#and as someone who doesn't really theorize idk what to do about it!

[bookwyrminspiration]

do you have any theories about elysian? like i know she’s had like two lines so far and has existed for less than a third of a page. but do you have any thoughts about her backstory/what she wants/anything else?

(2/2) forgot to put this in my last ask (about elysian) but do you think she’s going to be for sophie or against sophie or somewhere in between?

I do have some ideas, but we know very little about her and I haven't put much thought into it, so keep that in mind. This is all very rough

Upon her introduction, three things stood out to me: she's the Lost Cities (both the cities' and the series) best kept, most dangerous secret, she is the "power source," and she nulled everyone's powers.

That leads me to believe she's tied to the elves' abilities. Perhaps she powers them somehow, grants them the power they have either willingly or is coerced into doing so . If she's tied to Nightfall and it's rare occurrence every few millenia, perhaps she can only act during those 12 days and if she's confined to the island--perhaps by some doing of the Ancient Council, maybe (huge maybe) tied to that stained glass dome--then she can't act.

So if she gave the elves their power then disappeared, the elves would be safe to keep their abilities until she reappeared a few thousand years later and could threaten to take them away. But confined to that island, she poses no threat unless someone comes to her; since that seventh element, the event, Elysian herself is stricken from the records and the place is coated in illusion, no one would come to her.

(very loose idea: maybe elves gained their abilities around the time of Atlantis, and the reason it was a human/elf city was because humans were becoming elves there. again, very loose idea I'm just brainstorming)

Based on the little I know and have guessed about her, I'm hazarding that Elysian'll be for herself. I don't think it'll be a pro/against Sophie situation, because Sophie's irrelevant to Elysian's world. We're used to things centering about Sophie, but this is a secret from long before she was even an idea in Forkle's head. It's beyond her.

I think Elysian will side with whoever promises to get her what she wants. Could be the Black Swan. Could be the Neverseen. Could be just Sophie herself. I don't think it'll be the council though, because she's part of a very buried secret and I imagine she doesn't like them much for it, even if the council has changed. And based on her being a buried secret, I imagine she was wronged in some way and wants revenge/reclamation of that to some degree. To get the council back, to get a certain amount of power, etc. I mean, first thing she does is take away other people's power. That may be telling.

Again, this is all really rough and based on minimal information, so take it with a grain of salt. But this is how I've personally read her character and fit her into my understanding of the series. Until proven otherwise, this is who I'm assuming her to be :)

[venus-is-thinking]

DRDT Chapter 2 Episode 14: Initial Thoughts

What an episode! I can't believe that we're probably starting to near the end of the Trial. But, considering we're almost there, we DEFINITELY have a lot to talk about. It's a longer episode, and there's a LOT to go over, so buckle in!

SPOILER WARNING FOR DRDT CH 2 PART 2!

T/W: Murder, hanging (with depictions)

The Reactions

Hu is literally so pretty.

I wasn't expecting her to get a whole mechanic defending Nico, but it makes sense. Letting other students cut in during the Class Trial is a great way to draw specific attention to a character point, and it's very clear that Hu's over-defense of Nico is going to be important moving forwards.

RIP to my "using the weight rack as the carousel" theory. The fan probably makes more sense. I just still have no idea how the 300-ish pound or whatever weight rack managed to get knocked over in the struggle.

I'm glad they directly pointed this out. Trying to kill everyone in the Class Trial was the EXACT thing Hu was so pressed about David doing. It's a weird double standard to be so forgiving of Nico when they tried to do the same thing.

Insane thing to say if Eden is the culprit and killed Arei because she didn't believe her. Then again, if my explanation for a lot of Eden Trial dialogue is "she's speaking out of regret for killing Arei now that she knows Arei was being legit," maybe she's just calling herself cruel as well.

This is honestly very valid.

Do you think "here" implies Nico trusts someone in the outside world? Based on their secret, it seems like they probably didn't have many friends. Could also be referring to animals? Or Mai Akasaki?

Big psychic damage to Hu though, considering we know she thrives on other people relying on her. She wants Nico to be someone who relies on her sooo bad, but they just... don't.

Like, girl. They literally JUST said that they don't trust anyone. That includes you.

She's clearly projecting in some way, though, which is definitely an oof. I wonder if Hu wishes she had someone who was undeniably on her side in the past...?

(To be clear: I think Hu is a very well written and interesting character. She fits the fucked up vibes of Despair Time, but coming from a more surprising angle of "that really nice and caring person can also be fucked up." She's just clearly in the wrong here, so I get to clown on her as I clown on everyone else.)

Ace is honestly so valid for this. Like, yeah he's kind of a bully and he sucks sometimes, but. Like. He did almost get murdered and people are, like, mad at him for it? Huh???

If Ace does end up being the Chapter 2 killer because he snapped, I honestly think he's so valid for that.

It is my personal agenda to record every instance of J being notably anti-murder. I don't know where it's going but if it does go somewhere I want my credit because it is Apparent.

(The entire fanbase nods in agreement.)

I know some people definitely still think/thought that Hu and/or Nico was responsible for the crime, so we've all DEFINITELY been squinting at that alibi. I fully believe it's true, but that doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't put it past Hu to make a fake alibi to protect Nico. Idk if Nico would go along with it, though.

I got so jumpscared by the Closing Argument-style CG.

I'm so glad we did get a definitive answer on how this thing worked. I was so afraid that we were just gonna solve the Arei murder method and the exact solution of Ace's would be a "left to audience interpretation" kind of thing.

I'm not exactly sure where the blood on Ace's fingertips comes from? Maybe he cut his hand on the wire when he was trying to struggle after he woke up or something.

This makes so much more sense than anything I saw theorized though, lol. The fan falling from drop hanging totally checks out as a way that the murder mechanism could fail.

I have NO fucking clue why Nico opted for this as the murder mechanism, though. I get wanting to use Hu's wire to frame her, but why didn't you just cut Ace's throat with the wire in the first place???

where did their cape go :(

Potentially suspicious line from Ace? I don't know what he's referring to as "go through all this." Like, maybe just reliving the murder attempt, I guess...? Could also be going through the Class Trial, though, if Ace killed as a result of Nico trying to kill him.

*Levi's secret quote looms*

Things that make me think Nico is either a victim or a survivor. Like, are you really gonna say this and then go try to kill someone else? ...Or Ace again, I guess??

Fun fact: this was actually what guided me to my initial killer picks, before I discussed with anyone else or read any theories! I thought the killer was trying to frame Nico, so it had to be Eden or Ace. The tape and everything else was just what locked it in for me. It's fun to see Teruko follow more or less the same path that I did when I was trying to solve the mystery :)

TAPE TIME :D

The use of the Bound Wrists truth bullet actually really confused me at first bc I didn't realize we were just talking about the tape. I was like, were Arei's wrists bound because Ace's were and it was intended to be another similarity???

Maybe Eden's just being nice, but I find it really suspicious that her instinct after all this time is "didn't MonoTV take it" and not "oh I guess Ace is probably the murderer."

Teruko has now outlined two different ways that it makes sense if the killer was in the gym that night. If I were Eden, and I were innocent, I would be realizing that there's a very small suspect pool left, and I know that I'm not the killer, giving me additional information. Instead, she's questioning the validity of the tape argument, which isn't useful for narrowing down the killer-- it's useful for keeping the suspect pool wider and not leaving herself as one of three (but basically two) options.

I kinda get why people are upset with Rose here, but it's also kind of an oof because they're only mad because Rose is really smart. Like, no one's out here like "oh my god Ace you didn't recognize the tape??" Y'know, because they think he's stupid. Rose has a really good memory, which raises the standards really high, which sets Rose up for failure.

