#beyond the mist [ meta ]

[emanation-aura]

can i ask for your rant on Genshin regional specialities? your meta on the bosses was very entertaining, and i largely agree–although i do have to argue that the ruin serpent is worse than the wenut in the spiral abyss

(Meta on boss drop bloat in Genshin)

Ok, well don't say I didn't warn you, anon.

Regional specialties suffer from the same problem as the boss drops as we always need to have at least one or two per expansion, and that as the expansions have gone on, the drops have become more and more mismatched. I mean, I have problems with some of the Liyue characters' regional specialty assignments too, but I'll deal with them too.

I'm gonna address them region by region.

(Highlights: Chongyun why do you use Cor Lapis, Dendrobium Chiori but she doesn't seem to be killing people?!, Thoma you poor soul on Fluorescent Fungus, Navia using Primordial Water, the thing she nearly died to—)

Liyue

Here is the current canonical list of who ascends with what in Liyue. Besides the obvious paradigm of why Gaming, a Pyro Vision user, is ascending with the Starconch (which has, for literal years, been a Childe and then Childe + Yelan exclusive, making it pretty much "Hydro Liyue ascender" for everyone released after 1.0, plus it's also literally a conch from the ocean, the theming—), I actually have more issues.

Chongyun using Cor Lapis, for instance. Like, let's look at the other two characters that use Cor Lapis: ah right, Zhongli aka Rex Lapis the (former) Geo Archon, whom this ore is named after, and Keqing, relentless driver of an ideal of change for Liyue Harbour, who is so dedicated to the idea of Liyue she is willing to blaspheme its Archon to do so. Both of these people, in very different ways, hold a great love for Liyue and wish to see it prosper.

Chongyun doesn't have this. It's not like he's disloyal or hates Liyue Harbour, but it's not a focal point of his character. He's more along the lines of Xiangling and Xinqiu as passively treating and treasuring Liyue as his home, but he doesn't carry the strong convictions that the Cor Lapis (lit. "Stone Heart") implies, at least not in the direction of Liyue Harbour. His character is all about his yang spirit and exorcism,

Honestly, I know it's not a regional specialty, but Chongyun would theoretically make the most sense ascending on Mist Flowers. Beyond that, my opinion is that he suits Qingxin more— like, come on, Qingxin (清心) means "pure heart" (or "mind cleansing"), and what's Chongyun's most famous motto? That's right, "Heart be pure, evil be erased. Mind be purged..." (and, via Shenhe, "world be saved").

Note: Ok, now the Chinese version of the motto is obviously very different, which might affect my argument. Combining what Shenhe completes for us, the motto is:

驅邪縛魅，內外澄清，回向正道，保身護命。 To expel evil and restrain demons, inside and outside pure and clear, turn back towards the upright Way, protect life-destiny and guard the body.

Translation courtesy of this site, since these mottos are based on the Eight Great Incantations in Daoism, specifically the "purifying the heart incantation" and "pacifying the earth incantation".

But I'd argue this makes the Qingxin argument even stronger. First of all, it straight up uses 澄清 chengqing "pure and clear", the same as the 清 qing in Qingxin. Second of all, the Daoist chant this comes from is the 淨心 jingxin "purifying the heart" mantra, like come on, I don't have the energy to explain even further how this suits him. Plus, the Qingxin description says "It eschews the warmth and moisture of the plains to gaze out afar from the solitary mountaintops." Apart from applying to the three (pseudo-) Adepti very well, doesn't this perfectly describe Chongyun's character struggle? Having to deny the warmth of life and keep himself cold (physically, mostly) and under control so that his yang spirit doesn't lose control??

Like, I know Qingxin is somehow the 'adepti' ascension material (excluding Xianyun and Yanfei, because Qingxin only applies to adepti/adjacent who don't really fit into the mortal world), but Chongyun fits this too well, and he can join his aunt Shenhe in using it too.

Other sins of Liyue ascension materials: ok, this one is less egregious, but I feel like Xinyan deserves Jueyun Chilli and not Violetgrass. Like, I get that the description of Violetgrass says it has a "strong vitality" and that its "downward-blooming flower keeps its fragrance from dissipating", both traits that reflect Xinyan's rock'n'roll persistence and her character, but Violetgrass is also a medicinal herb both factually and given that Baizhu and Qiqi both use it, so it's sending out mixed messages here. If anything, Xinyan suits Jueyun Chilli as well for being the "kick up the ass" for Liyue traditionalists (paraphrased but the sentiment is there). I'm not as sure on this one, since Jueyun Chilli also doubles as "Madam Ping's disciples' ascension material" with Yaoyao and Xiangling, but it doesn't even make sense for Yaoyao, swap her with Xinyan since Yaoyao is a healer and takes care of people and would make more sense ascending on a medicinal herb.

There's also, glaringly, the issue with Clearwater Jade and Xianyun being its only user. This has an easy hotfix: remember my problem with Gaming? Let him use Clearwater Jade instead for Chenyu connections, therefore fixing the 'there's literally only one user of this ascension material' problem. I know it's Clearwater Jade and Gaming is Pyro, but at least he has a lore connection to Chenyu Vale.

Speaking of the 'only one user of this ascension material' problem...

Inazuma

Q: Thoma, why the fuck are you the only one to use Fluorescent Fungus??

A: Because Thoma released in 2.2, just like Tsurumi Island.

There are two ways we can go about hits. First, we scrap the Fluorescent Fungus entirely and move Thoma to a different ascension material. The question is, which one? None of the others really have an MO that fits Thoma...

at least, in Inazuma.

Remember, Thoma is half-Mondstadtian. And if we wanna bend the rules a bit (or, in fact, actually give this half of his heritage some weight rather than just ignore it), why don't we give him a Mondstadt regional specialty?

Let's take Fluorescent Fungus' description. "A mushroom that glows like a night-light... [and] can help to light the way." Great, so we're dealing with only one theme here: bioluminescence and 'lighting the way in the dark'. Thoma has a Pyro Vision and works as a retainer for the Kamisato Clan, this isn't too strange. Hey, wait, isn't there also a bioluminescent plant from Mondstadt?

Small Lamp Grass: "A wild grass that emits light at night. Used in cooking to enhance other flavors. Just as the subtle fragrance of wild flowers will not distract a focused person, Small Lamp Grass' delicate glow will not attract their attention either, even at night."

Thoma could use Small Lamp Grass as a substitute, which three other characters already use, therefore reducing the amount of regional specialty bloat and making farming him not contingent on completing the Tsurumi Island questline, (which can be a good or a bad thing depending on what type of player you are), but as his """intended""" playstyle was a Hu Tao shielder at his release, the Lamp Grass choice also makes strategic sense since a Hu Tao owner will have likely already gotten a lot of Lamp grass by being in Mondstadt already, versus having to explore all of Inazuma. Plus, the Lamp Grass has an even better theming boon: "used in cooking to enhance other flavors" (like as a retainer, Thoma enhances the Kamisato Clan by his dedicated service).

If you wanted to play up Thoma's nostalgia for his homeland, you could make him use Windwheel Asters, which cannot grow in places with no wind or plagued by strong storms, only where the wind is gentle and nourishing. Inazuma, literally surrounded by a strong storm due to the Sakoku Decree and ravaged by the storms of war (metaphorically), would not be able to grow the Windwheel Aster until after the events of the Inazuma AQ and Raiden SQ II (assuming, for the sake of it, that Windwheel Asters can theoretically grow outside Mondstadt), reflecting how Thoma is stuck in a 'windless land' antithetical to his very nature. Big sad. I wish this was touched on more often, but that's an Inazuma critique, not just regional specialty reorganisation. And believe me, if I got into the Inazuma problems (as I have done in the past) we would be here all week.

The other option is not to scrap the Fluorescent Fungus, which in that case, someone else should use it. The only obvious candidate are our two new Inazuma releases: Kirara and Chiori. Out of the two of them, I think Chiori doesn't deserve Dendrobium, because it's such a reference to the red spider lily and death that even Chiori, who has her 'dark side' (being a blunt communicator??) doesn't exactly fit its MO. I mean, Sara is a war general. Of course she gets Dendrobium the flower that grows where blood was spilled. If Kokomi were a more competent character she would get Dendrobium too— *gets shot*

but it's hard to make a case for Chiori using Fluorescent Fungus unless you lean really hard into it being the "Inazuma outcast ascender", i.e. Thoma, a non-(full)-Inazuman living in Inazuma (everyone treats him considers him a 'naturalised' foreigner despite being half-Inazuman because that's the inevitable consequence of not being the picture of conformity in a society like this, trust me, I know the feeling), and Chiori, an Inazuman not living in Inazuma. The bioluminescence angle could also reflect Chiori's aspirations to become a fashion industry leader, like "the light shining in the dark", something like that. Alternatively, Chiori could use Amakumo Fruit, which fits her MO far better: "as if showing its defiance, it will bear fruit while facing the peals of thunder from the sky." Chiori is determined and defiant of the odds to achieve her dream, a "bold spirit" (quote from the desc.) for someone who emigrated and is struggling to make her life out there.

Kirara doesn't suit Amakumo Fruit either, given what I've described of it. She's neither 'defiant' (in the way that the description implies) nor strongly Electro-tied, she's just an international cat courier. That's why Fluorescent Fungus could suit her more— like, the luminescent angle lighting the way (through the fog of Tsurumi Island), just like her traveling self. It's not a deeply strong connection, but it tracks better than Amakumo Fruit does.

(Moving Chiori and Kirara away from Dendrobium and Amakumo Fruit respectively means that we're only moving the 'one character one material' problem, but given how well those two suit Sara and Raiden respectively, I'm loath to move or delete one of them. The ideal balancing factor would be moving Kirara to Fluorescent Fungus and Chiori to Amakumo Fruit, leaving Dendrobium with a single but extremely fitting user, which is more than Thoma + Fungus can be.)

Also, Yae Miko not ascending on Sakura Blooms is a sin. Swap Miko and Ayato (like, Ganoderma lore is literally the souls of dead children, what better way to imply further darkness in Ayato raising child soldiers in the Shuumatsuban especially given this is a criminally overlooked aspect in his character). Hell, if this aspect was further emphasised in Sayu's character, we could move Sayu to Dendrobium too, move Aloy literally anywhere else don't you think the Subdetection Unit, Trishiraite, or any other ore/mechanical thing would suit her more, time of release be damned??, and scrap Crystal Marrow. But that's getting dangerously close to talking about an Inazuma rewrite again, so I'll leave it there.

Hey, wouldn't it be really fucked up if Kokomi used Crystal Marrow to ascend? HYV, you cowards—

Sumeru

(Warning! I am going to be factoring the ascension material of Sethos, who was recently drip-marketed for 4.7 and hails from Sumeru. This is minor leak territory, but if you don't wish to see it, skip the section double-labeled Sethos at start and end.)

Sumeru is an interesting case because a lot of the regional specialties do clearly fit well, but at the same time are organised weirdly. I won't get into Collei and Wanderer using Rukkhashava Mushrooms because those, while weird on the surface, there is an interesting explanation behind it (ft. Ashikai's video on Eucharist lore) that coheres well. Nor will I take issue with Kaveh and Mourning Flower, since it's so clearly themed around the Iranian cultural significance of the Kaiser's Crown and dovetails with Kaveh so well, so we can let his single usage of it slide.

My first issue is with Sand Grease Pupa on Alhaitham and Dehya. Alhaitham does not really fit Sand Grease Pupa. Like, I will hear the argument that the description "the hardened shell is meant to protect the Quicksand Eels' larval bodies until they finally acclimate to the conditions of the dry desert" is a subtle reference to Alhaitham's character and temperament, where his """"callousness""" and blunt personality are a method to enforce boundaries and keep the personal peace he strives for in life amidst the sea of uncertainty. But the thing is that doesn't hold for Dehya, who also uses Sand Grease Pupa and doesn't have this kind of thing unless you count her being a hardened mercenary? Which is incredibly strange.

But things are complicated by the fact that there is no satisfactory place to move Alhaitham, unlike previous occasions where we found better places for Chiori and Kirara, etc. Like, I've tried my best, but against all odds the quote I mentioned from Sand Grease Pupa is the only one that remotely seems to work for him, and that's even if I ignore release order and consider Trishiraite or Mourning Flower.

So I feel compelled to keep Sand Grease Pupa. In that case, let's eject Dehya from using it, because it clearly doesn't fit her apart from the desert origin, which isn't even consistent because of Alhaitham. I'll talk about where Dehya should go in a moment, but now we have the problem that Alhaitham is the only user of the Pupa, which is something we try to avoid unless the theming is strong enough (like Kujou Sara - Dendrobium). So, taking into account "a hardened shell" theming, who else fits this?

"I must make a lot of Mora." "With enough Mora, my family will never have to smile at me while swallowing their pain, and I will never have to lose anything due to lacking Mora..."

Ding ding ding! It's Dori. In fact, I want to make the case that she fits Sand Grease Pupa better than Kalpalata Lotus, which she currently uses. The motif of Kalpalata Lotus is about "it looks like a lotus, but it isn't", which... works with Dori, I suppose, but isn't particularly compelling. Meanwhile, the Pupa is a 'hardened shell'— like Alhaitham's own boundary-setting unique personality, Dori's shell is her love of Mora, something she uses to face the outer world after the pain of losing her sister to a disease that could have been cured had they had enough money to purchase the herbs needed. Dori's obsessive love of Mora is real, of course, but it's the "hardened shell" that protects her from disappointment after the trauma of losing her sister. It's almost too perfect! (And, Alhaitham and Dori are some of the only rainforest-origin characters to have a slightly strong enough connection to the desert to justify this, not that we really need to.)

This, obviously, ignores release order. My previous comments on reordering regional specialties in Liyue and Inazuma just so happened to be compliant with the order in which they released the items. However, from Sumeru onward, I no longer care.

Ok, but that leaves Nahida high and dry on Kalpalata Lotus, another single case user. Again, the theming works for her, but it isn't really perfect— of course Nahida represents the "looks weak, is a lot more" archetype pretty well, but it isn't exactly congruent with "looks like a lotus, but isn't", because that's more of a question of identity than of power. I mean, I guess our meeting her in the AQ is kind of like that, but that's also a weak argument.

I think, therefore, we should move Nahida to use the Padisarah, which has hitherto only been used by Nilou, fixing another one of our single-character-material problems and allowing us to delete Kalpalata Lotus (or make it a quest exclusive item to Caribert, that would be cool). Like, I hope I don't need to elaborate why the Padisarah is suitable for Nahida, being a "holy and noble" plant descended from GoF and the era of the Three God-Kings of Sumeru, plus it being a calque (more explicitly in CN) of Padishah, the sovereign title used in Persia and beyond, which of course suits Nahida as she is, like it or not, sovereign ruler of Sumeru (would be a nice fuck you to the Sages too).

Sethos

At this juncture, we need to talk about the elephant in the room. Before Sethos was drip-marketed for version 4.7, I would've completely discounted Trishiraite as useless and said to dump it. However, I now have to reconsider, since Sethos has been leaked to use Trishiraite (wow, were they setting this up more than 9 patches ago?).

We don't know much about Sethos, admittedly, but we know he's a desert native and seems to be affiliated with the Temple of Silence and has connections to Cyno (I have not fully played through Cyno SQ II at the time of writing. If you have a more compelling case based on its events, please give spoiler warnings). Given this, Trishiraite seems perfectly reasonable for him, although there is the question of if he's a Temple of Silence member (albeit seemingly opposed to Cyno, given implications in the trailer), why he isn't just using the Scarab, because just read the Scarab lore:

Legend has it that when the desert king ruled this land, the souls of those vanquished by him would be sealed within these insects by the magically-skilled priests at great triumphs held in the City of the Pillars. The scarabs would then be charged with defending the sacred temples and palaces for all eternity in the name of Al-Ahmar. In the end, the temples would collapse and the palaces would fall, and only these golden insects would remain, fulfilling their ancient, forgotten oaths.

Like, even if we don't know Sethos' true role, his Temple of Silence affiliations (?) would make this far more fitting.

But, as you may have noticed, I've been delaying assigning Dehya anywhere. That's because I think if Sethos does use Trishiraite, Dehya should too. Read the description:

During the sun-swallowing battles of that bygone age, even the hardest of stones were set aflame. As the flames of war died out, all that remained from the calamity were these deep-red ores.

Trishiraite is ore born (allegedly) from the flames of the Cataclysm setting fire to stone. Like, it's a very warlike thing, and it's something that might be ok with Sethos but definitely suits Dehya more than Sand Grease Pupa. The thing is, nobody wins here because if I think Sethos suits Scarab more, that leaves Dehya alone on Trishiraite; if I don't, then Sethos + Dehya use Trishiraite while Cyno stays alone on Scarab, which is fine but ugh....

...unless, of course, we put Dehya on Henna Berry, which is very definitely the "female desert ascension material" and annoying stereotypical (fits with Dehya's love of makeup, though). Then we could make Sethos use Scarab alongside Cyno and just delete Trishiraite anyway, but this is a problem I don't want to propose a definitive solution for. I just think that Dehya shouldn't use Sand Grease Pupa, and Sethos seems weirdly better with Scarab, at least for now.

Sethos

Fontaine

(Warning! I am going to be factoring the ascension material of Clorinde and Sigewinne, who were recently drip-marketed for Version 4.7. This is minor leak territory, but if you don't wish to see it, skip the sections labeled Clorinde and Sigewinne.)

Fontaine is obviously still a nation-in-progress, so I'll cut it some slack, however:

Why does Navia use Spring of the First Dewdrop. Please. For the love of god.

Spring of the First Dewdrop is heavily implied to be somewhat related to Primordial Water, which is just—? Can I say how cruel this is for being Navia's ascension material? Like? Navia, who almost dissolved in the Primordial Water??

Although, the description calls it Ichor, which according to Wine Goblet of the Pristine Sea is the 'essence' extracted from Primordial Water, but then we have the question of why Dewdrop's description calls it "a final gift from Egeria" even though it was Remus who isolated and created Ichor, like we know Egeria was the substitute Heart of the Primordial Sea created by the Shade of Life to replace the Hydro Dragon, so technically the creation of Primordial Water is her domain, but this shouldn't even be her "final gift" anyway because logically that would've been literally anything else she did, because she abandoned that Heart role when she ascended to become the Hydro Archon and then died in sacrifice at Tunigi Hollow to repel the Cataclysm—

But this isn't a rant about Genshin lore, this is about the regional specialty. So.

Navia should not be using this. So, what should she be using? I'd suggest Lumidouce (French: soft-light) Bell, given the variety of people with whom Navia has parted and wishes to be reunited with ("Lumidouce Bell is said to represent parting and the wish for reunion"), but given that this is already being used by Chevreuse and Lynette and is absolutely slated for Emilie, the perfumer, whenever she releases ("...is often used for making rare perfumes"), that would be a bit of a crowd when Fontaine still doesn't have many characters.

Chevreuse doesn't really seem to fit Lumidouce Bell, though. Like, every attribute and theming doesn't seem to relate to her, unless you count the events of Roses and Muskets, which is about her personal feelings on justice, not the actual events that happened which could, possibly, fit the parting and reunion theme. So maybe we can boot Chevreuse off to Subdetection Unit, which actually suits her better— it's a detection unit, which gathers data, and it being used by Wriothesley seems like a not-so-subtle indicator that it's used to gather intelligence and for lack of a better word, spy. Which is something that Chevreuse's job involves, as once again demonstrated by Roses and Muskets.

So, with the Chevreuse tangent out of the way, Navia and Lynette can use the Lumidouce Bell. But what about Dewdrop? Should anyone use that?

Well, the obvious argument for Dewdrop as a Primordial Water thing is that Neuvillette should use it. Like, he's the reborn Hydro Dragon— thematically it makes more sense than Lumitoile (French: light-star). Let's again set aside the problem of time (Neuvillette released Version 4.1, Dewdrop came with the Tower of Ipsissimus in Version 4.2) because it makes things boring...

that being said, it's not entirely unreasonable to have Neuvillette use the Lumitoile, and simply delete the Dewdrop instead. Let's examine that below.

Clorinde and Sigewinne

So, what should we do about Lumitoile? If we move Neuvillette to the Dewdrop, that leaves Clorinde the sole user of the Lumitoile, and it's pretty justified in her case given the unsubtle implication of the Lumitoile as an environmental cleaner/digester and Clorinde's job as a Champion Duellist but with the Marechaussee Hunt techniques she inherits. After all, remember it's Clorinde who starts the plan to 'hunt' Furina in the AQ, to entrap her. She's good at hunting and cleaning up, so that makes the Lumitoile quite suited for her...

...Although, there is a scheme I'm cooking up. See, Sigewinne uses the Romaritime Flower, which fits fine with the Hydro stuff just fine, but I was reading the description of the Romaritime Flower, and it said: "Romaritime Flower is said to represent loyalty and unswerving oaths." And what, apart from being a strong hunter, is Clorinde known for?

Clorinde: Mr. Callas' last wish was for me to ensure your safety, and I will not betray his trust.  Like the Faint Moonlight of Yesteryear, in As Light Rain Falls Without Reason, after Clorinde saves Navia and Traveler from the Gardemek attack

It highly depends on what you think her character hinges more heavily on: hunting, or her loyalty/oath-swearing.

As for Sigewinne, using the Lumitoile would also work, because apart from the obvious Hydro theming, the Lumitoile is also about 'underestimation'— "though the weak light they give off is often ignored by divers, these small soft-bodied animals have the remarkable ability to consume and degrade industrial waste." Sigewinne's surprise gun attack in the AQ earns her this, in my opinion.

This is quite a complicated web to unravel. If Neuvillette no longer uses Lumitoile, then either both Clorinde and Sigewinne should use Lumitoile, or neither. Therefore, let's examine two cases.

1: Neuvillette uses Dewdrop. Therefore, nobody else uses Lumitoile, ergo, Clorinde should use Romaritime Flower alongside Sigewinne to avoid the 'single-user' issue.

2: Neuvillette does not use Dewdrop, and that material is deleted from existence. Therefore, Clorinde and Sigewinne can stay with their current specialty materials: Lumitoile and Romaritime Flower respectively.

I like case 2, personally.

But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself by analysing the ascension materials of characters that haven't released yet. Let's get back to normal.

Clorinde and Sigewinne

Quick recap: Neuvillette uses Dewdrop instead of Navia, and Navia uses Lumidouce Bell in place of Chevreuse, whom we boot off to use the Subdetection Unit. Therefore, we have solved the problem of Navia and Wriothesley being the only user of one ascension material, and realistically we have to leave Neuvillette alone with the Dewdrop because no one else actually makes sense ascending via Primordial Water, what the fuck.

Ahem.

We also leave Furina alone, being the Lakelight Lily dovetails with Erinnyes and the lore of her weapon, Splendour of Tranquil Waters.

So that leaves Charlotte with the Beryl Conch. Hey, Charlotte, what the fuck? Like, the Beryl Conch doesn't have anything visibly in common with her. It glows, and it's not actually a shell but something condensed from elemental energy. It's theorised to have connections to "ancient civilisations". What else? If you take this from Charlotte's 'investigative journalism' angle, perhaps the Conch can symbolise Charlotte digging for the truth, but the "oh perhaps the Conch has marks left by the Hydro Lord or is related to ancient civilisations" is such a weak connection to that kind of "what is the truth" ethos that Charlotte represents.

So, get rid of the Beryl Conch. Then what should Charlotte use? There's an obvious option here: what ascension material have we just talked about that applies to information-gathering, spying, and mechanical parts? What boss did I assign Charlotte to in this post about boss material bloat that also fits her mechanical companion, Monsieur Verite?

That's right.

The former two, as justified above, also share the Subdetection Unit. So why not Charlotte? It's the 'mechanical' ascension material of Fontaine, just like Prototype Cal. Breguet is the corresponding 'mechanical' boss material. Last time, I justified this with the mechanical focus of the three characters: Wriothesley's gauntlets and his rule of the steampunk-themed Fortress of Meropide, Chevreuse's gun and rifle focus, and Charlotte's entire kit and lore revolving around Monsieur Verite in her pursuit of journalism. This applies here, but it gets better because they also share the theming of the Subdetection Unit's 'spying/detection/information-gathering'.

It's so perfect that it feels a bit too perfect, actually, but who am I to complain? This would cut down on another ill-fitting regional specialty and make farming easier for all of us.

***

Thanks for reading! And letting me rant about this. I have problems with how Genshin treats boss and ascension materials with some degree of lore relevancy, only to also throw some of that relevancy out the window when it suits them. It's inconsistent and bothers me, lol.

[berglietz]

Seasons Greasons: A Meta Analysis based on Caspar's Culinary Palate + Return Gift For Shez's Whistle

AKA: no one should ever 'jokingly' challenge me to write a meta to my irl face. take these 1k words now

THE BACKSTORY:

May 6th, Baltimore Inner Harbor. It was a lovely day—by which I mean the sky was grey and gloomy and decided to start spitting a fine mist down from the clouds as soon as Lucius and I stepped out of the light rail and started our trek toward our destination. Our destination being a birthday celebration for Erica, which obviously made the day lovely regardless of the weather. At this point we had already gotten past the 'hello's and reciprocal 'oh god you really are shorter than i remember's, and had settled into our table at the cafe. Inevitably, the conversation quickly turned to Fire Emblem. We are who we are.

