#but it definitely had to be some sort of intentional character choice to make that volo’s definitive partner pokémon

[goldensunset]

cynthia being kind and elegant and calm with her life together + having a terrifying dragon shark monster that only lives in one secret dark cave VS. volo being vile and dangerous and unhinged + having a cute little fairy chicken known as the jubilee pokémon said to only appear in times of peace

[ambrosiagourmet]

Did Laios have a plan

... when he made his deal with the Lion? How much of it was intentional and how much of it was out of his control?

Well. If I'm being honest I don't really want to try and provide a definitive answer to that question, because I think the ambiguity is, itself, part of the story. I've gone back and forth a few times myself, and I don't think either category - "fully intentional" or "fully coincidence" - is entirely true.

That being said, I would like to point out a few things that I've seen taken for granted as true. Things that, imo, are much more about the character's perspective, or about what the character WANTS people to think (well, that's really just the Winged Lion).

Consider this not exactly an argument for "Laios masterminded everything from the start and saved the world with his cunning," but more... "Laios considered what he was doing more than people give him credit for." Make sense?

Alright then, let's go:

So to start with, I want to show every time (that I could find, at least) that the question of 'does Laios have a plan' gets brought up. This is specifically after his Ultimate Monster Form is revealed, to be clear - the question isn't about if he has a plan in general, it is if he has/had a plan when he made this specific deal with the Lion.

Here they are:

-

-

You'll notice, in all of these instances, there never really is an answer given to the question. Either because there is no way to get one, or, with Kabru at the end there, because he explicitly doesn't let Laios answer. There's even a bit of an arc here: we start with a sort of desperate 'I've mostly given up but maybe this isn't as bad as it looks,' then get a more optimistic 'maybe we really are saved,' and finally end on 'it all worked out in the end, so we maybe don't need to know.'

But, as much as there is some genuine growth in Kabru's 'accept the outcome, rather than dissecting the truth,' I also think it says a lot more about him than about Laios. Kabru is the one trying to handle his questions and his uncertainty - as he said, he wants to confirm his judgement of character. He wants to feel like he had control over things.

And he lets that go! But he also doesn't actually get the truth, either, and his implied assumption here (that Laios, the wide-eyed monster-lover, probably just followed his desires), still relies on his judgements and assumptions about Laios.

But okay, these bits are all focused on the characters theorizing about Laios. How about we look at the character who actually tells us the facts ("facts"): the Winged Lion.

The Winged Lion has quite a bit to say about Laios and his monster form.

He says that Laios hates humanity, and would rather be a monster

I've talked about this a bit already, but the Lion makes a lot of claims and assumptions about Laios that aren't necessarily true.

First of all, let's just make sure we clearly establish that the Lion is being manipulative here. That may seem obvious, but it's important to understand that there is a difference between 'the truth' and 'a version of the truth specifically framed to prey upon your deepest shame and insecurities about what you really want.'

To point out a few quick-and-dirty contradictions here:

If Laios really hated all other humans, then the Lion wouldn't hinge so many of his other arguments on Laios' love for Falin and his friends.

the Lion claims that Laios "[doesn't] even care enough about the future of [the] world to express an opinion about it," even though Laios has literally expressed opinions on what he wants for the world, to the Lion's face.

In general, the Lion does not make a distinction between urges and choices (see, for instance: him using Marcille's subconscious fear of the canaries as a way to keep her from stopping the monsters from attacking in chapter 86).

I'm not saying there is not a piece of truth here, but also... we are not our darkest thoughts, and we especially are not those thoughts as defined by someone who wants to hurt and control us.

But let’s move on to the stuff the Lion claims about Laios once he has been turned into his monster form.

2. He says that (or rather, acts like) Laios is under his control

The Lion really enjoys grandstanding about how Monster Laios is an ultimate tool he has control over. He gloats about making Laios fight the others, and has him smash through the magical barrier.

But smashing the barrier is kinda the only thing that Monster Laios actually does for the Lion. He doesn't attack anyone. He doesn't hurt his friends, despite Chilchuck thinking that Laios has "turned completely into a monster." And he certainly doesn't simply let the Lion go through with his plan to eat everyone.

This barrier smashing is actually an interesting and odd thing for Laios to have done specifically, so remember that one. I'll come back to it later.

But, yeah, to the original point... despite the Lion's dramatics, all that Monster Laios does is pose, smash up a magic barrier, and then eat him. Not exactly under his control.

AND SPEAKING OF EATING THE DEMON...

3. He frames Laios attacking and eating him as thoughtlessly violent

This one is pretty funny to me, and the Lion keeps it up for the whole scene. I'm not sure how much of this is his genuine understanding of the situation, and how much is him intentionally framing things in the most insulting manner, but like... truly. The ego involved in this. To see someone who has, multiple times, tried to stand against you - someone who has literally wished for your non-existence, to your face - to see this person attack you, specifically, and have your first reaction be 'huh, I guess he's a reckless weirdo to the core???'

Incredible stuff.

And this part, too:

He claims that Laios can't recognize anyone, that he's out of control. And yet, the Lion is the only person that gets eaten here. He is Laios' singular target.

Hell, Laios even specifically attacks one of the bodies that is actively hurting Chilchuck. I don't know if that was entirely intentional on Laios' part, but I do think it's notable.

The Lion torments Laios' friend, and when Laios does something that interrupts that action, the Lion reframes it as unhinged violence. I don't know, there's something here about the way that cruel people only talk about the things people do to resist them as violent, and ignore the violence that causes such resistance in the first place.

In any case, the main point is that the Lion insists on treating Laios like an unthinking animal during this fight, despite the fact that Laios is clearly trying to accomplish something here.

And what exactly is Laios trying to accomplish? Well, the Lion isn't entirely wrong. Laios is trying to eat something. He tells us as much.

And truly, everything Laios does as a monster points to this. He had a goal. And he accomplished it.

Let me back up a moment. I need to explain smashing the barrier.

So, Laios first starts considering how to kill the Lion when he is confronted with the fact that his only other choice would be to kill Marcille. Immediately and entirely discarding that solution, because of course he does, he tries to wrap his head around what defeating the Lion would even look like.

He clearly continues thinking about this, as a nearly identical conversation happens a few chapters later, when Laios is once again told that killing Marcille is the only way forward.

Only, this time, he's started to come up with an idea for how to do this impossible thing.

Harkening all the way back to the Living Armor chapter, Laios draws on the same lesson - if the Lion has made itself part of the world, if it has made itself into something alive, that means he can kill it. And eat it.

But there's an important extra detail to this. If he's going to try and kill (and eat) the Lion, he needs to strike when it’s vulnerable. He needs to strike when it's eating.

This is why he smashes through the barrier. Again, nothing else he does as a monster really benefits the Lion. He doesn't attack anyone else. The only command he obeys is to smash the barrier. Because the Lion has to think he has won for Laios to be able to eat him.

Beat him. For Laios to be able to beat him.

The question of why Monster Laios wanted to eat the Lion is, I think, the most ambiguous part. Was he curious? Hungry? Did he fight for his own life, for his friends, or for all of humanity? Did he know how to win because he had planned everything from the start, or because he was driven by an unquenchable instinct to do whatever it took to survive?

I don't know that it is possible to say for sure. But I do know that the Lion underestimates Laios, through it all. He underestimates Laios as a human, and he underestimates Laios as a monster.

And in the end, after he is bested, even then I don't think the Lion ever gets Laios. I don't think he understands how much Laios means his words about the Lion being burdened by hunger...

or what Laios cares about most...

or what meaning there is in life, for him.

So I don't buy what the Lion is selling about Laios, generally speaking. I don't buy that Laios didn't ever know what he was doing, and I don't buy that he was nothing more than a hungry beast.

Well. I mean. He was a hungry beast. But he was a more than that too. He was the Devourer of All Things Horrible. And he didn't just happen into that title by chance.

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Hi Kym! I apologize if you have answered an ask like this before, but I am curious for your opinion.

You've talked a lot about how intentional all the Buddie parallels are in terms of costuming for several seasons now, both with Buck and Eddie together, then with their respective girlfriends, and in comparison to Bathena. We are now even getting throwbacks to season 2 and Eddie's first episode with Buck's stonewash jeans! Tim is adamant in interviews that he never planned this bisexual awakening in advance (we know that Eddie was originally meant for Maddie ofc) and that he doesn't know where the characters are going yet, but even Oliver has said he intentionally leans into the Buddie of it all with his acting, or at least into Buck's then-presumed bisexuality.

My question is, with just how pointed and intentional the costume choices have always been, is Tim is lying? Or are the costume designers secret Buddie shippers and intentionally lean into this storyline too? How much of what we see in terms of costuming is the decision of the show runners/directors vs creative expression of the costume designers? Is there a point in the show for you where it became clear how intentional it was becoming with the costuming, where they may or may not have said, "we're going to commit to telling this story in subtext until we are allowed to tell it overtly"?

Thanks :)

Hey Cookie-Kat!!

How lovely to have you in my inbox, and what a great question!

putting my answer under the cut - because it got long!!!

The answer I give is going to have to be a bit vague I'm afraid because the reality is that as I don't work on the show and I'm not 100% sure on the set up of their various departments, I can't categorically state how they are going about things in 911 land! I can share my experience and knowledge of how things can be done and try to give you some sort of framework - but I can't definitively say that this is how they are doing things.

First up let's address the whole Tim lying thing.

Tim is all about subterfuge in interviews - its literally his job as a showrunner. I would take every thing he says in an interview with a giant grain of salt. the entire purpose of his interviews is to tease and hook people, without giving anything way becasue why would he spoil all the things he has planned that make people watch the show he is creating. If he came out in an interview at the start of the season and said

'yeah, we're going to do a cruise ship disaster and all these things are going to happen, and in episode 4 Buck is going to get kissed by a guy and figure out he's bi and Eddie is going to find out his girlfriend was a novice nun and its going to send him into a catholic guilt spiral, and maddie nad CHim are going to get married, but x, y and z are going to happen before they can get down the aisle'

Why would anyone tune in to watch the show? we'd already know what was going to happen so there wouldn't be any point - there would be no buzz and the viewing figures might be ok, but they wouldn't be remotely close to what they are. I know for a fact I probably wouldn't be tuning in - people like to be surprised, they like to speculate - we in fandom take it to a higher level, but even the general audience speculate - water cooler conversations about what you watched the previous evening and how you think it's going to play out are part of a show's appeal - part of how it keeps people watching - shared experiences are a powerful commodity, especially in network television and they cannot be shared if we all know what is going to happen.

I would also add that this season is the most explicit acknowledgement of buddie that we've had in interviews and that means something. The show - writers, actors etc have all been incredibly careful before no to ensure that they haven't crossed over into queerbaiting the audience - which is something I really appreciate them for. But this season, things have definitely changed. whether that is down to being on a new network, that actually has a marketing strategy and that actually seems to care about the show and the stories that they have wanted to tell, I don't know, but it is so refreshing and exciting to see.

