#Arc 2: Exploring Paths

[lightofunova]

“Now let’s go get ready for the day…”

Litwick is avaliable for questions!

Litwicks profile has been unlocked!

Ask hints and relationships have been updated!

[lightofunova]

“It is a ‘big culture shock’ though, you are right.” Reshi agreed with the elder, insinuating the meaning despite the foreign words. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my time ever, though I suppose now is also my time.” She thought aloud, before considering carefully any questions she had.

“Is there more this…phone device can do? Are there other forms it comes in or just this one? How will I know if I get a ‘call’?…Wait! forget that last one!” She added quickly with a laugh as she continued to think. “What about calling others? A-And! Will this always work or are there faults with it?” She grew a bit bolder as it started to turn the gears in her head. Now that Reshi had seen it in action, it only made her curiosity for the device grow even more. It might have taken a pratfall for her to get going, however now she had her full attention on solving the mysteries this ‘phone’ held.

[ Reply to this ]

Reshi's reaction to the phone finally working reminded Kyurem very strongly of another of her kind, and brought to mind what was now a fond memory.

... though not so happy at the time.

"It's to be expected new technology like that would be a culture shock. Do you have any questions?"

[lightofunova]

Nike grinned as she floated over to Reshiram. "Lady Reshi! Thank you again for the invitation!" She greeted, waving excitedly. "When does the game begin?"

“Not to worry! We will be beginning right now.” Reshi replied to the Victini, standing up from the makeover she was working on, turning towards the guests before her.

A bright blue hue shines from her eyes…Truth or Dare has begun!!!

If you are participating be sure to REPLY IN THE COMMENTS in character with what your character would respond!! Truth or Dare? Reshi will then send an ask in your inbox with an ask related to your answer!!! You may also send Truth or Dare asks to Reshi OR any of the cast on this blog!!!

[professorcalculusstanaccount]

Tintin Tarot, part 2 - the Fool's Journey Continues. Part 1 can be found here! Me and @josephscoat came up with a list of Tintin characters assigned to the major arcana cards in a tarot deck after she realised how well Tintin mapped onto the Fool.

The Hanged Man - Sacrifice, martydom and hesitation. Frank Wolff's death in Explorers on the Moon really stuck with me. I watched the 90s cartoon adaptation of it with a friend recently and even though I knew what was going to happen, it still hit very hard. I replaced the living tree, which represents the potential for growth and knowledge on the original card, with the planet Earth.

Death - New beginnings, metamorphosis, fear of change and decay. Even just for the imagery I had to use Rascar Capac. His use in the narrative seems to demonstrate a fear of the unknown. As the Hierophant and the child from the Sun card appear on the original Death card, I opted to use Rascar Capac as he's in the same story as the Prince of the Sun and Zorrino, who we assigned to the Hierophant and the Sun respectively! Professor Tarragon replaces the dying person on the ground in the original card, and Inti the Incan sun god watches over the scene.

Temperance - Middle path, patience, finding meaning, but also could mean excess and a lack of balance when reversed. Haddock is famous for his tendency to fly off the handle at a moment's notice. But Haddock also has endless patience for Tintin's bullshit. His character arc is one of finding meaning in his life after hitting rock bottom. He is pouring bottles of Loch Lomond, as seen in the Magician card.

The Devil - Addiction, lust, materialism, playfulness. Who else is more devillish than Tintin's arch nemesis, Rastapopoulos? His schemes grow wilder and larger as he pursues wealth and revenge. While sexuality is famously absent from the Tintin series, Rastapopoulos and his associates certainly lust over money and control. Tom and Allan are held in chains, though they are clearly removeable. The choice is theirs if they wish to walk away.

The Tower - Sudden upheaval, disaster, but also an avoidance of disaster in reverse. Calculus' reusable nuclear powered moon rocket was literally ahead of its time, representing a huge shake up in technological advancement in the Tintin universe. However, the moon mission attracted a lot of sabotage and disaster which was narrowly avoided. While the characters had to rely on the rocket for safety, it's not necessarily predictable.

The Star - Hope and rejuvenation, but also discouragement and insecurity in reverse. The phostile meteorite ushered a global wave of panic and speculation initially, but once it landed it became a beacon for competing factions to get to in time. It has a property that allows living things to grow quickly and abnormally large, representing the abundance the Star card is supposed to signal. The Star is supposed to follow the trauma of the Tower. Picking the rocket and meteorite felt thematically appropriate as both have associations with space, a relatively new frontier.

The Moon - Illusions, intuition, fear, confusion, misinterpretation. Professor Phostle jumps to conclusions and makes wild predictions from shaky calculations. He's also conveniently moon shaped.

The Sun - Inner child, joy, truth and liberation from struggle, or sadness and self doubt in reverse. Zorrino escapes the torment and bullying in his village and joins the Inca. Haddock and Tintin are immediately protective over him, with Zorrino being a little younger than Tintin.

Judgement - Releasing baggage, call to action, renewal, moving forward. Ramo Nash breaks free from Rastapopoulos' grasp and saves Tintin's life. I decided to depict the final confrontation scene from Alph Art where he pushes Rastapopoulos off a cliff, to his end.

The World - Culmination, success, completion, but stagnation in reverse. The Fool has seemingly completed his journey - Tintin has it all, a successful fulfilling career, friends who care about him and a manion to live in. But he is, by design, stagnant. Forever a cherub faced boy, stuck in an episodic serial by nature, Hergé wanted to kill him off by sealing him inside a resin statue, freezing him in place for eternity. He will forever be the Boy Reporter.

I dressed him as a Morris dancer because I thought it would be funny

[thevalleyisjolly]

I think the Ghorman Front rebels are a tragic and brutally important exploration of individualism in resistance movements. The thing is, multiple characters from Cassian to Vel and Cinta warn them and us about the Front's approach to rebellion, about their lack of broader thinking and their unwillingness to follow orders. They're caught up in the righteousness of their cause and the terrible wrongs done to them by the Empire, they yearn to be saviours against injustice and specifically the injustice that the Empire has inflicted on them...and they can't see beyond that, beyond their own individual experiences of pain and their own individual desire to resist.

It's important to say here that the pain and injustice which fascism inflicts upon people is real, that in the story the characters' experiences with the cruelty and brutality of the Empire are legitimate and immediate for them. But particularly when it comes to the struggle for liberation (and that's not even getting into collective liberation), I think the Ghorman Front rebels are a painful example of what happens when personal experience becomes your entire movement.

It's true, outsiders may not know what exactly what the people of Ghorman have been through. The horrors of the Tarkin massacre, the individual paths and motivations that led each of them to the struggle. But the issue is that that's where the Ghorman rebels have stopped. They can't connect their very real suffering and concerns to the broader suffering and the broader struggle across the galaxy. Their focus is only ever on their own immediate experience- and so they're disappointed, even offended when people like Cassian and Vel and Cinta warn them that their plan is flawed or that they need to follow orders from people who better understand how the enemy works. It doesn't fit into their idea of rebellion - something out of a heroic story, maybe, where a daring group of local guerillas take on a much larger foe through their commitment to a righteous and personal cause. It hasn't crossed their minds that the Empire has put down many rebellions across the galaxy before, that they themselves are not particularly special or unique in cause or tactics or even suffering.

Or maybe it has crossed their minds, and they think they will be the exception. Isn't that how homegrown rebellions win? They know their home in a way that outsiders never will and they have the support of many of their fellow Ghormans and a strong belief in their cause, aren't those the qualities that make or break a successful revolution?

Season 2 so far has explored what it takes and what it costs to resist fascism. Arc 1 showed us one way resistance movements stumble and dissolve through infighting. In Arc 2, we meet characters who are (mostly) united in cause and leadership - the Ghorman Front, the Partisans, Luthen's network. And within this unity is the immense personal pain experienced by every single person as a result of their involvement in the fight. Characters attempt to cope with this cost in different ways, from substance use to reckless behaviour to lashing out.

Without condemnation (because trauma affects people in many ways), what I think we see with the Ghorman Front rebels is that they've retreated in on themselves. Perhaps once, they were a more collective movement - the hotel bellboy tells Cassian that many people showed up to the protest prior to the Tarkin massacre believing in the power and safety of so many people united together. But now, it's centred on the individual. They are going to show the rest of Ghorman that the Empire is lying. They mean to fight an armed struggle because they aren't spineless. Why should they follow orders, especially those of outsiders who don't know what they've been through, what they live with? It's a struggle entirely focused on the self, on their own feelings perhaps of conviction and guilt and powerlessness.

