#but their friendship doesn't need a big event or battle to form and it actually complicates things instead

[talaofthevalley]

I have no clue why they didn't make Amity more akin to a rival character instead of a bully. Because it would have solved A Lot of problems in regards to Amity and Willow, and Lumity becoming a thing.

The thing is that Lumity feels Super Weird at the start when Luz is trying to befriend Amity long before the girl shows any remorse for bullying Willow and making up for it. And it's not something easily brushed off when Amity is introduced being condescending and a dick to Willow. The bullying isn't something of the past, it's still going on.

Willow comes off as an afterthought in this dynamic, when she's the one who's been wronged by Amity the most. Their arc never feels like it resolves itself either, it just kinda peeters out.

If you've watched Little Witch Academia, Diana is who I think Amity should have emulated more. Diana is the top student at the school, she's stern and no-nonsense, a bit stuck-up, she comes from a prestigious family, she gets in conflict with the protagnoist, Akko, not because of bullying but because they have very different personalities and butt heads because of it. Akko considers Diana her rival, but this is one-sided on her part.

Willow and Amity could still have been friends in the past, but Amity instead pointedly ignores Willow's existence after their friendship has ended. She doesn't call out her friends for bullying Willow(that would make it seem like she cares) but she doesn't participate or encourage it. She's still not a good person, she still has to apologise to Willow, but changing their relationship from 'active bullying' to 'pretending Willow doesn't exist' would do a lot going forward for them I think. Still terrible, but more palatable in my eyes.

[woodchipp]

I find this particular response I received the other day very interesting because

"what is his point of living? why SHOULD he not die?"

is a question I genuinely found myself asking by the time me and my friends finished playing the game. After thinking about it a bit more, though, I realized that the question I was really asking was not "Why should he not die?" but "Why should I care about whether he lives or dies?"

And I think the answer ties into one of OMORI's (many) problems - Sunny isn't really a character. He has no personality to speak of. At best, he's a crude checklist of #relatable traits (shy, depression, low self-esteem) you're expected to form an emotional connection with purely on the basis of him having said traits (i.e. "he's just like me fr fr") even though we're never shown or told how he became that way in the first place and these traits alone don't constitute a character's personality - they inform it. At worst, he's a meat puppet present in the game only because the player needs a viewpoint character.

Technically, the biggest amount of "characterization" Sunny gets is Omori's big LTG speech in the final boss fight. And even then, I can't call it characterization in good faith because most of the information revealed about Sunny via the speech didn't factor into the story much right until it suddenly became relevant as a weapon his self-loathing uses against him.

For example, one of Omori's points is that Sunny keeps falling back on his friends to take care of him since he's the baby of the group, which implies that Sunny is insecure about being babied around by his friends

But Sunny doesn't undergo any development to address this problem over the course of the game. The story never puts him into situations that'd force him to assume responsibility and allow him to change the perception of himself as the group's "baby". Even on the Sunny route, where he's supposedly meant to be working on his issues, he's almost entirely passive (e.g. Kel has to tell him to jump into the lake to rescue Basil even though Sunny instantly diving in himself without any input from Kel or the player would've shown him as more altruistic) and the plot gets driven forward by pretty much every other character except Sunny himself. Additionally, when put into a situation when he could at least try to comfort a close friend and thus show that he cares (i.e. Basil's breakdown on Three Days Left), the game forces you to walk away instead. What does that say about Sunny?

This brings me to another point I consider to be relevant to what I'm trying to say - Omori, Sunny's depression and irrational self-hatred who spends the entire final battle convincing him to kill himself, isn't even wrong in his criticisms of the latter. Believe it or not, the story itself actually lends credence to a couple of his points

"You've never done anything for anyone else."

Sunny's aforementioned passivity aside, most of his interactions with his friends before and during the events of the game - and mind you, they're meant to establish the group's supposedly Strong friendship - consist of his friends and his sister doing everything they can for him. Mari allows him to sleep in her own bed when he has nightmares and takes the fall for him after he breaks one of their mother's vases. Basil gets the idea to gift Sunny a violin for Christmas and the entire group pitches in to make sure the violin they buy is a good one. Basil stages Mari's death as a suicide, keeps mum about Sunny's desecration of the photo album and takes the brunt of Aubrey's abuse for four years purely for Sunny's sake. Hero takes care of all the chores around the house Sunny had to do on One Day Left.

Indeed, Sunny is never shown doing anything of the sort for them.

"Your friends are wrong about you. The person they love isn't you at all."

