotten if Koushirou or Yamato already did this earlier?). How convenient for the plot that there’s no trouble reading secret messages at all!

^Also appreciated that this literally meant feel the words. As in, touch them.

So Taichi and Sora have had no difficulties finding this special shrine and learning the lore of the digital world. There was a Great War that shifted the balance of light and dark. We are right back in RPG territory.

We see a bunch of familiar faces. I’m not sure if this is the same makeup as previous ancient guardians in other seasons, but it’s got the essential theme at least.

And then some even more familiar silhouettes:

Now who could that be xD Mega evolutions for all confirmed!

So I don’t know if this is supposed to mean Agumon & co are literally reborn versions of these great warriors, but I think that’s what Agumon and Piyomon suddenly bursting into tears while wailing that they don’t know why they’re crying is supposed to be hinting at.

Taichi: I warned not to touch your eyes after chopping onions!

Agumon does not remember being Omegamon or jogressing with Gabumon, but Taichi remembers it. As usual, the children are an essential ingredient to transcending even evolution. The internet is the path that connects the two worlds and is the reason why the human world can be affected by what happens in the digital world if it bleeds through.

Yep, it’s Digimon Adventure. Nothing has changed

^Not even trying to be subtle xD So my current theory is we probably won’t see Takeru or Hikari as full time players until mid-season. I’m kind of hoping the kids find out they can talk to Seraphimon and Ophanimon and specifically go to meet them, only to find out they’re babies now and need constant looking after and don’t know anything helpful at all bahahaha

And here’s another familiar face err loin cloth! Although we already knew he was coming! I love Ogremon. And I find it it not-coincidental that his first real appearance precedes a Mimi episode.

Tentomon and Koushirou have restored my faith in the bonds between children and Digimon in this show.

... Yep, it’s goddamn Digimon Adventure and nothing NOTHING!! at all has changed xD

So I had thought this was DemiDevimon. I think it’s clearly meant to harken back to him but it’s too cool. Soundbirdmon. Not sure how sentient it is. Creepy lil thing. Hikari would still give it a 10/10 would hug

Capped this because I love Piymon protectiveness <3 (Sora’s there too ofc)

The kind of tech Koushirou carries around puts CSI to shame.

So he’s been in the digital world (well, the network) for like an hour and he’s already trying to get himself killed. Protectiveness masquerading as cold pragmatism. Koushirooooou. You should have some sense of self-preservation. He clearly needs Tentomon - Taichi would need a brick to the head before he’d understand this kid is not being logical here, he is in total panic mode.

Tentomonnn. I can always count on you <3

... aaand he immediately drops him x’D Tentomonnnnnnn

oh well it’s the thought that counts!! lol

Thus ends Izumi Koushirou. His voice actor peaced out. “Too many lines, too many kanji, also I don’t like not having wrists.”

This is the face he makes when he realizes “holy hell, I think I might be having an Emotion.”

first Taichi, now Tentomon... Koushirou’s going to be so buried in praise trust and friendship that he won’t be able to see his way out. Like one of those foam pits at the gymnastics center. You cannot escape and you don’t want to

I’m in hell

Okay seriously what is this. WHAT IS THIS.

^see what I mean? no wrists!

One Track Mind Yagami reminds us that we did Plot in this ep...

... only to then recall that after that, we did Koushirou stuff, which is vastly superior. I mean look how happy he is.

Taichi: Darling Koushirou!! You’re okay!

Koushirou: Yes, thanks to Kabuterimon!

Taichi: I’m so glad! Wait, Kabuterimon? ARE YOU CHEATING ON ME!?!?

Koushirou: *making bad connection noises with his mouth* g-gotta go..!

Koushirou is ready to admit he loves his partner a lot faster than old Adventure Koushirou was...

... or maybe not.

GAWD WHY ARE U SO CUTE

I love their little back and forth here. “You were talking about me!” “N-No I wasn’t!” “Yes you were!” “Was not!” Please keep giving us this quality content Toei. Tsundere Koushirou. I never thought of it. I WANT MOOOORE.

Interesting how he didn’t quite do this to Taichi though. Maybe because Taichi’s compliments were about how talented and awesome he is, whereas Tentomon’s just like “I love you bruh youre my best bruh.” Taichi, get over yourself and tell Koushirou you love him before he leaves you for a literal bug.

