#I SERIOUSLY need to get to work on that “the puppet is an equivalent to the OS kernel” theory

[iteratorsex]

Also to be noted: The fact that gravity never turns off in LTTM's GSB/Neural Terminus, even though it fluctuates everywhere else, implies that the GSB has special properties possibly pertaining to gravity disruptors or collapse events, which wouldn't surprising considering how honestly important the puppet seems to functioning

[fipindustries]

bojack horse bad again

you know, i was thinking back to this show again, i watched three seasons of it and that was all that i could tomach and you know what? no.

i dont accept it

i dont care, it was a bad show, it was an objectively bad show and i dont accept that everyone else decided that it was good, i dont care, it was a bad show and im going to tell you why.

emotional terrorism

maybe im a simpleton but i am someone who cares quite a lot about catharsis in my stories. this show refused to grant that, adamantly and violently. im not saying i need a happy ending, i am more than capable of enjoying bittersweet or even tragic stories, but i need a sense of completeness, some satisfaction, some release, some sense that things matter or meant something. this show insisted on refusing to give that. all this show was interested in was get an emotional reaction out of you. it was the emotional equivalent of a jump scare. it was convinced that if it made you feel bad enough people would confuse that with beeing powerful and deep. you could get the same reaction by walking up to someone on the street and kicking them in the nuts. and it would take about as much subtlety or artistry.

2. writer led rather than animator led

you could tell this was one of those shows that were made on the writer's room, not by storyboarders or artists, by "comedians". by people with english degrees. so many scenes of characters just standing around and talking. so many "jokes" that were clearly meant to be funny as something you read on a piece of paper or on a tweet and chuckle as you read it but as animation it just gave limp, stagnant scenes. so much dialog that were references and quips and puns and fast witticisms of the type you come up in the shower when thinking of clever comebacks.

there were so many fucking scenes where everything would stop and a character would launch on some stupid profound monologue about life and philosophy and psychology and relationships. it was like the writers were trying on for size paragraphs of their future memoirs or self help books. so much dialog that was begging for an award for writing. so many "mic drop" moments that were designed to be quoted. i find that the best writing is not the one that you can just quote out of context as a cool pithy phrase. a lot of the best writing ive seen in my life is meaningless when devoid of context, is inextricable of the scene and indeed of the entire story surrounding it but in here i can almost see the seams where the writers look at the camera waiting to see if you are impressed

3. inconsistent tone

this show wanted to eat its cake and then still have it. there are stories that manage to deftly weave in and out of comedic moments into serious moments. everything everywhere all at once does an amazing job jumping from the stupidest, most childish jokes into the most profound commentary about human nature, sometimes doing both at the same time and it worked, one didint cheapen the other.

in here though, it wanted to both have a completly absurd world with the stupidest characters ever and then somehow make us care for it all as if the show hadnt shot itself in the foot. it wanted us to see caroline being in love with what is clearly three children in a trenchcoat and then take her seriously as an adult, to treat any forther relationship drama she has as if it werent completly farcical.

4. ugly animation

it continued the blight that is take over adult animation by doing that disgusting repugnant paper puppet rigged interpolated quasi flash animation that only gives you stiff poses and movements and incredibly boring shots of characters standing in 3/4 perspective in front of the camera. it dull and flat and clunky and ugly, and the character designs were ugly. the noses were ugly and the mouths were ugly and the hairs were ugly and the eyes were ugly. it was all ugly. the backgrounds were fucking ugly and the colors were ugly and it was an ugly show to look at. unbearably so. and even the obligatory "weird" stylized scenes put in to shake things off and try to pretend that it was visually interesting (for like one scene per season) were also fucking ugly.

5. it had not interesting point to make

all it could do was insist and belavor and extemporize about how this one guy sucks and also most people kind of suck but specifically this one guy really sucks and he is not going to get better, or maybe he will? eh maybe, but not really, because he sucks. and we are going to make you like him because we are the writers and we are going to make him relatable and charismatic and sympathetic but actually no he sucks, you fell for it! and what does it say about you that you almost kind of liked him eh????. season after season of him, and in case you almost found anything redeemable about him, we are going to make him even worse, painfully unsubtly so, we are going to make him look at the camera and say that he sucks, because that is the level of nuance we think you can handle, dear viewer. this is called "self aware writing" and its postmodern and meta, which means its clever.

i fucking hate this show and the more i think about it the angrier it makes me, and what makes me more angriest of all is that people like it. its popular. it won awards i think. its largely recognized as a good show and its not! it sucks and its bad and if you like it you are stupid.

[tammyhybrid21]

ALRIGHT!

Who wants some random/dumb headcanon thoughts on iterators?!

Also yes I do view the generations a bit in opposite solution to what MOST of what I’ve seen others do. Instead of each gen been dedicated more to the problem it got less central... which then leads to gen 3 iterators been the generation that took the loss of the ancients the worst.

“None of us miss them” the loss of half of their original purpose. Any wonder they have bad copes.

To be honest most of this is just going to be me noting stuff down for self-reference, but hey-- you folks can take this information for your own use as well. Also notice, this isn’t the specific order I drew things in and you can get the vibes as it goes how I got more solid view over the course of doodling.

But the generations and their purpose, no. These are pretty set in my head.

Bunching these thoughts together, mostly because they’re all on the same/similar topics. Time to talk about the puppets. Because they are what we see the most in the game. Also yes, I am outing myself as an “Off the String is Possible” believer. But I also will thoroughly admit I am a lover of the Iterators are hiveminds headcanon as well... although I view it more like it’s a whole symbiotic ecosystem...

Anycase, notes that didn’t quite make it into any of these pictures because I didn’t know how to draw/explain like that-- the synthetic “skin” of an iterator is either very, very short grass or a kind of moss/lichen covering. The colour variation is kind of random as a result and yes this does mean theoretically an iterator could change colours if ever they felt the need to.

The internal “flesh” parts of an iterator are I imagine similar in consistency to mushroom fibre/flesh. Squishy... Yet still firm enough to keep its shape beneath the jelly like membrane that carries coolant/blood throughout.

I have more thoughts on puppets and eating but drew it more like as a joke page.

These are all possible because an iterator puppet’s moss/grass skin is basically able to absorb what’s around it at any time. Well, as long as it’s willed. So iterators got options from the traditional “smoosh” food into your face to just having the “soup backpack”...

Sunshine is also “yummy”... but I do sidenote that it’s not as effective as a source of power/energy and more like a quick pick me up, the equivalent of eating a single banana and calling it your entire meal for the day.

Also an iterators stomach/filtration system internally is actually biological as well, but that didn’t exactly get drawn here. Mostly because how does that translate to pictures, I’m not good at this stuff.

Side note, don’t know if you folks looked at the page, but with the intake pipe, imagine if that were a map in Rain World... you just saw this pipe sucking in water and hey that’s curious-- only whoops it’s your death, you are food.

Not pictured how the processing strata is the iterator structure equivalent of a mycorrhizal network. Seriously though how would you even draw that?

Anycase this is where the symbiotic hive mind side of things come into play. Without the puppet it’s not like the structure would just-- stop. It would just be a lot more mindless. Working away continuing to go about the same processes just without purpose. It’s an extension, extras on top. Neuron flies been one of the few exceptions but even they can be worked around it’s just... very much a loss.

Also yes this is my headcanon reason why Pebbles is still barely conscious in Saint’s timeline. He’s just also half frozen and plants do not cold well. Or actually they do incredibly well in cold it’s just, he’s half in dormancy.

I should have spoken more about the mechanics of the structure and all, but honestly... It’s all the signals sent out.

Also void stuff... I don’t know if I’ll return on any of these things but eyo...

[dzpenumbra]

8/5/23

I had one goal today. Chill and have a fun day. I didn't quite accomplish that goal.

I had to do the whole "4 hours of sleep, get up, eat food, play Factorio, then go back to sleep" thing again. I hate how normal this is getting. But hey, it works... So I was up at like... 8:30? Back to sleep for a few hours, then back up around mid-day.

I stupidly got on my phone and on social media. It's never worth it, I swear. I just got sucked into a local subreddit and it's always political shit and it's always arguing. And I found myself writing paragraphs to post and then deleting them without posting and starting over... then deleting that. And yeah, it just feels like such a waste of time and energy.

Like, it was all about some young graphic designer (no small coincidence) who quit a job at a local cider brewery because she felt they were misogynistic. Which honestly? I think we're really getting to a point in society where you legit need to watch your back for a lynch mob over even making jokes. It's like people don't understand the purpose of humor as a way to breach difficult topics in a more approachable way and keep them in the social dialogue rather than hiding them... that process isn't equivalent to advocacy, if anything it's publicly shining a light on problems... Of course there's overlap, duh, there's overlap with literally everything, but the exception is not the rule. My point being... making a joke about something is very fucking different than actually doing something... and they really really cannot be treated the same.

I was referring to GWAR as an example, because yesterday I watched their old 1990 VHS they made for fans. I went to see GWAR in 2005 in Boston, I remember that show vividly as it was the only time I saw GWAR, Lamb of God, Clutch and Strapping Young Lad live. GWAR was by far the most memorable. If you don't know them... you will never forget them. GWAR is an art collective out of Virginia that, in their early days, advertised themselves as a mix between KISS, Rocky Horror Picture Show, WWF and The Simpsons. Really, they're way the fuck farther than all of that.

Their explicit purpose has been, since day one, to hold out a blunt, no-holds-barred, outrageously over the top mirror to society. To show all the fucked up things that are in the media, in humanity, but in a way that is extremely dramatized and over-the-top and cartoonish. And they do this by creating a fictional mythos behind the band - staying in character the whole time - that the band themselves are alien gods who are here to destroy humanity and merely distracted by sex/drugs/rock and roll, and the artists/musicians are their human slaves. And the gods themselves are slaves, too, to another higher diety. Which, clearly slavery is a theme at its core... and... with them being from Virginia... it's far from a coincidence, it's super intentional. It is a palatable way to keep extremely difficult concepts within social dialogue, in a way that isn't clinical or scary. In a way that is poking fun at how fucked up it is, how inhuman those acts are. How horrible of a being you'd have to be to commit such crimes. That's the entire fucking point!

And... then along comes Tipper Gore... and all the others who suddenly think that some 20-something guy in ridiculous theatre makeup "decapitating" a puppet of a political figure, then squirting fake blood all over the audience... they think that's going to like... trigger a Manchurian Candidate or something. Like uttering the Devil's name will summon him! OoooOOOoOOO! Well, if that were the case, how the fuck haven't we summoned him by blasting actual death, crimes and dismemberment all over mainstream news nationwide for decades?

See... if you frame it as "informing the public", you can literally do anything you want. If you frame is as "fictional entertainment/parody", for some reason these morons think you're... advocating? They're seriously like the SNL / South Park of metal music, and they've stood strong for 40 fucking years doing this shit and - I shit you not - they just played NPR's Little Desk. XD It's fucking great, check it out.

So this was all stemming from this chick who was complaining about how the company decided to make a light beer that was marketed to redneck men. Let's not beat around the bush here, it's targeted to the guys who go deer hunting and chew tobacco. And she was specifically analyzing their ad campaign and pointing out (with gigantic leaps of extrapolation) how it advocated for the mistreatment of women. ... By like... making a stupid poor-taste joke about how women aren't good at golf?

My point here is like... if it's not your cup of tea... just fucking change the channel. Why the hell do people have such a hard time with that? Don't buy the damn beer, you weren't going to anyway. I, personally, don't like drag shows. That's just... me. It doesn't mean I have anything against the LGBTQ community, it doesn't mean I don't like crossdressing in general, it means I don't like things that advocate explicit sexuality in public forums (I really don't like strip clubs either) and advocate for extreme forms of superficiality. It just is in a lot of ways the antithesis of a lot of things that I do enjoy, and do derive pleasure and purpose from. But my personal preference has nothing the fuck to do with their right to perform. Ever. I just... don't go to drag shows. And you know, I might even go with a friend who is into it, to stand in the back and absorb the experience, then talk to them afterwards and see what they got out of it. As a cultural learning experience. But that's not a requirement whatsoever. I have every right to not find something palatable, as does everyone else, but our personal tastes do not directly translate to permission to attack someone else's right of expression.

There's a huge difference (and this actually happened to me) between going to see a standup comedian and hearing a joke about 9/11 that really doesn't sit well with you... and just... getting up and leaving? You know? Versus... heckling. And protesting. And blasting them on social media. And trying to get them cancelled and make sure they never come back to your town. It's a gigantic leap from just showing yourself out... to trying to ruin their show or end their career. And it makes me deeply concerned how normalized this has become. People used to get taken to court over shit like this.

