#Fit Gap Analysis

[saptutorials]

Gap Analysis in SAP: Understanding Gap Analysis in SAP

In the realm of SAP and information technology, the term “gap analysis” might sound like technical jargon, but its implications are crucial for businesses navigating digital transformations. Simply put, gap analysis involves scrutinizing the disparities between two information systems or applications, often aimed at bridging the divide between the current state( AS IS) and a desired state( To…

[lemurballing]

little un-themed tangle analysis to get my thoughts out

tangle really severely lacks direction/decision. she follows whoever she follows because she holds herself to them; follows whisper because whisper needs help, follows jewel because jewel needs support in the restoration, etc. and it’s both her strength and weakness and she will never determine/realize her full self if she fails to strike out on her own (sora kingdomhearts issue, daisuke motomiya issue)

her reservations against killing mimic, in my eyes, are a mix of fears and encoded moral principle. killing is Wrong and Bad and only bad guys do that, and if you kill even on accident it makes you Bad. she wants to prevent whisper from becoming Bad - stopping her from killing mimic. i wonder if part of her fear also is - refusing to consider any situation where killing someone can be a positive result - she worries killing mimic will be the start of a ‘slippery slope’ where that person then justifies killing other people. if someone’s willing to kill once, they will again, right? and how are you supposed to determine whether it’s ‘right’ to kill someone yourself, anyways? even though tangle says what mimic has done is unforgivable, she wants to just vaguely lock him away and forget about him forever. she wants him dead, even if she doesn’t think about it in those terms. she wants whisper free of her history with mimic.

it’s really just making me think of cassie from animorphs. tangle’s morals and principles - they are both good and bad, not solely one or the other; they’re a balance when her teammate is at risk of going too far or being volatile. (so long as she can stand hurting whisper to hold her back, when other people are at risk in the crossfire - a lack of decisiveness, of firmness, when it comes to her close friends. she doesn’t want to drive them away - it’s doormat tendencies from someone who is deeply lonely.) but in some situations, yeah, it doesn’t help.

anyone read animorphs here? well. david trilogy. this random kid gets morphing tech and winds up trying to kill the team - as animals, because if they’re animals they’re not people. if david kills them as a lion when they’re a hawk that’s okay. and so the remaining animorphs gotta figure out a way to deal with him, they can’t just take away his morphing. instead of killing him outright, cassie comes up with the plan - to trap him in rat morph for the rest of his rat lifespan, stick him on a remote island completely isolated from other sapient beings, where he then psychically screams on end because he is fully and entirely alone as a rat on an island with rat predators. they spared his life; it is not any more merciful. i also see the same sort of argument brewing around tangle as it seems the animorphs fandom had around cassie… which :PP

also, on tangle still being upset with lanolin? i’m so glad it’s there (<- not a judgment on whether i like it or not) tangle has had a huge lack of.. i guess personal agency?? seeing her actually have her own personal feelings and acting on them is so important, whether she’s in the right or wrong. i hope she does more. and the reasons i see tangle being upset with lanolin are a lot of things stacking up, big and small. yeah in 58 tangle believed in lanolin and gave that big speech but tbh i don’t trust 58 for tangle characterization all that much. and that belief could have eroded anyways - concurrently to lanolin having more respect for tangle. lanolin, as they were just casually existing together, probably had a hard time tolerating tangle and working with her. (maintaining the fact that as fun as it is, as they were/are lanolin and tangle do NOT work on the same team. they are on different wavelengths - they can work together, but they need small doses of one another, not to coexist nearby each other for so long.) so tangle already got little inklings of negativity from lanolin. i also imagine lanolin’s harsh reaction to sonic, amy, and tails in the race soured her opinion of lanolin, and tangle just let it lie instead of confronting it. (very tangle of her.) tangle just pressed that back. and from tangle’s standpoint - sonic, amy, and tails just had a rough experience and risked getting hurt as much as the other racers did, and lanolin blew up at them instead of offering comfort! that doesn’t inspire trust in tangle - it shows tangle that lanolin has no tolerance for someone doing the ‘wrong thing’, even if it wasn’t their fault. and, as small as it is, lanolin snatching the paddleball and tangle going “you coulda asked first…” contributes to this point. then the whole deal with whisper being so upset - regardless of whether lanolin was in the right to dismiss silver and be harsh with whisper or not, it’s possible tangle still holds resentment for all of that happening - she’s very defensive of her close friends, which lanolin is not yet.

so with all that resentment building - plus the rush of validation and anger when whisper was right all along and duo was mimic - she’s probably riding a wave of righteous (as in the way tangle treats it, not objectively righteous) irritation/anger with lanolin now. which also means it’s a very good thing she’s not on a team with lanolin at the moment!

tangle seems to actively avoid introspection at any given moment, and struggled with it across the campground arc where she felt she HAD to make up her own mind on whisper and potentially leaving the restoration - she couldn’t ask jewel for help. (and probably knew that unless she was decided, if she told jewel, she wouldn’t actually leave. she wouldn’t be able to say no to jewel and leave for certain unless tangle WAS certain.) and the worse thing is that even after that introspection and tangle made her own decision to pursue her own interest and find whisper, that whole potential storyline and aside dropped like a rock on jupiter.

tangle just disappeared for a handful of issues and wound up REJOINING restoration efforts OFFSCREEN in one of the central city issues - 51? i have it noted somewhere. OFFSCREEN went back on her momentous decision - it’s a negative payoff for the hope we get seeing tangle off to do her own thing. and probably reinforces tangle’s idea that her own decisions and ideas are trash and she needs to follow someone - except with tangle pushing that down, nobody’s gonna address that. tangle will believe the best of anyone else - that jewel’s mistakes are because she was taken advantage of, that whisper just needs to ease up and rest, that their bad decisions are forgivable and they will make better ones - but when it comes to tangle herself, she doesn’t have that belief or faith. belle commented on tangle’s confidence in herself during the campground arc - i think it’s moreso tangle doesn’t believe there’s any point to her just existing unless she’s doing something. she needs to feel useful or fulfilled. when she’s encouraging others to relax and take it easy, she’s fulfilling that purpose. but down to herself, with no one else to comfort? tangle’s harsh on herself.

and tangle herself - unlike mimic - is a decent actor. she diverts attention, eases up with her comments so they seem like jokes and stays positive when she can. she’s going to crack at some point. what happens to tangle after that depends on when she cracks, and who’s with her afterwards.

and i don’t think it’s JUST tangle favoritism speaking when i see a lot of potential in tangle to be a leader figure - she pulls people together and mediates between them already, and is willing to listen to others for advice; the parts she lags on or doesn’t have expertise with is making her own decisions for other people instead of just her own safety or risks. cause tangle treats herself differently than she will anyone else, and her willingness to risk herself feels different when we know she doesn’t always /value/ herself. “better me get hurt than her-“ tangle that’s how you become pearl stevenuniverse and she is NOT a good role model.

thank you for reading down here :3 have a cookie and remember to share your own analysis and thoughts if you have em!

[the-sage-libriomancer]

it baffles me how people still genuinely believe that centaurworld is supposed to be a kids show. like, i know it's rated y-7, but that's because there's nothing that censors will flag: no nudity, no swear words, no references to adult things like sex or drugs, and we already know how much creepy/disturbing/downright horrific shit you can slip under a y-7 rating so long as it's not gory or overly violent. that's literally the only reason it got the "kid's show" rating: because it didn't have the usual inherently "adult" elements to bump the rating up.

i went in kind of expecting an adult comedy so maybe i just had the upper hand of knowing the intended audience, but even watching the first season - it just feels like it's aimed at an older audience. the jokes are written to be laughed at by adults. the characters have personalities and character arcs that are catered to adult ideas and understandings. themes like gaining self-confidence and dealing with ugly emotions aren't restricted to either show type ofc, but in centaurworld they're approached in a way that's specifically relatable to adults: the feeling of being isolated in a big strange world, finding a belated family in your friends, gifted kid burnout, the fear of becoming someone you don't recognize, the incredibly rocky journey to grow past your trauma and the many many wrong turns you might take along the way. one entire episode is so incredibly suicide-coded that i genuinely wouldn't recommend showing it to anyone under 13 unless they can handle such a heavy topic.

anyway. i think centaurworld is a really really good example of how ratings don't indicate maturity level and how lots of adult-centric jokes, themes, and story arcs can make it into a show because censors aren't flagging mature themes so much as a list of child-unfriendly content, hence why centaurworld - very much an adult comedy - got the safest possible rating despite exploring adult-oriented topics and also being a literal fever dream.

