#Divergence analysis

[signode-blog]

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In the complex and often unpredictable world of financial trading, having robust tools at your disposal can significantly improve your trading outcomes. One such powerful tool is the Time Series Forecast (TSF) indicator. This post will delve deeply into what the TSF indicator is, how it works, and how you can effectively incorporate it into your trading strategy. Understanding the Time Series…

[ariadne-mouse]

I imagine Essek had one or two record scratch moments in his youth

Such as, alternately,

[slimi-kaito]

Ok, so I know Nimona's gender fluid and the whole shape shifting thing is a queer allegory.

BUT. (Don't worry)

I also think it’s an allegory of neurodivergency and disability! And I wanna talk about it:

To me, the « I wouldn't die die but I sure wouldn't be living » discussion feels very reminiscent of autistic stimming and masking, masking being explained here as the constant state of « that second before you sneeze ».

With that in mind, Nimona and Ballister's discussion in the train hits a lot closer to home for ND and disabled people in general because Ballister says « it would be easier for you » which isn’t actually true and shows how a lot of the world views disability. For people your disability is completely fine until they see it, they say they are disability allies but will shame you if you start stimming etc…

I think Nimona’s reaction to what Ballister said also shows that she is used to that kind of rethoric, she tries to lead him to the true answer « normal? » you’re normal for people if they can’t see your disability, « easier for who? » easier for him, easier for society because if they don’t see it they can ignore it. At the end of that conversation he doesn’t understand though and even think he is a hero for it « a lot of people aren’t as accepting as me » except what he does is actually the bare minimum, treating disabled people like actual people is the bare minimum whether you can see their disability or not!

At the end, Ballister understands that he was in the wrong and goes on to actually see Nimona as a person, as who she is « I see you ». And theoretically/utopically it’s the same for the kingdom’s people BUT it took the literal sacrifice of Nimona’s life for them to start treating her like a person which again should be the BARE MINIMUM. I think it is especially sad that it’s the way our society works as well, disabled people, queer people etc… shouldn’t have to earn the right to be treated as a person.

Thanks for reading all that, byeeee!

[firethekitty]

Ranking Every Wolfwood!!

happy wolfwood wednesday! i've ranked every wolfwood and it very quickly got out of hand and turned into more of a character analysis/meta. it was really fun and helped me better understand why i love this guy so much!

yes, really!

i hope you guys enjoy and that my autistic rambling makes sense!

1. trimax wolfwood. yeah he’s perfect. nothing else to say. god bless

while i can’t fit everything i love about him into one post, just know that i’ve written almost 30,000 words in wolfwood (and vash) character studies. so when i say “i like trimax wolfwood” that really means “i am fucking obsessed with trimax wolfwood”.

he’s the perfect mix of silly and heartbreaking, funny and serious, annoying like an older brother, deeply kind, so so painfully human; and a PERFECT foil to vash. simply phenomenal writing.

my only complaint would be that his tits are not on display like they are in the 1998 anime. but i can appreciate the subtly, so this doesn’t detract from his otherwise flawless score.

2. 98 wolfwood. omg hiiiii hehe twirling my hair ohh he’s so handsome what an absolutely beautiful design for him. his nose, his spider-esque shape, his TITS…… they even kept his little whiskers!

on top of an amazing design, he’s a very good balance of silly, irritable, playfully annoying, and serious! he fits pre-trimax wolfwood to a T!

but, as trimax progressed…

he’s cool. too cool. he has too much pull. wolfwood should NOT have swag. genuinely it is imperative to his character that he is, and i say this as lovingly as possible, a fucking loser with no friends.

wolfwood is a deeply traumatized man. he isn’t nearly as charming as we, the audience, thinks he is. no one laughs at his jokes, his insults are crude and immature, he embarrasses himself in front of literal children…

god, he is so painfully awkward. and who wouldn’t be in his situation? to have your childhood stolen and forced to grow up as a weapon? not allowed to interact casually with anyone else during the most important developmental stage of your life?

he's just not suave like tri98 wolfwood is. so, while 98 wolfwood is an excellent character, he doesn’t entirely read “wolfwood” to me. similar to how 98 vash is good on his own, but he’s just not “vash”. this is, of course, the result of making an anime out of a manga that wasn’t even 30% finished at the time. while i don’t understand the reasoning behind this, i know that nightow desperately needed the funds the anime brought in, as well as the motivation to keep making trimax, so i have to simply make peace with the dated characterizations tri98 has.

but don’t get me started on the milly situation. really a godawful writing decision, idk who approved that mess.