In Rose's defense, she also never saw the tape in Nico's gym murder OR on the carousel for Arei's murder. She only saw the pieces in the trash can, which seemed to be inside out. Against Rose's defense, it would probably have been for the best if she'd gone in to look at the crime scene.

Am I tripping, or is "fish misunderstanding" a weird way for David to phrase this? The misunderstanding with Teruko was assuming that the murder happened last night, which was in fact because of the fish-- but the thing Teruko should have noticed, which makes it Teruko's mistake specifically, was the body swinging.

I'm probably reading into things too hard, but it's so hard with David. What do you know!!!

Damn, Teruko is SPEEDRUNNING this character arc. Considering we basically know she's locked in for all 6 chapters, I'm really surprised to see her making this much progress this fast.

I'm guessing that this means that Teruko is probably due for a major setback sometime sooner or later. But, interestingly, this makes me feel like Teruko realizing that working alone doesn't work isn't her character arc's end destination; it's the willingness to open herself up to caring about others even in the face of the consequences of losing someone you love. Teruko is closing herself off from everyone because she knows she's going to lose them. Maybe her end destination is allowing herself to love people, even if she might lose them someday.

This was fruity as hell btw. I'm starting to think Rose may be our replacement support if Charles does die in Chapter 3.

It's so funny that this is basically Teruko claiming in-universe protag privilege. Go off, queen.

I also said something along the lines of "Hu are we really doing this again." Totally forgot that the BDA is still relevant, lol.

I personally find the way Veronika phrased this to be very telling from an author's POV. Veronika doesn't say "she must not have committed the murder," she says "she must not have witnessed the murder." It would be totally reasonable for any of the students to forget that the rule is written in a way where a killer could fail to see the moment of murder, but DRDTdev wanted to draw attention to the rule's exact phrasing again, which is a deviation from the phrasing in the canon games.

To be clear here, I stand by this even if Eden isn't the killer and the BDA group really is Eden/Whit/Teruko. I still think it could be a reminder for a future chapter when it comes up. But, I don't think it makes sense to change the phrasing of a base rule unless there's a specific reason you want it to be different. Whether now or later, this feels like a reminder that it IS possible for the blackened to trigger the BDA.

I don't necessarily "believe David," per se, but I do think it's interesting that we're drawing attention to this. I don't really think it matters, especially because I doubt the characters remember, but I'd place my bets on Eden being the last one because of that, "Teruko, wait!" thing.

It doesn't matter because, if David or anyone else saw the body, no one can confirm which two of Teruko, Whit and Eden set off the BDA, but it's an interesting note.

It's so funny how no one, fanbase or in-universe, can tell if David is lying though. Like, he COULD have seen it, but he also easily could just be making shit up to try to throw the Trial again.

will I EVER understand what the fuck this man is cooking

Why. I thought you wanted to end the killing game to finish what Xander started. I don't know what's happening :( /pos

My guess for now is just that he's still trying to kill Teruko, in keeping with Xander's plans?? Idk how making her more distrustful makes her more likely to die, though.

I do find it very interesting that Eden's approach/reaction has been to be very quiet and freaked out whereas Ace's approach/reaction is to freak out VERY loudly. Ace's is fitting because what does he do other than freak out loudly, but I might have expected Eden to do... idk, something else? It makes enough sense though, considering either the group is right to suspect her, or she's still coping with losing Arei a little bit ago.

...*squints REALLY fucking hard*

The music and voice acting in this section is REALLY fucking good. It's sad/charming/soft enough that it feels like it could be genuine, but there's still a little something that makes you have to question whether or not it's real. You WANT to believe Eden, but it's so hard to do so fully.

Y'all think Eden's crying is reminding Teruko of whatever Arei's crying reminded her of?

i'm out of images :(

I really like Teruko assuming that Eden is innocent first. She's too distrusting and also reasonable (it is life or death after all) to just hard clear Eden based on nothing, but she's offering a bit of a reprieve to Eden. Eden's friendship means that she isn't going to get immediately targeted in her most down moment, and that's it. It's a small way to show Eden she does care.

On another note, the fact that Eden got to hug Teruko and that Teruko said the "let go of me" NOW is honestly one of the main reasons I trust Eden more. I felt like that was obviously going to happen, but I was expecting the post-Trial. Putting it here is wild.

Theory Update/Analysis

Oh boy, it's accusing time! It makes sense that we're going to start with Ace. At this point, I can honestly see it going either way. Major props to DRDTdev either way, but ESPECIALLY if Eden really is the culprit. I was so confident in it, but they're really making me question my assumptions.

I think that both Ace and Eden have good reasons to be the blackened or not to be, and good reasons to die here or to not. I'm going to do my best to make a list of reasons for both characters and give a bit of my thoughts on them. They're roughly ranked in most to least important order imo, but I didn't think too hard about it.

EDEN

Reasons Eden Would Be The Blackened:

THE TAPE: It would be easier for her to take the tape than Ace, as attention was on Ace in the gym. The tape's disappearance from the background also happens to coincide with Ace knocking her over and her standing back up.

THE NOTE: Eden already knows all the info she would need to know to write that note. She could have put the note back together to give herself a defense, to try to disprove herself as the culprit with her handwriting, because Rose was going to do it anyways, and/or to frame Arturo if she didn't know he had an alibi. I think any of these reasons, or a combination of these reasons, are enough to make it possible, and while Ace could've overheard, it's definitely less easy for him.

NOT BELIEVING AREI: Both Arei and Charles have, in this trial, been shown to question whether or not Eden believed Arei wanted to be Eden's friend. If Eden simply did, this plot point goes nowhere.

A GOOD PERSON: Eden has been called a good person, but other than that freaky CG, nothing has really come of it. Is the plot relevance of Eden being a good person really going to resolve by saying "Eden is a good person, she'd never kill her friend!"? If a good person isn't gold, Eden still feels like a missing piece of that puzzle.

INCENTIVE TO FRAME NICO: This one's a bit more of a reach, but I don't really understand the point of framing Nico if you're Ace. Of course Ace is going to insist Nico is the murderer no matter what. If you're Eden, you have a direct audience to setting it up similarly: Ace. If you can get Ace to go all in on Nico, that's one less person who was in the Gym who suspects you. Eden and Teruko feel less likely to say "oh well it looks like Nico's murder so it MUST be Nico."

HEAVY FOCUS IN CH 2: DRDTdev seems to give the chapter death's important content shortly before their deaths. Eden has been one of the most prominent characters this chapter, which could be a bad sign.

Reasons Eden Wouldn't Be the Blackened

HER EMOTIONAL REACTIONS: I think I stand with everyone else when I say that the thing giving me pause with Eden!Culprit is how devastated she truly seems to be. I do still think it could be a combo of guilt and panic over the prospect of dying, but it's hard to justify everything.

HER FRIENDSHIP WITH AREI: Sort of a spinoff of the last one, but Arei was at least offering to Eden to be friends and to protect her. If Eden did believe that, to any extent at all, it's hard to imagine her killing Arei in cold blood.

THE FISH: The biggest question when it comes to evidence as to how Eden could be the killer. If Nico fed the fish and they were all still there last night, and Eden had an alibi until after the Relax Room closed, how would she have gotten the fish to add to the crime scene?

THE BDA: Easy to ignore imo considering we've already called it into question within the series proper, but still worth talking about. For Eden to be the culprit, either someone else saw the body first and isn't claiming to have (or it's David), or we're burning the "Eden didn't witness the crime and thus could still trigger the BDA" card here.