[astrolook]

🎨💍#2 Appearance & Traits Of Future Spouse In Astrology🌸🌹

Note: These are just my personal observations and recurring patterns I've noticed over the years. Take what resonates with you and leave the rest. Feel free to share in the comments if any of this hits home. This post is based on Vedic astrology.

👀 Future spouse looks according to your planets in your 7th house

🌞 Sun in 7H: Slight tan skin 🍯, a bit intimidating at first 😈. You might hesitate to even approach them! Stands out in a crowd 💥, might be into workouts 🏋️. Hubby = gym rat/ posh man🏋️‍♂️, wifey = toned queen 👑. Commanding voice 🎤, dom vibes 🔥. Dresses classy & conservative 🧥, might be a boss 🏛️, business owner 💼, or a high-up government or corporate babe/ boo 💼💣.

🔥 Mars in 7H: Warm and tanned skin ☀️, reddish/dark hair vibes ❤️‍🔥 (might love dyeing it!). Wild energy🌪️ hairstyles and outfits always changing 🎭. Smart, fast-talker 🧠, extrovert + a little spicy 🌶️. Defined angry-looking eyebrows 😠 (even when happy lol). Big spender 💸, big earner too 🏆.

🌞+🔥 Sun + Mars in 7H: Ambivert alert 🚦. Mood-based conversations: one day a helpful angel 👼, next day "huh, who r u??" 😒. Tan or slightly darker than you ✨. You WILL find them magnetic 🧲. Possibly foreign/mixed race🛫.

🧠 Mercury in 7H: Total chatterbox 📞, witty king/queen 🤹. Slim build 🪶, quirky , might whistle or make weird sounds 🎵. Loves music 🎸, games 🎮, restaurants 🍝, parties 🎉, weekend trips 🚗. Super approachable!

🧠🔁 Mercury Rx in 7H: Wise owl 🦉, slow to open up 🌑. Introverted, might wear glasses 🤓. Researcher vibes 🔍. For wives = BS detector 🧹, for husbands = detective brain 🕵️‍♂️. Jobs in analysis, finance, art, coding, writing 👨‍💻.

💖 Venus in 7H: Spouse is youthful af ✨. You'll KNOW they are "the one" 💍. Gorgeous looks 😍, into beauty/art/health fields 🎨💉. Loves comfy living 🛋️ and lowkey snack queen 👑🍪.

💖🔁 Venus Rx in 7H: Baby face + allergies combo 🍼🤧. Reserved, deeply insecure under their pretty exterior 🥺. Might get beauty treatments 💉. Into design, food, history, style 🎀.

🧠+💖 Mercury + Venus in 7H: Smooth talkers with sparkly brains 🌟. Prone to sniffles 🤧, but will charm the socks off everyone 🧦. Could pass as a hot manager/model 😎. Cute chubby-cheeked even when fit 🍑.

🌙 Moon in 7H: Hair dye addict 🎨, moody rollercoaster 🎢. Mama's boy/daddy’s girl vibes 👶👸. Artistic soul 🎭, super intuitive 🔮. Fertile AF 👶x3. Baby today, grandma/ grandpa wisdom tomorrow 🧓👼.

🌍 Jupiter in 7H: Big smiles 😁, big hands 👐, big wallet 💰. SPF300 if you’re sunbathing with them 🧴☀️. Works abroad 🌎 or inherits properties or genetic issues🏠. Blessed child!

🌍🔁 Jupiter Rx in 7H: Addicted (to coffee ☕, meds 💊, or... more 🍷). Might be underfed/overfed 🍽️. Liberal but grew up strict. Atheist / agnostic / irreligious. Might live that alt life (vegan, minimalist 🌱).

🌙+🧠 Moon + Mercury in 7H: Mimics everyone 🎭, movie buff 🎬, loves forests 🌳 and autumn 🍂. Bird lover 🐦.

🪐 Saturn in 7H: Calm, mature 🧘‍♀️. Collects vintage bags 👜 or classic cars 🚗. Might go bald early 👨‍🦲 or grey early 👩‍🦳. Gains weight in face and tummy if it happens 🍩.

🪐🔁 Saturn Rx in 7H: Smart, chill, owns a home 🏡 before 35. Loves antiques 🖼️. Big age gap possible, either too young or too old for you 🧓+🧒. Reverse-aging vampire vibes 🧛‍♂️.

🌙+🪐 Moon + Saturn in 7H: Wild style changes 🎭, sleep issues 🌒. Into auctions 🎨 or gambling 🎰. Pale if Rx, darker if not Rx.

🌞+🧠🔁 Sun + Mercury Rx in 7H: Grumpy genius ✍️. Silent unless close to you 🔕. Might stutter or trail off mid-sentence 🫠. Either casual like your bro 👦 or formal like an English lord 🧐.

Wanna go deeper into the layers of your placements? DM me for a complete astrology reading or a 5 year/8 year marriage report or synastry reading🌙💬 and check out my pinned post for pricing + details 💫💸

Let’s decode your cosmic chaos together ⭐

Next post is about Darakaraka (DK) aka the planet with the lowest degree in your birth chart which reveals clues about your future spouse.

DK: The planet that holds your deepest desires for a partner like your soul's "Wanted Ad" scribbled in cosmic ink. It shows the kind of spouse you attract and what your heart secretly craves in relationships.

[tahbhie]

The Act of Writing Psychotic Characters 

Part 1: Attention vs Intention

It's been a while since I received this request, and I ensured I took my time with the thoughts, evaluation, and analysis. This topic will be covered in three parts, so here's the first.

Before we proceed, please note that I am not a psychiatrist, psychologist, or any professional in that field. This is just an insight into how this kind of concept can fit into your novels.

Okay, let's begin.

The Attention vs Intention part of this topic will discuss two ways of portraying these type of characters in scenes. 

First, you need to understand that psychotic characters aren't psychotic based solely on their speeches or actions. If that's all you have in mind before approaching a story, you might leave a huge gap in the execution.

Rather, it's how they feel—the desire to satisfy their current emotions.

They have drives and motives, but most especially beliefs which, in most cases, are hardly understandable by other people. It's wrong and unacceptable by society, but to them, they wouldn't do it any differently.

That's why most psychotic characters have no remorse. You simply can't apologize or feel sorry if you don't 'believe' that you're in the wrong.

➜ Attention Psychosis

Psychotic characters whose main purpose in a story is limited to presence (i.e., showing up in scenes and visibly serving the role of a psychotic character) are attention psychotics. You don't flesh out their backstory or why they are who they are.

Their drives and motives aren't talked about enough to the point of justification. Readers hardly care about them, but the action they bring to the scene creates a rich narrative with the purpose of psychosis.

In summary, their role is minor. We see such cases in movies like The Babysitter.

Let's agree that none of the cult characters in that movie are exactly sane, as their main aim is to end their victims’ lives in the sickest ways possible. However, there's a certain character, Max, who simply enjoys the idea of "killing and seeing people bleed."

That has exceeded the central idea of being a cultist who gets involved in blood sacrifice to achieve their 'dream life' like the rest of the characters. It's now something more and different.

Something that has to do with homicidal ideation.

Max worked in a diner where he dealt with people that annoyed him so greatly that he wanted to kill them. So he got the opportunity to join a cult and do just that.

It was plain clear this guy had something else going on for him, but throughout the movie, his character had no special attention or even a peek into his thoughts. Although, it still worried the audience. Job done.

➜ Intention Psychosis

When a story is centered around a character's mental state, their motives, drives, beliefs, actions, and the story actually unfolds by going deeper into this concept, you have intention psychosis.

If not entirely, at least mostly, it defines the entire plot surrounding that character. People get to understand why they are who they are, their mode of action, what drives them, and even a peek into how they perceive the world around them.

Such scenarios are seen in movies like The Joker and Pyramid game (Korea). The audience gets a glimpse into their overall life and understands at least to an extent why they are the way they are.

Their beliefs get twisted for certain reasons, and there was just no stopping them. Here the characters were more than a presence; they were a central core.

In the movie Joker, we watched Arthur’s impoverished life unfold, with every event and incident worsening his condition further.

Baek Ha-rin in Pyramid Game literally created an entire game system to watch a student, who happened to be her old friend, suffer both physically and mentally. She went to great lengths to carry out this nefarious act under the guise of the game. Although this movie encompassed more than just this storyline, it was hard to ignore the unhealthy drive and actions of the young lady with an innocent face.

