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ingravinoveritas · 6 months

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How did u feel with the age gap question was it pr or do u really think he meant it and this was the truth

This is referring to the question asked on The Assembly last night. I'll post the clip here, for those who haven't seen it yet:

A lot of what I felt while watching this was touched on in this incredibly thoughtful post from @body-face-words, so I encourage folks to give that a read. But I think for me, when it comes to Michael's answer, it's not a matter of whether he lied or told the truth. It's that his response was sweet, but it was also a version of the truth that sounded convincing because it needed to, because this was not a time or place where he could say what he actually felt.

I'm really not sure what people expected him to say, in all honesty, as he was never going to say anything that would make him or Anna look bad, and especially not anything that could potentially negatively impact the kids, so he instead gave a very perfect PR answer. This again does not come as a surprise because we know Michael has scripted his answers about AL/their relationship in the past, but I noticed how careful he was in his response, which seems to contrast with how off-the-cuff he normally is when discussing every other subject. Part of what so many of us love about Michael is how unfiltered he is and always has been, with the exception of how much he filters and edits himself when talking about Anna.

It also seemed like, at least from my perspective, that Michael answered the question without answering the question. What the girl asked wasn't so much about the age gap, but about AL being five years older than Michael's daughter Lily, and it would've been a perfect opportunity for him to mention her, or how the relationship with AL affected his and Lily's relationship. He could've talked about the falling out he had with her (and Kate) in 2019 once AL's existence/pregnancy came to light, and what has happened in the years since, or how Lily now gets along with Anna/her half-sisters. But instead Michael deflected from all of that and talked about everything while saying nothing at the same time.

It was also the things Michael didn't say that stood out as much as the things he did. In the entire answer to the question, Michael never once used the word "love." Prior to the show airing, I saw a lot of people online confident that he would say that he loves Anna, but he never did. He never praised her, never talked about the things he loves about her, or how glad he is to be with her. He never once mentioned her by name. The pivot and focus was on the kids, and there was a clear distinction made between how happy he is to have the family he does, rather than to be in the relationship that he is in. Michael's use of the phrase "very happy" was also identical to the wording of a comment AL wrote on Instagram the other day, which added to the whole "reinforcing a public narrative" feeling of his response.

I think what struck me most of all, though, was how somber and heavyhearted Michael sounded while saying how happy he is. It reminded me of the song "I Am a Rock" by Simon & Garfunkel, where the upbeat and cheerful music contrasts starkly with the fraught, angry lyrics. There was no sparkle in Michael's eyes when he said it, no enthusiasm for what he was saying (which is particularly jarring when we know Michael has the capacity for incredible enthusiasm), and his face never lit up while he was talking.

There was one specific moment (which is also highlighted in the body language post) where he seemed to visibly wince and the micro-expressions were in overdrive, and it immediately made me think of a moment from Good Omens:

Time and again, I have seen fans talk about Michael's micro-expressions as an actor and how he uses them to such devastating effect (especially in the role of Aziraphale). And while these two moments are not completely identical, the idea of ignoring how Michael uses those same micro-expressions in real life makes no sense to me at all. In this instance, what we're seeing could be either because he has put so much of himself into Aziraphale that we can now recognize those "Michael" moments...or it could be because in both clips he is performing, albeit for different reasons.

The difference between Michael when he is doing this vs. when he is being genuinely himself is made even more apparent by the question immediately following this one. Unprompted, he brings up David, and the change in his expression and demeanor is swift and dramatic:

Having the mention of David happen so soon after the AL question seemed to highlight so many things. I can't help but feel that David is a security blanket for Michael, something he hides behind when he is feeling anxious or sad or overwhelmed. I wondered if perhaps he was even already thinking of David while answering the AL question, which would explain why he named him so readily--as if his mind needed to drift to someplace else just to finish answering that question.

To me, this made it abundantly clear that David is Michael's safe place. Here was where we saw Michael's eyes sparkling. Here was where we saw him light up from the inside. And it was David he kept returning to and bringing up during the rest of the show in response to other questions. So if that doesn't speak volumes about where Michael's heart seems to be, I'm not sure what does.

So yes, those are my thoughts on Michael answering the age gap question on The Assembly. As always, this is just my interpretation, but I am glad to hear from my followers with your take as well. Thanks for writing in! x

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roseworth · 3 months

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honestly i don't think any jason after his death seems to really match the one before it? hard to say he's in character at any point then. they might as well have introduced some new guy and told his story through flashbacks. at least the new guy would presumably have someone that cared enough about their oc to give them consistency

can i say something controversial. i disagree with this

i think you have a great point about how robin jason is a lot different than red hood jason, bc a lot of robin stories have him as just an average happy kid so the whiplash from barr tec jason -> utrh jason is insane

on the other hand,, that adds to it for me. this was not winick's intention but i love the idea that jason was just a happy robin that loved his dad & loved being robin then immediately gets crushed because he was living his happy life and thought everything was great, then went through an insane trauma and realized that everything was not as great as he thought so he decided to start killing people. in my head theres a great narrative where he basically becomes unrecognizable to who he was before because thats how bad his death & resurrection fucked him up

but also heres where im gonna get even more controversial! i dont think hes that different!

i loooove barr tec but i think barr has specifically said that he wanted to be writing dick so he just pretended he was. a lot of robin jason writers didnt bother to give him any character of his own, he was just dick 2.0 until starlin

i dont love how starlin wrote jason because his only reason for writing jason like that was that he hated him and wanted to kill him. but. starlin's jason was so distinct from dick that its one of the only times that it feels like jason. honestly if you take early post-crisis robin jason and compare it to starlin jason, its not that different. hes a little aggressive & angry but does it for a good reason, he fights with batman and can be impulsive but has strong morals even if his morals arent always what batman believes, which is very similar to who he was when he first became robin post-crisis

and because starlin jason is one of the only times that jason is distinct from dick (not to mention, in terms of general robin jason knowledge, most of jason's iconic robin stories come from starlin), it makes sense that that version of jason was used in utrh. and the version of jason that had empathy for victims to the point that he wanted to kill the perpetrators makes so much sense for red hood jason. he believed that the best way to get vengeance for the victims was to kill the person who did it, which is why he was so mad that bruce wouldnt do that for him after he died

in my mind there is a very clear progression from the version of jason that died and the version that comes back to life. he had a lot of empathy for the victims when he was robin (to the point that bruce told him that he should sit out the garzonas case bc he got too emotionally invested in it) so it makes sense that when he is the victim of a gruesome murder from someone like the joker, who has killed and done horrible things and isnt going to stop, that he would be extremely pissed that bruce wouldnt let his morals go just to kill the person that killed jason, since thats what jason, even as robin, believed was the best way to get vengeance for the victims

#disclaimer i AM a fan of robin jason and i love it when hes written as just a little guy and i dont like starlin jason #i am a barr jason truther at my core #but i think there are a lot of good elements of jason's time as robin that come from starlin #i may be part of the problem because i LOVE when robin jason was shown to be ok with murder #i stand by the fact that he did not push garzonas but the important part is that he didnt care that he died #+ whatshername that said 'i didnt murder him i put him down like a dog' and jason goes yeah shes right good for her!#fuck it main tags. come for me ->#jason todd #dc #anon i hope this didnt feel like i was attacking you i swear i dont mean to bc you have a very good point <3 #i just disagree im sorry

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tyrantisterror · 12 days

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So I Saw Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

...and listen, I went in fully expecting it to suck ass. I was expecting my nostalgia to actually make me hate it even more for sucking ass than I would have if I had never seen Beetlejuice before. I figured it would be a lazy, heartless cashgrab, with tired actors awkwardly forcing themselves to play a caricature of their old roles and young actors given nothing to work with beyond oooing and aaahing at references to a movie that was made before they were born, directed by Tim Burton, a man who hasn't made a good movie since at least 2007, if not even longer.

So I feel really weird about saying it was actually... good? Somehow? Against all odds, it was good?

Like, I assumed it'd be a lazy rehash of the original, but no, it has a very distinct plot from the first film. It takes Lydia and Deelia Deetz and not only allows them to have grown from where they were in the original film, but keep growing to the end of this one. It uses Beetlejuice himself sparingly, shows new aspects of the entertainingly weird and surreal bureaucratic nightmare afterlife of the original, and actually makes a really strong theme about escaping from manipulative and predatory relationships.

There are references to the original, yes, but overall far fewer than I expected - like, there were so many iconic gags from the first film I expected them to repeat in a "See? It's like the first one!" nostalgia moment that just... didn't get repeated at all. On the other hand, there were clear jabs at the stupid bullshit OTHER legacy sequels have been doing - like, you know how the trailer had the groan-worthy "serious" cover of Day-O? Yeah, in the movie itself, the "serious" cover is sung in-universe in what is clearly meant to be a moment of comedic tonal dissonance - the very idea of using that fun song in a serious context is the joke. They also have a "baby Beetlejuice" gag where the baby version of the pre-existing characrer in question is a horrid little ghoul who spends every second of screentime being as repulsive and awful as possible. It's like it knew what I, personally, expected from a shitty Beeltejuice legacy sequel, and decided to goof on those tropes for my entertainment.

It's not perfect or anything - it has a shitload of subplots which it mostly manages to juggle really well but has, like, just one too many, but that one easily cut-able subplot also revolves around having a Monica Bellucci frankenstein, and I'm enough of a freak to admit I can understand not wanting to cut the Monica Bellucci frankenstein even if it added nothing to the movie beyond the pleasure of seeing a Monica Bellucci frankenstein.

But, like, it was funny, it explored a fantasy setting that honestly is ripe for more exploration, and it had surprisingly more heart than I expected. Like, it actually had more sympathy for both Lydia and Delia Deetz than the original, which is one of the flaws of the first movie in my opinion - it understands that Delia is kind of a great artist instead of maing her just a joke, and that Lydia's anxiety and grief actually has some true pain in it beyond "lol teenage girls are so overdramatic amirite," and it lets those two actually form a really great bond while ALSO adding Jenna Ortega's character into the mix kind of seamlessly? It helps that all three of these women have great chemistry together as actresses - Winona Ryder and Catherine O'hara play off each other so well, and Jenna Ortega adds this great third point to the dynamic the former two had in the original film, it's kind of inspired? And Michael Keaton's Bettlegeuse is used just sparingly enough, as he was in the first film, to be funny and threatening without wearing out his welcome.

It was good. I can't believe I'm saying it, but it was good. I enjoyed it, and I'm still kind of baffled by the fact that I did so. I can't believe I'm writing this in 2024, but Tim Burton finally made a good movie again.

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accirax · 8 months

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New Evidence Regarding DRDT's Chapter 2 Killer?

Hello again, everybody! As I continue on my journey of rewatching DRDT via stream, I continue to pick up on more and different things than I noticed the first time. The subject of this theory post is the letter, signed by Eden (even if it wasn't necessarily written by her), that she, Rose, and Whit put together before the second Class Trial began-- I want to take another look at it.

(CW for Despair Time spoilers through 2-10 and mentions of suicide as described in Arturo's secret)

This note is a highly important piece of evidence, and I would expect that anyone invested in trying to solve the case is pretty familiar with its contents. However, I want to highlight exactly what the killer had to know in order to put this note together.

There is someone in the cast who has a motive secret that someone was "responsible for the death of [his/her] sister."

Eden was the recipient of this person's secret.

Eden didn't mean to tell this person, but it slipped out.

This person threatened to do something to Eden.

Arei promised to be Eden's friend.

Like I said, shouldn't be too much of a shock to any of you. However, what I really want to draw attention to is the first bullet point: someone is responsible for the death of his or her sister.

Why am I drawing attention to it? Because the last time Eden or Arturo says anything even close to a family member dying is here... (11:31)

...before Arei arrives. (12:44)

(The last time anyone actually says "sister" is Eden at 11:13.)

But, why is the time of Arei's arrival such an important distinction?

The thing is, most killer theories I've seen for anyone other than Eden or Arturo account for the killer being able to write this note by listening in to the conversation through the door. What I'm trying to say is that there's a contradiction there that I, at least, didn't notice until just now:

If the killer, listening in through the door had to know that the secret Eden received was about Arturo being responsible for the death of his sister, they had to be listening in before Arei arrived, because that is the only time in which Arturo's secret is discussed in enough detail to mention a family member dying. However, when Arei arrived, she had to walk right past and through the door.

This is what the door to the outside of the Infirmary looks like. There is no way in hell that Arei wouldn't have been able to see anyone who was walking by or listening in while she was doing the exact same.

So, what would this mean? Well, it would mean that only Arturo, Eden, and possibly Arei (depending on when she got into earshot of the door) knew enough about Arturo's motive secret before the murder to include all of those details in the note.

Or, at least, that's the boldest version of the claim. However, there are some counterarguments.

The first is that other people could have known if Arturo, Eden, or possibly Arei told somebody else about what happened and mentioned the detail about Arturo's secret. However, I don't believe that any of the three of them would have done that.

Arturo very clearly did not want his secret to get out, and seemingly didn't even want to believe that the death was his fault in the first place. Threatening Eden and making an enemy of Arei also make him look really bad. Both factors combined make it very unlikely that Arturo would want to tell anyone that this happened.

Eden also didn't want to tell anyone about what happened because she was afraid of Arturo finding out, as is clear in the Class Trial. Additionally, if she did want to tell someone so that they could help protect her from Arturo, it probably would have just been Arei. Thus, the information wouldn't have spread any farther than just Arei again.

