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spinji · 3 months

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How old is AFO and OFA

[Mile long post incoming]

Long story short this is a theory/headcanon/thought exercise to keep my brain busy while I'm bored at work. I wanted to figure out a more precise estimate for how old All for One is since his birth is essentially the earliest moment of quirk society emerging and so his life spans the entire timeline of this story which I find interesting. And then the whole thing spiraled into a full One for All timeline of headcanons, so enjoy that.

To start though, it would be easy to guess that he's 120-and-some-change because of Garaki. Mic claimed Garaki would be about 120 (and we're just assuming he's exactly right instead of guesstimating for the sake of things) and Garaki confirms that his quirk allows him to live longer than a regular human lifespan, and when they met, All for One was given a copy so he could also live absurdly long. But I want to try a more exact method to ensure that his generations of adversaries could have actually reasonably worked time-wise. So, we can use Garaki's age to check our work but, reasonably, All for One should fall somewhere in the 120-140 range.

Right off the bat, we do have a frustrating lack of information regarding ages and time passing but there are a few things we can establish. Firstly, we know AFO and Yoichi are twins, so when determining age we can start both AFO individually and the OFA users as a collective at the same point. Secondly, Yoichi and AFO are shown to be the first people to have developed a quirk in the way we see in current time. There were vaguely quirk like mutations in people before that (like with their mother) but quirks as we know them are presented to us as originating from these two twins.

I bring this up because while Yoichi, Kudou, and Bruce are all in the same vague realm of "adult" at the same point in time, Yoichi has to be the oldest of the three. Even if it is only by a few years, Yoichi and AFO preceed any characters with a quirk. And while we're on the topic of Kudou and Bruce, we can safely say Kudou is the older one of the duo. He's confirmed to be the head leader of the resistance group against AFO and Bruce is second in command, so, frankly it would just be bizarre if Bruce was older in age but lower in rank. That being said, I don't think their difference in age would be significant.

Exact ages is where things get vague and headcanon-y. There isn't really any hard evidence I can point to other than "that sounds about right" and "I guess they look about that age" in an animation style that is notorious for just slapping a, borderline arbitrary, age on any design regardless of logic. So, rather than trying to justify it too much, my personal choices for their ages are, at Yoichi's time of death, Yoichi is 32, Kudou is 28, and Bruce is 27. At this point in the story AFO has been amassing power and followers for a while now, long enough for a resistance force to rise up against him but not long enough that he's considered it more than a nuisance for other people to handle until now. Early thirties seems pretty reasonable, possibly a bit too young but this man has also been killing people since he was 0.

For Kudou and Bruce I aimed for the older side of military age. Old enough to lead an operation like this but still young enough that AFO's rise to power was during most of their lifetime. Also, there's the issue of the age ceiling. Thanks to Shinomori (who I will get to), users 2 through 7 cannot have lived to be over 40 years old. That is a hard, non-negotiable cap on their ages as the strain of OFA alongside a different biological quirk drastically shortens a person's natural lifespan.

Anyway, back to AFO's age. If Yoichi dies at 32, this would also make him 32 (duh) and given the climate of the world at this point, I think Kudou lasted the shortest with OFA, personally. He receives the quirk immediately upon Yoichi's death after getting his blood in his mouth (Yoichi probably thought of him in his dying moments aww) and likely a week or two later is when Kudou and Bruce find out about it. The chapter frames Kudou finding out Yoichi carried on into him at the same time AFO has the same epiphany so, generously?? I give Kudou a year. Max.

All for One is now filled with seething hatred for Kudou specifically after Yoichi's death, so everything has been put on the back burner so he can both take the quirk from Kudou to get his "possession" back (ew) and to kill Kudou along with everyone he ever knew, loved, spoke to, looked at, or had any genetic lineage with. Even for a guy this powerful that is going to take a bit. A year gives AFO time to find information and strike down the entire resistance and time for Kudou and Bruce to think of a counter strategy and gain an understanding for how OFA works. So, Bruce takes the quirk at 28, Kudou dies at 29, and All for One kills him at 33.

After Kudou's death is a very big blank spot where I need to unfortunately just blindly headcanon again, so bare with me. Kudou and Bruce's plan was for Bruce to take the quirk and slip away from the massacre of the resistance to build OFA stronger and come back to finish the job. I believe that Bruce met Shinomori while he was lying low. Judging by the one image we have of Bruce confronting AFO, he did seemingly attempt to rally people together to defeat him, which would have taken a bit longer than when Kudou was leading an established resistance, since he didn't already have people under him. But he clearly thought to pass the quirk on again as a backup in case he lost, which is why he chose Shinomori to take it. With time needed to plan this attack and also get AFO's sights off him, I'd give it about five years between AFO's fight with Kudou and his fight with Bruce. It's estabished that Shinomori takes the quirk at 22 so, Bruce dies at 33, and All for One kills him at 39.

Shinomori is actually a very clear-cut piece of the timeline. He takes the quirk at 22 and dies at 40, having passed the quirk to the next user shortly before that because he realized his health was rapidly declining. He keeps the quirk for a total of 18 years, making All for One 57 at the time of his death. Judging by how the flashback panels are structured, AFO has received Garaki's quirk by this point.

Also, we have reached the point where every following user of OFA has been a professional hero, so I think it's safe to assume that each link in the chain met through either being colleagues or possibly through a sidekick internship. I doubt All Might was the first one to think of scouting hero students for successors. I'm going to assume that users 5, 6, and 7 were somewhere in the 16-24 range when they received the quirk for that very reason.

Moving on though, Banjo is the next user. I do think Banjo knew Shinomori for a somewhat significant time before his death. Banjo clearly knows about Shinomori's reclusive nature in some level of detail based on how they interact as vestiges and while it is possible for the already deceased OFA users to peer into the thoughts and memories of the current user, it doesn't appear to be the same retroactively, unless it's something the vestiges want to show the current user. All this to say I came to conclusion that Banjo was already likely a pro hero when he recieved the quirk from Shinomori. Shinomori realized what was happening and reached out to one of the few trusted friends he had to carry on the burden because he knew he could handle it. So I'm going to peg Banjo at being about 22 when he took the power as well. Old enough to be experienced as a pro with enough time to have actually met Shinomori before he died. Just like all the others, Banjo died to All for One after being trapped under rubble and gave the power to En just before he croaked. Given his bordering-on-middle-aged appearance, I'm going to put forward Banjo dying at 37 and All for One killing him at 72.

En also has very little information on him but since we only have speculation to work with, might as well stop apologizing for it. En appears to be significantly younger than Banjo, so I suspect he was an internship student to Banjo while he was a pro. Putting En at 17 when he recieved the power is both enough time for them to meet and get to know each other with En having to take the mantle from him sooner than either of them anticipated. En's appearance is still quite young, but he was confirmed to be a pro hero for a time, so he didn't have as short a run as Kudou. Nana was also already some level of hero (whether student or pro is unclear) at the time she recieved the power. Rather than mentor and student I believe they were fledgling colleagues, since Gran Torino fills the role as Nana's older pro mentor. All of this makes me vaguely place En dying at 25 and All for One killing him at 80.

I already mentioned Nana potentially being colleagues with En as their way of meeting. I still think she may have been younger than him at the time but not significantly so. En is another user that is shown passing on the power while at death's door and the following panel that shows Nana accepting it doesn't make her look significantly younger than how she does in any given scene in the series. So I don't think she was a child when she took the quirk but I'm going to set my guess at 20. But! While Nana is another character without a listed age, surprisingly, we can figure it out a good guess with actual evidence this time. Her son Kotaro, grandson Tomura, and pupil All Might all have stated, confirmed ages that we can use to make a feasible timeline for Nana.

Currently, All Might is 57 and Tomura is 21, meaning All Might was 36 when Tomura was born. Kotaro was killed at 32, when Tomura was 5, making him 27 when Yagi was 36. Nana died when All Might was in his last year at UA, making him 18, meaning Kotaro was 9 at the time. Nana gave All Might OFA when he was in middle school, judging by his uniform, so we'll assume he was 14 and Kotaro was 5. When Nana and All Might first meet, Nana states that her family is all dead, in a cold and distant manner. But that wouldn't be true if Kotaro was still in her life. This would mean that she met Yagi after the death of her husband and after Kotaro was sent away. And I'd wager to bet it was very soon after. Assuming Nana gave birth to Kotaro at around 25 years old (perfectly reasonable) then she would have passed the quirk to All Might at 30 and died at 34 after having the quirk for 14 years, making All for One 94 at the time of the transfer.

From here things get a lot less speculative. All Might is listed as 55 at the beginning of the manga, adding on Izuku's last year of middle school and first year of high school puts him at 57. We already established he received the quirk at 14, meaning he held the power for 42 years + 1 year quirkless before All for One was finally killed at the grand age of 136. Which would mean that quirks have existed for just shy of one and a half centuries now and we fit comfortably inside our estimate goal!

Now, I'm one of those bad at math gays so if you have other thoughts on this, feel free to speak up. And you're more than welcome to adopt these age headcanons if you want. Later.

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crooked-wasteland · 2 months

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How would you rank every HB episode from worst to best?

This took me some time to think on, but thank you for the ask.

So all the Helluva Boss episodes ranked worst to best (in my opinion):

The Circus

I have to place the season 2 premiere as the worst episode of the entire series, simply because it cemented the direction the story was going to go with all of the worst ideas floating to the top. The relationship mystery between Stolas and Blitz gets watered down to a childhood crush based on nothing. It is love at first sight, but then the writing performs gymnastics in order to justify Stolas’ attraction after the fact. It’s so painful in Seeing Stars and Oops how the writers really want us to believe that Stolas liked him as a person first and that is supposed to be shown in how Stolas thinks Blitz is funny when no one else does, but the series of events in the Circus will forever undermine that narrative. He finds Blitz funny because he is attracted to him. Not the other way around.

Aside from the issues with the overarching story, the entire structure of the episode fails. The idea of Chekhov’s Gun is one I believe holds merit as a fundamental tool. If you are going to introduce something like theft, acknowledge the danger of the event, repeatedly draw attention to the theft, and then just never mention any sort of natural conclusion to that plot point. If anything, Blitz returning to Stolas’ home 25 years later to do the exact same thing, necessitated a coming full circle moment of that particular plot point. The failure to identify even the most basic of narrative principles that was a solid through line of character, story and themes told me everything I needed to know about how the series was going to be handled.

Stolas’ song is a poorly-performed nonsensical word salad that I found lacked any cohesion to the character in the previous episode or the next. It’s an ugly song with maybe 2 decent verses where Stolas acknowledges that this was all playing pretend, but that eventually goes nowhere.

Additionally, Stella was officially ruined as a character, which ultimately ruined Stolas as a character. By not giving Stella depth, Stolas was also stripped of any depth or complexity. His reason for staying is dumbed down to “for the child”, and Stella’s motivation is thrown out the window in favor of “she’s awful and please don’t try to make her understandable, because then what if Stolas is held accountable for anything?” Stella is too important a character in Stolas’ story, to make her one dimensional is to make Stolas less interesting. Everything is interwoven in a story, pulling a thread in one place unravels the garment elsewhere.

In a single episode, it encompasses everything that is wrong with the series, past and future.

0/10

Seeing Stars

To be honest, I feel Seeing Stars is most people’s worst episode due to some sense of denial when the season premiered and expected the show to at least continue with some kind of coherent story/timeline. I don’t think it would be as hated if Medrano had tightened up the narrative and made Seeing Stars connect to Ozzie’s more.

However, I would still put it at number 2, even if it had. Mainly because Seeing Stars is the worst sense of characterization and dynamics I have ever seen. And when you are trying to sell a character-driven story, some kind of consistency is required. This episode cemented Loona as being an abusive, manipulative, and entitled “bitch” of a person. Octavia is written like she is 13, not 17. Blitz and Stolas have the darkest timeline where Stolas continues to sexualize Blitz after being told off in the last episode and seemingly acknowledging that he defined the dynamic without any input from Blitz. Then forces him on stage despite Blitz being on the verge of a panic attack. But most of all, it has Stolas and Blitz both completely forget why they are even in this situation, because they are supposed to be looking for Octavia.

There was no lesson Blitz needed to learn, if anything he needed to be instilled with more self esteem where possible. And Stolas already had this story arc done much better in Loo Loo Land. His character actively regresses to redo the exact plot thread, but worse. Much like The Circus, Seeing Stars set the stage for what we could look forward to in regards to the series from here on out, and the utter disrespect leveled at the original 6 episodes.

That’s not even counting how the episode is the exact same plot and story beats as Loo Loo Land, highlighting the extent of how creatively bankrupt the series is.

.5/10

Exes and Ohs

If it comes to personal most hated episode, it would be Exes and Ohs for me. The only reason it is number 3 and not number 1 is because it is a narrative cul-de-sac where the larger story is not affected by it at all.

However, it is still an objectively awful episode. Starting with the premise. The whole plot is a stolen South Park joke. It’s the Steal underpants episode, stretched out into something longer, and not nearly as funny. If you are wholesale ripping off another show, that’s plagiarism. This episode is creatively bankrupt, shouldn’t exist, has no purpose and serves no benefit. People try to argue that it has value due to Moxxie’s backstory, but what does it even serve? Sure, I know it now, but not a single character does. Millie doesn’t even find out. Even moreso, Millie’s entire connection to Chaz goes nowhere and is for nothing. We never know how, when or why she dated Chaz, it's shown she hates him, but she doesn’t even kill him. The whole episode would have ended exactly the same with Crim killing Chaz once he realized the shark demon was lying about having money.

It’s not good when the major complaints of the episode are actually what is saving it from being the worst episode.

2/10

Musical Special

The retconning of this episode, changing who Fizz was as a child to try and justify his uselessness in Oops retroactively is beyond frustrating. There is so much I could go on about in terms of character, but just focusing on this episode.

Mainly, the mildly perturbing extent Medrano goes to hetero-normalize her queer relationships. Every single relationship in the series is stereotypically designed as “Protector” and “Protected”. Stolas, Fizzarolli, and Moxxie are all characters who require constant support and protection from other factors in the plot.

Stolas needed to be protected from Striker. Moxxie needs to be protected from most things in his plots. Season 1 it was the fish monster, Striker, the agents, and finally Ozzie and Fizz. Season 2 we have him needing to be defended from his father and Chaz.

This episode it's all about Fizzarolli and him needing to be defended from his crippling low self-esteem that is only relevant to have him needing to be saved from something. The flashback serves to further retcon Fizz’s personality because a strong and confident performer doesn’t need to be saved from anyone, and in order to have the codependent romance where Fizz needs Ozzie, we need to fundamentally weaken him as a person. It’s a special episode, so the argument that it doesn’t need to exist is rather moot. Regardless, the characters and story are worse off for its addition to the narrative.

2/10

Queen Bee

Another special episode, so the argument of narrative value is once again disregarded. I dislike this episode for how one dimensional every female character is in this story. It highlights all the ongoing issues with misogynistic writing. Loona’s character is a wildly swinging pendulum from being antagonistic towards Blitz to being endeared with little motivation and ultimately being reduced to the caretaker of men. When she and Bee get into an argument, she only deescalates when she sees Tex be uncomfortable. The initial hostility itself is founded on nothing, Loona is immediately resentful of Bee because she’s attractive and people like her, specifically Tex. And her being sweet towards Blitz is entirely based on the fact that her relationship to him makes her look good due to his accomplishment of beating Beelzebub in a drink-off. It doesn’t read sincere, but rather she would look bad if she didn’t take care of him after identifying him as her “dad” when it suited her.