Before incorporating a psychotic character in your novel, determine their form of portrayal and appearance in the overall story. Are they going to serve as an attention psychotic or an intention psychotic?

Inspired by @sothera

Stay tuned for the next part!

۝ Before you go! ۝

My Characters and I is an extensive one-on-one coaching session designed to create characters that leap off the pages and become best friends with your readers.

What's a great story without remarkable characters? Spots are filling up fast, so grab yours now and get ahead of millions of writers out there.

👇👇👇

[criminallyvenomous]

Anytime, Always - Spencer Reid X Reader

• Plot - When Dr. Reid came to speak at your University, you were thrilled. A big-time F.B.I. agent at your own school, how could you resist? Soon, that wasn’t the only thing you couldn’t resist. Random meet ups and nights together were fun at first, but when he started guest lecturing on a regular? That was a whole new experience.

•Ship - Spencer Reid X Reader

• Fandom - Criminal Minds

• Warnings - Age gap (legal consenting adults), Fluff, Eventual smut, Pining, and of course a warning you might fall for Spence even harder post reading)

• Word Count - 1,504

~

“You wouldn’t even believe how swamped I am with schoolwork right now. I can’t imagine taking three hours out of my day to go see a seminar, I’m sorry.” You told your friend, Emma as you packed your backpack with your supplies, due to the ending of your shared class.

“You invited me!” She replied, laughing at how messy your weeks have gotten with midterms coming closer.

“I know, I know.” You ran your hand through your hair as you shook your head. “I just, ugh. I don’t know.”

“Oh, come on. It’ll cheer you up! It’s an F.B.I. agent on campus, talking about serial killers and weird kinky stuff. Aren’t you obsessed with that genre on T.V.? Besides, his photo’s up in the hall, and the guy is a total smoke-show.” She persuaded.

“Okay, fine. You convinced me. Let’s just grab a quick lunch before we head over.”

You had begun to realize she was right, this was going to cheer you up. When it was announced that Dr. Reid from the F.B.I.’s very own Behavioral Analysis Unit was coming to speak at your university, you ordered tickets the same day. His photo was striking, but so was his biography. A multi-PhD owner with one of the coolest jobs in the country, how could you have possibly said no?

The venue began to fill and to say Spencer was anxious was an understatement. Sure, he had done a few talks at colleges before, but only ever with the team. Whenever he even tried to do his own part of a presentation, whether with Rossi or Emily, his jokes always fell flat and the room cold.

He decided to take a quick peek at the crowd, not sure if it would calm or heighten his nerves. It was about what he expected, young adults and a few older. There were a lot of students on their phones or talking to each other, a few with notebooks and pens or pencils to take notes. There were even the additional couple with laptops or iPads. He preferred to work on paper, but as the times have evolved, so have his thoughts on tech. Notes were notes.

He headed backstage and made brief small talk with the Dean before she went on to introduce him.

“Ooh, It’s starting!” Emma whispered into your ear, earning a “Shh” from you.

“Students, I am very pleased to be the one introducing Dr. Reid today. I first met him when he was a budding star of the Bureau, now he’s rather well known in several fields for his vast knowledge. A graduate of CalTech with an eidetic memory, Dr. Reid holds PhDs in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering. He also has bachelor’s in Psychology, Sociology, and Philosophy. It’s no wonder he was scouted into the F.B.I. and joined the Behavioral Analysis Unit at just twenty-two years of age. His work with the team has helped bring countless criminals to justice and well, I’ll let him take it from here. Dr. Spencer Reid everyone!” She announced, your Dean was an older woman with connections to just about anyone. It was only last year a Youtube star and NBA player spoke at your university.

“Wow, thank you for your kind words, Dean Taylor.” Spencer said as he headed onto the stage, mic’d up.

You were already excited, but seeing his face in person was a whole new level of attractive than his photo. He began to do his speech, but you were distracted by every little thing about him. His height first of all, almost unnaturally tall and slender, but fit nonetheless. He wore a lighter blue button down with a darker blue tie, a black cardigan draped over. It was a tad oversized, hanging over his slacks. You followed his hands as he used the pointer to showcase details of each slide behind him. His hands were appropriately sized to his lankier frame, but his long fingers caught your attention, almost being impossible to look away from.

“This is when the case got interesting, we had determined that despite the team’s initial inclinations, there was most certainly a satanic note in these killings. Does anyone have a theory or comment on the case so far?” He asked the room, you looked around before making your eyes to the board, trying to catch up.

“You said Salem? That’s creepy.” Some guy towards the back of the audience called out, not having raised a hand.

“Creepy is right. There’s definitely a connection to the witch trials, can anyone tell me what?” You could tell he didn’t have a lot of experience leading these seminars or lectures, but he could still keep an audience’s attention. You decided to raise your hand.

“Yes, red shirt in the fourth row?” He asked you.

“You said the victims were drowned, could this have been a test of innocence?” You guessed.

“Precisely.” He smiled. You couldn’t help but smile back.

The rest of the talk went without a hitch, and Spencer had decided to stay and take questions from the students. The Bureau told him to try and earn some interest in the F.B.I. from students with promise. He headed to grab a water and a snack before he began the Q&A section.

“That was great, Dr. Reid. David was right in suggesting you. It’s been a pleasure having you on campus.” Dean Taylor said, putting her hand onto his shoulder, reassuringly.

“Thank you so much, Dean. It was a pleasure being here. To be honest, I missed the college environment. It’s part of why I kept coming back.” He half-joked.

“We’re looking for some returning guest lecturers, if you’re interested and the commute’s not too much.”

“That’d be great, actually. I’ll talk with my team lead. Just send me any information you have or need.” He couldn’t help but be amused at the thought of teaching, even if only temporarily and as a guest. He liked sharing his knowledge to well, anyone that would listen.

“I’ll let you get back out there. Let me know if you need anything at all.” She stated and he nodded in response.

There were fewer students who stayed back than he expected, which was honestly a relief to him. Among the few, was you. He had internally added you to the list of people to talk to about an interest in the F.B.I., but was shocked at just how beautiful you were now that he could get a proper look.

“Dr. Reid, can you tell us more about your involvement with child abductions? How many end in a non-horrifying manner?” Some girl ahead of you asked.

You waited your turn, purposefully putting yourself at the end of the line to ensure extra time with the doctor.

“Red shirt, fourth row.” He recalled, you laughed.

“Y/N. It’s an honor to meet you.” You extended a hand and he hesitated before shaking it.

“You too.” He pushed a stray hair behind his ear and gestured you to take a seat across from him. He was sitting on the edge of the stage, with his legs folded like a kid. It was endearing. “So, what question did you have for me, Y/N?” God, you were glad he knew your name.

“Um, I’m sorry, I totally forgot.” You were embarrassed, “To be honest, I’m completely starstruck right now. You’re a legend in your fields and not to mention astonishingly attractive. It’s too much, how are you even real?” You rambled, chuckling awkwardly.

“Same way you are, I guess.” He meant it as a joke on humanity, but it came off as a flirt. “I mean, like we all are just specks of dust on a floating rock, right?” This time he awkwardly laughed. You think you even see his cheeks redden.

“Absolutely.” You smiled.

“So, are you interested in joining the Bureau?”

“The thought has crossed my mind.”

“Well then, you should take my card.” He pulls out a business card from his back pocket and hands it to you. “You can reach me at that number or the email with any questions you might have.”

“What if I don’t have any questions? Can I still reach out to you?” You tried your best to flirt, when would you ever get a chance like this again?

“Hmm, what year are you? You’re undergrad right?” He was reminded of your age difference and just wanted to make sure you were at least semi-appropriate, considering the possible power dynamics that could be in place.

“Yeah, I’m a fourth year. Twenty-two this year. What are you, thirty?” You laughed lightly, he smiled.

“Thirty-four.” He corrected.

“So…” You trailed off. “About that number,”

“You can contact me anytime, Y/N.”

“Here, I’ll give you ‘my card’.” You joked, pulling a page from your notepad and scribbling down your information before handing it to him.

He looked down at it and smiled.

‘Y/N L/N xxx-xxx-xxxx anytime’

part two story masterlist

[lubrumalis]

ghost headcanons! (realistic)

tw: nsfw, spoilers, dead dove do not eat

a lot of these are based off of my personal understanding of him

part 2 —> character analysis of ghost

general:

didn’t go back to manchester after his family died, too many foul memories—a lot of friends will probably know him as a murderer (comic reference, ghost was accused of killing his family in the newspaper)

has a fit body. a lot of people like to hc him as big and bulky, i think otherwise! its actually a huge disadvantage to be bulky in size as a soldier (logistics while fighting yk). most SAS soldiers are trained for endurance and fitness, i think he has a moreso lean body

hes not cold and ruthless, wouldn’t say hes a big softie either.

