#hidden manipulation

[aaronabke]

There is no government - It is all run by the central banks

[reality-detective]

Weather manipulation using lasers explained on main stream media 🤔

[agirlking]

Remmick is actually charming and capable of manipulation (he is also a bit off putting)

I see a lot of takes about how Remmick can't be suave, charming, seductive, so on, here's why I don't think they're entirely right.

(Though I agree he's not traditionally seductive, at least not when we see him in the film, he doesn't seem to focus on sex. But he can be seductive and tempting in another sense.)

Remmick's true strength in terms of charm and manipulation is not getting it right instantly, it's in his ability to rapidly adjust.

I think the scene with Bert and Joan shows this right away.

He stops using the word Choctaw when Bert starts using slurs. His manipulation wasn't perfect right away, but he adjusted almost right away. He sees how resistant they are and starts crying. People are going to be uncomfortable with someone they don't know crying in front of them, (unfortunately) all the more when they're a man, he was getting them to think less.

(Also he sees the robes and assumes that they don't have enough compassion to help someone out of the goodness of their hearts, which is a very reasonable assumption, and then he switches to offering money. Once again he is able to adapt rapidly.)

To touch on his limited background info; We know that Remmick came to America in 1911, and we know he lost his "family" on the boat, he was the only survivor. I personally believe that he spent the next 21 years isolated. He wasn't turning people, nor do I think turning people en masse was typical behavior for him.

He was leaving Ireland, he turned everyone on the boat (assuming none of them were older vampires who'd been with him for awhile) to hold onto his community, it just backfired horribly for one reason or another.

But if Remmick turned people like that all the time? There's no way he made it to 1300 without someone taking him out. Actually you can also look at his accent as further proof. He came to America in a time when he would absolutely be discriminated against for being Irish, and I think it must've taken time to hide his accent. If he was also super weird and off putting all the time on top of being Irish, again, he'd have constantly attracted violence. The fact he even put both the thought and the effort into faking an accent (which he's doing quite well at other than here or there where his real accent slips in) shows he's capable of calculation and manipulation.

I fully believe Remmick only turned Bert and Joan out of desperation. He approached the Choctaw (the real life Irish Choctaw history probably played a part in his decision making) wanting to turn them, the first major attempt he'd made since the boat, but they figured him out. He finally turns Bert and Joan because they were the only ones who opened the door, so to speak.

Then he gets to the Juke Joint, 21 years of isolation have him rusty, and he hasn't been around this particular community in that time I would bet. He doesn't have enough info to realize how strange he's coming across, and after seeing Sammie's gift and his desperation to see his ancestors he rushes into things. If he'd approached a group of people that didn't have reasons to be automatically wary of him then they'd likely have thought he was a bit odd but completely harmless and let him in.

(Notably, Cornbread liked the singing and so did Stack, and Stack was about to let him in but Smoke vetoed it. Even after, Stack gives him a chance and had Mary not... distracted him, Remmick would've gotten in. So it seems his manipulation isn't going too badly. Though obviously the money situation prompts a lot of that.)

When Mary approaches the group Remmick's already changed how he's handling things. His song is much more gentle and welcoming than the very creepy one he chose initially. He singles out Mary's specific pain, (I think this is key, he's better at manipulating individuals than he is massive groups. I also think he has some kind of telepathy or empathy because he seems to be able to sense Mary is grieving.), and her longing for companionship in her grief.

The way he speaks to her initially is completely normal ("were you lookin' for some fresh air, or?"), the only particularly strange thing is how Bert and Joan are acting (which I have thoughts about due to @cannibalfogdreams and I discussing this privately, but this post is long enough). When Remmick truly starts acting strange it's not because he can't act human or normal (he's been doing just fine in this conversation) it's because he's in a rush and doesn't need to do that. Mary's far enough away from the Juke Joint she has no chance of getting back to it even if she ran. He's already won.

I imagine if Remmick wasn't so frantic and if his goal had only been to turn Mary he would've taken his time and kept manipulating her and breaking down her walls until she was more inclined to listen to what he was saying. (I'm not swearing she ever would've fully bought into what he was selling, just that he was clearly succeeding at swaying her to some extent before he stopped bothering.)

Also why is it Remmick backs off when Mary pulls a gun on him? It's obviously not going to kill him, and there's reason to think their ability to feel pain (minus coming from something like garlic) is muted. Stack tells Sammie in 1992 he wouldn't hurt anymore, and Cornbread seems to be doing fine even with a ton of his face missing, same for the gentleman who got sliced up by the guy using loaded dice. So I don't think it's because a gunshot would be that painful for him.