So yeah, I really tried to sum up my point like... "I don't like their style of humor, I don't have any intentions of buying their product, I feel like light beer is somewhat a slight against the gods... but I will defend to the death their right to tell their jokes." But, as I always do... I came to the conclusion that... it's really not going to make a difference. They're just looking for people to agree with them, so they can feel validated in their decision to quit the company a year ago. So they can feel like they're... "getting back" at the people who they felt treated them unfairly. As though... that's a "good" thing. As though eye for an eye leaves things settled up and everyone walks away happy... XD

I clearly didn't post it. And I realized I had spent nearly 2 hours typing and editing and rewriting comments. Good lord. This is what social starvation looks like.

Again, my goal for the day was to relax and have fun...

I started working on the graphic design thing. And... I stopped myself. I realized I really need to decide whether I'm actually going to do this commission before I sink more work into it. I haven't gotten paid yet, in fact... we haven't even talked prices yet... So... I posted on an art forum about this commission. All of it, including the bit about him shooting the fox during a creative consultation with a vegetarian, and how I have 18 projects on the docket right now. I got a resounding 6+ comments all saying different forms of "I would say no", "red flags", "you can walk away", shit like that. It was helpful to hear it, especially... so unanimously... like... I didn't hear a single artist actually advocate for doing this commission outside of desperation for money. So... I made up my mind. I'm not going to work on it anymore and I'm going to tap out.

Then, I had a super embarrassing moment because my post was deleted by a moderator. Apparently they have a rule - "no posts about business/social media/publicity". In an art forum. ... Which... I mean, the only reason I posted there was because I've seen tons of posts there about exactly those types of things. I guess I saw those posts before the mods got to them. Oh well. I actually handled that "you fucked up" pretty well. I got a little upset, then tried to respond "my bad" and it didn't go through, then moved on. Much better than being mortified with shame. There are still some shame shadows floating around in the background, but I've mostly moved on.

So... I got my answer. And my conversation is gone. So... I got zero feedback about pricing. So... either I make a new post where I ask the ever important question... "Is asking a fine artist to go outside of his medium something that the artist charges extra, because it's a special thing they don't normally do... or charges less, because it's something they don't have experience in?" I didn't get a straight answer on that.

Then I started to write up an invoice. I'm glad I got that set up, with my chill-but-serious solid black name up top and my seriously chill trademark light pink background. It looks official as fuck, I'm proud of it. So... here's where I am with it. I don't really know if it's good or bad, but it's a number. I decided... $200. Part of me feels like it's too low. Part of me feels like it's too high. And I think that's really the best I'm going to get. I don't think I'm going to find a number where I don't feel that way. So, I billed it as Concept Sketches - $125, Concept Design Consultation (Phone) - $75. So it's an even $200 plus tax. I think that's fair. We talked for an hour and a half, he took a woodland creature's life during the span of that, which I was tempted to charge extra for... So I just put my wages at a random number, $50/hour, and then rounded the concept sketches to fit the rest of my $200 number. I have a degree in art, I have been working in art since 2008. He was consulting me for my creative expertise, not my ability to follow YouTube tutorials. And, so far, I've sunk a total of about 3-4 hours into sketches and Illustrator prototypes... so... the $125 is actually cutting him deal. But, considering I'm not going to give him the digital prototypes, I decided against charging him full price for that. Not sure if that's the right decision.

Again, fun reminder, my one goal for today was to chill and have fun. XD

I ran through about 10 different drafts of texts to send him. I wrote one, but I didn't send it. If anyone reads this and wants to give me their opinion, I'd really appreciate it, but I really don't have expectations. I'm 90% likely going to send it tomorrow, along with the invoice to his email.

"Hey, I wish I could help out with your logo but I don't think I'm the guy for the job. I would recommend seeking out someone local who specializes in fonts and lettering: a sign-maker, a tattooist or a graphic designer would be good leads. You can feel free to use my concept sketches as visual tools for that process if you like, and we can consider this a creative consultation. I'll email an invoice over your way before the night's out. You've got a great concept, I'm excited to see it come to fruition, wish I could help more."

I did everything I could to make sure I did NOT say "I'm sorry" at any point in the message, or explain why I can't do it. That's huge fucking progress for me. Literally any time I have to break news where I feel like that person might get upset or angry, I am fucking profusely apologizing. Even if I didn't do anything wrong. It's like a survival thing, because I'm afraid I'm that messenger in fucking 300 who gets kicked down the well... and I've still got a lot of projects I'd like to complete and beautiful sunsets I'd like to see.

My only hesitation now... and please tell me if I'm being paranoid here... My fucking address is on the invoice. And by address, I mean my exact apartment number. And this guy discharged a .45 caliber handgun with hollowpoint bullets while on the phone with me. And I may likely be upsetting him. So... you know what, let me take this as an opportunity to really do a grounding exercise with this, since I don't think I've done a comprehensive one.

In my head, I am afraid that my former friend... I was a groomsman at his first wedding... is going to be mad that I backed out of designing a logo for his welding company... because I don't do graphic design, I'm a fine artist and craftsman... and I'm afraid that this is going to lead to him showing up at my apartment with a loaded handgun and killing me. Yep. I mean, when I say it out loud, it kinda sounds a bit stupid. Silly. Outrageous. Unlikely. Kinda... like Anton Chigurh in No Country For Old Men. So, am I really afraid this guy is going to somehow get through 2 sets of keyfob electric locks and get me to open my electric-locked door... then commit a violent felony in the dead center of a highly populated apartment building... then just... walk out? Good lord, I think I watched too many movies over the years.

So... yeah, I'm a bit less worried about that now. Funny how like... just writing out your fears in vivid detail can really help make more sense of them. That's a skateboarding thing, too. Like... nosemanuals, that's a big one for me that I'm overcoming right now. I used to love manuals, it was my thing. It's basically like being on a balance board outside, and I used to use balance boards all the time as a kid. But nosemanuals (manuals are "wheelies aka riding on just one set of wheels", nosemanuals are on the front trucks rather than the back ones) have always been super scary. My big fear is always... I'm going to drag my nose and it's going to catch and I'm going to go flying out of control. See, with a manual, you can drag your tail and it doesn't really do anything. If you drag your nose on a nosemanual, your board can just immediately come to a complete stop, but your body just keeps going... which is one of the worst things that can happen to you as a skateboarder, it can completely throw off your ability to control yourself midair and that's where injuries are likely to happen. So it's technically a logical fear. But the reality of it is... you can feel it before it happens. You can feel when your balance goes that far forward, and you can just hop out of it, or if you're going really fast, just tuck and shoulder roll. It's really not that bad at all. And once I really started to process that, and see it in real life? Nosemanuals started to get much less scary. But you really need to spell out your fears on that, say very clearly what you are afraid of with that trick, in order to overcome that.

The general, vague, non-specific fears? Those are the ones that can ruin your life. Because they can worm their way into fucking anything.

So yeah, I think the address on the invoice is fine, I don't think I need to pay for a P.O. Box just because of this. I hope the text is fine, I think it's super generous. I'm actually a little worried I'm shortchanging myself a bit... but whatever. It's money I didn't have and once I get this off my shoulders I can get back to my normal life. In fact, that money can go directly towards a month's rent of an art studio at the collective nearby, and nearly pay for the whole month! That's a good way of looking at it.

So yeah, once I realized I was doing that instead of relaxing... I went to fire up Minecraft. I hadn't sunk into that in a long time. My idea was to potentially... smoke weed and then play Minecraft for a while. I chickened out. I didn't smoke. I've just been too fucking anxious lately, I really didn't want to risk like... hearing bumps from the ceiling and thinking the FBI was knocking at my door or something. That shit is not recreation, it's a living nightmare. It's such a damn shame, I really wish I had a vice for days like today.

I made dinner, ramen and leftover fried rice. I watched skate videos. I prepped tofu for tomorrow, with lessons learned from last time. And... then I played Minecraft. And it was alright, but not what I was craving. I want a creative survival game where I make a home in the wilderness. But... it just wasn't scratching the itch today. I was playing the Valhelsia: Vanilla Expanded modpack, and the second I got in I just went... "I miss Dynamic Trees". And I tried to add it... but it's not compatible. And that was a big sad moment. I love feeling like the world around me is alive in a game like that. And Dynamic Trees (and other mods like it) was really good at that. All the plant life was constantly subtly changing, but the terrain topology stayed the same. So... I'm not sure what to do about that.

I ended up quitting and playing Session for a while. And now here I am.

So... day 2 of having the sole goal of having a chill fun day... and then I end up doing stressful work and only relaxing for like an hour. And lots of rain and thunderstorms both days too. Lame.

Welp, here's hoping to succeed tomorrow, I guess. Next art project is going to be clothing art, my beige pants are going to get a deer head on them, and likely a fox on the other side if I have a good orange.

If there's one thing I got out of this whole reconnection with that former friend experience? It's a reconnection with my deep love and admiration of foxes. And I am deeply driven to add in fox imagery to all kinds of work right now.

I want to do pieces that are like... a scrapbook of my memories of this place. And a lot of it has been animals. So... I was thinking my helmet could be a collage of these. I want to do the blue jay that used to visit my feeder every dawn, and a fox for this unfortunate lost soul. So... tapping into spirit animals through capturing memories, and what those memories mean to me... and bringing those memories to life through my art. I think it's a very beautiful thing... and a way I haven't really thought of animal spirits before. I always sorta thought of them in like a... conceptual... abstract... almost god-like way. Like "I'm channeling the fox-spirit, the qualities of a fox." And that kinda feels sometimes like "I'm channeling the human-spirit, the qualities of a human." And this other approach, is much more... individual. There's much more of a visceral meaning to it. Kinda like drawing a portrait of a specific person you admire, as a tribute to those qualities they embody to you... this would be a drawing of a specific animal, and the qualities it embodied and the impact it had on me. So... the same totemic symbology, but with much more individual specificity.

Oh my god, I can't believe I almost finished this without mentioning. I saw a squirrel outside my window earlier today (I live like 20-25 feet up) and it was just running around on the branches of a tree just like... grabbing leaves and tugging on them, then carrying them in its mouth. And I had never seen this before, at first I thought it was looking for some kind of specific seed pod or fruit or something? But then I saw clearly that it was gathering leaves. And I just connected the dots and went... "wait... is it making a nest? Do squirrels do that?" And I looked it up and sure enough... this squirrel is making a big leaf nest directly across from my window! It's about 6 feet higher than my window, but it's right there. :) That means there are going to be babies! Maybe. It made me so excited. I have a new neighbor! She looks pretty young, and she doesn't seem to notice or mind me hanging out by the window and watching her work. I'm so glad I have nature right here out my window, if I didn't I really don't know if I'd last here.

Okay, I think that's about it. I put off yoga until now, so I'm gonna go do that and take a nice shower and call it an early night.

[raxistaicho]

Fantasy Invader cries, “Stop simping!”

Going back over some of these older posts, I really notice a... decline in FI’s self-control. He just seems to get progressively angrier at Edelgard’s existence as time goes on. Maybe he realizes on some level that he’s wrong?

So, it’s interesting that FI’s one of the types who criticizes Edelgard fans for supposedly stripping Edelgard of her agency (he argues Edelgard’s woeful state in AG is a deconstruction of what he perceives to be our arguments defending her), while he refuses to acknowledge that Edelgard and all those who help her had any valid reason to do anything.

Of course Hubert doesn’t help Edelgard because he has genuine respect for her and believes in what she’s doing, he’s just a mindless simp who hears and obeys!

It’s something I mentioned a while back: Edelcrits refuse to acknowledge what Edelgard’s even doing on good faith. This would be the equivalent of me lying about Dimitri and Dedue’s behavior.

I cut off a lengthy chunk in the middle here because it was just FI spiraling into a tangent.

This here is just the classic Edelcrit nonsense, “Edelgard doesn’t know the true history (TM) of Fodlan! She wouldn’t fight the church if she wasn’t wrong about the history!”

It supposes that Edelgard fights the church purely on the basis of her understanding of Rhea’s history with Nemesis, and not on any analysis she might have done on her own.

Again, bad faith refusal to acknowledge that Edelgard knows what she’s doing. Which side is treating her like an ignorant girl with no agency, again?

As a side note, in the middle of that tangent was:

He likes to say Edelgard “dances to their tune,” a lot, which has extremely gross implications given how FI thinks Edelgard is a stupid, stupid little girl who needs to let the adults handle things.

And the only dialogue I can think of that matches his claim is Cornelia’s when she dies in CF, which is infamous for having been mistranslated. We’ve known it was mistranslated for years now.

Correction, Hubert pushes for the death penalty... because he’s Hubert and eliminating threats is his way. Edelgard, by all accounts, treats Aegir rather well in all arcs.