VERYYYY punctual. always on time

will not abuse or rape anyone. this guys been through atrocities, he would never do it to someone else

won’t hire a prostitute, ever.

honestly, hes just another dude in the military. he loves dad jokes and bourbon😭

ghost doesn’t think hes mean or tries to be, he simply is intimidating because of his size and way of talking

he likes watching soccer in his free time

gets internally offended if someone thinks hes from london (anywhere but Manchester)

very dark humoured. tell him any dark joke and he wouldn’t care

loves tea

listens to older british bands, like the smiths

cannot understand modern slang at all. what does ‘iykyk’ and ‘rizzler’ mean???

texts like a typical millennial. uses ‘😂’ and ‘😜’ unironically. types with proper grammar and spelling with punctuation too, maybe an occasional LOL

also unironically likes posts about trust issues and being a sigma male. he doesn’t actually think hes one, he just relates to those quotes that are like: “being alone is better than with fakes” 😭😭😭😭

ghost probably hates other men more than misandrists ���� i think its bc hes always fighting other men and dealing with the cruel things theyve done, so ghost subconsciously feels more on guard with men he doesnt know

has insomnia

doesn’t cry. ghost doesn’t remember the last time he cried.

isn’t rich rich, but has a ton of savings. he doesn’t have a family or spend a lot. so the money piles up.

relationship hcs:

first off, i dont think he’d realistically get into one anyway LMAO

s/o would have to the chasing, i dont think ghost is the kind to actively pursue someone

he has charisma, doesn’t feel like using it

hes very against the idea at first—his family got murdered because he was in the military, you think hes gonna let it happen again?

probably will not like someone working with him as a soldier

i think itd go two ways: a) you are a civilian who aggressively pursues the poor guy and he gives in, b) you work as a military nurse and gradually get to know him, c) you are a longtime close friend of his before he was in the military

i cant see him being fwb with anyone, only one night stands

hes not a toxic partner or super lovey dovey

ghost doesn’t entertain multiple women at once

itd most likely end up in a breakup where he fears for your safety:(((

BUT lets ignore that

tbh, i think he would probably be with someone very empathetic and kind to others. he doesn’t like people overly energetic, too soft, or someone that annoys him

persons gotta be independent and good with long distance

simon doesn’t care about age gaps, but probably wants someone at least in their late twenties

had a hard time opening up, eventually told you everything once he trusts you

another reason why i think he wants someone empathetic is because he has severe trust issues😃😃

last thing he’d care about is looks for long term relationships

the type of guy to disappear for 6 months and reappear to be like “remember im your husband???”🫡

doesn’t let you tell your friends about him—No hes not being uncommitted or toxic, but hes simply being cautious after what happened to his family

you can’t show anyone photos of him, his name, his occupation, NOTHHINGGG

so you fake a name for your bf who your friends think you’re lying about

definitely does not let you post on social media about him either.

installs security in your home, teaches you self defense, and gives you weapons. this guy can be paranoid

will never hit you or lay a hand on you

ghost genuinely thinks you saved him—his life was bleak and empty before you came in. subconsciously thinks of you as a savior

he buys you gifts, does chores for you, he really likes you :(

ghost actively tries to make his voice sound softer and friendlier when hes talking to you

doesnt understand playing mind games, things like the silent treatment or “im ok” when ur not ok thing. just tell him how you feel

doesn’t tell his team about your existence. you and his job are always going to be separate.

avoids talking about what he does in the military. ghost has killed and injured many and he doesn’t want you to see that side of him.

scary dog privileges for SURE

[bwat5-blog]

Caitlyn & Violet: A Deeper Look

**Spoilers For All Of Arcane**

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

Caitlyn as a bridge between cities

Caitlyn's similarities to Vi's loved ones

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

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

Caitlyn As The Bridge Between Cities:

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

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

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

Vi-

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

Sevika-

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

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

The Commander -

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

Born in Piltover

Entered Zaun with Vi

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

Becomes The Commander

Occupation Of Zaun

The War

The Strike Team:

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

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

Caitlyn's motivation-

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

I would rather die alone" (Hellfire Arcane)

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

2. History with Piltovan Oppression-

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

The Occupation:

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

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

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

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

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

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

How They Move Forward:

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

Caitlyn is married to a famous Zaunite.

She has given Zaun their first real step toward equality.

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

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

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

Caitlyn's Similarities To Vi's Loved Ones:

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

Jinx:

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

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

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

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

2. Vander:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Caitlyn's Reflection Of The Leaders Of Zaun:

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

Finding "Strength" out of pain:

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

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

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

Conclusion:

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

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

[possiblylando]

HTP; Ghoul Lore Audio Log Spoilers/Analysis/Discussion

Dude holy shit uh Spoiler barrier and then all in cause

Okay Okay fuck where to begin this episode literally changes everything okay I guess lets start at the Draught. Based on what we know about this unique Draught, it means Grimal might not be the ghoul?? If the ghoul potentially has this Draught (which I vaguely doubt will come into play in this arc specifically) it could mean anyone could be the ghoul so long as they were only in a place without 1 other person. Atleast I assume so because if they could use this high power Dominate on multiple people simultaneously then this whole operation would be cooked from the start. While I was very mixed on the idea of Gloria as the Ghoul previously, I think its far more possible now. This high level Dominate (Lets assume 4 dots) This ghoul could have access to Rationalize or Forgetful Mind, Or any others in that category. If Grimal is was being commanded to act that could explain why everything is so suspicious around her. Have someone else go in and take care of Occam while the ghoul sits with someone else and has the perfect alibi. So now I think the possibilities for Ghoul are; 1. Grimal is the Ghoul (The Draught is a red herring and simply setting up something in a future arc instead of this current one.) 2. Gloria is the Ghoul & has this Draught; this is based more on Vibes and the fact Gloria doesn't actually do too much in part 1 outside checking Occam's pulse. If she's the ghoul and commanded someone (Namely Grimal) to attack Occam, she would have a vested interested in knowing if the attack was successful. Okay thats about it for my thoughts on the Ghoul right now. Onto the far more important bit of this episode. Because this was not simpyl a Ghoul Lore episode, THIS WAS A MARCKUS LORE EPISODE TROJAN HORSE.

But before the deep Marckus shit- Markus was 12 in 1988. Door was present and seems to be in his 20s or 30s. Boy has not been born yet and Boy is 11 in 2006 so he was born in like 1995. So I think its reasonable to place door as being in his 20s here, having Boy in his 30s. This means Door is probably 8-15? (Maybe) years older than Markus which would make him roughly 40 in modern day. D does look markedly younger in these photographs but I'm not sure if thats art style or actually because he's aged. It does put a damped on my thoughts about D being MUCH older than he seems. But we do know his previous Ex-Wife Rozalia (The Ghoul) is roughly 108 in modern day. It seems to be implied D had met & later married her after she was pretty deep into being a ghoul so there probably was a large age gap already. But it still kinda stands out to me. D is very afraid or Marckus becoming a Ghoul because he sees himself in him. I don't necessarily think D was a ghoul (thought it could explain his weird age). Thought all this might be confirmation Bias as in the more recent episodes D's hair has been more consistently colored with grey streaks when compared to earlier episodes where it was more like a sheen in his hair. It just feels like D has done too much to only be roughly in his 60-70s and very fit. While older people can certainly be in good physical condition it doesnt seem like D has suffered any real negatives from aging? He's MINIMUM 18 years older than Door who is in his 40s but again that's a low ball. I don't know. Alright time for the Marckus stuff. So its rather basic background knowledge that HTP's main cast is inspired by the cast of Warhammer 40k TTS. Now up until this point I had thought it was mostly a baseline thing. Only really carrying over personalities and vague relationships between characters while having the freedom to change them with that background knowledge. But based on this episode it appears to be more relevant.

