#and past mephisto is moving to the left while present mephisto is looking in the same direction as the others

[journey-to-the-attic]

i've been staring at these for too long so i'm just shooing them out the door now. newspaper club demon forms!! (don't look too hard at the wings)

[aonogifreactions]

Hug Headcanons: Revisited

a/n: ive felt like i should rewrite this for a while now. i hated seeing those stuped ~180 words, so.. thats why were here! xD i added yukio to the mix as well, since ive gotten this ask >:) huge thanks to @no-remorse​, who beta-read it for me <33

Tiny edit: I’d love to hear the feedback for this one! <3

Warnings: Spoiler in the last headcanon in Yukio’s part!

★ Characters: Rin, Yukio, Mephisto, Lucifer, Amaimon, Astaroth.

★ Words: 2,1k.

Rin:

no matter where, who’s watching, or what had happened before, he’s gonna give you a big, big hug! he absolutely lives for your hugs, it soothes him emotionally so much and works as immediate relief.

almost always his one hand wraps around your waist, while the other one goes on your head as he nuzzles into your neck; his hugs are always tight, almost as if you were about to get taken away from him - he doesn’t really feel like that inside, but.. he likes feeling that you’re here. present. for him.

after a fight, he immediately runs into your arms and almost makes you both fall on the ground as you nearly lose your balance when his arms wrap around you; feeling your embrace, your warmness.. something in his mind switches right away and he’s calm. he’s still shaking, but it gradually stops as he relaxes in your arms.

at first, he might be a little shy, but when he gets comfortable, he can’t keep his arms away from you. He just.. loves feeling you. hugs make him somewhat vulnerable, because he lets his frustration out, and at the same time - Rin gets an extreme dose of serotonin. He tends to place his forehead on yours just before he loosens his hold on you, and eventually moves on do to his things.

depending on your height, he still loves hugging the same! if you’re short - during hugging, he also places his cheek on your head, leaving a soft kiss on your hair. if you’re tall - he loves!! hugging!! into your chest!! or whatever he reaches!! he’s just snuggling into you like a madman.

he gets butterflies in his stomach when you hug him from behind and almost starts stuttering. (do it when he's cooking or sumn,, but u didn't hear it from me) 

also, please, PLEASE wrap your arms around his neck. he’s gonna MELT.

Yukio:

his hugs are rare, but it’s not like he doesn’t touch you - it’s just Yukio being Yukio; hugs make him vulnerable, similarly to Rin, except that it’s Yukio’s way to “open up” about his problems a little. It’s surely a very small step forward, but it shows that he's trying, yet he doesn’t realize how much it actually helps him.

he prefers to hug somewhere where there are not so many people around, not necessary in private completely, but as long as you’re the only one with him in the room, he’s down for a hug if he feels like it (or you beg him enough lol).

he’s usually silent during hugging, but he really “quietly” lets his frustration out, you might even catch him sighing. at first, he embraces you with only one arm and places his head on your shoulder, but when it hits him - the emotions, that he’s been waiting for years and now he’s finally able to tell someone everything - he’s almost crying, but he intertwines his other hand with yours instead. even though there are no real words shared, his love language involuntarily shows the beauty of his complicated personality.

now, he’s a little “unwilling” to hug you, mostly because of all that emotions crashing on him, but he feels so much better afterwards.. it’s unreal, he feels like you used some kind of magical spell on him.

the worst time to hug him is probably when he’s angry - and while it seems like a totally normal thing, it doesn’t work as comfort for him - it makes him even more upset, so it’s really best to leave him alone for some time. he knows your intentions are good though, so usually, he comes back to you with a calmed mind and apologizes.

I picture his S/O being in this mess in chapter 126, where the twins just beat the shit out of each other, and suddenly Yukio’s s/o comes up to him and stops from shooting Rin - he’d have that mental wall blocking him from hurting you in any way, just when he realizes he points his guns at your face or grabbing his hands and attempting to get Rin out of his target range - both of those things and any similar scenarios would end up with him looking at you with those beautiful, yet unfortunate eyes showing so much pain and sadness, along with that broken expression on his face, hoping to understand him.

Mephisto:

we’re gonna have fun here. hugging with Mephisto is pretty common, he likes touching you physically and doesn’t really care if people see it - he’ll push boundaries as far as he can, but unless it’s someone or something really important, he stops and gets serious. 

^unless it’s Arthur, he could politely knock on the door. Hearing the permission to come in, the first thing he sees is Mephisto hugging you with a hand on your lower back, heading dangerously onto your ass while casually giving him random papers and smirking at him. wow.

if you think the twins’ grip was tight, Mephisto’s gonna literally try to squish you into his body - it’s not hugging if your bodies aren’t touching themselves in EVERY possible way. You could be practically glued to him and he won’t complain - in fact, he’s gonna have that shit-eating grin and tease you by saying “hmm, aren’t you needy, darling? you can’t be away from me even if I work!” (even if.. it was him who called you over...)

he GETS handsy and you can’t do anything about it. and he really does it on purpose, just to tease you and see how much time it takes for you to get either horny or snap at him. nonetheless, he likes to place hands around your waist or just on your hips, then shove you into him, so he’s able to whisper sweet nothings in your ear.

hugs definitely show his rather “softer” side, the silly one - but he also doesn’t hesitate to hug you when he’s serious; these hugs, however, tend to be quicker but more intimate. even if it’s just him standing next to you and placing his hand on your hip while watching the dark sky, stars flickering slightly as you feel a slight, cold breeze hit your face; you look at him, wondering what he’s thinking about, this incredibly sharp mind with hundreds, perhaps thousands of different thoughts. Is he reflecting? Reminiscing? Regretting? or is his mind wandering around some silly thoughts? Yet you’re the one left wondering, not noticing his emerald eyes have focused on yours a while ago. You take your eyes off him, slightly embarrassed, hearing only a faint chuckle and feeling his grip tightening on you as you two once again gaze at the glittering galaxy above you.

Lucifer:

due to his body being not as strong as Mephisto’s - he’s usually down for cuddling instead. however, when some of the elixirs do their job, he’s gonna give you hugs pretty often.

prefers to be in private when he really wants to give you a genuine hug; he doesn’t want to show others he fell for the trap named “love”. he lets himself be a hypocrite about it, for once (ekhem satan and yuri).

Of course, tiny hugs wouldn’t be forgotten while attending stuff anywhere else on Dominus Liminis, but they’re just quick hugs when you walk past him. he isn’t ashamed of you by any means, in fact, he’s proudly walking along with you most of the time, having a hand either on your waist or interlaced with yours.

Lucifer’s hugs are very, very confident and send butterflies to your stomach - he radiates that strong energy to make you feel secure in his arms - the world could be falling, but as long as you’re in his arms, he’ll do anything to protect you from any harm, even if this means losing his precious body.

sometimes he hugs you in his own, unique way - he interlaces both of his hands with yours and places his forehead against yours, closing his eyes and sighing softly. while you might think it’s not really a hug, it’s definitely a very sweet gesture. you can get a kiss on the temple or a few sweet and uplifting words whispered in your ear too, if he feels particularly affectionate that day.

his views on physical contact are... a little bizarre; he’s confused and doesn’t fully understand the purpose of it, yet - he will admit it’s quite satisfying. feeling your lover is definitely something that feeds the feelings he’s had deep within him. he might be a little stiff when you introduce him to this too, no matter how many times he’d seen humans do it - experiencing it for the first time is new to him, but surely it is something he grew to enjoy.

 so what’s that “hugging” thing again? you just wrap your arms around someone and.. that’s it? are you supposed to just stay like this? how long? - that’s pretty much half of his thoughts going through his head when he hugs you.

it takes him quite a long time until he “learns” it just “makes him feel better”. he understands (kinda) the idea of it, but deeper down, he’s still pretty puzzled.

In the early stages of hugging, Amaimon didn't realize how strong his hugs were - if he didn’t break any bone of yours, then it’s a miracle. As soon as he noticed you almost passing out, he stopped and the guilt of possibly causing you harm has kicked in, so he promised you to make it up the best way he can.

Amaimon doesn’t realize it - but as time passes he grew used to hugs! Especially greeting hugs, which at this point he doesn’t realize he gives  - it’s become a habit of his.

not a fan of long hugs - to say it bluntly, he becomes bored if it lasts too long (unless there’s been a fight beforehand, in this case, he understands you want to regain the sense of security that physical body is able to give). he likes quick hugs instead, which he gives more often.

Amaimon’s hugs are pretty simple - he wraps his arms around your waist and that’s.. pretty much it. He might rub your back sometimes, but to be honest - he just likes the simplicity. Funnily enough, when Behemoth notices you hugging, he also wants to participate! Tiny demon bounces your way and while it’s near your leg, he starts clinging to it and nuzzling himself (Amaimon’s kinda >:((((((( when he sees Behemoth snuggling, but it’s his boyo so he forgives him).

However, Amai gets really mad when he sees you hugging someone else than him. Unless it’s a close friend or family member, he’s.. somewhat accepting this, but if it’s someone he doesn’t know - he’ll either try to fight them or take you bridal style in his arms and just go away.

He also gets awfully handsy, which he probably picked up from Mephisto. His one hand might slowly slide down to grope your ass cheeks; when you look at his face questionably, he’s just gonna place the other hand on your ass as his answer.