Tim is a clever person - he knows exactly what he is doing and every single season, without fail we have him saying things in interviews that can be read in multiple ways - none of them have ever been lies - subterfuge is the name of the game - then if you reread them in the aftermath of the season, you can see what he said did in fact play out as he hinted at - he has the context that we didn't have at the time and that is why he can subvert and talk his way around things.

I genuinely don't think Tim planned to give Buck a bisexual awakening from the start - we know he never planned on the buddie of it all, but a good writer will go where the characters take them. As soon as you create something and put it into the hands of others (the actors, directors and crew) things can very quickly take on a whole new direction and a life of its own.

If you ask me, I genuinely don't think Buck could've had a bi awakening before this point - it wouldn't have made sense from a narrative perspective (and his death and rebirth actually make the perfect jumping off point to explore) until now because of the very nature of Buck.

There isn't a single show (by show I mean one that isn't a limited series which will by definition have a planned arc) on network television that knew where each and every character would end up at the end of the show or that characters journey (by this I mean when cast chose to leave a show). Yes they might have planned a few beats to hit along the way, but they wouldn't know the end point for the character. We have a perfect example on 911 - Michael - the show hadn't intended to end Michaels arc in the way it did - his journey as a queer man coming out later in life was an important part of the show - important for representation as much as anything - they had to adapt and change in light of what was going on with Rockmond and write out a character that they would've had other plans for.

The other thing I should mention is that When Tim says he hasn't decided or written the scripts for upcoming episodes, that doesn't mean he doesn't have a plan. He very much will have a plan. There would've been clear arcs for each character laid out at the start of the writing process for the season - they would want to get character a from one point to another by the end of the season. Its the how they get there that is the unknown - at this point we don't know the end points for any characters this season, but if we take season 5 Eddie as an example - at the start of the season he is post shooting and back at work, seemingly perfectly fine. By the end of the season he is genuinely in a good place having gone through his trauma arc. The arc they would've decided on for Eddie that season was to explore his trauma and how to get him from a 'seemingly' good place to a genuinely good place. From there they would've decided on various touchstones - so Ana being mistaken for Christophers mother and them being a family is his trigger to launch his arc. Chris being scared of loosing his father a major touch stone, pushing him into leaving the 118. His then feeling on the outside - left out and replaced by Lucy is his next one, followed by the fact all his army buddies are gone, another touchstone - coming in quick succession to build momentum and leading to his breakdown. Pushing him to actually get help - therapy is another touchstone - one that helps to get him to the end of the season in a vastly different place - healing but still working on things.

So you see - they generally plan an overall direction, but how they get there is the bit that is a bit fluid and can be determined to a certain extent by audience reaction (I don't mean that they would out and out rewrite the entire plan for the season for a character, but they might chose to lean into different aspects if the audience react in a certain way - we saw this with Lucy - planned for a bigger arc, but the audience reaction to her was pretty negative, so they changed direction with her character and cut her part down).

In terms of Bucks bi arc - they will have been waiting on how it was received before fully determining how to play it out for the rest of the season - I genuinely think we'll be seeing more of Lou as Tommy later in the season as a part of Bucks arc - The way Lou has spoken about it being initially a 4 episode arc, suggests to me that its always been intended to run it longer if reaction was good - which we know it was. My explectation remains the same - that Tommy will be around until either the end of episode 9, or the middle of episode 10, to get Buck to where he needs to be by the season end.

I am on the fence as to where exactly that is - Everything from set, costuming and the script is screaming at me that it's about Buck figuring out not only that he is bi, but that he is also in love with Eddie. That is his arc for the season. What I am unsure of is how they are going to leave things at the end of the season (and I think a part of that will have been determined by audience reaction), whether or not we'll leave him acknowledging his feelings to himself, to a third party (Tommy and or Maddie), or to Eddie himself. Of course part of it will be determined by Eddies arc and how far they plan on getting him in regards to dealing with his catholic guilt and what form and direction t hat is going to take, but I cannot see any reason to start exploring that aspect of his character if you weren't going to use it for a queer arc of some description.

In terms of costuming - which was the main point of your ask - sorry I get rambly in these replies some times - I always view it as the first 2-3 seasons at the very least will be about establishing a characters look and vibe within the wider show, and from then on you can start to play into themes and colour theory etc. Somethings you can establish earlier - especially if they are centric to a character more widely. Examples of this are Eddies army green tees and shirts - establishing him visually as ex military, or the black singlets that he wears when in an emotionally vulnerable place, or Buck wearing his white trainers as part of his search for self, or his white shirts as a signal of him being in danger. You can do this, because they aren't playing on anything in relation to other characters at this early point.

So the decision to take Buck out of jeans (stone wash jeans specifically - he's been wearing jeans they've just been black or dark navy) and have him in very obviously shorter trousers, creating a specific aesthetic for him - this smarter, fitted clean cut style that is different from his season 1 looks, has been about playing into his journey of searching for self - that is his big overarching arc - the one that spans multiple seasons.

The intent to do that, wasn't about Buddie (or bi Buck) when they started to use it as a visual marker for him. It was (and always has been) about Buck. about his search for meaning in his life and who he is, who he wants to be - about being his authentic self.

The reason I got so excited about seeing him in jeans once more, when the first stills dropped at the start of the season - was because I knew that it was a signal that this bigger arc was coming to fruition and moving into its next phase. The costume team have been sitting waiting for when the time was right to do this - its being done with such intention.

Of course I hoped that it would be buddie related - things were pointing in that direction from other costuming choices. And to me at least, I still think its very much buddie related - because to do this now - for this bi awakening arc - its too loud and too big for 'just' a bi awakening arc - its about something bigger for Buck - something long term (and I'm not saying Buck being bi is't long term, because obviously it very much is - bi rep is so important!) him figuring out he is bi is a smaller part of a bigger whole for his character. The implication of the jeans returning is that this part of himself he has unlocked plays into a bigger story. Bucks search for self has always been about finding love - about being wanted and seen and accepted for who he is. As a costume designer, I wouldn't personally be putting him into jeans at this point unless it was related to his endgame - being bi isn't enough on its own for them to decide to visually show that he has fully found what he has been looking for on his search throughout the seasons (the white trainers still being in used also play into this) because he is still looking for that lasting happiness - he's just taken a massive step forward to figuring out what it is and where it lies.

With regards to colour theory and the paralleling of Buddie with other ships such as Bathena or Madney. Colour theory alone it wouldn't be enough to convince me, it is in combination with other factors such as the paralleling of Bathena and Madney that it comes into play. The thing is, creating those parallels and colour theory combinations doesn't have to lead to something. I'm going to do a terrible job of trying to explain this, but I'll give it a go.

Various people, who work on the show in some capacity have all commented over the years that they weren't expecting the level of chemistry that Oliver and Ryan have. We also know that they have played into the buddie of it all with some of the scene choices they've made - sort of an acknowledgement of what we're seeing - the elf scene in s2 is a prime example - a nod to fandom and the fact that they are being shipped together - and an acknowledgement of the chemistry - without it necessarily needing to mean more (the same goes for things like the text comments on the botfly influencer livestream call etc).

Back then wardrobe are still very much in character establishment mode - creating and defining the looks of the characters, and playing into colour theory on an individual level, not necessarily on a partnership level (S2 Bathena would've been treated in this way as they were already intended to be an end game couple so you can play into colour theory much earlier), that comes later. I wouldn't have been able to write costume metas in season 2-3 in the way I do now, because the parallels didn't exist and the ground work hadn't been laid.

Once you get past that intial establishing phase, hat is when you can start to play into the colour theory much more in relation to specific characters and pairings. One of the clearest examples of this is Eddies black shirt green trousers combo that he wears at the loft when having serious conversations with Buck. He first wears it in season 3 at the end of the lawsuit/fightclub arc (3x09), and then we dont see it again until season 5 (5x04) at yet another scene in Bucks loft.

The meaning of the colours in that scene are important sure, it is playing into colour theory, but what is happening visually is that we're subconciously connecting dots and remembering that Eddie has worn this outfit before to talk to Buck - that means it must be a serious conversation, one very much focused on something Buck has done (or hasn't done depending on which way you look at things). Eddie has been in Bucks loft on multiple occasions between those two scenes, and Buck and Eddie have had multiple serious conversations in the intervening episodes as well. so why that scene if its not meant to make us connect dots?

Now on a fundamental level, those two scenes can be read as establishing the close friendship Buck and Eddie share - that they are following through on their s2 promise to have each others backs. its entirely correct to assume that - it is after all what those scenes are establishing. But what it is also doing is laying the ground work for if they want to take Buddie further. we know that the conversations about Buddie have been happening in the writers room and on set for a good long while, and even if you don't yet know if you're going to go in that direction, you would be foolish not to lay the ground work in a subtle way if you can, so that the option is there if you did decide to take that direction.

A show will use what ever tools are at its disposal to lay various foundations that it can then pick and choose to build on as it wants or needs to. It is why we see the pictures in Eddies house moving around, why things on the fridge change (fridge theory is not as out there as some people would have you believe - there is a whole thing coming up on Eddies fridge in reaction to guts and the digestive system - which will very much be playing into his catholic guilt arc!) in Christophers room move around and change - its not just about him being a growing (soon to be teenager) boy, its also about laying foundations for story arcs they might choose to develop down the line and the Buddie groundwork is no different.

Its not about the wardrobe team being shippers of Buddie - its much more about them knowing where a season is headed (in brad strokes, even if they don't have specifics) being really good at their job and now being able to bear the fruits of their labour from earlier seasons - they had been doing the same with buck and Taylor - now they're doing it with Buck and Tommy (and Eddie). It would've been super easy to spin the costuming for Taylor into more positive colours - especially on Buck - in season 5, but they had the bigger picture and knew she wasn't going to remotely be endgame, so they were able to play into that throughout the season. Establishing Tommy as a version of Eddie is building on the Eddie groundwork they laid and using it to make it very clear that we are supposed to see the similarities between them - its steering us as viewers towards thinking 'oh Buck has a type - He's dating someone like his best friend - he should just date his best friend' is all about subtly nudging the audience in the right direction - towards Buddie - its just most people won't pick up on it in a conscious way.

I'm not sure if this makes any sense or if it even answered your ask, but essentially the show is using everything at its disposal to tell the story its telling and they have been laying groundwork that can take things in various directions - they are just choosing to push the buddie agenda to an increasing degree (and I have said groundwork far too many times in this post!!)

Thaks for the great ask 💜💜💜

[cecilioque]

VOLO’S OUTFIT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BAD. And here is why I think so...

To begin, we are not talking about the Ginko guild design, we are talking about the “final boss” fit. We all know that Volo’s outfit is dumb, but I’m mad because it  was actually thought out and VERY symbolic in the sense that it essentially represented things Volo said/wanted.