3. tristamp wolfwood. he is so bullyable. he’s like a sopping wet cat. absolute fucking dweeb.

i debated this for a long time—whether i should rank tristamp wolfwood above tri98 wolfwood. and i asked myself, do i love tri98 wolfwood because he’s a good character and is similar to trimax wolfwood? does he even remind me of trimax wolfwood at all? well, not really, he’s very clearly based on pre-trimax, just like tri98 vash is.

ultimately i decided i do genuinely just prefer tri98 wolfwood, but i felt the need to defend tristamp wolfwood because i see a lot of fair criticisms but also really dumb discourse throughout the fandom about him. so here’s my attempt at trying to address these:

so, there are some things i really enjoy about him and some things i really dislike; and, unlike vash, most of these criticisms are not a result of time/pacing issues. they’re easily fixable.

like, for the love of god he NEEDS to get sillier. they got the loser part down, but he’s a bit too overtly sad in tristamp. i think he will be more like his trimax self in season 2, but wolfwood’s humor is in-part a coping mechanism and important to his character. he’s an older brother! he’s fucking annoying! he thinks he's funny when he isn't! we do get a little bit of this with him and meryl, when he's tormenting her at the campfire, and that’s what i want to see more of. even if he’s playing it up, he should be working on getting their guards down, convincing them he isn't going to betray them.

since tristamp takes place in a weird prequel sort of canon, i get that he would look/act younger than he is in trimax. i think he was modeled after the teenage wolfwood we see in the flashback scenes of him training for the eye of michael, where he’s noticeably less outgoing and more reserved.

however, this doesn’t change the fact that he WAS silly as a kid in trimax, before his “teenage angst phase” (hate to call it that when it’s more like a “realizing he’s going to die by the gun and not being able to do anything about it” phase). but he’s still a lot quieter and reserved in tristamp as a kid, so i think we really need to find a good balance here in the trigun adaptations.

another example of an easily fixable issue—i really hate how they did the “vash sees how kind wolfwood is” scene, in which wolfwood gives money/snacks to children. in tristamp, wolfwood already knows the kid is zazie, which tells us absolutely nothing about his character. this scene is almost entirely worthless, only good for reminding vash that he should eat, which gives tristamp its own not-as-good hospital yuri scene.

and, so, about the elephant in the room… i don’t think he was whitewashed. let me try to explain my thought process.

tristamp, as far as i can tell, doesn’t seem to be taking any inspiration from tri98, whose wolfwood is very explicitly a brown man. trimax wolfwood i feel is a bit more ambiguous in his skin tone, which alternates between dark screentones and completely uncolored pretty much at solid 50/50 odds. just fairly inconsistent overall, even on the official manga covers.

but this doesn’t mean wolfwood is white in tristamp, and it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his aquiline nose. the notorious scenes of him in the suns, looking white as a fucking sheet, shows us how a 3D environment can diminish a character’s silhouette and distinctive features.

compare this to scenes of wolfwood in a dim environment, or to the 2D scenes of child wolfwood and livio that i can't include bc i'm only allowed 10 pics. he looks MUCH better, much darker than vash, and as they both should appear in such lighting. it just doesn't add up—he should be much darker in strong light if they followed the same color values:

SO, even though i feel like all of this is more of a technical issue rather than malicious whitewashing, that doesn’t mean i think it’s acceptable. it looks fucking awful, and the lighting system needs major improvement to work with darker skin tones.

and, like, at the end of the day, wolfwood isn’t canonically latino, and he doesn't really have a consistent skin tone either. it’s a great headcanon, one i partially share, but it’s not canon. the only ethnicity that could technically be considered somewhat canon is japanese, as wolfwood was based off a japanese singer named tortoise matsumoto. you can see this resemblance best in early trigun!

and i really need to defend his nose!!! a lot of people say he lost his nose but he didn’t!! i promise it’s there!!! another victim of his 3D model, you can only see his nose from the side or in the 2D frame after he gets his shit wrecked. see how clearly he has a very well-defined nose when he’s hand-drawn? this is what i mean when i say a 3D environment can drastically alter a character’s important features, as much as i otherwise adore the animation for this show.

also, if you think nightow would let studio orange get away with not including his nose, you got another thing coming.

in conclusion, while i think tristamp wolfwood is a great start, he’s just not quite there yet. but i have immense faith that the next time we see him, he’ll look and act a lot more like he does in trimax!

i know this is true, because there are already some shots in tristamp where i’m just like. oh yeah. there he is. that’s wolfwood. there's the guy i love so much

...

well, that was long! this was really fun to write and i

oh jesus christ what the hell is that thing

4. badlands rumble wolfwood. ah, now here’s a great example of overt whitewashing. no lighting excuses this time, just blatant colorism.

even if he wasn’t ghostly white, there's just something about his design that makes me viscerally uncomfortable and i can’t pinpoint what it is exactly. he’s just so… angular. he has no scruff, no kitty cat mouth, his eyes are very oddly shaped, almost no eyebrows... i just really hate looking at him!

