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indigovigilance · 7 months

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Anthony, Anthony, Anthony

What does your Anthony mean, exactly?

I feel like your Anthony and my Anthony are different Anthonies…

In 1941 we learn that Crowley has named himself Anthony J. Crowley (Aziraphale doesn’t pronounce the H but closed captions write it and Neil Gaiman hashtags #Anthony and also it’s Anthony the script book so I guess Michael Sheen is just doing a thing idk). I haven’t seen extensive discussion of this topic but I’m going to jump in with both feet.

I propose that Anthony actually has a double meaning; that is, Crowley chose this name for one reason, but Aziraphale believes he chose it for another.

(I cite as indirect inspo a wonderful Tumblr meta about how the ineffable blockheads have completely different interpretations of Jane Austen and how this informs their S2 decision-making).

Read or bookmark for later on Ao3 because this got away from me and now it's a 2,888 word meta on people named Anthony what am I doing with my life

~~~

First and foremost, let it be stated that there is no canon for when Crowley anti-christened himself Anthony. Neil Gaiman himself won’t know until he writes it.

Secondly, let it be known that I am not an historian nor a literary scholar of any kind. So people who actually know these stories may find themselves cringing at my surface-level summaries and inaccurate interpretations: I’m just piecing together what I could find easily. I invite someone else to revise and republish if they can delve deeper on these topics.

Part 1: Mark Antony

There is a bust of Marc Antony in Mr. Fell’s bookshop as of S1E1 modern day (2019) which is still there at the end of S2E6, where it features prominently in the center of a shot. In 2019, the bust is adorned with yellow ribbons; in 2023, it is naked. The flashback to 1941 doesn’t give a good view of the part of the shop where the bust would normally be located so I have no idea when the bust actually got added to Aziraphale’s collection. I’m going to assume, for argument’s sake, that Aziraphale acquired this bust after the Blitz. I’m going to further propose that he acquired this bust because he believes that Crowley named himself Anthony after Mark Antony.

Why would Aziraphale think that? Two reasons.

1) Mark Antony was the loser of a civil war for liberty

Mark Antony was a good and loyal Roman citizen, serving Caesar with distinction, even attaining the title of Master of the Horse (Caesar’s second-in-command). See additional metas on horse symbolism seen throughout S2. After the death of Caesar, however, Octavian and members of the senate turned on Antony, starting a civil war. You know, much like a certain someone we know that was involved in Dubious Battle on the Plains of Heaven.

Mark Antony was loyal to Caesar’s political mission, which was to establish a Roman republic, where the voices of the citizens would be heard through their representatives [a suggestion box, if you will]. But Antony’s defeat marked the end of the republic, ushering in an age of autocracy. Octavian, following his victory over Antony, crowned himself the first Emperor of Rome.

2) Mark Antony was a libertine, but also the loyal, ardent lover of Cleopatra

Mark Antony was an infamous, lascivious, debaucherous, womanizing lush. He was also Cleopatra’s lover and closest ally. Though Mark Antony could not often meet with Cleopatra, their affair was allegedly very romantic, and from afar Antony did everything in his power to support Cleopatra politically, expanding her territorial holdings even while they were apart for years.

So legendary was Antony's wanton hedonism that when he went to Athens, he was deified as the New Dionysus, mystic god of wine, happiness, and immortality. Religious propaganda declared Cleopatra the New Isis or Aphrodite (mythic goddess of love and beauty) to his New Dionysus. The ineffable emperors, if you will. [source: Encyclopedia Britannica]

Parallels arising after 1941:

After Antony had officially divorced Octavian’s sister, Octavian formally broke off the ties of personal friendship with Antony and declared war, not against Antony but against Cleopatra. Much like how Shax, after her S2E1 “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” proposal, threatened Crowley that if he did not assist her search for Gabriel, Hell would declare war not on him but on Aziraphale.

The legacy of Mark Antony, therefore, is one of hedonism, romance, fighting for a cause that you believe in, and losing that fight. It’s easy to see how Aziraphale drew the conclusion that Anthony J. Crowley took his inspiration from this historical figure.

Part 2: Antony & Cleopatra

How is this a part 2? Weren’t we just talking about Mark Antony and his relationship with Cleopatra? Hear me out.

Crowley has never expressed much interest in politics. Every time something of political import happens, he declares that the humans made it up themselves while also taking credit for it with Hell. This includes 1793 Paris and the Spanish Inquisition. If I forgot any, drop them in the comments.

But Crowley has a deep and pervasive interest in stories, especially romance stories. If he can keep the Bentley from turning it into Queen, he listens to the Velvet Underground. He watches Richard Curtis films (to the degree that he identifies them by director rather than by title). Though book canon is not show canon, it’s worth mentioning that his favorite serial is Golden Girls; while not a romance, it is certainly heartfelt storytelling at its finest and a homosexual staple.

We know, too, that Shakspeare stole a line from him, with an adjustment for pronouns:

"Age Does Not Wither, Nor Custom Stale His Infinite Variety”

Let’s first talk about Crowley’s context for the quote.

Picture it: the Globe Theater, 1601, the house is empty because it’s one of Shakespeare’s gloomy ones and an irritated young Burbage, in the role of Hamlet, is droning out his lines like he would rather be anywhere else.

Burbage: To be or not to be. That is the question.

Aziraphale: To be! I mean, not to be! Come on, Hamlet! Buck up!

Aziraphale looks at Crowley, grinning with delight. Crowley stares back at him, shaking his head slightly, but a smile tugs at the corner of his lip. He wants to be embarrassed, but cannot help being charmed.

Aziraphale: He’s very good, isn’t he?

Crowley: Age does not wither nor custom stale his infinite variety.

Crowley is looking up at the stage, and speaks immediately after Aziraphale has made a comment about Burbage. But is Crowley talking about Burbage? Does it stand to reason that age would not have withered, or custom not staled, this twenty year old (yet somehow jaded) stage actor?

I propose that this is a poetic inversion of the S2E1 cold open, wherein the Starmaker, looking out upon creation, says: “Look at you, you’re gorgeous!” and Aziraphale erroneously thinks the statement was directed at him. Here, even though Crowley isn’t looking at Aziraphale, I believe that Crowley is actually talking about Aziraphale when he delivers that iconic line. Unlike Burbage, Aziraphale is old, very, very old, and we know that he has a penchant for custom, wearing the same clothes and listening to the same music for century upon century. Yet here is this precious angel being a cheerful little peanut gallery of one, continuing to surprise the demon after all this time. Neither age nor custom has staled Aziraphale’s infinite variety.

When Shakespeare commits the line to a play written 1606-1607, a few years after this event, Crowley will recognize his own sentiment about Aziraphale issuing from Antony’s mouth about Cleopatra. The actual historical events will not have left much of an impression, but the immortalization of his own admiration of the angel in human romantic fiction will have.

It must be mentioned that Antony & Cleopatra is a tragedy, where the star-crossed lovers are kept apart by warring factions that demand loyalty to the state at the preclusion of each other.

There are also some (as far as I can tell) nearly copy-paste plot points from Romeo & Juliet about a misunderstood faked suicide followed by actual suicide and the lovers dying in each others’ arms. It does not have a happy ending. Anthony Crowley deliberately choosing his “Christian name” from this play embodies not only his deep love but his hopelessness that he can ever get the happily ever after he desires.

In Summary

Crowley was an admirer, in one respect or another, of Mark Anthony, though he relied more heavily on Shakespeare’s portrayal and reimagining of the character than Aziraphale gives due credit. Nevertheless, the difference…

Wait a minute…

What’s that?

Is that…

A piece of canon evidence that completely undermines my argument??

This screenshot will only be visible to Tumblr users (sorry Ao3), but at some point we get a good look at the Mona Lisa sketch that Crowley has hanging in his apartment. It is signed (translated from Italian) “To my friend Anthony from your friend Leo da V.”

The problem with this is, the Mona Lisa was painted 100 years before Shakespeare penned Antony & Cleopatra.

However, Neil Gaiman reblogged this transcription and translation, posing the hypothetical, “I wonder if Crowley knows what the A in A.Z. Fell stands for.”

Could it be that the Notorious NRG is jerking us around and sending us on wild goose chases? Absolutely a possibility. But. Let’s give a little grace for a moment, and assume that this comment was made in good faith. A bold assumption, I know. But humor me.

We know that Crowley and Aziraphale both knew Jane Austen, but from completely different perspectives. It stands to reason that Crowley knew da Vinci the scientist, but that Antonio Fell knew Leo da V., an artist with a heart that yearned for an unavailable lover. I’m just making wild conjecture that Lisa Gherardini (aka Mona Lisa), the wife of Florentine cloth merchant Francesco del Giocondo, was a love interest of da Vinci, but it could be true in the GO universe and would make for a great story.

Aziraphale also collects signed items from famous people; the inscribed books of Professor Hoffman to a wonderful student, and the S.W. Erdnase book, signed with his real name, come to mind. The Mona Lisa draft fits in much better with that collection of souvenirs than with anything in Crowley’s apartment. So it stands to reason that it could actually be addressed to Aziraphale.

There remains the question of how or why Crowley has it, but I won’t subject that to speculation here. All to say. Neil Gaiman’s implication-by-redirect is… possible. So let’s assume that it is the case, just for a moment.

If the Mona Lisa sketch is signed to “Antonio” Fell, then this allows the above theory regarding Crowley’s self-naming to remain intact. But it brings up a few questions regarding Aziraphale, not the least of which is: why did he name himself Antonio/Anthony?

Part 3: Saint Anthony of Padua

Anthony was the chosen name of a Portuguese monk, taken upon joining the Fransican order. Anthony rose to prominence in the 13th century as a celebrated orator, delivering impassioned and eloquent sermons. He is also associated with some fish symbolism, since he preached at the shore and fish gathered to listen. He was, incidentally, a lover of books:

Anthony had a book of psalms that contained notes and comments to help when teaching students and, in a time when a printing press was not yet invented, he greatly valued it.

When a novice decided to leave the hermitage, he stole Anthony's valuable book. When Anthony discovered it was missing, he prayed it would be found or returned to him. The thief did return the book and in an extra step returned to the Order as well.

The book is said to be preserved in the Franciscan friary in Bologna today. [source: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=24]

This miraculous incident, wherein the thief not only returns a valuable book but also has a change of heart and returns to the bosom of organized religion, smacks of angelic intervention. But that is neither here nor there.

Saint Anthony is the Patron Saint of the Lost, and is prayed to by those seeking to recover lost things. What is “lost” in this context is usually an item, rather than a person or an intangible concept, however he is also “credited with many miracles involving lost people, lost things and even lost spiritual goods,” such as faith. [Edit: @tsilvy helpfully contributes that "Here in Italy Sant'Antonio is commonly not just the saint patron of lost things, but, maybe primarily, the saint patron of lost *causes*."] He died at the age of 35, and in artwork is typically depicted with a book and the Infant Child Jesus.

It’s a defensible position that the thing that gives Aziraphale the most consternation across the millennia is Crowley’s loss of his angelic status, and it could even be framed such that Aziraphale does not consider Crowley actually fallen, but rather simply lost. It is a fact that he finds difficult to reconcile and, depending on your reading of the Final Fifteen, the offer to restore Crowley’s angelic status is one that is so pivotal to resolving his internal conflict that he cannot refuse. If this conflict is so central for Aziraphale, perhaps he did name himself after a booklover and the patron saint of lost things, hoping that the name would carry with it some of the power of the blessing, and return Crowley to the light, and in turn, to him.

But wait.

Because I googled “St Anthony” to look for some images and….

St. Anthony of the Desert

I shit you not there are multiple St. Antonies and we’re going to talk about another one of them with respect to Aziraphale because this guy is bonkers. The story traces to the Vitae Patrum, yet another fringe biblical text and I cannot even get a quick answer on whether it is canon or apocrypha because it’s so fringe. Anyways. I think the best way to explain St. Anthony of the Desert comes from the wikipedia page on the Desert Fathers:

Sometime around AD 270, Anthony heard a Sunday sermon stating that perfection could be achieved by selling all of one's possessions, giving the proceeds to the poor, and following Jesus. He followed the advice and made the further step of moving deep into the desert to seek complete solitude.

[He] became known as both the father and founder of desert monasticism. By the time Anthony had died in AD 356, thousands of monks and nuns had been drawn to living in the desert following Anthony's example, leading his biographer, Athanasius of Alexandria, to write that "the desert had become a city." The Desert Fathers had a major influence on the development of Christianity.

Let’s all agree that this guy is not Aziraphale; this whole becoming an ascetic and living alone in the middle of a desert thing? Not his cuppertea. But St. Anthony is interesting not just for his decision to go into the desert, but what happened when he got there.

The Torment of St Anthony is a 15th century painting commonly attributed to Michaelangelo. It depicts demons crawling all over and attacking a hermit.

But the first round of demons are scraping the bottom of the barrel, practically the damned. Anthony’s journey continues and he meets another demon. Actually he meets two; a centaur, who is not very helpful, and then a satyr who is. It is much easier to find paintings of St. Anthony and the Centaur than of St. Anthony and the Satyr, so you don’t get an image, but I find the satyr to be a much more interesting character, so you get that story instead:

Anthony found next the satyr, "a manikin with hooked snout, horned forehead, and extremities like goats's feet." This creature was peaceful and offered him fruits, and when Anthony asked who he was, the satyr replied, "I'm a mortal being and one of those inhabitants of the desert whom the Gentiles, deluded by various forms of error, worship under the names of Fauns, Satyrs, and Incubi. I am sent to represent my tribe. We pray you in our behalf to entreat the favor of your Lord and ours, who, we have learnt, came once to save the world, and 'whose sound has gone forth into all the earth.'" Upon hearing this, Anthony was overjoyed and rejoiced over the glory of Christ. He condemned the city of Alexandria for worshiping monsters instead of God while beasts like the satyr spoke about Christ.

St. Anthony, then, is entreated by a demon to ask forgiveness from God upon the demons, and St. Anthony, seemingly, agrees to do it. He’s overjoyed to ask God to forgive demons. In connection to my analysis of the origins of the Metatron, and how Aziraphale and Crowley’s potential beef with him is that, as a human put in the exact same situation, he did the opposite, refusing to take the demon’s petition for mercy to God but instead taking it upon himself to confirm their unforgivability (yes that’s a word now) and damnation.

That seems like it would be pretty important to Aziraphale.

In Summary

I give up. I have no idea what’s going on with this show anymore. Here are two options each for both of our ineffable husbands to have given themselves the same God-blessed/damned name. You guys tell me what you think, I just have a pile of evidence and no spoons to evaluate it.

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens meta #crowley #aziraphale #ineffable husbands #anthony j crowley

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i-hear-a-sound · 3 months

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Drakengard/NieR: Twin Theory, Part 1

The post ahead is… long. Insanely fucking long, and I’m certain half of it is incoherent. Oh well. It’s a Tuesday.

So, to preface:

This is all just theory.

Spoilers for NieR and Drakengard.

Homework:

(post regarding copied & cathedral city)

(post comparing adam, eve, and a secret third thing)

Good luck down here.

NieR Automata: Ending D.

It’s the ending you get if you choose to play as 9S in the final boss. 9S kills A2 and incidentally gets himself killed when he falls on her sword. Dumb hoe.

However, when his memory data starts performing an emergency evacuation, he, and we, find ourselves fading into…

an “Ark.”

He first sees the red girl, N2, who explains to him the vague purpose of this ark.

To take the memories of the “foolish machine life forms” and send them to another world, after they’d seen the androids and contemplated their own existence as machines.

9S also sees Adam and Eve there, the ladder asleep and the former holding him. Adam asks 9S a simple question,

“Will you come with us?”

And If you choose to go onto the Ark, it’s assumed 9S’s memory & consciousness data become “part” of the Ark, traveling off to whatever… “world” they may be heading to.

And if you stay.

9S does not get on the Ark. the Ark flies off, without him.

And we actually get a follow-up to this ending. “Farewell” is a script that takes place sometime after Ending D, in which 2B wakes up but 9S does not.

Though she tries everything she can to find a way to revive him, she eventually just… shuts down on her own, due to grief.

(Except for in the final reading of this script, where the ending was changed and 9S wakes up— but you know what? Fuck you. I’m not making this any more complicated than it’s immediately about to get in like, 5 sentences.)

(Edit: we then got a follow up to that script that follows this scenario. talk to your parents about it)

So… the Ark. About everything I just told you is about all we have on the Ark itself.

The most we know is this: The Ark was created by Machines. It carries memory data that it will take to a different world. It

Memory data.

…Memory data.

Sorry. It’s just that… typing this all out right now, it’s starting to ring a bell. But I don’t know where that bell is, why it’s ringing.

Holding memories.

Storing memories.

Machines storing memories This sounds familiar.

But where else could I have heard this from?

I remember now.

The Seeds.

In YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse, the NieR:Automata Final Fantasy 14 raid, something returned after over a decade and a half that totally took me off guard: the Seeds of Destruction.