This entire episode works to assassinate Loona’s character and any hope of her being likable and growing. Everything about her motivation is purely selfish and consistently reinforced in big ways, so moving forward it will be very hard to realistically prove she does anything for not her own benefit.

The song was nice for about one minute, then it became unbearably repetitive.

1.5/10

Western Energy

This episode was altered and rewritten, which doesn’t inherently make it bad. It’s just that it was changed due to fans pointing out the glaring plot hole that is why Stella would want to kill Stolas when a divorce would benefit her more. Instead of critically assessing that question and focusing more on world building to create a logical justification for Stella’s actions, the writers shrug their shoulders and just can’t think of anything. It’s a special form of fridge horror as a writer to realize the major plot that was intended to push Blitz and Stolas closer together was so underdeveloped that when at all questioned resulted in the entire plot being unwritten. It’s transparently bad writing, but worse yet is that it is lazy.

This episode is what I use to show an example of how fans inject headcannon and plot into the series that the creators have no interest in spending the energy on. This isn’t James Cameron’s Avatar where there is a massively rich world around a lackluster story that has been crafted with such detail that it feels alive. Helluva Boss, and in extension Hazbin Hotel, have no world building and resort to the most superficial answers to any narrative roadblock at the expense of the characters and understanding their motivations. It shows resentment for not just the audience, but writing as an artform.

3/10

Ozzie's (with season 2 context)

I had to put Ozzie’s on the list twice due to this episode in specific having vastly different reads and reception before and after season 2 premiered. After The Circus, the episode loses all continuity with the original season. Stolas is pining and lovesick over Blitz, he doesn’t actually care about his wife and daughter leaving him. He just wishes more than anything to have his rugged peasant return his affections.

It is a plummet of quality and character in this episode that only comes to fruition with the understanding that Stolas has had an unreciprocated crush for two and a half decades.

With the context of season 2, Stolas doesn’t actually care about his daughter and how his affair, the marriage falling apart, their status, etc. affected her and his family. He only cares about the little boy he got a crush on, who his father rented out like a Lexus and then 25 years later Stolas demanded sex from. Stolas has a complete personality change and isn’t at all who he was the entire series to this point. Everything you thought mattered to him doesn’t, the ways we have come to expect this character to react to things is suddenly entirely different. His expectations are unexplainable and so far out to left field than what we previously established. This is one of the worst written episodes based on the major retconning of a keystone character and no effort being made to connect these changes in the narrative.

This was the warning shot we didn’t know we were given.

1/10

Spring Broken

Spring Broken to Unhappy Campers are the range of utterly ambivalence I have.

The song is poorly incorporated into the episode. Verosika isn’t ever fleshed out. Tex and Loona start off cute, and you can see a starting point of a dynamic between Loona and Blitz and you want her to treat him better while also recognizing that he infantalizes her constantly and doesn’t ever treat her like the adult she is. Could have been really good writing if it went anywhere. This episode establishes Loona abuses Blitz and does so intentionally because it gets her her way. It isn’t malicious, but immature and incredibly cruel, and there is a desire to see her become a better person and grow from this point.

Too bad.

4/10

C.H.E.R.U.B

I know this episode gets a ton of criticism for being a joke/filler episode that goes too long. And that is absolutely correct. However it is still better in that being filler, it is not seeking to be anything more than it is. It is just some dumb fun with a few jokes that come anywhere close to landing. But it doesn’t harm the characters or their stories, unlike the rest of the list up to this point

3/10

Oops

This episode is a hard one to place because I consider the first 7 of this list to be bad episodes. Then 8-12 are those that aren’t good with varying scales of enjoyment on my part. However I think Oops is neither good nor enjoyable. But it has some good story ideas that deserve some credit, regardless of how the writing and pacing consistently tries to undermine them.

The scene of Blitz and Fizzarolli in the alleyway is contrived and feels confused, but it does manage to land some points such as Fizz’s insecurity of being owned by his partner (too bad that goes nowhere and is immediately ignored in favor of Fizz NEEDS Ozzie, so essentially ownership is good actually) and Fizz hanging Blitz’s insecurity and guilt over his head.

The forced engagement, rapid fire pacing, and immediate resolution thoroughly dismantles any good points the episode started to set up. I have to admit the animation is pretty solid, people worked very hard on this for less pay than this quality deserves. But this episode struggles to find a place it belongs on my list because. It almost sees the light only to bury its head in the sand writing-wise.

2/10

Unhappy Campers

Unhappy Campers sits in the same pool with Oops and how it is objectively a terrible episode, but the portions involving Blitz and Barbie are genuinely interesting and I think relatively well done when compared to the rest of the season. Millie has some fun moments herself, though the whole portion of the episode surrounding her and Moxxie could have been cut and it would only serve to elevate the material overall. So even if she is the best part of the worst portion of the story, it still isn’t something I deem worth salvaging.

It would have been an excellent 5 minute episode.

2/10

Murder Family

It’s the first episode. It did well reintroducing the characters from the pilot. It had enough intrigue to see where it would go and how it would expand the world and characters. It. Was genuinely fun and impressive for a YouTube animation, with horror notes and black comedy. There was a sense of character that we could maybe get to know over time and see them struggle and change. It started off very superficial, which was fine.

The blank canvas of what could have been.

5/10

Ozzie's (Before season 2)

Having to remember Ozzie’s premiere after an entire season of thinking we were getting to know the characters, their dynamics, personality, wants, etc. So the personality change in Stolas is given more leeway as LooLooLand set up that he really wished he could find love and his wife and daughter leaving has changed his routine to the point he is in a depression. It even seems Stella took the staff with her in the separation and he’s genuinely all alone.

So him sitting in front of a television asking why nobody will love him makes sense and doesn’t feel out of character when given the room to rationalize and try to piece together the character from past instances. Additionally, him becoming overjoyed at Blitz calling him out is just as easy to rationalize away. I recall watching the episode and interpreting that Stolas was needy, desperate and earnest, not for Blitz, but just in general. And Blitz making himself available to Stolas is why Stolas tries so hard to make this pretend date legitimate. It also explains Blitz’s own utter disinterest in the scenario.

Ironically, looking back, Blitz feels like an Audience insert with how utterly confused and dismissive he is of Stolas’ targeted affection. He sees their relationship like the audience does: one of convenience and mutual benefit. Blitz calling Stolas out is him cashin in on this messed up coercive sex deal they have. Him calling Stolas out and using him for his own gains is only seen as fair in his eyes. And Stolas’ attempts to legitimize the date is a continuation of his own hedonistic selfishness. So when Stolas tries to leave Blitz or otherwise removes himself by covering his face, Blitz’s anger and resentment is valid. Because there’s a lot of confusion taking place at the moment, but Stolas is responsible for all of it and instead runs away.

The exact same escapist behavior that ended up with him in bed with Blitz in the first place.

This is all really compelling drama and without the codependent neediness of the second season, it ties together in what feels like a real season finale for the characters. Everything up to now was a prologue, an introduction of the world, characters and conflicts. Ozzie actually took the characters and faced them off against each other directly. Showing all of their worst traits and building more intrigue to Blitz’s past and his relationships. This was an episode of great potential when it was first released.

7/10

Loo Loo Land

I’ll be honest, the more I think on this episode the more I believe its placement is more out of pettiness than actual quality. While a song that made me invested at the time, You Will Be Okay is a poorly written musical song. Specifically in how it fails to actually build on the themes we were having presented. Because if you really listen to it, the song foreshadows how little Stolas actually cares about Octavia.

The only part of the song that builds character is the one when he speaks of how his marriage is cold and loveless and how “all [his] stories have been told, except for one.” Which one would think that untold story has something to do with Octavia. He’s singing the song for her, to her. He’s presumably alluding to the fact that she’s his only joy in life.

But the very next line is talking about Armageddon. Like the end of everything, the death of the universe, some heavenly judgement. That’s why everyone and their off brand YouTube clone was talking about Stolas dying at some point in the series. Because the song fails to adequately communicate the character and his feelings and how that wraps into the plot. It’s a pretty song to the ears, but fails as a musical.

Additionally, I feel I may still have such a soft spot for this episode in how it often contradicts the current direction the story has attempted to go. Details, dialogue, timeline discrepancies, all of that has continued to hinder the second season in trying to retcon the entire story to this lesser version of itself and Loo Loo land as an episode is just so tightly written that it has become a thorn.

All the portions with Blitz and RoboFizz are great. Great character, great foreshadowing (to nothing unfortunately), great pacing. Those scenes have some legitimately funny jokes. Stolas stole the show it seems, much to the series detriment, but the real stellar parts of the episode were for once the actual main character.

6/10

Truth Seekers

This episode would have been my favorite due to Blitz’s bad trip and the animation involved throughout. However, the fact that the show has entirely dropped the relevant and interesting portions of the episode, overused and abused Stolas’ demon design since this episode, and the animators have since been confirmed to not be paid fairly for the work they do, this gets to be number 2.

Like Loo Loo Land, Truth Seekers is a primary source of contradiction in the new direction the story has gone and a constant reminder of how little work has been put into the narrative. It’s one of the strongest episodes of the series as a whole, but it has been almost entirely retconned.

I have seen some mention of the agents returning to the story and if that does come to pass, this will be hilarious in trying to reconcile what parts of Truth Seekers is canon and what isn’t any longer. And the realization that all the best parts are the ones ending up on the cutting room floor.

7/10

Harvest Moon

Striker was an intimidating figure. Genuinely. There was a real sense of weight to this episode in the animation and visual storytelling. It’s a solid episode for what it is and far and above better than even Truth Seekers because it required Medrano and her staff to actually address the episode and make obvious efforts to retcon it. That is how solid an episode this is.

Stolas is not too creepy and dominating, but nor is he seen as the delicate princess who is always crying over some guy who doesn’t return his feelings. He is fun, and it starts the nudge towards maybe something a bit more amicable on Blitz’s end.

Millie absolutely deserved more time for her character seeing as they were staying with her family and she having an episode of standing by her husband and defending her choices in who she loves would have been far more engaging than Murder Family pt. 2, Moxxie lacks confidence and self esteem forever and always.

The song was so inconsequential. It was a funny segue with Striker basically upstaging Moxxie at every turn, but that doesn’t actually go anywhere when in regards to the plot overall.

And Stella putting a hit on her husband, to his face, was hilarious and would have been so interesting to have seen it played more than a joke. Like Stolas knows she wants to kill him, and he is just vaguely fine with that. Maybe thinking his letting her try to kill him would have her stay and not file for divorce. Have it been this macabre comedic sitcom where she’s always trying to kill him and hates his guts for being a subpar husband, but he takes it as some kind of tit-for-tat and plays along with it. She gets to send assassins after him, he gets to have sex with his rugged assassin imp. It’s a ridiculous level of absurdity that still allows for all the characters to be dimensional.

That got a little away from me there. Basically, this episode was the strongest overall. Animation wise, writing wise, story potential wise. This episode is the most solid Helluva Boss episode.

7.8/10

#helluva boss critical #helluva boss critique #vivienne medrano #vivziepop #helluva boss criticism #spindlehorse critical #spindlehorse criticism #helluva boss

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isa-ah · 9 months

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totk

this game would have been so cool if there was any emotional gravity or character complexity at ALL.

rauru is perfect. Sonia is perfect. Zelda is perfect. she has no trauma, she has no complications, no complexes, no flaws for everything she's been through.

even when ganondorf DOES briefly air that rauru has been subjugating and threatening the gerudo, rauru is framed as morally righteous and correct to do so, bc they're "inherently evil."

so ganondorf is evil for evils sake then. he's framed as having no motivation beyond seeking power. he's shown to be ostracized by the other gerudo, too, which like... seems to pull back on the reigns of the gerudo feeling like they have a penance to pay present day. so what's even the point of anything?

at the end of the game Zelda wakes up and doesn't even remember that she committed a forbidden act with life ending consequences. 0 gravity. 0 impact. fix it fic ass ending. stupid

like even ocarina of time Zelda was more interesting. she had flaws, she got her ass kicked sometimes, she ruined links life bc she projected a desire onto him he didn't have. link goes on to deal with termina in a game that is ENTIRELY founded on emotional gravity and consequence, and then he returns to Hyrule where no one knows what he's done or gives a shit and he dies alone and bitter. bc of Zelda's impulsive actions.

even in twilight princess where Zelda has 2 seconds of screen time, she's shown to be struggling under the burden of letting her kingdom fall.

in wind waker, ganondorf has a complex character that delves into how he was trying to save his people after Hyrule pushed them out into the desert where there were no resources and essentially left them to die. his people turned to him and so to try to save them, he attacked Hyrule.

the royal family isn't blameless. in ocarina of time there's a whole dungeon dedicated to the heinous things the sheikah did to their OWN PEOPLE during the civil war, by order of the royal family. links mom died in the civil war. like,

the closest thing I can find to any implications the royal family has been up to some evil shit is the zonai style "gerudo cemetery" beneath arbiters grounds. which, in twilight princess, was where Hyrule sent prisoners to be executed and exiled, and was likewise in the gerudo desert where...... no gerudo people were left. likely bc the royal family had set up a direct pipelines from the gerudo with no resources, to thieves, to taking a gerudo structure hostage and using it to "punish" them.

so where. was the gravity. this game felt more like Hyrule royal family propaganda, so to speak, than anything interesting about the world or characters.

like .. AM I WRONG...

#no proof reading. send post

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brandnewhuman · 1 year

Text

KAMSKI'S

DEVIANCY

STORY

∆ headcanons ∆

STARRING:

- my new favourite traumatised gen Z man -

(honorary mention to Gavin Reed and his aggressive gremlin vibe)

CONTENT:

Tw: childhood trauma, talks of abusive parents and implied nasty accidents, drug abuse, angst so much angst and no fucking comfort.

