#hinting blink-and-you'll-miss foreshadows

[deconstructthesoup]

Have I already posted something like this? Yes. Am I gonna do this anyway? Also yes.

*clears throat*

Reasons why you should read the How To Train Your Dragon books if you haven't already (regardless of whether or not you're a fan of the movies)

The drawings throughout the books can range from being silly little doodles one moment to unforgettable portrayals of some of the most intense scenes in fiction you'll ever read.

Toothless is A Baby (and a bit of an asshole, but in the same way that a cat is an asshole).

Hiccup can verbally communicate with dragons, and the dragon language is canonically composed out of absolute nonsense

Fishlegs is ten times more important to the story due to being Hiccup's best friend, and he also has an incredibly lovely arc of his own.

Speaking of arcs, Hiccup's arc throughout the series is a beautiful portrayal of a misfit becoming a hero in his own way and advocating for the rejection of all of the flawed ideals that his ancestors put into place.

Seriously, this is a book series about choosing to be intelligent, imaginative, and empathetic in a society that wants you to be the opposite of all of that.

While Astrid is great, Camicazi---the character who was probably her jumping-off point, since they both have a dragon named Stormfly---is a feral gremlin of a girl who we should all aspire to be (also, as far as I can recall, there's never any hints of there being something romantic between her and Hiccup, or her and Fishlegs---it's just a great platonic friendship between the three of them, which is a win for me personally).

Alvin the fucking Treacherous. This, to me, is something that the movies absolutely should've added, because he is one of the best goddamn villains... ever. I genuinely cannot think of any other piece of media that shows the main antagonist developing side-by-side alongside the hero, becoming a worse and worse threat as the story gets darker and the stakes get higher, but my god did it rewire my mind as a kid... and for spoilers, that's all I'll say about it!

The dragon designs are the. Most. Fun. Every single kind of dragon in this series is unique, memorable, and more often than not, really hammers in the fact that "dragon" is a word that encompasses a vast number of traits---really, it just means a creature that's weird and somewhat reptillian, and these books take that concept and run. With. It.

THE LORE AND FORESHADOWING IS FUCKING LEGENDARY. If I go into any detail, I will spoil so much, but let it be known that if you're writing a story, and you want to work in foreshadowing and big reveals in both a mystery and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it fashion, these books are a masterclass in how to do it. Loose threads that you don't even know existed will be woven in right when you least expect it.

Honestly... I don't think it's too much of a stretch to compare How To Train Your Dragon to Adventure Time, because their way of storytelling is similar in all the best ways. Yes, at first, it leans more on the comedic side of things, but as you delve further into the story, it unfolds into a truly fascinating epic about growing up and what it means to be a hero... and it also gets very, very dark. I'm not exaggerating when I say that some parts of the later books gave me nightmares, and I loved every second of it.

Big fucking kaiju sea dragons with eyes that shoot lightning what more could you WANT

[kandadze]

FoF rewatch ep 3: or, Gone sleuthing (gifs and loose thoughts)

Before we begin, let's take a second to appreciate our beautiful elven boy and his (absolutely adorable) tiny bright blue horns hair clips (while he's roasting ZYZ for being sarcastic at the prospect of the rest of the squad losing their heads in 5 days' time... that's why you never sign a binding document in blanco, folks!):

Speaking of signing binding documents, let's look at the Great Demon acting all cool while literally at the feet of our archivist:

This moment, the way it was lit and the angle at which it was shot, is just everything:

(Look at him, so pleased with himself:)

And now let's take a second to appreciate ZYZ's slow blink at ZYC after telling him about the life contract with WX:

Overall, knowing how the story progressed, ep 3 is the last one where humor definitely outweighed the angst, and any hints for our characters' backstories were merely sketches. We get a lot of running around collecting clues, with Bai Jiu being the main comic relief, the girls not far behind, and everyone roasting the hell out of ZYZ while he only sometimes nips back, pretty jovially, and mainly at ZYC.

(Damsel Bai Jiu, desperately in need of smelling salts)

The girls:

The boys doing their sleuthing in their own ways:

Also, this is the first ep with our characters shown outside of the city, in nature, and it's so beautiful:

"All demons are ugly." "Nonsense!"

(Reader, it was indeed nonsense.)

ZYZ: talks about white hair being beautiful to demons

ZYC's Petty Little Bitch mode: activated

(But soft, reader, here's proof that our lovely ZYC has since matured lol)

Right in the middle of the sleuthing shenanigans, we have a beautiful conversation about dreams, human nature, how everyone wishes for something, how everyone has something they want to escape from. We get a mention of the Truth Eye, together with a blink-and-you'll-miss-it wistful look from ZYZ that makes so much sense later.

We find out that ZYC doesn't dream; in WX's memory, we hear ZYC's explanation of why he fears to dream, and for the umpteenth time on this rewatch, I went (say it with me), foreshadowingggg!

Aaaaaand we get introduced to our sexy possessive demon, though we have no clue who the heck he is at this point, only that he knows ZYZ and is clearly uhhhh conflicted about him.

Also holy shit but only now on the rewatch did I realize what the illusion Ran Yi tried to use on ZYZ was - and why ZYZ was so freaked out... (all together now: foreshadowing!!!! I swear if I took a shot each time I say it while rewatching I'd put myself in a goddamn coma.)