Playthroughs of Warriors: Three Hopes entered the scene, and then discussions of the Merc Whistle mechanic. "I haven't given mine away yet." I said. "Don't they give you a return gift that you can wear as an accessory to use their special ability?"

I pulled out my phone. I learned that Caspar's return gift to Shez was called Seasoning Set. Across the table, past the strangely shaped flasks of hot water and growing number of drained shirley temple glasses, N "Njamin" Von TOAmod smiled at me and said "I expect a meta post about Caspar's seasoning set on the dash by [due date]*" *I do not remember the exact phrasing, nor the initial due date. I am going to say it was 'next month', that way I don't get any of my extremely real roleplayer points docked for tardiness.

And thus, I was committed to the bit. Straight up married to it. Welcome to the wedding. The reception is catered, obviously, and we'll be serving—

Well. I'm getting to that.

THE SEASONING SET

(This is a crunchy screenshot that I cropped myself from my own Switch. Forgive me)

The details of note to me are:

Clarifying that you have matched your bestie/S-support equivalent's sentimental gift with something you "don't need" is so rude LMFAO. I'm glad he is keeping up the same behavior from his story about a girl trying to ask him out to the Goddess Tower in Three Houses where he seems to totally misread a situation and make an ass of himself by dismissing the person/not matching their energy. Really beautiful stuff.

Multiple spices, you say? Looks like I have to come up with more than one. It's not just salt in there.

CASPAR'S COOKING SKILLS

They are bad. He has a big red downward-facing arrow next to his face in the list of candidates for cooking together in Three Houses. If you choose to let him cook anyway, he tells you his pitfalls himself:

"All right! Leave it to me! I'll fry it, grill it, and try not to burn it!" / "Sorry for making you do all the work, Professor. I mess up the ingredients every time!"

With this info, I am taking the text saying "he forgets to use spices" very literally. The impression I get is he gets so overwhelmed by multi-step cooking processes that he loses track of ingredients. He does like some spices in his food and drink, though, so I will presume that the spices in his seasoning set are ones that he would enjoy putting in his food if he ever remembered to toss them in.

THE FAVORED FLAVORS

The easiest spice choice comes directly from his favorite type of tea.

Ginger Tea: "The sharp spiciness of ginger laces the body of this tea, unforgettable and brightening."

Bam. Right there. We can put ginger on the list. For the rest, I'll take a look at the dining hall dishes he likes that fall under the Spicy category.

Sauteed Jerky: "Jerky aged in the monastery and sautéed for a delightfully salty flavor. A perfect snack to go with your favorite drink."

The description doesn't give me any seasoning beyond salt, but according to the resources on serenesforest this dish is counted as a spicy one! When I think of spicy jerky (and look up a few recipes to confirm my memories) I think of a peppery sort of sensation on the tongue—black pepper and cayenne (or other hot peppers).

Sauteed Pheasant and Eggs: "Thin slices of bird meat and shredded cabbage, mixed with scrambled eggs and sautéed with spices. Invention of a certain noble."

This one gave me no hints as to what types of spices. RIP. I relied much more heavily on googling for this one, and settled on interpreting this dish as a take on anda bhurji, maybe?? (literally 'scrambled egg'. it's an Indian scrambled egg dish). Online recipes for this one gave me spices such as turmeric, coriander, red chili, and ginger.

THE SEASONING LIST

Just to have it all in one place, here's all the hypothetical seasonings I've thrown out all put together:

Salt

Black Pepper

Ginger (mentioned x2!!)

Cayenne/Red Chili (or whatever Fodlan equivalent capsacin-haver there might be)

Turmeric

Coriander

Go forth, Shez. Make a delicious spicy scrambled egg dish. Perhaps you can share it with friends for brunch. That'd be a beautiful way to bring things full circle, don't you think?

BONUS: MY BOY HATES FISH

I just think it's so fucking funny that he hates every seafood dish. Look at this list of foods he hates.

Grilled Herring, Fish and Bean Soup, Small Fish Skewers, Spicy Fish and Turnip Stew, Onion Gratin Soup, Sweet and Salty Whitefish Sauté, Fruit and Herring Tart, Cheesy Verona Stew, Fish Sandwich, Super-Spicy Fish Dango, Pickled Seafood and Vegetables, Two-Fish Sauté, Gautier Cheese Gratin, Cabbage and Herring Stew, Bourgeois Pike, Fried Crayfish

Only three out of this list don't have something referencing fish/seafood right in the name, and two out of those three do have fish in the ingredients if you go looking:

Onion Gratin Soup: "Onions stewed with white trout and baked with a layer of cheese on top. Will warm you up from the inside out." Cheesy Verona Stew: "A rich dish consisting of verona and sautéed Teutates loach. These ingredients are boiled and served with two kinds of melted cheese."

Maybe there is something he dislikes about gratin, though, since he dislikes Gautier Cheese Gratin as well. A texture problem, perhaps? Either way, it doesn't feel as prominent a dislike as his thing with fish—the guy also hates the Fishing Float gift. Caspar is a certified fish hater. This makes his participation in the fishing tournament even funnier to me: he will straight up make an exception for his seeming disdain for fishing if it's turned into a competition he can try to win. Definitely no way he was eating his catch though. Maybe he fed it to his cat friend from his supports with Ashe, lmfao

Anyhow, I'll leave off with this silly indulgent little meta here. Thanks for playing along! ilu toa ❤

[megamindsupremacy]

Heyyyy so about that pjo/batfam au.... I love it.

I wonder if any of the bat kids are legacies or half bloods? Like, they'd be ripe for urgent adoption and training, given the inherent risk of monsters! Not to mention the specially bred deep rooted battle/hero instincts. Would only some be half bloods? Any? How would that affect the dynamics, to have some (or just B) be aware of and able to interact with this whole secret world complete with monsters hidden in plain sight?? There's got to be tons of secret pjo resource stashes like different metals, foods, weapons, armour hidden everywhere hehe.

Ooh, would a bat kid ever have accidentally eaten ambrosia/nectar (or gotten close) without knowing what it is? Is Alfred a legacy?? A satyr?!! That'd be so so cool. (and it'd be an explanation for how long lived he is lmao)

If the batkids were all legacies/half bloods, who would be who? Would there be a mix of greek/roman? Is Bruce aware of the Egyptians or Norse lot?? I'm so curioussssss

ooo okay so the batkids! i explained it like... a year ago (jeez) in this post but here's the basic rundown:

Bruce: Athena (three parents, complicated situation)

Dick: Hermes (three parents, uncomplicated situation)

Babs: mortal, clearsighted, not The Oracle but calls herself Oracle

Jason: Nemesis (still working this one out)

Cass: Shiva/Nike, raised by David Cain

Tim: Bellona/Janet (who is a legacy of zeus)

Steph: Apollo

Damian: Legacy Athena/Hades

Duke: normal ("normal") meta but everyone up to and including Apollo thinks he's Apollo's kid

-

There are definitely stashes of demigod resources! most of the stock is in the Batcave, but they definitely have stashes in all the safehouses. They're basically like any other resource- medical supplies, celestial bronze dagger, batarangs, smoke pellets, ambrosia, etc. Considering that celestial bronze and nectar/ambrosia are pretty rare, i doubt they're using them daily, but everyone definitely has emergency demigod equipment on them. I'm also making Gotham a Land Beyond Gods, a la Alaska in SoN, so there's less of a monster problem than other cities. Gotham kinda like the trash dump of the demigod world- all the weird fucked up stuff ends up there for our intrepid heroes to get chased by.

-

Most of the Batkids are aware of who they are, eventually! Bruce, Cass, and Damian always know, Dick and Jason figure it out pretty quickly after living with Bruce, Tim figures it out himself before becoming Robin, and Steph only figures it out after she "dies" (poor guy). Bruce isn't very good with the Mist, and monsters aren't like, a huge problem in Gotham, so it's not really a big deal to them if they are/aren't demigods. Babs kept up just fine as a mortal, after all. Like i said earlier, ambrosia/nectar are in short supply in Gotham (bruce doesn't really have a consistent way of getting more besides through diana, who also doesnt really have a consistent way of getting more), so nobody's eating any by accident.

-

I have literally no idea what's going on with Alfred. I joked a while back that he's a minor god, which I'm not opposed to, I'd just have to work that one out a bit more. The satyr idea is fun and works really well, except imagining Alfred with goat legs and eating aluminum cans freaks me out and I don't know what to do about that. He could also just be a mortal blessed by [insert god here] to have a longer lifespan, or someone who made a deal with [insert god here] to be alive as long as Bruce/the Wayne family needs him. It'll be interesting to figure out, whenever I end up doing that!

-

Bruce and Co. are NOT aware of the other pantheons! As in, they are so unaware of the other pantheons that nobody can figure out who the fuck Tim's godly parent is. Bellona is on nobody's radar, everyone is split between Ares/Dionysus/Athena/????. They also haven't figured out he's a Zeus legacy, because his ancestor fled to Gotham during WW2 and then did their best to hide their heritage for their and their kids' safety. Poor guy doesn't know what the fuck is going on, basically. Bruce is actually pretty cut off from CHB, so he's not super up-to-date about the demigod world. He tends to focus more on the superhero side of things. His kids have varying levels of interest/affiliation with the demigods, but they're definitely not on the "first to know" end of news whenever things happen. It takes a hot minute for anyone to figure out the Romans exist, and considering that Percy and Annabeth try pretty hard to conceal the Egyptian and presumably Norse pantheons, we can assume the Batfam isn't aware of those guys for quite a bit after the Greeks learn about them.

[so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site]

Part 5: “It sure is exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero”: Should We Even Care?

Note: this is a part of my essay "The Awkward Meta-Tragedy of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman", see [here] for the masterpost of all links, reading order, and content warnings.

Now, of course, thus far I’ve been discussing events as if we’re meant to be at least somewhat sad that Morpheus apparently dies at the end, and especially sad if he died by suicide.  However, upon my reread of the comics in preparation for writing this essay, I hit a bit of a snag.  Are we even supposed to like him enough to care?

                It seems like Morpheus is supposed to be a likeable, if SEVERELY flawed, protagonist up until around Brief Lives.  Even though he sentenced an ex-girlfriend to 10,000 years in Hell unjustly, a huge point was that he was changing; he had the character development to realize his error and set things right in Season of Mists.  But then, in Brief Lives, we get his romance with the witch Thessaly, and the sympathetically-portrayed goddess Ishtar openly accusing him of misogyny.  And as of The Kindly Ones, if you consider his arc to be a straightforward suicide, you have him willingly letting his own subjects get slaughtered just so he can end himself.

                Now, Thessaly is unpopular, at least among the current tumblr crowd, because she’s apparently transphobic and her actions lead to the death of a well-liked and heroically portrayed trans character.  This has led to the semi-meme of “Thessaly is a TERF.”  However, that’s far too simplistic a way to describe how terrible she is.  She’s the epitome of the immoral immortal, living out of spite and anger rather than actual love for life, killing for fun, and putting her own interests above everyone else’s.  She’s a thoroughly unpleasant, violent, hateful person; even if she were written without the transphobia she would not be easy to cheer for.

                And according to Lucien, Morpheus may have been deeply in love with her.

                Well, Luce doesn’t say that in so many words, but he does state that Morpheus’ mourning when Thessaly dumps him is far more extreme, intense, and different from all of Morpheus’ other dramatic breakups.  He even states that Morpheus is being more intense about it than when Calliope left him in the wake of their son’s death!  A breakup after a couple-months fling hit him harder than a divorce of a decades-long marriage spurred by the tragedy of losing a child.  She meant that much to him.  Thankfully Merv is there to rebut Lucien’s observations, complaining that Morpheus “does this every time” there’s a breakup, but the reader is seriously left to question who to believe—the loveable but ditzy Merv, or the Dreaming’s head librarian and Morpheus’ closest confidant.

                If Morpheus was the most heartbroken ever over someone who’s basically a serial killer only out for her own gain, who he likely knew about going into the relationship, that doesn’t reflect well on his character at all.  His punishment of the serial killers at the Cereal Convention comes across as arbitrary and hypocritical, for sure.  It makes one wonder why he’d admonish Hob for getting into the slave trade (pre-character-development, no less!), if his own girlfriend is just as likely to use people in horrific ways.  Why would he be so broken up over killing Vortexes if one of his closest associates is downright eager to kill in the name of self-preservation?  Is it just “opposites attract” but written poorly? 

(Actually I could go on and on about how women in The Kindly Ones, Thessaly included, are prime examples of “women being obviously written by a straight white man”—the man in question being generally progressive doesn’t mean he’s immune to the occasional iffy writing—and how questionable their portrayals as characters are, but that’s beyond the scope of this essay.  It’s also likely an artifact from these books being from the 80s-90s and then-progressive tropes from that era not aging well.  For now, let’s just say that I side-eye that the evil immortal human just happens to be the female one while the good immortal human is male, and that the major forces that end up killing Morpheus/facilitating his suicide are all female…)

Ishtar straight up accuses Morpheus of being sexist towards women when he confronts her over the whereabouts of Destruction.  And, well, his treatment of his ex-girlfriends certainly doesn’t point towards him being respectful to them at least.  He cruelly discarded Alianora to live on a skerry when he tired of her, in addition to the infamous sentencing of Nada to hell.  The official analysis book The Sandman Companion even went so far as to suggest that Madoc’s treatment of Calliope was also indicative of Morpheus’ treatment of her during their marriage, with Morpheus also callously using her as inspiration for his dream-creations.  However, since Calliope herself emphatically says otherwise, I consider the Companion analysis to be near-offensively wrong and seriously question the other analyses in that book as a result (it was not written by Gaiman, for those wondering).  Morpheus also sure seems to send his inspirational abilities primarily towards male authors, but then again there’s not a large sample size in the text.  Besides Lady Bast and Mad Hettie (both of whom are notably portrayed as old/past their prime), the only women he seems to care about are either ones he’s related to, or ones he can sleep with, and in the case of the second category things go badly once he tires of sleeping with them (or if they refuse him, yikes).  One could easily argue towards Book!Morpheus being a canon misogynist, at least by 2020s standards.

(Another side note here: Thank GOD the live action adaptation made Lucien a woman.  Dream’s relationship with Lucienne finally portrays him as having a, for the most part, mutually respectful, presumably non-sexual, relationship with a woman who is neither related to him nor portrayed as old or undesirable.  Show!Dream might, just might, be able to respect women beyond the ability to sleep with them.)

And then there’s the sequence where The Kindly Ones rampage through the Dreaming on their way to the palace, brutally slaughtering all the whimsical denizens we’ve come to know and love throughout the story’s run.  If one assumes that Morpheus intentionally invoked their wrath in order to die, that means he facilitated all of their suffering on purpose.  Once again this paints him as a massive hypocrite; if seeing his realm in tatters after his imprisonment was so painful for him, why tear it all down on purpose?  Of course, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” shows that he isn’t always aware of what consequences his actions might have, so maybe it somehow slipped his mind that this would be the consequence of his plan.

Um, anyways, what was I saying?  Oh yeah, so, Morpheus’ intense relationship with one of the least likeable characters, along with his general misogynist and jerkass behavior, especially strains potential reader sympathy for him, painting him as a hypocrite regarding his unambiguously heroic moments—which were already few and far between overall.  Then again, perhaps it is wrong to judge him as a “hypocrite” when he isn’t even human.  We don’t judge dolphins for the ways they treat other dolphins, after all. (They’re quite violent: look it up.)  Even though they’re intelligent and sentient and it’s unethical to keep them in a fishbowl, they’re so separate from humans that imposing any sort of human motivations to their actions is a failure. 

But yet, this series is a book intended for an audience of humans, so the human reader’s perspective IS important regarding Morpheus’ actions.  Regardless of whether he or the other Endless “should” be subject to modern moral standards is irrelevant to how we’re supposed to perceive them as subjects of the texts, especially when the culmination of the whole story is one of them dying.  The line between tragedy and comedy might lie solely in the audience’s perception of a character. 

There’s also the matter of narrative satisfaction.  If Morpheus is meant to be a villain, completely self-disposing villain isn’t satisfying, no matter how unsympathetic they might be to the audience.  Imagine if Palpatine just offed himself, with no intervention at all from Luke or Vader!  What would be the point of the story then?  If Morpheus is intentionally unsympathetic, is this some kind of meta ploy about storytelling expectations?  Like, we expect a sympathetic (if flawed) protagonist due to the first arc starting with him torturously imprisoned, but then he’s actually a complete villain protagonist?  Or, we expect to be cheering for him to change, but we end up cheering for him to die instead?  Is this an early case of the “subverting expectations” type twists where the only point is playing the audience?  (Admittedly, a work with such strong metafictional themes might be one of the few places where such subversions might be justified rather than contrived.)

Are we supposed to be glad Morpheus dies and is replaced, because he was what we might consider “an asshole”?  Are we supposed to be sad, because his more humanlike and relatable traits contributed to his downfall, and we see ourselves in his plight?  Both?  Neither?

Honestly, I have no idea.

Likewise complicating matters of “should we care” are two scenes from The Wake.  One is Fiddler’s Green refusing Daniel’s offer of resurrection because “death is the only thing that gives life meaning” and the other is Lucien’s insistence that nobody has died besides a point of view, because Dream of the Endless is an idea and you cannot kill an idea.  While I suspect that Lucien’s statement is supposed to be taken optimistically, when paired with the former scene it comes across as callous towards the reader and edges close to “we shouldn’t care because they’re not human” territory.  If nothing has died besides a bad or flawed point of view, then why go through the trouble of asking the reader to ever care about Morpheus?  Were we supposed to be rooting against him all along?  Is he just supposed to be the “bad side” of Dream of the Endless?  Should we be celebrating because nothing of value was lost? 

Is dying the only meaningful thing that Morpheus can even do, because it would make way for the positive Daniel to take over?

[artsbyryn]

+.[FANDOM]— demon slayer: kimetsu no yaiba.

+.[SYNOPSIS]— For every universe, there is an alternate where things are the same... But different. In this world, Kamado Nezuko and Tanjirou are twins who share the Hanafuda earrings. When Tanjirou injures his leg one day, Nezuko takes the charcoal down the mountain in his stead. She returns to her family massacred, and her twin brother turned into a demon. Together, Nezuko and Tanjirou must slay all evil demons in order to find a cure for Tanjirou's condition. Along the way, they'll meet unexpected friends and overcome the darkness. Periodically updated, author is a senior in college. All art is by the author, artsbyryn.

+.[TAGS]— Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Kamado Nezuko & Kamado Tanjirou, Kamado Nezuko/Tsuyuri Kanao, Kamado Tanjirou/Kanzaki Aoi, Kamado Tanjirou & Tsuyuri Kanao, Kamado Nezuko, Kamado Tanjirou, Demon Slayer Corps Hashira | Pillars, Tomioka Giyuu, Sabito (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Makomo (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Tsuyuri Kanao, Kanzaki Aoi (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Rengoku Kyoujurou, Rengoku Senjurou, Rengoku Family (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Kanroji Mitsuri, Kochou Shinobu, Shinazugawa Genya, Tokitou Muichirou, Uzui Tengen, Akaza | Hakuji (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Kibutsuji Muzan, Kamado Family (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Agatsuma Zenitsu, Hashibira Inosuke, Demon Slayer Kamado Nezuko, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Anime Spoilers, Demon Slayer: Kitmetsu no Yaiba Manga References, Demon Kamado Tanjirou, Roleswap, Protective Kamado Tanjirou, BAMF Kamado Nezuko, BAMF Kamado Tanjirou, Demon Slayer Kanzaki Aoi (Kimetsu no Yaiba), Tsuyuri Kanao is Bad at Feelings, Kamado Tanjirou is a Ray of Sunshine, Kamado Sibling Role Reversal | Demon Slayer Kamado Nezuko and Demon Kamado Tanjirou, Tanjirou and Nezuko are Twins, Tanjirou and Nezuko Share the Hanafuda Earrings, Kamaboko Squad but Make it Girls, No meta we die like the Kamado family, Short Hair Nezuko )

+.[AUTHOR'S NOTE]— this is the first multi-chapter fic I have written in almost 10 years. I wanted to write an accompaniment to my roleswap AU edit drawings and explain how I think the story would go.

+. [ EXCERPT ] — from chapter 2.

Tanjirou had always had an impressive sense of smell. He could use it to help people in town, identifying broken pots as being knocked over by a cat rather than a customer in the shop. He could track the scents of animals when they needed to find sources of food, identify what plants were safe to eat.

             Nezuko never had a sense of smell that strong. Her power was in sight, able to tell the emotions of her loved ones and act upon it. She always wanted to have a sense of smell as strong as her brother’s, because after all, twins were supposed to share. They were two halves of the same coin. Everything would be okay as long as they were together.

             The snow crunched underfoot. It acted as the only sound Nezuko could hear coming home from old man Saburo’s house in the village. He had insisted she stay the night, to be protected from demons who roamed the night. Hopefully her family wouldn’t be too worried that she hadn’t come home for dinner…

             There was no other sound beyond her footsteps and her own breath, mist forming bursts of steam from her parted lips. Something was wrong. Normally the birds would be singing at this time of day. Nezuko felt a pit form in her stomach, sitting heavy and cold there. She assured herself everything would be fine, she was just anxious over being gone from home for so long. Her gifts and earnings from the day’s sales would surely make up for her absence, and the coming New Year’s would be perfect.

             Coming up to the edge of their property Nezuko took a deep breath, ready to shout that she was home. She could imagine the eager cries of her siblings, their little running footsteps towards her. She could picture Tanjirou’s warm smile, and their mother’s relieved face. Tanjirou’s leg would be healed by now, surely, and they could prepare for the coming holiday tradition together…

             Her boots came to a sudden halt on the snow. Her nose was overwhelmed by the stench of copper, of decay. Nezuko’s breath quickened, eyes widening. In front of her house, sprawled out in a heap on the snowy ground… Was Tanjirou and Rokuta.

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

read more here.

[gloogapropaganda]

Some thoughts on the new Sizzle Season 2023 trailer! May end up being a series of posts, but for now I want to discuss some of my observations regarding potential kits for the upcoming weapons.

Currently, I don't see anything that may indicate specials for these weapons but we can glean some ideas for their sub weapons based on the ink tanks!

First up is the all new Painbrush. Whatever sub this thing has, it uses a lot of ink. The red line is definitely at least at 70% or more which means it could be Splat Bomb, Suction Bomb, Curling Bomb (all 70%) or Squid Beakon (75%) but I'm leaning towards one of the bombs. Hard to say which it may be though, considering there's no meta yet on how this weapon plays.

Next is the S-Blast '92. The sub line is very clearly one tick above half, putting it at 60%. This gives us the possibility of Ink Mine, Toxic Mist, Splash Wall, Sprinkler, or Fizzy Bomb. Since this is a blaster with potential for short and long range, I think Toxic Mist or Splash Wall are the most likely candidates.

During the Foggy Notion segment we can see the pig-tail Inkling in red using the Annaki Splattershot Nova although it's very hard to make out the lines on the ink tank. To me it looks like the sub line is roughly half way, however there are no subs with an ink consumption of exactly 50%. If it's slightly over, it's Auto Bomb (55%) and if it's slightly lower then it's Burst Bomb (45%). Point Sensor is also a 45% sub but since the base Nova has that, it can't be it.

The Extreme Jump Battle segment gives a fairly clear view of the Splatana Wiper Deco's ink tank and I am almost certain it is Squid Beakon. If not, see the Painbrush's potential subs.

Beyond that, the Custom Dualie Squelcher's ink tank is barely visible and I can't make out anything on it in the few frames its on screen. The Tetra Lights are impossible to see. The rest are not shown.

I'm very eager to see the official kits for these weapons and how many I guessed accurately. What do you guys think?

[beaststhattalk]

Reepicheep & The Wave

I was inspired by this gifset, and I wanted to make my own post just in case the gifmaker (@scottmalloy) wouldn't appreciate a bunch of meta in their notifications 😅

Honestly I think the movie did really well in translating this moment to the screen. The scene in the book grounds you in the perspective of the human characters: Reepicheep disappears over the edge of the wave. This emphasizes that he's going to a beautiful place, but one that the kids aren't able to understand yet. However, the book has the advantage of 3rd person narration. When C.S. Lewis presents the image to his reader, he can give mood and the visuals as one: "[the wave] was a smooth green slope. The coracle went more and more quickly, and beautifully it rushed up the wave's side" (Voyage of the Dawn Treader [VotDT], chapter 16). Lewis can tell us the motion was 'beautiful,' but the movie has to convince us to find it beautiful.

However, the movie has the advantage of being able to take us along with Reepicheep without needing to describe what he's seeing. The water rushing under his boat & towards the screen (4th gif) gives that sense of "more and more quickly...it rushed up the wave," but our ability to empathize with his sweet little Mouse face facial expression (5th gif) is what really solidifies that poignant 'beauty' from the book.