Astaroth:

his understanding is even worse than Amaimon’s, so he’s initially against it. he doesn’t understand the purpose of it and it's very hard to convince him otherwise, saying something along the lines of “if you need your “physical contact” we can fuck on the counter”.

continuously asking him would only make the situation worse, as he’d get annoyed more each second, eventually making him leave the house for a few days. one situation, however, changed his mind the most - he’s once lashed out at you, leaving you crying. he left nonetheless and waited a few days until he cooled off. feeling bad for his actions and regretting doing it for once, he came back, but instead of confronting you - he left a withering rose with a note.

he’s learned a little bit from that situation - seeing that you accept his quirks, he decided to try out some of your ideas - including hugging. and oh boy, how wrong he was.

he will NOT admit he likes hugs for his life; very “tsundere” approach to it, but you can catch his face being relaxed sometimes.

his favorite hug is.. hugging you from behind! whenever you’re cooking or being busy just in general, he loves surprising you with a hug, encircling his hands around your belly as you flinch slightly, not expecting him. as an apology, he places a gentle kiss on your shoulder.

due to him being nasty, you gotta bear with his dirty-talking he’s “performing” every time he hugs you. he also WILL tease you by groping your chest with no shame, attempt to give you hickies, and after a while - move his hands dangerously near your chest.

[takerfoxx]

Notes on Restless

A day overdue, but here it is! My thoughts on writing Restless.

Restless is, in many ways, the most important arc in the story, not because it is the most plot or character significant (though it definitely is very important to both), but because it was one of the first, if not the first story arc I planned out, and have been cooking up in the back of my mind and working toward ever since this story started. And, as indicated by the title, it is one big reference to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode Restless, which is my favorite episode and also featured all of the main characters trapped in their little dream worlds.

What can I say; I like dream sequences!

In fact, and I know I have mentioned this a few times already, but it bears repeating the first chapter of this arc was literally the very first scene I thought up for this story, back when I was still in post-episode 9 depression and wanted nothing more for Kyoko and Oktavia to reunite somewhere and be happy together (well, the story definitely gives us the former, but, um, not really the latter, because I am still a sadist). If memory serves, my original vision had the two of them and Mami relaxing in a fantasy-world hot spring that had a bunch of big crystals everywhere (because I like crystals), only for them to be interrupted by the sound of something moving nearby, and, upon inspection, they would find the doll version of Charlotte watching them.

Obviously that scenario’s gone through a lot of fine-tuning, especially when it comes to Charlotte. And the crystals got moved to the end of the story after the hot spring had been removed, but hey, they still made the final cut. Regardless, I did settle on a finalized version some years ago, and the final cut came out more-or-less exactly as I envisioned, down to Mami and Charlotte going off alone for some, ah, quality time.

The only new addition was Jerky’s little scene and the Sayaka/Oktavia flirting sequence, and, well, that happened. I honestly don’t know if I’m even allowed to say much about it without getting into trouble with someone, even though I wrote it, but let’s just say the time has come to finally kick things into high gear on that end.

Okay, so onto the dreams!

Kyoko’s dream was of course the one I came up with first, and yet ended up being the shortest. I guess it’s because while she’s white-hot mess of issues, she’s at least a straightforward white-hot mess of issues, and honestly, it came out more-or-less how I initially planned years ago, with very little addition.

Now, Mephisto gave us a pretty clear breakdown of what the individual girls’ dreams meant thematically when she started torturing them directly, but it bears repeating that Kyoko’s dream was mainly dealing with her poor reaction to loss (the concept, not the meme), specifically the loss of Sayaka to Oktavia, and her stubborn and yet misguided quest to bring Sayaka back at any cost.

We start with a perfect repeat of her dream from waaaaaaaay back from chapter five, when she was first waking up from being drugged. I was originally just going to begin with the continuation, but it had been so long since that chapter that I just copied and pasted the original dream so we can have it in its entirety, which included the all-important image of Sayaka dissolving into silver fishes.

From there it’s mainly Kyoko’s singleminded quest to find Sayaka at any cost. And from there, we see her think that she’s found her time after time, only to be disappointed, from thinking that Madoka was Sayaka (and it’s a shame that they never interacted more beyond that single episode, as they had a good dynamic), to nearly catching the silver-fish Sayaka only to have her torn away, to finally finding the fake fish-faced conductor Sayaka, further establishing her inability to accept Oktavia as not being Sayaka. The hole that her father left in her heart and how deeply she misses him even with what he did does come up, but she abandons catching him once Kyubey makes it clear that doing so is impossible, as well as showing that while she still loves her father, part of her still does not forgive him and she truly believes that he went to Hell.

Also, was that the first time I’ve had Kyubey show up and have original dialogue? Because it might be!

Mephisto’s first appearance has her occupying the same role that she would in everyone’s dreams, that of a surly gatekeeper. She’s a bouncer in Kyoko’s dream, a ticket-taker/ride operator in Sayaka’s, a hostess in Mami’s, and a receptionist in Charlotte’s. And in each one, she lets the dreamer pass while making it clear that doing so is probably a bad idea. Her design was a lot of fun, though there truly is no significance to her rainbow dreadlocks, punk-rock aesthetic, or denim outfit, other than I liked the way they looked. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Annabelle Lee and the dockengauts have very short appearances in the nightclub, as despite all the pain they’ve put Kyoko through, she is still so singleminded in her pursuit that she considers them nothing more than obstacles to be overcome, which Annabelle Lee would probably be annoyed to hear.

As for Mami’s weird striptease, well, Kyoko is just now having to grapple with her own budding sexuality, and it stands to reason that Mami would have been an early crush for her. The “ending” though shows that while she’s more-or-less okay with Charlotte, she is still very aware of how Mami died.

Like Annabelle Lee, Elsa Maria would have the same role in everyone’s dream, the same role she had in Annabelle Lee’s feverish dream during the Help arc, that of the person who points the way to what the dreamer is seeking while still advising against it, which is always ignored. Though don’t read too much into her working with Mephisto in the end, as it’s not the real Elsa Maria and Mephisto is still the one in control.

And what better place for Kyoko, now Ophelia, to start her quest to find Sayaka for real than the same train station that she originally lost Sayaka in?

Anyway, while this chapter came out basically as originally envisioned, there are a couple things that I wish I had included, firstly a scene where Kyoko loses her necklace while being swept along by the current for Sayaka to find it later, and to have the sound of the crying child from the beginning to continue throughout the whole chapter, showing that she still hadn’t forgotten her quest to find her sister, as impossible as it might seem now.

Sayaka’s dream had largely to do with her and Oktavia’s issues with personal identity, and the dichotomy that Oktavia feels at all times, but translated through Sayaka’s eyes. In fact, bits and pieces of both their personalities are present through the circus (and given that Rumia’s dream took place in a circus in Imperfect Metamorphosis, it does just seem to be a recurring theme with me). The whole knight in shining armor for Sayaka is obvious, as is her sense of righteous justice as what Lily did. But her dynamics with the various characters that she comes across, her memories in general, her growing attraction to Kyoko, and her annoyance at being addressed incorrectly is all Oktavia.

It’s the two Kyoko encounters I want the highlight. The first at the shooting gallery shows that while Oktavia does love Kyoko, she is getting quite fed up with the constant nicknames in place of her actual name, while the second in the dunking tank shows her growing concern that Kyoko’s dogheaded persistence is only going to keep getting her hurt until there’s nothing left, as well as show her growing sexual attraction to Kyoko as she is progressively more stripped.

Mami and Charlotte’s brief appearance was in part to get them on the dream, and so show that that while Oktavia cares for them deeply, she’s not nearly as worried about them as she is Kyoko, hence why they’re here so briefly. Also, them pushing Ticky Nikki around in a stroller, aside from being Nikki’s only appearance this whole arc, was also a tip of the hat to the original Restless episode from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Giles’s dream had him and his girlfriend pushing a stroller around through a carnival in the middle of a graveyard.

The Freakshow was a mixture of the traumatic monsters both Sayaka and Oktavia had to encounter, from the various witch familiars and to Gertrud, the first witch Sayaka ever saw, to the witch form of Charlotte, who traumatized Sayaka deeply, to Brooklyn, who briefly showed up earlier and was sort of Oktavia’s nemesis in The Heist and targeted her specifically, which left a mark.

And that whole business with Annabelle Lee “pouring” Kyoko into the tank was to lean more into dream logic, where deeply personal fears tend to be translated through nonsensical imagery. I’ve had plenty of dreams where I’d “lose” a close friend or family member because they got turned into a jar of dried corn or something and I’d just be so devastated and obsessed with turning said corn back into my loved one, and it’d be very serious and emotional, and it wouldn’t be until I had woken up that I’d realize, “Dude, dried corn?” Plus, her guilt about stabbing Annabelle Lee was a reference to Sayaka’s own increasing guilt when she realized that she wasn’t the shining hero she had wanted to be.

The clown dance is pretty self-explanatory, in that Sayaka spent so much time killing witches and treating them like monsters only to become a witch herself. Plus, given how quick her downfall was, it serves to reason that she would think of herself as a clown. Plus, I just like Lily as a character, and wanted any excuse to use her as much as possible.

The whole bit with the train station acting as the loading gate for the roller-coaster is also fairly obvious. That’s where Sayaka became Oktavia, hence the cart turning into the wheelchair, or the coaster track leading into Oktavia’s barrier. I’m honestly not too thrilled about the coaster going through Genocide City, because while having it make an appearance makes sense, since it’s literally Oktavia’s first memory, but if I recall, I had the hardest time settling on a location for the rollercoaster to ride through before heading into the castle. I tried Freehaven, the outside of the high school, and returning to the circus itself before just settling with Genocide City, which honestly was chosen mainly because the deadline was coming up and I had to go with something. I guess it works though.

