#* 𝄞 . the world is ending & we have been here before : ‟ arc : season two . „

[theshiftingwitch]

How to manifest an sp

The fastest and easiest way:

One thing I can tell you about me that I have reserved the right to brag about, is that I've never ever failed at manifesting a specific person.

Even when I didn't know about the law, even when I was still a wide-eyed teenager sauntering through life with bucket loads of anxiety, baseless hope, and religious trauma, I have always manifested every person I've ever wanted. From boyfriends, to friends, to strangers complimenting me on the street randomly for no specific reason whatsoever, when I decided to get a person, I have always succeeded.

It is the easiest thing you will ever do. Now don't give me that look, I can see you already rolling your eyes at your screen saying "I have been trying to manifest my SP for a year and a half and nothing happened, how can you tell me that it's the easiest thing in the world?" Well because I have the experience, the expertise, and the success stories to prove it and I'm going to break it down to you in the simplest of ways, that you're going to manifest your Sp tomorrow morning.

One thing I noticed about everyone trying to manifest a specific person is that most of you (and I want you to take no offense whatsoever to this because we're going to change it immediately) reek of desperation.

You want your SP, and you want them right now, and you will do anything to get them, and you are so desperate that if they were making a reboot for desperate housewives you would get the role effortlessly.

You are a Carrie when you're supposed to be a Samantha. If you haven't seen sex and the city first of all what are you doing? second of all get on it now. But if you have, you will know that Carrie throughout the seasons and the movies was the most desperate bitch anyone has ever seen and all of her relationships ended horrifically including but not limited to being left at the altar by Mr big. Samantha however, was a bad bitch, she knew what she wanted and she got it 100% of the time because she knew she was THAT bitch.

The first thing you need to do is become a Samantha. You need to know your own value, you need to understand that you are the prize, that you should be on the pedestal, that you control this reality and that no man/woman or non-binary person is going to tell you how things are going in your own reality. Stop victimizing yourself, stop waiting on your manifestations, stop waiting for your SP to notice you or text you or acknowledge your existence or leave their 3p behind for you!!! this is your reality and you tell it what the fuck to do.

Your self concept needs to be through the roof, no screw the roof, your self concept needs to be in outer space! you need to think of yourself as God, you need to think of yourself as the only operant power in your reality, you need to think of yourself as if the world will end tomorrow if you decide it would. You need to take care of yourself like the queen (or king, or monarch, we are inclusive here) that you are. Stop overthinking it, stop being desperate, stop waiting for the opportunity for someone else to notice you, notice yourself.

I don't care if your SP is a celebrity. I don't care if you've never met them before in real life, I don't care if you have an enemies to lovers arc that is still developing its enemy portion, I don't care if they think of you as a goblin, as a gremlin walking on two feet, I don't care how they see the world, this is all about you. So you decide who you want to be and carry yourself like that bad bitch.

The second thing you're going to do is decide and fall back. So you decided that your SP is obsessed with you, you decided that your SP is texting you right now as we speak confessing their eternal undying love for you. What are you doing now? Are you holding your phone obsessing over when that text is coming? Are you stalking them on social media to see if they're posting anything or to see if they're online? Are you stalking them to see if there's another girl/boy/person in their life right now? Absolutely the fuck not. You affirmed, you decided, you put things in motion. Now you're going to put your phone down and you're going to screw off to do something else. Go read a book, go watch a TV show, go rearrange your wardrobe and throw away anything you're not wearing anymore, go put on a full face of makeup and take pictures just for the hell of it, go hang out with your friends or bully or younger sibling or go for a walk. Touch grass. Stare at the sun or the moon and acknowledge that you are just as fantastic and magnificent and beautiful and Powerful as that luminary goddess in the sky. The point is, you decided! you put things in motion! there is no reason for you to be checking the 3D every 2 seconds saying "oh where's my manifestation? where is my text? where's my SP?" who the fuck cares? Your SP is currently spiraling, they are losing their goddamn mind trying to come up with the perfect text to send to you that will show just how much they're obsessed with you. They're currently losing whatever brain cells they have left trying to figure out what gift to buy you, what grand gesture they're going to win you over with, what clothes they're going to wear on your date, what restaurant they're going to take you to, what car they need to bring so that would make a good impression, what picture they're going to post on social media so that you would notice them... your sp is currently spiraling, I don't need you to do the same thing! you are in control.

And the last thing you are going to do, is to bask in the feeling of a manifestation well received. You already have your SP, and you already went on the dates, and you already posted the soft launch and the hard lunch and everyone in the world knows that you two are together and everyone is congratulating you in your DMs and everyone is liking your pictures and saying "oh my God couple goals! I wish I had someone who loved me like that! I wish I had someone who showed me off like that! I wish I had someone who bought me flowers and gifts and chocolates like that..." everything is going exactly as you wanted it to and everything is perfect in your life and you are feeling amazing! you are feeling on top of the world, you are feeling like THAT bitch because you are THAT bitch. You are Samantha. Act like it.

Neutralize the energy of desperation and bask in the energy of fulfillment.

Manifesting an SP works based on the principle of thought transmission, which means you need to understand that every thought you have about your SP is going directly into their tiny pea sized brain. (And no, I don't mean every single thought, they can't read your mind. I mean thoughts directed at them with the intention of manifesting them, so don't go and spiral thinking that there are vampires out there reading your mind making fun of you, I am talking about manifesting.) So if you think that your SP is obsessed with you, your SP is going to mirror that because we're all one part of the big brain that is the great consciousness and once you send a direct message it will always be received. So stop losing your mind, stop wondering if it's working because it is working because the law never fails. It's what makes it a law. So rest assured that your thoughts are penetrating their brain through thought transmission and they are thinking exactly what you're thinking.

Give it a try, and let me know how it works for you. I look forward to seeing all of your success stories because I know that this is going to work. You are going to manifest that person.

Happy manifesting ❤️

[bwat5-blog]

Caitlyn & Violet: A Deeper Look

**Spoilers For All Of Arcane**

Recently I reached out to the community asking for some requests on angles/ideas/topics and so on that anyone would be interested in my analysis on. A few of you amazing folks responded for which I am extremely grateful. @phoenixlionme asked me to delve into a few points I have never discussed at all, regarding Caitlyn Kiramman, and the way she connects to Vi's heritage and past.

Caitlyn as a bridge between cities

Caitlyn's similarities to Vi's loved ones

Caitlyn compared to the leaders of Zaun (for Clarity @phoenixlionme phrased it as people Sevika has followed, this is just an easier way for me to approach it in my head)

So! to that end, I will be digging into these ideas and expanding my own insight into this wonderful character. As I am so fond of saying, good stories matter. And the continued exploration and discussion of this story and it's characters will help it live on. Thank you.

Caitlyn As The Bridge Between Cities:

When the story begins, Caitlyn and Vi could not be from more different worlds. Vi's life is poisoned with violence and loss, even witnessing the deaths of her birth parents at the hands of Enforcers. In that opening scene, they are monstrous. Emerging from smoke and shadow, dealing death and pain all hidden behind cold unfeeling masks. Her childhood in Zaun has made her a hardened survivor even at such a young age.

But in the sunny streets of Piltover, where Caitlyn has been raised, the Enforcers are smiling, happy symbols of peace and safety. Caitlyn is the daughter and heir to one of the great houses of Piltover. Her name means innovation, wealth and respect. She receives shooting lessons from the sheriff of Piltover herself. She joins the enforcers when she comes of age because the reality she has known has only ever taught her to view them as a force for good.

But of course as the story commences we see these two individuals from totally different worlds come together. Their realities joined in ways both good and bad. So let's dig into this further, starting with the simple stuff.

Vi-

Well to state the obvious, Caitlyn is love with the birth daughter of one of the architects of Zaun, and the eldest adopted daughter of another. Although Vi's place in Zaun likely feels unsteady to her after all that occurs in Season 2, it seems logical to suggest that during the reconstruction efforts after the war and during the restitution efforts towards her people she and Caitlyn's relationship will help bridge the gap in general.

Sevika-

At the end of season two, Caitlyn has given the seat of house Kiramman to none other than Sevika of Zaun. People have done just about everything in their power to pretend this doesn't matter. It does. It just does. I know there were people hoping to see the Piltover elite lined up and executed by firing squad, while Jinx reigned supreme over the flames and was served tea by a chained and forcibly blinded Caitlyn, all while Vi excoriated herself with a flail and sang Jinx's praises loudly for all to hear. But for those of us who were never fitted for our tinfoil hats, this is a massive step.

The council hold the highest positions of power in the twin cities. And now because of Caitlyn, one of them belongs to the undercity. She has literally created a link between the two surrendering her own families power and giving it to the undercity who have never had that voice before. It isn't all encompassing change because that isn't real. It's a first powerful step made by someone with all the power, to start bridging the divide.

The Commander -

Alright. Now we start getting into the more complex part of her relationship with Zaun. Caitlyn's arc is immensely complex and controversial and there is a lot of depth and nuance to this part of her story. I have written about this in HEAVY.. HEAVY DETAIL. So if you would like to see that I would love for you to check it out. But for our purposes here I am going to keep to the basics. Because to discuss how I feel the aftermath of this will lead to her having more of a connection with the Undercity, we at least need to go over what happened. To begin with, lets do a very quick barebones rundown:

Born in Piltover

Entered Zaun with Vi

Reentered Zaun leading strike team. Hunting chem-barons, Jinx, and Shimmer.

Becomes The Commander

Occupation Of Zaun

The War

The Strike Team:

Now, on a logical level only, the strike team did not do anything wrong. The Chem-Barons were dangerous drug lords. Shimmer is an absolute threat to all of the Undercity. And while there is obviously so much more to be said about Jinx, for their purposes they are hunting a dangerous terrorist who just assassinated three of their leaders. Yes. For logic based purposes only this does also includes the Grey. I have beat this horse to death, kicked it while it's down, revived it, and shot it in the head. I am not doing it again here. So I will just say that on a purely logical level, using a non-lethal crowd dispersal weapon on specific targets while hunting dangerous crime lords and a terrorist who likes things that go boom.... Not the worst idea.

The real issue with the strike team's actions, can be discussed in two points:

Caitlyn's motivation-

"Can I do the right thing for the wrong reason? Is it bad that I'm making friends with my demons, and Living by a couple deadly sins Just to make sure I finish what you began And I ain't afraid to lose a life or ten If it means that I get to win in the end (woo) So I'ma do this on my own, step into the danger zone Pull the pin and watch it blow

I would rather die alone" (Hellfire Arcane)

The problem is that Caitlyn did not lead her team into the undercity to liberate it's people. She did so for revenge. Each action pushing her further and further into her rage and pain. So even though her actions were "pure" her intention was driven by hate.

2. History with Piltovan Oppression-

As stated, the goals of the strike team were pure. And on a purely logic based level, the fan reaction to the grey has been hyperbolic to say the least. The problem is in the history. Uniformed Enforcers using a weapon that no matter how overblown the reaction does make people choke and cough and possibly pass out. It's all just too reminiscent of what the Undercity has been through before.

The Occupation:

So despite this being a massive part of this story, for our purposes here there is not a terrible amount to say. As very rough overview:

Caitlyn has become commander over the two cities during a period of Martial Law.

Ambessa Medarda rules from the shadows using Caitlyn as her scape goat.

All of Zaun has been placed under full occupation until Jinx is found. Dissenters are jailed, there are checkpoints, and it seems as though the Noxian "peace keeping forces" are being as brutal as possible. Therefore driving dissent and anger to even higher levels allowing Ambessa more time to achieve her goals.

Occupation ends when Caitlyn realizes how she had lost her way, turns on Ambessa, and the occupation ends in the days leading up to the final battle.

The issue of course is that Ambessa's part in this aside, Caitlyn was the face of it. And as I have said from the beginning, I am NOT attempting to absolve Caitlyn of her responsibility in what happened. Some portion of our fandom have essentially chosen to pretend Ambessa just strolled in, and offered Caitlyn the job of despot while they held hands and skipped through the torture camps together. You and I know better. But the people of Zaun lived it. And they don't have the benefit of having seen everything we saw and understanding all of Caitlyn's story. So at the end of the day Caitlyn is the face of the oppressive regime that made their lives hell for a few months.

How They Move Forward:

Okay. So tying it all together how could "Commander Caitlyn Kiramman" possibly become a bridge between cities with everything that has happened? Because they are all moving forward. I am not pretending that it is anywhere close to over. In fact as I said earlier when discussing Sevika it is just a step. But Zaunite and Piltovan alike saw Caitlyn almost give her life to end Ambessa. And the two cities fought side by side against the threat to all life that Viktor posed. So moving forward:

Caitlyn is married to a famous Zaunite.

She has given Zaun their first real step toward equality.

Her guilt is going to drive her to keep working to make things better for the Undercity. It doesn't take deep character analysis to see that.

She is a Kiramman. Despite her perversion of her families work with the ventilation during her darkest moments, she has all of that knowledge now. I predict she will keep working alongside Vi to find ways to make things right.

I know people have felt quite strongly that the show didn't do enough to resolve Piltover VS Zaun. But I think people need to remember that as insane and epic as it was, this show was essentially a prequel to our time in this world. There is so much more to come. Caitlyn is a young woman who has made mistakes, but I predict will go on to do great things for Piltover and Zaun both. After all, if the right hand woman of the man who unleashed shimmer on their streets can become their voice in government, and the feared and insane terrorist daughter of Silco can become their hero, maybe their former oppressor can become one of their greatest allies.