Summary: just me and my nasty little thoughts on how our brosky grow up

A/N: OFC I COME BACK WITH A POST AND THE FIRST THING I DO IS ANGST. I got too carried away with this stuff and i ended up deciding on maybe doing a part two if anyone would be interested. And yes, I didn't wait for the poll to be over cause I can already see this was everyone's favourite choice. IM ACTUALLY KIND OF NERVOUS CAUSE ITS BEEN SOME TIME SINCE I'VE POSTED SO HAVE FUCKING MERCY BROS anyway enjoy

///

This man as well as Gavin has a really big trauma baggage going on

I genuinely think that the Elijah we see in the game, while not entirely good with high morals like Connor, is not as bad as everyone is making him to be

He is the definition of fake it till you make it when it comes to confidence

I'm like 109% sure Elijah's family used to struggle with money or they never had to worry about it

there's no in between

I base that on the reason he "left" (mf was booted out of his own fucking company lol) cyberlife

Which btw, leading a whole fucking company when you're still a teenager wasn't fun, 0/10, he would not recommend

He has been taken advantage of in the most horrid way possible and I think that's why he is now that type of person who never does something for nothing

He has never shown an interest on making his creations for the sole purpose of profiting from them as much as he can

He has always wanted to do much more even at cost of not getting any financial benefit from it

That says two possible things

He has seen the effect money has on people and hates the idea of turning out to be money hungry like his parents, sacrificing something much more important and dear to him just for the sake of money

Which can come from either his parents pushing him so much just because they knew he was their only chance to get a the life they wanted and the sort of money they struggled to make

Or because he has seen how his family has ruined lives or relationships for the sake of keeping their high quality life and how they have pushed that idea onto Gavin and him too which ended up in Gavin not being looked after most of time since he was not fitting their standards of heartless high achiever from whom they could get something too

I would probably tend to believe more the poor background because of how Elijah presents himself

He's very laid back even tho he has the means to be more fancy

The few things ones see of his house during the game makes me believe that he's not very much into opulence but more in indulging himself with stuff he gets joy from rather than spend money on things that show off his wealth

And because I want to, like as a treat to myself

MOVING ON

I've already said it but I'll mention it again for context purpose

Gavin and Elijah are siblings. I know many in the fandom say they might be cousins but I like the siblings idea more

or it could be full siblings but because Gavin resents Elijah he just changed his last name so he wouldn't have to be associated to him or his family

Either way they don't get along anymore because how their parents treated them which is why they grow apart

They were not the type of parents who physically abuse but they did emotional abuse their kids

Gavin and Elijah were put against each quite a lot and they never got the chance to fucked up or do what they really wanted cause they parents made it very clear that their love and affection depended on how much the kids met their standards

And even between each other they weren't the best example as either adults, a couple or parents

Which ended up making Elijah's social interactions and relationships very difficult

I can see Elijah being one of those really delicate and surprisingly sensitive kids growing up

Like I feel like he had struggled a great deal with regulating how much and how often he showed emotions and because of that he got bullied a lot

LIKE HE WAS THE TYPE OF KID TO ALWAYS BE SO EXCITED WHEN TALKING ABOUT STUFF HE LIKED OR ALWAYS READY TO GIVE HUGS TO ANYONE

Which ended up in either getting his feelings crushed by people telling him he was annoying or not even listening to him at all

The only person who always had the patience and the willingness to match his energy when it came to certain things was Gavin

They absolutely defended each other at school even tho Elijah almost always ended up eating shit because he wasn't as strong as he thought himself to be

Bro got his physical demonstration of affection bullied out of him cause kids are cruel, adults are shit and my man here didn't stood a fucking chance

IN FACT i bet he got to a point where it genuinely weirded out when his parents tried to hug him or touch him in general cause he already learn that wasn't "their thing"

I truly believe he didn't always give a single flying fuck about androids and being a scientist in general

I bet he wanted to do something more artistic as a kid and he was very good at it but his parents always told him that being an artist is not a real job and it's a useless hobby because it doesn't gives you anything to live of from

So he just like kind of made being extremely good at school his whole personality

Like he altogether stopped having any type of hobbies ecc and if he did he just forced himself to not indulge in them

Which ended up in isolating him even more from other kids

He was basically already an adult when he was supposed to just be a kid and have fun

And obviously,besides Gavin, no one really understood him

He was too emotionally stunted for kids to relate or interact with him and adults were just overall condescending with him

The only time teachers or other adults noticed him was because of his academic results

It was Gavin who accidentally planted in him the idea of creating his own friends

Gavin loved to read classics and that's a hill I'm willing to die on

He stopped because when he started working he didn't had time

Elijah's enjoyed reading too which, again, was Gavin's doing

His favourite book was obviously Frankenstein

Which btw the Frankestein shirt he wears in the game? That's 100% Gavin's gift and he wears it as some sort of lucky charm

That was the one he used to borrow more frequently from Gavin

The thing went more or less like this

They both were arguing about whether or not the doctor went too far with certain things and, most importantly, if the creature did really deserve to live or not

Obviously Elijah took the side of the monster and Gavin said that of course he was siding with the creature since he did too acted always like he has been alive for like two days instead of 13

Which lead to Gavin making a reference to bicentennial man

Which he didn't understand cause he has never saw that movie before

One thing lead to another and Gavin made Elijah watch the movie which was what sparked the idea of androids in Elijah

YES, HE WAS INSPIRED BY THAT MOVIE AND NOT I ROBOT. THAT MOVIE WAS ABSOLUTELY HEARTBREAKING AND IT'S WAY BETTER ROBOT REPRESENTATION THAN I ROBOT

At that point Elijah was already like a fucking genius and was way ahead his grade even tho he didn't think until then what career he wanted to pursue

The problems between him and Gavin were already starting cause their parents started to notice how smart was Elijah compared to Gavin

At first he thought it was unfair to him because they didn't let him have fun or go out like Gavin

They pushed him to his limit and there have been a couple of incidents where, if it wasn't for Gavin that cared for his well being despite what was going on, elijah would've ended up really bad

then he started to notice how it was unfair to Gavin as well

because they were actually just not giving a flying fuck about what he did since it wasn't important anymore

It made him sick with guilt to see how their parents were visibly struggling to even do the bare minimum as parents when it came to gavin

And Elijah was already starting to have other type of troubles

being that young and skip grades where you ended up in a class full of older people wasn't the best and he did start to take very poor decisions just to make himself liked

It was some sort of silent rebellion too

He started taking drugs which initially were meant to just help him show his classmates he was "mature" enough

And then he just started to need them to power through everything he needed to do

He was so hellbent on his idea of creating a sentient being that could emulate humans if not perfectly even better that he didn't even care what he had to do in order to achieve it

And at that point both Gavin and Elijah hated their parents so he had no problems in using their "help" to get what he needed

I personally believe, like I said in the other post, that something really fucked up happened between Gavin and Elijah which resulted in a major fallout between them

Maybe it's because lately I've been thinking about hereditary (idk why since I have never seen the movie but whatever man) and the fact that I've seen the parents go batshit crazy because the son accidentally killed her sister (?)

BUT I'M UNFORTUNATELY HAVING THE WORST IDEA EVER

Elijah's parents are overprotective with him not out of love but out of interest cause exploiting your kid is always a great family bonding activity to choose

And they try to keep him and Gavin as apart as possible cause they think Gavin would "ruin" him and his future with his influence

So I feel like Elijah was pestering Gavin to sneak out together and do some cool teenager stuff he didn't get to do before as an attempt to bond with his bro again

Elijah was high as kite and that mixed with stupid teenager ideas and reckless rebellious teenage behaviour doesn't mix well

Long story short Elijah and Gavin got into a pretty bad accident and Gavin (fortunately or unfortunately depending on the point of view) got out of it without much harm

But Elijah did got pretty fucked up bro NGL

I can see how that, the fact that Elijah was not there to testify the fact that Gavin didn't do anything wrong and that it wasn't his fault, and the doctors finding traces of drugs in Elijah system obviously didn't ended up well

You can imagine their parents reaction

That was the point where I think Gavin broke off contact with his family completely and just got the fuck out of there

Like I said I can imagine Elijah carrying the guilt for the rest of his life and has never actually had the courage to try and contact Gavin after that

THERE'S SO MUCH MORE I WANT TO SAY BUT I FEEL I MADE THIS TOO LONG SO YEAH

#elijah kamski #elijah kamski dbh #elijah kamski headcanon #dbh fandom #dbh headcanons #detroit become human fandom #detroit become human headcanons #dbh fanfic #elijah kamski fanfic #neil newbon #detroit become human #detroit become human fanfic

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league-of-sam · 10 months

Text

Catching A Ghost | Simon 'GHOST' Riley

Ghost x Reader

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Simon 'GHOST' Riley x AFAB!Reader!OC 18+ MINORS DNI! t.w // angst, mental health, language, violence, death, sexual themes/SMUT, military inaccuracies, language inaccuracies (google translate).

Catching A Ghost: Masterlist

You bounced your leg the entire journey, so much so that Ghost had made several comments about you shaking the car so much that you were giving him motion sickness.

But you were nervous, going into a public place without the protection of your mask, your face in full view of everyone – a room full of the known enemy.

Soap had placed a comforting hand on your knee, which helped a little, but not enough.

When you pulled up to the venue, your jaw dropped.

It was beautiful; a grand mansion in the middle of Las Almas. White, marbled walls and stair cases, spotlights all the way up to the golden double doors. The place was trawling with masked security holding a magnitude of automatic weapons.

"Fucking hell..." you whispered, grabbing onto Soap's hand tightly.

"Hey, we're gonna be fine, pet."

Ghost turned from the front seat, leaning in to the two of you.

"Here are your comms, don't let anyone see."

You took the first, slipping it into your hair covered ear, Soap following your actions.

"6-2, checking in." you mumbled.

"7-1, checking in."

"Shadow 1 reading you loud and clear. Let's do this." Graves answered.

With one final nod from Ghost, you and Soap exited the vehicle, and his arm tightly wound around your waist as you ascended the steps to the doors.

Time to put on a show.

Wordlessly, you handed the doorman your invitation, Soap squeezing your side tightly as the two guards shamelessly took in your appearance.

"What is your purpose here?" they asked, patting the two of you down.

"My name is Natalia Belyaev, I am the daughter of billionaire investor Dmitri Belyaev." you said in your perfect accent, eyes narrowing as the man in front of you stooped down to pat your legs.

"So, I suggest you take your hands off my ass before I have you shot against a post."

"Easy, Reaper." Ghost chuckled into the comms, "Let's not massacre just yet."

"My apologies, miss."

The grand doors opened, revealing a reception room full of people, dressed to the 'nines. You recognised some of the people there, having seen many of their faces on various terrorist watchlists.

"6-2 to 0-7, there are hundreds of wanted terrorists here."

"Stay on target, Price. We've got 'em."

"Thermal imaging and software ready to go for the signal." Graves said.

Moving elegantly around the room on Soap's arm, you faked pleasantries with many, enduring the disgusting flirting with most of the men in the room. The two of you observed for well over an hour before locating any sign of the office.

As you chugged down your fourth glass of Champaign, desperate to calm your nerves, Soap moved in front of you, pulling you flush against his chest, lips grazing your ear.

"Soap what the fuck-"

"Voice down, the guy in the corner won't stop watching you."

Sure enough, when you embraced Soap to get a good look over his shoulder, there was a man, eyes locked on you.

"Are you made?" Ghost said, with what sounded like concern.

"Negative, just think he might be interested in our little assassin here."

Soap didn't let you go just yet, feeling a little apprehensive and protective, which gave you an unsuspicious opportunity to examine that side of the room. The man locked eyes with you, giving you a nod, before raising his head to look up at the balcony.

You followed his gaze, seeing a set of marble stairs, cut off with a red rope. At the top, two armed guards stood, and a door sat to their left.

The office.

"It's Ale's informant. Laswell must have told him what I'd be wearing."

"Are you sure?" Ghost asked.

You rolled your eyes, "Well he's just shown me where the office is, so I'd say I'm pretty damn sure, L.T."

"Graves, get ready on that hacking device." Soap instructed, not waiting for a response before guiding the two of you closer.

As you approached the staircase, the guards pointed their guns at you, muttering that the floor was off-limits to guests. Issuing a flirty apology, you walked away, being sure to swing your hips dramatically.

At that moment, the band began playing, and the floor cleared. A quick, Spanish beat was being plucked. Around the room, men picked up women, bringing them into the space, locking you and Soap right in the middle.

They were playing the fucking Tango.

People began dancing around you, dipping, twirling, moving rapidly to the beat. You and Soap looked at each other, seeing no way off the dancefloor.

"Shit! Do you dance?" you whispered, standing close.

"I'm from Scotland!"

"What, they don't have dancing in Scotland?"

"Steamin' jesus, don't fuckin' tell anyone about this."

"About wha-"

Before you could protest, Soap dipped you down, bringing your leg up to his hip delicately. His eyes never looked away from your shocked ones as he gracefully threw you around the dancefloor.

Ghost, confused, watched from the small tablet in his hand. He could see Soap tossing you around like a ragdoll to the music.

"Ya need to get up to that fuckin' office, I've been sat here for over an hour."

"Well, we need a distraction!" you pleaded.

"Then make one."

You growled, frustrated with Ghost's impatience and complete unwillingness to be useful.

In all honesty, with most of the guests dancing, it was a pretty big distraction. The only problem was the armed guards at the top of the stairs. That was, until Alejandro's informant ran over to them.

You couldn't quite hear what he said, but he spoke in such frantic Spanish that the two guards sprung into action, following him through the room. As he passed the two of you, he shot you a wink, and you took that as opportunity to go.

"This is 6-2, it's go time."

Rushing up the stairs with Soap on your tail, you burst into the room, slipping off your heels as you hopped to the desk.

Soap closed the door, locking it and then wedging a chair under the handle. Looking out the window, he saw commotion on the dancefloor, with Alejandro's informant pointing to someone. He watched in horror as the man he pointed to was thrown violently over the table, punch and glass going everywhere.

"Okay, we got about 5 minutes before someone comes a'knockin."

"Shit." you pulled the memory stick out of your shoe, "Graves, I need you. Start now!"

"On it, darlin'."

You sat on the seat, Soap leaning over you as you watched the computer light up, black screen with rolls and rolls of green code flashing.

"Alright, stick it in."

You did as told, shoving the memory stick into the port, "Okay, go!"

"Initialising data transfer."

A green bar appeared, indicating that the transfer had began. There was nothing you and Soap could do now but wait.

"Ghost? You still got eyes on us, right?" you asked.

"Affirm."

"So, you saw Soap do the Tango?" you smirked, looking up at him.

"I did."

"You recorded it to show everyone else, right?"

There was no silence for a moment, until a low chuckle came through the comms, "Fuck yeah I did."

You burst into giggles, Soap groaning in embarrassment.

But that was cut short.

The thumps of boots could be heard on the step, and with swift movement, Soap was peering out of the window.

"Fuck! They're coming!"

You turned back to the computer, leg bouncing as the number went up slower, and slower...

94%...95%...96%...97%

"It's not gonna be done in time!" you exclaimed running a hand through your hair.

The guards were mere steps away now. You looked around panicked, while Soap moved the chair from the handle. You heard mumbles from outside, one of the guards saying that he'd heard movement.

98%.

"Do you trust me?" Soap said, pulling you up.

"Yes?" you said, confused.

99%.

"S'good. I'm really sorry for this."

You looked at him, but before you could utter a word, his hands slid around your waist, slamming your body into his, and his lips fell on yours.

Oh no. Oh fucking no.

Despite yourself, and what ever the fuck you were feeling for Ghost, you knew Soap's thinking was quick, and might actually work.

You threw your arms over his shoulder, deepening the kiss, sliding your leg through the elegant slit on your dress and up his body, sitting it above his belt. It was heated, Soap's hands running all over your body as you clutched at his clothes, and you could feel your face burn, knowing most of the squad could both see and hear you.

The door was being banged on, every boom making your body jump.

"S'alright, this'll work." Soap mumbled into your mouth.

"It fucking better."

The lock shattered, making the door swing open to reveal the two guards from before. The light from the hall shined into the room, illuminating you and Soap.

In that position, it was no secret to what you were supposed to be doing. Your face was flushed, hair messy. Deep red lipstick was smudged around both your mouths.

Yeah, if you walked in on this, you'd be walking straight out, blushing.

"100%. Get the hell outta there." Graves said in your ear.

"Oh, my, so sorry. How embarrassing!" you said, clambouring off of Soap.

You reached behind you, yanking the memory stick out, and ran around the room to put your shoes back on.

Pulling your dress down, you stumbled over to the guards, who were stiff with shock.

