#again that would have been a lot to cover in 8 episode but still if Izzy hadn’t been planned to die at the end of this season

[accio-victuuri]

CPN : ZZ’s mysterious driver & Web’s “selfie”

So I thought about whether i should talk about this or just leave it be. Cause i did mention the mystery driver in the August CPN post but I kept it vague and left minimum information. Because at the time, it sounded so galaxy brained and that it’s something that will never be what we want to be. And that’s fine. There are a lot of cpns/speculations/interpretations that are barely plausible and even us, we know it’s not possible, hence the term “clowning”.

this is one tho is making all of us go 👀.

( isn’t he the most gorgeous man ever? i don’t blame wyb for wanting to fetch him or visit. )

If you’ve been in this fandom long enough, you’ll know that sometimes the most nonsensical clues will become key points in the future. or those impossible cpns will (sometimes) sooner or later become more true.

This incident is a great example of that…..

For ZZ’s LOCH filming, there are proxy shooters who wait outside the site and film when ZZ arrives and leaves. Their clue is the car he uses but i don’t think he was ever photographed coming in or out like what happened with SBMS. That time, you can physically see him leaving/arriving to the hotel back entrance. There are photos and videos.

So 8/13, the same thing happens and cpfs noticed that the driver looked peculiar. It’s not his face per se, but what’s on it (p2).

We were clowning that it’s WYB with his helmet but it doesn’t look like his usual one. It’s too covered up.

At the time it was full on clowning. Would he really do this? Were other drivers photographed before and what did they look like? Is this the first time this mystery driver popped up? I haven’t seen the answer to that so that’s why i’m questioning it too. Maybe XZ does not want any part of the team to be recognizable.

A piece of the puzzle is added tho because of the Selfie WYB shared. As displayed above, we are putting it side by side. So is this him confirming our clowning? What are the chances that we were speculating about him wearing a different kind of helmet ( as the driver ) then he pops up with this selfie in particular.

Is this another coincidence? 🤡🤡🤡🤡

It’s also giving this vibe. His photo when he celebrated ZZ’s birthday and drove to where he was. Did he take this photo for the same purpose?

There is also a cpn going around based on XZ’s workday, it ended 20:20 and then WYB posted 20:39 so did he post it for XZ to see after work?

CPFs also noticed it’s taken from wechat camera. So meaning he sent it to someone else and yet again, we got leftovers. You could actually argue that “selfies” or things he shares on his weibo now are “leftovers”. I actually like that. He did not take a selfie or film a video with the intention of “posting for fans”. He probably shared it to xz or his circle of friends and decided why not share it on his weibo + fans.

Bonus is in today’s episode of SBMS there is this scene. Shengyang was looking through drawings of what looks like a moto goggles (?). LOL. The universe is really joining in on the clowning. Does WYB know this scene will come up the next day? Hmmmmmm…

It’s one of those things that is the reason why so many people are drawn to this pairing and fandom in general. Candies like this are why more and more people, even to this day, are becoming cpfs. We don’t even have to make “brainwashing” packages. You can’t even make these up. It just happens.

-END.

Disclaimer: I know the implications and dilemma of taking candies from these proxy shooters who make their lives hard. Tho the entrance of the shooting site is a public space and they know LOCH crew is in there, it’s still not an excuse to camp out. If you think about it, these paparazzi are the reason why the mystery driver have to dress like that instead of a normal person. So yeah. I understand if people don’t wanna eat this candy because of that or feel 50/50 about all of this.

[forpiratereasons]

Hey Darcy! I love reading all of your takes on twitter! If you felt so inclined, I would love to hear if you heard any hesitation in Stede's "No, I'm not." When Ed asked if he was having second thoughts at the end of episode 8. Are these crazy kids going to put in the work and make it? Thanks!!!

these crazy kids are gonna put in the work and make it!!!

no, i don't hear any hesitation. i know they have a lot of work to do - with themselves and with each other - and i think ed and stede know that too, because the next thing ed says is, it's a bit of a shithole, i know. he's acknowledging that there are holes in it. that it's a little shaky.

but stede says, it's a fixer upper. good bones. yeah, they have work to do but they have a a strong foundation. good bones.

i think that's just an incredibly mature end for them, even though they haven't done all the work yet. they're acknowledging that they need to do it. they are committing to trying it. they will both have to learn to put aside unhealthy coping mechanisms (running away, giving up, spiraling, etc) but they're in a better place.

i think the scene on the beach earlier cements that really. ed runs to stede. stede runs to ed. they meet in the middle. ed says i'm sorry for being such a dick - he's acknowledging wrongdoing. stede says, you're not a dick, life's a dick. he's acknowledging that ed's been dealt a super tough hand and has baggage. i love you, i love you - allowing vulnerability again, when he's put avoiding vulnerability with stede the whole season. even when he tells stede about the merman vision, he's on the other side of the bed, wholly covered, and he plays it off a little. now he's ready to put it all on the line. and stede says, i know. i know that. which is about stede saying, i know you love me even though you withdrew. i know you love me even when we make mistakes. i trust you. and ed smiles. oh, his smile is so big. loving and being loved. its not everything, but it's a start.

it's a very powerful scene that i think shorthands a lot of the discussion people were hoping to see in the finale. but i do think it's all there. it's all there in the text. they are having that conversation on so many levels, you just have to hear it.

and they decide to give up the revenge and pirating to stay on land, and of course we can assume that they had a real conversation about that, and that will put them on even footing for the first time in their relationship. it will take a great deal of the external pressures out of their relationship. it's an outstanding commitment to making it work.

i don't think it will be an easy journey per se because, well, s3 has to fill a whole season, eh? but yes. of course yes. i believe they are going to put in the work and make it work. there's still a little distance between them - i've seen complaints that they don't touch in this scene, but i think that's deliberate, that's showing you that they have work to do, but they're both there, side by side. this is a new beginning, doveys!! the sun sets on the golden age of pirates, and in series 3, a new day dawns.

[hikennosabo]

#tristampparty day 8, episode 8: our home

okay i was very busy (read: distracted) today so i'm posting this late but LET'S GOOOO

let's start out with some psychic damage targeting me personally 👍 my heart hurts so much already

thinking about how both young vash and nai relate to food... they have opposite needs, but it must be an isolating experience for both of them. nai is different from vash and rem, vash is different from nai and other plants... they're both in between humans and plants without really belonging to either.

nai specifically, though... he doesn't seem happy that rem made him food, but it might be equally isolating if he was the only one who didn't get served food... so it's awkward either way. rem did the best she could.

what if i died right now

the geranium on the table... is it... i wonder... if rem put it there for tesla...

LOOK AT HIM HES SO HAPPY AND HE LOVES HIS MOM SO MUCH :((((((((

i don't know what it is but something about the footprints is getting to me, man. the way that nai's go on ahead of vash...

is it the composition maybe. nai's footprints leading down to the bottom of the frame... down... fallen angel... etc etc am i just making things up- no i'm right. i'm right.

brad is the one who noticed vash... even though he acted pretty hostile to him for a while after... he's the one who saved him... i wonder if that's some of the reason for his hostility? like if vash did turn out to be dangerous brad would have been the one responsible... idk

also brad is voiced by junichi suwabe my beloved

this has gotta be an orange original, right? we never learn how plants are made in the manga...

"sinners"... i've heard that word before... wait a sec...

here!! the EoM broadcast right at the start of episode 5!! what does it mean...

why would scientists call themselves Sinners, as like a formal(?) group name(??) is it because they know they're playing god by studying plants? i wonder about the radio program, too. here it could simply be referring to humanity as a whole, but then why the capital S? conrad is the one who ties this all together... the "team leader," huh...

"plant research," huh...

(insert "she should've been at the club" joke here)

much to think about. lying about nai being dead yes but. not the only thing he's keeping from them. "just one" more independent?

brad is so mean sometimes, lol... tbh i think they really nailed his personality. his role in the story and his relationship with vash are both very different than in the manga but he's still recognizably brad, and i think that's cool. it shows orange really understands the core of his character.

it's probably natural that this is the first question she asks, but it's also kind of mean... not on purpose ofc, but it probably hurts a lot for him to be asked that, especially now...

also vash isn't eating again. his unhealthy relationship with food... not eating as a form of self-harm... when we got reminded just at the beginning of this episode that it's something he needs to do. i remember reading a meta post a while back about his relationship with food but idk if i have it in me to try and find it right now...

once again glad i can watch this in hd so i can notice that vash covers his ears when luida says this hahahahahaha (<- in pain)

we see the one on the left the most so we need to look at the other family photos for a second. they're so cute what the heck... rem's big smile in the bottom right one... and i see both vash and nai are right-handed... *jots that down*

wasn't there a theory post about vash's number tally on the walls. i don't remember what it said.

she asked "who did this" so she knew it wasn't something like a computer error. Did She Know.

ohhh sister i'm so sorry but no they will not be

this is such a blink-and-you-miss-it, but brad shielding vash from this guy is really sweet. because as we've seen the other residents of the ship haven't exactly been nice to vash. brad's been mean too but he's just... a tsundere, really.

sorry this post lacks substance, there is probably a lot more to say but my brain just isn't working at full capacity and i need to go to bed

mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah. up until now the only clear, non-obstructed shots of nai's face were from when he was a little kid. he's still young here, and the shot itself is pretty dark, but here he is... the boy...

next episode is going to kill me dead! goodnight

[hartz-penny]

in follow up to my timeline (for those who haven't seen it / want to reference: https://www.tumblr.com/hartz-penny/705740236884508672/after-celinas-its-2022-comment-in-510-i), i wanted to jot down some info on the relationships in relation to it!

WOPEZ:

Met in 1.10 "Flesh and Blood" and agree to go out by the end of the episode, by my timeline (1.01 being ~ March 2019 and 1.20 being 6 months later aka ~ September 2019), let's say this is June 2019 since its half way through the season

They break up briefly between 1.12 and are back together by 1.18, they fight in 1.20 but are firmly together by episode's end, again per my timeline this is approx. Sept 2019

They have moved in together as of 2.01 which is still ~ Sept 2019

Wesley is stabbed in 2.06 "Fallout" which we'll assume is Oct / Nov 2019

Wesley proposes - which Angela accepts - in 2.16 "The Overnight", as this is after DOD (09Dec2019) but before 2.20 (the rookies' "one month push") we can guess this is Jan or Feb 2020; they have been together for about 7-8 months total (including their breakup)

Wesley discovers Angela is pregnant in 3.01 "Consequences" by finding her pregnancy test, I'm going to assume Angela was between 3-7 weeks pregnant - wide range I know but I can't imagine her being any more far along than that and *not* have taken a test prior - here which is approx March 2020

Season 3 takes place over the course of two months since it begins right when the "one month push" begins, Lucy and Jackson graduate to P2 in 3.14 and Nolan becomes a P2 in 4.01 after completing his one month extension

This would mean that Wopez's first attempt at a wedding in 3.14 takes place in May 2020, they have been together for about 11 months; Angela is also kidnapped by La Fiera in this episode

Jackson "Jack" Lopex-Evers is born after the 3 month time jump that happens at the end of 4.01, putting his DOB in approx. Aug 2020

Wopez get married offscreen between 4.01 and 4.02 - which would still be Aug 2020, they have been together for just over a year

5.10 is apparently "2022" which per my timeline is Jan 2022

TL;DR Wopez has been together for 2 and a half years as of 5.10

HARRAY / JYLA (Nyla x James):

Met in 3.02 "In Justice" which takes place in approx March 2020

Had their sparring class in 3.11 "New Blood" which we'll say is when they first get involved, this in approx. April 2020

Nyla is dating both James and that hot dad in 4.03 "In The Line of Fire" and by the end of the episode is dating just James, this is approx. Sep 2020

Nyla sleeps with Donovan in 4.05 "A.C.H" (31Oct2020)

In 4.11 "End Game", Nyla discovers she is 6 weeks pregnant - I assume this to be mid-Dec 2020 - at this point Nyla and James have been dating for 8 months, exclusive for 3 months

Nyla and James get married in 4.18 "Backstabbers" - approx. Apr 2021; they have been dating 12 months, together exclusively for 7 months

Leah Harper-Murray is born in 5.02 "Labor Day" which takes place in ~ Jun / Jul 2021

As of 5.10 "The List", Leah is 5 months old and per Celina it is "2022", most likely January

TL;DR Jyla has been together for a year and a half as of 5.10

I'm not doing John and Bailey because I do not care about them.

CHENFORD:

Get ready folks because we'll cover a lot!

1.01 "Pilot" - estimated Mar 2019 per my timeline, "Bradford, you get our hotshot", Tim is assigned Lucy as his rookie

Tim & Isabel

In 1.01 it's revealed that Tim hasn't seen Isabel in a year

Tim and Isabel met as rookies, and Lucy states in 2.08 "Clean Cut" that Tim is a 12-year veteran; as S2 takes place from month 6 to month 12 of Lucy's rookie year, we can estimate that Tim and Isabel were together for about 11 years at the time of their divorce, if 2.08 takes place in Oct / Nov 2019 (it occurs between 2.01 which is approx. Sep 2019 and 2.11 which is established 09Dec2019), Tim and Isabel met (and were rookies in) 2007

We don't know what year Tim and Isabel were married

Based on the LAPD guidelines, rookies become P2s after their 13-month probationary period, become P3s after 3 years as a P2 - based on this Tim and Isabel would've reached this point in 2011

I can't remember where I saw it, but I believe to test out of P3, you need to have put in 1 year, and since Isabel was a UC in Narcotics, we can assume she was a Detective I, and let's say it took her 3-4 years to get there from P3 since Armstrong said he was the fastest to get to detective and it took him 4 years (I'm assuming he meant from P2 to Detective I) bringing us to 2014-2015

Let's say Isabel started the addiction spiral around 2016-2017 since Tim ignored it for a while at first and she was probably able to hide it for a bit before it got to the point where Tim was starting to pick up and thought she was having an affair and that Isabel left around late 2017 / early 2018 to match the "I haven't seen her in a year" of 1.01

Isabel is shot in the head in 1.08 "Time of Death" by Vance

Tim and Isabel agree to divorce in 1.12 "Heartbreak" which apparently is Valentine's Day but I choose to ignore bc Feb 2019 ruins my entire timeline and doesn't make sense with any other established date so we're going to say that its 3-4 months into Lucy's rookie year and is May-June 2019 (we don't know when the divorce is finalized specifically but Lucy says "since the divorce" in 2.03 "The Bet", which is approx. Sep / Oct 2019)

Lucy and Nolan 🤮

Are "together" as of 1.01, and have been dating / sleeping together / literally doing the nasty bc seriously I hate them together so much since the academy

Based on how casual they're both treating it, lets say its been going on for 3 months as of 1.01

They break up in 1.04 "The Switch", sleep together again in 1.08 "Time of Death" and end it for good (thank GOD) in 1.09 "Standoff" - this is approx. April / May 2019, putting their entire length of relationship at 6 months

Tim and Rachel

Set up on a date by Lucy in 2.03 "The Bet" - approx. Sept / Oct 2019

Tim considers moving to NYC with Rachel in 2.19 "The Q Word" but ultimately does not, they do not break up - approx. Mar 2020

Tim and Rachel break up offscreen at some point in S3, definitely before Angela's wedding when Tim openly checks Lucy out and S3 is 2 months long, so the max length of Tim & Rachel's relationship is 7 months

Lucy and Emmett

Meet in 2.17 "Control" and start dating despite Tim's belief that Lucy can do better - approx. Feb / Mar 2020

Break up in 3.08 "Bad Blood", as this is right before Lucy's final shift as a rookie (which is approx. Apr 2020), we'll say that they break up in Mar / Apr 2020; their relationship is about 2 months long

Tim and Ashley

Meet in 4.06 "Poetic Justice" and begin officially dating between here and 4.08 "Hit and Run" as Tim tells Genny that he is not single - approx. Nov 2020

Are planning a trip to Hawaii in 4.21 "Mother's Day" in which Lucy initially assumes Tim is going to propose, Tim & Ashley have been together for about 6 months at this point as it is May 2021; Tim finds out Ashley does not want marriage or children - a thing he very much does want - and for some reason stays in this "magic" relationship (srsly Timothy???)