Arei is definitely the iffiest option, but I still find it hard to believe that she would have told anyone about this occurrence. Firstly, it's already debatable whether Arei heard the specifics of Arturo's secret in the first place. Secondly, Arei probably would have had respect for her new friend and not wanted to share this traumatic event and put Eden in danger. I guess it's possible that Arei could have tried to tell someone about what happened to try to rally a larger movement against Arturo, and then that single person turned around and decided to kill Arei (thus leaving no innocent person who would want to bring up that Arei talked to them in the Class Trial). But, that's... a bit of a stretch. Plus, even if Arei did that, why include the specific details of what Arturo's secret was about?

The second option is that the killer could have planted some kind of bug or other listening device into the Infirmary so that they could overhear the conversation from afar. However, given that we have been given literally no advanced warning that a device like this can even be obtained within the set, much less that anyone actually used one in that location, I'm tossing this objection out, too.

And no, I don't think J's remote could have accomplished something like that, either. Not without an actual listening device already in the room.

The final possibility that I've thought of is that someone could have overheard the conversation from somewhere other than the doorway, which holds a lot more weight. Let's take a look at what's around the Infirmary.

Based on the map, I think the only places that are possibly close enough to the door of the Infirmary are the doors of the Cafeteria or Bathroom (Wash Closet; WC). Recall that, given the private nature of the conversation and that Arei is shown pushing the doors open in the CG, the doors were probably closed. Thus, anyone listening in would have needed to hear the conversation from behind at least one set of closed doors.

Let's start by quickly ruling out the Bathroom. I'm operating on the assumption that, if you can hear something going on in the Infirmary from where you are, people in the Infirmary could hear what's going on in that location, too. If people could hear what's going on in the Bathroom all the way from the Infirmary... Well, that's some pretty shitty architectural design, pun intended.

The Cafeteria is a viable location, though. In fact, we've already confirmed that you can overhear a conversation going on in the Cafeteria from the Infirmary.

So, using the same logic I described earlier, if Teruko could hear something in the Cafeteria from the Infirmary, it stands to reason that you could hear something in the Infirmary from the Cafeteria.

However, this argument still has its issues as well. The thing that Teruko (and Xander) overhear in this scene is, funnily enough, Arei arguing with Eden over not being invited to bake with her. It is described in multiple lines as a very loud event.

While I don't deny that a panicked Eden, a shaken Arturo, and an infuriated Arei could have been quite loud, all of those things, once again, happened after the last time that Eden or Arturo said anything about a dead family member. It's impossible to tell for sure given that the prior part of the conversation isn't fully voice acted, but it's implied that everything Eden says about Arturo's secret is in a regular, or possibly even hushed, tone of voice. If someone only started listening in after things got loud, they would not have heard about Arturo's secret in detail.

Additionally, there are the logistics of who would be sitting in the Cafeteria. Given that nobody else has stepped forward and shared that they overheard this conversation as well (even under potential penalty of death), it seems reasonable to assume that no innocent student overheard what happened in the Infirmary. Therefore, conversely, if any student(s) did overhear the conversation, they were probably involved in the murder somehow. I'm sure you could argue some fringe cases, but this is the general rule.

Unfortunately for this argument, though, the majority of scenes in the Cafeteria have many people present in them, whether due to partaking in a meal or a fight. Overall, that makes it unlikely that someone would be in the Cafeteria by themselves or with only one or two other people. That's not always the case, though, so we can't rule out only a few people being in the Cafeteria!

Can we try to further pin down the time period when this confrontation occurs to try to figure out who could or could not have been in the Cafeteria?

Eden tells us that this confrontation happened on "the day Nico tried to kill Ace" and "the day that Arei and [Eden] had a falling out," which, by my notes, is Day 6. Arturo never challenges this notion, and it also lines up with Eden being afraid that someone is following her on the night of Day 6, so I think that this is true. The canonical events that Teruko takes part in during Day 6 are:

Teruko plays with cacti and gets caught by Eden

J and Arturo, Nico and Ace, and Arei and MonoTV fight

Charles' secret is revealed

Eden tries to host a clock decorating event

Arei has her breakdown and David comforts her

Teruko confronts Rose about her secret

Nico threatens to kill Ace

Nico's secret is revealed and Hu and David comfort them

J drags Teruko into a closet to get away from Arturo

Teruko runs into Eden in the Dress Up Room

Ace is nearly murdered and tries to confront Nico afterward

The events highlighted in green are the only ones of the day that none of Arturo, Eden, or Arei are in. Given that all of them were present for the confrontation, it could not have happened simulataneously with any of the other events.

If the confrontation occurred while Teruko discussed Rose's secret with her (and Nico was there), the killer could really be anyone other than Teruko, Rose, or Nico. Anyone who we didn't have eyes on theoretically could have been in the Cafeteria at that time.

If the confrontation took place while Nico was threatening to kill Ace, however, I doubt that anyone would have been able to listen in on the Infirmary conversation over that cacophony. Therefore, for the sake of someone listening in, that option should also be eliminated. If it took place while Hu and David were comforting Nico, things would look bad for Levi and Rose, as they were both still in the Cafeteria after Teruko left. I know what I said about multiple students in the Cafeteria probably all needing to be collaborators in the murder, but if it was Levi and an asleep Rose, perhaps Levi could have gotten away with eavesdropping by himself?

Despite all of that, though, I think that Arturo's relatively calm and normal (for him) demeanor during the closet scene would speak to the notion that he hadn't just heard that Eden knew about his sister's suicide. Therefore, I believe that the confrontation likely occurred between Teruko's two trips to the Dress Up Room, when she "spent the rest of the day in her room resting." That would line up both with Arturo's claim that he was just "in the middle of something with Julia" (Teruko saw them together just beforehand), give Arei more time to cool down and reflect after her big afternoon, and put the time of the confrontation very close to when Eden is worried about someone following her. (Although, it does give Arturo less time to have "been following" her, assuming that comment was about him.)

That would also give pretty much anyone the chance to have been in the Cafeteria, because Teruko wasn't with anyone at that time. However, it may have been during a pretty dinner-y time, which decreases the odds that anyone would have been in the Cafeteria alone or nearly-alone.

If all that wasn't enough, here's one final wrinkle: whoever witnessed all of this happening would have overheard Arturo threatening Eden and decided not to get involved themselves. It's not a total nail in the coffin, given that I would assume most theories in which the killer overheard the conversation require them to have not attempted to help Eden for one reason or another. But, it is something to consider. Personally, I have a particularly hard time believing that J, #1 Arturo Hater, and Levi, adventurer on the quest of being a good person in the same vein as Eden, wouldn't have tried to stop what was going on if they'd heard.

So, in summary, if the person who wrote the note is not Arturo, Eden, Arei, or someone working very closely with them, they have to be someone who was in the Cafeteria probably alone at the time of the confrontation (assuming Eden's words were even loud enough to be overheard from across the hallway through probably closed metal doors), who decided not to step in to save Eden.

What does that mean? Well, I think that it means that it's very likely that Arturo or Eden is the killer, because having all of those dubiously possible clauses happen to fire off all at once seems implausible to me. But, I already thought that Eden was the killer, so it may just be confirmation bias. Otherwise, since we can't pin down the exact time of the confrontation, I don't think it actually helps us to fully eliminate anyone from the running-- other than, arguably, Teruko. I do urge everyone who thinks that someone other than Eden or Arturo is the culprit to consider this data when coming up with their theories, though.

However, I will end this on the note that all of this deductive reasoning is... incredibly nitpicky. At the end of the day, the crew behind DRDT is very small, and I would understand if the exact details of where and when what parts of Arturo's secret were said or what exactly the Infirmary door looked like were things that they didn't take into account when planning out the murder.

I've seen some critics say about recent YouTube indie animation shows that the long hiatuses between episodes give the shows an unfair disadvantage. That's because the long gaps allow fans to scrutinize every detail of the worldbuilding and characterization and find their holes for far longer than a network television show would between episodes. While DRDT is not exactly one of these indie animation pilots, it is a YouTube show created by a small team of independent creators. I can only imagine that they may be facing the same thing with having to take a break mid-trial. If that's the case, and what I've presented here contradicts what actually happened in Chapter 2, know that I don’t hold it against DRDTdev at all, and don’t think you should, either. I would apologize for pointing out this “mistake,” if you can even call something this minor that.

However, I also think that all of this might be possible, perhaps even on a coincidental/subconscious level, because Eden or Arturo is the killer, and DRDTdev didn't think too much about the logistics of how someone else would overhear the conversation. So for now, I'm considering all of this logic as reasonable theorywork.

If you have any rebuttals though, whether about a specific character or the premise in general, I'd love to hear them! Or, if I missed some detail in the story in general that blows this theory to smithereens entirely, I wouldn't love to hear that, but it would probably be good if I did.

Otherwise, thank you for reading, and have a lovely rest of your day! :D

#danganronpa despair time #drdt #drdt spoilers #eden tobisa #arturo giles #arei nageishi #fanganronpa #sorry for going back to drdtposting when it's supposed to be milgo time i was simply watching the stream and had this epiphany #and needed to write it out #can't remember if i've said this on blog before but how it often works with me is that i have no ideas then i am struck with an idea #and then i CANNOT do anything else until i've written the idea out #i think i might've said that on the archetypes post? well it's still true so #every day i come up with eden propaganda. sorry queen #my theories #cw suicide mention

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ranahan · 14 days

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Mando’a tense/aspect/mood

This is where I’m currently at with my reinterpretation of Mando’a TAM. I’m not 100% satisfied yet (there are still a number of open questions like if and how the tenses combine, how exactly should fronting the particles be interpreted, etc.) so I might continue changing things later, but I figured I’d throw this out here on the off chance of getting some opinions or thoughts. I’d especially like to hear if you think something doesn’t work.

This post is something of a continuation of this previous post about TAM systems in creole languages and how they compare to Mando’a. And obliquely this one where I lament the fact that Mando’a doesn’t have a perfective/completive aspect. But then I had the thought that many languages conflate certain tenses and aspects. Like languages typically don’t have a gazillion different tenses and moods and different particles or conjugations for each. Instead they usually have a handful of different tenses/aspects/moods that make certain salient distinctions, but conflate others. Perfect tense/aspect is maybe the most familiar example, conflating past tense and perfective/completive aspect. So instead of coming up with new tenses, I started thinking about how the canon ones work and all the different ways natural languages combine and distinguish tenses/aspects/moods.

And just to be clear, this is me thinking about possible ways to do TAM in my version of Mando’a grammar, not an analysis of canon Mando’a. My goals are to make it

at least superficially compatible with canon (i.e. to not overtly contradict the canon corpus or how Mando’a speakers have already learned to do things)

not a code for English (because that’s boring)

more fully functional grammar (that allows expressing more complicated ideas)

My current (re)interpretation is that Mando’a has five tenses (one unmarked and four marked) and four moods (one unmarked and three marked). Like many natural languages (including English), Mando’a somewhat conflates tense and aspect. TAM are expressed by preverbal particles, many of which can attach to not just verbs, but adjectives and nouns as well. They can also be fronted, and so they’re not very tightly bound to the verbs.

Tense

English tenses situate an event relative to the time of the speech act (frame of reference). When I say “I ran”, I mean I ran before the time of speaking about it just now. This is called absolute tense, i.e. it’s absolute in time. However, Mando’a tenses are relative: they situate an event relative to the frame of reference, i.e. time is relative to the topic I’m talking about, not the time when I’m talking. If I’m talking about what happened yesterday and I say “I ran”, I mean I ran before whatever happened yesterday. And if I’m talking about something that happens tomorrow and say “I ran”, I mean I will have run before whatever happens tomorrow.

Why? Because what Traviss says about Mando’a tenses (that colloquially mandos don’t use tenses and tenses were invented to deal with aruetiise) doesn’t make sense—mandos wouldn’t be making business deals with outsiders in Mando’a. However, this interpretation would produce exactly the kind of confusion with and seemingly optional usage of tenses that Traviss describes.

Present (unmarked)

The present tense is unmarked. In English, it can be translated as present or simple past, or even simple future. “I am leaving”, “I left”, and “I will leave” can all be expressed by the present tense. This is why outsiders might think Mando’a colloquially doesn’t use tenses or that tenses in Mando’a are optional.

Ni ba’slana. I am leaving.

Ni ba’slana kar’tuur. I left yesterday.

Ni ba’slana nakar’tuur. I will leave tomorrow.

The present tense can also refer to an ongoing event that is still relevant to the present moment:

Ni ratiin kar’tayli kaysh sa ruusaanyc. I have always known them to be reliable (and this is still true).

Past (ru, r)

Or technically, anterior tense or relative past. The anterior tense places the event before the frame of reference. In Mando’a, it is used for things that happened before the frame of reference or things in the past that are relevant now. The closest English translation would be “had done” or “had been doing”.

It is somewhat conflated with perfective/completive aspect. The completive aspect marks an event that is complete(d) or a past event that’s relevant to the current topic. They share at least some semantic overlap, which is how the conflation of past and perfective = perfect happens in many languages.

The relevance to the topical time could be resultative:

Ni epa tiingilar. I am eating tiingilar. Or, I ate (some) tiingilar.

vs.

Ni r’epa tiingilar vaal val olaro. I had already eaten the tiingilar when they arrived. (implication: and there was none left)

Ru’pitati. It has been raining. (implication: and it’s now wet)

Tion gar r’epa? Have you eaten yet? (Implication: are you hungry now?)

Perhaps even: Kaysh ru’nari’bat beskar’gam. He’s wearing beskar’gam, lit. “he has put on beskar’gam (and is still wearing it).”

The past tense can also express completion (especially when combined with adjectives):

Kai r’epayc. The food has been eaten up. (Implication: and there’s no food left)

Jetiise droten ru’trattoko. The Republic has fallen.

Tion gar vaabi bic? Did you do it? — Ni vaabi bic, a… I was doing it, but… vs. Ni ru’vaabi bic. I have done it. (Implication: and it is finished.)

Or an experiential sense:

Ni ru’seni. I have flown (I have done it before).