I, like everyone else looked at this outfit and went “wow, that is dumb” and then hated on it.  Although it is not the most appealing or cool outfit, there was actually a lot of thought that went into it. I could be really over analyzing this, but here is my interpretation.

To begin with, the concept art is a lot more revealing about the intention of the design then the actual game play.  On a surface level we see Volo in what I can only assume is a Arceus gijinka cosplay.  So the hair, the stars, and color scheme are all elements of Arceu’s  design.  Cool. Good job especially since Volo had in fact never seen Arceus before.

To fully understand this outfit we have to go back to Hisui and the remains of this so called “ancient civilization”. In the Pokemon world, there is this general idea that the ancient culture was either Roman or Greek inspired. We see evidence in Legends of Arceus by the obvious column heavy architecture and use of Greek Doric columns ( one of the earliest styles of columns used for temples) and in the ruins and temple. 

The Temple of Sinnoh is obviously based off of the Parthenon. It’s funny because game freak went as far as to even mimic both Ionic and Doric styles in the Temple of Sinnoh just like the Parthenon. I will go as far to add that the Sinnoh temple is much simpler than the Parthenon due to the fact that it was not embellished with an elaborately carved frieze or any decoration on the exterior for the most part.  Bizarre when even the broken ruins have evidence of some sort of ornamentation. It makes complete sense why the game developers chose this style seeing how is is know for being very simplistic.  But it also dates it in context.  It makes the Temple of Sinnoh the first temple that was build and the others that followed were build as the civilization grew ( thus more elaborate but we can only see the crumbled remains).

I will be ignoring the Snowpoint temple because it is a weird combination of styles and almost seems alien and out of place which very much fits the Regi theme.  It is also based on the early game design which was limited and blocky for game space sake.

Ok, heavy Greek and Roman influence. Back to Volo and his obviously Greek and Roman fit.  Volo’s name itself means “I wish”  in latin and could possibly be a reference to the phrase “volō, ergo sum” (I wish, therefore I am). Very in character since it is the wish for more” and he did everything he could to achieve that.

The actual influence for the design is more Roman in nature. This bothered me because we can see that research and thought went into it, but they just simplified it. And this actually has a point.

To begin with the obvious stuff, we see that volo’s shirt is definitely toga like. It even goes so far to be decorated with a Fibula (brooch)in a way that indicates a higher rank or status.  Cool Volo, we get that you think highly of yourself. Color choice is also same as Arceus, but we also know that white togas were also used by senators and high political officers.

Next , the shoes.  These are just the basic stereotypical Spirit Halloween Greek god/goddess type of sandals you can get at your local costume shop.  This was actually the most disappointing part of the outfit for me. But it makes sense they went with the most simplified and recognizable style.  They wanted us to look at this outfit and go “ Wow, Volo has been studying his myths and recreated an outfit”. This is what you could expect someone to create with just a written description of the clothing used during that time.

The necklace is interesting because it stands out so much compared to the gold colors. I am no sure what they were going for here by making it so prominent, but it brings us to an interesting thought.  If they necklace does have meaning, it is related directly to the design/shape.  The waterdrop could be the Greek symbolism for "tears of grace” or in a sense “gods grace”. The idea that the tears of god water the harvest and provide life. Alternate interpretations could simply be water as a source of life, or a symbol or sadness a mourning.  If it is a symbol of of mourning, this might be a clue to why Volo might desire to rewrite the world so much.

Last but not least, the pants. I think we can all decide this is one of the worst parts of the outfit, and to me it is just straight up confusing for two main reasons.  For starters, the color green is so prominent when green is an accent color on Arceus.  So maybe the color has meaning itself.  But if you look at the image above, the color mainly refers to life and “the harvest” (possibly like the necklace).  It has a weird connections to life and creation itself, which probably is why it was included in Arceus’ design and makes sense as Volo essentially wants to become the creator of life in a new world.

But this isn’t the part that gets me the most. The second thing that confuses me is the fact that the Greeks and Romans did not use pants.  This was because pants were associated with non-Roman/Greek cultures (the Germanic tribes and Vikings) who they looked down upon. On top of that, the Greeks thought pants were feminine and silly.  This could also just simply be a design choice because they didn’t wanna draw Volo in a full toga and accidently make him look like Christ. But this leads to my final point of the physical outfit itself.

VOLO’S OUTFIT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD. IT’S SUPPOSED TO LOOK DORKY AND BAD BECAUSE IT WAS FLAWED! This is based on the real world cultures it was based on. And although Volo may have done a lot of research, he still didn’t completely understand ancient culture.  It’s bad because Volo made it himself. His outfit was flawed just like his ideology. It is his own interpretation of a culture that he had idolized without truly understanding that this great and ancient culture crumbled. And based off of the architecture of the ruins and temples, it never even reached a prime before it fell.

But Volo thinks its correct/cool/accurate. He is being a fool about it because he didn’t understand the bigger picture and had become consumed with this desire for power and control.  This as an idea is really cool and I find it funny that you can also wear the outfit. Its essentially mocking him. If we look at the outfit in this light, the design was a success in getting us to dislike it and evoke this distaste. We didn’t know why, but this is why.

SO IN SUMMARY, OUTFIT WAS BAD ON PURPOSE. It wasn’t thoughtless, in fact there was a lot of research behind it and yet that seems to be thrown out to simplify the design in a way that looks like someone hand made it based off of what they had put together themselves.

But this isn’t my favorite part  of the concept art.  My favorite part is the hands.

Look at his hands. Why are they in those positions? Wouldn’t it have been easier to create more standard poses?  To me the hand gestures here are just too specific. So I started digging around for what they could be on a Art history level.  I looked at Non Christian art first and then Christian symbolism within their mosaics, illuminated manuscripts, and paintings. And I found some verrrry interesting similarities.  I am not trying to make this religious. I just found some interesting similarities between old Christian art and Volo’s design.  Which makes sense if we go back to this Greek/Roman influence because these cultures eventually converted to Christianity.  And Arceus is kind of a weird goat god Jesus.

The left hand is where the biggest symbolism is.  Basically, this hand gesture has been used to indicate “the hand of god” or the “hand of justice”.  Christ sometimes is draw with a similar hand position and could be a sign of the cross, but this would also refer to some sort of divinity.  I will also note that Volo is in no way making the classic “blessing” hand gesture.

As for the right hand he is making what I assume is a Greek/Roman orator (speaker) gesture. This would mean that Volo is calling for attention. Note, that I didn't’ compare this to prophets. That’s because orators speak for themselves and prophets for god.  And Volo thinks he is god.

Under this context, in the concept art Volo is essentially saying “I am God”.  If we add the symbolism of his outfit, it only further solidifies this idea.  Volo’s outfit/concept comes together and screams “behold, I am god , the hand of justice. I will be the creator or the new world”. Which is so freaking clever because that’s literally what he tells you. 

Sure his hands are switched and lowered compared to actual real world art examples (thank you Game freak for not throwing in actual religious symbols/gestures), but I think the intention is still there.  It’s so good that I am mad.  So as much as I hate this dumb outfit, I cannot deny that it was well thought out, that the character was well thought out.

To conclude, these are my assumptions. I am not an expert on art history or religion.  If you have further insights on this feel free to share. I’d be interested with what others had to add.  I the end this could all be wrong and just crazy for overthinking the designs of a pokemon character, but it just seems too intentional to be carelessly thrown together. This is just one possible interpretation.

Though its just more evidence in my mind that a lot of love and care went into developing Legends of Arceus. Despite their limitations and resources.

[actual-changeling]

ohhh yanno...I think sometimes why I get so uncomfortable with meta and theories with GO (specifically in defense of Aziraphale) is that it really starts to resemble pro Christianity rhetoric...and I totally believe that everyone should feel free to believe/not believe in any sort of religion they choose...but it starts to get real uncomfy real fast when I'm reminded of my own christian family and their condemnations of me and the experiences I went through growing up christian and then realizing I didn't believe in any of it...

and for some people maybe that IS why they so staunchly defend Aziraphale, but for me, it's why his actions made me so mad, and why the firm "aziraphale defenders no matter what" lowkey skeeve me out...like that post you said about knowing Aziraphale in real life...yeahhhh no I'd never be friends with him, and maybe that does make me too biased for Crowley, bc I'm imagining myself in his position, bc I HAVE BEEN in that position, but idk I just can't find it in me to defend angel characters or super pro christian type thinking ones when too much of irl has been negatively affected by those types of people. and yeah fiction is not reality but when the premise of GO is a satirical look on religion idk it's just iffy to be so pro angel/heaven imo (obviously this isn't about those who view it with nuance hahaha)

I know what you mean anon, I definitely feel the same.

Seeing people fall into angel good/demon bad without even noticing is... painful, to say the least. Defending all of Aziraphale's actions because he had "good intentions" or "still has faith" or "was traumatized by heaven" is harmful and unhealthy to say the least, and it 100% looks like pro-Christianity rhetoric at times.

We're supposed to look at Aziraphale and see somehow who yes, has good intentions, but has refused to deal with his trauma and problems and ends up making incredibly bad choices as a result. He is supposed to change, so defending his actions is counter-intuitive to the message Neil and Terry want us to receive.

Aziraphale is that kid who tells you sure, it's fine to no believe in God, but you will go to hell and suffer forever, who tells you everyone just needs to "try harder" and that "poor people have mor opportunities" (I still cannot process that he canonically says and believes that), who tells you that you can be gay, but don't be it in front of the children or any people.

Aziraphale is the guy who refuses to deal with his internalized homophobia and asks his queer friends to go back into the closet because he cannot deal with seeing queer people be happy while he is stuck in self-induced misery.

There are reasons why so many people are uncomfortable with his behaviour and ideologies—and you are supposed to be.

[notinmyvocab]

Laundry Day

There's a mix-up at the laundromat. How embarrassing.

LarissaxOFC, swearing, general dorkiness

read part ii here

“Are you fucking kidding me?!”

Alice stared at the large pile of laundry on top of the dryers, recognizing a few pieces of her clothing mixed into the jumble.

“Oh my.”

Alice turned to see a tall, striking woman approach. The woman reached into the pile and pulled out a garment that clearly belonged to her. “Seems someone was impatient with the dryers,” Alice said to the woman.

“Just my luck,” Larissa muttered. Of course, her washer and dryer needed replacing right before she needed laundry done. Using the Jericho Laundromat was a perfectly logical solution until her new washer and dryer showed up, but now she was regretting the choice.

“Well… guess we’ve got some sorting ahead of us.”

“Indeed,” Larissa sighed.

“Alice, by the way.” It seemed logical to introduce herself considering they would now tasked with sorting through each other’s personal items.

“Larissa.”

Larissa. It was an exquisite name, made even more divine when said in such a warm, buttery voice. But now was not the time to indulge small crushes; there was laundry to do.