his ONLY saving grace is how mentally ill he acts in this movie. and his tits. otherwise i don’t really have much to say about him!

ok, now we’re done! and here’s a handy wolfwood chart i made to summarize everything.

really hope this was fun to read and if people liked this i'd be glad to write a vash version or other characters!! happy woowoo wednesday :)

[russenoire]

you know, if we're going to go after all flavors of fucked-up terumob for supposedly not being a tenable premise, or somehow 'missing the point'? one can easily argue the same for fluffy terumob.

given all the in-canon trauma standing between these boys, terumob as a concept is on some shaky-ass legs: teruki is projecting a fuckton of worship unhealthy idealism onto shigeo, and shigeo has every right to be wary of/angry about teruki's attempt to end him, for as long as it takes him.

they're still on family name terms at the end of the story, and teruki is still trying to get shigeo to spend more time with him. ONE leaves us with a long shot at anything between these two beyond casual friendship. (unless teruki is more forthright about what he wants? or shigeo realizes he can reciprocate?)

and the pair both have so much healing to do from the pain they've caused each other. whether they do so together or apart, it's gonna look ugly, perhaps for years.

i actually want to see that, too.

there's nothing wrong with sweet, tender wish fulfillment. there's also nothing wrong with examining how trauma can realistically play out in courtship or dating. and teenagers are not immune to toxic dynamics in relationships! if you truly believe this, i have a bridge i wanna sell you.

fluff does not mirror my experience of childhood in the slightest, but i'm not gonna shake my fists at its creators, and i'm not salty that it exists. it's beautiful. guess what? so is mogamiland terumob. so is codependent terumob. shame on all of you who felt it was OK to harass anyone for them.

people create AUs and draw and write for fun, and not everyone finds comfort or enjoyment in the same things. there should be room here for a wider range of emotional expressions. i mean, there sure is in the source material.

and there is already so much candy-coated marshmallow fluff in the #terumob tag. so much. i don't know about y'all, but i was happy to see some variety for once.

[shadow-the-crow]

Tma au but it's 2010's ya dystopian. Everyone is sorted by fear alignment, like factions.

[totem-but-shark]

You know how dsmp Foolish was only a devout follower of XD because he thought he could replace him? Because I didn’t. I just knew about him working for the federation in order to rise through the ranks and “own the fish store.” And replace cururucho.

I'm a decent chunk less knowledgable on c!foolish than I am qfoosh but if this is true its yet another fascinating similarity between the two of them, id love to see some clips if you have any! Reading through cfoolish analysis and rewatching older vods and clips im struck with a strong sense of familiarity with the more recent qfoolish, and with the scattered lore hints between them lining up so well it creates an almost uncanny sense of continuity.

Whether they're completely separate characters or not i feel that these two characters have the same core. They still undoubtedly have their differences but they almost feel like different spins on the same concept, or an initial concept further developed and refined which only makes it so much more interesting to dissect where they diverge, and then despite their unique situations and histories where they overlap. Does every iteration of foolish make the same decisions and subsequent mistakes? does he hunt for power? does he love? will he always be alone? The ways in which their individual worlds and storylines have shaped them, or on a more meta level what kind of story did ccfoolish himself want to tell. I think it's pretty cool to think about at least

[raayllum]

one of my favourite aspect of foil dynamics is when you have a pair of (although not always) foils who switch narrative positions. for examples i’ll use frankenstein and the creature and burr and hamilton from hamiltion bc hamilton is good from a literary standpoint good god.

frankenstein starts off in creating/playing god in order to gain recognition and glory, but also as he increasingly isolates himself for his cause. the creature awakes in a world where he’s rejected by his creator & by all other humans and endures then painstaking isolation. after killing/threatening to kill some of frankenstein’s loved ones, the creature demands victor make him a wife - an eve to his adam - despite knowing it’d condemn her to a similarly lonely life, save one person, and frankenstein refuses. the two then become mutually hellbent on killing one another, even as they’re cognizant that whoever completes the murder will truly then be alone in the world and without purpose

for hamilton and burr this is even more clear. both orphans, though in increasingly different upbringings, and both ever cognizant of mortality and the notion of history. burr never takes a stand, hamilton arguably takes too many. but over the course of the play, burr becomes more like hamilton and hamilton becomes more like burr. this means that while they switch perspectives, they still fundamentally never understand each other, and it’s this misunderstanding that makes hamilton assume burr would never act like him and shoot him, and burr assume that hamilton would never act like him and throw away his shot, yet this is precisely what happens.