Introduced in the first Drakengard, they were “tools of the gods” that would appear when all seals were broken. While they were believed by humans to be holy items that would bring all living creatures, man or monster, to them in times of great peril, to guide them down a path of salvation— in reality, they just kinda did this

Creating extremely powerful monsters capable of carrying out the god’s one motive: the destruction of humanity.

But back to the raid. In this collaboration the Seeds returned, and not only that, but they… well.

In the 3rd raid, N2, the red girl I was talking about earlier and the “ego of the machine network”, goes up into a seed that’s inside of a portal, and becomes this… False Idol.

Clearly meant to be derivative of the designs of The Queen Beast/Mother Angel & the Intoners. Always these gray bitches.

Anyways. After you fight her, she makes this weird… light thing? which goes up into the sky, into the portal I mentioned earlier, and then…

We are dropped into a copied Tokyo, straight out of Drakengard 1.

But…

Question. How?

How did we get here. Is it really just a copied Tokyo? How did it get copied?

And if not, did we like… Time Travel? Did we…

Oh, I got sidetracked. My bad. We were talking about the seeds.

So at first, we see the seeds transform someone, this time a non-human. Nothing new, although I do find it strange how differently it changed N2 in comparison to how Furiae became… that.

Perhaps it works differently for machines? …Put a pin in that for now.

Anyways. I didn’t swerve this car just to talk to you about how stuff we already fucking knew was just used AGAIN.

No, the very reason I brought up this whole raid at all, and got so sidetracked I nearly transitioned into a different topic, was because of this singular excerpt.

Maybe I’m reading this wrong. Maybe I’m not. And if I’m not, then

these seeds are storing people’s memories. Hundreds of them.

(Edit: I wasn’t reading this wrong :) )

Isn’t that just like what I described with the Ark? The Ark stores memory data, the seeds hold memories…

I mean, the description of what the Seeds were believed to be by humanity, along with Drakengard’s usage of various themes regarding religion, has always reminded me of one specific thing: Noah’s Ark.

Noah’s. Ark.

Ark. Seed. Seed. Ark.

Perhaps, they are one and the same.

Perhaps… The Ark is a Seed.

Surely not though, right? I mean… yeah, this is solid evidence, but it’s really the only evidence I can give you guys. There’s not much we know about the Seeds in all honesty, and there’s even less regarding the Ark, so it’s nearly impossible to find any other lead in

Wait.

Let’s go back for a second.

“Let the light in?” What light?

What the hell is this referring to? The whole raid finished like, two years ago, and for that same amount of time I’ve genuinely had no idea what this “light” is.

I mean, she does conjure up this sort of light that goes into the portal, and… then we go to Tokyo. Maybe that’s what it’s referring to?

Let the light in…

Light…

Light.

Do not bring back the light. Do not bring back the vessel. Do not bring back the future. Do not bring it back.

Every beam of light is an invitation to death.

I’ve heard this before.

These two excerpts are from the World of Recycled Vessel DLC, in the diary of Nier/The Protagonist’s deceased mother.

These are the last two lines in the diary. Both referencing this “light” with a… negative connotation?

Why.

And… wait, why am I going off on this? When I was talking about the Ark and The Seeds and whatnot I never once mentioned their connection to any sort of light.

Because I never thought there was. Because I looked over it.

I lie collapsed in a space of blinding white. The pain is... gone. The light envelops me. It's so warm.

My damage worsens. I start to lose my memories. The space fills up with pure white light. It's like being buried in snow.

These two excerpts are from 9S’ dialogue during Ending D— you know, the one where the Ark makes its “appearance.”

“A space of blinding white”, “the light envelops me”, “the space fills up with pure white light”.

…

Hm.

I’m beginning to wonder if this “light” is, in some way… connected to memories? And a “space of pure white light”… that feels familiar. Really familiar.

Real fucking familiar.

After being encroached upon, the light overflowed. Poured into, we overflowed, the connection has AWAKENED.

This is from decoded text in Automata, taking place after Ending A/B. I think it’s meant to describe Eve briefly connecting to 9S’ consciousness in some way? (Given there is a mention of a brother who “learned a lot from books.” Fact-check me though.)

The Pods decide to abandon the body after the personality data has been completely restored, and to destroy any machine life forms in the surrounding area. And at the very bottom of this story…

Do not bring back the vessel.

The infection spreads through 2B's consciousness. She prays. Before death's footsteps reach her, she screams. Even if nobody hears me. 9S saved me. Within a crumbling memory, she bids farewell to 9S's consciousness data. I did feel a little bit lonely but now my h eart is filled with such wa rm li ght

Then there’s this. It’s the final line of “Voices from the Verge”, a short story from a Nier Fan-Festival in 2022.

I think it’s meant to take place in the copied city— no, not the one we see in game, at least I don’t think— a different one. A different memory.

A place to celebrate life and send off the deceased. A place of prayer. The city's records can be gleaned from within the tranquil light. A record of humanity's end. A history of machines copying a city. And also... the hesitance they felt. This city is a replica. A city built by machine lifeforms based on the siblings' memories of where they lived. And even the very siblings themselves were nothing but imitations born from memories.

“The city’s records can be gleaned from within the tranquil light”… “a city built by machine life forms based on the siblings’ memories of where they lived.”

“A history of machines copying a city. And also… the hesitance they felt.”

…um. How?

If you’re thinking the “siblings” being referred to in this script are Adam and Eve… no. This city is meant to be a replica of Nier and Yonah’s memories. Hell, they themselves in this script are replicas made out of their own memories.

God this shit’s fucking stupid to type

But… thing is. Again! How? How did the machines know what this city looked like? Sure, maybe it’s in one of their “records”, but even then.

…Well. If we go back to the screenshot I showed you all earlier from the Dark Apocalypse raid, it mentions how the data in these Seeds are stored by “machines bearing the names of gods.”

These machines are possibly using the seeds to store people’s memories.

And— hey. I mentioned earlier how the seeds can transform whatever enters it, but do you know what I neglected to add?

They also

Copy.

Maybe this “light” can be connected to the seeds and the Ark as well. But what that means I… don’t really know right now.

So we have one connection. And now, possibly two. Are there any more connections I should know about?!

In NieR: Replicant ver 1.22, Ending E, the— if I’m correct— “canon” ending, was finally added after only being contained in the guidebook “Grimoire Nier.”

And this is the achievement you receive at the very start of it.

It’s in hexadecimal. And thankfully, it’s already been translated.

“Memory server”

“I can see the light”

Memory… server.

I can see the light.

Memory. Server. I can see the light.

The light. Memory server.

Light. Memories. Memories. Light.

Light…

Light

A SPACE OF BLINDING WHITE.

Fucking… finally. I get to talk about Drakengard 1. Most of the talk regarding this game is being saved for the part 2 of this post I’ll get to… eventually, but what I want to focus on here is this game’s ending D, and “The Great Time.”

In this ending, Seere breaks his pact, unleashing the Queen Beast’s time(?) and enveloping the world with this… light. The great time. From it, a black tower also emerges. A tower. A… I’m gonna stop. Nope. Back on topic.

But it wasn’t until the novella, “Magnitude Negative”, was fully translated that we finally got a better understanding of what this “time” is.

It is everything.

Every living creature. Every structure. Everything, everywhere, past, present, future.

And every

single

ending.

“He could see the shadows of crowds, coming and going. It was loud, all indifferent to all around them, and full of different interests. There were tall buildings whose likes he had never seen before, and vehicular machines that ran faster than horses. … Caim is crying, clinging to the dragon. ‘I have never seen you weep before.’ … The dragon states its name. ‘Angelus. My name is Angelus.’… Caim and the dragon are going to kill each other. ‘Caim. Our pact ends here.’ … ‘Miracles cannot be asked for.’ The Goddess, revived with the Seed of Resurrection, is destroying humanity. … Seere rests within a giant womb. In a strange place, but rather familiar all the same, the dragon fights against a song.”

“A strange place, but rather familiar all the same”…? That’s for part 2.

But case is, everything is the Great Time.

And it is

light.

EDIT: FUCKING HELL I TOOK SO LONG TO FINISH THIS THAT REINCARNATION GOT ANOTHER UPDATE. AND I CAN ADD THIS SHIT.

10H states that “The Cage”, which IIRC is where “all” of NieR: Reincarnation takes place, is inside of that… egg. It’s supposed to hold the “data” (memories asshole!!!!) of humanity until the time comes for them to… you know. Reincarnate. But it’s not meant to be there, it’s supposed to be on the Moon, why is it now on Earth. And

I FUCKING KNEW IT. I called it. I never verbalized it but I CALLED THIS BULLSHIT DAY… um…. While ago. Source: trust. 😁

Time is light. Light is memories. Memory server. Memories are recorded in the seeds. Memories are recorded in the ark. The ark is light. The seeds are light. The ark is a seed.

Hang on.

Who records the memories in the ark again? Machines… “Machines with the names of gods.”

I don’t recall us ever meeting a machine of that kind of name? The closest would be Adam and Eve, of course, but one 1. They died and 2. Neither’s name derivations were gods. Adam and Eve were not gods.

And, hell, how the fuck did machines get their hands on the Seeds anyways? Even looking past the theory part, them being what is messing with the seeds is canon.

And— hang on! New question coming through, how the fuck did the Seeds get here?!

This is thousands of years after Drakengard 1. Not only that, but these are TWO SEPARATE FUCKING UNIVERSES. Two timelines!

The seeds are intrinsically tied to the watchers. Hell, watchers gradually transform into them over time in one of the novellas.

How are the machines putting memories into the seeds? How did the seeds get here in the first place? With all this time talk, where does Ac

The aliens.

I need to talk about the aliens.

The aliens of Automata are… fucking weird.

Sit down, and listen. Look here look listen. Basically, in a franchise where giant scary gray babies exist, one’s that devour scary bitches and wreck havoc and shit, it’s not them that fully take out humanity— well, they likely do in their universe, but in NIER’S? It’s…

It’s fucking FETUS SHAPED ALIENS

Aliens who time, and time, and TIME AGAIN we are told FUCKING SUCK!! They are traaaashh!!!

Their heads look like an asscrack. They look like if you fucked up a perfectly good turtle. And in all seriousness, they created machines so much smarter than them that they essentially doomed themselves by creating their own exterminators. Sure, they got control over the Kingdom of Night/North and South America, said control which only grew larger and larger as they began rapidly producing machines, but… that was honestly their only W. These fuckers suck. Clutch or kick.

And Adam, the machine who, along with his brother, killed off the rest of the aliens, describes them as being… “infantile.”

And I paused.

Infantile?

Out of everything… that’s such a specific word. Infantile.

Infantile. Infant…ile.

Infant.

Like a baby.

baby.

Wait. What did I say they looked like?

Fetuses. The aliens… they look like fetuses.

But not natural fetuses, no… no. Like if you took an infant and forced it to revert back into what it looked like in the womb. Gross, I know, but… just look at them.

Just.

Look.

At.

Them.

Look at their skin. It’s… bumpy. Scaly.

Scaly.

I’m not trying to imply that they’re dragons. At least… not exactly.

No, what I am trying to imply, is that the answer as to what these things are has been staring me in the face the whole fucking time.

When the flower descended at the beginning of this story, dragons were not the only things that came down with it.

Infantile, you say?

This idea is, out of everything in “Twin Theory”, the one I’ve held onto the longest. It’s stupid, yeah— but just like with the Ark and the Seeds, and a certain third theory that still waits after this section— I started scripting, and evidence manifested*.

*I looked shit up and fact-checked myself🦅🦅🚬

Anyways. Do I think the aliens are the watchers? NO. No, no, no. One fucker is a tentacle ass bitch and the other belongs in a crib at the tenth circle of hell. But i do absolutely believe that a connection can be made.

First of all, I want to look at the aliens’ ship. Look at it good and hard. Does it remind you of anything?

Maybe… A FUCKING FLOWER?

Because that’s exactly what this looks like. Hell, the big ball in the middle would obviously remind one of a Seed itself… but that’s a little too silly for me. (Edit: You will soon see that I should’ve never doubted my gut.) Then again, the first time we see the seeds in the final fantasy collab is in the aliens’ ship and I… am going to stop myself from having a hernia :3. (Edit: You will soon see that I should’ve never doubted my gut)

Second. I want to look at Drakengard 1.3, specifically its ending. The whole novella is kinda… well, weird, and not in a good way weird most of the time, but its ending has always struck me as being particularly interesting.

The dragons, who I will again mention are connected to the watchers— like— genetically, devour humanity. Their size increases in number and over time they begin to change shape. First slowly taking on the forms of “lumps of meat”, then the forms of babies, then a whole bunch of them fuse together to become… a seed.

(This moment isn’t the only time we’ve seen entities fuse together to create a seed-like object, but… I’ll hold that thought off for now.)

Anyways. What does any of this have to do with the Aliens?

Well.

Take into consideration that the dragons only transformed because they were devouring humans. They had shit to eat. And given the fact that these dragons transformed into Watchers, I doubt it would be too much of a stretch to ponder whether or not Watchers themselves have this similar capability.

But what about in Automata? A part in the timeline where… there are no humans left. There’s nothing to feed off of. Most of all, there’s no Queen.

The Watchers’ entire “goal” in the first game was to break the seals and free the Queen Beast. There’s no humans left. What would they do now?

…Start a pointless war between the next best thing? Build machines they can control with ease. Forge a logic virus that will perpetuate this war for as long as it can, with a notable trait of it being: red eyes. And create a manifestation of the machine’s own egos in the form of a little girl, so akin to the girl they made their high priestess so long ago.

Edit: I continued to take too long to finish this theory and the nier concert happened. While the full script isn’t out yet, I was able to read an (I think) fairly decent summary that one part of caught my eye.

2B and 9S discover a place known as “Eden”………. hehehehehheheheheeeeee… and it’s basically just a huge alien ship, iirc. Inside they find a transporter that opens into a white city, and after walking through it a lil bit they find a copied YoRHa bunker.

Continuing their disastrous walkalong they find a bunch of dead machines in a… church…

ok….

(l was real!)

And also there, is a circle of Android corpses, surrounding a black orb.

It’s said that they formed this place as a “place of worship in their final moments”, and that the black orb likely comes from the aliens ship.

And we know this.

Black orb! Never doubt your gut ever!

But given what I’ve already said about the aliens… hm. The thing powering their ship being in a place of worship in one’s final moments…

speak not the watchers, write not the watchers…

Just a little idea.

I may have explained all this “evidence” poorly, so sorry for that. But anyways.

If the aliens were connected to the watchers (and the dragons?), so many weird connections in Automata could possibly be explained.

The cult of the watchers’ emblem appearing on either of the twins’ tattoos? Connection.

N2 resembling Manah? Connection.

Logic virus being derivative of the Red Eye Disease? Connection.

The Seeds of Destruction being in the NieR universe, specifically at the time of Automata, at all? C word. Connection.

It could even explain why no other aliens ever… you know, showed up. These aliens were the only ones, because no more could be formed with the Queen dead, the dragons gone, and a lack of food.

“The aliens look like if you took an infant and forced it to revert back into what it looked like in the womb.” And gave it… tentacles and scales. 😁

But even with all that, this is still a theory that I’m going to continue working out the kinks in. Could the Aliens have ties to the Watchers? Maybe, but I still need a lot more evidence to fully make that conclusion.

But for right now, it’s moreso food for thought.

I wish I could say the same for the final theory I’m going to be discussing today.

So we’ve talked about the Ark. Its existence is shrouded in mystery, but the conclusion I came to is that it is, in some form, a Seed of Destruction, used by machines to record memories and travel worlds. Both seem to be connected with this… “Light”, which I concluded is connected to “the Great Time”.

Hell… just typing this out, I forgot another physical example of this light in action—

This whole large group of machines merge to form a “seed”, and as light begins to build up inside of it, Adam is created.

Does this light… create, as well? Put a pin in that… maybe. I don’t know.

(Edit: I think it do..)

Anyways. Then, we discussed the Aliens. I theorized that they could have some connection to the Watchers of Drakengard, looking at all the strange ties the two species have with each other— from how the aliens’ ship suspiciously resembles a flower, to how the watchers’ most likely have the ability to change forms over time when strong enough. The conclusion I came to is that the possibility of the Aliens being the weakened remains of the Watchers after the extinction of both their Queen and humanity as a whole, is… well. It’s there.

But there’s one thing we haven’t talked about yet, and I’m sure you all have an idea of what exactly that is.

We’ve discussed two very perplexing entities in the Drakenier universe today, but there’s one last character I chose to leave as my final topic. One that, funnily enough, also has an A name. And is more mysterious than the two topics I’ve already gone over combined.

Accord.

Accord is by far the most “mysterious” character in the entire Drakenier franchise, despite being one of the only characters to be mentioned by name in multiple games.

It’s why it’s so hard to theorize about her. But there’s enough we do know about her that tells us she might as well be the most important character in the series.