Welp.

So this turnip/radish village is just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. And I loved the silence of this ending bit. This really did feel like Digimon, a bit more creative and intriguing than anything in episode 4. (Except for Sora and that knife.) This gives me Hope.

But it is WEIRD seeing Mimi get the “mysterious girl” treatment. Hahaha. You’d expect to discover she’s like the lost princess of the digital world. Well, she is. But she’s also going to scream whine cry and make you eat kimchi fried rice with whipped cream and strawberries xD

Mimi!!! I can’t wait to see you!!!

#digimon #psi spoilers #digi spoilers #digimon adventure 2020 #fizz watches digimon 2020

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theadvertisement · 4 years

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Once Upon a Time Analysis- Part 3: The Undertale

If you don't know what I'm talking about in this post, please refer to my previous post where I explain my theory on Once Upon a Time.

In this post I'll look closely at the song Undertale and especially how the different parts and uses of Once Upon a Time represent the story it tells.

The Undertale starts off with with His Theme, and at 36 seconds in it adds in O1 as the main melody. This likely represents when Chara falls underground and the two meet for the first time. O1 plays for the majority of the song, but this first use only plays until 2:45. The entire time O1 is played by piano. As a whole this first section will actually loop as long as you stay in Asgore's house, and the moment you leave the next section plays, so keeping O1 here was deliberate. Fittingly, the only parts of the lore you get while in Asgore's home is that Chara fell underground and was taken in by the Dreemurr family. O1 is just the beginning of the story, the set up. At 1:31 there is a small transition before the song continues like before except other instruments start getting added in. This might represent Chara getting adopted by Toriel and Asgore. The new instruments that start getting added in might represent the underground's hope over this new child. (The actual quote from the game is "The Underground was full of hope.")

Now in the game all the sections from here on are never independently triggered; you can just sit there and let the song play out, but I don't believe it loops either. There isn't anything to interact with for the rest of New Home however, and you can't skip through the dialogue, so it's likely intended for you just to go through this area with the song being timed to the sections. For all intensive purposes we'll say that the parts of Undertale that are playing from here on correspond to the part of the story you're being told.

The second section of Undertale is shorter, and begins playing the moment you leave Asgore's house. It spans from 2:46 to 3:26, and only consists of a flute playing O2. After it plays O2 once, it repeats and is accompanied by other flutes. The use of O2, and on such a simple and solemn way is very fitting. Here we learn of Chara's death, and at this point we think it's caused by a disease. It's just a straight-up tragedy.

Then with a cymbal build up the third section comes in, using O1 and His Theme again just like before, but with more intensity. It spans from 3:26 to 4:42. This is when Asriel takes Chara's soul, and O1 and His Theme represent their reunion. Keep in mind, at this point we have no knowledge of their plan. We just see it as Asriel and Chara being reunited. At 4:04 along with O1, the piano will begin to subtley weave in O2 as well. This is pretty well timed to the part of the story where the humans see Asriel, and attack him. O2 coming in marks when everything begins to go downhill.

For the next section O1 will actually drop out, leaving His Theme playing by itself from 4:42 to 5:19. This is when Asriel refuses to fight, and when he is killed. We find out from Asriel in the Pacifist epilogue that he had to work against Chara to stop them from fighting, this is his betrayal. His Theme playing alone represents how the two are once again separated by their death. At 4:52 and 5:10 the piano that had been playing a bass harmony will play a tune that is eerily similar to Bergentrückung. While this could be coincidence, it is timed pretty well to when Asriel arrives back underground and collapses into dust. This subtle bit of piano could represent Toriel and Asgore's anguish, which pushed him to declare war on humanity.

This fits well with the next part, spanning from 5:21 to 5:57. O1 suddenly bursts back in, and the song changes key, moving up with this wave of energy, of hope! And what part of the story do you learn here? This is when Asgore declares war. This is when the entire Underground is given hope that they will be free. The monsters break off from their story and begin talking about how Asgore will free them with Frisk's soul. The key change shows this hope, and while it may seem like the end of the Undertale, O1 marks the beginning of Frisk's story, of how despite Chara's and Asriel's deaths, they still started this hope, and that hope still remains. However... from the start of this section you can hear that same piano part playing O2 weaved throughout, because while it may have given monsters hope, Asgore declaring war was still a poor decision, and we see very quickly how much he regrets it, how unwilling he is to kill Frisk. It's a subtle hint that this isn't the right way.