Finally break up in 5.05 "The Fugitive" literally 10 seconds after Tim gets out of SPINAL SURGERY because Ashley remembered that Tim is a cop and being a cop is dangerous and I know Tim is pretty but like what did you expect? Just because he was telling your dad to retire meant he secretly wanted to too? This is late October 2021 as its right before 5.06 which is confirmed Halloween

Total length of relationship: ALMOST A GD YEAR...

Lucy and Chris

Meet in 4.10 "Heart Beat" and they are not fans of each other

Set up on a double date with Tim and Ashley by Tim in 4.12 "The Knock"; have their first real date at the end of the episode - approx. Dec 2020 / Jan 2021

Chris calls Lucy his girlfriend in 4.15 "Hit List", Lucy defines Chris as her "work in progress" - approx. Mar 2021

Chris is targeted by Rosalind in 5.01 "Double Down" (and sadly survives) - approx Jun 2021

After Chris gets Tim to convince Lucy to go to UC school, they are still together when Lucy comes back in 5.03 "Dye Hard", ~ Aug / Sep 2021

Chris asks Lucy to move in / buy a house together in 5.08 "The Collar" she is very on the fence, Lucy has not said I love you but Chris has because they "haven't been together that long" (it's been almost a year Lucy, he's just not Tim!!); Lucy and Tim confess their feelings after Tim confronts Lucy about staying in the relationship because its safe, Lucy decides to break up with Chris

Lucy and Chris finally break up in 5.09 "Take Back" ~ Dec 2021, making their total length of relationship between 11-12 months

BACK TO LUCY AND TIM:

Time as TO & Rookie: 13 months (1.01 - 3.14)

Time as Sergeant & Sergeant's Aide: ~ 9 months (4.04 - 5.02) [~ Oct 2020 to Jun / Jul 2021]

Length of time to first kiss: 2 years, 1 month (4.22)

Length of time to feelings confession: 2 years, 6 months (5.08)

Length of time to first date & first official kiss: 2 years, 7 months (5.10)

[yukipri]

The Bad Batch Season 2 - Mid-Season Eps 7 & 8 Spoilers & Thoughts

Ranted it out on twitter last night and forgot to share here.

LOT of thoughts this time

Major Spoilers beneath cut!

Really trully phenomenal writing, so much more than I expected to be said so explicitly. Open discussion of clones' rights, their futures, their lack of personhood under both the Republic and the Empire, even the threat of decommissioning.

What we always knew, what we wanted explicitly addressed in mainstream canon, stated by the clones themselves. Truly ecstatic about these episodes.

Absolutely loved the confirmation that yes, this is what Rex has been doing all along. We saw it implied with Gregor in S1, but it's so good to see it clearly stated, and to see him in action. It makes me hope he got Cody out too.

It also made me crave a show dedicated entirely to this fight. I once again understand and am okay with the TBB centering solely around the Batch. But it's hard not to be anxious knowing what all the other clones are facing. Which makes me understand Echo even more.

Echo's decision. I knew it would come to a boiling point, trusted it would. I'd hoped that Echo would convince Hunter + co to care, but they have their own priorities. I love Echo more bc he decided he couldn't walk away.

He said that his place was with the Batch, and I like to think that he found some kind of home with them. But unlike the rest of them, he sees the rest of the clones as his brothers too. I hope this isn't the last we see of him, but I know he is loved and respected with Rex.

These episodes were a wealth of nostalgic locations, and seeing each one caused such a beautiful ache. I love all the lush new planets explored in the other episodes, but Coruscant felt like coming home.

The specific locations: 79s, the Senate building, Riyo's room that looks so much liked Padmé's, the Martez sisters' place, the clone memorial, the lower levels, even the star destroyer, the stunning of the troops specifically evoking S7's finale. Everything the same but different.

We didn't get to see all of these places with the new graphics, bc TCW S7 only had 4 arcs and TBB S1 covered a lot of newer locations. But gosh what a treat. It was all so beautiful, both aesthetically and metaphorically. Defs need to rewatch so many times to truly appreciate.

Rampart's fall surprised me, bc I did feel he's the lone Big Bad of the show so far, the true embodiment of anti-clone. He's done a lot of unforgivable things and having Palps lock him up isn't satisfying, even if it was surprising. I unfortunately doubt that's the last we've seen of him, though who knows. I admittedly don't care too much either way, but if he's gone, it'll be interesting to see who steps into the next "main antag" shoes, bc I doubt it's Palps himself.

IAN MCDIARMID.

TRULY THE KING.

(or should I say, Emperor)

RIYO.

I'm so glad to see her again

(also, apparently I've been saying her first name wrong all this time??? Am I the only one who's been saying Ree-yo when it apparently shoulda been Rai-yo?)

Rex had his tiddies uncovered the whole time and I was so concerned he'd get shot. i mean he's the only chara guaranteed to live, and I'm also glad he's got a better disguise, but dear please wear some protection

(but yeah ngl it's nice that we got to see him armorless with the beefier new model. I am still remembering TCW Saleucami and thinking my gosh this man is a STICK he is STARVED they ALL ARE. I am always for adding more beef to clones.)

Really curious where they're going with the chips brainwashing the clones. Both Rex and Wrecker appeared conscious of the whole time they were under, trying and unable to stop and remembering it afterwards.

Yet other clones seem to be gradually "waking up," even though many of them likely should have been equally horrified at the moment O66 went live. Rex and the Batch aren't exceptions being Good Guys, the vast majority of the clones are extremely loyal and honorable.

Makes me wonder if after an extended time under the chip's control, that feeling of wrongness/fighting against it fades, until it seems the new ordinary? But then the more time passes, the Order weakens, and they're able to feel more discrepancies, hence the desertions?

The clone assassin definitely seemed super "under" an Order, extremely Off and not himself, like what I'd imagine a freshly O66 clone to be like. Which makes me further curious that Rampart had him (and presumably more like him) under his control. We'll have to see!

But yeah, to conclude: Cody didn't die! (didn't show up!) Named clones I cared about too much in the few minutes we had them DID die and I am still sad but, it could have been worse.

Also huh, not even a glimpse of Crosshair? (feeling a wee bit bad for his fans, that out of the first 8 eps, he's only in one of them...hopefully the next one will be about him ^ ^; )

[itsclydebitches]

I think the only way to make sense of the new episode is that the conflict about the paper pleasers is how all the characters would react about Penny's death if they knew what Jaune did. WBY comforting Jaune that they and Penny would've wanted this (they're less than human after all). Ruby lashing out at everyone else despite both things (the villager's deaths and Penny's) being her fault. Jaune blaming Ruby but he was the one who forced the villagers to suicide and assisted Penny's.

You know, I've been so distracted by all the other Big Events of this Volume - the bees are confirmed, a whole village happily dies, Ruby is having a meltdown - that I kinda forgot about the whole Penny issue? It only hit me again in the middle of Jaune's grief when he was talking (paraphrased) about how he was the only one who could 'do it.' As you say, there are ways of trying to make sense of this episode "if they knew what Jaune did".... but they presumably don't? I say "presumably" because RWBY drives me up the wall with how often very important information is conveyed to characters off screen, leaving us in the dark about how much was explained and in what way - especially in a show where people keeping secrets/manipulating information is a recurring theme. We've now had two major time skips where Penny's death presumably could have come up: when WBY were catching up after Ruby's faint, and while the girls were filling Jaune in after he rescues them from the first Jabberwalker attack. I don't think Ruby, Yang, and Blake know the full story about Penny yet because HOW could Ruby possibly have a go at Jaune without bringing that up... but I can't be sure.

Which puts the whole episode in an even weirder light for me. Again, is the moral of this that Jaune needs to learn to let people die when they ask that of him? Regardless of the writer's thematic perspective, the characters should have wildly different opinions on that and it's weird that they were allowed to remain ignorant when that all came to a head. It's weirder still that one of our characters isn't ignorant (Weiss) and yet that's had no bearing on her actions this episode.

Weiss, the one person who knows Jaune killed Penny to keep the Maiden powers safe, watching him desperately try to protect innocent, non-human people that are clearly a stand-in for her after decades of isolation from his world: 'He's gone off the deep end, huh?'

I can forgive Ruby, Yang, and Blake ignoring Jaune's cryptic comment/not following up with a, 'Wait, what did you do?' because at that point the fight was starting in earnest and everyone was too wrapped up in themselves. But that just implies that this will have to come out before the end of the Volume which is in... three episodes? The meat of this Volume really only started when Jaune arrived (because of course it did), which means we essentially only have half of an already short season to cover a LOT of stuff: learn the secrets of Alyx and Lewis, figure out the Jabberwalker, defeat it, defeat Neo, fix Jaune (presumably), reconcile the team, semi-conclude Ruby's grief arc, finish things with the Cat, with Little, discover something to help with Salem so this isn't complete filler, get to the tree, establish if they can use the tree, get home. Even if we take into account RWBY's tendency to speed-run through an insane amount of plot in a single scene (here's the introduction of the Staff, how it works, its limitations, and your brilliant loophole all in one go), that's too much to juggle, on top of this, "So... when are they going to learn the truth about Penny and grapple with that?" question. Remember how after Volume 8 the fandom (quite rightly) was going, "Wow! It's going to be a lot for Ruby to deal with Penny's death and the knowledge that Jaune caused it" but seven episodes in she still only has half the information and is only just reaching her breaking point in regards to that. Learning it was Jaune should be another huge setback in a story that hasn't even had her grapple with the first one yet. It honestly makes me wonder if RT is planning to stretch Ever After into a two Volume affair...

[hacked-by-jake]

Reddit Interview with Everbyte

-> On the occasion of Duskwood’s third birthday, Everbyte and the moderators of the r/Duskwood Reddit community came up with the idea of making an interview as a special.

I thought it would be nice to share the interview here for those who don’t have and use Reddit. However, if you have a profile there, make sure you go to the post and like and maybe leave a comment as a thank you for the effort.

Again: I have no rights to the interview and I just share it, all credits go to the Reddit moderators and Everbyte!

-> Here is the link again!

And now, let's go!

Who is Everbyte? How did you meet? Where did everything start? Introduce yourself!

Hello reddit! We’re Vanessa, Jan & Kevin better known as Everbyte. We first met at university where we studied media informatics. In 2016, we started to release games on Google Play and the iOS App Store. Most of them were kind of experimental and none of them has been successful. However, we’ve learned a lot with every project and kept improving. Then, Duskwood happened. Since the release of Episode 1, we didn’t do anything but workon Duskwood, for two and a half years straight.

What would you say were your main influences (be it video games, books, movies…) for making Duskwood?

We’re living in a small town surrounded by dense forest… sounds familiar, right? It is a two minute walk from our office to the edge of the Blackforest - which basically looks like a fantasy movie. This obviously inspired and influenced Duskwood a lot. Another influence worth mentioning is various works by Stephen King. Vanessa, our author, is a big fan.

Where does the idea of the legend come from? Did it maybe sprout from a real legend in your (home)town?

When Vanessa was a child, she was often told stories by her grandmother. These stories were passed down from generation to generation and were often scary or even cruel. Not the best bedtime material for kids, but Vanessa and her granny loved them. The legend in Duskwood is made up and is not based on facts … or is it?

Were characters based on anyone you know?

No, not directly. However, we would enjoy hanging out with them and hoped that others would enjoy their company as well.

Did you ever think you would end up casting your family, at the start of development?

We had absolutely no budget at all. So hiring professional actors was no option, but we were convinced we needed real people for Duskwood. We ended up making a list of friends and family members that we could see in each role and started calling them one by one. Luckily everyone agreed. We think they did very well!

What character do you resemble the most?

We sit in front of our PCs as much as Jake does. We enjoy good food as much as Cleo. We (try to) crack jokes like Richy. We sometimes cross a line in order to achieve our goals just like Lilly does … it depends on the situation.

Did you have any experience in film-making, directing and editing before Duskwood?

We studied media informatics, so this kind of stuff wasn’t completely new to us. However, having heard of things in theory and doing them is quite a big difference. The production quality has gone up a lot since episode 1, as we learned on our way up to episode 10.

How complex was it recording media in two languages?

Not complex at all - at least not for us. Our actors however are not used to speak English in daily life so they struggled quite a bit. We’re happy our players are a bit forgiving in this area.

Can you tell us roughly how many people were involved in helping with the development throughout the process, in addition to you three?

We usually cover the whole development process on our own. This goes from writing, programming, video- and audio editing, graphic design to support emails. We still do everything ourselves. An exception was the ending scene of episode 10 where we worked with a film crew of 8 additional people as the sets were quite complex.

What was the most challenging thing you faced during development?

This is hard to answer as there is quite frequently something that sets a new standard. Game development is quite demanding as everyone in our small team has to fulfill many roles. Needless to say, you can’t be an expert in every field, so usually one big challenge is followed by another.

What really takes it out on us are problems that occur during the release of a new episode. On release day of a new episode, it is almost guaranteed that problems arise, whether it is a bug in the game or something server-related. The fact that there is hundred thousands of people looking forward to this particular moment and are now unable to play (or worse) hits us different. These problems need to be solved asap under heavy pressure. These days always leave marks.

What is something about the game you are most proud of?

If we need to nail it down to one thing, it is the community. We’re blown away by how many people gather online and share their theories, thoughts, drawings, songs, memes, fan fiction, love letters, … you name it. We’re especially proud of how cohesive and supportive the community is.

What made you realize that Duskwood was taking off?

At first we started to see unusual increases in downloads, followed by many more emails than usual. Players started to send in suggestions and wishes, or simply messages to let us know how much they enjoyed the game. Our social media channels (like instagram) blew up and we started to receive written letters and gifts from all around the world. It is very touching for us to see how many people enjoy Duskwood, which is a huge motivation for us. Thank you!

Were you expecting such a response and the creation of big communities around the game?

No. Never. Some of you might have read the post Vanessa did a while ago on her instagram (@hen_with_pen). We were very close to giving up on our dream of making games. No one cared for what we did, let alone supported our developments by purchasing something. We couldn’t pay our bills and it was very obvious that we couldn’t afford making games any longer. Duskwood was basically our last attempt. However, Duskwood players were different. They showed their support in many ways and encouraged us to continue. None of us expected this and we’re very thankful for that - as we already said, the community is what we’re most proud of. It’s beyond our wildest dreams and we’re still not 100% convinced this isn’t just a dream.

What was it like for you and for the actors to notice that you had so many fans all around the world?

We’ve not been able to travel a lot in our lives unfortunately. And even for people who do travel a lot, there are too many places to be able to visit them all. However, most places have at least one Duskwood player, which kind of connects all of us. The world has gotten a lot smaller - in a positive way.

Did you feel under pressure when you noticed that the game was getting more popular? Were you afraid of disappointing the fans, somehow? If so, did the pressure have a positive impact in the end?

Yes, the pressure was quite extreme and hard to handle, not only psychologically but also physically. We’ve worked for two and a half year straight without major vacation. This can be quite difficult, especially when creativity plays a big role.

With each episode, we tried something new in order to keep Duskwood interesting and pushing the boundaries of the genre. If you experiment in such a way, there is always a chance to fail and disappoint. But it is a necessary risk to take if you want to surprise even the most hardened detectives ;)

Do you remember reading theories that came extremely close to your story? What was your reaction?

We love it when this happens! It is definitely more of a ‘proud moment’ than a ‘bummer moment’. It has always been important to us, for the story to be comprehensible. However, we would like to note that this can also apply to theories that are far from the truth. As a detective, you have to make hypotheses, and being wrong is part of it. Some of the wrong theories are so detailed and well thoughtout that they impress us just as much.

How do you feel now that the game is finished? Most of the community (on reddit, at least) has been in a weird grief-like state. Is it the same for you?