Accord is a recorder android, one who… well… records. Riveting script writing ☝️

She records singularities, entities with the capability of creating branches by altering timelines. Normally she doesn’t intervene and just records the singularity once the branch has been made. Her goal in this endeavor is to prevent a “Fall-Down”, the collapse of all timelines.

She can time travel, as while we first see her in the beginning of the timeline, Drakengard 3, she was actually created during the time of NieR: Automata, around 6230 or so, in the Kingdom of Night. She also has multiple clones of herself, all of which hold the same goal as the one we follow in D3.

She also works a weapons shop and presumably even writes the weapons’ stories. She collects minerals from the old world(?) which she came from, and wields a large suitcase and phone.

In Automata, it’s mentioned she supplied weapons to the resistance; in Replicant, it was added that Yonah actually met Accord; in the Automata anime, hidden(?) text is likely from Accord, aaaaaand…

That’s it. That’s all we know about this girl.

Yes, it sounds like a lot but it’s really… not.

Specifically, two key things are unknown to us. Them being:

•How does Accord time travel?

•Who created Accord?

And for so long, these two questions just kinda sat there in my mind. I had ideas but… nothing that big.

I just assumed that, maybe, we haven’t seen how Accord time travels yet. And that Accord could just be a product of the Army of Humanity, connecting her back to YoRHa.

But then… in a NieR: Reincarnation update…

10 years after we last, physically saw her…

We got this:

These three images are what prompted me to finally, finally, put this theory in its entirety into words.

Because it got me thinking.

Puppet? Why puppet?

Yeah, stuff like “puppets” and “dolls” have been used in reference to androids, machines whatevs in this series before, but for some reason… reading it made me recall a very small detail. Something I’d always overlooked.

The final fantasy collab… puppet… puppets’… What was the title of the 2nd raid again?

Ah. The Puppets’ Bunker.

Now, why am I making such a big deal over Accord simply being referred to as “puppet” in this small section of a game? Why am I focused more on that than the fact that this is most likely teasing her return at all?

Well… it’s the same reason I bring up the collab again.

2P.

She & the other P units are the primary antagonists of this specific raid. She’s a machine copy of 2B, with an inverted palette.

And I’ve always been curious as to what the P in her name meant. Of course, it initially just meant “Second Player”— but Yoko Taro himself has since stated that there’s a double meaning to it.

And after a while of thinking and thinking, someone suggested the P to mean…

Puppet.

And shit blew my mind. It totally works! So I went with it, and then…

It made me remember another thing. Back to Accord.

Do you remember the post I made on Adam and Eve? Yes, the post where I dropped the maybe-possible-bombshell that Eve (and his brother, likely) could possibly have some sort of connection to Mikhail of Drakengard 3, at least visually— but do you know what I mentioned in kind of a side comment?

Adam distinctly looks like Accord. And that was that. For a while, the only question I had regarding that was: “Why does Adam look like Accord?”

But what I realized after lots and lots of thinking… is that I should’ve been asking a different question.

“How does Adam look like Accord?”!

Adam’s a machine. He was created by machines, created by aliens. If Accord was with the Army of Humanity, why does this machine share so much resemblance to her?

I mean, fuck— if the Copied City he creates really does have ties to the Cathedral City in Drakengard 3,

why is Accord at the fucking Mercurius Gate?

You know, the place where all the world’s “knowledge” is stored, as well as… oh I don’t know, the fucking Flower.

“Receptionist?” Strangely, that isn’t even the weirdest thing Accord’s been referred to.

Just think back to that Reincarnation update. Accord is called a “puppet.”

Why?

I already just talked about “puppet” being possibly the double meaning of the P in “2P”, connecting the term to the mock androids/machines, but I didn’t even mention the usage of the word in Drakengard 3.

In one of the novellas, the dragons, specifically Michael, fought entities described as “Puppets”. This novella is one I’ve seen occasionally brought up in discussions regarding the Kingdom of Night, due to the existence of “dragon-like machines.”

Hell JUST LOOK AT THEM SIDE BY SIDE.

The first is the mechanical interior(?) of a YoRHa android, 2nd is… of course, what we see of Accord’s. Look at the rib area. For a while I assumed it looked like that because her arm had been blown off but… no. Shit’s clean and smooth. It was built that way. It also seems as though Accord’s body is connected via… ball joints?

Why is an Android from the future so… I don’t know. Old-fashioned? Mechanic?

Especially when compared to YoRHa androids. They bleed, she doesn’t.

But. But but but.

She’s… confirmed to be made DURING the period between Replicant and Automata, during the machine war. It’s one of the only things confirmed about her backstory, and yet every little thing about her would make you think otherwise.

She’s built like a legitimate doll, not an Android. As such, she gets called a puppet. There are multiple identical copies of her and from what I’ve read it isn’t because she’s a line of… idk, Accords. Take a shot every time I say her name btw

She can time travel seemingly with as much ease as the universe allows her, and yet has to self engage special abilities like… run fast mode.

Stuff that other Androids of her time period are shown to do naturally.

But… that’s the only case for her. The only answer we have of who exactly created the first Accord is in YoRHa, the Army of Humanity.

But.

Don’t.

Know.

None of this makes sense, right? None of it. Nothing that I’ve just discussed should logically make sense if she was made by the Army of Humanity.

But that’s the only option for her, right? That we know of? Right?

Why is she closer to a machine than she is to any of the androids?

Who? Is? Accord?

Then it hit me. A realization.

Didn’t I… wait. What was the estimated year of Accord’s creation?

…6230?

Okay. And we know she was created in the Kingdom of Night…

But.

What?

Hang on. Kingdom of Night… do we know anything about the kingdom of night?

I mean… we know what it is. It’s North and South America, cast in an eternal state of Night. It’s the reason why in every NieR game, the sun never sets— it’s always set in the Kingdom of Day.

We’ve never seen the Kingdom of Night. All we know is that Accord was made there… dragon machines fought against the machines inside there, and… oh… oh.

Oh.

The Kingdom of Night.

North and South America?

…where the first machines were being mass produced. The first machines were made in the Kingdom of Night, in 5100.

The Army of Humanity never managed to gain control over that kingdom. In fact, in 7645 the aliens’ control over the kingdom of night had increased to 80%.

And Accord was created in 6230.

In the kingdom of night.

In the kingdom of night

WHICH THE ALIENS HAD TOTAL OCCUPATION OVER, AND WERE USING TO BEGIN PRODUCING THEIR FIRST MACHINE LIFEFORMS.

Accord isn’t a product of the Army of Humanity. Isn’t a product of humanity at all.

Accord didn’t come from YoRHa.

Accord is a product of the aliens.

She’s a machine!

I want to go back to the tower. Don’t worry, no more talk about time and seeds and light and arks and useless crap like that

At least, not for the next… I don’t fucking know. 1,000 words. Lol. Lol😬

Do you remember what was inside the tower, aside from the ark itself? Aside from the countless copiesof B/E models?

The library.

An exact replica of Popola’s library, all the way back from Replicant.

And I always saw this moment at its face value. Oh, it’s THE library. The library that holds all the records for the machines is a copy of the one from the other game. Cool.

Same thing with when Popola’s office appeared in both the game and the anime, though they both served mildly different purposes.

But when I looked at these moments as I was writing this theory I thought… hm. Why here?

So I did what every normal fan does and

I read the Drakengard 3 complete guide.

4/5ths of it.

Long day. Thank you Accord’s Library.

But among the things I took note of, this page caught my eye:

A page that’s Basically an outline of the timelines in Drakengard 1, 2 (told you it’s technically canon, bitch), and the first NieR. Done by accord.

Let’s zoom in on NieR’s, actually.

Atta boy. First of all, fucking banger of an image. Second of all, so… did…

Did an Accord meet Devola & Popola? Because if so…

… it makes a lot more sense as to why the machines’ archives are stored in an identical copy of their library.

What I’m getting at is that I think Accord had some involvement with the data recorded in the tower, or at least… the tower itself.

Second of all. Let’s go back to the complete guide, and narrow our focus on its documentation of the games’ events— specifically, the branching phenomena.

Something interesting that I noticed is that everything regarding either

Accord

Branch activity at all

Is labeled as “Top Secret.”

And yeah, this is probably just for some cool flare or whatnot, but I really want to narrow down the Accord stuff in this.

From what I was able to get translated off this page, I actually found some very interesting things.

To start, it’s described that the fact Accord is an android/machine/whatever the fuck at all is… prohibited information. That she was a “machine made from an advanced civilization in the Old World. Specifically… prohibited to be published.” It’s also described as being “an embarrassing secret.”

The “embarrassing secret” thing could honestly just be in Accord’s own words, but I don’t think the “prohibited” part is.

After all, it was also prohibited for Accord to intervene like she did in Ending D.

So she’s prohibited from interfering with events in a timeline, as well as ever disclosing her identity as an Android/machine…which she also considers an “embarrassing secret.”

And we should also talk about the… the fucking… NieR Desktop PCs that have lore on them. I fucking hate this franchise.

4198 AD Humanity's extinction is confirmed. All records relating to humans are moved to maximum-pirority folders, and backups are sent to regional quantum servers for safekeeping.

5012 AD An Attack by aliens from outer space is recorded. Numerous buildings and androids are destroyed, and some quantum servers are catastrophically damaged.

5155 AD Machine lifeforms created by these unidentified alien visitors launch an ark into space, resulting in a new divergence. An attempt is then made to sync up with servers from the past.

2021 AD Synchronization with past server is successful. As the original network was small and designed for personal use, expansion will be required. - Accord

First of all, quantum servers. Server. COUGH COUGH. Memory server.

(Also, it’s mentioned that there is a quantum server in the Forest of Myth in another one of these… most likely being, Sleeping Beauty itself. Obvious.)

Anyways.

Second of all… the ark launching causes a “divergence.”

Not a branch, a divergence. There’s a difference between the two.

It’s kind of hard to explain in words, but thankfully— the Complete Guide has a trusty visual aid.

So the ark did breach off into separate timelines… and Accord doesn’t at all sound concerned.

In fact, she sounds like she fucking contributed to it.

I might be totally tripping as I’m sure I’ve been this entire post but this all makes it sound like she herself was the one, or one of the ones, who recorded & stored all the records we see in Automata into the Ark.

especially when you read what the other PC had to say.

2021 AD A certain manufacturer releases a high-spec personal computer. This model of PC, designed to receive perpetual updates via the network, is soon adopted across the globe.

2025 AD These PCs, now spread the world over, begin to link up and share data as part of a neural-networking experiment conducted by the manufacturer without the knowledge of its users.

2032 AD Large-scale data breaches and acts of cyberterrorism are carried out over the network, during which time information regarding Replicant technology is leaked. The experiment is soon halted, and the computers stop receiving updates.

3021 AD A thousand years after the experiment, consciousness data from these computers is detected on the network. The Collection and merging of this data is performed by the quantum server located in the Forest of Myth.

Hey, look. The times match up. 2021 AD, 2021 AD.

But if we carry over the fact that this is all coming from Accord…

“These PCs, now spread the world over, begin to link up and share data as part of a neural-networking experiment conducted by the manufacturer without the knowledge of its users.”

Hm.

Go back to Reincarnation. What did it say Accord’s purpose was?

This puppet’s goal

is to observe how humans live their lives.

Maybe it’s just me. That’s a new one.

One of the few things we’ve known about Accord, for sure, is her goal of recording singularities, branches, etc., all in order to prevent the collapse of all timelines.

I don’t think we ever got “study human lives” in the equation.

And so I thought. Maybe we did. Maybe I just looked over that answer, too. Maybe…

It was her original purpose?

Okay.

I’m sure one thing has been lingering in your head as you’ve read all this.

I’m gonna lead up to a big reveal that Accord is secretly a big bad evil, who is recording the world and beyond for the machines,and that we should watch out for her or some shit.

I think the complete opposite.

Because while I said that she’s prohibited from ever interfering with events in a branch… which she is.

Here’s the kicker.

She does it anyway.

In ending D, Accord breaks that “rule” and runs in at the last second, ensuring that the flower would be sealed off in that branch.

Why did she do this? Is she stupid?

And the best answer we’re given is… firstly, Zero.

Whatever feelings Zero made Accord feel while recording the events of Drakengard 3 were so strong that she went against that prohibition just to help her, even if it meant getting herself killed.

And do you remember the “embarrassing secret” comment I brought up when discussing the information in the Complete Guide? How I concluded that that phrasing was likely coming from Accord’s own perspective?

Perhaps she considers her identity as a “puppet from the old world” an “embarrassing secret”… because Accord isn’t affiliated with the machines anymore.

She’s been working against them.

The most recent Reincarnation update as of this script revealed a shit ton of really, really important lore.

The Cage is inside of a Seed. Humanity is planning on Reincarnating.

But out of everything there’s one thing that I… genuinely did not see coming. It was probably the most obvious reveal out of everything, but still.

After the Ark leaves, the machines who left on it begin assimilating everything.

They start collecting data to an almost catastrophic degree, eradicating androids. Building a kingdom, taking over earth.

Not just earth— If I read it right, their goal is to completely dominate all timelines, all earths. That is, until a civil war between machines breaks out.

And what occurs sometime after this is, presumably, NieR:Reincarnation. Inside of The Cage, a repurposed Seed of Destruction perhaps taken from the machines & used now to store the data of humanity so that they may one day resurrect.

But here’s the real kicker. A seed taken from the machines?

Yes. If I’m correct, the machines have access to the seeds. It could just be what is giving them the power to assimilate on such a catastrophic scale.

And they’re bringing them across timelines… ah! You know what that sounds like?

Exactly what I fucking said about the Ark. Shit’s clicking. I think. I could totally be wrong about this and if I am my bad.

But let’s go back, back to Accord. Samurai Jaccord. Or something idk

When I brought up the two biggest questions regarding her mere existence, I skipped over one.

“How does she time travel?”

And the question always kind of nagged at me. It felt like an obvious answer but it just… wasn’t.

Until I asked a different question. How does she copy herself?

It’s brought up time and time again that there is no given answer as to how Accord just has so many… identical copies of herself.

And while it would lead me to just believe she’s a line of machines, I… no. Because that’s not what it sounds like at all.

It always just reads as though the original Accord found a way to copy herself on her own.

Copying herself… copy, copy… wait. We’ve seen something that copies. We’ve seen something capable of storing data. We’ve seen something capable of traveling across worlds.

And just like that, I found my answer. She uses the Seeds to time travel and copy herself.

And how might she have initially gotten her hands on one of these seeds?

Well… perhaps, the machines. Whom she was very likely affiliated with, before this war.

She collected the data from humanity and stored it in the ark. Surely it wouldn’t be so hard for Accord to snatch it all back and put it into the Cage, right?

After all… she’s said to come from the old world. Perhaps whatever was the first iteration of the Ark breaching… is the “Old World.” It’s said the machines built a kingdom.

And at the end of this update, we see Pod fly towards a city in white.

And do you know what this city fucking looks like? Guess. Just. Fucking. Guess.

IT’S FUCKING CATHEDRAL CITY.

It’s a time loop. It’s a time loop, and it’s not a new time loop— it’s been a time loop. And who the hell knows how long this shit has been going on.

The Complete Guide mentioned that one specific entity was causing altercations to the “flow of time”— Accord! And no, that’s not a theory— the book legitimately states that Accord is causing changes in time itself.

Hell, if we’re going with the possibility that Accord uses the Seeds in some way to traverse time and space, perhaps she copies herself for every time she does it. For every jump in time, she’s replicated.

And given the ending of Drakengard 3… Girl’s been going at it for a while.

A couple more things I’d like to bring up before we reach the “conclusive statement” of this post.

I say Accord is a machine… what do I mean by that? Earlier I compared her appearance to Adam, does this mean I think Accord is moreso akin to him & Eve?

No. Because like I also pointed out earlier, Accord isn’t organic like we see they are. She doesn’t bleed. Not even when Zero drives that sword straight through her abdomen in order to kill One. One bleeds, a fucking lot, nothing from Accord. I’m gonna quit talking about fictional characters bleeding. Anyways.

No, I think it’s more likely that she’s closer to something like 2P and the P(uppet) units I mentioned earlier, or just… any regular machine.

Secondly, let’s go back to Utahime Five. She’s only in it for like, what, a panel? But I feel as though this singular panel says a lot.

First of all, the Mercurius Gate is what “holds the knowledge of the world” in Drakengard 3. Accord is its “receptionist”, as we see, and she noticeably looks “younger” here. As young as, you know, a machine CAN be.

And if we take into consideration the Copied City’s connection to the Cathedral City, and perhaps now the Ark’s connection to the Mercurius Gate, it would make sense as to why Accord here is its receptionist.

Perhaps this was her original function. A puppet who observes how humans live their lives, storing that data & then serving as its receptionist. Which would give her such an easy out to snatch some of that data back when the time came.