Huh, Ran Yi thought ZYZ had the Truth Eye... on the first watch we still don't quite know what that is, only that it helps to see through the illusions, so it would make sense that ZYZ has it. Rewatching, and knowing that he doesn't, *and* what happened to it... makes for a nice little circle going back to LL's introduction.

Speaking of the devil, the possessive demon is gonna possess (*and* also look good while at it):

And our demon hunter now knows that there's definitely something... fishy going on in the Qi manor:

Ahhhh I forgot about the low maintenance pets exchange! XD All the kinks unlocked in this drama istg...

Huh, I also completely forgot about him catching the arrow!

ZYZ flashing back to the younger, softer LL just as he half shields WX from what he knows is a completely different animal *now*, is absolutely not hitting me in any feels, nope:

(There's also something to be said about the fact that ZYZ is not surprised by LL possessing some (not so) random dude, so even on the first watch we're bound to assume that it happened before and ZYZ is not a fan. We don't get to see any of those instances, but one sentence from ZYZ is enough.)

WX immediately recognizes LL's name but still thinks it was him who killed her shifu, simply because being tossed aside like a rag doll by him is the last thing she remembers from that day...

I was close to screeching at my screen when he activated the true seeing in her, and not only is he ::gestures at the whole of him:: but then she looks to the side and ZYZ looks like *that*, and the effect is still not lost on me on the second viewing:

They made sure to end almost every ep with a well timed cliffhanger, but since we don't have to worry about that anymore, on to ep 4!

I'll just leave this pretty shot here before I go, because those swirly things are so cool (and so unsettling when put in context):

[blue-eyed-beastie]

A Closer Look at Belle's Book

This illustration is foreshadowing at its finest.

I've seen Beauty and the Beast countless times, but only very recently in 4K. It's actually been a lot of fun for me to pause a scene now and then to view details that I'd never noticed before, despite being so familiar with the film. One of the first things I noticed in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment is the existence of two marble statues resembling the main characters in the opening narration. My most recent discovery has to do with the illustration inside Belle's book when she's sitting on the fountain in the center of town.

Most people realize on their very first viewing that the maiden's blue dress and dark hair are meant to resemble Belle, but what about her companion? It's supposed to be the Beast, right? It's a creature on all fours, standing at the edge of a garden, right? Wrong!

To be fair, it is meant to foreshadow Belle's future romance with her own "prince in disguise", but the illustration is simply that of a man leaning over a low stone wall. What I had perceived as a space between the creature's 'hind legs' is actually the man's hand resting on the wall. So, the caption: "Le Prince Charmant" fits the illustration, after all. A prince in disguise, indeed.

And speaking of princes in disguise... As I was studying the illustration, I was suddenly and profoundly reminded of Disney's Snow White! And not just because of the art style. In each story, our heroine doesn't know the identity of the man who is actually a prince, and in each instance, she's wearing a blue hair ribbon!

Snow White screencaps - source

Even Snow White's castle bears a resemblance to the one in the illustration! (I know Prince Adam's castle is white and red as well, but it's more about the watercolor style of the illustration, in this case.)

Anyway, despite the remarkable resemblance, I doubt that the story Belle is reading is actually about Snow White. I've seen discourse that suggests that she is reading about Aladdin (which was in production at the time), or even Sleeping Beauty. Both female leads in those films wear blue, but Aladdin isn't a prince when he meets Jasmine, and Aurora isn't wearing blue when she meets Prince Phillip, nor does she have dark hair. That doesn't mean that the story is about Snow White, either, despite my previous point about their artistic resemblance. But I'll save that discussion for another post.

For now, I want to focus on the illustration as it pertains to this film. Hinting at Belle's future romance as she's reading one is one thing, but watching it play out is another. I am certain that this scene of Belle and Beast in the snow is intended to mirror the illustration.

It's so poetic, isn't it?

Spring vs. Winter. Man vs. Beast. A blue gown vs. a pink one.

Even the song in each scene is the same! Albeit with different lyrics:

Belle:

"Oh, isn't this amazing? It's my favorite part because—you’ll see Here's where she meets Prince Charming But she won't discover that it's him 'til Chapter Three!"

Something There:

"New, and a bit alarming Who'd have ever thought that this could be? True, that he's no Prince Charming But there's something in him That I simply didn't see."

Foreshadowing at its finest.

[thesiltverses]

So, I'm listening to "I am in Eskew" and first of all, poor poor David. Secondly: holy smokes this is gorgeous, terrifying and so tightly written. I'm still only at episode 11, because I listen and re-listen and go through transcripts to find subtle 'blink and you'll miss it' lore bits, foreshadowing hints or just the true depth of the horror. Anyway, I wanted to ask - did you already have an idea for TSV when you wrote Graft? Given how neatly it would fit in both universes, I'm curious about the history there. I am just. So impressed with themes you throughout your stories.

I did not! The idea for TSV didn't come about until very much after Eskew was complete.

The Graft was a pretty straightforward rip-off of the row-house monster from Uzumaki (where people who've been confined in cramped living conditions for too long form into a kind of fleshy amalgamation that tries to add you to it).