I think it's because someone could've heard her fire and that would've made them suspicious of her and even more suspicious of Remmick and co than they already were. That's calculating.

He not only backed off and wiped his face when she pulled the gun, he waited until she fully turned her back and was walking away to attack and turn her. He could've just grabbed and bitten her then, but she probably would've fired a shot and/or screamed.

Later on he still attempts to convince everyone, but when Stack and Mary show up he lets them basically take over, and I do believe that is their own words, they are in a hivemind but their own self is not gone, just influenced. (As mentioned in a previous post I think they're basically high.) And it almost works! Stack nearly gets Smoke out the door. He knew to step back and let the people that know those in the Juke Joint take over the attempts at convincing.

There's probably more I'm forgetting but this has been bugging me a lot. Just because Remmick acts very strange sometimes doesn't mean he can't be suave and charming, it just depends on the situation, how much he wants to be convincing, and how much information he has.

TLDR: "Remmick is weird" and "Remmick is a capable, charismatic, manipulator" are takes that can coexist.

[nightmarearian]

yk, I want Bludhaven’s Nightwing and Gotham’s Nightwing to be different.

In Gotham, obviously there are. A lot more people. There, he is “the nice one” (compared to the others).

In Bludhaven? Blud-worse crime rate than Gotham-Haven, managed only by Nightwing? There’s no fuckin way.

Personally I don’t think it’s. Mainly a conscious decision or smth? Just he does more in Bludhaven and maybe ends up being generally less cheery? Or smth. He’s more willing to be (externally) tired with Bludhaven than he would be with Gotham.

Idk, smth for him to really embody the Terror of Bludhaven title yk? Nightwing is Bludhaven’s Batman; you know like, before robin and everything. He works too hard and he’s something to be scared of. He is Bludhaven’s Batman - just a bit more flippy & quippy (and a lot more friends).

[pigeonclaw]

you don't have to grieve alone

[cruelplatonic]

my personal headcanon is the vees were unremarkable nobodies when they were alive. i just love it as a thematic throughline for them. they love to let the public of hell speculate on them being famed and acclaimed since before death, but the the truth is they were a d-list failed influencer that got by on cheap controversey and scamming, a broke junkie who burned every shaky bridge he ever had, and a worn-out broadcast production assistant with more rejected auditions and tossed out script pitches than he could count. nobody missed them when they were gone, nobody cared who they were until they were dead.

[thethespacecoyote]

contemplating what exactly it was about ford that made bill feel important now

[dimonds456]

Headcanon: Papyrus believes that everyone has the capacity for good and change because Sans also believes that. He's the one who taught him that, and Papyrus ran with it to its extreme.

[amber-in-the-rough]

why would Aaravos want a mortal vessel?

alright, so

I've watched the new season. I've already screamed and cried and rolled under the table and I have one final question left.

Why would Aaravos want a mortal vessel? Especially now, when the Archdragons are gone. He is supposed to be infinitely stronger than any other being on Xadia. Supposed to, yeah. Did you see the so called 'master of all six primal sources' show off his mastery more than once? Because I didn't. And it pisses me off beyond measure because it really seems like bad writing to me. He just fucking didn't do anything, just stood there, waiting for his enemies to charge at him. He was easily overcome by fucking human chains and ballistas- and one archdragon- when we were said that in the past he could easily hold off against all of them! Damn. Imo, Aaravos was seriously downplayed this season.

I know, perhaps this was his plan- to get himself killed and take all of the archdragons with him. Even so, he should've put up more of a fight. NOT JUST STAND THERE WAITING TO BE SMACKED!

And still why? Why want Callum as a mortal vessel? It doesn't make any sense. Maybe the Star Council or what's they're called- maybe they have a restriction prohibiting them to hurt mortals? Which sounds rather stupid but it's the only explanation I can think of.

The creators tried to do the build-up for arc 3 and in doing so they rushed and blurred the arc 2 finale. Putting together the archdragon drama, killing Aaravos drama and Rayllum drama was a mistake. Neither got fully developed. And were they seriously trying to tell us that the main cast would have survived the nuclear burst explosion of a star while being protected only by Domina's wings??? What are the wicked things even made of?? Oceanic mithril???

The final showdown felt like a series of Chekhov's guns which never fired. They just made a lot of drama around them, then showed them to us and- that's it. I suppose, Aaravos's plan was to get stabbed by the Nova blade, then take over Callum's body (for whatever reason) as his giant form was being destroyed. But then- we return to the question of why move to another body when there's nothing stopping Ezran from stabbing Aaravos in Callum's body (aside from their brotherly bond but that's no big deal, he just needs to ask Soren or whatever-).