we even see this in star wars. luke chooses to save leia & han, just as anakin tries to protect padme and obi-wan. anakin cuts off luke’s hand, luke cuts off anakin’s hand. farmboys on tattooine, ace shot pilots, etc etc. and luke is nearly successfully turned to the dark side, yet reaffirms his father’s place by refusing to bend... in the last movie. that point couldn’t have come any earlier because 1) it’s the triumphant victory and 2) the narrative tension of the foil dynamic means it has to go on as long as possible.

arc 1 is kind of a perfect example, where viren starts out powerful and close to the king and magically strong, and ends the season falling to his death thanks to his elven guide, and callum starts out powerful and close to the new king and magically strong, and ends the season literally soaring to new heights thanks to his elven guide. but like - that’s arc 1. that’s the arc where the heroes win. of course it ends that way.

but now we’re in arc 2. 

we’re in the arc - s4 to s6 - where the heroes Lose. 

and we know that TDP is aware of these principles when it comes to callum and viren precisely because they are in many ways already in the process of being switched. in arc 1, callum is the one going through a season without magic and being pursued before a powerful creature can be reunited with its place in xadia’s hierarchy; in arc 2, that’s viren, even if he’s far more passive about it and callum is more active. they’re brother-mage-advisors to the king, placed in proximity to power but never allowed to fully wield it, they both chase magical agency in s2 beat for beat (2x04 -> 2x07 -> 2x09) only really diverging in the finale of the season. viren is now going to be having dark magic dreams while callum is presented with the coined elves viren imprisoned. 

like yes it’s true that they’re not the same person and won’t make all the same choices, but in a show that’s all about the younger generation struggling to not repeat the same choices as their predecessors, and still getting caught in the cycles of their own journeys... it’s like “i have always been ready to do anything to protect my family however dangerous however vile” and “i value those close to me more than anyone and anything” when callum means it even more than viren does (because viren is and has been willing to sacrifice his family - hi soren - pretty blatantly) is like... yeah they’ll Diverge. just not till s7 lmao

[atopvisenyashill]

What if Tywin died instead of Joanna?

i’m so mad i had a better structured answer and tumblr ate it so now this is super long and ranty. blame tumblr!!

anyways, i’m seeing three scenarios here

everyone is better off

the twins are still Doing That but tyrion is better off, so probably everything is still better off

aerys loses his absolute mind bc joanna is single now

while i imagine joanna does engage jaime to elia - and this is probably a much happier outcome for both of them, because joanna would have attempted to put a stop to the incest, up to and including sending cersei to foster somewhere else - i do think cersei is a huge question mark. she is often the instigator of their problems!

not to lay the respsonibility at her feet or anything, bc she experiences shit in her childhood that is enough to damage most people’s psyches (losing a parent that young and to childbirth is hard developmentally not to mention a fucked up prophecy hanging over her head & potential issues with empathy already!) and then experiences decades of spousal abuse, and is then given near unlimited power and told “now don’t do anything crazy lol” like, of course cersei decides “if i have to live in hell i’m taking these two idiots with me what are baby brothers FOR after all” and if you want them to have a chance at normalcy in adulthood, the key is for cersei to have a less traumatic time so she has half a chance at adjusting to the regular stressors of life. the main way to do this is to get her away from jaime and away from any terrible prophecies that trigger some sort of fucked up neurosis in her from an early age.

now, we don’t know who joanna had in mind for cersei, if she had even thought that far, but being lady regent of the west, she’s going to have significant control over who cersei marries. if she sends cersei away to foster somewhere to get her away from jaime, shes got a wide range of possibilities and if someone reaches out to her to get involved in their lil rebellion, she might take the opportunity to send cersei somewhere quite far, like riverrun or the eyrie or dorne or the fucking north, so long as it’s right now immediately & the distance might do cersei some good but equally possible cersei takes this as rejection and turns on her mother; though, if she’s spending her adolescent years somewhere with a healthier dynamic (and the bar is in hell) maybe cersei isn’t so paranoid. but that’s ONLY IF joanna is healthy enough & aware enough to send cersei away when she’s like 8 or 9. it’s a big if.

then there’s the tyrion of it all - i think joanna warms up to him eventually and cersei being elsewheres means he’s probably better off. at the very least, there’s less conflict if jaime married elia and had heirs like he was supposed to wrt tyrion, and Joanna may even attempt some matchmaking for him and can do that without the added stress of “he is disabled and also inheriting casterly rock” bc like, i’m not saying joanna would take the same hardline stance but i AM saying she saw something to love in fucjing TYWIN, and i don’t think she’s a saint who would unequivocably embrace her disabled son. BUT i don’t think she’d shame him or abuse him the way tywin does either. tyrion grows up in a family all similar to jaime; they certainly aren’t always respectful, frequently patronizing, dismissive, and tyrion is likely to get resentful at times (who wouldn’t) but i think everyone can agree that a household full of “i know they mean well but they don’t understand what it’s like” is an improvement over whatever the fuck tywin was doing.