"You let them believe in a lie to protect yourself."

This is self-explanatory - Sunny went along with Basil's cover-up and thus lied to his friends by omission - but what interests me the most about it is the "Cherish" action, exclusive to this fight. By recalling the supportive and inspirational quotes he heard from his friends and his sister over the course of One Day Left, Sunny replenishes his HP and stamina in full, along with calming himself down emotion-wise.

There's just a problem with this, though - Sunny's friends offered him their support without the knowledge of how Mari actually died. They were convinced that Sunny is struggling with Mari's suicide, not that he's wrestling with well-earned guilt over committing manslaughter. We don't know whether they would've supported him all the same if they knew the truth, and the game doesn't provide an answer either since the group's reactions to Sunny's confession are left ambiguous.

Simply put, Sunny is twisting his friends' words, taking them out of context to make himself feel better. The support Sunny received is built on a lie.

The exact same lie Omori points out.

"Cherish" is also the only way to survive in this fight. Omori points out that the support Sunny's using is based on him lying to his friends by omission, and the only rebuttal Sunny has to Omori's solid point is to keep using said support. peak writing

And just as the cherry on top, the game's "True" ending - and the best outcome for Sunny - indicates that he dropped the bombshell on his friends shortly before moving town, consequently leaving Basil alone to deal with whatever consequences the fallout would entail... which is exactly what he did after he ruined Basil's photo album. (granted, he couldn't have known that Aubrey would see the scribbled-over photos, but still, ruining your best friend's most precious belonging like that and then essentially ghosting them is a shitty thing to do either way.)

Oh, and the method you use to obtain the additional secret cutscene is worth mentioning too - you have to water Basil's plants in Sunny's fake dream world. Sunny doesn't help Basil in the real world when he actually has the chance to and Basil clearly needs it, but seems to be content with thinking about doing something good for his dream self while the real one is suffering.

Not only is Sunny an empty husk of a character, close examination of the game's story paints a picture of him being a shitty person as well. I can't say he has a character arc - he does shitty things to the people we're meant to consider his friends and the game invents convenient ways for him to avoid taking responsibility every time despite the story revolving around his need to accept his responsibility for Mari's death.

So, really, why should I care about whether he lives or dies? Because he's a cute boy? Because he's mentally ill? The game never gives you a legitimate reason to root for Sunny and care about his welfare, yet is predicated on that.

[thesagedahlia]

🌕 Full Moon in Gemini ♊ what is to come? 🌬💨

This cycle is bringing up matters of the heart & bring a much needed balance to family, relationships, or your overall social life are coming up for you & may come in the form of an important conversation. You may be receiving a surprise in the form of a invitation or a gift that will possibly lead to some sort of agreement or commitment, whether romantic, business, or otherwise, this is coming up as a conflicting encounter involving deceptive & distrustful people or behaviors. Much healing must have (or must take place) with you, as it is important to be stable even with things changing around you. You probably will get a message regarding the answers you need. You're gaining clarity at this time about situations that you may need to make the choice to walk a different path. Keeping faith of the blessings you will be claiming will allow manifestation for you, since you will be aligned to what you want to attract. You can be receiving communication that will bring you closer to this new & stable beginning, & it may come in the form of a coming together for some of you.

♐: a new romantic cycle may be beginning for you at this time. You may need to reach out & let someone know that you care, or you could be receiving thoughtful communication from someone who cares. This may be a time to feel more & think less. For some of you, marriage or engagement may come up, even if it's just in conversation. Things are being divinely guided through a time that may be confusing for you, so it is best you to allow the flow of the universe. You may be experiencing blocks regarding a situation of communicating love to someone who feels inspired (or you may be the inspiration to them), or you may be inspired to reach out to destiny & happiness (whatever that may mean for you). Things may be uncertain at this time, but there is movement happening & you may hold (or will hold) the knowledge of where you're departing to.

♑: you may be hanging onto some sort of commitment, obligation, or agreement that may need to come to an end, as you're going to be destined for success. Locking away whatever this situation is, is the solution to get to a more promising ending to an old phase. You could be needing to look at the bigger picture & are too distracted at this time. You could be allowing this situation to lock you down when you're capable to allow things to come to completion. For a lot of you, it is a person in particular & they may even be a karmic lesson for you. You may be on the fence of actually putting things to an end & you already have the knowledge on what needs to be done. This knowledge could even be intuitively & you may have gained this clarity some time ago (if not, you will). What keeps you back & forth from making this decision is much confusion concerning the power you have over beginning anew.