Caitlyn's Similarities To Vi's Loved Ones:

This is an interesting one! I honestly had never even considered this sort of thing but when I started digging there are many qualities of those Vi loves that are all collected with Caitlyn Kiramman. I'm sure you could do a massive list for this sort of thing so this is just some ones that stuck out to me.

Jinx:

The parallels between these two characters have become quite well known at this point and for good reason. Their intertwining stories are a massive part of this show and impact both of their characters greatly. But in terms of her connection to Vi, I have one I really want to focus on.

Putting Vi First: Both Jinx and Caitlyn go through a tremendous amount of suffering over the course of this story. Their stories are so in-depth, and complex and layered. And over the course of their stories, they both hurt Vi terribly (obviously there is more to it, there is a lot of nuance to these situations and I'm not dumping on Caitlyn or Jinx. Just staying on topic). But for two characters who are at one point almost sworn enemies, when it comes to addressing the pain of one they love, they are remarkably similar.

Caitlyn- So much happens between Caitlyn and Vi. But when it comes down to it, with Vi angry over Jinx's imprisonment and Caitlyn and Vi still far from totally reconciled, how does Cait makes things right? She gives Vi the choice. She clears the way for her to free Jinx if she chooses. Even knowing that that Vi could take Jinx and vanish forever if she chose, and Caitlyn would never hold Vi in her arms again. She puts Vi first. Even though it could be the end of her.

Jinx- Good lord talk about complicated. The relationship between the sisters is beautiful and heartbreaking in equal measure. There is so much on both sides, but when the moment I want to discuss comes, Vi has come to free Jinx from prison. Jinx knows that Vi has lived a life, consumed by guilt over everything that has occurred. Vi has never allowed herself to choose her own happiness for a variety of reasons. So what does Jinx do? She forces Vi to let her go. She locks her in the cell and gives Vi the permission Vi would never have been able to give herself. She tells her she deserves to be happy, to be with Caitlyn. Because in that moment of terrible sorrow even with all that Jinx is suffering, her eyes are finally opened to how much she loves Vi, and how much Vi loves her.

2. Vander:

Much like Vi and Caitlyn, at first glance it seems almost laughable to try and find common ground between "The Hound Of The Underground", and "The Leader Of House Kiramman". But if we really dig into it, the similarities emerge. In fact far more than I ever would have guessed.

A: Both do something they regret in a moment of deep loss and pain to someone they love.

Vander- We really are never given all the specifics, but whatever Silco became, Vander completely owned his regret and remorse over trying to take Silco's life.

Caitlyn- In that horrible moment after ventilation chamber battle, Caitlyn clubs the woman she loves in the stomach with her rifle stock and abandons her crying in the dark. I could write pages on the evidence of her remorse (and have written quite a bit) but you get the idea.

B: Both can see the truth of Vi's worth.

Vander- "You have a good heart. Don't ever lose it. No matter how the world tries to break you"

Caitlyn- "Despite it all I can tell.. you have a good heart"

This is especially impactful given Vi's struggle to see the worth and value in this part of herself as her story continues.

C: "When people look up to you, you don't get to be selfish.. whatever happens. It's on you".

Vander- At the moment he is in Silco's clutches, facing death. Vander does not beg for his life. He simply asks Silco to spare the lanes. Spare the Undercity. His self sacrifice continues all through the heartbreaking series of events that follow. Attacking the shimmer mutant, taking shimmer himself to save Vi, and blocking Vi's body with own during the fall.

Caitlyn- Now of course, it would be completely out of character for Caitlyn. But thinking about in strictly what is possibly, Caitlyn had just about any other option if she did not want to stay and fight Ambessa. Let alone on the front line. She knows she played a part it everything going so wrong, and rather than using her wealth and power to escape the fighting, she plants her feet and faces down the devil who almost took her soul forever. Never-mind the fact that she rips that knife out of her own body to help finish Ambessa, knowing full well that may well be the end of her.

*Caitlyn laying down her hate for Jinx in favor of her love for Vi works here as well*

Caitlyn's Reflection Of The Leaders Of Zaun:

Each of the three here have in some way shape or form been leaders to the people of the Undercity. And for a character who became such a figure of oppression to the people of Zaun, Caitlyn Kiramman shares a lot with all three of these figures. We have discussed Vander and Jinx. But I wanted to talk about Silco for a moment:

Finding "Strength" out of pain:

Silco- In the wake of Vander's betrayal, he reinvents himself. Believing only in the strength needed to destroy those he views as his enemy. Even if it means betraying every ideal he ever had.

Caitlyn- In the wake of her mothers loss and her separation from Vi, she becomes someone the old her would have despised under Ambessa's tutelage. Becoming a better fighter, gaining "control" over two cities, and learning to be ruthless. But in fact surrendering everything about her that made her who she is.

The Difference however, is Caitlyn sees the truth. Because of a variety of factors she sees how far she is fallen and that she has betrayed her belief and her ideals. She sheds her own blood alongside those willing to fight for her to protect all people regardless of the city of their birth. She finds the true strength that Silco couldn't.

Conclusion:

Sorry for the GIF-a-palooza but every time I think about her character her story gets me more and more. She truly goes through so much, learns, changes, falls down and picks herself back up. Thank you again to @phoenixlionme for this opportunity to delve deeper into her character and get me thinking in ways I hadn't considered! I hope some of this may lend itself to peoples understanding of this incredible character and if not hopefully at least the enjoyment of the show. Thank you to anyone taking time out of your day in this mad world to read the writing of a grouchy nerd like me. You will probably never know how much I appreciate it.

Keep standing up for stories that matter. See ya next time.

[inhuman-obey-me]

The End Times

Well, here we are. The final lessons have been released, all in a flurry. It's been interesting times, y'all.

JK, they said the world of OM will continue, and we're not going away either. We still love our demonic dumbasses. This is, however, the last lesson of the apps. And, uh, we didn't talk about the last 3 before this either, considering the flurry.

So, maybe for one last time: let's get into it.

(spoilers up to NB Lesson 60)

Nightbringer

The first thing to address here, perhaps, is truly: for splitting off a whole ass second app titled Nightbringer, they really didn't tell us anything about him in the end, huh!

We never did get the answers to what he wanted out of our second set of pacts, what his deal with Solomon was, what his overall goals are, or who he even is. He just showed up, we got some early info on him, and then he basically fucked off for the majority of season 2 and basically all of season 3. At least they did end on a nice little message from him, though, echoing the start of the game...

So will we eventually get the answer to ANY of those major questions? The world may never know...

A Celestial Shitshow

What we do get, first, is the resolution of the whole Raphael arc of this season -- at least, the closest they could come to giving us a resolution.

We do not get a precise answer to what he felt or thought in the moment of Michael refusing to even try to appeal to Father on Simeon's behalf, which he was seemingly so unable to confront at the end of 55. However, after the collapse of Babel, Lucifer and Simeon go to talk to him again, more calmly this time.

The source of Raphael's distress comes down to loneliness. Like Simeon, he remarks how quiet it became in the Celestial Realm when the brothers, apparently the only loudmouth troublemakers that ever existed there, fell after the war. With the possibility of Simeon also becoming a demon, Raphael felt incredibly lonely at the thought of losing another former seraph and friend from the Celestial Realm.

Luke comes up to chime in about being there for Raphael, and Simeon realizes he doesn't want to just leave those "two kids" alone to fend for themselves. With that decided, he concludes that he is not so fine with becoming a demon after all, because he wants to return to the Celestial Realm for their sakes.

MC, with the help of Lucifer's power, then breaks through Babel's projection of collapse, which had reflected Raphael's distraught feelings, to restore it to its actual not-destroyed state, and further uses their new protection powers to return everyone to the Devildom. More on that later!

Also, Michael is a dick again. Raphael is set to be punished for the whole Babel thing, and Michael basically plans to let that happen, until Simeon threatens to "hold it against him" as a grudge. Which is hilarious, because Simeon has no real power or anything against Michael at this point, but angy Simeon is so scary, Michael apparently backs off.

Anyway, setting all the all of that aside, there's also still more SF to get through.

Three Worlds-building Science

In the process of restoring Babel, MC and Lucifer conveniently also remove all the demonic powers/energy from Simeon, so that works out nicely! He's no longer "demonic." However, of course, this couldn't just be such a nice simple wrap-up as that, so next, we get a whole bunch of lore-contradictory worldbuilding around the way cells work for each type of being!

It turns out, while angels and demons both have homogenous cells which are purely one or the other, human cells can actually transform into either one, in the right conditions. And although all demonic energy has been cleared out of Simeon, he apparently still has some of those transformed demonic cells, and it's possible he will have his demonic cells activate or start to transform again in the future. Plus, even with his decision that he wanted to return to the Celestial Realm after all, it's not really in anyone's control out of the cast to do that for him, and the Celestial Realm would not allow him back if he has any demonic cells.

This brings up some pretty terrible implications about the Celestial Realm, which we're not sure were the devs' intentions exactly, but which become implied nonetheless. After all, Simeon's punishment was to become a human, but if it's a known fact that humans can turn demonic and they would refuse to take him back with any demonic cells, even dormant ones, that's just a really shitty trap of a situation! Plus, they were able to convert his cells from angelic ones to human ones, so if they have the ability to change him at a cellular level, why can't they just purge the demonic cells from him in the process of changing him back to an angel? Lucifer has specifically noted before on his transformation to a demon that he supposed that was his punishment, so that also seems to have been a punishment inflicted by God, implying the ability to also manipulate the brothers at a cellular level into demons! And if human cells can become angel ones as well, what does that mean for Simeon's punishment of becoming human? Could the punishment be undercut by his cells naturally turning back to angel cells? Come on, devs, it's called consistency!!

But hey, it's not like this series has been particularly consistent on its lore in the past either...

Anyway, the Science Fair is still going on -- and Leviathan has a mad scientist moment, coming across a unique potion that could help with restoring Simeon back to a more fully human state, ridding his body of any dormant demonic cells! The problem is it requires three very rare and hard to procure ingredients, but it turns out Solomon had also thought about this potion a while back, so he conveniently already has two of the three rare ingredients! Part of the reason Solomon never brought it up before, however, is that the potion only has a 60% success rate and is known to have some pretty bad side effects including the briefest mention of possibly even death???, and with how complicated Simeon's feelings had been up to this point, it didn't feel like there had been a good time to bring all that up.

Deciding that Simeon can decide for himself if he wants to take the risk after the potion is ready, we have a little adventure to obtain the third ingredient that places us back in the Starfall, which we visited during our time in the past. We momentarily have to avoid the subject of the past as Leviathan recalls that you were there, but is brushed off as misremembering because that wouldn't make sense, after all! Haha...ha...

Leviathan makes the potion for the Science Fair, and then Lucifer and MC keep Simeon company while he takes it. Simeon begins to succumb to the potion's effects pretty quickly, but Lucifer steps in to try and take the pain from Simeon and transfer it to him -- with MC then also stepping in to help share it. Simeon ends up not suffering as much, but is still knocked out with a fever for a bit.

Upon waking from his fever and analysis of his cells and some other genetic science, Simeon has now returned to his fully human state, meaning that he should be able to get back to the Celestial Realm! -- if they'll have him.

The end of the game seems to initially imply that he might be reinstated as an angel -- but the very last text we see is that Simeon will be opening up the Angel's Halo again in the human world. So is Simeon still a human? Did he become an angel again but they have him stationed in the human world?? No clear answer!!! Why would they ever end the final lesson on giving us any clear conclusions? Nope, never, and so here we are with no more lessons and yet another big fuckin' cliffhanger.

Well, they did say there are new projects in progress, at least...

Anyway, Later is Now

So, back to MC and how overpowered we've become.

Through this last season, there has been a focus on how much stronger MC has become, especially when it comes to their protective/defensive magic. We know it's because of the double-pacts, but that is a secret from most of the cast to avoid space-time fuckery.

In Babel, MC is able to control this magic for the first time. As mentioned above, we use our pact with Lucifer to break out of the illusion created by Raphael's breakdown, which also clears Simeon of his demonic energy. MC then uses their power, with some guidance by Solomon, to get out of Babel and return everyone to the Devildom.

That's a great sign, as otherwise MC has had zero control over this power activating. Of course, that means we have to use it one last time as the game comes to an end -- but this time, on the moon.

That's right. The Devildom moon is really into MC and is on a crash course to the Devildom (hi Majora's Mask) to also get some of that sweet, sweet MC power. Our cast gets thrust into having to deal with the situation as the final Science Fair competition, because the Research Institute is basically giving them the responsibility (with the House of Lords being ridiculous and not getting the news to Diavolo faster because, um, they suck).

Satan wonders if MC's protection power can be used here and stop the moon on its crash course, so of course that is what we are going to do. Solomon leads you up into the sky, and after a pep talk, leaves you to choose one of the brothers to help carry out this mission. Whichever brother you choose ends up getting knocked out in the process, to protect you. After a few days, we find out how to wake them back up and yay, they're conscious again!

With that handled, it's time for the classic OM tradition, throwing a goodbye party for the exchange students!! PARTY TIME! Everything's good now! Hurray!!!

Does this all seem rushed? Sure. Does it reek of them hurrying to tie up loose ends because this is the last lesson? Yup. How much of this was actually planned in this messy rushed way from the start anyway? Who knows! Did they also leave us on that big Simeon cliffhanger anyway, for funsies? Abso-fucking-lutely.

But that's it for the last 4 lessons! After 5 years, finally, MC has completed all of their tasks...congrats to us!!! 🥹

Now to wait for whatever new projects are coming next...