That visual of the Pevensies and Caspian in the background (gifs 4 & 5) achieves the same effect of the book's final image of Reepicheep. There's a feeling of mounting adventure & happiness, and then a moment of quiet wonder when he disappears into a place the reader/viewer can't go. The movie gets this feeling by having the audience rise up the wave with Reep, then come to a slow stop as he passes us by. We see the humans through the spray and realize we're still in their shoes. Meanwhile, the book utilizes the power of 3rd person narration by having Reepicheep slip beyond the reach of the story: "For one split second they saw [the coracle's] shape and Reepicheep's on the very top. Then it vanished, and since that moment no one can truly claim to have seen Reepicheep the Mouse" (VotDT, ch. 16).

In the movie, the mist from the wave, the faint rainbow inside, the vibrant colors of the water, & the image of Reepicheep's smile give us that "moment of quiet wonder" that I mentioned before. Lewis, on the other hand, tells us: "...since that moment no one can truly claim to have seen Reepicheep the Mouse. But my belief is that he came safe to Aslan's country and is alive there to this day" (ch. 16).

PS. The thing that got me excited about this gifset in the first place is the sword in gif 1! This visual appears in the book: "Then [Reepicheep] took off his sword ('I shall need it no more,' he said) and flung it far...Where it fell it stood upright with the hilt above the surface" (ch. 16). The sword-in-the-ground symbol pops up across history and can have various meanings. However, one meaning is that the sword alludes to the Christian cross (✝️). I bet this sword/cross symbol is what Lewis (and the VotDT movie) were referencing. This symbol can be interpreted as a sign of peace, since a sword in the ground is a weapon with its dangerous side 'buried'/set aside.

Again, I like how the movie translates this image. The poignance of this moment in the book comes from the chapter's overall tone. For example, here's a line that precedes Reep throwing the sword: "everything now felt as if it had been fated or had happened before" (ch. 16). Meanwhile, the movie emphasizes the poignance by contrasting Reep's casual discarding of the weapon ("I won't be needing this," gif 1) with the hugeness of the scene overall.

[stewardofningishzida]

Stephen Strange Meta-Fic Sequel — Chapter 15: Who Broke It?

More character bonding and development, plus some backstory! Not all is revealed, but enough to wonder. Also, multiverse shenanigans ahoy! The start of more to come in future chapters. Be warned: This chapter goes hard into real-life situations too.

TRIGGER WARNING: Attempted kidnapping, coping with grief/loss, mention of fatal house fires, mention of drunk drivers, mention of a mental breakdown

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 15: Who Broke It?

*We’re gathered together in the library, studying for our Master’s Trials.*

Me (concentrating hard on an advanced spellbook):  Trix, am I translating this phrase right?  Is it “नोद” or “आकर्षति”?  

Trix (slightly distracted): The first one. *She continues on her work.*

Prettywitch: What are you working on, exactly?

Trix (looking up): Me or Steward? Because I’m working on creating more concise spell books from ancient texts that they were having difficulty translating. It gets my translating going, my record keeping and textual context practice in, and eventually my book binding. I have to do at least like four more of these so Wong won’t just stare at me when I ask if it’s enough for now.

Prettywitch: Oh sorry, I meant Steward.

Me:  I have to go back under Kamar-Taj and sort out the spiritual wards and interact more with the guardian spirits down there.  Update them, train new ones, etc. There are also a few older spirits who are ready to move on while the new ones come in.  Also, I have to report my findings.  Then, The Ancient One wants me to try some new techniques so I can refine my abilities.

Trix: What are you up to PrettyWitch?

Prettywitch: Oh, well I’m trying to see if maybe I can make my visions come at will. Or at least, trying to, anyway.

Me:  Did Stephen have any advice?

Prettywitch: Actually, I haven’t talked to him about it yet. 

Me:  I’d ask him.  No shame in asking for help.  I wish I knew more about foresight beyond the basics so I could give you anything useful.  *I really do want to help, but her skill level with this type of magic is beyond mine.*

Prettywitch: No, you’re right. I gotta get better at asking for help anyway. *She picks up her tarot deck and stands up.* 

Trix: I wish you luck! Honestly, yours is the trickiest and I have all the respect in the world for you figuring it out and being so good at it already!

Prettywitch: *Laughs awkward* Ah, it’s nothing. I wish I had your power, honestly. It’d make international travel much easier for Moi.

Trix: Thank god the days of my brain breaking are over. I do have to learn how to speak everything though…which is likely to suck. But hey, all of ours are pretty interesting *She chuckles as she rubs the back of her head awkwardly.*

Me:  We’ve all made it pretty far, huh?  *I’m proud of us.*

Trix: Absolutely. I don’t think I would have made it without you guys.

Prettywitch: Yeah…Yeah, me too. I probably would’ve gone insane without you guys.

Me:  Likewise.  You guys already know what a mess I was in before meeting you all in the first place.  *I give a morbid smirk and look at the floor for a moment before perking back up.*  Anyway, back to work!  I should go see what I can do with those ghosts.

Trix (jokingly): If you ever teach them to sing Grim Grinning Ghosts I will give you $100. *She grins*

Me (playing along):  I’m sure they do get bored down there…I may have to give it a shot.  *I’m amused.*

Prettywitch: *Laughs* Alright, I’m gonna go find Stephen. Ciao! *She waves goodbye and leaves the room.*

Me:  The psychic connection’s almost always open.  Contact me if there’s anything going on.  *I get up to head to the basement.*

Trix: Good luck! I’ll stay here and keep working on these translations!

*Meanwhile, Blackie has been training with Wong and has improved considerably.  She has risen to the rank of Adept.*

*A small mist forms outside the temple to Karmar-Taj. It slowly turns into Stephen, but one from a different universe. He leans his hand against the wall for a moment to catch his breath. He takes in his surroundings and sees where he is; Karmar-Taj. He decides to make his way in.*

*He senses some rather distinctive magical signatures…That and the spiritual energy in the complex is shifting.  Old spirits departing and new spirits joining.  Someone new is weaving the enchantments.*

*That when he feels a familiar magic signature. One that feels different, yet familiar all at the same time. He turns and sees Prettywitch and is stunned to see her. He goes up to her.*

Broken Stephen: Hello…?

Prettywitch: *She gets startled and looks up to see who it is…only to be confused.* Stephen…?

Broken Stephen: What? Oh yes, it’s me. *He clears his throat.* Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.

Prettywitch: Uhh…No, that’s okay…*She looks him up and down, cautiously. Sure, this man looks like Stephen Strange, but there are subtle differences in his aura. The Stephen she knows has a more relaxed aura, this one’s aura feels sporadic, like it doesn’t know who or what it wants to be. And that terrifies her, not because it’s an unfamiliar Stephen, but because of who this Stephen’s reminding her of.* I was actually coming to look for you.

Broken Stephen: Well, you’ve found me. Why don’t we go for a walk?

Prettywitch: Actually, why don’t we go get some tea first? I don’t know about you, but I’m parched.

Broken Stephen: Oh, okay. 

*Prettywitch leaves for the temple with this other Stephen behind her. She has no idea how long she can keep this up, but hopefully she can find Stephen soon. If not? Well, it’s not like she doesn’t have magic at her disposal.*

*Luckily, she sees Stephen and Clea walking towards them.*

*616-Stephen is walking at a brisk pace.  It seems he sensed something “off” and wanted to go check it out.  When he sees this new Stephen walking with Prettywitch, he speeds up more, but does his best to remain composed.*

616-Stephen:  Excuse me, can we help you?  *He’s looking at his alternate self, already suspicious.  He also casts a short glance at Prettywitch to see if she’s indicating anything to him.*

Prettywitch: Oh, Stephen. I was looking for you, I just happened to find this guy- *She feels Broken Stephen grab her shoulder and pull her away while he fabricates a shard from thin air and points it at Stephen & Clea.*

616-Stephen (growling):  You do realize that there are two of us and one of you, right?  *He opens a portal underneath his alternate self in an attempt to trap him and sends his Cloak to grab Prettywitch back, looking to Clea to run interference if needed.*

Broken Stephen (now floating and having blocked the Cloak): I’m aware of that. *Grins.* But I doubt you can beat me. 

Clea: Would you like to test that theory?

Broken Stephen: *Laughs* If you’re so eager to lose your life, then come at me, faltine.

*The whole time they’re boasting, Prettywitch is quickly conjuring her makeshift Clow Card staff and a familiar looking card to boot.*

Prettywitch: Yeah, well. See you around, Bateman. Time!!! *She activates the card, which only affects the Stephen holding her captive. She slowly removes his hand from her shoulder and draws another card.* Sword!!! *Her staff becomes a sword, which she uses to destroy the shield blocking the Cloak. Then she holds her hand out. *

*The Cloak acts quickly and grabs her to get her away from this hostile version of Strange.  616-Stephen summons a pair of cuffs and restrains his doppleganger.*

Prettywitch: Thanks, Cloakie.

616-Stephen (concerned, at Prettywitch):  Are you okay?

Prettywitch: Yeah, I’m okay.

Clea: That was a most impressive feat of magic.

Prettywitch: Thanks, but I don’t know how long it’ll last for.

616-Stephen:  I’ll get him to a holding cell.  *He opens a portal and pushes the man through.*

*In the meantime, I’ve finished up my tasks.  The enchantments are back up, I helped 3 spirits move on, and integrated 3 new ones into the barriers.  My aura has gotten a bit stronger from me having absorbed the leftover dregs of energy left behind from the spirits that moved onto the afterlife.  On my way up from the undercroft, I notice what appears to be Stephen in a holding cell, but he looks “off”.  Not to mention his aura is a bit different.  This one looks more desperate.  His eyes are bloodshot and his appearance is slightly neglected.  I can’t help but stare in confusion.*

Me (trying to figure this out):  What the hell…?

*Broken Stephen looks up and sees Steward.*

Broken Stephen: Steward…?

Me (tilting my head curiously):  …Yes?  

*I’m suspicious and won’t give any other information, but I’m privately assessing what might be going on.  He sees me watching him.*

Broken Stephen: What’s wrong…?

Me (calmly):  Nothing.  I’m just gonna head back up.  *I’m not giving anything away with my expression and turn to leave, watching him out of the corner of my eye.*

*Broken Stephen watches her leave and stares at the ground like a sad puppy…a sad puppy that soon begins to look angry.*

*I speed up when I notice the change in expression.  Meanwhile, upstairs in the courtyard, Wong has joined the group and is getting information from 616-Stephen.*

Wong:  I see.  A hostile version of yourself from another universe.  You do have a talent for attracting such things, don’t you, Strange?  *He’s exasperated at the situation.  Though not mad at his friend.*

*I emerge from the basement.*

Me:  Hey guys, did you see-Oh.  Ehhhhh…I dunno how long that cell’s gonna hold.  He’s already pretty pissed off.  *I shift uneasily.*

Prettywitch: Oh? That bad, huh?

Wong:  We’ll have to figure out which universe he came from and send him back.  We can put up wards to block off specific realms.

Prettywitch: Yeah, but are we gonna do with Patrick Bateman in the meantime.

616-Stephen:  We’ll have to neutralize his magic so he can’t pull anything.

Me:  He seemed to want to talk, but I already had my internal alarm bells going off.  That’s why I ran up here.  Better to not give any information to someone we suspect is dangerous.

616-Stephen:  I’ll go down and seal him.

Me:  Please be careful.

*He gives a quick nod and heads down to the undercroft.*

*Broken Stephen is just sitting in the corner of his cage hugging his legs when he hears someone approaching. He looks up and sees the other him, the one who belongs to this universe.*

Broken Stephen: *Grumbles* So, Mr. Pretty Boy’s come to visit.

616-Stephen (cautious):  It didn’t have to be this way.  We could have just talked.

Broken Stephen: *Shrugs.* If you say so.

616-Stephen:  Will you tell me why you decided to try and kidnap Prettywitch?

Broken Stephen: *He’s silent for a moment.* Because you don’t deserve her.

616-Stephen (raising an eyebrow):  What makes you think that?  *He’s privately getting angry, but keeping it well-hidden.*

Broken Stephen: It’s not fair! Why? Why do you get to keep your girls while I lose mine?

616-Stephen:  Tell me what happened.  *He’s still willing to listen, if only to figure out his other self’s motives and whether or not he can peacefully resolve this.  Stephen figures he’ll give this alternate version of himself one chance to be reasonable before he has to enact the sealing ritual.*

Broken Stephen: *Sighs* Agatha kidnapped Trix. We needed to rescue her, so the Avengers and the girls found her hideout. Lang went in to set-up an explosive device to level her house and…I stupidly let the girls go in with him to find Trix. *He starts tensing up.* Before I knew it, a fight broke out between the girls and Agatha as they escaped. I tried to…I tried to save them, but…but it was too late. She killed Trix, right in front of her friends. Before the others had a chance she…vaporized them…I…I couldn’t…I couldn’t…*He curls himself into a ball and softly sobs into his knees.*

*616-Stephen watches him and listens silently.  Hearing this, he is filled with compassion for his counterpart.  This one has experienced his worst fears realized in this past year.  He stays calm in an effort to be professional, but he does want to help.*

616-Stephen (sincere):  I’m sorry…Honestly, that scenario came dangerously close here too.  The only things in their favor were luck and the ghost that happened to be following Steward at the time…That and Lang decided to get clever and sent several colonies of ants into the cabin to distract Harkness.  She apparently almost stepped on the group while they were miniaturized, but they narrowly avoided it.  I didn’t want them to go on the mission in the first place, but we couldn’t find any suitable alternative.  The girls were hell-bent on acting.  So, Prettywitch stayed outside the cabin to provide cover fire while Steward went in with Tear and Lang to steal Trix’s crystal.  It worked with a very narrow escape.  Look…I’m sorry that this happened to you, but kidnapping different versions of them isn’t the answer.  

Broken Stephen: *Chuckles defeatedly.* I know, but…What am I supposed to do?...I don’t have a place to call home anymore.

616-Stephen:   What happened to the Sanctum?

Broken Stephen: Don’t worry, it’s still standing.

*616-Stephen listens, trying to figure out what else happened.*

Broken Stephen: You see, I…I left. I used the time machine we keep in the Avengers compound to travel back in time, so I could save them. I wasn’t successful. But I didn’t give up. I tried again and again and again. I hadn’t noticed things had changed until I looked out the window…I…I saw Scott and Hope’s wedding being held on the courtyard…they introduced Wong as Sorcerer Supreme when he came up to MC. That’s when I knew…I was gone for so long they must’ve thought something happened to me…So I left…

616-Stephen:  You may want to consider returning.  They might still have a place for you.  While I was Blipped in this universe for 5 years, Wong became Sorcerer Supreme.  After I came back, he trained me to take the role and then abdicated.  You know Wong…He prefers his books to administrative work.  *He tries to make a small joke in an attempt to comfort his counterpart.*

Broken Stephen: *He shakes his head.* You don’t understand. I acted selfishly. Instead of grieving, I took it upon myself to play God and in doing so, neglected the friends and responsibilities I still had…just like I did when I lost my hands. I don’t deserve to be Sorcerer Supreme of my World, or any world for that matter…But I’m…I’m just so lonely…

*616-Stephen genuinely wants to help his counterpart.  At the same time, he knows that this one has nothing left to lose.  So, he errs on the side of caution and doesn’t release Broken Stephen from the holding cell just yet.*

616-Stephen:  …I can’t pretend to know exactly how you’re feeling, but I have an inkling.  Unfortunately, I can’t release you just yet, but we can continue to talk this out.  *He’s being honest.*

Broken Stephen: I try abducting your girls and you still wanna reason with me? *He laughs harshly.* I don’t know if you’re just stupid or naive.

616-Stephen (shrugging, not letting this one get under his skin):  I’m another version of you.  So, you tell me.  I’m just as human as you are.  I simply wanted to see if we could resolve this peacefully first.

Broken Stephen: I suppose…

616-Stephen:  That and if you took them by force and/or harmed me in the process, they would only resent you.  The only way this could work out for everyone is if you stand down and agree to negotiate peacefully.

Broken Stephen:*He takes a while to think about this.* No. No, you’re right. They would resent me if I did that to them…but I’m not sure if I’m ready to accept that just yet.

616-Stephen:  Have you attempted to abduct other versions of them before?

Broken Stephen: Yes.

616-Stephen:  How did that work out for you?

Broken Stephen: Not good. I’d always end up hating myself for doing it.

616 Stephen:  What did you do to them after you took them?

Broken Stephen: I’d kidnap but after a while, they escaped or I’d let them. I tried several times to use magic many times to make their will bend to mine, but…I could never bring myself to do it.

616-Stephen:  I see…*He watches his counterpart as he speaks.*

Broken Stephen: I would see the horror in their eyes and just…stop. 

*Meanwhile, since it’s been a long time, I decide to go down and check on what’s happening, albeit secretly via astral projection first.  I lie down and project myself out of my body, phasing through the ground to invisibly check on the undercroft.  I silently hover nearby behind 616-Stephen.*

Broken Stephen: They reminded me so much of Donna at that moment. How scared she'd be whenever it was thundering or whenever mom and dad fought. And I remembered all I wanted was to protect her…and them.

*616-Stephen is silent for a while hearing this.  It brings back some memories that he had been hoping to repress.  He senses a certain energy behind his shoulder and glances over.*

Broken Stephen: Are you sensing something, too?

*I silently go to phase back through the ceiling of the undercroft, trying to avoid being caught.*

*I rejoin my body and head down since it seems they’re just talking.*

Me (awkwardly):  Erm…Is everything okay down here?

616-Stephen (flatly, with slight annoyance):  Yes, Nosey.  Did you seriously think that we wouldn’t notice you astral-projecting into here?

*I turn red.*

Me (defensive):  I just wanted to check on you.  It’s been a while since you went down.  *I’m slightly embarrassed at having been caught so quickly.*

*Broken Stephen chuckles at Steward before returning to his depressed state.*

Me:  What exactly has been going on here?

616-Stephen:  Just getting some information.  *He’s still guarded.*

Me:  So, why is this happening, then?

616-Stephen:  It’s a long story, but in short, Harkness killed all of you in this version of me’s timeline.  He was kidnapping other versions of you to try and overcome his grief and loneliness.  

Me (quietly):  Oh…I’m sorry.  *I look at the floor.*

Broken Stephen: It’s okay.

Me (gently):  …I know it’s not exactly the same situation, nor does anyone process grief in the same way, but maybe I could help?

616-Stephen:  As long as the situation remains safe.

*I nod at him and then look at Broken Stephen.*

Me:  So…wanna talk?

Broken Stephen: *He’s taken aback by this…for a moment. He gives her a small smile.* Sure.

*I sit down on the floor just to get the strain off of my legs. 616-Stephen stays nearby just in case.*

Me (serious):  Okay…Well, I kinda know what it’s like to have grief slowly eat you alive…I don’t like talking about this stuff much and generally try to keep things light, but in this case, it’s probably good to confront what’s going on.  *I take a deep breath to calm myself before continuing.*  I’ve lost a lot of people I loved.  Eleven of them.  Some to accidents, some to diseases, and other such things.  Every time, it hurt.  However, one of the worst ones happened when I was 16 at the start of a long chain of horrible events that brought me lower and lower until I didn’t even care what happened to myself anymore.  I was supposed to take care of them.  They had survived a bout of cancer before and because I was already interested in medicine, I wanted to try and help them through round 2.  So, I threw myself completely into it and looked after him all day, every day.  There were some good days and some bad days.  It looked like he might have a chance at getting better, but then during New Year’s Eve, he took a really bad turn and before I knew it, he was dead.  I tried to talk to him to see if he would wake back up.  I held his body.  Nothing.  Just that horrible ventilator pumping air in and out, even though he wasn’t alive anymore.  The nursing staff present didn’t do CPR or use an AED.  They just…stood there.  My parents had to carefully pull me away because I refused to leave him.  Despite that, I couldn’t cry.  Days later, at the funeral, I still couldn’t cry.  The intrusive thoughts started…along with the nightmares.  Some part of me had begun to believe that somehow, I screwed up.  Maybe, if I had somehow done something more, he’d still be here.  Honestly, still, I don’t know.  Was it somehow my fault?  Then, a couple of weeks after the funeral, we got more news.  My aunts had both burned to death in a house fire.  My mother was devastated and developed a lifelong fear of fire.  Later on in the year, we also lost our house, my friend got killed by a drunk driver, and life just kept on hitting and hitting and hitting…After pretending to be fine for months, I failed my precalculus final and that was what finally broke the dam.  I had a huge mental breakdown in my senior year of high school and went into a depressive spiral…but I refused to act on it.  Do you know why, despite everything, that I didn’t go far enough to harm anyone?  

Broken Stephen: No…Why didn’t you?

Me:  …I knew that if they were still there, they wouldn’t want me to.  If the situation were reversed, they wouldn’t do it either.  I certainly wouldn’t want them to.  Out of respect for them, I didn’t.  I wanted to…Gods, did I want to sometimes, but I held on and opted to devote my life to helping others, both because it would make them proud, but also because I know how badly it hurts…I never want to inflict that kind of pain on anyone.  Even on my worst enemy.

Broken Stephen: *He’s tearing up.* Steward…I…I don’t know what to say…

Me:  I suppose that what I’m saying is that letting your grief consume you to the point of hurting others only leads to more pain.  In a way, I kinda channel my pain into my determination to protect and help people.  That way, instead of it constantly gnawing away at me, I acknowledge it and decide to find a better outlet.  It’s okay to grieve.  Healthy, even.  However, dwelling on it constantly and letting it drive you crazy isn’t.  It sucks and it’s gonna suck.  Over time, it’ll slowly get a little easier to handle.  Though you’ll still have bad days every once and a while, especially if something pops up to remind you.  That’s kinda why I hate New Year’s so much.  Anyway, you’re allowed to feel sadness like any other person…Just please, out of respect for those you love, don’t use that pain to hurt others.  I’m sure that the other me wouldn’t want that, nor would the others…I know I’m not her, but if we’re similar at all, I’d hope that you’d know that.

Broken Stephen: No, no you’re right…She wouldn’t. *He starts to cry into his hands.* I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry…

*616-Stephen has a lump in his throat, but is doing his best to stay composed.  He undoes the force field keeping Broken Stephen in, knowing that he’s no longer a threat.  I sit quietly, letting Broken Stephen let his grief out.  I’ve been trying to keep a straight face myself.  Reliving these events was very painful, but I knew it had to be done.*

*After awhile, Broken Stephen begins to talk through his sobs.*

Broken Stephen: What can I do?...What can I do to make amends?...How can I stop this pain…?

Me:  I don’t know exactly how many attempts you made beforehand, but if it were me, I guess I’d start with this…For every person that you hurt, help 2 more.  That and, to be honest, one of the reasons the various versions of us loved you was for your compassion and devotion to your oath.  The fact that you held such a respect for life and always tried to find another way for everything to turn out better.  Please…We’d like to see another Stephen like that in the multiverse.  Go back to your oath, to your duties.  I know it’ll be difficult, but that would be one of the most noble things that you could do.

Broken Stephen: *He smiles.* I’d like that. I just…I’m just still afraid I may be rejected by my friends after all this time. I mean, what will they think of me knowing I just ran away?

Me:  They’re your friends.  If you explain yourself, apologize sincerely, and go back to helping and supporting them and others around you, then they’ll eventually forgive you.  If not, then so be it.  There are billions of people on the planet.  Surely, you can forge some new friendships.  Though frankly, I think that they’re good enough people that they’ll eventually forgive and accept you again.  Just the act of showing up again is pretty brave in and of itself.  That and backing up your words with actions will help a lot.

Broken Stephen: *He nods.* Okay…

Me (smiling slightly):  On a really bad day, if our version of Stephen is okay with it, you can always come by and we can talk.  There’s actually a pub that I used to hang around during the bad days.  I could show you if you want.  *I look at 616-Stephen.  He nods.*

616-Stephen:  I’m coming with you.  *He’s not being defensive this time.  More curious since I hadn’t discussed my past before.*

Broken Stephen: Okay. Sure.

Me:  Let’s head up, then.  You should probably apologize to Prettywitch and meet Trix.  Tear’s still around too, but she’s busy with work and family things.

Broken Stephen: Oh…right. *Sigh.* Well, let’s get this over with.

*We head up.  Wong is currently with Prettywitch in the courtyard.*

Me:  Hey, you two.  Erm…Prettywitch, someone has something to say to you.  Don’t worry, he’s not out to hurt anyone.  *I reassure her and look at Broken Stephen.*

Prettywitch: Okay. - *She sees it’s Broken Stephen and becomes nervous.* Oh, hello crazy-I mean, Stephen. You…wanna talk to me…?

Broken Stephen: Actually, I wanted to apologize to you for…earlier.

Prettywitch: Oh…Oh, right…

Broken Stephen: I don’t expect you to forgive me, right away. Hell, you might never forgive me. But I want you to know that I’m sorry. And that I’m going to…no, I will work to become better…

*Prettywitch is stunned.*

Prettywitch: Well, you’re right, I can’t forgive you right away. Hell, I’m nervous being around you, right now.

Broken Stephen: That’s fair.

Prettywitch: But I’m glad to hear that you want to get better. AND I believe you will; there’s just something in you that’s inherently good, Stephen, and that’s you always succeed, by becoming the best version of yourself.