But there’s another thing. How come she looks so much younger here? She’s a machine, I don’t think machines age like… people do? Unless there’s like… Robots 2005 logic you can apply here…

which I doubt. I don’t know the answer to this one. And I don’t wanna just spew more bullshit I’ll probably be pulling out of my asshole. Continuing.

Thirdly. What about in Automata? If Accord’s… you know… giving out weapons to the Resistance, as told to us in this line:

“Oh, the lady who owns the place sends ‘em over every once in a while. Her name’s Accord, and she’s the proprietor of this here business. I just tend to customers and keep all the repair devices humming. I only see her every few years, to be honest. She mostly just uses delivery drones to drop things off. I don’t know where she gets this stuff, but most if it’s in pretty good condition! Say, if you ever happen to run into her, say hello for me, all right?”

how could she be affiliated with the machines?

Well. Like I said, the most likely answer to the time loop is that we aren’t seeing its first go-through. It’s been happening, and there are already a possible infinite amount of Accords in the… whatever zone.

I wanna focus on two lines here.

“I only see her every few years, to be honest. She mostly just uses delivery drones to drop things off.”

Her using delivery drones is… interesting. It makes sense. I imagine that in timelines that are, at least in certain ways, “going strong” she wants to minimize her interactions with the world to as limited as possible.

Meanwhile in Drakengard 3, as shit was going to shit, Accord was just outright toying with Zero until eventually intervening during the fight with One.

(Why she then was then showing things in her bag to Yonah I… don’t really know.)

Fourthly.

Group B.

From Sinoalice:

August 2 The origins of Group B is still largely unknown. It is believed they come from an undiscovered branch. I suspect the reason why they remained unnoticed for so long is because they have set up Recorders near Singularities to keep us away from them.

March 12 The last time there was a Cataclysm, it gave rise to a large number of Group B. They even have weaponry capable of countering our aerial weapons… things are getting out of hand. We’ve managed to keep them at bay so far, but if this situation continues, we will be completely overpowered.

June 5 It seems that we Recorder models, will need to adapt. The development of replaceable armament parts is progressing, but more investment is needed. Weapons distribution needs to be increased to facilitate memory recollection. There is lot of work to do.

August 8 The previous Recorder was destroyed by Group B. Since there is a possibility that it was captured, I’ll have to request assistance from the Association.

This Group B is something I didn’t really touch on ever due to having literally no fucking clue what it could be, but recently it was brought up again in the anime, so I’m bringing it up now. Because I think I might have an idea.

The first bolded line. “I suspect the reason why they remained unnoticed for so long is because they have set up Recorders near Singularities to keep us away from them.”

I think that Group B, in some way or another… is Accord. At least, variants of her that are more malicious.

Variants of her that are… still affiliated with the machines? Time is most likely all happening at once, in separate universes/timelines, and therefore while one group of accords are on our side, the other still is with the machines, from the “past.” I sound like a fucking flatlining heart rate monitor I’m so sorry.

Anyways… shit. You know what just clicked? Everything in this makes sense.

Do you remember Michael’s novella, when he and the other dragons were battling “puppets”/“insects”?

That was Group B. It had to have been, given that we know there is some weird kind of connection between the dragons of Drakengard and the Dragons from the “Kingdom of Night”, and that these dragons in the kingdom were deployed to fight against machines and aliens inside the kingdom.

And wanna know something? It’s parroted information, but the first of the Dragon machines and Accord were created around the same time, same area. But no matter how hard I try and convince myself otherwise, everything points to these two entities having not been originally created by the same entity.

And guess the fuck what? I’m not even theorizing about Accord being both group A and B, I’m just rewording actual canon.

In Sinoalice, there are two characters, these two:

That Accord is said to be the “ancestor” of. Fucking. They’re puppets. They are puppets with red eyes. And they’re fucked up little assholes.

And not only, but these two characters are also “mutated variants” of, what? Group B. Two characters are descendants of Accord & simultaneously variants of Group B, what conclusion does that leave? Accord and Group B are connected. Accord is Group A, the Accords still with the machines are Group B, Group A and Group B are both Accords. Circle A on your SpongeBob SquarePants punnet square worksheet and meet me after class

Going off of this, it’s said that Group B also has the capability to change forms based off parts they assimilate from other entities. And… hm. Hm!

If we apply that this same power hasn’t changed for Group A, then we just answered two questions regarding Accord.

First thing. How I mentioned that she looks younger in Utahime Five compared to her appearances in everything else. If she has the ability to change forms due to whatever she “assimilates”, then that explains why she looks slightly older now.

(Could also possibly explain the existence of male accords too, like in the stage play? I don’t know bro…….. I’m deep but not that deep)

Secondly. Ancestors… ancestor… hm…

Could she be. Um.

Could Accord have been the first “android-like” machine? And it’s because of this that she’s not as “advanced” as the ones we see, like Adam and Eve who are all but virtually organic beings?

Perhaps that’s why Adam resembles her so fiercely. And fuck, I just realized— it’s not just Adam. It’s N2.

And this time I promise I’m not just talking about black hair and pronouns.

I’m talking about narrative framing.

They’re basically inverses of each other. One’s trying to resurrect humanity while the other is actively pushing for its decimation on a dimensional scale.

Actively pushing back against one another. Constantly observing. Constantly… watching. And both possibly created by entities who once did the same.

Fifthly. And at last, finally.

What does Accord have to do with the Cage?

Well. It’s something very, very interesting.

The Cage, formerly situated on the moon before… for some reason… being found on Earth, is what’s keeping humanity alive.

At least, their data. Their data from all timelines, if I recall. And from cameos we are given little breadcrumbs that tell us Accord is very likely its creator.

And this Cage, inside of a seed, is revealed to be what is intended to bring humanity back— to resurrect them.

If this seed, this Cage, is destroyed— everything is destroyed. Humanity dies.

I fully believe that this event, the destruction of the cage— if it happens, this will be the Fall-Down. The destruction of all timelines. The destruction of humanity.

And think about all the characters we see from the games in Reincarnation. 2B, A2, 9S. Nier, Kaine, Emil. Even fucking Zero herself.

It’s all their data. It’s not them, per se— just their data. Why’s Joker Persona 5 there? Ummmmmm shhhhhhhhhh 🤫 🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫

And you know what? I think I just solved another question I’ve had for ages.

We know who took Angelus’ body.

During the legion war, Angelus’ body is stolen from where it’s being kept and we just… genuinely do not know where the fuck it went. At all. Not a fucking clue.

But do you know what I’m wondering now? Maybe Accord took it, and she’s in the cage. Because look at THIS. FUCKING. SCENE.

While Yuzuki and Hina are going through this weird “gallery” of paintings (WHY IS IT ALWAYS FUCKING PAINTINGS BY THE WAY. maybe accord & adam were in the same art class), a FUCKING DRAGON FLIES OUT OF NOWHERE, GOES INTO THE PAINTING, AND DIES. Obviously it’s just a reference to the only thing in Drakengard 1 that ever gets referenced— but we’re already so fucking deep I can’t see shit. I’m going with it.

And finally… finally, finally… I think I have everything. And if I’ve just confused the fuck out of you all for the last 7000+ words, allow me to attempt to amend that with my concluding…. bullet points

•The Ark the machines use to traverse time & space is a Seed of Destruction, in some shape or form, which we’ve seen them possess before. Seeds can also be used to store memories & “data”.

•The “light” frequently referenced throughout the series is most likely in reference to The Great Time.

•The Aliens of Automata are most likely connected to the Watchers of Drakengard in some genetic way.

•Accord is a machine, who stole data from humanity without their knowledge for the machines’ server.

•She later rebelled when their assimilation began and created the Cage.

•Accord uses the Seed(s) to copy herself & possibly time travel as well.

•The humans of Midgard were always right; there is an Egg of Resurrection.

And. That’s. EVERYTHING.

Shit. Sorry if this all kind of fell apart near the end, this took waaaay too long to finish up and every time I got close new shit got revealed that I could add. YAY.

But anyways. Hope you guys liked my nonsense, and until next time,

Hold on.

I just realized something.

…I think I was wrong.

Like, completely wrong, about something. One thing. Completely wrong about one, small thing.

Accord… isn’t the only character we see in these games that can travel across time and space.

…So does Caim.

At the end of Drakengard 1, ending E, he and Angelus send themselves and the Mother Angel (Queen Beast) across time into modern day Tokyo. This event is what would cause the NieR timeline to kickstart at all, bringing the origin of MASO as well as…

This event is what… caused NieR to occur.

This… event… caused… NieR.

This event caused NieR Replicant, which caused NieR Automata, in which the Ark was formed, in which the first Accord was created, in which assimilation began and kickstarted the time loop.

And the real kicker? Remember when I brought up “Singularities”? Entities with the capabilities to cause branches and alter timelines. The ones that we know of include Zero, Two, and recently, Kaine—

but with information given by Drakengard 3’s Complete Guide, we were given three more. These being,

Nier,

Nowe,

And CAIM.

It’s confirmed. Thank fuck, by the way— one of the biggest portions of the original twin theory was me trying to prove that he was a Singularity at all, but little did I know the truth was right under my nose. Waiting. For ten years. I’m the smartest bitch on planet earth

But there’s something… off, I feel.

In every instance of a singularity taking effect that we’ve gotten to see they always stay on the same… I guess, “Earth.” The branch changes, I guess, but the earth really doesn’t.

I’m saying this, because

Caim branches into an entirely different world, and he brings the two beings that shall end yet another humanity with it.

I’d bet the Gods were sure happy about that. More humans to…

I’d bet the Gods were sure happy about that.

What? Hang on.

Look at that.

These birds show up right before the Queen Beast falls into Tokyo. Birds have always been common imagery in these games, usually for symbolic purposes.

But every time Drakengard 1 uses this kind of imagery it’s… weird. The birds are weird.

Especially inverse of this, the very beginning of the game:

It’s in the opening cutscene of Drakengard 1. Furiae says, “It begins.”

(What begins? What does she already know…?)

And after a fade to white, we cut to a bird circling in the sky over the battlefield Caim is currently in. The very same one where he will be fatally wounded, forcing him to forge a pact with Angelus, the beginning of the end.

It always struck me as odd as to why this shot was included. Why include such seemingly meaningless imagery as… you know, a bird flying. Like a bird can do.

Well, that’s the thing with Drakengard 1. It’s by far the entry in this series with the heaviest religious imagery and theming.

And thus, with that in mind…

I looked it up.

What is the significance of a bird circling in the sky?

Oh.

So… It’s an Omen.

It’s an Omen.

A bird circling in the sky is considered an omen in certain religions.

A bird circling in the sky is considered an omen that God is either sending a message from beyond, or is watching over you.

God is watching over you.

God is watching you.

(watching me, watching you)

Hm. Hm! In the context of this series, that’s kind of…

interesting.

#MY BULLSHIT INACCURATE TEDIOUS AWFUL STUPID FUCKING THEORY IS BACK ON THE MENU #nier #drakengard #drakenier #square enix #yoko taro #drakengard 3 #drag on dragoon #dod #nier replicant #nier automata #nier reincarnation #twin theory #drakenier twin theory

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q-theeccentric · 11 months

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Sampo Koski Lore Notes

Because we love our HSR conman, Trailblazers all over the internet have begun to form many theories surrounding our beloved scammer. There are a lot of details about this man that are peculiar, and for those like me who love to overanalyze their favorite characters and how they contribute to the lore, I have created a list of notes about Sampo that point to him being downright suspicious.

Warning: Very, very long post ahead.

He is has a lot of intel apparently... where does he get them from?

Knowledge Voiceline: "Come on, how did you guys end up in the middle of the Snow Plains? UFO? Let me guess, you took a train, haha. Seriously though."

About Natasha Voiceline: He's not from the Underworld.

He loves money; money is considered to be a form of pleasure; does this refer to the Masked Fools being hedonists?

Turn Begins 1: "We're just having fun." Elation??

Hit by Heavy Attack: "Hey! W-watch the face!" Sampo is not really the type to be narcissistic… unless this is a pleasure-related matter…

Ultimate: Unleash: "Betraying the king" is often seen in literary works and other similar fictional media, and these types of things are often used for pleasure and entertainment

Return to Battle, Health Recovery, Natasha's About Sampo Voicelines: He's also… altruistic?

Hook's About Sampo Voiceline: He can be everywhere

Character Story: Part I: He slips away easily

Character Story: He is good at disguises, as if he's an actor… as if he were wearing a mask… because actors and masks and roles… Masked Fools foreshadowing?

Character Story: Why did they choose this specific story to be the one in his profile? The tale seems so random… or is it?

Character Story: Everything is purely dialogue… almost as if it were a script. If we compare it to the others, they have character stories that match them well, such as Bailu, whose character story is in the format of a prescription because she is a doctor.

Light Cone - Eyes of the Prey: "In reality most prety don't realize when danger is encroaching. This one's no exception." After reading the description, it may seem weird since Sampo noticed the sniper BUT what if the sniper is the REAL prey?

Light Cone - Eyes of the Prey: "So that's what greed looks like. That amount is equal to several of my contracts already… No wonder someone wants him dead." Another reference to money being a form of pleasure.

Light Cone - Eyes of the Prey: "As if these thoughts were broadcasted out loud, the an in the scope turns his head, looking straight into the eyes of the sniper. 'I've been waiting for you. Would this much be enough for you to hear me out?'" The EYES of the PREY refers to the SCOPE of the SNIPER. The light cone depicts Sampo from the EYES of the PREY.

Splash Art: The city in the background is likely NOT on Jarilo VI

Splash Art: It looks like he's jumping off a ledge or something similar

Design: @littlekiara96 noticed that his design refers to death a little too much due to the amount of skeleton imagery on him…

Kit: His technique is to blind enemies, which may call back to the fact that he slips away easily without anyone noticing

Kit: Why are his weapons blades that turn into boomerangs and not anything related to his obvious line of work?

Kit: His basic attack is called "Dazzling Blades"; I might be overthinking but the word "dazzling" is something I would hear when one describes an actor…

Kit: His skill is called "Ricochet Love"; "ricochet" often refers to projectiles bouncing more than once off of a surface (verb) or a shot that bounces more than once off of a surface (noun)---so where does the "love" come into all this? Love is another form of pleasure; I don't know but this skill reminds me of the Masked Fools again just because of all the bouncing more than once off of a surface and the love thing..

Kit: His ultimate is called "Surprise Present"; Sampo can be called a master of the element of surprise as he often appears suddenly without anyone suspecting him to---the present can also be something unexpected and weird (like a RICKROLL) which gives off MAJOR Masked Fools vibes…

Kit: Why is his element Wind?

Kit: Why is his path Nihility? @gachagen pointed out that Nihility characters hide secrets (Welt, Pela, Silver Wolf, Kafka). For my own observation, Nihility states that the universe is meaningless while Elation states that the universe is one big joke; both paths seem to infer that the universe has little meaning…

Kit: Half his Eidolons are about his scamming business and the other half are about… love and enthusiasm; both aforementioned concepts seem to call back to the Masked Fools and Aha the Elation…

Achievements: Versatile Joker is a hidden achievement until it is unlocked… does this fact and the achievement itself indirectly infer to Sampo's secret connection to the Masked Fools and Aha the Elation?

Missions: Besides Pela, Sampo is the only other 4-star character from Jarilo VI who does not have a companion mission yet

Character Traits: He BOWS like an actor (as seen in the Jarilo VI Trailblaze Mission), as if he is bowing for his PERFORMANCE

Character Traits: If I had a penny for every time Sampo was aware that he was being watched like how Aha did in the Simulated Universe (Jarilo VI quest conclusion, Eyes of the Prey light cone), I'd have two pennies… which isn't much but it's weird that it happened twice…

And that's pretty much it! Feel free to add more observations in the replies, or reblog too.

#sampo #hsr sampo #sampo koski #honkai star rail sampo #honkai sampo #sampo honkai #honkai star rail #star rail #hsr lore #hsr theory #cw long post #cueue's other thoughts #cueue's eccentric theories

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chirpsythismorning · 2 years

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It would appear I am indeed one of the very few optimistic (delusional?) Bylers left.

Not saying that if you feel hopeless and need to move on, that you can't. A lot of you have been through this before with other shows. Again and again. You’re tired and fed-up and you have every right to be.

Technically, Season 5 won't be out for another 2+ years anyways, which means the best thing for everyone regardless is to get whatever we need off our chests now and then to just go on a hiatus for the foreseeable future.

When it comes to how I feel about Vol. 2, there were definitely at least a few good moments. If this season has anything going for it, it’s the emotional value. This is without a doubt the most I’ve cried ever while watching the show. One scene in particular that had me on the floor was the scene with Will and El reuniting and hugging. And of course the scene with Will and Mike in the van (DAMN YOU NOAH SCHNAPP FOR MAKING ME SOB SO HARD ALL DAY THAT I GOT A MIGRAINE!)

But yes, I am a Byler. So you could say I was a bit disappointed in that department.

And yet still, I think my take on the later part of season 4 is much different from the majority.