Ni r’akaani, ru’tal’onidi, ru’pir’ekulo par ibic—nu draar ba’slana ni. I have fought, worked my ass off and shed tears for this—I’m not leaving for anything.

Future (ven)

Or technically, posterior or relative future marks events that happen after the frame of reference. In Mando’a, it describes events that will happen in near future or are about to happen; future that’s relevant to the present, immediate, or known to be certain or inevitable.

It is somewhat conflated with inceptive/prospective aspect. The inceptive is the mirror of the perfect aspect: it marks a future event that is relevant to the present moment. In English, the future tense could be translated as “going to”, the inceptive as “start to”, the prospective as “about to”.

Val ven’olaro. They are coming. (Implication: they are already on their way.) / They will come. (Implication: I know they will.)

Ni ven’ba’slan’at bora. I’m about to leave for work. (Implication: so be quick about it because I’m in a hurry.)

Ni ven’kyramu gar. I’m going to kill you. (Implication: and that is a promise.)

Ven’pitati. It is starting to rain. / It will rain (soon). / It’s going to rain (later).

Vaal ni sirbu jii, gar ven’viini. When I say now, you will start running.

The future tense can also be used to express inevitable, natural or logical consequences:

Ca ven’shekemi tuur. Night will follow day.

Distant past (wer)

Something that happened long ago and is no longer relevant; something that used to be true but no longer is; also stories and myths that aren’t necessarily historical facts. Best translated as “long ago”. Rarely used, mostly in some stock expressions and storytelling.

Using wer as a distant past particle (like in wer’cuy) would nicely mirror ret as a distant future. There’s no immediately useful and logical aspect to conflate it with though, so perhaps it’s rare in everyday use.

Wer’cuy. It was ages ago. (Cuyi on it’s own beginning a sentence is translated as “there is…” or “it is…”). Also used in the sense of “once upon a time…” literally “a long time ago there was…”

Ay, ni wer borari ogir. Oh, I worked there ages ago. (Implication: and I no longer do & it’s no longer relevant to the present moment.)

Wer’cuy kih gi’ka. Gi’ka ane kihne be gise o’r ani sho’cye… Once upon a time, there was a tiny little fish. The little fish was the smallest one of all the fish in the entire sea…

Wer’cuy ni bal ner vod hiibi ibic bora—bal iba’bora… Ages ago me and my mate took this job—and what a job it was…

Wer’laar, myth, song of the eons past (lit. “eon-song” or “song of eons”)

Wer’uliik, mythosaur (lit. “long-ago beast”), the long-extinct megafauna of the planet Mandalore

Distant future (ret, re)

Far off, uncertain future; conflated with irrealis mood. Events that might or might not happen or have happened, including the far off future. Conflating these two senses (uncertainty/irrealis and far future) comes from my interpretation of Traviss’s statements about the nomadic mindset of uncertain future and canon expressions like ret’urcye mhi.

Basically mandos consider anything that isn’t imminent to be not written in stone yet. Another way to look at it would be to say they have two future tenses that are differentiated by the certainty of the event happening or the speaker’s degree of belief in it: ven for certain future, ret for uncertain future.

Ret’urcye mhi. Maybe we’ll meet again.

Ni ret slana. Maybe I will go / I could go / I would go / I might go one day.

Mood

Insert some mnemonic about 4 i’s.

Indicative (unmarked)

The unmarked tense that expresses realis mood i.e. things that are real or factual in some way.

Indicative/present tense is also used for expressing general truths:

Par ibic jorbe gar nu kyranu mando’ade, aruetii. For this reason you cannot wipe out Mandalorians, outsider.

Irrealis (ret, re)

Expresses things that aren’t known to be true. Literally “maybe, perhaps”, but can also be translated as might, could, etc. See above.

Ret ni slana. I might go.

Tion’ad ven slana? Who’s going to go? — Ret ni slana. I could go. (Or just ret ni, I could.)

Re’tracyuuri, ret’nu’tracyuuri—nu’baati ni. Shoot or don’t shoot, it’s no concern of mine. (The re’ form would be used before oral stops, I think.)

Imperative (ke, k)

Expresses commands and exhortations. Mando’a uses the direct imperative much more liberally than English—it isn’t considered rude at all.

Ke davaabi ke’gyce rol’eta resol! Execute order sixty-six!

Ke’dinui’ni paak, gedet’ye. Pass me the salt, please.

Direct commands can be very clipped:

Ke’mot! Halt! (lit. “stand!”)

Ke’serim! Take aim! (lit. “be accurate!”)

Ke buy’cese! Helmets on! (lit. “helmets!”)

The imperative can express direct commands, but it can also be used (especially in first/third persons) to express exhortation or jussive mood, similarly to English “let”, “should” or “ought”.

Ke mhi slana. Let’s go. (lit. “let us go”)

Ret mhi ke’slana. Perhaps we should go.

Ke slana, ad’ika! Go on, lad!

It can also be used to express commands to a third person. Formal imperative in third person would be common in written orders & legislation.

Ke kaysh vaabi bic. Have him do it.

Kaysh k’olaro. He should come. / He ought to come.

It’s also used in some subjunctive expressions:

Cuyi jaonyc kaysh ke’vaabi bic. It is important that he do it.

Not entirely sure if it shouldn’t be ke kaysh vaabir bic & cuyi jaonyc kaysh ke’vaabir bic… When exactly should the infinitive/conjugated verb be used is one of those unanswered questions of mine at this point.

Desiderative expressions:

(K’)Oya Mand’alor! Long live the king!

Ke’cin’ciri! Let (it) snow!

And it can be used in conditional if-then statements:

Meh ni mand’alor, ke ni toryc. If I were Mandalore, I would be just. (lit. “I should be just”)

Par cuyir rang, ke’cuyir tracyn. In order for there to be smoke, there has to be a fire.

In questions it could be translated as should:

Tion ni ke’ba’slana? Should I leave?

Fronting the imperative particle usually makes an exhortation:

Ke mhi slana. Let’s go.

Ke mhi gal’gala. Let us drink to that.

Ke kaysh olaro. Let him come.

Interrogative (tion)

Forms questions. Note that the interrogative particle doesn’t affect word order—no need to invert word order like in English.

Tion gar slana? Are you going?

Tion’ad slana? Who’s going?

Tion’vaii gar slana? Where are you going?

Tion’vaabi gar? What are you doing?

Tion’ad gar kyramu? Who did you kill?

Tion’ad nyni gar? Who hit you?

All the examples we have from canon front the interrogative particle, but I wonder if you couldn’t optionally insert it in place of the word it’s replacing in the sentence, like Mandarin does:

Gar slana tion’vaii? You’re going where?

Gar tion’vaabi? or Gar vaabi tion? What are you doing?

Gar kyramu tion’ad? You killed who?

Nominal TAM

And since Mando’a can attach verbal prefixes also to nouns, here are some nominal examples:

Riduur is your spouse, ven’riduur is the person you are going to marry and is understood to refer to a specific person and impending marriage vows. Ret’riduur however would be more like a hypothetical spouse, the person who would be your spouse if you were ever going to marry someone, or perhaps someone you haven’t discussed marriage with yet (and don’t know their answer).

Buir is your parent, dar’buir is the person who is no longer your parent, and wer’buir is your ancestor (one who you’ve never met—if you had personally known them, you’d use ba’buir or even ori’ba’buir instead).

#long post #I’ll put the rest of it in another post…#mando’a #mandoa #mando'a #mando’a language #Ranah talks mando’a #Mando’a syntax #mando’a grammar #mando’a linguistics #Mando’a tenses #Mando’a tense

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douglysium · 5 months

Text

Episode 14 TMP Quick Thoughts

Housekeeping and Prologue

Hello, this is Douglysium and you might not know me as that guy who wrote over 100 pages of analysis on the Eye (which can be read on Tumblr here (https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/735599414228484097/the-relationships-between-the-dread-powers-the) or Google Docs here (The Relationships Between the Dread Powers: The Eye- Knowledge is Fear and Ignorance is Bliss)) or as that guy who wrote an article on the Extinction (which can be read on Tumblr here(https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/717929126195003392/what-would-avatars-of-the-extinction-be-like-a) and Google Docs here(What would Avatars of the Extinction be like?: A TMA Speculation)). Suffice to say I might be a bit of a TMA fan. Also, spoilers for TMP up until episode 10. You can read my ramblings on the last episode here (Episode 13 TMP Quick Thoughts).

However, Protocol offers a very unique opportunity and experience for me because I didn’t actually get into TMA until after it was over and I binged all of it. So this is my first time experiencing something even remotely similar to what the original TMA fans probably experienced when waiting for each episode week by week and slowly having to put everything together with the limited information they had. So I decided to throw my hat into the ring since this might be my only chance to do something similar. However, I’m working on some longer form TMA content so I can’t spend as much time on these articles giving a bunch of super detailed thoughts. I will try to keep these short and that inevitably might mean some could have questions about why I think or predict certain things and in those cases I would probably recommend you read at least some of the two articles I mentioned above to get a better idea of where I’m coming from. This also means I won’t be giving you a play-by-play of every single thing that happens in the episode so I encourage you to listen to or read them yourselves and feel free to comment if you feel something is important.

These reviews are probably going to end up focusing mostly on the Entities and their manifestations as they are what I have thought about the most and spent the most time interpreting and there’s been a lot of… interesting theories floating around about how the Entities are manifesting that I want to go over.

Finally, I’m just going to say it right now, spoiler warning for all of The Magnus Archives. I know that Jon and co said one could start with Protocol and be fine, and while that’s probably true, media like this tends to be made in conversation with or take into consideration what came before it in the irl chronology in order to connect them. While I’m sure you could skip The Magnus Archives, I don't really see the point of skipping over it when we are already getting characters from TMA showing up in TMP in Protocol. So to me it’s pretty clear that if we want to understand the full picture of TMP and all the things it is trying to say then we can’t just try to pretend TMA doesn’t exist or scrub it away. Just because you could understand what’s happening without the context in broad strokes doesn’t mean you're getting all the nuances.

These articles are meant to be quick and short so sorry if there’s typos and if I don’t address every possible question or possibility. I don’t want to repeat myself too much in this series outside of the prologue so be sure to skim some of my other articles.

Episode 14 “Pet Project”

As usual, we cut to a device listening in on the cast. This time it’s a camera in the breakroom as Celia and Alice grab a drink and Alice gives Celia a Choco Leibnitz (what I assume is a legally distinct version of Choco Leibniz for copyright reasons or a brand i haven’t heard of). They start talking about the date Celia went on with Sam and Celia explains that while the date was good they mostly just talked about work. Alice says “Oh Sam.” implying that this is something that is expected or been done before. Celia even admits that Sam can be a little… “intense sometimes.”

Alice notes that Sam has been acting weird ever since his date with Celia: “Yeah. What were you actually talking about? He’s been kinda worked up about the job ever since you two went out. It’s like watching a dog with a toffee – funny at first, but it’s hard not to worry... ” Celia says that she and Sam were speculating on “what the deal is” with cases and “the big ‘why’” in regards to what even is the point of going through the cases. Considering that Sam showed up to work drunk after his date with Celia, Alice’s point about Sam’s potentially odd behavior holds some weight. In all likelihood, the possibility of the cases being real, and maybe even the possible less savory reasons the OIAR goes through the cases, is weighing on his mind.

Alice also admits “Sure, I went through the same thing when I started.” Confirming that, like Sam, she was once very curious about what the OIAR was doing and if the cases were real. So when Alice tells Sam to not ask any questions she is probably speaking from experience after watching someone else get into some sort of pickle or because she herself ended up somewhere dangerous mentally or physically. It could also be that she just didn’t find any answers and gave up. Celia alludes to the fact that she and Sam will have another date and Alice’s attitude seems to suddenly change.

Celia asks if there’s going to be a problem and Alice responds with extreme sarcasm. Celia says “I’m serious. you need to tell me if you’re going to have an issue with us. I don't know what the deal was between you, but I’m not interested in getting tangled up in workplace drama.” and Alice responds with “(dripping with sarcasm) The only drama is the dilemma of how I could possibly get by without you all to myself! ” “…am too intimidated by your genius intellect and desperately hot bod and think we should just stay friends? I couldn’t agree more. ” “And on that note I’m going to head off before I make you any more in love with me. Just try to restrain yourself yeah? Sam’s masculinity is already hanging by a thread.” There’s so many levels of sarcasm here on Alice’s part that it’s a little hard for me to pinpoint with certainty the exact reason why she seems to take issue with Celia going out with Sam again. The most obvious and straightforward reason would be that Alice still has feelings for Sam and she is jealous of Celia. She might have been fine with the first date because she didn’t think it would go anywhere. But Alice does note that Sam started acting concerningly weird ever since his date with Celia so it’s also possible that Alice is once again worried about Sam’s mental state and the more protective side of her personality is kicking in. It could explain a potential change in opinion here since Alice might’ve been fine with the first date until Sam started acting weird afterwards and she is growing worried about what Celia wants with Sam. Whether Alice is actually suspicious about Celia, is worried about Sam, this is just some petty emotional drama, or some weird combination of all of these things feels possible to me.

Lena encounters Sam in the office and asks him if he knows where Gwen is to which he says he does not and the next case starts. I think it’s interesting that Lena has started looking for Gwen. Gwen might be purposefully running late or outright trying to avoid Lena or Lena simply has another letter ready for her.