There really isn’t much to say about the reversed Kyoko/Oktavia fight, as it’s literally just a perspective flip of their final battle. Incredibly important and significant as it embodies the entirety of Sayaka’s aspect as the “Monster” of her dream and hammered in her connection to Kyoko? Absolutely. Has much that I can explain that isn’t literally sitting right on the surface? Nope.

We do get Mephisto basically spelling out Sayaka’s contradictory identity in her final days though, in which she was the valiant knight she always wanted to be, she was the damsel in distress that Madoka and Kyoko tried and failed to rescue, and she was the monster holding that damsel captive. No doubt that part was inspired by the meme of the Dragonborn princess paladin who was hired to rescue herself from herself.

From there, the “Monster” is slain, and the cute mermaid Oktavia von Seckendorff is born, the only time during her own dream that she makes a full appearance. She then is treated to a montage of Sayaka’s memories, but of course, they mean nothing to her.

However, I would like to point out what amounted to the payoff of a joke I had set up literally years ago. Readers of all my stuff might remember that way back in Rhapsody of Subconscious Desire, another story that took place in a dream world, Kaguya Houraisan was split into two identical copies of herself, called Head and Body, who encountered Oktavia swimming around in a large aquarium, who in turn shot them a rude gesture and swam off. Here, we finally see the inverse of that scene, which is why a couple of previously unseen twin girls showed up with no explanation.

Next is where the dreams start to converge. Oktavia finds Kyoko’s necklace (which, again, I wish I had included in Kyoko’s dream. Maybe in time I’ll go back and edit it in) and meets the silver fish’s from Kyoko’s dream, absorbing them and turning fully into the princess and, as a result, Sayaka Miki finally returns in full.

Funny thing about that.

At this point, I didn’t know how much the whole Sayaka thing would play out, and originally she would just be Oktavia in a dress. But after having Sayaka’s memories intrude again and again, I thought, “Huh, wouldn’t it be fun if she just became Sayaka again for a short time? Have a weird inverse of the Oktavia situation?” and went ahead and did it.

This choice led to…major consequences.

Mami’s dream is next, and despite being the one that I literally had planned out the least ahead of time, ended up being the most fun to write. Naturally, her dream dreams with her immense guilt over having been Kyubey’s poster girl for so long, helping him ensnare several innocent girls into his scheme as well as kill them off herself when they became witches. Also, it served as a little nod to Candeloro’s job as a baker in WN. Anyway, the whole thing was heavily influenced by Sweeney Todd, in that victims are misled into doing something they think is innocent, only for them to be gruesomely murdered and sent off to be turned into food.

The world of candles is just something I thought would be neat imagery, so infer from it what you wish. However, it is interesting to note that Mami is the only one to have a dream that features Annabelle Lee as the persistent antagonist that she is, showing up over and over to antagonize her. There wasn’t an intended reason for this, but come to think of it, with Kyoko focused on her endgame, Oktavia just wanting her friends to be safe, and Charlotte obsessed with what was lost, Mami would be the one most living in the nowness of their situation, convinced that she is finally in Hell for her sins.

In the restaurant, Mami is indirectly guilt-tripped by Shizuku for essentially abandoning all of her responsibilities to help Kyoko, and is then given a choice: abandon her quest and stay with her loved ones, or continue on with her “duty” despite all warning signs, thereby sealing her own destruction. Charlotte even goes so far as to beg her directly to not go on, but Mami refuses, saying over and over again that she is, “On the clock,” signifying how being a magical girl essentially took over her entire life after her parents’ death, and how full she threw herself into it to shield herself from her own loneliness.

And from then on, her fate is sealed.

While descending the long staircase, the father of Mami’s occasionally mentioned former crush Ryu Hagane shows up to chastise her for throwing her life way in making her contract, and then Mami’s actual love Charlotte shows up on the big TV to remind Mami of what she was now throwing away, and curiously, when she brings out the doll version of herself, it’s not to remind her of how Charlotte kill Mami (though the worms coming out of the doll’s mouth shows that Mami still hasn’t forgotten), but to remind her of how Mami had tried to kill Charlotte upon their first meeting, as her own guilt is more powerful than even the trauma from having her own head bitten off. Annabelle Lee emerges again, and in the process, the staircase is destroyed. Mami’s choice was made. There is going back.

Sure enough, when she enters the classroom, the marionette corpse of Kazuko Saotome (a reference to how she was killed and eaten in the Oriko timeline, in addition to just being very creepy) spells out to Mami’s face what an idiot she was for trusting Kyubey, how many lives she had ruined by doing so, finishing with Homura showing up to basically say, “I told you so.”

Annabelle Lee attacks again, and Mami is sent into a montage of battles she has fought since their disastrous adventure begun, but with each of her assailants being replaced at the last second by one of her friends, showing that even after forgiveness, she still feels like she’s their murderer, as well as driving home the point that in all of her battles to defend herself over the course of this story, she was still just fighting and hurting other magical girls, and regardless of which side they were on, they were all still victims of the same scam.

Annabelle Lee is finally defeated and put down, but there is no victory, only horror at what Mami had done. She flees, but finally finds herself in the Hell she always felt that she deserved, pursued by the zombified corpses of all the monsters that had defeated her, from Lily, who had stolen her mind and made her commit atrocities, to the wild girls, whom she had slaughtered, to the Worm, whom had killed her in her arrogance.

She escapes, but that just leads her back to the bakery, signifying that no matter what, the second she had made that contract she had been doomed. It didn’t matter if she was leaping through the sky in an extravagant outfit, effortlessly defeating monsters with her magic, or if she was sinking into her own despair with a darkening soul gem, it was all the same. She was just food for the Incubators, to be chewed up and discarded, thrown into the mouth of the Worm and run down by the same vehicle that had killed her parents.

She then wakes up in the hospital, reliving a twisted version of when she had been recovered from the car wreck that had taken her parents, taking her back to her first sin that still haunted her: only saving her own life with her wish and letting her parents die. And thus, she is turned into the same monster she had spent the last few years fighting: the witch, Candeloro.

The whole bit in the hospital was a twisted version of what it must have been like for the original Mami to wake up in the hospital and learn that her parents had died. No doubt Mephisto’s dream doctors would have continued to further twist the knife had Ophelia and Sayaka not violently intervened (which gives us a rare case of blood instead of mist). And Candeloro is brought into the party, and with a Cyberpunk reference no less!

Charlotte’s dream comes last, and in my opinion, is the most multi-layered. The bulk is focused on how bitter she is at having her perfect life with her wife stolen away and how many people she resents for it, her own feelings of helplessness at being unable to prevent it, and also it addresses her own guilt at having killed Mami to begin with and how much she fears the return of the Worm that did it, but also she seems to be the only person that has some subconscious awareness of how Homura is timelooping them over and over again, forcing them to relive the same torturous sequence of events (probably has something to do with Homura being the one who killed her after she ate Mami).

In the first loop, Mami is taken by Annabelle Lee, and Charlotte is totally helpless to stop her. This is pretty obvious: Annabelle Lee has been a thorn in her side since day one. It was because of her that they were ambushed in Cloudbreak and forced into their horrible adventure. And more directly, it was because of Annabelle Lee that they fell into the Etherdale to begin with, leading to them all being enslaved by Lily and Charlotte and Mami being forced to commit atrocities.

Also, it’s hinted that the city that Charlotte is forced to march through is the same one Kyoko had been following her father through in her dream, indicating that their minds are already crossing over.

The second is a little more complicated. Yes, Charlotte and Kyoko are on better terms. Yes, they’re getting along. Yes, Kyoko apologized and they bonded. But if it weren’t for Kyoko, then none of this would have ever happened. If it weren’t for Kyoko, Charlotte wouldn’t have lost her home, wouldn’t have been targeted by Reibey, and wouldn’t have to suffer being pursued by dockengauts and valks, two creatures that she has an acute phobia of. So there is still some hard feelings there.

The third is when Charlotte is forced to confront something about herself, that no matter how many people she blames, her own actions still played a part as well. Now she is the one riding the Worm. She is the one who cost Mami her life. And in the hospital, it was her misguided wish that cost her her mother, whether she knows it or not, as well as why she became a witch in the first place.

Couple notes about the hospital: first, the cheese slices do signify how Charlotte threw her wish away for something as stupid as cheesecake, but are also another reference to the original Restless, in which a man carrying cheese slices shows up in each of the characters dreams, just to be weird.

Also, Charlotte’s magical girl outfit was in part inspired by a 4koma MamiLotte doujin from before The Rebellion Story, in which Charlotte becomes human again and crushes on Mami big time. And her outfit consists of a double-breasted coat and skirt. Also there were parts taken from the character notes from Walpurgisnacht, in which one of her familiars is an early draft of Human!Charlotte, before Nagisa had been designed, and she’s depicted holding a staff topped with the wrapped candy charm.

The final loop is where Charlotte fully becomes Nozomi (a name I think I just took from another fanfic that gave her that name) and finally defeats the Worm, this time ridden by Homura Akemi. After all, Homura Akemi is the one resetting things over and over again, forcing Charlotte to relive the same terrible events over and over. And as for that rooftop meeting…well, explaining that would be telling, so infer what you will.