So they ignore advice that their course of action raises many questions. So they ignore orders to leave their weapons and stay in their assigned positions. So the wheel of tragedy turns and they accomplish their goal of stealing the weapons but at a terrible cost. One that will go with them for the rest of their lives and they will never be able to make up.

[lightofunova]

"Regardless...I am also here on behalf of Lady Reshi." He states towards the prime. "She has requested your presence after you finish changing. Please make your way to her with all due haste."

The genie walks off quickly to attend his duties once more, leaving the absol by themselves.

(https://www.tumblr.com/hoodies-monster-ranch/747066458700398592/destino-approaches-body-pillow-firmly-in-their)

*That was unexpected. So much so that the body pillow and bag slipped from their grasp. There was something creeping inside of Destino. Was it…guilt for what they had done? No…it couldn’t be. Right? They had never felt like this before. It was…horrible.*

Destino: Alright Bluey, here’s the situation. I may have said something and it may have made someone cry. Oops. Totally my bad. I’m gonna fix this. Don’t even worry your pretty little head about it. I just so happen to be the best when it comes to making Pokémon feel better. Everything shall be fine.

@lightofunova @hoodies-monster-ranch

[elementroar]

Analysis behind the backstory and personal story arcs of A.B.A. and Paracelsus (part 1)

Sorry for the people who waited. Technical and real life delays and all that. On the positive, I happened to run into new resources in the past two days that have helped lining up the facts easier.

Anyway, I originally wanted to compress all the lore into a single post, but I find it’s so much more massive once you really dig into the analysis between the story across multiple mediums, the in-game animations and interactions etc. To make this more readable for you all and to make creating these posts faster, I’m going to separate them up into parts that focus on different facets of their relationship and lore as I progress through them.

This first part goes into their origins, and I hope this big post helps to thoroughly explain who/what A.B.A. and Paracelsus are, their backstories prior to STRIVE, and my own analysis sprinkled on top. I want to try to keep the info/lore dump minimal and focused, so if I mention a character without elaborating, I’ll leave a link but if I’m not elaborating more, it’s because they’re not relevant to A.B.A/Paracelsus' stories that much.

Related links:

Analysis of Paracelsus' initial bloodlust and its longlasting effects on A.B.A (Part 2)

This is the "Why ABA and Paracelsus can feel horny" lore/theory post

Flament Nagel - Paracelsus’ true form theory

The Red King and White Queen alchemical concept in A.B.A and Paracelsus’ relationship

The beginning with A.B.A.

First off, to introduce their individual origins, it’s easiest to start with A.B.A. She’s a homunculus, an artificial lifeform created by a scientist in his mansion, which was located in the mountains of a region called Frasco or Flask. But before she was ‘born’, her creator had been taken away by the military for his skills in creating artificial life, and so A.B.A. woke up alone.

Despite this, within the 10 years she spent alone in the mansion she was able to learn to read, write, and even create some alchemical magic (seen in some of her attacks in games before -STRIVE-). It’s assumed either she was created with a set of memories and skills, or she naturally learns very quickly. It’s probably due to reading leftover journals and research materials that she even learnt her creator’s name was Paracelsus.

Technically, A.B.A. could’ve left the manor quite easily, there was even a village not far from them. However, she understood that she knew nothing about the world outside and was scared to leave the safety of the manor by venturing outside to explore the unknown world. But she did yearn for freedom and to leave Frasco, so she took to fixating on keys, which she found fascinating in being able to unlock doors to different places.

In the last bit of her 10 years in Frasco, A.B.A would accidentally cross paths with the hidden the demon axe Flament Nagel (which she would later rename to ‘Paracelsus’ in honour of her creator, or just cos that’s the only other name she actually knew).

What’s a demon axe doing here anyway?

So what is Paracelsus? He is what’s known as a magical foci, which are objects or even people that get a soul or a collection of memories/emotions/desires attached to them, which eventually leads to them gaining sentience and often supernatural abilities. They draw from the Backyard, which is basically where the information that makes up all reality is stored in the Guilty Gear world, and also the source of magic. This is the origin of ‘demons’ within the GG world, like Paracelsus.

The story of how Paracelsus/Flament Nagel ended up in Frasco actually involves the ancient Nightwalker (technically not a vampire but he's basically a vampire without the bad stuff) known as Slayer.

Now Slayer is this incredibly old, incredibly strong vampire Nightwalker, who nonetheless is a very nice guy who doesn’t need to feed on regular people because his wife, Sharon, is a deathless woman that he can feed on indefinitely without worrying about her dying.

Because of his immense age (AFAIK he’s the oldest of the main GG cast) and overwhelming power (he always holds back in-game), he has very insightful observations of Paracelsus and A.B.A.

The following screenshots are excerpts taken from the English transcript (available here) translated from the Night of Knives Vol.2 audio drama CD (you can listen to it here), and are from the perspective of Slayer recounting his encounters with Paracelsus and A.B.A.

Sometime near the end of the 100 year long war between Gears and humans known as the Crusades, Slayer was roaming a battlefield and came across a mountain of corpses of both Gears and humans. In the middle of it was a wandering blood covered warrior that was swinging an axe wildly. After confronting the man, Slayer realized that it was the axe that was the true master, the man had already lost his mind and was under its full control.

That axe called itself Flament Nagel aka the Flaming Nail, or the Sanguine Gale. I'll still be referring to him as Paracelsus at this point in time though.

Now magical foci start off simple-minded, only repeating small word fragments, and evolve over time to become more intelligent and sapient. At this point, young Paracelsus was a demon axe who had just gained sentience on that battlefield. Hot-headed and hungry for blood, and wanting to prove his combat superiority, he challenged Slayer and got curb stomped. Slayer was disappointed in how primitive Paracelsus still was in mind and soul, so he left him there to rust.

However eventually, Paracelsus was picked up from that battlefield and was sent to the alchemist Paracelsus, creator of A.B.A. We don’t know if the alchemist knew what the demon axe was, or whether he even requested him specifically for research. But the alchemist ultimately didn’t let Paracelsus out, not letting him take control over him and hiding him somewhere in the depths of his mansion.

(Inaccurate information removed, updating with A.B.A.'s JP GG World entry from XRD)

It would be after A.B.A.’s 10 year long isolation that she decided for reasons unknown, to leave the mansion and explore the outside world. By pure chance, she comes across Paracelsus, who because kinda resembled a key, she immediately picked up and she fell in love with him and decided they were married from then on.

Becoming her key

It's always been known that Paracelsus has some form of empathic abilities, and that he could tell that A.B.A. was fixated on keys and assumed the shape of a giant key to entice her to wield him. This was also the first ‘manipulation’ that Paracelsus admitted he had done to A.B.A. during their heart-to-heart talk.

It’s been further clarified in this recent interview, that it wasn’t so much Paracelsus deliberately taking the form of a key to attract ABA, but because ABA had been so heavily fixated on keys that she saw Paracelsus as a key straight away. That image she had of him as a key seemed to immediately imprint itself on him the moment she touched him, because of his true nature as “an axe (that) transforms into the owner’s image” of what his wielder wants him to be.

Slayer actually did mention this was likely the case over 20 IRL years ago in the audio drama CD, when he observed Paracelsus behaviour with A.B.A. in their second encounter.

Because A.B.A. never sees Paracelsus as a weapon, Paracelsus began to change to fit her ideal of what she saw him as, to become something more than just a weapon, and allowing Paracelsus to truly change and evolve physically and emotionally.

It’s important to note, Paracelsus isn’t bound to his wielder, and he doesn’t HAVE to allow this to happen either. Despite being dragged around by A.B.A. and acting like he has no autonomy; he actually has all the power to stop her from the start.

As Slayer notes, Para still has the power to completely take over A.B.A. 's mind and force her to do what he wants if he is truly unhappy. However he has never even threatened A.B.A. with this ability, and if not for Slayer knowing his past, no one would know Paracelsus actually can do this.

Whether consciously or subconsciously, Para was becoming more than just a demon axe from the moment he met A.B.A., and in his heart of hearts, he was begrudgingly accepting of his then situation-ship with her.

Fast forward to STRIVE and it's shown that he still continues to evolve to fulfill her 'vision' of what he is. When described as becoming more key-like, it's more obvious when you place both his old and new design side-by-side.

Notably, the blade part of his axe form has gotten smaller by STRIVE, just as he has sworn off violence and bloodshed by STRIVE.