As a result, we got Ezran with a Nova blade which never got to be used- Callum with his coin spell which was interrupted halfway because Aaravos got charged at by a dragon and Callum's gunsight was broken??? ??? That's- I'll be honest, this is so dumb. No Nova, no dark magic. Why even bring that at all?

And finally, what did Aaravos even die from? He did not sustain any lethal damage. When Zubeia and Avizandum were lifting him up (and yes, why didn't he stop them? did he forget all of his spells and telekinesis as well??), what were they thinking?.. What were they gonna do? It looked like they were about to drop him but- this is also so dumb. I don't think that would have worked because if Aaravos is so easy to kill- Why the fuck didn't they kill him 300 years ago??? "Didn't want to?". God damn.

I won't believe that Aaravos didn't have the power to take down the archdragons and that's why he simply decided it would be easier to go boom and set off the rebirth cycle. I refuse to believe that he is so weak. After all, one, he already killed two archdragons and that went fine. And two, even humans managed to kill one! They even survived!

Overall, I am absolutely in love with the first half of the season. I loved all the conflict everywhere, the part in Silvergrove was wonderful, felt like a real holiday- The adventures of Claudia and Co were also very exciting to watch!

But after that... It got rushed, blurred and very, very odd.

At least we got a white streak Callum. And a whole lot of 1 (one) interaction between Aaravos and Callum. That's an achievement, yeah. I love when the main protagonist and the main antagonist only have two interactions throughout all of the seasons (no, I don't, I fucking hate it).

That would be all. This is entirely my humble and angry opinion so- you are welcome to disagree. But I will stand my ground. This went very oddly and some parts I unfortunately didn't like. But I am all in for arc 3. Even angry and a little disappointed, I still fucking love this show and would be more than excited to see how it all goes from here. We still have so much to learn and see. The cube, Claudia, Rayllum, Elarion, grown up and talking Zym (it was such a twist!), Harrow in a bird... Please let us see this! Please, Netflix! Aaravos is not defeated, he merely retreated, please let us see how they'll deal with him in seven years!

[nenoname]

it really is a shame we only got a distant view of the birchtree cult and what else bill had done to others long before that cos it all really was glossed over by the fandom....

[reality-detective]

Greg Reese Report 👇

How to Steer Hurricanes, Flood Homes, and Steal Lithium.

[high-in-the-tower]

Watching this show with my mom who knows nothing and she told me she likes Louis with Armand better than with Lestat because he's "less manipulative",,,,,,,,,chat I had to tell her

[chaotic-pulsar]

Mara Jade

*sobbing*

Mara Jade…

*incoherent mumbling*

Mara Jade + Luke Skywalker

*crying screaming throwing up*

[eucanthos]

Volker Hermes

Hidden Pourbus V, 2019. Photocollage. Οngoing series, Hidden Portraits Frans Pourbus the Younger Margherita Gonzaga , Princess of Mantua, ca. 1606 eucanthos' Probus' Nose after Volker Hermes

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2021/03/volker-hermes-paintings/

https://www.hermes.art/

https://www.hermes.art/prints

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Margherita_Gonzaga,Duchess_of_Lorraine_by_Frans_Pourbus(II),_c._1606.jpg

[qoldenskies]

How much of canon ROTTMNT has happened already in CC? They've already fought Shredder but they don't know what ninpo is yet

they talk about shredder in regards to many unhappy returns! pretty much everything has happened up to before battle nexus new york and the ensuing season 2 finale. im being flexible with the timeline/passage of time just because rise already is otherwise (all that really matters is that those events will be held off because of this, but the epilogue oneshot will cover the aftermath of them!)

[room217prayer]

One thing I would LOVE to see - knowing it might not happen, like AT ALL - is that after CC3 Nesta seems to be directed toward the Dusk Court and... What if she's indeed given the possibility of being its ruler, as a High Lady?

And... What if she refuses? What if it's Gwyn, or is it some other Fae that inherits the role?

What if, if Nesta refuses, she's free to see the world, to travel... To live?

What if, if Elain doesn't choose the mating bond - for now or ever - she cuts ties to the Nigh Court to find herself?

What if, if Feyre loses her position as "High Lady" of the NC, she finds that being forgotten isn't such a bad thing?

Like, they were forced to be in this situation, to stay in Prythian, so why should they be locked there? Why should they rule something they didn't want nor do they want to learn to know or love?

Why can't it be someone of the land, who will cherish it?

Nesta is a queen - or so most say that about her - but, does she really need to be it over something, other than for herself?

I would love if, at the end of the Acotar series, something like this would happen.