"I am so sorry," you flirted, pushing your breasts together, "me and my bodyguard, well, you know how it is. We just needed a little privacy."

"I-it's quite alright, Miss Belyaev. Please, go." one stuttered out, moving to let you pass.

"Why thank you, boys. Such gentlemen." you said, tugging at their collars, your fingers lingering.

"If you'd like a reward, come and find me later." you winked, passing them by.

Soap grabbed your hand, yanking you down the steps, leaving the guards blushing messes from your proposition. He held you close, wiping his face on his sleeve.

"Christ, (Y/N), did ye have to wear so much lipstick?"

"No one told you to kiss her, sergeant." Graves voice came, not hiding his anger.

The two of you snorted, walking with a quickened pace to get out of the building as soon as possible. With a quick scan of the room, you could see that Alejandro's informant was nowhere to be seen.

Back in the car, Ghost was white-knuckling the tablet so hard, he thought he might break it.

What the fuck was that?

His breathing was heavy and irregular, his heart beating out of his chest. He wanted to shoot Laswell for insisting on thermal imaging capture. He didn't need to see that. He didn't need to see his, well, the closest thing he had to a best friend all over girl he had feelings for.

The first girl in over ten years to break through his barrier.

Luckily, he didn't need to distract himself, as around 6 armed guards jogged past the window.

Right.

Professional.

"Soap, somethin's going on. Get out o' there."

"We're coming, L.T. 30 seconds away."

Ghost looked out of the window to see you and Soap hand in hand, bombing it down the steps. You were barefoot, tossing the heels aside as you clutched the memory stick.

His heart lurched up into his chest as the doors burst open, and the popping of gunfire polluted the air. You had screamed, dropping to the floor, Soap throwing his body on yours as the two of you rolled down the last few steps.

Alejandro's car screeched to a halt behind, Rudy jumping out to throw Soap into the car before they sped off.

Ghost swung open the door, shooting three of the guards down before picking you up, and tossing you into the back seat before climbing in himself, and stepping on the pedal.

"Are you hit?"

"N-no, I'm good." you panted, fear in your eyes.

"Get changed, they're following." he said, tossing a duffel at you.

You frantically zipped it open, pulling out the contents - boots, trousers, shirt, knife. Not even bothering to cover yourself up, you did your best to get changed as Ghost sped through the back lanes of Las Almas.

Lights flashed behind, and a scream ripped through you once again as bullets littered the car, shattering the glass.

"I can't lose 'em, we're gonna have to run for it!"

"What? We have no defence!"

"Just fucking do it!"

With that, Ghost rammed the car through an opening in the woods, throwing you into the door with a hard slam. The car bounced over downed trees, speeding through the greenery until Ghost stopped the car, hopping out and running to your side.

"C'mon, we gotta go." he said, hands dragging you from the car.

You were barely upright before he was pulling you deeper into the woods. You reached into your ear to communicate with the team, only to find it empty.

Shit.

You were completely alone in this now.

The car got smaller as you rushed through the woods, Ghost occasionally looking back to make sure you were following, and to shoot bullets past you at the men who'd managed to stay on your trail.

He had to keep you alive.

No matter how conflicted his heart was, you had to live.

You just had to.

#simon ghost riley #simon riley #task force 141 #ghost mw2 #ghost cod #ghost fanart #call of duty #cod mw oc #cod mw2 #cod mwf2 #callofduty #gaming #cod mw19 #captain price #john mactavish

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starsarefire824 · 1 year

Note

What do you think about people saying that Will's arc will be him accepting Mileven and move on? I mean he already accept Mileven and he think Mike will never love him back so how people think that this will be his storyline? Most people think that Will love for Mike was introducing just because for Will character and not for byler endgame. But why he is the only one with 0 romance when even Robin will get her girl?

Hey there anon! I completely disagree with people who think that Will’s arc was supposed to be an unrequited love story and that his main purpose in season 4 was to help Mike express his feelings for El. Will is an extremely unreliable narrator in season 4, and anything he says about El and Mike imo should be taken with a grain of salt. Yes, he is convinced that El and Mike are in love and should be together, but what scenes are we shown that prove this to be true? El has similar things in her storyline where she’s unreliable because in her letter she lists off a bunch of things and then as she’s saying it we are shown that in reality it’s the exact opposite.

If Will’s feelings for Mike were taken on more directly in season 2 and 3 and there was some sort of build up for it being unrequited going into season four than I would say yes, that is what they are going for. But that’s not what is being presented to us. What we are given instead is a character who’s love has been very very slowly unveiled over multiple seasons and for most of the series hidden in subtext. Season four is the most obvious they have been with it and even then Will’s confession is veiled. You’re telling me that the writers have been building these romantic feelings up for Will and also the character he’s in love with is one of the main characters and that there won’t be any significance to it in season 5? Why even write it that way? If you wanted Will as a canonically gay character, but not have it be apart of the main plot, then have him fall in love with a new character introduced either in season 3 or 4? Don’t have him fall in love with a person that’s apart of the main couple of the show and then also show that couple not connecting and put a huge strain on their relationship.

I also think that it’s interesting that Will is the only character in the entire show that hasn’t had some sort of romance plot. Unrequited love is not romance, it’s just another way to torture a character who’s already been relentlessly tortured. It’s already been said that Will will be one of the main focuses of season 5 and that it will be addressing head on his coming of age and his connection to the supernatural. It’s not going to be about M*leven in season 5.

Will’s love is selfless and real. He tells Mike about El because, well, no 1. it’s that he can’t say it as himself, and no 2. it’s that he loves Mike so much that he is willing to sacrifice his own feelings and his own happiness if that’s what Mike needs. Even though, what we are shown is that that isn’t necessarily the case. I think every little thing revolving around the veiled love confession is deliberate. They wouldn’t have written Mike directly responding to Will’s feelings and that being, along with encouragement from Will, the only thing that helps him get the words out. The monologue wouldn’t have felt so painful, and there would have been an intimate romantic moment or some kind of heart to heart with El and Mike in the epilogue. But there wasn’t? Instead, we got another Will x Mike heart to heart?

I firmly believe that Mike and Will were in the California plot strictly for everything to be able to happen with Vecna and the rest of the gang in Hawkins. They needed Mike and Will out of the way. I think that they really are going with the love that everyone thought would save the world actually didn’t, but that there is still a love that’s been under our noses this whole time that still could.

I think that El is meant to have her independence and love for herself and carve a place in the world for her. One where she doesn’t feel like a monster, one where she isn’t being influenced by anyone and where she can finally be free of all the pain and trauma of her past. Her greatest love was never meant to be Mike. It was her self this whole time.

Will on the other hand, needs the love from Mike. Will needs Mike in the way that he needs to be needed, and I firmly believe that season five will no longer be hiding Byler in veiled love confessions and subtext in. I think Will finally having the love that he’s always desired and finally having that place (with Mike) where he feels like he belongs will be something that directly relates to defeating Vecna for good.

#this was a long winded way to say this but whatever #byler #the show doesnt make sense unless mike and will thing is addressed head on #will wasnt created to prop up mike and elevens relationship #and its been shown time and time again that Mike and Will give each other what they have been asking for this whole time #mike just isnt aware of it yet and will cant comprehend that mike would love him back #both are wrong #and all three are unreliable narrators

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carebooks · 1 year

Text

so i watched the School for Good and Evil

ya’ll should know that i’ve never once touched the books, i am going into this blind and just wanna see how the movie does, as a prolific movie watcher and just that

right off the bat, i see we got JESPER FROM SHADOW AND BONE I LOVE THIS DUDE;

so they’re brothers, vv cool, oh is the Red one the evil one? yep i was right

it’s weird bc they’re brothers played by the same guy yet he just has great chemistry with himself

also, the mood just flipped from 0 to a 100 real quick, what just happened

i feel like they should’ve shown us them being brotherly and having arguments and maybe see Rafal slowly get angrier at his side always losing, bc really there was no way to see it coming. i could’ve done with a quick montage of them running the school and him growing angrier

“i prefer chaos” me too but could we get more reasons as to this whole thing other than just ‘evil’ ?

oh damn, the bad one died, i thought it would’ve been the opposite way

(but he aint really dead right? i mean)

so both girls are just hated on by the town, i can see them taking revenge together, lets all choose evil hm?

Aggie and Sophie Forever? *cough* gay

love that they just dont give a shit about what the peoples say; like insults thrown they just fly past them

Sophie just Rapunzeled this creep with a frying pan, im loving her, if i could i would choose violence too babe

“I seriously doubt there are any decent people in Gavaldon.” me too babe

so Sophie wants to get out and doesnt wanna settle for an ordinary life, why not just move in with Aggie and live out your happy lives together?

i wonder if we’ll see what happened to Leonora

so everyone ends up in the water when they get to their school? that’s a way to arrive

WOW i love the werewolf guard

“God I hate move-in day.” why do i vibe with this canine dude so much

i love that there’s a tower between the two schools, wonder what happens there

oh so Hort is Captain Hook’s kid. huh.

Tedros has got nothing on Eugene Fitzherbert

Tedros is King Arthurs kid? hm. better luck next time.

OH HE LOST HIS ARM I LOVE IT

THERE’S SOME ACTUAL DISMEMBERMENT HERE

oh hey its older Rhain, i love the actor’s work on Blackish

i mean hey look on the brightside, you got your own room to yourself

oh those bitches locked you up come on guys

if i were you i would’ve switched clothes, scaling a balcony in a dress cant be easy

whats with the creepy Cupid

WHY WOULD YOU SHOOT YOUR STUDENTS WITH ARROWS IF THEY WERE ON THE LEDGE

SOPHIE TURNING THE KNIFE ON HER WAS SO FUN

IS THAT OLIVIA RODRIGO’S BRUTAL YES

so if you can’t get a prince then you’re destined to end up as an anthropomorphic kitchen object or an animal?

what the actual fuck.

please tell me this entire school structure gets redone in the end

Hort has the makings of a good henchmen once Sophie gets more of a handle on her boss side

Gregor is a guy i can vibe with

idk who that random guy was with Sophie kissing him but he just made me laugh

Sophie growing into her evil side is showing and im liking it

Tedros and Aggie have a fun dynamic, hopefully he doesnt disappointment

again, i’d love it if both girls go for Evil

they talked about how Good and Evil are not really balanced, haven’t been for 200 years, so it’d be interesting if both of them go for Evil (even thou im pretty sure thats not where its gonna go)

imagine hearing your son got killed in school, damn, bye Gregor

how is this side of the school truly good if this is what you do to kids that fail?

OH MY FUCK ITS THE MONSTROUS NIGHTMARE FROM HTTYD I LOVE IT

not Rafal coming in and telling everyone Sophie’s a badass

ugh, Lesso had a thing with Rafal? i was counting on her and Dovey having a secret thing

oh fuck, that’s so sad, oh she let this little girl be free, holy shit that’s epic and sad and just damn, i loved it

whats with the big bird, what’s his problem now??

i like that Dovey is very aware of how fucked up the other princesses are about being ‘good’ and recognizes that Agatha actually is good, paralleling how Sophie is actually evil

the Nevers are some sadistic little freaks huh? i get it

Sophie’s in her villain era and im not sorry about it

Sophie said villains can be hot too

i miss Gregor

why do i kinda ship them? Tedros and Sophie? like they’re not exactly in it for like the deep stuff, you can tell it was more of an appearance based relationship with Sophie having him think she’s truly Good, etc. and considering how he’s been so far tells you what kinda prince he is so really they’re kinda perfect for each other.

ya’ll really wanna risk death outside the gates for each other? i mean Sophie, he’s pretty and Tedros, you talked to her like twice, one time she shot correctly so i mean, how well do you know her that you wanna be together?

Anemone was demoted to beautification? so legit EVERYONE here knows how badly the Good School has fallen, hot damn

OH Lesso was Leonora, fun

YO SOPHIE FLIPPING THE SCHOOLS WAS GENIUS I LOVE THAT

while i dont vibe with the whole thing that this immortal who knows how old man seeks out his true love in Sophie, who im pretty sure is liks 16 or 17 or smth, i love how he corrupted good

BC IT MAKES SENSE

HAVING THE GOOD SIDE BE ABOUT GIRLS PRACTICING THEIR SMILES, REWARDING THEM FOR THEIR REVENGE IN THE END, STUDENTS WHO FAIL THREE TIMES GET BOOTED, GOOD BECAME JUST AS BAD IT’S SO SUBTLE AND IT WORKS

ok but i kinda love that the girls parallel the brothers from the beginning

#the school for good and evil #tsfgae #sge #sge movie #sge netflix

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desmondkane-of-ao3-fame · 1 year

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whats so bad about gus's plot in through the looking glass?

Well, I wouldn’t say it’s the worst thing in the show, but I do have a few problems with it. Mainly…

THE THREE BIG PROBLEMS WITH GUS’S PLOT IN LOOKING GLASS

1. The Opening Scene

If you’re going to be a writer, word of advice: Don’t start your story with the characters talking about the inciting incident that happens offscreen. It’s not exciting or interesting, and it sets a very bad tone for the rest of the story.

The opening literally breaks the textbook definition of show, don’t tell. Instead of showing Gus trying to help Willow with the pixies and his illusions causing them to attack her, we’re told that’s what happens, which makes the event feel less significant and real to your audience. It’s the difference between something like, say, hearing about a murder by accidentally eavesdropping on two people and seeing one; the former makes the audience feel detached from the event and uninterested, while the later makes the event more visceral and real. If we saw Gus trying to help Willow using an illusion, and then saw the pixies attack her, then you have a solid action-based opener that can help showcase just how bad it must have been. But instead, we get Luz just asking him about it, and it both has less of an impact and sets a bad precedent for the rest of the episode.

2. Willow… Really Doesn’t Matter Here

Maybe I’m stupid and this has been confirmed already, but maybe part of the problem was that Tati Gabrielle, Willow’s VA, was busy with another project? That would certainly explain why she plays virtually 0 role in season 2A, even when her being hurt is meant to be the inciting incident of an episode.

Gus and Willow are supposed to be the best of friends, thick as thieves, outcasts united. Before Luz came along, they seemed to be the only friends the other had, and in later episodes like *sighs* Any Sport in a Storm, he’s clearly protective of her. So you’d think if he led to her getting hurt so much that she ended up in a cast, he’d spend the entire episode trying to help her: he’d be by her side the entire time, doing everything he could to make her time in a cast as painless as possible.

Instead, he just kinda mopes around feeling sorry for himself, and sends little illusions to help her? And it’s not like Willow getting hurt is important to the rest of the episode: After this scene, Willow isn’t seen or even mentioned again. You could have made it Ed or Em who got hurt and it would have mattered as much. Which is to say... barely at all. It cheapens Willow and Gus’s relationship a little, and makes me question why even bother with this plot point in the first place since she’s completely fine next episode? If you want to go with the ‘Gus feels bad for being an Illusionist’ route, have it be he screwed up an illusion in class that hurt one of the student’s there. Heck, if you insist on not showing the inciting incident, you could do the Illusion class idea, but have Willow be the one who tries to chear up Gus instead. Even if she didn’t show up for the rest of the episode, it at least would be a positive display of their friendship, and doesn’t involve Willow getting hurt to justify a plot to help another characters story arc again *cough cough* Understanding Willow *cough cough*.