Whatever the fuck Marckus managed to summon, It was something not even D understood. This is in directly parallel with 40k's Magnus who Marckus is based on. For those who don't know about 40k lore (I don't blame you its VERY long.), Magnus is a Primarch (Emperor's special kids) who ended up being manipulated by 40k's god of trickery and ended up fucking up literally everything because of his lack of thinking things through and the influence of said trickster god. Gods in 40k are manifestations of humanity (and alien's) collective subconscious minds and often take the forms of their most volatile negative aspects. They're entited formed from 'The Warp' which is the source of magic in 40k. Magnus is very naturally tuned to the warp. Almost all the issues in TTS (and 40k) relating to Magnus are because he has a MASSIVE complex. He craves parental affection and affirmation but in TTS every time he thinks hes denied it, some shit goes wrong. When he actually gets that parental affection (Earlier season 2 iirc) he mellows out alot until finding out the only reason the emperor (D's counterpart) brought him back was so that Magnus would act as a pawn and decoy in his 5d chess game to deal with political enemies. Magnus is not happy about this. With all this background information, whats present in this episode slots into place. Marckus seems to have forgotten about the incident yes. The better case is that he blocked out the memory due to trauma. But the worse possibility is that a seed was planted. One that's been festering within him since that time. D may be planning to tell Marckus everything in a few months, But I get the feeling before those months are up, That seed will sprout. In one form or another, Marckus will be given the option to go down the same path of darkness as his predecessor. I don't think Marckus would go for such a path without a push but the one providing that push might be D, even if unintentionally. D is so focused on the forest that he's missing the trees.

[fanoftheimagines]

With the finale of season 2, I’m going to take a swing at the hornet’s nest. I’d like to take some time to discuss some discourse in the Joel Miller x Reader side of the fandom. Now, I wanted to stay out of it, but not only is the issue incredibly irritating, it’s also devolved into a toxic back-and-forth of miscommunication, mistagging, and anger.

I know it’s a lot to ask these days, but I’d like to address and analyze this recent discourse with a bit of critical thinking. However, there’s a bit of housekeeping I must do first. I want to make it clear that I have an opinion on the matter. I am not coming at this without bias, nor am I attempting to. That being said, I am not judging anyone in this fandom space for their opinions or kinks. To each their own. This is not coming from a place of pearl-clutching purity culture bs – in fact, I’m a proponent of making fandom weird again and don’t like, don’t read. I am also aware that a majority of one side will probably not see this post, as I’ve blocked a lot of people in this fandom over the years. I am simply a fan who wishes to have a mature conversation about this interesting, and complex, piece of discourse. This is also not coming from a place of behavior-policing. You can write what you want, and I will block accordingly.

So, what was the discourse to begin with?

The core of it is quite simple. One side is fans who want less dramatic age gaps, more reader inserts in their 30s+, and less DBF/daddy kink fics. The other side became angry of these complaints and are demanding people ignore these fics. This discourse originated in the PPCU fandom* and was not specific to the Last of Us fandom**, which leads me to believe this problem is purely due to the nature of Joel Miller being played by Pedro Pascal and not an inherent aspect of the Last of Us fandom. Now, I’ll get into the analysis of these arguments in a moment, but first, I’d like to go over some numbers.

To start, I analyzed everything posted from May 1st to May 21st in the Joel Miller x Reader tag. I recorded the type of post (whether it was a fanfiction, a picture, a video, a rec, or a general post), the date, and whether it fit a certain set of categories. The categories were classified by whether it contained the following: age gap (and what that age gap was), DBF (or other related kinks), daddy kink, incest or step dad kink, dark fic, or what I classified as “old man kink” (basically anything that sexualized old men and labeled old man!Joel specifically).

I want to make it clear, I’m purely looking at the amount posted not how popular these fics are. As much as I would’ve liked to analyze both, I am one person with a busy life, and my hypotheses didn’t focus so much on popularity as frequency.

So, what was the data?

There were 1093 total posts within the 21-day span, 678 of which were fanfictions. For reference, there were 309 general posts, 69 pictures, 19 rec posts, and 18 videos. Of the 678 fanfictions, approximately 641 were Joel Miller x Reader fics. 289 met none of the categories and 349 met the categories. Per day, there was an average of 16 fics posted that met the categories verses an average of 13 fics posted that didn’t.

Let’s focus on the categories, namely, what’s the breakdown?

Age Gap: 154

DBF: 80

Dark Fics: 48

Daddy Kink: 31

Old Man Kink: 17

Implied Age Gap: 7

Incest: 7

Step Dad Kink: 2

BFD: 2

HBF: 1

The age gap ranges in these fics, where expressly stated, were the following:

20s to 50s: 16

20s to 60s: 8

20s to 40s: 6

30s to 50s: 6

30s to 60s: 6

Late 20s to 50s: 5

Late 20s to 40s: 4

Late 20s to 60s: 4

20s to 30s: 2

There were approximately 88 unspecified age gap fics.

Now, I don’t pretend to be a wis with numbers, but I am an academic with enough know-how to analyze data. My numbers may be slightly off, but they are approximately accurate.

What can we conclude from these numbers and how does it inform this discourse?

The categories represent certain kinks and tropes that in mainstream fandoms are relatively niche. Certain kinks and tropes can be more common in some fandoms than others, for example, pseudoincest is common in the Umbrella Academy fandom. However, up until recently, these specific kinks/tropes were not as common in the Last of Us fandom. I didn’t get the numbers on this, but some of you might recall that before season 2, these kinks/tropes were not a common occurrence.

Now though? Over the 21 days I looked at, there were more fanfictions posted that fit into these categories than didn’t. Not only that, these fanfictions were posted with slightly more frequency on average per day. It’s easy to see why some fans feel these kinks/tropes are overdone and annoying, even people who enjoy these tropes. I’d argue the amount and frequency of these fics has caused a bit of fatigue.

Given the nature of Joel’s character, it is also easy to see why these tropes/kinks make people uncomfortable. A large and distinctive part of Joel’s character is his relationships with his daughters and how he pseudo adopts any young woman comes across. This is evident with Sarah and Ellie, but also with Dina (S2E1-2) and Abby (S2E2). Being a father defines Joel’s character. He attempted suicide because he is a father who lost his daughter and couldn’t live without her. He kills an entire hospital of people because he is a father, because Ellie became his daughter and he loves her just as he loves Sarah. His death was due to his actions protecting his daughter, and arguably because he saved Abby from the horde, because she’s close to Ellie’s age.

As I mentioned before, certain kinks and tropes can be more common in some fandoms than others. The themes in their source materials often determine what kinks and tropes develop in fandoms. They determine what kinks might be considered niche in the space. For example, pseudoincest is not considered niche in the Umbrella Academy fandom. In the case of Joel Miller, as previously discussed, the themes do not really lend themselves to DBF, daddy kink, and age gaps. The Last of Us has a focus on familial relationships, not romantic relationships. X Reader tends to lean heavily into romantic relationships, and so it is not surprising that Joel Miller x Reader is popular. However, what is surprising is how common these kinks have become even though the themes of the story do no necessarily lend itself to them. On top of that, I would argue that DBF is a niche kink in the general sense, as my friend – who is into fandom and “very into freak shit” (her words) has never heard of it until we talked about it.

Now, again, I’m not kink-shaming the people who write these. I believe the majority of them are likely young and writing reader inserts close to their own age. Plus, I am a huge proponent of writing what you want, and I want to be so clear that I am not saying you can’t write these types of fics, but you can’t deny that they are completely out of character for Joel Miller and don’t fit the narrative of the story. So, I can’t help but wonder why? I think the answer lies in the fact that he’s played by Pedro Pascal. The PPCU fandom* is full of smut writers who often veer into kinky and dark areas of smut. They are not necessarily focused on characters or stories, but their attraction to Pedro Pascal. It is unsurprising this translates to Joel in such an outstanding way.

So, I guess the real question is how do we as a fandom resolve all this? In a perfect world, these fics would all be explicitly tagged and people who don’t want to see them can block the writers or tags, and both parties could live peacefully in their own fandom bubbles. But these fics aren’t properly tagged all the time, nor are they always clear in the headings. The toxic attacks from both sides only makes it worse. It’s important to remember that fandom is supposed to be fun, and its community. We don’t have to like each other, or all the fanfictions written in this fandom, but we shouldn’t be attacking each other or making this space a toxic hellhole. But, tbh, that feels like asking too much.

*This is not a fandom, but a stan-dom, which is different and oftentimes more toxic. As evident here.

**I am not apart of the PPCU stan-dom, but I am apart of the Last of Us fandom, so my opinion is coming from that perspective.

EDIT: I would like to thank @letsgobarbs for filling me in on the finer details of the drama in the PPCU 'fandom' regarding the whole of this matter. And to them and @almostempty for touching on the racial overtones of DBF/Age gap fics - I didn't feel it my place to touch on the topic but it's a very important (if not one of the most important) aspect of the conversation.