When Duskwood was finished, it really shook us up. It was a bit like losing a good friend. We felt empty. It really helped that we started working on our next game right away. The desire to fill this void helped us to nail the important things, like feelings, atmosphere etc., especially in the early conceptual stages. We are very happy with the current progress, and the fact that it shares the same universe makes it already feel like home. We know everyone is on the edge of their seats and ready to play, but good games need time - there is no shortcut. We want to develop a successor that everyone agrees can follow in Duskwood's footsteps.

[dorizardthewizard]

Galactik Football season 3 rewatch, eps 19 - 21

Episode 19:

Hush Sharky: I should've picked Mark, nothing exciting will ever happen following Thran!

Is that meta

Well this romance between Mark and Nina-8 is progressing quickly huh

Nina-8 says it's hard for her to trust others hmmmm

And there we have it, an explanation for Ahito's sleepiness – he stores the Breath within himself, which can wear him out. Pretty cool, although it does bring up some questions. Does his dad do that too, since he has the same problem? How did that excess get released before he started playing Galactik Football? Why is he just doing better now I don't think we ever actually covered that in season 2

OK imagine you're chilling having a normal conversation and your friend just does a backflip out of nowhere. I would definitely be reacting like D'jok hahah

Thran: I'm coming with you Clamp! Clamp: No, it's too dangerous!

Thran: But the writers said it's MY turn to have a fun adventure with the pirates!

Thran really said, if the writers aren't gonna give me any interesting sideplots, I'll do it myself! RESPECT.

Artegor (completely deadpan): I am excited. It doesn't show?

HE'S JUST LIKE ME FR FR

Ahito covering for Thran is so cute, of course Thran would let his brother know

Why ARE the Paradisia girls referred to by their numbers?

Huh, this data link thing that the Paradisia players do is pretty cool

This hack for the space port entry code is pretty dumb but it's fine I'll just insert some star trek technobabble here in my mind. Aaaaand done, GO THRAN! And yaaaay Thran the Pirates fan gets approval from the man himself

A rare corner kick!

I don't know anything about football but this goalkeeper goal seems kind of bullshit to me. Like was that necessary?

NOOOOO WARREN :( Barry calling it an end of an era, I guess it's not just the Snow Kids who get that press treatment after losing a match. But the Lightnings haven't been to the finals in three seasons and Warren is probably getting older :(

Team Paradisia slayed though

Awww poor Nina-8 :( Hmm what plan is Nikki-4 talking about, I don't remember much after the Paradisia tournament. I do like the conflict between the two, they may be twins but Nina-8 has a much softer personality than Nikki-4. And with her not being on the team until D'jok left, I wonder if she was already trying to distance herself from them a bit and try to live her own life. Which is pretty symbolic for an identical twin.

Well Mark's love drama has more potential than the love triangles they were doing until now, if only they'd given it more screentime and development

Hush Sharky is kind of underreacting for a journalist who just found out a galaxy-class footballer and his coach are in cahoots with the leader of the pirates

Again, the budget of this show might be low, but they actually have quite a lot of locations and the background art is always really good.

Sonny taking his mask off on Paradisia because he saw some plants sfjkdfssf that was unnecessary, he's so extra! And they're lucky the weather conditions are still perfectly fine for humans.

Episode 20:

I guess Mice Delight is delicious to robots only haha

D'jok Mei and Micro-Ice being besties ahhhh I love it

Mice is playing a delicate game? Since he lied to Zo-leen so he could hide he's going to meet Yuki, what are they implying there?

Oooo 3-2 to the Xenons! The Rykers really gave them a run for their money!

STEVENS INTERVIEW! STEVENS IS GONNA TALK EVERYONE SHUT UP!!

OH THEY FUCKED UP HIS DUB VOICE. NEVER MIND.

But seriously Callie should get a raise for finding them LOL, nice little animation touch of him looking around the whole time he's talking to her. Sir you would be harder to spot if you weren't wearing your football kit. It's ok, yeah I know the animators don't have the budget. Hang in there, buddy

Stevens top scorer in the cup!! It might seem strange with him not having a flux, but it seems reasonable to me considering the Pirate's style of play. They always score at least one goal in their games, and he's pretty much always the one who does it. For other teams, the goal scoring is a bit more shared between different players. Plus it's still early in the cup.

KING. I LOVE THIS INTERACTION. Stevens keeping it real even before the Technoids showed up, I'll say we've had some good Pirates moments this season

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm are they suggesting Micro-Ice is two-timing between Zo-Leen and Yuki? Uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh.................

And since when was Zo-Leen all over Micro-Ice again anyway? She seemed just friendly during the Paradisia tournament

Why is this friendship between Harvey and Lord Phoenix actually kind of cute?

Awwww the Snow Kids are the best Yuki fanclub

These seats at Genesis stadium aren't actually seats, it's more like an amphitheater and they're not very comfortable. No back rest!

I love Stevens's goals, obviously he can't just use the flux to smash it so his style is more technical

ASHDFJSDF in this season you can hear the Pirates celebrating (and also grunting while running?) and it's so silly, they just gave them stereotypical gruff pirate voices

Games between other teams are funny because there will be like. Exactly one new animation in the whole game. Literally everything else is stock footage

This soundtrack slaps by the way

The Pirates goalkeeper's signature head shake lol

Sorry guys I love Yuki I really do but you know who I'm rooting for

The Elektra's flux confuses me, it looks solid enough for them to ride on it?

This season is really just dunking on Barry whenever they can huh, Artegor's laugh and trying to pass it off as nerves SDJFKDFS I LOVE HIM THANK YOU VOICE ACTOR FOR NOT LEAVING

Oooo that water skating trick does look really cool! I like that since season 1, we've seen more creative fluxes

Well as much as I love the Pirates I'm happy for the Elektras, and Yuki! She's come so far from her nervous self in season 2 and I'm so proud of her

TIA SECOND TOP SCORER YESSS!!! I would go back to check if the number of goals is actually correct but I cba

If I had a nickel for every time a romantic breakup has happened this season at the taxi stop with one of the parties telling the other to forget about them, I would have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

AND NOW MICE IS HAPPY JUST BECAUSE ZO-LEEN KISSED HIM?? YUKI ALREADY KISSED YOU IN SEASON 2! YOU JUST FORGOT ABOUT HER NOW? YOU DIDN'T EVEN CARE FOR ZO-LEEN This love plot with Mice is so stupid I can't even be bothered to comment on it anymore.

Episode 21:

D'jok seems to be perfectly back to normal and on friendly terms with the others as if nothing happened. Compare to season 2 where Rocket's Netherball stint had consequences and his return was not so smooth!

Ahito you couldn't think of a better excuse for Thran leaving? 😂 I do feel like we could have had a better reason in the story for Thran ending up with the Pirates, it IS a bit weird that he says he has to go on a mission with them but he doesn't actually have a reason to, and this is before the SEMI-FINAL. That's a bit too important to be sneaking off because... you just want to?

I need this screenshot in good quality

I love that Bennett being the hacker guy is a thing that's consistent throughout the season

Lord Phoenix somehow grabbed literally all of them at once sijfsdkdk except Harvey. Fuck robot rights I guess

Warren coaching time! I love how he's always willing to lend a helping hand for these things, whether it's giving D'jok a talk about what's important in season 1, trying to get Rocket out of Netherball in season 2 or helping with training here. What a guy, truly Mr. Galactik Football

Huh, that's an interesting little way to use the Lightning's flux. It's like static electricity keeping them together

sfdkjdsf I would do this too. Actually I do do this to my short friends. I'm also short but they're shorter so I gotta take my wins when I can

Micro-Ice and Tia duo! I love them I wish we saw more of them as a fun pair, they would get up to such hijinks together. Sibling vibes!

Emo Mark hours

Well, you tried Mice. Maybe try to get him to open up about his problem instead of just trying to cheer him up?

Clamp: No, that's not it, it's- Sonny: What is it, Clamp? Say something!

Clamp: BITCH I WAS ABOUT TO BEFORE YOU INTERRUPTED ME

Nice one Brim Simbra, I like that we got to see him actually doing something lol

This dilemma about Adim and Aarch's relationship due to her being league president was never mentioned before, why did they never consider this? Should've built that up earlier instead of that random Artegor plot

Lord Phoenix: Paradisia was such a beautiful planet

Idk man it doesn't look THAT bad right now, the UK looks like that every day

I can't show the video because I used my 1 video per post limit for Stevens talking but there's this super fucking weird segment where Nork says the Elektras-Paradisia match will be the first all female semi-final ever, and Barry dreamily says this is a "fantasy" GFC? And Nork is like "you said it! Team Paradisia...." in this dreamy way again and Callie has to cough and change the subject? Hey what the fuck was that???? This season tried to be more blatant with the girl power messaging but then puts in moments like this?????

YAAAAAAY XENONS TIME

Wait Thran is in this teamup shot? Did he already get back?

Oh I really love this interaction between D'jok and Luur before kickoff – no intimidation dance from the Xenons, just a meaningful handshake between a guy who almost plummeted to his death last season, and the player that saved him. Idk if the writers were intentional with this but if so, it's a really nice example of subtle writing and events of the previous season carrying over.

Wait yeah the Pirates aren't back yet! In which case, Aarch is pretty chill for a coach who is missing a player for A SEMI-FINAL MATCH. Eh I guess at this point he's just given up with these kids

Oh damn Brim Simbra actually died, I like that they went through with that so the explosion on Paradisia had consequences. Could have also opened up some interesting avenues with the new flux society leader in season 4 – maybe he'd want to do things differently?

But it's also kind of hilarious that Brim Simbra's very last action as flux society leader... was to delegate the galaxy saving to Sonny Blackbones yet again LOL

[raymond-reddington-ruminations]

This post contains all the spoilers about 10.21 and 10.22. Ye be warned.

Another Warning; I'm about to bitch.   I started writing this about 45 minutes after the final episode ended. I was going to write it in a few days, but I really need to vent if I'm going to get any sleep tonight.

It should be said that while I still love the show and the characters, and the final episodes were not objectively terrible, I had a list of things that I wanted and I got none of them. So I'm going to sound off on that.

It doesn't change how I feel about the show overall, and I'll go back to saying positive things about the show afterwards, but at the moment that I'm writing this I'm pissed, and I'm going to express it.

I remember one of the producers was quoted as saying that Ressler would be front and center when Reddington's fate was decided. What? There was no decision here. Who decided something?? Not Ressler.

And it did feel like that was coming. It looked like Ressler would be the one to catch up with him and decide whether to take him in or let him go. And I'm not just talking about the last 15 minutes, it felt like that all the way through. The other characters kind of had to declare where they stood, to some degree (dembe and Harold got off the hook) and Ressler didn't really do that. I feel cheated.

I feel cheated on many levels. From 8 years of mysteries laid out that were never answered, to dodging the central question of the show's premise, to ditching the Red/Dembe relationship which was simply the most beautiful male friendship and defined both characters, and finally, no mention of Elizabeth in the end.

What the hell is going on with Dembe? He was asked how he felt about what he was doing, and he couldn't answer. And he never did explain why. What exactly did he think would happen when Reddington was brought in? The man's already been sentenced to death.  Argh.  Makes no sense. In the end the core of Dembe's character makes no sense because they didn't explain it, or address his original stated purpose of wanting to save Reddington's soul.  The monologue covered the past, but not the present.  Bad job.

When that story of The Matador first came up, and the allusion was made that Reddington needs to risk his life to feel alive, I cried bullshit at the time. That's not the character that I've been watching. He is content with whatever life brings, he is fearless, but he does not need to seek risk to make life worthwhile. He is just as happy with peace and quiet, WHICH THEY SPENT A LOT OF TIME DEMONSTRATING IN THE LAST HALF HOUR.

So this ultimate ending with the bull just sucks balls. They're trying to imply that he chose the risk, and chose the manner of  his death, because risk is his thing, like the Matador.

Hell to the no.

And where does that leave Agnes?? God damn it, that's too much tragedy.  No, I cannot presume she's going to be okay with losing him.  I want to kick something. The show ended so very far away from what the first eight years were about; Red's relationship with Liz, and thereafter with Agnes.

I'm going to have to get my ass in gear and actually write some fanfiction. I've done only a handful of longer pieces over the last 20 years, and I recognize that I'm neither good nor proficient at it. But I don't think I can let this rest.

I'm still wound up in The Blacklist, and I don't see myself getting another fandom anytime soon. I get burnt out at the end. After many years they end in ways that aren't satisfying and I wonder why I should let myself get emotionally involved in another story.  There are some showrunners whose names I have learned because of this and will actively not watch a show they produce. I don't think that's the case here, but it might be quite some time, if ever, that I let myself fall in love with fiction like this again. Why do they need to b**** slap us, the audience who followed them for years, in the end??  Is there some kind of perception that a happy ending is somehow detrimental to their audience??

It affects the rewatchability of the show, you know? It's hard to get invested in something when you know the ending is disappointing.

Ok, ok.  It may not be the writer's fault. They always said they were going to concretely reveal Red's identity, and that didn't happen. I believe that is the network interfering with the writers. And I feel like that may have happened on more than just Red's identity. I mean... A bull.  As in, we can't write what we want to, so here's some b*******. If that was the deliberate choice, kudos to the writers. Well played. If it wasn't their intention to draw in that phrase...well. They walked right into that one.

I realize there probably isn't much of an audience for what I'll be writing, but I need to write it for myself.  It is sad to me that the fandom for The Blacklist seems to be so small. There was so much material here, and so many of the people I've known for my past fandoms could have loved it as passionately as I did, and written far more and far better than I ever could. I think if they had confirmed Redarina directly it actually would have accomplished that. The people I've been close to in past fandoms are wildly supportive of LGBTQ and would have been attracted to this character's story based on his being trans.  What are missed opportunity.

Can we get this to be a George RR Martin situation?  Where the original Creator puts out a book that contains his own ending and ignores this one?

I'm going to see about getting that first fiction written as quickly as I can. But until then, let this be said for the record;

Donald Ressler got Reddington to a hospital, and after a lengthy recovery, during which Weecha concluded that life with Reddington is not for her, Red walked free, called Agnes, and welcomed Dembe back to his side, as Red had retired from crime. They both went in search of, and found, Anne.

Addition; posting this the following morning. I did not get any sleep. I need to stop letting fiction do that to me.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Sonine Prime ... Part 7

Hi, everyone and welcome back to Sonine Prime! The part of the show when I come out and talk about Sonine (and a bit of Sontails) in Sonic Prime!

Last time we covered the first big scene in The Grim, and now we're so so close to finishing off Episode 6. This time, I'm hoping to move on to Episode 7 and hopefully reach the end of this season, but we'll see if my hopes are cut short by the tumblr media limit again.😂

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<< Part 6 | Part 8 >>

(Essay/thoughts/analysis under the cut)

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So, starting off where we left off last time. I will note that Nine just informed Sonic (with a serious face and a frown) that he's going home right after this battle (essentially giving Sonic a second chance to join him in the Grim before Nine closes himself off forever), and Sonic responded by being so happy that he knew Nine would "come back". Keeping this in mind is important. Why?

Well, after being so frustrated and disappointed that Sonic didn't choose him in the Grim, and after just posing sonic a new choice ("You can either stay here and I'll seal myself off alone in the Grim, or you can join me there in the Grim")...Nine can't help but smile in regards to Sonic again.

"I'll take em low, you take em high!"

"Already on it."

Once Nine makes his point to Sonic as best he can, they fall right back into working together again. It's been so long since they last fought together, and both seem...happy for it. Even if Nine doesn't actually want to be here, you can see on his face how much he enjoys cleaning house with Sonic (not surprising, given how much he perked up in Episode 1 when he believed Sonic was telling him that the two of them used to fight the Chaos Council and win).