3. Gus’s Whole ‘Wanting to Use Other Magic’ Arc Feels... Fake.

Luz’s expression here is mine everytime I think about Gus’s arc.

This, I think, is the biggest problem with the storyline: At its core, Gus’s sudden self-loathing and feelings that Illusion magic aren’t good enough seems to come out of nowhere. I get what they were going for: Gus hurt his friend, and now he wants to try to distance himself from the thing he did that hurt them. Ok, cool. But even if we saw the full event that led to Willow getting hurt, and even if Willow being the one to get hurt really mattered, Gus suddenly feeling bad about doing Illusions would feel out of left field. He’s never shown any sort of distrust or frustration with Illusions that wasn’t outside a one-off joke, and even then it isn’t often. It feels especially weird because the episode seems to muddle Gus’s reasoning for why he’s feeling this was about Illusion magic in the first place: at first, it’s ‘He hurt Willow and he feels bad about it,’ but when the Glandus crew gets involved, it seems to shift into ‘Gus thinks Illusion magic is weak,’ which is such a dumb idea since Gus’s illusions have always been presented as incredibly strong. It feels like his reasoning is too muddled and confused to make sense.

(Also, if his problem was ‘Willow got hurt,’ why does he not consider... you know, learning Healing magic? A thing that would have maybe helped Willow?)

If I had to put on my tin-foil hat, I’d suspect Gus wanting to do different forms of magic is an idea that was originally meant to be expanded on had the show gotten a full season 3: Perhaps he and Matt would join together to dual-track as Illusion and Construction students in Hexside. But because they didn’t have the time for that, they settled for making it a one-off episode idea, which I don’t feel really worked for Gus’s character.

These all are issues early on, but they all come together to make the plot feel off, a bit like an afterthought. Which, honestly, given how genuinely amazing the Lumity subplot is in comparison, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case. They put so much effort into writing Luz and Amity as adorably and brilliantly as possible, they sorta forgot to really make Gus’s issues feel like something Gus would actually have, or making the opening scene with him actually set up the conflict in an emotionally impactful way.

To be fair, though, I will give the episode this: Matt, the little gremlin boi, is surprisingly solid.

(And yes, I think Gustholomule is kinda cute.)

#the owl house #toh #through the looking glass ruins #Gus #toh matholomule

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tonyhightower · 1 year

Text

PARIS, FRIDAY: Somebody Please Remove These Cutleries From My Knees

Alright, after this I'll write something other than my personal kvetches, but today is not that day. (If you want to skip my personal health story, go to Part 2.)

PART 1 (CW: My Innards)

Things are possibly looking up.

Yesterday, I managed to get an appointment with a knee specialist who spoke English. Unlike the last guy, I was able to talk with him -- English was clearly not his first language, but his English was definitely better than my French, so we were good, and he was a guy in his 40s who played squash, and he said had the same problem I did at one point.

It's not a ligament problem after all; he thinks it might be the meniscus, folded over on itself inside my kneecap. That's apparently a thing. It certainly would explain the pain.

[The meniscus is a small film of tendon-like material in the knee that sits between the femur (the thigh bone) and the tibia & the fibula (the two shin bones). It's a pretty common issue, and it has nothing to do with running or anything.]

The good news is that it's a quick arthroscopic procedure (pro athletes get it all the time, and they're often ready to play again pretty quickly), and then about three weeks' recovery. I'm probably out for the Paris Half Marathon, but if recovery goes well, and I can train good, I still want to at least give the Paris (Full) Marathon in April a go. It won't be a PR attempt in any way, but dammit, I want to at least do the course.

So, he drew this up (the whole appointment took about 15 minutes), and I was able to get an X-ray appointment that afternoon, and I have an MRI this morning, all set up by myself, online. They literally said "Go find someone close to your apartment. Anyone will do."

The cost so far? (The American in me is fascinated by this. It’s okay, this chapter will be over soon.)

The all-but-useless GP consultation from last week: €25

The initial consultation: €120

The X-Ray: €0

The MRI: €600 (which, um, JEEZUS, but still, (a) that's still a tiny fraction of what it costs in the USA, (b) it's 100% covered & refundable, and (c) once I get a Carte Vitale, I never see these bills in the first place.

It is a torn meniscus. It's fixable. And decades of sticker shock isn't going to go away easily, but I'm starting to be optimistic.

I've shown no ID at any of these places (One place asked to see my passport, but that was only to make sure they spelled my name right on the form.) These charges are all fully reimbursable on our temporary health plan (~$100/month). Once we get our full Carte Vitale into the French Health Care system proper, we won't even see these charges at all.

OK, enough about my health problems. Kvetching about that crap is something old people do, and I'm intimately aware of that. I just always thought, as an American, that it was interesting how little literally everyone else in the world pays for their health care, and now that I have a chance to take advantage of that, I have to at least mention it.

* * * * *

PART 2 (CW: American Health Care System Rant)

I've spent my entire adult life not going to the doctor. Toughing it out. Walking it off. Riding it out. Dealing with pain.

Oh, you have a kidney problem? Have some soup. You broke a bone? Splint it up & lay off it for a few weeks. Slice your hand open with a dull knife? RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Put a bread bag over it when you shower. Hope you didn't cut a ligament, or else congrats, those fingers don't move right no more!

Every (non-rich) American I know, even people with actual health insurance, has these stories. You know at the time how horrifying it is, but you also know that there's no other way to get through it. It's either work it out on your own, or you go into indentured servitude to some hospital's collections department for the rest of your life, simply because you couldn't scotch-tape a popsicle stick (or a pencil, or whatever item's at hand at the moment it happens) to your finger when you accidentally jammed it in a door somewhere.

It's fucking barbaric, and the mass delusion that it's just how things work in America is infuriating.

If I stayed in NYC with this knee thing, I'd have never gotten a diagnosis, certainly never gotten treatment, and I'd probably spend the rest of my life hobbling around, in pain. Certainly, as it turns out, I'd have never run again.

God, just typing that out makes me angry.

If you're going through something like this, I'm so, so sorry. The stories of people buying a plane ticket, dragging their broken bodies to some European country, getting themselves fixed, and then flying home, aren't silly ones. Not only do you actually get what's wrong with you fixed, and for a fraction of what an American hospital would charge you, you get a trip somewhere nice, or at least different.

If you're dealing with a thing, especially something you know is probably fixable, and you have that as an option, I'd honestly recommend it. If not Europe or Asia, then even Canada. You only get one body to go through this life. Do whatever you gotta do to fix it.

The American health care system should not be holding your own body hostage against you.

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musictheory · 2 years

Text

The Rocky Horror MEGA Theory

This is it The Rocky Horror MEGA Theory a compilation of all theories including a few new longer theories and a few notes I’ve picked up about certain songs.

(please note some songs aren't here or have very little analysis as I had little/ nothing to say about that. I’m sorry if I excluded any of your favourite songs.)

Science Fiction Double Feature is the opening song to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Yet the foreshadowing went over my head until my classmate passed this theory onto me. Today we will see Richard O'Brien foreshadowing the entire plot of rocky horror through clever references and

a nod to the classics.

��Michael Rennie was ill the day the earth stood still” Is a nod to the movie The Day The Earth Stood Still where extraterrestrial visitors break havoc on earth as the government scrambles to stop it. This parallels the Transylvanians. Instead of causing catastrophic harm they evoke a social change in society through Brad and Jannet (who are microcosms for 1970s society) and change their perspective of the world by exposing them to the strange and unusual. Alternatively, perhaps this is symbolic of Brad and Jannet's failing relationship and Brad doing little to fix it standing by while his fiance runs into the arms of another man.

“Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear” Is a reference to the superhero Flash Gordon, a Yale graduate who embarks on a mission to planet Mongo, which imposes danger on earth. Is symbolic of Rocky Horror and also gives the musical a cynical structure as it links back to the closing song “superheroes” allowing me to infer when Jannet was talking about “superheroes come to feast” She implied that the sexual experience she had with Rocky is going to be at the four front of her mind for a while.

“At a deadly pace it came from outer space” exposes the plot twist at the end of the movie of the Transylvanians being extra terrestrial. There are countless movies which I could pick on and show the connections to the plot of Rocky Horror but this song shows us we should take nothing we are being shown in Rocky Horror at face value, always analyzing and always inferring. Therefore, Richard O'Brien is one of my favorite composers as he was way ahead of his time and he put quality thought into the world he was creating.

The final quote I want to highlight is “when worlds collide”. Rocky Horror brought out a new side of society, being able to express ourselves freely, not caring about the opinion of most of society focusing on themselves and social change for the future generations where we can be who we are with no scrutiny.

Dammit, Jannet is the first peak we have into Brad and Jannet and shows young romance (statistically going to fail) but here's a few notes.

-Brad is talking about how difficult it was to get to this point. I think this is an early sign of him holding back his sexuality.

-User @pant-lit has full credit to this theory. The Transylvanians are at the funeral home to collect parts for Rocky

-First sign of Jannet not being interested in the relationship being more concerned about the ring and up leveling her friends.

(note one paragraph has been copy and pasted from a prior essay)

Over at the Frankenstein is symbolic of societies progression in the 1970s towards more alternative and sexually liberated life styles and the growing possibility of communities rising out of obscurity and benefiting society as they come to a more liberated views and values.

Late 1960s and the early 1970s undeniably sparked a chain of change for those in the LGBTQ+ community spanning from 1967 where homosexuality was decriminalized in England and Wales.1969 stonewall riots protesting the treatment of members in the USA and Cuba. A year later 1970 the American Psychiatric Association ruled 13-0 that homosexuality should be taken off the list of mental disorders. 15th of August 1975 was the premier of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. First rated 2.5 stars out of 4 from critics. It didn’t become a cult classic straight away, however; it found a place in the hearts of LGBTQ+ members and allies that loved the sexual liberation and the androgyny that the movie brought to the screen. We can credit actors such as Tim Curry and the rock legend Meatloaf and the rest of the cast for the movie's timelessness.

In Janet's verse, Richard O Brian highlights the accepting nature of the LGBTQ+ community and how it creates a change in societal norms by teaching those who are curious. In the first two lines “in the velvet darkness of the blackest night” is a metaphor of pre-1970s society and the republican views it held and the prejudice which it spread causing a community being marginalized from society despite protesting for equality and acceptance. Later in the verse the lines “burning bright, there's a guiding star, no matter what or who you are.” Is valuing the role of the LGBTQ+ community in bringing a new light to society and guiding it into a one of acceptance and love. Alternatively, this is Richard O Brian expressing that Brad and Janet are microcosms for the 1970s society which would allow more analysis of Richard's interpretation of society through character arcs.

In the original, Brad hasn’t got his own verse; however, in many stage plays Brad has the lines “I can see the flag fly, I can see the rain, just the same, there has got to be something better here for you and me.” I won’t go into great detail considering it's not canonical to the original movie adaptation. For the line “I can see the flag fly” I consider this as Frank N Furter's mansions almost being a white flag for Brad and Janet as they surrender their republican views in the benefit of more liberated ones. “Something better for you and me” Is Brad understanding the new society they are going into isn’t going to negatively impact them rather expand their mindset on the world.

Riff Raff verse highlights the breath of fresh air and the metaphorical weight of expectation being lifted off their shoulders. His most notable line is “flow morphia flow”. Morphia was the original name for the common drug morphine now used for pain relief. This is symbolic of Frank N Furter house being a safe place and promoting identity no matter how weird or outlandish.

This song is fundamental for analysis on Richard O Brian's meaning and interpretation on the society around him otherwise the message of the movie wouldn’t be as clear.

Time Warp is one of the most well-known songs to come out of the Rocky Horror Picture Show even a first time Rocky Horror watchers can do a jump to the left and a step to the right. But putting dance moves aside the song shows how the Transylvanians arrived on Earth and the foreshadowing to the backstabbing of Riff Raff and Magenta.

Riff Raff line “I’ve got to keep control” initially read to me as Riff Raff trying to grab Brad and Jannet’s attention however, through my countless re-watches of the movie I’m believing Riff Raff saw Brad and Jannet as a stop to his and Magentas plans. For example, in the film's entirety we can see Riff Raff and Magenta plot with each other through a hand signal they do repeatedly (editor Rez here this may be far fetched but their hand gesture looks like the signal tower at the end of the movie maybe foreshadowing Rocky’s and Franks final moments). We also see them sabotage Frank N Furter's plans letting Rocky go while indirectly stopping Frank from “entertaining” Brad. Another theory I have for Frank N Furter's original mission is to enslave humanity and the reason he made Rocky was to be desirable for all, making it easier for him to manipulate others for the benefit of the Transylvanians. Here, Brad and Jannet would be the test subjects and I believe if Frank wasn’t interrupted his mission would have been successful as he would have blackmail to hold over Brad and Jannet’s making them his new human slaves which could allow him to use them as bate for the rest of humanity.

“The blankness would hit me and the void would be calling” is a reference to the time warp/ Blackhole they traveled through to get to Earth. For example, for around 100 years physicists have known of time warp in fact the space between the Earth and the sun is a sort of time warp. Einstein argued that gravity is the property of curving space and time. Blackholes can dilate time however once you get to the point called the event horizon whatever you brought with you can’t come back. The following line “let’s do the time warp again” shows the Transylvanians wanting to go back but waiting on Franks “audio vibratory physio-molecular transport device” to get them back waiting for him to finish (ha) so they can regain control and go back to Transylvania shooting their matter through space and time.

Another bit of evidence into enslaving humanity is the quote “in another dimension with voyeuristic intention”. Voyeuristic is a word which wasn't priorly in my vocabulary but the definition goes: relating to or denoting sexual pleasure gained from watching others when they are naked or engaged in sexual activity.

Now Columbia's verse is a can of worms. In summary, it explains how Columbia became a groupie for Frank N Furter. “A snake of a guy gave me an evil wink” Could link to the biblical story in the Garden of Eden. God warns Adam and Eve not to take from the tree of knowledge lying to them both saying they would “surely die”. However, the serpent tempts Eve stating “your eyes will be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” Eve eats from the tree and gives some to Adam. God bans them from the garden of Eden. This mirrors what happened to Brad and Jannet, seeing only the good in the world but being exposed to the restricted, increasing their curiosity and changing their life forever. Which makes me think Columbia was a relatively normal person before she got abducted. “time meant nothing never would again” allows us to infer that Columbia can’t remember how long she’s been there falling into a depression as everything gets ripped away from her or time moving differently in the mansion.

Richard O'Brien is a master of foreshadowing. What else could we be missing in his writing?

Frank N Furter has been labelled a gay icon through his disregard for gender norms and the sexual liberty that he spreads to everyone in his presence allowing members of the LGBTQ+ community to take to the streets and be out and proud.

Here’s a few notes I have about Sweet Transvestite:

The candy man that Frank was referencing was a drug dealer. In the 1970s harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin became more popular. The average age of users being 15-35 which we can infer is the age of the characters in the Mansion.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover” is an amazing message to apply to anyone but carries more meaning to Frank N Furter as Brad and Jannet judged him on his sexuality and behavior not sensing stranger danger and made themselves vulnerable.

“You both look pretty groovy,” the sarcasm

“You got caught with a flat” the fact that Frank knows this makes me believe he orchestrated the entire night (except for Eddie as he seemed surprised when he popped out of the freezer) to lure Brad and Jannet in. They evidence this in the quote “maybe the rain isn’t really to blame” hinting to the fact he caused the flat tire somehow.