So we were taking that logic and applying it to flesh grafts, and I think injecting a bit of Rover from The Prisoner, because giant sentient kiler balls are both sort of horrific and very funny

[hestzhyen]

Leap of (Lack of) Faith

There's some discourse about Hakuri's suicide attempt in chapter 24 going around on Twitter that got me thinking. Well, actually, I just want to share my own pointless take. Yeah, I genuinely want to be perceived for once. But I hate trying to communicate in 240-character snippets on that hellsite, so I'll post here to rot in obscurity where I'm most comfortable.

Basically, there was a post in the Kagurabachi Twitter community that requested to talk about the abuse flashback-jump sequence. And yeah, uh, I'm kind of surprised at how little it gets brought up too. To quote myself:

Please don't ask me why I have three different usernames- there's no satisfying answer.

It's been a while since chapter 24 happened, so let's recap the lead up to this important moment. We first see Hakuri in Ch. 19 with his drink spilling out of his mouth, putting his inner monologue about "hav[ing] to grit your teeth and push through" to the lie. The very first shot of him, the very first food metaphor we see with him, is Hakuri being unable to cope. We don't know why he lost his his family, but he's clearly alone and not doing well. He's struggling.

Next thing we see is him being coincidentally saved by Chihiro. We get a full page of him narrating his impression of the moment, showing us the contrast between his desire to do some unspecified "job" and his fatalistic frame of mind. Then we learn he's weak as hell even though his heart's in the right place. He saves a little girl and insists on being taken back to the Yakuza's hideout, leading him to get kicked around and beaten up. He's a bloody, scribbly-eyed mess by the time he meets Chihiro for real. And this is exactly how we are supposed to see him until the moment he jumps in chapter 24.

It's so, so easy to overlook the hints towards Hakuri's painful past due to the way he's written. Most of his actions and dialogue are framed in a comedic way to bounce off of Chihiro's stoicism. Hakuri's pessimistic inner monologues when he's being hurt or nearly killed are right at home in this demographic too- wimps start at their lowest to leave lots of room to grow. And Shounen series always have a weak, lonely kid who's inspired to become strong. It's extremely standard stuff. But this moment right here was probably the biggest, most blatant hint that he's got more to his circumstances than the average zero-to-hero character:

That tiny little panel of him casually smearing the blood from his nose while he talks to Chihiro lives rent-free in my head. It's a throwaway motion in the moment, and not really out of place in an ultra-violent series like Kagurabachi. But compare that to how Azami -a professional combat sorcerer and war veteran!- screamed when he realized his hand was sliced in chapter 7, or how Chihiro is often shown wincing and having to adjust to his injuries. These characters definitely feel the hits that land on them. But the most hilariously pathetic character yet acts like the beat-down he received never happened. Nor like he's surrounded by bloody corpses. Hakuri is not only used to violence, he's used to it experiencing it.

Again, this is all framed in a comedic way due to his over-the-top personality and expressions. He's a freakish mess on the floor after taking the hit from Hiyuki, sobs in a silly way over Chihiro's backstory, is called "weak" and "a moron" and "a mess" by other characters, on and on. Hakuri's not written like he's supposed to be taken seriously after the first few pages we see of him.

The only other moments of foreshadowing came in chapter 23 as a set of blink-and-you'll miss panels and the last scene:

Hakuri's clenched, shaking fist when he talks about his "scary" older siblings isn't a huge tell. Neither is the insistence that they'd kill him on sight. We can comfortably assume that he's afraid of the consequences of betraying his powerful family despite being a weakling- that's where most authors would have gone with this scenario. But then why does his big brother Soya look so happy to see him? Was Hakuri over-reacting again when he talked about his family? Something's off here, but it's impossible to say exactly what.

The next chapter starts. Chihiro and Shiba are facing off against the Tou and it's looking tense. Chihiro flashes back to his dad talking about the Shinuchi, the fight's about to begin- but it cuts to Soya being a pretty normal person who misses his little brother.

And then we see this.

Suddenly a whole new and very serious dimension is added to Hakuri's character. He's not a goofy weakling that's going to improve himself with some determination and a training arc: he's a victim of abuse. This is the signal that the Sazanamis are truly fucked up more than we know, setting the stage for the major themes of the Rakuzaichi arc. And it makes re-reading those little bits of foreshadowing so much more painful.

This scene is the "oh shit" equivalent of Chihiro finding Char's severed leg in the car- yeah, the author really went there. And it's not even the last time we'll get a moment like this for Hakuri. The Ice Lady chapter is rightly remembered for it's impact, but Hakuri choosing to commit suicide should be held up alongside it IMO. Again: the author really went there, and not just for the shock value.

This moment should be remembered far more often than it is. It was the pivot from Hakuri being a generic potential sidekick into a complex and fully-realized character. Hakuri found people who could help him. Who treated him kindly. Who inspired him. But he chose death in an instant when his past came back to haunt him. Despite his improved circumstances, he had no hope for the future. He only felt fear and the urge to escape from looming torment.

Looking at what we know up to this chapter alone... how can you not feel for him? This goofy, ridiculous mess of a boy is really truly hurting and probably has been for years. But like many victims, he downplays and doesn't talk about it. He just tries to escape via whatever means he can.