♒: the end of a tough cycle is approaching for you at this time, so it's best you release control & trust the universe. For some of you, a professional project may be ending now, or you may need to find a cohesive balance between your personal lives & private lives. Admit if you're being overly hard headed & change that; it's time to stop fearing the worst. You are coming over a big block or obstacle in your life that may have exposed you to some pest or deceptive energies, though the mask these people wore were convincing. There may even be some gossip involved at your expense. You're coming into some clarity at this time & you are focused on manifesting something for yourself away from what's not serving you. You know what your truth is & what you really want to work towards, & you want to be in more healthier environments, & there's a beginning to listen to your intuition on what or where that may be.

♓: you may need to be bold & make the first move in something or toward someone. It's time for you to take charge of your energy; boldly follow your heart & your emotions. The time for action may be now for you, so come into your power. Be mindful to avoid recklessness or moving too fast. You being clear headed in a certain decision you may need to make that is regarding a battle that you may have walked away from. The decision may be to walk away, as you may have the knowledge of what this situation has become, or is becoming to you. You may have ships coming, but in order for you to be open to receiving them, you have to make the decision to retract from conflict or a battle that would have been dissatisfying either way it ended. You may need to find direction through the illusions to this situation, which must need to be cut out for good.

♈: if you have a vision that is close to your heart, keep hold of it at this time. Staying power, faith or patience will be needed from you. Some of you may need to back down, as you may be a little stubborn. Avoid stagnation at this time, & be careful you aren't standing in your own way by clinging too tightly. Be firm in your vision, but be careful to expect changes will happen, whether good or bad. Adjusting accordingly is what will be needed from you. The path ahead may be confusing or hidden from you. You can't keep yourself trapped or blinded from the knowledge you possess. You need to be loyal to the obligations before you as you come close to your fateful journey & allow yourself to clear up any dark corners. You're being guided through to your opportunity that is awaiting you in the unknown.

♉: you may need hear this; don't let your past hold you back. You may be having a difficult time releasing the past, & to some extent, you may have allowed karmic cycles to keep you stuck in loops. If you're inquiring about a certain relationship, it is a karmic connection that has played out across many lifetimes, or your attraction to someone (or theirs to you) may be verging on the obsessive. This time is also reminding you that just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. This past energy must be cut out, as it is standing in the way of your path; there is a choice needed to be made here before you can move forward (for some, this is a karmic family cycle). You're coming into more knowledge of what you must cut out of your life in order to have newness, & it may be a tough decision to do so. Know that you're allowing decay in your energy field.

♊: you may need to balance your practicality & spirituality. You should take this time to start meditating every day & see what comes to you; they will be the answers you need. You may be in a super-romantic, but not super-realistic state. Follow your intuition, it won't let you down especially at this time. If you're inquiring about a certain person, this is a soulmate to you, but that may not be for everyone. There may be some mental clarity coming to you regarding a time where you need to prevail through challenging or confusing events. You may be forced to end things around you in order for you to achieve luck in your situation, & you may need to flow with the timing that the universe is setting up for you. You need to see through the illusion of your situation & allow the inner secrets & logic to be illuminated to you. There may be some pests around that are burdening you, yet you may have been loyal or helpful. Sever any loose ends.

♋: you may need to be careful not to let pride get in your way. Are you being open hearted, or are you being egotistical? You can be magnificent without doing the most. Self esteem is good, but in there is a thin line between self esteem & vanity. Remember that everyone is equally important if you aren't keeping that in mind. If a friendship is ending for you at this time, you or the other person displayed this. Other people can be what lead you to where you're going next. You can be communicating your direction, or the knowledge of this can be communicated to you. Time will continue to flow whether you are taking in this information or not, you probably should use all the resources available to you, including other people's input. Allow other people to work for you & let them help you. Put certain behaviors & thought processes behind you & begin to take responsibility for your own journey & know you're being tested.

♌: a fiery climax may be approaching for you, & you may already be anticipating it knowingly or intuitively. There may be some excitement about what may lie ahead for you, so you may be taking this time out to have more fun, or you may be needing to do so. Be careful you aren't letting pride cloud your judgement & ease up on the 'me, me, me' attitudes. Being assertive is good, but avoid the strong arm. Be nice, be kind, smile & be polite as you navigate to where you want to be. I don't know who needs to hear this, but 'don't be a baby'; things will work out as long as you let them. Also if you're in a tense situation, meditation is the best way to peace. All of your trials & errors have built you up & prepared you for the moment you're moving into, & you are allowing completion in your life as you come closer to achieving karmic justice.