As for evidence of the crime... Edelgard’s one of the victims of the crime. She knows he committed the crime because she saw him do it. There’s no margin for error in Aegir being a pawn of the Agarthans when, in Hopes, Thales allies with him in defense of the palace in SB, the Agarthans release him from prison during Shamir’s raid in SB, and Aegir works closely with Thales and the Agarthans in both SB and AG. How much of a trend of Aegir being allies with the Agarthans needs to be demonstrated before it’s apparent that they’ve been working together for quite some time? Aegir even happily uses the mind-controlled Edelgard as a puppet in AG.

Jeez he’s so angry. “Bitches”.

Hubert’s support with Hanneman all but states Hubert personally witnessed his father capturing Edelgard from the Palace. It’s unclear whether this was before the experiments or before her movement to Faerghus, but considering the violence of the act, the former is more likely.

One last fuck you for the road from Fantasy Invader. His constant sexist language aimed at Edelgard and those who support her (he didn’t in this one, but he actually does just outright call Hubert a simp in one of his posts), coupled with the very sexist calling of Dorothea a “gold-digger” really does display a deep level of contempt for some of the women he doesn’t like from this game.

It’s seriously uncomfortable.

And Tassadar would totally say Hubert’s not simping.

[cinemaseeker]

Hot Take: Pinocchio (2022)

There's a reason why the story of this little wooden boy has been adapted to screen so many times. However, you'd never know what that reason is while watching this version, Disney's latest copy-and-paste "live-action" remake.

I think I would respect Disney so much more if they had just called this the computer-animated version. But then again, maybe not. But seriously, if you're going to call something "live-action" then put in some live action. And no, Tom Hanks gawking awkwardly at you through your TV screen does not count. I really hate bad-mouthing Tom Hanks like this but he and we both deserve better than this:

Maybe Disney knew they had a stinker on their hands and that's why they released it on Disney+ and not in theaters. The platform is starting to feel like a dumping ground for projects not anticipated to do well at the box office (don't even get me started on Turning Red, I'm still not over that nonsense).

But it's becoming increasingly obvious that the writing is on the wall.

The jig is finally starting to be up. And something's gotta give.

Here's the thing: there's a big difference between being told that something is whimsical and actually witnessing something whimsical. This whole movie feels lazy and condescending, like the corporate equivalent of waving keys in front of a baby's face. I'm not going to laugh just because the movie tells me that something is funny or cry just because they tell me that this moment is sad (Major pet peeve alert: fake-out deaths in Disney movies. In my mind, that's about as cloying and manipulative as it gets.)

Emotions are not something that can be told, they have to be felt. And that's what studios don't seem to understand. They keep trying to wring tears or laughs out of us to no avail. They keep trying to hedge their bets but now they need to start pulling new tricks up their sleeves or start putting actual effort into their projects if they want us to keep watching.

Either way, things need to change.

These movies have no reason to exist outside of making money and banking on our collective nostalgia. But who's the blame here? The studio that keeps giving us garbage or the people who keep watching and, more importantly, paying to watch it? Money talks loudly in Hollywood, no more so than in Disney, and our dollars have told them that this is apparently what we want to see:

Now with all that said, I do understand the appeal of these remakes, how exciting it can be to see familiar stories take on new forms, and how these movies can provide comfort for people burned out on a chaotic world filled to the brim with uncertainty. I would never wish to take that comfort away from anyone, but I still believe that we can demand better products from our corporations.

After all, they are here to serve us, although it often feels like it's the other way around (aka, backwards).

The sad thing is that this had the potential to not only be a decent remake but an actual good movie. This could've been a golden opportunity to incorporate some outstanding practical effects and use, oh I don't know, ACTUAL PUPPETS in this story about a LIVING PUPPET. If any studio had the resources to make that happen, it's Disney and the fact that they didn't even think to take advantage of such an opportunity is beyond insulting.

Hopefully these remakes can help turn younger generations onto the far superior hand-drawn animated versions and maybe help turn the tide back to 2D animation. These remakes could actually be good case studies of why some concepts work better in hand-drawn animation than in CGI, or even vice versa. I AM glad to see more studios taking the hybrid approach, using the best of both worlds.

But for now, all we can do is pray that Guillermo Del Toro's take on the story, set to be released on Netflix later this year, will give that little wooden boy the proper creative treatment he deserves.

My Rating: 2/5 wishing stars

[theartistknownaslymond]

A playlist for Checkmate-era Philippa? x

mon chois et fait

A band AU playlist for Philippa pining over Francis. cf. Francis pining over Philippa, here

The final piece of the puzzle, if you will (young Philippa’s influences, Philippa’s musical evolution from DK through to RC)

Johnny Cash - Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes

Erasure - Ship of Fools

Elvis Costello - Deep Dark Truthful Mirror

Shelagh McDonald - Stargazer

Kate Bush - Never Be Mine

Deacon Blue - The World is Lit by Lightning

Queen - Scandal

Pet Shop Boys - I'm Not Scared

New Order - All the Way

Steeleye Span - Seagull

Clannad - Almost Seems (Too Late to Turn)

Donna Summer - Breakaway

Tracy Chapman - Crossroads

Anne Briggs - Go Your Way

Shelagh Mcdonald - Let No Man Steal Your Thyme

The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale of New York

Prince & the Revolution - When Doves Cry

Eurythmics - We Two Are One

Faceclaims: Ellie Kendrick and Patrick Wolf. Idk when or why, but I got it in my head that the music of 1989 was largely naff, but then I started digging and it turns out there are a lot of songs about the difficulty of being in the spotlight while going through private turmoil. So - I hope you all like pain!

1) Yes it’s Ben Jonson’s poem, but sung by Johnny Cash. Technically only released on a later album, but I’m going to assume there was precedent for him and others performing it live in this style - Paul Robeson made it a big hit too, but the guitar version here is more Philippa. It’s *probably* the best I can do for a band AU equivalent to ‘Tant que je vive’, for now, at least, and Philippa has been established to be a big fan of Johnny Cash already.

2) The title of this is also a bit of a Renaissance Easter egg, but the lyrics don’t seem to resemble the text known as the Ship of Fools. 1988/89 were the big years for Erasure, but Pippa will probably have got to know them earlier, when she was working with charities and protest groups in London - Andy Bell having been out and proud from the beginning. I close my eyes and I try to imagine What you're dreaming Why can't you see what you're doing to me? My world is spinning The lyrics also make reference to ‘the baby of the class’, which I think plays on Philippa’s worry that Francis doesn’t take her seriously because of her age, and Francis’ own determination to prove himself outside Richard’s shadow.

3) This album features on so many of my playlists, but it’s really got it all! Philippa is again established to be an Elvis Costello fan in the AU. This is one of the most lyrically obtuse on the album, and fits with Philippa being as reticent to admit what she really feels as Francis is. It’s weird and increasingly troubling, which I do think fits Philippa’s search for information about Francis’ past, and how deep in she gets. A stripping puppet on a liquid stick Gets into it pretty thick A butterfly drinks a turtle's tears But how do you know he really needs it? Because a butterfly feeds on a dead monkey's hand Jesus wept, he felt abandoned You're spellbound baby there's no doubting that Did you ever see a stare like a Persian cat?

4) Keeping her folk roots - under Austin’s influence, but this song (from a woman who disappeared on the cusp of stardom in the 1970s - she turned up about 30 years later explaining that she’d had the mother of all bad trips) doesn’t need much explaining. The lyrics fit Checkmate so well: He was a stargazer She asks what'll the future bring Mercury and Jupiter will bring you wealth and golden rings They have climbed the hill and watched the sun go down to rest He said: "Will you be my friend? I fear that there's nothing left to give, my Lady" She said: "Let's follow the sun behind the hill To where it's hiding." He was a stranger to her His father was a poet Lead her by the hand on the hill Touch the golden sunset How did feelings die, he's afraid to know Why did she have to lie She'd only stay until it's time for her to go She said take the sun in your hands, be glad For this is love you hold.

5) ANY opportunity to put one of my all time favouritest songs on a playlist! But genuinely, it’s all about the unrequited love, the pining, the thinking that the other person is better off without you... Very much a Philippa perspective on Francis and Catherine d’Albon. Plus she could play a cover with the Northumbrian pipes instead of the Uilean pipes :’) And this is where I want to be This is what I need This is where I want to be This is what I need This is where I want to be But I know that this will never be mine

6) It’s maybe more precisely how Francis feels about Philippa, but as with the other playlist for them, I think a certain degree of overlap is inevitable. This is one of Adam’s favourite bands, so Pippa’s bound to encounter their new release on the tour bus or at a party. So maybe you're standing In some foreign town You've walked for miles Till the heat slows you down And your jeans and your curls Are bleached and split And your money and your anger Are all used up Maybe I'm sorry About the light in this place Makes my heart seem cold As the words on these pages Maybe I'm reminded By a shop window display or a decoration Like some church candle that might just burn Dancing under chandeliers and I'm telling you Caught in the headlights and I'm yelling it at you Why is it girl when the world is lit by lightning That I keep telling you that I love you

7) This one is just. Aughh. Philippa is in the midst of a media storm now, it’s been brewing ever since she came back from Las Vegas married to Francis Crawford with an adopted (sure, the world says, ‘adopted’) child. She’s trying to make the world better, trying to work out what kind of career she wants/what kind of music is ‘hers’, and in the middle of it she’s realised she actually loves the man she’s married to, who hasn’t yet managed to divorce her, but is publicly dating a huge French star and is also plastered all over the papers...papers that doubtless have much to say about both their sexuality, too. And like, yeah, this was released in 1989, it was one of the biggest albums of the year. It's only a life to be Twisted and broken They'll see the heartache They'll see our love break, yeah They'll hear me pleading I'll say for God sakes Over and over and over And over again, yeah

8) Neil Tennant, a fellow Geordie who refuses to talk about his sexuality to the slavering mob? He’s also since emerged as a big backer of Labour (prior to the 2000s anyway) and is a trustee in Elton John’s AIDs foundation. So definitely another of Pippa’s Ringed Castle contacts. They probably bonded over their shared love of Elvis Costello’s protest songs. And then there’s the lyrics. I mean: What have you got to say of shadows in your past? I thought that if you paid, you'd keep them off our backs But I don't care, baby, I'm not scared What have you got to hide? Who will it compromise? Where do we have to be so I can laugh and you'll be free? I'd go anywhere, baby, I don't care I'm not scared

9) Another album likely nicked from Adam, though they were also buddies of Neil Tennant. One for Pippa learning to find her own way between the music she grew up with (that Austin insists she should foreground) and the world she’s been involved in in London. Probably a bit of a manifesto, trying to toughen herself up for life after the divorce: It don't take no Houdini To tell me what I am Parasites and literasites They'd burn me if they can But I don't give a damn About what those people say They pick you up and kick you out They hurt you every day It takes years to find the nerve To be apart from what you've done To find the truth inside yourself And not depend on anyone

10) So, this is the kind of...folk rock that the ‘80s got. Bouncy! It’s also not actually a folk song I can identify, I think it was written by the band. It can be interpreted in light of the triangles in Checkmate - Catherine/Francis/Philippa and Francis/Philippa/Austin, plus Philippa’s own mission to find out about Francis at all costs. Penny the hero, Penny the fool The gold watch she gave me I'll treasure They say that it's only a game after all Apart from the pain it's a pleasure Seagull, seagull, three three in a bed...