Broken Stephen: *He smiles.* Thank you.

Wong (still guarded):  So, what else are you planning to do while here?  *He’s not being directly confrontational, but he IS ready to defend if necessary.*

Me (calmly):  I was going to take everyone for drinks.  Trix could use a study break.  *I’m hoping to reassure Wong.*

Wong:  Fine, but I’m coming too.

Me:  Okay.  Let’s go get Trix.  *We head to the library.*  Hey, Trix…You’ve been studying really hard and some stuff almost went down.  It’s already sorted out, but you should meet someone.  Also, we’re all heading out for drinks.  I think you could really use a break, even if just for this evening.

Trix (out of sorts): Huh? *She looks up to Steward and glances behind her to see two Stephen’s* Oh, I must have been studying too long if I’m starting to see double. *She groans and rubs her eyes*

616-Stephen:  No, he’s really here…

*I lightly elbow Broken Stephen to nudge him into introducing himself.*

Broken Stephen: Oh, uh… *Clears his throat.* Hello, Trix. I’m Doctor Stephen Strange but from a different universe. I was here for nefarious reasons, but I’m not now. So…nice to meet you…?

Trix: *She blinks at him for a moment before smiling* Hello! *She frowns for a moment, looking him up and down before closing her books. She gets up and walks over to him.* Normally I’d shake a person’s hand when greeting them but Stephen Strange’s tend to be a different case. Plus you look like you need one of these. *She gives him a large hug instead.*

Broken Strange: *He blushes. Then he slowly puts an arm around her.* Uh…thank you…

Prettywitch: *Chuckles.* I guess all Stephen’s have trouble being affectionate.

Trix (still hugging): Being an awkward dork is a multiversal constant. That’s why we’re here to help! *She finally releases him before turning to Steward.* Now are we going to the one with the good quesadillas or the other one? I’m purely invested for the food and the company.

Me (rubbing the back of my head):  Actually…I haven’t taken you guys to this one.  It used to be the place I went on bad days before I knew you well.  My past is still kind of a sore spot, but I think you guys have more than enough right to at least see a bit of it.  The food is great and so are the drinks.  It’s a bit old-fashioned, but it has some comfy seating and people generally leave you alone.  It’s not obnoxiously loud and shows classic films on the tv over the bar.  Admittedly, the bartender kinda knows me…

Trix (gently): Lead the way! *She gestures to Steward*

*I open a portal and lead the group to the sidewalk in front of the pub.  It’s a rather small, plain-looking building that blends in with everything else, but every time the door opens and shuts from customers, delicious smells waft our way and we can hear the sounds of idle chatter mingled with a movie playing.  I let everyone in and the bartender greets me.*

Bartender:  Welcome to The Slaughtered Lamb-*He recognizes me*  Hey, Steward!  It’s been a while!  You holding up okay?

Me:  Yeah.  Thanks, Martin.

Martin:  No prob.  I see you brought friends.  *He’s mildly surprised.*  I’ll get you seated in a few minutes.

*After a few minutes, we’re seated.  The lighting is rather dim, but overall, the atmosphere of the pub is warm and inviting with various historical photos of the town on the walls.  There’s a very small open area with a piano in the corner and although the bar’s interior is clearly worn-down, it’s kept clean.  Tables are spaced out enough that people mind their own business.  We look through the menus.  There’s a decent list of craft and imported beers, some wines, and some cocktails.  Also, there’s a lot of comfort food.*

Me:  So, what looks good, guys?  I used to get the garlic cheese fries, a burger, and some beer.

Trix (smirking): A Shirley Temple and some snacks.

Prettywitch: I’ll take cheesecake if you have any. If not? Nachos and a nice cold Stella, please.

Wong:  I’ll try one of their beers.

616-Stephen:  I’ll have a negroni.  It’s been a while since I’ve had one.  

Broken Stephen: I’ll have whiskey and coke.

*After the waitress takes our orders, we wait.  I absentmindedly glance at the tv to watch the show.*

Trix: Y’know, if you told me two years ago where I’d be, I absolutely wouldn’t have believed it.

Me:  No kidding.  I thought I was just gonna do my job, apply for a doctoral program, and quit my job to earn my Ph.D if I got in.  Was all focused on work and school stuff.  Didn’t think any of this would happen at all.

Prettywitch: I know, right!? It’s funny how life works, sometimes.

Wong:  We were fairly blindsided as well.  Now that it has happened, what are your thoughts on everything?  *This is his subtle way of checking up on us.*

Trix: Honestly? *She pauses a moment in thought* I know a lot of horrible things have happened to us but it’s also been some of the greatest moments of my life. It gives me purpose and I’ve gotten to be around some of the greatest people because of it.

Me:  Agreed.  Never been so worried about everyone in my life, but frankly, seeing as everything has turned out okay so far, I think I’m doing alright.  Experiencing and learning all of these new things gives me life and energy that I haven’t felt in a long time.  I love my medical research, of course, but these studies are on a whole different level.  Our little group from this universe has effectively become a team of pioneers.  I always dreamed of exploring new territory, whether it was metaphorical or literal.  So, yeah.  Despite everything, I’d say I’m actually happy…whenever we’re not being actively threatened, of course.

Prettywitch: Same. Especially since I haven’t been having such a great year.

*I give Prettywitch a reassuring look.*

616-Stephen:  Helping and training all of you is difficult work, but seeing you girls learn and mature so quickly is rewarding.  I’m proud of you.  

Trix (teasing): Are you saying we’re difficult? *She grins at him*

616-Stephen (curling his lip):  You ladies are really something else, you know that?  *He’s teasing back.*

Me (flatly, sarcastically):  Har har har…*I’m teasing him as well.*

Prettywitch: Yeah, I’m sure you say that to all the pretty ladies, Stephen. *She gives him a wink to let him know she’s teasing.*

*616-Stephen rolls his eyes in mock dismay.*

Wong:  I’m relieved to hear that you three are doing okay.

Broken Stephen: Yeah, me too actually. *He smiles sadly.*

*Our orders arrive.  Everything looks good.  So, we tuck into the food and drinks as we chat.  616-Stephen gives me a look when he notices my rather unhealthy choices.*

Me (noticing):  Don’t you start.  *I’m amused.*

616-Stephen:  You’re gonna regret that later.

Me:  Worth it for now.  I haven’t had this stuff in years.  Probably not since…Hmmm…Yeah, I stopped slipping off to be alone here after about a year of getting to know the group.  It always took me a while to get used to people, but Trix, Tear, and Prettywitch made me feel so welcome that I eventually stopped getting the urge to leave.  Usually, I feel like an outsider or downright invisible.  So, it was nice that they took the time to actually hang out with me.  I know I wasn’t exactly friendly at first, but I was nervous.  At least I warmed up to you guys eventually.  Heh…Remember the cake I made for us for the 1-year anniversary of the group?

Trix: It was delicious! You were super worried about the decorations on it as well until we inhaled that thing.

Prettywitch: *Laughs* Oh yeah!

616-Stephen:  So, you were always that nitpicky about cake decorating, huh?  *He smirks at me.*

Me:  Shut it.

Trix: I have it on good authority, Stephen, that you are also incredibly nitpicky as well so beware of the glass house you find yourself in.

Prettywitch: Ooh! She’s got you there.

Broken Stephen: *He laughs a little; apparently, nitpicking is a universal trait for Stephen’s across the multiverse.*

*Wong is quietly amused by our banter.*

Broken Stephen: *He takes a sip of his drink.*

Me:  So, Trix, what drew you to joining the group in the first place?  I joined in partly because I loved the Marvel comics and partly because I was lonely.  That and my parents were worried about my lack of social engagement.

Trix: The MCU in particular for me. I was fascinated by such an undertaking to weave so many stories together to create such a cohesive tapestry of a universe! *She grows more and more passionate as she speaks before she realizes she’s gotten a lot louder.* Oops… *She blushes.* But yeah, I have some good and great friends but I was still almost always alone. I always had to be the first one to reach out and when I finally stopped because I was tired of always being the first one, I found myself alone except for one or two people but they always were busy, understandably. At least, until I met you guys. I finally didn’t feel like I was a bother and was included without having to make the plans myself. *She can’t help but close in on herself a little bit more after finally admitting it*

*I gently pat Trix’s shoulder to comfort and reassure her.*

Me:  Yeah, I get that.  Though my main thing was that after so much loss, I kinda shut down and figured, “Why bother?  It’s just gonna happen again and again and it’ll keep hurting.”  However, as I got more isolated, I knew that I was only getting worse.  That’s when I realized that people need people.  Even if they don’t want to admit it.  So, I’m glad that I caved into my parents’ worries and my own loneliness to reach out to you guys.  Hell, some of the liveliest discussions I’ve had were when you and Prettywitch were involved.  *I smile gently at Trix.*

*Trix blushes and feels somewhat embarrassed at how much that helps.*

Prettywitch: For me, it was love for the good doctor that brought me to this group. 

*616-Stephen blushes slighty.*

Prettywitch: I do agree with Steward, though; people need people. I always used my interests to interact with people because it was the only way I could properly communicate with others, but it led me to being friends with some people who weren’t good to me. That’s why I’m glad for the trajectory my life has gone in; I never imagined I’d fall this hard into Marvel fandom, but it‘s special to me partly because it led me to meeting my friends back home as well as you guys.

Me (chuckling lightly):  To think that a small group of comic book fans turned into this.  *I smile gently at my friends.*

Wong:  You three are good for each other.  This is encouraging.

Trix: Well, there’s power in 3’s! *She smiles gently before turning to Wong.* Now, I wanna hear more Wong Thoughts. *She scoots her stool obnoxiously closer to him on purpose before grinning at him*

*Wong remains stoic, not about to give her the pleasure of having irked him.*

Wong:  What would you like to know?  Any specific questions?

Trix: Anything you’re willing to share! This is sharing and caring time but we will not press. *Her smile is more genuine than teasing now*

*He grunts.*

Wong:  Well, when the four of you first arrived in Kamar-Taj, I had my doubts.  Especially four young women from a universe that has never previously known magic.  I did not expect you to learn so quickly.  Admittedly, it was amusing seeing Strange’s shock when you four were able to start producing sparks before he could unblock his own energy when he was first starting out.

*616-Stephen gives Wong a look.*

Prettywitch: Eh, I have an overactive imagination, that’s all.

Trix: I, for one, am very happy we did not need a field trip to Everest unlike somebody…

*For now, I’m just listening and enjoying the company while sipping my pint of beer.  I snort at the last part.*

Me:  Gah…Trix, You’re gonna make me spew beer.  *I’m amused.*

Trix (staring Steward in the eyes): Good.

Me:  *Muttering, teasingly at her under my breath.*  Butt-munch.  

Trix: Love you too~

Broken Stephen: *He actually laughs in earnest at that. He doesn’t even try hiding it this time.*

*Wong shakes his head at Trix and me.*

Wong:  Anything else?

Trix (thoughtful): So, assuming we pass our mastery tests, what happens then? Y’all have been secretive about parts of it. *She looks at 616-Stephen and Wong.*

616-Stephen:  Assuming that you three pass smoothly, we’ll begin to assign you missions.  Some of them will be team missions and others will be solo.  We want to see how all of you handle different situations on your own and with different people.  

Wong:  Sorcerers need to be adaptive and think on their feet.  Missions will help reinforce that.  

616-Stephen:  When we think that you’re ready to handle the responsibilities, we’ll start work on placement and construction of Sanctums and a main complex in your world.

PrettyWitch: *She gets starry eyed hearing that.* Really!? Oh, this is gonna be awesome! I’m gonna totally set up mine to look like my ideal castle, with a pool and ASMR room and everything!!! 

Trix (a bit melancholy): Oh yeah…I almost forgot we’re going home by the end of this. I’m just so used to being at Kamar-Taj and with you guys…

*I’m just quietly thinking about all of this for now.  I have that distant stare into space that I usually do when in deep thought.  To be honest, I have mixed feelings.  I’m secretly fangirling over being able to have and run our own Sanctums, but also worried about all of the responsibilities this situation entails, and I’m a bit sad about not being able to hang around with Stephen and the group like we used to.  It’s bittersweet.  So, I continue to silently mull this over.*

616-Stephen (gentle):  Look, we’ll still be around for a while and you can always call us if you need us.  

Wong (gruffly teasing):  …That and you have Sling Rings.  I doubt that you will neglect to visit.

Trix: I swear on the Watcher that you will never be rid of me. *Pointing teasingly*

*Wong allows himself to look mildly amused at this.*

Me:  So, what’s with the specialized exams?

616-Stephen:  I would’ve thought that would be obvious-

Me:  Really?  We’re doing this?  *I’m catching his snark before it starts, arching an eyebrow dangerously while looking him directly in the eyes.*

616-Stephen (quickly backpedaling):  Erm-I mean-The exams are tailored to the sorcerer-in-training by their Master.  There will be general material, but seeing as every student has a particular talent, we attempt to help them refine it so they can play to their strengths.  These exams are structured to test you to your limits in every way possible and if you show a particular set of skills, then that gets even more emphasis so we can see exactly how much you know.

Wong (amused by the effectiveness of my death glare earlier):  Including that?

616-Stephen (glowering at Wong):  No…*under his breath*  …Though it should be.

Broken Stephen: *He chuckles.* Oh dear…

Trix (realizing something): Oh. Oh. *She points at Wong and grins* I knew you liked me. I get to be the Wong of our group! That’s why I’m being focused on the book stuff!

Wong (attempting to remain stoic):  I cannot show favoritism, but you do show considerable proclivity towards my own field.

*Trix just grins wider and scoots closer to Wong and wraps an arm around him.*

Trix: Book buddies have to stick together, I understand. *She attempts to look as serious as Wong does on a normal day as she gives a solemn nod.*

*I put my drink down because now I can’t help myself.  So, I end up snickering into the collar of my jacket.*

PrettyWitch: *She grins ear to ear.* Why if I didn’t know better, Wong, I’d say you’re acting a bit like a tsundere, right now.

Wong (trying to ignore the comments):  …Do they have tea here?

Me (curious, but answering):  They do.

*He gets our waitress’ attention and orders a hot black tea.*

Broken Stephen: I’ll take some tea, too. It’s been awhile since I’ve had any.

*The tea arrives and Wong holds it close to himself.*

*Trix watches, amused, but still rather close as she hasn’t felt the need to move yet.*

*616-Stephen watches and notices something odd.*  

616-Stephen:  Wait…The steam isn’t just coming from the cup…*He looks at Wong and then the cup.  Suddenly, something in his brain seems to click and he gets a wide grin. *  So, THAT’s what your tic is.  

*Trix, listening to Stephen, takes a closer look at Wong before she starts to grin as well.*

Trix: That’s honestly super subtle and absolutely suits you.

Prettywitch: Oh my God! *She starts cackling.*

*I watch everything unfold with a smirk.*

*The steam intensifies slightly before Wong takes a slow, deep breath to calm himself, dispersing the involuntary cast.*

Wong (attempting to be stoic, but sounding slightly annoyed):  Well, now you know.

Trix: Honestly it makes me wonder what mine could have been if not for Agatha. I mean, I don’t think I ended up…as normal as a sorcerer could possibly be.

Broken Stephen: It’s hard to say, magic tics can manifest in all sorts of ways, especially when your innate magic abilities aren’t as grandiose.

Trix: Ever since I escaped the crystal prison, my magic is somewhat crystalline. It’s my passive magic, when I cast shields it tends to be made of crystal instead of a regular mandala. Loki also still has some of the effects as well but not nearly as much as me considering he’s a god and I’m just me. 

Broken Stephen: *His eyes widen when Trix mentions escaping Agatha unscathed.* Oh…right… *He swifts his gaze away and takes another sip of whisky.* How did you escape, anyway?

Me (calmly):  The whole situation and rescue were…complicated to say the least.  *I watch Broken Stephen to make sure that he’s okay.*

Prettywitch: Yeah. We ended up going through these labyrinths designed to trap us. 

Broken Stephen: Oh. *He nods and smiles sadly.* That’s good to hear.

*I look at him with a reassuring expression to calm him back down.*

Broken Stephen: *He looks at Steward and mouths “Thank you” to her.*

Me:  *I subtly nod at him to indicate a silent “you’re welcome” and give a slight smile to comfort him.  Then, I change the subject to steer away from this topic.*  So, do we wanna ask for the check, then?

Trix: Yeah, let’s head out.

*The group finishes up and we pay the bill before leaving.  We get to an empty alley outside and portal back to Kamar-Taj.*

Me (to Broken Stephen):  I hope this helped at least a little bit…*I think to myself for a second before shrugging and hugging the man to comfort him.  I hold him for a little while so he can feel safe before letting him go.*

Broken Stephen:  Yes, it did. Thanks, again for this, Steward.

Me:  No problem at all.  *I’m privately relieved that we’ve managed to come to a peaceful resolution this time.*

Prettywitch: Alright, let’s go home. I’m starting to get tired.

Broken Stephen: *He smirks.* That’s because you chugged your beer like it was going out of style.

Prettywitch: Hey! It’s not my fault I’m a lightweight.

616-Stephen: Actually it would be, in this case.

Prettywitch: Hey! Don’t give him any ammo!

Broken Stephen: *Laughs.*

616-Stephen:  So, what are your plans now, then?  *He still feels a bit weird with a variant of himself hanging around, but he doesn’t exactly want to start anything up again by being abrupt.*

Broken Stephen: *He shrugs.* Well, I figured I’d try going home and owning up to my mistakes. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough magic to send myself back. That’s kinda how I ended up here, actually.

Me:  We can help with that.  We’re strong enough now that it won’t take such a heavy toll on us.  *I’m calm and thinking logically.*

Trix: That’s true. *She’s a bit more subdued, almost lost in thought.*

Prettywitch: How did you get here, anyway?

Broken Stephen: Well, after I decided to leave I found a spell that would allow me to travel the multiverse by infusing crystals into my Sling Ring. The only catch was that it only had a limited number of times I could use it before the crystals ran out.

Prettywitch: And let me guess; you forgot you needed to replace said crystals, didn’t you…?

Broken Stephen: Well…Yeah. *He gives an awkward, embarrassed smile, like he got caught stealing books from the library in Kamar-Taj.*

Me:  What was the source of these crystals?  Maybe the other universe has some spares.

Broken Stephen: I think it was Hematite…? The spell required fusing the Ring with a gem that would protect you while traveling,so long as it’s “blessed” first.

Prettywitch: That should work. Let’s go find a gemstone store and see if they have any Hematite. If not? Well, that’s what Amazon is for.

Me:  I actually have some in my rock collection back home.  Things can be replaced.  So, it’s fine.

Prettywitch: Oh, that’s great!

*We portal to my house and I quickly grab the hematite from my rock collection, handing it over.*

Me:  Though blessing it…Hmm…Would you use the Vishanti or some other deity?

Broken Stephen: I’m pretty sure I used the Vishanti when I blessed the stone.

*Trix is in the background, scribbling into a journal and watching this go on.*

*I think for a moment to remember the correct incantation and then bless the hematite.*

Broken Stephen: *He removes his Sling Ring from his pocket and takes the Hematite from Steward.* Thank you. *He levitates the stone and ring and fuses them together before they become a bright, silver Sling Ring with a reflective surface. Then he places the ring on his hand.*

*I watch curiously and glance at Trix, thankful that she’s keeping a log of this new information.*

Broken Stephen: *He opens the portal, but before he steps through, he turns to us, nervously.* Uh…I know this is awkward, but…um…Could I…ask for a hug from you guys?

*I nod silently and open my arms so he can walk over to us.*

*Trix tucks her journal away before doing the same, ready for the group hug.*

*Prettywitch hesitates for a moment before caving in and hugging him tightly.*

*Broken Stephen hugs them and cries happily.*

Trix (still hugging): Is there anything else we can do? This entire thing has been difficult for you.

Broken Stephen: No. No, I’m good, for now. *He lets go of us.* Just let me know when you’ve returned home. I’d love to come and visit when I can.

Me:  We will…Though it may be a while due to our studies.  In the meantime, perhaps we could give you something to remember us by?

Broken Stephen: Yeah…I’d like that.

*Trix friend for a moment before her face lights up.*

Trix: I think I have an idea. *She creates three small crystals in the palm of her hand, each is clear. After a moment, one begins to turn orange and violet. She turns to Steward and PrettyWitch.*

Trix: I think this might help in remembering us, and our counterparts. If the both of you pour a little bit of energy in these *She holds one out to each of the others* they’ll eventually become something…greater over time if you *She turns back to Broken Stephen* treat them like seeds. *She then hands Broken Stephen her crystal seed.*

*I nod quietly and accept one of the clear crystals, holding it for a moment to infuse it with the energy of my aura.  It turns into the indigo, tan, and magenta of my soul’s signature, shimmering in the light.  I hand it respectfully to Broken Stephen when I’m done.  When Prettywitch infuses her crystal seed with her energy, I pass it to him as well.*

*Prettywitch forms a rose quartz keychain and gives it to Broken Stephen.*

Prettywitch: There you go; it’s not much, but it’s a reminder of your love for us, and the capacity you have to love and be loved.

Broken Stephen: *He smiles.* Thank you… *He lets the Cloak wipe the tears from his eyes.* Well, I should probably get going. Goodbye for now.

Prettywitch: Good luck!

Me:  See you later.  *I wave.*

*I turn to check on Prettywitch once I know that Broken Stephen is gone.*

Me:  You okay?  I know it was rough.  So, I didn’t wanna pressure you.  You can always psychically let us know if you’re uncomfortable.  In this case, we were just de-escalating the situation.  Though at least this variant was more of a lost soul needing help rather than a straight-up sociopath.  *I look her over carefully and respectfully.*

Prettywitch: Yeah, I’m okay. I just hope he gets better, that’s all.

Trix: I think we really helped him. Even if it was a talk and a meal, those can be the best remedies.

Me:  So, last check-up…You’re sure that you’re good?  *I want to be absolutely sure since I know what happened to Prettywitch and want to let her know that her voice will be heard if she needs anything.*

Prettywitch: Yes, love. I’m fine. Honest.

Me (relaxing a bit, knowing that she’s okay):  Okay.  On that note, we should head back to Kamar-Taj and study.

***To be continued***

[peekintoeternity]

omg i think im so out of loop (never check any naruto blog aside from ones ive followed tbh for the past 2 years lmao) that i didnt know people have pointed out the similarities between vaderkin and tobito?? damn i thought i was all alone LOL 😭 (psss id be more than willing of course to listen to your take on their similarities and differences)

hi there! so i think others have done this extensively, i usually find such jokes / mini "thought pieces" on reddit (you can try r/naruto or r/dankruto and search relevant keywords) or youtube comment sections, and especially the YT vid from Death Battle, although other (smaller) creators have also posted (more serious) video essays about Obito, where Anakin / Darth Vader has been mentioned as a parallel to Obito's character :)

unfortunately i can't remember the exact video & all the information is a bit scattered, even in my brain lol, so the best i can do is point u to some sources 🥲

for instance, there are many YT video essays & even reddit posts on Obito's character & how misunderstood he is, like Swagkage's "Dissecting Obito Uchiha", "How Strong is Obito?", "Leave Obito Alone" (lol)

i'm not sure i can ever make a post listing all their similarities, esp when the Death Battle vid has already pretty much done that, and more comprehensively than any comment / reddit post at that, haha

you can also check their wiki for a detailed breakdown of the vid, but perhaps go straight to the Trivia section to see a list of their many similarities! :D

(of course as with all sources, there are some things i disagree with, for instance DB lists Obito as having "less combat experience" than Vader, but we actually don't know what Obito does during all those nigh 20 years that he was living as "Nobody" / "The Masked Man" / Tobi, i mean he could've been training and participating in duels, espionage, skirmishes, battles, etc., i mean he was the secret leader of the Akatsuki, the real Fourth Mizukage of Mist/Kiri, also basically the real leader of Land of Rain too ("Amekage" if you will?) since he is the reason Pain & Konan were able to overthrow Hanzō and the two take orders from him even if they are not loyal to him, so there could've been countless of combat / military and political missions he was involved in that happened "offscreen", and add to all that the fact he was a child soldier starting from around age 9 (when he became a genin and began taking on missions) and that, of course, he was a main player (war criminal! lol) as both fighter and strategist and military commander in Narutoverse's Fourth World War—but hey, the whole point of fandom & media is that there will also be multiple interpretations, so i see no point in "nitpicking" a fictional fight analysis lol)

maybe something new i can add is the meta parallel of how, in real life, vader's identity reveal was a plot twist that shook the whole of star wars fandom and beyond, shocking audiences & remaining iconic to this day

similarly, though i wasn't there (in the fandom or following the anime), at the time, when obito was revealed to be The Masked Man ("Tobi") in the anime, apparently sooo many streaming sites straight up broke down due to the sheer number of people immediately going to see the episode (guess there aren't that many manga readers compared to anime haha)

so yeah, vader broke cinema (insert martin scorsese meme), and obito broke the internet, quite literally 🤣

and these are just accounts from english speakers, who knows how much potentially crazier things got on chinese & japanese & other non-english sites lol

i might add some stuff if i have the energy to organize my thoughts more later on, sorry if this isn't the answer you were hoping for, but i hope the links & sources above can be helpful to you! :)

[vera800]

I’m noticing a pattern with all the characters that I create…

They all perfectly encapsulate the essence of that one mashup song with the song about baking a cake, and some really vulgar rap.