That also being said, despite the fact that they (chronologically) hadn't actually spent a lot of time together in the first few episodes and spent a while apart, it really is a testament to their relationship just how well the two work together and continue to. You get the impression from this short little scene that the two don't need to say much to know how they should fight, actual plans be damned. Yes I think one can extrapolate that Nine has already been forming a strategy and Sonic was largely planning to wing it, but the fact Sonic didn't need to say much says that they trust each other (and that, at the very least, they both think the other understands an unspoken plan).

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Now, when Sonic and the Rebels celebrate the defeat of the last of the Eggforcers (and what seems to be the Chaos Council's retreat), Renegade mentions that he doesn’t know what happened to Nine. While we as the audience know Nine was captured by the Council, Sonic hasn't seen Nine since he jumped off of his ship. Neither he, Rebel, nor Renegade know where Nine is.

However, here's what's interesting about this scene.

"We're good. Not sure what happened to your "friend" though."

"I don't like this. The shard could be anywhere."

Rebel and Renegade still have no solid reason to trust Nine. Even if it's true that he came to aid in the fight, they didn't see him finish it, and they have previously expressed the concern that Nine would hand the paradox prism shard over to the council. While they're not as convinced that Nine has traitorous intentions as they were earlier in the episode, they still are afraid that the shard is in the wrong hands or could be. Whether Nine is traitorous or not, it's concerning to them not to know the whereabouts of the shard.

"You're right. I better find him before he portals outta here again."

Now, I think it's clear Sonic agrees it's good to have a good eye on the shard, and that he is meeting Rebel and Renegade in the middle (so to speak) by offering to look for Nine.

However, what's important is the focus. Rebel and Renegade are focused on the shard. Nine's well-being? Not so much. Sonic? Sonic is focused on Nine himself. The shard? Well, find Nine and find the shard, right? Sonic doesn’t go into this expecting Nine to be in any danger, and Nine had told him earlier that he'd be leaving after the battle. So, if anything, Sonic’s concern is exactly as he says—finding Nine before he leaves.

Since Sonic never makes a reunion with Nine here, it's hard to say for sure what would have happened if he did. Or, rather, I feel confident that Nine would remind him of the choice he presented earlier in some form, forcing Sonic to choose, but I can't say for sure whether Sonic's intentions were to convince Nine to stay, to make sure he knows to keep the shard safe, or what. All I can say is that...Nine's absence at the end of the battle seems to leave him focused on the fact that Nine will leave soon if he doesn't get to catch him and see him beforehand, not so much on the shard itself.

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And we are finally finished with Episode 6 (an episode that has now spanned three parts😂)!

Onwards to episode 7, where while looking for Nine, Sonic accidentally portals out of New Yoke.

"Okay, stay calm. One minute I was looking for Nine, then I saw that gnarly ship, and then, somehow..."

Funny, huh? All 3 times he was transported to another shatterspace after his original arrival in New Yoke, Sonic thought about Nine's whereabouts just after arrival. This time, he was looking for Nine before the transport, versus the last two times, where he'd at least briefly thought about doing so after arriving.

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Okay, so just like with Thorn Rose in episodes 4 and 5, I'd like to talk about Knuckles the Dread for a minute (and not just because he's my other fav).

While I can't pull a "wow there are some surprisingly direct parallels here" as I did with Thorn and Nine, Dread serves a different purpose for being brought up. Simply put, Dread is also a character who forms a fast relationship with Sonic, his story is a bit more complicated than "guy who is secretly evil", and Sonic's relationship with Dread shows the audience just how much Prime Sonic can handle when a friend turns on him.

Now, since we're only on season 1, we won't be touching on this last point until later, but I'm going to compare and contrast Dread and Nine on purpose.

So, let us begin with the first meeting.

Sonic was specifically searching for Tails when he trailed Nine all the way to his lab. This was the beginning of the show and he still didn't know much about what was going on, so when he entered Nine's lab, he assumed that Nine was Tails. He acted friendly off the bat, entering the lab and turning Nine's chair like he does in that flashback depicting him entering Tails' lab. However, as Sonic was a stranger to Nine at this point, had intruded in his space, and called him a name only thrown around by his bullies, he ended up in a fight with Nine.

As for Sonic's first meeting with Dread, he isn't specifically looking for anyone before this. When he arrives in No Place, he recounts what he was doing and what happened before he landed first. After this, while he does wonder about the outfit change for this shatterspace, he's largely focused on his own safety. This can be seen in the number of times he puts emphasis on how much water is around, how many times the camera focuses on water as Sonic darts around trying to avoid the pirates, and how panicked he gets trying to argue for his safety in front of Batten Rouge, Black Rose, and Sails.

"Aharr harr I don't mean to harm, ye. I'm just a wayward hedgehog, looking for a way home. Agh! Water."

...

"Listen, I'm not a part of any crew you're looking for. In fact, I've lost my crew. It's...a bit of a sore spot, actually..."

...

"Wait, you're leaving? Uh, you can't leave me here! There's literally water everywhere! Uh, where you going? Somewhere with a lot of land hopefully?"

...

"I'll row! I'm a great rower! I'll bet you twenty coconuts I'm the best rower you've ever seen!"

...

"Or else...the plank? I can assure you that this hedgehog has no interest in planks. Captain's orders. Got it! I love captains.

As for Dread, even beyond the fact that he's surrounded by pirates, Sonic has good reason to meet Dread assuming he's (Sonic's) already in danger (in contrast to how he'd assumed that things would be all okay as soon as he found "Tails" in episode 1), even beyond the fact that Dread is a pirate captain.

"I say we pirate!"

"A-But...the captain's not here! I-I don’t think he'd approve of us—you know—pirating."

"What kind of pirates don't pirate?"

"Well, you know how the saying goes Rose. Dead men tell no tales."

While it clearly throws Sonic off that the pirates would be under orders not to pirate, I'd say if one kept in mind the trio's actions, it's not hard to conclude that they may fear going against Dread's order's. After all, they reason that they can cleave Sonic to the brisket as long as Dread doesn't know about it, and as long as they think Sonic is from "the old crew" (who do periodically mess with their ship and steal their supplies).

And given how happy Batten, Sails, and Black Rose were to attempt to "cleave him to the brisket", even though Dread's orders are not to pirate, I don't think it's a stretch to say that Sonic could preemptively assume Dread will be harsh on him or aggressive the way these three were (which is to say, happy to deliver harm).

"All right, all right. Enough's enough. Gather the coconuts. The captain'd want us to get back to the ship without takin' too long. Leave this scalawag for the buzzards."

A bit of urgency to get back (which one can assume is either or both because of captain's orders and for balancing his disposition), and essentially a "let's leave him to die".

Then, when Sonic asks where they're going and says that they can't just leave him...

"Back to our ship. And we don't take scallywags."

"You know... With all that speed, this landlubber could be useful. Swabbin' the deck. Raisin' the mizzenmast. Rowin' the boat?"

"Agh. I hate rowin' the boat..."

In short, I this little moment conveys to Sonic that they don't just take people onto their ship, and that if he wants to leave this island with him, he'll need to prove himself useful. It's pretty clear that he's acting in the interest of his safety and not being confined to this tiny island, so it makes sense that he'd try to argue that he's useful.

"Fine. I, too, hate the rowin'. But there is one condition when we get back to the ship. It's captain's orders. Or. Else."

And judging by Sonic's understanding of that being "or else you walk the plank" and insisting he by no means plans on disobeying the captain, he understands this threat for what it is. He needs to be useful and follow orders (or at least suck up and pretend he will be/do these things) so he can survive and/or have a chance to escape and continue his search for the prism shards.

However, given how causally Sonic comments on Catfish drinking "a few too many coconuts" and about how the pirates should consider cleaning the poop deck (essentially, how much more casual and less on edge he is) compared to his disposition change after he learns that the captain is a Knuckles variant, I'd say that once he feels assured that the crew isn't going to kill him or leave him to die, he settles back into a more casual attitude. However, once Black Rose and Batten Rouge introduce Knuckles the Dread as "The Dread" and Sonic sees that he's Knuckles, he flashes back to his meeting with Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. We can clearly gauge by the flashback that Knuckles was strong, assumed Sonic was a threat, fought him like one, and stubbornly refused to listen to reason after listening to Eggman. Unlike how Sonic was bewildered by the idea that "Tails" would fight him in Sonic Prime Episode 1, after all of his knowledge of Knuckles the Dread he's gotten so far comes to head, he no longer seems as confident in his safety on this ship.

"The Dread is...Knuckles?"

*Queue flashback sequence*

"Yeah, does make sense. But you're pirate Knuckles. I'm not taking any chances."

So, to clarify, while it bewildered him that "Tails" would fight him when he first met Nine, the idea that Knuckles would fight him (especially a version that doesn't know him) is not at all surprising to him, given that he assumes that Dread will be aggressive towards him.

So, interesting I suppose that we have Tails (someone who Sonic can't fathom wanting to hurt him, who he feels more okay around), Amy (someone who is sweet, but nevertheless is someone who's not beyond being aggressive towards Sonic), and Knuckles (someone who is not beyond being aggressive towards him and has done so in the past).

So, while Nine pretty quickly gets defensive, preemptively assuming that Sonic wishes him harm, and thus tries to get on the offensive, Sonic does the same with Dread. The main difference here is that Nine reacts quickly, treating Sonic as someone who wishes him harm and actively fights him. Sonic holds out a sword, showing that he's prepared to protect himself, but he doesn't rush into battle. Rather, he makes it clear that he has a weapon, isn't afraid to use it, and that he doesn’t trust Dread.

With this, while Sonic fought an uphill battle trying to convince Nine during their fight that he meant him no harm and that they are friends, Dread was able to talk Sonic down in a more peaceful setting, which he does instead of treating Sonic like an aggressor or getting angry and attempting to get rid of Sonic. Needless to say, it's a bit out of the expectations one would have, given how the crew had talked about Dread and that he's presumed to be just like Prime!Knuckles at first.

With Nine:

"Yes! There's my two-tailed genius friend. Surprise!"

*Nine growls*

"Tails, it's me, your best–"

"What did you just call me?"

"Uh... Tails?"

"The name's...NINE!"

...

"What do you want?! Who sent you?"

"Woah! Heck! How many tails do you have?"

"Nine!"

...

"Tails, stop! We're buds—amigos! Best friends!"

"I have no friends!"

"'No friends'? You have the best friends!"

...

"You've been working out? Heh. Who's your trainer? Ow!"

"I was trained by the misery of life in this foul and heartless city."

"Snap out of it, we go way back!"

...

"All my best memories of Green Hill have you in 'em, and you're not punching me!"

...

"Don't you wanna go home? Blue skies, sunny beaches, palm trees?"

"I don't know what kind of mind games you're playing, but it won't work!"

...

"You...saved me?"

"I've been trying to tell you that we are friends."

"Fabricated stories won't keep me from beating you back, intruder!"

"Stop! Just...stop. We're friends—best friends. This has to ring a bell."

Of course, after this Sonic and Nine have a much calmer conversation, but Sonic can only seemingly convince him he's not a threat, not fully convince him that the two of them are friends (though Sonic does recount times with Tails and soft events they often partake in together).

With Dread:

"The Dread is...Knuckles?"

*Queue flashback sequence*

"Yeah, does make sense. But you're pirate Knuckles. I'm not taking any chances." *Sonic sniffs the air* "Fire? Fire! Wait...dinner? Dinner!"

"I'll trade you that sword of yours for this nice, shiny apple."

"So you can stuff it in my mouth? Uh, no thanks. Uh, you do know hedgehog quills are a choking hazard, don't you?"

*Dread and the crew laugh*

"Don't you worry. The fire isn't to cook you. It’s to welcome you!"

"Agh!"

...

"...Definitely not the Knuckles I know."

"Besides. Have you seen your legs? I've seen more meat on a starfish!"

"Wait, this really is a party?"

"Ha ha. Sure is!"

It's worth noting that relations become more amicable after both of these events. Nine is still a bit prickly, not completely sure why he and Sonic would have been friends once before, but he is no longer fighting him, he let's him into his lab, and he does help Sonic out and worry for his well-being. We also know that this leads into Nine's attachment to Sonic. As for Sonic, once Dread convinces him he's not in danger and throws a party, he calms down, even proclaiming that Dread is his favorite Knuckles.

And this entire scene with Dread is very interesting. Though he doesn't actually act like The Dread of the seas anymore, it's still strange given how the crew talked about him that Dread is...taking everything so well. It would be one thing if he had just decided to let Sonic attack like with the old crew, or if he was just getting on Sonic's good side so he could use him, but (first of all) he actively (and calmly) talks Sonic down from being defensive, and he hasn't met Sonic before now. Dread doesn't yet know about Sonic's speed or usefulness!

We can infer from Sonic's first meeting with the crew, and Sonic's finding Catfish asleep on the dirty ship and surrounded by coconuts, that these days Dread only gives his crew orders when needed. We know from later (when he decides to have another party for the second day in a row) that Dread is trying to keep his crew happy and largely out of danger by his doing. And, even though Dread mentions that they "don't come across adventurers that often" as a reason for throwing a party for Sonic, it says a lot by the fact that his crew had assumed Sonic was part of "the old crew" pestering him without real proof.

I think we can safely conclude that whether Dread had planned this party in advance for not, the idea that it is for Sonic specifically is something he decided on the fly.

And why?

Well, the simplest explanation is that since Sonic is neither necessarily someone to be brought into his crew, nor someone who wishes him and his crew harm, he used his words and demeanor to take control of the situation so that Sonic the adventurer may pass through peacefully. And frankly, I do believe that this is part of why Dread initially acts the way he does.

But...I don't think that's all. Rather, like the way Nine and Sonic take to each other fairly fast, I personally wager that Dread initially gained an interest in Sonic beyond any particular usefulness he'd have.

Well, and that Sonic takes to him fairly well too, if you consider the return of this expression (being leveled at Dread this time) significant of anything

"You're officially my favorite Knuckles ever!"

For the sake of the tumblr picture limit, I've compiled a video of some clips of Sonic and Dread interacting (mind the quality) that take place after the "You're officially my favorite Knuckles" line, and before Dread gets a firsthand demonstration of Sonic’s speed and fighting prowess (i.e. before he learns that Sonic is or could be useful).

Of course, the main reason I compiled these was to show off how...touchy Dread is with Sonic for someone he's only just met (not to mention the limp wrist gesture😂). However, there are a few other things I want to point out from these clips.

So, just to begin, I'll emphasize once more that Dread does not know about Sonic's speed yet, and he’s very much at the moment trying to distance himself from his past self that was willing to work his crew to death for the sake of getting the blue shard. So if there are any ulterior motives as to why he's focusing on pampering Sonic, then it can't be because he wants to use him, and it's unlikely that it's because he's either trying to push Sonic along and out of his life peacefully, or because he's trying to recruit him for the crew. For the former, if he was trying to peacefully push Sonic the adventurer towards his destination for the safety of himself and crew, then he wouldn't be (frankly put) as in Sonic's personal space, he wouldn't have tried to rope Sonic into a second party til sunset on day 2 of knowing Sonic, and he would have talked at all about where they can drop Sonic off so he can pursue his mission or adventure. For the latter? I'd like to explain why I personally don't believe Dread intended on necessarily recruiting Sonic into the crew.

The short of the "why" for why Dread is most likely not trying to recruit Sonic into his crew, is because he's treating Sonic even a bit differently than his existing crew members. Earlier, while writing this, I considered the idea that perhaps Dread pulled this whole "I threw a party for you!" routine for his other crew members back after losing his previous crew. I considered that Dread picked them up originally because he was in need of a crew (and didn't want to leave the high seas), and because they were wayward souls (so to speak) or looking to become pirates. However, while all of this is plausible, there are two things that came to mind regarding Sonic.

Presumably, Dread doesn't really need more crew? He doesn't know anything that would make Sonic stand out from anyone else ability wise, he clearly doesn't care for recruiting someone to help with the old crew's plundering of their ship, and he doesn’t offer at this point to recruit Sonic. He merely treats him as a wandering adventurer. Does he even need Sonic for upkeep of the ship or for getting supplies/food or even for steering/navigating on the ship when he has crew members already who can handle it all?