11) More ‘80s folk! Clannad and Enya were getting big at this point, but this particular album again has a lot of Francis/Philippa relevant feelings. I just put this track on though, for the obvious...trying to work out if a relationship is still possible after painful revelations and public separation. Ah, Austin has no idea why she’s listening to it so much! To you I saw the sad decline A rift become a storm Stayed so cold last night This lonely heart inside me says

Almost seems to late to turn What to do if I'm to learn Almost seems to late to turn

12) Despite the mid-’80s rumours that she was homophobic, Donna Summer seems to have spent quite a lot of time and effort (in 1989 no less) on refuting those rumours (true, on the level of ‘some of my best writers are gay!’). And she is, after all, Queen of Disco. But Pippa and Danny have to have something to belt out together on tour bus karaoke nights! But I don't think she can take it And just friendship can't replace it She'll be strong enough for two Although it's hard for her to do She'll breakaway Ooh, ooh, ooh she'll breakaway

13) Ahh, someone had to make folk music cool again <3 Tracy is a gorgeous guitarist and singer, just the kind of inspiration Philippa needs when she’s feeling a bit lost at this end of the decade. What’s that? Another artist who is constantly badgered about their sexuality and refuses to talk about it? A second album dealing with the loss of privacy that comes with fame? She played at an Amnesty International set in London in ‘88, I hope Philippa got the chance to hang out with her then :) All you folks think you own my life But you never made any sacrifice Demons they are on my trail I'm standing at the crossroads of the hell I look to the left I look to the right There're hands that grab me on every side

14) Now this one ain’t from the 1980s, but Annie’s been established as an influence on Philippa (and Kate) from the start, and it’s this kind of pared-back, folk-club-friendly stuff that Austin’s probably hoping to get her back into. Bert Jansch and others helped to make this song Annie wrote big, so for Philippa there’s a bittersweet side to the fact that this song, written by a woman, not a traditional tune, was only recognised as being important when men started playing it (side-eyeing Austiiiiinnn). But she’ll certainly put it in her sets if she thinks Francis is watching :’) Friends and strangers bring stories When asked where you might be Magic stories they have brought to me You go your way, my love

15) This is like...the quintessential folksong for lamenting giving up your virginity to some useless guy who only wanted that from you and nothing more. For when your thyme is past and gone He'll care no more for you, you For every place that your thyme was waste Will all spread o'er with rue, rue Will all spread o'er with rue For woman is a branchy tree And man a clinging vine, vine And from her branches carelessly He takes what he can find, find He takes what he can find

16) I know we’ve kind of reached a point where people think it’s basic to say this is the best Christmas song ever, but actually, it is. So there. It’s perfect. It does contain the f-slur yes, as Shane McGowan says, it’s part of the persona Kirsty is singing, though he has also said he’s quite happy for it to be cut when people play it now. And we’ve had Pogues and Kirsty on Pippa playlists/inspiration lists before, too. Anyway - I propose: Francis and Philippa singing this live together, both madly in love with each other, knowing how in love they are with each other, daily pretending to be indifferent to one another, now having to play at hate-loving each other, while the whole world watches going ‘wtf is going on here?!’ K: "I could have been someone" S: Well, so could anyone K: You took my dreams from me When I first found you S: I kept them with me, babe I put them with my own Can't make it all alone I've built my dreams around you

17) Couldn’t have a Pippa playlist without Prince :’) And yeah, the album’s earlier, but I’m not sure Batdance really fits the mood here, plus it complements Purple Rain on Francis’ playlist. How can you just leave me standing Alone in a world that's so cold? (So cold) Maybe I'm just too demanding Maybe I'm just like my father: too bold Maybe you're just like my mother She's never satisfied (She's never satisfied) Why do we scream at each other? This is what it sounds like When doves cry

18) A big bluesy ballad to finish up! Annie Lennox is from the same cut as a lot of other artists here: she’s done a lot of activism and fundraising, played the Mandela charity set in ‘88 and has been a big supporter of LGBT+ rights since appearing in an early Eurythmics video with short-cropped hair and a suit on. Per Wikipedia: ‘Lennox was viewed as the female version of Boy George. They appeared together on the front cover of the British music magazine Smash Hits in December 1983 with the headline "Which one is the boy?".‘ Stay classy, British music press. People like us Are too messed up To live in solitude I'm gonna cure that problem, baby I'm gonna fix it good...

[nyaagolor]

may we please get the mirror world headcanons?

heck yes u may

Most of it will be under the cut bc I talk a lot

I like to think the Mirror World is a reflection of the regular world (I call it Prime World for convenience's sake), and by reflection I mean opposite. It's not opposite in a "good v evil" way, just in the sense that a mirror world counterpart is the inverse of their prime world self, for better or for worse. For example, Noddies in Prime World sleep for most of their lives, while Mirror Noddies barely ever sleep and are constantly alert. Instead of a Sleep Ability, they give Panic, aka the Kirby equivalent of slurping down 15 espresso shots in a row. The mirror world counterparts are no better or worse than the prime world, just different!

Headcanons for all the mirror world counterparts of the Star Allies (or at least the ones I've thought abt) are under the cut :3c

Shadow Kirby (Skirby): Where Prime Kirby is reckless, bold, and overconfident, Skirby is reserved, cautious, and kinda pessimistic. They're no weaker or meaner than Prime Kirby, but seem a bit shy and non-confrontational because they always want to scope out the scene before they launch into anything. Some might call it cowardly, but Skirby thinks it's pragmatic. Much like prime Kirby, though, he's the hero of Popstar and is usually the planet's last defense against whatever eldritch horror comes their way. He deserves a break, though, since unlike Prime Kirby he's not surrounded by friends to help him out

Shadow Dedede (SDDD): He started off as a good king, always being diligent, professional, and responsible in contrast to Prime DDD's self-serving, goofy ways. He wanted what was best for the mirror world, but life didn’t make it easy. The mirror dees, rather than the loyal helpers we know from the prime world, were backstabbing jerks who were loyal to no one but themselves. SDDD tried so hard to be a good king, but had no one to help, no one to pull him out of a slump, so he just slipped through the cracks and got worse. Bitterness and anger consumed him until he started looking out for himself and himself only. He became a tyrant, turning into an iron-fisted, merciless ruler whose laws were enforced through violence. DDD got better with the help of his friends, but SDDD got much, MUCH worse as a result of his isolation and loneliness. Also he has a battle axe instead of a hammer bc I think it's cool

Dark Meta Knight (DMK): He's basically the antithesis of a knight: he's willing to work for anyone no matter how rotten they are; he always plans on backstabbing them later, cares about no one but himself, never plays fair, and is a lazy, rude jerk. He likes spicy foods instead of sweets, challenges children to duels WITHOUT offering them a sword first, and is deathly afraid of heights, despite having wings. He was in the process of creating a land-razing tank called the Halberd, but his crew betrayed him and cut up his wings and mask so now he isolates himself out of anger and fear. After being with the Star Allies, he's made some friends and realized the value of teamwork-- also he likes teaching Adeleine swears. With Dark Mind gone and the Mirror World still a bit of a dump, DMK would much rather hang out in the prime world and get on Meta Knight's nerves. He tries his best to protect the two (2) people in the mirror world he does tolerate, though (it's skirby and sddd).

Mirror Bandee: Hates SDDD with a passion. In fact, he's attempted to assassinate the king at least 26 times, but fails both because SDDD is way smarter than him and also Mirror Bandee is a sniveling coward who runs at the first sign of danger. His repeated failures have made him more of a scaredy cat, so no one takes him seriously anymore. He has a knife and ties his bandana around his "mouth" like a scarf, but it doesn't help to make him more intimidating. His repeated attempts to kill the king (and more recently Skirby and DMK, who hang out with SDDD) have become a constant in their lives and weirdly enough they don't mind his company.

Mirror Marx: I always assumed that Prime Marx was a noddy with Mirror instead of sleep. Well Mirror Marx is the opposite-- instead of having Panic like the regular hyperactive Mirror Noddies, he has sleep. He didn't show up for the events of Amazing Mirror bc he was snoozin. Because of this, he never got the Nova's powers, never tricked skirby, and never did anything evil. In fact, unlike Prime Marx, Mirror Marx cares too much about everyone's feelings, is always kind, and doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He's the glue holding the mirror world together bc not even the worst of villains want to hurt him. He's just so darn CUTE

Mirror Animal Friends: Imagine the animal friends. Give them angry expressions and sunglasses. Now make them part of a gang. Yeah that's it. The Animals are no friend of skirby's and would sooner maul the poor kid than ever lend him a paw (or flipper or wing). The forest bows to their whims and they rule it like your typical mafia boss. They're jerks.

Mirror Daroach: See these posts.

Dark Taranza: Hoo BOY he's bad. He's real bad. He rules over Mirror Floralia (Sporalia?) which is underground and filled with nasty creepy crawlies. He hates getting his hands dirty and will do anything it takes to get more power and luxury so long as he doesn't have to put himself in danger. He only cares about one thing, and that's himself. What about Queen Sectonia, you ask? She was the original queen of Mirror Floralia, but Dark Taranza mind-controlled her into his puppet to do his bidding. When the people finally snapped and declared war on the tyrannical queen, it was her they shattered, being none the wiser that Dark Taranza was the one pulling the strings. He still has a box of her shards in his castle, just in case he needs a new puppet to play with. He loves jewels and machines, all things inorganic. The imperfections of flowers? Not his style.

Mirror Magolor: Quick tangent here: Mirror Lor Starcutter, rather than being a ship to BRING people to paradise, is a sort of pocket paradise, a little virtual reality magic... thing. It can also be easily modified to only open from the outside. That's important for later. Anyway, Mirror Magolor is brutally honest, but also rude, unfriendly, impulsive, and incredibly violent. He hates machines and will start punching a lamppost if he accidentally walks into it. Scrappy little dude. He would actually rather claw his ears off than be friends with another living being. He just likes brawling and destroying ancient artifacts and that's it. Well one day he tells the mirror crew he wants to go get this thing called the Master Crown so he can destroy it. SDDD, Skirby, Mirror Bandee and DMK realize hey, that'd be nice for us to have, let's join him and then betray him at the last minute. As soon as they get there, though, the crown ends up choosing Mirror Mags as a host before anyone can do anything. Oops! The others manage to shatter him... but then the crown pulls his shards back together and attacks them again. Realizing he's both totally lost it and also immortal, the others lock Mirror Mags inside the Lor as the crown erodes the last of his humanity. Consumed by blind rage and the crown's power, Mirror Magolor just lashes out at anything that moves, biting and clawing at whatever he can reach like a feral cat. There's like a 80% chance he has rabies.

Sorry to Susie, Gooey, Adeleine, and all the non-Star Allies crew, I haven't thought abt them yet

[mfuugh]

Can we just talk about the ending of KawoShin open discuss. *sort of spoilerish*

I feel like I’m the only one who’s like reallly disappointed LMFAO--ya’ll there’s so much “canon” alternative universe and merchandise for Kawoshin in Evangelion that it kind of makes me upset to realise this couple just went down the drain. Yeah, I can see how people were like, “Kaworu’s toxic” or “Kaworu has a hero complex for Shinji” to which I say are valid points. But the toxic thing I feel like can also be applied to pretty much everyone around Shinji tbh, except for Rei. I did NOT, like Asuka at all but I really love her character though, and I felt for her a lot throughout the series.

I did not ship them either because honestly, Shinji and Asuka seemed better off playing the sibling dynamic instead of trying to play bf/gf which honestly is kind of forced by their living situation. Also since they’re in a similar disposition non existent father and dead mother, you’d imagine they would rely on each other for emotional comfort. Though Asuka—her personality I feel like she can’t differentiate between familial love and romantic love and the affection she wants is a bit of both. But, her character tries to be “mature”; she wants romantic love more and does this through sexual means and romantic gestures e.g. like kissing. One of my friends told me that you can’t stay friends as a boy and a girl cause eventually you catch feelings. Which I say is kinda dumb cause I have a lot of male friends, and I definitely don’t harbour those feelings, but I guess it’s a common phenomena.

I think this is what happens in this case, of Asuka and Shinji. Even after rejection of instrumentality they actually are depicted as childhood friends. But knowing how they both were before to each other, it was not good tbh. Also to mention the choking like thrice— bro if anything, this showcases a really abusive relationship and I think this outstretches the idea of their character tropes. Which I firmly stand by saying they’re superficial to each other. AsuShin were never really there for each other and are using each other in a forced situation. However, you can’t deny that they didn’t at some point catch feels, also Shinji is pretty consistent how he still cares about everyone around him. Which I really like how they add that to his character because it reminiscent of Yui, because you see a duality of both his parents personality in Shinji throughout the series—it’s a really nice touch. But bruh, if we gonna talk about that coma scene—I’m out LOL.

Thoughhhh, she is a true definition of best girl I really like her arc, fighting drive, and her skills as an Eva pilot 😭💗--but bruh she’s still a toxic and sometimes annoying tsundere trope, but still she’s 14 what can you do. So I feel like Kensuke and Asuka are actually a pretty good combo, cause he’s always been pretty mature even without parents. Also Asuka was into older guys, so I guess this is a win win?? Also Rei and Shinji, I honestly cannot get my head around it cause that’s pretty much his mom—so in a way that’s like either his half-sister or mom-ish clone?? Idk but Yui is definitely the donor LOL.

Kaworu and Shinji I felt like brought a bunch of things out of each other. I don’t know which timeline begins first, but I’d like to think the manga, the anime (plus its movies), and then to the rebuild series. Because I think that order is kind of pivotal to observing Kaworu’s character development from being a person who’s trying to understand human feelings to then the kinder person we see in the final series. You can tell how he’s changed and he knows Shinji a lot more as well as being considerate to him e.g. giving him personal space or letting him work at his own pace. Also that “we’ll meet again.” Is an obvious nod to how he’s done this before.