[bringthekaos]

I'm excited for your thoughts on the new season if/when you share them

It has legit taken me 3 days to come to terms with Act 1. Enough to be able to speak about it. Gunna apologize in advance for the wall of text, and I’m hiding it under a break for spoiler reasons. Also prefacing with these are all just my opinions. All are free to disagree with me and RB with discussions/theories etc. just don’t be a dick about it, I’m not engaging in any discourse.

Ok. So. I have mixed feelings, and I’m aware that this is because I don’t have the whole story yet. So this is all contingent on how the rest of the season plays out.

First and foremost, I’m… wildly swinging back and forth between love and disappointment for Viktor’s arc. So first the negative, and I’ll try to keep it brief because a lot of people have already expressed this and I don’t need to be beating that particular dead horse.

Viktor has had his agency, his bodily autonomy, his original ideas and nearly everything that made him Viktor stripped away. Nothing so far has been his choice. And while this could have worked just fine for an original character, he wasn’t. So there is a massive disconnect between what this character was/should have been. In League, it was all his choice (albeit with a healthy dose of mental illness thrown in, but still). AND it was very heavily suggested that many of the augmentations he performed weren’t as extensive as he lead everyone to believe (namely the controlling/dousing of his emotions). But it appears that whatever the Hexcore did to him, it’s real. He is clearly having a difficult time accessing his emotions, and if he can feel anything, it is limited to the point of him being completely stoic. And the thing with stoic characters is that you obliterate any emotional payoff for the audience. It’s very hard to make an audience feel an emotional connection to a character’s story arc when they themselves don’t feel anything (I have a theory about this though, but I’ll address it a little later in this post). And then there is the issue of Blitzcrank. Blitz was Viktor’s whole world, after his exile. How are they going to swing that? Like, I’m not even asking for Blitz to be in Arcane (that would be great, but I really don’t think they have time). But I stg if they take Blitz away from Viktor, make them someone else’s invention (my suspicion is Heimer or he finds the idea in Sky’s journal)… I’m sorry but no. This was Viktor’s idea, Viktor’s genius. I will genuinely be extremely upset if they take that from him too.

Then there is the whole situation with Sky. First, this girl was fridged. She was nothing but a plot device and continues to be just that. It feels hollow and forced, especially now that he’s hallucinating her as some sort of penance for what he did. (I have seen the prevalent theory that it’s the Hexcore using her image and his guilt to manipulate him, given that it “ate” her, and we have seen it “manipulate” him before when it punished him for trying to destroy it). But back to Sky—he barely acknowledged that poor girl. The reason for that can be argued, whether it’s because he’s gay or because he was just so wrapped up in his one-track minded research. But regardless, there just wasn’t enough setup between those two for this whole thing to have as much weight and meaning as I think it’s supposed to. Honestly to me (TO ME) it reeks of comphet. It feels like that random woman they threw at Poe Dameron to No Homo him. I’m not even asking for Jayvik canon. But the creators were well aware of this ship, after all it’s the second most popular ship in this show and it’s been around since 2012 when Jayce was literally created for Viktor. I’m asking for the bare minimum here—that it’s left open-ended as it was in League, open for interpretation.

Last negative I have is the whole Viktor Jesus thing. The first problem is I am pretty violently agnostic, and messiah narratives have never spoken to me. I don’t enjoy them, they feel weak. The whole “ordained by a higher power” thing is just… stale. Especially when this character originally had no higher power, he gave it to himself through his own hard work and ingenuity. Honestly, Viktor’s original arc is about as far from a Jesus allegory as you can possibly get. And I am absolutely terrified that they’re going to end said Jesus arc the way you’d expect—with him dying for it. Which leaves the moral of his story “disabled man should have just accepted that he was going to die despite the fact that it was the oppression and xenophobia of Piltover that left him out to dry, without proper health care, accessibility, equality, or equity that lead to his terminal diagnosis to begin with.” Which is a very oppressor-centric narrative and we do not need another one of those.

Sorry, I know I said I’d keep the negatives brief, and that was… not. My bad. But moving on!

I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it, I did. I am working to embrace this new Viktor narrative and work it into my brain in a way that doesn’t ruin the ship for me. So without further ado, the positives.

Jayce.

Jayce.

Jayce.

I’d have to go back and time it, but it feels like he got more screen time in this first act than the entirety of the first season combined, and his character shined for it. It humanized him in ways season one never did. He’s caring, he’s devoted, and he loved Viktor! No matter what kind of love you think it is, it proves he loved Viktor without a doubt. He carried Viktor several city blocks to the lab to save him, and then YES, he broke his promise about the Hexcore because he couldn’t stand the thought of losing him!

And he’s funny! (The scene where he picks up the regular sized hammer in the fight against Renni and made that “this is ironic” face?? And then basically the entire interaction with Ekko? The hand me a tome thing, and then when he basically pulled this when Ekko suggested “so this is all your fault cuz you pissed off the Arcane”:

GOD that shit was great. Jayce’s personality just shined, and maybe it’s too much to hope, but maybe this will douse a little of the hate. Because instead of being a subtle hint at all of those things being true about him, it’s now overt. And when people lack media literacy, the hints have to be overt.

And th-the. The h. The HUG SCENE. I don’t think I will ever emotionally recover from that scene. Starting with Viktor who, despite being clearly emotionally—I dunno, vacant I guess—sounded so lost and scared when he said “what am I?” For me, it was whispers of that scene from The Last Unicorn: “what have you done to me?” And my poor sweet Jayce, who clearly hasn’t left this damn lab except to go to Cassandra’s memorial. Sleeping on the desk and bleeding through his bandages because he doesn’t want to spend a moment away from Viktor while he “recovers.” And his euphoric response when he finds Viktor alive, when he realizes he hasn’t lost him. And I OWE HIM AN APOLOGY, goddamn. I said in a post that “Jayce will not understand.” I thought that was how Arcane was gunna start the divorce. But Jayce genuinely did not care, as long as his lover friend was alive. And just… Jayce being so affectionate through this entire scene. The hug obviously, but also blurting things he thought he’d never get to say to Viktor—“I’m resigning from the council, my place was always here in the lab with you.”

And… the hug itself. I know we’re all analyzing it frame by goddamn frame, but I see exactly what everyone else sees—there is a moment where Viktor very subtly smiles. But it’s gone in an instant, and it turns bittersweet. LOOK AT HIM.

There is something there, it’s just buried. Deep beneath the surface. It seems to say “I want this, I have wanted this for so long.” But then he realizes something, something I don’t think we’re meant to understand yet. Maybe that he doesn’t feel anything about it anymore, and he recognizes that this should upset him and it doesn’t. Or perhaps it’s something more along the lines of “it’s too late.” Whatever it is, I think this is the exact moment he knows he has to walk away. Because he knows he’ll cave to the affection, he said it himself. (Which is another thing entirely. His voice changes when he says that. Something in him is reacting to that word. Maybe he’s fighting against it, or maybe he’s fighting to get it back. But something made him almost growl that word.)

Which leads me to my final thought (for this post anyway, cuz it’s turning into a novel); Viktor is still in there. He can still feel things, I just think they’re extremely muted by whatever the Hexcore did/continues to do to him, or he has to fight to express them. Because he also smiled at the hallucination of Sky after he “cured” Huck. And if he feels nothing, he wouldn’t have been “joyous” at the thought of her being proud of him, approving of the good things he’s trying to do in her memory. He wouldn’t crave that validation, that vindication from her. So I’m hopeful that we start to see this shell crack a little, especially if those visions of Sky are the Hexcore manipulating him through guilt. It will start to erode him, no matter how stoic he has become. And literally the only thing I’m clinging to is that Jayce will see this and try to pull him out. “He’s still in there and I have to save him.” And that maybe it’ll start to work.

[jezuschristsuperstar]

This is going to be my last post about it. And I’m going to hold your hands when I say this- squeeze them lovingly and all: Sydcarmy is never going to happen. Almost everything that they have said about this show off screen has been true (groundhog day, these two contemplating breaking cycles, Carmy not quite getting back with Claire- even though their ending implies that they will very soon) so they were right about there being nothing between these two lol. We weren’t duped or swindled: we actively refused to listen. And perhaps it was because of the chemistry between the two main characters. But if you were here before season 2, Ayo was relentlessly mean about the idea of the ship- and then over time that became her actively making fun of it by saying shit like they’re getting married. To her now in show saying that interpreting their dynamic as romance is childish. Even Jeremy himself has constantly said that there is no romantic implications between their characters, and he spoils EVERYTHING. All that… all what we were witnessing, was just the intensity of their chemistry- and that speaks volumes. It’s a shame we will never see it go any further.

And anyways… seeing the BULLSHIT that Sydney went through this season. Her finally realising that she wants to do this with him in spite of it all, just to be left high and dry???? And yes, Carmy leaving is the best thing for him to do and everything was already pointing in this direction, the funeral set up an exit (whether for the entire restaurant or him) perfectly. But if you also actually care for Syd as a character, you’d understand that what he did to her was fucked and near evil (over exaggeration but it still wasn’t good). Yes the gesture is loving- it shows that he respects her, trusts her, and loves her enough to pass on something so sentimental and special to her. HOWEVER, this is like your elder sibling banging up a toy he was supposed to pass down to you and giving it to you with a leg missing, and eye missing, and it’s fingers all chewed up. The restaurant is well run down, they still don’t have the money for it- he is aware of her fear of failure and insecurity that stems from her business failing and plunging her into financial ruin. He knows how fucked her credit is, but proceeds to do it anyway. And it’s because of that that she can’t even be happy about it. Now she can’t even trust him to help them into the clear because he has never really been there for her WHEN IT COUNTS. Why would she trust him to be there for her now? And seeing all this, beyond all their cuteness. The literal crux of their relationship- why would I want Sydcarmy to happen? It would ruin her, because Carmy is not yet in that place to be what she needs. Carmy is not yet HER peace, even if he is her family. Ayo was right when she jokingly said Sydcarmy can happen perhaps in like the fifth or sixth season/ in a world where they are both therapised and both working towards improving their mental health, but it’s television- who would really want to see all that happen only for them to get to that point? The show (although it has now seemed to also forget this fact- seriously? Deducing Tina’s arc to a fucking pasta dish, Storer I will BEAT YOU. There is no reason for good story to solely come from a special episode) is about other people too.

I do feel like there will be a fifth season- because that didn’t feel like an open ending. Or at least is wasn’t on par with the one that we saw in the first season (when the writing was good and the direction was good and the story was compelling and yada yada yadaaaaa). But if it does happen, I really don’t expect for there to be romantic sydcarmy. Just platonic and messy sydcarmy, which is a sexy dynamic within itself. And if I do end up being wrong about this, I still do feel they will pull a ‘clairecarmy’ in the sense that their relationship will be open for interpretation/ there is a heavy implication that they will go there with their relationship off screen.

It’s unfortunate but what can we do at this point. Still engage in fanon, keep on enjoying the fics- however, if you are still in the line for canon sydcarmy, I beg of you… please please step out in the name of your sanity. Because it’s like repeatedly touching a hot stove even when you are told not to lol. IT IS AN ACT OF SELF HARM. And crashing out over this next year after two consecutive years of BULLSHIT will only make you look stupid.

[buddierecs]

post season 7 buddie fics

in honour of season 8 coming out in a few days, here is a list of fics that have been released over the hiatus set post season 7. all of these are general audience, teen and up or not rated (no smut) make sure to kudos/comment on these amazing works :)

ice cream before dinner (my beloved) by: cloudydaisies "gerrard messes with the team's schedules and eddie 'i just drove my son to flee the state' diaz is the only option to watch mara and jee-yun after school on tuesdays, which, shouldn't be a problem at all, right?" word count: 58k important tags: girl!uncle eddie, fluff, friends to lovers, love confessions, feelings realisation, minor buck/tommy, family feels take me home (to my heart) by: literalmetaphor "eddie and maddie end up in an impossible situation." word count: 20k important tags: car accidents, injury, hurt!eddie diaz, hurt!maddie han, maddie & eddie friendship, worried!evan buckley, getting together it's always on the tip of my tongue by: allyasavedtheday "eddie diaz vs the great romance paradigm." word count: 17k important tags: character study, therapy, emotional hurt/comfort, falling in love, demisexual!eddie diaz all my little words by: youbetsya "eddie: did you just send me an email?? buck: yeah lol eddie: why… i dont think you’ve ever emailed me actual words before. just stuff to print when your printer is broken buck: did you read it? eddie: Not yet. too busy trying to figure out why the fuck you’re emailing me buck: just read it dude 🙄" word count: 11k important tags: texting, idiots in love, getting together, eddie diaz mustache three strikes and you're out by: eightpackdiaz "buck's soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend chooses to ignore him every time the kiss cam points in their direction. eddie does the opposite" word count: 3.1k important tags: minor buck/tommy, cheating, kiss him, jealous!eddie diaz, tommy kinard bashing, first kiss a honey shade of blue by: hattalove "one toddler, two conversations, and so many missed opportunities for buck to act like a guy not in love with his best friend." word count: 8k important tags: getting together, pining!evan buckley, first kiss catatonia by: dqstcrdly "buck and eddie get into a car accident, buck thinks eddie is dead, and goes catatonic about it." word count: 13k important tags: car accidents, near death experiences, love confessions, angst, hurt/comfort, getting together, tommy kinard bashing knowing me, knowing you by: kiwibuckley "five times eddie was the better (boy)friend, and the one time he was the boyfriend" word count: 10k important tags: 5+1 things, friends to lovers, getting together, minor buck/tommy, tommy kinard bashing, eddie diaz loves evan buckley, petty!eddie diaz, pining sweet talk by: daisies_and_briars "eddie asks to crash at the loft while christopher is gone, struggling to be on his own. only problem? there's only one bed, and no couch." word count: 6.5k important tags: there was only one bed, minor buck/tommy, healing, couch theory this postcard tells you where we've been by: daisies_and_briars "eddie finds a collection of postcards buck sent to chris over his summer in el paso." word count: 3.5k important tags: getting together, first kiss, fluff, christopher diaz has two dads glass on the pavement under my shoe by: doitgently "buck takes a great big tumble. like always, eddie is right behind him." word count: 9.4k important tags: near death experience, major character injury, love confessions, angst with happy ending you'd have to stop the world (just to stop the feeling) by: wenttoafortuneteller "the eddie diaz gay realization arc we all deserve. in which bobby puts some pieces together, chimney sees something he shouldn’t, hen gets to have a conversation she’s been waiting to have for years, and buck can’t understand why his best friend is avoiding him." word count: 23k important tags: character study, catholic guilt, pre-relationship, self-discovery, self-acceptance, feelings realisation hope it hurts, burns & you finally grieve me by: dylaesthetics "eddie spontaneously visits a church and things fall into place." word count: 4.8k important tags: character study, religious guilt, angst, friends to lovers, getting together

[spaceprincessleia]

Rebels with(out) a cause

Here are some points I want to talk about regarding Vel, Cinta and storytelling:

It’s Vel’s story, not Cinta’s (Intention)

Vel in season 1 – and Cinta

What kind of story did we get?