GENDER BALANCE: Possibly an irrelevant point, but it is true that we've had 2 women and 1 man die so far. If a man was the killer, it'd keep it even. Unlikely to be relevant as any disparity could be easily balanced out in Chapter 3 with (presumably) 3 death slots.

Points About Eden That Could Go Either Way

THE FORK CG: I firmly believe that this could be setting up for Eden being a more important character throughout the series or to die after a moment of intrigue, possibly letting us explore/imply more in her post-death bonus episode.

RELATIONSHIP WITH HU: Hu has lost David as a sane ally. Nico is telling her that they don't want her speaking for them and that they don't trust her. Would DRDTdev prefer to fully isolate Hu moving into Chapter 3 by getting rid of Eden, or to leave Hu with one friend who still believes in her.

CHARLES HAVING EDEN'S SECRET: By telling us Eden's secret ahead of time by Charles revealing it to Teruko, extra focus was given to Eden's secret. Was this just the easiest way to get everyone's secrets revealed based on character dynamics, or was it meant to imply that Eden's secret is extra important? Is that because she's the killer? Is it a #ArEden sweep???

ACE

(why are they both orange)

Reasons Ace Would Be The Blackened:

NO EVIDENCE-BASED ISSUES: This is the biggest and strongest point across the whole board imo. There is no tangible, evidence-based reason why Ace COULDN'T have done the crime. Out of all 13 currently surviving students, he's the only one who that's true for. That obviously makes him a viable suspect.

WOULD ABSOLUTELY FUCKING DO IT: Ace has been Freaking The Fuck Out this chapter. I could VERY easily see him deciding to kill here. I don't think anyone is trying to argue that Ace is too emotionally attached to the cast to try to kill all of them, because he clearly isn't.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?: I'm not really sure where Ace's character is going to go from here. I'd be interested in seeing more from him, but, like, where is his character arching to if not a killer? Ace is so disliked and intense that it's hard to imagine him really, fully pivoting and caring about others, but if he can't do that, is he destined to be a killer eventually?

HEAVY FOCUS IN CH 2: DRDTdev seems to give the chapter's death important content shortly before their deaths. Ace has been one of the most prominent characters this chapter, which could be a bad sign.

Reasons Ace Wouldn't Be the Blackened

OBVIOUSNESS & POINT OF CHARACTER: Of course Ace would be willing to kill Arei or whoever and the rest of the students. This is kind of the inverse of my "would absolutely fucking do it" point-- I don't know exactly how much surprise it would carry if Ace were to be the culprit. And, more than that, I feel like the point of Ace is that he is a victim here, but he's so unlikable that no one wants to acknowledge that or believe in him. I think it'd be an interesting comparison, if everyone really wants Ace to be the killer, but he just isn't. To everyone's dismay, Ace is still here. Now what?

SECRET LARGELY UNRESOLVED: Ace's secret hasn't really had any plot relevance yet. It seems like most people's do. I'm like lowkey expecting them to bring back the starvation motive from SDR2 in Chapter 4 and have SOMETHING happen with Ace there. Either way, while it could be reserved for his bonus episode (a la Min and Xander), I'd expect that his secret would have more main-story impact before he dies.

EXISTENCE OF SCRUM DEBATE: We're suspecting Ace first, but we still haven't done the scrum debate for this trial. Unless the scrum debate is "do we just vote for Ace without ever really pursuing Eden" and the answer is "yes," I don't see how we get out of this suspecting Ace period with a scrum debate without at least entertaining the idea of Ace's innocence.

STRONG CONNECTIONS TO OTHER CAST MEMBERS: Ace is very relevant to the Levi, Nico and Hu plotlines right now. Are they really going to just... get rid of him, when that's what both Nico and Hu would want?

ABILITY TO FIGURE OUT THE CONTRAPTION: Ace would not only have to recognize the way in which Nico was trying to kill him (which, to be fair is easier if he did wake up partway through), he would also have to conceptualize and figure out how to make the playground contraption successfully. I think Eden's clockmaking skills and... generally higher intelligence imo would be better suited to that.

COWARDICE: Ace is so fucking scared of everything. Would he want to put himself into harm's way by becoming the killer and having a do or die moment in the Trial? But, is he more scared of dying as a victim in the killing game, after seeing how close Nico came to killing him?

Points About Ace That Could Go Either Way

TAYLOR LORE DROP: Ace's friend, named Taylor per a Q&A with the dev, got vagued about in this Trial. Is that something to be pursued in a later Ace free time (following the one with Levi), or is that something that's going to be explained further in Ace's bonus episode (which could VERY easily be about friendship, considering it's Mai fucking Akasaki as the other person in the convo).

ACE'S BREAKDOWN @ LEVI: When Ace said he didn't fall for Levi caring about him at all, was that him affirming himself that it was the correct decision to try to kill, even if it'd put Levi's life at stake, who he previously kinda liked? Or was he lying to himself, and, at least previously, he wouldn't have wanted to kill Levi, no matter how harsh he seemed on the surface?

Well, that's all I got! Please let me know if you can come up with any more points for any of the 6 categories, because I'm very very curious to hear them! I'm thinking I might try to do an expansion on this in a separate post before next episode if I have time, exploring the ins and outs of each point with more textual evidence to back it up. I'd love to discuss any reader-suggested points too, if y'all have some in mind!

For now, I'm still personally leaning towards Eden as the culprit over Ace, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it be either of them. Well, other than the fact that my reaction to the killer being revealed is going to be :O no matter what.

[saintobio]

OK OK OK OMG I FINALLY CAUGHT YOUR ASKBOX OPEN YAYYYY!! But also...

Ummm.... Yeah no maybe it's my fault for opening my mouth xdxdsdgadvd (also for some reason it wouldn't let me take a screenshot so enjoy these shitty pics I had to take from my phone 🤡)

It's a side tangent but since you came back with sn, one of the most fun things have been to theorize and see other people's theories hehe. I honestly read sy so long ago and it had such an impact on me, so seeing you and honestly everyone back here; talking about series and excited about updates makes me feel so giddy and at home. It's been a while since I've had so much fun in a fandom XD

Ok now back to the ANGST, I want you to know this was my reaction the whole time,

I was honestly scared of even reading the chapter but my GOSHHHH.

It was honestly so refreshing to see Satoru finally acknowledge what y/n means to him and no matter how much he tries she might still be the most important thing to him in the end. Honestly it was a cathartic moment they both needed at the lake but still 😭 my heart is hurting so much for them. To finally stand face to face and acknowledge the hurt, to hold each other 😭😭 They both really needed that. I might just be looking too much into it, but when Gojo threw his ring in the ocean y/n was able to get it back (even if geto was the one who found it) but when y/n threw the last part of Gojo; the necklace into the lake, he went after it but didn't get it back... it sounds like symbolism for something that I am not ready for

It was honestly so refreshing to see Satoru finally acknowledge what y/n means to him and no matter how much he tries she might still be the most important thing to him in the end. Honestly it was a cathartic moment they both needed at the lake but still 😭 my heart is hurting so much for them. To finally stand face to face and acknowledge the hurt, to hold each other 😭😭 They both really needed that. I might just be looking too much into it, but when Gojo threw his ring in the ocean y/n was able to get it back (even if geto was the one who found it) but when y/n threw the last part of Gojo; the necklace into the lake, he went after it but didn't get it back... it sounds like symbolism for something that I am not ready for TvT

They are both hurt, they are both suffering without each other; but they also suffer when they are with each other. TvT

Also, I understand Akemi's reaction but bitch 😭😭 Don't you realise this is exactly what y/n felt when you slept with Satoru. Her avoiding y/n to not make her angry or trouble her, I understand; but it just seems to me that she's making excuses to lessen her guilt and run away so she doesn't have to see what she did to her best friend. LIKE SHE'S SO FRICKING EAGER to play house with Satoru and when Sachi called her mama she was overjoyed. It's just so... sus. I might understand her but I lost all respect for her when she decided to betray her bff. I would never understand women who choose a man over someone who's been there for them through everything. I just think she's taking the whole "I can fix him" 🤡 thing too seriously but idk at this point.