We start this episode’s statement, and it includes something I’ve been looking forward to and many fans have been asking about since TMA. That thing being snakes. I think sometimes people get a little too caught up about the lack of snakes in TMA or read too much into it (the only real direct reference to snakes is in regards to The Extinction with references to mythological world ending serpents such as Jörmungandr and Apophis from Norse and Egyptian myth respectively). While TMA has a lot of episodes, at the end of the day it can only fit so many statements so it’s plausible that even a more common fear might slip through the cracks or end up not getting a dedicated statement. Not to mention most of TMA takes place in the UK and there aren’t a whole lot of super dangerous or big snakes running around. The only poisonous snake I could find after a quick google search is a kind of adder that “is the UK's biggest venomous animal, but they are rarely a threat to people or dogs.” The again most spiders aren’t super poisonous either and they show up plenty and fears can be far from rational. This episode finds an interesting way to include an abnormal amount of different snakes by setting the case within a pet store.

Chester starts off the statement with

Treatment Report.

Elima Pest Ltd.

Attending Technician: Alyssa Beck

Date: 01.08.1995.

Job No. 8146

Client Contact: Anthony Walker.

Property Type: Commercial.

Address: Resounding Reptile

Emporium, Hartshill, Newcastle Under-Lyme

Follow up Required: Yes

Report Type: Call Out

Note: Follow up postponed until location of attending technician determined.

Initial Assessment - 15:30

So we can surmise that some kind of exterminator (Alyssa Beck) has been hired to deal with something by Anthony walker. Alyssa explains “Client reported that a rat had been spotted in the shop’s break room.” and meets with the proprietor / owner who explains that they are “concerned about the potential of fleas or ticks brought in by the rodent.” Alyssa notes that the shop’s owner “...had clear red/sore patches around his neck from itching. I assured him that unless he had come into close contact, it was unlikely that he had been bitten or suffered from parasite transference. Most likely psychosomatic phantom bites as an effect of the current heatwave. Worth noting however, that the strong odour of the shop indicates that the IAQ of the Reptile Emporium is likely below recommendations.” So the owner is worried that he had been bitten or infected, Alyssa explains that it’s probably just the heat, and the shop smells absolutely terrible. But Alyssa then begins to hypothesize that mosquitoes might be the source of the sore patches: “Follow-up probably required. I suspect that due to the heat and humidity of the shop, mosquitoes may be present, which might also be the source of the shopkeeper’s skin irritation. The Resounding Reptile Emporium backs onto a marshy nature reserve, which increases this risk, although none spotted during initial inspection.”

Alyssa requests that the shop be cleared of customers so they can perform a full inspection and the owner becomes increasingly agitated, “presumably due business worries,

resulting in a brief altercation. Kept mentioning “his burden” and grabbing at my sleeve. Received slight scratch by accident, but no escalation or violence, so no need for a full incident report, although anyone following up should be advised there may be a mental health problem.”

The inspection begins at 15:41 (or 3:41) and Alyssa describes part of the store “Break room situated in an annex separated from the main shop by a formerly external door (adequate barrier between main shop and affected area). Customers vacated from premises by client.” They find uncovered food in the breakroom: “open bin containing various unfinished food items and empty frozen mice packets (snake food, presumably). Discarded crisp and sweet wrappers on countertops. Even with window open, there is a strong smell of spoiled food. Recommended consideration: sealed waste disposal and food storage.” They also find ants in and around the cabinets and take note of them in case of a possible full infestation.

At 15:50 (or 3:50) they note “Found Cylindrical droppings with sheared ends, indicating squirrel. Minimal volume: likely just the one. Woodland area and trees directly outside breakroom window. Recommended prevention: mesh grate over window to prevent further ingress. Squirrel discovered on overhead cabinets. Window left fully opened to aid exit. Area sealed.

At 16:10 (or 4:10) Alyssa notes “Retrieved live capture trap from van. Customers granted re-entry to shop floor. During room preparation small hole discovered between wall of breakroom and adjacent room. Used by squirrel as point of egress. Adjacent room locked, key requested and signed out with client. Hole sealed.”

Then at 16:30 (4:30), “Squirrel found among storage boxes and captured alive with trap. Will seal ingress hole after removal. Captured squirrel appears lethargic, likely injured or poisoned. Remov-” and we suddenly cut to “Police aren’t here yet. They say any minute but I don’t think it’ll matter. I can still hear the operator on the phone, but it’s just noise.” Alyssa says that somehow thousands of snakes are in the store and they leave a final message for their dad, saying that they know their dad will believe them and that it’s not his fault.

Alyssa speaks of the room they are in. One that the squirrel made it into and it acts as a makeshift CCTV office, complete with cameras. Although Alyssa does say “Just a storage closet, really. All the cameras show the shop interior.” So it’s probably about as small as a closet and used to be one too. They explain that just after they had caught the squirrel and began to head out they saw something on the screen of one of the camera monitors. The shop owner “...was reaching over the counter, grabbing at a customer, while their daughter stood crying nearby. I recognised the girl, or at least the toy gosling she was holding, remembered how she looked at her Dad when I told the two of them to wait outside. It reminded me of us.” and “It’s selfish how I wish you were here now dad.”

When Alyssa “unsealed the shop floor the shopkeeper seemed obsessed with continuing his sales pitch to the pair. He was adamant that they purchase a snake, and pretty much ignored me entirely. It made me a bit uneasy, so I hung back to watch. Thinking back… I should have noticed he was off.” Alyssa watches the camera monitor as “the shopkeeper suddenly lunged forward, clearing the desk, smashing the glass on his way with a crash I heard even through the closed door, leaving him sprawling among the crickets previously boxed on the shelf behind him. They were jumping, flowing, twitching. Thousands of them, just juddering pixels on the monitor, but the noise was palpable, punching through the wall like a fist. I grabbed my phone and called the police. I should’ve gone out there and helped but- but I was scared. I just couldn't.” Alyssa tries to explain what’s happening to the police but doesn't listen to their response on the phone. “On the screen I could see the customer had scrambled to his feet and he and his daughter were nearly out of the entrance. The shopkeeper lunged one last time and that’s when I noticed he’d… started to change. He was bloated. Swollen around the neck.” The door slams in the shop owner’s face and something falls out of his mouth, but Alyssa can’t make it out through the monitor.

“Moments passed with no noise except the screaming crickets and my own thudding heartbeat. The shopkeeper lay completely prone, he hadn’t moved at all, and I wondered if the fall had knocked him out, cracked his skull or something. Then there was movement near his head, and he began to twitch and spasm. I thought it might be a seizure but then, his mouth began to open, wider and wider, impossibly wide, his jaw bones snapping with the strain. And then a horde of slender shapes slithered out.” “Snakes, Dad. Thousands of them. All from inside him, pushing up through his deflating throat. The floor was lost beneath the heaving, writhing mass of them. I could hear the scrape of their scales on the linoleum, but they made no other sound. Then the owner's body began to slide across the floor towards the closed door between us. It took me a moment to realise his body was being pulled over the broken glass and debris, carried on the creatures' backs. Towards me. I got the door locked just in time. This room, it’s a mess. Printouts, delivery notes, a bunch of rejection letters from some institute he pinned to the wall with a kitchen knife. And it's hot in here, dad. Too hot. Oh god. I can feel it. My throat is swelling. And it itches. I can still hear all the snakes brushing up against the door and… in the walls, I think. Christ, they’re in the walls… Oh god. I forgot about the hole. I love you Da-”

In my analysis of episode 12 (Episode 12 TMP Quick Thoughts) I tried to look for any discernible patterns or correlations for when certain computer voices show up. Episode 13 was a live phone call, so we didn’t get the chance to hear any of the voices. However, this statement is told by Chester (Jonathon’s voice). A youtuber by the name of Maddie’s Maxis (This Channel's First Video - The Magnus Protocol Analysis and Theories) hypothesizes that Chester covers statements related to the Institute. Something that probably holds true here since I think it’s safe to assume that the rejection letters could be from the Magnus Institute (meaning that the owner was rejected like Sam). I myself proposed that Chester seems to show up in regards to statements that are connected to looking for things, which also holds true here. In this case Alyssa is an exterminator, which means their job involves looking for and catching things like pests (and they end up tracking down a squirrel). Considering the Institute rejection letters mentioned, it’s also possible that the shop owner is looking for information about The Institute. This also could relate to what Sam mentioned on his date with Celia about a string of bad luck after being rejected from the Institute. Alyssa also mentions “Printouts, delivery notes, a bunch of rejection letters from some institute he pinned to the wall with a kitchen knife” implying that the shopkeeper harbors ill will towards the Institute or blames the organization for something.

It’s interesting that Alyssa mentions that their dad would believe them and that this isn’t his fault. It could simply be that Alyssa’s dad really trusts them or that their dad is the reason they took this job for some reason but it’s also possible that Alyssa’s dad has some connection or experience with the supernatural that would lead to him believing Alyssa. He could have been part of some sort of faction or mentioned weird occurrences, or maybe Alyssa even experienced a supernatural encounter with him.

If we were to view this through the lens of Smirke’s 14 (plus The Extinction) from TMA this case actually falls pretty cleanly into the domain of an Entity like The Corruption. There are also some themes of The Hunt, with all the snakes seemingly hunting Alyssa down and finding their way to Alyssa through the walls, and maybe even The Eye in relation to the camera system and the fear of seeing too much as well as the snakes immediately knowing Alyssa’s location and finding them. There is also thematic overlap with The End, since Alyssa potentially dies and the snakes could be poisonous, The Slaughter if you see what the snakes are doing as a violent action, The Buried with how Alyssa is trapped in a small room, The Flesh with how the shop owner’s body contorts and the body horror involved, and The Desolation if you want to talk about some parts of the store being broken or the shopkeeper fearing that he might lose business.

However, I think something like The Corruption has the best argument for multiple reasons. First, I need to go over The Corruption a bit to make sure we are all on the same page. The Corruption is a fear that is connected to disgust. Most of this is obvious with the connection it has to gross creepy crawlies or illnesses but The Corruption also has strong themes of love, toxic relationships, and shame with some self-loathing. I’ve seen people express confusion over this but these themes actually still connect to the idea of disgust when used by The Corruption.

It’s important to remember that the Entities don’t always relate to just physical fears. It is possible to fear something that is physically disgusting but you can also find certain actions, behaviors, mindsets, and other non-physical attributes to be disgusting or repulsive. Certain behaviors or actions might be described as “gross” or “shitty.” So in the case of The Corruption it’s forms of love often connect to unhealthy or “disgusting” relationships (not just romantic relationships either). The Corruption does also seem to have a connection to shame and self-loathing which also makes sense for its connection to disgust. It’s possible to feel disgusted towards one’s own self or their own actions. Someone might feel unworthy of love because they are disgusting or they might feel like “shit” because they feel gross or terrible. It is possible to perform actions that make you feel “dirty” even if you aren’t physically any dirtier. Additionally, the more disgusting you are the more others are likely to judge or avoid you. I should make it clear that The Corruption isn’t the only Entity to have manifested as weird diseases or the only one that could ever relate to love (for example we see Annabelle Cane attempt to use the love her family feels towards her to manipulate them in TMA before encountering The Web. Love can easily tie into themes of control or breaches of privacy with Entities like The Web, The Eye, etc.). There’s also possibly a whole thing with feeling like you’re so disgusting and undeserving of love that you feel like dirt and the only things that could possibly love you are other disgusting things or rot itself because it’s what you deserve but that’s for another time.

Looking back at the case itself there are a lot of parallels to The Corruption. First the shop itself seems unsanitary. There are open bins of food in it (which can attract pests), ants crawling around before crickets later escape(and we know The Corruption often gravitates towards gross bugs), squirrel droppings, a terrible stench, etc.. The store is also located near a swamp, a biome that can have tons of stagnant water turn it into a vector of disease. Alyssa even hypothesizes that mosquitoes might be present in the store, and we know The Corruption has manifested as mosquitoes previously (like in MAG 45 (Blood Bag)). This is probably because mosquitoes are great vectors for disgusting diseases in addition to having the association of being a gross bug. The store is also extremely hot and heat can cause things to rot, spoil, or decompose faster (such as the uncovered food Alyssa finds).

The shop owner also has a strange sickness or infection taking the form of itchy red sore patches. He seems worried that he was bitten or infected by a parasite since Alyssa had to assure him otherwise. The Corruption has a connection to sicknesses and infections with how gross people find them and how gross they can make you feel. Later a bunch of snakes spew out of the shop owner’s mouth and Alyssa mentions how their jaw contorts unnaturally which might generate feelings of disgust and relates to the whole snake thing. Some people might find snakes related to The Corruption of all things to be weird since The Hunt, The Slaughter, or The End seem like more obvious answers for what kind of fears snakes could relate to. But I have met people who have said that they find snakes gross or disgusting so I don’t think someone fearing snakes because they associate them with something gross is completely unheard of even if it might not be why you yourself find them scary. Some might find how and what snakes eat gross too. Considering that the owner’s mouth opening unnaturally wide to release snakes resembles how snakes can unhinge their jaws, I have to wonder if the sore patches are meant to resemble an animal shedding their skin or if the infection was actually caused from a supernatural snake bite. It could just as well be that the show owner was infected by a scratch similar to the one he gave Alyssa.

The shop owner also mentions some sort of “burden.” Something that I think could tie in pretty well to the previously mentioned feelings of guilt, shame, or self-loathing. The owner might feel disgusted with himself which creates the feeling of some sort of burden. It could have something to do with the Magnus Institute but it also sounds similar to Doctor Webber is episode 3 (TMP Quick Thoughts 3). A character who also clearly feels a heavy burden due to an anxiety caused by some sort of action (presumably the death / killing of his wife). Alyssa mentions that the owner scratched them at some point, which sounds somewhat similar to something like “The Tale of a Field Hospital.” An artifact tied to The Corruption that would leave papercuts that quickly became infected if one interacted with its pages. We never get to see if Alyssa’s wound would have actually gotten infected specifically but some of their last worsd are “...and it's hot in here, dad. Too hot. Oh god. I can feel it. My throat is swelling. And it itches..” So they are getting infected by something and there’s an implied connection there. The store is already noted as being hot and they are in a presumably small room but it’s possible that they have a sickness which is causing their body temperature to increase. Which is kind of funny when you remember that many snakes can sense infrared radiation, which means they basically have a sort of heat vision. So if someone got sick and their body temperature started rising it would be easier for something like a snake to find them. It’s possible that the snakes were able to find Alyssa so quickly because of the wound acting like some sort of weird supernatural heat beacon.