It's even shown in how A.B.A. wields him., especially when Para partially possess or influences A.B.A. in his Muroha mode in the old games (mechanically this is the Jealous Mode in STRIVE). A.B.A. would wield him like a proper 'axe' blade-first in XX/ACCENT CORE. In STRIVE, since A.B.A. is now the dominant one in Jealous Rage mode, she doesn't wield him like an axe and now wields him by...bashing his head into people.

(Also I'll be going over the in-game animations and what they convey in a future post, don't you worry! You can view the comparison compilation here first.)

This even is shown in how A.B.A. uses Paracelsus as an actual key in her Overdrive "Keeper of the Key", which is a new move for her.

If we go further, I have speculated in this semi-crack theory that due to A.B.A. also interjecting her ideal of Paracelsus being her spouse over the years, that him actually 'reacting' to her advances now could also be an example of his evolution.

Even if he's trying REAL hard not to.

Hope this was an enjoyable read, let me know if you have any suggestions for improving readability or other stuff. Feel free to ask me questions through the inbox in the mean time that I'm working on the next part.

The next part is going to be analyzing and comparing Paracelsus' XX/ACCENT CORE Muroha mode to STRIVE's Jealous Rage mode, which has quite a bit of detail from comparing their effects on A.B.A. in in-game sprites/animations, plus how it reflects on the change in their power dynamics between games.

Edit: Part 2 available here

[brittanyearnestauthor]

How to Write Character Needs and Wants More Effectively

A character’s wants and needs are essential aspects of character development, yet they can sometimes be overlooked as writers focus on advancing the plot. However, integrating thoughtful desires and motivations adds depth, relatability, and emotional complexity, making the story more compelling for readers.

Before diving into the details, let’s break down the difference between wants and needs:

- Wants are surface-level desires that enrich a character’s life or bring external gratification (wealth, fame, success, romance).

- Needs go deeper, tied to emotions and psychological fulfillment—things a character must realize to truly grow and heal (self-acceptance, belonging, healing, personal growth).

By understanding the difference, writers can craft dynamic character arcs that resonate with readers. Let’s explore these elements further.

Character Wants

A character’s wants often drive early motivations in a story:

- Wealth – The pursuit of money and financial security, sometimes at the expense of deeper fulfillment.

- Fame – The desire to be recognized, leading characters to prioritize their image and status.

- Success – An unrelenting focus on achievement, potentially causing neglect in personal relationships.

- Romance – Seeking love or companionship, often influencing self-image and behavior.

- Material Possessions – A drive to accumulate objects, status symbols, or luxuries, which may lead to superficial happiness.

Character Needs

A character’s needs reflect inner fulfillment—things they must embrace to grow:

- Self-Acceptance – Learning to embrace their true self rather than seeking validation through external means.

- Belonging – Feeling connected to a family, group, or support system.

- Healing – Overcoming past trauma, heartbreak, or loss to move forward.

- Personal Growth – Striving to become better, stronger, and wiser, shaping their long-term happiness.

How Conflict Can Arise

A character’s wants and needs are often at odds, creating internal and external conflict:

- Prioritizing wants over needs can lead to discomfort, heartbreak, or self-destruction.

- Ignoring needs in favor of superficial goals may cause a character to feel unfulfilled or lost, forcing them to reevaluate their path.

- Growth and resolution come when a character recognizes their true needs and learns to balance wants with deeper fulfillment.

This tension offers exciting opportunities for storytelling, allowing a character to struggle, evolve, and ultimately change.

Ways to Introduce Character Wants and Needs

- Dialogue – A character openly expresses their wants, but subtle cues hint at deeper needs.

- Actions – Their choices may revolve around wants, but true growth leads them to fulfill their needs instead.

- Symbolism – Their settings, desires, and repeated themes reinforce their internal struggle between surface goals and genuine fulfillment.

Examples of Wants vs. Needs

Example 1: Want vs. Relationship Stability

A character wants to get married, but hasn’t found a suitable partner. Their desire for marriage leads them to overlook personality clashes in relationships. However, because they’re prioritizing the want over the need, they may enter a relationship that results in resentment and eventual divorce.

Example 2: Want vs. Financial Security

A character obsesses over material wealth, spending extravagantly on possessions that they believe will make them happy. However, ignoring their need for financial stability, they spiral into financial hardship, proving that superficial objects don’t guarantee happiness.

Example 3: Need vs. Self-Discovery

A character takes a step back from external pressures to focus on themselves, blocking out negative influences and distractions. In doing so, they discover what they truly want from life, creating space for self-awareness and happiness.

Example 4: Need vs. Toxic Relationships

A character begins cutting out toxic relationships, realizing that true belonging comes from meaningful connections rather than forcing themselves into unhealthy friendships. Prioritizing self-worth over social validation allows them to thrive.

Conclusion

A well-developed character brings value to a story by showcasing depth, emotions, and growth. Balancing wants and needs creates compelling arcs where characters struggle, learn, and evolve, making their journey relatable and impactful for readers.

By weaving these elements into your story, you ensure your characters feel real, engaging audiences in their personal struggles and triumphs.

Happy writing!

[linkspooky]

Love your JJK metas - apologies if I missed it, but any thoughts on Gojo feeling that he was "left behind" and has to "catch up" to Geto before slaughtering the higher ups?

I don't think the impact Shibuya had on him was really explicitly explored, except for that one panel where he said it was his responsibility, but him internally seeing it as following Geto's path in a way surprised me - it makes sense to me, but it doesn't at the same time.

This is a question I really wanted to answer, but delayed for a long time because I wanted to think it over. When the exhibition changed and Gege released his original draft for this scene, it helped clarify a lot of my thoughts on this scene.

"If you want to kill me, kill me. I wouldn’t mind if it were by your hand. But make sure mine is the only life you take.”

These lines become more meaningful if you think of them in the context of earlier events in Hidden Inventory. It sheds light on a lot of scenes from the flashback arc.

In particular this scene.

In his post-enlightenment high Gojo could kill the entirety of the Star Plasma Cult and feel nothing about it to punish them for Riko's death, but he lives the ultimate decision up to Geto.

In that moment Geto convinces him that killing these bystanders would be pointless, because society has other methods for punishing the members of this cult. Specifically he tells Gojo that it's not their job as Jujutsu Sorcerers to punish these people. He basically confines Gojo to the morality of a Jujutsu Sorcerer. Sorcerers kill curse users yes, but they never use their curse techniques on other people like the members in the crowd who don't fight back. Jujutusu Sorcerers aren't a part of the japanese justice system, they exist for one job and that is to deal with curses and curse users in order to prevent them from hurting normal people.

So Geto's lpong explanation to Gojo to talk him down from slaughtering the crowd that's applauding for Riko's death amounts to "That's not our job." He also emphasizes how killing these people wouldn't accomplish anything, because the group was going to disband anyway, and these are just rank and file believers the leaders of the cult are already gone. So in total two reasons, 1) it's not our job, 2) this murder wouldn't accomplish anything.

In the KFC breakup, Gojo parrots Geto's own arguments about killing right back at him. Notice that when they're having their argument Gojo never brings up the fact that killing is wrong, but that killing non-sorcerers is pointless because the sheer amount of number of people you would have to kill is so enormous it's impossible.

Geto's methods are wrong not because they're immoral but because they're impractical. It's not whether or not killing is right or wrong. It's meaningles killing vs. killing with a purpose. Geto's goal is completely impossible for him to accomplish, so all the people he killed in name of that goal died for no reason.

Gojo and Geto are specifically arguing about methods, not morality. Gojo is especially troubled because he's trying to appeal to Geto using the morality that Geto taught him, obligation as a sorcerer, justice, killing with purpose, but now it's all falling on Geto's deaf ears. I think it's poignant Gojo at this stage in his life can't really form a moral argument of his own just repeat Geto's words back at him, it shows how much Gojo was using Geto as a guidepoint.

Gege even says in the databook the reason Gojo stopped himself from killing the cult is that he was using Geto's moral reasoning and not his own.

So in a way, it's Geto's words that prevented Gojo from being a monster all the way back in Hidden Iventnory. Yet, we see in premature death Gojo's completely unable to talk Geto down from the ledge he was standing on.

Even though the words he's using are Geto's words. Perhaps, because the words he's using are Geto's words. Gojo's faith in Geto as a partner and a moral guidepost was so unshakable he's not capable of reconciling with the fact that the person standing in front of him right now slaughtered a whole village.