(This analysis is less lyric by lyric rather than two theories spurred on by this song. And a little head cannon at the end. This theory is rather sloppy and I apologies)

Richard O'Brien's structuring of the Rocky Horror Picture Show allows for the songs to be filled with meaning and comments on the society it is based on. This allows for generations of fans to analyze songs and start discussions. However, Richard may have never intended on takes that fans created and I believe this is going to be one of them. Today I will discuss the concept of imperfection in perfection supported by a centuries old parable on idolisation and seeing things at face value.

The sword of Damocles takes its name from a 45. BC parable. To thoroughly get my future points across I’ll summarize the story and evidence it later.

The story follows the tyrant king Dionysius who had become weary of the evidence he had created for himself. He lived in constant fear only trusting those closest to him. The court flatterer Damocles showered the king with compliments explaining how sublime his life must be. This angered the king and offered him to take his place. The court flatterer agreed and sat on the tyrant's golden throne. All the servants waited for him with gifts of oil and fine cuts of food. He soon looked up and his eyes were met with a razor-sharp sword being hung from the ceiling with a single strand of horsehair. Damocles soon became anxious, understanding the weight of the situation. How can this apply to Rocky? Instead of impeccable wealth Frank has specifically made Rocky to be the “perfect man” being modeled by Charles Atlas the most well-known bodybuilder of the 70s. However, behind the scenes we see Rocky struggle with a form of mental health and being sexualised from birth being seen as nothing more than sexual relief to Frank N Furter. Rocky is the first example of Frank N Furter 2 sidedness.

Based on a few headcanons I believe Rocky was completely aware of why he was created. “I am at the start of a pretty big downer” understanding the rest of his life on being nothing more than a sex slave for Frank.

It is also apparent that Rocky's song is foreshadowing of the rest of the events of the November night. “Someones gonna be cutting the thread” is symbolic of the end of his life. He got the production wrong though but I guess the fling of the RKO radio tower doesn’t roll off the tongue just the same (see I did a comedy).

Head cannon

-I think parts of Eddie's brain was used to make Rocky (hence the scar on his head)

-I don’t think Frank Frankensteined it actually developed a functioning “human'' from baby to now.

-Rocky was Frank's original mission.

(sorry for how short this theory is planning something bigger will make an update later today)

I can make you a man and hot patootie some of my favorite songs however lore wise it is lacking but here are some fun theories.

I can make you a man:

Rocky was modelled from the bodybuilder Charles Atlas working through his dynamic tension course.

“In just seven days I can make you a man” echoes Charles Atlas’ motto however, can also link back to the story of creation. The universe being built in seven days and seven nights.

Also “I can make you a man” is Frank's very subtle way of explaining that he’s going to make him extremely good at sex.

Hot patootie:

“When you dressed up sharp, and you felt alright” differs from the sword of Damocles lyric “I’m dressed up with no place to go”. It would make sense as they both share a half of the same brain.

“Doesn’t seem the same since cosmic light” may be a reference to when he first met the Transylvanian

This is all a love song to Columbia which visibly angers Frank as the attention isn’t on him anymore.

Rocky Horror Picture Show normalised a more sexually active lifestyle and breaking out of traditional values that society expects us to follow. Let’s have a look at the song that allowed the peak of Janet Weiss' character arc.

“I’ve only ever kissed before'' confirmed what everyone in the castle was already thinking. Jannet was a virgin before Frank. “There was no use getting into heavy petting, it only leads to trouble” can be read two main ways. One is that Jannet didn’t have a reason to have sex as through her religious upbringing telling her it only leads to trouble. This “trouble” in this context could indulge in the sin of lust or catching an STD. Or you could interpret it as Jannet not wanting to become pregnant especially with Frank N Furter's baby out of wedlock.

“I've tasted blood and I want more” is a reference to her going head first into her primal instincts to allow her sexual side to seep through. The line “Give yourself over to absolute pleasure” has come to the forefront of Jannet’s mind almost like a devil on her shoulder yet she doesn’t have the willpower to say no.

“I’ll put up no resistance” is Jannet trying to grab a part of her innocence back playing the part of a petite undefended woman. We see Brad do this in Rose Tint My World asking help from his mommy. This reluctance would come full circle in superheroes as they both have to face society with their newfound identity.

The repeating line “creature of the night” at the end of the song is Jannet’s sexual awakening as she wonders what it would be like to have sex with all these different people and enjoying the thought of lust taking over her life.

Eddie’s Teddy:

The repetition of mother in the movie shows there is a sense of innocence in these characters allowing them to be seen as redeemable in the eyes of the 1970s audience.

“Stay sane inside” is Columbia trying to warn Eddie of what’s about to happen to him and trying to get him out as soon as possible

“They mustn’t carry out their evil scheme” tells me everyone in the house knew of Frank’s mission, however if they were to speak out they would use their body for Rocky

Planet Shament Janet is one of the most overlooked songs in the Rocky Horror Picture Show film adaptation but what does it reveal about the plot. It may seem that this song is Frank N Furter insulting Janet’s sexual ability but what if it told you it reveals the Transylvanian's true intentions on Earth or the fragility of Janet’s mental state.

On one hand Planet Shament highlights the desperate situation that Brad, Doctor Scott and Janet are in. Repetition of the line “wise up Janet Weiss” is Frank N Furter truthfully expressing to Janet that the situation she is in is no longer one of sexual liberation rather a circumstance crafted by his own manipulation to aid his true intentions for coming to Earth. In verse 2 Richard uses the lyric “wound up like an e or first string” comparing Janet to the most fragile and on the verge to breaking string on a guitar. In Janet’s character at this point we know she is extremely fragile to the circumstance as she battles away the negative thoughts of being loyal to someone other than Brad along with being on the verge of breaking as her whole sheltered existence has been shattered right in front of her. Alternatively, perhaps this is a criticism of Janet’s naivety and self-centeredness which has been shown in abundance throughout the musical through materialistic and self-indulgent actions.

Yet it also shows the Transylvanians true intentions with the humans. In verse 2 the line “I’ve laid the seed it should be all you need” exposes the Transylvanians goal to replicate human DNA on the planet of Transexual Transylvania and threw assumptions we can infer that they would use them for sexual needs (gruesome i know). We know that Frank was trying to find the secret of life however, his “accident” leads me to believe prior he understood little about human sex cells such as sperm and eggs and their importance on human life. Noticing how he seems to be targeting Janet in this scene allows me to deduce that he’s using Janet's body to carry on his research. Furthermore, in verse 3 the placement of the dialogue is extremely important. I've noticed in many stage places they either do it before the song or not at all. Janet’s dialogue “we’re trapped” followed by Frank's response of “it's something you’ll get used to” emphasizes his intentions with Janet of caging her up like an animal to carry on his lustful experiments.

A small deviation yet the quote “when we made it did you hear a bell ring” Foreshadows the events of the floorshow as Frank's time is limited to do his original mission on Earth.

(sorry this is rather short this song has got quite a few repetitive lyrics, but I tried my best (: )

Tw: abuse (sexual,emotional,physical)

Rose tint my world is definitely one of the most catchy songs but the hidden meaning behind it all shouldn’t go over your head. Through in-depth character revelations to what comes next for Brad and Jannet and we will reveal Columbias descent into utter despisement for Frank.

In rose tint my world Richard O Brian exposes the manipulative nature of Frank N Furter and the pattern of codependent relationships by forcing his victims to be isolated from the rest of society. Columbia steals the first verse in her lines “it was great when it all began”. Through prior character notes Frank is charming and attentive. Many abusive relationships start off with this (note every relationship that follows this will not become abusive this is just how manipulators hook you into their game before it starts). Sociologists argue there are 4 stages of abuse: first tension. With Columbia the tension starts with Eddie joining the Transylvanian group. We know this in the line “First you spurned me for Eddie''. Stage 2 is an incident. Frank definitely disapproved of Eddie and Columbias relationship and understood that injuring Eddie would cause severe emotional trauma to Columbia. This allowed him to keep Columbia under his control through fear while also becoming a sexual manipulator as it implies they have a sexual relationship with eachother while this goes on. Stage 3 is reconciliation; They show this through the house wide rule not to talk about Eddie. The 4th stage is calm which we can infer is from Eddie’s initial “death” and the Transylvanian convention. This repeats itself on the events of the November night.

The second half of her verse starts off with the line “Now the only thing that gives me hope… love of a certain dope.” They imply that the “dope” is a reference to Eddie as we see throughout the film Columbia taking refuge in the memory of Eddie. The norm that Eddie brought to Columbia gave her an accurate view of reality. This is clear in how a mention of Eddie causes Columbia to break away from her normally preppy self. The repetitive line “Rose tint my world keeps me safe from my trouble and pain.” Has similar but different meanings for each character. For Columbia she is choosing to be naïve about the world around her as she no longer has reality to be comforted by.

The next verse is Rocky's where we see the adverse effects of Frank’s hyper sexuality personified. For example, in the lyric “my libido hasn’t been controlled” exposes the instability of pure mindless lust. A lack of personal control causes others to be hurt furthering the point of Frank being a sexual manipulator even going to the whim of building a person to relieve himself. Another notable line is “The only thing I’ve come to trust is an orgasmic rush of lust” highlights how the only constant in Rocky’s life is sexual pleasure caused by Frank sexualising him from the moment he was born. “Rose tint my world keeps me safe from my trouble and pain” in reference to rocky is his childhood naivety rather than shutting out reality like Columbia.

Unlike Columbia and Rocky’s, Brad's verse is not a criticism of Frank rather exploring his sexuality and the problem of accepting himself and his new lifestyle.Brad sings the third verse with the lyrics “It's beyond me”. This could be a subtle nod towards Brad’s sexuality finally understanding its something he can't hide from himself and others somewhat ruling over his life. Contrasting his prior beliefs at the beginning of the film as we can infer that he follows the words of a christian god. In the 1970s religion had a greater effect on society compared to modern times. Furthermore, the lyric “help me mommy” is a plea for his innocence depicting the internal crisis he is now facing. Caught between two mindsets praising his new found freedom while simultaneously shunning himself. We see a sort of resolve to this issue in the quotation “what’s this lets see, I feel sexy!” showing that he doesn’t restrict himself from feeling sexual desire and in the format of the Frank N Furter house he feels safe and excepted. For me the lines “rose tint my world keep me safe from my trouble and pain” (despite him not saying it directly in the song) with Brad is him not wanting to re-enter society as he fears the social repercussions as being a sexually liberated gay/bi man.

Unlike like the other characters (excluding Brad as he had no clear opinion on Frank) Jannet has a positive view of Frank N Furter talking about the sexual freedom she know has access to. In the line “I feel a release” there is no question this is symbolic of the pressure around purity culture falling off her soldiers after having 1 and a half positive sexual experiences (i say this because her relationship with Frank is iffy). In the quotation “Reality is here” rather than mirroring 1975 society is showing how she wants to live her life from now on. Yet for me the closing lines “It's a gas that Franky landed, his lust is so sincere” is the most interesting part of her verse. This contrasts the events of planet shamanett as Frank N Furter openly criticised her and the sexual interaction they had with each other. Jannet’s rose tint my world is her allowing herself to continue to see no worries to avoid going back to old beliefs.

Based on my analysis of this song i have a convincing argument to show this song definitively show Columbia as being the most tortured character in the play's entirety. Being led down a cycle of abuse only being considered as Frank’s plaything.

Frank was an extremely manipulative character sacrificing other people's bodies and mental sanity to aid his own sexual desires and goals. But I’m going home gives us Frank's origin story and allows us to sympathize with him.

“I want to come again and stay, smile and that will mean I may” Is Frank stating he wants to stay on earth for eternity but he wants acceptance and for him to be seen as normal in the eyes of society. This could be Richard O’Brien stating that society will never be completely accepting, always marginalizing the bizarre and unknown.

“Cause I’ve seen blue skies through the tears in my eyes” Despite the events of tonight Frank still sees hope for humanity seeing both the good and evil but relying on the good memories to keep him going.

“Everywhere it's been the same, like I'm outside in the rain” is showing Frank never really fitted in anywhere looking for a place to call his permanent home and dying doing so.

Frank is performing to an audience I think this is symbolic of the community he wanted to create but his sexual desires derailed that causing havoc through society

“Superheroes” Rocky Horror Picture Show analysis

Historical context:

Song analysis:

“Superheroes” composed by Richard O Brian successfully shows societies two perspectives of the exposure of LGBTQ+ media and lifestyle. On one hand, the fear of it confusing the younger generations and the other understanding that acceptance is the next stage for society. Rocky Horror creates a bridge to both opinions while still having a moral message bringing us all together. “Don’t dream it, be it.”

First let's talk about Brad Majors. Through the film we see him propose to Janet Weiss, enter the castle and being exposed to an alternative lifestyle even being able to be involved after having sexual relations with Frank N Furter. In the floorshow, it’s revealed that Brad is having an internal conflict between his taught purity shown by him calling for his “mommy” (a symbol of innocence) yet still enjoying the sinful feeling of lust. However, superheroes highlight his vulnerability after the curtains are drawn, and he now has to face the music of society and the social repercussions that come with being outside the norm. In the lines “to find the truth I even lied” could be a nod to his sexuality and hiding it away from others and partially himself. Furthermore, him collapsing at the end of his verse could be symbolic of the weakness he feels after the safe space of the Frank N Furter house has been ripped away from him. Adversely perhaps his verse is an overarching metaphor on the search for the meaning of life and reliant on a higher power. Both Brad and Janet’s worlds were shattered that night in November but for Brad, he fears repercussions from an angry god. Brad's arc supports the theory of it destroying young adults however in Janet we see the other side of the coin.

In Janet Weiss’ character arc we see her grow from materialistic (shown by her being inflicted by the ring comparing it to her newly wed friends), to being sexually liberated twice, once with Frank N Furter and another by Rocky. The song “Touch-a touch me” is the peak of her character arc as she understands she can give into primitive desires. Her lines “taste the flesh not yet deceased” and “The beast in feeding” all have connotations of sexual desire it takes over her passions and old beliefs. Linking back to the floorshow, “My mind has been expanded” shows the contrasting argument to what Brad represents showing the positives of sexual discovery allowing an individual to see the world in a new light. “superheroes” may link back to the Transylvanians effectively communicating that Janet doesn’t see tonight as a negative experience rather something that has positively changed the course of her life going onwards. At the end of the scene we see Brad and Janet crawling away from each other highlighting the opposite perspectives as they no longer have the connection of purity in the same degree as their first introduction. Alternatively Janet’s verse could be a metaphor of societies changing towards a more excepting one. “Still the beast is feeding” conveys how this rapid change will only get better.

The criminologist/ narrator has the most sociological view. “Lost in time, lost in space, and meaning” links back to the fragility of human morality and looking for a higher power on who you can mirror in hopes of the most sanctified life. Society will instantly follow the one with the higher power but when said person may or may not exist society becomes torn between conflicting opinions. “Some insects called the human race” reveals that no matter if tonight happened Brad and Janet would have a similar experience as their primal instinct would kick in and they would be led down the same path.

In my opinion, Superheroes is the most revealing and sentimental song in the entire movie and the fact it was cut from a lot of the movie renditions is quite upsetting.