Alyssa is an exterminator which we know is an occupation that has come into contact with The Corruption previously. In TMA Jordan Kennedy was a pest exterminator that encountered The Corruption. This makes sense because exterminators are usually hired to get rid of animals that are either dangerous, disgusting, or both. Especially, since things like bugs and rats can be a vector for diseases (something that can easily relate to The Corruption). Alyssa seems to reminisce about her dad a lot which seems like it could relate to The Corruption and love (familial love in this case of course). It’s hard to say how unhealthy the relationship sounds, if at all, but Alyssa does say “It’s selfish how I wish you were here now dad.” implying that they might feel some sort of guilt for wishing that their dad was present. Alyssa insisting that their dad is not at fault for what’s happening could also potentially allude to some sort of guilt present. It’s possible one of them accidentally hurt the other or there was a falling out of some sort. The case mentions “Note: Follow up postponed until location of attending technician determined.” at the beginning. Meaning that, at least at the time, Alyssa disappeared or a body could not be found. Maybe the snakes were looking for a new host and Alyssa is some snake version of Jane Prentiss or maybe the snakes simply devoured their body so there were no remains.

This episode has some pretty notable thematic similarities with the case of Webber in episode 3 (Putting Down Roots) which makes me inclined to believe that, Smirke’s 14 or not, the force in this case and Webber’s case are the same (or at least very similar).

We cut back to the office and Sam tries to wave off the mention of the Institute by saying it could be any Institute. Once again, I feel like something or someone is purposefully trying to entice or stoke Sam’s curiosity. Gwen startles Sam and she says “(putting bags down) I didn't “sneak up”. It’s not my fault if you're distracted.” Sam getting sucked into a case is somewhat similar to how some characters would get sucked into the statement they were reading but this could always just be because the events are horrifying or Sam’s “intense” personality, if Celia and Alice are to be believed. Gwen says “Just now. Seems pretty straightforward to me. Snakes, not sure what the collective noun is, horde maybe? Cross link with infection too probably. I wouldn’t have thought the letters have any bearing on the classification.”

Sam tells Gwen that Lena was looking for her to which Gwen asks how long ago this was. Sam replies “Dunno. Few minutes ago. She seemed uh… not happy.” and Gwen quips “Is she ever?” We then get this interaction

GWEN

“What did you tell her?”

SAM

“Hmmm? Nothing. Just that I hadn’t seen you. Something wrong?”

GWEN

“Nothing you can help with.”

SAM

“Listen, Gwen”

GWEN

“Just leave it alright. Focus on your cases. You wouldn’t understand.”

SAM

“(cold) Of course not.”

GWEN

“That’s not- (heading off) I don’t have time for this.”

GWEN exits.

SAM

“(muttering to himself) No-one ever does.”

Clearly, Sam is becoming annoyed by the lack of transparency and Gwen doesn’t think Sam will believe her about her encounter with Mr. Bonzo. It’s also possible that Gwen is even trying to protect Sam by keeping him out of it but this seems less likely. Gwen immediately wondering what Sam said about her whereabouts makes me suspect that Gwen is probably up to something or trying to avoid Lena.

Conclusion

I didn’t realize this till a few episodes ago, but the transcripts have the categories and forms the cases are filed under. Although, I can’t see anything that would change what I’ve said previously or shed a ton of new light on anything so I didn't really think about them. I still don’t have anything to say but here’s the one for this case:

CAT1RB4426-01081995-15032024

Transformation (snake) -/-horde

Incident Elements:

- Body Horror

- Snakes

- Implied Harrassment

- Mentions of: rodents, insects, dead animals

Protocol quick thoughts archive- TMP Quick Thoughts Archive

#tmagp #tma #the magnus protocol #the magnus archives #theory

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sword-dad-fukuzawa · 3 months

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tldr, death note good

i've been liveblogging my first ever watch of death note in the year of our lord 2024 on here but mostly twitter, and i've got a lot of thoughts about it. spoilers!

first of all -- the writing is fantastic. it reads very clearly as something outlined and written out meticulously from the beginning, not something pantsed and published. i know a lot of folks have strong opinions about the final arc post L-death but i did decide to watch it through. for the first time, i've had to make a distinction between "well written" and "horrible to watch." the final arc is a tight 12 episodes about the psychological degredation of light yagami. it is agonizing to watch. it's also very good.

what i also thought was very well done was the parallels between the yotsuba arc and the last one. in the yotsuba arc, higuchi is pushed and pushed and pushed by the task force. they stress him out and corner him until he makes dumb mistake after dumb mistake, and in the end he snaps and gets caught. this is the exact same thing that near and his crew do to light in the final arc. cut away Kira's allies -- out maneuver him -- drive him into a final trap where he's surrounded, nowhere to go and no way to lie his way out. it's like extended foreshadowing for exactly what's going to happen to light.

speaking of light. that guy's really fuckin sad.

i think the overarching tragedy of death note is that light ever picked up the notebook in the first place. this becomes super clear during the yotsuba arc, because look, this is who light could've been without the death note. a real pillar of justice. a friend to L, a brilliant detective. when he regains his memories, it doesn't feel like a triumph. it's a loss. as light was reaching for higuchi's note i just felt my stomach drop, because once he touches it, it's all over for everyone.

the ending makes this explicit, as light, bloody and dying and frantic, runs past the version of himself that hadn't used the notebook yet. they only occupy the same frame for a little while, but it still hurts like a bitch.

this also works well because final arc light is so supremely unlikeable. arc 1 light is funny, deranged, and you want to see what he'll do next even if it means people die in increasingly absurd ways. arc 2 light is genuinely a good guy, and his dynamic with L and personal struggle about whether or not he has the capacity to be kira are very compelling. arc 3 light abuses his girlfriend and devolves into a rabid version of himself that makes mistake after mistake after mistake. it's not fun, it's not compelling, but it's profoundly sad.

sidenote: the stakes in death note are really funny, because it's not the murders that made me want to throw tomatoes at light. it was how he treats misa.

at least before arc 3, he pretends to like her. but during arc 3 you get a version of light who screams at her and hits her and cheats on her so viciously that there's a whole scene of her drinking heavily as she and kiyoomi trade barbs over a dinner table, fighting over a man who isn't interested in their of them. it's pitiable, and if nothing else, made me resent light by the end.

also also also. i enjoyed that death note really puts in the effort to characterize the task force. it's so thematically delicious that shrewd aizawa is the first to realize light is actually kira, and that it's bumbling, foolish matsuda, with his wide eyes and easy smile, who nails light with five bullets and would've blown his skull open if two men hadn't held him back. like that was incredible.

i also appreciate that soichiro yagami gets to go to heaven like he deserves because he never used the notebook. there's something so incredible and awful about the slow degradation of the task force's morals--he would never have even thought of using it, or even making the eye deal, at the start of the kira case. at the very least, he got to die believing his son was innocent. did y'all notice his hair starts off black and grays over the course of the kira case?

ryuk's little bit of foreshadowing was really, really painful when he said that the yagamis were the most unfortunate family in the world.

all in all, i enjoyed it. i miss misa, L, and amnesiac light. now i gotta go read L, save the world or something.

#death note #aurie liveblogs

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otakween · 3 months

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Digimon Frontier (Manhua) - Volume 2

I wonder if anyone on tumblr has read this manhua in its physical form since it was only released in Australia. Also, how many manhua/manga are the Aussies hiding from us?? lol

Ch. 8

Oh okay, so in this version of the story digicode is called a "digital password" (for some...reason)

I do like how this artist draws Junpei. He looked cute with his hair all tousled in this chapter.

Ch. 9

Huh. They completely cut out all of the comedy from this "episode." Nothing about Calmaramon being ugly and her fanboys abandoning her and nothing about her spinning out of control and defeating herself...womp womp.

I'm attempting to read this on my Boox ereader to enhance my experience. Maybe it will motivate me to read quicker lol. I'd be curious to hear my mutuals' preferred format/app for reading emanga. I use a big mix of stuff but in this case it's Tachiyomi + eink

Ch. 10

Yikes, that was so disjointed and weird! They went from the fight with Duskmon back to the Calmaramon fight. I thought that the scans were uploaded in the wrong order or something, but nope!

The transition to the real world was so clunky and confusing.

I did like Duskmon's chapter art, that was pretty badass. His mask looks a little funky though (the fangs are more gnarly)

Ch. 11

More cut scenes messing things up: Takuya expresses his guilt for Koji's predicament, but they never bothered to go over Takuya's reckless plan to fight Duskmon, so it's totally unclear why he's guilty in the first place. Also, we see Takuya go to the real world, but we never see his epiphany for why he should go back to the digital world, he just kinda appears in the next fight scene. -sigh- Who needs character motivations or emotions amirite?

At least they cut out the tickle torture scene. Grateful for that decision...

I think this is the most expressive I've ever seen Mercuremon lol. I hope we see more of him in the franchise, his design is so original.

Ch. 12

I'm still not over how unimpressive the Frontier digivolutions are in some cases. Wolfmon and BeoWolfmon are basically the same thing. I think they straight up got Koji's digivolution name wrong here (called BeoWolfmon Garummon), so that made things extra confusing and anti-climactic lol.

A lot of things were so unclear in this chapter: it wasn't clear that Seraphimon was lending his strength, it wasn't clear how Koji realized that Koichi was a human, and the flashbacks were poorly integrated as well. Also, how did the kids end up inside Sephirothmon and not Bokomon and Neemon? Unclear.

I do appreciate how easy it is to tell Koichi and Koji apart. I feel like they did a good job making them very distinct yet still keeping it clear that they're twins.

Ch. 13

Damn, just terrible translation. They kept calling Seraphimon Ophanimon over and over again. At one point they had the wrong name right next to the correct name on the same page!! How is it possible to be THAT careless!? (I noticed that the scanner acknowledged this in their between chapters' note lol).

It was good to get another look at BlackSeraphimon's design. I already said this in my anime commentary, but it would have been way cooler if we got more of these combo designs from villains using heroes powers...

Ch. 14

I don't have many complaints for this chapter, it was done relatively well. I feel like Koichi's grandma was more explicitly negative when explaining what Koichi's father did to him ("abandoned").

The scene where Takuya is like "are you crazy? You should fight him because he's your brother" also felt weird to me. Like, what if they hurt him badly by mistake? Maybe humans can only be killed if you scan their digicode so there's no risk?

#digimon frontier #manhua #digimon #manga

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esta-elavaris · 6 months

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Part Eighteen [4,250 words] ~ James Norrington/OC

An AU of my completed, 400k+ word fanfic Catch the Wind [AO3], in which Elizabeth, not James, is the one to discover Theodora Byrne after she crash-lands into the world of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Page breaks by cafekitsune.

Also now on AO3 and FF.net.

Masterpost - Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five - Part Six - Part Seven - Part Eight - Part Nine - Part Ten - Part Eleven - Part Twelve - Part Thirteen - Part Fourteen - Part Fifteen - Part Sixteen - Part Seventeen - *Part Eighteen*

Tag list [let me know if you want to be added!]: @teawithshakespeare @missfronkensteen @dancerinthestorm

When morning came near, Hattie - who’d greeted her with wide, disbelieving eyes upon finding her, dishevelled and barely dressed, on James’ sofa - was sent up to the mansion to inform the staff of what had happened, and have a carriage sent down to pick her up. Any insistence that she could walk had been flat-out ignored by the maid and the good captain both…and her legs did greet her with a distinct sort of shakiness when it came time to walk to the carriage.

Anyway, hoping for secrecy was daft.

While she would’ve been happy to never again discuss what had taken place that night – at least as far as the part that happened in the water was concerned – she’d been forced to concede James’ point when he deemed it a necessity. If any had spotted them on that cliff, or her slipping into his house barely-dressed and unchaperoned afterwards, it would be a reputation ruiner for everybody involved. Theo didn’t care about that, not as far as she herself was concerned, but she did know it would reflect badly on Elizabeth, Governor Swann, and James. Because that was what he’d asked her to call him now. James. It would take a bit of getting used to.

As dawn crept in, greeting them as they slipped into the carriage, Theo couldn’t help but wonder if a change of heart wouldn’t come with it. Decisions made, and confessions offered, in the dead of night after a life-or-death experience were bound to look different when cast in daylight. So, aided by her increasing numbness and exhaustion, she remained quiet throughout the journey – like one wrong word could have him awkwardly clearing his throat and finally requesting that she disregard anything he said in the heat of the moment, mere hours earlier.

It was irrational, sure, and it was probably even unfair. Norrington was careful, and did little without considering it first. He was far from the sort to kiss her and take it lightly. But was it any wonder that she was tired, confused, and doubtful after the run they’d had so far? Knowing that, in the movies at least, a good portion of his character revolved around a deep, meaningful love for one of her very close friends? A deficit of self-esteem was never a problem she’d really had, but it seemed…unreal that she could prompt such a change.

Even discarding what she’d seen of that fictional version of events, they had made a pretty big habit of taking one step forward followed by ten backwards, had they not? She’d never forgive herself if this was more of the same, and she failed to see it coming.

But he didn’t retract anything. In fact, whenever she snuck a look at him, she found him always watching her in return, making far less of an effort than she did to do so covertly, and…was that worry on his face? Rather than fidget, or avoid looking at her, or appear as though he was doing his best to work up to a very awkward admission, he simply watched her, his brow furrowed in concern. That same concern shone through to his eyes, too, and she wondered if he’d caught wind of her thoughts…or if he thought she harboured regrets.