The next chapter is mainly spent playing catch-up, gathering all the characters together and pushing toward the final battle with Mephisto. Here, things get less symbolic and more character based, so there’s a lot less to explain. Ophelia’s path of destruction through Sayaka’s carnival and Mami’s school are basically in line with lucid dreaming, in that once you know that you’re in a dream, everything just feels so much less solid, leading Ophelia to take down the ravaged versions of Brooklyn and Annabelle Lee with ease. Also, that scene with her talking to the dying Lily was an American Gods reference, which featured a similar scene.

So let’s talk about the big thing with this chapter. Let’s talk about Sayaka.

Originally the plan was to go straight from Charlotte’s dream to the fight with Mephisto, but then I realized what a bad idea that is. I mean, Sayaka was back! It’s something that’s been hinted and talked about all through the story’s run, but now it’s actually a thing. The original Sayaka Miki, the one that fell into despair and became a witch, is now back, and without having merged with Oktavia and gaining her memories. She’s thrown literally into the middle of things, during the gang’s weirdest adventure yet. And, it should be noted, her most recent memory is literally sitting with Kyoko in the train station, right before she became Oktavia. That is one hell of a bad day.

Obviously she reacts poorly, and who can blame her? And give her credit, she pulled herself together pretty quickly. However, she did pick up very quickly on Kyoko’s feelings for her. And why shouldn’t we just start saying it? It’s obvious to everyone! But obviously, as short as it was, Sayaka’s brief return will have major consequences that will play out over time.

Anyway, obviously everyone else has their own identity crisis. Mami turns fully into Candeloro, which provides a measure of relief from her own shame, while Kyoko as Ophelia is the rare witch that remembers everything while still sticking fully to her witch identity.

As for Charlotte, her case as Charzomi is easily the weirdest, with her constantly shifting back and forth between Charlotte and Nozomi, and her own memories fading in and out, forcing her to work extra hard to stay focused. It’s been suggested that this might serve as a metaphor for gender fluidity, and while this wasn’t the intention and thus I can’t speak to its accuracy, I can see and support the applicability. Still haven’t worked out what the long-term consequences of that will be, but I do want this to play into her future character development.

The walk up the tongue was mainly me realizing that the fighting was going to start soon, and Sayaka was going away right after, so I had one last opportunity to make the most out of her presence and I was determined not to waste it.

So we ticked off the boxes on everything we ought to address with her. She cleared the air with Charlotte over having to watch Mami get eaten. She finally got to hug Mami (well, Candeloro anyway) and got everything she wanted to say off her chest. And with Ophelia, she naturally wants to know more about exactly what Kyoko has been getting up to with Sayaka’s other self.

Sayaka again confronts Ophelia about how she feels about her (or, well, Oktavia, or maybe Sayaka? It’s weird), and naturally she is kind of freaked out by it. Remember, from her point of view, her relationship with Kyoko had been nothing but antagonistic. Whether Kyoko had been attacking her or trying to help her, Sayaka always resented her presence, so now suddenly being dropped into the middle of things and learning that her one-time rival now has a thing for her? Well, can you blame her for getting a little freaked out?

Also, it’s worth pointing out how the script had been flipped with everyone’s new identities. Now it’s Ophelia and Candeloro with the witch names, while Sayaka still thinks of them using their old names, causing them discomfort, but she has no problem calling Charzomi whatever because they had just met and she didn’t care.

And then we get to the fight, and of course it has to be a pro wrestling match. I’d also like to point out that there were a lot of songs I wanted to use for this chapter but was unsure of where to put each one. Originally the climb up the tongue was just going to have generic thrash metal playing the background, while Mephisto’s entrance theme was going to start with Mr. Sandman, only to transition into Bad Reputation (which is Ronda Rousey’s RL entrance theme), but then I was like, I should put Welcome to My Nightmare in there somewhere. And then I remembered that Cult of Personality is a thing, which is also CM Punk’s entrance theme, so I finally decided to move the first three songs to the tongue scene and have CoP as Mephisto’s entrance music.

And finally, we come to the last chapter. The magical girl fight scene was another one of those checklist things I wanted to have so long as I had Sayaka around. That way, I could actually build some real KyoSaya moments to make the KyoTavi angst all the more potent, as Sayaka realizes that she is developing an attraction to Kyoko as they fight side-by-side, letting me recreate that magical little moment from The Rebellion Story in which Sayaka basically confesses in the middle of the battle, complete with Charlotte ruining the mood.

I’ll admit, I kind of skimped out on Mephisto’s witch design and didn’t give it as much thought as I could have, but that part was never important. The important part was to recreate a classic witch fight and let the girls interact during it. I am proud of the Charlotte’s Web joke though.

What happens next is to establish that it doesn’t matter how hard they fight or how smart they are, they simply cannot beat Mephisto now. She’s taken complete control, enough to flick them through their various personas on a whim turning them into Puella Magi, then to human!witches (basically the Walpurgis Nights girls), then to full witches, then to the classic squad from the bulk of the story (bringing Oktavia back briefly), then to vanilla humans. It doesn’t matter. Mephisto has them, and can do whatever she wants.

From there, she separates them again and subjects them to a condensed version of their previous dreams, with the same themes but different imagery. Kyoko is subjected to a sermon about her poor responses to loss from her dead father, as he really lays into her over how much damage she had done. And I gotta admit, even I felt pretty bad just for writing that scene. Because I know torturing Kyoko is kind of this story’s MO, but damn.

Sayaka is a little more nuanced. Yes, the identity issues from her own dream are brought up, but it’s more focused on a new issues: mainly, now that Sayaka is back, she not only has to grapple with all the weirdness that she’s been thrust into, but also with essentially having been replaced. We see the vision of her friends getting along happily without her, the friends she had pushed away and alienated having moved on without her, Madoka basically having replaced her entirely with Homura. Of course this is not reflected in reality, as by this point in the world of the living they probably haven’t even found Sayaka’s body yet due to the time difference, but it is definitely that Sayaka would easily believe.

The next part is basically the whole reason for bringing Sayaka back in this manner. Mephisto then shows Sayaka a real memory that of Oktavia spending time with Kyoko, Mami, and Charlotte and being loved and accepted by them.

Sayaka’s character arc in the original series was driven by her letting her insecurities cause her to overcompensate and destroy herself, and Oktavia has largely been characterized as what Sayaka would be like if she didn’t have those insecurities. Sure, she’s had the shadow of the original Sayaka hanging over her, but for the most part this hasn’t seemed to bother her much, aside from getting annoyed at being called the wrong name, but it’s been taken for granted that sooner or later being thought of as Sayaka instead of herself by Kyoko was going to come to a head.

But here we have one of those happy unplanned gold veins, something I hadn’t planned on doing but am thrilled gets to happen now: we have Sayaka being forced to come to terms with living in Oktavia’s shadow.

Yes, they’re the same person. Yes, Oktavia is just Sayaka with her memory wiped and many of her self-destructive issues cleared away. But as WN demonstrated, it’s not as clear cut as that, and there is still some degree of separation between the two. And the infamously self-loathing Sayaka would most certainly be messed up by being confronted by a version of herself that people like and enjoy being around, that doesn’t feel the need to prove anything. And this is coming right off the heels of her realizing that she might have feelings for Kyoko after all (even if that is in part because of her empathetic connection to Oktavia), only to have it thrown in her face that it was Oktavia that Kyoko really loved, when she herself never did anything other than push Kyoko away. Granted, she had good reason for doing so, given that the first thing Kyoko did was try to kill her, but the point stands.

The Kyoko/Oktavia dynamic has always been messy due to Sayaka’s constant presence, but I kind of feel that that was unfair to Sayaka herself, as she deserves better than just being a memory, and I wanted her to have an actual voice in the whole deal, to be able to express her own feelings about it, even if it does complicate an already incredibly complicated situation.

Anyway, the next bit is pretty self-explanatory, with Mephisto further twisting the knife by replaying Sayaka’s last conversation with Madoka and really driving home what a wreck Sayaka had been at the time. Remember, from Sayaka’s point of view, that whole moment was only a few hours ago, at most!

Mami’s was very interesting, because the whole trial bit is self-explanatory, but it’s actually a reference to the bizarre trial that made up the final episode of the classic mindscrew TV show The Prisoner, which featured a jury wearing masks, the plaintiff sitting on an ornate chair on a raised platform, witnesses being pulled out of steam-filled holes, and an extended singalong of Dry Bones. Granted, I mainly knew about it because Reboot, one of my favorite shows, also referenced it in a dream episode of their own, but I liked that episode, and wanted to rip it off.

For the witnesses, we first get the expected faces from the show itself, but we also get a few new ones. Brooke Alexander was already named once before when Mami was reflecting on the various girls she had trained, Janice Goldberg was made up specifically for this scene, but we also get Michiru Kazusa, from the really weird spin-off manga Kazumi Magica, who was established as having a past with Mami. Kazumi Magica had its problems, but I did like a lot of the characters (i.e. The Twins), so this seemed like a good time to bring in another one.

Charlotte’s dream is the most straightforward, as it’s basically just her first dream condensed into a claw machine. What I wanted to put focus on was that Charlotte is the one character that knows who Mephisto is, as her role as the team scholar who does the most reading, she would actually have heard of the Ideal Witches, and thus would really understand just how much trouble they were all in.