Examples

Meta (modern/Locasol)

Helpful, kind, a good leader who wants to fix a broken system

Has broken several mountaintops (by accident) and and summon a Light God

Vergo (not Locasol related)

High Chieftain of one of the last remaining orderly civilizations in the Middle East after a major extinction event. Fair, intelligent, creative, and always puts others first

Casually creates geysers of lava, summons massive clouds of dust, fills the air with mist before letting loose lightning attacks, and much more ecological damage in the midsts of battle

OG Meta (not Locasol related, first story-driven OC)

Keeper of balance and order with powers beyond mortal comprehension. Travel between different variations of fictional universes, mastering the universal structure past Omniverse

Casually erased canon characters, items, worlds, and events out of existence, erasing them from the very foundation never to be created or known in the first place. Thus creating a paradox

Other than the “helping other people and maintaining order”, they all have two wolves inside them. One wants to help others, and the other wants massive property damage 😂

Maybe one day I’ll go into the super cringey lore behind the OG Meta story, but I’d have to go back to when I was 10 and I had some *massive* timeline of imaginative lore when playing with toys. That might be an anniversary special, or a follower special, idk

[celebritynewsinusa]

Discover Madison LeCroy's Beauty Favorites: The Secrets Behind Her Glam

Discover Madison LeCroy's Beauty Favorites: The Secrets Behind Her Glam Meta Description: Dive into the world of Madison LeCroy's beauty routine as she reveals her favorite hair, makeup, and skincare products. Learn the secrets behind her flawless look. Introduction to Madison LeCroy's Beauty Secrets Madison LeCroy, the Southern Charm sensation, has always been a beacon of beauty inspiration. With her impeccable style and flawless makeup, she's captured the attention of many. This article delves deep into the secrets behind her glamorous look, revealing the products she swears by and the techniques she employs.

Madison LeCroy's Favorite Beauty Products Madison has a curated list of beauty products that she can't live without. Some of her top recommendations include: - Natural Oil Blotting Paper Roll by PleasingCare: Perfect for on-the-go touch-ups, ensuring a matte finish. - Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask: A hydrating treatment that leaves lips soft and supple. - NYX The Brow Glue: For those perfectly sculpted eyebrows that stay in place all day. - One/Size by Patrick Starr Powder Foundation: Offers a flawless finish with buildable coverage. - Tatcha Luminous Dewy Skin Mist: A refreshing mist that gives a radiant glow. Hair Picks for Glamorous Locks Madison's hair always looks salon-fresh. Some of her go-to products include: - Living Proof Hairspray: For a strong hold without the crunch. - Oribe Royal Blowout Heat Styling Spray: Protects hair from heat damage while ensuring a smooth finish. - Great Lengths Extensions: For added volume and length, Madison trusts these high-quality extensions. Makeup Essentials for a Flawless Look Achieving Madison's makeup look requires precision and the right products. Some of her essentials are: - NYC Slim Lip Pencil by NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP: Defines and accentuates the lips. - One/Size by Patrick Starr Powder Foundation: For a seamless and natural finish. Skincare Secrets for a Radiant Glow Madison's skin always looks youthful and radiant. Her skincare secrets include: - Tatcha Luminous Dewy Skin Mist: Hydrates and gives a fresh, dewy look. - Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask: Ensures soft, kissable lips. Insider Beauty Tips and Tricks Beyond products, Madison has shared various beauty hacks over the years: - Stay Hydrated: Drinking ample water keeps the skin hydrated. - Regular Facials: Madison believes in regular facials to keep her skin in top condition. - Less is More: She often emphasizes the importance of a minimalistic approach, especially with makeup. Conclusion Madison LeCroy's beauty secrets are a blend of high-quality products and tried-and-true techniques. Incorporating her recommendations might just elevate your beauty game. After all, who wouldn't want to glean insights from the Southern Charm beauty herself? FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions): - What are Madison LeCroy's top beauty picks? - Madison's top picks include the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask, NYX The Brow Glue, and the Tatcha Luminous Dewy Skin Mist, among others. - Where can I buy the beauty products recommended by Madison LeCroy? - Most of these products are available on major online retailers like Amazon, Sephora, and Ulta. - How can I achieve a glamorous look like Madison LeCroy? - By incorporating Madison's recommended products and following her beauty tips and tricks. - Are there any budget-friendly alternatives to the beauty products recommended by Madison LeCroy? - Yes, many drugstore brands offer similar products at a more affordable price point.   Read the full article

[ruinarei]

viego is largely incorporeal until the moment he must take physical form either to slay something or hold something, such as his famed blade. during his bouts of necromancy or soul-taking, he also tends to be perfectly tangible, but until he wills himself into action, he’s largely a ghost, a creature made entirely of the mist in itself.

that said, unless he wants to engage you physically (which, granted, is largely how he fights given his swordsmanship), you can’t do much to him without proper magic.

[malachi-walker]

Happy birthday, Mal! I love your fics, they evoke so much emotion in me and have made me cry many a time. I don't often reread fics, but i've reread multiple chapters of Rhythm and Blues because they're stuck with me so much. You capture the emotional pain of their trauma and the catharsis that comes with their growth so beautifully. You also write some brilliant meta and just consistently post some fantastic thoughts. Also your love for swords is very appreciated. <3 have a lovely day!

First of all, my apologies for not replying sooner. I was making my mind up about something that would definitely require the use of a read more and thus necessitate dragging myself to desktop (which I hate because my laptop predates the dinosaurs.)

But seriously. Thank you so much. This is honestly one of the sweetest comments I've ever gotten and definitely made my already pretty sweet bday even better.

So about that read more. In honor of you, @metalesbo, my friends @n7punk and @jem-jarrett and everyone else who sent me well wishes or just really loves my work... Here's the opening section of the next chapter of R&B. Enjoy. It's a long one.

Adora Eternia is about two months shy of her fourteenth birthday when she first realizes she's in love with her best friend.

Though--if asked--she would hasten to explain that it wasn't when she fell in love. But trying to pinpoint the exact moment is an exercise in catching mist: the more she tries to grasp it in her hands the more it spreads out and covers everything. It just is: pure and simple and very, very complicated.

It's the beginning of December and the whole town is covered in a thick blanket of snow. Winterfest will be here in a few weeks, so to help out the kids who want to get gifts for their friends the Right Zone administration has shuffled around the groups that usually take their monthly trips on the third and fourth Sundays of the month to double up with the other two. As part of group three, she and Catra got the first week (the other three members of their crew are week two folks anyway and thus outside the reorganization.)

It's still kinda weird to think that: their crew. For so long, it was just Catra and Adora. Adora and Catra. One unit bound together, just them against the world. But there's also something nice about being part of a small cluster, their "scrappy little lone wolf pack" as Catra had once put it with a wry grin before Lonnie shoved her over with an, "Excuse you, I'm a great people person when I'm not busy making sure you idiots haven't set yourselves on fire!"

They all got a good laugh out of that one.

But regardless, the holidays are coming up and this is the first year that any of their group has felt like actually doing anything for it, aside from wrangling together a sleepover and seeing if they can convince the kitchen staff to slip them some leftover eggnog.

They made each other promise not to go too extravagant and keep each person's gift to ten dollars or lower. Even though their quarterly stipend has increased from three hundred to four hundred to match with inflation over the past eight years, it still isn't a whole lot for three month's worth of expenses, especially when they also have to budget regularly for clothes to keep up with the seemingly endless growth spurts.

There's also the usual budgetary concern of keeping her and Catra's first aid kit well supplied...

Adora shakes her head to dislodge the intrusive thought and continues marching onward through the snow. This trip is a good thing. She won't let all the awful realities of their life taint it.

With so many kids running around and wanting to shop on their own to surprise their giftees, Right Zone had to negotiate with both the local police and whatever other civic authorities they could get ahold of to come out en masse and keep an eye on them all. The kids had still come with their usual teachers, of course, but doubling the load and also splitting up was a logistical nightmare. Which is just a convoluted way to say the town is positively crawling with uniformed officers, off duty members of the fire brigade, emergency personnel, and other such authority figures quietly keeping watch and making sure no one tries anything.

Adora knows that somewhere in the press of bodies, Grizzlor's busy wrangling two new "brats" (seven and nine, respectively, and definitely not friends.) Somewhere, a certain Magicat is probably grumbling over the indignity of being forced to wear shoes and kicking every snowpile she can, like she can send a direct message to whatever cosmic force is responsible for her current frustration.

On an ordinary month she and Catra--being old enough to be allowed a bit more freedom to do what they want--would buddy up to watch each other's backs while they did their shopping. But this isn't an ordinary month, so once they'd each gotten gifts for the other three they'd split up on opposite ends of Main Street with an agreement to move clockwise to avoid running into each other. Afterwards, the entire group would rendezvous at the small clock tower in the park a block over before heading back to Right Zone.

Ten dollars wasn't a lot to work with, but Adora had done her best: a new stress ball for Kyle, some moisturizing oil for Rogelio since the early winter shed had wiped out his supply and he'd been too busy to pick up some more, a twelve pound kettle weight for Lonnie now that their shared exercise routine was getting a bit too easy for her... Utilitarian choices, to be sure, but she's been paying attention and that has to count for something.

Catra's the difficult one, of course. Partly because Adora doesn't want to just get her something practical, but also because they share nearly everything between them already. About the only thing that is definitively off limits is Catra's guitar, and she's told Adora enough about her time with Tao over the years that Adora wouldn't even ask. Beyond that... Well, there's a reason why most of Adora's day off hoodies have small strands of orange fur stuck to them.

Still. I want to get her something that's hers. Something she'll like. Something she doesn't have to share with anyone, not even me.

In the end, she nearly walks past it. In one of the artisanal shops that dot small towns like liver spots, she finds a display of hand stamped necklace pendants, with a design sheet beside it. There are a lot of the usual nature designs and such, but the one that catches her eye is a treble clef with the five staff lines bleeding out from it. They ring the edge of the pendant in a half circle, and scattered haphazardly along the lines are the other music notes.

The lack of proper order would drive Adora insane. She understands that it's just meant to look pretty, not be an accurate representation of musical notation, but still... She knows her own (broken) brain well enough to know that.

It suits Catra, though.

"Hey," Mismatched eyes looked down at Adora as her head draped backwards over the back of their desk chair, the throbbing behind her left eye threatening to escalate into a migraine. "Guess I don't have to ask how the composing's going."

"It sucks," Adora groused back, sitting up and gesturing Catra over. She jabbed at two particular spots with the half chewed off eraser end of her pencil, two hard jabs each, like she was filing a complaint. "Most of it is just what I'm going for, but these two places here... They aren't sounding right. I've been going back and forth over structure all afternoon, but nothing I do helps."

"Hmmm..." Catra stroked her chin and nudged Adora over so she could sit on the arm of the chair (they'd never gotten around to requesting a second, mostly because Adora didn't want to risk Shadow Weaver suspecting they were getting too chummy.) "Got any scratch paper?"

Adora pointed to the pile of half crumpled notebook paper she used when making adjustments and Catra snorted. "Ok, dumb question. Just let me see here..."

Grabbing a pen, she quickly inked a fresh set of staff lines and copied the notes Adora had already put down, making sure to leave space to work. Glancing between the two, she drummed her fingers on the desk, playing along in her head.

"Hmm..." Catra murmured, worrying at her lower lip with a fang in a manner that was... Oddly distracting. "Ok, how 'bout this?"

Adora jolted, tearing her gaze from Catra's face to look at the sequence of notes scribbled onto the scratch paper. She paused, brow furrowing as she played them over in her mind's eye. It was a little unorthodox, veering away from the path she had carefully laid out... But also blending well with the next part. Almost like the notes took a quick detour and then lead the listener back to where she wanted them.

"Yeah..." Adora replied thoughtfully, the tension all over her body starting to smooth out. "Yeah, that could work."

"Awesome. Let's take a look at the next part."

They ultimately ended up spending several hours going over the entire piece, sussing out every place where Adora was having even the slightest niggle of unease. She didn't accept all of Catra's changes and Catra didn't push the matter, but the ones she did...

They felt right. More right than they had ever felt when it was just Adora running circles around herself.

When they finally finished up she looked over at Catra, tail waving sedately in that way it got when she was simultaneously engaged but relaxed, and asked, "Umm... Do you want to learn with me? I like doing this."

'I like making music with you.'

Catra paused, looking over at Adora searchingly, almost like she couldn't believe the question had come up. No matter how many years had passed between them, that look never really went away, and every time she saw it Adora's chest ached in a way that was hard for her to process.

"I'd like that."

Catra's composing style is very different from Adora's. More wild, more willing to bend and break the rules if it means maintaining audience engagement, but there's always an underlying order to the chaos. To her surprise and pleasure, Adora found herself learning just as much from Catra as Catra was learning from her. Their styles brought out the best in each other.

The jingle of a bell kicks her out of the memory. Mind made up even though it's nearly double her budget, Adora scans the stand of necklaces for the one with the treble clef pattern.

It isn't there. Adora swallows down the disappointment, though she can't help the sigh. Of course. The town was well aware of the large population of music students a short drive away and catered to them accordingly. But there are also dozens of kids out on the street tonight. It isn't that big of a surprise that the design sold out.

Not surprising, but disheartening nonetheless.

She's just begun to turn away when a voice calls from the back. "Hang on a sec there, little miss."

Adora jumps, but remains where she is as a large Taurian man with a massive snow white beard trundles out from a door behind the counter, wiping his hands on his apron. "Was there a particular design you were interested in?"

Adora points at the treble clef, hope rising. "This one. But it looks like it's already sold out."

"Hmm..." The man scratchs at his chin. "Well with Winterfest coming up, I'm out of blank pendants-"

Adora's shoulders slump.

"-But," The man continues with a smile. "I can double stamp it onto the back of another. Ordinarily I'd charge extra for that, but it's my fault for not ordering enough blanks. Rookie move. Besides, it's the holidays. Now would that be all right by you?"

Nodding frantically in case he changes his mind, Adora scans the other designs, quickly alighting on one in particular. "That one!"

"The claw marks? Bit of an odd combination, but the customer is always right," The old man winked as he reached out to take the necklace from her. "My jig and press is in the corner over here if you wanna watch."

Adora was glad he specified, because as nice as the man seemed there was no way in hell she was going into a back room with a stranger. But she stood next to the window beside a display of miscellaneous knick knacks and puzzles, watching him carefully place the pendant in a cushioned stand to avoid damaging the already printed side and tighten it into place before moving beside the machine.

"You're gonna want to cover your ears," He tells her, patting the machine with one massive hand. "Had to switch to a steam press when the arthritis caught up to me. Used to do it all by hammer. This boy's okay, but he gets loud."

Adora nods, glad for the warning when he bellows "Clear!" and the machine's hammer comes down once, twice, three times with a sound like the ringing of an enormous bell. Once the machine is stopped and carefully turned off, the old man removes the pendant from the press and hands it over to Adora for inspection. "What do you think? Does it pass muster?"

Adora runs her fingertips over the impressions in the metal, memorizing the feel of it, the leftover warmth of the impact. "Perfect."

"Good. Now let's get you rung up."

Counting the five dollars she attempted to surreptitiously slip into the tip jar (the old man winked as he turned back around, so stealth fail) Adora went very over budget, but the others would have to put a gun to her head for her to admit it.

Besides, it's Catra. They already know she's the sole exception to all of Adora's carefully maintained rules.

With everything finished, she continues trudging through the snow toward the park, breathing a sign of relief as she moves away from the shopping district and the people thin out; no one wanting to go to the park in the middle of such bleak weather. Angling around a clustered group of bare trees, she spots the small clock tower in the distance, as well as the figure already standing beside it. Grinning, Adora picks up the pace a bit until she can see Catra clearly and--

Her breath catches.

Since her only experience with this kind of thing has been through books, Adora always expected this moment would be more dramatic. Like back to back in the middle of a fight, or eyes locking from up on stage. Something spectacular, like fireworks, lime explosions, like the feeling of playing a song without a single mistake for the first time. It's always seemed like such a big deal in the stories, and in a way, it is.

Because there's Catra, lost in her own world as she gazes up at the streetlight that's just come on, her left hand extended to let the snowflakes fall into her palm and the light catches the orange of her fur just right to make a blaze of color against the black of her coat. She looks so small, standing in that space all alone on a cold winter's night, but Adora knows deep down that she could never be that small, not when she's Catra, not when she means so much...

Pretty much everything about the past hour--about her entire life since they met if she's being honest--snaps into crystal clear focus.

Oh. I get it now. I'm in love with you.

It's a bad idea. Adora knows that. Shadow Weaver is enough of a menace while believing Catra is simply her roommate, her sometime tool--and Catra had ended up being all too right about the torture not stopping, even after years of Adora trying to direct Weaver's attentions away from her. If the evil old bitch figures out Adora's feelings run deeper, so much deeper...

Her heart beats double time. This whole thing is an unmitigated disaster.

But it's still the best worst thing that's ever happened to her.

She must make a noise, because Catra's ear twitches in her direction, snapping her out of that distant contemplation. She turns her head and looks at Adora, lips curling in a lopsided grin. "Hey, Adora. Wow, you look like you've seen a ghost."

Adora blinks, coming back to herself and mumbling the first excuse that springs to mind. "... Just cold."

"Well no shit. C'mere."

When she closes the distance Catra glances around warily, making sure they're the only ones around, before reaching up and retying the scarf around Adora's neck, patting it once when she's done. "There. I know I make it look good, but you don't have the advantage of fur like me."

Adora looks down at the thin AC/DC t-shirt that Catra's wearing beneath her half open coat, the line of her collarbones and neck, and makes a snap decision. "Is it okay if I give you your present now?"

Catra blinks, a little thrown by the non sequitur. "I mean... Sure? Do you want me to give you yours?"

"I'm good with either," Adora shrugs, trying to ignore how fast her heart is beating, how much she wants to do this before this moment slips away. "I just want to."

There's a long moment of silence as they each examine the other, equally searching. What Catra's looking for, Adora doesn't know. She isn't sure she wants to know.

"Okay."

Breathing deep, Adora reaches into her pocket and pulls out the necklace on its leather cord. Careful to keep the pendant hidden in her hand, she passes it over, fingertips sparking as it's taken. Catra brings it close to her face, running her fingers over the four parallel slashes on the side facing her.

"Why the claw marks?"

Adora laughs, nervous butterflies positively rioting in her stomach. "Because you're a badass. Duh."

"True," Catra smirks, flipping it over and squinting at the other side. "And this?"

"Badass, loves music with all your heart. Not mutually exclusive concepts," Adora says, trying not to give away how much she thinks about this, how much she wants to take that hand in hers. She settles for a playful shoulder bump instead. "Plus we all know you're secretly a big softie."

"Excuse you, I am all sharp edges," Catra giggles, lightly elbowing her before transitioning into a soft little smile. "... Just not with everyone."

Oh God oh God oh God. That smile will absolutely be the death of her.

Swallowing past her horrible awareness of that softness, Adora asks, "So you like it?"

"I love it. Good luck ever getting me to take it off," Catra laughs, then frowns, flexing her fingers. "Hands have gone a little numb, though. Help me put it on?"

Adora.exe promptly crashes to desktop. But she still somehow manages to move, helping Catra hold back her mane so she can slip the leather cord over her head and tuck it beneath her hair. If she hesitates a moment too long in letting go, at least Catra only shoots her an amused glance. "How's it look?"

"Great," Adora manages to croak out, trying to swallow past the sudden dryness in her throat. "You look great. Umm... Happy early Winterfest, I guess?"

"Well, I'm gonna hold onto yours a little longer," Catra laughs, playfully sticking out her tongue before reaching out. "C'mere, you big dork."

Adora shuffles closer, mind and heart both screaming as Catra draws her into a hug, nuzzling her head against the side of her neck. A little whisper. "Thank you."

Adora swallows again, even harder. "You're welcome."

Between them, the necklace rests, the music side pressed right up against Catra's heart.

----------

Fun fact: the shopkeep is based off a cool old dude selling machine pressed necklaces I ran into at a Scottish festival when I was 13, and he made such an impression I never forgot him. Anyway, happy Valentine's! Have a Big Gay Realization!

[tourist-in-teyvat]

Hello! I saw your matchup rules and it seems like fun! Would it be alright to ask for all three? If not, that’s perfectly fine, you can pick whichever you think would be the most fun for you to write, since that’s what’s most important overall, don’t overwhelm yourself ^^;

Vison:

Trying to organize this the best I can lol, but it’s kinda difficult when I don’t understand the tumblr ask controls, so sorry about that- Anyway, my MBTI type is INFP, although I’ll admit that I lost interest in and stopped researching the types after I figured out which one I was, so I’m not entirely sure what that means (at least assuming I’m remembering the result right, my memory isn’t the best so it’s entirely possible I’m wrong but I don’t feel like taking the test again lol-). I’m not the best at describing myself, but I’ve been told that I’m nice, smart, and funny. I’ve also been told I’m optimistic, but I personally thought I was pessimistic but eh who knows at this point. I’ve also been told I’m introverted I guess?? I’m really terrible at describing myself beyond what people tell me I’m sorry ahhh- I really want to do something to help people, if that counts as an ambition, but there’s really only so much I can do myself. I’m trying to work to become something in the entertainment industry, both because I like doing that and making people laugh, and because it’s easier to start charity fundraisers if you have some sort of following, which most often stems from those fields of work. I mainly want to help people who the world has sort of like betrayed if that makes sense, like homeless people who can’t get a job to stop being homeless BECAUSE they’re homeless, kids who are mistreated for literally just existing, those kinds of things. Worst case scenario I’ll just like start a revolution or something lol. (Only half joking- I WILL do that if I feel I have to. Watch out government I’m comin for ya lmao-) For challenges I usually try to fix the problem without people really knowing I fixed the problem, or the way that’s easiest. If I can’t do either of those for whatever reason I won’t do it normally, I’m going to do it in the most unreasonably over the top way because I think it’s funny. I don’t really handle gifts the best, unfortunately. My first thought if it’s not for like a specific event is “what do they want is this a trap-” but if it’s for something I skip that step and go right into “why did you spend money/time on me I’m so sorry-”. I don’t really feel happiness 90% of the time for whatever reason even though I am grateful, but it doesn’t seem like I am because I’m just sitting there like “I should be hyped right why do I feel nothing that’s weird am I broken???” Yeah idk either.

Character:

What kind of matchup it is I will leave entirely up to you, I honestly don’t mind either way. If you choose platonic, gender doesn’t matter to me, but if it’s romantic I’m asexual but I prefer guys. If you really want to write romantic and a girl though I don’t really care, be free lol. I don’t really go out of my way to interact with people. I only initiate interaction with someone I’m not already friends with if I need to talk to them to make my life easier, like if we’re assigned to work on the same thing together or they’re my best bet on getting the information I need. The issue is then they have to be like really persistent because i have ✨~Trust Issues~✨™️ so I’m immediately suspicious that they’re trying to mock me in some way, or are planning something against me, which I mean I guess can be the same thing but whatever. Once I’m relatively comfortable though I’m really loud and hate being serious. That can also cause some issues because my sense of humor is usually almost complet nonsense to anyone who isn’t me (or who shares my sense of humor) or relatively dark. Because of that, I really value people who can just roll with my jokes, because that’s honestly one of my favorite things to do and not many people can do that. I also usually like people who are confident since like thats the only way we’re probably going to interact at the start and also they can ask people for things for me lol. I can’t stand people who can’t understand what I’m trying to tell them when I’ve already tried to make it as simple as possible, doubt my knowledge on something I just told them I know about, or have absolutely no respect for anyone that isn’t them. I also don’t like people touching me (others don’t really like it either as my instinct reaction is usually to hit them before I realize what’s going on-), but I can tolerate it if it’s within my strangely specific boundaries, I know it’s coming, and I actually know and like the person. Then and only then, will my response not be to strike them down lol- I also have the bad habits of often accidentally rambling (like I’m doing right now in all of these replies wow so meta-), interrupting people when I have a thought (I try to say it before I forget, realize other people are still talking and try to shut up but I physically can’t until I finish the sentence), or lying to get out of situations I don’t think will end well for me (be it mildly embarrassing or we all die lol). So yeah that’s not great but it happens I guess.

Team:

Usually in groups I always somehow end up being the leader even though I really don’t want to and nobody really verbally agrees on it, it just happens. I always respond to what weapon I would use with now since I always play as bow users in games that have characters that use bows, but I think I would actually use a sword or a claymore were I to be put in that situation. Catalysts aren’t real so I’m not including them in my process of elimination, I’m extremely nearsighted so I doubt I’d be able to aim the bow well, I don’t understand polearms no matter how hard I try just like how do you hold it what-, so my best bet is probably a claymore or sword. Not sure which one though, but if I had to pick I’m not physically the fastest so the claymore makes more sense taking that into account. Yeah I don’t work in groups often idk what else to say for this specifically that I haven’t said in the others uhhhhhhhh-

Sorry this got so long, my bad lol. If you don’t want to respond I totally get it, and since this is so long it also makes sense if you want to not respond, so you can just indicate that it’s this one with this emoji if you want (✨). Sorry again and I hope you have a nice day! :)

If someone else had the same thought and wants to use ✨ that’s fine (wouldn’t be the first time) so if that happens you can use 🐀 as a backup lol. (BET NOBODY WILL USE THAT H A H I WIN jk lol-)

Vision: “Justice flows across the water’s surface.”  