His literal story in every timeline is always romantic LOL, like bruh I can’t remember which game it was but basically a bad ending of Kawoshin route is that you reject Kaworu and he starts the third impact 🤡. Also I don’t know why but I started to see a weird dynamic between those two, in the manga their interactions reminded me of Asuka and Shinji—which Shinji is the tsundere Asuka here. I don’t know if this is relevant but the older character relative to the character they’re with seems to play off a mature vs a childish person trope. Asuka is younger than Shinji and Shinji is actually younger than Kaworu. Then again I could be overseeing this but istg manga Kaworu and Shinji mirror the whole Asushin dynamic. Like he’s seriously agressive against Kaworu, then after killing him he admits liking him. 🤡 I don’t know which is funnier no homo Shinji, homophobe shinji, or just closet Shinji who needs to realise sexuality is a spectrum so he could’ve idk—come out as bisexual, but whatever manga Shinji lol that timeline is over.

Anyways the development of these two is real and I think the rebuild timeline shows them at their best bringing their own personage out from each other like how they both enjoy music together--WHICH I’M SO SAD WE NEVER GET TO SEE THAT CELLO AGAIN. Then there’s those feelings of humanity, love, kindness, etc. Which yeah an angel could represent those things, but Kaworu is still his own person, self-aware of a cycle and if you think about how he initially was there to USE Shinji, but ultimately turned on that plan set by SEELE because he loved Shinji (and a bunch of other things like him showing Kaworu humanity). I also can see the argument, how “ideal” Kaworu is to Shinji, but he’s more self aware of the time he has before he KNOWS he’ll die and knows how to act for himself in that duration to make the most of it. All with Shinji. At some point, I think he fell in love with Shinji tho I don’t know where it began tbh—considering that all those alternate universes do exist. Kaworu does romantically love Shinji--so, in some universe they both reciprocate their feelings to each other. 

In the last movie during that convo with Shinji. Like bREH it’s so emotionally moving because Kaworu remembers ALLLLL the timelines and how he’s been with Shinji and later Shinji himself recalls the events too. Where they show the scene from the manga and anime. Kaworu cries after being set free from the EVA cycle. Which, I definitely understood what he meant by him saying “it’ll be lonely” and how Shinji changed or that he’s actually different this time.

Either way, Shinji did right by him because it’s always Kaworu who has the purpose of “trying to save Shinji” but it always ends up the same. I thought that was really moving because Shinji tells Kaworu he’s gonna let him live a life for himself for once and he wants the same for everyone as well. Which was honestly so meaningful cause I think Kaworu’s character and like Rei too when they start to realise how to “live” like a person and not another puppet it’s truly liberating. Another thing I forgot, bruh Kaworu calls Gendo his father and ngl I feel like this is kind of a weird lore situation because I for sure don’t think he’s the donor. I think he calls him that as an insult because he knows Gendo’s whole doing and relative to Shinji—I kind of see it as a joke LOL. Like it’s equivalent to saying, “daddy chill”, or “hey look it’s daddy and his plans to end the world” also I kind of like to think of it as a father in law thing cause you know, Kawoshin *winks amirite*

The ending, I’m honestly hoping is just an open ending because it gives everything an actual start of their adult lives not being dictated by extraterrestrial forces. Though, I’m kind of wondering if the world doesn’t have EVAs does that still mean everyone else still has the same backstory, and do they remember? Maybe Mari really is just a coworker lmfao, and there’s still a chance for Kaworu and Shinji cause ngl, they did have a convo (presumably from the spoilers) about still remaining close afterwards and that stare at the ending seems very hopeful.

I call bs from Anno saying, “oh Shinji is based off him and Mari off of his wife”, like honestly any OCs made theres always some part of yourself made into that character. Which is probably why a lot of people relate to the characters in EVA because they’re based off real things (e.g. those war machines characters are named after and people around them). I think why Kaworu and Rei are together at the end, is bc they’re very much the same. They’re mass produced dolls—which oddly enough that’s the case for all the children except they don’t recall the loop. Kind of funny also how both Kaworu and Rei became farmers lmfao so ig it runs in the family (yes that’s right I like the idea that they’re siblings it was always noted that they’re like “the same”).

Another thing, i think why the rebuild really did well for Kawoshin and in my opinion canonised it—the convo with elder Ryoji Kaji (Misato’s baby daddy) that there was a time he felt incredibly lonely and depressed thinking Misato didn’t love him and so he started looking out for himself. So self love and found himself a hobby in farming which he suggests to Kaworu—basically saying he might feel like Shinji doesn’t love him but he’s gotta remember to take care of himself. if I go thru a breakup ill feel like it’s the end of the world but Kaji says y’a gotta self love broe and take care yo self gad dam fam 😭 💗.

Though, that look at the end from Shinji to Kaworu—I’d like to believe there is still hope that one day when they’re a bit stable in their adult lives, they’ll run into each other.

[meggannn]

Can I ask, what's the beef with Greg Ellis and Mark Darrah? I haven't been keeping up with BioWare in general and the Dragon Age fandom & company division in particular (I'm more of a Mass Effect person) so all I noticed is that two big names (were?) quit a few days ago so I am genuinely puzzled at that exchange. Did Ellis get screwed over by BioWare/Darrah somehow or is he doing some unfounded shit-stirring?

Oh for sure, so I don’t know all the details, but I’ll try

Greg Ellis

Greg Ellis is the voice actor for Cullen, a character who is in every Dragon Age game. the actor has been a pretty shitty person for a while—I’m sure there’s a callout post for him somewhere on tumblr—but he’s the British equivalent of a Trumper, transphobic, hosts a podcast/contributes to/does audio readings for a right-leaning website that complains about liberals and universities, often gets into fights with LGBT+ folk on twitter and block them (so many that a lot of DA fans couldn’t read his tweets today lol).

[ID: Greg Ellis tweet: “I praise @Ayaan for supporting @jk_rowling in standing her ground. They are heroes of our times. /end ID]

[ID: Greg Ellis tweet: “Today on The Respondent @GreggHurwitz discusses the challenges of identitarianism on college campuses. /end ID]

From Wikipedia: Identitarianism: “The Identitarian movement or Identitarianism is a post-World War II European far-right political ideology which asserts the right of Europeans and peoples of European descent to preserve the culture and territories.”

[ID: Greg Ellis tweet from June 2018: Indicative of our current culture that I tweet about inspirational free thinkers & up pops a trolling SJW who can’t separate me from my work. Conflating my inclusive & equitable opining with a video game character I voice is SJW indent politicking full blown.”

Greg Ellis tweet replying to a disappointed fan who was upset about his support for Trump: “Speaking ‘on behalf of thousands of fans’ of a video game & suggesting I ‘broke their hearts’ because I support ALL who hold Presidential office is ludicrous. VG fandom is not exclusive to LGBTQ or those not hate filled about @potus. I believe in equity & inclusivity.” /end ID]

to demonstrate how much of an attention-seeking child he is, Ellis also likes to tease his fans with hashtags and get them up in a tizzy to gain followers, tagging things #Cullennites and #DA4 just to wind up bait-switching and actually talk about something completely different, or maybe even nothing.

[ID: Tweet from Greg Ellis, I don’t have the date but I believe this was from spring of 2018: “I’ve been officially authorized to disclose details about the game only when I reach 10k followers. I feel like a puppet. Will you help pull the strings? I’m positively itching to share. #videogame #announcement #cullenites” /end ID]

Beef with Mark Darrah

I think what specifically started his beef with Mark Darrah was this summer, Ellis tweeted in support of Ayaan/JKR (above), resulting in a lot of upset fans replying to him. He got in lots of fights with them, blocking several, prompting fans to make more tweets expressing anger/disappointment about DA4/the future of Cullen, and even tweet at other Dragon Age developers asking if Cullen could be recast if he comes back at all.

Mark Darrah made a tweet saying basically nothing substantial about it, but he said: “It’s important to us that the people we work with are aligned with our BioWare values. This will be apparent when we’re ready to announce what actors will be lending their voices to the game.” He even replied directly to a few fans throughout the tags/search results who were concerned, including @theherocomplex​ which I saw, so it’s a safe assumption he was at least taking the anger seriously.

Ellis replied to the public tweet: “What r the @bioware values @BioMarkDarrah? Don’t the loyal #Cullenites & @dragonage fans have a right to know? Don’t u have a responsibility to tell them? DO u support cancel culture? Do u support defamatory comments like this? Careful how u answer ~ u might lose ur job”

I mean, it’s pretty ballsy to threaten a lead creative at a company responsible for a chunk of your fame when your character’s arc is effectively over and they don’t need to have you in any games anymore... there are tons of crappy British actors out there to replace you, and it’s not like they don’t already have Gideon Emery in a dozen different wigs, lmao

What Happened This Week (Dec 3 and Dec 4, 2020)

Mark Darrah was, until recently, a staple in the Dragon Age team. A lot of people were worried when his resignation yesterday came out of the blue, and Casey Hudson (also a lead creative/big name) also resigned from the Mass Effect team at the same time, which to me is pretty concerning.

Yesterday after the news broke, a fan asked Darrah if his beef with Ellis might have had anything to do with his departure (basically asking if it was a forced resignation): “If this has anything to do with a recent blowout with a VA from Inquisition who publically called for @BioMarkDarrah to be fired, I'm going to be so sickened and disappointed by this company for siding with bigotry.” Darrah replied with just “lol” which to me was a little concerning, because if you read it sarcastically, it seemed to imply the drama with Ellis did have something to do with it. without proof, it’s difficult to say, and of course Darrah and Hudson gave polite goodbyes but are silent on the real reasons that prompted them to go.

Today, Ellis has managed to convince himself that he did get Darrah fired, likely over the stink he raised about Darrah publicly for siding with LGBT+ fans over him. but in his replies to that, Darrah mentioned pretty open skepticism in his tweets that Ellis would ever be rehired by BW again, so.... maybe the Ellis drama is not it. IDK.

TLDR: basically, Ellis is a bigoted right-wing voice actor who picks fights with fans who call him out, and he is still coasting off the attention highs he got from voicing a highly controversial video game character in a franchise that hasn’t hired him since 2014. in summer 2020, Ellis threatened Darrah’s job (not at as if he has any power to threaten him with), basically because Darrah stood up to him, and now that he no longer has to play civil as a BioWare employee, Darrah finally snapped and called him out on twitter for being unprofessional and implied Ellis wouldn’t be asked back to BioWare anyway even if Ellis WAS the reason he left. other Dragon Age developers (who still work at BW) are liking and replying to Darrah’s tweets with supportive gifs/emojis, so I think it’s a fair to say Darrah’s attitude is prevalent in the company but current workers just can’t say anything, and they do not want Ellis back again.

[adobe-outdesign]

There are too many yellow bears in this series.

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/the_black_box

Transcript under the cut.

So in Part 1, I mentioned how it was weird that I talked about the identity of the Brother and then skipped directly to the box. So let’s remedy that and talk about the identity of…

[Who is Golden Freddy?]

Sike.

No but seriously, we do need to discuss Golden Freddy before we discuss the Brother’s identity. Trust me, I’m going somewhere with this.

So Withered Golden Freddy is super easy - he’s the fifth child. We literally see this in Give Gifts. Some people think the fifth child is Cassidy, I personally think it’s Michael Brooks because his name aligns with the night guard’s names on the tombstones, it does not matter, all we need to know is that he’s the fifth child. Enjoy that, it was the only easy part of this theory.

Side note: Shadow Freddy seems to merely be a different form of Golden Freddy. In TTO, Shadow Freddy leads Charlie’s friends to her, and Michael, IE Golden Freddy, is the only one who has a reason to do that as he was her friend. And in canon, Shadow Freddy likely doesn’t show up for the fifth child in FNAF 3 not because he isn’t possessing something, but because said child is Shadow Freddy.

Continuing on, Fredbear - the one with the purple accessories - is likely Sammy, which I went over in the last video. This includes Nightmare Fredbear, the yellow bear in Happiest Day, Fredbear in UCN, etc. He’s also Nightmare, who is to Nightmare Fredbear what Shadow Freddy is to Golden Freddy; the instigator of bad events and the eventual outcome of death. Note that just as Fredbear has different colored accessories compared to Golden Freddy, Nightmare has different colored accessories compared to Shadow Freddy. They’re parallels, but they’re not the same.

But then we get to FNAF 1 Golden Freddy, and FNAF 1 Golden Freddy is… weird.

The most obvious answer would be that he’s the fifth child, but that doesn’t line up with what we established in the last video - the fifth child should no longer actively be haunting the place by FNAF 1, same as the other kids. Even if you want to argue that theory is wrong, there are some other things that don’t make sense; for example, FNAF 2 Golden Freddy is hyper-aggressive while FNAF 1 Golden Freddy is barely around. Likewise, FNAF 1 Golden Freddy seems to be purely a hallucination as you can’t adjust his AI, while Withered Golden Freddy is a physical suit you can tamper with.