Because personally, I don’t think that what played out in Vol. 2 means that Byler is dead. If anything, I believe it to be more endgame than I did before (well, at least in comparison to pre-s4. There’s no denying pre-Vol. 2 confidence levels remain unmatched. Truly the best era for the Byler fandom to date).

I think my main issue is, like so many of us on here, I thought it was guaranteed we would get to see Mike become aware of Will’s feelings.

Alas, we did not.

And to be totally clear, without this revelation, Byler can’t go anywhere.

Neither forwards, nor technically backwards.

This means the baiting game is not over. Which as bad as it sounds, is why I’m still so optimistic…

Now, if they had made Will’s feelings obvious to Mike, or even the fact that Will is gay as being obvious to Mike, but STILL had Mike behave the way he did in Vol. 2, now THAT would have sucked. It would have been canon rejection on Mike’s end.

But we didn’t even get rejection from Mike.

Instead, we got Will coming off as a hardcore M*leven shipper in Mike's eyes, all while the audience was getting the exact opposite interpretation of this situation; that Will is helplessly in love with Mike.

Will is able to voice the extent of his love, albeit through advice to Mike about his own situation with El, in a way that no one else on the show has been able to. Most of the other characters need a bunch of bystanders to make them realize their feelings and push them in that direction. But Will, he doesn’t need someone holding his hand along the way, telling him what the right thing to do or say is. His love isn’t something he needs to really think about in order to understand it. It just is.

(Which is SO fucking ironic when you think about how Mike always needs help with figuring out his feelings for El and even sounds like he’s reading off a script when he’s trying to explain himself to her. Whereas with Will, s2 monologue teas, it’s the most natural thing Mike’s ever done. Unscripted, straight from the heart… And both Vol. 1-2 continued to drive home this concept, so maybe jot that down..)

It’s just that, unfortunately, in Will’s eyes, Mike will never return this love, which means his only option is to let Mike go. If supporting Mike and El’s relationship means putting himself dead last in every respect, so that his best friend and his sister can be happy, Will is going to do just that.

But as far as Mike knows, Will holds no romantic feelings for him. I mean after all, Will is guiding Mike literally every step of the way to confessing his love to El, and that doesn't sound like the behavior of someone who’s in love with you, now does it?

So why would Mike, throw everything on the line, including the survival of their family and friends in Hawkins by not simply just telling his gf he loves her? All while El is right there loving him and needing his love to fight (presumably), with Will beside him literally rooting for him to do just that? This is very obviously the only option in Mike’s eyes.

Which is ironic, because in a way, I think that Mike has truly never seen him and Will as an option, just like Will, but for an entirely different reason.

Mike views his feelings for Will as childish, something he will grow out of, or at least should have by now.

“We’re not kids anymore. What did you think, really? That we were never going to get girlfriends? That we were just going to sit in my basement and play games for the rest of our lives?”

If Mike can’t love El, then how can he possibly love any women? She’s special. She’s a superhero. He HAS to love her, right? It’s the best option he could ever possibly have. Well, at least considering…

But what happens when suddenly, he comes to the realization that him and Will ARE an option? And that the only thing ever stopping them was himself and his inability to just be honest with everyone and himself?

I think the truth is, there’s a reason that they’re holding off on this revelation for Mike.

It will be a catalyst. It will change everything.

Now, how exactly do you think Mike is going to react to this? The fact that Will was in love with him this whole time and he had no idea?

Honestly, I think he’s going to react horribly, but not for the reason everyone assumes.

Because I would argue that, if Mike was going to react badly with disgust or even just let Will down nicely to confirm it’s indeed unrequited, then the Duffer’s would have just given this revelation up by now. But they haven’t.

Once Mike finds out that Will is (probably always will be) in love with him, and that instead of telling him, Will used his love to help Mike get closer to El, even when Mike himself was having doubts over and over? That Will went as far as to lie about the painting he worked so hard on for Mike in order to rekindle their dying friendship, to instead insinuate it was commission from El, to give Mike that final push he needed to even have the courage to tell El he loved her? That all the moments like this that they shared as of late, was really just Will talking about himself? That the only reason he was able to tell El he loved her in the first place, was because he was so moved by Will’s love for him??

This is going to break Mike.

And let’s be real here, two episodes would not have done this revelation justice.

So now, just knowing the direction they went for Vol. 2, as well as coming to terms with it, I have reached the conclusion that, despite how bleak things seem now, ‘maybe all of this is happening for a reason’ (s2 Mike Wheeler, we miss u).

Which brings me to the other most important piece of the puzzle, which is that, arguably, El needs to be the one who ends things once and for all.

The general audience has been given the impression El is head over heels in love with Mike, and so of course they were rooting for Mike to get on with it and just tell her he loved her.

But that’s the interesting part. He finally did tell her, but her reaction in the aftermath was not something a lot of fans expected.

It seems that she’s distancing herself from Mike, a fact that Will acknowledges to Mike later at Hopper’s cabin, with Mike genuinely confused because he thought he did the one thing he had to do.

He told her he loved her. Which makes everything alright now, right?

But maybe it doesn’t.

Maybe the reminder we got, of that speech from Max to El, about how she didn’t need Mike or Hopper or ANY man to know her worth, was foreshadowing for what honestly needs to happen in order for El to really process and realize her own true feelings about Mike.

Because, although I do believe El genuinely thought she loved Mike, is it possible that Mike was not only having doubts about saying it because of the reasons he argued, or even because of some repressed feelings for Will, but also because El hadn’t given him what he needed to truly believe she loved him.

Mike, like a lot of people, doesn’t need to hear “I love you” to believe that someone loves him.

“I didn’t say it.”

“You didn’t have to.”

He wants something more meaningful, or more specifically, something along the lines of the speech Will gave to him in the van.

Will’s confession disguised as El’s, was what Mike needed to finally say I love you to El...

Something I think we also got caught up in, is this idea that the Duffer’s were just going to drop M*leven and throw in Byler, with everything else going on, while they still have a whole ass season to promote for another 3+ years, and to their mostly 80’s loving homophobic audience. If Byler is going to happen, it’s going to be the definition of slow-burn and endgame. That’s literally the only way.

This puzzle is complex, which sucks if you want all the answers now, because we’re just not going to get them. If they give up all their moves, then what is the point of telling the story at all?

Other pieces of the puzzle include things that arguably still need to happen before Byler can, even regardless of the constraints they have as show-runners who run the biggest show on Netflix’s dying platform.

Things like Will and El’s love for each other as brother and sister. Considering all the fans that said Will hates El because he didn’t stand up to her bullies or that he’s a home-wrecker who just wants to get with her boyfriend, is why I do think they needed to debunk these insinuations within the narrative. And boy oh boy did they deliver on that front. Will is the most selfless son of a bitch on the planet, who loves his best friend and his sister so much. They made that very clear. And you can see that despite a few homophobes here and there, the general audience's reaction to Will in Vol 2 is sympathy and to Mike it's confusion and betrayal...

Hmm, making El realize she doesn't even love Mike, after making Will's unrequited feelings for Mike more clear, after making Mike behave like an IDIOT this entire time juggling these two relationships, only for him to become aware of whats going on, and to clearly be in love with Will?

Sounds like a good way to set up Byler to an audience that might not have humored it before...

And like I said, with how important I do think it was for this to happen in order for them to go the Byler route, is why I don’t necessarily see this approach as a bad thing. We even got the Will and El hug in 4x08, which maybe it’s just because Noah and Millie are so close, but I would easily rank that on my top most well-earned moments in the whole show.

We NEEDED that. Especially in terms of what is likely to come in season 5 with Byler endgame...

Also, yes the Will angst sucked and it's just trauma porn at this point. I’m not going to deny that fully. I agree with pretty much all of the criticism in regards to how they chose to do certain things when they didn't necessarily have to, but I also simultaneously am able to understand that it again, maybe this is all happening for a reason. If they are indeed going to have Will play a big role in the final season, than them forgetting his birthday, Mike being oblivious and all this other shit he's been through combined, sets up a really arc for him next season, not even necessarily a villain one, but all of this pain has the potential to lead to a happy ending. And I'm being full serious.

Like we have Finn Wolfhard saying the ending of Stranger Things will be like the ending of Schitt’s Creek??? That it will end at it's highest point. The last episode of Schitt’s Creek is literally a happily ever after gay wedding, there's no other way to interpret that…

We also know that a lot of ideas for the last seasons were planned from the beginning, with David Harbour saying that he knew the ending way back in s2 and that it's beautiful and has been the intended plan all along. That there's easter eggs that will have us going 'WOW this is what we've been watching the whole time'? That it's wonderful?

If you’re the level of Byler truther that believes they were somewhat planned all along from the beginning, then you would also know that if they plan a happy ending for Mike and Will, then they would have no problem killing us this painfully in the beginning of the end, because they know we’ll be the ones cheering on by the actual end, and it'll be the homophobes who are pissed and stuck with this result forever as endgame.

I’m just saying, don’t be surprised when s5 gets closer and we actually see them promoting Byler… like a lot. And we actually start getting in canon hints at scenes with El herself even trying to get them together.

Groveling Mike Wheeler era?

Will finding a potential new love interest and Mike pining/jealous?

Come ONNN! You guys are way more delusional than you’re giving yourselves credit for and I urge you to join me!!!

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spider-socorro-stan · 1 year

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Avatar 3 script leaks

Potential spoilers ahead! If you don't want to know anything about Avatar 3, this is not the post for you. And for those of you who have seen the leaks, this is not new info, I'm like super late with this, I'm just trying to compile all the script pages into one post. Plus there is one page that I feel like has not been discussed enough, hence this post.

Spoilers under the read more, you have been warned!

Okay, first of all, yes, I'm well aware the script leaks might be fake to throw us off, or at the very least no longer true because some rewrites have happened. I get it. But, in this post, I will treat them as an accidental leak, so bear with me.

I think most of you are now aware of the first two pages, I have seen a lot of posts with them, so I'm not gonna dwell too much on those. Here are the transcripts, by reddit user hdk759:

Another reddit user, Ereska, was able to transcribe a little bit more from the second page, so combined, these two pretty much give us the whole page:

Right, so Jake and Quaritch have a little talk about Spider, who can now breathe Pandoran air, and for once these two are not actively trying to kill each other, so that's pretty interesting. What is also interesting is that all the kids are also supposedly there, when they rush to a wounded Neytiri (and on that note, where has she been? Who was she fighting?). Neytiri hugs her kids (excluding Spider, might I point out), then we cut to them all returning to High Camp where Tuk and Mo'at hug. And we have seen that scene in the behind the scenes footage, which is another reason why I really don't think the script is fake.

Note: Avatar Theory also did a video on these script leaks and in the comment section someone mentioned Va'ru is an old name for Tarsem, the new chief of the Omatikaya. So it's not a new character, just good old Tarsem, very wise for his young age :)

Onto pages 3 and 4!

These are sadly harder to read, since a lot of the text is covered, but a twitter user AkumuHoshi did their best to transcribe them too:

There's a lot of stuff missing, but I found this screenshot from reddit user BentusFr which is in pretty high definition and you can read more of the text there:

So we start off with Jake and Neytiri in a Biolab in High camp, looking at Spider, who's probably being looked at by the scientists. Jake talks about how Spider is now in danger and can't stay there, because he will become RDA's target if they find out he can breathe the air, and then Neytiri suggests: "If he is so dangerous [text hidden], you should just kill him." Cool cool cool. Guess she ain't warming up to Spider anytime soon. Jake, understandably, does not like that idea, to which Neytiri replies: "Toruk Makto knows [blurred text, but to me it seems like duty? I dunno, it's one short word, that one made the most sense to me.]"

The rest of the text is too hidden to make much sense of, but we do cut to a different scene - the Tree of Souls. Kiri is trying to connect to Eywa, but gets another seizure and Mo'at has to disconnect her from the tree. And then we have a scene with Mo'at and Kiri, where we find out it was Kiri who made it possible for Spider to breathe the air, and she did so without any sacred trees nearby, she just made the roots to obey her and performed the miracle. She doesn't remember actually doing it, but Mo'at tells her she knows in her heart, and Kiri admits she did it herself. Mo'at then warns her to tell no one about it.

So here's what I want to know, were Kiri and Spider the only ones included in that miracle, or was Jake and the kids, possibly even Quaritch, there to see it? Remember, on the first script page, Jake tells Quaritch "You witnessed it tonight." and then a "long night of horrors and miracles" is mentioned on the second page. So who all knows what Kiri did? Who is Mo'at trying to protect her from?

And finally, we get to the last somewhat readable page, there is still one more that is unfortunately too blurry to be readable, at least I never saw any mention of anything else happening. So, page 5 it is!

I have no idea when the scene on that page happens, could be before the events on the first four script pages we have seen here, could be after. Personally, I think it's before. But it's just a guess. Here's the previous screenshot by BentusFr cropped and rotated to get a better look at it:

As far as I know, nobody has transcribed the text, and it does get more blurry as it goes, but the beginning is somewhat readable, so here's my best attempt at transcribing it:

VARANG WILLS Quaritch's arm to [text hidden] bulging, as his HAND OPENS and he [text hidden]

WAINFLEET takes a [text too blurry for me to read] untangling his head and arms, [can't read this one] He drops two WILD [blurry and hidden text] slams into the first na'vi to him [hidden text]

Another BOLO entangles his legs and [hidden text]

Honestly, from this point the text becoms too blurry for me to read, I do recognise a word here or there, but can't really make out a sentence from that. However, JAKE is mentioned in the next paragraph, so he's probably also there. Varang also goes on to have a bunch of lines that I sadly can't read. But if any of you can make sense of this text, by all means, feel free to let me know!

So it appears Quaritch and Wainfleet (and possibly Jake) get captured by the Ash Na'vi led by Varang. And somehow, Varang is able to control Quaritch's hand. Tsaheylu, anyone? Though probably not very consensual. But the idea of Ash people being willing to use their kuru for taking control of their enemies is quite interesting, and also really disturbing. And barely anyone talks about this! (And yes, I did make this whole post because of this one snippet of script, sue me.)

So why do I think this scene happens before the whole Spider can breathe Pandoran air miracle? The leaked image from Jon Landau's video. You know, this one:

Here's Quaritch talking to Varang, still in his RDA military gear, with Spider, Lo'ak and either Kiri or Tsireya (probably Kiri) being held by the Ash na'vi in the background.

What if this is what leads to Wainfleet showing up to help Quaritch, and Jake and probably Neytiri (and other Omatikaya) coming in to save their kids, they fight with Ash na'vi, Neytiri stays behind which might be when she gets injured, while Jake and Quaritch get the kids out of there. And maybe, somewhere along the line, Spider's mask gets broken, they don't have a spare, he starts suffocating and Kiri saves him.

So yeah. That's my take on it. Thoughts?

#avatar 3 #avatar 3 spoilers #avatar spoilers #avatar 3 script leaks #script leaks #avatar #meta #jake sully #neytiri #kiri #mo'at #spider soccoro #quaritch #recom quaritch #varang #ash people #ash na'vi

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murfpersonalblog · 2 months

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IWTV Trailer (me losing my freaking marbles - YOLO) Pt1

I'm just going frame by frame thru AMC'S BEAUTIFUL new IWTV trailer. But I had to split this into 2 parts cuz Tumblr won't let me post 30+ pics.

We've already seen Lestat's Theatre portrait on fire (burn, bish!) but the TRANSITION they made here is DISGUSTING--they know what they're doing!

Lou goes from thinking about setting the Theatre on fire (nervously/uncomfortably rubbing his chin, my poor baby), to another scene of him chainsmoking and staring sadly off into the void. I'm assuming it's the 1970s interview, cuz we see Afro!Lou in the same shirt when he effs up BB!Daniel a few minutes later.

AND they said Louis's "stronger, and harder, too," during ANOTHER closeup of Louis chainsmoking. Pyromaniac du Lac LIVES.

Then we get that INTERESTING exchange with Loumand about Oldmaniel:

Armand does NOT like this interview, no ma'am! What are you tryna hide?! 🧐

The fandom legit already MADE THIS JOKE too! XD

The parallels with Loumand enjoying watching movies together (NO CLAUDIA 👀)--and Loustat enjoying opera & movies together.

Loumand as a happy old married couple--I mean it, Rolin: what TF happened between the 1970s interview, the year 2000, and 2022, to make Louis' mental state get SO DANG BAD!?

Armand seems to be implying that 1970s SanFran wasn't where he failed Louis, but 1940s Paris when he burns the Theatre--but I'm seriously wondering if something else went down, cuz LOOK AT MY BABY. BLOOD TEARS. I cannot.

This hollow, fake smile Claudia gives when Loumand walks into the room; wearing makeup & an adult hairstyle tryna look grown--I wonder if this is the same night she joins the Theatre?

Lou & Claudia--he just gives her The Eyebrows, not saying anything (but Armand looks WAY too smug ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)); and we know Armand AND Claudia can EASILY read his mind way better than he can read either of theirs.

Louis calls her "a spark in the dark," right before they cut to the bombs falling all over WWII Europe with flames everywhere--including all over her face--foreshadowing her ashes to ashes, dust to dust. ("Rigged to burn," Louis said in S01E03.)