The mess (Outcome)

The impact of queerness and race on the story we got

The story we should have got (Fix)

My conclusion

Feel free to dive into 1269 words of analysis. Good luck if you do.

Disclaimer: This is just an opinion and doesn't consider every aspect ever. Also, I don't read (many) interviews with people involved in the show or listen to/watch analyses. I really just had an itch to write down my thoughts, and they turned into ... many thoughts.

Also, this is an analysis that points out storytelling flaws. I love Vel and Cinta deeply, their story overall makes much more sense than the parts that could/should have been better, and I'll forever be happy that we got these characters and their relationship.

It’s Vel’s story, not Cinta’s

Andor introduces us to characters at important moments in the rebellion. Backstories are often reduced to minimal context (except for Cassian’s, because he’s the main character).

One of these stories is about a “rich girl” who walks away from privilege and wealth to fight the Empire directly – unlike a politician working from within the Senate. That’s an angle we haven’t really seen before, and we explore it through Vel – why did someone with her background join the fight?

To tell that story, Tony Gilroy created Cinta as Vel’s narrative foil, aka a marginal role and not a fully independent character. So, she wasn’t written for more screen time or deeper development; we were never meant to learn how she joined the rebellion, where she came from, or how she and Vel met.* Also, Cinta’s angle isn’t one we haven’t seen before.

* If anything, we do know why Vel and Cinta are (were) in a relationship: to contrast the protagonist, Vel, to highlight her choices, conflicts and growth. That’s not the in-character explanation for their love that we want, of course, but a meta explanation – the relationship exists for the story’s structure, because that’s how Tony decided to tell it.

Vel in season 1 – and Cinta

In season 1, we see two sides of Vel: she’s trying to become a leader and find her place in the rebellion (emphasis on trying), and she’s in love with Cinta. She wants both, but clearly struggles to find balance. Cinta is the opposite: she knows exactly why she fights and puts the rebellion first.

After the Aldhani heist, Vel and Cinta are worlds apart, both literally and figuratively. Vel ends up on Coruscant, no longer looking like a ground soldier, while Cinta returns to her role on the frontlines. Their priorities contrast as well: Vel becomes more caught up in her emotions, while Cinta remains focused on the rebellion.

We learn a little bit more about Vel, too, through Mon, Cinta and Perrin (for example that she’s Mon Mothma’s cousin, that she comes from a life of wealth and privilege, and that she grew up in a conservative, possibly homophobic society).

By the end of season 1, the focus is very much on Vel and Cinta’s relationship, and not on just Vel and her “why.”

What kind of story did we get?

Instead, Vel’s relationship with Cinta became the main point of her character – and the exploration of her “why” disappeared. The story focused almost entirely on their dynamic, and as a result, Cinta evolved into more than “just” a narrative foil. She became a character, and the one with more narrative clarity.

Therefore, many of us expected to see both of them grow/change individually in season 2 as well as a conclusion to their relationship.

And we did get both in season 2: they changed, and they found balance. They could love each other and still work well as a team dedicated to a common cause.

So far, so good, right? *record scratch* Well ... no, actually.

The mess

There are three points here that add to the mess of Vel and Cinta’s arc, in my opinion:

Firstly, all of Vel and Cinta’s character growth happened off-screen during the time skips. There’s no build-up to the conclusion of their arc, it’s resolved in minimal screen time. Vel’s core motivation is still unknown and it can’t be explored through her relationship with Cinta, since Cinta is killed off in episode six. Wasn’t exploring Vel’s core motivation the whole point of her character though?

Secondly, If Cinta’s death was supposed to become Vel’s “why,” the missing part in her arc, then that doesn’t work. Vel isn’t a new recruit, motivation doesn’t come after you’ve already committed, and if Vel only really starts fighting because of Cinta’s death, it reduces everything Vel did before.

And thirdly, things get even more complicated when we address what we haven’t yet: Vel and Cinta are a queer love story, with Cinta portrayed by a queer woman of color. And all of this matters, whether it was intentional or not.

The impact of queerness and race on the story we got

Tony tells a story here that generally works regardless of gender, sexuality or race. There’s nothing wrong with creating a marginal role (like a narrative foil) and even killing them off to advance another character’s arc.

But stories don’t exist in a vacuum. Even if the focus isn’t on identity, they become part of the story, and should be considered within the story (the vacuum) as well as the context of the real world.

Andor touches on queerness beyond just the portrayal of a same-sex relationship: for example with the line “Everyone has their own rebellion,” delivered by a queer character from a conservative, possibly homophobic society.

While the line refers to people from different backgrounds who join the rebellion for different reasons, a queer audience will pick up on a more specific meaning in that context, too. Because to many, being queer is a “rebellion” against the norms of a heteronormative society.

Additionally, the marginal character whose primary role is to support the development of a protagonist is portrayed by a queer woman of color, and the protagonist is white.

Considering both of these aspects, Tony Gilroy tapped into a long, painful tradition in media: queer women of color are often sidelined, underdeveloped or killed off to serve the arcs of others.

The story we should have got

Now, could the pain over Cinta’s death have been avoided? No. It would always have hurt fans who were invested in her and Vel’s relationship. But could the mess around that pain have been avoided? Partially, yes. Better storytelling choices regarding both Vel and Cinta could have made it less frustrating. Still, with so much character development skipped over through time jumps, some level of dissatisfaction may have been inevitable.

For me, the best fix would have been to

stay true to the original narrative purpose of Vel’s character, and

show Vel and Cinta’s development on screen, over time, in season 2.

The reveal of “why” Vel chose to fight the Empire should have been the primary focus of her arc. We’re shown her commitment, but not the core reason behind it. And that’s not a small thing: Vel would feel much more complete as a character with a defined motivation.

That missing “why” could have been explored through her contrast with Cinta. Vel is portrayed as someone who chooses to join the fight. Cinta, meanwhile, had no choice: her life was destroyed by the Empire, her “why” is clear.

Vel and Cinta’s journey to find balance in their relationship is a story I love with all of my heart. It could have grown alongside Vel’s personal arc, not replace it, and it could have honored Cinta’s character with more narrative space.

Conclusion

There’s still much more that could be analyzed and debated – but the bottom line is:

In my opinion, Tony Gilroy lost sight of his original intention with Vel: exploring her perspective and the reasons she chose to join the fight against the Empire.

Additionally, his casting and writing choices needed to be handled with more awareness.

Because of this, Cinta deserved more screentime and narrative space in season 2, even if she was always intended to be a foil and her death planned from the start.

And due to the timing of Cinta’s death in the storyline, it could never have meaningfully served as Vel’s “why” anyway.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[fr-likes-chocolate]

Hello hello! Because MCYoutubers cannot stop referencing their past work, today im making the MCYTCU (minecraft youtube connected universe)

Feel free to add in in the comments with things I missed and other additions to the universe, and with that, lets get into it!

So let’s start with Hermitcraft, because of references within the series, we can assume that seasons 1-10 are all connected. (However I doubt they are in chronological order, with season 8 being the end of the world)

Moving on, in Season ten, Joel smallishbeans has made several references to Lizzie, but specifically Ocean Queen Lizzie from Empires SMP season one. This means that Hermitcraft 10 takes place during or after Empires 1.

And we can’t forget the empires 2 and hermitcraft 9 crossover. This creates a slight inconsistency with Joel’s ocean queen builds, but I've come up with two possible solutions: 1. The rift used to travel between hermitcraft and empires transports people through time as wells as space, or 2. Hermitcraft Joel found out about Ocean Queen Lizzie after both empires 1 and 2 took place.

Having connected Empires and Hermitcraft, we can now add Life series to the mix. In Empires 1, Scott references flower husbands at least twice and Martren from Wild Life was briefly featured on Hermitcraft 10. Considering that this creates another inconsistency in the timeline with Third life being way back in empires one while Wild life takes place in modern day Hermitcraft 10, I’ve decided to save myself a headache and blame it on the watchers.

(A note: I haven’t found any evidence that solidly connects the watchers and EVO to the main universe, seeing as Martyn’s Eyes and Ears au is his personal au and not canon, I’m not counting the watcher’s involvement in the life series)

Here is where the fun begins: On the QSMP, Tubbo and a few eggs were watching Secret life. (As in they had a mod that allowed them to watch it in Minecraft) and Cucuruchotio (I def misspelled that) mentions both Grian and Mumbo, meaning that QSMP takes place around the same time as Secret life.

Using that connection, we can use Philza’s lore to connect Earth SMP, the DSMP, and his personal hardcore world, seeing as Phil is the same person in all four places. (Note that Bad and Foolish also seem to be the same as their DSMP counterparts)

Continuing on with this theme, Bad and Foolish seem to be the same person in The Realm SMP as in QSMP (it’s unclear if Phil is the same person)

Now with Misadventures SMP, we have even more references to Empires 1 and 2 as well as third life with the crypts, further solidifying our universe.

Now let me wrap up a few loose ends and share some interesting tidbits before I end my yap session:

I’m not sure if Martyn’s datastream lore is canon to any of the Smps listed above, meaning I’m not sure if Rats SMP, Pirates SMP, and any of those other SMPs are canon

I don’t watch lifesteal, but I know there are lifesteal members on The Realm, so if anyone wants to add on any contributions for that, that’s fine

FitMC’s QSMP lore makes 2b2t canon

Origins is probably not canon since origins Phil is different from his current lore

I’ve heard through the grapevine that Sausage referenced Empires on The Realm. I’ve not been able to confirm this.

Spanish speaking SMP Karmaland may also be canon due to Spanish speaking QSMP members

The Portuguese Arkanis may be canon as well for the same reasons

Empires 2 and The Realm both have Skulk corruption arcs

likewise, DSMP's egg is eerily similar to Empires 1's xornoth corruption

there are like 5 different Scott Smajors running around

Anyways, I may attempt to make a timeline, but this is literally just a 'lol what if' post made for fun, have fun using it for AUs and Fics as you so please. (And maybe tag me in them because I like seeing these)

as I said before, if something I said was incorrect or there's something I missed, feel free to comment or reblog your addition!

[alligatorcarapace]

I always think it's interesting how many tropes that 03 Donny flips on it's head when it comes to filling the role as the "smart one", from his softer voice casting to his open empathy, there's many facets of him that breaks the tropes often associated with the role.

But the one that I want to talk about is his developing connection to the spiritual, and how when it comes to things of the esoteric and mystical he kinda ends up with a semi-specialization in it.

Cause I've read long posts about 03 Mikey and 03 Leo about it, and rightly so considering some of the canon events however, Donny-boy here is a bit neglected in this area.

So I want to be the change in the world I want to see and point out that the purple banded turtle does not have a struggle with things like those other two, nor has almost no interaction with such things like Raph does(Which that is a post for another day becuase I do think it says something about his character, most likely unintentionally as Raph got the shaft in the 03 series despite him being so well written in the first 5 seasons).

Because Leo clearly has more foundation in the teachings around it all, but he still struggles with chi-channeling in season 5 despite it all. If I had to shoot in the dark, I'd say it's becuase Leo thrives in outlined environments with clear rules.

Presumably, by the same logic, it's that internal belief that he's breaking the rules when he uses Gunshin that breaks him. Assuming the alluded connection the Tribunal made where chi and belief have a direct connection is true of course.

Mikey, on the other hand has consistency issues I don't see with Donny. He has some wild unexplained and spontaneous moments connected with his luck, from the underground visions, to his moment of chi channeling before his own bragging acted as the key to humbling instantly afterwards. Leading to this dynamic of Mikey being good at chi as long as he doesn't acknowledge it.

Basically he can only do it on accident/instinct and then suffers from performance anxiety the second he realizes it. If we go back to that chi to belief idea, I'd say it's connected to Mikey needing other's validation to help with his self-esteem thus having little actual belief in himself.(Probably doesn't help that my man's clearly a kinesthetic learner and he was sent to the library for his training's foundations. The Tribunal will forever be the greatest examples of how teaching is a skill separate from the skill you trying to teach and you need to be good at both for your students to get anywhere)

Meanwhile to contrast these two, there's an almost background arc and growth in Donny as the show goes on that makes him more and more better at doing and accepting such spiritual and supernatural phenomena.