all of this means…maybe the twins are married elsewhere when robert gains his throne potentially after KL goes boom since Jaime isn’t there to whack Aerys, but potentially after a much easier rebellion because dorne sided with the rebels, house lannister sides with the rebels, and they coup aerys the fuck out of there a bit easier. robert probably marries a tyrell or a hightower (there’s a few of marriage age and they’re rich) in that case. the realm is a lot better off lmao. OR cersei isn’t married yet (she’s still a lil young admittedly) and does marry robert. probably still attempts to pull jaime to her but joanna knows this is happening and is more inclined to stop it, especially with jaime married to elia, her best friend’s daughter and the beloved sister of the now prince of dorne. this probably causes a lot of problems ergo scenario two, but i do think a world where jaime or joanna is in charge of casterly rock, even a world where the incest still exists, is a world that is miles better off just bc joanna isn’t going to ignore the problem like tywin, and tyrion being even marginally less fucked up is a net win.

OR like i worried above, aerys starts a war for joanna. i mean, petyr started a war over his obsession with cat & sansa, it is not out of the realm of possibility that aerys “burning the lord paramount and his heir alive is fine actually” targaryen goes “joanna comes to court or i set casterly rock on fire” and that’s not really good for ANYONE.

so anyways if joanna lives it’s probably fine, probably even better actually, or maybe, everyone dies on fire. typical westeros really.

[runningracingdancingchasing]

This is not the face of a woman who is going to spend the rest of the series trying to convince her enemy to be a good person and her best friend again. This is the face of a woman who is DONE. She is THROUGH with all the bullshit, and any forgiveness given has to be begged for and earned, and even then, she will forgive from ten miles away, minimum, and never wants to see their face again.

Oh, and

this is her face when she realizes Gothel kidnapped her and kept her prisoner for her own selfish gain all her life. It’s the same expression. Yes, she reached for Gothel when she fell out of the window. Yes, she didn’t want her to die. But she was still ready to walk out of her life forever.

[signode-blog]

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[ultraericthered]

Kingdom Hearts Divergence, the Hearts In Chaos Chronicle

THE GOOD GUYS

Ephemer - The main protagonist of the saga, debuting as a dual MC next to Sora in KH4 before Sora's Keyblade of Light chooses Ephemer to be its new wielder. Ephemer's background is opposite of Sora's in that he's always known of other worlds, Keyblades, powers of light and darkness from the heart, Kingdom Hearts and all that because he's actually a member of the Dandelion Guild who comes from the distant past, having been thrust forward in time after running afoul of a conspiracy being set in motion by the then-current Guild Masters. Ephemer is a kind-hearted, empathetic and curious youth who wishes to solve the mysteries of the World, such as the Book of Prophecies and what exactly transpired between the Unions of the Dandelion Guild that caused Keyblades and Masters to become scarce. Much hard-hitting and less easygoing than Sora, he can be a bit cocky when he fights but is also known to be hesitant when he is unsure he's up to a big task, particularly true for becoming the next Keyblade Master, but he gradually starts to grow into the role. Ephemer is voiced in the English dub by Michael Johnston.

Skuld - The series' new female lead is quite special, as she's come to the present timeline from a far off future. It's never confirmed outright where she hails from and who her family is, but it is strongly implied that she's the future daughter of Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly, with similiarities in hair, fashion sense, and even the use of a sort of "Gunblade" as her weapon of choice. Skuld, like Riku, has dabbled in the powers of Darkness and can now uses abilities derived from the twilight in-between. Despite being something self-serious, driven, and something of a loner at first, Skuld cares greatly for her friends and doesn't like seeing others fighting and getting hurt, which is why she tries to carry the burdens all by herself. As she befriends Ephemer and begins to loosen up, we see she is every bit as empathetic as him and willing to take great risks to protect others.

Skuld is voiced in the English dub by Cristina Vee.

Brain - A young man living in the present day's Daybreak Town, Brain (pronounced BRYNE) is a cool, laid-back, and studious person by nature. The first person befriended by Ephemer when he lands in this timeline, Brain becomes protective of the boy like a big brother. He is very clever and tactically gifted, good with analytics, deduction, and making plans to be implemented in times of conflict. Brain was also hesitant about becoming an adventuring, world-saving hero, believing himself incapable of fulfilling the role, but resolves to perform his duties to prevent another war from breaking out. It is later revealed that Master Luxu's heart cast itself into Brain's and melded with it (akin to Ventus with Sora), so the Luminous Vanguard seek to recruit him into the Lost Masters, but Brain fights to assert that his heart is his own and he "makes himself" who he truly is. Much like Organization XIII's Zexion, Brain's weapon of choice is a magic book.