That Dread has clearly told his crew members his tale of woe (because they seem to know a bit more than simple rumors), but not only does he skirt around telling Sonic, he gets angry at the prospect of any of his crew telling Sonic the story of Dread at his worst. If it's common knowledge or something that Dread told the rest of his crew, why would he not tell Sonic? In fact, if you check those clips, when Batten goes to tell Sonic about when Dread used to be a "not so nice" pirate, Dread is not only quick to angrily shut the talk down, but he moves much closer to Sonic to ask him about himself instead. In addition, as you see towards the end of the video I embedded, when he emphasizes that Sonic should leave the story and shard be, he glares at him, pushing a fist lightly into Sonic's chest (again, physical contact).

So Dread doesn't know about Sonic's speed. He knows that Sonic isn't from his former crew. He doesn't need more crew. While he's very nice to Sonic, seemingly focusing on him and doting on him, he's quick to get angry at the crew if they try to mention his past to Sonic. The crew knows Dread's story. Dread doesn't want Sonic to know his story. Dread keeps on switching the focus on Sonic or trying to get him to party more, and he neither talks about recruiting him nor about Sonic leaving at some point. Do you want to know what this means to me?

Dread is acting the way he is about Sonic, treating him differently than his crew, trying to learn more about him, being more "physical" with him so to speak, neither trying to make Sonic leave nor make him a crew member, trying to pull him into a party again or incentivise him to chillax on his ship, trying not to let Sonic know of his backstory of being "not so nice"...

...because he likes Sonic.

Dread doesn't need Sonic or anything, he's not making it clear he needs Sonic, but perhaps he just wants him around, and not in a way that makes Sonic his subordinate. He wants Sonic to think of him as this nice pirate captain, not as the guy who lost his crew over his obsession with a jewel.

ㅤ

Okay, okay, let's take a momentary breather. You're probably wondering what everything I just said has to do with anything. If Dread met Sonic and decided he wanted him to come along with him, no responsibility attached, as a "friend" after barely knowing him, what does this have to do with Nine (or Sonine, for that matter)?

Well, there's something I'd like to remind you of. Just like with Sonic and Dread in S1 E7 (to the point that Sonic assumes he and Dread are going to fight the old crew in tandem), in earlier parts of Sonine Prime I mentioned that Sonic and Nine really haven't known each other for very long. In fact, before Nine picks Sonic up in S1 E6 to take him to the Grim, Nine doesn't actually need Sonic.

Nine has two prism shards at this point, and (as we see later in S2) he has the power to start molding the Grim into the home he desires. By the time he goes to fetch Sonic, he's planning on staying there, closed off from the rest of the shatterverse. He's planning on showing Sonic what he's already created and living here alone with him. Nine doesn't even care about gathering the other shards until he has to worry about what the Chaos Council will do with even one shard, and once other characters besides him and Sonic can jump between the shatterspaces, he actually has to worry about keeping his new home and his own life safe.

But back in S1 E6? Nine doesn't need Sonic. He doesn't need anything from him. Not his speed. Not anything he possesses. Not his connection to the prism. He wants Sonic there to build a home with him, even if Nine can do it without him, has everything already lined up.

Likewise, early S1 E7 Dread doesn't need Sonic. Not his speed (that he doesn’t know about yet). Not as a crew member. Not to fend off the old crew (he wasn't preparing to fight them). Not to get the blue shard (which he explicitly didn't want anything to do with or for Sonic to know the details about). He just wanted him to come along and hang out, party, relax.

Interesting, right?

And also funny that Sonic ends up rejecting both Dread's offer to continue to hang back and relax on the ship and Nine's offer to stay and build a new home with him in the Grim

ㅤ

And so ends our time in S1 E7: It Takes One to No Place. Now we will finally move onto the last episode of the season!

So begins Season 1 Episode 8: There's No AARGH In "Team"

So, like with Nine, once they're on amicable terms Sonic begins to form an idea of Dread in his head that differs from how the Echidna actually is. While we can see this sort of come to head a bit in episodes 7 and 8, one major moment I want to talk about is when Dread flees the sinking Angel's Voyage. The once mighty Knuckles the Dread, who Sonic had thought of highly due to first impressions and of certain traits of Knuckles' he assumes of Dread, is a coward.

But...that's not all that's going on here.

There are miscommunications abound in this show, and Sonic has a pattern of listening to people's backstories (Nine, Dread, Thorn, Shadow, etc), thinking he understands this person and their situation, and trying to help what he believes the problem is at hand (in a way that's often pointed towards his own goals, and leads him to assume the other person wants the same things as him or should). For Dread, Sonic got the part where Dread lost his courage when it comes to pirating. Even when his inexperienced crew fought during episode 7 and at the beginning of episode 8, he yet hid and hung back.

But Dread is also scared of something other than fighting other pirates or death. He's scared of himself.

"I don't care what version of Knuckles you are. You don't give up. It's your most annoying virtue! This shard is my only hope of finding my home! I need you. Your crew needs you! You're Knuckles the Dread, captain of the Angel's Voyage! Dreaaaad!"

Sonic thinks that Dread has simply lost his courage and pride. He needs Dread's help to get the shard, and he can't do it if Dread is gone. So bringing "The Dread" back fulfills two purposes. The first, (like with Thorn, Prim, and the scavengers) is to "make things okay again" (also known as "the right thing to do"), and to restore Dread's courage as a captain. The second, is to get the shard. The Angel's Voyage and its crew have a proud captain, and Sonic gets the blue shard. It should be a win-win, right?

"I gave up years ago, blue, when I wrecked trying to get that shiny rock yer after."

"We can still get it! With your captaining and my speed, you're not gonna wreck on those rocks again!"

"He is fast—fast enough to get me past them rocks..."

"We can do it together! And I can get home!"

"And I'll finally get me treasure."

"And you'll forever be known as the legendary Knuckles the Dread. The legendary Knuckles the Dread!"

"Aye. The legendary Knuckles the Dread."

The part of Dread's tale of woe that Sonic missed (or perhaps ignored), was the part where he was so obsessed with the blue shard that he lost himself and put his crew in danger. Dread lost his crew because he showed that he didn't care about them, not because he failed to get the shard. So sure, it makes sense that Dread is afraid, but for Dread getting that treasure became tied to being the "Dread" of the seas. The fact that he even took a crew on after that, tried to make most days fun and relaxing, and forbade them from acting like pirates, I don't think it's a stretch to say he was trying to keep history from repeating itself.

Because being the great pirate he used to be means going after his white whale again, and he'd responded to losing everything by trying to keep it from ever happening again.

Dread, like Nine, is the type that does care about people, they just both tend to place their goals and their well-beings over the innocent. Nine hesitated before leaving Renegade, Rebel, and Rusty Rose behind, ultimately choosing the safety of himself and the shard. Dread took in a new crew, got a new ship, left who he used to be behind, and focused on making the days peaceful and fun. He stopped going after the shard to protect himself, to keep from hurting anyone else for his obsessions, and so he doesn’t have to be responsible for the deaths of others (like his new crew).

So Sonic M. Hedgehog pushes Dread to help get the shard, because Sonic wants it, and because he thinks Dread will become a great pirate again if he succeeds. He convinces Dread to take this path once more, perhaps not realizing the outcome that convincing Dread to go for the rock (that "brings nothing but pain") will bring.

ㅤ

Okay, so I'd like to back up for a second and talk about both Dread and Nine.

Both of them have a wish, a great attachment to something they wish to get, but initially believe is impossible to. For Nine, it's "home", and for Dread, it's his treasure, the devil's lighthouse. Home and treasure. Neither of these things are inherently bad to wish for.

Nine isolated himself as much as possible, tried to contend with just being alone and protected so he couldn't be hurt again. Dread locked away his love of pirating and his want for his beloved treasure, not wanting to drive himself to doom and lose everything again in the hopeless pursuit of it.

Both created a life of safety for themselves and reacted based upon the pain they'd experienced and struggles they went through. For Nine, truly all he needed was to create "home" for himself, but the trouble is that he never would, because he believed this to be impossible, and because he doesn't really know what "home" is. For Dread, truly all he needed was to move on from the shard, focus on his love of pirating and make his crew feel cared for, but the trouble is that he never would, because to him there is only one choice that can be made. To Dread, there is only getting his beloved treasure at all cost (which would likewise return his reputation and status), or there is keeping the days fun and peaceful, suppressing his desire to keep himself and his crew safe.

But then Sonic arrived, and he each made them believe. Sonic made Dread believe that he could succeed and get his treasure without losing anything. With the shard, Dread reasoned he could have the treasure he'd so desired and have his ideal life again. Unbeknownst to Sonic, who assumed he'd be able to just leave with the shard and take that step to restore his home, Dread's dream is tied to that shard, and he's willing to hold onto it no matter the cost now (exactly what he'd feared before). Sonic made Nine believe that he could finally make a home for himself. With one shard and an entire shatterverse, Nine reasoned that he could finally escape New Yoke and create a new home away from everyone else. Unbeknownst to Sonic, who's assumed that Nine has the same goal as him, and will eventually hand over the shards so they can restore his own home.

Dread stood aside. He gave into the stubbornness of Sonic and his crew (especially now that they'd banded together), allowing them to choose to sail straight towards the light that brought him ruin without him having to reap the consequences (since he didn't make the choice).

With the shard in hand, Nine found a new, empty shatterspace for himself. He intended to move forward on his path, and create his home, isolated from everyone else. He intended to leave the other shatterspaces to their fates, let the people there deal with their own problems that they caused.

ㅤ

Let's go back to the scene where the ship was beginning to sink, taking Sonic and the crew with it, and Dread responds by fleeing alone. Let's think back to episode 6, where Sonic and the resistance were fighting the Chaos Council for their right to exist, and Nine takes Sonic away.

At this point, Dread left, not willing to be doomed for a goal he did not pursue (or rather, to die because his crew decided not to listen to him, decided to follow Sonic towards the shard instead). Here is the first main difference between himself and Nine.

While Nine had also decided to leave the resistance and council to fighting, feeling as if none of it was his responsibility or fault (since he owed nothing to the city), he very explicitly chose to take Sonic with him. Both he and Dread had found out the way they believed they would be able to live a peaceful life (with Dread spending his days on the seas partying, and with Nine spending his days alone in an empty world), but when they each left others to their fates (deciding to leave and pursue their immediate goals), Dread chose to leave it all behind, while Nine chose to bring Sonic with him (even though Sonic had involved himself in the resistance's plight too).

Think about the crew being left to sink with the Angel's Voyage as Sonic went to bring back Dread. Think about the resistance fighting a losing battle with Sonic gone in the Grim.

"I need you. Your crew needs you! You're Knuckles the Dread, captain of the Angel's Voyage!"

...

"We can do it together! And I can get home!"

Vs

"Look, Nine, it's incredible but it's...it's not going anywhere. And those rebels really need our help. Come with me. Help me finish the fight."

...

"I hope I see you in New Yoke."

And then, as Sonic lost hope that Dread would return, believed he had fully given up, Dread swooped in to retake his captain status and fix the sinking ship. However, Dread didn't come back for the crew just to save them. He came back because he reasoned that he could use Sonic's speed to get his treasure this time.

And then, as Sonic fought in New Yoke with the resistance, as it seemed like they had lost, Nine swooped in with his craft and freed Sonic and the others. Sonic proclaims that he knew Nine would come back, glad that he chose to help these people with him. However, Nine didn't come back just to save the resistance or to fight the Chaos Council. He came back for Sonic. He came so he could give Sonic another chance to choose him—to choose to come back with him so they can fulfill Nine's dream of "home" together.

And now, Dread needs Sonic to acheive his goal (what, with the map leading to The Devil's Lighthouse gone, and because only Sonic can guide the ship past the rocks), but Nine explicitly does not need Sonic to achieve his. Whereas Dread decides he needs Sonic to get the blue shard, Nine simply wants Sonic to be with him when they create "home".

Random other interesting thing, the first time Sonic really mentions Nine when he arrives back in New Yoke after seeing the Grim, he says that he knew he would come back. This contrasts how we see Sonic (onscreen) talk about how Dread has given up and left, before he later tells Dread that he knew Dread wouldn't leave his crew. Interesting that we can see proof that Sonic didn't fully believe that Dread would come back, but there's nothing to prove that he didn't actually believe that Nine would come back, isn't it?

ㅤ

Now, let us shift our sights back to Nine. During the second aside of S1 E8 where we see Nine with the Chaos Council, Nine discusses Sonic with the council.

I'd like to note that as of right now, Nine should have two goals: keeping the shards and his technology out of the council's hands and making an escape plan. As I said earlier, Nine clearly believed that two shards were more than enough for molding The Grim to his dreams. He only cares about being alive and being allowed to exist in his new home, so of course the Chaos Council gathering shards and endeavoring to take over encroaches on this. It makes sense that he'd endeavor to gather all the shards from this point forward, if not so he can keep the Chaos Council or anyone else from intruding in his new shatterspace or having the power to turn him into a victim again.

"Tch. Eliminating the hedgehog is a bad idea."

"Arguing for the life of your friend? What a shock."

"He left me at your mercy when I needed him most. Hardly what you'd call 'friendly' behavior. But you'd be fools to get rid of him before the shatterdrive technology is perfected."

Sure, Nine's not really wrong. He's making a decent point as to why the Council should keep Sonic alive. Perfecting the shatterdrive technology and learning more about the shards can only aid in the Council's conquest.

But Mr. Dr. Eggman has a point here. Even if Nine is bitter at Sonic for being left at the Council's mercy, there is nothing in it for Nine if he goes out of his way (essentially beyond the scope of his position) to help the council in their goals. Making them keep Sonic alive so they can use them to perfect the shatterdrive technology does nothing to keep the Council from getting more shards, it does nothing to keep the Council from taking the Grim, it does nothing to keep the Council from having power over him, and it does nothing to get him closer to escaping. After all, when we get to season 2, Nine will make Sonic give up his plan of saving him (Nine) in favor of working the council from the inside, confident that he'll be able to aid Sonic and escape with the shards from there. He doesn't even seem to necessarily need Sonic to help him escape.

So, why would Nine argue for Sonic's life in the same breath he tries to make clear how bitter he is at Sonic for leaving him to be captured? The answer is clear to me. This is because even if Nine is bitter and angry, he still cares about Sonic. Even if he doesn't need Sonic, he wants him alive. He's still holding onto that dream of building a new home with Sonic.

"Tch. It is perfected. We traveled to another shatterspace."

"You sent your robots to another shatterspace. Big difference.

And right after this, something shifts. There's a notable change in the expression Nine has on his face during most of the interaction so far (image 1) when he begins talking about Sonic again (image 2).

"You've only barely accomplished what he's done without any technology. He's a living shatter battery."

...

"Til we know why he gives off this power, we need him alive."

And it should be worth mentioning here that after Nine praises Sonic to put the council down, he quite literally raises himself up to Dr. Deep's level and speaks seriously to emphasize how vital Sonic theoretically is to the council's mission.

He puts on an act, he risks getting shocked for insubordination, he tries to convince the council that Sonic is vital to their mission, all to keep Sonic alive.

But if the viewer doubts that Nine is trying to save Sonic because he cares, or believes he must have ulterior motives for wishing to keep Sonic alive, the creators added in body language and face shots of Nine to show us how he feels about the Council using Sonic.

"The rat's right. Too many questions for us to start playing exterminator. At least, not until we wring every ounce of shatterjuice out of that blue varmint."

Oh yeah. I'd say "unhappy" with the idea is an understatement.

The way he droops down, like he feels terrible that he even gave them the idea. The way he grits his teeth and averts his eyes, like he's frustrated. The way he takes hold of his expression, stares forward, and glares.

ㅤ

And with that, season 1 of Sonic Prime finally comes to a close, as does Part 7 of Sonine Prime😂

While there are doubtless scenes from episode 8 I'll be referring to in later parts, there's nothing more of immediate importance to talk about. And even though I haven't yet hit the photo limit, I'm going to give this part a clean cut to end the first season.