> You feel a cool and soothing mist settle on your skin as a deep blue glow draws your attention to your hands. A hydro vision, it’s silver casing glimmering in the visions’ light. It seems your kind nature and your need to help others has granted you a hydro vision. How you wield this vision is completely up to you. 

Character: Thoma (romantic/platonic)

> You strike me as the type of person Thoma would get along with. Being born and raised in Mondstat, he keeps that relaxed and cheery aura around himself while in Inazuma. He’s got a keen eye for people and their character, and adapts to whoever he’s talking to. He would want to get to know you as soon as he caught wind of you. He’s energetic, but respectful, so you won’t have to worry about boundaries being pushed at all. And you certainly won’t have to worry about him dismissing your ideas. He wouldn’t have the job he has now if he didn’t learn to communicate with others and hear what they have to say as well. And believe it or not, he wouldn’t find your dark humor off-putting at all.

Team: Lisa, Kazuha, Bennett

> Being a hydro claymore user, I can see you being the main dps in this team dynamic. I feel as if Lisa’s electro would offer excellent super-conduct moves. and Kazuha being a support/sub dps would also compliment the team nicely. Bennett would also offer a nice addition to the team with his ult, making this a well rounded team. As for how the team dynamic goes? That’s entirely up to you 😉 You are the leader after all. 

[soveryanon]

Reviewing time for MAG193!

- I think this was the first time that an episode immediately followed the previous one like this?

(MAG192) ARCHIVIST: He’s the pupil of The Eye…! JONAH (BACKGROUND): –from the now that is no longer– MARTIN: Meaning? JONAH (BACKGROUND): –even close to what the when– ARCHIVIST: He won. JONAH (BACKGROUND): –just might have been if there was time enough to run and hide from rancid deaths– [CLICK.]

(MAG193) [CLICK–] JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –that stinks of hate– MARTIN: What do you mean he’s won? JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –and wafts to him– ARCHIVIST: I mean, he’s done it!

We’ve had scenes separated by the tape recorder shutting off/on in the same episode (for example, Tim’s interview by Daisy in MAG082; Martin and Elias in MAG118 – with a scene taking place at the Unknowing in-between) and we’ve had episodes beginning shortly after the end of the previous one (MAG038 and MAG039, with Jon’s attempt to retrieve the tape recorder; MAG118 and MAG119 with Jon lost in the Unknowing…), but never a configuration like this, I think, with a click off and instantly back on? It makes me wonder about the separation between the two tapes, in universe: meta-wise, it’s obviously because the episode would have been too long and would have covered two statements, but why the separation through the tape recorders in the story…? Is it that someone is curating the collection of tapes? Is it because each tape is already overloaded with fear…?

- Anyway, I love how the episode immediately picked up after the end of the last one, with Martin asking the question we were all asking (what the heck do you mean, Jon, and what is Jonah’s current degree of consciousness, and does that mean he is happy/satisfied right now)!

(MAG193) MARTIN: What do you mean he’s won? ARCHIVIST: I mean, he’s done it! ARCHIVIST: He’s… a–ascended, become a part of The Eye, he… He’s beyond us. MARTIN: [TO JONAH] Just shut up, Christ! JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –the promise of his own annihilation– ARCHIVIST: … He can’t hear you. MARTIN: So, so what? He’s not aware of us, of, of any of this? ARCHIVIST: No. Or if he is, it’s only as a miniscule speck amongst the flood of knowledge and fear that’s passing through him. He has become the conduit between this new world and the thing that watches it. It’s all running through him. MARTIN: Sounds awful…! ARCHIVIST: To someone so close to it, I imagine it would be a state of… agonised bliss.

* Straight to the point: Jonah probably “won” in a way since Jonah gets to be on top and is not suffering like the others (MAG160: “I am to be a king of a ruined world, and I shall never die.”), but the question of whether or not he’s ~happy~… is not easily answerable – same as with Daisy being “happy”, what value does it have when it comes with the loss of personhood?

* Lovelovelove Martin Kerosene Blackwood going “Oi, dickhead!” and now “Just SHUT UP” at his ex-boss’s ex-boss. It feels like Martin jumping back in time to scream at Elias every time he was opening his mouth in season 3.

* Things I thought a lot this episode: that description of Jonah’s state was so, so so horny. “as he floats and writhes in perpetual perception” in the descriptors last week, now “the floating fear conduit that is Jonah Magnus”, and Jon inferring that he’s in a state of “agonised bliss”. H o r n y.

- … Big Ooft for Martin’s reaction because it directly put to mind the season 5 trailer, when it had been about Jon:

(Season 5 trailer) ARCHIVIST: Yes, I, I’m trying not to, but… all of the fear, th–the anguish, i–it just… [INHALE] It keeps coming at me in waves, rolling over me, filling my head with such… awful sights. MARTIN: … I’m sorry. That sounds… [SMALL EXHALE] That sounds horrible. ARCHIVIST: … I wish it was, Martin. I really wish it was. … But it feels… right. [MIRTHLESS HUFF]

(MAG193) MARTIN: Sounds awful…! ARCHIVIST: To someone so close to it, I imagine it would be a state of… agonised bliss. I can… feel it, the… completeness of it all passing out from him. I can see everything from here, and that’s just a hint of what he must be feeling…

We knew Jon could feel the temptation since the beginning of the season. It wasn’t a surprise that Jon could already understand the state Jonah was in – and I love the contrast that was shown between the two:

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: I can see everything from here, and that’s just a hint of what he must be feeling… JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –that joined to his through choice or circumstance but now it stains his weeping edges– [RUMBLING SOUNDS START TO RISE] MARTIN: [WARNING] Jon… ARCHIVIST: … as he watches a man run screaming down endless dark alleys, that close, and crush, and press– MARTIN: [HARD WARNING] Jon… Stay with me. ARCHIVIST: Sorry. I–it’s a, it’s a lot…! MARTIN: I, I can see that, but you need to keep it together. ARCHIVIST: S–sorry, I–I think… I can handle it.

Jon slowly easing into the fascination and utter desire of leaning into the suffering was bone-chilling, from simple description while explaining to Martin, to utter ravishment. Jon-Jonah difference, though: Jon has an anchor, and it’s Martin!! And I love that we could see Martin as the two aspects of “anchor” that had been alluded to in the series:

(MAG099) GEORGIE: Look, you’re worried. I get it. But if you really think you’re turning into something… inhuman, you need people around you. You need anchors. ARCHIVIST: All my “anchors” are just as deep in this as me. GEORGIE: Well, you still need them.

(MAG129) I need an anchor. I… I could go in… myself, I, I could find her. And… then, I just need to get out. I need something out here. Something I can know the way back to. I, I don’t know what. But… [HUFF] It’s a start.

(MAG145) ARTHUR: [Agnes] never told us how she felt about being bound to you! Never even called you by name. Just called you “her anchor”. The thing weighing her down, and tying her to this world, stopping her destiny!

(MAG167) ARCHIVIST: Wi–without… trust, without a, a reason… Gertrude needed both the purpose her mission gave her, and the control her position allowed. To be here, like us, without a, [INHALE] a reason, without someone to ground her, she… She’d have power but… no control. No real… purpose. Perhaps she’d dedicate herself to a, a doomed quest like us, but– … [QUIET] No… I think this would have broken her. And she’d have resigned herself to… ruling her domain. […] MARTIN: [INHALE] [SNORT] Ssso. If you say Gertrude wouldn’t have been able to go on without a reason… ARCHIVIST: Yes, Martin, you are my reason.

Grounding in both cases but: both as the element allowing Jon to return to, protecting him from wandering, and as the element dragging him down. (Same thing, just depends on the perspective!)

I also like how Martin sounded firmer and more confident about his own ability to keep Jon grounded. He used to panic (sounding more aggressive and/or resorting to slaps to get him back), but now… he knows he can do it, that he’s enough to keep Jon from Beholding’s temptation.

- A lot of confirmation that Jonah is there but-not-really:

(MAG192) MARTIN: Can he hear us? ARCHIVIST: I… MARTIN: Does he even know we’re here? ARCHIVIST: I don’t… […] [SADLY] He can’t hear you, Martin. MARTIN: Yeah, I got that. What’s wrong with him? ARCHIVIST: Nothing. Nothing’s wrong with him. He’s the pupil of The Eye…!

(MAG193) MARTIN: [TO JONAH] Just shut up, Christ! ARCHIVIST: … He can’t hear you. MARTIN: So, so what? He’s not aware of us, of, of any of this? ARCHIVIST: No. Or if he is, it’s only as a miniscule speck amongst the flood of knowledge and fear that’s passing through him. […] He’s too far gone…! He’s barely even aware we exist. […] I–it’s far too late for either of them.

And damnit, I can’t help but be a bit sad about it! My speculations were even worse for him (No Mouth But I Must Scream, while hey, in the end, we got to hear him for two episodes!), but I was still hoping I could hear more of his gloating and/or pitiful regrets and/or fear… but he might not be in any state to feel and manifest such things. (And I’m guessing that Martin was really hoping for that too – minus the gloating.)

- Regarding Jonah’s “statement” / litany of horrors in the background:

* Last episode had given the impression that it was coming for his throat (“he” protagonist, lots of Fears but constantly cycling back to fear of death); this one was fluctuating more, from one victim to another. We began with “him”, “his”, “he”, we jumped to a “she”, then to a singular “they”, and ended on “herself”. So, Jonah seems to be taking glimpses of different victims going through their nightmares, sticking with them for a few scenes before jumping to follow another.

* Same as in MAG192, some bits felt like familiar descriptions of Fears! I spotted potential End (“him with promise of the fast approaching corpse that bears his face”), Extinction (“and holds within its chest the promise of his own annihilation”), Desolation (“splintered powder cast of empty blackened earth”), Spiral (“jumbled symbols twisting in the edges of his sight”), Lonely (“the emptiness around him but the mist that curls its bitter weeping ache around his legs”), Slaughter (“all the butchered ugly fates”), Hunt (“a smile upon the face of something grinning at her sharply”), Vast (“they look down to see the pitch black void of ocean getting darker still as something rises up that dwarfs the sky and yet they know it is the smallest tip of only one appendage reaching up”), and the episode finished on… Web (“glassy eyes and fangs that drip with poison”).

* Some bits reminded me in particular of Martin’s Lonely house (the “house she almost knows to be a home but empty hollow and devoid of all the trappings that could once have given comfort to the pale and weeping shadow of her life that has been left devoid and faded at the corners like a photograph whose sepia-tinted warmth has drained to just a crowd of faceless staring strangers”) and of Jan Kilbride’s experience in space and of Antonia Hayley’s creature underwater (something too big to be fathomable, making people feel meaningless in comparison).

* (Because I really wanted to be able to “hear” all the words from Jonah’s litany: I realised that the transcript skipped a small portion of the audio around 3’30-3’50, shortly after “tapestry of suffering that billows in the wind” and until it goes back to “to know she can’t resist the waves that lap and drag her over”… but I didn’t manage to make out anything specific from the audio either, I could just tell that Jonah kept talking in the background. No idea whether it’s genuinely a small piece of speech missing from the transcript, or if the recorded background litany was actually a biiit too short compared to Martin and Jon’s exchange and a little cover up was necessary to buy some time!)

* Same thing as last episode: overall, at first glance (/ear), Jonah’s horrors seem like they’re told without much inflections… but no: Jonah does occasionally give emphases and slow down or accelerate, it just feels less lively than Martin&Jon’s dialogue or Jon’s own dramatic interpretations.

* The “with a pull that makes her stomach drop to know she can’t resist the waves that lap and drag her over and across the surface still as cracked obsidian but deeper than the world could ever dream” felt especially awful because it really reminded me of Jon – with the Panopticon itself having been described as “obsidian”, Jon admitting that he had felt a pull towards it, and the overall threat of Jon losing himself, aka “drowning” (MAG127: “It’s like there’s a–a–a door, in my mind. And behind it, is… i–is the entire ocean. Before, I didn’t notice it, but now, I–I know it’s there, and I can’t forget it, and I can feel the pressure of the water on it. I–I–I, I can keep it closed… but sometimes, when I’m around p–people, or–or places, or… ideas… a drop or two will push through the cracks, at the edges of the door. And I’ll… know something.” “What happens, if you open the door?” “… I drown.”).

* The last picture evoking a spider and The Web’s knack for control ended the episode on such a terrifying note, ahaha!

(MAG193) JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –is so cold it is so coldly sneering as sticky strands pull taut against the flailing struggles as they try to pull away from what approaches in the distant edge of this colossal latticework of bone and sickly paste that twists and curls with each vibration of those fools like them now caught and wrapped and flailing in their heaving desperation not to see it looming over them with glassy eyes and fangs that drip with poison and the promise of the slow and steady agony of feeling all that was herself dissolved and broken down into the bitter pleading–

Getting restrained, seeing it approach while being unable to do anything (like an insect caught in the web) and understanding that it will be a long torture (spider injecting venom in its prey to be able to slurp their inside)… which, ahah, wasn’t ominous at all when we still don’t know what The Web/Annabelle’s interest in Martin&Jon is supposed to lead to.

* Most wonderful/awful part of it was the distinctive repetition of the “what have you done” and how they synched with Jon&Martin’s dialogue:

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: S–sorry, I–I think… JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –moved by others, or that might just now be his– ARCHIVIST: I can handle it. JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –what have you done– MARTIN: Right, so what’s the play? JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –what have you done what have you done what have you done– ARCHIVIST: I, I’m not sure…!

That was… quite distracting. And I love how it worked as the current victim’s feelings (who had apparently slaughtered a loved one in the nightmare?) and their guilt, but also resonated as Jonah’s own words (as if he was panicking over his own ritual) and as a jab at Jon (as someone who… came here).

- I love that Martin was back to being the resourceful one, trying to find weak spots and formulating hypotheses with what he understood of the situation!

(MAG193) MARTIN: Well… we came here to confront Elias– urgh, Jonah, whatever! So: how do we do that? ARCHIVIST: He’s too far gone…! He’s barely even aware we exist. MARTIN: And, I’m guessing you can’t… just destroy him like the others? […] Okay. So not that then, but… wh–what about something, like… physical? ARCHIVIST: I… What? MARTIN: Look, I know it’s all about… dream logic and metaphor and all that… stuff, but, you know, what if we just… what if we just grabbed him and, you know, pulled him down? Or, or just threw something heavy at him? ARCHIVIST: Uh… I, I don’t… MARTIN: O–or–or, what about, hum… That’s Elias’s body, right? I mean, yeah, they’re obviously Magnus’s eyes, but that’s still a Bouchard body up there so… So maybe, Magnus’s original body is just… still lying around here somewhere? That, that was a weakness before the transformation, so… maybe we could still use that! ARCHIVIST: It’s gone. Ashes swept away by the winds of ecstatic terror. What you see up there is all that remains. MARTIN: Right. [SIGH] Right, right, right. … Is the original Elias still in there somewhere? ARCHIVIST: He’s, uh, I– MARTIN: Maybe we could get through to him somehow? […] Was that the real Elias, is he still in there then? ARCHIVIST: No… No, it, it was… an echo. The last spasm of a corpse. I–it’s far too late for either of them.

It’s not a novelty – we have regularly seen him being practical, suddenly revealing that he had been thinking about how to solve a particular problem for a while already, thinking about his plans, discarding ideas and trying new options:

(MAG022) MARTIN: I think I might have… lost my mind a bit, then. It all… feels very… strange, blurry. I–I remember stamping and stamping as–as more made their way under my doorway. I–I remember grabbing every towel, sock, bit of fabric scrap that I could find, stuffing them under the door, into the cracks around the window. Anything where a slender worm might crawl I made airtight. And then I sat there and waited.

(MAG039) MARTIN: I used to carry around a knife, but I started thinking that, well, cutting into someone laterally wasn’t really the most efficient way to get them out, and besides which, they seem to be quite slow burrowing in a straight line so, given their size, th–the corkscrew just seemed to be the better option. [HEAVY SILENCE] Look, you guys got to go home every day, okay. I didn’t! I’ve been thinking for a long time about what to do when… well, y’know, this happens.

(MAG118) MARTIN: We… [SHAKY INHALE] We need to leave. MELANIE: We “need” to kill him. Look at you! He needs to die. MARTIN: … No. [INHALE] No, I… I knew what this was gonna be.

(MAG162) MARTIN: –so, I’ve actually had a couple of bags packed for a while, now! [HEAVY ITEM DROPPED] ARCHIVIST: Oh! MARTIN: And, I found some rope in the attic, and I packed that with the maps. ARCHIVIST: [CHUCKLING] Uh, Martin, I… MARTIN: No, no; I, I know what you’re going to say. [RUMMAGING] “What good are maps when the very Earth has…” and blah blah blah…

(MAG186) MARTIN: So. This price. What do you think? Are we going to have to kill Jon? ALSO MARTIN: … I don’t know, because you don’t know. But… it seems like something we should at least consider. MARTIN: … I… have thought about it, and… I won’t. I, I don’t think I could…! ALSO MARTIN: Mmhmm. MARTIN: But anything else? Any other price? I’ll pay it. ALSO MARTIN: Even dying? MARTIN: Yeah!

(MAG189) MARTIN: It’s fine. Maybe there’s another way in. What’s this thing made of anyway, like, like, obsidian or something, right? ARCHIVIST: One-way mirrored glass. MARTIN: Of course it is. Well, if it’s just glass, then it won’t be hard to break, right? We can just grab something heavy, like one of these cameras, and then all I need– [GRABS SOMETHING AND THERE IS A WET, FLESHY AND YET PNEUMATIC-LIKE SOUND] ARCHIVIST: Oh, I wouldn’t. MARTIN: Oh! Oh! Eurgh… [GAGS]

In comparison, Jon has kept the role of explaining the dream-logic, of how they sometimes had to proceed in compliance to the domains to go through them (“the journey will be the journey”, explaining to Basira that she had to see the “monster” in the domains she had traversed in order to be able to catch up to Daisy)… but he’s been lacking out-of-the-box imagination to deal with them.

- I love the hilarity of Martin offering to drag Elias’s body down or to yeet things into his face – I mean, I had thought about it, too! But it’s so satisfying to hear Martin suggest it ♥

(And technically, he has all the items necessary. He had mentioned packing that rope when they had left the cabin, and they have an infinite supply of tape recorders.)

- Sobbing over Martin and how one of his first ideas was to attack Jonah’s original body… since we know he’s been feeling guilty about not killing him when he had the chance:

(MAG158) PETER: There is… of course… just one other complication? [FOOTSTEPS STOP] You’ll have to dispose of the current occupant. MARTIN: Curren–… [QUICK FOOTSTEPS] [SHARP BREATHING] … Who is that? PETER: Jonah Magnus! His… body, at least. Sitting here; watching; binding it all together; growing ever older. If you want to take his place, well… MARTIN: … I’ll need to kill him. PETER: Yes. Don’t worry, though. I brought a knife. […] Martin. What are you doing? MARTIN: I’m… saying no. I refuse! Game over. [KNIFE CLATTERING ON THE GROUND]

(MAG186) MARTIN: [HEAVY SIGH] If we’re glad, why do I feel so… ALSO MARTIN: Guilty? Because you feel guilty about everything. MARTIN: That’s… That’s not– […] If I’d done what Peter had asked… If, if I’d not chickened out, and just killed Elias when I had the chance…! ALSO MARTIN: Really? Really, that’s how you’re choosing to remember it? “Chickening out”? MARTIN: I remember it was the wrong choice…! ALSO MARTIN: You choose to remember it that way, and so the guilt– MARTIN: [SIGH] I–I get it, all right? But I need it, I, I choose the guilt, because… ALSO MARTIN: [LEADING] “Because”? MARTIN: Because it motivates me to do better!

(MAG193) MARTIN: O–or–or, what about, hum… That’s Elias’s body, right? I mean, yeah, they’re obviously Magnus’s eyes, but that’s still a Bouchard body up there so… So maybe, Magnus’s original body is just… still lying around here somewhere? That, that was a weakness before the transformation, so… maybe we could still use that! ARCHIVIST: It’s gone. Ashes swept away by the winds of ecstatic terror. What you see up there is all that remains. MARTIN: Right. [SIGH] Right, right, right.

* No way to compensate for back then, that body doesn’t exist anymore. But I’m glad he thought about it and asked! Since I did ask myself the same questions!

* No “remains” in the title, but Jon did drop the word in relation to Jonah in the episode! It’s almost a tradition titles-wise for episodes pertaining to Jonah (MAG040, “Human Remains”: involved Gertrude, but it was still ~a body found in the tunnels~ (and Elias gave a statement during that episode); MAG092, “Nothing Beside Remains”: letter addressed to Jonah, read by Elias; MAG127, “Remains to be Seen”: letter addressed to Jonah, and Elias speaking for the first time in season 4).

* It’s interesting how the concept that Jonah’s original body had already disappeared made it sound like he was already diminished. The only traces left of Jonah are his eyes (since he transplanted them from body to body), and his consciousness… but he’s not exactly there with Jon&Martin anyway. It’s like he’s partially gone already, and likely doomed to entirely disappear without gaining anything back.

- Aouch for Jon confirming that turning Beholding against himself might result in a disaster:

(MAG193) MARTIN: And, I’m guessing you can’t… just destroy him like the others? ARCHIVIST: No. God knows what would happen if I called upon The Eye to try and destroy a… vital piece of itself. In the best-case scenario, nothing happens. MARTIN: And worst-case? ARCHIVIST: No idea…! An enormous explosion that… destroys the world? We get torn apart, but… still suffering, o–or cast off to the edges of the fearscape, maybe? I… I don’t know.

With Jon still pointing out that he “doesn’t know”. He has ideas, he has fears, but he isn’t sure either; and just like his hesitations in front of the Panopticon, I wonder if it’s not Beholding trying to hold him back by feeding him orientated bits that Jon would interpret as undesirable scenario…? (I’m curious about that mention of “the edges of the fearscape”: it means there might be something still, out of the Fears’ reach?)

- This was the second time Martin sort of “prompted” a statement by orienting Jon towards it:

(MAG167) MARTIN: I bet Gertrude would be able to do this, you know? She, she would eat a hellscape like this for breakfast…! [SILENCE] ARCHIVIST: I… don’t think she would have done very well here… MARTIN: No? ARCHIVIST: No… MARTIN: Do you… know that…? [STATIC RISES] ARCHIVIST: [DEEP INHALE] “To say that Gertrude Robinson never had a friend would not be true.”

(MAG193) MARTIN: … Is the original Elias still in there somewhere? ARCHIVIST: He’s, uh, I– MARTIN: Maybe we could get through to him somehow? ARCHIVIST: Ah… Sorry, it isn’t that… Ah… [CEASLESS CHANTING CEASES] MARTIN: Again? But you just did one for Ro– … Ro… [REALISATION] Oh no…

And I get why it’s happening (Martin is asking Jon questions about something he didn’t know already, so he has to think about it and search for the answer… and the answer is not that simple, and unearthing information that Jon didn’t know or hadn’t processed, leading to a full statement), but I wonder if it happens specifically thanks to Martin. If Basira were to ask the same questions, would it lead to the same result? I’m thinking again to the hypotheses that had been formulated after MAG160 and Jonah calling Jon an “archive”, with Jon as the archives while Martin could work as an Archivist: given that Martin had sometimes been in the position to ask questions and orientate Jon’s powers, there is a bit of a feeling that Martin is curating Jon’s powers, sometimes…?

- It was almost poetic that Jon began to fall into the statement… precisely when Jonah was narrating about Something emerging under the surface:

(MAG193) MARTIN: … Is the original Elias still in there somewhere? JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –and cry in panic at their howling crew– ARCHIVIST: He’s, uh, I– MARTIN: Maybe we could get through to him somehow? ARCHIVIST: Ah… JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –to ready for a harrowed doomed escape– ARCHIVIST: Sorry, it isn’t that… Ah… JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –from what begins to rise below them– [CEASLESS CHANTING CEASES] MARTIN: Again? But you just did one for Ro– … Ro… [REALISATION] Oh no…

And then, both Elias and Martin shut the heck up and listened to Jon.

- At this point, I wasn’t expecting a statement about the original Elias anymore! I was curious about it, but didn’t really count on it since Jonny hadn’t seemed that interested in the potential prospect of saying things about him, in the season 4 Q&A (unlike the Admiral question, which clearly gave the impression that he was hiding something specific). Shouldn’t have trusted him on that!

- I was so excited in the first few seconds of Jon’s statement bubble because the sound in the background was once again Elias’s clock, indicating his office!

(MAG193) [STATIC RISES] [PANOPTICON SOUNDS FADE] [CLOCK TICKING IN THE BACKGROUND] [OCCASIONAL RUSTLE OF PAPER] ARCHIVIST: “He recognises those eyes”

Since the beginning of season 5, I was crossing fingers that we would hear the sound of that damn clock again, and we heard in in the last two episodes, so that’s cool!