Did they get hit by bombs, or fall into mine fields?! Jfc. (OR maybe they were sleeping underground, in the earth, and woke up in a battlefield--GOD.) And this must be the same scene where Lou eats the heart--we see Claud throwing limbs around--are they scavenging bombed up corpses?

And the flame in the photographs Louis takes, which she's been tearing down--figuratively in the other teaser, and literally here.

Claudia finna GO OFF! (I HAD to make this one a gif, to see her wrath in MOTION 🤌)

EAT that racist French White, Claudia, PLEASE. Colonizer Capital--Paris SUCKS!

LOUIS DE POINTE DU LAC, ladies and gentlemen. U_U

You're one of a kind, sweetie--that's why the whole Theatre was tripping, cuz Lestat's "coven" in NOLA didn't look ANYTHING like how all other vampire covens worked. Lestat & Louis & Claudia were a FAMILY. They lived like humans--or as close to human as possible. Plus they were painfully weak, with none of the Dark Gifts. They weren't living like monsters--at least not on the surface....

In the other teaser I thought this dirty heifer who attacked Louis was a revenant, but if she's in the Theatre then this must be Alessandra or Eleni (which means a Rhoshamandes name drop!? 👀💀)? Please random dude please be Benedict. 🙏 I need more TVC cameos!

I'm wondering if this was part of a performance when Madeleine & Claudia were part of the Theatre, not during the Trial? OR this is AMC's recreation of the film version with the naked lady--"so we can eat people."

Armand finna GO OFF! But WHERE TF are his FANGS!? That's my ONE major gripe with this show--I'm so sick of seeing these stupid acrylics everywhere but no FANGS.

Then the trailer immediately tells me to STFU, LOL. XD

Lelio Rising. Lelio Falling. (Ooooo--the Tower Scene should be SPICY)

Then they use the "script" line to transition to The Trial, when Armand forced Lestat to be scripted! 😭 DIABOLICAL! And I LOVE this frame--it's giving me Oppenheimer when he was walking through the stands as everyone applauded him for dropping the bomb & he was PTSDing. (I had to make a separate post just for this brainworm.)

So Dan's finished the interview and this is his editor. (OR, even spicier, this dude's from the Talamasca, and Daniel's broken the NDA & fled the penthouse?) But chile, ain't nobody scared of LDPDL. 🙄 Daniel should be well aware by now that Louis snapped in the 1970s, sure, but he's not the REAL threat in that house, Mr. Mediocre Star to a 500 Year Old Vampire. Unless they're talking about LESTAT? 👀💀 WHERE TFC IS HE IN 2022?!

What in CHRIST'S NAME is coming out of his effing NECK? 😱 It was SQUEALING, like a KOCHON.

Louis slinging blood at the Sea of Galilee Armand stole for him, LOLOLOL.

Louis effing Daniel up--"you were disrespectful!" I wonder if BB!Dan crying was when Armand was busy stalking him when he was drunk AF & dying of alcohol poisoning.

I LOVE THIS. Louis is the center of it all--"It's you and me. Me, and you." 😭💔 Said over and over--Louis and Lestat, Claudia, Armand, and Daniel (and even Santiago U_U).

#interview with the vampire #louis de pointe du lac #pyromaniac du lac #louis de pointe du black #justice for claudia #loustat #loumand #must see tv #SCREAMING #screaming crying throwing up #the hype is real

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nrilliree · 25 days

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This is just my observation as an initial show only viewer (I went onto read the boom later) but for me personally, I think that’s why a lot of show only watchers don’t view Daemon as a morally grey character. Many of his actions were driven by doing what he thought was best for his family no matter how good or how evil what he did was. HotD have completely stripped any closeness and the bonds that he has with his family so, when he does things, it doesn’t feel so family motivated because HotD has portrayed his relationship with his family (aside from Rhaenyra) as distant and strained. They’ve just made his character appear incredibly self serving.

Exactly. I wouldn't have been a fan of Daemon if I had met him on the show first. I still don't particularly like the TV series version because it's so… shallow compared to what we saw in F&B. Daemon is one of GRRM's favorite characters and in the book I can understand why, but in the show? They cut out all the scenes that were supposed to give him depth, which I don't understand because they were in the script. They could have left three birth scenes for six episodes, orgies in the brothel, Aegon jerking off in the window, but no room for any scenes of Daemon with his family? I'm not surprised that people who only know the series have a problem with Daemon. Especially when there are posts on tumblr by people from TG who "read" the book and claim that "it's confirmed that Daemon was a pedophile", "Daemon slept with his own daughter" or "Daemon was a coward and was afraid of Aemond". If you don't know the book and you hear nonsense like that, it doesn't help.

#house of the dragon #team black #anti team green #pro team black #rhaenyra targaryen #anti team green stans #daemon targeryan

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shannankle · 3 months

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DFF and Color Part 4: Episode 8

Okay let's jump into color again! Posts 1-3 on color here, here, and here. As before this is a brainchild in collab with @slayerkitty

Tee continues to wear and use blues and grays. And being around his uncle only reinforces this.

Non continues in reds, oranges, pinks, and tans and other warm colors. He starts in the same tan shirt we left him in last episode, faded, angry, hurt. But by the time he's off with his new script he's back to a brighter pink, ready to act for himself.

Unlike previous times, he's gone with the group he has no greens, grays, or blues on him (with the exception of his jeans but I'll read those as neutral). He's set against the group, and it reflects his determination to embody that role.

The rest of the group continues to be in blues and grays, with the exception of Jin. In the last episode, he went from yellow to pink. Here, he's in a middle ground of orange. Perhaps because he still has some hope of getting past what he did, he's not as pink as the last episode, so perhaps not as deeply mired in anger and guilt. But he's certainly not his usual yellow. In either case, he is marked by his guilty conscience in a way the others aren't. It also makes him much closer in color to Non at the very point where he can't even look Non in the eye, almost as if he, like Por in last episode, is stealing and draining Non's color.

The threat of the group (or primarily Tee in this case) comes back through the greenish gray water bottle.

As they film and Non confronts them, they've switched into all blues and grays so Jin is matching the group now. It's the group vs Non. Jin apologizes but ultimately Non passes out before it's resolved, leaving Jin still complicit.

Meanwhile Non is drowned in the black costume. It's not the first time he's worn it, but it's certainly an important moment. His shirt collar and bracelet give him his last bit of color but we can see the toll everything has taken on him. If last week his battery and color were being drained, now he's running on fumes. The pink that stood out before as Non tried to take control is covered over much like the drug Tee gave him kicks in before Non can continue or resolve the situation. Of course black can also be linked to death, which looms over Non as Tee takes him to his uncle. Like his fate, Non is shrouded in black, a mystery with high stakes--death or disappearance.

The gang circles the wagons and continue to wear blue while talking to the police. This includes Jin who chooses to protect the group. We don't know why he does so, but whether it's out of fear, a desire to not betray his friends, or another motive, he is siding with the group. We're clearly meant to read this as Jin once again slipping back to the group and hurting Non.

Interestingly, Tee wears blue but also pink. In fact his outfit mirrors what Jin wears in the present day. I can think of two ways to read this. If for Jin, pink represents his guilt, perhaps Tee also is feeling guilty or at least a cognitive dissonance. We know that later in the episode he'll grapple with the implications of what his uncle may have done to Non even if he lies to himself that it's fine. On the other hand, we could read this as Tee stealing Non's color, much like Por did last episode. This reading makes a lot of sense since Tee is currently the most culpable of the group and the most aware of what happened to Non. It makes this an extra gut punch as Tee wears the same color Non did when he handed him over to his uncle while at the same time hiding everything.

They all are in their blues and grays again as they finish the film. The only other color (aside from Top's hint of his future yellow) is the orange camera case. Perhaps a reminder here of our absent friend.

This is where it gets interesting. While Jin stays in blue with Por, the other three are in orange and red. Now Tee has mixed in red before but always with blue along side it, and we haven't seen Fluke in any colors beside blues and grays in the past. Top has had some yellow (cause who can keep his "winning" personality down) but orange is new. In the scene Jin begs the group to call Non "Non" instead of Greasy for once. Normally when he speaks up to the group he has other colors going on, but now he's in conformist blue so what's going on? Perhaps his blue is a final hope that he can reach the group, get them to understand without having to abandon the friendship.

Meanwhile Fluke, Top, and Tee are in Non's range of colors. I see three possibilities here. First, they have stolen Non's color. Similar to last episode and Jin and Tee respectively at earlier points in this episode. Though in it's interesting that Fluke takes the pure red while the other's take orange. Perhaps because he is now the lowest in status? Or perhaps it marks the distinction between Fluke as a bystander and Top and Tee who took the active role.

The second possibility is that the color shift marks their guilt. Non's blood is on their hands and seeped into their color schemes. We even have the same alcohol cans as Jin smashes after he films Non and Keng. The amount of remorse they might feel will vary but they're tainted nonetheless, just as Jin moved to pink after the video.

The third possibility, which is perhaps interrelated, is that it marks these characters starting to shift to the colors they'll use in the present. Fluke goes from blues and greys to red, perhaps overshooting but soon will settle into purple. Top moves to orange on his way to yellow. And Tee is now adding orange which he'll later mix in when he defends White.

Interestingly in all of this Por remains in blue like he hasn't been impacted at all. In addition to having likely no guilt, unlike the others he has a lot more protection from consequences due to his family's wealth and influence. So while, Non's blood is technically on his hands, it can't touch him, and won't be visible to others.

At the premier, Tee and Top have bounced back to their usual blue. Meanwhile Fluke remains in red, again perhaps because he's now the lowest tier member, or perhaps because (as we see in the future) the weight of this is much heavier on him psychologically. Jin meanwhile has lost color. We could argue this is part of the gray part of the blue/gray color scheme, but it reads more brown to me, like a unsaturated yellow or pink that's turned brown and muddy. We can tell by his facial expressions throughout this too that he is increasingly jaded. Like Fluke, it's weighing on him but in his own way.

Por has taken credit for Non's work, erased him from the film. But he is still quite literally "the hidden character." The fact that Por can't fully cover this up is evident in the red letter "H." Non is present even as he is hidden and erased.

Por has a touch or blue/green in his shirt but is mostly in black here like his father. He is shrouded and overshadowed by his father, his achievement ultimately linked to his father and not his own efforts.

DFF really likes it's red, yellow, and blue scheme. Again, despite how hard they try to erase Non they're surrounded by his color during the premier. Showing how they can't escape their culpability but also how they've appropriated his color for their own gain.

Interestingly they throw in one audience member in blue. At first I thought it might be White, but looking through shots I think it's just an extra. Still a striking choice to throw blue into the sea of red and yellow.

Phi continues in his own blue but still mixes in Non's colors. He still wears the bracelet in the scene with his father, and in the theater he is framed against reds and oranges. On top of that of course is the fact that he is collaborating with someone in red (likely Tan).

When Tee talks with his uncle they're both in blue, but the orange tigers hang over Tee just like him wearing orange before. The implications of what he's helped his uncle do hang over him as well.

Interestingly, Tee's uncle is typically in blue except for this scene. Here the shot mixes reds and blues. He looks like he's in purple, with red and blue lighting and decor mixing in the background. Similarly Perth's character mixes red with blue as well. I'm wondering if this is to signal that Perth's character will in some way be aligned with Non or help in some way to take down the uncle. His presence and touch change the uncle's color but still hide his own intentions.

That's been this week! Next week we have Jin sporting red! Could it be his guilt, a slowly deteriorating relationship with the group, his budding relationship with Phi? I'm interested to see.

#dff the series #dead friend forever #dff meta #my posts #my meta

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riddles-n-games · 4 months

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Why do you think avery and Jameson’s characters/Jameson’s story felt off? It feels off for me, too, but I can't put my finger on it.

Hoo boy, where to start? This feels like peeling wet paper from wet paper. Also, sorry this took so long to make. I was constantly putting it off because I felt like I kept not knowing how to continue this review at times so I really hope this doesn't disappoint.

Spoiler Warning: The Brothers Hawthorne Discussion

Plot-wise, first off, it felt like we spent a lot of time with the set up to get to the Game and usually JLB spends a very minimal amount on that before we jump into the riddles, puzzle-solving, clue finding portion of the story as shown in the last three books. Then when we get to the actual portion of the plot which is dedicated to the Game itself, the running around Vantage feels like it was all so quick and you don't even get to take it in because we're already at another part with a new clue that by the time you feel settled in, the Game is done and Jameson is the winner. So, I think the concern with the story on that front is the fact that she wanted us to have an element from the old books that we're comfortable with so we can continue experiencing that thrill we're used to, just from Jameson's perspective because this suits him to a T. And she's right. This is the Hawthorne brother we've come to associate with all these high risks, high stakes, riddles, puzzles, complex games, etc., etc. It's just her approach didn't feel right; she spent more time on one thing than the other, the set up vs the climax as a result of said set up were disproportionate and this would probably be as a result of the dual pov. We never had a dual pov before in the series so where one story feels completed, the other didn't. Had Jamie's story been one whole book on its own, she likely could have made everything in the plot more evened out, especially the part we're anticipating most: the Game.

Also, from what I can see, Grayson's plotline does serve as the typical storyline we see in TIG, THL, and TFG in terms of set up and execution of actions after the build up. But it also must have been thought out better because there was pressure from the fans to redeem Grayson after the events of the last book. To be fair, JLB may have also planned it out that way in the first place. It's just disappointing to read through a book with the one brother I wanted to see in his best element because he fit this script the most having his storyline cut off seemingly abruptly. I know it's easier for her to come up with stuff for Grayson because he's still underdeveloped but she should have taken more care of Jameson since he is already developed. It causes inconsistency and on her part, looks like lazy writing and that she didn't even want to write his story. Most complex story she's written, my ass. If she wanted to just write Grayson's story then she could have done that, it would be believable enough that she just wanted to leave Jameson untouched because of the work she put into him rather than taking back all the good stuff we've seen come out of him by the end of TFG.

Now, with Jameson's character development, I think that the problem was the dilemma he was facing with his mind being "ordinary" compared to that of his brothers. I don't think I minded that part that much but when I review how he acted in the original trilogy versus how he was in this one, this problem kind of abruptly seems to show up, even with the flashbacks where this was demonstrated to be a topic of interest. Maybe JLB should have created some kind of set up for his character having this problem in the first books like she did with his lack of father figures issue which clearly makes him sensitive and his desperate need to win. These were things that had an origin and were portrayed appropriately in the book with a somewhat satisfying conclusion. This one just felt like it was there and the issue was quite quickly resolved so it kind of just makes itself appear as something that could have been easily ignored. He also falls short on sounding like a human being because she has made his mentality and personality so one dimensional and basic that a robot has more complexity than him. We get it, he's hungry for more almost all the time! But that's not all there is to him. And as a Jameson girlie, I feel like she made it so much harder for us fans of him as a character and the chosen love interest for Avery to give reasons as to why we liked him. I mean, back in 2022 and throughout 2023, I don't know how many little analyses and rants I came across that projected the goodness of his character. Now what am I supposed to justify? I was hoping we'd get that deserved deep dive to see what else drove him besides the obvious and what did we get? Just an endless loop of what we already know and have seen.

On the topic of Avery and Jameson as a couple in this book, uh, I think that JLB could have done a better representation of it from Jamie's perspective than the way she did in TBH. They had some pretty great moments like their problem-solving sequences, the getting ready scene before the opera, the little stuff like their hand symbols to signal to each other, Avery comforting Jameson, and Jameson confiding in her the secret of what happened in Prague. However, I found the way that JLB described Jameson's thoughts towards Avery a little too out of character. I get it, there's nothing wrong with him being physically attracted to his own girlfriend, that's definitely part of it but it felt too lusty and not the way he seemed to view her from what we saw in the last three books. I mean, even Avery wasn't quite so lusty towards him. The flirtatious components weren't what I was hoping to see especially after his many swoon-worthy moments from THL and TFG. Honestly, regarding my opinion on this, there's a recent post by @elif-in-wonderland that summarizes my thoughts for me perfectly.

There, that concludes my current thoughts on the book regarding Jameson's side. If I do end up having more opinions to share, I will be sure to make a continuation to this in a follow up post. Thanks for the ask!

#jameson winchester hawthorne #jameson hawthorne #avery kylie grambs #avery grambs #averyjameson #the brothers hawthorne review #tbh spoilers #the inheritance games rant #the inheritance games #the hawthorne legacy #the final gambit #the brothers hawthorne #tig #thl #tfg #tbh #thank you for coming to my ted talk

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enamoredwithbella · 4 months

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PJO TV CRIT RANT COMING !!

If you don’t want to hear or don’t like it just don’t read it. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion

I’ve been on the pjo tv crit tag and I gotta say I agree with most of what’s on there 😭😭

All my praise for the show goes to the actors alone. I’m not stupid I didn’t expect the show to be an exact replica of the books cause that would’ve been boring as well but I feel like say “faithful adaptation” is a bit overzealous.

1. The changes

Some of the changes I love. Like them stopping for candy and Annabeth going in was so cute. Grover using psychological warfare on the God of war ate.