And at the end of each segment, Mephisto gives each of them the same offer: submit willingly and be given a pleasant fantasy while Mephisto digests their souls, or continue to resist and get digested anyway, only in eternal torment. And her offer would give them each what they wanted the most. Kyoko wants her loved ones back, Sayaka wants to be loved and appreciated, Mami wants forgiveness, and Charlotte just wants to go home. And in light of what they were facing, can any of them be blamed for wanting to take Mephisto up on her offer?

Enter Jerky.

Jerky was a ton of fun to write for, and judging by the overwhelming positive response to his segments, bringing in the baby space raptor was a good idea. Like I’ve said before, his bits were one big love letter to Raptor Red, a novel by paleontologist Robert Bakker which tells of the life and times of a female Utahraptor from the Utahraptor’s point of view. And the nice thing about Jerky is that he’s smart enough to know the does and don’ts, but simple enough to be uncomplicated. He’s an animal. An exceptionally smart animal, but still an animal. He knows that he loves Kyoko and is loyal to her, he’s been made to understand that he can’t let Charlotte, Mami, and Oktavia see him, and he knows that Kyoko’s skin is softer than his and he needs to be careful, but beyond that he couldn’t care less of their various issues. It’s refreshingly simple.

As such, when confronted with a complete inexplicable threat such as Mephisto, something well beyond his ability to comprehend, he’s worried, he’s scared, he doesn’t know what to do, so he defaults to his predatory instincts.

When in doubt, start biting.

And it does the trick, because something that needs to be said is that while the Ideal Witches are powerful, they’re not omnipotent. Mephisto needed to lure the girls in and submerge them fully in her dream in order to control them the way that she did, but in the real world, she was vulnerable once she had manifested fully, allowing Kyoko to break free long enough to fire the final shot.

In the end, everyone escapes, but not unscathed. Kyoko especially had been scarred even further, in part from the dream of her father, but also from having to watch Sayaka basically die again, leading to her reaching what very well might be her breaking point. Mami’s slipping deeper into depression, having been forced to once again confront all the damage she unwittingly did as a magical girl, Charlotte is fully fed up with everything that had happened to them. And Oktavia? Well, now that it’s been shown that Sayaka Miki can and has come back, suddenly her own identity issues are going to become worse. She’s really going to have to grapple with Sayaka being an actual person with a legitimate claim to her body, especially since when Sayaka came back, she effectively traded places with Oktavia instead of merging with her. That’s gotta be scary.

At the very least, Kyoko did not reject Oktavia. In some way, she does understand that Oktavia is her own person, and she’s coming to respect that. But there are some deep wounds having to do with Oktavia’s creation, and they’re both going to have to come to terms with a great many things in the days to come.

And at the very end, it’s shown that Mephisto is weakened but still alive, and she’s pissed! We also learn that one of the girls did accept Mephisto’s offer before she was defeated, so that’s definitely going to come up later. And we meet the rest of the Ideal Witches. Obviously there is more to come with them, so I will say nothing further.

Anyway, I guess that’s it. Feel free to message me if you want anything explained further, or just make your own interpretations. Either is fine.

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of Marvel: Week of August 21st, 2019

Best of this Week: Tony Stark: Iron Man #15 (Legacy #615) - Dan Slott, Jim Zub, Juanan Ramirez, Francesco Manna, Edgar Delgado and Joe Caramagna

Tony Stark may not be the man he says he is anymore.

Since the landmark 600th issue of Iron Man, Tony Stark hasn’t been entirely sure that he is actually himself and not just a strange collection of nanobots and machines strung together in the form of the billionaire tech wizard. After the horrible incident surrounding eScape, Tony Stark’s virtual reality world, leads to the deaths of a few people and millions or more in property damage, Tony has to take the stand and address what exactly happened. 

He’s grilled pretty thoroughly on what an AI is and how much was his responsibility vs. how much can be blamed on Controller, the supervillain who hacked into the supposedly secure network and caused all of this damage. Overseeing the hearing is a surprising character from another mechanical superheroes past. Senator Miles Brickman, a character that originally appeared as something of an anti-machine/anti-AI character in the pages of Machine Man’s original series, it livid and irate at Tony Stark. Showing a bit of prejudice in his questioning, he asks has Tony Stark ever made any changes to his body using technology, then follows by asking “Can you prove that you’re not some form of artificial intelligence?”

Tony initially tries to dance around the question, but upon being reminded that he’s under oath, reveals that it is actually quite possible as his body was put back together cell by cell while he was in his coma. This shocks everyone, from Rhodey to Bethany Cabe, his head of security at Stark Unlimited, and even his brother Arno Stark who is watching the hearing from his office at Baintronics, the rival technology company.

AI Tony calls for a recess after a few snarky lines as we cut to Vision and Wonder Man arriving at Avengers mansion, thinking they’ve been called to assist in Tony’s hearing. Immediately some red flags might want to be set off with the characters involved, especially when Jarvis lets them in and soon after betrays them with a large piece of metal embedded in the back of his head with a familiar design. 

Things start to heat up as Brickman produces the Tony Stark AI that was used by Riri Williams while Tony was in a coma and asks does this fully functioning, autonomous copy have legal rights and responsibilities. What makes me so uncomfortable about this scene is that it plays on the fear of the unknown.

Brickman has tried to have Machine Man destroyed in the past and even knowing that Tony Stark has saved the world in the past, he’s not willing to consider that he still has right once it’s admitted that he may not be fully human anymore. In a way it mirrors some of our own discussions as it pertains to AI and whether or not we’ll allow them autonomy once they become advanced enough for it. There’s a whole discussion for sex robots that no one is qute ready for just yet.

The Wasp, Janet van Dyne, flies through a robot protest on her way to meet Tony for lunch and catches him talking to Tony AI. Tony AI agrees to be loaded into the Iron Man suit and they all fly off when suddenly they’re met with a gross amalgamation of Vision and Wonder Man fused together. Ramirez’s art makes him look so horrifying with only half of Wonder Man’s luxurious hair and cracking skin that’s as red as Vision’s. He rushes at Tony in a rage and promises to rip the human and AI halves of him apart, displaying an anger that neither character has ever presented. 

In the middle of their fight, Jarvis appears and zaps Janet, who was knocked out of the fight during the initial rush. He places her in his pocket and leaves thereafter. Tony and WonderVision continue their fight, destroying the robot protestors in the process. Tony realizes that they only way to stop them is to use a localized EMP which will also kill Tony AI. The technological Tony isn’t fazed and just tells Tony to kiss Jan a bunch and feel vaguely bad about it later.

Unfortunately, this leaves Tony in the middle of the carnage. He’s surrounded by broken robots, likely to take the blame for all of it and realizes that Jocasta was right, he only sees everything as data. He breathes a small sigh that he’s still alive and that WonderVision didn’t take Janet… until he can’t find her. We then cut to the surprising return of The Avengers greatest enemy as his new gambit to destroy Tony Stark and spark a new machine age is in full effect.

What I liked most about this issue is that Tony’s mistakes really catch up to him in a bad way. He’s always managed to skate by the skin of his teeth when his machines have gone haywire. While Brickman was being an asshole for the trial, he made a good point in that we don’t quite know if we can trust this Tony. Given what we as the audience know thus far, he’s falling hard. Almost going back to the drink, questioning his own existence, not even having the trust of the brother that’s been by his side since his appearance in the mid 2000s (in this universe).

And that ending, finally seeing the seeds of what’s been sewn for months now starting to take form, is always fun. I had wondered what happened to this character since Infinity Wars (2018) and I can’t wait to see where exactly this story is going to go and what the repercussions of that event will be. I also can’t wait to see how exactly he’ll scar Tony and his extended family now that he’s returned. High recommend!

---------------------------------------------------

Things were looking up for Otto Octavius. He had found a nice woman and was slowly falling in love, he had mended fences with Anna-Maria in a way. After the events of War of the Realms, he was a respected and loved hero in San Francisco and then it all came crashing down.

Runner Up: The Superior Spider-Man #10 (Legacy #43) - Christos Gage, Mike Hawthorne, Wade von Grawbadger, Jordie Bellaire and Clayton Cowles

After taking the lovely Emma on a swing through the city, The Spider-Man of San Francisco goes on to visit the child he saved all the way back in issue #4 and help his new adoptive parents get custody of him. These small moments of warmness are a far cry from the maniacal nature that we were once accustomed to from Octavius. Bellaire colors most these scenes in a nice, warm orange. Giving us this feeling of joy and some happiness for Otto… at least until he’s discussing having a child with Emma and she alerts him to the news report that asks if the SF Spider-Man is really Otto Octavius. 

Things start to spiral even further as Spider-Man is interviewed and dances around the question and the Brothers Grimm acknowledge that he hired them for some temp work if they went straight, alluding to the first arc of the book. Otto is furious, Anna-Maria gives him snark and Emma tells him that he needs to face things head on, getting in front of it all. He can prove that he’s changed. Unfortunately, Anna-Maria brings up the kid as an example of someone who he’s helped and he swings to the apartment to find the foster parents angry and the child sad that he lied. Normally Otto wouldn't think twice about lying to someone or omitting information, but looking into that child's eyes as he began to cry, Otto reveals that he lied because he wanted the kid to like him and they hug. 

Soon after, Otto is called back to Horizon University where he is known as Professor Tolliver. Max Modell is waiting for him as he's received an email telling him that Tolliver is actually Otto Octavius. Surprisingly to Otto, Max already knew. Max Modell may act like a goof, but he's not considered one of the brightest minds in Marvel for no reason. He ran a DNA test to confirm soon after his emergence and gave "Tolliver" a chance to prove himself a changed man and given that he has, he's been trying to help clear his name. 