[name-is-tired]

The starscream brain rot be hitting hard. And I have another song idea that fits him which has turned into a character analysis as well.

'The Mind Electric' with the bits that goes

"Someone help me understand what's going on inside my mind" could be the change of Starscream's mentality due to the normalisation of his abuse and how he views it as -normal-. And if it's Skybound it could be whatever the hell Megatron did to force Starscream to kill the prisoners when he first joined.

"Doctor I can't tell if I'm not me" literally the post war Starscream being paranoid he's not the same person at all as he was before like a clone maybe and the fact that he can't form connections with anyone. And again in Skybound it's the gap between Ulchtar and Starscream.

"See how I laugh at you" resembles Starscream constant undermining of others to make him feel better due to his insecurities and also the fact that his whole life he was laughed at so he does it back similar to the "abuse cycle".

"No you'll never understand" right after that bit shows how nobody has been in his situation and nobody tried to understand or reach out to help him mentally without blaming him for it or even just completely brushing it off. Also highlights how nobody believes him when he tries to talk about the abuse (Hashtag did tho even said how she believes Megatron who she looked up to a bit ig hurt him, a complete 180 of what everyone else does and the fact that she is close to Megatron but isn't brushing it off says so much -nobody has mentioned this from what I've read which is weird cause it just shows how clear Starscream's PTSD is (also fuck Hasbro for taking it away from us)). Saying how he brought it upon himself and that he kept trying to usurp Megatron meant he deserved it. And again shows how he can't grow attachments cause nobody views him as a victim only a failure who deserves his punishment so they don't find reason behind his actions. Not trying to "understand" why he hurts people or in the songs case "laugh" at them because they don't see him as a product of abuse that needs to be cared for. Only a bot who's worse than Megatron ever was.

Or this version

[corviiids]

hello thank you for asking i am very flattered. i would be most honoured to give some advice that i am most certainly unqualified to give!!

ok advice 1: hey why does everyone keep telling me to read and write a lot

i think this is the most commonly given advice. i have always found it true but incomplete, because on the face of it this kind of focuses a little too much on volume. which by itself just isn't going to do that much for you, or it will, but it'll do it very slowly and ineffectively, because the second part of this advice i don't see nearly as much (and the part that makes it work for me) is that after you read or write something you need to do The Why Interrogation. what are you looking for?

when you like something, why do you like it? not just in terms of copying and learning an author's stylistic quirks or techniques, but in a more abstract way:

is it the narrative? that the premise is novel, that the progression of the story is unexpected and thrilling, that the stakes are high?

is it the characters? what is it about them? do they have compelling backgrounds? does the author spend a lot of time in their heads? is the pov internal in a way that lets you experience the story from their shoes? does their biased narration tell you more about them? or is it a detached narration that lets you see the characters in a way they don't see themselves, so the gap is intriguing?

is it the telling? maybe the prose is beautiful - what makes it so? sentence structure? unconventional use of grammar and punctuation? elegant, sophisticated vocabulary? or maybe the dialogue is sharp and human so conversation flows naturally. is the story paced carefully? does the author linger more in certain moments?

the same exercise is useful for what ISN'T working.

if your attention is drifting, what's making it drift?

purple prose? clumsy prose?

does the narration drag?

do the characters feel stagnant, and why?

plot doesn't make any sense?

maybe this sounds obvious, but imo it's a crucial piece of the advice that i just don't see as much because people tend to focus on volume of works consumed/created. the reflection and analysis is what makes that volume useful, otherwise you're just churning through content. the question should always be why, why, why. why did that work, why didn't it work, why did i like this, why does it suck. then proceed to: if i were doing this, how could i make it work?

advice 2: don't forget that all the words you need already exist.

this is more subjective advice. this is something that works for me personally. so ymmv. have you ever tried magnet poetry? you should try magnet poetry.

i always see writing as kind of a puzzle. if i have an idea in my head, the idea exists. the job is actually a translation exercise: how do i express the thing in my head as a thing other people can see? in this way it's like visual art, but it's also not like visual art at all. in visual art you choose where all the lines and colours go, completely freely. any line you draw is a brand new line.

in language, all your parts already exist. all the words already exist. (you can make new ones if you want but that's a whole different thing.) you are plucking symbols out of a collective understanding. it is like lego. all you are doing is selecting the most effective pieces and placing them in order. so for me, i am simply trying to find the 'right' words to fit each context as best as possible. it becomes a game of arrangement, which determines your expression.

then syntax and punctuation become your rhythm, which is how you determine flow. sentence length, word length, whether you omit words or use more, whether you want to be a bit unconventional. character also plays into this - i am not writing an advice 3 because i am getting self conscious but advice 3 would have been consistency of voice.

so i would prioritise vocabulary and timing. what are you trying to say (which words do you pick) and how do you want the reader to experience your words, how do you want the words to feel and sound (how will you pace your sentences)? remembering that all the parts are already there. it is the world's biggest game of magnet poetry.

advice 3 which doesn't exist: keep your voice consistent.

this advice doesn't exist. im not writing this i got embarrassed and stopped at 2. but if i did write this it would say, remember who you are. (remember who is writing your story. are you a character or are you god? remember how much you know. remember which feelings you have access to.)

[atamascolily]

Analysis: Alleyway Scene, Rebellion

After Sayaka rescues Homura from Mami, their conversation plays out in a souped-up version of the alleyway where Sayaka first met Kyouko in the anime. But first the original version appears briefly in a montage of landscape shots to indicate the passage of time between Homura's first day at school and the first conversation with Madoka in the park.

This is also where Homura broke up that fight, so staging the conversation here is an interesting move on Sayaka's part. She's taking advantage of the labyrinth to re-enact the past, now taking the role of the experienced veteran.

Like all of the spaces in the false Mitakihara, the alleyway responds subconsciously to Homura's thoughts and emotions, so instead of the straightforward line above, we get a series of panels that can shift and rotate in space.

In keeping with Sayaka's musical theme, both versions still have the "instrument motif" on the walls (confirmed as such in the Rebellion Production Note) - the Puella Magi wiki also notes the resemblance to the "Hof der Elemente" in the Art Courtyard Passage in Dresden, Germany. So it's also representing water as well.

Sayaka using her sword to open the lock and release Homura is laying the groundwork for her using the same trick on Homura's shield.

This scene does a lot of fun things with reflections and upside down imagery, but using the sheen on Sayaka's sword right before she sheathes it is so creative. Note the wavy edge, like the ocean, where the glare is. Also note Homura is upside down and falling (this appears to be a recurring motif in WnK trailers).

Like cats, magical girls always land on their feet. Homura does a little flip (circular motion!) first.

Homura is backdropped by red, Sayaka by blue. The cityscape in the Homura shots is very similar to what we see in Walpurgis no Kaiten trailer with the reddish light--fitting since Homura is dominant there. There is also a giant moon, which is associated with Homura--it round and marks the passage of time (each of her loops is approximately one month).

If you're thinking "how can an alleyway have 3 different views?" it's because this is actually a crossroads, both literally and metaphorically. Homura is deciding what she wants to do and where she wants to go and also who she wants to be. All of these questions are interconnected in the world that is also her soul.

I think the panels rotated in-between shots, which aligns with the spacial wonkiness in previous scenes--but it's also supposed to be disorienting, both to Homura and to us. The moon is also moving way too fast as well - compare the shot above to this one with the moon directly above them.

As you can see, the reflections change from moment to moment--sometime reflecting stars and sometimes the alleyway pipes. Some of this is due to changing camera angles and some of it is good old reality wonkiness. As the conversation progresses, the puddles get weirder and weirder... only to distort as Homura realizes Oktavia is directly below her.

For what it's worth, the Rebellion Production Note says this is not Oktavia but Homura's memory of Oktavia, which is why she has her original series form rather than her new form that we see in the battle against Homulilly later. If I understand correctly, Homura is "filling in the gaps" by hallucinating what ought to be there because she can't perceive Oktavia directly.

It seems like Sayaka is doing her own reality-warping to (at least temporarily) counter Homura's, or at least that's how Homura and the audience interprets it.

After she stops time, Homura pulls away the sheet, revealing the illusion. Everything is now blue, as Sayaka gets the "last word" visually as well as orally. The discarded cape is also the "bridge" connecting this scene to the next, as Homura reflects.