Brain is voiced in the English dub by Max Mittelman.

Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck - In the year between KH2-KH3 and KH4, Donald's triplet nephews underwent a growth spurt and got even more deeply involved with being entrepreneurs under their great uncle Scrooge's mentorship, finally deciding they were ready to take on adventures of their own across the galaxy. As fate would have it, their first such endeavor leads them to Ephemer, and from them on they are inseparable from him. The Nephews act as a constantly rotating unit. In some worlds Ephemer can switch between which Nephew he wants to have fight along with him, but in select worlds, only one nephew will be available. Their specialty is utilizing magic like their uncle, but through high-tech gear rather than staffs.

The Nephews are voiced in the English dub by Danny Pudi (Huey), Ben Schwartz (Dewey), and Bobbi Moynihan (Louie).

Max Goof - The estranged teenage son of Disney Castle's lead guard, Goofy, Max is a squire still in training whose tastes tend to differ from his doofus dad's, including his belief that the best defense is a good offense, which is why he fights with a very shield-like blade. When Goofy and Donald accompany Sora to look into the rise in blight power and the Demi-Deterged, Max steals away on his own to prove himself, running into Donald's Nephews and Ephemer in the process. As one of Ephemer's constant companions, Max fears being as clumsy as his dad or being seen as needing of constant supervision and help, but eases into becoming a knight on his terms.

Max is voiced in the English dub by Jason Marsden.

Timothy Mouse - A mouse who used to be a big name in show biz but has since fallen to the wayside and become homeless. Timothy accompanies Ephemer and his friends on their journeys. The whole joke with him is that as he is a mouse and he's joined up with ducks and a Goof, Timothy believes himself a potential successor to King Mickey himself only to find himself the new Jiminy Cricket instead.

Timothy is voiced in the English dub by Chris Edgerly, who also voices the role of Cid.

King Mickey - We all know who he is by now, and of course he was going to involve himself somehow. Following KH4, he gets seen much less in the plot, making it a big deal whenever he does pop up.

King Mickey is voiced in the English dub by Brett Iwan.

Figaro - A stray cat from Disney Town who tags along with Max and with the main party, being attracted to Ephemer, Skuld, and Brain's monochrome colors they wear that match Figaro's own fur.

Figaro is voiced in the English dub by Frank Welker.

Chirithy - The Chirithy were the ancient predecessors to Moogles in the World, but only one such Chirithy remains in the present day.

Chirithy is voiced in the English dub by Lara Jill Miller.

The Blue Fairy - The very same Blue Fairy who brought Pinocchio to life, it's her magic that draws Ephemer, Brain, and Skuld together, as she fills Yen Sid's old spot as the primary magic-powered mentor.

The Blue Fairy is voiced in the English dub by Rosalin Landor.

Merlin - Speaking of magic-powered mentor, Merlin is still very much around, still working with the Committee, still in possession of the Winnie The Pooh book, and still offering magic training to any who need it. He becomes particularly close with both Brain and Max.

Merlin is voiced in the English dub by Jeff Bennett.

Scrooge McDuck - Donald's uncle and the great uncle of Huey, Dewey, and Louie who mentored them in the ways of big business. Uncle Scrooge is still around the hub worlds, always doing his thing.

Scrooge McDuck is voiced in the English dub by En Reitel.

Wreck-It Ralph & Pals - First obtained as summonable allies by Sora in KH3, Ralph, Vanellope, Felix, and Sgt. Calhoun are allies in their own world in KH4 and become recurring aid to Ephemer's party.

They are voiced in the English dub by John C. Reily, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, and Jane Lynch.

Kermit The Frog - No one quite understands what Kermit's deal is, but he was displaced from his home world when it got torn up by blight, so now he seeks application with Leon's Committee in KH4. Later reunited with his Muppet friends in KH5, Kermit continues to help out while also serving as the host for entertainment venues and mini-games. He's generally good-natured, but not good at handling frustration, and has next to no combat capabilities besides dodging.

Kermit The Frog is voiced in the English dub by Matt Vogel.

Elrena, Lauriam, & Strelitizia - The resident "Hayner, Pence, and Olette" of Daybreak Town, this trio is unique in that there are two girls and one guy this time! The three of them were in the very last remnant of the old Dandelion Guild and like a family to one another, but Strelitiza tragically lost her heart in an incident a few years ago, with Lauriam and Elrena losing their hearts to the Heartless when they invaded their world. Now fully restored to life, the trio become loyal allies to Ephemer upon learning his ties to the Dandelion Guild.

Elrena, Lauriam, & Strelitzia are voiced in the English dub by Shanelle Workman-Gray, Keith Ferguson, and Madison Davenport.