So it burns me up that people are still reducing him to Chihiro's silly sidekick. If this scene was somehow not enough to dispel that notion, consider that Chihiro probably doesn't know that Hakuri had all those tools used on him, much less anything about Ice Lady. He knows that Hakuri was regularly ganged up on and beaten, and probably could infer that Kyoura deliberately looked away. But we haven't seen Hakuri talk about in detail about how "someone set him on the right path", nor mention taking a flying leap, nor share what's in his storehouse. He's still got a hell of a lot of literal and metaphorical pain he keeps inside. In the right circumstances, Hakuri could jump again.

Talk about this scene more often! REMEMBER it more often!

[qqchurch]

insane how long it took me to look at the cockpit screens again after the "SYS Ver. E.S." thing, but working it backwards, let's start with Episode 17's bit right before Aerial got shut down:

"SYS Ver. 2.0", a very familiar OS from way back in the Prologue with Lfrith:

For reference, the Aerial has been running on the "SYS Ver. E.S." OS since Episode 1 (and the 1st OP):

The question, then, is "when did Aerial's OS get changed?" and while it's tempting to say it was during the modifications on Episode 17 that let it get remote-shutdown, there's a very blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in Episode 14 where it shows you the same view in the cockpit right before the start of the Rumble Ring:

Unfortunately, you could only barely read what it says even at 1080p:

But it's close enough that it could read as "2.0" instead of "E.S.", so it's safe to assume that Aerial's OS switched back to Lfrith's "SYS Ver. 2.0" during its refitting into the Aerial Rebuild.

That said, though, there is a curiosity floating about—Lfrith Thorn (and Ur):

From the same episode as the previous screencaps, we see that Lfrith Thorn is also running the "SYS Ver. 2.0" OS and we can assume that Lfrith Ur is also the same.

Does this mean anything? Who knows! The best foreshadowing these UI details have given so far was "SYS Ver. E.S." hinting at the reveal at Episode 14, but the OS switching around is a headscratcher. It could've signified Eri's exit from Aerial at the end of Episode 17, but the implication that the Aerial's OS has been at "SYS Ver. 2.0" since its refit leaves me shrugging.

As a bonus, here's Pharact's UI:

"CONTROL SYSTEM Ver. 5.0 (or .50)"

[animehouse-moe]

Heavenly Delusion Episode 3: Kiriko and Haruki

I can't tell what's causing these tears to stream from my face: whether it's the sheer happiness at the insanity that Production I.G is putting into Heavenly Delusion, or at how emotional this episode was made to be. Whichever it is, I.G is recreating the Bocchi phenomenon. Just unbelievable episode after unbelievable episode, not just adapting the series, but adding to it, allowing it to evolve and metamorphose into something beyond its original beauty. Which is a dizzying concept to wrap your head around when Heavenly Delusion was already an incredibly highly rated and critically acclaimed manga in Japan.

So, where do I begin? I think I'll go with excitedly chattering about the beautiful foreshadowing and hinting that stipple the prior episodes. Since the first episode we've known Kiruko to not be what they seem to be. From the get-go, they mess up their age in both episodes, relaying their age when they were Haruki, before correcting to Kiriko's age. Following that, in the first episode as well, we get the mirror scene with Kiruko. Production I.G did stellar work here, as they changed the location and shape of the crack/missing piece in the mirror so that it would separate Kiruko's head from their body. And lastly, a very minor detail and a blink and you'll miss it piece was the older guy calling Kiruko "Kiriko", rather than a 'ru' in the middle there was a 'ri', differentiating between the two people. Just absolutely incredible work.

Speaking of incredible work, the most emotional and powerful scene of this episode was an anime original. From the moment that we shift from Kiriko crying, it's all original work. It's stunning, and even adds its own flavor of foreshadowing once more.

Haruki re-living the history of his life with his sister when on the edge of life and death is just a beautiful piece. Reminiscing about the warmest pieces of their history, starting with being carried on her back (which is most likely mirroring what's happening in reality) is just chilling. The warmth and happiness that opposes the cold winter they trudge through is so expressive. Sharing food and smiles, reliving memories of their time together where they had a home, where they had a family.

And that red line that cuts across the screen, God. At first I thought it was going to be a heart rate, but it's far more than that. It's a separation, both in the figurative and literal sense. It separates Haruki's mind from his body, from which blood begins to seep, and it drives a line between him and his elder sister, one that can never be crossed or put back together.

The last thing that Haruki sees in his dream is his sister, being blotted out by a pool of blood. A gunshot rings out and he finds his sister once more, in a slightly different world. She traded her life for Haruki's, giving herself up to the Hiruko. Kiruko now awakes. Alone, empty, isolated.

It's... incredible. It takes from almost nothing to create something so impactful, so emotional and powerful, so central to Kiruko's journey. I don't even feel like writing about the other aspects of this episode because this scene is just so... commanding.

Maybe, maybe I'll write some more about the episode later. But it just all pales in comparison to this single moment. Production I.G hasn't just struck gold, it's gone beyond that in how treasured and priceless these moments are. Mori Hirotaka is already within the realm of the gods with incredible direction like this.