From his own vision from the underground that drove them down there a second time, to his connecting to Splinter in the astral plane(Which could be read as Splinter's own mastery of the mystical arts, but when combined with everything else shows growth on Donny part), to quickly gaining and consistently maintain his chi channeling after just study in the library, we see Donny having a skill that he slowly works on.

If I had to guess, he most likely started learning after Mikey's underground dreaming and supernatural that sort of busted his own teasing skepticism Donny had during that first trip down under. Meaning this is something he's been looking into and developing long before the tribunal showed up, and as said with the Tricertons, it helped him.

Going back to that shot in the dark thing that accidentally has taken over this post: if Chi=Belief is true, then Donny following his gut feelings a lot such as the curiosity that drive's to seek out answers and see what things do most likely plays a big factor in this. Because we see him with fancy mystical crystals, explore libraries, going through that portal that was drawn up a few weeks ago with an artist he just met, traveling to other dimensions with April via artifact found in her antique shop without telling anyone. Things that make his curiosity have almost a level of recklessness to them, that also displays his thirst for knowledge and quiet confidence in himself.

By the end of the series Donatello is equally into the proved hard sciences, as well as the esoteric unexplainable supernatural and general mystical aspects of his world. Experience with time and dimensional travel, both in a more sci-fi way and in a more magical "the staff was angry" kind of way.

A mutant mystical warrior if you will ;)

So yeah 03 Donny is very interestingly different from a lot of the other Donatello's in that by the end of the series, by a normal person's standards he's very superstitious and spiritual. Of course to Donny he's neither of those things considering the life he's lived and the unexplainable he's seen and craves to understand.

A funny counter to Rise!Donnie who struggles with the very same concepts due to the very same reasons. A very interesting parallel between the two(Meanwhile 2012 Donnie can revive the dead and became a vampire, and 87 Donatello just straight up is an eldritch horror in a way) that would be very interesting to explore.

It's funny how much people like to overstate Rise's characterization differences, but when it comes to Donnie, we've seen glimpses of that madness and bluntness in most of the others. 03 Donny is almost the odd man out. Almost. BatmanVsTmnt(The movie, I have not read the comics) Donatello manages to get those vibes as well, though tbh that entire iteration feels more like 03, outside of their Mikey, which makes me a little giddy with my obvious 03 biases.

So to close 03 Donatello is a gentle soul who's excitement comes from learning to the point of airheaded impulsiveness, and with the life he's lead opened his mind up to the possibilities giving him a more reliably consistent connection to the fantasy side of the show.

This to me makes him very interesting to me as he's more of a day dreamer who spends more time in his head than the lab in comparisons to characters in other media that tends fill the trope of the "smart one" with more cold feeling and emotional issues, most likely as a way to balance out the character's intelligence

[pyllymursu]

Why Digimon 02 villains are Peak

Hello gays, it is me and my wife @pupusukka here again rambling about Digimon 02 like normal people do on a sunny Sunday

So we have been on a huge Digimon kick for the past year or so (if you couldn’t tell) and we have watched all major Digimon anime series that have come out thus far, and with Beatbreak on the horizon, we are excited to see what they have cooking in terms of villains for that one. After all, who doesn’t love a good villain?

So today’s topic is the villains in Digimon 02, because even if we think many other series are better than 02 as a whole (especially Savers, which you should watch if you haven’t already, it’s fantastic) but 02 blows every other season out of the water in terms of its villains (even the aforementioned Savers, despite it having one of the most diabolical villains we’ve seen, but that deserves ramblings of its own), so time for some analyzing!

Comparisons to Adventure are inevitable here, given how the two are directly connected. So for starters we just want to say that Adventure is really damn good, but it’s villains really boil down to “here’s a villain - now here is an even stronger and badder one you gotta defeat”, which is a problem 02 managed to fix in the best ways possible

So, let’s go! 

Ken Ichijouji!

He is one of the fan favorites for a damn good reason, because right from the get-go, 02 makes a twist to its villains compared to Adventure. Adv starts with Devimon who was just some Bad Guy (I am sorry to all his fans to trash on him, he served his purpose well enough storytelling-wise but he was forgotten as soon as he was gone), but Ken?

This is a child. A direct parallel to our main characters. The last season’s entire thing was about the Chosen Children being the ones to banish evil, so it is already an interesting starting point to think what if one of those kids IS the evil. And boy, evil he is. He enslaves Digimon and builds the dark towers to expand his territory in the Digital World as the Digimon Kaiser, but this is still a real child with a family and life outside of the Digital World. The main characters just cannot kill this guy like Adv gang did with Devimon and the others, and besides that, Ken is successful and well-respected in the human world, so his disappearance would not go unnoticed. The main characters really can’t go telling Ken’s parents, police or the like about what this kid is doing, because after all, he isn’t doing anything heinous in the real world, and to Ken, Digimon aren’t real.

And of course with him being a Chosen Child, he has a partner of his own, Wormmon, who loves Ken unconditionally even in his villainous ways, so seeing the abuse Wormmon gets from Ken really pulls your heartstrings. You begin hating Ken, but simultaneously rooting for Wormmon to get his happy ending.

And then, after multiple crimes against Digimon, he is defeated. This kid realizes the error of his ways, that these creatures he saw as a mere part of a game were living, breathing creatures - his Wormmon included. The spell is broken, and Ken succumbs to deep despair. And you, as the watcher, first get the euphoria of seeing this little turd be knocked down from his high horse, only to be kicked in the guts with the pain and sympathy you feel towards him, as he watches Wormmon vanish from his arms. After all, he is just a child, and should never have been involved in this sort of thing.

The writers could had stopped here with his arc and have him just be some kid on a power trip, but they decide to go a step further with his backstory - we get the episode about his past with Osamu, his now-dead older brother, and they decide to sprinkle some gifted child syndrome and survivor’s guilt to the mix as well. There’s an entire story arc of Ken being in the Digital World before the events of 02 which was not handled in the anime too much, but we are not gonna dig deeper into that now, but keep this in mind for later!

Eventually, Ken does come around and join the main cast as a fellow Chosen Child, but that is not done in the span of a single episode - he has to earn the trust of the main cast, and he regrets his past actions for the rest of the series. But with Wormmon reborn on his side, he is now on the path to healing. We dare to say that Ken is the real main character of 02, but his villain arc is the main factor that makes him as good as he is. 

We are not downplaying Daisuke’s role as the main character with that claim though -  Daisuke being just a normal untraumatized kid is the perfect parallel to Ken, who has had to endure all sorts of horrors. Daisuke was the first one to welcome Ken to the group after all, whereas characters like Iori took the longest time to warm up to him (but we’ll get more to him later)

So yeah, that’s Ken! The series is off to a great start here with its villains!

But Ken was only the first villain, surely, they cannot cook better than this, right?

This is where 02 surpasses Adventure in terms of its villains - 02 is not just a bunch of random characters thrown on a death row to be killed by the main kids, but it is a logical string of events, where you peel one layer off to reveal another layer of this series-spanning mystery just what the hell is going on here with the dark towers Ken had been building all along

Next up, we are introduced to Arukenimon, who is revealed to be the one (well, a one to be more precise) who got Ken to the entire Digimon Kaiser business to begin with, and takes off from where Ken left - continuing building the dark towers, and using them as her lackeys by turning them into soulless, fake Digimon.

She is historical when you think about it - she is the first major female villain in Digimon, and even if she is just a stepping stone to another character coming later on the list, she is fantastic in her own right with her personality and overall vibe. We love a bad bitch when we see one. It should also be noted, how she remains unsexualized through the entire run, which is a miracle of its own, given how Horny later Digimon seasons get with some of their female characters regardless of age

While her entire deal is a slow burn, she does immediately introduce a thought not handled too deep in the Adventureverse yet, with said thought being “why is an adult in the Digital World?” Indeed, why do we have Chosen Children, and not have the adults deal with these catastrophes instead?

It is not too hard to figure out that she is a Digimon and that is her reason for being able to be in the Digital World, and as much as we love her, a lot of her deeper character writing is down to speculation and headcanons, but that is another topic altogether.

And because socks always come in pairs, next up is Mummymon! He, like Arukenimon, is an extension to the main bad of the series, but to keep the main man a mystery till the time is right, Arukenimon and Mummymon are perfect for doing his evil deeds.

When Arukenimon finally gets defeated, the viewer immediately assumes that this is the end of her arc and someone else will now take her place like Adv did with its villains… But no! Now there’s two of them, and Mummymon enters the chat kicking ass immediately… Only to be shown very soon that he is just a silly goober who loves Arukenimon very much (speaking of love, it is one of his core characteristics, so it is very interesting how they decided to make this not-evil emotion such a crucial part of him)

Arukenimon started out as this dangerous and mysterious woman, but as soon as her counterpart Mummymon is introduced, she immediately turns into a girlfail, and from now on, Shenanigans ensue

As much as we dislike the comparison to Team Rocket, the two couples truly have the same energy, and we get to enjoy them from the moment they appear to (almost) the very end of the series, so the writers really put all their effort into making these two as enjoyable as possible. Arukenimon is so cool by herself, but her unhinged ways get to really shine when she is paired by this absolute dumbass of a man, but somehow these two walk the perfect balance between being a threat (perfect example are the scenes of Arukenimon with the pinwheel and Mummymon sitting on the swing) but also a couple of idiots (the entirety of the soup episode)

The two get so many little interactions that are not necessary to move the main plot forward, but it is these little non-plot-forwarding things that make characters more likeable and enjoyable in the long run. This is the reason why filler episodes and sidequests are important

With this being the late 90s/early 00s, this series falls to the trap of making their villains queer-coded though (which also adds more to the Team Rocket comparison), but we don’t really mind if one bit, given how well these two are written - after all, it is not stupid if it works.

While Mummymon’s core characteristic (besides love)  is to be kind of an idiot, he is shown to be smart in subtle ways: he is the one to introduce the concept of the Holy Stones in the series, and often ponders his (and Arukenimon’s) very existence, but his loyalty towards Arukenimon, and in turn Arukenimon’s unwavering loyalty towards their master stays unbroken, which ultimately ends up being their downfall. But we will get into that later.

Then, Blackwargreymon!

He is introduced to the series very soon after Mummymon, created from 100 dark towers by Arukenimon.

The towers are built to disrupt the balance between the human world and the Digital World, and a tool for Arukenimon to create disposable allies. All disposable but one: BWGreymon.

You know he is hot shit from the moment he spawns when he is a recolor of the strongest partner Digimon from the previous season, and almost as soon as he is born, he abandons his creator, deeming her weak. From that point forward, he is shown to ponder why he came to be: his fate simply cannot be the slave of someone else, right?

It is amazing how 02 takes many assets from Adv and makes them even better than what they already were: BWGreymon’s conversation with Agumon was phenomenal and it gave Agumon’s character writing a huge boost, but that alone wasn’t enough for him to find meaning in his existence. His journey is to find the purpose of Self, and he does so by destroying the aforementioned Holy Stones, trying to find an opponent worthy of himself, which he eventually finds, and along with it, he found Meaning... For now

He is probably more of an anti-hero than a villain, because he does march to his own rhythm, even if said rhythm does align perfectly with whatever Arukenimon and Mummymon are trying to accomplish at the moment

We’ll return back to BWGreymon later, for a while, he has reached a temporary peace of mind, but until we return to that: it is the time to move to the last but not least:

Yukio Oikawa. 

My god, this man.

His impact as a human villain is not as strong as it could have been given how we got Ken right from the get-go, but the way his story unfolds is just. Man.

The mystery behind Arukenimon and Mummymon is revealed to be this man, when he - this sounds bad out of context - kidnaps a bunch of children and copies this dark seed that was in Ken into them (this is where the aforementioned pre-02 Ken arc refers to, if you were wondering where did this thing come from all of a sudden), to further disturb the balance between the two worlds, this time from the human world's side

It is also revealed that he saw Ken at Osamu’s funeral, realized that Ken was a Chosen Child, and decided to use him as his pawn in the Digital World. But that failed, so Arukenimon and Mummymon were next to continue his work, until eventually he decided to take matters into his own hands. 

But… Why?

Before we move onto why this man fucks, let’s first mention how his presence also deepens the role of Arukenimon and Mummymon: previous villains and villains after 02 have had their lackeys too, but we don’t think any of them have quite reached the level of beloved these two managed to reach. So far they have seemed like a “let’s do evil for evil’s sake” type of deal, but with the main threat out of the shadows in the form of Oikawa, their mission is clear too: do everything in their power to help him succeed. Loyalty is a powerful thing.

We think now is also a good time to mention Demon and his gang who are just. Kind of There, but they are not in the pool of main villains of the series in our eyes, but merely there to boost the greatness of Oikawa’s character: Oikawa’s two lackeys have had their asses kicked constantly by the Chosen Children, and him suddenly appearing to the scene wouldn’t make them any stronger. So the introduction of Demon’s troops is a good way to show just how greatly Oikawa operates without him needing to confront the Chosen Children directly himself. This man has zero fear talking to this creature literally called “Demon”, he does not engage in unnecessary conflict with him or the kids, and ultimately succeeds at this mission with no casualties, with the kids having to deal with this Demon detour. He went "not my problem", let the kids deal with that mess, and leaves. So yeah, the Demon arc was good way to introduce him without making him too OP or having his ass handed to him.