And Satoru how THE FUCK DO YOU KEEP FUMBLING THE WOMEN YOU LOVE SO BAD. If you are gonna be an asshole atleast do it right!? I so badly wanna believe he only ran after Akemi to check on her and explain everything but... I just don't have enough faith in him now :<

I feel SO BAD for y/n. Girlll 😭, I don't even know what to say but I can only give her this message-

(My asks always get so long so quick, sorry oof. But SIDE SIDE TANGET- I ABSOLUTELY LOVED RIDE OR DIE. I ATE IT UP FOR BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER OH GODDDD. I was a certified Sukuna!hater but you have changed my ways... you have brainwashed me into falling head over heels for that gremlin xd the brainrot rn is so bad- like MOVE ASIDE GOJO)

thanks so much for sending this ask. yayy you finally made it to the askbox on time !! :’D and this was such a fun read for me. ty for sharing <3 it’s always nice to see such long asks abt sn/sy bc the theories and analyses are all so great, like how do u guys come up with those? they’re so detailed too!! 🥹

i agree i think what makes sy11 impactful is bcos it took so long for gojoyn to be honest with each other, only for it to crumble down the next day bcos of their trauma, external relationships, and distrust with each other 💔 like so close yet so far

and ooh interesting analysis on akemi! i like how you juxtaposed her reaction to gojoyn versus yn’s reaction to catching gojokemi. there’s definitely a big difference there :> but i won’t say anything more to avoid spoilers hehe

lastly, rod! omg thanks for reading, i thoroughly enjoyed writing it i was giddy the whole time !!! but same bb same that gremlin has me on a chokehold too 😆

[sokkastyles]

ATLA Live Action Ep 1 Thoughts:

When the writers meant they wanted it to be like game of thrones, clearly they meant "we want the battles to happen in complete darkness so nobody can see what is going on," and not, you know, the sex stuff.

Idk why this never occurred to me until now but ostrich horse is chocobo.

They are clearly going for a darker, more grittier feel here, but it clashes with the attempt to keep things true to the animated origin. Like, the earth kingdom OC looks straight out of some more realistic Adult fantasy show, whereas Sozin's character design makes him look like evil Santa.

So firebenders are able to do that to bodies, which I appreciate from a fanfic perspective and also confirms what people have been theorizing about the agni kai, that Ozai put his hand on his son's face. Not sure it was necessary to see it, though. The original does a good job of horrifying us with implied violence and the adults already get it, while showing it makes it less accessible to a younger audience. This is hardly a problem unique to this show, though.

Air nomads actually riding sky bison!

I like having more background with the air nomads and Aang's actor is great but front-loading the flashbacks doesn't work great for the pacing.

One thing I do really like is the emphasis on how the war damaged the harmony of the nations in more than just a spiritual way. No one has friends from other nations now. Zuko comes seeking "someone who does not belong" with the (false) promise that no one will get hurt if everyone keeps to themselves, keeps the status quo. The air nomads are a complete anomaly in a world of division. We are introduced to Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Zuko, and all are isolated in their own way by the war at the beginning of the story.

Overall there is something just weird about the pacing. Characters keep pausing at vital moments of action to deliver exposition or meaningful monologues. It just feels off.

Zuko so desperate for "glory" that he accepts Sokka's proposal to fight one on one (nice foil to the final agni kai by the way). Then his surprise when Aang shows himself reveals that Zuko himself did not know whether he would really find the Avatar in this village he's suddenly shown up to terrorize. God, it just emphasizes how low Zuko is at this point. This is probably his first real high stakes fight and he might have killed Sokka over absolutely nothing out of a false sense that he had something to prove. It's just...sad.

The scene at the Southern Air Temple looked great and had me in tears. I actually saw some criticism of this to the effect of them "ruining Aang's arc" because he comes out of the Avatar state himself, but first of all, let's be real and admit that if mastering the Avatar State was Aang's arc, he never completed it. Second, just because he could bring himself out does not mean he can control it, and he's still letting his emotions control him which is a learning curve for handling that power, it's just that he was able to control his anger in that moment by remembering the people he loved. Which is not that different from how the scene plays out in the original, only he isn't using Katara as a crutch. Which is a good thing, actually. It's much more fitting and poignant that he thinks about Gyatso here.

I don't think there was any mention of Katara wanting to go north. She has a few lines about wanting to help more and Aang teaches her about balance so she can bend now, apparently, but where is her drive? It feels like they're attributing her accomplishments to Aang and that bothers me. Maybe it'll be mentioned in the next episode, since they haven't talked about Aang learning waterbending yet, either. But I do miss the Katara who was ready to banish herself from the village the moment she met Aang not just because it was the right thing to do, but because of her own desire for independence and autonomy.

Liked the scene between Aang and Iroh. It gives us a glimpse of an Iroh who is stuck as to what to do and so he just gives Aang the Zuko treatment by offering him tea. I'd be excited if this means we get to see more development for Iroh.

[emmalouloubean]

thoughts after ep 27

back before arc #3 started, I made a post of theories and predictions and things, and I already referenced it once, but here I am to reference it again (you don't have to go back and read that post, I'll reiterate all the important info here)

the two big things I'll bring up here are the politics of destroying the station of the Witch of the World's Heart and the tense collaboration between Mirara and Indri (warning: idk how to shut up so this is a little long)

I understand where they (Ame, Suvi, and Eursulon) are coming at with the numbers angle, but back in ep 15, Mirara said that the coven can act without unanimity and Grandma Wren said that they may act as they see fit without her approval. So I'm not sure how strong that argument is gonna be on its own. There is a difference between unanimity and majority, but I think that they might need something else on top of the issue with odd/even members.

Also in ep 15, Grandma Wren said that "there will be tremendous repercussions if you insinuate that any of the other stations are not incredibly significant to the nature of magic itself" and in Ep20, Sly tells Ame that "one of your sisters is going to make the argument that your existence threatens the nature of magic in the world of Umora. And the only way—in the majority of cases where you win that argument, you win it because in order to get rid of your station, they would probably magically have to get rid of another." I think the key points of both of these statements in the tie to magic, as if the thing that makes getting rid of a station in the coven is some sort of magical law/rule and not just a logistical one. I know Brennan was almost leading them away from that conclusion, but I really feel like they were onto something with the idea of balance. Plus, we haven't seen any of the "tremendous repercussions" that Grandma Wren mentioned. Maybe the repercussions are just Ame gets to take someone else with her, or maybe it's a bit of etiquette that Ame doesn't know yet and they're playing off her ignorance, like maybe Ame is allowed to do something in response and she doesn't know she's granted any sort of special reaction.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised that my theory that Indri is working with the Man in Black (MiB) seems to be coming true. I felt a little like the Pepe Silvia meme when I was coming up with it.

We got confirmation that the MiB is under Mirara's station and I think that based on Indri was talking during their argument that they are probably working together against the wizards. And by the transitive property, we can guess that Indri and the MiB are also allies.