But a lot of the changes were just like ???? What was the point? And all the stuff that they revealed like 4-5 seasons too early. Stuff that was hinted at through the books that built suspense and intrigue just dumped on the table was a bit 😕

I remember finding out about Luke’s mom and why Luke REALLY hated his father. It literally had me gagged it was like finding out something I didn’t even know I was waiting for. The build up to them finding out Kronos involved was always a favorite cause it felt so raw. It was pure fear encapsulated by words, you could feel it, it was palpable and we just didn’t get that in the show. It was so “here you go. Kronos it was him *but said intensely*”

2. Them knowing everything

I do understand how it does make sense that they would know a lot of things from the jump as they all literally grew up with this information but a lot of the times where they didn’t realize exactly what was happening right away in the books have a slight reminder of how young and innocent they are. These neurodivergent 12 year olds who have been tasked with a Gods job and have been trekking across the states for days; yeah I wouldn’t expect them to be at the top of their game ALL THE TIME no matter how smart they are. The slip ups show that even though they’re these tiny warriors they aren’t immune to being a little naive.

3. Setting

I’m not gonna criticize the settings cause if that’s how Rick imagined it then that’s how he imagined it but I can’t blame the ppl who are a bit miffed at how the sets were portrayed. The underworld did truly throw me off.

4. Info dumping ?? Or not enough info idk

I also saw a post about how they would just throw random names out there pertaining to Greek mythology and then just not explain 😭😭 and all the stuff that they left out too (fields of punishment, isle blest, etc) which sets up for things in later seasons. And I understand the time crunch; 8 episodes 40 mins give or take and a dream is what they had. That being said this shit was a mess 🤷🏽‍♀️😭😭 like badly set up, script was not doing them any justice, and it felt so boring most of the time.

5. Whimsy and fun erasure

There were gems I will keep saying that. There were fun times but the fun times also felt very strategically placed whereas in the books it was sorta woven into the chaos. Charon being a lil silly, Grover playing the shooting game in the lotus casino and killing humans (I love him so much 😭😭), annabeth geeking over the architecture of the arch and going on a tangent about how it was made while Grover and Percy trade candy in the back. Talking to the animals and Percy finding out he can speak horse, the car wash where annabeth scares off a grown man in a Lincoln, “shows over! Thank you and goodnight!”, Percy and Grover clowning annabeth for watching the discovery channel unironically. I’m not saying I expected them to put all this shit in there cause again I’m not an imbecile but the type of wit and humor that made everyone fall in love with the books was cut out for the more serious stuff. And what’s so frustrating about that is I KNOW the actors would’ve ate it up. Walker especially that boy IS Percy.

I could keep finding stuff but I’m trying to be grateful cause even after all of this Rick did take the time to try and think of us and maybe it’s not his fault but idk it’s just a bit disappointing after the way it was marketed towards long time fans

Much love to Walker, Leah, and Aryan and hope for future seasons 😊

#pjo tv crit #percy pjo #percy tv series #percy series #percy jackson and the olympians #percy jackson and the olympians tv show #book percy jackson #percy jackson x reader #percy jackson #annabeth chase #grover underwood #leah sava jeffries #walker scobell #aryan simhadri #rick riordan

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medusapelagia · 3 months

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The scorpion and the frog - Harringrove Love Fest 11th February

written for @harringrovelovefest

Rating: Teen and Up Relationship: Steve Harrington/Billy Hargrove Prompt: You give love a bad name TW: angst with happy ending

Steve sighs in his dressing room while getting ready to shot, Robin, his personal assistant, got everything ready for him: his favorite snacks, some mango-flavored water, and even his lucky charm, but Steve knew that this movie was going to be the hardest he ever shot.

His reflection looks back at him, mocking him, and he brushes his hair with his fingers trying to fight the anxiety: he looks good, he knows he does, but inside he feels raw. Gulping some flavored water he takes a last glimpse at the script, it’s the first day of shooting so it’s just a sort of warm-up for everyone, still, he wants this to be over as soon as possible.

He takes a pair of Ray-ban and goes outside where the producer is waiting for him.

“Good morning, everyone. Sorry for the delay. I had a phone call…” He starts, but the producer shakes his head.

“Don’t worry, we are still waiting for him.”

Him.

William fucking Hargrove.

“Oh. Is he late?”

“Are you surprised? He is always late.” Max, Billy's assistant, complains “You could start by shooting your scene if you want to.” She suggests while she keeps calling the other actor with her mobile phone; Steve turns toward the producer who is yelling something at the phone with someone else and shrugs, he can’t play an entire scene on his own, he needs at least some direction.

“Are you feeling lost, pretty boy?”

Steve doesn’t turn to greet Hargrove “You are late.”

“Am I?” The actor asks, shaking his blond mane like a lion.

“You know you are, dick head, now get ready, everyone was waiting for you!” Max scolds him, but Billy ignores her and throws his jacket to one of the assistants.

“I’m ready.”

“You haven’t even taken a look at the script!” Max yells and the boy turns annoyed.

“I don’t need to, Maxine,” he replies and the girl glares at him for using her complete name “I know the script by heart, tell me which scene we are going to shoot and I will be fine.” Then he turns toward a blond girl “Can you fix my makeup, sugar?”

“Chrissy. The name is Chrissy!” Another blond-haired boy replies and Billy turns toward him.

“I don’t give a fuck about what her name is, is that clear? I just care that she does her fucking job. Do you have something to say about that?” Hargrove growls, and the other boy is ready to snarl something back but the girl puts a hand on his arm.

“It’s fine Jason, we are already late. Mr. Hargrove, please follow me.” She says pointing toward the trailer where she has everything ready.

“What a piece of shit.” Robin whispers when Hargrove disappears inside the trailer “I don’t know why Murray chose him as a protagonist.”

Steve sighs, he knows perfectly well why he did: Hargrove is a rising star, every movie has taken at least 50 million at the box office, and he is a safe bet, not like Steve who used to be a baby star and now is working hard to make the leap and finally became a serious actor, not the boy that used to play the kid in that television series years ago.

The ex-child prodigy was so happy at the table read when he first met Hargrove: their chemistry was undeniable and Murray immediately decided to add even more scenes between the two of them, which sounded like a dream at the time, but now Steve is deeply regretting it because more scene together lead to more time spent together and…

“Still daydreaming, pretty boy?”

Steve bites his tongue and smiles back, feeling the sour taste of bile in the back of his mouth “I’m ready when you are Mr. Hargrove.” He replies avoiding the piercing blue eyes.

“Mr. Hargrove is my father.” The blond actor replies offended “Never call me like that again.” Then he lifts Steve’s chin with a finger “I thought we were on first name base, Stevie.”

If first name base means getting fucked out of his mind in the back of Billy’s Camaro, yeah, they were, but Billy made it clear that he didn’t want any commitment and Steve accepted, not knowing that the damage was already done, that his stupid heart was already in love with the famous actor.

“We were, Billy.” Steve replies, moving away from Billy’s grip and turning toward the set “Are you ready or what?” And Steve should have known better than to reply like that because the innocent smile Billy gives him breaks him even harder.

“Such a hard worker.” Billy says out loud, but when he gets closer to Steve he whispers “Good boys get prizes, did you know that?”

Steve swallows, and curses when he feels something twitching in his pants, but keeps himslef focused: they have a job to do and he can’t fuck this up. If he plays his card well he might even get a Golden Globe nomination.

***

Billy can be an asshole outside the set, but when they are working he is very professional: he never asks for a moment of rest and it’s always eager to hear the director’s opinion on his performance, ready to redo the same scene even fifty times until everyone is satisfied, which today means that Billy grinds against Steve almost all day. One time he is cocky, one time he is sweet, another is angry, and all that Steve has to do is say his line, get a chair, and sits with his legs spread, waiting to find out if Billy will crawl at his feet, or stomping toward him and yank him by his collar, but every single time the scene ends with a passionate kiss between the two of them.

Well, not really the two of them, more like… their characters.

Because Steve is not Andrew and Billy is not Thomas, as Steve keeps repeating to himself every time that Billy’s lips find his and they kiss.

Such a perfect chemistry.

That’s what Murray said the first time that they read the script together and he wasn’t wrong, only for Billy is just acting while Steve has feelings that have been hurt more than once during the time they have spent together.

Steve pretended to be ok every time Billy drove him home after they met in some seedy motel where nobody asked for their IDs and they could hide in the shadow, away from the public eye, but now that they are so close to each other there is nowhere to run and Steve knows that he is falling for the beautiful actor again, and again, and again and he can read in Robin’s expression that she knows it and she doesn’t like it. At all.

“You must learn how to protect yourself, Steve.” She says while he is resting in his trailer waiting to shoot his next scene “That boy uses you like a toy and you always let him.” She gently scolds him and Steve knows that she is right and he is trying very hard to fight his feelings for Hargrove, but the angel’s face boy promised him Heaven… only to put him through Hell.

“I know that you are right, and I’m doing my best.” He replies, getting out to smoke a cigarette while Robin complains that he will smell like an ashtray for hours.

Steve leans against the trailer, one leg bent against the big wheel and a cigarette in his hands complaining in a soft voice about his stupid love life. If only Billy wasn’t so fucking nice when he brushes Steve’s hair away from his face; if only he didn’t praise him and his work on any occasion, if only… but Hargrove is like that, he likes to play with him like a cat with a mouse.

“He is more of a scorpion kind of guy.” Max says and Steve startles.

“I didn’t see you!” Steve murmurs, and the girl smirks but doesn’t reply, pointing at Steve’s cigarette pack and taking one that she lights with a familiar Zippo, the one he bought in a gas station weeks ago.

“It’s Billy’s.” She confirms “I took it weeks ago and he is still complaining about it.”

Steve raises an eyebrow, surely Hargrove has enough money to buy another one if he wants to.

“Wouldn’t have the same emotional value.” She replies and Steve blushes. It’s not special but it has a skull smoking a cigarette that resembles the one on Billy’s biceps.

“Listen, Billy is an asshole, I know that, but you must understand where he comes from.” Max says, stomping the cigarette's butt to the ground “His father… his father was not a good person, ok? And I know because he married my mom. After a couple of years of marriage and many trips to the ER later, my mom left him and she took Billy with her. He was always good-looking, you know? Everyone wanted a piece of him and he was clever enough to take advantage of that and become one of the most famous actors of the moment: always ready to give just enough of himself to get what he wanted but not enough to get them too close.” She turns toward Steve “With you things are different. He cares about you but he doesn’t know how to prove it to you. He is still his old asshole self. It's like the story of the scorpion and the frog. When the scorpion stings the frog, dooming them both, the frog asks the scorpion why it stung him, and he replies…”

“I am sorry, but I couldn't resist, it's my character.” Steve concludes for her, still holding the filter of the long-gone cigarette “So what you are saying is that I'm the frog and I'm destined to get stung by him because he can't avoid it?”

Max shrugs “Just wanted you to know that you are different from him, but for him changing is hard, even for you. Just... don't let him go. Yet.”

“Yet?” Steve asks, confused, and the girl gives him the Zippo.

“Yet.” She confirms leaving Steve even more confused.

***

On the last day of shooting the director and the producer invite everyone to a big party to celebrate, and Robin somehow convinces Steve to join “We are celebrating and everyone else will be there! You are the co-protagonist, you can’t miss it!” She insists, but the idea of seeing Billy flirting with everyone is killing him. Steve does his best to come up with an excuse, but when the girl comes to his hotel’s room with a smoking he is out of excuses. They are late to the party, everyone is already half drunk on champagne. Steve gives a nod of denial to the waiter who offers him a glass of bubbles and does his best to avoid everyone, even if Robin told him more than once that if he really wants to be taken as a serious actor he should get better at public relations.

He is staring out of the window when he smells it: Billy’s cologne.

“Nice evening, huh?” The blond actor says, getting closer and Steve nods, turning toward the window and staring at their reflections that now are so close.

“Yeah. Congratulations, I heard that even if the movie is not even ready you are already on the list for the Oscar.”

“Are you jealous, pretty boy?” Billy asks with a smirk.

Steve gives him a self-deprecating smile “I already knew you were a good actor. Great even.”

“What does it mean?” Billy growls, stepping toward Steve and almost trapping him between his body and the big window.

“Stop it. Someone could see us.” Steve complains trying to free himself.

“Is that the problem? You don’t want to be seen with me?”

“I’m tired of your lies!” Steve growls, turning abruptly toward Billy “I don’t give a fuck if you are a scorpion or whatever! I don’t want to be your fucking frog! I deserve better!” He sobs, feeling the tears falling from his eyes.

Billy’s smile gets softer “You do.”He whispers on his lips and bends a little until, waiting for Steve to say no, and when he doesn't their lips collide.

Steve is too surprised and confused to stop him, so he lets Billy kiss him and somehow it feels like the first real kiss they ever shared.

“Tell, me what do you want, Steve?” Billy whispers, his long eyelashes fluttering so sensually.

“Wanna be yours…” Steve replies, hating himself for being always so honest “But I don’t want to end up like the frog in the story.

Billy nods, wiping Steve’s tears with his thumb “I’m not good for you. We both know that.” He says “But you are like a fucking magnet to me. This stupid movie wouldn’t even be worth the ticket price if it wasn’t for you. You are great Steve. A great actor, a great person. I’m not like that. I use people for my own purposes and…”

“Can’t you just… trying to stop doing that? For me?” Steve asks, and maybe is the warmth of Billy’s hand on his cheek or maybe Steve is just too stupid and too honest, but the words come out of his mouth before he really thinks about them.

“What if I can’t? What if I’m just a silly scorpion?”

Steve doesn’t want to be the frog, he really doesn’t, but he can’t avoid replying “Then we’ll drown together in the river.”

Billy smiles at him, the soft secret smile that he gave him just a couple of times, the one that feels real, the one that feels warm like a soft blanket, and Steve doesn’t know if he just condemned himself, but when they leave the party, hand to hand, and Billy drives him to his rented house and not to a motel, he feels that this is something new.

Something worth it.

#harringrovelovefest2024 #harringrove love fest #harringrove #billy x steve #steve harrington #billy hargrove #stranger things fanfiction #medusapelagia #medusapelagia fanfic #my fanfic #Billy Hargrove #Steve Harrington #Harringrove #Billy x Steve #Stranger Things Fanfiction #Harringrove fic

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my-mt-heart · 7 months

Text

Where's Daryl?

This was very difficult to write. It opened up a lot of old wounds for me, so if you read this, thank you. If my thoughts on this show haven’t been your cup of tea, that’ll most definitely be the case here as well, so maybe just move along. ***Trigger warning for discussion of childhood abuse***

For about a year and a half, Caryl fans asked Where's Carol? as a pointed reminder that the spinoff was always meant to be hers just as much as it was Daryl’s. Even though she's back now, her fans didn't always know she would be (nor did the EP's 🙄) so her absence during filming and promotion of the first season was a heavy burden to bear. The irony is, though “Daryl Dixon” sticks out like a sore thumb in that ridiculous font, he's the one who feels absent sometimes, as if important parts of his character development were lost when he washed ashore while other parts come and go as the plot demands.

Zabel talks about swapping Daryl's iconic vest for "old man" suspenders as a matter of pragmaticism i.e. they were the only clean clothes available. Norman says it was a choice he wanted for some unclear reason, but neither of them seem to consider the intelligence of their audience, particularly Carylers, to see it more symbolically. The costume change is our visual reminder that Daryl isn't himself. In some scenes he's chattier than he should be, far more trusting of strangers with personal details, and far more theatrical. Then in others, the differences are even more alarming. He calls a child cruel names, puts his hands on him, and feels conflicted about returning home to his family, to the woman he said he loved.

I mentally prepared myself for retcons, but the one I'm struggling with a lot right now, which I haven't seen anyone bring up yet, is the retcon of Daryl’s childhood abuse. Daryl tells Isabelle that he and Merle had to take apart engines and if they couldn't put them back together, their dad wouldn't let them have dinner. It's a milder version of the stories the scars on his back tell us, though I can buy Daryl omitting the worst of it like he did in the pilot. What I can't buy is Daryl saying his dad was "hardly ever" around and emphasizing it as the main source of his pain growing up. It feels contradictory for one thing. When we see Daryl's scars for the first time in S3 of the flagship show, it's implied Daryl was trapped in an environment that enabled his dad to physically hurt him often. Presumably that's why Merle felt guilty about leaving him behind. The revelation also seems like it's only intended to highlight the consequences of an absent father figure, explaining Daryl's fear of not making it home, but also justifying his "close" bond with Laurent. The best stories allow a character's emotions to drive the plot, but this just does the opposite, twisting Daryl's backstory to fit the current narrative.

Daryl's backstory made so many people root for him in the first place. It allowed Carol to see him when nobody else in the group could. It helped me process my own childhood trauma. The ways I got to watch him overcome his violent past gave me hope that masculinity could mean more than what I grew up around—more than anger, shouting, and swinging fists. Daryl taught me that men could still be tender, kind, and loving even if those closest to them in their childhood never showed them how. I imagine Daryl's representation has been important to boys and men too, specifically to those who were afraid to speak up about their abuse because of the stigma around it. The implications of this scene may not be easily noticeable to some, but they are to me, and I'm deeply offended by it.