Geto leaves, and Gojo lacks the words to make him stay. However, in spite of the fact that this scene is called the KFC breakup this, Geto and Gojo aren't ending their relationship. In Jujutsu Kaisen Zero, Geto is surprised by the fact that Gojo still trusts him and feels the same way years later. In Gojo's dying dream, he states that he would have been satisfied losing to Sukuna if Geto was there to wish him good luck before he left. The Geto he pictures is the one in his Gojo-Gesa, the corrupted adult Geto, and not the one he used in childhood.

This is also after Geto expresses jealousy that Gojo wanted to provide a challenge to Sukuna and force him to go all out, because Gojo understood Sukuna's isolation from being the strongest. Because Geto and Gojo's relationship began from the fact that Geto was the only other special grade in their year and therefore the only one able to understand Gojo by being just as strong as he was. Only for Gojo to immediately say that he wasn't satisfied going all out against Sukuna, because Geto wasn't there. It wasn't Geto's power he needed, but his presence.

Geto wasn't leaving Gojo. He was leaving Jujutsu Society. However, since Gojo is such an integral part of Jujutsu Society, it's essentially the same thing. They're not breaking apart because their no longer friends, but because their morals are so different. Even if his attempts at reform wasn't so radical as killing all human beings, Gojo still wouldn't be able to leave with Geto because without Jujutsu Society there is no Gojo Satoru.

Gojo doesn't believe that massacring half the world is possible, but in a way he probably wouldn't believe even a less extreme reform is impossible as long as it was accomplished from the outside. Gojo has always been an internal reformist while at the same time being a radical. Gojo stated this early on he can just kill the people on top but that would make him a monster.

Remember what I emphasized above, Geto convinced Gojo not to slaughter the members of the Star Cult because it's not a Jujutsu Sorcerer's job to punish people like that. If he crossed that line he'd no longer be a Jujutsu Sorcerer. Gojo not only lives to be a sorcerer, but the time in his youth when he was with Geto was the only time he ever felt understood and that there was someone he could rely on.

Geto crossed that line and when he killed the people of Nanako and Mimiko's village (the way that Geto wanted to kill Riko's murderers that day), he was no longer acting as a sorcerer. Geto stopped being a sorcerer, but Gojo couldn't follow him because Gojo lives to be a sorcerer.

Gojo's plan is therefore create sorcerers strong enough that they can support each other the way that him and Geto should have. Create strong allies so that in the next generation no-one will be left behind.

Gojo's belief is that what he needed was stronger allies, not a systemic issue. When his attempts at reform fail, and he wakes up to see that all of his students have had execution orders placed on them by the higher ups he finally gives up on the notion of internal reform.

Gojo eventually ended up committing a mass slaughter for his perceived greater good. The same kind of mass slaughter that Geto prevented him from doing that day he avenged Riko's death. By doing that, he stopped being a sorcerer.

Now that we've finally come full circle I'm going to explain what I think Gojo means by "I can't do that. That day I was left behind, so I have to catch up."

The most direct interpretation is that Gojo is echoing Yuta's sentiment. Geto became a monster all on his own and left Gojo behind. Now, years after the fact Gojo is realizing that Geto's violent action was necessary and he's essentially leaving his role as a sorcerer to become more like Gojo. He's finally understood why Geto did what he did, years after the fact, and far too late.

In one sense Gojo is becoming Geto in this scene. In another sense, he's recalling how he felt years before when he watched Geto walk away. Geto is the one who kept Gojo from being a monster and kept him on the path of being a sorcerer, only for Geto to go off that path himself. Not only that though, but in their final conversation, Geto made sure to still try to keep Gojo on that path.

Remember this line from the original draft:

"If you want to kill me, kill me. I wouldn’t mind if it were by your hand. But make sure mine is the only life you take.”

This line is essentially the same as this, but look at the paneling.

Gojo is about to unleash a hollow purple on Geto, but when Geto disappears into the crowd of people he stops. In order to kill Geto, he would have had to kill several innocent people in the crowd so Gojo hesitates.

The original draft lines indicate that Geto did this on purpose. He told Gojo to be sure only to kill him and not kill anyone else because he still wants Gojo to remain a sorcerer. Geto was resolved to become a monster on his own and didn't want to drag Gojo down with him.

Geto is leaving and he doesn't want Gojo to become with, because Gojo is the happiest when he's a sorcerer.

In the Hidden Inventory Gojo is playing the role of Yuta, begging Geto not to become a monster alone only to be left behind. In the future Gojo resolves to become a monster like Geto. Even though he's finally trying to understand his friend, he's a year too late. Geto is dead and he can't catch up now.

[lightofunova]

Taking a look at the invite, something was definitely off, however Tornadus couldn’t fault it was Reshi’s handwriting.

“I suppose you are correct.” He stated, scratching his chin. Eventually came a shrug from him. “Just don’t cause any mischeif, well hope you have a grand time.” He handed the parchment back to the Purrloin, and continued upon his way through the tower. Nothing seemed out of place here.

(@lightofunova): Tor@Purrloin(?): Noticing something seems a tad bit off about this peculiar pokèmon, the wind genie approaches cautiously. “Hello there, you have areived here for My Lady’s gathering have you not?” He asks looking down with his yellow eyes. “Tell me, which part of the region did you come from?”

The little guy was extremely impressed by the sheer size and power of this very large man, usually he would be on the defensive or scared but he felt no hostility.

But as he said, he did get an invite…

It was just

A little off.

[lightofunova]

As the trio approached the route that lead towards the familiar Opelucid city, Reshi couldn’t help but stop and gasp in awe of the changes before her.

What was once a proud lake that connected to the tower had now all but vanished over the years she had been absent, left in its place lush grass that still yielded the benefits of its predecessor.

She continues on through the new structure built over what was once a rickety old bridge. The marvels of the modern age continue to astonish her…

[everythingisamazing]

Season 2 thoughts

I have been reading a lot of #arcanecritical posts and really enjoying them. There are so many great points to be made, especially about the political struggle that gets set up in S1, making it seem like the show is trying to go with an anti-establishment narrative, which it does not follow up on in S2. Irl I'd describe myself as very far left on the political spectrum - having said that, I still prefer S2. Why? I think S1 has great writing. The thing is, at least to me, it felt too clean, almost technical in execution and like it was biting off more than it could actually chew. What do I mean by this? I'd never expect a Netflix show, that was made to promote an online game, to produce truly radical art. In all honesty, it would be naive to think it could. Arcane explored aspects of political struggle, within the constraints it is given, but if you are aware of what those constraints are, you can see them EVERYWHERE. So what makes Arcane great to me, is not its perspective on politics, but its character writing - the way it shows how each character has their own agenda, born from a personal struggle, operating within the system they were born into and how that creates conflict. That's why discussions about "is Character XY in the wrong for XYZ" are interesting, but do not prove any point about the quality of the show itself. So what do I like about S2? I like that it does not really attempt to solve any of those conflicts, but focuses on showing the consequences of them - and yes, those consequences are often not satisfying. And the fact that they are not satisfying, actually makes it better, than what a lot of other shows do, which is create a magical nonmaterialistic solution. Don't get me wrong - it's really sad, for example, that Viktor gets his autonomy taken away, zero recognition for how it was not his fault for wanting to fix his disease, but the systems for him getting sick in the first place and then ends up dying as a villian. I also think it is pretty realistically what would happen in our world, aswell as the world established in the show. I believe what gets misunderstood, because politics are part of the narrative, is that Arcane never set out to tell a story about people rising above oppression or ways to overcome class struggle. I feel like that it is, a (at times well done) backdrop to the interlocking character arcs they wanted to explore. You can pretty much summarize it in that one, very popular image on tumblr. You know the one with the astronauts, where it says "Arcane was about love?" "Always was". S2 really delivers on that. Jinx and Ekko. Vi and Caitlyn. Viktor and Jayce. Mel and Ambessa. Singed and Orianna. And even Silco and Vander, where it shows how both of them chose their wildly different paths to protect their daughters. I also think that they took what the show most excels at - its art style - to the next level in S2. So to summarize: I think critiques of how and why Arcane failed in terms of politics, are valid. But to say Season 2 was bad for not delivering what it could never deliver (and I would argue never promised it would - thinking that they wanted to and then somehow fumbled it in S2 is just wishful projection) is not fair to everything it does exceptionally well. But feel free to roast and disagree with me :)

[lightofunova]

Reshi takes a moment to process what happened, her face groing red in embarrassment. The smell of burning becomes prevalent in the air as the yellow spores smudged on her face vanish into ash.