♍: you may need a reminder that you are good enough. It may be time to find a balance between the cosmic & the mundane in your daily life. Remember that worrying too much will attract more things to worry about. If you've been overly critical, an apology may be in order & it is best to stop second guessing yourself. This may be a time to be selfish & leave all of your love for yourself. You may need to go deep within yourself to find peace from any pain, loss or endings that may have impacted you. You should be holding back all of what you need to get through this process for it to only be for you & you may need to be cunning in your pursuits. Taking a closer look at a situation is the key to you finding your direction & identifying the treachery or deception you may be exposed to. You have to overcome these blocks in you receiving your blessings or being on your path. Going through the rough & confusing times was the key to you gaining the security that you needed all along.

♎: you may be needing to show the world the real you during this moon cycle. You may be too much in your head & need to get into your heart space. A situation you're inquiring about may be taking a very unexpected turn at this time, so it is best you be aware of your feelings but also be prepared to move on. Keep in mind not to lose the beauty & romance of life. Go right ahead & be yourself in whatever is coming up for you. Take yourself out of a place where you feel you're wearing a mask & bring completion to any inauthenticity that kept you away from your purity & peace. You may be holding back a lot from expressing your truest self, but you may be lacking the inspiration to really put yourself out there. Cut out any deceptive behavior that will keep you blocked off of your own direction. Prosperity lies where you are able to detach your feelings from situations/behaviors properly that don't serve you.

♏: you may need to ask yourself at this time; what do you need to release? You may need to be reminded that it's safe to let go & move on; move forward with little resistance as possible. For some of you, this may not be the time to start new projects. Releasing emotional baggage is required now, & you may need to do some energy work to clear things out such as meditation or yoga; for some it may be as simple as saying sorry to someone. If you feel confused or stuck, it is best for you to let go of that as well; if you don't atjis moment, sometime soon you will see what lies ahead. You must understand that change needs to take place, or you need to be more open for change to take place. Either way, what lies ahead for you is a tangible new beginning that is fruitful. You may need to move away from some deceptive or sneaky energy that may have been intruding into your life, & time may have proved to you that it is time for a change, even if you can't see the way ahead.

*this reading is intended for sun, moon, rising, & venus placements, & is intended for entertainment purposes only, energy is fluid not linear, roles are interchangeable, take what resonates, leave the rest*

[wazafam]

The newest trailer for Marvel's upcoming Loki series once again features a shot of a redheaded woman sitting with Loki – but it's entirely possible this character is Verity Willis, not Black Widow or even Lady Loki. The third Marvel series for Disney+ will follow the exploits of the God of Mischief after the events of The Avengers, when a 2012 just post-Battle of New York version of Loki snags the Tesseract and poofs out of S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.

However, that action ends up breaking the timeline and so he's conscripted into service by Owen Wilson's Mobius M. Mobius of the Time Variance Authority, who capture and recruit him in order to help them fix the universe he messed up. The trailers make it appear as though Loki will be bouncing around various timelines and running into a number of new characters. One of those new characters is one some believe will actually be an old character: Black Widow. And, it's true, the trailer shots of a redheaded woman with a short bob sitting next to Loki in what appears to be an alien world does bear a rather uncanny resemblance, at least from behind and at a distance, to Avengers-era Natasha Romanoff.

Related: Loki Trailer 2 Breakdown: Every New Secret & Reveal

But there's another character being largely overlooked to this point, and it's one who has important ties to Loki in the comics: Verity Willis. Here's why it's entirely possible that the redheaded woman people keep spotting in the trailer is Verity, not Natasha - or even Lady Loki, as others have posited.

As with many Marvel movies and TV shows, the Loki series looks to be a very loose adaptation – call it a spiritual adaptation – of the Loki: Agent of Asgard series by Al Ewing & Jason Aaron. In that series, he's not working for the TVA, but the All-Mother. Determined to erase his past as a villain and become a truly good person, Loki agrees to be a secret agent for Asgard. For every successful mission he pulls off, one of his sins is stricken from the gods' record book and replaced with a good deed. Though it appears that in the series he'll be helping the TVA for slightly less noble reasons, at least at first, but the core premise is the same: Loki acts as an agent sent on various missions across time to right wrongs and atone for his crimes.