As the song reaches 5:58, O1 and all of the other instruments fade out, leaving His Theme to play by itself, now in a new key, filled with hope itself. It's when we hear those fateful words. "You should be smiling, too. Aren't you excited? Aren't you happy?"

Whether you choose to fight or to spare, there's only one thing monsterkind is thinking about. It's something only you and Asriel can give to them.

"You're going to be free."

The story of the Undertale ends there, but as the beginning motif O1 and His Theme fade off, they show there's much more of the story left. The ending must be decided by you, and now you must be judged.

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skiplo-wave · 4 years

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* watching/listening to all song machine songs*

We’re what 5/10 episodes (songs) for season 1

It’s season 1 and Jamie did hint that there’s possibility being another season. Once this is finished of course lol

I like it, get see the band again plus more animation of them. Along with hearing there voices especially Russel who we can all agree doesn’t get nearly enough attention. Although I feel now Noodle’s va is pushed into the back? There’s lore but like subtle lore. Is there a plot? Not really but I don’t mind since again it’s season 1 Jamie and Damon probably just getting their footing on what they want out of this.

I do miss stories we got during phase 1-3 and phase 5 kinda with Ace joining for short time. I wonder if they stopped was because of Phase 3 since Jamie never got to animate the story and all we have is storyboards. Kinda like how cartoons just do episodic episodes instead of story driven.

But who knows I’m down with supernatural just being there while Band do their thing. It be cool if Ace, Del, and Cybrog Noodle make an appearance.

#gorillaz #listen just happy they back #they can do whatever lol #song machine

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mikenewtonhateblog · 4 years

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My oc’s aka too long of a gd post

The “BL” Crew (does not stand for boys love I’m just a moron who made that abbreviation before knowing what it stands for). My main crew and main series, a lot is a big WIP right now as I’m slowly redoing the first book and all the lore. Why? I love torture. Book is fantasy type but I won’t specify what.

Lacie, the protagonist. God tier idiot, bisexual bipolar depressed MESS, insomniac, former theater kid, doesn’t know what she wants out of life but currently it is not This(plot of book). Hot headed, impulsive, crude, rude, Mommy IssuesTM, would rather be taking a nap right now, rules are made to be broken, absolutely fucking FERAL, more bags under her eyes than the airport lost and found. 5’5, 130lbs, Aries, age 18, white as shit like literally the whitest human you have ever seen, strawberry blonde hair in a 2011 Hayley Willaims haircut with long bangs, the darkest brown eyes you’ve ever seen that stare directly into your soul. Lanky, no curves, body of a 12 year old boy but works out so she can and will kick your ass and thats a threat. Not human?

Josh. Soft boy, smart, Lacie’s cousin and only friend for like the first 18 years of her life, autistic anxious mess who’s special interest is anchient egyptian history, is in honors classes, despises math, passes out when his girlfriend looks too cute, just needs a hug. Can eat a whole carton of easy mac if left alone, whole wardobe is the same outfit just different colors/hoodies, sensory issues, seriously can someone give this guy a hug. 5’9, 150lbs, Pisces, age 18, mixed (half whatever flavor of white Lacie’s family is [they don’t even know its just some scandanavian shit and irish], and half mexican on his mom’s side), medium olive skin with freckles and moles, dark chocolate brown hair that’s a bit of a 2009 Beiber cut, warm brown eyes, not beefy, a lil thicc and self concious about it but squishy boys are GOOD. Gets bit by a werewolf so now he is one his mood on it is “thats a lot to unpack but let’s just throw the whole suitcase away”.