Armfuls of clothing were brought to the back of the laundromat, away from prying eyes. This would be easy, Alice was sure of it. Their styles were rather different. Everything casual belonged to her, and everything elegant belonged to Larissa. Simple.

And for a while, it was. Wordlessly, the two women sorted through the clothing, taking what was theirs and handing off what wasn’t.

The silence was then replaced by a soft melody, upbeat and catchy. Alice was humming.

“What song is that?” Larissa asked.

Alice silenced herself, a tad embarrassed. It had been an unconscious action and now she had to explain something that would probably make her sound like a complete dork. “It’s um… so there’s this… musical. And there’s a song called ‘My Freeze Ray.’ But like… it takes place when two characters are at the laundromat.”

She braced herself for the judgment; for Larissa to roll her eyes or scoff. Instead, Larissa smiled, and suddenly it was easier to breathe. The two fell into conversation.

Larissa was a principal. Alice worked at the Weathervane.

“How odd; I’ve never seen you there before,” said Larissa.

“I’m always there before opening, and in the back. I’m the baker.”

Larissa raised her eyebrows. “Do you mean to say that you’re responsible for the orange-cranberry muffins?”

“Guilty as charged.”

“Those are my absolute favorites; I get one every chance I get.”

Alice blushed, grinning stupidly. “I’m actually really glad to hear that. I was messing around with a family recipe and came up with that.”

“Well, it’s delicious. You have my mark of approval.”

The two women basked in the kind moment, but it was terribly brief. They had gone through most of the laundry at that point. The idea of ending the conversation so soon wasn’t what gave each of them pause, though. It was what remained.

Alice wouldn’t say she was embarrassed by intimates, but the idea of Larissa possibly handling her plain cotton underwear mortified her. It seemed Larissa felt the same, for the older woman also hesitated.

Deciding to take initiative, Alice plunged her hand into the piling of clothing and pulled out the first thing her fingers curled around. It was her own underwear, thank god. She began folding.

Larissa watched intently, not captivated by the garment, but by Alice’s candor. Feeling emboldened, Larissa did the same, grabbing a pair of her stockings. She folded them delicately, unable to ignore Alice watching her out of the corner of her eye.

The silence that befell them wasn’t uncomfortable, but there was a certain tension that Alice couldn’t name. She tried powering through it until she noticed that Larissa began folding a pair of panties that she definitely recognized.

“Oh, um… I think… those are mine?” Her cheeks flushed as red as the panties that Larissa held: lacy and revealing.

Larissa looked down at the garment, her cheeks also coloring. “Oh! I’m sorry I thought… I um… I have a similar pair; I thought they were mine.” Embarrassed, Larissa handed over the underwear. “You um… you have good taste.”

Alice giggled, more out of embarrassment. “Thanks. There was uh… there was a sale somewhere.” She dug into the pile of clothes again and grasped a pair of underwear that she prayed was hers.

No such luck.

“Here,” she said quickly, handing off the thong, trying not to let her gaze linger on it. She didn’t wear thongs, never having a need for them. But it seemed Larissa didn’t mind them; there appeared to be a few in the pile.

Mortified, Larissa snatched the thong away from Alice, and tried collecting the ones remaining in the pile.

“They’re cute,” Alice said, trying to make Larissa feel better about the whole situation. It was awkward for the both of them, but they weren’t suffering in awkwardness alone. “You… you’ve got good taste, too.”

Jesus. Could she be any more of a loser?

Alice exhaled heavily. “Okay, we have to sort through out things. People wear underwear and bras and stuff. It doesn’t have to be weird, right?”

“…Right,” Larissa agreed, albeit hesitantly. She wasn’t used to being so exposed, especially to a stranger. “I suppose you’re correct. We’re both mature adults.”

Alice wasn’t so sure about mature. She fancied herself mature for her age, but honestly she couldn’t help but imagine Larissa, this tall goddess, wearing the thong she held in her hands.

Panicking, Alice pulled out her cellphone as if someone was calling her. But Larissa saw that the screen was black. “Sorry, gotta take this,” Alice said, putting her phone to her ears and walking out of the laundromat at a brisk pace.

Once outside, she put her phone back into her pocket and took a deep breath. Fucking hell. This situation had gone from mortifying, to chill, to mortifying again. Maybe she should just leave? She could always buy new clothes, right?

“Alice?”

Alice looked over to see Larissa approaching her.

“Sorry, I just…” Alice faltered. What could she even say? She wanted to throw up.

“I actually have to get going. I have a meeting to get to,” Larissa said quickly. “If you don’t mind… I can bring the rest of the laundry to my place in the meantime, and you could… if you have the time, you can come over tonight and we can finish sorting?”

“Yes,” Alice answered immediately, not even giving a second to the offer some thought. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Give me your phone.”

Alice complied without question, handing over the device after unlocking it. Within seconds, Larissa added her contact and texted herself so that she had Alice’s number as well.

Already Alice felt immensely better about the whole ordeal. They could continue this in true privacy, and she could take some much needed time to get her head on straight.

“There,” Larissa said, handing back the phone. “I’ll send you the details when I’m out of my meeting.”

Alice agreed, and the two women parted ways, Alice returning to her apartment and Larissa storing the laundry in the trunk of the van and heading off to her meeting.

A few hours passed, and Alice wondered if Larissa would ever text her. Surely a stranger wouldn’t just steal her clothes? Then again, there were a lot of weirdos out there.

Finally, her phone buzzed. Overeager, Alice lunged for the device and opened her messages.

Sorry about the wait! All settled; come on by!

Another message told Alice the address. Perfect. Alice was about to store her phone away in her back pocket when it buzzed again; another text message with a photo attached.

And what a photo it was. Larissa stood in front of her mirror, hair pinned up still and makeup immaculate. But instead of the dress she wore earlier she wore… oh fuck.

Alice’s heart stopped as she stared at the photo, mouth going dry. Apparently the red lace panties Larissa mentioned owning had a matching bra and garter set.

Another text: you’re right, I do have good taste 😉

[ricksanchezbignaturals]

i already touched on it in my post on the new episode, but i wanted to talk a bit more about viewing unity through a queer lense. warning this post is long and possibly incomprehensible because im sick.

ive always thought it kind of wild that so many people missed the memo about rick being pansexual when the first explicit partner of his we get to meet is unity (i say explicit because birdperson shows up before unity, and while i do believe rick is definitely meant to be into him, you wouldn't know that from his first appearance and it's not clear if c137 ever had romantic/sexual relations with bp or if it was purely unrequited). it seems obvious to me that there was queer shit going on in auto erotic assimilation, so rnm fans being all homophobic seems puzzling, because that episode came out in 2015. queer shit going on in this show is not new, why do people act surprised everytime it happens? to be honest, the new episode gave me a bit of clarity there.

so, a relationship with unity being queer might be obvious to me and my fellow gays, but it is played very safe. the majority of rick's interactions with unity are through female bodies it inhabits, and especially the main sort of ambassador lady. it almost feels like she is unity first and foremost, with all the other bodies it has being some cool power of hers, an offshoot of that one specific alien rather than equal parts of who unity is.

and yknow, that's clearly intentional, nobody ever went broke for appealing to straight men, but there is something there. i do think the choice to make the first serious relationship the audience gets to see from your main character be with a hivemind that assimilates regardless of gender is a cool one. because like i said in the other post, that makes being with unity a sort of pansexual microcosm. the first episode had a couple nods to rick not exclusively sleeping with the female bodies under unity's control, and i think this new episode was worse about making unity basically feel like it is mainly supposed to be that one alien. unity gets called she/her a lot in this episode, but there was that one line "don't talk to them like that" which i found... interesting.

it is possible im overthinking unity's pronouns. hell, i have multiple sets of pronouns, and im not even a hivemind. but that specific line did seem like, idk, intentional? yknow like when the pronouns were inconsistent in the first episode that was coming from morty and summer who were just meeting unity. i don't think rick even used pronouns to refer to unity in the first episode, but in the new one that's what he says to curtis, who's talking to unity through The Main Alien Lady. "don't talk to them like that" while later he uses she/her when talking to wong. unity's pronouns come across to me as written for the queer folks to catch the ~vibe~ and the straight folks to not have to notice at the same time.

honestly a lot of unity comes across that way. at the same time it can be this genderless entity experiencing life through many bodies, but also maybe more like one woman who happens to be able to control a planet's worth of people. and yeah, i get it. everybody wants to make the gays happy but nobody wants to lose the straights business. if rick's ever allowed to have a more explicit queer relationship than the referenced history with nimbus, that'll piss some people off. rick and morty fans in particular have a penchant for being intense and sometimes they're weird about minorities even though rick is one like 3 times over.

so like, i loved this new episode a lot, but i do feel like there was a missed opportunity to be a bit more ballsy with unity. i don't think it should've been represented by the same body as last time, that makes it feel like just another sexy alien lady for rick to have the hots for and i think it can be more interesting than that, yknow?

[fangswbenefits]

Your post about twitter being morons hit my analysis nerd button. So I gonna ramble here a bit if that's okay;; it's probably going to get long >.>

The thing that people seem to be flagrantly ignoring is the difference between a Villain and an Antagonist. Because while they tend to overlap in a lot of media, they're quite different things. An Antagonist is at its base someone who is in contention with or opposes another (and in literary situations is in specific opposed to our protagonist). A Villain has multiple definitions, those being a character who opposes the hero of the story, a deliberate scoundrel or criminal, or the one blamed for a particular sort of evil. There is overlap, but not every antagonist is a villain (kind of like every square is a rectangle, but not every rectangle is a square)

Now, the big thing is, both villains and antagonists can be traditionally good, evil or anywhere in between which pulls even bigger sets of nuance to it.

So let's look at Spiderverse. We've got a lot of antagonists in this movie, but really only two villains. Because only two characters are acting out of pure malace. And that is The Spot, and The Vulture. Both are out there deliberately harming others, causing destruction. Now looking at antagonists, technically, most characters in this movie could be considered antagonists at some point or another toward one of our main protagonists, Miles. (Gwen is also a protagonist, but since my focus is gonna be on Miguel, we're looking at Miles)

Miguel O'Hara is 100% an antagonist. No ifs ands or buts about it. But he is not a villain or evil or whatever else people want to say. He's a morally gray character, with generally good intentions though somewhat questionable methods (and a rather ends justify the means and pragmatic approach which is an interesting choice for a spiderman). His actions are, as he believes them to be, what is required to save billions of lives. That is not the sort of thing a villain or someone who is evil would do.

His methods have a level of brutality to them for sure (and I think it actually makes for an interesting juxtaposition between his antagonism vs the antagonism of Mile's parents. On one hand, you have smothering in an attempt to save the world from the individual, on the other, to protect the individual from the world), but these methods are to his mind what is necessary to save lives. That certainly doesn't excuse them, but it makes for a logical line of motivation. Something else that makes for a generally logical line of thinking in how illogical it is (to me at least) is that I would bet money on this man having never gotten the sort of counseling you need after a massive trauma. (Namely from anecdotal evidence, though don't worry I'm much better now :D). Because is just. Does things to you. Especially if there's guilt involved.