[heartsgallery]

I agree about most substantially deliberate HSM parallels ending on s1. I feel like Josh and Sofia's chemistry as Ricky and Gina was an unexpected goldmine that fell in Tim's hands and he adjusted accordingly (possibly rewrote portions of the script or changed character backgrounds/stories or personalities) after all the screen tests with every actor! I may be in the minority, but I feel like original plans for the show were supposed to keep R*ni the whole time and will they wont they them like some annoying Ross Rachel rehash but Tim couldnt waste the potential of Rina (tested the waters with those middle eps and boy did we fishes snap at that fishing line 😂). That's why s1 sometimes feels disconnected with the pivot to Rina and the abrupt pivot back to R*ni (like 2 different stories). Season 2, he really started delving deep into Rina and you can see so clearly the groundwork he laid out for an angsty Rina will they wont they slow burn that failed with R*ni in s1. The interesting part is you can see in the narrative that Tim has written and has been writing Gina as the "Gabriella" lead since s1, even though Nini is presented as primary lead. Honestly that's why s1 has a disconnect to me sometimes too because it feels like the wrong protagonist is being followed and the wrong story being told?? if that makes sense.

Now I feel like though he's not persisting on HSM parallels, he is dropping little hints as reminders to keep viewers on track. Costuming for example, is sometimes deliberate. One of the biggest someone paralleled was the Troyella floral pink and blue, which Rina got 😮 Ricky's skate rate style imo has never been shirts like that, and though it works, the departure from his typical style just to make him wear that blue orange striped shirt seems deliberate too. It's a subtle but blatant iykyk kind of thing but if you don't, you'll blink and miss it kind of thing at the same time. The person who found that link should get applause! Cuz technically yeah, both pw and Rina have had "Troyella" moments this season, but the costuming seems like a deliberate way to subtly remind viewers that if you get baited by the pw "Troyella" HSM 2 thing, you'll miss the actual story playing out here. It's really quite brilliant that it makes me want to go back from the beginning and rewatch to find more of these interesting ways he's been foreshadowing Rina!

ahh first of all THANK YOU FOR SENDING ME THISSSSSS!!!! i loved reading all of it.

while i mostly agree about everything about this, i’d only discuss on the part that rini was set to be on and off. like i can imagine it being like that definitely, but also they were always doomed and they made it clear in the s1 finale that they will never work again like they did once (not all couples are meant to be together… sometimes people change). rini’s arc is strangely to me one of the best on the show. probably the most coherent and cohesive writing between s1 and s2. everything about it was hinted and it makes so much sense that is so hard for me to believe it wasn’t planned since day one.

i definitely think seeing the rina chemistry changed a lot in the future of the series i so agree with that. i mean, tim himself said that after they shoot the car scene he was so shook and he wanted to keep writing towards that (and did!). but like rini, s1 rina finale set up was so amazingly done that sometimes it’s just hard to believe that it wasn’t planned since the beginning. tim has always been so messy and talked about how he wanted to explore all the chemistry between the cast (and he did because why everyone dated everyone in the core four😭) and also with his rants since the very s1 about how he grew up with dawsons creek (very known for his surprising ship that ended up going down on history), so i think the possibility rina has always been the plan exists. i mean, he did write the car scene before he saw them so he was already planning something with them…

the part about how s1 felt weird because it felt like they were following the wrong protagonist is so so so true. gina having the whole moving away all the time storyline just as gabriella wasn’t a coincidence at all. also nini not having any gabriella trait besides playing her in the show😭 i mean, if you look at it know, it kinda makes sense. the show making you think nini was ricky’s troy gabriella, when at the end of the day it was always gina👩‍💻

also i love that you pointed out the costume thing because i agree with that, specially with ricky wearing that kind of stuff because it’s not really his style so it def seems on purpose. i think someone also pointed out that his spin dip shirt or the one in the clip he’s singing in the finale (they look so much alike so idk which one) were the same as troy’s in the hsm2 poster. if we’re talking about troyella real parallels that’s what we should talk about!!!

again thank u so much for dropping this here❤️❤️🫶🏻

[ilikekidsshows]

First thing first, I want to say thank you for all the counterargument for the senti theory. Seriously, during all these time when people shouting THE THEORY IS CANON your blog always give me relief and I thank you wholeheartedly. Even when people ridicule me saying I'm in denial because apparently the 'staff being throwing obvious hints like crazy' and 'ambasador confirmed it has been building since s1' your blog always give me assurance that I need.

Second and lastly, I don't understand when people said 'the hints is there' because I never see it, what hints? Gabriel fidget with the ring is something similar with what I do when I'm nervous, adrien obeying his father is something a child would do, even more so in abusive situation and it's normal thing that has nothing to do with the whole senti being thing. I'm watching the show with my niece and nephew who is 9 and 11 which is the target audience for miraculous and they see nothing as well. So why would the show use something that the kids wouldn't understand or catch in the first glance? That just beyond my comprehension, actually the whole theory is.

Thanks! I've pretty much accepted my role as the chairman of the "People Who Don't Like SentiAdrien" Support Group.

This is actually something I thought about yesterday but I didn’t have the time to make a post then, so thanks for reminding me. A big thing about the "SentiAdrien story" is that it exists on social media, not in the show. And the Theory Stans get mixed up over this and think that the show has been obvious about it when it hasn’t. It’s partially because of their confirmation bias: they think it’s fact so everything is obvious evidence for it even when there are other explanations too. However, some of it is caused by an overindulgence in SentiAdrien content.