THE ENEMIES

The Demi-Detergered - A truly bizarre and unexpected evolution has occurred within many of the Heartless that still roam the worlds. Powers of light, light stolen from the hearts of others, have entered their veins and changed them from within. Rather than be attracted to the darkness of people's hearts with the instict to prey upon those hearts, these Heartless seek out darkness and attack it in ways that prove dangerous to hearts and destructive to the fabric of the World. Called the Demi-Deterged, this brand of Heartless and the "blight" they possess is exploited by the Luminous Vanguard in their quest to purge reality of darkness and re-organize it around eternal light.

Neodarkness - An entity made of pure raw darkness who's become ruler of the Dark Realm, ensuring that all dark beings like Darklings, Heartless, Unversed, and Nightmares return to the World. In his previous existence, Neodarkness was Vanitas, the dark half of Ventus who served Master Xehanort. In accepting his nature, his dark soul was able to evolve into something else. Pure evil as he seems, Neodarkness doesn't always disturb the peace and finds himself frequently acting on the defensive against beseiging blight.

Neodarkness is voiced in the English dub by Haley Joel Osment.

Pete & Duke Mortimer - While Maleficent plays the chief antagonist role in KH4 along with Judge Frollo, she's brought down and sapped of all her dark magical power in the end. Unable to act anymore, she tasks Pete with tending to all her tasks and searching for a way to restore her power to her, and knowing that her chief flunkie is hardly reliable on his own, she inducts a new flunkie into her service: Duke Mortimer Mouse, King Mickey's rival from Disney Town who debuted in KH4. Creating a faux Keyblade for his use, Mortimer also comes in handy for slaying Demi-Deterged as he and Pete travel the worlds.

Pete and Duke Mortimer are voiced in the English dub by Jim Cummings and Maurice Lemarche respectively.

The Luminous Vanguard - A clerical society of white mages made from what used to be different unions for the Dandelion Guild. While their seven masters entering stasis in time made the group unable to function for ages, it has finally reactivated and is out to achieve its leader's vision of a reconstructed Kingdom Hearts whose pure light can spread to not just all worlds, but all Worlds, and burn away all darkness so that all hearts will be forced into obedience to the light. Having eliminated the ability for hearts to unite with Keyblades in frequency ages ago, the Vanguard abhors the very existence of the Keyblade, believing such a weapon to not be fit for human hands.

Master Narix - Founder and leader of the Luminous Vanguard. Narix has long believed that the majority of hearts are naturally weak and susceptible to darkness that begets dark powers that defile the World, and that only the strongest and purest of hearts should set the course for the World and its denizens. Envisioning a reality where darkness no longer exists, light conquers all Worlds, and he reigns supreme as the light's oppressive guardian, Narix arrogantly looks to use blight to tear down and reconstruct Kingdom Hearts from within its innermost heart, and will eradicate all that would get in his way. The road to the deepest darkness is paved with good intentions.

Master Narix is voiced in the English dub by Johnny Yong Bosch.

The Lost Masters - The six Masters who accompanied Narix in forming the Luminous Vanguard were Avali, Fura, Gorgeyo, Jelus, Ecaed, and the now deceased Luxu. Aside from Luxu, the only truly prominent Master is the young Avali, whose pure heart and convictions to doing good by others for the cause of light enabled her to become one of the new Princesses of Heart. More than the others she has doubts about the rightness of the Vanguard's course, but tends to quickly dispell those doubts and show why a pure heart of light can be incredibly dangerous if exploited by the wrong crowd.

In the English dub, Avali is voiced by Jenna Ortega, Fura by Travis Willingham, Gorgeyo by Matthew Mercer, Jelus by Katelyn Gault, and Ecaed by Adam McArthur (and Luxu by Hector Elizondo).

Justice Minister Frollo - Having lost his authority in La Cite des Lumieres, Judge Frollo was beckoned out from his world by the Lost Masters, who annointed him as Minister of Justice to lead the test run faction of the Luminous Vanguard, with the leftover Nightmare energy Frollo had attained granting him the power to control and exploit the Demi-Deterged. Gladly compliant with the Vanguard's mission to purge the World of darkness but holding himself in such esteem that he frequently changes the course of plans without the Lost Masters' imput, Frollo's broad defining of what is sinful sees him seeking the destruction of many Disney villains and Disney good guys alike, as all this grows and enhances his own heart’s darkness yet he remains ignorant or in denial of it due to his sense of self-righteousness.

Frollo is voiced in the English dub by Timothy E. Brummud.

Evanesse' - A very different sort of adversary Ephemer finds himself faced with later in his quest. Created as a Hollow Replica by the late Xehanort, he's inadvertedly found and given life by Ephemer, making him a Xehanort replica whose essence is but a pale copy of what came from Ephemer's heart. Calling himself Evanessé, he seeks to find his own aim and to define his place in the World, but plagued by self doubt that he can live up to his own expectations for existing and by the specter of Xehanort, he comes to resent life and decides he just wants everything around him to disappear into nothingness...