(Uh. I had more but it's getting close to time for me to sleep so now the words are vanishing on the wind TnT rkfjdsjk, sorry)

💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

[swordsandarms]

This is a reply in regards to this post, which highlights the high likelihood that, whether people are fine with the author's choices or not, RxL is written by him with romantic nuance as far as the text goes. @sahtinekryze

And I think this fandom really needs to have a honest analysis of the idea of "selfishness" in narrative choices such as this, which is that when it comes to how the whole "duty vs love" scenarios Martin writes, he does not actually writes it with some wide spectrum ranging from selfish to sacrificial. There are usually no other choices than the two.

Could one define the alleged choice of breaking a noble marriage contract that would have negative political influence at the least, had it been the best case scenario (which one would logically assume the two might have hoped for instead of very lots of people dying including themselves) as 'selfish', which in its very definition is doing something for one's self, though it may not be advantageous for others? Yes.

But as I said, Martin doesn't write a middle ground. There's that, or Lyanna marries an unwanted man and is hence forced to have a non-consensual relationship with him, and forced to carry children out of a noncon relationship, so that her male relatives can reap benefits of political power, as well as her groom through her womb. And as shows inspired by these books love to show us very graphic such cases (like Daenerys in GOT, or the storyline given to show!Sansa, or the changes for show!Alicent in HOTD), I am sure fans should have learnt better about the accusations usually thrown at Lyanna in fandom spaces in regards to being another woman marrying against her will in a society where a woman cannot say no, marital rape isn't recognised, and a husband is "just taking his rights": that "this is just being whiny". (There are many other examples in the books; the author is also not holding back on what unwanted or unsuitable marriages mean to women.)

Against the fanon idea that she is some wild, demanding, conceited girl, she doesn't rage, she doesn't bite. She has a tentative, soft spoken conversation with her brother about it and her reluctance in the matter, and is (nicely) dismissed.

Had she not (allegedly, while all is unconfirmed) fallen for the Crown Prince and he for her, there is no one else powerful enough to extract her from her situation (her male relatives having made up their own minds in the matter), nor anyone else to go from where she cannot be recovered by a powerful and connected family and fiance. No one else she could marry/sleep with that wouldn't be shut down and covered (as seen with Tyrion or Lysa) to preserve the higher price for which her womb can be bartered. Just no other viable choice that wasn't the other end of the scale: a woman being sacrificed by men, for men's uses.

As I said at the start, this is simply how Martin writes these conflicts of "mind and heart". He corners the characters. There is no light at the end of the tunnel that isn't also sort of "selfish" and "dumb" looking on the surface.

This can be applied to more such situations in the text-

Catelyn undoes the already precarious state of her son's campaign by releasing their most valuable captive. She has not even a guarantee that her 'selfish' act for love will work. But there are no options she's given. No one else cares to make it a priority to get her daughters back. The only other choice is to let it be and let 2 girls be sacrificed in marriages of ill intent to use their wombs and discard them, unsure if she will find anything left of them but Lannister named babies when this is over. It is "selfish". It is "dumb". Yet she's cornered.

Jon makes the decision to go fight Ramsay Bolton because he's run out of options and he's cornered. Arya is allegedly in the hands of the family that have viciously killed a number of Starks and taken Winterfell. She is 11 and allegedly married. He is made sick at the thought of what is being done to her. He's tried the "lesser" tactics of getting her rescued without being seen as trespassing the status quo of the NW publicly, by sending others for her. But it was always going to come to this. Ramsay guesses (or finds out) that his escaped bride would make it to the Wall. Keeping "peace" and "doing his duty" instead of "being selfish and dumb" is handing over "Arya" himself if she even makes it to appease the Lord of Winterfell, sacrificing a girl to an unwanted marriage meant to use her for her womb and discard her.

There are no actual choices when there is no actual scale in between "selfish and dumb" and the sacrifice of a girl (or, you know, 2,3, as many as Westeros would swallow as it did for millennia for this or that Lord or King to amass and keep power), whether they are Lannisters trying to get Winterfell, or Starks extinguishing the line of the Warg King.

[antianakin]

I honestly think deep down Shin wants to be a Jedi. She has the Padawan braid. She's asking questions about the Order. Baylan in his own quest for power or whatever else he's looking for in bringing back the Empire that murdered millions is not even giving her the true choice to be a Jedi or knock off Sith. I do want to know how she ended up his apprentice but I truly think once you Fall at all you're unable to be a true mentor, you just see the apprentice as a tool.

Wild to me possibly the only (not Master Huyang) character who's never met a real Jedi or been part of the order actually is interested in it. Tbh I want more of Reva and her breaking free from the Inquisitors and wouldn't mind Shin getting her own freedom arc as well. (We're back to Please Bring Reva Back)

I'm not sure I'd personally go so far as to say she WANTS to be a Jedi so much as that Shin is perhaps very CURIOUS about it. It's unclear just how much Baylan has actually shared with her about what being a Jedi was even like, what it would've meant, the kind of things they did, etc. And she seems young enough that she'd have grown up in a time when the Jedi were already destroyed and knowledge about them and their existence was being stamped out so much that it nearly reduced them to the stuff of legends. I don't think Shin knows enough about what the Jedi ARE in order to want to be one. She knows Baylan used to be one and that they are now gone, yes, and is clearly curious about what that means for Baylan and for her and their relationship, but I think that's likely about as far as it goes. And, ironically, that ignorance is potentially what allows her to be less negative about the Jedi than anybody else. She didn't know them well enough to create her own opinion, she can't be disappointed in them the way Baylan and Ahsoka seem to be, and isn't exposed to Huyang discussing "Jedi protocols" the way Sabine is. So instead of being disappointed or annoyed by anything Jedi, she's just... neutrally curious about it.

Baylan and Shin's dynamic had the potential to be really interesting, to really work as a foil for Anakin and Ahsoka (or a parallel, perhaps more accurately), and it just... never quite got there. There wasn't enough focus on who they were as people or what got them to where they are now and what either of them even wants out of life and this relationship. It could've been really interesting to look at another relationship where the mentor seems in control and like he's got good intentions but has also fallen to a desire for power and taken advantage of this child he's taken on as an apprentice and the impact this actually has on the apprentice in the long-term. But doing that would've required recognizing that Anakin wasn't actually always a good person, that Anakin was perhaps NOT actually that good of a master to Ahsoka, and that Anakin having already begun his descent into darkness when he took on Ahsoka has had long-term negative impacts on her. And this show was unwilling to do any of that. So there's really no way to make any kind of meaningful parallel with Baylan and Shin, which is too bad.

I definitely think that Shin asking about the Jedi and being abandoned by Baylan has potentially laid the beginnings of a "redemption arc" for her, but whether it'll actually be done at all well is very very questionable. I don't think they laid anywhere NEAR enough groundwork for their characters to make me give a shit about Shin being redeemed or to understand why she'd even WANT to put in that kind of work. I have no idea what Shin wants aside from a very generic idea of "power" which she seems to be bouncing around trying to find (training with Baylan, fighting for Thrawn, taking over the bandits). We'll see where that goes, I guess.

But Reva had INCREDIBLE set-up to continue following her journey. Reva basically HAD a "redemption arc" of sorts in the Kenobi show where we see some of the bad things she's done, we find out exactly why she did those things, we see her reach her goal and FAIL, and then we see her struggle through the aftermath of that failure until she makes the choice to stop and do better. There is so much beautiful set-up for Reva to go places from here, to see Reva not just find freedom, but to see Reva truly reclaim her identity as a JEDI. I'd LOVE to see Reva figure out how to be a Jedi again despite how little training she actually got. The only other character with as little training as Reva so far has been Grogu and Grogu chose to LEAVE the Jedi life behind in favor of being a Mandalorian. Kanan and Cal were both padawans already, but Reva? Reva was still an initiate, we don't even know if she ever had a gathering to make her own lightsaber. There's SO MUCH left open to explore with her and, with the right showrunner, such a beautiful story to tell about what it means to be a Jedi under these specific circumstances and how being a Jedi can save you from your own darkness.

I'd take a Reva follow-up story over a single more moment of Shin ANY DAY.

[friendsim2]

Just a question, I don't want to appear rude or anything...

I like your game, really do, but have you considered writing MSPAR as literally anything else than a pathetic little pleb who just can't seem to do a single thing right unless they have some sort of guidance?

I recall they were some kind of God or at least a supernatural entity, weren't they? All that Green Sun bullshit. So then why does majority of the characters treat us like complete trash? Even less than that in extreme cases (cough cough tyzias)

I understand Alternia is harsh or whatever, and they are just pissed at everything that breathes (if a fictional character's feelings are really needed to be taken into consideration) but this just feels like weak writing to me, especially after several volumes. I played both revolution and salvation to see if the treatment of the main character would change, but.....nope!

In og friendsim, they were a dork too, absolutely, but they also had the qualities to stand up for themselves (ie. insulting both Mallek and Galekh, highblood enough to rip us to shreds if they wanted to) but now, all their "personality" revolves around the fact of how trully incapable, pathetic, and weak they are despite the fact template MSPAR wasn't even that hard to stomach. This one on the other hand....

I didn't expect a sequel of a literal meme goldmine to be so negative (again, Alternia is Alternia, ik), even aggressive towards the player in certain moments. I guess winding down while playing was never the idea in the first place? I felt personally attacked by the ooc characters for something I didn't even do lol. If this was your intention, then you did a really good job.

Chickening out made perfect sense in the first volume, new surroundings and a murder to absorb, but as the volumes grew more brutal and savage, it truly makes no sense to keep a main character so mentally weak. I swear, I can't be the only one who is immensely annoyed by this.

But hey, that's just my humble opinion after 35 hours of playtime. Still excited for Marvus ofc

Peace out

So, I think there's a couple things worth pointing out here - and just to preface this isn't "your take on this is bad and wrong" but more "have you considered this?"

Don't expect this will change your opinion that much, since you clearly put a lot of time into this, but maybe you'll see things in a slightly different light - at the very least, I feel like this is thought-out critique that deserves a response.

First off, and I feel like this is an important baseline to set - we treat MSPAR as a character, not a reader insert. They are being influenced by an outside force, but exist in a kind of weird meta-narrative state where they're kind of also in control of their own personality. While this might not be explicitly stated in FS/PQ, it's definitely the vibe you get from the writing - MSPAR clearly shows a personality separate from the person playing it.

The "god powers MSPAR" is very much the product of the end of Pesterquest, not OG Friendsim. Keep in mind that literally none of the Friendsim characters have seen that side of MSPAR. Also, MSPAR mostly used their god powers to try to fix things for their friends... although there's a path where they're very much condescended to by the narrative itself. But like, Friendsim MSPAR is kind of a sad wet cat - they get hurt a lot and spend a lot of time wandering kind of aimlessly. They're in a lot of situations - and that was our influence moreso than PQ's tone.