I theorized Indri might be working with the MiB because one of the other titles for him is the Pilgrim Under the Stars, which implies that he moves around like people, walking around on the ground (at least to me). In the last memory Ame has in Ep15, Grandma Wren says that "he has been moving upon our world in a way that I cannot quite see" which I think we all clocked, but she also stated explicitly that it's only been like this recently (to quote directly: "for some time now, since you were a very little girl, in fact"). It's possible that perhaps the reason this changed was because Indri had aligned herself with the MiB and was aiding him in moving in a way that is no longer under the stars.

I wonder if Grandma Wren had somehow clocked this because in Ep2, Brennan said that "she sort of had a relationship with [the stars], like someone who spent time in their company" so maybe that's how she knew something was up or wrong with them. I wonder if she asked Steele for a book (the one about stars of the southern sky that was sent with Suvi along with the shape-changer diagrams) that categorized the stars or just listed them in an effort to compare the information of what the sky used to look like or how these things used to work with how they may have been changed by either Indri or MiB.

Let me know what you guys think! Were you guys surprised by the Mirara/Indri alliance reveal? I was a little caught off guard ngl, even though I've suspected Indri of not being on Ame's side before we even met her lol

[onesidedradiostatic]

About Alastor's moral code, what I get from the show and from The Radio Demon comic (released in 2020 so I guess it's kinda up to interpretation weither it's still canon or not), is that he dislikes gratuitous violence/abuse against innocent people, but 1) if someone annoys him they're not innocent and 2) if he can gain something from violence it's not exactly gratuitous now, is it?

Also from memory it was said (out of the show so again, things may have changed) that his murders while alive "had to do with his weird moral code", Dexter like kinda, but no precision about what this moral code was exactly

(now we can theorize, based on the comic, that it may have to do with abuse, and I like the headcanon that he may have being going against powerful/otherwise untouchable people, but that's just theories and headcanons as far as I am concerned)

(prev ask about alastor's moral code)

oh yeah I know about that comic (although it's now I realise that I somehow didn't fully read it until now LMAO but I'd read certain parts of it before), yeah pre-series canon is kinda ???? but I'll take what I can get I suppose. his fucked up sense of thinking with "if someone annoys me they're not innocent" LMAO yeah I can see how his code works that way.

well at least what we DO know from the show itself is that he took down heavy-hitting overlords, we can probably assume that those were the top of corrupt overlords, but he also still keeps certain overlords like the vees alive. but at the same time, we KNOW he doesn't see the vees as a threat ("wait who are the vees?" "oh nobody important") so it might be just cause of that or maaaaybe possibly a teeny bit of sentiment from his past friendship with vox? we don't really know enough about the other overlords but he respects rosie and zestiel, and carmilla seems generally goodhearted so it makes sense why he wouldn't kill them. idk, I guess a lot of it is really still speculation, but he certainly has a weird moral code alright.

[italicized-oh]

📓!!!

hiiiii sorry this took me so long to get to! i had some Irrational Fear to deal with. but i kicked its ass so we're back, baby

all right. look. we all know i have religious trauma. and so a Very large part of me wants to go back to make me an instrument (the v distorted reality fucked up timescape flashback experience jace has post-death and/or post-shatterstar). and i probably will if anyone else wants to read it lol. but!

as far as something i haven't written yet but have just been noodling on. i'm v v curious about what an amnesia fic would entail for any combo of zarajaceporter (or if i'm gonna janelle-bait then. any clone combo too). like we've done a lot of tropes so far and i am in Absolute Undying Love with every single one of them. but unless i've missed it i think it would be v v fun (and also evil) of me to write either porter or jace losing their memories post-fhjy finale. the whole coming back wrong thing, but like. coming back wrong 2: electric boogaloo. oops no memories of the One Meaningful Event that tied us together. of the years of devotion and manipulation and salvific fantasies and. well. scorching hot sex.

idk who it would be worse for in which role, but here's some initial thoughts below.

if it's porter who comes back w oops no memories. then jace is all alone w his trauma (unless zara's there but even then. she wasn't ensared by porter like jace was). like. he's carrying the weight of knowing porter, knowing porter-rage-god, and knowing this. not shell bc it's still v much porter. but it's somehow not the same porter as before bc this one knows something is missing. and lives with a hollowness inside him that makes him so, so fucking angry (at ankarna, funnily enough. some things never change). and he's so deeply in love with jace all over again, but jace has decided that This Time he won't fall into bed/love w porter again.

if it's jace, though. ohhhh boy. i almost feel ashamed of how brutally naive he would be all over again. if you're a jaceclone enjoyer, think j2's whole deal. like. do we watch him fall for porter all over again? does this jace inherently distrust porter for some reason unknown to him? does this jace know why porter looks at jace like porter's expecting jace to stab him or mind sliver him at any moment? does this jace even care? like, idk, it might actually be good in a twisted kind of way, because porter gets a do over and jace doesn't have to have literally been consumed and used up by a rage monster. hmmm. i don't think jace is angry, though. i think he's secretly relieved, because context clues and the haunted look in porter's eyes are plenty. he doesn't need to remember (bc in my heart and my headcanons jace is at his core a coward. not in a really derogatory way, just in a. that man has no spine. only under the Most Extreme circumstance will he stand up to someone.)

anyways tl;dr: amnesia fic featuring so, so much pining, theorizing about what it means to come back wrong but at least you came back, and the question of whether it's better to remember or not remember the years of your life when your mind and body were not your own. oops now we're into my trauma personally so im gonna end it here. hope this entertains! <3

[kerubimcrepin]

Episode 26 - A Hairy Mystery

TW: Discussions of in-universe false allegations of S.A. towards animals and/or children. Discussions of addictions, and what might be actual S.A.

This episode is a doozy, both canonically and due to the analysis I conduct.

From the first seconds of the episode, we can note one very important detail:

The episode's narration is not censored by Kerubim, as is usually the case, but filtered through Joris's very limited understanding of sexuality and other adult things, and metaphors alluding to those.

Which results in this being a very dark episode in every single way possible and kinda batshit insane, when thought about for too much.

This is the same house as the one we'll see in Episode 50, Deadly Charm.

During Episode 50's time, the two of them share this house. This may suggest that the two episodes happen relatively closely, timeline-wise. It would make sense, considering the fact that in both of these episodes, Lou investigates crimes.

This investigation sounds like how long a war that would result in the birth of a very cool huppermage would last.

This episode will be hellish to translate... First of all: all the little text on these images? Just gibberish. Also, it's the same gibberish copypasted in all the newspapers.

However, we have some juicy stuff in the big text blocks: real text, with more context for the ep, besides what we see through Joris's ~imagination~

Big text on the top:

"LITTLE CAT (??? something something)

LITTLE CAT WHO DRANK MILK WAS NICE, FRIENDLY AND WELL-BEHAVED, WHICH DOESN'T/DIDN'T---

THIS BY PUTTING LAXATIVE IN THE BOWL OF HIS SWEET SELF"

Big text on the bottom:

"HE LOOKS LIKE A BEANPOLE(???) -----------UN"

Firstly: the newspaper name says "BOTA" instead of "BONTA"... Not even a spare letter "N" for the starving public?

The text on the left is, for some reason, upside down, and the letter N is in my transcription only because it makes more sense than W. What is says is: "EST U(N)E FIOTTE"

Translation: Someone (a female judging by "une") is (I am about to quote google here) "a homophobic(?) swear word for men(??)."

I'm sure someone in Ankama was very giddy to have snuck this in, but god, I wish I knew what this really means.

Don't worry. There are worse hidden texts in this episode... Like this next one.

I guess that what Kerubim is accused of is. Uh. not... literally eating a cat. It's something... different. Or eating the cat and also doing other things to the cat. hm.