The SentiAdrien Theory really got going through season four, because the season four fandom is the perfect breeding ground for it. The episodes drop sporadically, Gabriel is acting erratically and the show seems to be full of high drama when said “high drama” is mostly played for laughs or solved pretty easily. This atmosphere has people expecting the show to be grimdark while also turning to fanworks to pass the time, and a lot of the fanworks are about the SentiAdrien Theory, since it’s popular and grimdark. There are fanfics and fanart about it and, most importantly, there are a lot of posts where people pick at minor details and build elaborate structures of symbolism and meaning out of them.

And the people who are into the Theory post a lot about the theory. Just like how seeing similar Salt posts again and again slowly makes you think like they do, the theory blogs wear down your disbelief first into “there wouldn’t be so many posts if it wasn’t likely” and then into “there wouldn’t be so many posts if it wasn’t basically canon”. I originally blocked the SentiAdrien tag even before I actively started disliking the theory simply because I saw SO MANY POSTS ABOUT IT. I had other shit to do than read the same points over and over again.

Just like people reading salt fics and salt posts start to believe the salt takes are canon, the people reading these posts analyzing how every single detail in the show is now evidence or foreshadowing for SentiAdrien get the impression that the episodes these analyses are based on are about nothing but dropping hints about SentiAdrien, so they think season four is about SentiAdrien when it really isn’t. There are so many posts explaining how all these blink-and-you'll-miss-it details are pointing towards SentiAdrien that people think: "of course it's obvious. It's basically been said word-for-word with how much hints there are!" when, in fact, every single one of those hints is questionable. It's very much not obvious to anyone who isn't a Theory Stan and constantly surrounded by Theory Stans telling them it's basically canon. The only reason I think about SentiAdrien consistently is because I'm in the Miraculous fandom on tumblr. If I was just watching the show on my spare time, I would not think it was even on the table as an option.

Because, here's the thing: no one in the show has raised a single question about Sentimonsters. The show isn't questioning the existence of Sentimonsters and what they are exactly. Any actual mystery show actually has at least one character wonder about the things the audience is supposed to be wondering about or has a clearl, definitive hint to point people in the right direction. You're meant to solve the mystery with the characters. Anyone who looks at Gabriel fidgeting with a ring will only think: "SentiAdrien Confirmed!" if someone outside of the show has told them about the theory beforehand. No one would immediately jump to that conclusion, at most they'd wonder "SentiAdrien? Maybe." The hints are less obvious than the Theory Stans think they are.

This tendency to overblow the SentiAdrien Theory is even worse with people who don’t actually watch the episodes, but just kinda absorb them through osmosis from posts made by the rest of the fandom. This is very common practice for the Miraculous fandom, since the new episodes are kinda hard to get your hands on at the moment. Because of that, there are people who haven’t seen the episodes and have only read about how this or that episode "foreshadowed" or “confirmed” SentiAdrien.

I’m not even exaggerating about some of the Stans being people who haven’t watched the season. I got someone telling me that ‘Ephemeral’ already revealed that Adrien was a Sentimonster, and several more claiming that the SentiAdrien plot has been carefully built up during season four and it’s continuing from what started in the episode ‘Ladybug’, you know, the episode I've mocked repeatedly for dedicating a whopping 59 seconds (not even a full minute) to building up sympathy for Sentibug.

Season four is apparently only about SentiAdrien despite the fact that one of the big themes the people actually watching the show have noticed is that Adrien’s presence in the average episode was greatly diminished in the first half, which is followed by Adrien getting demoted from being Ladybug’s partner in the second. I bet you can agree that an arc about how Ladybug and Cat Noir have an unequal relationship that focuses much more on Ladybug’s side of things is not the same as building up a story about how Sentimonsters are fully sentient and Adrien is one. These Stans are completely reconstructing the narrative of the show to fit their bias, which is: “I really want SentiAdrien to be a thing, so the entire season four that exists in my head is just about that no matter what happens in the actual episodes.”

[goron-king-darunia]

DotNW Remake/Remaster - Anime Cutscenes

Annon-Guy: In a DotNW Remake/Remaster, there SHOULD definitely be more Anime Cutscenes throughout the Game. I may list too much, but give me thoughts if the following scenes should be an Anime Cutscene or not. I'll save the idea of cutscene ideas for Alice and Deucs Mode, Marta DLC and Richter DLC for another time.

P.S. This is going off the original game, even if a reworked script and some reworked scenes are involved.

1. Opening Movie (Should it be the old Wii/PS3 Opening or should it be a new Opening while the Wii/PS3 Opening is a special unlockable?)

2. The Blood Purge

3. Emil's Awakening (The Knight of Ratatosk Pact scene)

4. Lady Alice (First scene with Alice)

5. Colette (First scene with Colette)

6. Zelos (First scene with Zelos)

7. Professor Sage/Fall Out (First scene with Raine and when Emil tells Marta to stop seeing him as a fantasy knight.)

8. Genis (First scene with Genis)

9. Regal (First scene with Regal)

9A. An Old Friend (Ending of the second Richter Sidequest where he talks about his old friend.)