The MSPAR that everyone on Alternia knows is basically not the same MSPAR as the end of PQ. Because stuff happened in PQ that none of them are aware of. But they've stepped back into another part of the story and subjected themselves to the influence of other, darker forces (Scratch) by choosing to go back for their other friends so... shit's fucked, man.

The story is intentionally darker in tone that the original Friendsim and Pesterquest - that was an intentional choice, and we know it might not be to everyone's liking. And if you're more in it for the lighter, more humorous vibes of FS/PQ that is completely fair and understandable. Some of that is the result of taking the Alternian world-building in a more serious direction, some of it is to reflect the changing attitudes as characters grow up and fill into their roles in the system more, and some of it is just a difference in writing style. And, like, fully acknowledging that the story gets downright grim at times. Not to say that there aren't darker moments in OG FS - stuff like the bad ending with Nihkee or the stuff with Daraya and the mall - but it is overall a little more humorous.

At it's heart, Friendsim 2 is a story about trauma - both the trauma of Alternia and what it represents, and also the trauma inherent in MSPAR's attempts to deal with the implications of how the timelines work. The trauma is both from MSPAR and from other characters who've interacted with MSPAR. That does inform both how MSPAR responds to stuff (keep in mind they're basically slugging through like a week of time here with very limited rest, just moving from point to point without a strong idea of what's guiding them). But also, it is a story about pushing past that trauma and getting to place where recovery and healing might be possible. And yeah, some of the payoff for that is coming in volumes 12 - 14 so it's not fair to be like "why can't you see this?!" The arc of the story is very much a "start at the bottom and crawl your way up" kind of thing, with moments of triumph along the way (breaking Skylla and Konyyl out in volume 3, helping Chixie in volume 7, helping the rebels in volume 9, freeing Folykl and Kuprum in volume 11)

Idk if I'd say everyone is negative towards MSPAR. Obviously there's some very prominent examples (Tyzias, Polypa) - but that varies from extremely positive (Stelsa, Mallek, Bronya, Lynera) to neutral (Amisia, Tirona, Tegiri) to "we don't remember you" (Diemen, Charun, Fozzer). The balance is probably neutral-to-negative, which was an intentional choice.

The story is about to throw some curveballs at you in volumes 12, 13, and 14 which may or may not influence how you see things. I suspect at least one of these (from volume 13) will probably not be something you vibe with, but a couple might be positives for you.

I really hope that the ultimate conclusion of the game itself helps put some stuff in perspective. The final volume is a way of tying all the threads together in a way that will hopefully feel satisfying - and there's a bunch of ending slides that will show the outcomes of various choices you made along the way, Fallout style.

Anyway, appreciate the well thought-out critique. It sounds like you might have gone in expecting a slightly different story than the one you got - and that's completely fine! Hopefully the last few volumes will prove to be a satisfying send-off - and regardless we appreciate the investment of time and energy into the game!

[irresistiibles]

this event is lowkey my child so i am super excited! i will be away for a few days of it since i'm flying to seattle on the 20th and coming back the 25th but i'll still have my computer and am optimistic i can still get a lot done. with that said beneath the cut is a starter/plot call! i am capping it at 4 per character and per mun, though if there is something you really want to do i may be able to expand. feel free to like to plot or just reply with what starters you want and i'll make it happen. definitely let me know who you want it from and for cause i hate making decisions. finally, though i'll still write this week i will probably be dropping pre-event threads once it actually starts. you can find a condensed post with the starters i owe HERE.

amber - went in willingly - open to death and injury

amber definitely wandered in here with lumine thinking it was something exciting. all things considered she's still kinda intrigued even being stuck within the maze. they'll be helping people out, and be a bit concerned, but in a still upbeat and cheery way. can bring good energy to people who need it

starters (2/4) - gnudy, eula lawrence

asami sato - went in willingly - open to injury and maybe death

to say she went in by choice isn't entirely accurate. her girlfriend wanted to go in and asami wasn't going to let her just wander in alone. asami is freaked out but also a little used to weird stuff, and does have a gun with her. another one who will be helpful as needed.

starters (0/4)

ciel phantomhive - was forced in by magic - open to injury

yeah he's not the type to go in a corn maze even if it didn't just pop up over night, unless he has to and has his demon butler with him. since neither of things were true ciel had no intention of going anywhere near the maze and he's very unhappy to wind up there. he's not a great fighter and tires quickly, he's got a weapon he barely knows how to use, and will be trying his best to keep himself alive. he could probably use some help, though he would be the type to turn on others to save himself

starters (2/4) - lizzie midford, blaine anderson

columbina - was forced in by magic - open to injury

she probably found the whole idea intriguing but from a distance. she's not the type to get mad or upset even in the worst of situations, and honestly would not blame anyone wandering the maze who saw her creepy ass just sort of humming along as she goes and assumed she was a monster to fight.

starters (2/4) - alcina dimitrescu, henry creel

esther mckinnon - went in willingly - open to death and injury

honestly i think she entered just a tiny bit before the maze forced people in, her curiosity finally getting the better of her. esther is fully unaware, does not know how to use her magic, and is basically hoping to get by on good energy and a bottle of pepper spray. she could realistically use some help because otherwise she's not getting far here.

starters (3/4) - ethan mckinnon, marlene mckinnon, emmeline vance

glinda upland - was forced in by magic - open to injury and maybe death

yeah corn mazes are too outside in the dirt for her to have ever come in on her own. glinda is also not really a fighter, and only knows how to mostly use her magic to make defensive bubbles around herself. she's having a horrible time, probably is stuck there in heels, and really really wants to go home

starters (2/4) - cho chang, sella palpatine

gu zi - was forced in to magic - open to injury

i think he would consider going in but is a bit of a coward. if someone wants to say that they dragged him in though i would be happy to plot it. he's confused, scared, unhappy, and being a general cry baby about it. he is just absolutely not built for this please help.

starters (1/4) : sherlock holmes

inej ghafa - was forced in by magic dragged in by jesper - open to injury

no way in hell inej was entering a weird randomlly appearing corn maze of all things, and she's unhappy to have wound up here despite that fact. went in with jesper thinking it would be some quick childish thing and now here she is. she is pretty good at keeping herself safe, and her main priority is trying to find her friends, but she might help out others along the way.

starters (2/4) : kaz brekker, aelin galathynius

jin ling - went in willingly - open to death and injury

i was going to say he was forced in before i remembered jin ling is so good at walking into the worst situations ever without even thinking about it!! he's reckless and does not think and by the time he thought to hesitate going into this thing it was too late. he's also unaware so while he remembers some self defense skills his ability to fight is not nearly as good as it should be and he could be in a little trouble

starters (1/4) - nie ruizhi

lily evans - went in willingly - open to injury

unfortunately she and james were worried they were boring adults and decided to go explore in the worst way possible and now here they are. fortunately she is pretty decent with magic and self defense and is very used to the city's bullshit. her priorities and seeing if she can locate any of her friends and get the heck out of there but she will go and help others where she can.

starters (3/4) : lily luna potter, harriet hufflepuff, rubeus hagrid

luo qingyang (mianmian) - was forced in by magic - open to injury

she's so tired of this shit!! she kinda just wants to find a portion of the maze to camp in and roast some corn so people are welcome to join her for that plan because her desire to just wait this out is real. can fight and will try to help people however she can but god give her a break

starters (0/4)

madoka kaname - went in willingly - open to injury

another one who unfortunately just tends to walk into danger without thinking it through honestly. she probably thought it was just a surprise corn maze from the city and now here we are!! literally no way to defend herself beyond running and the worst right hook you've ever seen in your life and that will not stop her from throwing herself in danger to help others.

starters (1/4) - homura akemi

mei nianqing - was forced in by magic - open to injury and maybe death

this old man was not going to go anywhere near the corn maze!!! absolutely not are you kidding me! he's just trying to get back out again, though he was give (unwanted) advice to everyone he sees in a way that could maybe be considered helpful.

starters (0/4)

nico di angelo - was forced in by magic - open to injury

he knows a magic trap when he sees one and corn maze magically appearing reeks of magic trap. he's very capable of defending himself and even controlling some of the monsters wandering around so he can be a big help if you find him. though he's also very aware of death around him and may be feeling shitty because of how all too aware he will be of everyone dying in the maze.

starters (2/4) - bianca di angelo, hazel lavesque

nie huaisang - was forced in by magic - open to injury and maybe death

will be loudly crying until he finds someone who will help him through this whole thing! is also not mentally stable enough for any of this and may be very on edge!! be cautious around him i don't know what to expect from him so you shouldn't have any clue either.

starters (3/4) - jin guangyao, mo xuanyu, lan wangji

pearl - was forced in by magic

this is not pearl's scene at all but she is also very competent as a fighter and will probably be okay. she will be stressed rambling the whole time and stressing out everyone else around her as a result so there's that, but if you can deal with that she will be offering help. only one not really open to injury just because she's very hard to injure, but will happily involve her in someone else's injury or death plot

starters (2/4) - patch cipriano, dean winchester

princess zelda - was forced in by magic - open to injury

extremely confused and unhappy and stressed! zelda hates things she doesn't understand, and isn't much of a fighter, with only a little self defense training. she'll manage well in some of the more trap/survival areas but is going to have a very hard time dealing with monsters in the maze

starters (1/4) - patia por'co

roronoa zoro - went in willingly? - open to injury

i say he went in willingly but that's not entirely true. i'm so sure zoro was trying to head home one day and just wandered in to the maze by mistake, and now has been stuck there for an extra day. he is luckily very good at fighting and surviving, but his sense of direction is absolutely horrible so please!! help him out! also might start fights with other people because like, he just assumes anyone who looks a little strange or dangerous could be a monster. he's a mess

starters (1/4) - nami

shang qinghua - was forced in by magic - open to injury and maybe death

he knows a setup when he sees one! if anyone is capable of breaking the fourth wall of rp it would be shang qinghua who absolutely knew the corn maze could mean nothing but trouble and stayed away from it as long as possible. he's doing his best but is an every man for himself type of guy unless you're one of the rare people he likes and he will trip others to get away from monsters.

starters (1/4) - shen qingqiu

shi qingxuan - went in willingly - open to injury and maybe death

unfortunately qingxuan was probably out drinking with some friends who thought it would be fun to check out the random corn maze and now here they are! so unhappy! so stressed! so screwed!! trying to help out here and there despite everything but i cannot promise any actual useful help here. if anything she is the one who desperately needs assistance.