One of the many profound ironies of this scene is that in the end, Homura does exactly what Sayaka advises her to do--she traps everyone in her remade world, and maintains the status quo--only Sayaka is furious. In some ways, this makes Sayaka a hypocrite, but I would argue no more so than Homura--they each change their minds and adapt the other's original position by the end. The difference, of course, is the scale and the stakes--Sayaka is happy to play around and get a second chance as long as it's a separate bubble and not the entire universe, whereas Homura is the exact opposite.

The circular structure of Rebellion means that every scene has a counterpart elsewhere in the film and this is one of the more obvious pairings.

[gallusrostromegalus]

Speaking of public health. What was the soul society reaction to the eradication of small pox like?

"You notice there's a lot less dead babies these days?" Iba asked in the middle of one morning's office work.

"Fewer dead babies." Komamura corrected without thinking. "Less is for things you measure by volume, fewer for things you count. We do not measure dead babies by volume."

"Oh. right." Iba nodded. "Yeah, that wouldn't be right."

After a moment, what his lieutenant actually said caught up with him. "Sorry- force of habit from living with a Librarian." Komamura shook his head and looked up from the monthly intake statistics analysis report, peering at Tetsuzaemon Iba through the narrow gap of his helmet. "What do you mean, fewer dead babies?"

"I dunno, it just occurred to me. When I started the academy in the 40's- right after the catastrophe- we did a student tour of the 7th division's recently deceased souls intake queue, remember?" Iba waved his hand leaning back in his chair, apparently uncertain of where he was going with this either, but articulating his thoughts.

"I believe so. I had just taken over from Captain Kotsubaki." Komamura nodded, patient. Chikane Iba was an excellent shinigami and had done a magnificent job running the third division, but she had a tendency to talk over and bulldoze her son, so Komamura had learned to be patient when the young man when he felt like he should share a thought.

"Yeah, yeah- Not gonna lie Boss, you scared the crap out of me back then." Tetsuzaemon laughed. "-But the thing that stuck out to me that day was just. The sheer number of Infants and little kids in the line. the guy giving us the tour- I think it was Old Ito, actually- He said that one in five babies in the living world didn't live to see their fifth birthday."

"An improvement even back then- it was one in three children when back when I started in the 1840s." Komamura nodded. "It's funny that I frightened you- Captain Aikawa apparently headhunted me for the 7th because Kaname told him about how the children at the library used to use me as playground equipment."

"Good grief." Iba blanched. "So, what, he threw you in the deep end with all the dead kids?"

"In Captain Aikawa's defense, I did volunteer to handle children's cases. As sad as a frightened infant is, it's infinitely preferable than dealing with the deceased who are angry."

Iba frowned, opened his mouth like he was about to object, reconsidered, closed it, considered further, rocking his head from side to side, and then nodded. "I- yeah, Yeah, that tracks."

"You were saying though?" Komamura laced his fingers in front of him, leaning forward to listen.

"Oh! Well- not as much these days but back then, every family had like seven and eight kids, you know? And I realized that, well- almost everyone I know has a dead sibling or two? Almost every mother lost a child- Gods know my mother's a basket case but even getting a cold could send her into fits. If something had happened to me when I was a tyke- I don't think she would have pulled through."

Komamura nodded enough for Iba to see his helmet tilt to indicate he as still listening.

"I- I don't actually know where I was going with this, but I was reading that report earlier and there's a note from Shita-san at the end that this is the first month we haven't had a kid under the age of five in the intake queue. Ever."

Komamura flipped though the pages of the report to read the hand-written note at the end. "That is excellent news!"

"Oh! Yeah! It's great!" Iba nodded enthusiastically. "It just- I don't know, I guess it just snuck up on me and I'm so used to hearing something went wrong I guess I don't quite know what to do with good news?" he shrugged.

Komamura pondered this for a moment. "Hm. Well. Take heart, to start. But I see what you mean- it's a tremendous achievement, but not one we contributed to, and a "No Dead Babies This Month" office party feels in poor taste at best."

"Oof, yeah- especially if next month there's an accident or something and there's a whole bunch in the queue." Iba nodded. He considered things for a moment.

"-What happened that there are le- fewer dead babies, actually?" Iba frowned. "-Whoever it is, it would be appropriate to toast them and make an offering in their name to the Gods of Good Fortune, I think. Also do more of whatever they did."

"That IS a good idea!" Komamura smiled under his helmet. Perhaps it was his training as a priest, but he did enjoy an offering of goodwill ceremony. Also, nobody would ask him to drink- just pour any alcohol he was offered on the statue of the relevant deity. "I think- It's probably in our statistics, if the tenth division doesn't have an idea already. Can you collect the cause of death data for young children for the last-"

He was interrupted by the thunderous footsteps of someone sprinting towards the office, immediately followed by a tall young woman with short white hair throwing the door open, red-faced and winded.

"THEY DID IT! THE MAD BASTARDS THEY DID IT!" She shouted with wild excitement.

"Isane-? Uh, Miss Kotetsu?" Iba flustered.

"Please keep your voice down-" Komamura said through gritted teeth, trying not to growl at being suddenly shouted at. "Who has-?"

He was interrupted by Miss Kotetsu bolting right up to his desk and shoving a newspaper into his face hard enough to actually wrap around his helmet in excitement.

"SMALLPOX! IT'S GONE!!" She shrieked with joy.

"-gone?" Iba asked, bewildered as Komamura gently took the newspaper from her and pulled it back to actually read it. It was a newspaper from the living world, dated that morning- someone had gone through some pains to get it back to the Seireitei at speed, but the news was worth it:

SMALLPOX IS DEAD!

"TOTALLY ERADICATED! EXTINCT! KAPUT! IT HAS CEASED TO BE!" She bounced excitedly. "IT IS AN EX-PANDEMIC!"

"So like. Nobody has it this year?" Iba tried.

"Nobody has it this year, or will ever have it again, if I'm reading this right." Komamura muttered in awe. "Thanks to an aggressive worldwide vaccination and disease protocol program, there have been no human cases of the disease for several years. Since there are no people infected, there is no way for the disease to come back..."

Both men stared into space, the news almost unbelievable.

"Well. That does explain the Less Dead Babies thing." Iba nodded.

"Fewer Dead Babies." Komamura and Isane corrected in unison.

"I mean yeah that sure is part of it because Smallpox was the number one killer of infants in the living world for a long time there, but there's a whole bunch of stuff that's really cut down on infant mortality in the last few decades in particular." Isane nodded.

"We were JUST Talking about that!" Iba said, excitedly. "-Good to know you guys in the fourth are keeping track of that, It was gonna take forever to pull out that data..."

"Oh, could you pull it out anyway Tetsu-kun?" She asked. "-That's most of why I came over- I mean, to share the good news first, but Unohana-Taicho is planning on using this to really push a widespread vaccination program in the Rukongai and having the numbers to back us up would be really helpful!"

"Oh! Uh, sure!" Iba blushed.

"...You know this young lady, Tetsu-Kun?" Komamura lightly teased.

Both of the young people twitched and bowed to him, pointing at each other and speaking at once.

"Oh! I'm sorry Sir, I'm fourth division third seat Isane Kotetsu, i just know Iba because we were in the same class at the academy-" She babbled.

"-this is Isane Kotetsu, she's the smartest person I know and she saved my life from a lizard one time!" He waved excitedly.

"...That lizard was not going to kill you." She sighed, covering her face in embarrassment. "-I mean, if you developed a sepsis infection from the contaminated wound it might have made you very ill but that would take weeks and we have antibiotics for that, the lizard itself wasn't all that dangerous."

"It was INSIDE my LEG!" Iba gestured to his right thigh.

Komamura slowly tilted his whole torso sideways at Iba, hoping that sentence might make more sense at a forty-five degree angle. "...How?"

"I. Uh." Iba stopped, realizing his story was maybe not one he should be telling his boss. "I was. um. Out camping with the lads back when I was in the 11th, and a lizard climbed into my cot and I was. not totally awake and thought someone was trying to cop a feel and well you know, that's behavior you respond to with force so I rolled over and tried to stab the intruder's hand and. Uh. Missed."

Komamura continued to stare at him blankly.

"There was. screaming. lotta flailing, blood, general mayhem sort of thing. And in the confusion the Lizard.... climbed. inside the hole. In my leg. Sir." Iba explained, slowly crumpling behind his desk.

Komamura sighed deeply.

"-but Miss Isane was right there and actually kicked Ikkaku halfway across the camp because he was trying to lure it out with a Banana and generally being useless and she just grabbed that sucker and ripped him right outta there and had the wound packed and sealed in less than a minute and I even got to finish doing boot camp!" He rallied, cheerfully waving at Isane in hopes of distracting his captain with how cool she was.