I guess for Ecaflips, doing this to a cat, is not just an animal thing but also uh. a kid thing.

...Idk if I ever wanted to know this much about the World of Twelve. Man.

To pause from the insanity of this episode so far, I want to point out, that, both here, and in the episode 50, which we had established, takes place close to this one, Kerubim and Lou are very close to marriage/consider each other fiancés (in episode 50, she is referred to as his wife, despite them not being married).

So... I am assuming both of them take place before Ecaflip City! We're making some real discoveries here, folks.

This episode was funnier before I knew this was Kerubim's twitter callout arc. Now it's just sad.·😭

Also, in a better circumstance, I would comment on how cute it is that Kerubim says he likes cats (or babies, considering that for ecaflips... yeah. man. this episode is making me say insane things.) that much.

No wonder he's going fucking insane.

The first one is a reused text asset from the first episodes that says "MAISON DE NERUBIM CREPIN". What she is writing seems to be "RMCP"

The second one is, uh. Yeah.

Judging by the paintings, I suppose this episode takes place after Vax's Art (ep10) and Bashi the Shark (ep7).

I know these are just reused assets, but also — it's Ankama's own fault that they gave me this to do theorizing with.

Jesus fucking Christ, here we go. Twenty pages of analysis incoming:

He had a very interesting evening. Getting drunk (as usual), gambling (as usual)...

But having a woman "ride" him, while being very, very drunk, too — is this also, in fact, usual? Hopefully, it was a literal riding, horse-style.

Judging from Lou's phrasing and reaction, as well as this episode's whole thing so far, it was probably not.

Which is... not good at all. Yeah.

We'll never truly know, with Joris's unreliable narration in this episode. But I am sad to report, that I don't think it would be out of character for Kerubim to... have these things happen to him, and be okay with that.

And it's in-character for Lou to view Kerubim's habits of getting drunk and gambling everything away, while having ambiguously-nonconsensual (on his side) relations with women, as punishable evils on his part, good old "shit boyfriend" behaviours.

Instead of, y'know, self-destruction.

...Okay, I think I am ready to present something to you, so here's a refresher for my earlier liveblogs, in the form of the six tenets of theorizing about their final break up we established:

She left sad, and unlike many other times, without any anger for Kerubim.

She left Luis with him to watch over him.

She also left Luis because he couldn’t go with her, but that could mean many things.

She left after Ecaflip City, obviously, and at that time, their relationship seemed the healthiest. (Well, as healthy as it could be.)

Unlike all the other times, Kerubim didn’t go searching for her. It seems this separation was final in a way no other was, and there had to be a reason that he didn’t go and try to make up. An unsolvable issue.

Both Luis and Kerubim blame Kerubim, and the first one uses this to make the second one angry.

I think it's time to make to finally reveal my Divorce Theory:

I think Lou left Kerubim after regaining her memories, and realizing that they're just bad for each other.

She often manipulated him using his insecurities and fears of abandonment, which are the result of his childhood traumas. She hit him, and disregarded, or at times exacerbated, his various mental health issues.

While he has cheated on her many times while being completely sober, without any regard for her personhood and feelings. He's gambled away her memories.

Yes, they loved each other, but they were horrible together.

And I think it's a very sad realization to have about someone you've been in love with for your whole life:

That all you've ever managed to do is hurt each other, and make things worse.

...Now that I'm done with sad divorce theories, let's finish up this episode.

The newspaper that shows miss Kitty behind bars, has all the same text as the newspaper where Kerubim is behind bars, so I won't include it, but this?

This has a plot twist:

"EM ILIE EST U(N)E FIOTTE"

...Emilie, if you're out there: years ago, in Dofus: Aux Trésors de Kerubim, someone called you a bad word.

And I hope it was a joke and not some office drama. I really do hope so.

...My reaction to this whole fucking episode, Keke.

My exact reaction to all of it.

This is the face of a parent who knows that he will have to assess the damage. A second plane has hit the fucking pentagon level damage.

The "will he be asking me what "riding" means now?" "will he be asking me why "you ate a kitten" allegations got me into prison?" level damage.

Actual nightmare.

[breannasfluff]

Oof this got way longer than I meant it to. um, i just want to preface this real quick- i dunno if you enjoy criticism on your fanfic? i hope that doesn't come across as rude or anything, i just know for a lot of people fanfic just isn't really the time or place for critique and that's obviously totally valid. i feel like i'm making a mess of this lmao. but basically feel free to just ignore this if you'd like. i just have some thoughts about ur work that i kinda wanted to share.

So i have a question about the eldritch au that's... not really constructive criticism only because the series isn't finished? Idk if that makes any sense but basically I was wondering if we'll get to see anyone other than the chain being freaked out by Wild? I ask because i was thinking after meeting Malon in Eldritch Ranch that like... everyone Wild's been introduced to *other* than the Chain seems to just be fine with him? Like, it was Sun, then it was Ravio, and now Malon... it's sort of starts to feel like the chain is just the only ones who have a problem with him?

And I mean, it's not like any of these characters being okay with Wild doesn't make sense or anything- Sun, obviously, has her own eldritch shit going on; Ravio is from a dark world; all the people in Wild's hyrule presumably are used to him (I'm also theorizing that the calamity was like... lightly corrupting, just enough to make the folks in wild's hyrule more resistant to his aura); even with Malon, I actually really like the idea of her, as proto-Malanya, also having her own sort of eldritch vibes.

I guess what I'm trying to get across is that it just feels a bit odd that literally every time the chain has introduced Wild to someone else that someone else has been All Good With The Eldritch Aura, Actually. BUT, because the series is still unfinished, I don't know if that's a purposeful thing or not yet. It's entirely possible that we will meet some other folks who get freaked out by wild, or it will turn out that maybe the chain actually are just particularly sensitive to wild's brand of Fuckery. maybe they're extra aware of it for hero's spirit reasons? Triforce reasons? i dunno! anyways i want to take this time to re-emphasize how much i enjoy eldritch malon. because, you know, Hell Fucking Yes. Many well wishes to u <3

You are correct, fanfic is not the place for critique! If you commissioned something from me and paid for it, you can critique it. If I post specifically asking for feedback on something, you can provide it.

Otherwise, I write for free. Pointing out flaws is not encouraging to writing. It's demoralizing, and doesn't make me want to continue posting.

As you noted, the people Eldritch Wild has met have all been eldritch in their own way, or Sun, who's got her own special thing. You can always write a fanwork if there's a specific scenario you want to see.

Below goes for all my followers:

Things you can let me know: I forgot the link to ao3 at the end of the tumblr post. What you like about the story. You made fanart and want to share it. You'd like to give me a million dollars.

Things you do not need to share: Critique, constructive criticism, or things you disagree with. If you don't like it, please don't read it.

[cinamun]

I know a lot of focus on Mercy's movie is on if it is just an affair or the affair along with constant disrespect on all ends (and I agree!) but I wanna add my two cents as someone who experienced my father cheating and also exposure to addicts around me as a childhood and say maybe that's part of a motive. Cus I know how much that effected me once I got an understanding of what was happening due to exposure at a young age. Luckily, Jay didn't witness it, thank god. But that's bc Mercy did the work to make sure he was safe physically and mentally. (Even if it doesn't help that much in adulthood when he's pulling teeth to get answers.)

Jackson was having these "after parties" so to say, at his home. Jay just sleeping in the other room as Gerogies supposedly getting into more hardcore drugs. With the woman he use to date who was still trying to make moves and got pregnant. Under the roof he shared with his wife and kid.

To me, not only did he disrespect Mercy, he disrespected Jay and his space too.