starters (1/4) - samara palpatine

toph beifong - was forced in by magic - open to injury

toph, who can use their seismic sense to see blocks of areas at a time and noticed the way the maze was constantly shifting and changing immediately definitely got in here only to immediately turn to anyone nearby and hit them with "well, maze is fucked." she'll be fine despite that tbh and will probably wind up having some fun fighting things, but isn't even trying to get out because she knows that's kinda impossible until whatever magic shit is happening stops, and will tell others this is the case

starters (1/4) - katara

wirt - was forced in by magic - open to injury

just went from one autumn themed horror show to another and is extremely unhappy about it!! hopeful that maybe his brother is somehow somewhere in this maze but he's not feeling good about it. extremely anxious but powering through to the best of his ability. he can't fight but he is relatively smart and he really wants out of this maze!! so if that means working with others that is absolutely fine by him

starters (2/4) - dani dennison, marco del rossi

yin yu - was forced in by magic - open to injury and non memory changing death

so tired. so so tired. he's got a shovel for a weapon, the energy of a sad thirty year old who has given up on improving his life, and is just sort of trudging through accepting that this is the next shit show in his never ending list of ls in life. he tries to be a good guy, he'll help out where he can, but if there is a vibe check he is not passing it

starters (0/4)

zagreus - went in willingly - open to injury and non memory changing death

he's excited! he hasn't gotten to experience many human halloween's and walked straight in and honestly, has not entirely realized there's something wrong with the situation. he likes fighting, he spent a chunk of his life escaping a maze like underworld, so he's having fun and feeling right at home. will help people out but will also be chuckling the whole time about what a cool event this is and how nice it is for the city to do it.

starters (1/4) : drusilla keeble

zhongli - went in willingly - open to injury and maybe death

this man is unfortunately the case of curiosity killed the cat. he knew it was probably a bad idea and walked in anyway! he's regretting it for sure since unaware zhongli can barely fight compared to aware zhongli, but he does have a level head and a very smart way of thinking, so he'll be getting by and repressing his emotions so he doesn't have to feel shaken until he escapes somehow

starters (1/4) - rowena ravenclaw

[kitkatsudon]

KitKat reads the TKEM Novel: Introduction & Prologue & Chapter 1

Hello all! Those that have seen my account over the past couple of days will know that I have recently come into possession of copies of both volumes of the TKEM novel. I always had the vague idea in my mind that these would contain information that we don’t see in the show, characters’ inner monologues and such like, so as someone seemingly on a quest to find out everything there is to know about this show (how did it end up like this? I’m not going to dwell on that before I start regretting all my life choices), I have taken it upon myself to read these books and share this knowledge with the rest of what’s left of this fandom.

These books, of course, are in Korean, which is a language I do not speak and don’t have any intention of learning in the near future. I definitely couldn’t learn Korean in a quick enough time frame to be able to read these books in a satisfyingly short amount of time, so instead I’m utilising the power of the internet and using two online translation services, and then sort of combining the two with my preexisting knowledge of the show to create a usable translation that feels mostly right. So here’s my disclaimer: some of this stuff could very easily be mistranslated, because I’m embarking on this journey with just the powers of the internet, homosexual audacity, and autism to help me along.

So! Here’s how this is going to work. For every chapter of the book I manage to translate, I’m going to make a new post where I summarise the events of the chapter, share my thoughts on it, and then share any specific new details that we’ve learnt. All of them will be tagged with ‘kitkat reads the tkem novel’ so if you want any of the information in this series for whatever reason, hopefully these posts will be easy to find. In this post I’ll cover the prologue and chapter 1 because the prologue is barely anything at all, but from here on out it’ll be one chapter per post… whenever I finish the next chapter.

Ok then. Shall we begin?

Prologue

The novel starts with a bit of preamble about the show’s lore, not much that anyone who had already seen the show wouldn’t know, but I suppose it makes sense to open like this if they were trying to appeal to people who hadn’t already seen the show? It’s an interesting choice, though, because some of this stuff is information we don’t find out until a little later in the show, for example how the two worlds split thanks to the life/death of Crown Prince Sohyeon. However, without the visual nature of the show to keep it appealing, having a little bit of backstory about the Kingdom of Corea would be nice to have so new readers aren’t totally confused about the setting of the novel when it begins.

The only semi-new thing we really learn from the prologue is that the palace (which I will call Haeungung Palace from here on out as part of my personal mission to spread this information) is located specifically on Dongbaekseom island in Busan. This is something I had pretty much figured out already by being a big nerd and looking at screenshots of the show and comparing those to maps of Busan, but it’s nice to have this for real confirmed by a canon source. Another thing to maybe mention is that the flower symbol of the royal Jeonju Lee family is a plum blossom, but this is also something that you could probably work out beforehand.

In conclusion, this is a good introduction… but a little useless to established fans of the show, who I think would make up most of the demographic of this book. Still, it’s best for them to cover their bases.

Chapter 1: Find the clock rabbit

The first thing to mention here is that “clock rabbit” refers to the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, which the English subs on Netflix call “the white rabbit with the clock” but I’m going to say “clock rabbit” because that seems to be the direct translation, and it makes all Yeong’s lines about “Is it a rabbit or a clock?” make a lot more sense in my mind. This chapter covers four scenes from episode 1 of the show: the scene where Gon is being dressed by his new attendant Park Gyubong and he catches the talismans that Lady Noh put in his room, the scene where Gon and Koo Seoryeong have their meeting after Gon goes riding, pretty much all of the rowing scene sequence from the race to Gon going to chase after the “clock rabbit,” and then Gon very briefly in his study alone, looking at his Alice in Wonderland book.

What stood out to me the most while reading, getting over the fact that they’ve changed the order of the scenes from the show (Cheonjongo in 1994 is happening next chapter), is how much extra dialogue they’ve cut out. Again… I guess it makes sense, if they’re trying to condense a sixteen episode drama into two volumes of a book then of course they’re going to want to get straight to the point, but this is disappointing for me personally because a lot of what they cut out are the fun, familiar conversations that Gon had with Yeong throughout episode 1. For example, Gon and Yeong never have their conversation after Gon finishes his ride where Yeong reveals that there are more talismans than Gon thought, and they also cut out the conversation between Gon and Yeong in his study after the race day, which means we don’t get “are you having fun, Captain Jo?” and we don’t get their following conversation about Gon wanting to find his saviour, and Yeong assuring him that he’s grown up well and he doesn’t need anyone to save him anymore. Which is… fine. It’s fine, but it’s still disappointing. Even without coming at this from a Gonjo angle, their friendship is still very important to me, and it’s disheartening to find out that where the show abandoned it very quickly, the book doesn’t seem to be developing it at all. That’s not to say that there aren’t moments, but it’s not as much as I would have liked.

The other big thing that stood out to me is… well… how do I put this? The book really wants you to know that Gon is perfect and amazing and handsome and the best man in all of Corea and no one else could ever compare and he’s just so incredible and wonderful and everybody loves him so much and every woman is in love with him because he’s just that good. Which is hilarious to me, as a loser (affectionate) Gon truther, because this man exists in my head as an adorable mess of mathematical equations, overthinking, and pretending to be fine, and it’s just… no matter how many times they tell me how perfect and shiny he is, I’m just not going to believe it. Let me give you an excerpt, so you can see the tone of this and know what I’m talking about.

Gon’s body, which he trained to protect himself against any danger, was perfect because his safety was the security of the kingdom. Gyubong was impressed anew by a glimpse of his hard and wide shoulders.

Gyubong glanced at the pride of the Kingdom of Corea before he could meet his indifferent eyes. His sharp nose, smooth lips, and sharp jawline stood out under his straight eyebrows. The third king of the Kingdom of Corea boasted an appearance that deserved the love of the kingdom’s people.

Like— it’s so unserious! They’re really trying so hard to ram it down your throat how utterly perfect Lee Gon is - and in this scene it reads like Gon’s eyebrows may be straight but Park Gyubong sure isn’t. They also mention Gon’s “long legs” when he’s running after his clock rabbit and… wow, does this answer that age old question? Is this what Yeong knows that Gon uses his long legs for - running away and giving Yeong a headache?

So, after all this, what have we learnt so far?

Park Gyubong is either very confident in his heterosexuality or he has a huge crush on King Lee Gon

“The royal courtiers often found the principled Captain of the Guard more difficult than the easy-going king” which… hurts me, a little, to imagine the palace staff bitching about Yeong behind his back. Does it make sense? …yes, to be fair yes, yes it does, it makes a lot of sense for Yeong to rule Haeungung palace with an iron fist as he tries desperately to take care of Gon’s safety, so I just hope that none of the other members of staff are being too mean about our beloved Yeongie :(

Yeong’s naval rank is confirmed to be a Soryeong/Lieutenant Commander! If you’ve seen my post about military ranks in TKEM then you’ll see that this is something that you can see in the show by looking at his epaulettes, but it’s nice to have it confirmed in writing here

Yeong was described as being “born and bred to serve the king.” This is something we knew already, but having it said explicitly here… it’s doing something to me, so it’s getting its own point.

Yeong specifically says to Park Gyubong that “His Majesty doesn’t like other people’s hands touching his body.” It’s not just any touch, he specifically mentions hands. Fanfic nation, do with this information what you will.

Mentioning the moment where little Yeong joined little Gon in crying after Lee Ho’s funeral is something that hurts Yeong’s pride. We can only assume that Gon knows this because he has brought it up in the past and Yeong has got very flustered about it.

On that topic, Gon thinks about that moment after his dad’s funeral after Yeong is like !!!!! when Park Gyubong mentions covering Gon’s scar.

Lady Noh has been noticeably anxious about finding Gon a partner ever since he turned thirty (Korean age). Gon isn’t sure if it was before that, but thirty is the age that he mentions. The Korean word for partner used is 짝, which Wordreference tells me means “pair, mate, buddy.” Interestingly, not necessarily wife, very gender neutral. This is in Gon’s internal monologue so again, fanfic nation, this one’s for you.

It’s also said that Lady Noh is more like a mother to Gon than his own mother was, which again is something we already knew but it’s very nice to have it written.

It’s crossed Lady Noh’s mind that Gon might have a secret mistress and that’s why he has never been interested in getting married, but she figured that this was illogical because Gon is always being watched while he’s in the palace. Thank you for your hard work, Jo Yeong!

The issue of marriage is apparently the only duty of Gon’s that he ever abandons, which… idk, there’s something there.

Gon feels like he’s free of all his worries when he goes riding, especially with Maximus, so riding is basically like Gon’s therapy :D

Maximus is his “favourite horse” which is something else that’s just nice to have in writing

It is mentioned several times in this chapter that Gon “is the favourite of every woman in the kingdom.” It’s giving… heteronormative, but that doesn’t surprise me. However, Koo Seoryeong doesn’t count herself as being one of these women because she can see up close how Gon is putting on as much of an act as she is.

Koo Seoryeong’s ex-husband was not only from a chaebol family but also a conglomerate leader. This is interesting to me because it’s mentioned in the show that he’s the second son so… what happened to the first son? Is he the leader of his own separate corporation? Was he just not as good as his younger brother?