Zander. There is not one braincell in this man, himbo KING, pansexual dumbass with undiagnosed ADHD, no impulse control, head empty and full at the same time, PTSD, his fashion sense should be an actual crime, gets in fights to feel something, basic requirements for him to be attracted to you: kick his ass. Drinks his respect women juice, sees a folding table and must immediately launch himself on it, chaotic, cannot drive a car and will not, food aggression and eats enough for 3 people but never gains weight which is ILLEGAL, him and Lacie may be a couple.....but in this house we stan slow burn, he talks in caps and every sentence either ends with a question mark or exclaimation point, likes romcoms. 6’2, 190lbs, Sagittarius, age 19, austrailian roots and has the accent but is from [REDACTED FOR STORY REASONS], white, dorito shaped with long legs, blueish black hair that’s long and messy, dark navy eyes that match his hair, bigass neck scar from [REDACTED]. Not human

Peter. Gay dad friend who is TIRED of having to be in charge of a bunch of teenagers, only one with full functioning braincells, lowkey a genius who loves engineering, mixes magical technology with human technology because he likes to play god, is he ever sober? No one knows, will kill for a bottle of single malt, his fashion sense? Tastefully expensive suits perfectly tailored. Likes building his own weapons that no one else knows how to even use, generally non-threatening but can get scary if needed. 6’4, 140lbs string bean man, Scorpio, age 179 but looks early 30s, I know I said Lacie is the whitest human but he’s even paler like a literal sheet of paper with scandanavian roots/ancestors were vikings or some shit, blonde hair styled like 2013 Brendon Urie lmfao, light crystal blue eyes. He’s a vampire and was born one.

Danielle. Tiny, sweet, queen of girls supporting girls, comments on all her friends instagram posts with 20 emojis, LOVES fashion and has a wardrobe that would make anyone jealous, oozes feminine energy, only child and parents are in love still, gets exactly 8 hours of sleep each night and wakes up looking like a disney princess. Just because she is small and cute doesn’t mean you should underestimate her she WILL fuck your shit up. Quiet when angey which is terrifying. Josh is her bf and she loves him so much but also loves teashing the shit out of him. Legally cannot cuss, polite, used her high heels as a weapon once, speaks like 5 languages because studying them is her hobby, gardens, hugs everyone. 5’0, 110, Taurus, age 18, mixed (half french-american, half Korean-american), glowy skin always, PETITE frame aka the friend everyone can pick up when they hug, long past her waist curly brown hair, bright green eyes. She’s not fully human as she has fae blood in her and this gives her the ability to talk to and control plants. Flower crowns for everyone

Becca. Theater kid who would die to sing in Wicked and has the vocal range to do so, cannot wait to graduate and go to her dream college which she got into and a scholarship, closeted lesbian bc her whole giant family is extremely catholic and she feels like not dealing with it, “no boys allowed in bedroom” rule is her favorite joke, chill, middle child of 5 siblings and just wants some peace and quiet for ONCE. Her fashion sense is “I’m dropping subtle hints I’m gay but only to other gays”, has a black belt and took self defense classes. 5’6, 145lbs, Virgo, age 18, Latina (cuban and mexican mix), darker brown skin with light freckles over her nose, athletic build, eyebrows on POINT, bright caramel eyes, short light brown hair cut in a bob, has a tiny nose stud, always wears a blue friendship bracelet her gf made her. Human

Anika. Calling her a bitch/slut is a compliment, bisexual, a bit of a mean girl but she grows out of it give her time!!! Is always Too Much, the horny friend, favorite color is red so thats almost all of her outfits, loves to show off her body as much as she can because she’s hot and knows it and thrives in her own confidence. Her mom is literally like Regina George’s mom from Mean Girls but married a rich man 20 years older than her, Anika doesn’t know her bio dad but thats fine neither does her mom and her step dad is nice and does his best to be a dad. Becca’s gf, always hanging out at her home so Becca can get some quiet because Anika’s an only child and has a pool. 5’9, 135lbs, Gemini, age 18, white, long layered dark reddish brown hair, teal-blue eyes, swimmers body type (I normally do not mention bust size but she would want the internet to know she was blessed with big bahoogles so there you go), can sprint in heels. Half mermaid (boy was that a surprise considering her mom doesn’t know who her father is LOL)

Rex. Nb uses they/them he/him pronouns but honestly will respond to any, goth lite, only attracted to men and ace, can read minds so knows all your secrets, mischevious little shit, great friends with Zander and enjoys his dumbass thoughts and that he’s basically a human version of Jackass, wears too many rings, goth boots for kicking and fashion babey, always has the freshest memes and will not hesitate to roast in the group chat, hangs with the girls most of the time. Chaos god who loves making art, be gay do crime, skateboard and spraypaint. 5’8”, 165lbs, Leo, age 18, Native American, masculine frame, dark brown skin, blue eyes, firetruck red shoulder length hair that’s usually in a ponytail, knock-off gucci sunglasses just for judging their friends. Has magic in their blood so not entirely human and can cast spells and shit (don’t roast me its a wip and I’m doing my research)