10. Decus (First scene with Decus)

11. Marta Killed!?/Sheena (Temple of Ice Ambush and First scene with Sheena)

12. The Real You (Emil X Marta scene in the Temple of Ice after getting separated from Sheena)

13. Tenebrae's Sacrifice

14. Ain Soph Aur and Eternal Recurrence

15. The Twin Lloyd's (Lloyd vs. Fake Lloyd)

16. Reconciliation (Ratatosk Emil X Marta scene)

17. Brute, Commander of the Vanguard (First scene with Brute)

18. Presea (First scene with Presea. One sadist down for the count!)

19. Memories (Ratatosk scene with Richter and Aster)

20. Ratatosk's core (Continuation of the above)

21. Coming into Being... (The Blood Purge scene after hatching Lumen)

22. Life as Ratatosk (Emil and Ratatosk Emil scene)

23. Never Apart (Emil X Marta Altimira scene. Please have an ACTUAL on screen kiss, please!)

24. The Death of Hate (Alice and Decus death scene)

25. The End of His and Her Journey (Farewell Scene)

26. Broken Heart (Bad Ending)

27. Sealed Heart (Normal Ending. Different dialogue at the end instead of continuing into the True Ending)

28. Symphony of the Heart (True Ending at Palmacosta)

What do you think?

GKD Here! 1. I actually think it would be cooler if the Opening was a new animation but you had to unlock it. Perhaps it could be related to the DLC? 2. Blood Purge definitely needs an animated cut scene. There's so much more you can say with animation that could subtly hint to the truth of "Lloyd" and "Emil" that new players wouldn't be able to pick up on but that people who played before or new people could pick up on on the second playthrough. I love really subtle foreshadowing. 3. I want the scene given all the gravitas of a magical girl transformation and I'm not joking. I want overly complicated rotating camera, sparkles, clothes manifesting on his silhouette from nowhere. 4 - 6, 8, 9, 10, 17, 18. I honestly think every initial encounter with a significant cast member should get an animated cutscene. There's a lot more you can do with subtle or exaggerated expression and animation to convey who a character is as opposed to just having models show up, have one of a dozen emotes, and another dozen preset gestures.

7. YES. Again, it's way easier to convey this kind of thing where you can see subtle expression. 9A. It'll split my heart right in half seeing Richter being allowed to have very subtle emotions. I want it so bad.

11. Even juicier if there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment (I'm talking 2 frames at best honestly) where you can just barely see Richter show regret when he stabs Marta. Or a leaf out of Onshuu where you can see a split second relief like in Chapter 10 where Sheena steal's Marta away. Or there could be a complete fakeout with new players where it REALLY looks like Marta got killed.

12. Even though my OTP will always involve Emil being with Richter rather than Marta, I can appreciate a good mushy scene, especially if it fleshes out Marta more and makes her less insufferable.

13. I'm imagining it with the gravitas of Pell's sacrifice in the One Piece movie "The Desert Princess and the Pirates." Where Tenebrae just goes "It's been an honor serving you, Emil. You and Marta take care of each other." and there's just this slow scene of Tenebrae hoisting this massive monster into the air as Marta and Emil reach into the sky after him before this MASSIVE explosion happens. Honestly, if the scene made me cry it could make me care about Tenebrae the same way that scene made me care about Pell. Pell has very little presence in the movie despite the opening scene trying to set up a sort of tenderness between him and Vivi, but the self-talk, the subtle smile right before the end, Pell fully expecting to die. Even though I know he survives by the anime powers of plot armor and the writers having the grace to, er, NOT kill someone in a cartoon bombing so close after 9/11, the scene still makes me cry because, man, unbridled loyalty. I wish they played that up for Tenebrae more than his comic relief snarkyness. Tenebrae is (allegedly) dog-shaped because this is supposed to convey the loyalty we see from him in the bad end and the sacrifice scene. Play that shit up and I'll love him loads more. I'd show you the scene I'm talking about from the One Piece movie, but I think due to copyright reasons it's hard to find. You can watch the full movie on Netflix right now though.

14. The thought of seeing all the intricacies of Richter REALIZING something and seeing it on his face instead of having him hamfist it like "This arte! This timing! So indeed, you ARE Ratatosk!" That slow shift of surprise to understanding to sadness to RAGE as he realizes this kid he's had so much affection for is 100% Ratatosk is just... intense. And how much could be said with Ratatosk's expression?! Rage? Bloodlust? Or the subtle disgust he might have shown when swatting Aster with the same arte like Aster was a fly. Fear, even? We know from the nightmares that Ratatosk has some modicum of fear for the first mortal to ever come close to killing him. Even if Richter isn't particularly strong, Ratatosk sees him as a sort of symbol of his own rare, conditional mortality. Ratatosk realized for the first time, because of Richter, that even with his tree gone, he has something left that he CAN lose, even if it's almost impossible. Whatever the writers and artists choose to portray of Ratatosk in that scene could tell us a lot. Also watching the two of them fight, a wounded and vulnerable god-like being fighting like an animal because he, too, has vulnerabilities, the mortal with nothing left to lose that will stand against unfathomable power for the love of another and a concern, however small, for the world that dead friend loved so dearly? Fucking poetry.

15. Again, getting to compare the two before the big reveal instead of just getting one model that smirks and another model that doesn't would be amazing. 16. Again, Marta's not really involved in the ships I like, but even I can appreciate good mushy character-building content and its importance to the story that the developers wanted to tell. Fully rendered scenes that can be paced out slow and tender would do wonders for all the character development the game misses out on.