This part accidentally became a lot of Dread character study, buuuuuuut hey I felt like I was able to point out some parallels I'd really wanted to talk about, so it’s a win for me! And this won't be the end of the Dread parallels either.

Thank you all for reading! I'll see you all in part 8, where we'll finally begin tackling season 2🥰

[dextixer]

V9 did not offer character progression for Ruby, it just continues to spin in place.

(TW: Suicide)

While not a controversial character, Ruby still has had a lot of discussions surrounding various aspects of her writing. Discussions about her actions, her character traits etc. The most often discussions that have occurred on this topic have been about her perceived lack of character progression, especially in comparison to the rest of her team who all received various arcs that contributed to their characters advancements.

Volume 9 seemed like it was going to buckle the trend. An entire volume mostly dedicated to the break-down of Ruby and the eventual character changes and progress that would follow. At least, that was what was expected... And yet that is not what we have received...

Static or Dynamic?

Before discussing V9 let us first cover the context of Ruby character discussions. Ruby has often been criticized for being too static, for not changing, for basically being a very boring character due to how little she changes from her adventures. In Volumes 1-3 this discussion was not prevalent because in those Volumes Ruby had a clear arc and one COULD see the changes to her character.

Over time she grows more into the leadership role, is more outgoing. She grows through conflict with Weiss. Through the teachings of people like Oobleck and eventually, through the tragedy of the fall of Beacon in which 2 of her friends lives were lost.

In Volume 4 however, she starts becoming different. Unsure of herself, not believing that she has what it takes to be a leader, partially due to the Fall of Beacon but then also partially due to getting her uncle stung by Tyrian. Until the end of the Volume where after a pep-talk from Jaune, she once again assumes her leadership position. And then the same thing happens in V5. V6. V7.V8.

I think most people have noticed that in every one of these volumes Ruby doubts her skills or position, only to end up once more becoming brave. Over, and over again. This caused people to start criticizing her character. Its not progressing. Its just the same character over and over again.

This has lead to defenders of RWBY writing to state that its fine, because Ruby is supposed to be a "Static" character. But quite frankly, i have never been convinced by this argument, because V1-V3 Ruby was not static, and showed to us that she can be dynamic, she can change, learn, grow, especially through conflict and even failure. Her being "Static" runs counter to that.

And yet that narrative/defense has never dissapeared.

Hope is the first step...

With Volume 9, we got a promising start. After the darkness of V7-8, after the fall of Atlas, we have our characters fall into a completely different world. A world based on the story "Alice in Wonderland". A world tailor made to deal with the consequences of the fall of Atlas to the main characters and see them change.

While the hope for other characters doing so dissapeared quite quickly, considering how Blake/Yang had almost nothing to do the entire Volume besides their romance, and Weiss becoming comedic relief. The hope for Ruby remained.

After all, Volume 9 focused very heavily on Ruby. From the very start it showed the dire state she was in, and with each episode that state only got worse and worse, seeing a reminder of a (dead again) friend, being confronted by the smoke version of herself, having to deal with Neo (Again). The entire volume was a reminder of her perceived "failures" as a hero, actual failures, the things she lost etc.

People were hoping and expecting a break-down to happen. Not because they wanted Ruby to suffer. But because such break-downs often lead to character development in many cases.

It all came to a head in episode 8, the darkest episode of the Volume, the episode where Ruby chooses to "ascend" after psychological torture by Neo. The ascencion being a very unsubtle reference to actual suicide in its framing. While the suicide brought its own share of controversy and discussions, Ruby breaking down itself was not a bad thing. This is what people were finally waiting for (The problems are the things surrounding it)

Episode 9 seemed to go along with this trend. In the tree, Ruby meets the Blacksmith, who explains a few things to her, but also is trying to help Ruby, help Ruby to choose who she wants to become. Many people did not wish for Ruby to become anything else, especially due to the previously mentioned suicide imagery. Neither did people want to see Ruby become perfectly okay after the experience, again, due to the suicide imagery.

But there was definitely a wish to see change. To see Ruby improved at least slightly in her condition, not healed, but at least starting on a journey of healing AND learning.

And then E10 happened....

On the road to dissapointment...

Do you know the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting things to change. There is no better quote to describe Rubys character progression from V4 onwards. Volume 9 included.

Me saying that Volume 9 is mostly filler due to Rubys story not mattering and being reset ruffled quite a few feathers in the fandom and out of all my takes that i have made in regards to Ruby, has resulted in the biggest fan backlash and harassment. Partially because of calling V9 filler, but people took a VERY large issue with me saying that Ruby has not progressed as a character.

They keep saying "This arc was about her learning that she doesnt have to be perfect or live up to her mother (who is also not perfect), its about her learning that she can make mistakes and its natural" Of course, they also keep saying that this is character progression. After all, Ruby did go down and up, right? There was a change, RIGHT?

That is not character progress. That is spinning wheels in the same place. Imagine that one of your cars wheels is stuck in a hole. Imagine constantly pressing the accelerator, getting to the edge of the hole, and then stopping, only to go back to the same position. Would you call that progress? I would doubt it.

So why are some people calling it progress when Ruby is doing the same thing?

To make it easier, i will give you two graphs.

This is how usually normal characters have development/progress. They are on some kind of baseline, then they fail, or something around them happens that forces them to change/grow up in some way, and thus their character now gains new traits, new relationships, new knowledge etc. There is Progress.

THIS is how Rubys "character progression" post V3 looks like. She starts on a baseline. Fails. Gets told that she is fine, becomes a leader again. Repeat ad nauseam. This SAME thing happens in V9. It is NOT progress. It is STAGNATION.

I can be proven wrong

I can be proven wrong of course. If Volume 10 releases and we see that Ruby still has many problems plaguing her, that she wasnt just fixed and is now fine. Then i will concede the point that Ruby in V9 did have character progression (I will complain about it not being shown in V9) but i will acknowledge that people were right in saying that V9 was NOT mostly filler and that Rubys story had a good reason to exist.

But until then, these are my views. I welcome disagreement of course, so by all means. Go for it. And keep in mind that this is all just my opinion.

[amigac0debasic13]

inhaling so heavily so so heavily,, hey guys its me im back. ninjago. This is just a huge rant about me HATING how trauma is handled in this show. ignore this if you do not want to see my HORRORS.

WHY. IS TRAUMA NOT A FUCKING THING IN THIS STUPID ASS SHOW. Im on another rewatch because im FUCKING INSANE but it drives me actually mad that there are so many downright horrific things that happen to these characters that are just NEVER addressed. lets talkabout the fucking first one that caught my eye when I was first watching the show!!! Im basically going from least infuriating to most infuriating, im trying to cut this show some slack but dear god. !!WHY IS COLE OKAY MAN. HE LITERALLY DIEEED. HE TURNED INTO A GHOST. listen Iknow ninjago death means nothing, and im going to talk about that too but he literally could have ceased to exist if he so much as touched water. after he got his body back, why was this never FUCKING mentioned. I think. if I was in a perpetual state of being horrified my existence would amount to nothing and id just stop BEING when I touched some clear shit coming out of my sink id be pretty scarred for life. I loved possession man, but this happened to TWO CHARACTERS. TWOOO. AND THE OTHER CHARACTER IS LLOYD. lets not even MENTION that hes been exploited the moment everyone found out he was a green ninja, and before that a bunch of grown ass people were bullying a CHILD WHO IS ACTUALLY HOMELESS, lets talk about how his fucking body was taken over by Morro while he ALSO worries about his DAD BEING STUCK IN THE FUCKING UNDERWORLD. IM LOSING IT. IM LOSSINGG ITT. On a smaller note, MISAKO ABANDONED LLOYD. KILL HER. I am the hashtag misako hater garmadon deserves better. The show made no attempt for them to bond or try to make amends for what happened when Lloyd was a kid, she barely appears at all really and it just makes me fucking despise her. ALSO MORRO. this kid. reminding you, CHILD, fucking died in a cave. the cave we SAW in the pilot, if i remember right which is FUCKING INSANE>,,?? we SEE HIS SKELETON. THAT IS A CHILDS SKELETON. never mentioned again after episode 8 I don't think. now the MEAT. THE MEATT. whatever the FUCK went on with garmadon after he got resurrected. They actually did cover this a bit with how Lloyd acted around garmadon, but crystalized also sucked ass and really gave us nothing on how Garmadon felt about this. on god im so sick that hes so normal shaped in crystalized too, He was literally growling with every breath in sons of garmadon why is he normal now. Its been years, i get it. also the Garmadon comic. but he SHOULDNT be a normal person whos just an asshole, I want him to be feral okay?? ok??? I am playfully gesturing to Devils Horns by TeuthidaRegina (did i spell that right. idk man. Its a super fucking good fanfic.)

ALSO Vinnys apartment is very inaccurate there should be scratch marks on the walls and then they should kiss. ANYWAYS Besides this, Lloyd being mad at Garmadon was really all we got for how *he* was effected by his once loving father now randomly coming back with his ribs exposed and only being able to say like. 3 words. and also him immediately trying to kill Lloyd. I feel like we should have gotten a LOT more man. Now this isn't really a problem with the show (Its a huge problem in crystalized but that's a given) but more a problem with the fandom, so that's why I'm putting it at the end. this does not hold relevancy over garmadon becoming a BEAST. (also garmadon becoming a beast is the best thing that ever happened in this show btw. you all are wrong and he should have been animalistic from the beginning. still nice. but he should have also growled. all the time.) My issue is with how people portray harumi. I already had my Harumi spout in a post I made earlier, but I only mentioned the toxicity of the ship with her and Lloyd a little bit. Let us THINK BACK on how she literally feels nothing for Lloyd at all. He was a stepping stone in getting Garmadon back, and she probably straight up hates him. She pretends to like him to manipulate him into helping her resurrect garmadon ok?? do we understand?? Ive seen actual tags on AO3 that say "no harumi hate here" and I am so done. all the harumi hate. dont FUCKING talk to me if you want to justify the downright horrendous things shes done. That ship is toxic as hell and Lloyd is downright being abused AGAIN for like the FIVE BILLIONTH TIME IN HIS LIFE. I dont care man. shes an abusive bitch. i HATE HER. Crystalized made the worst fucking decision trying to justify her and I genuinely hate whoever thought that was a good and right decision to make. If she comes back in dragons rising i hope she dies AGAIN, but Im honestly rooting for them to ignore crystalized's existence. Now finally, this is the absolute peak of how Ninjago shittily handles trauma. the ICE EMPEROR. Zane was stuck in a fucking hellscape of a realm for like. what was it. EIGHTY YEARS??? he went fucking mad man, he turned into a bloodthirsty tyrant during that time. and when this seasons conflict was fixed with the "power of friendship" the show literally mentions that the ice emperor is STILL INSIDE ZANES NOGGIN. AND WHAT DOTHEY DOO?? THEY MAKE IT INTO A FUCKING JOKE. its honestly almost disgusting to me how they handled it, Zane has DIED BEFORE. that's bad. he should have trauma. BUT Zane LITERALLY HAS A BLOODTHIRSTY KILLER IN HIS FUCKING HEAD. DO NOT JOKE ABOUT THIS SHIT. ACTUALLY. HE SHOULD HAVE SOME RELUCTANCE TO USING HIS POWERS OR SOMETHING, ANYTHING MAN. HE KILLLED AN ENTIRE RACEE. Genuinely this is one of my favorite shows, and I love adding onto the shaky ass plot and making it better, but I cannot DEAL with this. Im going to throw in the shit that happened in the spinjitzu brothers book, because oh my god Wu and Garmadon should be fucked up with all the stuff they have had to deal with for like. 5 thousand years. but its fine. its okay. its the book series. I wont mention it. (that book series is so good please release the final book please) ((I LOVE wu and garmadon they are some of my favorite characters in the ENTIRE series im blinking my eyes at you. please go indepth on those two. also give Wu a dragon form, or an Oni form, or literally anything he IS NOT HUMAN.) Also if anyone tells me im ignoring skybound its because I do not need to say anything about skybound. we all know what happened. we ALLL know what the fuck they did to Nya. and fucking. mister possibly a pedo creep man who does not care about consent. I dont even remember his name thats how bad I hate him .

[robotnuts]

red vs blue season 1 commentary (2003)

lets do some more commentary recaps! click here to check out the other ones i’ve completed! the season 1 disc actually has two different commentary tracks, the original one from 2003 and a new one they recorded in 2010. this post will just cover the 2003 track, recorded by burnie and geoff (all the way back when his name was still geoff fink)

the classic blood gulch intro was made for the release of the season 1 DVD. the original intro (please click this link and go watch the original, it’s a masterpiece) was scrapped because it didn’t actually fit the tone of the series since it’s much more action based, and also the limp bizkit song would have cost them tens of thousands to license

it took around 45 minutes to shoot the opening shot. if you’ve seen season 15 the way the shot is created has already been referenced by jax (to emulate a crane shot, they stood a cameraman on top of a tank turret and then raised the turret to get a smooth transition)

when they first made the show, they were staying up until 7AM to finish and post each episode on fridays, and then go to their day jobs right after 

they changed some parts of the original episode 1 they posted- they didn’t originally have sarge cast until the second episode, so it was burnie saying sarge’s line at the end of episode 1. burnie also tried to sneak some of grif and simmons’ conversations ontop of blue base because he figured people wouldn’t notice and he liked the lighting better there, and people “went nuts” so they had to go back and fix it 

burnie was the catch-all for whenever they didn’t have time to cast someone (lopez, tex’s male voice)

they got a ton of emails from people in the military who told them they really nailed the experience and asking if they had military experience because of how accurate the show is- geoff was the only person with military experience and he didn’t write the show. 

burnie says he didn’t watch a lot of military media or anything, it’s just shows how universal “bureaucracy” or office humor really is, and they were able to play with it even more because of how structured the military is. 

geoff makes fun of burnie for pretending hes smart and says he doesnt think burnie has any idea what hes talking about. Burnie liked using the word bureaucracy because it was long and fun to say :)

 the second episode was the actual spark for the entire series- a real conversation that burnie and co had while playing halo about “whys it called the warthog if it looks more like a cat?” lead to the entire show being made.

they never asked bungie if they were actually correct about the reason it being called a warthog being due to the tow hooks looking like tusks

they tell the vegas story to explain the “vegas quadrant” reference - you can hear it yourself with even more detail here. 

two differences from the RTAA story though- the note he left said “see you in austin, gus” (not assholes, though that’s burnie recounting the story so maybe gus just remembered it better) and geoff claims he didn’t actually end up going back to austin- though burnie starts speaking over him so I can’t really hear what he’s saying about it. 

 the shot of grif and simmons walking into the frame to watch donut run off into the distance towards the store at the end of episode 3 was redone over and over again at 4:30 AM and drove them crazy. the hardest shots were the ones when a character had to walk into frame, hit their mark and stand still, and then deliver a line.

caboose didn’t originally have a character concept according to burnie- he just knew the blue team was going to get a rookie counterpart to the red team’s donut. donut’s character was much more planned ahead

the pink armor was actually one of the first jokes they wrote for the series. originally the entire series was only going to be 6-8 episodes and the pink armor was going to be the gag of the final episode. homophobic kings

they had to work with a lot of limitations and pace themselves with what they wanted to introduce-they had limited armor colors, limited vehicles, etc. so introducing them to the series at the right time had to be paced out, and donut’s armor joke kept being pushed back

if there is a flag in the shot, the only people that can be in the shot is anyone with red or blue armor (caboose, sarge, and donut for a bit), so they had to get creative with the plot and cinematography to make sure that they could just isolate those guys . this is because in the capture the flag gamemode, the only character colors are red and blue. so if you see a flag, that’s a shot that was sewn in from a whole separate game and recording session than the surrounding shots 

this is the reason donut shows up in red armor instead of being pink from the start

geoff says he loves the joke where church ignores caboose because he relates to being ignored by burnie when he tells burnie important information

the limitations of what the characters could do forced them to write around humorous scenarios so they can be envisioned by the audience, even if the characters couldn’t do it on screen, the big example being the fact that they can’t actually have church and tucker throw rocks for the teleporter to test it so they just reference the fact they already threw rocks through it earlier

to editorialize a bit, i honestly think this really helped the show have it’s unique identity and ended up being a plus for the show, not something it lacked. like, i don’t know if the visual humor of tucker and church throwing a rock through the teleporter and it coming out black would have been as funny as just the delivery of “WE THREW ROCKS THROUGH IT” “yeah, and they came out the other side didn’t they?”