Sam. Boho goddess, aromantic, makeup and nails are always instagram worthy, quiet and stoic type but losens up around close friends, Rex is her best friend, has some trauma and doesn’t want to talk about it, emotionally numbed out a bit and wants to purely vibe. Has seen some of the worst parts of humanity and wishes she hadn’t, finds no point in being bitter or resentful though because that won’t change anything, loves cats and once she moves out shes adopting one or three. Has wine aunt energy. 5’4, 200lbs PLUS SIZE QUEEN, Scorpio, age 18, Filipino (her parents are immigrants fun fact!), really olive skin sometimes has a grey/green tinge to it, dark brown almost black shoulder length hair, gold-hazel eyes. Sam’s the victim of a family curse that requires her to consume human hearts to survive, she can transform into a pretty scary looking being and uses this curse to hunt down pedoph*les, r*pists, murderers, and abusers. The less often she feeds the less human she looks, hence the constant grey/green tinge to her skin.

Andy. Baby of the group, must be protected at all costs, 100% didn’t sign up to be in a friendgroup of 90% monsters but highkey loves it, trans, bi, anxiety MAXED, just wants to draw comics and cosplay spiderman, has to babysit his two younger sisters a lot because his parents are....not great, and as a result now knows all the lines to Tangled and The Little Mermaid. Big nerd energy, has to draw on everything including homework, gets inspiration for comics from his friends, awkward and socially anxious, drinks way too much tea and will accidentally steal your pens. Fears include: crowds, thunder, tall angry men, tiny spaces. Just trying his best. 5’2, 100lbs BEANPOLE BOY, Leo, age 16, white (irish and scottish roots), freckles absolutely EVERYWHERE, orangey red hair thats in desperate need of a haircut, chocolate brown eyes, braces, chronic nail biter. Human and kinda wishes he wasn’t.

That’s it for now if you read all this bless u thank u here is my whole heart. Please no discourse, literally these are fictional people I’ll never publish the books they go to.

#no i am not looking for critiques on them #i get my critiques elsewhere lmao #my ocs

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beetleinmates · 4 years

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OK HERE I GO TALKING ABOUT THE TOME. i’m sorry if it gets confusing i’m HORRIBLE at explaining myself/ perspective of things sometimes and i have a jumbled ass brain that cant put things on paper

Anyways let’s about about this tome. Horrible. Most of it is horrible and inconsistent with the original lore that first came out with legion. Like they added fucking arson? the fuck? They live in a small town that shit would. not hold up. They would get caught instantly. I’m gonna be honest, this arson section came out of No where, not even their cosmetics talk about it. I wouldn’t have that much of a problem if it wasn’t a huge ass THEATER but whatever it happened what can I do. Though, it does have alittle symbolism in it.

Okay let’s get alittle jogger on the original lore before comparing it to the original. i’ll just point out the important shit and move on to my thoughts yadda yadda.

1) Julie is introduced as a girl who is convinced she deserves a better life than in Ormond. I know that doesn’t really tell a lot about her or doesn’t signify who she REALLY is, but it’s important because of her decisions in her tome.

2) When Frank is introduced its seems hinted at he was at multiple parties she has thrown, not one. Kinda leaves things out in the open about possibilities that he was lurking around or not, or something entirely else!

3) One thing I thought was VERY important to keep in mind of the age group of Julies parties. Younger. it is also important about frank and his desire of being admired by a younger audience. When I first read it, I sort of considered it a red flag for numerous reasons. Why would a teen like him care about impressing younger kids? Possibly he likes it because a younger audience is easier to manipulate?

Then you are introduced with this. Frank seeing Julie and them and their lives as an opportunity to shape them into something more. He instructed their plans, he got them together to do reckless things for his own gain. ( seeing that it got to a point they would do anything HE asked.)

Which leads to this. Seeing that they were ALL shocked, this was obviously the first time Frank has done something so violent infront of them. Especially when they HESITATE on stabbing the janitor when he ORDERS them to. Seeing even Frank to tell them to move fast is also another crucial part, because it comes off as sheer panic. Even at the end of the lore there’s like, small hints of Frank being paranoid too but that isn’t really crucial to Julies tome.