19. As undeniably funny as the original scene is with Aster getting ragdolled across that bridge in the 'Gap, yes, YES, 1000% yes. I really want to see this scene with the INTENDED weight to it. Especially if we get to see Richter cry. I've seen other people talk about it, but Richter's actions, good and bad and objectively evil at times, being dictated by LOVE is such an underutilized thing. And maybe Richter crying would hamfist it a bit, but it was done SO well in the Onshuu manga and I really want that carried over into the game in a cutscene because, like. Richter isn't wrong or evil or bad because he LACKS love. The reason he's wrong is because his love is so strong and so painful for him that he CAN'T see the harm he's about to cause until the gravity of it smacks him in the face with an entire city on fire or a girl almost dying by his hand. Obviously I find Richter much more sympathetic than Ratatosk, but the fact remains that both of them have that sort of fatal flaw. Ratatosk loved his tree and the planet so dearly that he was blind to the important role humans and half-elves had in the world, or, barring that, even if he was "objectively" right that humans and half-elves are a net harm in a way elves aren't... He still looked at sentient beings with the capacity to be good and do good and help the world, who loved the planet like he did, and decided "No, these creatures get to die." And seeing them be foils of each other and have love at the center of the narrative in ways that AREN'T the main romance between Emil and Marta is SO, SO good. Because it really sells the whole message that LOVE ISN'T INHERENTLY GOOD AND PURE AND RIGHT. But the intention usually is a good one. And that you have to learn to make your love SELFLESS and not selfish. At least, that's what I think the relationship with Marta and Emil was SUPPOSED to symbolize. If they had continued as they were at the start, their selfish love would have failed just as Ratatosk's and just as Richter's. Their love succeeds because (allegedly) they learn to love selflessly.

20. Probably not intended but I'm fully imagining the Onshuu scene where Richter just... with the deadest eyes and most tired/lonesome expression just examines the core and Tenebrae just "YOINK." And just... comedy to undercut the batshittery and tragedy that just unfolded. But I presume you're thinking more of the conflict between Tenebrae and Aqua and what it says about each of them that this scenario divided them. It's suggested that Tenebrae also thinks what Ratatosk did was wrong, but because he's thinking about the world at large and is also more loyal, he concludes that the best course of action is to basically convince Ratatosk to be better. Meanwhile, Aqua is thinking about the world, but she's also thinking about the people in it, Richter being one. And her loyalty to HIM because he and Aster saved her leads HER to conclude that the people of the world are more important than preserving the life of her master because she views Ratatosk slaying one of her saviors which did irreparable emotional damage to her OTHER savior as a betrayal toward her from Ratatosk and a betrayal to the world. And neither of them are WRONG, really. Aqua is sort of the perspective of restorative justice and Tenebrae is the perspective of rehabilitative justice and both are necessary for the fairest possible world. People who are wronged should have things made right (as much as realistically possible) and people who have done wrong should have a chance to improve.

21. I want to see Ratatosk struggle a moment to figure out how the whole pretending to be human thing works and then bump into poor Lana and just decide in the most traumatizing way possible that he's Emil now and he must suffer the way Emil ought to suffer. Ratatosk literally didn't have to do that. But he did. What a drama king. 10/10, giving your alternate persona immediate trauma to sell your new fake-identity.

22. I haven't played the game in years or seen a playthrough in years so you're going to have to refresh me on this specifically because I keep thinking of the actual final battle and I know you don't mean for that here. But I'm going to preemptively say yes, more Ratatosk/Emil figuring themselves and each other out. I'm assuming this is the hotel scene where Emil talks with Tenebrae?

23. Not gonna reiterate too hard but yes. Not my ideal smooch but if they're gonna sell us a romance, sell us the whole romance and show us the passion! (I'm imagining in my head that Marta's trying to use tongue and Emil just very confused about having the inside of his mouth licked. Not a suggestion of course. I would want it played straight and not for comedy. But my brain cannot take them seriously as a couple. XD Not without an improved final product at least.

24. Not sure how much blood they can show and still get a teen rating, but yes. Alice and Decus deserve to go out in a horrendous blaze of glory. Simultaneous Romeo and Juliet tragedy and also "you two are toxic heinous war criminals and you kind of deserve this." The conflict of emotions. Hell yes.

25. I think this is probably the scene that will benefit most from an animation. Marta's optimism and refusal to say goodbye is cloyingly naive. I think if we can maybe see her subtly holding back tears or something that it would be a massive improvement.

26. Watch Emil commit seppuku in glorious 2D animation? Yes please. Especially if we get some genuine emotion out of Marta for it.

27. For some reason I just have Unus Annus flashbacks of the ticking noise and just an ending shot of Richter's forehead as he turns toward the door at the very end and things fade to black as Ratatosk follows him.

28. As much as the true ending hurts me and my little Richter-centered heart, yes. A nice long heartwarming reunion for Marta and Emil. Richter would want Emil living a life Aster never got. So it better be a beautiful one. Fully animated and rendered skits would be amazing. With how well DotNW did in Japan, I really REALLY hope it eventually gets an anime. I would pay every red cent I have to see it. What little I got to see of Richter in Rays and other media was NOT ENOUGH. (Even with all the stills we get as card art and cut-in art and event art in other titles, we never get to see Richter's abominable cooking, and despite getting to see Emil and Aster eat, Richter never eats in any official art. Beanpole needs to EAT! (Grandma instincts out here telling me that Richter's not getting nourished, damn it! And I want official confirmation on what he enjoys eating besides herbs!)