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gb-patch · 3 years

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Ask Answers: July 10th

I really let asks get away from me lately. I was super focused on working on that Patreon Moment. With that done I can finally think about doing other things, so here’s a new collection of answers!

Thank you for sending in questions everyone ^^.

For the new Patreon moment, will you be able to reference it in step 4? Or just like a tiny nod to it if you pick certain choices?

There won’t be. I’m sorry if you were hoping for that! The Patreon moment is meant to be entirely optional, it’s not something that gets you extra content in the main game.

Is the new CG artist the main one now? :0 I’ve noticed theres been a difference in the art style recently. Is the old CG artist still going to make art for the game? :0

The original artist still makes CGs for the game sometimes, but he mainly focuses on character sprites.

Are you going to put the NSFW our life moment on a website other than patreon? I would love to get it but I can't use patreon atm.

I don’t know. I'm afraid we can't release the Patreon Moment on a normal game storefront because we can't mix 18+ content with our family friendly game. If there's some other place similar to Patreon where it's not the normal type of full-scale public content releases we'd consider using that, but I’m not sure if there is another site that’s better than Patreon in that regard. I'm sorry.

Out of curiosity, in all of your games so far, which characters in each were the most fun to write? They obviously don't have to be your favorite characters!

Buffalo Seer in AFA, really everyone in XOD/XOBD is pretty equally entertaining to write, The Guide in LoV, and Cove in OL!

idk if you accept "personal" questions, but is there anything you've been watching/ listening to lately

Mostly, I’ve been watching/listening to Authortube videos as of late! It’s people who talk generally about the process of how books become traditionally published and/or share their own experience as they attempt to be published. I don’t have an interest in writing normal text based books, but it’s really interesting to hear about that world. I’m listening to a video about royalties right now as I answer these asks.

Will one of the desserts we get to pick be fudge? That'd be such a cute reference!

Haha, yeah, it should. Unless I completely blank on it and forget when trying to include the various referential food options.

I don't know if this has been asked previously but what would be the approximate heights for the presets MC can choose from Step 2 ~ 4? Are there any measurement you had in mind? Sorry if I didn't make myself clear kk I've been struggling with my English lately 💀

I don’t know, ahah. I didn’t have any numbers in mind for that. So it’s whatever you imagine it is!

I noticed a bug with the Patreon moment when it comes to what your character wears. When Jamie and Cove are kissing while my character only had dresses selected, I had both the option to remove the dress or to remove the shirt... Picking one of the options to interact with Cove, after he removed his shirt, it had Jamie remove their shirt followed by ther pants despite only having dresses picked.

Thank you for reporting ^^

I keep refreshing steam to see when the new doc for xobd will be released. I noticed you haven't posted anything about it in quite some time. Would it be possible to ask about a timeline/potential date? (If it's even this year—) I know you and your team are probably working super hard, I'm just super curious! ~Thank you!~

There are more stories done, I just haven’t gotten around to publicly releasing them. Hopefully I will have a chance to spend the time on that sooner rather than later!

hello!! i’m not sure if it’s an update but i’ve just replayed our life and at the end i can’t propose to cove anymore? :(( i’ve actually tried playing twice but the options are not there anymore, did you guys remove the options? i’m sorry if you’ve answered this before!! thank you and have a good one :)

I’m afraid things haven’t been changed or removed, so I think you might’ve accidentally picked the wrong things somewhere along the way and locked yourself out of being able to propose by mistake. Sometimes you meant to say you want to get married but instead you mis-click and have it so the MC isn’t thinking about marriage or something. All I can suggest is starting from the beginning of Step 3 and making sure to follow the steps listed in the FAQ. I’m sorry for that.

Did yall remove some of the options for when youre making out with Cove in the charity moment? I could've sworn you could grab his bonkadonk and its not there anymore

This is the same situation as the above. We didn’t remove things and you’re not wrong that there are sometimes those options. But there are various choices you have to make to get those options and it sounds like you accidentally missed something. If your relationship isn’t long-term, you can’t do it for example.

HI IM SO EXCITED I CAN FINALLY GET THE STEP 3 DLC

Thank you for getting it!

Is Shiloh super totally straight bc I’m very gay and a huge Shiloh fan, would my man make an exception?😩

Sadly, he is one of our super straight characters. I’m sorry.

Hi, I have a very dumb question. In Step 2 does Cove not wanna share his drink with us at the mall (or rather why he stops drinking it) because it's an indirect kiss? Or is it like ...weird to him to share? Because if I remember right he eats off our spoon in the birthday scene right?

Yeah, he’s awkward about it because he likes the MC and it feels very personal to share a straw with his crush.

Hi! If you don't mind me asking, who is the artist for OL2? Their style is so pretty!

Thank you for saying so! This is her Twitter- https://twitter.com/redridingheart

Do Beginnings & Always and Now & Forever exist in the same universe?

Yep! XOXO Droplets also exists in the same universe. It’s one big GB Patch world, haha.

Do Pran's parents regret the way they raised him? Do they feel ashamed of it?

No. They’re the type of people best cut out because they’re not gonna change. Which is why Pran does go very limited contact when he’s an adult.

Hi! I just wrapped up my second playthrough of Our Life, and I absolutely adore it, but I had a question. I went to the gallery and found I was missing 2 CGS (specifically Step 1-3 and 2-3) and I had no clue where they would've shown up. Which moments are those found in?

You get it by telling Cove about his dad offering you money to be his friend in Step 1 and Step 2. You can’t get both in one playthrough, since you can only tell Cove the truth once. I’m really glad you liked it!

Hi hi! Please, how tall is Baxter and Derek? Love the game so much and I can't wait to see more!

I don’t know, aha. I think Baxter was around 5′10 and Derek was like 5′8/5′9, maybe. I really am not one who has specific heights for things in mind.

is adult cove a bottom, top, or switch?

A switch, though would choose the top if he had to pick.

I was wondering if there is a way to transfer save data? Even if through the game files. I wanted to be able to transfer my save data from my desktop over to my laptop so that I could continue playing right where I left off from but I'm not entirely sure how to go about that.

If you save the save folder/persistent data of the game from your desktop and put it into the game folder on your other device, that could work.

Hi! Is it possible for us to know the date when our life: now and forever comes out on steam? Sorry if you've mentioned it before but I haven't seen it and I'm looking foward to that happening and just wanted to know :)

It’s gonna be a long time, I’m afraid. There’s no estimate right now.

I started playing Our Life with my sister a while ago, and I think you guys should know that we discovered your secret. >:)

L from death note and Cove are clearly the same person, and this whole game is just an origin story!!

I’ve never seen that show so I’m sorry to say I don’t understand the connection/reference you’re trying to make. I’m pretty out of the loop when it comes to media. I don’t watch movies or TV.

Will OL2 have options for disabled MCs?

I understand if it's too complicated, just curious

Unfortunately, it’s not really something we have a plan for. We couldn’t finish the game if we tried to include every disability and have it be meaningful. It’d just be too much content to create. But if we decide to only include a few, how would we choose which disabilities get to be represented and which are left out? I don’t know. It’ll probably have to be something we don’t include as an option again, sadly. I’m sorry.

playing our life > anything else

Haha, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.

Honestly, I would like to thank Our Life for helping me come to terms with my sexuality. Before, I never would've actually thought that it was possible to like boys romantically and still be asexual. Almost all of the BL visual novels I've read had unskippable sexual content in them and it honestly just didn't click with what I feel. I'm glad I found Our Life. I love the game, the developers, and this fandom so much. Now, I can safely come out as homoromantic AND asexual (at least anonymously here anyway; my parents are still huge homophobes 😂).

Aw, it’s great to hear you felt comfortable being yourself in the game! That’s wonderful. I’m really sorry about your parents, though.

Will the demo for OL2 be on android? Really not sure if I could wait any longer than I have to aha

Yeah, it’ll be available for Android once we eventually release a demo!

Do all these reveals perhaps mean development is progressing ahead of schedule? Please let that be the case I'm already obsessed with Qiu

No, sorry, aha. Art comes along much faster than script/programming-work for us. It’s gonna be a long time before the game is a finished thing you can actually play. But at least we can look at the beautiful images.

Hey! First of all I wanna say I reallllllyyyyy loooovvveeee Our Life and XOXO Droplets! I have over 300 hours of playtime on Our Life… Anyways, I was just wondering, are the Derek and Baxter DLCs going to come out at the same time? If not, which one do you plan to release first? :3

They will come out separately and Derek will be first! Glad you like the game.

I keep replaying Our Life to get every possible iteration and I am loving it <3 I was wondering if Cove gets locked out of his confession because MC was talking to Lee, would it be possible to confess to him in step 4?

Yeah, you can avoid the confession in Step 3 and then get it in Step 4.

Hi, my Cove wears bracelets through step 2 and 3 but I still don't get an option to give him a bracelet? I didn't even know that was possible until I seen someone else ask about it lol

Hm, did you use the Cove creator? Maybe there’s a bug where using the creator to add bracelets doesn’t fulfill the requirement to give Cove a bracelet in Step 3.

Wait, I'm dense, when does Baxter appear in step 2? Is it from big park firework? I feel so bad since i really love Baxter and waiting to buy his dlc.

It’s in the Soiree Moment. You have to be just friends with Cove, indifferent, or crushing but not ask Cove to the dance at all. Then while there you can find someone new to dance with. But if you bring Cove to the dance while crushing, the MC won’t wanna dance with anyone else so you can’t get the scene.

In step 2 when we go to the soiree I made my mc go alone and baxter chooses the mc to dance, i'm curious, why did he pick the mc? sorry if this has been asked before!

Because the MC looked to be around his age, seemed to also be searching for a partner, and had nice legs. A perfect option for him.

I read some of the FAQs, and I saw that we could tell Baxter about the condo that he rented there was previously the mean old grandparents. how do we get the mc to tell him that?

It happens in the DLC Moment “Late Shift”. If you don’t have a job you instead get a longer scene with Baxter.

I don’t know if you’ve addressed this or not, but are you planning on paying voice actors for our life: now and forever?

Yeah, we pay our VAs in all our projects.

hey can i ask how you did the moments thing in ol? im trying to get into making visual novels and while im VERY sure its out of my comfort zone and all that atm i kinda wanna know just for the future, bc im p sure it would work well for something i wanna do :O but its also fine if you cant say for other reasons :>

I’m afraid I’m not sure what you mean. Are you asking how we programmed the screen or something script related? Adding Moments like that is pretty straightforward, though. You just have buttons that open to different labels and then the scripts are essentially individual short stories/vignettes. Good luck with your VN!

Since Autumn becomes gender fluid later in the game, will there be a character who remains as he/him to romance in game?

OL1 has the he/him LIs, OL2 is all about other genders.

I don't want to impose on your creative plans, but a parrot could possibly make a good pet in an OL-type game? They're pretty long-lived and likely to still be thriving by the end even if the MC got them back in step 1.

I do appreciate the suggestion, but I’m afraid it’s not likely going to happen. I understand there are technically some animals that could theoretically live long enough to last the whole game that or we could have the MC only get a pet after some years have already passed. But the many things that would have to be considered/accommodated for makes it just something we probably can’t manage adding. I’m sorry.

As time passes will we be able to see Qiu and Tamarack's other stage arts as well?

They are both so cute i can't wait to be friends with them!

Yeah, we’ll show content from other Steps in the future. It’ll be a little while from now, though.

Can you date Cove and still have your family comfort you in the car?

You can’t get Cove’s Step 3 confession scene if you have the family comfort you in the car. But that’s not the only way to date him. You can get together with him earlier in the game or later on in Step 4.

Is Mc always going to be the one walking down the aisle or could Cove do it? Also could you choose to have one of your moms walk you?

No. Cove wouldn’t want to walk down the aisle like that and the MC automatically respects that. And the MC also gets to have their preferences respected, so it’s up to you whether they want to do an aisle walk or not. You also can pick who, if anyone, walks with you.

Once step 4 is out, will you be able to go the whole game on crush/love without either of you confessing?

Yes, as long as you tell the game you don’t want to progress the relationship. Even in Step 4 it won’t force you to officially get together.

Howdy, so in Step 4, there will be any Romance with Derek that is not part of any dlc?

He’s only a friend unless you get his romance story.

Will the step 4 in OL2 be one big step or are you considering moments?

Step 4 is just an epilogue in both games.

hi kind of a weird question but!! we know tht cliff doesn't start dating again but. wht abt flings? like does he ever do 1 night stands or anything? thank u!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nope. Cliff has a very small interest in sex. If he’s not in a real relationship with a partner he’s crazy about it simply isn’t something he feels a need for, so one night stands wouldn’t even cross his mind.

sorry if you've already answered this, but i was wondering if there were plans for there to be bonus love interests in OL2 like how we have derek and baxter in OL1.

Maybe! There are side characters who could be given romance stories, but whether or not it will happen depends on funding and how long everything else takes to finish.

I don't know if i'm allowed to ask about ol2 here yet, if not u can ignore this or answer it later. My question is can you date one of them and be good friends with the other? I don't want to be strangers with the other bcs i love them both a lot :<

Yes you can!

what patreon level do i have to be to unlock the nsfw moment? im on the $5 one right now, will that give me access to the moment, or just access to the moment progress?

That’ll give you access! Tier 2 and anything higher allows the player to download it.

#our life #ask #gb patch #gb patch games #all projects #Our Life Beginnings & Always #Our Life: Now & Forever

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asmallnerd · 3 years

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Autistic Shoto Todoroki

The analysis

First off, I would like to say that this is purely a passion project. I am not a professional, I am an autistic teenager and I’m just very interested in this character because I heavily relate to him. I’ve collected some scenes from the manga and two specific things from the third light novel.

If you could boost this (if you’re interested that’d be great because while I really enjoy doing this it does take a lot of time! With that being said let’s dive into this and I hope you find this interesting!

Could Shoto Todoroki be autistic? Here is why I think he absolutely could.

Emotional perception

Let’s start with one of the most obvious things about his character. The emotional factor.

Shoto doesn’t emote in the way his peers do. Now, of course this also plays into the brooding mysterious guy archetype, but that’s not what we’re talking about.

Shoto’s face is typically relatively neutral, this is apparent from the moment we first meet him and while he does tend to express his emotions more clearly later in the story, it doesn’t ever really change. Something that immediately comes to mind is how in chapter 202 Iida asks if Shoto is alright because Iida noticed his expression change (because he knows him very well by this point). Ojiro points out that he did not notice this, since Shoto’s face barely changes at all.

We see Shoto in a lot of situations where his peers show excitement while his expression remans completely flat. This lack of emoting is something extremely common in people with autism. It’s not that they don’t have emotions or don’t express them at all, they just do it in a way that is hard to understand for people outside the spectrum or those who don’t know the autistic individual very well. They often struggle to understand what emotion they’re feeling in the first place and of course it’s hard to express feelings if you don’t know what you’re feeling.

Shoto doesn’t only show difficulty expressing his emotions but also recognizing those of other people. One of the best examples of this is the final exam arc, where he gets paired up with Yaoyorozu. In chapter 63 specifically, he doesn’t realize that Yaoyorozu is upset about something even though to someone else it’d probably have been obvious. Only when Aizawa points out that he should listen to her does he notice that he’s been doing something wrong. Shoto didn’t notice she was upset, and he didn’t notice he was being rude.