Now to Julies tome let’s start it off

couple good things, we figured out the little artist! it’s Julie. cute. And her last name is Ukraine! I’m guessing this is when they first meet, typically ‘omg i drew u hehe..’ moment. Julie invites him to a party yadda, and Frank seems to be a talkative type of dude! really uhm. preachy in a way.

Then we are introduced with julies ‘true colors’ quote on quote. I.. don’t like this at all, I really think bhvr just looked into reddit and their insight of julie of how ‘SHES THE MANIPULATIVE ONE!’ bullshit. but that’s not it. at all. Julie seeks admiration from Frank, showing all her hard work on serial killer. Frank is really into it and Julie eats that shit up. Frank is throwing fuel into the fire to encourage her to go deep into her impulsive thoughts, which you see more in the logs.

Also I found it odd how Frank would read up on Ormond? It’s stated in his original lore he was focused on getting out of Ormond, not educating himself on the place. Anywho.

More bullshit of how Julie is just as insane as Frank which is just. No, I refuse to look at it. This is an interesting log to see though. As i’ve stated before, Frank is the one that is in control. He’s the one that pushed Legion into the reckless shit they did. So seeing Julie take control is interesting. If anything, it’s a form of manipulation Frank is trying to pull. It’s only so subtle though, only acting dumb and testing the waters in what she can do.

This is where things make you go hm! Maybe Frank is really the one in control here. From this point Frank knows how Julie perceives him, they are bonded to the point Julie will tell him anything, even the darkest things. He even encourages her to do these dark desires, which really just shows his manipulative side? EVEN WHEN HE STRAIGHT OUT PREACHES ABT IT ???

Ok so the arson part is just. a mess. An actual mess. Like the setting of it is a fucking mess and COULVE been executed better, but Franks control over julie is really starting to show. His encouragement is pushing her into her darker desires. the fact he LITERALLY sets up this whole burning down something for HER is just pure peer pressure her to make her desires to become a reality. He wants her to embrace these thoughts.

and he CONTINUES to push her. He wants to see how far she’ll go. Why? because he is testing her limits. The only thing is that he’s subtle about it so it’s easy to gloss over. Why? because manipulation is easy to be glossed over. When he asks if she would kill from him is also very important. In the video, he once again tests her to see if she was serious about actually killing someone. To his surprise, she did. As I already complained about.

Okay. I’m just going to say it, Julies tome is a mess. It’s inconsistent. It has many holes as to why they killed another janitor, and you know that was at least their first time because of their masks and it doesn’t correlate to the original lore. (seeing as though Frank dares Joey to vandalize the place.) Susie and Joey has some questionable reactions to Julie LITERALLY KILLING A MAN, only to brush it off like it was nothing and just stare at the body while in the original they were in a LITERAL hurry to clean it all up. What I can say is? it could’ve been executed better. Obviously behavior has a time crunch and what not, but they should really look back on what they wrote and really read what they put down. If there was different settings, different actions, this could’ve been SO much better. I don’t particularly enjoy seeing Julie being a troubled child with some darker desires. I can see her as a kid that was for sure looking more in life and cause a little mischief, but not this. Though I will give props to Bhvr showing Franks control, the subtle hints of him testing her limits. He was the one pulling the strings in making her desires become a reality if you really read into it and examine the video. He was the only one with the knife, he was the one that gave her the knife to give her that opportunity. He was also the one to give her that match and set that place on fire. I will say this a million times, Frank is manipulative. He is NOT a good person, as much as he seems like a sweet guy in the story HE ISNT. that’s how manipulators and abusers pull people in. But yeah, it was a mess, i Really don’t enjoy what path they chose for Julie bc now all the incels are gonna be like “FRANK IS GOOD NOT JULIE.” utter bullshit. anwyays yeah that’s my input. also there was shitty inconsistency with Susie and Joey loving that they caused a bunch of terrible car accidents? uhm??? ok??? yet they cant handle stabbing a janitor. Makes sense.