Though, I could be extremely bias. My mother got on my dad's ASSSS and made him apologize to me for cheating. Not just her. It's silly, but even though Jackson's fictional, I sorta envy that Mercy hid it so well he wasn't exposed to it if that makes sense.

Idk!! But if I was in Mercy's shoes.. I'd want a few kicks in. Maybe a car.

Not maybe a car!!

I think there is a whole lifestyle around musicians and sometimes that means after parties at the crib while the kids are asleep.

Also known as Grown Folks Business™

The thing is, those were USUALLY held in the garage according to Jayce (when he told Hope about his parents that one time). Maybe Jackson got too comfortable and started bringing those parties inside. And this was was when Mercy started to feel the energy shift when Jackson and Bertie were off the stage.

I DONT KNOW but what I do know, is I love you and thank you for reading and theorizing with us.

The person I really, truly need to hear from, is Mercy. I hope for everyone's sake that she can open up in Chapter 25.

Will you stay tuned? Hope so.

[asterzratz02]

BIG MAGNUS PROTOCOL SPOILERS FOR EP 1 AND 2! YOUVE BEEN WARNED!

Ok I have a theory. Has this already been posted? Probably, but I'm brain rotting.

It's mainly based off of this bit in the transcripts (pls note im getting my transcripts from the unofficial transcript archive, however as far as I know these transcripts are still accurate and the the same as the official transcripts)

This is literally from the first episode, the first non-spoken lines are about a computer listening. No, sorry not listening eavesdropping. As a writer you wouldn't use the word eavesdropping unless it was ment to personify something. Maybe I'm looking too much into this, but like- this is only where my decent into tmp madness starts. Ofc Norris and Chester being voiced by Jonny and Alex heavily implies that some part of Jon and Martin's soul has been transferred into the computers, or programs, files, or whatever you wanna call it. There's not quite enough info to determine how much of them is trapped in the computers, but im quite certain more than just there voice is trapped. There's emotion in the voices, especially Martin's (because ofcourse there would be, my favorite poet-) once again personifying the computers. Now, im not sure if the eavesdropping computer was 'Norris' or 'Chester' or even 'Augustus.' At first I though 'Oh well lots of people are theorizing that Augustus is Jonah and I was convinced. Not the mention that supports my connection to the eavesdropping computer. Because ofcourse, Jonah would be eavesdropping, especially seeing as we're all theorizing that Gwen is related to Elias. (Bouchard lastname)

NOW. HEAR ME OUT. The Bouchard lastname isn't inherently connected to Jonah Magnus. Before Elias was possessed by Jonah, he was just some guy. I can't remember excatly what ep of mag that's in, but I distinctly remember someone mentioning how odd it was that Elias went from a low level position at the institute with issues of some kind? I forgot what kind? Anyways what I'm trying to say is while yes, it makes sense that Elias and Gwen are related, that doesn't mean Qwen has anything to do with Jonah. Especially since as far as I know, Jonah was obliterated. Like... he's gone gone- and this universe were listening in on is most likely (this might have been confirmed, I'm unsure) a whole alternate universe from the one the magnus archives took place in. Wait I think it was confirmed? Seeing as it burnt down in 1999 in this universe as far as I recall, and the tma podcast takes place in the mid 2010's. So pretty sure tma and tmp take place in different universes, tied togethor via the web. Think spider man into the spiderverse if your confused. (Sorry im really just rambling at this point)

Anyways. Now I'm thinking, the Jonah Magnus in the tma universe was destroyed.... meaning Augustus probably isn't Jonah? HOWEVER. I just though of something. Was the Jonah Magnus in the tmp universe destroyed??? Maybe he's just some guy who died before coming to use the power of the watcher, but... maybe not? Ok so... the main question I'm left with then is who's useing the computers to eavesdrop? Maybe it is this universes Jonah, whoever he's possessed this time... my bets on Lena, but that's a whole other theory that I don't feel like going on a tangent about rn. Maybe it's Chuch, Norris, and/or Augustus. Maybe Augustus is Annabelle? Idk.

Anyways, I'm gonna use this as a thread and add onto it the more thoughts I have on this :3

[weepylucifer]

Hmmm okay. I think we can theorize why, on a characterization level, Kid Kevin wants to kill Adult Kevin until the cows come home, but as someone who has witnessed these things, I reckon we should also maybe consider what's going on at the meta level

I'll explain through a little retrospective, for those who haven't invested any thought in Kevinology. From Triptych onward (at the latest) Kevin has been a widely beloved character, subject of many fanfics. When the Mudstone Abyss dropped, it was highly controversial to the crowd who had become very attached to various fanons: A) one where Kevin already had an OC boyfriend (Diego, or similar) and B) one where Cecil and Carlos take pity on Kevin, take him into Night Vale, unbrainwash and "adopt" him. A) is not important right now. It is to B) that we shall turn our attention.

I think Finknor noticed, since obviously they're on social media, that the Mudstone Abyss was unpopular at the time for not giving Kevin an unbrainwashing arc where he becomes nice, soft, sad, adorable and childlike and/or turns back into Pre-Strex Kevin. Instead, they portrayed Kevin as a complex adult man who is trying to reckon with a traumatic past but frequently does so in unhealthy and harmful (to himself and others, especially others) ways, and who is struggling to consolidate said harmful coping mechanisms with new adult responsibilities (a partner and step-son). People did not know what to do with this. They had existed in a fanon where trauma survivors are expected to turn back into their Before Selves at the snap of a finger, where trauma makes you sad, and soft, and uwu, and unambiguously better, for years at that point. I think that's why we didn't get any new Kevin episodes for a long, very long time. (Charles and Donnie have gained a handful of fans since. But I cannot overstate how hated they were initially.) I think now, with The Boy, the writers have decided it is time to address the issue.

Things can go several ways now:

Kid Kevin kills Adult Kevin and "make[s] a fresh start". The people finally get what they wanted: Kevin as a cute little kiddo who gets raised in Night Vale and gets doted on by Cecil and Carlos (and bonus Tamika!). The unpopular adult version from Mudstone Abyss onward is erased. Charles and Donovan, idk, are never heard from again. We have set right what once went wrong.

Kid Kevin and Adult Kevin reach some sort of agreement and part ways without a fight. The outcome can be the same: Kid Kevin returns to Night Vale, Adult Kevin is just never really relevant again. The fandom can forget all about him. We have set right what once went wrong.

Adult Kevin kills Kid Kevin. Unlikely, also a bit anticlimactic.

They manage to resolve the conflict in a poignant way that doesn't pander to thee most annoying subsection of the Desert Bluffs fans, showing that they stick to how they chose to develop Kevin in Mudstone Abyss and that he has a right to exist even though Cecil and parts of the fandom do not really like him. Holding out hope for that one personally, but who knows 😬

[i-am-a-living-god]

Sorry that other anon was so rude to you :((, so you can info dump about Mikey if you want!

:000 it's ok, it didn't really affect me, like I said, I like arguing. But thank you, I would never turn down an invasion to gush about my favorite character :DDD

All version spoilers ahead!

Aight, 03 Mikey's accent is fake surfer dude accent. As in according to my father who grew up in California, and knew a lot of surfers, Mikey's accent is not that of an actual surfer but rather that of someone trying to imitate a surfer accent.

03 Mikey's legs are cursed. /J he's always injuring them.

03 Mikey in my humble opinion is a true feminist icon. "You wouldn't hit a lady, but a lady would hit you!" "I can't wear this, I can't! The color clashes with my bandana!" –he says referring to a pink dress. Did I mention I love him?