With Max's security footage and his own enhanced suit, Otto is able to determine that it was actually Spiders-Man that sent all of the incriminating data to everyone. Once Spiders-Man realizes he's caught, the thousands of spiders that make up his form reconstitute until Ock defeats him and compresses the former Peter Parker's consciousness into one Spider-Body. After some pushing, Spiders-Man reveals that it was Norman Osborn's idea. This Norman Osborn, however, is from another dimension where he's the Spider Totem and his main enemy was a Green Goblin Peter Parker, if I remember right. 

Spiders-Man also tells Otto that Norman is in his own dimension, safe from harm. During the events of Spider-Geddon, the Web of Fate was destroyed, making dimensional travel much harder for Spider people. Octavius hits a wall until Anna-Maria comes out that she's saved a bit of Terrax's energy from the first arc in the Living Brain robot, in case Otto ever reverted. This makes him sink even lower, but ultimately he understands and tries to use the power to make a portal...only Norman planned for this and over loads the machine, causing it to destroy the building almost killing everyone inside if not for Otto. 

Otto manages to save Max and Anna-Maria, but is swiftly defeated and left for dead by Norman who was there the entire time. When Otto asks why Norman is doing this, he responds in the most Norman Osborn way possible by saying, "You insulted me."

Just when Otto Octavius was finding his place in the world as a hero, forces mostly belong his control have made their move in an effort to derail him. Otto finally seems happy, even helping out a young child that he absolutely has no obligation to and starting a budding new relationship with an older woman that's just as smart as he. Things were going well, he even got a key to the city for crying out loud!

But, as fate befalls all Spiders, his terrible actions in the past are coming back to haunt him. Who's to say that Mephisto doesn't have a little bit of a hand in this as well? We can only hope things turn out well for Otto in the end, but not before Norman makes things much, much worse.

[wazafam]

WandaVision episode 6 features the show's creepiest commercial yet, in which a child starves to death while trying and failing to open a pot of "Yo-Magic" yogurt. While previous commercials have been straightforward references to suppressed trauma from Wand's past, the Yo-Magic commercial also seems to include some hints about her present life in Westview - and what the future could hold.

"All-New Halloween Spooktacular!" brings WandaVision's sitcom aesthetic forward into the 2000s, when there were plenty of weird commercials around. The chattering skeleton child is certainly in keeping with the episode's spooky Halloween theme. But while the Yo-Magic commercial's meaning may be more difficult to parse than WandaVision's previous ad breaks, it also may be the most insightful one yet.

Related: Why Vision Doesn't Remember The Avengers

Just as WandaVision's setting has been moving forward in time, so too have the commercials been moving forward through Wanda's past - from the Stark ToastMate 2000 in the first episode (a reference to the Stark Industries bomb that killed her parents) through references to Hydra and Von Strucker. In episode 5 there was a grim nod to Scarlet Witch accidentally blowing up the side of a building in Lagos, which kicked off the main conflict of Captain America: Civil War. Though she's aware that she's controlling her new reality, Wanda has suppressed memories of her life before Westview, and cannot remember how the Hex was first created. If the Yo-Magic commercial is a manifestation of more recent memories, it could be a hint at what's really going on.

Following Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox, the X-Men movie rights are now back with Marvel Studios and mutants are expected to be incorporated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver made their MCU debut (first in Captain America: The Winter Soldier's post-credits scene, and then in Avengers: Age of Ultron), rights issues prevented them from being referred to as "mutants" or connected to their father from the comic books, Magneto. The twins' powers were instead explained by them volunteering for Hydra and Baron Von Strucker's experiments with the Mind Stone.

In addition to casting Evan Peters (who played Quicksilver in Fox's X-Men movies) in the role of Wanda's "recast" Pietro, WandaVision has also started to lay the groundwork for a retcon of Wanda's powers. Episode 3's Hydra Soak commercial featured the slogan "Find the goddess within!" - a suggestion that Hydra's experiments didn't give Wanda her powers, but instead simply unlocked the potential that was already inside her. The child in the Yo-Magic commercial being handed a pot of "Yo-Magic" and struggling to break the seal on it also fits with this theme. If the malevolent-looking shark represents Von Strucker, then the name of the product indicates that what Hydra gave to Wanda was actually her own latent magic.

The dark ending of WandaVision's Yo-Magic commercial is also linked to the trauma of Wanda's past and the deaths of her loved ones. When Wanda and Pietro's childhood home was collapsed by a Stark Industries bomb, the twins were left trapped under the rubble for two days, staring death (in the form of a second, unexploded bomb) in the face. Though Wanda survived, she experienced the trauma of being stuck and helpless, without food or water. And even when she got her magic powers, which she hoped would ensure she'd never be so helpless again, she was unable to prevent Pietro's death at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Related: WandaVision: Billy & Tommy’s Powers Explained

Perhaps the most obvious parallel between the child trying and failing to open the seal on the yogurt, and dying as a result, is Vision's death in Avengers: Infinity War. This would be a natural place for WandaVision to progress to, after the last commercial referenced Captain America: Civil War. The climactic battle of Infinity War saw Wanda using all of her strength to destroy the Mind Stone in Vision's head while also holding back Thanos, to prevent the Mad Titan from completing the Infinity Gauntlet. Vision ultimately died twice: first when Wanda destroyed the Stone (and him along with it), and again when Thanos rewound time and forcibly ripped the Mind Stone from Vision's head. Despite being arguably the most powerful MCU hero, Wanda's magic hasn't been able to save the people she loved the most.

If Wanda constructing a fantasy world populated by people with enslaved minds wasn't enough to signal her current instability, the Yo-Magic commercial indicates that she is not fully in control of either her mind or her magic. She is unable to fully control Vision's mind, which in episode 6 led to him making a break for freedom. And while "Pietro's" origins and motives are still unclear, he too is aware that Westview is under Wanda's control and that Vision is actually dead. If the child in the commercial represents Wanda, then the character being stuck on  desert island alone, slowly dying, and unable to save themselves says ominous things about her current state of mind.

WandaVision has been dropping plenty of hints that Mephisto, a devil-like supervillain from Marvel Comics who played a prominent role in the story arc that WandaVision is loosely based on, could secretly be the puppet master behind Westview. "All-New Halloween Spooktacular!" doubles down on these hints, with Pietro playfully calling the twins "demon spawn" (in the comics they were created from pieces of Mephisto's soul) and commenting that Westview is "charming as hell." Wanda herself has a gap in her memory regarding the birth of her version of Westview - as if that information has been deliberately blocked out.

The decidedly creepy-looking shark in the Yo-Magic commercial tells the starving child that he has survived by "snacking on Yo-Magic." This, combined with the disturbing image of the child withering away to a skeleton, suggests that something is drawing on Wanda's magic. The Hex may actually be a kind of giant magical battery, designed for Mephisto to siphon off Wanda's powers while also keeping her placated. If the other commercials are manifestations of Wanda's suppressed memories, the shark in the Yo-Magic commercial could be her mind's way of remembering the role Mephisto has played. With only three episodes left of WandaVision, the show is getting ever-closer to revealing what's really going on in Westview - and perhaps revealing the true villain behind it all.

More: WandaVision: Every MCU Easter Egg In Episode 6

How WandaVision’s Yo-Magic Commercial Connects To Her Past & Future from https://ift.tt/2NnUhpY

[art-blogge]

fate mink deals with europeansTM

"Why has everything I've written been adapted so poorly?!" ranted Andersen from a lower floor, startling Minako enough to almost miss a step on her way downstairs. "And what sort of devils deemed this acceptable?! Who published this shit?!?"

By the time Minako reached him, Andersen was cursing the entire Disney staff- Past, present and future. Threats rolled off his tongue as smoothly as a ball down a mild hill made of pure rage, and into a gentle river of trashed novel plans.

Before Minako could comment, Mephistopheles hurriedly flew in, diving behind the sofa Andersen was residing on and peeking back out. "While I am aware that many dislike this devil, I quite enjoy surviving to cause some chaos! Do keep HIM away from me, Master!" As a note to Andersen, he added "And this devil is not responsible for the ruination you despise so much!" He then had to quickly duck back down to dodge a pen from Andersen and a thrown knife from the hallway.

A man entered, who Minako couldn't pin down immediately. Was this Jekyll, or Hyde? Her question was VERY quickly answered when he tilted his head to look at her and gave her a malicious shark-like grin. Ah. Of course it was Hyde. Jekyll's aim with knives was surprisingly horrendous and has cute, mild smiles. He's also not at all aggressive, unlike Hyde, which Minako had learned rather swiftly over the previous week.

"Hyde, could you at least tell me what Mephisto did to make you angry?" Minako asked calmly, trying her best to keep her admittedly shaky eye contact with the Berserker. This was harder than it looked, as it felt like Hyde was radiating madness from his core. Instead of responding to her, Hyde cackled and started to climb over the couch. He was stopped in his tracks by Andersen reaching up and grasping Hyde's vest, preventing Hyde from moving any further.

As if to help, Minako also grabbed onto Hyde's vest. "C'mon, Hyde, tell me!" Minako pleaded, tugging the vest for emphasis, "Even if it's a one-word answer!"