"...What happened to the lizard?" Komamura asked, warily eyeing her through the gap in his helmet.

"Oh! He was really, really human acclimated and sneaked into my medkit rather than go back into the wild, so Harry lives a very spoiled lizard life in a terrarium in my room at home! Though it's actually my sister's room now but he still gets all the mango and smashed beetles he can eat!" Isane nodded cheerfully.

"You named a lizard. Harry?" Komamura asked slowly.

"...Iba-san named him, actually." She blushed.

"Ironically!" Iba protested. "I'm only mostly stupid, sir."

Komamura sighed deeply and once again regretted that his disguise would not let him rub his face as needed. "Alright. Thank you for the announcement, Miss Kotetsu. We will get that data to you in a timely manner- was there anything else you needed"

"Oh gosh, there was something else, what was it-?" She tapped her chin, trying to remember.

There was the distant sound of explosives, and all three of them turned to see what looked like midday fireworks going off at the 4th.

"Oh Right! Unohana-taicho requests your presence at the 4th as. Um. 'Designated Non-Drinker and Unarmed Combat Specialist' because the party was getting kind of wild when I left actually-"

Komamura sighed, and picked up Tenken from his stand and started tying the zanpaktou to his belt anyway.

---

The following morning, a small party arrived at the local shrines to The Gods Of Good Fortune, bearing offerings on behalf of the living world's World Health Organization and the handful of names they'd been able to glean from the living world newspapers, and nursing varying degrees of of hangover.

Komamura lead the party, having gotten them up at a slightly malicious 5AM to be there first thing in the morning. Tetsuzaemon and his friends from the 11th he insisted come along and 'suffer with me, as my sworn brothers' were quite pained but doing their best to hold it together.

Shunsui was a veteran of this nonsense and was hiding the pain very well behind his longtime party companions, Ukitake and Unohana, who seemed so extraordinarily cheerful that Komamura had to conclude that they were both still significantly chemically altered. He couldn't fault Unohana- they were faint and only visible on the rare occasions she let her hair down, but just below her left ear there was still the faint divot scars from surviving her own infection.

Isane had celebrated just as hard as the 11th Division lads, but had also had the good sense to alternate beer and water and take both aspirin and some sort of horrible pink goop that apparently relieved nausea before passing out under a table and had woken up only slightly groggy.

Komamura's new friend Harry the Lizard- a remarkably loquacious and quick-witted reptile -had taken up residence inside his helmet, lightly intoxicated on the cocktail fruits people had kept feeding him, and was politely nestled in the thick fur of his neck to ward off the morning cold.

The rituals of gratitude for this miracle, and asking the Gods to bless those who had worked so hard went smoothly, and Komamura couldn't help but notice when he turned around that Miss Kotetsu had opted to lean on the shoulder of 'Tetsu-kun'.

It was not often Komamura started the day with the feeling that everything would turn out alright, but as he watched Tetsuzaemon cautiously but gracelessly take Isane's hand and her squeeze it back on the way back down from the shrine, he felt like the feeling might stay this time.

[vampiristar]

Arcane Analysis: Mel’s Path to Self-Discovery

(arcane act III spoilers)

You know what? I’m just going to start with it: Mel was never truly in love with Jayce, and this is a key-aspect of her character as much as Jayce didn’t love her too. Sure, they cared for each other, but did either of them really feel love? True love? No.

Mel confided in Jayce about the immense expectations she faced as a Medarda. Her entire life was dedicated to gaining her mother’s approval, leaving no room to act for herself. Everything about her life was calculated, including her relationship with Jayce. To her, it was a perfect match—he was a rising star in Piltover, someone who fit the image she needed to maintain. She said it herself in act III when Jayce confronted her, he was a investment.

Then— the awakening of her powers. It’s a turning point for her. A moment where she begins to break free from those expectations and starts to find herself. It’s about independence, self-discovery, and stepping away from a life dictated by her mother.

Mel loves her mother, but she had to break away from her in the end because Ambessa was holding her back. Her mother saw her as a weakness, and in some ways, Mel’s attachment to her became her greatest obstacle to personal growth.

I love their relationship—Ambessa represents tradition and power, while Mel embodies a modern, forward-thinking approach. They loved each other deeply, but they never truly understood one another. This is about the generational gap between a parent and a child. And as a POC, damn I feel that.

Anyway. We know Mel was exiled for Noxus so, in a way, she managed to be far away from her family’s traditions… but the weight of social norms still clings to her. Mel had always lived within the norms in Piltover, always followed the expectations placed upon her—even when she didn’t fully realize it. She has to fit. She is a Medarda, she must represent her clan and show to others her greatness, that she's not a mere outsider.

Then, suddenly, she discovers that she was never truly part of those norms. She wasn’t what the world—or even she herself—thought she was. She, Mel Medarda, is an illegitimate child AND a mage. And now, she’s left to navigate this entirely new understanding of herself and her place in the world. It’s both terrifying and beautiful.

Personally, I kinda like to think of Mel as a queer Black woman seeking her individuality. The pressure to do everything to be socially acceptable is something that Black women deeply understand, but it’s also a struggle familiar to queer people. Mel embodies both experiences so powerfully.

It’s such a compelling narrative. I really hope we get to see more of her in the next project because her journey has so much potential. Watching her grow, break free, and fully embrace her true self would be nothing short of incredible. She will break generational curses, trust me 💫

[not-a-ducc]

There is no evidence that Lucas Mother 3 can swim.

So ever since I played Mother 3 one thing that always stood out to me is the Sea Floor Dungeon.

It's notable for many reasons, but I always found it funny that, rather than taking a boat or even just swimming, the party just walks on the sea floor all the way to a small island. Then recently I started thinking, wait, can any of these guys swim?

I mean at the very least these guys can, this is a body of water large enough for a huge snake and a big ol' pile of bones, so there's no way they're not floating here.

The most common instances of seeing Lucas in water are these hot spring sections. It's not clear how deep these even go, they could all be only as deep as we see them, Lucas could just be standing in there and the spring is only deep enough for his head to poke out.

It's possible they ARE deeper, however. As Flint and other adult characters can stand in them with their heads still sticking out, though it's notable that pre-time skip Fuel pictured here has their head partially submerged. Lucas also gets submerged into a hot spring in Chapter 4, however here he's somewhat hunched over, so the true depth of the hot springs is still unclear.

While not a scene where Lucas is visibly in water, it's worth noting that in Chapter 1, no one ever specifically says they found the twins swimming down or up the river, they were just floating in it. Granted they likely were unconscious while this was happening, but I still wanted to include this for completion's sake.

Also there's the Hippo Reserve in the Empire Porky Building where Lucas is almost the same height as the hippos so I doubt the water is that deep here.

This is the last scene I wanted this point out here. This is an un-used scene of Lucas and Claus taking a dip in the water found in a scrapped Attract Mode sequence. It's notable cause this is the only scene in the entire game where Lucas is definitively shown SWIMMING, but it’s un-used, so does it even count? Is it even canon? I mean, technically not I suppose, but there's nothing in these Attract Mode scenes that contradicts anything from the main game. How should un-used and beta content factor into how we discuss these games? Mother 3 famously had a tumultuous development with tons of content gutted from it's story. Not all of it fits into the game we eventually got, but a lot of it still can fill in the blanks present in the main game. But none of this content is present in the main game, so have valuable is it in discussion? Is it wrong to dismiss these removed scenes and subplots because they were part of the team's original vision? How should we continue to analyze this game's development if, for all intents and purposes, we're looking at un-finished and un-refined versions of the final art piece? Is it a more pure version of the art by being un-sullied by creative and hardware restrictions, or does that un-finished nature make it less deserving of analysis? I mean realistically I don't think any of what I've said should devalue Earthbound 64 or any other work in progress versions of art. Seeing the process of creation unfold is just as interesting and worth preservation and analysis as the finalized art itself. I don't think it's wrong to bring in elements from Earthbound 64 for headcanons or to fill in the gaps of Mother 3's story, hell it's damn near necessary sometimes it feels like, I just think it's important to acknowledge that changes and revisions are just a given in any story based medium. It's not always an artist's intent getting neutered, sometimes an artist might just change their mind, or need to have certain ideas reeled back in for the sake of keeping the work cohesive. Anyways what was this post about? Oh yeah Lucas probably can swim he just is never seen doing it in the final game.