FNAF 1 Golden Freddy also has a connection to both bites - both in the 1987 Easter Egg and the fact that he looks exactly like Fredbear as shown in UCN. Plus the poster that summons him occasionally switches to one of Freddy casually tearing off his own frontal lobe, and Stage 01 shows him giving cake to kid with a Foxy mask. The fifth child has nothing to do with either bite, so these connections do not make sense.

The second option would be that he’s Sammy, as he might be the other main 5 animatronics, but that… doesn’t quite add up. First, that would mean that in FNAF 3 he gave cake to… himself, seeing as all the pieces are him. Secondly, he wasn’t around in 1987 so that Easter Egg makes no sense, unless the general connection to a bite is enough for him. Thirdly, there is no Nightmare equivalent in this game (or Shadow Freddy, for that matter). And finally, the big one - if Scott intended Sammy to be Golden Freddy, then he would’ve left FNAF 4 Fredbear’s accessories black. The switch to purple is to differentiate the two, which doesn’t make sense if they’re one in the same.

But you know what’s really strange about FNAF 1 Golden Freddy aside from, like, everything? The IT’S ME hallucinations are connected to him… and him alone. No matter what the game, spinoff, or sequel, FNAF 1 Golden Freddy and FNAF 1 Golden Freddy alone makes these hallucinations.

Because of this, I feel like in order to solve who FNAF 1 Golden Freddy is, we need to solve the IT’S ME hallucinations first. And in order to do that, we have to go back to when they started appearing, which is not in FNAF 1 as you might expect, but in FNAF 2. The FNAF 2 cutscenes show the FNAF 1 location and, as far as we know, are the earliest instances of these hallucinations.

First, we see Freddy’s “error” message, which is later replaced with the “IT’S ME” line. This is why I believe these cutscenes are the origin of the phrase, as it starts showing up only after the first night. It also shows up before and after Golden Freddy appears, so it doesn’t appear to be tied to him here.

The other reason I believe this to be the origin is the hallucinations that accompany the IT’S ME message, one of which is an eyeless Bonnie - which appears in the Night 3 cutscene. And the other image? Consider how the animatronics behave towards you here - Bonnie and Chica eventually turn away, while the Puppet follows you. This matches the FNAF 2 gameplay when you put on the mask - Bonnie and Chica are fooled by it while the Puppet is not.

I’ll be honest, I never liked that puppet thing. It’s always…thinking, and it can go anywhere. I don’t think the Freddy mask will fool it.

Combine this with the strange blurred look and the fact that this is labeled as “dream” in the files, and it’s likely this isn’t reality, nor is this literally Freddy. Rather, we’re playing as someone picturing themselves as Freddy - which is why we see the Freddy with human eyes. These images accompany the IT’S ME hallucination because this is where said hallucination started.

Now, remember our requirements for the Brother earlier. They must be someone who worked in the FNAF 1 location, and we know that they worked in more than one Freddy’s as well. We also know that this person is not Michael Afton.

We know that whoever we play as in these cutscenes knows how the animatronics behave in 2, and this cutscene takes place in 1′s location. This indicates the player character moved from the FNAF 2 location to the FNAF 1 location, which fits the requirements for the Brother. This indicates that the person creating the IT’S ME hallucinations is the Brother - which in turns means that the Brother has to be FNAF 1 Golden Freddy.

But what else can we learn about him? Well for starters, we also see the Puppet, the one who gives life, right before the cutscenes stop on Night 4, despite the main gameplay continuing for several more nights. We see the Golden Freddy suit right before that, so that might be the suit that the player character is possessing - note that he does not have pupils yet like in FNAF 1. This indicates that the Brother died and was given life in the FNAF 1 location, further narrowing our requirements. And the Freddy with human eyes hallucination looks suspiciously like someone who was stuffed into a Freddy suit. See where I’m going with this?

Our final piece of evidence that links this all together is that Golden Freddy has a connection to both ‘87 and ‘83, yet is not Sammy. You see, when people ask “who did the Bite of ‘87?”, they’re asking the wrong question. Which animatronic did the Bite matters very little. What we need to know is who caused the Bite. The animatronics, including Fredbear himself, ask “was it me?” in the teasers, indicating the IT’S ME might be a response to this question. It’s not the animatronic that matters - it’s the person.

Phone Guy worked in the FNAF 2 location, and knows how the animatronics worked. He moved to the FNAF 1 location and recorded his phone calls before being stuffed into a suit on Night 4, the same number of nights the FNAF 2 cutscenes run for. And Phone Guy… is the one who tells Jeremy to wear his uniform and stick close the animatronics, after it was established they weren’t acting right around adults. In FNAF 1, after Phone Guy’s death, the first instance of Golden Freddy we can confirm… happens to land on the anniversary date of the Bite of ‘87.

Phone Guy caused the Bite of ‘87… and the Bite of ‘83. Phone Guy is the Brother.

[Why Phone Guy Being the Brother Makes Sense, Actually]

It may sound crazy at first, but Phone Guy being the Brother and FNAF 1 Golden Freddy is what suddenly makes this seemingly almost random series of events come together into a coherent story. So, without further adieu, let’s summarize the plot of FNAF.

We start with William kidnapping and killing Charlie. This then traumatized Sammy, which in turn caused his older brother to bully him and eventually kill him by accident. Wracked with guilt, the brother took the plushies that Sammy possessed and tried to stitch them together into one, then locked them into a box and tried to repress his memories of the incident.

William then kidnapped the Brother, leading to the events of FNAF 4 with Sammy trying to kill him. The Brother eventually escapes but never opens the box and faces the truth, instead eventually picking up a job at Freddy’s. Five kids are killed at that location and possess the pre-Withereds. William kills another five for their remnant in 2 before being moved to the day shift. The Brother, now known as Phone Guy, accidentally causes another Bite to happen. This and the murders drive him to take up the night shift. William, meanwhile, is killed by the kids and sealed away, and the original five rest while Sammy takes their place.

Phone Guy works there for years before Sammy finally succeeds in killing him near the anniversary of the Bite of ‘87. He then becomes FNAF 1 Golden Freddy, who’s basically a representation of his guilt over the Bite - keep in mind that he never did open the box, which Scott described as “fitting”. The FNAF 1 location eventually shuts down, Fazbear’s Fright opens, and Sammy and Charlie are both freed. Some, uh, stuff happens with Michael, and eventually the other five kids are put to rest as well and William is killed off for good.

Rising action, climax, resolution, ect. - FNAF suddenly has a plot, with all of the proper elements and everything. Scott's “four games, one story” hint suddenly makes a lot more sense, doesn’t it?

Oh, and if the general plot of “Guy works five nights at a pizzeria before his younger sibling, possessing multiple animatronics, kills him and turns him into an empty suit” sounds familiar… well, that’s because it’s the plot of Sister Location. Back during TSE’s release Scott said the books were an AU because the original plotline just had too much stuff in it to write any more stories, but then turned around and released SL and FFPS. I think he realized that by just paralleling the same narrative but switching the focus from the Emilys to the Aftons, he could create a lot more stories.

So, okay. All of that makes sense from a story perspective, but what about a theory perspective? What evidence is there to support Phone Guy being both Golden Freddy and the Brother? Well, there’s… a lot, actually. So much so, in fact, that we’re going to speedrun it.

“Well, I think that’s it. Uh, you should be golden.”

Also, the numbers you’re punching in are the hex code of William’s “Save them” sprite backwards, which might be a nod to the “Phone Guy is the killer” theory. It was still popular at the time, so the number being backwards might indicate it was wrong - because Phone Guy isn’t William, he’s Golden Freddy

“Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I’m finishing up my last week now as a matter of fact.”

While I have heard some evidence against the idea of Phone Guy being the Brother, most of it seems inconsequential. Here’s a quick run-down:

Phone Guy sounds too old to be the Brother - Scott’s not a professional voice actor, and he never intended there to be more games after 1 upon release. Also, Phone Guy’s voice actually does get lower in pitch over time (compare his voice in FNAF 3 vs FNAF 1). If this was a professional voice actor Scott chose out later in the series this would be valid, but as is it’s a bit too nitpicky in my opinion.

Phone Guy is too old to be the Brother - Assuming Phone Guy started working in Freddy’s in ‘85, then that puts him at two years after the Bite. If he was 16 at the time of the bite, he’d be 18 in ‘85, old enough to get the job. Even if he was 14 plenty of jobs will hire 16 year olds depending on the state’s labor laws.

His line about Fredbear’s in 2 doesn’t make sense - The “previous owner” he mentions is probably not Henry, who would be his father if he was the Brother, but rather William. Keep in mind this is after the murders, so I don’t know why they’d be contacting Henry at this point. Some people also think that the location of the Bite of ‘83 was Fredbear’s, making it weird that the Brother wouldn’t be 100% sure of its name, but the token in Help Wanted confirms that that location was the first Freddy’s.

So yeah, that’s quite a bit of evidence. But in addition to everything else, I’d also like to discuss this theory relative to UCN.

[How This Ties Back Into Ultimate Custom Night]

You see, UCN has two major theories going for it: One is Willhell, one is Mikehell, and one is my personal favorite, the Theoriest’s Hell.

[Please Stand By]

One is Willhell and the other is Mikehell. The problem with both of these theories however is that neither of them… work, or at least work as well as we would all like them to. Let’s recap:

Willhell is the more solid of the two, as it makes more logical sense and more of the dialogue fits Will better than Michael. However, it is not without a few problems.

The biggest issue is Malhare’s appearance in FFPS, as it’s a bit hard for William to show up after UCN if he’s supposed to be in Hell. There are also a few other things; for example, the Puppet claims she doesn’t hate him which is a bit odd. Not to mention the emphasis on “the one”, which seems weird considering WIlliam has killed multiple kids. Fredbear can also insta-kill you and Golden Freddy shows up at the end of the game, so there’s some sort of significance to those two characters and the Bite here, which also doesn’t tie back to Will.

Mikehell fixes this by claiming Michael is the Brother; thus, “the one” is the Bitten Child and the connections to the Bite suddenly have an explanation. However, this theory has holes of its own - namely, that FFPS kind of sort of directly states that Michael isn’t going to Hell.

For most of you, I believe there is peace, and perhaps more, waiting for you after the smoke clears. Although for one of you, the darkest pit of hell has opened to swallow you whole, so don’t keep the devil waiting, old friend.

If “one of you” refers to William and there’s peace waiting for the others, than that means that Michael is going to be at peace after FFPS, which doesn’t make sense for Scott to have brought attention to if he’s the protag of UCN.

This one also doesn’t make sense from a character standpoint. Even if Michael was the Brother - and I already went over why I think he’s not in the first part - he already more than repented for his sins by dying while freeing Elizabeth.

And finally, the “leave the demons to his demons” scene also doesn’t make much sense here - Michael killed his brother accidentally, so “demon” is too harsh. He could be the Freddy sprite and the text is referring to Will, but… why would he be Freddy, aside from that being the sprite in OMC’s original appearance?

So with neither of these theories working perfectly, I’d like to suggest a third option: Brotherhell. Basically it’s the same thing as Mikehell, but without the Mike.

This immediately fixes most of the issues with Mikehell. The Brother never opened the box from 4 or really even came to terms with what he did, so him being punished makes sense in this context. “The One” is Sammy, who 4 already proved to be very vengeful towards his brother. This would explain why Fredbear can insta-kill you, as he and The One are the same.

The Puppet saying she doesn’t fear him anymore, but also doesn’t hate him? Assuming he used to scare Charlie like he did Sammy, he would indeed not scare her anymore without her truly hating him. And the scene with OMC? The Brother is Freddy in that scene because he became Golden Freddy when he died. And that’s why you see Golden Freddy at the end - he’s not only the player character, but a representation of the Brother’s guilt as well. Note that while the Bitten Child passed on in 3 and the original 5 and Elizabeth passed on in FFPS, no one ever actually freed the Brother.

The only snag I can think of with this interpretation is Orville’s one line:

He tried to release you. He tried to release us. But I’m not going to let that happen. I will hold you here. I will keep you here. No matter how many times they burn us. (They burn us).

However, one could argue this refers to the fire in FNAF 3, rather than the one in FFPS. Henry (the player character in 3) tried to burn everything and release the Brother, Sammy and Charlie. Whether or not this works is a bit ambiguous, but it at least has less problems regardless than Willhell or Mikehell.

[So is any of this right?]

Now that we’ve finally covered the entire lore - or at least the most confusing bits - it’s time to ask the important questions, like “was any of that even correct”? And the answer is… I dunno. No, really. I could’ve been wrong from the start and Michael is the Brother and none of this meant anything and I just wasted nearly an hour of your time talking about all of this. And given that Scott seems sort of, uh, completely terrified of fan backlash, we probably won’t be getting any definitive answers anytime soon.