Emotions and emotional responses are continuously shown to be difficult for Shoto to handle. What he has absolutely no issues with, on the other hand, are academics. Of course, we can naturally assume that he’s been drilled to study hard from a very young age, but he is also extremely intelligent outside of the classroom. During the sports festival he is the first person shown to figure out that the obstacle course poses a lot more disadvantages to the people in the lead, during the practical exam, he is able to come up with a solid strategy very quickly.

During the training camp arc, him and Deku are the ones to come up with a strategy to protect Bakugo on the spot. He also doesn’t seem to consider his intelligence anything special. A lot of autistic people tend to assume that other people’s experiences align with their own. This can be seen when he seems surprised about Denki worrying that he’ll fail the written final exam. He asks how he could possibly fail if he’s been attending class, like the concept is entirely foreign to him (also there’s about a 0% chance this was a joke because this is Shoto we’re talking about.) He is very good at logical problem solving but emotional issues seem to stump him.

Literacy and verbal filters

Moving on, another big factor that Shoto seems to struggle with is his tendency to be overly literal and very blunt. There are several instances where he says things that we as readers as well as other characters perceive as insensitive. Once again, his interaction with Denki about the final exams (chapter 60) can be an example. He didn’t seem to think it was inappropriate and because this is Shoto, he didn’t ask to tease him either. Denki even points out that this was insensitive to say. A more subtle example is his conversation with Izuku in chapter 73, when they talk about Kota. His overall phrasing is fine, but he remains very blunt and direct and essentially ends up telling Izuku that his tendency to cut to people’s hearts with his words is annoying.

My personal favorite for an example can be found in chapter 83, in the hospital after the training camp, when the class visits Izuku, Shoto points out that “Of course Bakugo isn’t here.” Needless to say, he couldn’t possibly have timed this statement any worse. It wasn’t necessary in the first place, but he didn’t register it as something inappropriate to say.

One example of not him being unintentionally rude but just showing a different approach to telling the truth is seen in the third light novel. The fifth chapter revolves around the class preparing a birthday party for Iida. At one point, Sato asks if Iida has food allergies out of nowhere. Iida naturally asks why he needs to know this, Shoto is immediately ready to answer the question honestly, which would have spoiled the surprise, had Izuku not stepped in.

Autistic people often have trouble seeing whether something is or isn’t appropriate to say. Neurotypical people’s brains have a filtering process, it helps them be aware of possible responses to a statement. This filtering process is not functional or only limited in autistic people.

Shoto is also overly literal. In chapter 57, he gets upset over his friends continuously getting their hands hurt and refers to himself as “the hand crusher”. He is very serious about this and does not understand how Iida and Izuku could possibly think he was joking.

In chapter 164, he answers Gang Orca’s metaphoric question entirely seriously. During the interview training in chapter 241 he first seems confused by the made-up mission in the first place. He then proceeds to ask Mt Lady if she has a heart condition when she uses the phrase “My heart would burst out of my chest”. Finally, he appears genuinely horrified when she calls him a “lady killer” (“My smile will kill women..?!”)

In chapter 257, when Mineta claims school talk will “ruin the taste of the food”, Shoto simply says it tastes the same to him, to which Mineta proceeds to call him out for being overly literal.

Autistic people typically struggle to understand jokes and sarcasm, in fact, it’s often one of the main characteristics in people with an ASD diagnosis.

Overfamiliarity and Oversharing

Shoto’s tendency to overshare is another thing that is very typical foe ASD.

He doesn’t seem to understand that telling his life story to a classmate he’s barely interacted with prior is not exactly an appropriate thing to do. He repeats this later with All Might and, most notably, in chapter 165, when talking to the preschoolers during his provisional licensing course.

He also seems to have a slightly different perception of what makes someone friends than his classmates. As shown in chapter 241, to him, spending time with Bakugo during the licensing course is enough to deem them friends. Even when Bakugo points out that there is no correlation between the time spent together and friendship, he still doesn’t seem to understand.

Autistic people tend to become overly familiar and are easily attached to people if they perceive just one of their interactions as positive.

Attachment to inanimate things

This is something not really shown in the manga, but noteworthy, nonetheless. We know that Shoto, upon moving into the dorm building, remodeled his entire room from a modern, more western style room, into a traditional Japanese style one. The second chapter of the third novels goes into depth about why he did this. Shoto was entirely dumbstruck and thrown off by how different the room is from what he was used to. He knew the traditional Japanese rooms from home and his brain assumed that the dorms would be the same. He felt like the different style was wrong. He doesn’t like the unfamiliar flooring and even a small thing like the positioning of the light switch bother him.

He’s not comfortable in the unfamiliar environment, so he decides to change it.

Autistic people often struggle to adjust to changes. In environment and routine. They feel most comfortable in a well established and familiar routine, that includes the feel of their living space. A change of environment this drastic would be extremely stressful for someone on the spectrum.

Another thing that isn’t particularly obvious but does make sense when considered is that Shoto seems to have a comfort food (cold soba). While he’s never shown or stated to be a picky eater he does seem to opt for the same food whenever he gets the chance. Autistic people often have a very restricted diet due to sensory processing issues that apply to food textures, smells and taste.

Additional points

Shoto seems to be a little face blind. He doesn’t know who Kota is when Izuku mentions him, which seems to genuinely surprise Izuku. He also didn’t remember Inasa at all despite them having been at the same entrance exam.

In chapter 202 he’s shown completely zoning out. Of course, this can happen to anyone, I just found it interesting because it was shown so clearly, making it obvious that it was something we should pay attention to.

In the novel chapter in which he remodels his room it is also mentioned that the feeling of synthetic floor against his feet upsets him.

Shoto also seems relatively indifferent to temperature. Of course, that would correlate to his quirk as well, but it is also common for autistic people to struggle with temperature perception as well as other things that neurotypical people don’t struggle to recognize like hunger or thirst. This specifically applies to situations where you would typically end up in pain like, for example, frostbite. Shoto would obviously be used tot his but him showing no reaction at all to his body halfway freezing over was a little unnerving.

He also is shown to be relatively uninterested in certain social events like for example the room competition after the class moves into the dorms. He doesn’t want to be there; he’d rather go to sleep. In the beginning he also shows clear disinterest in making friends with his classmates. Both very typical things for people on the spectrum.

In chapter 244, Hawks asks Shoto a question in a way that seems to confuse him so much he can’t even form a coherent response. [Hawks: “Seemed like you were in trouble, Endeavor.” Endeavor: “Me? Not a chance.” Hawks: “But it seemed that way, didn’t it, Shoto?” Shoto: “Um..I…uh…”]

He probably didn’t register if Hawks actually wanted him to answer or not.

In chapter 64 he mistakes Yaoyorozu crying for her feeling sick, horribly misreading her expressions.

This last point is more personal than the rest, watching his reactions to Endeavor’s fight with the Nomu in chapter 190 made me think of the stress progression that often causes autistic shutdowns. Shoto was clearly becoming more and more stressed as he was watching and once it was over simply seemed to shut down. That is a very typical response to emotional distress or overstimulation in autistic people.

Final disclaimer

This is purely for my own entertainment; it is not meant to be offensive to anyone and I am not saying that this is absolutely what is going on. I’m simply elaborating on a theory/headcanon that I have. That being said, if you have questions feel free to drop them in the ask box, I’d be thrilled!

#bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #shoto todoroki #boku no hero textpost #mha textpost #bnha headcanons #mha headcanons #character analysis #shoto todoroki analysis #autistic shoto todoroki #autism headcanon #op is autistic #special interest #long post

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wambs · 2 years

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I could be wrong but Greg's dating arc looked so forced. And happened soo fast.

that is so true. i really don't know what to think about it because succession's writing team is great, and subplots are usually well-paced and steadily developed. not this time. greg's dating arc takes 3 eps and is just a mess. on the surface, it makes sense, i guess, greg has played his hand well, gets the brightstar buffalo deal, is definitely not going to jail, but also gets pressured into sorting his life out. no wonder he jumps to the next step. kind of.

it just feels really shitty because greg has never shown any interest in anybody really, and suddenly goes from 0 to 100 in one ep (the fact that it's the same ep that has the improvised kiss will not leave me alone. if matt mac hadn't done that we would have lost that ep) AND THEN TOPS IT BY BECOMING A SLEAZE ABOUT IT IN THE NEXT. it sneaks up on you and stabs you in the back tbh. throwing greg's love life at you is one thing, but giving him not one but two romantic interests at the very end of the season does seem rushed and unnecessary.

and that is exactly what gives me pause here. despite being there this entire season, comfry's relationship with greg has no build up. they chat twice. it would have been so easy to flesh this out, introduce it properly. instead we get greg being like 'she is the most wonderful girl in the world' out of the blue, followed by 'hm. i wonder if there's depth there?' the moment it looks like it might go somewhere.

the timing also seems to be a calculated choice here. like i said, it kind of makes sense for greg to look for a girlfriend when he does. unfortunately, it makes even more sense when you consider tomgreg. it's really hard for me not to see it as a blocking manoeuvre. greg goes on his het side quest the moment tomgreg starts to look like a viable outcome, a logical option for these two.

it also makes tom's frankly insane actions a bit more tolerable. nerosporus and greg's absolute lack of reaction to it lose a bit of their strength, tom's desperate need to have greg by his side in both 3.7 and 3.9 hits a bit weaker if you know greg is straight and looking for action. surprisingly, hbo did fail at that a bit bcs instead of cockblocking tomgreg they have let the unrequited, one-sided tomgreg in, which i imagine will be so hard to navigate.

then again, maybe it's meant to feel rushed and forced? maybe the play is to have greg try to gamble with love (he has done that already, comfry, for all the fandom dislike and tomshiv comments, is a safe and appropriate candidate for greg, while contessa is a pipedream he chooses to pursue instead), and either get fucked, or realise tom should be taken into consideration, maybe both. we've had a bit of that, at least in terms of trust. where can it progress from here?

#anonymous #answered #cousin greg on his comphet crusade

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thecarnivorousmuffinmeta · 3 years

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So, you know how we've literally run out of characters in HP for you to dissect and/or give us your hc and opinions about? Well I'm thinking maybe we could give you ships! You know, like the ones you already did, Dramine. Tomione, etc. Can you do Harmony, or Harry x Hermione? I, personally, don't ship this. At all. I wanna know what you think! Will their a$$hole personalities clash? Also have a great day! =)

You know, to the surprise of everyone I feel like I don’t have much to say on Harry/Hermione. The fics generally aren’t great, not terrible either, not exactly my cup of tea.

I guess what I’ll say is that, to me, Harry/Hermione is very much a product of the films.

You see a very palatable, nice, Hermione with an equally palatable, nice, Harry. Usually in the fic the author’s never sure why Ron is even their friend and he slowly (or very quickly) gets written out of the story and dumped by the friend group. Ginny might also be crazy and evil on the side, poisoning Harry with love potions or what have you, depending how much the author feels the ship is threatened by Ginny’s existence.

Harry/Hermione is choosing the Betty out of the Betty and Veronica line up. It’s the amiable girl next door pairing, the long time friendship, something comfortable and sweet that makes sense given all Harry and Hermione have been through together. If Harry and Hermione of the books were... not Harry and Hermione of the books I’d probably have expected Harry/Hermione to be the canon pairing we get. As a trope, it makes a lot of sense, and in many ways makes far more sense than Ron/Hermione (which is a dumpster fire of a relationship) or Harry/Ginny (which is just... weird).

Which is why it’s almost always invariably dull.

Hermione’s the Emma Watson Hermione. She’s sweet, she’s nice, she’s smart but not obnoxious, and after she figured out her hair turns out to be quite pretty. Harry is sweet, perhaps a little angry from time to time, but a stand up guy who in these stories is a far better friend to Hermione than Ron.

Usually we learn that Hermione always liked Harry better than Ron but for Reasons (TM) thought she never had a chance with Harry or else tolerated Ron for Harry’s sake. Harry slowly learns that Ron truly is a dick to Hermione, that he just doesn’t know Ginny or Cho well enough to be in a relationship with either, and Ron is iced out of the friend group. Then Harry and Hermione defeat Voldemort in a subplot none of us care about.

That’s it.

That’s all there is.

For an entire 100k word story.

It’s not particularly bad, it doesn’t offend me in the same way Dramione often does, but it’s not particularly interesting either. To me, there’s no draw to it, it’s just... there.

I guess what I find most noteworthy about it is how nice they make Hermione and Harry.

Harry in the books often treats Hermione much the way the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia gang treats Dee Reynolds. Hermione’s the nagging female friend that he and Ron never want to listen to. Doesn’t matter what she’s saying, Hermione wants them to do their homework? Boring. Hermione thinks that extremely suspicious Firebolt package might be a bomb? What a stupid bitch. Hermione’s a stupid bird that Harry and Ron barely tolerate. Hermione knows this too, it’s why she endeavors to make herself so very useful to Harry and Ron. Because if she’s not, if she’s not their research monkey and homework guru, she’s back to being that girl crying in the bathroom nearly smashed by a troll because everyone hates her.

More, Harry shows 0 sexual interest in Hermione. She’s his ugly girl friend who is practically “one of the guys”. He’s utterly flabbergasted, along with Ron, when Hermione snags Victor Krum as a date to the Yule Ball (and even more stunned that Hermione cleans up well). However, while eventually Ron and Hermione enter the 90′s typical romance of will-they-won’t-they and they-argue-because-they-love-eachother, Harry doesn’t care. Harry doesn’t feel threatened by Hermione’s interest in Ron, gets over the pair of them dating fairly easily, and it’s basically at the point where Hermione could dangle herself naked over Harry’s bed and he would not care. At all.

I think, especially given Hermione’s awe of Harry before she gets to know him (he’s in books and famous, he saved her from a troll, he’s her first real friend), that if Harry had expressed any interest they probably would have ended up in at least a short lived relationship. Of course, it would have been a complete disaster, because Harry’s not dating material but it probably would have happened at some point.

And then of course Hermione would pull a full on Medea should Harry ever make the mistake of breaking her heart.

As for Hermione... I won’t say that she wouldn’t ever be interested in Harry. Definitely at first he’s a far more solid friend than Ron (who was an outright ass to her and continued to be so even when they started dating) but I think she realized early in that Harry was not an option. Harry gets friend zoned because Harry friend zones her so... I don’t really see her ever pining after Harry, he’s just not an option to her.

I’m not really sure why Hermione goes for Ron the way she does. I think it’s because he’s also A Friend of Harry’s. By dating Ron, no one else ever gets in the way of the friendship, they’re the golden trio forever. I think Hermione also likes to be safely smarter than her significant others. I don’t blame her for this, throughout the series Hermione is only valued for her intellect and has to be The Smart One or else is kicked out of the club. So of course she’s going to seek a relationship where she’s secure in being The Smart One. Now, Harry’s dumb as bricks, or at least as dumb as Ron, so that doesn’t really eliminate him as a possibility. So... basically, I think if Harry had shown interest then Hermione would have gone for it, but he never does, so it’s off the table and she never considers it seriously.

But that’s all moot point because Harry/Hermione never features Harry and Hermione of the books. If it did, well, I imagine the plot would be their horrific murder of Draco Malfoy and the subsequent coverup where they pin it on Umbridge.

#harry potter #harry potter meta #harry potter headcanon #harry potter shipping #anti harry potter #hermione granger #anti hermione granger #harry/hermione #anti harry/hermione #shipping #meta #headcanon #opinion

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