The ends of her hair become a brilliant orange as she thinks of what to say. Words fail, replaced by tears threatening to spill. Holding back her pride she wipes her eyes. It seemed like she wasn’t going to catch a break after all.

“Well I suppose you are right. That is something only you can do, you are quite brave to do so.” She finally started, steadying her voice. “And no I didn’t like it, however your humor is an aquired taste.”

“Even so…I guess it’s my turn, I’d prefer truth please.” She says replying to the hybrid, the heat ebbing off in waves.

(@lightofunova)Reshi@Lief: “A dare hm? Alright!” She excitedly started. “I dare you show me something only you can do!” Her eyes shone as she looked at the pokemon. “Show me something only you know.”

[ @lightofunova ]

Lief: "Something that only I can do? Is that a trick question?"

Usually one would use the following question to highlight an obvious answer. But Lief being Lief, he meant it pretty literally.

Having pondered for some moments, he was now looking up at Reshi with a frown.

[ ID: A grayscale drawing of Lief, a hybrid of Sylveon and Ribombee, with a mono-color background. He is shown from the neck up, with his face slightly angled away from the viewer towards the left. He looks puzzled, or curious. His left eyebrow is noticeably raised, while his right eyelid is lowered somewhat. He is frowning visibly. An angular question mark is floating next to his head at the left. End ID ]

Lief: "I mean if you really think about it, something that only I can do doesn't exist. There's gonna be at least one other Pokemon that'll probably be able to do it, too. But, a dare's a dare, so..."

With a shrug, he stuck his paw into his tail fur, and seemingly struggled to find it at first.

Lief: "I have something in mind, but you're not gonna like it. Or maybe you're like me and Pokemon commonly tell you that you have a weird sense of humor."

From his tail, he plucked out a pollen puff. He held it up to Reshi as if he were showing it to her.

Then he unceremoniously smeared it on her face. All over her nose and cheeks.

He now stared at her with such a cheeky grin, barely holding himself back from laughing.

[ ID: A grayscale drawing of Lief similar to the previous image, but with a different expression. He has a really goofy face with an especially wide, smug grin, somewhat resembling the “c:” emoticon. End ID ]

Lief: "It's pollen. Does that answer your question?"

[bibibbon]

So, any theories as to why E-Soul killed Moon?

Hi @pedanticat 👋

I am so happy that this is my first tbhx ask!

I have two theories as to why E-soul killed moon, and honestly, as of the release of episode 7, I am leaning more towards the 2nd theory.

E-soul killed moon to get rid of competition that treeman company poses towards the hero rankings.

E-soul killed moon as a way to drag Lin Ling back into the hero industry and work under mighty glory.

Theory 1

MG and Treeman have had an interesting and most likely rivarlous history. With the Treeman profile describing Mr. shang as "the son of Might glory upper management," indicating that he and Uncle Rock are related in a way and with shang chao also playing a role in the creation of Yang cheng's E-soul there seems to be an interesting family feud brewing between the two companies.

Mr. shang steps down from MG to train firm man, which then makes him the number 10 hero, and it's implied that this is Treemans breakthrough. All the while this is happening, you have the E-soul fan war going along, and the two major parties are shang chao and Uncle Rock. Both are actively working behind the scenes and contributing to the E-soul war. Shang chao sees potential in Yang cheng and, in episode 6, makes a point of telling yang cheng that their next step is to go for the Hero rankings, ultimately threatening OG E-souls place and uncle Rock makes various comments of adapting to the game that the young ones have set to play to the point that he orders one of the brothers to kill Yang cheng.

This long history between the two companies makes it very plausible that the reason why E-soul ends up killing moon is linked to treemans success and prioritising Mighty glory.

By killing Moon, Lin Lings arc can go one of two ways either continue being a hero out of a sense of duty and follow a vaguely similar path to Yang cheng or quit and get further sabotaged by Uncle Rocks schemes. Lin Ling's trust value points by the end of episode 4 were dependent on moon and his devotion towards her. Enlightener revealing that the moon he has with him is just a fake would have caused public commotion that Treeman mentions trying to fight back and cover up against it. The public finding out that moon has been killed and that Lin Ling couldn't save her would definitely cause a commotion or having mighty glory put the blame of Moon's death on Lin Ling would be such a scandal and would cause such a commotion that its guaranteed that lin ling may be kicked out of the top 10 or having his reputation heavily damaged to the point that it makes it even more difficult for him to overtake E-souls 9th position.

Theory 2

Uncle Rock might be trying to pull a yang cheng 2.0 and claim lin ling as a Mighty Glory hero. It's very much intentional that lin ling and yang chengs arcs are intentionally paralleled with one another, and I think with the truth spilling out to everyone worldwide, Uncle Rock may have been heavily reminded of Yang cheng and thought that he could capitalise on this especially since the end of Lin Ling's story opens up with multiple hero agencies wanting to recruit him and the line "someone is going to steal him" so conveniently shows Uncle Rock looking at the God Eye and Lin Ling fight.

There's a high chance that Moon's death will push Lin Ling back into the hero industry and him wanting justice, which will allow for his and E-souls stories to further interlink with one another as they both explore ideas of justice, protecting those that you love and wanting to be seen and heard.

E-soul most likely killed moon because he was just following Uncle Rock's orders and acting as a societal "weight"/puppet following the ideology that he developed in episode 7 as he most likely is convinced that this is the best course of action as well as being manipulated by Uncle Rock and his ideology he most likely views moon as a threat to the Mighty Glory's mission.

These are my personal watsonian theories, and my doylist interpretation of Moon's death and why she died is something I talk about on the 'tragedy of moon' post.

That being said, even in her death and the act of killing her, the hero companies still view her as an accessory attached to someone else instead of human.

[raayllum]

What Is Up With Terry :: the Thread of Necessity

Intro

Terry is an interesting character in a lot of ways. He's unflappably kind and optimistic, accepting even to a fault, and he's an elf with no issue with dark magic yet doesn't seek out its use for himself. He's a non-traditional antagonist for starters, he's trans without being overly sanitized, and he most notably provides a sounding board for more overtly 'evil' characters like Viren in season four and Claudia in seasons five and six. Most of this is in service of Claudia's goals, with Terry not having many of his own goals outside of his support of Claudia and Viren; this is, mind you, not too dissimilar from Soren with Ezran in arc 2 as well, or even Amaya with Janai.

I also think he's a very important in a character in a lot of ways, for the ease with which he explores and exemplifies

You can love / support Viren and Claudia and that doesn't make you a 'bad person' in the show

You can be okay with dark magic without changing your mind and that doesn't make you a bad person either

You can kill someone in TDP and that doesn't automatically make you a bad person either

We know all of this is true (and will likely continue to be true) as we know in S7 there is an episode about Terry related to him still having a "true and pure heart," which is about as classical "good guy protagonist" speak as you can get. In those lenses, I think Terry was a fantastic choice in introducing a new character to not only contrast against Claudia and Viren, but also in terms of getting us to be more sympathetic towards them (particularly Viren) than we might've been inclined towards in arc 1.

That said, I think the most important thread that Terry carries is that he is a character who truly and wholly does whatever is necessary for his cause, nothing more, nothing less.

But what does that mean, tangibly, within TDP's narrative? Well, let's talk about it:

Necessity

The concept of necessity—I needed to do this, or I have to do this (even though I don't want to)—is one that has been central to TDP for a while. We see this characters who cite a lack of agency ("He was going to take Claudia's life, I had no choice" / "Every step I took, I took because I had to" / "I'm sorry. I have to do this") throughout the show, both dark mages and not, particularly Rayla, Soren, and Callum.

And in return for perceived necessity, as Harrow states, "I have done terrible things. I thought they were necessary. Now I don't know." We increasingly see people justify, or struggle to justify, worse and worse actions. Claudia's mindset has become very transactional, for example ("He saved you, and now we have to save Aaravos" / "It's a mistake! I saved you! You owe me your life!"). Generally speaking, the show treats these things labelled as necessary as unnecessary (hence the regret they experience, and even Terry disagreeing more adamantly than he ever has before).

This is, of course, because 4x09 and 6x09 together very clearly spells out what is important for Terry to believe something is necessary: it must be done entirely out of love, no more and no less.

I've seen you do a lot of awful things, dark magic things, but I always believed in you because you had a reason [saving your dad]. But what you just did, the way you tricked that Moonshadow elf? It was just cruel.