However, if nothing else, I hope this theory serves as an interpretation of FNAF that makes for a good story. Instead of this confusing mish-mash of seemingly random events and people, we’re left with a simple story about a small child trying to get revenge on his older brother, who’s still grappling with coming to terms with what he did. It’s creepy, it’s poignant, it’s sad, and it is Five Nights at Freddy’s.

[IT’S ME Jumpscare - Weird Al over Credits]

[littlemisssquiggles]

Idea time! Oscar is kidnapped and the group go to rescue him... only to find Salem controlling him with a grimm that amplifies his negative emotions. They try to reach out to him but he throws everything back in their face. "Please, Oscar, fight! We care about you!" "... since when? If I never had Ozpin in my head, would you have paid a moment's notice to me?" "We want to help you!" "Like you helped me after the train? At Argus? At Atlas? I can do without that kind of help."

Ruby takes it the worst and brainwashed!Oscar completely destroys her with a Reason You Such Speech, outlining every single one of her flaws and failures, and it's only more potent because Oscar sees right through her so well already.

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

Squiggles Answers: 

Hiya Miki-chan o/ Hmmmmmmm….intriguing. I quite dig this idea. As a matter of fact, mind if this squiggle meister adds to it?

Have you heard of the Tales of Arcadia Trilogy or at least Trollhunters? 

Without spoiling much from the series, just in case you haven’t seen it, let’s just say that at some point during the story, an ancient evil returns. Much like Salem, this ancient evil is an evil sorceress who later in the series possesses one of our main heroes and uses them as a vessel; silently infiltrating the hero group to thwart their plans to conquer the forces of evil.

Since you brought up brainwashed Oscar, imagine if…unbeknownst to our heroes, Oscar gets baptised in the Grimm Pools of Darkness during his imprisonment; corrupting the poor little prince and turning him into the perfect pawn for Salem to rule Remnant beside her much like she had envisioned to do with Ozma long ago.

But here’s the real zinger twist with this concept---as I mentioned, our heroes---lead by Ruby Rose--- are blissfully unaware of Oscar’s corruption and rescue him from Salem, confidently believing that they were successful in rescuing their friend. Only to discover later down the line that Oscar had actually been turned by Salem and had been acting out her diabolical schemes; infiltrating the heroes under the guise of their comrade all the while Salem manipulated his actions from the comforts of her tower, like a puppet on a string.

Basically, it’s a scenario where a corrupted Oscar unwillingly (since he was being controlled) betrays his friends to work with Salem and let’s say…in the midst of all this, Oscar aids Salem in staying one step ahead of our heroes’ actions since she basically used Oscar’s body as her eyes and ears within the team to spy on them and even sabotage some of their plans?

And thus, this all culminates in that very scene you described---where our heroes, particularly Ruby go to confront Salem and rescue Oscar for a second time only this time, Salem pits Oscar against Ruby and the two smaller, more honest souls are forced to fight one another similar to Ozma and Salem’s duel in the Lost Fable.

And to add onto your idea of Oscar chastising Ruby, let’s say…for their dual, Oscar pretends to be himself to lure a naïve Ruby Rose; desperate to save her friend, into a fortress that is actually a new-type of Grimm that forces a person’s fears and insecurities to manifest before them. I hereby dub this Grimm---the Baobab (for obvious reason).

So while Oscar and Ruby are fighting, Oscar uses the Baobab’s power to emotionally and psychologically torture Ruby? So as Corrupted Oscar yells every failure Ruby has ever made in her face, including failing to save him, the Grimm basically repeats Oscar’s words to Ruby forcing to echo all around her and practically down the girl in the burden of her own mistakes. 

And to add an extra kick to Ruby’s chest, let’s say the Baobab also showed Ruby visions of what really happened to Oscar while he was imprisoned---how he was tortured by Salem, broken and beaten into nothing, all the while screaming for her to come save him from his pain only for her to never come when he needed her---thus further tormenting Ruby with the guilt of what her friend had to go through while her and the others fought amongst themselves before coming to cohesive plan of action to help him.

Heck! Why not stop there? Imagine if…the Baobab Grimm shows Ruby all the times when Oscar had been hurt either in her presence or as a result of her and the other’s actions while Ruby was either never around or practically stood there and, in from Corrupted Oscar’s pointed of view, allowed it to happen?

Like when Qrow punched Oz into a tree and Ruby did nothing to stop her uncle from hurting him. Or when Qrow basically told Oscar that he wasn’t his own person, all the while Ruby just stood there and said nothing else to comfort him. Or how Ruby and the others practically abandoned Oscar all alone and never checked in on him while on Brunswick Farm after Oz had left. Everyone was there for each other, but not him. The same thing also happened in Argus.

Even after Jaune hurt Oscar right in front of their faces, no one cared to see if he was alright afterwards. No one care. The only time they cared about him was when he disappeared. So, in Corrupted Oscar’s, him going away for good is the only way the others, including Ruby, will actually give a damn about him. You get the gist, right?

What do you think of that? 

I know it deviates a little from your idea but I definitely do like your idea of a Corrupted Oscar turned into a pawn and vessel for Salem. It basically mimics our  Black Rose Ruby Little Red headcanon only the corrupted is Oscar.

For the longest time, the series has omitted showing how Oscar truly felt about all that has happened to him. The show always portrayed him as being perfectly complacent even in the face of what is basically abuse by his so-called peers. 

I love Oscar. I mean I really REALLY do since he’s my favourite character but as sad as it is for to admit as a Pinehead, Oscar is unfortunately the RWBY equivalent of a human pin cushion. No matter how many times he is pricked by the PLOT, his reaction in the aftermath is always neglecting of  his own emotional pain to an annoying degree.

I get that Oscar seems to be the selfless type who places others over himself which is very noble for kid of his age and upbringing (and part of the reason why I like his character so much) and gives the little prince something in common with his rose Ruby...but...in all seriousness...

How much more does this poor boy have to go through before the PLOT can let him be an actual human being with feelings who shouldn’t have to be okay with everything?

This is yet another instance where Oscar’s character is reminding me of Steven Universe. Steven went through so much during his own story so I personally liked how Steven Universe: Future tackled how much Steven had been suppressing over the years in terms of his own trauma and emotional fears; culminating in what happened to him in the finale.

I’m not saying I want Oscar to turn into a giant monster needing all of his friends to finally come together for him in order to help him after all the times he’s helped them…I don’t need RWBY to go to that extent (since I highly doubt it’ll happen canonically given the awkward way the show does handle its characters; particularly Oscar).

…Hoooooooooweverrrrr….I will say it would be nice if we did have a confrontation where Ruby and our heroes are forced to finally see the extent of their past actions, poor decisions and downright mistakes through their treatment of Oscar since…in an odd way, he is a casualty of it.

Oscar Pine is, in an odd sense for me to say, a victim of our hero’s mistakes---first Ozpin’s (by extension of Ozma) and now JNR_RWBY’s.

But then again, this is just my views on it. I hope this answers you Miki-chan. If you can, let me know your thoughts on my thoughts here.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

[webdeveloper82965]

Why is a Good Web Improvement Company

The world associated with web development continues to very much misunderstood. Get even heard most people call it your "dark art". When you need help transforming your ideas and patterns into a high quality site or web use, how do you know whom you can trust to complete this?

web developer

The purpose of this article is to provide certain key points on what tends to make a good web improvement company, and will make it easier to understand the kind of problems you should be asking enhancement companies.

This is planning to be a very opinionated post and people make no i'm sorry for it. If you take issue with anything were certainly open to looking at it further.

At this moment to get on with the blog post. Below are the key zones we are going to be investigating, and what you should come to be looking for in a world-wide-web development company.

In a position to do both front-end and back-end progress Don't specialise in a single back-end technology Ought to follow best practices Know-how about marketing strategies neighboring the projects Spends time in research together with development Has a difficult testing process, like automated tests Bendable to change Use origin control

Able to undertake both front-end and additionally back-end development Most people don't subscribe to perception of developers that do front-end development and builders that do back-end advancement. That's the equivalent associated with a plumber exactly who only fits conduits and leaves that fitting of the bathrooms, showers, sinks in addition to toilets to a different inividual.

We agree there's an easy separation between template designers and web designers, there could completely different thought process happening there, but the split between front-end along with back-end is just drastically wrong. To be a good web site developer you need to understand the whole development cycle and then to be able to get involved in the mission from start to end. There is also much to become learnt from the using the varying technological know-how, but we'll seriously to that.

Don't are experts in one back-end know-how There are a number of superior back-end technologies which might be appropriate for web improvement including Ruby concerning Rails, ASP. World wide web and PHP (and others). They all have got their strengths together with weaknesses and not the first perfect. A good world wide web development company ought to be flexible in which solutions they use, to be able to use the most appropriate a for their clients' requirements.

The key reason we have used up time learning various technologies is to capable to pick and choose the parts we like. Progressively the developers mixed up in League have been allowed to take the good areas each technology and additionally formulate a number of guidelines and use them upon all platforms.

Will need to follow best practices The crucial to being a fantastic web developer is simply not the technologies for you to use, but the recommendations that you follow. For the reason that technologies come in addition to go in our amazingly quickly moving industry people best practices will remain, or even at least evolve. For a developer if you have a great grounding then you can proceed with the times along with technologies fairly simply.

So what are those best practices that we are generally talking about. Below are many of the key ones everyone follow.

Writing semantic HTML Follow online standards for all the front end coding Programmed testing of each of those front-end and back-end code Use of a good MVC framework

Knowledge of marketing strategies bordering the projects We now have heard this problem many times that web designers don't think about the web marketing strategy of a project. This really generally because coders don't care. Effectively they should. How can they will advise clients together with think about helping customers produce the right choice, if they aren't taking into consideration the "bigger picture" (sorry, we know it's a horrid phrase, we'll travel wash our lip area out now). In case your developer blindly will the work, they are possibly not offering the client an email finder service, they are just being meat puppet.

A very important question a beautiful can ask is normally "Why? ". Make time to understand the buyer's requirements fully, and additionally advise them, in fact the client doesn't have an understanding of the ins and outs from web development, you are doing. Make the enhancement cycle a a couple way conversation.

Spends time in research in addition to development As it's common knowledge the web industry can be described as very fast moving marketplace. Things come along with go in the blink of an eye. A great web development corporation gives it's designers allocated time per week to look at new movements and technologies. Granted some of these trends together with technologies are departed ends, but you will not likely know unless you seek out them.

If you want to realize if a web progress company knows in that respect there stuff, simply correctly . what their creators have been looking into most recently. You don't have to understand everything you could are told, be aware them down although and look them through to the internet to understand in case the company are looking at innovative trends or not really.

R&D is probably the essential time each week for any developer. If builders don't evolve, this solutions they construct will become stagnate and additionally dated very quickly. Being a client do you want some sort of out of date solution when you even start?

Provides a rigorous testing system, including automated checks Too often we have noticed the client is the tester for a project. In the event that this is happening, after that, to put it bluntly, the development provider don't understand your project sufficiently, they are just "banging out" code.

A fantastic web development business should be writing programmed tests (integration trials, unit-tests etc) for a lot of their code, either front-end and back-end. On a simple tier, tests help coders to concentrate on your code they are authoring at that specified time, they also guide developers to write a lot more concise code. A lot more concise code implies the code foundation is easier to understand in addition to cheaper to maintain.

Your major benefit of some sort of test suite to somewhat of a client is that whenever changes are made to a code in the task there can be a lot more self-assurance in the fact that that change, or brand-new code, hasn't cracked anything else.

We are not necessarily saying automated assessment is the silver round of web advancement, and tests are just effective if they usually are written well, they certainly should be section of any web developers toolset.

Automated tests will not be the only important aspect with testing. The web improvement company should also employ a level of human examining as well, and this is obviously something clients has to be involved in. User tales are key to this fact process. As part of the enhancement process, clients must work with the web progress company to put together Visitor stories, so that many parties involved know the way users will connect to the site or app and the results of some of those interactions.

Flexible to convert We've all over heard developers complaining precisely how their clients' switch the requirements of a job midway thought some project. Developers have to stop complaining with this, it happens so that you can us all and it's for no reason going to change. A superb web development supplier should have processes into position to cope with change. For everybody who is a client, ask the way in which change requests can be handled.

Web developers ought to work to small release cycles, ideally 1 - 14. The worst item that can happen to your project is of the fact that developers get the shorter, start the work thereafter 2 months after they announce it is actually finished, only for the lawsuit pursuer to say "This is not what I required! ". By lifetime short release fertility cycles, clients can be needed at all stages. Right at the end of each release the litigant should review this project so far along with submit any improve requests.

Use base control Our previous recommendation is a attractive obvious and uncomplicated one, to most persons, but we nonetheless speak to developers which don't use any variety of source control. This approach seems more prevalent along with freelancers as they do not see the need while they are the only types working on the area code. If that's how they view it, then they are omitted the point.