But back to the main why of Oikawa:

Digimon has always been full of mature themes straight from its Adventure days, and they already perfected that sort of storytelling in its sequel not only with Ken, but with Oikawa as well. He is not written the same way the Digimon villains were in Adventure (monster of the week that wants to do evil), but the same way Ken is: what if one of the Chosen Children turned evil?

It is amazing how the writers managed to turn that question into two completely different storylines for its villains. A Digimon wanting to be evil for the sake of being evil you get, sure, they are monsters, even Ken you can see being a kid playing a game his way, but this seemingly random grown human man? Why would he possibly want to do this evil villain shit?

We’ve seen him be talked about more and more online as more time passes by the initial release of 02, because this is a character that was written by adults for adults: when we (not just me and Pupu here, but You as well) as kids didn’t seem to care about analyzing him too deep: we just wanted to see cool monsters fight, but he really hits different at an adult age. 

We have been the ones to see technology advance and evolve in the real time. He was born in the wrong place at the wrong time: Oikawa could see glimpses of Digimon, but he could not enter this fantastical world, because technology was simply too limited back then... And then he grew up. And an adult cannot be a Chosen Child.

He was never even given the chance to live up to his fate, yet he has to watch from the sidelines how these Adventure kids just end up in this situation he has wished for his entire life. In this very moment, we are Him. The writers played a long game with him, they waited 20+ long real life years for his story to kick in with us as adults watching this series. And it worked.

So he used all possible assets he could to work in the Digital World: he manipulated Ken to do his deeds since he was a child and therefore could enter there, he created Arukenimon and Mummymon, Digimon of his own to work there. For 50 full episodes, it was all Him that set this string of events in motion, and while 02 has its villains and their individual arcs, this is what we mean by it being a perfect string of events, because it all leads back to Oikawa.

And not only that, just like with Ken, the writers add extra salt to the wound: not only were his dreams crushed by the metaphysical impossibility of going to the Digital World with past technology, but the adults and his peers found these dreams silly and borderline ridiculed them. All of them but one: Hiroki, who would later on die, and truly leave Oikawa alone.

And now that we mentioned Hiroki, Oikawa’s appearance also gives much-needed lore to one of the main characters: Iori. He has been kind of There for most of the series, but this insane lore drop makes Iori easily surpass the other kids and make him the second most important Chosen Child right after Ken. Like god damn. Ties perfectly with Iori being this little hater, and suddenly needing to have this inner conflict with the fact that this man they have been fighting all along was his dead dad’s friend.

But we’ve seen a lot of people ask “why does he want to destroy the Digital World, if he so desperately wants to get there?” 

Well. A desperate man does desperate things, and there is one small thing that clouds his sense of judgement, but before that, let's go back to BWGreymon!

It is a nice twist to see that the main characters actually need to protect the Main Bad from getting killed by BWGreymon, because Oikawa is the one who knows how to un-seed the kids (another really bad out of context line to say here)

But wasn’t BWGreymon’s arc finished already? Why is he here again?

He got some sort of peace of mind earlier, but ultimately realized that his existence leads to Oikawa through Arukenimon: just like Mummymon ponders later on, he and Arukenimon are neither human nor Digimon, BWGreymon is a Digimon born from this weird mix’s powers and dark towers, but where did this hybrid and the towers come from to begin with?

Well, Oikawa, of course! Well, part of him anyway, because it is foreshadowed on multiple occasions that BWGreymon knows there is something - or rather, someone - wrong with this man.

Oikawa gets so close to finally creating this real human connection with Iori’s grandfather, his dead friend’s father, but is ultimately taken over by something. And in that brief moment, even BWGreymon, this creature running on pain and misery… Feels empathy. Towards Oikawa, the main villain, being tormented by this mysterious force. So he protects Iori’s grandfather from being attacked. And with that, BWGreymon sacrifices himself to protect the now-fragile wall between the two worlds. What a fantastic end to this fantastic character

But we are not quite finished yet! We actually lied before, Oikawa wasn’t the last nor the least, but a certain vampire is:

Oikawa finally gets what he wanted: to enter the Digital World. Turns out he got japed though, and he enters this hell dimension, where the aforementioned something ejects away from his body, and this something is no other than Vamdemon, back from the Adventure days.

Easily the best villain from Adventure makes a comeback in 02’s finale, and while it may appear random, it is hinted at multiple occasions before this moment through BWGreymon’s words.

I (P.M.) wrote a whole ass essay already why him living in this poor man’s brain is such a terrifying concept already, so we won’t be digging too deep into that here, but 02 enhanced an already great villain even further

But why him, and not the other, bigger villains after him, like Piedmon or Apocalymon?

He was already a huge threat in Adventure, given how he forced his way to the human world to make himself a physical, real threat to the kids’ homes. And given how Oikawa’s entire thing was that he was unable to go to the Digital World, it made perfect sense that the one villain who made a huge impact in the human world, would be the villain to reappear in the sequel. It didn’t seem to be hard to have this man to agree to be his vessel to try engulfing the worlds in darkness one more time

Vamdemon was already shown to be this cruel man who didn’t hesitate one bit to kill his subordinates, but also be sort of vain how it wasn’t - according to him - aesthetically pleasing to kill a bunch of children. We got an entire episode showing Gotsumon and Pumpmon just having gay old time, only to be killed by Vamdemon, but that episode’s problem was that we didn’t get to spend enough time with those two to care about them getting killed.

But who did we get to spend half a season with, seeing them in every episode?

Arukenimon and Mummymon. We refuse to find pictures to this part, because looking at them is very painful

While part of us think that it was poor/cheap writing to have them killed off so the writers don’t need to re-write them to change their evil ways because the two DID have potential for good… Killing two such beloved characters really did manage to do what the Gotsumon-Pumpmon episode tried to do: show just heinous this vampire fucker is. 

Having him also evolve into BelialVamdemon (which is a god-ugly thing in itself) shows that he no longer has a desire to keep up his class that he had in Adventure: he is here for straight-out murder. And murder he did, in the most cruel way possible. Arukenimon’s devotion to her creator (was it Oikawa? Was it Vamdemon? We are just as confused as she is) ended up being her demise, and Mummymon’s love towards her stayed strong till the bitter end.

This… Sucks big time. They deserved a more merciful ending, but then again, this is the type of writing that made us feel primal rage unlike anything has ever done before, which is good. Vamdemon’s crimes in Adv were just lowkey sexy, but he deserves 10 000 years in prison for the crimes he commits in 02. Here’s hoping they do SOMETHING with the spider and the mummy in that Digimon Adventure Beyond thing, because my god, they deserve their happy ending. Fuck.

So, all of the steps ultimately lead to Vamdemon: is it bad writing?

We’d say no! They took the best evil-with-no-motives villain from Adventure, enhanced him in the sequel, and made him create these tragic but forgivable villains, whose narratives were tied neatly to one another. And all of this lasted for the entire 50-episode run, with it never feeling rushed and no single arc overstayed their welcome.

Vamdemon wasn’t designed to be forgiven, and 02 made him even more heinous than what he was already in Adventure, but luckily the kids superkill this thing, avenging the best two characters in 02, saving the day.

But what about Oikawa?

He… Won? 

He did die at the end of it, but even if just for a brief moment, he did get to see his partner and my god, does the part with Pipimon hurt. We have been referring to him as Oikawa through this entire thing, but Pipimon… This little green thing called him Yukio. Can you imagine how long he has been waiting for those words. God damn.

The reunion ended up short though, because Oikawa was still actively dying, but at least he seemed content giving his last energy to restore the world he so wanted to be part of. And after all the evil shit he did through the entire thing… You still forgive him. We know we did.

And… That’s it, folks!

02 has its flaws, but its villains are easily its greatest asset, and we will remain being unwell about this for the rest of our lives

Thank you once more for listening to our insane ramblings!

[guster-animations]

Kamen Rider Gavv Episode 20 Production Blog

taken from this website

TOKU TRANSLATION MASTERPOST HERE

Looking at the Next Episode

Episodes 21 and 22 are done by Director Ryuta Tasaki. I just wrote that “Gavv” has a director rotation between Sugihara, Shibasaki, and Morota… but sometimes guest directors come in to help out, like Director Kamihoriuchi did for episodes 11 and 12. It’s also been announced that Director Tasaki will direct the pilot of the new series “Number One Sentai Gozyuger”. (You should definitely watch the show’s trailer, too!) You’re probably wondering, “So, when did you film it?”, but this sort of thing was possible because “Gavv” is filmed ahead of time compared to previous years. It was after the end of “Gotchard” and before he began preparing for the new Sentai season. I secretly wished that he did the arc to broadcast after this one, which would make it “Super Tasaki Time” (one hour of non-stop Tasaki direction)… it’s unfortunate.

Speaking of Director Tasaki, he has directed several pilot episodes for the Kamen Rider and Sentai series. [TN: i actually noticed this while making his wiki page. he’s directed so many pilots and just ducked out for most of the show] Especially many in the Heisei Kamen Rider series: Agito, Ryuki, 555, Den-O, Kiva, Decade, Double, OOO, Gaim, Drive, Build, and Zi-O. The cast members who were raised on Heisei Rider are also growing in numbers, so I say, “Director Tasaki is coming; good luck!”.

What does a pilot director do? They attend the cast auditions, meet with them, and do rehearsals (?). Throughout the year, they are the one in charge of decisions on art direction, sets, props, clothes… basically anything. They take about twice as much time filming the pilot compared to any other set of two episodes. The pilot director for “Gavv” is Director Sugihara. They guide the young cast members, so they are someone we need to trust.

“Gavv” is already at episode 20, so while they say that Director Tasaki “really feels like a visitor”, he filmed fairly important moments in the story. He spoke highly of Hidekazu Chinen and Yusuke Hino’s performances. Yay! Next episode, some kind of strange bitter Gavv will appear. Please look forward to the first and last Tasaki episodes.

(Written by Naomi Takebe)

The Episode in Short

Thank you for watching episode 20! Last episode covered the fierce battle between Gavv and Vram, and this time, they finally break into the Dark Snack factory!

It’s been four episodes since Vram first transformed, but we’ve now reached the apex episode of Vram’s main arc. “Gavv’s” main director, Teruaki Sugihara, was in charge of episode 20, which reaches a main turning point in the story.

This undercover drama could have only been made by Director Sugihara, the leader of creating the Granute world! And he showed a pronounced human drama between Shoma and Rakia.

Episode 20’s audio commentary done by Rakia’s actor Kohei Shoji and Director Sugihara has been released on Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club. There are many behind-the-scenes stories they talk about that haven’t been written here, so those interested should definitely check it out!

What Is Lage9’s Name?

Because of the battle with Shoma last episode, the pudding wavers, or rather Rakia’s heart does. Then Vram’s creator, Nyelv, comes to Rakia’s hideout to give him a Gochizo.

The second Nyelv-made Gochizo is the “PuruJelly Gochizo”.

Its slightly smug-looking appearance similar to the Doppudding Gochizo is cute. Ayu Shoji recorded its cool female voice.

Shoma’s red bean soup Gochizo scouts out Rakia and leads Shoma to confront him again. Shoma brings Rakia outside to show what the captive Takeshi’s parents are feeling as they search for their son.

Rakia was troubled by what Shoma said last time, and now finally makes up his mind.

It’s an important scene where Rakia, once shown as an enemy, joins hands with Shoma for the first time, so the pilot director Sugihara was assigned to be in charge of this very significant moment in the story. Director Sugihara put passion into the direction, and he retook it over and over again before moving on.

Shoma had a family member die because of the Stomach Company just like Rakia did, and he has special feelings toward Rakia since he’s also a Granute. Because of Shoma, the feelings of wanting him to stop what he’s doing and turn back reached him in this scene. Shoji’s performance of Rakia conveying his true emotions back to Shoma was also impressive.

And he finally tells Shoma his real name. The name “Rakia Amarga” was revealed last week in the article, but this scene is the first where he actually calls himself by it, and it’s packed with emotion…!

The third edition of Kamen Rider Gavv’s transformation tutorial, the Vram volume, is available to watch on YouTube starting today. It has a transformation lecture from Rakia, and then an explanation of the Vrastam Gear and Vram Breaker from Vram’s creator Nyelv! Please watch it.

Big Dark Snack Factory Break-in!

It was also mentioned in last week’s “Looking at the Next Episode”, but another reason that we asked the pilot director Teruaki Sugihara to direct episode 20 is that there’s a break-in to the Granute world. He’d always wanted to do that in “Gavv”. There was a feeling of tension that makes your palms sweaty!

Previously, the problem of how to open the door into the other world was an obstacle. Does it need a blood relative of the Stomach family? Shoma gets by the security and the door is opened.

In the same unexpected place as the door system, there’s a working toilet with an automatic sensor. The tension, relief, and the toilet seat’s smile were wonderfully explosive. As you’d expect from the director. By the way, the opening and closing isn’t automatic. It’s remote controlled by the assistant director. They have perfect timing!

It’s the second time since episode 1 that we’ve seen the dimension nicknamed “door space”. It connects the two worlds of the humans and Granutes, and seems to randomly connect to anywhere in the human world with a countless amount of doors. There are still many mysteries…

For the filming, it was of course shot live on a green screen, but there are also real doors made by the artists. The assets (CG space) themselves have a complex structure, so it also seems difficult to film, but Director Sugihara originally proposed the idea for this realm, and he did well when he shot footage in episode 1, so this episode could also use it abundantly!

It wasn’t part of the same scene that was filmed, but this valuable off-camera photo with all of the Stomach family actors and Chinen was taken on the same filming day and set!