#rant #SORRY ABT THIS IVE BEE NTALKING ABT IT ALL DAY HONESTLY IM SO SORRY #dbd spoilers #legion dbd

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silyabeeodess · 4 years

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FusionFall Headcanons: Character Ages

From taking the canon ages of the various CN characters within their own shows into account to people noticing the... liberties, the game took to some of the designs for them in the game, I’m well aware that this is going to be a point of debate. Still, after some consideration, I’d like to cross reference some of these points to come up with at least a general sense of where these characters may be/have been in their lives. I probably won’t come up with specifics--moreso early/late this or that--for the ages. Now, I will bring up puberty a bit in this--definitely not heavily, but it is mentioned--so keep that in mind.

Dee Dee, Dexter, and Mandark

For these characters, I view Dee Dee, Dexter, and Mandark being in their late teens-early 20′s. We already know based on evidence from the show that Dee Dee is Dexter’s older sister by just a few years while Dexter and Mandark are only about two years apart themselves (as implied by concept art for “Ego Trip” as explained on the Dexter’s Laboratory wiki). It’s possible that Dee Dee might have at least a year over Mandark and/or for Dexter and Mandark to be the same age, since he is in Dexter’s class as far back as elementary school, but we also have to consider the high possibility that he was held back due to his parents’ lifestyles keeping him from going to school during his early childhood.

Since Dee Dee lives alone at their old family home and it’s already established that her and Dexter’s parents live up on the house on top of Dexlabs, she’s likely already an adult. She probably looks after the home not only for security purposes, but due to the massive success of Dexlabs making their family wealthy enough to maintain it and for her to live there despite being fairly young--meaning she wouldn’t have to get a dorm if she chose to go to college or something similar, but still has the liberty of living on her own. Based on how she continues to wear her dance outfit, her maintaining a slim physique similar to professional ballet dancers, and that she still goes to recitals as evidenced in “Dee Dee’s Dilemmas (Part 3)”, it’s also likely that she either studies dance or may even teach it to small children.

What makes me think Dexter and Mandark are in their older teens is how much of a foothold their companies have during the events of the game, enough so for their tech to be everywhere. It’s possible that their genius gave them a leg up enough to quit high school and form their companies early, but they’d still need a few years to build and develop them to the extent we see.

Numbuhs 1-5

For the operatives to still be viewed as official members of the KND (at least to public knowledge), this would mean that they’d have be younger than 13, so they’d be in their tweens. Given the extent to which the war has altered the KND’s operations, however, they may even be a little older--just with their decommissioning being the farthest from anyone’s mind at the time. We also know that at the group would remain a part of the KND well into adulthood based on the series finale as the issue stands, supporting this.

Furthermore, for Numbuh One to lead an operation in the war so far from the rest of not only his team, but other parts of the KND, as well as seeing him work with Plumbers like Grandpa Max, it’s possible that the war may take place after the events of the KND finale would--after Numbuh One would’ve experienced space-travel for himself through the G:KND, an expansion of the KND in sequel series that was never aired. What could also hint to the war being post-G:KND is the mention of bases within Earth’s solar system besides the moonbase--which the KND lose contact with in the official FusionFall comic, but were never mentioned in the actual show. All of this further points to a passage of time at which the operatives would be a little older than their original depictions, which already averaged at around 10 years old.

The Powerpuff Girls and the Gangreen Gang

Well, I’m gonna go ahead and say that the girls aren’t five unless the developers of FusionFall took a page from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure in their character designs. We also have the presence of Pokey Oaks Middle School in-game as opposed to Pokey Oaks Kindergarten from the show, acting as a subtle clue that the girls are at least middle school age within the FusionFall universe, but I’d like to take that a step farther:

In the show, we were given a general age range for the Gangreen Gang at 14-17 years, with Ace being the oldest and Lil’ Arturo extending that approximation according to his wiki page with a personal age range of 10-14 years. In FusionFall, we’re given aged-up versions of the girls, but not from what we can tell of the Gangreen Gang. Still, even if the ages are different, we have to take into the account the likelihood that the group is at least slightly older themselves as, in a sense, they have grown up a bit: They’ve moved on from most of their criminal ways to form a successful band, which couldn’t have happened in too short a time.

The point above, combined with the possibility given of Buttercup and Ace being in a relationship despite the massive age gap between their TV Show counterparts unless the OG developers had a, ahem, questionable idea of relationships like the kind the PPG reboot has gained attention for, make me think that the girls might be at least in their mid-teens in Fusionfall while the Gangreen Gang and in their late-teens or early 20′s.