References Web design https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_design

[lamiralami]

TMA Retro 1: Angler Fish

So I was wistfully scrolling through the calendar to April for the third time in five days when the math added up: if I were to listen to an episode The Magnus Archives a day, it would just about carry me through to season five (give or take a couple weeks depending on when the premiere date lands). A retrospective relistening, giving myself the time to pay attention to all the details I missed on my initial devouring. And an excellent way to fill the long and lonely days until Jonny Sims rises from his crypt to kill us all. Anyway! I’ll be doing a post-per-episode-per-day, tagged tma retro - all and sundry are welcome to participate!

Let’s get down to it with MAG 1: Angler Fish

well actually, rewind a bit. let’s listen to some trailers 

starting out strong with some spooky chanting, a dire warning, and Jon being a huge bitch about Gertrude. also this guy Jacob had the right of it. you should have tried listening to his warnings about Beholding instead of complaining about some messy files Jon my boy! 

“I swear, if he’s brought another dog in here, I am going to peel him.” out of that jumper? 😏

I just really like picturing the Day Martin Brought a Dog Down to the Archives. do you think it was a little dog and he managed, through increasingly wacky hijinks, to keep Jon from finding out for most of the day (with the help of Sasha and Tim, after letting them in on the scheme of course)? or was it a big dog that ran around knocking over shelves and boxes, sending statements flying while the Archives staff gave (ineffectual) chase, except for Jon who climbed on top of his desk because he’s afraid of big dogs and tried to obfuscate this by shouting prodigiously?   

seriously, is there fic of this? there ought to be so much fic of this.

right off the bat, Jon is such a disdainful prick and it’s delightful. in the first few minutes he manages to imply that most of the other employees of the Institute are too lazy to do archival work, rips into Gertrude and her lack of a filing system, and basically calls Martin an idiot. 

this totally plays into why Elias chose him as Archivist. he needed someone to go around collecting marks from the powers, and here he has a man who’s demeanour invites everyone he comes in contact with to punch him in the face. it fits so well it feels like a trap. (it is probably a trap, can’t wait for this to bite you in the ass Elias) 

definitely getting the impression that the Archives are seen as, shall we say, the redheaded stepchild of the Institute - “an impeccably organised library and an absolute mess of an Archive.” which becomes, just, so hilarious when you think about what’s to come from the rest of the Institute’s perspective. worm attacks, murder investigations, discovering corpses of former employees and mysterious bonus corpses. everyone else at the Institute fucking hates the basement weirdos and their constant disruptions. 

and then Jon mutters about “making excuses” and my heart breaks for him (not the first time, not the last). he’s hopelessly unqualified for this job, and he must have felt such pressure to get the Archives into good order. hence him grabbing a couple researchers (and Martin) to pad out the investigation work so how fucked the Archives are doesn’t come to the attention of the “ivory tower academics” in the rest of the Institute, and being so angry at and judgemental of Gertrude and the state she left the place in. he wants to be a good Head Archivist, and he doesn’t know how, so he has to bluster and cover everything with pompousness and disdain and blame and scepticism, trying to come off as a Real Boss. Jon tries so hard. it’s at the core of who he is. 💔

love the sound of “Old Fishmarket Close.” that name has spooky mood lighting.

it is fun to imagine how this looked to the angler fish. they’re chilling, waiting for a snack, got a skin ready to go, when this guy tumbleweeds himself down the street to crash land on their literal doorstep. eldritch fear equivalent to uber eats. 

oh ho ho, the statement giver refers to the figure as “the stranger” several times! dammit Jonny you beautiful bastard!

there’s also some puppet imagery, with the figure swaying and dangling, and being folded and pulled back “like a string had gone taut.”

also wonder if there’s a link or warning here about the smoking? smokers were the angler fish’s prey, and Jon’s smoking and web lighter have been brought up a few times but never fully dug into, yet. hmm. 

I cannot emphasize enough how much Jon’s voice is dripping with contempt any time he’s not reading a statement. he is such a little punk! I love him!

Jon sounds like it’s physically paining him to say “LOL,” the septuagenarian vibes are emanating from this man

Sasha establishes herself early as a competent and technically adept assistant, therefore marking herself for death. RIP, we stan forever 

[that-shamrock-vibe]

Disney+ What To Watch: My Top 10 Favourite Disney Classics

#3. The Jungle Book

I enjoy this movie without even needing acknowledgement of the original story of which it is based on. I know there have been variations on the story, in fact I remember watching an animé version of the story as a child, but for me Disney simply captures the essence and the magic that I need from the story.

I used the word “magic” despite this being one of Disney’s rarities to not include any physical use of magic, but when you have talking animals there is an element of magic to it. Not forgetting that just seeing that magnificent waterfall, the jungle at night and how this young boy interacts with this supposed “wild animals” is very magical.

Having said that, this movie is very Disney. I loved recently seeing the How It Should Have Ended interpretation of The Jungle Book and simply had the story being Bagheera finding Mowgli and leaving him with the wolves who then proceed to maul and devour the infant...because that may or may not be what would actually happen in reality. I’m an advocate for wolves and choose to see their best sides, but you never know in the wild.

That’s not to say that Disney shies away from “the law of the jungle” in this movie as the main focus of course is protecting Mowgli from the fearsome Shere Khan, but along the way Mowgli interacts with various other animals who, aside from Kaa the python, you may not consider to be threatening predators but both Hathi and King Louie are somewhat opposed to the young human and Louie, especially in other spin-off medias, seeks to either harm or possibly kill him.

But then you have a panther and a bear who you could also mistake for predators, and they’re the ones trying to ensure the human lives...despite said human doing absolutely nothing to make either of them not want to kill him at times.

It is interesting that Baloo and Mowgli have similar mindsets considering they are both of different species and age. Mowgli being ten years old and raised by wolves with the aide of a panther doesn’t exactly show signs of knowing right from wrong despite Pinocchio, a wooden puppet, being taught these things by a cricket.

Baloo meanwhile is the ultimate laissez-faire party animal who sherks all responsibility and just wants to have fun in life. So the fact that these two find each other and form that instant surrogate father-son relationship isn’t surprising...but because Mowgli is not savvy with the way the wider world works being simply ten years old, he expects everything to go his way and so wanting to stay in the jungle clings to the idea that anyone with a way to keep him there is the right way to go.

But while Baloo’s intentions are harmless just slightly self-centred, the likes of both Kaa and King Louie wanting to either eat him or use him for knowledge could be seen as an equivalent to stranger danger. Something which this movie does relatively well.

Again, Mowgli doesn’t show any experience at knowing the jungle outside of the wolf pack. So when he and Bagheera leave the pack for the Man Village, Bagheera being that only reliable source for him becomes very shaky when trying to convince a child he has to leave everything he knows and is comfortable with for a place that for all he knows would take him away from everything.

Then you have a variety of strangers, Kaa, Baloo, King Louie and even the Vultures, all interacting with him just as if he was on his own in the streets rather than a jungle. While it is true some strangers mean no harm such as Baloo and the Vultures, others seek to either exploit or harm vulnerable young people they meet as Kaa and Louie do.

It’s both a great life lesson and cautionary tale woven in to a fun and somewhat wholesome story that just effectively exists to make you feel good.

My favourite character is Bagheera, he is a lot like me as he wants nothing more than to just laze around and watch the world go by, but he is pulled into serious situations and has to be the voice of reason despite not being listened to.

Baloo is someone people keep comparing me to and I don’t know if it’s a size thing or the fact people don’t think I take life seriously enough, but there are worse characters to be compared to and in an ideal world I would probably be Baloo but as things are I need to be more Bagheera.

Mowgli does get more annoying as the movie goes on because while it becomes increasingly apparent to anyone with a brain, including Baloo, that he is safest in the Man Village, he becomes more stubborn as to wanting to stay in the jungle so much so that not only does he cross paths with Kaa twice and nearly get eaten twice, but he also ultimately comes face to face with the very predator who he is constantly being warned about.

Shere Khan was the stuff of nightmares for me as a child because of how he is built up in the movie and the fact that, aside from the talking aspects, he is very much a real world threat that if ever you were to cross paths with a tiger you may be killed.

But after I got over those fears, he became one of my favourite Disney villains because not only is he so menacing and sophisticated, but he’s also not one to faff around and simply gets straight down to it. As soon as he hears that not only is there a Man Cub in the jungle but that he is alone, he sets his sights on finding him. Once he finds him he does get cocky believing that he has already won before winning but he does it so well.

It’s kind of obvious why The Jungle Book is one of Simon Cowell’s favourite movies because the similarities between the two characters are very very obvious if you know both characters well.

Kaa being Winnie the Pooh is a gag that is practically exhausted by now but when you first make the link it is a slight jaw-dropping moment. He and King Louie are both great menacing villains while also being comedic foils.

As for the vultures, if they actually were voiced by the Beatles as originally intended then it would have been epic but the fact their design is loosely based on the famous band but they’re different enough being somewhat a barbershop quartet as opposed to a rock band is just a great addition.

Musically, I love the music, I love the overture, I love the songs. “The Bare Necessities” and “Trust in Me” are definitely my favourites with “Colonel Hathi’s March” and “I Wan’na Be Like You” coming close as all of them are very catchy and enjoyable songs.

The song sung by “the girl” at the end, who I’m going to call Shanti because in the sequel that is her name, is nice, it’s sweet, but the fact it’s soon forgotten when a reprise of “Bare Necessities” is heard speaks volumes to it.

Overall this is just a great, feel-good party of a movie. I’ve followed this particular franchise a lot over the years not only with Jungle Cubs but also TaleSpin, both were great additions to the franchise without specifically tying in to the movie.

So what do you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Disney+ What to Watch Top 10s as well as more Top 10 Lists and other posts.

[fire-fira]

Okay so I'm here because you're the only person I know who hates it as much as I do but I got to the part in Outsiders where SeaBreeze is a Thing and I Would Like To Rage

WHOO BOY

(Putting this under the cut because this is probably going to get vicious.)

SO LET’S GET TO RAGING.

I’ll say upfront that I (still) have only seen the first 6 episodes of season 3, though at least I’ve been kept reasonably up-to-date thanks to some friends and other blogs. Part of that (among the heaping pile) is THAT GODDAMN SHIP.

Oh yes! Brilliant writing decision! Let’s take a character from a canonically discriminated against racial group and have him get together with a fucking sea nazi, without having even shown any supposed “character development” of said sea nazi on screen, and expect that shit to fly! Fantastic! Amazing! Revolutionary! Because ‘omg gay men on screen! We finally have a queer couple!’

MISS ME WITH THAT SHIT.

Yes, I’ve wanted to see queer relationships-- of almost any configuration-- in Young Justice since I got into the series, but not like that. It’s the ficitionalized equivalent of having someone Jewish get together with an actual nazi, or someone indigenous get together with a colonizing asshole who was actively trying to wipe out their people. That shit is unacceptable.

WE DESERVE BETTER THAN THAT DISGUSTING AND HALF-ASSED DAMN NEAR NAZI-APOLOGIST SHIT.

Even if Wyynde had changed his behavior from the bigoted shit we see in the tie-in comics set between seasons 1 and 2, having Kaldur get together with him was in seriously poor taste. The fact that we don’t get to see ANY of that supposed “character development” onscreen doesn’t help AT ALL.

(And as an aside, it’s in unbelievably poor taste that they based Wyynde on an indigenous character of the same name and roughly similar appearance and made him-- oh yes-- a goddamn hagfish-sucking purist piece of shit. Fantastic message to send to indigenous viewers Weisman and Vietti, really.)

But considering the way they’ve handled so much else with the season (don’t even get me started with the way they put Kon and M’gann back together), it doesn’t surprise me. It disappoints me, and pisses me off, and contributes to the pile of bad feelings I currently have around season 3 that have kept me from watching further than I have.

And yeah, I don’t think the series “belongs” to the fans the way some over-entitled fans do (people who will actually get violent and toxic over a show need to seriously step back and calm down), but at the same time I’m pissed because we deserved better than what they gave us.

We deserved shown character development. We deserved respectfully portrayed queer characters and relationships. We deserved respectfully portrayed minority characters. We deserved a respectfully portrayed hijabi (that was part of the big deal around Halo in the first place!), and not the “I’m wearing a hijab but I’m not Muslim because I’m just a machine piloting a meat puppet” bullshit. We deserved characters not being forced to apologize for the abuse they went through.

We deserved better than a character who has been shown in-universe to have come from a social group facing discrimination just for existing being slapped together with another character who at one point was actively working with a group that had the intent of killing or enslaving him and everyone like him.

We deserved better.

And we got a shit pairing and a mostly shit season out of it.

Are there good moments? Of course there are, but it doesn’t erase the crap. Not by a long shot.