They have a cold-blooded relationship in the show, but what a kind world. If there were a parallel universe like this… (cries)

Mask-off action on the way there! Rakia’s big-brother energy in taking on the guards in hand-to-hand combat is very reassuring! Shoma’s memory flashing at this moment is also interesting…

And naturally this lady was waiting for them. The factory’s boss, Miss Glotta—Glotta Stomach—makes an appearance.

Jelly Vram and Serious Grotta

At the end of the fierce battle in the factory, the setting changes and they go to a live concert somewhere. Since the doors can be connected to anywhere, we had a lot of freedom when searching for a filming location. At the time we were filming, it was sometimes hot outside and we could do action indoors, so we decided on a concert hall which would draw attention.

They also helped in the last episode, and the concert venue guests here are played by TTFC (Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club) members. It was filmed a considerable amount of time before broadcasting, so they were all definitely surprised when they saw Vram’s appearance!

By the way, the hip-hop artist seen here is a fictional group called the “koiki boys” (Laughs). Even the song that played during this scene is a composition by TEEDA called “Home town”. If you’re interested, please go check it out!

The posters were made by the art department too. It’s elaborate!

And now Glotta’s monster form appears for the first time this episode! You can see the difference in Glotta, who’s already incredibly strong in her human form. Gavv and Vram can’t match her strength even when they’re working together, she’s suuuuuuuper powerful!

Her monster design is based on a sea monster from Scandinavian folklore, the Kraken. The character has roots in Scandinavia like Jeebh and Shita’s “Hati and Sköll”.

The molds were made with a lot of care and detail. In order to match the tall stature of Machi Chitose, who plays her human form, two kinds of shoes were made—one kind with tall soles for close-ups, and one kind that’s easy to move in for fight scenes.

Thanks to them, her appearance is beautiful and the whole body’s balance is very good! The action director Fujita looked at the finished model, and he said that it’s more complete than most female monster form models in past generations.

Vram uses a new ability in order to fight the strong enemy Glotta. He uses the “PuruJelly Gochizo” received from Nyelv at the start, and transforms into the Jelly Custom!

The English word for Rakia’s motif animal is “jellyfish”! Jelly is translucent like a jellyfish! Jelly was chosen for its deep relationship to Lage9!

The full pink body with a cherry flavor gives a fairly strong impression. The Gochizo design is like that too, but the pale pink in the upper layer of the two-layered jelly is like Bavarian cream. (The Rider form introduction accidentally became a snack report, haha)

As always, Action Director Butsuda’s transformation sequence was full of surprises. Unlike the pudding, the reversed trapezoid-shaped jelly lid is torn open, going completely opposite of my expectations…!

In accordance with to Director Sugihara and Action Director Fujita’s plans, Vram Jelly Custom’s special ability is the one to turn invisible when the belt is operated.

The power isn’t unconditional. There’s the cost of his heart being stopped in his invisible state. I thought, it’s not just to be strong; Fujita is truly skilled at managing logic and balance.

He thinks over Glotta’s fighting style and personality very thoroughly while reflecting on it, and some pro-wrestling components are actually sprinkled in. According to what I’ve heard, this was used because Machi Chitose likes wrestling (Laughs).

At the height of the battle, Hanto arrives and witnesses what’s happening.

He sees his partner working alongside someone who was previously an opponent, and he wears the expression of a married woman during relationship difficulties, like, “Who the hell is that woman?!”… setting aside that joke, Hanto hears Shoma’s true identity, which Shoma could never tell him about, coming from Glotta.

This event will make big waves in the story. Please look forward to how their relationship turns out in the future!

(Written by Ryohei Takahashi)

[arcadianmoonshadowjedi]

Season 7 Conflict between Ezran, Callum, and Rayla: Who’s Right and who’s wrong?

Or perhaps...

I feel like this has been a topic of heavy debate across the fandom and I guess I wanted to share my own perspective on this as well. I wanted to try to dive in and explore each of these characters’ stances on things, since in my opinion, each of them had valid points. Long post ahead!

Starting with Ezran, we’re all mostly used to him being an innocent, kind and sweet cinnamon roll that’s so quick to forgive others who have wronged him. And it’s not just us, but even the characters in the show too, which in some cases can be used against him (which I won’t get to here since this isn’t the point of this post). But I’m mentioning this here because this is major trait of his that we saw being challenged this season.

Well, I would argue maybe even since season 6:

Which not gonna lie, that was both surprising but also very satisfying, especially after all Viren has done in arc 1, especially in season 3, you could argue it was well deserved, and even Viren himself saw that. But getting back on topic, I feel like we start to see a more vengeful side of Ezran this season, especially after the trauma of having his whole kingdom that he’s ruling, his own home, be completely destroyed.

This itself was traumatic enough to change Ezran completely, especially after finding out that it was Sol Regem that destroyed it in a matter of minutes. And not only that, but also seeing Runaan, the very assassin who ‘killed’ his father that same day, lead him to push all the blame onto him. That everything changed since the night Harrow was ‘killed’ by him and Ezran was eventually forced to pick up the burden of being king and live through all of this.

Now I get that there’s alot of people in the fandom pointing out the hypocrisy of “how come he forgave Zubeia, who was the one that sent Runaan to kill Harrow, but he couldn’t forgive Runaan?” Which I would argue narratively, that is the point and it was something called out by Callum. I do personally think that perhaps, if Ezran may have crossed paths with Runaan at some point before the destruction of Katolis, he could have had a different response? Not necessarily saying it would be positive but perhaps, not as vengeful or angry?

I also wanted to point to something interesting in the short story Deep Below, which is set right before season 5 in the storm spire when he went to get the siren stone:

The screenshots above are on Ezran’s reaction to seeing the shadowhawk with the red blood ribbon that confirmed Harrow’s ‘death’ and the emotions he felt. But not only that, it also felt like he chose not to let himself properly deal with that anger and instead bottled it up for the sake of keeping the peace that he fought so hard to keep. But of course all of that came tumbling down after the destruction of Katolis leading up to the immense change in Ezran’s behavior. We see him letting out all of bottled up anger once he saw the assassin who was involved in the direct killing of his father that lead to the complete change of his life.

Now moving onto Rayla, I think it’s important to remember that for over two years, she had no idea what happened to her birth parents or Runaan but only that Viren had something to do with their disappearances. Then by the end of season 4, she received the coins that contained their spirits and since then, it’s become one of her primary goals to free them, even if she had to set that goal aside for the sake of saving the world. Then getting to the end of season 6, she was forced to let go of her birth parents after she finally reunited with them after many years, just so that she would let them be together in the afterlife, while choosing to bring back Runaan so that she can finally reunite him with Ethari.

Now I know that ideally, she shouldn’t have brought Runaan with her to Katolis, but because she made a promise to Callum that she wouldn’t leave without him again and Runaan was still recovering and more desperate than ever to reunite with Ethari, she couldn’t leave him on his own. I also think it wasn’t the best idea to let Runaan walk around freely in Katolis but I’m guessing none of the characters were expecting Ezran react in anger since they were mostly used to him being so forgiving.

Now we get to the next episode where Rayla, who was finally able to bring back one of her parents, has had that parent taken away from her once again. We see Callum trying hard to convince her to be patient and give Ezran some time to process everything that’s happened and that he would eventually forgive Runaan. But then we get to the council meeting where things get especially heated.

While I do think that Rayla didn’t bring it up or address this in the best way, I do think she made some really valid points:

And I know many people in the fandom have been arguing that Rayla was 'unsympathetic' towards Ezran but honestly, I think an argument can also be made that no one was sympathetic towards Rayla wanting to bring her family back together except for Callum, and I will talk more about him in detail later.

I also think another important detail we need to remember is that when it comes to this conflict, there’s a major power imbalance here. While yes, Ezran is a traumatized 12 year old kid dealing with the destruction of his kingdom and seeing the face of his father’s killer, he’s also the king who has the final say in everything. It’s his words and his orders against anyone else’s objections that get followed. He also has the backing and loyalty of the council, crownguard and all of the Katolis guards too, while Rayla only had the support of Callum in this situation.

And because of how things went at the meeting and seeing how Ezran wouldn’t listen to her and forgive Runaan right away, she decided to break Runaan out, despite Callum trying to convince her to be patient and give Ezran more time, to which then she responds:

Which then Callum fully accepts her decision and even offered to help (which again, I’ll talk more about later). But while the ideal thing for Rayla to do was to be more patient give Ezran time to do the right thing, which he eventually did at the end of the season, it’s also understandable why she couldn’t stay patient. Because after years, she finally has the opportunity to reunite what remains of her own family again.

Now I get to my last point, Callum. Despite seeing a lot of hate being directed towards Rayla and Ezran for their different stances, from what I’ve seen, I feel like Callum has been getting savaged a whole lot by different parts of the fandom, despite being caught in between both sides and torn between two people he loves. I feel like more people are willing to look at the complexity of the situation when it comes to Ezran or Rayla, but when it comes to Callum, his stance is more often reduced to: “he’s a terrible brother who betrayed Ezran because he doesn’t sympathize with him” or “he’s a doormat for Rayla who unconditionally worships her even at the expense of others or the greater good” while leaving out so many details, events and aspects of his overall character. Now I’m not saying that Callum handled things perfectly with Ezran and nor am I saying that he wouldn’t do reckless and crazy things for Rayla, but I feel like there’s so much more to him that just gets heavily ignored.

So as I’ve said before, Callum was caught in between rising tensions between Ezran and Rayla. While he did support Rayla and wanted to help her reunite her family, I just think it’s wrong to say he was “unsympathetic” towards Ezran because:

And that to me isn’t what unsympathetic looks like. Not to mention he kept trying to convince Rayla to be patient and give Ezran time, and even when Rayla went to break out Runaan, Callum still went and made an attempt to talk to Ezran. And like I don’t think it was right of him to call his traumatized brother a jerk face when he went to talk to him lol, but we know how Callum can be when he gets frustrated, and he even apologized immediately and changed his tone afterwards. We then see Ezran open up to Callum about how his life completely changed after Harrow was ‘killed’ and he was forced to take up a heavy burden at a young age. While ideally I do think that Callum could’ve verbally expressed more understanding towards what Ezran was feeling and dealing with, I do think he made a valid point when he brought up that Ezran forgave Zubeia despite her being the one who sent Runaan after Harrow. Now getting to my next point, this scene in particular:

What he said here made me think back a lot to arc 1, particularly, some of the stuff Harrow said in his last conversation with Callum:

And some things he told Rayla when she told him about her mission to avenge Avizandum and the dragon egg that was initially believed to be destroyed:

I also thought of some of the things Harrow told Callum in his letter:

And lastly something he said to Rayla in season 3 in their conversation after looking at Avizandum's stoned body:

I think it’s important to remember that yes, even Callum himself is aware of the violent cycle between the humans and Xadia and actually wants to end it. And while yes, Ezran grieving Harrow’s death and feeling so much anger towards Runaan was completely valid, I truly believe that Callum was also motivated in trying to convince Ezran to not take part in this cycle of vengeance. The very cycle that killed their mother, that lead Harrow to kill Avizandum in vengeance, which he himself even regretted and recognized was a mistake that lead to Zubeia sending the moonshadow assassins to kill him. And this was something that he brought up to Callum in both his last conversation and his letter, hoping that Callum and Ezran would break this cycle and not repeat his mistakes. And this was what Callum was attempting to do with Ezran, having even reminded him that this was the cycle of violence he was fighting so hard to end. And it did seem that Callum was getting through to him, and I do think that if their conversation didn’t get interrupted by Soren calling out and maybe in a short amount of time, Callum would’ve succeeded.

Of course next thing we see after Rayla and Soren’s duel along with Corvus’s intervention, was Ezran approaching them with a bunch of guards and he had no hesitation in ordering them to attack an outnumbered Rayla and Runaan. It was only in this situation, when literal violence was about to escalate, that we see Callum fully take Rayla’s side and go against Ezran. Not having succeeded in getting through to his brother and seeing that he was still set on getting his revenge, was when Callum decided to step down as high mage and leave with Rayla and Runaan.

Now I’ve seen a lot of people criticizing Callum for leaving his traumatized brother in this situation, which like, yes it was a betrayal at a bad time and it hurt Ezran a great deal. But I also think it’s important to keep in mind that if Callum were to have stayed behind, he would’ve been arrested and have not been able to do anything or even help Ezran in any way, especially with Ezran later becoming hellbent on building weapons of mass destruction, even with Zym becoming increasingly uncomfortable, and hardly listening to anyone aside from Aanya. In fact, I think this would’ve lead to a far bigger strain on their relationship and less of a likelihood to reconcile and repair the rift created between them.

But anyways, this is my opinion on this whole topic. I personally think there wasn’t one person in this that was entirely right or wrong in this situation, each of them had valid stances that just all came clashing together and lead to this massive fallout. But I’m glad that in the end, they were all able to work it out and be able to reconcile things between them. And I know I made this super long but I guess I just wanted to dump out all my thought here.

Anyways, what do you think? Anything you wanted to add on to this?

[comicsohwhyohwhy]

Arcane theory - Viktor's utopia and the eldritch horror

Sooooo been thinking. Clearly Viktor's 'healing' isn't actually healing, it's turning people into husks and vessels for some sort of arcane horror. Look at what Jayce sees when he walks through the camp and looks at the 'people', those images being overlaid really fast onto the supposedly serene faces (and also think about Salo not breathing and the like, and this sort of husk-face also appearing from Jayce's pov when he looks at him):

I fully believe Jayce sees the 'truth' here, and that's why he has to kill Viktor. As Viktor said in season one - 'Jayce, you have to destroy it. You have to. Promise me'. As he said beginning season two: 'I should have died. What am I? The hexcore killed Sky, Jayce.' This force is evil, and I'll come to what exactly it does and what it means for Viktor's arc in a moment.