the teleporter is another example of them having to give a bit of personality and new traits to the halo objects 

they reference lopez dancing in the background of a scene and say jason (tucker’s va) was the one to improvise it, but it doesn’t happen on the remastered graphics. i cross-referenced with the original upload and I think they’re referring to when lopez’s pixel in the background changes for a second at this timestamp, but the quality is so bad it’s hard to tell

there was absolute hysteria about tex on the RT forums because tex was in the original intro with the cloaking device, so for the first few episode before she showed up, people would claim any graphical glitch or weird amalgamation of pixels had to be tex, and insisted RT actually put her in the background of every episode. this wasn’t true at all but it’s funny to think of old RT fans furiously posting screenshots of nothing to the rvb forums insisting they found him. it was funny enough to them that they never shut it down

the warthog had rules that only characters of the same color could be in the same warthog in s1, so they used post-production to splice shots together whenever you see grif and simmons in the same car in halo 1

this broke one of their rules where they tried to make most of the series things that you could actually replicate in halo yourself if you wanted to

the shot of the warthog flying over the camera where you can see the underside when the reds ambush is one of geoff’s favorite shots in season 1, and also it was first take

geoff also really likes how the bullet casings from the machine gun fly off and frame the background of some of the shots when simmons is assaulting the rock the blues are behind. he said he thought it was really interesting and dynamic and then would log on to the forums and read a post from a 14 year old about how boring everything was and they were all just standing around and would want to strangle them

the original visuals would often have blood splatters or explosions going off where they weren’t supposed to be, because tucker’s va thought that blowing everyone up and ruining their work was funny (he was right)

the control for throwing grenades was really finnicky in general, if they set down a controller to stop using it there was a high chance that character would throw a grenade and blow up the whole shoot. “not a common problem in traditional filmmaking” says burnie

they kept tucker in the black armor for a while because burnie could never find a chance for the characters to have a chance to breathe and wipe off his armor

geoff likes how the scene with grif and simmons being targeted by a tank because its true to life, he loves gus as a friend but would sell him out in a second

its hard to get shots of explosions happening near the camera because the explosions would just kill the cameraman lol

they also ended up blowing up grif and simmons around 40 or 50 times, just for the shot where the two of them are crouched behind a rock while shelia fires at them, which got made into an outtake

burnie is very excited about the church’s death scene and called it an inspired choice, but then said it was also a horrible choice because it was hard as hell to make him semitransparent whenever he showed up

they tried to use the in-game engine shake whenever an explosion went off near a character as much as possible 

the shots you think would take hours and hours, like the warthog flipping up on top of the base and sliding into place, only took 4 tries. they seemed to get lucky with the stuff you’d expect to be hard like complicated actions and then got fucked by the stuff you’d think was simple like standing around and talking

sarge in a plane at command is the only shot they used from the halo singleplayer 

burnie had to avoid giving long lines to most of the characters because nobody was a professional actor (except for joel, so they gave caboose longer lines). matt hullum was great at making shit up on the spot though

sarge only had 4 lines in (episode 18? i think he says) and for those 4 lines matt hullum somehow ad-libbed 58 minutes of recording to be cut down. he was literally just obsessed with ad-libbing. god what i wouldn’t give to have those original recordings of sarge just being completely bonkers

blue command was originally played by someone called Randal Glass who originally made videos on his own website in halo of him exploiting the physics engine (for example, him using tons of grenades to propel a warthog 10,000 feet in the air) which ended up inspiring them for some of their shots of the warthog flying around as an homage to his stuff. 

(this is the cursed, wrong, strange vic that we see for a little bit before he ends up getting vicified by burnie in the second season. I’m not at commentary 2 yet but I’m pretty sure it’ll be because of scheduling errors, but honestly, burnie’s vic is funnier. sorry for the additional editorializing) 

in order to get church to be transparent, they would have to shoot every shot twice, one with church in it and one with just the background, and layer them on top of each other and turn down the opacity. this is a simple solution but ended up being a pain if there were any other characters other than church in the shot, or when they’d forget to shoot the background without church and have to go back and re-film everything.

the main questions asked on their forums was- will tex ever be in an episode, are you ever going to use another map, and then (after episode 8) will church ever come back? and they answered all of those questions at the same time with the sidewinder gag.

there were two real groups of people that worked on red vs blue- the austin crew, who worked on websites that failed like drunkgamers, and the LA crew, who worked on movies that no one saw, who then came together to “make the worst failure of their career” with red vs blue

12 people worked on season 1, and 8 of them were voice actors only, leaving them with only a 4 person production crew

the bullet holes they actually wanted for the shots (tex using caboose as target practice) would fade instantly, but if they accidentally made a bullet hole it seemed to stay forever and they couldn’t get rid of it, leading to them having to come up with Halo Engine Bullet Hole theories to figure out why (hours and hours of shooting walls trying to figure out a pattern that they never nailed down, according to geoff)

it is pretty funny hearing them talk about the reticle in the center of the screen when the graphics are completely updated. i have no idea what youre talking about lads this is full HD no UI what reticle

it’s very hard to make a character look like they’re talking if they’re holding a flag or, basically anything except for the pistol.

geoff makes fun of burnie for the pity party they’re throwing for themselves- hard to make a character look like they’re talking, hard to match up eyelines, hard to get shots with the camo unit because it runs out so quickly. geoff makes sure to also emphasize that they were drunk for most of the production

there was a line of several donut characters all ready for the part with the grenade on his head because of how tricky of a shot it was- they’d have a donut step into place, throw a grenade at him, kill him, have donut number two step up, throw a grenade, etc etc.

there was controversy on the forums over who died in donut’s explosion- people were certain one of grif or simmons had to be dead. burnie makes fun of them for thinking they’d just kill off all of red team 

the sniper rifle shots are mostly cheated to get a good shot- you don’t actually see those angles from halfway across the map where the character holding the sniper rifle is standing. it makes the sniper rifles look like they work really well 

the even numbered episodes were more popular than the odd numbered episodes, which made them debate if they should end the season on an odd episode

i believe they’re saying that episode 11 was originally going to end after tex ran off to get the flag 2 minutes in, but they ended up combining two episodes to beef up the runtime 

the question on the rvb forums was always “if you can see them with the sniper rifle why not just pull the trigger” 

the ‘twist’ of tex being a woman was their first big twist and it got guessed by a ton of people and they concluded that was a problem with trying to put twists in serial shows. burnie than pointedly says “we won’t try anything like that again, we won’t try to hide something” 

obviously they do try stuff like that again, thank god, seasons 6 and 10 thank them for it. however from the way burnie says it i’m literally pretty sure he’s being incredibly sly and referencing the fact that he’s already put in hints about church being an AI, since i’ve heard people say that he started planning that as early as season 1

they talk about what parts fans latch onto and make content for- an early psa tucker references a drawing he made of an octopus flipping you off 8 times, and apparently they got TONS of submissions for that. burnie says he made 40 of them his desktop background. they say they want to find their favorite and make it into a tshirt- i wonder if they ever actually did that. ultimate rare rvb merch

they gave away dvds to the original sponsors as a thanks for sponsoring

they needed 17 TB of bandwidth only 3 months in which was their biggest cost and challenge. a company called 01 communications donated a ton of bandwidth to them to help out

they looked at pennyarcade and homestar runner as references for delivering serialized web content and how they were able to support their site without running ads, which is what lead to them going the sponsors and merch monetization route instead

the yellow/orange joke seems to come from the fact that church refers to grif as the “orange one” in season 1 which lead to them getting fan emails of people telling them “actually, he’s yellow” 

hegahergerk was one of matt hullum’s improvs, he was just told to make a “possession noise” and he gave them a few options. hegahergerk was the best. 

when church posesessed sarge, they weren’t sure if they wanted to have burnie reading the lines as church pretending to be sarge, or matt reading the lines pretending to be church pretending to be sarge, and they recorded both versions. they ended up going with burnie’s because it made more sense

matt’s voice acting was so strong with codifying the sound effects he used for being possessed that by the second time they were able to have it happen off screen and the viewer could still understand what happened

tex saying that sarge is pretty short to be church is a star wars reference to when luke rescues leia

the idea to have church and sarge in the spirit world was made on the monday, before the episode was actually released on friday. they said it took them forever to get the voice filter right

the wind sound effect was burnie. he’s proud of it. he wasn’t able to replicate it on the commentary though because he had too much whiskey

the heaven and hell jokes were a reference to a film burnie and matt had worked on called ‘the schedule’ (which is now lost media)

they were originally going to bring shelia back as a ghost tank like church coming back as a ghost but couldn’t figure out how to fit it in, so they put her in the purgatory sequence instead 

geoff says that its sweet that grif cares that sarge is dead considering how much sarge hates grif. they were originally going to have that scene be a turning point where sarge would like grif after he saved sarge’s life but it was ‘too big of a leap’ 

people didn’t understand that church offering less and less money to take sarge to heaven was, a joke, and they thought it was just them being inconsistent 

typically machinima wasn’t done on console, it was done in quake or half life- they were actually thinking about doing a project in half life 2 but the source code was stolen and leaked which pushed the release date back several months

the trailer for blood gulch chronicles was actually made for their drunkgamers website, which went under, so they gave up on the series for a while and didn’t release episode 1 until 6 months after the trailer

they said they made a conscious decision to “stop doing vulgarity” or at least try to limit it for their younger audience, after around episode six or seven

burnie says there are a lot of dumb vulgar jokes you could make about the pink armor but ‘why make them’ if you can be funny without it

they thought it was funny to use a huge rifle as the speech unit for lopez and pretend it could fit inside his head

lopez was originally just going to be a mexican guy and then they decided to make him a robot. it was also matt’s idea to make tex a woman

they weren’t sure if they should put in the “shock bracelet” joke because they weren’t sure if it was too outdated or if people will get it. i can say 20 years later, i have no idea what they’re fucking talking about

the spanish was just made with an online translator babelfish- burnie read it on his own the first time but gus (simmons’ va) ended up helping with the pronunciation

they lost a few concepts because they were busy wrapping up the season and focusing on developing the website and the dvd 

they wanted to have lopez’s introduction be a pov shot where you could see some text in the corner of his visor. they ended up reusing this gag in season 2 when they bring lopez back to fix shelia!

they got invited to some film festivals which ended up eating into their production time 

burnie recording his season 1 commentary voice: it was cool but we’re over the hey, aren’t we great, an internet phenomenon thing aren’t we? now we’re just focused on the episodes

no burnie. you will not be over it 

burnie and geoff both worked 45 hour a week day jobs and then would work for 30-40 hours a week on red vs blue when they got home

the hardest shot they did was one where caboose is turning around and talking at the same time tex was moving and fliping over the tank, and they got it on their first take

when tucker talks about caboose keeping an eye on red base, it cuts to caboose and you can see he’s actually staring back at blue base. burnie thought it was really funy but nobody got this joke when it aired lol

jason and gus moved out of town as soon as red vs blue started getting popular. halfway thru the series tucker’s lines start being recording over the phone instead of in the studio 

there’s also one episode where his brother plays tucker, since there was a huge blackout where he lived in new york, so they had to use his little brother instead 

in the final episodes people would complain about characters sounding different and insisting that the voice actors changed 

church was the boring exposition character- there was always a battle between pushing the plot along and making jokes

burnie: “i find it funny as tough as tex is, she’d actually be offended that she’s not considered a real girl”

a few lines from the original release were actually cut for the dvd- lines where there were big run ons of characters talking at the end of the episode over the black slate. for a few of the funny ones they went back and recorded more footage so they could include the lines in the dvd, but there are some that they ended up just getting rid of.

burnie also says he hopes people have it archived on their hard drives because after the dvd release they won’t be able to find them anywhere else?! so i guess those lines are lost to time

they considered calling caboose “omalley” in the new intro they made for the dvd

they tried using online sound directories but they usually ended up getting stuff that didn’t really fit, and they ended up doing their own foley work

they tried to end the season with a lot of shots that had been used throughout the whole season as a walk down memory lane

to get a cool effect, they used a shot of the warthog driving off from a distance that was just the halo camera focusing on other characters when your character had died and was waiting to respawn, which got a smoother camera motion and removed the reticle from the screen for a few seconds

the hissing noise of the bomb donut throws going across the gulch is also just burnie going hissssss

they would get some emails saying hey, really good webseries, you should get some adults to do the voices next time

[badlydrawnarsenelupin]

Thoughts on Chiho Saito's VS Lupin

So back in 2019, I found this series while I was browsing for Lupin things, as one does, and proceeded to buy the whole set, because it’s Lupin, drawn as a sparkling shoujo-manga pretty boy.

What is this series? 

VS Lupin (Original Title: VSルパン) is a currently ongoing series serialized by Shokugakan in the magazine Zoukan Flowers, based off of the original Lupin stories by Leblanc. It is written and drawn by Chiho Saito (さいとう ちほ), a shoujo and josei mangaka, who is best known for being a creator of the Revolutionary Girl Utena series. 

By the way, while I’ll be mainly using shoujo when describing the series in this post, VS Lupin is officially listed as a josei manga. The labels shoujo and josei for the most part are used as an age-rating to specify the intended audience. As a genre they have a lot of overlap in the style and tropes… I’m just using the terms interchangeably. If you’re a Manga Expert™ pretend you didn’t see this.

As of writing this, VS Lupin has a total of six volumes completed in the original Japanese, covering a handful of stories and novels including: The Countess of Cagliostro, The Crystal Stopper and The Damsel With Green Eyes. Volume 7 is currently in progress and is said to be based off of Eight Strokes of the Clock.

Volumes 1-4 from that have been translated into Chinese (which are the ones I have). 

Just look at how pretty the covers are! From left to right, we have Lupin, Joséphine Balsamo, Clarisse d'Etigues and Lupin again. I'm not entirely sure when the original VS Lupin actually started serialization in Zoukan Flowers, the closest to a date I have is the publication year of the first volume (2014) printed inside the Chinese-edition.

I actually went back and checked to see if the original listing I bought these from was still available but uh, no. Seeing how there hasn't been news for a translation of vol 5-6, I fear this series may be falling into the same fate as Aventurier Lupin (niche and cursed to cease physical publications forever). The original Japanese editions are still available for purchase, as well as ebook versions of the Chinese-translations… which are better than nothing, but I really would love to have the full series so here’s to hoping they continue the publication at some point.

General thoughts:  

As it is probably obvious from the art style and creator, VS Lupin is a retelling of the Arsène Lupin stories in a shoujo/josei-esque style. Visually, the art-style is heavily reminiscent of many classic shoujo series of the late 80s and 90s. 

VS Lupin, Ch 7 Illustration / Volume 1 Afterword

The illustrations are carefully drawn with very thin lines, giving everything a delicate and elegant appearance. It is especially noticeable in the details of the backgrounds and objects, such as the fancy frills and jewels. 

VS Lupin, Ch 1 "The Princess's Wedding" / Ch 3 "The Queen's Necklace"

It’s a weirdly fitting look for Arsène Lupin, as it really encapsulates the vibe of a past time period. Plus the whole heroic-gentleman-sweeping-away-young-girl-in-distress trope that Lupin has in common with the shoujo-genre.  

Also, just. Tuxedo Mask. 

Top: Sailor Moon, Act 47 / Bottom: VS Lupin, Ch 8 "The Wedding Ring"

And early Kaitou Kid, who was also originally created in the 80s and actually precedes Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask.