Evanesse' is voiced in the English dub by Dylan Sprouse.

[feynavaley]

I keep seeing people claiming things that straight-up contradict canon about America and Canada's dynamic, so I'm going to clarify a couple of points.

What's canon: Canada makes America cry after insulting him at length during an argument. Once. (The other time, we don't get to see America's reaction, even though we can certainly surmise he doesn't take it well.)

What's NOT canon: Canada constantly bullies (or even abuses!) America, treats him horribly and believes to be above him.

As I have already stressed, Canada makes America cry at most two times in canon.

Now, this obviously isn't okay and I'm not claiming Canada's actions were right. However, people just love to dismiss the context. First of all, this isn't Canada just insulting America out of nowhere without a justification, they're in the middle of arguments. Not to mention, both times, America is the one who starts insulting Canada. (This is another thing people conveniently never mention.) Then, Canada answers and, with the spirits running so high, he definitely goes too far. Even so, there is a context that, without justifying it, does explain why he lashed out so.

Moreover, Canada insulting America definitely isn't their everyday dynamic. They're depicted at ease around each other numerous times, doing activities and spending time together. All instances in which both of them are nice and friendly, clearly enjoying what they're doing. To make this even clearer, in most of their interactions, Canada shows no hostility towards America and is, instead, very kind to him.

Lastly, regarding the assumption that Canada feels superior to America... that one is explicitly denied in canon. Canada does have some issues with America's behaviour, this much is true. However, he believes himself to be overall inferior to America, not superior. He explicitly says so.

With all this, I'm not trying to claim that Canada is perfect or that he never does anything wrong. Just like every person, he has his limits and flaws and even though he's generally nice and accommodating, he can reach the breaking point when put under a lot of stress and then, make mistakes. But not being perfect all the time doesn't make him a bad person either. Not when that faulty behaviour is so different from his normal one.

[emblazons]

I just watched the airport scene for the first time in months (in its natural context) and 😭😂 Argyle and that shitty knockoff line after forcing Mike into a hug—

—thank you for that Duffers, cause honestly the tension of what happened with Will being called out not .005 seconds later was NECESSARY oh my god.

QUADRUPLE POINTS for the fact that you can tell Mike is being fake because Argyle loves Mike’s shirt…but Mike from minute one is actively annoyed and grated by all things Argyle.

…almost as though his real self has zero resonance with any of his California-cool-kid airport behavior.😏

[dangans-ur-ronpas]

the half part sees what the other half's got - fic masterpost (updates sundays) (on hiatus)

[no-truce-with-the-heroes]

sitting here thinking about how Toga Himiko wanted an easy life where she could be true to herself and yet the most obvious way she could express herself after leaving her parents' influence-- the clothes she wears-- might not be something she chose of her own will.

her villain gear? she didn't want to wear it at first because she thought it was uncute. why did she end up wearing it anyway when we know she hates doing things she doesn't want to do? (perhaps she's already used to wearing clothes she doesn't really want to wear when necessary?) in any case, it seems she came to accept it at some point, seeing as she goes out of her way to put it on before she seeks out Ochako during the PLW arc-- but is she choosing to put it on because she likes how it makes her look? or is it a uniform she puts on to serve a particular purpose? seeing as she otherwise seems to avoid wearing it, i'm inclined to think the latter.

speaking of putting on uniforms for a particular purpose: Toga explicitly says that people treated her just a little kinder when she dressed like a schoolgirl. she's not wearing it because she wants to, or because she still thinks of herself as one. it's not even her uniform-- her middle school uniform is the blazer-and-tartan style rather than a seifuku. at first i thought the cardigan might have been her addition, but it looks like that's probably part of the uniform too? so Toga only started wearing that outfit because it helped her while she was on the run and she needed every advantage she could get.

even her iconic space buns are suspect, especially given that they're intentionally meant to evoke spider lilies. in that light, it'd be a little odd if Toga saw putting her hair up that way as a desirable choice on her part. it's certainly possible that she wanted to put her hair up like that as a return to a childhood preference, but in the context provided by her schoolgirl uniform... well, it seems plausible to me that she put her hair up like that so she was less recognizable while she was on the run, and then it was simply better for her survival to keep it up than leave it loose.

it could very well be that the first and only time Toga had the chance to wear something she wanted to wear for its own sake was the duffel coat she bought during the MVA arc. what does it mean that she seems to have stopped wearing that coat shortly afterward? did anyone other than the PLF ever see her in that coat? i wonder how she would dress if she were actually given the complete freedom to choose for herself.