And as I've said before, not only does Jayce kill Viktor with Viktor's blessing - the entity within Jayce, the 'second will' that herald Viktor feels - that's Viktor himself, the part of Viktor unsoiled by the corruption by the hexcore. We see this because the Jayce coming back after months within the hexcore carries traits of Viktor, he has the leg brace, the shoulder brace, he's Jayce, but he carries Viktor's 'essence'. It's Viktor's choice that this version of him causing so much evil in the world has to die. It's Viktor taking back the autonomy over himself that Jayce took from him when he changed him with the hexcore against his will.

This sort of split, two wills being at work, is imo exactly what's happening with the eldritch horror hexcore force in Viktor's body and mind too. I thiiiiink that Viktor's still fully in there, only totally under the thrall of that force and deceived by it into believing he's really healing people, and we see glimpses of him - e.g. when he refuses to use Vander for his own purposes. I think what's still purely Viktor is the Viktor we see on the astral plane, the one with the amber eyes that we know so well, the one who shows emotions and has facial expressions that we recognise.

This is the Viktor that ultimately allows Jayce to kill him - because that's what happens, the boy/husk leading Jayce to Viktor is under his control, after all, and Viktor, with all his amazing powers, doesn't even lift a finger to try and prevent Jayce from killing him. Maybe this Viktor has started to realise that he's being tricked and used, that he's bringing evil into the world.

So probably that's the Viktor (or a version of that) that lives within Jayce now too. And Sky, the supposedly benign 'guide', his inspiration - that's the hexcore, it's the form the eldritch horror takes to influence Viktor, to bend him to its will, to make him think he's healing when he's in fact killing and making a conduit for evil in this world. The hexcore knows that Viktor's feelings of remorse towards Sky make her the perfect form for toying with Viktor, for deceiving him.

Now, this is suuuch a mean arc I'll have to say. Viktor, who's always wanted to help people, whose main clash with Jayce was over the urgency of that need vs. Jayce's other ambitions, like being well respected within Piltover, ends up killing so many, doing so much harm, while thinking that he's doing good and healing people. I really hope that this won't just be it - Jayce managing to kill Viktor, the Viktor-essence within Jayce evaporating. I do hope that this character does get another chance to actually do good, a less hopeless ending. But it's Arcane, it can be VERY MEAN AND TRAGIC, so we'll seeeeeee what they do with my fave tragic twink...

[skygemspeaks]

okay let's do this again, for the last time this season, and what a way to end it!

i like that nami got to be included in the walk to arlong park, it was really nice!

the banter between zoro and sanji is already quite funny. i like that sanji is just earnestly trying to be part of the crew, but zoro's being a little bit bitchy because he feels like his place as the first mate is being threatened. later on in the episode when sanji starts calling out his move names, and zoro makes fun of him for it...how much do you wanna bet that the reason zoro starts calling out his attack names because his thought process is like "oh no, the shitty cook is also calling out his attack names what if luffy starts liking him better than me because i don't do it?"

as someone with dental trauma, seeing arlong's teeth fall out one by one was horrifying, thank you very much. it was well done

the fights in this arc were well choreographed, and i'm actually really happy that they all finished by around halfway through the episode because then we got a good amount of time to wrap everything up

it was really sweet when nami went running up to tackle usopp and zoro in a hug. i did feel a bit bad for sanji, but ehh it's understandable. she's been sailing with usopp and zoro for a while now! those are her boys!!!! and she didn't think she'd ever be able to sail with them again! she barely even knows sanji at this point

the scene after the tower comes crashing down and the straw hats are all waiting to see if luffy made it is great. nami looks like her whole world is ending again, because first she lost her mother, and now she might have lost her captain. and then everyone's relief when they see luffy come out is palpable! sanji doesn't even try to hide his relief! he's become so emotionally invested in this crew already and he's known them for just a few days

sanji's smugness when zoro comes back for seconds was cute, and i love their banter afterwards!

koby and helmeppo standing up to garp when they disagree with his orders was a good scene, and i liked their conversation about it afterwards at the end of the episode. each marine's personal code of justice is a big theme in the anime, and i like that they establish it here, and that it's what impresses garp enough to make him want to train them personally

we finally got the luffy vs garp confrontation! it was a good way to see just how small luffy is in the grand scheme of things, that he wasn't able to hurt garp at all. when luffy starts laughing and garp drops him and starts laughing as well, it was a good tension break. i really really wish that we got at least one grandpa hug before garp left...i know it never happened in the manga, but i crave that grandfatherly affection for luffy. but i know neither of these two idiots are like that. ace better fucking hug luffy at least once next season i s2g.

when nami is talking to bellemere's grave, and nojiko shows up wearing bellemere's shirt.....🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

the final conversation with luffy and koby was adorable! i loved the hug! also, i really like that koby was the first one to show luffy his bounty. a great way of coming full circle to the beginning of the season when he's standing next to luffy, looking at the notice board in shells town and luffy asks where his face is

the scenes where people see luffy's bounty!!!! makino grinning in pride!! kaya already looking healthier without kuro's poison! Zeff posting luffy's poster on the employee of the month board!!!!!!!! alvida and buggy meeting!!!! (if they make alvida lose weight or recast her next season i'm gonna kill someone)

helmeppo finally admitted that koby was his friend!!!! their little fistbump!! i've really come to like koby over the course of this season, and it's been great seeing his character arc

the mihawk and shanks conversation was great! shanks making jokes about his missing arm was hilarious, i love how irreverent he is

the redhair pirates are all SO proud when they see luffy's poster!!! and shanks' big, goofy, proud grin when as he stares at the poster just made my heart melt.

merry finally gets to fly the straw hat jolly roger again, i'm so happy for her!! luffy's absolute uncontainable joy at the sight of it, like he can't believe his eyes, was absolutely perfect!

the cast-off ceremony was fantastic! i really like the effect they did where their younger selves spoke in the voices of their older selves.

i could be wrong, but i think i heard we are in that last scene as they sailed off? which, amazing!

FUCK YEAH THAT LAST SHOT OF SMOKER!!! i can't wait to see more of him next season!!!

[doctorofmagic]

i have read faaaaar too little doc strange (and marvel in general, in comparison to dc lol) but i really wanna know your opinion on MCU stephen as an adaptation.

Greetings and welcome!

I really appreciate that, despite not being too much into Doctor Strange, you sent me this ask, so thanks in advance n.n

I think I already have a few posts on MCU!Stephen but they're kinda dated in my opinion. I haven't changed my mind that much, of course, and I'm honestly not invested in the MCU at all lately for personal reasons, but in short? (spoiler from my future self: I lied, it's gonna entail a whole essay and I do apologize)

Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill wrote a love letter to the charater. Moreover, Scott has proved over and over again how much he loves the good doctor and invested his time in comics. That's why the first movie is to this day a favorite of many hardcore Doctor Strange fans (me included).

What ruined his character, however, was the fact that the MCU was not built on the concept of a writer's room. While Stephen had a whole movie to develop his redemption arc and deal with his arrogance, that was taken as the only trait he ever had in both Infinity War and Endgame. That's an unpopular opinion and I'm aware of it, but the Russos' characterization was hard for me to deal with. I really don't like it when they made his entire personality a beef about which mustached white guy had the biggest ego.

Multiverse of Madness was the last nail in the coffin. While I do think his characterization was on point (and that's the only redeemable thing about the movie), they also dedicated the whole thing to his relationship with a Christine who was not even part of his life. I mean, it's fine when you have a hard time to move on (been there too yk) but it was in my opinion really unnecessary, especially when he already had an alt version that pretty much ended the world out of love for her (What If? tv show).

In other words, he didn't need another instance to move on when the first movie was a good sign that they were past their romantic relationship.

Now he's descending into a path that's easily misinterpreted by writers, the path towards magic corruption. In terms of characterization, I'm afraid they'll do to him what they did to Wanda. They massacred Wanda (not to mention the whitewashing and ethnic erasure, of course). Not that Stephen didn't walk this path before, it was seen many times, including Strange Tales v2 and New Avengers v3. It's not new for us, but it takes caution. And MoM many times stated that every Stephen is a danger to the multiverse because of corruption and control issues. Yeah.... No, that's not it...

Besides, there's another thing. Unlike comics, the older characters sooner or later will disappear, and Doctor Strange is extremely relevant for the whole Marvel Universe. Getting rid of him will demand either something very creative or his ol' good death. And we know exactly what happens in Secret Wars.

Whether he dies or not, I'm afraid the MCU hasn't tapped into 10% of his potential, and this is precisely what disappoints me the most. I mean, it's been 10 years since his debut. His kindness, compassion, care and love were poorly displayed so far. Sure, he got wits and talent, but the very soul? Not here in the room with us, I'm afraid.

What I'm trying to say is, he's always disregarded and neglected. That's why I haven't watched the other two seasons of What If. That's why I was not excited when Zelma mentioned him in Iron Heart. He's always a second thought for someone whose name is dropped a lot in the MCU (even before his own debut, back in Winter Soldier).

As a fan, I think he deserves better. And it's kinda painful to see all that untapped potential getting wasted over and over. Another unpopular opinion, I know, but I feel safer to invest myself in comics (we just had an amazing tie-in by Derek Landy and a good couple of years with Jed MacKay, it's been a blast!)

Again, apologies for the whole essay, I really though this time I was going to be concise. I was wrong 😭

I hope at least I was able to illustrate my issues with his characterization across the years. It's not that bad compared to other characters, but we're not getting enough, you know? The focus is on the wrong traits of his personality, is all.

Feel free to stick with this small community, by the way! Hopefully, we'll be able to interest you in some reading, we never know haha

[winchesterdreamgirl]

A Love Letter to the Show’s True Constant: Baby as the Soul of Supernatural

At the heart of “Baby” is a metanarrative: this isn’t just a story about a monster hunt. It’s an homage to the beating heart of Supernatural—the Impala. She is the one character who’s been through everything, every season, every death, every resurrection. But more importantly, the writers wanted to say: this is what the show looks like when you strip everything else away.

“We are home.” – Sam

The episode doesn’t just center on the Impala for novelty—it’s a symbolic return to roots. For eleven seasons, the car has been the constant thread. The writers chose to frame the episode from her perspective to make you see the show as she does: a journey, not a destination.

By choosing to keep the entire episode inside or immediately around the Impala, the writers forced both the characters and the audience into proximity. There are no cutaways. No side plots. No flashy effects.

What do you do when the mythic structure is removed? You talk. You reveal. You listen.

The writers wanted us to feel the closeness that the Impala has always provided—a space where Sam and Dean are brothers first, hunters second. Every drive, every nap in the backseat, every fast-food stop—those are the real moments. The ones that sustain them.

This design lets us watch:

• Dean sing and joke

• Sam admit he’s having visions again

• Quiet moments of silence between the two

It’s a commentary: this is who they are without the world watching. And the car—the place that’s seen it all—is the only one qualified to bear witness.

“Baby” is as much about the car breaking down as it is about Dean breaking down. The episode starts with him fixing her up, cleaning her—trying to keep everything in working order. But by the end, she’s bloodstained, broken, and still rolling forward. So is Dean.

This visual and symbolic mirroring wasn’t accidental. The writers were making a quiet, but powerful point:

Dean is Baby. Baby is Dean.

They’re both aging. They’re both worn out. And yet, they both keep going because they don’t know how to stop. That’s what makes them beautiful.

The episode conveys a sort of tragic nostalgia—the knowledge that something cherished is wearing down, and yet you cling to it tighter. You treasure the little things: a cassette tape, a motel stop, a nap on the seat.

Sam’s visions are key here, and the writers reintroduce this arc not in a grand scene—but in the backseat of a car, with messy hair and bedtime. That choice is intentional.

The car becomes a place not of exposition, but of revelation. The writers use this setting to re-center the show’s spiritual tension. Sam is becoming more connected to higher forces again—dreams, prophecy, questions of God and destiny.

It’s a soft way of saying: The road ahead is uncertain again—and the Impala, as always, will carry you through it.

What makes “Baby” so moving is its attention to the mundane. Dean wanting to take a nap after a long night drinking. Sam sleeping with a waitress. Lunch time junk food . Shared glances. Blood wiped off the wheel.

The writers use these moments to remind us:

• This is their life.

• It’s not all demons and angels. It’s fast food and painkillers. It’s sleeping in your car and watching your brother’s back. It’s grief that doesn’t go away, and jokes that cover it up.

By highlighting the ordinary, the writers ground the myth in something human. It’s a radical act of empathy: you don’t need cosmic stakes to make a life heroic. Sometimes, the most powerful magic is choosing to get back in the car and keep driving.

“Baby” was placed early in Season 11—right after the Darkness is released, and just before the larger mythos starts to unfold. The writers paused the arc intentionally. Why?

Because they wanted to remind the audience of the foundation before things escalated. This episode is a spiritual “rest stop”—a reflective breath. It’s a narrative reset, a chance to fall in love with the characters again before the next tragedy strikes.

If there’s one core message the writers were conveying through “Baby,” it’s this:

This isn’t a show about monsters. It’s a show about two brothers and the car that carries them forward.

It’s about the resilience of love, memory, and routine. It’s about grief that never fully heals. And it’s about continuing anyway—driving on, singing out of tune, sipping cheap beer and occasionally, green smoothies, and never giving up.