Maybe it started out as a story of love, but along the way it got twisted. [...] He isn't doing anything for love. He's doing it out of revenge.

To Terry, you do what you have to do but go no further; you don't give into anger, you don't give into revenge. You act entirely out of love, and keep acting out of love and let it temper you. This is why Terry resonates, I think, and seeks guidance from Viren after the mage's initial assessment of what's been happening, emotionally:

This is similar in practice to why Viren (and Claudia to a lesser extent) are characters with such fraught paths. Not only because of their dark magic use, but because of their denial. Viren violates Lissa's safety and trust to save Soren, but then blames Soren for it; Claudia heals Soren and brings back Viren, and doesn't understand why fixing things physically wasn't enough. "I had no choice" for them means "I have no accountability," and that's why they kept spiralling deeper till Viren broke out of it. He atones then not by swearing off dark magic (although it helps) but by taking full agency in the choice to do dark magic and in what manner (not sacrificing his family again) and without a desire for ego, which was his biggest character flaw in a lot of ways.

The reason I bring this up is to provide a contrast for Terry in a few ways, such as

Terry always being very emotionally open, rather than repressing or offloading blame onto other people

Mandates that he had no choice (4x03, 4x04) but to kill Ibis verbally, but is also aware that it very much was

Is able to accept that this was a choice and move on

Terry does what he believes is necessary. He feels things about it. He doesn't go further into outright self destruction, and he doesn't escalate to what harm is deemed unnecessary. That doesn't mean Terry's levelheadedness can't be a flaw (he absolutely should have told Claudia to give up magic in 6x04) or that what he believes is necessary always is / that his choices are perfect (they're not), but that in his contrast to Claudia and Viren, he continually provides that contrast. He can be held at sword point by Rayla, a total aggressive stranger, and still recognize that withholding her family from her is what he deems as unnecessary cruelty (but more on that later).

For now I want to talk about patterns, specifically two that he engages in with Claudia.

Patterns

The first pattern is unsurprising, perhaps, given that Claudia-Rayla have continually had parallels, given that:

1) Claudia keeps leaving him

This is, of course, most obvious in 6x01 when Claudia states her intention to do so, or even in 6x09 wherein Aaravos literally lifts her away from Terry:

But we also see it earlier on with even the choices Claudia makes in her mission. Terry is a passive person, much like how Claudia at her core is ("Tell me what to do" + 90% of interactions with Viren that aren't about saving him), and therefore Claudia leads the way, and Terry is happy to let her.

He never really considers that he might be a core part of her truth, and that she wants more active advice (see the way Rayla counsels Callum about his dark magic use, comparatively, in 6x03, or nudges him forwards elsewhere throughout the seasons). While Terry isn't wrong to encourage Claudia to think staunchly for herself, and in fact she very much should, it does leave her more vulnerable to the next first person willing to tell her what to do: Aaravos.

We also see Terry's passivity go even further back to one of his first episodes, as well as in the S5 finale.

Each entry in the pattern is a little different.

4x03: Claudia leaves / goes in alone and fails at her mission. Terry follows and saves her by killing Ibis at great cost to his personal emotional state.

5x09: Claudia leaves / goes in alone and fails at her mission. She goes further into Aaravos' clutches (the ocean here metaphorically) and returns of her own accord.

6x01: Claudia succeeds at bringing back her father but cannot make him stay. She leaves on her own in an attempt to break her family's cycle of abandonment without realizing how she's continually perpetuating it, but returns in a devastated and dejected state.

6x09: Claudia succeeds at her mission of freeing Aaravos, and the Startouch elf takes her literally into his clutches and away from Terry.

Each time it is her choice to leave, with only 4x03 firmly having Terry following without her returning by her own merit. Whereas Claudia plays out her family's cycle of abandonment with all its members—her mother, her brother, and finally her father—Terry plays it out with just Claudia, over and over again. This doesn't mean their relationship is bad or that some of these times are unreasonable—Terry is willing and supportive to let her go in 4x03 and 5x09 much the way Callum is supportive of Rayla in 4x09, 6x05, and 6x09—but it is a pattern that has then taken on a negative slant in S6 and will likely to continue to worsen in S7 before it gets better either in the season or beyond.

Then, we have the pattern of how

2) Claudia gradually stops listening to him.

This is probably more interwoven with the thread of necessity than the previous pattern, since as stated before, sometimes when Terry is letting Claudia go off on her own while it's imperfect in the narrative, it makes sense within their dynamic / resources. Like as previously mentioned, too, Terry is more often correct than he is wrong about the next moves people should make. He's right that Claudia will need help in 4x03, he's right that they should go look for her in 4x07, he's right that she needs rest in 5x02, and right to be wary and against Aaravos in 6x09.

In the beginning, Claudia listens to him.

But as the seasons go on, this gradually changes with twice back to back in 5x06.

T: It won't chase us anymore, you won. It's trapped. Please. C: You're right. It won't follow us. But not because it's trapped.

Season six is arguably the season where Claudia listens to him the least despite Terry reaffirming her agency most directly (6x04) as she ignores or doesn't listen to every reservation he has.

T: It's him. It's your Dad. C: Then I have to... T: No! Please! Please don't... I don't think you should see him like this. C: I have to! I came all this way to see him one last time. I need him to show me the right path. T: This won't give you answers. Only anger. Only pain. I'm so sorry. He's gone. He is gone.

And Terry, who does things only that are necessary, only out of love, would know the difference: unlike Rayla, or Claudia, or numerous other characters arguably in the show, he always has, particularly when given broader context the way he is in 6x09 (which hasn't always been true in his relationship with Claudia, either).

None of this is to say that Claudia is a Bad Partner or that your partner should always listen to you, either, because neither of those things are true in life or in TDP. Healthy couples in TDP disagree all the time in both healthy and unhealthy ways. Rayla left Callum when he explicitly made her promise not to, and Callum did dark magic to save her twice despite 100% knowing it's not what she wold've wanted.

But the first thing I want to address is the difference between Claudia leaving out of grief and trying to feel in control after losing everyone but her boyfriend, and Rayla leaving out of grief and trying to feel in control after losing everyone but her boyfriend because they are wildly different for one main reason.

Rayla left in the middle of the night while Callum was sleeping because "you’ll wake up and try to stop me… from doing what I know I have to do. Leaving. But I can’t let you stop me, Callum. No matter how much I want to. [...] And if you said even one word to me, I wouldn’t be—couldn’t be. If I stay even until your eyes open and you yawn your silly morning yawn, I’ll break" (TDP reflections, Dear Callum).

Terry, meanwhile, is actively begging and pleading with Claudia, and he is still abandoned. Granted, Claudia seemingly comes back within a day or two, not two years, so that does mitigate things, but the fact remains that Rayla thought she wouldn't be able to leave to protect Callum if she even heard him speak a word or yawn, and Claudia was able to leave to protect herself while having a full on conversation. Ouch.

Nor does this completely absolve Terry of the one time Claudia straight up asks him to tell her what to do, or what he thinks she should do, Terry doesn't (6x04). He's not wrong that she needs to choose the way and figure out what she needs, but him emphasizing that he can't tell her what to do and then immediately accepting her premises that Viren can and should tell her what to do is something that's already bitten both of them in the ass.

Terry also only asks Claudia to listen to him, really listen, and to tell her what she should do when he thinks it's absolutely necessary.

This is also one of the reasons why she and Terry are suited to each other. Both value and respond to necessity, scaffolding everything else on top of what needs to be done or doesn't need to be done. What's risky about this mutual understanding is the potential for it to stop being so mutual if they start to have different views on what's necessary. And as we see in 6x09, that's happening more and more. What is going to continue happen when Claudia keeps viewing Aaravos' actions as necessary, and Terry doesn't?

Questioning

So Terry is, presumably, going to increasingly be wary and against Aaravos. What is that going to look like?

We have a decent idea, honestly. As stated / noted before, Terry actually pushes back against Claudia fairly often. He's just rather gentle about it, and usually is trying to prioritize her wellbeing (or someone else's) when she isn't. Examples include:

4x09 over the coins / being cruel

5x01 ("You'd think if dark magic does this to a person they might not do it")

5x02 over resting

5x06 over attacking the dragon

5x06 over killing the dragon

6x01 over her leaving

6x04 with telling her what to do

6x08 over seeing Viren's corpse

6x09 in helping / freeing Aaravos

However, we're also yet to see him be angry in his questioning or when pushing back, which is what I think would be most interesting to see change (think the moment where Iroh finally yells at Zuko beneath Lake Laogai). His pushback with Claudia has gotten more and more consistent as well as more dire throughout the seasons, and just like how Viren and Claudia eventually disagreed and split up, I think Terry and Claudia will too. How permanent that split will be, I think, is up to her (I could see parallels happening between Soren and Terry teaming up to try and bring her home, with Ezran and Rayla doing the same for a brother-partner tag team Callum duo), but I do think that Terry's testament of "I love you, I will never leave you" is apt foreshadowing to see what it would take for him to break his promise, and do just that.