I’ve talked at length on this blog about how it takes a village to make or break a show, though it’s usually the showrunner who has to answer for it. I've already mentioned that I do blame Zabel. His knowledge of French history has no value when he obviously didn’t bother to study Daryl’s history aside from reading old scripts and (maybe) watching the first couple seasons. That's incredibly irresponsible and terrifying for S2. I also blame AMC for their short-sightedness and their determination to save face no matter how much it costs them. I blame Gimple for his pettiness. I blame Greg Nicotero for his insensitivity to Melissa and her fans.

As for Norman, he's hinted very loudly that he wants credit for the show being "different," so in theory he should be prepared to take some of the blame too. I can't name all of the decisions he specifically made, but no matter what they were, I can blame him for not speaking up about the shipbaiting, Daryl's wavering loyalty, and the childhood abuse retcon, all things that hurt his character and hurt the fans. I genuinely don't know what else to think other than Norman didn't give either the consideration they deserve. The show has been treated like nothing more than a vanity project, and it’s unfortunate when you think about what he and AMC had to gain from the original Caryl spinoff.

I love the version of Daryl I knew before this whole mess, I love Carol, and I love the relationship between them. I want them to have the story they deserve in S2. At the moment, I don’t know how to reconcile that with the agony I feel over the damages to half of my two favorite characters. If Carol is going to cross the Atlantic ocean to find Daryl, I want him to be the man who threatened to punch holes in all the boats so she couldn’t leave and the man who told her he loved her before—ironically—leaving himself. I need to hear Daryl admit he hasn't been completely honest with the French characters, not because he was afraid of getting too close to them, but because he didn't want to face the pain of potentially living without Carol and TF. I need to hear him say that he can't be Laurent's father, which is okay because the kid has plenty of other family to take care of him. I need to hear him say, out loud, that he could never love another woman romantically because he's already in love with Carol. That's what I need to feel better about this story. That's where my investment is. I feel like Carol is safe in Melissa's hands, but I don't feel like I have anyone to rely on for Daryl. That’s a big problem because their stories are so intertwined. There’s no Daryl without Carol nor Carol without Daryl. If you ruin one of them, you risk ruining both of them, and that’s a possibility I really can’t bear.

#caryl #carol peletier #melissa mcbride #darylneedscarol #the book of carol #twd caryl

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vivalabunbun · 3 months

Note

Hiii Viva~

Hope, you'll take your time to read this. It's not a request of course. I was simply curious about something. To be honest, I've read all your fics and my goodness, they are mind blowing and always make overwhelm with emotions. Specially how you portray Al-Haitham. Every fic of his feels like a fic and a character study all at once.

You know, in your recent fic, I just noticed that you said Alhaitham is a man logic and rationality, which is true. But isn't he from the Haravatat Darshan or a department that has something to do with studying and deciphering various scripts? Like isn't he a linguist? I thought he was a man associated with the humanities stream or something like that if we put it into modern terms. So, the question here is—why portray him as a man of science? Sure, he's a genius and an intellectual person but can a person really be that apt at two different disciplines? For example, I'm a political Science Honours student and honestly....I hate subjects that has anything to do with maths or science in general. 🥲 Does that make sense?

I'm not saying, you can't portray him like that or anything but rather the intent of doing so. And honestly, I think, you yourself are a highly intelligent individual. The way you put tid bits of practical information into the plot of fics says a lot about you, the author as well. I admire that quality and probably would like to know how you do it so effortlessly?

I really hope that I did not come off as criticizing or a dumb person in general. I was just curious and wanted to know. Hope, you'll read this.

Btw, Happy Basant Panchami from India, Viva. Today, we worship the goddess of knowledge, wisdom and arts here. Fun fact, it's actually kinda officially forbidden to study today, you know.

Hope, I didn't rant much....sorry, in advance. 🥲🌹

Arunima~

Hello! this is an interesting ask 🤔

From my understanding, Haravatat focuses on semiotics, which also includes linguistics. Linguistics is a field of science, the scientific study of languages. Because empirical research is involved along with empirical evidence.

Perhaps you were thinking about literature, which is of the humanities and academia. Although of course, there are possible overlaps between linguistics and literature.

Al Haitham liked to read abstruse academic journals from a young age, so I'd like to think tidbits of information from those journals would naturally bury themselves in his thoughts.

His thoughts and ponderings resemble those who have been part of the sciences. Disagree, question, challenge.

Thus, why he's a nerd (affectionate).

But of course, this is all from my perspective, which is different from yours, which is different from the next person.

It's what makes character writing interesting because everyone will view everyone differently.

Thank you for your ask and Happy (belated?) Basant Panchami!

Your ask brought up an interesting thought, why can't people be apt at both humanities and science?

All throughout history humanities and science have helped the other progress. They are not opposites nor should they be. They progress thought, which in turn helps us better understand knowledge and the world around us.

Disagree, question, and challenge the paradigm is how the humanities and science have gotten where they are today, and how they will get to tomorrow.

I'm not an intelligent person, I'm just a curious person. I like reading a wide variety of things from fiction to academic essays, even mathematical theories in textbooks and notes from friends in premed. Because I'm curious about them.

Then I like applying them to what I create because I love creating. Little factoids here and there because I think it's interesting, learning about how things work so I can better draw the things I like.

No one has to be a genius or a prodigy to be apt at both, just be open-minded and willing to look at both. There is also nothing wrong about only liking one or the other.

Let's just not pit them against each other because then it'll just be destructive.

Maybe many have forgotten the symbiotic relationship between humanities and sciences.

#vivaramblings #I am really rambling #tldr: nerd

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averyfromzero · 1 year

Text

Friends with Benefits

pairing: sebastian stan x male reader

summary: reader is an actor in his early 20s who plays one of the super-heroes in the Avengers and is really close to most of his castmates. in Atlanta to film the upcoming "Infinity War" movie, Sebastian and reader share a room in the hotel they're staying at and, upon discovering the other had just broken up with his boyfriend, Sebastian proposes they satisfy each other's "needs" (you know, as friends!)

notes: smut, bottom reader, friends with benefits, age gap, no romantic feelings

words: 2430

"Got the key?", y/n asks the other as they get out of the elevator, strawberry banana smoothie in hand.

Sebastian no more than hums as he fishes the keycard out of his pocket while they walk to their hotel room.

The view from the hall window captivates the younger as he looks down at the busy streets of Atlanta while slurping on his drink, ever so appreciative of the night view of a big city.

It's been a regularly busy day for the two actors as they spent most of it preparing for the new movie filmings, having discussed schedules and participated in a script reading with the rest of the cast.

As usual, the cast members were booked in the same hotel together, with some sharing rooms with others, which was the case of Sebastian and y/n.

y/n is brought back from his thoughts as the beep of their room's door is heard after Sebastian used the keycard to open it.

The two enter in silence as the older sits on his bed to take off his shoes, sighing in relief after having worn them the whole day. Not yet sit, y/n does the same, never letting go of his now almost finished smoothie.

Sebastian lays back on his pillow and puts his arms behind his head with eyes closed, resting a little as he finds the strength to get up and change clothes.

His eyes open back up as the sound of y/n's slurping noises is heard one last time before the younger finishes the drink and heads to the bathroom to throw it in the trash.

Sebastian watches as the other comes back, walking past him to sit on the bed right beside his own.

"Hey, how's your boyfriend? Been a while since I heard you talking about him", the older man asks, still in the same position on his bed.

y/n looks up as he takes his socks off. "Oh," he starts while laying on his side, facing the other, "we broke up actually."

Sebastian is surprised by the other's nonchalant tone, given that last he saw him the boy seemed madly in love. "What, really? Why?", he asks, mimicking the other's pose, turning to lay on his side.

"Well, I think we just got to a point where it felt like we were more friends than boyfriends, you know?"

"I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's fine. It was a mutual decision anyway, he felt the same way I did. We're still friends though, so it's okay."

"Oh, that's cool," Sebastian looks at the floor for a moment as if thinking of what to say next. "When did that happen?"

"Two months ago, I think?" y/n scrunches his nose cutely, trying to remember. "Wait, no, three!"

The older man hums in response. "So, no action since then?"

The two have built such a close friendship since they first met a few years ago when y/n was first introduced into the MCU that no topic would ever feel like crossing the line, which is why y/n wasn't at all phased by the other's intimate question.

"Yeah...Kinda miss it, to be honest," he responds with that cute nose scrunch again.

Sebastian chuckles before laying on his back again, facing the ceiling. "Same, man. Haven't had sex in months," he sighs.

y/n nods to himself as he also lays on his back.

Silence is installed for a few seconds before both men lay on their side again.

"Hey-"

They both chuckle.

"You go first," y/n says.

"Well," Sebastian starts, a little hesitant to continue. "Was just thinking...you haven't had it in a while. I haven't had it in a while. We both want it," he pauses for a moment. "Why don't we help each other out?"

"Oh," y/n has a slightly surprised look on his face. "I was also gonna say that," he laughs.

Sebastian chuckles a little. "That's great then! You up for the full thing or..?"

"Yeah, of course!" y/n says while moving to the other bed.

As the younger man sits beside the other, Sebastian asks, putting his hands on y/n's hips. "Anything I should know beforehand?"

"Mmm...I'm a bottom, don't like spanking or choking, and I prefer condoms."

"Ok, awesome! I think I have a couple condoms in my bag," y/n raises a brow at that. "You know, just in case," Sebastian completes before getting up to get the condoms.

y/n watches as the other comes back and puts the condom on the bedside table.

Sebastian removes his socks as he sits back on his bed, facing y/n. He places his hands on the other's hips again and moves closer before stopping to ask, "is kissing okay?"

"Yeah," y/n answers briefly before the older man kisses him.

Sebastian's lips are soft, and it's not until he starts using his tongue that y/n realizes how much he missed making out with someone.

y/n lets the other man take the upper hand and gives passage to Sebastian's warm tongue, that touches his own, cold from the smoothie he was drinking earlier.

Both of them moan as the kiss deepens and they actually start to makeout intensely.

The sound of their moist lips moving against each other fills their ears as y/n starts to unbuckle the other's belt.

Sebastian moves his hands to the younger’s butt, feeling it over his jeans, while y/n stops his attempt to remove the other’s pants and tugs on his sweater instead.

On cue, the older man breaks their kiss and grabs the collar of his sweater, moving it over his head and exposing his defined but soft abs and plump pecs. y/n stops to admire the other’s body, moving his hand to feel his warm skin and squeeze at his chest.

Sebastian lets the younger feel him up for a moment before removing y/n’s shirt himself.

The two then connect their lips again and continue their makeout session, hands now roaming each other’s bodies.

y/n moves his hands back to the other’s pants, now free from the belt, and unzips it. Sebastian’s bulge hidden behind only the thin layer of his boxers fabric, strained from how hard his penis is under it.

Both men moaned when the younger one palms at the other’s member, feeling how big it is.

y/n breaks their kiss and says, panting, “let’s take off our clothes,” and gets off the bed to remove his pants and underwear.

Sebastian sits back and lifts his hips, removing his pants and boxers without leaving the bed.

y/n can’t help but marvel at the sight before him. Sebastian is naked, hot body on display, gorgeous face, clearly panting from their makeout session, and 7-inch uncut cock standing straight with its tip glistening from precum. y/n was uncontrollably horny.

The younger man sat on the other’s lap and kissed him fiercely, nibbling at his lower lip before moving to his neck and collarbone. Sebastian did nothing but pant while his hands went from y/n’s back to his ass, where he squeezed.

y/n kept moving down, kissing and licking at the other’s chest and nipples before moving to the big shaft waiting for him inches away.

Sebastian looked as the younger wrapped his fingers around his thick veiny cock and slowly stroked it.

y/n moved his hand up and down the shaft for a while before licking the tip, tasting the precum, and finally wrapping his lips around the head, where he sucked like it was the sweetest lollipop.

Sebastian moaned loudly at that, tilting his head back in pleasure. He felt the warmth and wetness of y/n’s mouth engulf his dick further down until he touched the back of the younger’s throat.

y/n started bobbing his head up and down slowly, taking in the taste and fullness of Sebastian’s manhood inside his mouth. With his right hand around the member’s base, y/n felt the other’s pubic hair tickle his fingers.

After a couple minutes sucking Sebastian’s cock, y/n moved his mouth away, a string of spit and precum connecting his lips to the tip while he started stroking the shaft again.

y/n looked at the older man’s dick closely, noticing every vein that traced it from base to tip, admiring the black set of hair at the base and observing as the extra skin slid up and down the head as his hands moved. The romanian man’s cock was truly a sight to be seen.

After a few seconds, y/n dove in again, wrapping his lips around Sebastian’s dick one more time and bobbing his head even faster as he felt the other put his hand on the back of his head.

y/n kept sucking for a few more minutes before deciding it was time to move on. The young man gave one last suck at Sebastian’s cock and sat back up, panting from the long blowjob.

Sebastian grabbed the condom from the bedside table and opened the package, quickly rolling it over his dick right after. “Do you have any lube?”

y/n was still catching his breath when he nodded and got up the bed to look for the lube in his bag.

Coming back with a bottle on his hand, y/n kneeled down on the mattress and poured a good amount of lube onto his palm. He slicked Sebastian’s cock up and stroked it a few times before using some more lube to lather his own hole.

As y/n was about to enter his finger in his hole, Sebastian brought his own hand up to the other’s ass, silently asking for permission to finger him instead. y/n then removed his hand and let Sebastian do it.

The romanian man rubbed his index and middle finger around y/n’s entrance to gather as much lube as he could from there before slowly entering one of the fingers in the other’s awaiting hole.

Sebastian pushed his index finger in y/n’s tight entrance, pushing back the resistance until he popped in. y/n moaned at the feeling of his friend’s finger inside him.

Slowly, Sebastian pushed his finger deeper, feeling y/n’s tight walls warm around him. He pumped in and out a few times before inserting his middle finger in, scissoring y/n’s hole to loosen it.

He kept fingering y/n for a few minutes, the younger man kneeling in front of him on the mattress and rocking his hips a little to feel more of the addicting friction of the other’s fingers.

Sebastian slowly removed his fingers from y/n’s hole and motioned him to lay back on the bed. y/n let his back hit the mattress below him and kept his legs spread apart as Sebastian positioned himself.

Kneeling in front of y/n, Sebastian took his lubed up cock and moved it until the other felt the tip of the condom tickle at his entrance. Carefully, the older man pushed the head in until it was being wrapped by y/n’s warm walls. The two moaned at the feeling.

Slowly, Sebastian pushed his cock further, letting y/n get used to the size in between movements.

Once fully inside, the two stayed still for a moment before Sebastian started to move his hips at a slow pace.

y/n started moaning at the feeling of the other’s girthy dick sliding in and out of his hole. Sebastian was no different, letting out moans as he sped up his motions.

Soon enough, the two were a moaning mess, and the sound of Sebastian’s balls hitting y/n’s ass filled the room, the skin-to-skin noise turning them on even more.

As they became frantic with pleasure, y/n roamed his hands on Sebastian’s sweaty chest and shoulders, taking in the erotic view before him as the other did the same with him.

“I’m gonna cum,” y/n said, feeling his climax nearing as he held onto the older man’s shoulders.

Sebastian sped up his pace as if it was even possible, turning the younger man below him into an even bigger moaning mess. “Cum for me,” he said with an extremely sexy low voice.

Second later, y/n was spurting cum all over his stomach and chest, moaning as his orgasm took over him. It had been ages since he had cum this hard.

As Sebastian slowed down his pace, y/n managed to speak up. “Cum on my face,” he puffed.

Those words made the other man even hornier. Sebastian took his dick out of y/n’s ass and quickly threw away the condom.

y/n sat up and Sebastian moved closer to his face, masturbating his cock frantically as the younger man opened his mouth, waiting.

The sound of Sebastian’s strokes was incredibly arousing, and the view of the man jerking off right above him made y/n’s dick grow hard again.

Seconds later, Sebastian was moaning as endless ropes of cum gushed out of his cock and onto y/n’s face and tongue. The man didn’t stop releasing his seed for many seconds before the other decided to wrap his lips around him again, drawing yet another moan from the man.

y/n sucked Sebastian’s cock clean before detaching his lips and laying back down.

Panting, the young man noticed as the other leaned down until they were face to face. Sebastian looked at y/n and started to sensually lick his own cum off the other’s face, stopping only when there was nothing left to lick.

y/n already had his lips parted when Sebastian kissed him, immediately inserting his tongue in the other’s mouth, sharing the taste of his cum with him as they made out.

They kept kissing for a few minutes before Sebastian stopped and laid beside y/n, leaving both men catching their breath after their unbelievably amazing sex.

“Fuck,” Sebastian spoke up. “That was…”

“Incredible,” y/n completed.

The two kept reaching for air for a moment before the romanian man spoke up again.

“We should do that more often.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” y/n said. “We’ll be stuck here together for a few months, we have plenty of time to do that.”

Both men chuckled at the thought.

The next few filming months would be a fun ride with these two friends fucking like rabbits in heat. What’s better than friends who help each other out?

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