(… I still wonder if Barnabas’s bones are hidden inside of it.)

- Just Little Interview Things: Martin, Rosie and Elias all noticed Jonah’s eyes.

(MAG170) MARTIN: … At least I’ve got a job now. Did I tell you I’ve got a job? I mean, the interview was weird, I… I don’t really remember the man who talked to me. Just his eyes. They stared at me; th–through me, and… and, I–I knew that he knew what I’d done. God, I…! I was so scared, but… but then he smiled and shook my hand…! What was his name? [CREAKING] He said I “had the job”…! [CHUCKLE] That he “looked forward to working with me”! … I was still so scared I could barely move my arm…! I was so terrified I’d let him down…!

(MAG192) ARCHIVIST: “His eyes, though, were different. There was something in them that… unsettled her. They didn’t match the rest of his face. They were cold, and grey, and somehow so much older.”

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: “He recognises those eyes. He’s seen them all his life, watching him, judging him, cutting through him so no part of him was secret or safe. They peel away the armour, his carefree smile and practiced shrugs. They are the eyes of his father, and they stare at Elias over an old mahogany desk, sat in the face of a man who said his name was James Wright. His interviewer smiles with his mouth, but the eyes are the same. […] Elias can’t look this man in the face, and tell him that he is what scares him. That his eyes, the curiosity and judgement that pulses out of them… they terrify him in a way he can’t put into words. He feels that prickly panic building in the back of his skull, that worry that spills through: he knows. […] Those eyes stare, impassive and stern as ever, but… is that a twinkle of satisfaction? As though he has been given him an answer he likes. […] He stops. Those eyes. They know. They can see right through all his bullshit, right to the core of him. They know what he really thinks. […] Elias’s stomach tightened at the memory, the fierce judgement in his father’s eyes. Even laid out in a casket, it was as if he had looked at Elias with disdain. […] Yet somehow he found himself sat across from this man, whose smile hadn’t moved the whole time – and whose eyes seemed to know why he was here far better than he did.”

* Elias’s own fears in relation to those eyes and to Jonah’s overall behaviour reminded me of Martin’s a bit, with them being terrorised at the idea of being known, because they knew they had things to hide (including who they were).

* Still howling at the daddy issues/projecting the father image onto Jonah, what a concept.

* It still cracks me up how terrifying and ominous Jonah felt during these interviews… because it’s absolutely not something we could feel about Elias in seasons 1 and 2, when the impressions he gave off were “bland” and “doesn’t exactly know how to exert authority (and gets annoyed at some points when Jon is pushing against that)”. Was he going all out in the interviews overall? Did he get less In Your Face in the 2010s? Did Tim, Sasha and Jon kind of repress how terrifying their own interviews had been, or assumed it was just the jitters colouring their memories? Jonah sounded especially snobbish and haughty in this episode, way more than is usually heard from him: I wonder what part was the tangible, objective truth, and what part was Elias Bouchard’s own perception of him colouring the statement (since Elias was feeling like this guy knew about him and his secrets and had power over him, then he remembered him with these intonations).

* “Sometimes, I’m eating.” he told Basira in season 4 when he was in prison – was he conducting mock interviews on other inmates or officers for dinner.

* That said, I love Jonah’s unsubtly going directly to the point with Elias – immediately aiming for fears, doing his best to be unsettling and make Elias lose his footing and make traumatic memories resurface. I wonder if in this case, it was because Elias “dared” to think he could use the Institute for his own gain and carreer, as if Elias could outsmart him? Or because there was the question of what had brought Elias here? (I! really! want! to! know! about Jon’s own interview!!)

- THE MAHOGANY DESK IS CANON!!

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: “[…] they stare at Elias over an old mahogany desk, sat in the face of a man who said his name was James Wright. […] Beyond that stretch of polished mahogany, so well waxed that Elias’s pale, sweating face is clearly visible, James Wright’s smile remains unchanged.”

I just can’t believe it’s now canon… because, cough. When I wasn’t yet listening to TMA but trying to gauge whether or not I would like it through fancreations, I had noticed the trend of associating Elias with a letter opener and a mahogany desk in fanfiction (before understanding that oh, okay, no, it’s just that yeah, it fits his aesthetic, but it’s not referring to specific canon things). So this takes me back, and I can’t believe that the damn mahogany desk in Elias’s office was canon all along =D

- I was hoping for a dual statement with lines shared between Jon&Jonah, I was so close yet so far!

(MAG193) [JONAH/ELIAS IS A DARK, STATIC-VOICED ENTITY – EACH LINE A CRACKLING MIX OF DEEP INTONATIONS YET STILL CHARACTERISTICALLY ELIAS] JONAH/ELIAS: So tell me, Elias. What are you afraid of? ARCHIVIST: “Elias Bouchard freezes in place.”

* There could have been the question of whether Jonah’s voice in the statement was the Jonah-in-the-room or emanated in Jon’s statement (like the usual background sounds)… but: it was Jonah!Elias’s voice. It wasn’t Jonah!James’s vocal chords. Plus, unlike the usual sounds and distant voices or breaths in Jon’s statement, Jonah really sounded like something intruding: his voice was clearer and came with glitchy static, as if… two different spheres (domains?) were interacting unnaturally. Jonah’s voice didn’t feel like it was part of the statement: it felt like Jonah was forcing his way to interact in it.

* I loved the play around roles that happened in this statement! In summary: Jon was telling the (third-person, internal focalisation) story of Elias Bouchard, occasionally impersonating him through direct speech, in order to answer to his interviewer from back then, Jonah, who was back then possessing the body of James Wright, and is in the present possessing Elias’s body and speaking through his vocal chords. Jonah gave his lines as Jonah, but the fact that Jon gave Elias’s words, that we got to hear the real Elias through another voice? That was such a pretty installation.

- It’s interesting comparing Elias’s job trajectory because it reminded me of Sasha a bit?

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: “Why would he ask him something like that? Elias is applying for a research job – what the hell does that matter?” […] JONAH/ELIAS: Good. The job is yours.

(MAG049) ARCHIVIST: It was a remarkably fast climb to the top, as from what I can find, it looks like he only joined the Institute five years before, in 1991, working in the Artefact Storage.

(MAG039) SASHA: I’ve had to retreat into Artefact Storage. That should tell you something about how bad it is out there. God, I hate this place. … Did I ever tell you I first joined the Institute as a practical researcher? I had to analyse and investigate all the stuff in here. Take notes after sleeping in the rusted chair, write in the memory book, all that sort of thing. I transferred after three months. Would’ve quit, but couldn’t afford to back then.

So Elias might have been hired as a practical researcher just like Sasha? I wonder if it’s a general researcher thing for new hires at the Institute… (If it is: did it happen to Jon, too? But I’m also having some thoughts about the idea of Jonah sending his potential next hosts there. Wouldn’t have liked for it to happen in canon, but dang, the concept of Jonah!Sasha does have a certain appeal.)

- Not surprising for Magnus but: I love how a few mentions tend to lead the fandom to assume things about characters, and those things turn out to be true, but not the whole truth. Until now, we only had a few allusions to who the real Elias Bouchard was:

(MAG049) ARCHIVIST: Supplemental. Elias Bouchard is a difficult man to pin down, certainly since he became head of the Institute in 1996, taking over from James Wright, who ran the place from ‘73 until he passed away. It was a remarkably fast climb to the top, as from what I can find, it looks like he only joined the Institute five years before, in 1991, working in the Artefact Storage. Perhaps he was simply that impressive. Certainly, the Elias I know now is almost unmatched in terms of paranormal knowledge. Well. Theoretical knowledge, at least. And yet, everything I found out about his life before the Institute seems… an ill fit with the austere man I know. He apparently graduated with a Third from Christ Church’s College in PPE, and I found an old gossip column in the student newspaper that – sure well – that mentioned him. If I’m not reading too much into it, the implication seems to be that he was… something of a… pothead. [CHUCKLE] Was he… like that when he first came to work here…?

(MAG154) ERIC: Mary probably thought it was funnier if you didn’t know, and… Wright would have preferred you not to know…! How is he, by the way? GERTRUDE: James? He died about… twelve years ago. Elias is Head of the Institute, now. ERIC: “Elias”? Elias Bouchard, seriously? GERTRUDE: Hm, he has changed a lot. ERIC: Must have!

So: given the degree and the Uni, we could guess he likely came from a posh family and had basically paid to get his degree. We knew the rumours about him doing pot. We knew that it had surprised Eric to learn that this Elias Bouchard would become Head of the Institute. And: all those things are true! Elias indeed, came from a privileged background, indeed smoked weed, indeed wasn’t brilliant, but all these elements got recontextualised with more depth.

* Even Jon immediately wondered if Elias had been a known pothead when he was hired at the Institute… and no, “of course” Elias wasn’t quite that carefree:

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: “He feels that prickly panic building in the back of his skull, that worry that spills through: he knows. He knows I’m high…! The thought leaps to Elias’s mind for only a second before he remembers that… he’s not. He hasn’t lit up all day, of course not, he’s got an interview. But even so, he can’t shake the familiar paranoia. He looks again at his would-be employer, who seems like he’s about to repeat the question. “Spiders,” Elias says quickly. “I’m afraid of spiders.” […] JONAH/ELIAS: Now tell me: why do you want this job? ARCHIVIST: “Elias tries not to visibly sigh with relief. This, at least, is a question to which he has prepared an answer. He clears his throat slightly, shaking off the lingering image of Allan’s body. “W–well,” he begins, “I’ve always had the greatest respect for the work put out by this institute on mythological traditions, especially some of the recent papers on Indo-European traditions which was very useful for my dissertation on–”

He was still a regular smoker, but he came sober and had prepared for that interview! He wanted that job and had done his research to perform well! (Which, honestly, is… not a given in interviews.)

* The posh family thing was… kind of heart-breaking, actually:

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: “They know what he really thinks. A position in a small, obscure little academic organisation, the first step on a path to the position he actually deserves. This place could be anything, as far as he is concerned. Medical research, a grant foundation… it doesn’t really matter. […] His father’s words came to him again, as they always had, through childhood, boarding school, university. “You’re a smart boy, Elias, but you’re lazy. You have every advantage that I and this world could possibly provide, and yet you insist on squandering them! Don’t think I don’t see you, looking at those other children with envy, as though their meaningless little lives could contain anything of substance, anything for a Bouchard to aspire to. You are better than them, and they know it. And it is your job to prove worthy of that distinction.” Elias’s stomach tightened at the memory, the fierce judgement in his father’s eyes. Even laid out in a casket, it was as if he had looked at Elias with disdain. What should he say? [PIANO STOPS] That he had no idea why he wanted this job? That he was all alone in the world, no friends, no family, nothing but the deep certainty that he deserved better. That he was destined to be important. That it was in his blood.”

There was something plain sad about Elias’s upbringing – how, sure, he came from a privileged family, but he was also looked down on by his own father, who still hammered a toxic mindset into him to the point that even when his father died… Elias still felt like his only possible role was the one his father had attributed him. It reminded me a bit of the statement in MAG180, about the abusive mother still haunting the victim even through death, and the feeling that they could never escape her influence.

And the feeling of superiority made Elias unpleasant! And he had already benefitted from his family by getting a degree he had barely earned! And got the advantage of knowing the social/expected cues to get what he wanted (hence using the right vocabulary and reasons to get hired during his interview)! And he might have grown up continuing to be a terrible person, unable to change this mindset and fucking lots of people over, like the privileged class tend to do! … But from what we know of him, he didn’t have the time to do that last part, or even to possibly change and free himself from a mindset that was also poisoning him. It’s like Jon had pointed out to the Distortion, about “classic” Helen:

(MAG187) HELEN: You haven’t looked into Helen-Classic’s past yet? You should try it! I don’t think you’ll like what you find. ARCHIVIST: What, lying to real estate clients? Bit of a prick at parties? Secret Tory? HELEN: Yes. To all of them, actually. [BAG JOSTLING] [FOOTSTEPS STOP] ARCHIVIST: And that’s the problem. I could have grown to dislike her, but… you made sure that sort of thing could never happen. Now you use her form, see her mind, but they’re just… tools. [BUILDING CREAKS] Michael had nothing you could use but a razor-straight desire for vengeance, but you saw something in Helen that would work on me much more subtly. So you took her. And I’ll never get to dislike her. I’m stuck disliking you instead.

Maybe the real Elias could have grown into an awful, powerful adult man. Maybe he could have changed and unlearned his father’s toxic lessons. We don’t know; he didn’t manage to achieve much and got eaten by a bigger shark when Jonah took possession of his body, and we’re stuck disliking Jonah instead. I like how it worked both as an exploration of how the privileged class tend to entertain myths about themselves, how they reproduce their awful mindset from generation to generation, leading them to perceive themselves as “superior” and deserving of more (we all have those political and economical classes, sadly), but also how that requires fucking these same people over until they conform to that mould and these expectations.

* I love how it turned out that even the “pothead” thing didn’t feel like it was unrelated to the fact that Elias had his own issues: he didn’t come from a loving family, was often high… and he also resorted to drugs to help Allan calm down. (Which was the worst thing he could do: don’t give drugs to a friend when you suspect they’re hallucinating.) It felt like the drug thing really was his way to cope, hence trying to get Allan out of his spiral through it…

- I’m screaming again at Jonah’s relationship with The Web – SPILL IT, WHAT DO YOU KNOW, WHAT WERE YOUR OWN WEB EXPERIENCES, ASSHOLE.

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: ““Spiders,” Elias says quickly. “I’m afraid of spiders.” James Wright nods, the smile curling into one of satisfaction, though Elias is sure the man doesn’t believe him. Those eyes break contact for a moment, flicking up to the corner of the office where… at the edge of a bookshelf that sags with age and weight, a small cobweb has started to form.” JONAH/ELIAS: Very wise. A very… sensible fear. ARCHIVIST: “It is. Yeah, it is. But is it… true? For a moment, Elias really can’t remember. Right here and now, the thought of a spider genuinely repulses him. The image of a scuttling, filthy creature, eight eyes glinting out in the darkness, crawls into his mind, and he shudders, looking away for a second. [SHUFFLING] But the uninvited thought keeps going. [SCUTTLING SOUNDS] He imagines the spider moving up his leg, his body; he imagines feeling its bristling hairs against the skin of his shoulder, his throat, his cheek. Its spindly probing legs finding their way up his face. Elias can’t stop himself picturing that spider sat there, venom dripping from fangs that hang, poised over his eye. He can’t shut his eye.”

* Was it just a random cobweb. Was it a signal from The Web that it had been what sent Elias to Jonah.

* “a small cobweb has started to form” was such an amazing wording because: 1°) if you take the sentence literally, it means that the web is forming itself (no spider is weaving it) – it’s just appearing, like a trap or a story, as a mirror to Elias who is sealing his own fate by joining the Institute, 2°) if you assume it implies that a spider is creating that web… where is the spider? Is it hiding behind the bookshelf or somewhere in the office? Is it Jonah himself? (Web!Jonah Web!Jonah Web!Jonah…)

* Elias’s vision was SO CHILLING. The sounds effects (spiders scuttling) were terrible; the gradation was terrible; the last picture was horrible (Web as a predator for Beholding?). What was it, exactly? Jonah implanting the mental picture into Elias’s head? A forgotten memory from Elias? A premonition of what was to come…?

- I gushed about the office clock but: just like with Rosie, the memories following each other had all their distinctive sound effects. Jonah’s office had the clock. The memories of Allan’s corpse and of Allan’s last night had a sort of fast-paced metronome in the background. The memories of Elias finding Allan with his book at the library had another clock, also a bit faster than in Elias’s office. The alternations built up the anxiety and tension, gave the impression that everything was accelerating, and that time was just following its course – that it was impossible to go against it.

(It reminded me of the clock in Jon’s hospital room, when Oliver gave his statement in MAG121, reinforcing the story Oliver was giving about the impossibility of escape: “That was it. That was our fate. Where we would always be. Because I was going to take us there. Running was pointless. To try and to escape from my task would only serve to fulfil another.”)

- The book Allan came across didn’t seem to have the Leitner bookplate, but that doesn’t mean anything about the nature of the book itself since Leitner was just applying his mark on pre-existing books. Still: we know that Elias joined the Institute in 1991, so those memories took place before the fall of Leitner’s library (which happened in 1994):

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: “Allan is in the library, irritated at the interruption, but happy to see a friendly face. The whites of his eyes are riddled with the scarlet veins of sleeplessness, but his hand trembles with a feverish energy as he tries to explain the significance of the book he’s found. Even sober, Elias couldn't have followed what his friend was saying, lost in layers of theological scholarship – but he smiles anyway to see the reserved young Allan so passionate about his subject. He looks at the book itself. It’s old, crumbling, with none of the usual college library markings. He asks Allan where he got it, and his friend doesn’t answer, instead glancing around with a sudden self-conscious suspicion. Elias shuffles round to get a closer look at the pages, then stops in confusion, as he realises they are all blank. Allan only laughs when he says so. Was the laughter really that cruel…? Or is it just the warping of memory, the past he tries to forget, mixed with the nightmares that came after, the faces he dreamed of seeing in those pages.”

* Once again, where did these books come from…? Did they directly emanate from the Fears? Were they part of older Archivists’ collections, were they statements from older times? Were they part of Johann von Württemberg’s tomb, did Jonah let the books free to ensure that they would terrorise more people and create more Fears? … Are Jon’s own tapes forming another collection through another medium…?

* I wonder whether the blank pages meant that Elias wasn’t under the book’s spell, or whether it meant that whatever horrors it contained had been freed already. Jon had noted that when MAG125’s book had been found blank, it had seemed like it didn’t have any power left:

(MAG125) ARCHIVIST: Another Leitner, obviously. Not one I can readily identify, though it sounds like it would now be… “inert”, anyway. Given the blank pages, I do wonder whether its destruction was a… last-ditch effort to stop its effects, or the exact thing that released its power in such an… extreme way.

But we also had Albrecht’s case, where the pages were blank to Fanshawe’s eyes while Albrecht didn’t find anything strange with them, though those might not have been the original books in the first place…

(MAG127, Jonathan Fanshawe) “I do not know how he died. I saw nothing and no one with him, and his body seemed whole and undamaged. But I do have some idea as to why it happened. For as I filled those dead shelves with freshly bound volumes… I could not help but notice that every page was blank. I have since checked with Payne’s, who I believe to be your preferred bookbinders. And I know that the books poor Albrecht was returning to the grave… were not the books that were taken. I hope they bring you much wisdom, Jonah, for the cost was dear enough.”

Overall, there were a lot of elements reminding me of Albrecht’s discovery in the Black Forest, though it might just have been Beholding Things:

(MAG022, Albrecht von Closen) “It was the man from the cemetery. His wide brimmed hat was removed and he stared at me. His head was completely bald, and his eyes were missing. They were just empty sockets but they stared at me. They saw me. Believe or dismiss anything else in my letter as you wish Jonah, but I swear to you that I stood face to face with a man with no eyes and he saw me.” […] ARCHIVIST: Something else I stumbled across quite by accident during my research was in Grim Tales, H.T. Moncreef’s exploration of unexplained and macabre deaths in early 19th century Europe. It mentions a death that took place in Schramberg in 1816. The man, one Rudolph Ziegler, was found dead at his home on the outskirts of town. What is interesting is that it says he worked in service on an estate nearby. Shortly after his death, one Wilhelm von Closen was investigated for the crime, as it was discovered the dead man had been stealing jewellery from the estate. It was eventually dropped however, after four doctors attested that the ferocity of the wounds inflicted on Herr Ziegler were, and I quote, “beyond the capability of human violence”. It was ruled an animal attack.

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: ““It saw me,” Allan keeps saying, over and over again, “It saw me through the pages. And it’s coming.” He sees it, he says, in every mirror, every distant doorway, a silhouette on every skyline. Coming closer, each and every time, finding its way towards him, step by step. “It has no eyes,” Allan sobs, “so it has to feel its way towards me. But it knows. It knows!”

[…] When the light comes on, Elias has no idea how much of the crimson that bathes the scene is from the blood on the walls, how much from the blood that tints the lightbulb, and how much is simply the shading of his memory.”

- ;; The snippets of Elias and Allan’s relationship were so sad… Elias was intoxicated, granted, but the fact he was just happy to see Allan’s enthusiasm all the while he couldn’t understand anything about it? The fact that he tried to get him high to make him feel better:

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: “Elias has no way to comfort him. He can’t even understand what he’s talking about. And so on that, the last night of Allan Schreiber’s life… [LIGHTER BEING TURNED ON] he just gets him high, and leaves him to sleep it off.”

… and that was the last time he saw him alive…?

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: “When the light comes on, Elias has no idea how much of the crimson that bathes the scene is from the blood on the walls, how much from the blood that tints the lightbulb, and how much is simply the shading of his memory. But he remembers so clearly what he was thinking as he looked at what was left of Allan Schrieber: where are his eyes…? What did they do with his eyes?”

- Delighted about the glimpse regarding the Institute offering Actual Documentation:

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: ““W–well,” he begins, “I’ve always had the greatest respect for the work put out by this institute on mythological traditions, especially some of the recent papers on Indo-European traditions which was very useful for my dissertation on–””

There had been a few references to people getting or not the credentials to consult the library, and Melanie had required Jon to vouch for her and grant her access to it back in season 2, but I think this is the first time we hear about actual publications from Institute researchers! And it’s not a big surprise that they would be involved in mythology studies and the likes – outside of the Archives, it felt like the Institute was working like a “normal” academic institution, so it feels logical that they would research what was believed to be supernatural in older civilisations.

- I’m still laughing so much at the piano playing Chopin’s “Funeral March” in the background when the flashback with Elias’s father happened. And then, it jumped to him being dead and in the casket.

- Gotta love the tradition of Jonah only hiring people who were isolated and/or had an experience with the supernatural.

* Elias pointed out in his statement that his father had already died and that he had no connections anymore, when he joined the Institute (“he was all alone in the world, no friends, no family”), and he had lost his friend Allan to a Beholding creature in uni (so, a matter of a few years or months before).

* Michael Shelley had lost his friend Ryan to a Spiral creature, thus leading him to the Institute (MAG101: “After much searching and despair, it drove him into the waiting arms of the Institute, where he met Gertrude Robinson.”).

* Rosie had just divorced and was left bereft (MAG192: “Because I let my imagination and paranoia wreck my marriage, and now I’ve got nothing; and if I don’t get a job, I’m just sitting around an empty flat staring into space.”), and she might have had a Corruption encounter as a kid (or it was just mundane insects).

* Martin had to drop out of school to provide for his own mother at seventeen, so there was likely no more family he could rely on around him.

* Jon’s only family member was his grandmother, who died roughly around the time he joined the Institute. He’d already had a Web encounter as a child, knew that the supernatural existed, and Jonah pointed out that his Web mark may have been a reason to hire him (MAG081, MAG160).

* The Stranger took Danny, prompting Tim to join the Institute – and Elias had pointed out that he already knew the broad gist of Tim’s feelings (MAG104: “I knew there was some trauma that drew you to us, but I can’t say I ever thought to look much deeper. An oversight, perhaps, but I’m looking now.”).

* Melanie came back with a recent Slaughter mark and her entire network collapsed around her (MAG084: “God, I’m kind of at the end, you know?” “The end of what?” “Everything. Friends, clues, savings. Everything. Options. There’s nowhere left for me to go. I don’t know why, but… I just, I just felt that perhaps coming here might help.”), leading Jonah to NYOOM onto her spectacularly fast.

* Basira had more than her fair share of Section 31-worthy encounters and mentioned her father in the past tense (MAG117).

Gotta love how apparently, any orphan-or-almost with a supernatural encounter could waltz into the Institute and technically get hired. You don’t have many connections around you and you’re traumatised? Have fun working here, job is yours.

- I’m SUPER interested in the moment Elias began to get self-conscious about his presence there, asking himself why… and not being able to answer.

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: “… Where had he heard about this job opening? Had it been in a newspaper? He knew no-one who worked here, but received a letter anyway inviting him to interview. [SHUFFLING] Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t even sent out a CV. Yet somehow he found himself sat across from this man, whose smile hadn’t moved the whole time – and whose eyes seemed to know why he was here far better than he did.”

We’ve had cases of people being drawn to the Institute after their trauma: Tim wanted to understand what had happened to his brother, Jon might have wanted to understand the forces at play behind the Mr Spider book, Michael Shelley was drawn to the Institute in the same way, etc. In their cases, we can’t really know how much was their own curiosity and how much the Institute itself influenced them to head its way (if there is any difference): was it Beholding attracting people with trauma behind their curiosity? Was it The Web pushing a few people to go to the Institute, such as Jon? But whatever drew Elias towards the Institute, there is the fact that he apparently received a letter although he hadn’t submitted his CV in the first place… so who had sent it? I didn’t feel like it was Jonah (though his questions could have been rhetorical); was it specifically The Web, sending someone already traumatised by a Beholding encounter and the fear of getting his eyes stolen? Did Jonah interpret it as a gift from The Web (kind of “here, this is your next host”), just like he had with Jon, hence him looking at the cobweb forming in his office?