“Do you-”

“I-” she began at the same time.

It was a relief that he’d intended to speak too, though, because she had begun her sentence with no idea of how it was actually going to proceed. He’d saved her from a whole lot of awkward mumbling.

“Go on,” she waved when he fell silent.

“I only meant to say that I should like to call on you today,” he said, “after you’ve had time to rest, of course. That is…if you are amenable?”

The blush that rose to her face must’ve been blatantly obvious, even in the dim pale light of dawn, thanks to how pale her features still were. And she knew he caught it, the bastard, because of how he stifled a smile.

“I’d like that,” she cleared her throat. “But you need to promise me you’ll rest, too.”

“You have my word,” he said with a solemness that was broken only by that very dangerous fondness in his eyes.

The Governor and Elizabeth were both on the front grounds of the mansion, both dishevelled, the Governor’s clothing askew as though he dressed in a hurry, and Elizabeth in a thick dressing gown to cover her nightdress – apparently having decided it would take far too long to dress properly so that she could greet them.

James disembarked the carriage first in order to gently help her out, a misshapen bundle of blankets and Doc Martens, toting a cloth sack that contained her still-wet clothing. The Governor looked carefully away, probably thanks to propriety, but it didn’t matter much because Elizabeth was upon her in an instant, pulling her towards the mansion as James stepped aside to speak to her father. Theo allowed her to do so with little more than a murmur.

Elizabeth’s horror, upon learning of the events that took place the previous night, lasted only as long as it took Theo to fill her in on what came afterwards. By which point she seemed pretty tempted to prematurely pioneer history’s first shark-empowering activism group. Theo tried not to take it personally.

“I knew it!” Elizabeth declared as Theo ducked behind a screen in the corner to change into proper nightwear.

“You knew I’d almost been eaten by a shark and that he saved my life just in time to confess that he thinks I’m not actually terrible?”

“No, of course not,” she scoffed in return. “But I knew something had happened. Oh Theo, the care with which he helped you out of that carriage. I’m surprised he didn’t sweep you off your feet and carry you to bed himself.”

“That’d be jumping the gun a bit.”

“Joke all you like, that may not be too far off. He clearly means to court you! He can’t even wait a full day to begin nudging the matter forward. Oh, I could kiss that shark, I really could.”

When she emerged from behind the screen – mostly hoping Elizabeth wouldn’t take note of the men’s nightshirt now draped over the top of it – the damn tremor was back in her limbs. And while she didn’t notice the discarded clothing, she did notice that. Immediately she frowned, dark eyes serious rather than gleeful.

“I didn’t mean to make light of it,” she said, an apology in her voice. “Are you-”

“I’m fine,” Theo replied quickly. “Just…a long night. A complicated one.”

One that left her with many dilemmas.

A few hours of sleep was followed by a visit from the local doctor – for the sake of her nerves rather than her physical wellbeing – and by midday, Theo was fully dressed and in the drawing room, albeit with her feet propped up on a footstool, and a blanket draped across her. As if they weren’t in the Caribbean. She might’ve been more of a smartarse about it if her hands and feet hadn’t still been absolutely freezing, a sign that her body was still in high-alert mode, even if the doctor had plied her with some concoction that eased her mind up a little.

Were it not for James’ promised visit, she suspected she’d have been banned from rising and dressing at all. But since he had promised to visit, and Elizabeth’s priorities were impossible to reshuffle, she found herself laced into a gown of cool blue, her hair in a low, curling bun at the nape of her neck so as not to tempt the headache that kept trying to break through ever since she’d awoken.

It appeared that, even during the few hours she slept, word had spread through the town regarding her ordeal, for the sitting room was utterly jam-packed with flowers. Most of them came with cards insisting that she should let the senders know the moment she was up to receiving visitors, so that they could check in on her in person. A thinly veiled request to hear the full story directly from her, really, but she did hope her ordeal might buy her five minutes of rest from the machinations of Amelia Simmonds and her gang of idiots…right up until they found out about the thawing between she and Port Royal’s most eligible bachelor. Then they’d despise her more than ever.

When James did turn up, though, once again properly dressed with his wig and hat atop his head, Theo thought that the hatred would well be worth it. Especially considering that now, rather than watching her with distrust as he had in the beginning, or even just guardedness as he had thereafter, there was instead that heart-rendingly soft expression that would seem utterly impossible according to those who’d only seen him in his professional mode.

“I am going to check up on our tea and luncheon,” Elizabeth announced before they’d even had a chance to take a breath after greetings were offered.

It wasn’t improper – not in a house with this many servants. A footman still lingered in the corner of the very room, waiting to fulfil any request they might have. Of course, he could have very easily been sent to check up on how their tea and sandwiches were coming along, but that wouldn’t achieve Elizabeth’s ends, so Theo kept quiet on it. Mostly because she felt mortifyingly shy enough as it was, and while she could take a joke as well as the next person, she didn’t want to sit through an hour of Elizabeth’s help where this was concerned.

“How are you feeling?” he came to perch on the sofa beside her, leaving one cushion’s worth of space between them.

“Restless,” she admitted. “How are you?”

“I’ve faced worse,” he said, with a sort of mild boastfulness that had her smiling.

“Just any other night for you then, was it?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” that softness was back again, his eyes flickering briefly towards her lips, and Theo blushed.

“The, er, prescribed method of recovery around here isn’t my usual go-to,” she explained.

“What is your preferred method?”

“Swimming,” she had to stop and laugh at the look he gave her when she said that. “Don’t worry, I’m not about to go bolting down to the beach when nobody’s looking. It’ll be a while before I get back in the water.”

“What happened was a stroke of incredibly bad luck,” he said, after thinking for a moment. “You should not allow it to keep you from what you enjoy.”

Theo smiled, unable to help it, because that was…that was sweet, actually. Not just the sentiment, but the fact that he was making the effort to offer that reassurance – because it was clear that doing so was not yet entirely within the realms of his comfort zone. But they did need to get used to this…this new dynamic between them. It followed so quickly on from a bad argument, and forgiveness and trust that still felt fragile on both sides. She didn’t think it was entirely unreasonable to worry that one wrong joke, one spell of teasing that went too far, would shatter it all.

Getting on well for a longer span of time wasn’t something they’d yet mastered, was it? And there was more worry still on her side – because she wasn’t stupid enough to think he’d forgotten that there were explanations as to her past that she had not yet offered. And now he knew that Elizabeth knew. While that could help, while it would hopefully reassure him that it was nothing too sinister – for she hadn’t been turned out of the mansion – she also suspected it would only deepen his curiosity further.

And, if they really did manage to make it a week or two without arguing again, curiosity could swiftly turn to hurt that she would tell Elizabeth, but not him. All right, she hadn’t told Elizabeth of her own volition, but he didn’t know that.

“Hiking was always another go-to,” she sighed. “’Til my legs felt fit to drop off. Again, though, I don’t think that’s very feasible here. Not today, at least.”

“Would a turn about the gardens do as a substitute?”

“God, yes.”

If she had to stay cooped up indoors all day, she’d go mad.

The day outside was gloriously sunny, but with a cool and soothing breeze that broke up the stifling heat and allowed her to really enjoy the brilliant blue cloudless sky, rather than wilting under the heat.

“Sorry, I’m a bit fuzzy,” she wrinkled her nose as they walked. “The doctor insisted on giving me something for my nerves, and in hindsight I’m pretty sure it was an opiate.”

Opioid use was one particular ride she thought to save for later in life, when things got really stale, but it had been foisted on her in her twenties, and she just felt a bit floaty and nauseous for her troubles.

“Did it work?”

“A little bit. But it’s not the sort of thing I want to rely on. It’s not like it won’t all still be waiting for me when this stuff wears off – so it needs to be tackled head-on, instead. For efficiency’s sake, if nothing else.”

The smile he gave at that was strangely approving. She’d have to get used to his approval, then.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“I…look, I don’t know how this courting thing works.”

She didn’t even know if it was some sort of glaring taboo to address it so directly here and now, but she hoped he’d at least appreciate her frankness. And, thank god, he didn’t suddenly go pale or seem all that horrified at all. Mostly just surprised.

“You don’t?” his eyebrows raised a little.

“Why the shock? Did you have me pegged as someone with a string of suitors littering the ground behind her?”

“Boasting all manner of mortal wounds, at that,” he replied drily.

Theo grinned, and then she laughed, but she knew he was waiting for some sort of elaboration.

“Back home is…it’s a different world. And that’s an understatement. Nothing works the same way here as it does there. And even if it did, this sort of thing just…wasn’t a priority. I never paid it much mind.”

“So you’ve never been courted? None have made…overtures?”

“Not by English standards. Oh, don’t look so shocked.”

It wasn’t even much of a lie. In the sense that he knew the word, she hadn’t been. Nobody around here was inviting anybody for a McDonald’s and a cheeky kiss at three in the morning after a night out. Unless that was the next step here, she really was ignorant as all hell as to how things would proceed.

“Of course I’m shocked,” he huffed a laugh – but not a mean-spirited one. “You are…you are beautiful. And intelligent. Witty, too.”

The compliments were delivered after a brief moment of awkward hesitation, but once he began he seemed to find it easier – which was exactly when Theo started finding it difficult, blushing and looking away. He wasn’t happy to let that go uncommented on, either.

“…Even if you’ve a strange way of finding it easier to accept jokes about a hypothetical murderous past than compliments on your countenance.”

Now she did look at him, arching an eyebrow and fighting a smile.

“Don’t get too cocky. You’re criminally handsome, your voice is unreal, and – stop me if this is going too far – you’re an excellent swimmer in the face of shark infested waters.”

When she’d made the joke warning him to stop her, a brief glimmer of alarm had played across his face, like he was expecting her to say something really out of pocket. So, instead, when she ended how she did, he rolled his eyes – fondly, though – before her earlier compliments seemed to register and he flushed just as she had.

“See? Now we’re both blushing,” she pointed out smugly.

He cleared his throat, but appeared content to let the matter lie there. Theo resisted the urge to draw up a scoreboard.

“You said not by English standards. Are Irish standards so different?” he asked.

“That difference can’t be overstated,” she muttered. “I’m just wondering…you’re…I mean, the expectation isn’t that…”

“Please, speak freely,” he reassured – despite his own, very visible, discomfort.

“This isn’t the sort of thing where there’s a wedding planned for two weeks from now, is it?”

Things were different in this time. Back home, even acknowledging, factually speaking, that marriage was a thing that existed this early on would be a bad idea. But here, marriage, more often than not, was a business arrangement rather than a relationship in the sense of the word that she was familiar with. A few weeks to come to the conclusion that they could, in fact, spend more than an hour together without wanting to commit murder, and then it was off to popping out babies.

“I’ve no intention of rushing you,” he answered, clearing his throat and suddenly finding his shoes very interesting. “Nor…nor this. The last few weeks have been regrettable. I think we both need time in which to find our footing before we worry about blazing ahead.”

Theo nodded, relieved.

“And…” he paused, then pushed through his hesitation. “I did rather doubt that you’d wish to be married without your father present to witness it, or offer his permission. Given what I have heard of the bond you share with him. I expect he should need to be located first. And I assure you, if he does not surface in due course, I shall be happy to use whatever resources are at my disposal to seek him out-”

Maybe it was the medicine – and if it wasn’t, she was still going to blame it anyway – but Theo found her vision very quickly blurring with tears, and his eye was far too keen to miss it.

“Making you weep was the very last thing I desired to do,” he sighed softly.

“No, it’s…” she paused, sniffed, and then shook her head as she wrapped her arms around herself. “They’re not the worst kind of tears. It’s just…that was sweet. Of you to say. Of you to think of.”

“I cannot be the first to have done so, surely?”

“Elizabeth understands. How couldn’t she? She and her father…”

“The ever-present aide-memoire must be challenging,” he allowed.

“Sometimes. It’s nice that she understands, though. I had friends back home who hated their parents. Never understood that me n’ my dad were…well, we were friends.”

“I see no reason for you to speak of such matters in the past tense,” he said gently.

Didn’t he? That was the problem, wasn’t it. If anything, it was almost easier when she thought he hated her – or at least that he didn’t return her feelings. This whole situation was a glaring example of how folk should be careful what they wished for, because she’d damn well gotten it and now she was left with a dilemma that was far more tricky than heartache.

Or maybe she could just think that because she no longer had to deal with that heartache. Not in the same way, at least.

Because what did this all mean? As far as returning home went? Whether he knew it or not, even by just walking with her about these gardens, James had changed the course of his life significantly. The one it was meant to take. Even if that course led somewhere that she now knew damn well she could never allow. Had she been able to take feelings out of the matter and look at the bare facts, it wouldn’t be right to see him take such a leap of faith and then still plot to leave – then, adding feelings into the mix, it only made her more inclined to stay.

But staying meant…well, not going back. And that thought was a lot to contend with in general, never mind after the night she’d just had.

“To properly answer your question, courting is typically a matter of earning the approval of the family of the lady in question, as well as that of the lady herself. Which…makes our set of circumstances unique. For the time being. Although I cannot pretend that I’m not relieved that I have time to win back your regard before I have to do so with your father. I suspect the former would strongly impact the latter.”

“You talk like you haven’t already managed it.”

In response to that, he watched her carefully.

“One good deed cannot undo all of the ill I have wrought thus far,” he pointed out.

Theo pushed down her discomfort at how close those words came to the ones he was destined to say to Elizabeth on the Dutchman, shortly before his demise.

“You fumbled the ball a bit,” she said. “You didn’t try to murder me. I’m not going to exact a pound of flesh.”