Samurai Jack

Following the route the fifth season took, even if it was made after the game, I’m going to say that Jack is ageless due to the effects of time travel. Whether or not Season Five can be taken into consideration as far as Jack’s backstory would go in Fusionfall, it works more for the game that he be this nigh-immortal adversary to match Aku. First off, let’s say that the events of S5 were a part of the game lore: That would mean that, at some point, Jack did defeat Aku, went back to the past, and eventually time passed to reach the events that FusionFall would take place in with Aku potentially coming back in that timeframe similar to how he did after the Emperor first defeated him--only this time, Jack’s constantly ready to take him out again before he can reach full-strength. More likely though-- given that people still remember how Jack defeated Demongo--the timeline hasn’t been altered (barring that he didn’t defeat him a second time within the new timeline that we’d be unaware of).

Now let’s talk about it without S5: We already know that Aku isn’t the main villain here: Fuse is. Aku’s barely a blip on the radar in the game, mentioned moreso as a potential threat if he ever came out of hiding. Emphasis on if. This is weird given that, in Jack’s show, Aku’s already taken over the world. There is no ultimate evil beyond Aku, but that’s just not the case in FusionFall’s history. Instead, Jack takes both Fuse and Aku as serious threats, placing his priorities on the former only because he’s the most present. For Jack to set aside his life’s purpose to help battle Fuse, that has to mean he feels comfortable enough with his chances against Aku. Not to mention the state of the world looks pretty ok beyond the threat of Planet Fusion, meaning it’s more likely that Jack has already defeated Aku at some point prior to the events of the game, but for some reason chose to stay in the future and continue his long-standing battle with him. I know this cuts out S5′s rationale behind Jack himself being ageless, but bringing that idea into this as well fits with the context of this eternal battle between a hero and villain, two people who can embody an ultimate good and ultimate evil.

Ben 10 Trio

Given that the gang looks exactly like their Alien Force counterparts, this is pretty much a given. I doubt they’re that different in an age range with the exception of maybe a couple year: It would depend on how much context you’d take from Ultimate Alien. That would put Ben and Gwen at 15-16 while Kevin would be 16-17 years old.

Ed, Edd, and Eddy Characters

The characters in Ed, Edd, and Eddy already went to junior high in the show, placing them at least in their tweens. Granted, they still look like kids in the show while some of them seem to be a little older in the game. For example, the Kankers look more aged up than the Eds do, fitting both a passage of time and following the fact that girls tend to develop at a faster rate than boys (growth spurts, brain development, etc.) during puberty. It’s possible that they’re still in their tweens or early teens, with some of them being in their first year of high school within the world of FusionFall.

Billy and Mandy

Although Billy and Mandy were still in elementary school in their show as opposed to middle school, I’d place them in their tweens following the same logic I pointed out with the Kankers and Eds regarding development. Mandy looks like she’s still young, but has hit puberty, while Billy looks very much like a kid. They’re likely in middle school.

Frankie and Mac

Considering that Mac was only 8 in the show and still looks pretty young in the game, he’s probably still a kid. Maybe he’s aged up a little, but definitely hasn’t reached his teens just yet. He’s still got his baby face.

In the show, Frankie was 22 years old, and like Mac I don’t think she’s aged much, so still in her early-mid 20′s. She’s probably devoted herself to running Foster’s Home much like her grandmother.

Juniper Lee

While she was 11 in the show and the game doesn’t seem to have altered her design too much, I still get a feeling she’s more of a teenager--early-mid teens--in the world of FusionFall. She just strikes me as being a little more mature, more experienced with her powers and all of the forces she’s dealt with after a while as a the Te-Xuan-Ze.

Coop

Probably mid-late 20′s. He was already an adult in the show, but he doesn’t seem to have matured enough to have passed far into his 30′s.

Flapjack

He’s 7 in the show and based on his personally and appearance in the game, he’s still probably close to the age. Maybe just a little older, but the same situation as with Mac.

Ami and Yumi

(Mentioning them since Retro gave them a cameo and I loved this duo as a kid) The show’s wiki places them both at 13. Their FusionFall counterparts don’t look much older, so they’re probably still in their teens--possibly just a few years older in we wanted to account for time for them to develop as young teen idols.

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