To what he knows needs to be done, even if that means walking away.

Misc. Season Thoughts

Terry also has some interesting things that don't fall under the necessity umbrella that I wanted to talk about as well. One of those things is

TERRY AND IDENTITY

This isn't to say I think Terry actively has an identity arc in seasons 4 through 6 the way other characters (Callum, Rayla, Viren) are, but that Terry like most of the main cast is linked to arc 2's continual increased emphasis on identity and choosing your own identity. This is true particularly in 4x01, which opens after the intro with Callum running through / clarifying his titles (or identity roles) and concludes with Viren and Terry being introduced to one another. Terry gives details on his name ("[Terrestrius] is a bit traditional, but my friends call me Terry") and then asks for clarification on what he can call Viren.

Later on in S5 and S6, we see Soren and Rayla respectively see through the 'monstrous' / threat of others by reaffirming their similarities ("I know what this is like. I know how you feel" / "This storm isn't your rage, it's your grief. I know how you feel") and bestowing agency through naming conventions. Rayla identifies the monster isn't a monster but a pet, and more than that, gives Esmeray back her name. Elmer does the same when he overthrows Finnegrin and Soren likewise affirms it: "We literally didn't [defeat him]. Elmer did."

Why is this relevant? Well, in an arc that's all about emphasizing over and over again to see other people's personhood by using their name(s), recognizing that you have a choice, and choosing who you want to be...

So often queer characters in media are regulated to their queerness being happenstance (i.e. they fulfil a certain story role regardless and just happen to also be queer) or it's all their character gets to be (a "figuring out queerness and/or a coming out" arc). One of the reasons I myself (as a queer and trans person) has always deeply appreciated Terry as a queer character, specifically as a trans character, is precisely the way that his transness is interwoven with TDP's broader themes of chosen identity, self-actualization, and knowing / name motifs. In having these themes and ideas for multiple cis characters, Terry's interplay gets to be enhanced by his trans identity and simultaneously let him enhance the thematic explorations the series has going on, and I think that's pretty cool. Identity is one of the main themes of s4, and for Terry as well, so it's nice to see the ways that's reflected.

I expect season 7 to challenge his identity further ("I'm going to be strong enough to do whatever I need to do and still have feelings") if forcing him to confront who he wants to be, who Claudia is becoming, and who he thinks they can still be together. In a lot of ways I'm expecting S7 to be a sister season to S4 thematically even as S7 builds on S5/S6 in terms of plot and character arcs, since S7 seems geared to be about identity directly even more than S4 was (and much more than S5 or S6 were).

TERRY AND COMMUNICATION

If season four is about identity, season five has a strong emphasis on communication. This is, again, likewise true for Terry, as he encourages Claudia to communicate in various ways across the course of the season.

The situation is urgent, and you're worried I'm not treating it that way.

Terry consistently having clear communication is also something that puts him in direct contrast to Aaravos, who is a master manipulator and very careful liar-not-liar in his own way. Terry is always open and while thoughtful does not really bottle things up; he communicates clearly with other people and is comfortable doing so, and is very good at validating others as well. Whenever he does push against Claudia, he always clearly explains why he's doing so or why he disagrees but leaves the choice of what to do next in making amends or carrying on up to her. Aaravos, meanwhile, continually withholds or omits information, and presents things in certain ways in order to get, well, his way.

I don't have as much to say for season six, given that Terry is only in about half the season (6x01, 6x03, 6x04, 6x08, 6x09) and one of those is entirely silent. I'd say his main idea in s6, like s4 with identity and s5 with communication, would be the theme of Questioning (scaffolded under 'supportive'). He's supportive of Viren and Claudia's searches for meaning alongside his own increase questioning of what they and Aaravos are doing and why. I'll be curious to see what his main character beat may be in s7 going forward.

Conclusion

There's more I could talk about with Terry (Viren dreaming in 5x03 of chasing after Claudia only for her not to listen, only for Terry to live out that worst fear in 6x01 directly, for example) but I think for now these are the main things I wanted to discuss without going further into speculation than I already have. I hope this maybe brought a new perspective or appreciation for Terry as a character and for his arc in the show so far! As always, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.

[imperator-kahlo]

I'm still ruminating on that scene between Gail and Tommy in 2x03. About what Gail says about Ellie.

I think it's important to the season, potentially quite troubling in its implications, and the first major change from the game that just kinda stumps me. What are they going for here?

(Is this post just a lengthy justification/reconciliation of my initial very positive response to Gail? Nope, absolutely not, I don't know what you're talking about.)

First off: I'm assuming competence on the part of the writers/showrunners. YMMV, but I believe the changes they're making are purposeful and considered. I think most of the changes last season were highly successful and that most of the changes this season are going to turn out to have been successful, too. So I'm coming at this with the assumption that both this scene and the character of Gail are there for a reason and thematically tied to the story.

Beyond the show and games, I'm drawing on the official podcast for season 1 but I haven't listened to season 2 and don't intend to until the season's over. Wild speculation ahoy!

The scene

Tommy: You see things that others don't. I'm nervous she's gonna do somethin' stupid. Gail: What, you didn't believe her speech? Tommy: Did you? Gail: Course not. She's a liar. Tommy: Well, there's a difference between lyin' and being a liar. Gail: Oh, I know. And that one? Liar. There was maybe one person she told the truth to, and he's… But we can agree to disagree about that. What matters is you're afraid. So, let's talk about it. Okay. Free of charge. Tommy: I just don't want her to go down the same paths that Joel did. Comin' up with justifications and such. All he was really doin' was lashin' out. Gail: So, you think she might have learned that behavior from him? Turns out nurture can only do this much. The rest is nature. If she's on a path, it's not one that Joel put her on. No. No. I think they were walking side by side from the very start. Tommy, I get it. You inherited her, and you wanna keep her out of trouble. Take it from a psychotherapist of 40 years. Some people just… Some people just can't be saved.

Does Gail matter?

I think she matters a lot. Gail appears in three episodes this season, according to IMDB. She gets a good amount of screen time in "Final Days" and "The Path". We linger on her reaction to important moments: the New Year's Eve fight, Ellie's speech in the town meeting. These pauses with Gail suggest that what Tommy says is true: she sees what others don't.

This is a considerable investment of precious screen time in a new character. They hired an absolute powerhouse of an actress to play her, and put her in scenes with three very important characters: Tommy, Ellie, Joel. Her presence in Jackson looms large.

And Gail was married to Eugene, a character we recognise from the game, a character who has been referenced several times in the first three episodes, and a person whose death is no longer natural. Instead, Eugene's death is linked to Joel (and, I suspect, to Ellie—more on that later). This killing is supposed to be on our minds. There's something more to learn about it.

Does this scene matter?

Look, it's the absolute lowest form of media analysis, but... this scene contains, almost verbatim, the episode's title. This episode, 'The Path', is a decisive one for Ellie. She's found, not to belabor the point, her path. And this entire conversation turns on Tommy's fear that Ellie will "go down the same paths that Joel did." I think this scene is pivotal for Ellie and for the themes of the show (which I don't think will be identical to those of the game). I don't think we can just throw up our hands, say "Gail's just a bitter drunk," and write it off as irrelevant to Ellie's arc.

Additionally: Mazin and Druckmann have been interested in exploring a darkness in Ellie since the beginning. In 1x01, 'When You're Lost in the Darkness', we get this unsettling reaction to Joel beating a man to death with his bare hands:

In the official podcast, Mazin says of this moment:

Ellie sees [Joel beat a man] to death, [punch] him over and over and over and Ellie is activated. And this is going to echo forward. This is something that Neil and I talked about a lot. Which was understanding where Ellie goes. And understanding what the connection is between Joel and Ellie. That there's a thread between them that is more than just I used to have a kid and you're also a kid. There's something else. That there's the connection already between Joel and Ellie that is different from his connection with his own daughter. And perhaps potentially stronger and certainly potentially more dangerous.