Freezing completely, Hyde turned his head to stare down at Minako, his sharp teeth on full display. "LONDON," he snapped,

"Don't you understand? It's LONDON!" He started to cackle madly, allowing Mephisto to zip out of his hiding place and into the hallway. Andersen, meanwhile, only rolled his eyes while Hyde was excitedly vibrating. Minako cast him a curious look, and the author merely waved a hand as response. He did not seem willing to explain at the time, and that was reasonable considering the Berserker's boot was only inches away from his head.

Sighing, Minako let go of Hyde and plopped down on the sofa, turning her attention to the tv screen. "Which one is this, Andersen? I don't remember this scene."

"It's the dumb prequel!" Andersen answered, squinting at the screen in irritation. Or was it because he needed glasses? Either way, he was still very unhappy. "It contradicts so much of the story itself! How did this get past the planning stage?! Who the hell did this?!?"

"Do those shells ever come off her tits? I bet they look like raisins!" Hyde jeered, squatting for a better look at the tv screen. If everyone was looking at that instead of HIM, it had to be interesting. This, he decided, was not allowed- He was, is, and always will be the center of attention! "Prune boobs!"

He was ignored again. Slumping down onto the sofa, he half-landed on Andersen, earning him some of that sweet, sweet Attention™, but only for a moment. Taking out a knife, Hyde prepared to throw it at the screen when the bright colors caught his eye.

From the hallway, Mephisto was peering in, scissors in hand. Seeing that Hyde had gotten completely distracted, he smirked and left, free to make trouble without being attacked. He had absolutely no idea what he'd done to rile up Hyde and while he wanted to know, he also wanted to survive. He had prior plans to begin with anyway, and he intended to stick with them.

----

"Guess who figured out how to make non-explosive, semi-radioactive meth!" Mephistopheles announced, throwing the door open. Neither Minako or Andersen were fazed by his entrance, but Minako turned to stare once she registered what he said. To her surprise, he was fully decked out in sciency-laboratory gear. No signs of his usual clowny outfit- He seemed to have traded in his obnoxious vest for a labcoat, and his hat for a flu mask. A moderately drastic change in appearance that Minako hadn't been prepared for.

Believing Minako's confused stare was due to his declaration, he added "It's just, uh. Somewhat nuclear! It doesn't go past 6 mm! Ingesting it will only make you sick for a week or two, but if you wait fourteen days, it'll just be normal meth!"

"Why did you make radioactive meth?"

Mephisto cackled, pulling his flu mask down to show his grin. "For fun! My next experiment is seeing if I can make radioactive liquid nitrogen!" When no one questioned this declaration, he then added "And did you know potatoes are radioactive? They are. Oh, I know! I could make a radioactive potato salad and freeze it over with the liquid nitrogen!"

"Can you put those words in simple English for us, Mephisto?" Minako again asked, visibly puzzled by Mephisto's paragraph of science speech. He considered not answering her, picking up and folding his legs as he made increasingly exaggerated facial expressions. Eventually he nodded, causing the curls in his hair to bounce in a satisfying way.

"It's real simple, Master! Radioactivity's when the big middle cell is broken and it shoots off other bits n'pieces! Those can go through other cells, dna, really anything! And that can kill you like everything else!" Seeming pleased with his own highly simplified explanation, Mephisto moved on. "Liquid nitrogen is just that! Nitrogen as a liquid! It's really, really cold, and freezes whatever's put in it- Even your hand! The only thing colder than it is liquid helium, but that's Hell and a half to get access to!" He stopped and observed his audience- Minako looked impressed, while Andersen appeared to not care. Hyde was not considered part of the audience because he was taking a nap, using Andersen as a pillow.

"And the most important part!" Mephisto added, his grin getting larger, "A potato is a tuber plant of the nightshade family that grows primarily underground-"

"We know what a potato is, you god-damned awful clown," Andersen snapped, cutting Mephisto off mid-sentence. "Just because some of us don't know scientific mumbo-jumbo doesn't mean we're retarded!" He was then elbowed by Minako, who hissed "Don't use that as an insult, you big bully!"

"Just because you are my Master, I am not going to change my manner of speech!" As they continued to bicker, Hyde- or possibly Jekyll- drowsily sat up, rubbing his eyes. Mephisto froze upon spotting this, furrowing his brow in confusion. He wasn't sure which of the two this was, until they withdrew and put on their glasses. Ah, this was Jekyll. Relaxing, Mephisto also recognized that Jekyll was almost impossible to detect as another servant, while Hyde's presence was explosive and obvious. This seemed to be a reoccurring event, and was most likely correct on his part.

"Good morning, Doc! You want some radioactive drugs?" Mephisto cheerfully asked, earning a worried stare from Jekyll. Exactly what he had wanted! "It'll only be radioactive for, like, two weeks!"

Jekyll shook his head and turned to address Minako. Something about Mephisto still made him uncomfortable, but he couldn't place exactly what it was.

[thedemonkingamaimon]

Blitz - Ao No Exorcist fic

Not doing too well in himself, Amaimon grabs a full wallet, throws on a statement jacket, and heads into town. Halfway through the night, struggling to get drunk on the aid of shots alone, a casual “I-need-this” drinking turns into an unhealthy bender. 

Comments/reviews always welcome

Warnings/themes: Binge drinking

Note: headcanon/personal verse based (as always). Let me know if you have any questions

The music grew louder by the hour. It was subtle, the routine change from catering to after-work drinkers to setting up for the night groups. What time was it now? 8? 9? 

Amaimon had no idea. He’d purposely left him phone on his brothers desk after their argument so that he couldn’t be interrupted. He also didn’t own a watch, and he couldn’t see a clock in this pub, so it was all guesswork. Not that he really cared. He was somewhat content enough to sit staring into his empty glasses. 

He watched one of the lads at the next table. They’d arrived shortly after he had, and one in particular was a noticeable lightweight. He’d had far less than Amaimon had, but was so visibly out of it, that it was annoying. Amaimon felt himself getting steadily more angry as he watched him. 

He sighed heavily, standing up and double checking he had what little he’d brought with him before leaving. He didn’t much fancy the atmosphere in there anyway. 

-

He’d long since learned the best places to get cheap drinks. That’s what he wanted: to get as drunk as possible for as little as possible, even though he didn’t really need to worry about money. He rather felt he’d move around a bit tonight. He had the means to do so, giving the dramatic raise in his allowance from Mephisto since his behaviour had improved.

It wasn’t long before he came to one of his favourite cheap joints. It was a quaint little pub with rough clientele and smashed bathroom windows. Maybe that was why he liked it so much: no one worried about appearances here. Plus, the atmosphere was friendly and relaxed, which he felt he needed. 

He’d been out a good few hours already, mainly mulling over shots and ciders, and he wasn’t quite tipsy yet. He was annoyed at himself: he knew only spirits tended to tip him over, yet he’d indulged in a few bottles of cider and an artillery of jager bombs anyway. 

Amaimon was feeling quite annoyed again and decided to step it up a bit and get a double vodka and coke to start with. As usual, he chose a table near to the bar. This was mainly for convenience, but also because it gave him a good view of the lads playing snooker over the way - they were often an amusing bunch. 

-

Just as he was about to get up for another drink, one of the snooker lads landed at his side, bleary-eyed and swaying slightly. 

“You’re not here all alone, are you?” his speech was noticeably slurred, and Amaimon regretted to admit he was a little jealous. “C’mon, come and join us lot: ain’t no point being lonely over here” 

Quickly deciding there was no harm in it, he accepted the invitation. 

The atmosphere at the other side of the pub was drastically different. The lights were brighter, the people were more animated. For the first few minutes, what with the introductions and what-not, it was a little uncomfortable for Amaimon, but he soon grew to like that side of the pub. Besides, he quite liked the look of this bloke, the one who had invited him over. He was conventionally attractive, and he was very warm, and quite hands-on. 

-

The rest of the bunch had turned out to be nicer than the first bloke. They seemed to have maintained their spacial awareness throughout their drunkenness. Their wallets were very loose, which gave for a good handful of free drinks over the first 45 minutes. It was very welcomed, and Amaimon could feel that drunk feeling he’d yearned for starting to warm his body. It was nice, and he felt comfortable for the most part. 

The man from the start was very drunk, and started to grow quite thoughtful. All of a sudden, Amaimon wasn’t sure what he thought of him. He felt he’d gotten a bit too familiar with him, considering he’d decided it would be a good idea to showcase the results of his recent motorbike accident to the group. 

Now, he seemed to be getting closer. He’d spent a lot of his time beside Amaimon, often with an arm round his shoulders. They’d had a laugh, in that little group, but now it was starting to feel a bit weird. Amaimon had grown used to restraining his instincts, so even though it felt like an option, he managed not to deck the bloke one when he was suddenly so close to him that he basically sat on his lap. Instead he bore with it, subtly finishing his drink and weighing up his options.

By some merciful coincidence, the bloke soon got up to pop to the loo. Once he was out of sight, Amaimon quickly downed what little remained of his drink and stood up. 

“Awight fella’s, ta for the drinks and all that, but I’ve somewhere to be!” 

He shot them all a friendly grin and their farewell involved a few quick hugs with the less full-on members of the group.

-

Stumbling a little from the intake of spirits, Amaimon exited the pub. He walked at first, but as soon as he was past the windows, he broke into a run, caped coat billowing out behind him.