(MAG160, Jonah Magnus) “I’ll admit my options were somewhat limited, but – my God! When you came to me already marked by The Web, I knew it had to be you. I even held out some small hope you had been sent by the Spider as a sort of… implicit blessing on my whole project, and… do you know what? I think it was…!”

- Favourite moment of the episode: when Jonah cuttingly asked Elias why he had come here.

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: ““I, uh…” Elias’s voice wavered, paused. “I’ve always had the greatest respect for the work put out by this institute on mythological traditions, especially some of the recent papers [STATIC RISES] on Indo-European traditions which was very–” JONAH/ELIAS: Enough. Tell me: why are you here? ARCHIVIST: “I… I don’t know.” JONAH/ELIAS: Were you drawn here? ARCHIVIST: “… Yes. I was.” JONAH/ELIAS: Against your will? ARCHIVIST: “No.” JONAH/ELIAS: Then why did you heed the call? ARCHIVIST: “Because… this is the place I know I should be.” JONAH/ELIAS: Good. The job is yours.

* Jonah’s questions suddenly getting razor-sharp.

* Elias absolutely losing his façade and answering quickly, straight to the point. Did Jonah actually compel him back then…?

* The fact that the scene worked on three levels: as James interrogating Elias within the story; as Jonah interrogating Jon in the present… with the additional level of Jonah interrogating Jon from the past, maybe – asking why Jon had come to the Institute six years ago.

* The dread coming from Jon’s voice! It was impossible to guess whether he was still fully impersonating Elias’s own, or if it was Jon himself, breaking character and getting startled by the questions.

* It was terrifying as ~Jon answering to Jonah in the present as to why he had come back to the Panopticon~: when Jon answered “this is the place I know I should be”, it already introduced the idea that he was ~meant~ to take Jonah’s place as The Eye’s pupil…

- I wonder whether Elias had actually gotten that flash in the past:

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: “Elias has the briefest of flashes – a sudden burst of terror, an image of himself, strapped down, helpless. [STATIC FADES] [DISTANT LOUD, ECHOING SOUNDS] The vanishing of well-known faces, and the harsh sneers that replace them as they stare at him. He cannot move. He cannot scream. What is happening? What is it, that he feels deep down in his skull? What are they doing to his eyes? This… presence, old and rotten, in his mind? He can do nothing but watch.”

* That last sentence was such a Beholding mood.

* Was it a memory of James Wright’s own demise, as Jonah had invaded his body, that Jonah had been tauntingly showing Elias? Was it a retroactive fast-forward: Elias, knowing of his fate, colouring the memories of his interviews with what would happen to him? Or was it a genuine premonition which had hit Elias back in 1991, with the idea that Elias’s fate was sealed when Jonah told him “The job is yours.”, and that his only future would be the one we knew of – that in five years, he would become Jonah’s next host…? (Beholding’s powers had never been about seeing the future, though, and Jon has pointed out this season that he couldn’t know about it entirely…)

- Ahahah for the end of the statement reminding me of Jon’s own words in the liveshow…

(MAG000) ROSIE: ARCHIVIST: Yes, thank you Rosie. … Oh, do tell Elias thank you. For the opportunity.

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: “The moment passes, and Elias returns to himself. He tries to smile, and thanks his new employer for the opportunity.”

SOB.

- On the one hand, it’s been two statements at the top on the Panopticon already, and on the other hand, I can’t help but hope for a less-flattering Jonah statement extracted/told by Jon (bonus point if it does include the scene of Jon’s own hiring interview or promotion)…

Interestingly, the last two episodes have been digging progressively deeper into the past: Rosie’s statement began after “Elias” became Head of the Institute, with her interview, and followed the events surrounding the Archival staff until the Change (late 2015 – October 2018). Then Elias’s covered the pre-Jonah!Elias years, with his interview and a flashback into Elias’s recent past with Allan and a few other memories.

- At the start of the episode, Martin had the reflex to call Jonah “Elias” before correcting himself, which is something that happened almost systematically all through this season, both from Jon and from Martin:

(MAG161) MARTIN: [SIGH] Gloating, Jon. [CREAKING SOUND] Elias won, and there were some tapes he’d kept for himself, and he wanted to gloat. So, he sent them! ARCHIVIST: He’s not… MARTIN: I–I don’t see– ARCHIVIST: … “Elias”.

(MAG162) ARCHIVIST: No, no, lo–look… I, I–I was listening, and I–I was filled with this… hatred. This anger; I–I wanted to leave, and hunt down Elias, a–and…! […] MARTIN: Do you think it’ll do anything? Confronting Elias?

(MAG164) MARTIN: What about Elias? [STATIC INCREASES] ARCHIVIST: He’s inside the Panopticon; the Tower, far above the world.

(MAG167) ARCHIVIST: Annabelle, help us with “what”? Our–our, our journey, killing Elias, vanishing the Entities – what?

(MAG174) MARTIN: Thanks for that. … Hang on, you’re still down to kill Elias, right? Uh, oh, Jonah, whatever.

(MAG177) ARCHIVIST: I didn’t mean to, Elias was… We were all playing out this big ritual for him. With me as the lynchpin, the gate. […] BASIRA: … So what’s your plan? MARTIN: Long-term? Elias. He’s up in that that… “Panopticon” tower thing.

(MAG178) MARTIN: It’s, it’s fine. [INHALE] We’ll just have to tie them all up in one go! ARCHIVIST: Hm? MARTIN: [SIGH] Around Elias’s neck.

(MAG186) MARTIN: If I’d done what Peter had asked… If, if I’d not chickened out, and just killed Elias when I had the chance…! […] What, like with Peter and Elias? […] Whatever happens with Elias, wi–, with the rest of the world… I can’t live on the misery of others.

(MAG187) ARCHIVIST: I see. How long have you been working with Elias?

(MAG188) ARCHIVIST: I suppose they don’t get many new faces around here. MARTIN: Especially not the Archivist…! Don’t forget you’re a celebrity! ARCHIVIST: Maybe. Or maybe it’s Elias’s personal welcome wagon.

(MAG189) ARCHIVIST: Uh, m–me versus Elias – Jonah, we… We both draw power from The Eye.

(MAG190) ARCHIVIST: I was… the catalyst, I–I didn’t… Elias– Jonah Magnus used me.

(MAG192) MARTIN: [CALLING] Elias! Jonah, Jonah Magnus!

(MAG193) MARTIN: Well… we came here to confront Elias– urgh, Jonah, whatever!

(Most notable exceptions being when Jon was approaching the Panopticon in MAG189, and tended to allude to him as “Jonah (Magnus)”, and when he told Rosie that they had an appointment with him).

At the end of this episode, though, Jon thought to make the distinction:

(MAG193) MARTIN: Was that the real Elias, is he still in there then? […] ARCHIVIST: I could kill his body, sever the link, break The Eye’s power, and… Jonah Magnus would die. […] If we kill Jonah Magnus… I take his place.

I wonder if from now on (well, for the 7 episodes left…), Jon&Martin will have less trouble calling him “Jonah” instead of “Elias” like before. It was understandable that they would call him “Elias”, since they had always known him as such… but now, we have had a glimpse at who the real Elias was. It might help them to accept to conceptually distinguish the two?

- It sounded to me that Jonah stopped his chant when Jon gave his statement:

(MAG193) JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –she can’t resist the waves that lap and drag her over and across the surface still as cracked obsidian but deeper that the world could ever dream as something wakes and shifts below they grab the wheel and cry in panic at their howling crew to ready for a harrowed doomed escape– ARCHIVIST: Sorry, it isn’t that… Ah… JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –from what begins to rise below them… [CEASLESS CHANTING CEASES] […] ARCHIVIST: [TREMBLING GASP] JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): … as they look down to see the pitch-black void of ocean getting darker still as something rises up that dwarfs the sky–

Jonah’s chant wasn’t incoherent in itself: it followed a succession of scenes and pictures, but there was still a logic through that flow. When Jon began to give his statement, the scene was taking place at sea, with a “they” subject (I think there was a gender-neutral victim and a plural “they” in the same scene?); when his chant resumed afterwards, the scene and subjects were the same as before. So it’s likely that it’s not just that we couldn’t hear Jonah anymore, but he flat-out interrupted himself. If this is indeed the case: does it mean that every time Jon gave a statement this season, Jonah stopped his own litanies of horror? And since Jon pointed out that Jonah is now part of The Eye: does it mean that Beholding can’t focus on two “statements” at a time and/or that it will prioritise Jon’s own litanies of horrors when he has to tell them?

It reminds me of Elias’s own known weak spot, as it had been used against him in season 3:

(MAG110) BASIRA: Or maybe when he’s not paying attention. MARTIN: Mm? BASIRA: Distracted, like, during your, hum, your performance review. MELANIE: Wait, what do you mean? MARTIN: Yeah, what…? BASIRA: Well, I was heading out, and… Martin, you remember you knocked over that huge stack of papers? MARTIN: Hey, hey, they shouldn't have been there in the first place. Besides, I cleaned them up. BASIRA: But not in the right order. MARTIN: [HUFF INDIGNANTLY] BASIRA: And… when I brought them up to Elias yesterday, he asked why they were messed up. MARTIN: Y– … you didn’t tell him it was me? BASIRA: … It’s not the point, Martin. The point is– MELANIE: He wasn’t watching you! He was busy.

(MAG118) ELIAS: Now, if you’re quite done, I am very busy. MARTIN: Oh sorry! Sorry, I’m not keeping you from the show, am I? W–well, well you head back, I’ll keep myself busy here. Albrecht von Closen is next, [PAPER RUSTLE] I think.

(MAG120) ELIAS: I knew you were all planning something, of course, but I didn’t believe you specifically would have the, uh… capacity for boldness that you displayed. Hm! It took me quite by surprise. MARTIN: You didn’t just see it in me? ELIAS: Honestly, I didn’t look. For all my power, I will admit I am not immune to making the occasional lazy assumption. I presumed that I knew you thoroughly but, by the time you demonstrated otherwise… well. There was simply too much to keep watching over. I only have two eyes, after all.

So, mm… if this is the case, Beholding turning its focus on Jon might be used against it, in the same way? I don’t know what for but… there was that this episode.

- Even Martin noticed the difference ;;

(MAG193) [STATIC RISES AND FADES] [THE PANOPTICON SOUNDS RESUME] ARCHIVIST: [TREMBLING GASP] JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): … as they look down to see the pitch-black void of ocean getting darker still as something rises up that dwarfs the sky– MARTIN: Are you all right? That was… intense. ARCHIVIST: Yeah… Uh… I just… uhh… JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –and yet they know it is the smallest tip–

I really wonder how that statement looked, from the outside (or at least from Martin’s point of view). Did Jonah lower himself closer to Jon to say his lines as “James Wright”? Did the whole room change and show the “set” of Jonah’s office, and then of Elias’s university days? 

- I’m super-impressed that Martin managed to keep track of his initial question!

(MAG193) MARTIN: Right. [SIGH] Right, right, right. … Is the original Elias still in there somewhere? ARCHIVIST: He’s, uh, I– MARTIN: Maybe we could get through to him somehow? […] Was that the real Elias, is he still in there then? ARCHIVIST: No… No, it, it was… an echo. The last spasm of a corpse. I–it’s far too late for either of them. MARTIN: Oh, damn. ARCHIVIST: There was never anything we could have done.

And that he immediately connected that it was probably the statement of a person – not of an overview of them like Jon had done with Gertrude.

Jon’s answer, though ;; It had been a huge fandom interrogation after the Jonah reveal: was the original Elias still in there somehow? Watching and being unable to do anything sounded like a fitting Beholding torture, and the statement toyed with the concept too (“He can do nothing but watch.”). In the end, we still don’t know when Elias’s consciousness faded (when Jonah took full possession of his body? Gradually over the years? When the Change happened?), just that he’s not there anymore.

- Lots to cry about when it comes to Jon’s reveals and Martin’s reactions:

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: There was never anything we could have done. But I–I saw… MARTIN: What? ARCHIVIST: You were right. MARTIN: About what? ARCHIVIST: His body is vulnerable. A–at least to me. MARTIN: … What’s the catch? ARCHIVIST: I could kill his body, sever the link, break The Eye’s power, and… Jonah Magnus would die. MARTIN: Okay, that sounds good but…? ARCHIVIST: But… that wouldn’t actually harm The Eye itself. And with him gone it would… JONAH/ELIAS (BACKGROUND): –of those fools like them now caught and wrapped– ARCHIVIST: … it would choose a suitable replacement. MARTIN: Oh. ARCHIVIST: If we kill Jonah Magnus… I take his place. MARTIN: Oh, god…

* Martin immediately understanding that no, it’s not a Good scenario, that there is a cost or negative consequences coming with it. (Well, or he was simply able to read the room: Jon would have been happier, if it was a hopeful option.)

* Martin was so keen to kill Elias for the whole season:

(MAG174) MARTIN: Thanks for that. … Hang on, you’re still down to kill Elias, right? Uh, oh, Jonah, whatever. ARCHIVIST: I’m still going to confront him. [INHALE] I don’t know if killing him is something I’m even… capable of, but if I can and I have to, I will. MARTIN: Yeeah? ARCHIVIST: Don’t worry. I won’t hesitate. MARTIN: … Right.

(MAG177) BASIRA: … So what’s your plan? MARTIN: Long-term? Elias. He’s up in that that… “Panopticon” tower thing.

(MAG178) MARTIN: … Yeah. I guess. [INHALE, EXPLOSIVE EXHALE] God, I hate all of these… loose ends…! ARCHIVIST: I’m sorry. MARTIN: It’s, it’s fine. [INHALE] We’ll just have to tie them all up in one go! ARCHIVIST: Hm? MARTIN: [SIGH] Around Elias’s neck. ARCHIVIST: … Ah.

(MAG186) MARTIN: If I’d done what Peter had asked… If, if I’d not chickened out, and just killed Elias when I had the chance…!

(MAG189) MARTIN: This is it, then. ARCHIVIST: This is what? MARTIN: Don’t play dumb. It’s the final battle, right? We… climb the tower, take out the bad guy, figure out how to change the world back, and back in time for tea! Right?

… And we had loads of hints leading us to believe that Jonah was either dead already (well, in a way, he already is), and/or that killing him would not change anything to the situation (confirmed!), as already displayed with the domains’ rulers getting exterminated by Jon without leading to any improvement for the victims (Not!Sasha, Jude, Jared) – at the very least, we could guess that Martin was very unlikely to actually get to take his negative feelings out on Jonah.

I love the little twist that this is actually worse than that: if they were to kill him, it would mean losing Jon too, yay!

* Overall, it’s very fitting with the season 5 exploration? Martin focused so much on Jonah who, granted, was the one to scheme for the apocalypse to happen, but he’s now confirmed to just be another cog in the Fear machine – and just like a cog, he’s replaceable. The problem has always been the Fears themselves.

- Jon has been shutting down a lot of options regarding what he could do and what might happen, lately:

(MAG191) MARTIN: … Jon. If… When we defeat The Eye, the Fears… What happens to you? [SILENCE] ARCHIVIST: Nothing good. I think it depends on what actually happens. If we figure out a way to defeat them, banish them somehow, kick them out of our reality and back to where they came from, I might… survive? I think I’d stay more or less like this; w–weaker, but fundamentally… still an avatar in a world where the Fears are… once again lurking on the edges. MARTIN: … But I assume that’s the best case scenario? ARCHIVIST: Depends on your point of view, I guess. In the long term all we’d have done is… bought some more time. … If, however, we… find a way to destroy or, uh… eliminate the Powers… I’m not going to be okay. There’s… too much of me that’s part of The Eye now. I don’t… know what would be left of me without it. Maybe I just… die. Maybe I survive, but I–I lose… something. My identity? My mind? My… memories? I don’t know.

(MAG193) MARTIN: And, I’m guessing you can’t… just destroy him like the others? ARCHIVIST: No. God knows what would happen if I called upon The Eye to try and destroy a… vital piece of itself. ARCHIVIST: In the best case scenario, nothing happens. MARTIN: And worst case? ARCHIVIST: No idea…! An enormous explosion that… destroys the world? We get torn apart, but… still suffering, o–or cast off to the edges of the fearscape, maybe? I… I don’t know. […] MARTIN: O–or–or, what about, hum… That’s Elias’s body, right? I mean, yeah, they’re obviously Magnus’s eyes, but that’s still a Bouchard body up there so… So maybe, Magnus’s original body is just… still lying around here somewhere? That, that was a weakness before the transformation, so… maybe we could still use that! ARCHIVIST: It’s gone. Ashes swept away by the winds of ecstatic terror. What you see up there is all that remains. […] MARTIN: Was that the real Elias, is he still in there then? ARCHIVIST: No… No, it, it was… an echo. The last spasm of a corpse. I–it’s far too late for either of them. MARTIN: Oh, damn. […] ARCHIVIST: I could kill his body, sever the link, break The Eye’s power, and… Jonah Magnus would die. MARTIN: Okay, that sounds good but…? ARCHIVIST: But… that wouldn’t actually harm The Eye itself. And with him gone it would… it would choose a suitable replacement.

And I really wonder if it’s to discard these options, or to introduce them as concepts because some are indeed meant to happen…

- I’m screaming that Jon’s realisation explains so well what had happened back at the cabin:

(MAG162) ARCHIVIST: “This place wishes to be our tomb. But The Eye does not wish that. No. [STATIC RISES] The Eye wishes instead that it be my chrysalis. [WOODEN CREAKING SOUND] It is time that I emerge…” [STATIC REACHING A PEAK] […] MARTIN: Look, Jon, I… I, I know it hurts, but you’ve just got to… ARCHIVIST: No, no, lo–look… I, I–I was listening, and I–I was filled with this… hatred. This anger; I–I wanted to leave, and hunt down Elias, a–and…!

(MAG193) ARCHIVIST: But… that wouldn’t actually harm The Eye itself. And with him gone it would… it would choose a suitable replacement. MARTIN: Oh. ARCHIVIST: If we kill Jonah Magnus… I take his place. MARTIN: Oh, god… ARCHIVIST: And I think… that’s exactly what it wants…!

That explains why Beholding wanted Jon to leave the cabin! And why Jon had felt that rush of violence towards Elias: it was pushing Jon to discard Elias and take his place! And that also explains why Jon felt the pull so strongly in the Panopticon – Beholding was eager.

(MAG191) MARTIN: The Eye isn’t, like… calling you, or something? ARCHIVIST: Oh, no i–it is. But I can’t get a… clear reading on it down here, i–it’s kind of maddening, actually? Like… being on a street you almost remember but… can’t find on a map.

(MAG192) MARTIN: Not keeping you, am I? ARCHIVIST: S–, No, I–, it’s just… I, uh… MARTIN: What, you’re not tired? ARCHIVIST: Oh no, believe me, I am! It’s just, uh… It’s kind of… difficult not to keep climbing? MARTIN: What, like… you’re being called? ARCHIVIST: More like… pulled. Gently, but very definitely upwards, towards the top. MARTIN: That… could be a bad sign. ARCHIVIST: Probably…! Too late to bail now, though.

(MAG193) JONAH/ELIAS: Enough. Tell me: why are you here? ARCHIVIST: “I… I don’t know.” JONAH/ELIAS: Were you drawn here? ARCHIVIST: “… Yes. I was.” JONAH/ELIAS: Against your will? ARCHIVIST: “No.” JONAH/ELIAS: Then why did you heed the call? ARCHIVIST: “Because… this is the place I know I should be.”

We got a glimpse of what Beholding was trying to push for, there is still the question of the reasons behind it. Without ascribing it a sentience, why would Beholding prefer Jon as its conduit? Is it because Jon’s dreams ended with Jon being part of it, and that it feels like a natural evolution, that Beholding is seeking the completion it used to get with Jon’s dreams?

(MAG120) ELIAS: “At last, he looks into The Eye that sees all, and knows all, and clutches at the secret terrors of your heart. The Ceaseless Watcher of all that is, and all that was; the voracious, infinite hunger that tears at his soul, invoking him to discover, to observe, to experience all and everything and forever. It stares into him, and it stares out of him, and he is falling into the devouring eternity of its pupil. He wants to cry out in horror – but he cannot. He. is. whole.”

Is it because unlike Jonah, Jon has been reading statements and feeding Beholding? Is it because of Jon’s nature as an Archivist? Would any of the other Archivists down there be fitting for the position, then? Is it because of Jon’s ability to fear? Is it because Jon, although controlled by Jonah’s script, was the one to “open the door”?

- Relatedly, reminder that we still don’t know what and where Jon’s domain is. Is it friggin’ Beholding itself.

- I’m worried about Martin, I’m really worried about Martin since now, Jon has explained that it was possible to take Jonah’s place as Beholding’s pupil… and Martin had once been set up to replace Jonah in his seat of power…

(MAG158) MARTIN: But, I don’t understand, why are we here? PETER: It’s quite simple, really…! I want to use the powers of this place to learn about The Extinction: what it’s doing, where it’s manifesting. Then we can stop it. MARTIN: And you need me for this? PETER: Correct! Without a connection to The Eye, any attempt to use it would likely end… very messily indeed! But thankfully, it just so happens that you hold such a connection. MARTIN: So that’s it… Both “lonely” and “watching”. PETER: You must admit you’re the perfect candidate. MARTIN: I suppose I am. PETER: There is… of course… just one other complication? [FOOTSTEPS STOP] You’ll have to dispose of the current occupant.

What would happen if someone strongly powered by another power were to become The Eye’s pupil? Would it affect Beholding as a whole?

- Since MAG192 and MAG193 followed each other without a gap between tape, I wonder whether that will be the case for MAG194 too. Will we go back to Jon and Martin at the Panopticon, in front of Jonah, with Martin reacting to what Jon just concluded (that Beholding might have called him there specifically to get him to take Jonah’s place)? Will we go back to them after a small interruption? Will they be back down in the tunnels to think about their options and share with the class (Melanie&Georgie)? Or would Beholding stop them from leaving the room? Will they be joined by Annabelle, or will Annabelle send a message their way? Basira was on her way to London, too – if she were to arrive, that might be an occasion to withdraw and regroup, if the building let them…

I’m going to do this every time, now, but: seven episodes to go. At this point in time in previous seasons, we had only just met Tim and heard about “Peter Lukas” for the first time, Basira had given Jon her statement about Maxwell Rayner’s death (with Jon pondering who had tipped off Section 31 to allow them to find him – that was later revealed to have been Elias himself), Martin had been very tempted to touch the plastic explosive and Jon had read a letter sent by Adelard Dekker for the first time, Julia&Trevor had trailed after Jon after having discovered that he had taken Gerry’s page from “their” book, threatening him (and introducing their future raid on the Institute), and Jon had discovered that Daisy was slowly dying from Hunt deprivation but was still keen to not give in. There is still so much that could happen…?

MAG194’s title has me a bit at a loss: it’s easy to picture a few configurations for the first level meaning (Jon and Martin? Jonah and Beholding? Jon&Martin and Melanie&Georgie?), but I’m really at a loss when trying to picture a second meaning…? Unless it’s about a recurring item such as Jon’s lighter or Salesa’s camera? Or about someone (Annabelle?) revealing things…?

[apolloartexchange]

A lone knight stands in a striking pose as his dark armor jabs in juxtaposition against a stunning set of iridescent surroundings

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In the past pages of history our legends of myth and literature have been consistently constrained to the written word and acting play of dramatic theater. However in the modern day we enjoy our leisure within vast digital worlds as endless stories of meta-mythology immerse the participant far beyond any technology we've ever seen. Whether the medium is virtual reality or digital smartphone apps one cannot deny the seemingly infinite avenues of entertainment offered to the average traveller of our interconnected metaverse

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Today's piece explores a similar theme whilst simultaneously merging the genre Punk with a historic Medieval influence which births the unique subgenre of "MedievalPunk" unknown to the average viewer

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A gothic style of architectural design can be identified throughout the setting of the work as titanous tiered arches tie together at striking points which tear into the sky without a hint of hesitation. Further characteristics of the Gothic style are large incandescent stained glass windows as hints of the flying buttress hides behind the varying levels of lively light and color. Varying degrees of purple pass a baton to the lightly misted magenta sky as the blue trim serves as a symbolic accent which frames and elevates the form of each surrounding building in a further foundational display of depth and detailed distance. In the space of this work we notice our main subject interrupting the boundary denoting a separation between the closely positioned pub and the tall buildings which fade away in the dark distance. Textures in this piece range heavily from the harsh pointed architectural design to the soft reflective surface of the soaked streets which strike the viewer's eye in a stunning translation of its surrounding magenta lights

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Although our knight stands protected in fully aligned armor his silhouette holds a high degree of tension as the pose successfully calls the viewer's attention to a degree shockingly similar to the brightest lights lined on the canvas

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Overall this hybridized piece of render and digital paint displays the merge of the genre Punk with heavy Medieval and Gothic styles as well as Neon Cyberpunk themes which craft the Magenta MedievalPunk in a dream-like experience bridging our increasingly incandescent future with the revival of archaic styles lost the past

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"MedievalPunk 3.0"

Josh Kasper Creative

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