Gon finds the way Koo Seoryeong is clear about expressing her desires uncomfortable because, as the king, he’s never been able to have his own desires or express his own desires freely

“Yeong’s nerves were on edge” while Gon was rowing in the competition, because it was an outdoor event. He finds these things stressful because Gon already came close to death once, and you never know if it’ll happen again

As soon as he hears a gunshot, Gon is immediately transported back to the night of the treason. Even if he doesn’t show it outwardly, it’s crossing his mind at the slightest trigger.

That time at the rowing competition is the first time that Gon has run away during an outdoor event. He runs away often and he knows he causes trouble for the Royal Guard, but this is the first time he’s done it at an event like that.

Gon can recognise Yeong just by his footsteps

Gon leaves his duties in the palace once or twice a year - either because he wants some personal time, or he’s in desperate need of it because he feels too overwhelmed by his regular life. I already assumed it was because of that, but to have it confirmed… fanfic nation, this is for you again

Gon was still thinking about the night of the treason when he got his Alice in Wonderland book out at the end of episode 1, and he could still vividly feel the sticky blood on the soles of his feet, and the feeling of something constricting around his neck. He felt like it could still happen again at any moment. Clearly, Lee Gon needs some better therapy than just going riding with Maximus.

Final thoughts: I’m very much enjoying seeing into the characters’ minds like this, especially Gon, since we’ve had a lot of him this chapter. I like how the book is able to show how often Gon is thinking about the night of the treason, making it and therefore his PTSD a much more present thing than in the show. It remains to be seen whether the currently hilarious Gon-worshipping is going to become annoying after a while, or whether or not seeing the characters’ inner thoughts is going to start annoying me when the main romance plot gets going. If it’s in the same tone as the Gon-worshipping… yeesh. That’ll be an experience.

My main thought so far? Not enough Yeong. There’s not as much Yeong as there was in the show, and there isn’t even much Yeong there. This book could be greatly improved with more Yeong. I suppose we’ll have to stick to fanfiction for that.

[cosmicjoke]

Man, in a million years I would never have thought that Levi's current frustration, anger, and threat of breaking his legs was the frustration of not being able to persuade Erwin to stay just because he was risking his own life. And I think if there was such a thing, he could have said that he wanted Levi to stay behind for personal reasons in the interview with E L, where Isayama also added him thoughts on this scene but instead he said that saying he trusted Erwin's decision meant that he would take his responsibility if something happened. And then he took him anger out on Eren and Jean (Even though I thought the violence was unnecessary here)

Similar to those who say that Levi made a selfish choice by choosing Erwin's peace over humanity.

Unfortunately, even some popular accounts say so, and some people have a habit of relying on their popularity and believing what they're saying is true. In short, a flock of sheep.

When I saw your mutual analysis articles with that blog, I was surprised and triggered at first. Because years ago, I followed that blog and some of the big accounts it interacted with, read and liked some of its metas. After a while, I noticed that she reduced Levi to E at odd angles in some of her writings, and after a while I turned away from her and their analysis, and cold from Levi.

Then I realized it was because of their favorite ship. I noticed that they wrote biased articles without taking off their ship glasses under -neutral posts - to find materials and support for their ships. Most recently, I unfollowed her and the others when I saw her response to someone asking if Erwin was the focus in the final salute scene in the final episode. In her answer, she did a math calculation to prove that Erwin was ahead of the rest and Levi was more in focus than the others :/. not joke.

While I may seem like I've vilified her and their other colleagues here, it's not my intention, but.. this is what really happened. Because of meta and analysis writers like them, I had come to question the actions of my Comfort character, Levi, and my love and admiration had waned. And now, years later, when she threw a question at you, my first thought was that maybe years later she had changed her ideas and views and maybe offered a good analysis. but no. as I predicted. They're reducing him to Erwn again as usual.

Sorry if I'm out of context here. I know some of what I write seems delusional. but ım tired

Hi there,

No worries, I understand perfectly what you're saying. Yeah, this is what I'm always saying, is that when one is adamant on seeing their ship as canon, even when there's absolutely no evidence whatsoever of the ship existing in canon, they ultimately will filter everything that happens in the story through that lens, and it warps their perception of the story and their ability to have an objective read on the situation and the characters actions.

Things have definitely gotten out of hand in the online community. People allow others to influence their own opinions and even, sometimes, a lot of these people haven't even read AoT and form their opinions completely based on what others tell them. And your particular story is one of the most unfortunate results of this kind of thing, where people begin to think less of Levi as a character, because he's been cast in this sort of light, portrayed as someone who's only and main focus is Erwin, instead of what he's truly fighting for, which is humanity. There's a mountain of evidence supporting this fact. There's none supporting the idea that Levi "did it all for Erwin". But people twist it to the point of making Levi seem selfish or self-interested, or unable to think and act for himself, totally reliant and dependent on Erwin, and even beholden to Erwin, like some sort of slave. It's pretty awful and absolutely insane. In order to come to that conclusion, one would either have to completely ignore Levi's actions and words within the story, or twist them to the point of them being unrecognizable.

And lol, yeah, that whole thing you mentioned, with the final salute, how anyone could "interpret" that as Levi being solely focused or mainly focused on Erwin is beyond me. It reduces Levi's commitment and respect for his other comrades, which in turn, would reduce the respect one feels for Levi as a person. I don't know why anyone would want to claim that, or "prove" that Levi was focused on Erwin in that shot. The vow he made was for ALL of his comrades. And so, his final salute was for all of them. He fulfilled the vow, and he was showing his respect for everyone. He cared about all of them equally. He placed equal value on all of their lives, equal meaning. It's just sad and bizarre, besides, that anyone would want to deny that, all for the sake of trying to prove he was in some sort of romantic relationship with his commanding officer.

Levi chose to follow Erwin in the first place because Erwin sold him on this idea of saving humanity, of using his strength to save humanity. Levi trusted in Erwin's ability to lead and to tell him how best to use his strength to that end. He didn't follow Erwin because he was in love with him, or beholden to him, or obsessed with him. He chose to follow him because he respected Erwin's ability to do the right thing and make the right choices when it came to advancing humanities cause and fight. It's just so obvious, and it really is a head-scratcher why anyone would want to take Levi's heroic nature and altruistic motivations and reduce it to a love-sick obsession. That's not who Levi is. It never was, and it never will be. Levi cares about all people.

[angelhummel]

One thing I love so so so much about Glee is the dedication of the costume department. You can look at any episode and get a feel for how much time and effort they put into making sure each main character stood apart from one another, and that their distinct personalities were on full display via their wardrobe. It was a labor of love that definitely paid off

My favorite thing is how much it really makes our main characters pop on screen. That’s only reinforced by the background actors, who do walk around in just generic high school kid outfits. T shirt, hoodie, jeans, etc. Like even if you knew nothing about the show, it probably wouldn’t take longer than ten seconds to pick all the main characters out of a crowd

This show’s specialty isn’t exactly subtlety, but I think it’s used to full effect in this case. The distinct wardrobes help our main character glee kids stand out even more. Both to us as an audience, and in universe to show how “othered” they are. Their bright, unique, artistic souls standing in stark contrast with the dull droves of people who will never understand them

(I do think all the straight boys in general could’ve used a bit more distinction. But even still I think it’s just Finn, Sam, and Ryder that suffer the most. Like they do have SOME separation between them but I also feel like they could share one another’s clothes more than anyone else on the show. But then they were written to be like the everyman characters so I guess that’s intentional)

Besides that, even when there’s some overlap, everyone’s style choices feel distinct. Like if you had to sort through a pile of vintage dresses, you’d know what went in the Rachel pile and what went in the Tina pile. Or sweater vests for Artie vs Blaine, or animal themed clothing for Brittany vs Rachel

I also wouldn’t use “timeless” to describe everyone’s fashion on the show. But I do feel like this aspect of Glee is much less dated than some other shows from around the same time (TVD, PLL, Degrassi). Like maybe the urge to just go snatch up every generically trendy piece of late 00s early 10s clothing you could get your hands on was strong, but the wardrobe department didn’t take the easy way out

I dunno I just think everyone’s wardrobe is like a perfect showcase of who they are as a person and as a character and I appreciate the dedication of the costume department to be able to look at all their distinct and unique personalities and reflect that back to us in a visible and tangible way

[sweetestpopcorn]

Hi, I love your work, I've just finished Part Three :)

I was wondering how you think Daemon and Rhaenyra would have reacted had they had Baela and Rhaena before their sons?

Hi there! :)

I would say that judging by the gargantuan amount of time I took in answering this ask you either have been finished for months or just gave up on the fic XD either way, I'm very happy you liked the first three parts ❤️

Hum... so I took some time to answer because this is a tricky one for me, and one of the reasons - besides Baby Aegon being born to be king in canon - that I had Aegon and Viserys be the elder and the twins be their younger sisters, was to not have to answer this question, because honestly, I don't know for sure.

This is the thing, we absolutely do know from canon how much Daemon valued and wanted a son, that even after he had Baela and Rhaena he still wanted a son of his own blood. This is no surprise whatsoever to anyone who understands canon Daemon's character and intentions and the world he was living in. Men's heirs were other men, and a woman only came into the picture if there was no other alternative. In canon I have no doubt it was his son Aegon who Daemon saw as his heir, not Baela or Rhaena, although they were the elder. Why? Because it was the law and custom - yes, even in Old Valyria and for the Targaryens -> friendly reminder Visenya was older than Aegon but Aegon was his father's heir, and in Valyria we only ever heard of Targaryens lords ruling -> and because Daemon was a man of his own time and age that followed most of the customs and views of other men of this time.

I think even in my AU he would want a son and not a daughter to become his and Rhaenyra's heir. I do think he might keep it on the downlow while his brother Viserys was still alive, but he would very much want Rhaenyra to name Aegon Prince of Dragonstone once she became queen. Probably in this scenario, to "fix it" he would insist they marry him to Baela so they were both ruling and people were sort of kept wondering who was the ruled and who was the consort. It would be a way of brushing the whole "Yes you are the elder and a woman but you are naming your younger son your heir instead of your eldest daughter" under the rug.

Rhaenyra though... I think she would be a bit more complicated and I can definitely see her wanting her firstborn - either boy or girl - to become her heir regardless of their sex. I cannot imagine her looking her eldest daughter in the eye and denying her what she was given herself.

How would they ultimately resolve this? I don't think I know for sure, so I'm sure glad this isn't a choice I made in my AU XD and I am not even sure which resolution would make me more satisfied... if this was a fic I was reading - only would if there were ZERO redacted elements so please don't even bother making suggestions anyone because there's ALWAYS redacted included somehow - it would depend on the author's skills, and I think I might be convinced either way if the story was well told and the themes well explored.

No idea how helpful this was or if I even answered but hey I tried 🥲

All the best to you and very sorry about this delay ❤️ Hope you are still around 😊