He didn’t stop until he was a couple of streets away, ducking into an alley and falling against the wall to catch his breath. Bloody hell, he wasn’t sure if he was being stupid for letting something so trivial bother him that much, but he couldn’t shake the feeling he’d had a narrow escape. Actually, he felt rather shaken by it, even a little sick. Maybe it was just the alcohol. 

-

Everything went blank for a little while, and next thing he knew, he was at the local gay bar. He barely remembered the walk over. He’d only been once or twice before, but he knew some of the prices were ideal, as they often had deals on. 

It was a weekday, so it wasn’t particularly busy. It looked like an open mic night or something, but the stage couldn’t be seen very clearly because of the smoke machine. Plus, the bar seemed a little more interesting. 

The drinks menu seemed to blur a little before his eyes, and he suddenly had no idea what to have. Suddenly cheap shots seemed quite attractive.. but still, those cocktails...

He became vaguely aware of a hand on the small of his back, but it didn’t bother him so he paid no mind. The shot list seemed to deserve his attention more. He’d had too many jagerbombs already, but how often did you see a glitter bomb and a skittles bomb? Better to mix it up a bit, surely? But then, pricey drinks with multiple types of booze...

“Struggling there, little mate?”

The sudden voice made him jump quite violently, to the point he thought his heart rate may have doubled in that short moment. 

“Woah, you alright? Sorry, didn’t mean to make you jump” 

Amaimon shook his head. “I’m fine, just- woah”

He turned mid-sentence to look at this stranger, and was quite impressed with what he saw. He was a bit taller than Amaimon was, with very soft, welcoming features and a happy, youthful look about him. His voice matched his appearance very well - and it was very appealing. 

The Stranger merely smiled at him. “Fancy doing some shots?” 

-

This new Stranger was a very different kind of man than the one in the run-down pub. His personality was as soft as first impressions made you think, and he was one of those people that quickly put you at ease and made you feel like you’d them for years. 

There was a table free by the window, and together they chose quite the selection (which Amaimon insisted on paying for, if only to empty his wallet a bit). They did, of course, go for all the bombs, and every flavour of Sourz available to them. They had quite the set up on their little table. 

“Ok, so here’s an idea: we’ll savour the bombs, right?” the Stranger said, setting the glasses into two lines. “But when we do the little ones, lets make it a bit of a competition. Last to finish all their little ones buys the other a cocktail” 

Amaimon liked the idea of that. “Suits me”

This wasn’t the first binge he’d had recently, so he reckoned his chances pretty well. He rather felt he’d become immune to Sourz. 

Neither of them, however, were particularly impressed with the glitter bomb - it resulted in some rather amusing facial expressions. The skittles bomb was a bit underwhelming, but infinitely better than whatever that glitter bomb was. 

“Well, I’m glad I tried it once. I’ll know not to order it again... Oh, I’m Alaois, by the way. You?” 

“Amaimon” 

Alaois raised an eyebrow, but not judgmentally. “That’s an interesting one”

Amaimon shrugged. “Guess my father liked things being a bit different” 

“Got a nickname at all?”

Amaimon thought for a moment. “Yes, but they’re all a bit non-transferable”

-

As expected, Amaimon won the Sourz round. Alaois didn’t seem to mind. He happily sauntered up to the bar to pay his penalty. He rather liked this funny little creature he’d thrown himself on. Always good to meet new people.

“’ere, you’ll like this” Alaois said upon his return, setting a rather big martini glass down on the table and flopping back onto the sofa. “Basically just tastes like coffee” 

“Certainly an interesting looking one..” Amaimon noted, looking at the frothy concoction he’d been presented with. It did, however, look quite appealing - and upon taking the first sip, he found it tasted pretty good too. “You’re right about that. Can’t taste the alcohol in it” 

“Best way to drink, I think. Can’t be doing with things that taste like hand rub”

Amaimon nodded slightly, but he was concentrating a bit on his cocktail. He felt quite tired and wobbly, and he knew that if he stood up he’d end up having a bit of a fall. 

“Wait, how old are you, anyway? If you don’t mind me asking?” 

Amaimon looked up from his glass, and gave his visual age; “Nineteen”

“Thought you were about that. I’m 26, in case you want to know” 

Amaimon looked at him, and although the dim lighting made it harder to see, he rather thought this new person had been younger. 

“Wouldn’t have guessed” he shrugged, downing the rest of his drink. 

-

Amaimon had quickly decided he was happy where he was. The alcohol helped. That was what he liked about drinking: he was always at his happiest when drunk. 

He was settled down with another cocktail (he didn’t really know what was in it, but it tasted distinctly of amaretto), as was his new acquaintance - who suddenly seemed to have a thought. 

“Hold on, are your parents alright with you being out on your own this late?” 

“I live with my brother” 

“Alright, so does your brother mind? How old is he?” 

Amaimon grumbled a little. “Like, 36? We had a bit of a fight so I don’t suppose he’ll really be missing me” 

Alaois didn’t seem convinced. “Still, I think he’d probably want to know you’re ok. Maybe you should ring him” 

“Don’t have my phone with me - and I don’t know his number” he added when Alaois went to offer him his phone. “It’ll be fine, don’t worry” 

“Well, if you’re sure” he said uncertainly, putting his phone back into his pocket. “Just thought I’d check. You’re only a little thing”

“I’m more than capable of fending for myself”

-

It had gone midnight, and Amaimon had rather forgotten exactly what he’d had to drink that night, and how much. He was starting to feel a bit giddy. He’d long since reached his slowly falling over stage, and Alaois had happily become his cushion. He’d had quite a bit himself, but he’d noticed how much Amaimon’s voice had changed as a result of his drinking. He seemed like a strong little fella though, so he didn’t worry. 

-

Amaimon stood up, and Alaois automatically stood too and caught him by the arm. They both suddenly felt very, very drunk. Funny how motion did that to you. 

“Alright?” 

Amaimon nodded. “Yeah, I think I’m gonna head off now, if that’s alright” 

“Course it is! Thanks for tonight - I had a good time” Alaois smiled at him. “How are you getting home?”

Amaimon smiled a little too. “I’m meeting someone soon”

That seemed to satisfy him. “Alright, good. Well, take care... Um, sorry if this is a bit forward, but is it alright if I kiss you?” 

Amaimon decided not to mention the fact he wasn’t officially on-the-market anymore. Why ruin the end of a good meeting, after all.

-

Bloody. Hell. 

Those were the two words circling round his mind as he stepped out into the cold and ventured to find his next stop. He had, of course, lied about meeting someone. It was around 1am, so it was chilly outside. Plus, he was feeling very unsteady on his feet. He actually felt a little scared at just how drunk he was. He couldn’t quite stand straight and he was tired and the world was tilting about him and the cold made him feel like he was in shock and he felt rather like he might need help.

Still, he’d long perfected hiding his drunkenness, and he headed back into the main centre of town. Most of the pubs were shut by now, which left his options somewhat limited. He didn’t fancy nightclubs - they weren’t really his scene - so that left the modern bars. He knew one that did half price pitchers after 11pm that stayed open til 4am even on weekdays. That seemed like the best bet. 

Everything seemed a little blurry and unreal. He had a feeling not unlike the one he got when his father caught him red handed - hot and shaky with that weird, empty feeling in his stomach. But, it was also quite different, and he did rather feel like he needed to sit down. He knew he was a lot more drunk than he’d planned on getting, but still... He had quite a bit left in his wallet. 

-

Nearing the bar, he felt a little relieved to see the lights and hear the noise of people there -  although he could feel something of an anxiety headache coming on, which was a little unsettling. 

He had to stop for a moment, using a lamppost to support himself as he tried to steady himself. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath of night air and willing the headache to vanish. His eyes snapped open as he heard a crash, presumably from a nearby building. Even more alarming though, was a sudden swishing sound - and he was grabbed roughly round the chest from behind. His screams were quickly muffled with a gloved hand over his mouth.

-

Struggling proved futile, although he continued until he was roughly released. He recognised his location quickly - the sofa flooring, the whir of the engine, and the slam on the limo door. He tried to compose himself, and, still on his hands and knees, looked up. Doing so made him feel sick with nerves. 

How the elder had managed to compose himself to look so relaxed so quickly was a mystery. He seemed so much bigger when viewed from the floor. 

“Look at the state of you. How much have you had?” 

Amaimon didn’t answer. Samael unfolded his arms and grabbed his younger brother by the elbow, yanking him close to him. 

“I said, how much have you had?” 

Rough handling and eye contact helped neither ones cause. Amaimon had reached a level of drunk that had almost surpassed him being happy and had moved on to uncertainty, confusion, and a touch of fear. He couldn’t bring himself to answer his brother - and truth be told he didn’t have a definitive answer for him anyway. He was made to jump when a sharp slap was delivered to his face. 

“Answer me, Amaimon” 

Amaimon couldn’t hold eye contact, or even properly look at him. He set his gaze on the back window of the limo. It took him a few moments more to pluck up the courage (or just ability) to speak. 

“I don’t know” 

His arm was released, now sporting quite a violent looking set of finger marks. He looked at that briefly, his drunk self seeming unable to comprehend it. He had his little drunk smile back on his face, feeling more comfortable now he was warm again. He could feel eyes on him, but decided he didn’t care. He took a moment to compose himself, and climbed onto the seat next to his brother, leaning against him. 

“Being affectionate won’t get your a free pass: you’re still in for *quite* the reprimanding, dearest little brother” 

Amaimon almost grinned, giggling a little in his confused drunk state. He cuddled further against his brother, deciding it was worth it. 

“I know”

*