When they talk about where Ellie goes, they're talking about this season. Where Ellie goes is Seattle. And this scene is telling us something about what's at the end of that road.

Why does this absolutely fucking suck?

The million dollar question about this scene, imo, is whether Gail is a credible interlocutor. Are we supposed to immediately reject what she says about Ellie? I'm convinced we aren't, but I'm less certain where we should be on the spectrum between Gail-tells-the-absolute-truth and Gail-is-insightful-but-ultimately-mistaken.

At the end of 2x01, I was convinced that Gail is a somewhat dysfunctional person whose professional ethics were left back in some QZ in the early 2000s, but that she's also a gifted and insightful therapist. I thought what she did with Joel was more calculated than she let on, that it took both compassion and GUTS (that flinch when he suddenly stood, woof), and that she came within a whisker of getting him to open up.

Let's assume for now I wasn't just wildly incorrect!

I was stoked to see Gail again in 2x03. Her interaction with Ellie at the hospital was pretty neutral—I was mostly just amused by the fact that Gail clearly knew Ellie was full of shit and Ellie clearly knew that she knew.

Then we got to the chat with Tommy and I got whiplash. I want to talk about three things: Gail's identification of Ellie as not lying but a liar, as an equal partner to Joel in the events of season 1, and as, like, biologically predetermined to violence (Gail, what the fuck) and thus beyond saving.

Ellie, the liar

Ellie lied to Gail in the hospital. She lied again in her speech during the town meeting. These are the sorts of lies people tell all the time: I'm not comfortable opening up to you, the therapist I didn't consent to see, so I'm going to fob you off with a little story about how everything's fine. I want a particular outcome in this political debate, so I'm going to craft an argument that's persuasive. These aren't lies intend to hurt. They're intended to protect Ellie from emotional pain. I haven't sat down to catalogue every lie Ellie tells in season 1, but I'm pretty sure they were almost all intended to protect her physical and emotional safety.

And Gail has to know this. To jump from what she's seen this season to Ellie is a liar is wild to me.

But there is one lie that Ellie is always telling. Her immunity. That's a secret she's keeping for her safety, but the danger of telling the truth is sort of abstract. Sure, it endangers her out there, but in Jackson? This is a safe community, where Ellie is building relationships and working towards everyone's security. She's close to key people in leadership positions, so they probably wouldn't immediately try to dissect her. And it's easy to think of scenarios in which her patrol partner gets hurt or killed because they were unaware that Ellie could survive a bite. (This isn't an argument that Ellie should disclose her immunity, just that there are material risks to others to not disclosing.)

So I think this is what we're supposed to take from Gail, here. She sees things others don't, we're told, and she sees this kind of foundational dishonesty in Ellie. I think we're supposed to think of Ellie's secret immunity as a corruption: something destroying Ellie's closest relationships and isolating her from everyone around her.

After all, we know that even after five years, Ellie is on the outskirts in Jackson. I'm not sure all of that marginalisation is down to homophobia (there's an uncomfortable parallel here between an immunity she hasn't "come out" about and her lesbianism, not great).

"I think they were walking side by side from the very start."

Fine, this is a nice line. It echoes the final shot of the credits. But this poetic turn of phrase is buttressed by what precedes it: Gail dismissing the role of nurture in shaping the personality in favour of biological determinism. It is an argument that Ellie's violence is in her blood: it's not that she was born into a post-apocalyptic hellscape, that she was raised in a military orphanage to be a soldier, that she went on a dangerous and life-changing cross-country road trip, or that she took that trip with a man who was good at violence. It's in her blood.

This idea makes me really fucking mad! This show exists in a social context, which we all bring to watching it, and the real-world implications of the logics at play here are awful. First, the suggestion that she and Joel both had the same amount of agency in season 1. She was a child, Gail! Real she might be fourteen, but she was soooo mature for her age vibes. Gross.

And second, if violence is an inherent genetic legacy, we're about two steps away from eugenics and race science. Ellie is white, so the racial implications of Gail's position are a bit obscured for a white audience (we're the default, after all! /s). But imagine for a moment how this line would have felt if said about, say, a Black character.

Okay. It's problematic. Putting that aside, why would Gail say it and why would Mazin write it? I'll come back to Gail at the end. As for Mazin, I think a similar thing is happening here as with the Ellie-is-a-liar thing. From 1x09, "Look for the Light":

Marlene: Our doctor… he thinks that the cordyceps in Ellie has grown with her since birth. [...] It produces a kind of chemical messenger. It makes normal cordyceps think that she’s cordyceps. It’s why she’s immune.

There is cordyceps inside Ellie. It's in her blood. I think, once again, Gail is seeing what others can't, but she doesn't have the necessary information to understand what she's seeing. She sees a darkness in Ellie, but doesn't realise that darkness comes from the fungus. It's not inherent to Ellie.

From 1x08, "When We are in Need":

David: ... You see a lot. So do I. And you know what I see when I look at you? Me. You remind me of me. You’re a natural leader, you’re smart… loyal. Violent. Ellie: You don’t know anything about me. David: But I do. If I let you out of that cage right now, put that knife of yours in your hand, you’d stick me in a second. You have a violent heart. And I should know. I’ve always had a violent heart. And I struggled with it for a long time. But then the world ended and I was shown the truth. Ellie: Right… by God. David: No. By Cordyceps. What does Cordyceps do? Is it evil? No. It’s fruitful. It multiplies. It feeds and protects its children, and it secures its future with violence, if it must. It loves.

I think Mazin and Druckmann are driving at something here. In the game, Ellie's immunity is sort of irrelevant to her arc. It kickstarts the plot, yes, and it provides a reason for Joel to take away all her agency and then lie to her about it. It allows her to survive when Riley didn't, thus piling on a bunch of survivor's guilt. But all the same plot and character beats could have been reached other ways.

In the show, I think her immunity—and especially the fact that the immunity comes from being infected—is important. The cordyceps inside her is going to be fundamental to who Ellie is and who she becomes.

Some people just can't be saved

Pretty much everything I just said about the nature vs nurture stuff.

I did see someone on here—I'm sorry, I can't remember who—suggest that Gail is saying that some people have to save themselves, and can't be helped because they won't accept that help. That's true, and it squares nicely with Ellie's arc in the game. I'm not sure it squares with everything else Gail says in this scene, in which she displays no compassion for Ellie and basically writes her off as an inherently bad person. I think maybe this is another case of Gail accidentally saying the truth while meaning something else.

So why, Gail? Why?

A thing that struck me: In Gail's therapy session with Joel, we see how angry she is at him, how much she hates him for killing Eugene. But even so, she had compassion for him. She promised to help him. When she spoke to Tommy, I didn't see an ounce of compassion for Ellie. It was a really hostile, angry, judgemental way to speak about a young, traumatised woman that she's only therapised for like five minutes. Maybe Gail just has a gift for projecting compassion she doesn't feel when she's actually in session with a client, or maybe there's something we're missing.

Gail's back in episode 6, and she's bringing Eugene with her (Joe Pantoliano!). I think that episode's going to recontextualise this scene between Tommy and Gail. Maybe Ellie was involved in whatever happened to Eugene? Perhaps something she did or failed to do led to Eugene's infection, or at least that's Gail's perception, and Joel did what Ellie's actions caused him to have to do?

Or, you know, maybe Gail just fucking sucks.

Finally, a conclusion?!

I've speculated above about what Mazin and Druckmann are potentially driving at with Ellie's arc. I think there's also some interesting parallels happening here: between Gail, Abby, and Ellie; Joel and Eugene; David and Gail. Between Gail's confrontation with Joel and Ellie's eventual confrontation with Abby. In the immortal words of Billy Ray Cyrus, much to think about.

I'm interested in the choice to make Gail a therapist. Psychology is a field with an incredibly troubled history and it continues to do plenty of harm. Young women (like Ellie) with neurodivergence and/or complex mental health issues have historically been misdiagnosed at high rates with borderline personality disorder, which is very stigmatised and, like all personality disorders, often used as an excuse to write a person off as beyond help and inherently abusive and dishonest (sound familiar?).

But I think a lot of casual viewers would just read Gail as a mental health expert and thus a reliable commentator on other people. Last season, the only person to provide this sort of read on Ellie was David, a blatant villain. This season, we hear it from somebody pretty likeable, presumably insightful, trusted by both Joel and Tommy. It's an interesting choice, regardless of whether Ellie's arc ultimately confirms or denies what Gail says.

Much to think about.