Although it was far easier to be all magnanimous about it now that they were through it. Judging by the rueful look he fixed her with, he was very aware of that.

“My dad’s always been the sort where as long as I’m happy, he’s happy, so you…you shouldn’t worry. About that. I do hope, though, that all of this doesn’t make life awkward for you.”

“If you’re referring to the opinions of Miss Simmonds and her pack of wolves, I care little for what they have to say on this matter – nor on any other, for that matter.”

“Oh, not them. Sod them,” she snorted. “But…the Swanns…Governor Swann, I mean – Elizabeth’s practically been doing cartwheels all morning, but her father…I know how well the two of you get on. This won’t make things awkward, will it? He wanted you and Elizabeth to- well, I don’t want to be the evil lodger who came in and spoiled it all.”

“I imagine he’d be more upset were Miss Swann at all upset by what has come to pass. And while I respect her greatly still, even the mightiest saint would not nudge one they hoped to marry towards another. Had she been devastated by these recent changes, the Governor would take a less favourable view on it, but given that it makes her just as happy as we now are, all will be well.”

She didn’t quite manage to keep the surprise from her face, and he caught it – offering a small, amused smile in turn.

“It’s remarkable,” he commented softly, “what one can see upon no longer hoping to see something different.”

“And what are you hoping to see now, then?” she asked.

“More of you,” he answered – apparently without thinking, for then he realised how it sounded and balked, a flush immediately rising to his face. “That is, er, I wish to visit with you more frequently, and see if…er…well- I mean, of course, I did not mean that-”

“You’ll have to ask very, very nicely,” she interrupted.

The joke was a gamble; not only because of the time period, but because of how tentative everything was between them. Usually Theo was all for gambles just like that, but in this instance she found herself watching his expression nervously…and breathing a heavy sigh of relief when, upon registering them properly, he faltered, and then he laughed. All right, it wasn’t a stomach-grabbing, doubled over with tears in the eyes sort of laugh, but it broke the tension.

“We’ll…get better at this,” he said finally, shaking his head. “We’ll find our footing, as we proceed. If, indeed, you wish to proceed. I’ve no wish to hold you to anything to said…or did…last night, in your shaken state.”

His determination to make sure only to secure her agreement to this under the best circumstances possible only made her feel all the more guilty for all she kept from him. With images of home whirling throughout her mind, and visions of his opinion of her once again doing a complete u-turn if he knew where home really was for her, the most answer she could offer was a nod, and that nod was enough to have him smiling.

“I don’t think we’re doing too badly,” she pointed out quietly.

“I suppose not, if we count today as a clean slate.”

“Last night had its moments.”

This time he didn’t blush or fluster, only smiled a little as he bowed his head. “It did.”

For a while, they were content to walk quietly, stealing glances here and there and then blushing when they caught the other doing the same thing. It was so disgustingly cute that Theo was tempted to hate herself for it.

#ctw #catch the wind #ftt #fallen through time esta-elavaris #james/theodora #james x theodora #pirates of the caribbean fanfiction #pirates of the caribbean fanfic #potcfic #james norrington fanfiction #james norrington fanfic #james norrington x oc #james norrington/oc

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lightleckrereins · 1 year

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Six the musical crowns guide

This is a long overdue post that was requested again recently so here is the crown breakdown. While I tried to include everything there are probably some things I missed and some that appeared only tmporarily so I ended up omiting them. Also whenever I mention spike numbers it is very likely that I am off in some of them as it is hard to get photos of some where the full crown is visible and clear enough to count. And whoever is in the photo is not necessarily the first to wear a style, it is the best picture I have of it at the moment.

Aragon: It would seem that there are only two versions of this crown (original single band and new double one) but it actually has a few very distinct styles.

The very first one was a double tiered halo looking crown that never made it past very earyl first UK tour press.

1: After that and until the redesign Aragon wore a single headband shaped crown that went down to right above the ear with eight long gold spikes evenly distributed. It was commonly styled with hair strands weaved between the lower spikes.

2-3: The first redesign appeared only on 2020 Broadway previews and features two bands connected at the ends that lay on top of the head and goes slightly down (doesnt reach the ears). This crown had ten short gold spikes in the front band with the final one on the union of the bands and six long gold spikes alternated with five short on the back. The shape and number of spikes has changed a lot since but in general the shorter spikes in front and long and short alternated on the back format remains. The current US crowns have the same format as the original Broadway one but with 13 short spikes on the front band and eight long and seven short spikes on the back. Cruises started with a different style but have now switched to this one.

4-5: There are two versions of the crown in use in the UK. The most common one is the same format as the US crowns with short spikes in the front (16) and alternating size in the back but changes the short spikes on the back band to medium sized ones in the center and small on the sides (9 total and 8 long). The second version has the same format but is narrower (12 small in the front, 6 long and 7 medium/short in the back). This version seems to be used by queens with hairstyles that pull the hair back higher so the gap for the crown is narrower.

6-7: The original cruise crowns have the same format as the original Broadway one but change all the small spikes for medium sized ones. This crowns were worn backwards (long spikes in front) for Breakaway 2.0 and this appears sometimes in other productions. I am pretty sure this style was originated for Bliss 2.0 which had an early version of the costume redesign and made in advance for the cancelled original Breakaway 2.0. Crowns were worn for a few cruises since reopening but now seem to be retired in favor of the usual US style.

8-9: Since the Aragon crowns are gold to match the costume, the alternate crowns are silver. There are three alternate crown versions mirroring principal styles. The original headband one worn in the UK until lockdown, in the pre broadway US tour and in Australia for the whole run. This style of crown was sometimes worn by alternates for Cleves or Parr. Currently the UK productions are the only ones to use the alternate costumes and have both wider and narrower Aragon crowns in silver.

Boleyn: This crown has had the least variations across time. It consists of two circular bands worn around the spacebuns with spikes on the sides. Sizing and spike number vary but in general it is 10 spikes for UK crowns and 8 for US; AUS had 10 and cruises follow the style of the costume maker they have at the moment. The only notable difference was Hazel Karooma-Brooker who wore two flat bands on the sides of an updoo in a style that was later made the standard for Cleves.

Seymour: This one is simmilar to Aragon in that there are only a few base styles that have many distinct variations.

There are photos of Natalie May Paris wearing a few different crowns early on but none of those seem to have made it past early first UK tour press

1: the original Seymour crown was a small white band that laid on top of the head with six small spikes.

2-3: the second version was a long band shaped like a headband with 11 short spikes. There were both black and white band versions of this one; in general it was black for dark haired actors and alternates and white for light haired actors. Sometimes it was styled with hair covering the ends so the spikes showed between strands.

4-5: There have been two versions of the Seymour crown. The first is a double white band that lays on top of the head with five short spikes on each band and two more on the edge where the bands meet. When the Boleyn tour opened the crown was updated. It is the same format but now the three middle spikes on the back band are taller than the rest.

6: The UK crown has the same shape as the US crown but in black; and has seven medium sized spikes on each band and none on the union. A white crown was made for the 2023 UKT cast change presumably to match Erin Caldwell's blonde hair but she ended up wearing a black one.

Cleves: Just like there are a million Cleves hairstyles there are a million Cleves crowns.

The very first version of this crown looked like a hat with spikes around the brim but was cut in early tour press.

1: The first crown to appear onstagewas a headband in the same shape and size as Seymour, but with spikes starting slightly higher on the sides. It had three short spikes on each side and in the middle three long with two more short in between. This crown was the main style until shortly before lockdown when the mohawk style started to be introduced.

2: Vicki Manser wore one of her Boleyn cuffs for multiple queens including Cleves. This style was worn by some alternate Cleves early on with ponytails and side braid styles.

3: Brittney Mack wore a few different crowns, the first being a single cuff simmilar to the Howard crowns but with more spikes.

4-5: The first version of the side crowns was two single bands with eight short spikes on each. This was worn in the pre broadway tour, the UKT between 2019 and 2022 and by Jessica Niles in Breakaway 1.0. The later versions of this crown started shifting from straight bands to a slight curve.

6: Kiana Danielle got a slight variation of the previous one with alternating short and medium spikes

7-9: At reopening West End introduced a few different styles. The first was a headband with 15 spikes alternating between short and medium only worn by Lexi McIntosh. Second was the same but alternating between medium and long, this was worn by Zara Macintosh and Cherelle Jay. Third was simmilar to the Aragon crowns with two bands; 12 short spikes on the front and five medium and six shorts alternating on the back. This series feels like an experimental era where the costume team was trying to figure out different crown styles for different hairstyles before settling on everyone having a take of the double crown.

10-11: The US crowns are made by two slightly curved bands connected only on the back, has nine short spikes on the lower band. The top band alternates six medium spikes in two slightly different lenghts and two short spikes on the back. In the Aragon tour the crowns are worn backwards with the union on the front.

12: The UK crowns are two curved bands joined in the back. They have ten long spikes on the top band and eight spikes in the bottom alternating between two medium sizes.

There have also been Seymour crowns (the full headband shaped ones), Howard crowns and Parr crowns worn for Cleves by alternates or in cruises.

Howard: the Howard crowns can be separated into two groups. Open band and closed cuff. But that doesn't mean there are not a million variations on shape and size.

1: The very first version of the crown was a round cuff with three tiers of six spikes. This was narrower than later ones as originally principal Howards wore only half their hair up in the ponytail.

2: the pre broadway tour crown was also round but shorter and wider than the UK one and had only two tiers of spikes.

3: Vicki Manser wore one of her single tier cuffs for multiple queens including Howard. This style was worn by some early alternate howards.

4-6: The crown was standarized in late 2019 to a shorter, wider cuff with the same amount of spikes. Depending on the specific crown the shape shifted between being round, oval and slightly triangular shapes. This version appeared on UK productions until lockdown, AUS for the entire run and early cruises.

7-8: At reopening a new shape was introduced. Consisting of an open band that covers only the front of the ponytail and is left open on the back. This version has become standard for all productions in different shapes and sizes. The current UK crown is a wide band. It has four spikes on the top and bottom tiers and three in the middle. Since the crowns are made to be stiff this change shape between a wide curve and a narrower C shape. Height and width vary I think depending on the size of the ponytail.

9: the US crown is a narrow open band. It has four spikes on the top and bottom rows and three in the middle one. This are the narrowest crowns and the size allows the ponytail to cover the sides instead of staying in the back like with UK crowns.

Parr: this one looks like a million variations but is more of a million different ways to wear a few versions.

1: The original crown was a wide band shaped simmilarly to a fabric headband with three rowns of 10 spikes going around it. This was worn by the original WE cast, Athena Collins in the UKT Hana Stewart inWE, and Nicole Lambert in the pre Broadway tour.

2: For the pre broadway tour a headband simmilar to the Seymour crown with a wider band was introduced. This was worn by Ana Uzele before switching to the side crown, Bliss 1.0, Elizabeth Walker on Breakaway 1.0, the UKT alternates until lockdown, and the AUS alternates for the entire run.

3: For Breakaway 1.0 Amelia Walker wore a double headband.

4-5: For the AUS opening a new crown was introduced made of two bands on each side (simmilar to the Cleves crowns) with six spikes on each band worn on the back of the head and weaved through the hairstyle. This version with longer bands and more spikes was worn by Courtney Mack on Broadway and (I think) Megan Leung and Sophie-Rose Middleton in Bliss 2.0. A variation of this crown with spikes alternating between short and medium on the top bands is still worn in the UK by all Parrs with straight hair and In South Korea.

6: The first version of the side crown was introduced in late 2019. It is a single band with nine long spikes that goes from the side of the ponytail on the right side of the head beside the ponytail and reaching the center in the back. This was worn by Anna Uzele in the final stops of the pre Broadway tour, Danielle Steers until lockdown and Athena Collins for a public performance before the postponed UKT reopening.

7: At reopening WE and UKT introduced a new version of the side crown. Consisting of two bands connected in the backsimmilar to the Cleves crowns. With 11 short spikes on the bottom one and 12 spikes alternating between short and medium on the top one. This was worn by Danielle Steers and Athena Collins.

8: For the Broadway reopening a variation of the previous crown was introduced in the same shape and number of spikes only switching the spikes on the top band to three long alternating with three medium in the front and six slightly smallermedium on the back. This crown has become the standard version and is the only to be pretty much identical in both the US and UK.

9: Keirsten Hodgens wore a variation of the double crown specifically made to be worn on the left side to accomodate her locs naturally falling to the right.

10: In the Aragon tour both Gabriela Carrillo and Erin Palmer Ramirez wear the crown backwards with the bands connecting in the front.

11: Again in the Aragon tour Kelsee Kimmel wears another unique version. The top band has two short spikes in the front and back and then in the middle there are five spikes that go from medium to tall and back again.

12: For her first cruise run (Breakaway 2.0) Ellie Sharpe wore yet another unique crown. This seems to be a take on the double crown. The two bands are connected at the front and have medium spikes on the bottom band and alternating medium and long on the top one. I think this is another case of NCS changing all the short spikes for longer ones like they did with the Aragon crown and might have been intended to wear further back or it is two crowns worn as one. But no way to confirm this as there are only three photos of Ellie wearing it, none show the crown in full and she wore a standard side crown for her second run.

#six the musical #six costumes #six crowns #I've been working on and off on this post for like a month now #well this and another #guides are fun but take forever

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invertedfate · 1 year

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What do you MEAN you're not a fan of the "my take culture" in the "my take on undertale" community???

There's a difference between making fanworks that reimagine a widely popular indie game and people acting entitled to making their own version of small fan creators' passion projects, who don't have the wide reach and platforms that the original canon material has. It's one thing if the AU is left open or abandoned, e.g. Underfell or Underswap, but I have seen creators get bullied for simply asking that people not do takes on their stories. Takes, to be specific, not outlawing fanworks about their projects outright.