While Loki establishes himself on Earth, one human he meets becomes more important than anyone to him: Verity Willis. Verity is a human who, through an accident when she was a baby, possesses the ability to see through any lie or illusion, whether told for good or ill intention – making her an intriguing and formidable match for Loki, the master of lies, even with his magic. While he's shocked she immediately sees through his guise of an old man, eventually, the two form a bond that blossoms into a close friendship. Over time, Verity becomes Loki's best friend, arguably the only real friend he's ever had. While Verity hasn't made any appearances outside of the Agent of Asgard comics, she had an enormous impact on Loki.

It's unlikely that the woman in the trailer is Natasha. For starters, it's not generally been Marvel's way to reveal something that big in the trailers. Secondly, it just doesn't make much sense to bring her back. While Black Widow is now coming out a month after Loki, it was originally supposed to be released well before the Marvel Disney+ show and its new release date was only decided upon a few weeks ago. With Natasha's death in Avengers: Endgame, Black Widow director Cate Shortland and Scarlett Johansson both have said that the movie was meant to serve as a final goodbye to Natasha and give her the proper send-off she deserves. With that in mind, it would be incredibly odd for Marvel to bring back Black Widow for a cameo in Loki as it would undercut the emotional impact of her sacrifice in Endgame and everything her solo film is trying to accomplish.

Related: Phase 4 Needs To Explore Black Widow's Death For Bucky's Sake

Of course, it is possible that it is Natasha in an alternate timeline: After all, of all the Avengers Loki has gone up against, Black Widow is likely the one he's closest to having a grudging respect for seeing as how she played him at his own game in Avengers to learn his plan for the Hulk. The others he doesn't have much use for, but Natasha's successful deception is something that, in his own perverse way, Loki would approve of. But even that doesn't make much sense.

Nor is it likely to be Lady Loki for no other reason than that it would be a wild reimagining of how she looks in the comics. In the comics, she's literally just the female form of the genderfluid Loki and as such looks exactly like him: Black hair, green eyes, pale skin. That's not to say Lady Loki won't be appearing in the Loki series - in fact, it seems almost certain she will, especially now that the trailer has confirmed there are "variants" of Loki in different universes or timelines – it's just that it's unlikely she's the redhead people keep spotting in the trailer. Even more than Black Widow, Lady Loki would be a character Marvel would absolutely not give away in trailers.

There is admittedly a third option: It's Lady Loki glamoured to look like Black Widow. If that were the case, technically, that shot in the trailer would neither undermine Natasha's end as it's not actually Natasha, nor would it give away that it's Lady Loki as it doesn't reveal her on the surface. Still, for everyone convinced it's Black Widow or Lady Loki in that scene are overlooking what Verity could bring to the series.

The Loki of the Disney+ series is not the Loki who found himself on a redemption arc after the brutal blow of his mother's death and helping Thor save Jane Foster in Thor: The Dark World, losing his adoptive father and defending Asgard against Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, or attempting (however uncharacteristically poorly) to kill Thanos and keep the Tesseract from him in Avengers: Infinity War. This is the Loki who was under the control of the Mind Stone until recently and who had attempted to take over the world by destroying New York. If he wants to be redeemed, something or someone will have to propel him toward a redemption arc. That something could very well be Verity Willis.

Related: Loki Trailer Confirms Loki Is Behind The MCU's Multiverse Problem

In the comics, Verity was the only person Loki couldn't fool and because he had to be completely honest with her, she was arguably the only person in this world or any other who got to know Loki for exactly who he was. It was Verity's faith in Loki and her true friendship that gave him the encouragement he needed to cast off his title of the God of Mischief to become the God of Stories. It mattered to him that she always knew he was telling the truth after a millennium of him lying so much for so long that no one believed him when he actually did tell the truth. As he says to her in Loki: Agent of Asgard #6, "Verity-- I'm sorry. I'm not used to having friends, and I don't know how to be a good one. But I'm trying. And I want to change. I want to be better than I am. [...] Just... trust me. Trust in me.”

While the Loki of the series is a pre-redemption Loki, it doesn't mean he's a completely different Loki. He's still the same Loki, just from an earlier point of time. All the willingness to become a better man and grow closer to Thor is still theoretically inside him – he just needs a bit of a push and a reason to want to become a better man. There are a number of different ways Loki could set him on a path to becoming a true hero, but it would create the most interesting dynamic if it were Verity Willis, and not Black Widow or Lady Loki, who helps the God of Mischief do it.

More: The Loki Series Needs To Show Thor's MCU Journey From Loki's Perspective

Loki Theory: The Woman In The Trailer Is Verity Willis (Not Black Widow) from https://ift.tt/3rUvto9