2012 Mikey deserves better. My guy was literally insulted in every way possible, the only complements he got being well... Not complements compared to what was said about each of his brothers only moments before. I'm looking at you Splinter and Rennet.

based off my observations, in 2012 Raph is the only person Mikey allows to hit him. When anyone else does it, he gets offended. This I feel showcases how the same action performed by different people can mean very different things. I theorized with a sibling that when Raph hits him it's affectionate, or just not offensive. This is because Raph will hit anybody no matter what. Doesn't matter who you are, what your doing he will hit you. (Exept for Splinter) where as when Leo or Donnie hit him it's usually used as an insult of some kind. Example when Leo slapped him while he was "talking nonsense" this meant that not only did Leo not believe him about what he saw, but also that he was probably calling him stupid.

This is probably nonsensical but whatever.

In 2007 Mikey gets beat up by children at his work place.

Rise Mikey is awesome. Idk what his deal is, I can't figure it out for the life of me.

87 Mikey is fantastic, he's layed back, chill and probably smokes crack. :) /affectionate

87 Mikey has a love interest named kala. She's cool and I like her. The neutrinos are fun.

87 mikey likes gross things on his pizza, just like 12 Mikey, exept the only person who has any sort of problem with it is April and only for like 2 episodes. Oh did I mention all turtles like the same disgusting things on their pizza. Splinter eats only sushi :)

Bay Mikey is in love with his mom :D (and you thought 12 was weird)

I have clear favorites.

Ty for letting me rant anon! Made my night :)

[ladsofsorrow24]

i love the new chapter.

fujimoto really just served "denji as the damsel in distress" right on a silver platter in front of me with this chapter, him just wanting to play with the penguins? and letting asa/yoru and yoshida fight the ??? devil (also idk why but the design reminds me of snake devil and that one horse in the 5th ending of the anime)

VERY NICE, THANK YOU TATSUKI-SENSEI.

of course i CAN'T not talk about this page. the two most intriguing characters in one page. acknowledging each other's presence. such menacing air as they stare right into each other's eyes. the two people who, right now, in the narrative, possess knowledge that is unquantifiable for the other characters present in the scene.

just... WOW. little to no dialogue, yet such huge impact. and this is all because fujimoto took the time to established the mystery behind these characters, and that's really admirable of him.

also, kinda wanna point this part right here, but i think this... might be why denji is so adamant to reveal his identity even at the cost of his life, as told by yoshida

he's just in his rebellious phase, and that's okay (as long as someone help this kid *glared at the back of kishibe's head*)

YORU MY GIRL WOOOO!!!! SHE COME BACK YAAAYYYY!!!! 😭😭😭🥳🥳🥳🥳🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 LOOK AT HOW COOL SHE IS WAAAAAAAAAA

HEY WHAT DO YOU KNOW, LOSER? HEY TELL ME! HEEEEYYYYY!!!!!!

alright, all reaction aside, the cliffhanger doesn't really... scared me??? surprisingly i don't fear for denji's death or anything, he had survived being decapitated and killed many times in part 1, him being transformed into a weapon might not do much to his life, i guess?

but also i wonder if pochita will do something to nullify the transformation though... he is, after all denji's literal heart and we saw how he can take control of denji's body after their contract is nullified by makima in part 1 so...

idk, i'm just enjoying the ride and this chapter is giving me so much adrenaline rush while also fueling my little curious brain that loves to theorized things...

[mamaangiwine]

hi! i noticed in your pinned post that you said you try to include your hungarian heritage when it comes to your craft. may i ask for some recommendations regaring this? i'm hungarian myself but everything is about catholicism these days and i couldn't really find good books about the old ways.

thank you in advance, hope you have a wonderful day!

Oof. Idk if I can really provide recommendations tbh- at least not comfortably.

This is a tricky question as I am someone who supplements much of her craft with academic literature and research. Things like anthropological studies, folkloric studies, historical papers, etc.

However, there has in fact been an ongoing reframing of history in main-stream Hungary since the 1970s, influenced by nationalist rhetoric and spurred by a romanticized view of that history started by academics as early as the late 1800s .

These academics, inspired by the current European Romantic ideology of the time, sought to uncover the "true" history of Hungary that would illuminate the pre-conquest ethnic and cultural practices of ancient Hungarians. Though there are many notable academics we can trace back to the foundation of this reframing, one of the most well known is Vilmos Diószegi.

Diószegi worked incredibly hard to prove that Hungary's spiritual history was tied to a mysterious historical figure called a 'Taltos'. It was Diószegi's belief that the 'Taltos' was a Finno-Urgic-based, Turkic style 'shaman' who assisted in priestly duties in their respective communities and used a drum to enter an ecsatcy induced trance. Diószegi would even go on to theorize what the Taltos 'shamanistic world view' would have entailed. However, many scholars, including Éva Pócs, doubt these theories and have pointed to inconsistencies in Diószegi's research and reconstruction. Though there was undoubtedly Turkic influence, these scholars suggest that the Taltos has more in common with pre-christian Balkan, Bulgarian and Southern Slavic traditions.

Now, overall there wouldn't usually be a problem with that. Disagreements happen in academia all the time. The issue is that Diószegi's work is treated as absolute, and is the basis for most modern Hungarian paganism and reconstruction due to the unique ethnic and cultural identity it can provide. A cultural identity Hungarian Nationalists love to hold up on a pedestal and point to as evidence of a glorious and mystical past that existed before Christianity and, of course, Jewish People.

Therefore, when studying Hungarian paganism and folk practices one has to be discerning. Despite Diószegi's influence on Hungarian Academia as a whole, it doesn't mean it's all without merit (it doesn't necessarily mean all of Diószegi's work is completely without merit either, just that it shouldn't be treated as gospel especially with the inconsistencies surrounding it and the romantic european foundation it was already working from). For instance Mihály Hoppál's work has been known to research not only "modern" (60's and 70's) Hungarian folk practices, but source them by region. I've learned much from his detailing of Hungarian folk practices- I just don't take everything he has to say as fact. I question it and compare it with other research- rigorously.

As for the Catholic element of Hungarian practices, my personal take is this: Embrace it. That isn't to say that you should become a Christian or even agree with Christianity. Despite the fact that I, myself, am not Christian, I personally just find it unrealistic to separate the two. Christianity has been established in Hungary since the year 1000. Over that time the 'old ways' and Christian practices have undoubtedly been syncretized past the point of being able to concretely tell them apart. This is the fundamental problem I have with reconstruction as a whole, because much of it tries to simply omit Christain concepts from folk traditions without, ironically, realizing that in doing so we may be equally erasing pre-christain approaches and philosophies. They're just too entwined. My closest ancestors were catholic as opposed to pagan. Granted, weird catholics who saw things and knew things, but catholics none the less. Their history and traditions are just as valid, and are also just as important as the pre-christian beliefs that undoubtedly found themselves braided into that same history and those same traditions.

I'm sorry if this doesn't really answer your question, but regardless I hope you found it helpful.

[mikelogan]

I love theorizing about age gap relationships but in reality I’m really creeped out by age gap relationships even if they’re like 15 yr+, 30+ and it turns me off whoever it is and now I don’t write any age gaps over 10 yr

sorry lmao as someone who's had a thing for old men since i can remember (not joking lol) i think age gaps are hot. obviously im not into anything involving minors and it does give me the ick if the younger person is younger than like 25ish? but idk I'm 29 and if I didn't have such horrible anxiety I'd go find me a 60 yo silver fox and hop on that shit rn

my personal feelings aside, I completely understand and there's nothing wrong w feeling the way you do! plus what you enjoy in fiction or fantasize about doesn't mean you'd condone it irl