This whole take mindset is heavily shunned in most other fandoms- it'd be seen as plagiarism or laziness. I distinguish takes from, say, a work inspired by someone's unique fanwork, or a fanwork of a fanwork. Or a unique fan creation that happens to be of a similar AU genre- e.g. role swap, morality swap, genre shift (e.g. space, western, etc). But beyond that, I just think it'd be more enriching for people to create their own AUs. When I started Inverted Fate, I never once considered it an iteration of Underswap- I wanted to make a fanwork that takes role swap elements while preserving characterization but also had a story in mind, diverging from a failed UT pacifist ending. I just think, personally, that instead of people doing their own takes on other people's AUs, they'd be better off making their own AUs. Like, using Storyshift "takes" as examples- most of them just use the role placements of Storyshift and aren't recognizable as the AU in terms of lore concepts, story, etc, and I genuinely think those projects would be better establishing their own identities. Likewise, I think someone could make their own distinct Undertale + Mario crossover AU with its own name outside of Undertoad.

People often mistake my dislike of takes as outlawing all IF fanworks- that isn't the case, but I just don't like the idea of making takes of someone's personal projects that they put a lot of love into, because "takes" generally come from a place of wanting to outdo the original creators, and I've seen creators get harassed for simply not wishing for that sorta iteration on their fanworks. :/ Ultimately, I can't technically stop it, but I can voice how it's not really something I'm fond of.

I've been in fandom spaces for a very long time, and in no other fandom have I seen such insistence on making takes on people's distinct fanworks. Inspired works, sure, but this fixation on making versions of people's stories wholesale just doesn't sit well with me, nor does the disrespect toward creators that I often see cultivated.

I guess the thing I wanna add, is like, I distinguish something like, say, a bad end fic of someone's comic/AU/etc or, like, exploring what-ifs in that story to like... the way some people wanna outdo fanwork creators with their own version of that person's fanwork. At the very least, clear credit and links back to the source material at minimum. I've just seen too many fanworks get overshadowed by other people's imaginings of them to a point where the original gets lost.

#discourse #fandom #undertale aus

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viaviv124 · 1 year

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Reworking YanBerry

Stay with me

Okay so i love how we can all agree by now that fanon swap aka blueberry is an abomination that's reduced to "ew what is that thing" jokes. One thing that spawned from him is YanBerry. For all the newer people in the fandom or people lucky enough to not have seen what that is, here a small recap:

Basically this little uwu-mination as a cliche Yandere, a Yandere being someone heavily obsessing and going insane for their love interest, more often than not relying on violence and murder to get with their beloved, mainly paired up with his own brother. There was this one comic or something where he poisoned Tacos to kill someone and it became a whole thing. YanBerry is also part of the Fallen Stars, a 'dark' version of the Star Sanses consisting of Shattered Dream, Emotionless Ink and YanBerry. Thing that confused me about it is why they would ever hang out together because their motives are not matching at all.

BACK ON TRACK, I like the rough concept of Yanderes. As in 'going insane over someone you love'. And it can still very well work for Swap (from now on referred to as Blue. To me Blue and Blueberry are two different characters. I'm just way too used to saying Blue than Swap so there's the distinction). Maybe not the "lets go batshit crazy and murder everyone for my senpai uwu" but more like literally focusing on how his psyche is slowly deteriorating. How and why the person he's in love with has such a heavy effect on him can be different from story to story, espacially when it's a longer one you can really take time making a reason, but like instead of going full on insanity lets focus on the decay.

The Decay

Blue is Papyrus-Coded, making him very sweet, kind and compassionate but also sorta starved of attention and affection in a way he craves it more than anything. That alone can make a great base for the reason.

Now, let's travel a bit into headcanon territory since a big part of the fandom, from what i've seen, shares a similar hc for him and considering i made the concept based on that image of him i think i should describe/clear up how i see him. Naturally though you can use whatever headcanon you'd like. This is just me rambling at midnight about a concept. Anyway, this is in a universe/version where Blue is a member of the Star Sanses and is the level headed, mature and sensible one. Between an immortal dumbass and an immortal sunshine with most likely lingering issues and depression (also kinda a dumbass ngl. He never really had a chance to grow up properly) Blue is the braincell/deescalator. He keeps Ink and Dream grounded but also lacking behind a little bit because he is not immortal and has a little trouble keeping up with what the other two are capable of.

Now, Blue is in love with someone. Heavily in love. One might say head over heels. This triggers something in him. Something dark. And he himself doesnt quite understand why. The key difference here to a cliche Yandere like YanBerry is that he doesnt just turn into crazy murder/stalker man overnight. It all happens slowly. Blue does develop huge jealousy issues and obsesses over the person he fell for, from now on referred to as Herz (= german word for heart. Didnt want to go with the english one in case i'll use it later on to avoid confusion). Espacially the jealousy comes with very dark thoughts, turning from simply keeping Herz to himself to gradually more violent, eventually evolving into murderous fantasies. Blue doesnt act on these thoughts and urges and is rather heavily disturbed by them. He's not used to having thoughts like this. He doesnt know what's wrong with him so that he thinks like this. Bear in mind, Blue is good down to the core. He's a sweet and kind soul who always did his best to see things positively. Suddenly being subjected to such a toxic and muddy mindset, that definetly gets cloudy at times, is new to him. It's scary. I'd imagine at one point Blue isolates himself or at the very least avoids Herz, either because these thoughts got too much or he accidentally lashed out a few times and said something nasty or attempted to/did hurt someone by accident, since he wasnt in control of his thoughts and feelings. He's terrified of himself and of what he can do. Blue isn't weak by any means so he definetly could follow through with what his head is telling him. He's isolating himself to protect others because he cant trust himself and his mental strength anymore. He feels so lost. Because after all this time he still doesnt know why this is happening, just that it is and wont go away. No matter what he tries, he cant fix this.

This breaks him. Slowly but surely everything inside him shatters like little pieces of glass. The isolation only strengthens the insanity creeping in. Blue feels horrible but he's no longer in control of his own thoughts, feelings and body. The dark thing, spawned by his love for Herz, has finally completely broken him down.

At this point you can just go wild with Blue's insanity and as it decreases or increases over time, espacially once he's seeing Herz again. As long as it ties with the struggle and sort of stays a thing in the back of his mind. What i think is also important, don't throw Blue's entire character out the window in favour of having an unhinged, crazy character. This insanity is less about Blue's characteristics and more about how he thinks, how he precieves things and how he acts on the thoughts and urges he previously tossed aside. Naturally this affects his character quite a bit but bear in mind that all of these urges and thoughts were spawned because of Herz. There's absolutely no reason for Blue to act much differently when talking to a friend for example, unless Herz gets brought up in any shape, way or form. Blue is completely infatuated and obsessed with Herz, but he's still Blue. He has the same wits, skills etc. Even if he's scheming or who-knows what, he can easily act normal. Insanity doesnt mean making a complete 180° on someone's personality. It's more that they're not in control of their brain. They're heavily mentally ill and maybe a bit scattered. The insanity can also show by certain triggers only etc. There's many possibilities of working with it. Signs of Blue's rotten mental state can definetly show but he can also act like everything's alright. If you're doing a comic in particular, a nice subtle hint of Blue definetly not being himself is not showing his eyes or face or giving his eyelights a slightly different shape, maybe a bit wobbly/shaky or a bit sharper etc. The window to someone's heart is their eyes, get creative!

Conclusion-ish

In the end you can portray characters however you'd like and i cant stop you. This isnt a "write Yandere Blue like this, everything else is wrong!" post. It's just a concept i've had in my mind for a while now and i wanted to share it because i like late-night rambles when i cant sleep lol. Write Yanderes however you'd like, the trope IS very fun, after all! I just think it's really interesting to also highlight the "how does a normally sweet person react to suddenly feeling murder-y?" side of things instead of the ever so bland schtick of "haha i kill ppl, now love me" that many Yandere stories build upon. Yes i've been getting back into (psycholgical) Horror Anime like Higurashi, how did you know? Lmao

Either way, good night! I've been writing this for well over an hour :'D

#undertale #undertale au #ut au #underswap sans #underswap #blue sans #blueberry sans #yanberry #yandere #yandere trope #writing tropes #concepts #psychological horror #ish

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mega-ringsandthings-world · 10 months

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I'm really curious design-wise about scars when it comes to the boys? Mostly because when I draw them, I want them to look like they do in your head.

I'm assuming a few, for the loguetown years though probably not a lot, on the face, due to propaganda reasons, but the less visible places must be free game.

I'm thinking of a scene we've talked about, 'wink,' where Mihawk gets scars all over his back. He must be disgusted by them, probably takes steps to not look at them whenever he's near a mirror after a bath or a shower or changing. After all, wounds on a swordsman's back are their greatest shame. His hands and arms also must be full of nicks and slashes from where they punished him to scare him about losing his hands.

Not just those; he must hate the scarring in general, seeing it as a point toward his weakness. Because a reason I see why canon Mihawk goes tits out half the time is to show off the fact that he barely has any scars—to say, "I'm the strongest, and I got here without barely ruffle. And all the years I’ve lived at the top I’ve been here without a scratch.” They only time I can see him getting a scar with out complaining is if its for Shanks.

But Shanks, maybe scars near his mouth and along his cheekbones, maybe a broken nose or two from the number of times he got punched in the face until they needed him in front of a camera. Maybe his feet and legs are scarred to try and keep him from running away? Both their wrists must have weird scarring from rubbing them raw with their bounds. Maybe even their necks have scars too.

That doesn't even account for the amount of scarring they must accumulate on their escape, as well as those years of speed running to get powerful. Like I just realized Mihawk must be absolutely pissed that he'll have to retrain everything from the ground up to get back to where he was sword-wise, same with Shanks, and they'll need to do it fast, so not a lot of time to take their time and be careful. Probably why canon Mihawk and Shanks don't have as many scars. They weren't and aren't speed running for power.

Not to mention the boys are taking on the World Government full-on head-to-head. They have a lot stronger and deadlier opponents, while being a lot weaker and more desperate—both are suicidally scared of losing each other and protective enough to burn the world down in that pursuit. So their faces most likely get a little more beat up after loguetown.

What do you think of Shanks having the same three-line scars over his eyes but longer, starting on his temple and curving down to his cheekbone? It's a little more jagged, a little less even. The last concept sketch I sent should have it if you want an example. I'm surprised Blackbeard is still alive in this AU after he did that to Shanks. This version of Mihawk would have at least tried to rip him into pieces with his bare hands and put his had on a spike as a warning.

Let's break it down, lol. I figure on them having permanent scars each that they'll carry the rest of their life, and secondary scars that eventually heal over almost all the way. And yeah. Propaganda purposes would mean their faces are relatively untouched, and the scarring kept to easily concealed places while they are in captivity. So, they get half their permanent scars in Loguetown, the other half in their escape, and the rest are secondary scars, that halfway disfigure them but clear up by and by. So, ideas. For Shanks' secondary scars, Armament Haki burn scars. On the side of the face, neck, clavicle, ribs, hip, and the backs of both hands/down the forearms. A result of Mihawk misusing his Armament Haki to protect Shanks, he used it with such force/will that the Haki's signature black color is imprinted on Shank's skin. It fades away to nothing as time passes, but is very distinctive while it lasts. Then there's the ringing from manacles on his wrists/ankles/neck, patches of scarred skin on shoulders/sides. For permanent scarring, the crooked nose from him getting it broken over and over, (love that in a character) a downturned scar along his cheekbone that mimics Luffy's (inspires Luffy's) that he hides with his hair, the nicks along the corner of his lips. A lopsided scar between the shoulder blades. There's a stab scar on his stomach, from Mihawk. And he has thin scars on his palms, from one side to the other. Speaking of which, let's talk about Mihawk. He'd have the same set of secondary scars as Shanks, wrists/ankles/neck, skin scraped off at the shoulders/side, various abrasions/missing patches on his hands, arms, legs. For permanent scars, there's a long raised scar on his right leg from ankle to knee, from the escape, and he has stigmata-like scars on the center of his palms and the backs of his hands. He has a scar shaped roughly like a asymmetrical cross on his chest, and when he goes shirtless and the scar frames his kogatana, the effect is something. Then he has a cut eyebrow, a scar down the side of his face, later concealed by his sideburns. Permanent burns on his knuckles. And a scar that stretches from the top of the hipbone to hipbone. And last but not least, the scars on his back, which everything else pales in comparison too. While he works the rest of the scars into aesthetic and presentation as he grows, the back scars will always be hated. It only reinforces his position about them being a swordsman's greatest shame. Canon Mihawk is flawless, metaphorically and literally, and he knows it. Thus tits out at all times. AU Mihawk has to decide to present his scars as proof of what he had survived, rather than make a show what he never did. The opposite of canon Mihawk. Oh yes. When they train/spar, it's going to be fast, furious, with the goal to push eaach other to the limit and then over the edge. They always come off of bloody and covered in kisses from each other's blades. And then when they take on enemies, marine fleets, other pirates, they wreck themselves over and over. Canon Mihawk and Shanks were never tortured for two and a half years at the behest of the World Government with all the ensuing mind-fuck that follows, so they never extend themselves past neatly finishing the job. AU Mihawk and Shanks want to be hurt and hurt ten times more in return. I love the idea/look of Shanks' enhanced scars! It makes sense for him to be given more severe scarring, in lieu how he fights in this AU. The reason Blackbeard wasn't hanged, drawn and quartered on the spot was because Mihawk wasn't physically around at the time to do so. Rest assured, this means nothing good for Blackbeard in the future.

#one piece #op #opla #dracule mihawk #akagami no shanks #hawkeye mihawk #red haired shanks #mihawk one piece #shanks one piece #mishanks #mihawk x shanks #op marines

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