Magic Kaito, Ch 2, "The Police Are Everywhere"

Look at them sparkly-cape-hat-glove-boys go. There's probably something to be said here about the influence of the original Arsène Lupin as a trope in the genre, but it's not something I'm well-versed in so let's just leave it there.

Plot & Story:

Much like the art, the story and characters are also written through a more romanticised lens. The series is not a one-to-one adaptation of the original Leblanc canon, telling a more chronological story with slight but noticeable changes to the timeline. 

Volume 1 of VS Lupin starts off in a more episodic manner, with the three short stories of “Lupin’s Marriage” (Confessions of Arsène Lupin), “The Black Pearl” and “The Queen’s Necklace” (Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Thief). 

The first major change occurs in “The Queen’s Necklace,” where Raoul is shown meeting Clarisse d'Etigues for the very first time. The introduction of Raoul’s backstory with the Queen’s Necklace leads into vol 2-3, which covers the entirety of The Countess of Cagliostro and Raoul’s evolution into Lupin. Clarisse, unlike the original Leblanc canon, is given a much larger role and presence in the story as Lupin’s first wife. 

In the afterword of vol 3, Saito-sensei explains the reason she decided to change so much of the story:

「 Clarisse 」 "In Japan, perhaps it is because of the strong impression Lupin III’s anime (Castle of Cagliostro) left on people, the name ’Clarisse’ is the most well-known of all of Lupin’s heroines. "

But, but, as Lupin’s first wife, she only briefly appeared in the original story, I was very surprised. The original story of The Countess of Cagliostro itself was a work written very late (in Leblanc’s career), which was why there was no other way.  And so, I heavily rewritten chapter 8, ‘The Wedding Ring’ and chapter 9 ‘The Birth of Lupin’ from the original.  I’m sorry! Leblanc-sensei and fans of the original Lupin stories! – Chiho Saito in VS Lupin, Volume 3 "Afterword"

Honestly, for me personally, the changes and the original chapter “The Birth of Lupin,” were a big positive. It was well-written and tied Clarisse into Lupin’s life in a satisfying way, it also fills in a blank with how Lupin originally found the Hollow Needle, something that was not there in the Leblanc canon. 

Also, we get Clarisse coming in on a horse to save Raoul’s sorry ass. I see this as an absolute win.

VS Lupin, Ch 7 "The Countess of Cagliostro 4"

The last volume of the series I have, vol 4, covers The Crystal Stopper. 

Compared to The Countess of Cagliostro, the pacing of the story in this is noticeably more rushed. The Countess of Cagliostro had two volumes and a little more leading up to it, plus the original chapter, “The Birth of Lupin” rounding off the ending. While The Crystal Stopper had only less than one volume of time to cover the original novel in its entirety, having to share the page count with “The Silk Red Scarf.” (Confessions of Arsène Lupin)

As expected, much more was cut from the story. Especially noticeable were the scenes where Lupin in the original canon acted more… unflattering. I guess we can’t have our heroic pretty-boy doing cartwheels all over the villain’s lifeless body, it’s not very marketable for a male-lead in a shoujo story. I jest. 

Amongst the scenes that were cut, there were also Lupin baby-talking to “Hercules,” Lupin and Clarisse Mergy torturing Daubrecq then popping his eye out, and most regrettably, the little epilogue at the very end between Lupin and the Narrator. There were probably more, but it’s been awhile since I’ve read The Crystal Stopper and those were the main ones I can recall. 

On the positive side, here’s Gilbert being taller than Lupin. 

VS Lupin, Ch 10 "The Crystal Stopper (Part 1)"

And this fruity, very edible-looking blond Lupin harassing Ganimard. 

VS Lupin, Ch 12 "The Silk Red Scarf"

Bonus, the afterword from VS Lupin's Crystal Stopper:

「 The Crystal Stopper 」 The biggest impressions of Lupin this time are, "the weakest," "always losing." Or rather, the antagonist he was up against was the strongest! No matter if it was in the appearance, or rotten personality, (Daubrecq) excelled in it all! "At the start, I got scared of the graphic descriptions in the original story, however after getting used to drawing (him), M. Daubrecq made me feel very happy."

Not only that, Lupin, with the beautiful young man who believed in him without a doubt, then trying and falling in love with that certain mother, (his) feelings once again becoming messy amidst it all. And Lupin, out of his love for them, absolutely would not give up! "So good! In other words, when talking about 'cool' Lupin moments, people will no doubt think of these!" – Chiho Saito in VS Lupin, Volume 4 "Afterword"

Thoughts on the characters: 

In VS Lupin, Chiho’s Lupin is noticeably sanitized. The story smoothes out some of Leblanc Lupin’s more asshole-y behaviour and makes him more appealing for a shoujo/josei manga audience. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a complete negative, as it gives the story a more fluffy shoujo, romantic atmosphere. Good if you just want something light-hearted and a bunch of fluff. But compared to Leblanc!Lupin it’s definitely a bit lacking, and slightly takes away from some of the complexity Lupin has as a character. 

The female characters on the other hand, are more of a mixed bag. 

For Clarisse d’Etigues, she was definitely a big winner here. She was given more focus and screen time, plus a slight increase in her agency as a character, such as letting her save Raoul twice. She definitely reminds me of some of those magical girl protagonists in that aspect, able to be a heroine who saves people and while also being unapologetically girlish and feminine. 

I really do love how Chiho’s Joséphine Balsamo was drawn, probably my favourite character in the series design-wise. It really perfectly captures her more adult-ish allure with her thick, dark curls in contrast with Clarisse’s thinner, lighter hair and girlish grit. 

VS Lupin, Ch 7 "The Countess of Cagliostro 4"

Writing-wise, the narrative in VS Lupin noticeably leans more in favour of Raoul than Joséphine than the Leblanc canon, which makes sense as a decision for the series overall. Joséphine is shown more treating Raoul in a belittling manner, referring to him as a “youngster,” and from Raoul’s inner-thoughts, feeling as if he was treated like a dog. There was definitely an effort to make her more unlikable… After all, in VS Lupin, we are supposed to be rooting for him to get back to Clarisse. 

Clarisse Mergy on the other hand… I felt that she was, unfortunately, slightly scuffed on. She was framed as more of a classic damsel-in-distress role, while in the original stories, she was more aggressive in her desperation. I think the main problem here was just how much had to be cut from The Crystal Stopper, such as the scene where Clarisse Mergy tortures Daubrecq. 

VS Lupin, Ch 11 "The Crystal Stopper (Part 2)"

The one positive Chiho!Mergy got was the scene showing her directly rejecting Lupin’s confession at the end of the story. Compared to canon, where we were only shown Leblanc!Lupin complaining to the Narrator about how she refused him even after he saved her sons, which is… bad Lupin, bad. *bonk*

Conclusion:

I enjoyed this series a lot! The art is, again, absolutely gorgeous. The writing is pretty well-done overall, and paired with the lovely visuals, it’s very much worth a read for those who can. 

Here is Chiho Saito’s twitter, here are the Japanese versions of the series from the official Shogakukan site, and lastly, the Chinese-editions of volumes 1-4.

Please, publication gods let me have volumes 5-7 orz

[sisterofficerlucychen]

Ok so first, let’s jump up and down on the bed in celebration that Chenford is canon - with dates, awkwardness, laughter, joy and kissing - until it breaks like we did when we were 14! Let’s do some cartwheels across the yard, do flips on the trampoline and cheer until we lose our voices! YYYYYEEESSSSSSS!!! WHOO HOO!!

Whew.

Ok, now after we lie on the ground from exhaustion and in awe and wonder looking at the very bright future ahead for our adorkable favorite couple, that WE as fans created (I say to myself often, “look, look, look! I made that!)…

Once we calm down and catch our breath, let’s talk about the rumblings I’ve heard about painful, but-wrenching angst in their future.

What kinds of situations do you think could cause them to pause and consider being apart? Or cause angst or some kind? Some kind of betrayal maybe? I hope to go it’s not anything like Isobel saying they are still married or Ashley being pregnant or Lucy having Sir bounce a lot’s baby. I have no ideas. Granted it’s hard and very premature to consider, but we’ve got 10-12 episodes to go yet this season, I cannot see Alexi letting them off Scott free for the rest of the season.

Any thoughts or ideas on your end? If you were the writers wha would you throw at them?

*jumping up and down, jumping up and down* 

PLS. I AM STILL NOT OKAY AND IT’S BEEN 72 HOURS AND I WILL NOT BE OKAY BECAUSE BY THE TIME I WIND DOWN IT’LL BE TUESDAY AGAIN AND I’M GONNA BE A WRECK. AGAIN. 

omg pls, it’s so exciting and crazy to think of the progression of chenford from s1 to now and how we were able to make it canon when alexi was like “lol no”. i still have thoughts on that but that’s for another day. 

so i definitely see angst and i know that it’s not going to be an easy journey like we’re getting so much cuteness and in love chenford that shit’s going to hit the wall at some point, especially considering how this is just the beginning of the winter season like there has to rising action at some point mid-way through the season or even toward the end to set up the next one. if i'm remembering correctly, season 4 was the only season that didn’t end with a cliffhanger (per se), so they could definitely go that route. considering the ratings from tuesday’s episode, season 6 is coming (and they should just do 7, 8, and 9 at this point imo because i want more years of chenford haha). 

i think there’s quite a bit that they could do and play with and to different extents of it. like i really hope that they find a good balance between bringing up obstacles that have humor in them as well as drama. i don’t think they’d go that route of bringing back isabel as an obstacle or a pregnancy like that’s way too daytime soap. i 100% with you on them not sailing off into the sunset, there’s no way there’s not conflict that’s going to arise.

i think off the get-go, their job is going to get in the way. we already saw it in the last episode where tim had a reaction to aaron talking about how dating within the department would only be a problem if that person is within your chain of command. it’s something they’ll have to deal with eventually. on that same note though, what nyla told lucy about how she’s respected and basically built a name for herself will be referred back to and used to resolve part of that tension

which brings up chenford secret dating era — this is completely going to cause problems whether it is comedic bits like we saw when they were coming up with a cover story at the station or actual problems because they can’t hide it forever and the sneaking around becomes bigger than both of them

i don’t think either of them will transfer out of the station because logistically it doesn’t make sense but once their relationship is out, the threat of one of them having to transfer and it seeming like one of them is leaving or breaking things off because they think that by doing so they’re letting the other grow professionally and it’s the right thing to do

i will preface this with i have read too many fanfics and i love every single one — but internal affairs getting involved because it comes to light that a superior is dating his subordinate and is just a nightmare for the both of them trying to prove that no lines were crossed but also maybe tension with the rest of the group for some reason??

lucy’s parents are an obstacle i could see. they’ve made their feelings about lucy being a cop very clear so how are they going to feel when lucy admits she’s dating another cop?? especially considering it was the one who was her training officer. i could also see her parents having a problem with their age difference? i think he’s about eight to ten years older than lucy? but that’s just off the general vibe i’ve gotten from vanessa and patrick

tim’s protectiveness. while i LOVE how protective tim is over lucy, i feel like that is going to become heightened now that they’re dating and it could get in the way. like him worrying could either affect her job and she gets hurt because she’s lost focus or she gets upset at him because she thinks he thinks she can’t handle it

more than anything, i think general misunderstandings? we saw it in 5x02 when they fell into this weird, awkward funk that affected how they communicated and lucy thought he was pushing her away for different reasons. i could see there being a misunderstanding that spirals into something that lasts an episode or two that just is peak angst where it seems like they may break it off but it ends up being them taking one step backward and two steps forward at the end with them reaching a new milestone

i do think one of them being in danger could be something toward the end like a cliffhanger that could happen like it’s not necessarily something that has them considering to be apart but rather the universe pulling them apart

this is a stretch but i think it’s a possibility? tim’s family, specifically his dad. i do think tim made peace with his dad but i could also see it bringing up a lot of emotions once he passes and it being a challenge that they have to navigate because he could shut off or it could cause tensions with genny that lucy tries to help and makes the situation worse

losing someone close to them. i do not want anyone dying but people deal with grief in such different ways that i think this could be used as a plot device where it leads to miscommunication because one of them is shutting the other out and it just spirals into something else

going back to your mention of isabel, maybe they do go with the “something from their past comes back to haunt them” trope. i have no idea what or who aside from isabel or tim’s dad though

one thing that chenford has always done well is communicate (ya know except for that time they didn’t). lucy has always been a very open book and through the seasons has pushed tim to do the same. like the fact that they were able to acknowledge how awkward they felt in the first date was huge because anyone else would have called it good and called it quits. they’re willing to fight for each other which i think is so rare and so precious. lucy wasn’t kidding when she said he was the most important relationship in her life and i think they’re both aware of the weight that holds. which also in a way could cause it’s own set of problem because of how hard they’re trying

bonus - this has nothing to do with situations that could drive them apart but it is something i’d love to see the writers do: 

i would have them do a proper crossover and include lucy and tim in it, specifically go undercover as dim and juicy again and include brenden and laura in their undercover shenanigans because i want a cute or funny chenford and brensen scene. 

thanks for the questions! ♡ this was so much fun to think about

[paris-geller-was-straightwashed]

I’m probably just yelling into the void at this point but whatever. as we debate the possible return of kali in s5, there’s one thing I just can’t let go of. and that’s henry mentioning her to el.

we’ve seen a lot of potential hints in s4; kali’s name showing up in the crossword brenner was doing, the number ‘8′ in the plink(?) game el was playing having a disk under it to show the number vs all the other numbers having disks covering them (plus, henry taking a disk and placing it under the ‘1′ to in exactly the same way to indicate that ‘one’ was still alive), the duffers hinting at wanting to go back to s2 themes in s5, and even someone telling me that kali was recently added to the stranger things mobile game when she’s never been considered before.

all of this....I can potentially push aside. we always say how the duffers are meticulous on detail and things are usually in there for a reason, but not every theory is correct (plus, I haven’t really trusted them ever since they forgot the date of will’s birthday) and it’s not quite enough for me to solidify kali returning. the disk lining up to show ‘8′ might’ve just been a mistake, kali’s name in the crossword might’ve just been a fun easter egg (since barb’s name was there too, and there’s no way she’s coming back), etc.

HOWEVER, the one thing I cannot let go of and otherwise justify is henry mentioning her. in the flashback scene, he begins by asking el if she remembers the day ‘a strange woman came in’ (terry) - following it up with ‘that was when eight was still with us.’ the whole point of henry telling el this, wasn’t to bring up kali. it was so he could tell her that that woman was actually her mom who came to rescue her, that brenner lied to her, etc, all to help manipulate her into better accessing her powers so he can utilize them. so, my question remains then, 

WHY DID HE MENTION KALI

WHY???? WHAT WAS THE POINT???? WAS IT JUST TO GIVE EL A POINT OF REFERENCE??? BC I’M PRETTY SURE EL WOULD’VE REMEMBERED EITHER WAY.

I just don’t get it, narratively. if henry wanted to refresh el’s memory of the moment terry broke in trying to take her back, he very much still could’ve done that without mentioning kali. there was literally no other reason to mention kali in that circumstance - other then to bring her up. the show has been otherwise ignoring kali ever since her episode, never speaking of her again, even el not mentioning she had a sister. if a show wants to forget a character, they will just in fact ignore that that character ever existed; I’ve seen it before. it’s like they poofed right out of existence.

but now, all of a sudden, she’s being mentioned. that means, if the duffers/writers bothered to put her in the script and have a character mention her by name, they want us to be aware of her existence. they even replayed the rainbow room scene from terry’s memory, where it shows a young kali and el playing together (you could argue that it would’ve been too hard to simply edit kali out for sake of the scene, but whatever).

this, to me, is the one SOLID stake of evidence for kali to possibly resurface. this, and then those other little hints, altogether, make for a solid theory I think. bc I cannot think of another reason henry would mention kali to el, other to simply drop her name in anticipation for what’s going to come up.

or at least I hope I’m right, bc the one thing that would make s5 is kali returning, teaming up with el and fighting vecna.