#i also sometimes like to give him a bit of an unearned ego sometimes because of voicebank deprecation

[bmpmp3]

and another thing about vocal synth fans: we will always find some adult male voicebank to turn into a funny little clown for our amusement. some guy to communally bully in our talkloids, the miserable straightman to the shenanigans, the sad little freak punchline to our jokes. it happened to kaito. it happened to gakupo. it happened genbu. it even happened a bit to kevin (although he seems to have looped around somehow). and it will happen to you too, frimomen. it will happen to you too.

[ask-prime-starscream]

Okay, so hear me out. How about I change that certain movie a bit? Let’s start right when Unicron-Megatron arrives at the field with the Predacon bones and Starscream gets an orgasm thinking his beloved abuser master is back.

I feel so bad for Starscream. He thinks everything is going to be okay again. Megatron is his protector after all. The only one who bothers to keep him around. What’s getting punched in the face and getting ridiculed from time to time when you aren’t left for dead? At least to Starscream it’s a good deal because he is used to abuse. Sometimes I think about a scene where Unicron not only punches Starscream, but threatens to kill him. If Megatron actually had a slither of fondness for Starscream or at least remembered what a total wild card he can be in the grand scheme of things, he could have tried his mind tricks on Unicron like he did with Predaking before.  I don’t know. Just to humanize him a bit. Think more of Starscream than that he suffers entertainingly. Buuut, let’s keep it as canon as we can. Scrap that scene. Let’s focus on things that actually could and should have happened!

When Unicron revives the Predacons, Starscream flees and Shockwave stays back because he is a slow inferior ground vehicle. Well, remember that Starscream pays back his debts? Remember that Shockwave grabbed Starscream at the end of season 3 and probably saved him from imprisonment or death? (I highly doubt the Autobots would have killed Starscream if he had had the chance to “avenge Megatron”, but Starscream just expects the worst from everyone, so...)  Since a horde of zombies is scary either way, Starscream flees at first, but then he decides to help Shockwave, the bot that kept him company and was his comrade after Megatron’s demise. Shockwave is about to be overpowered, but a few missiles give him some room to move again. Zombiecons really are not much better than Vehicons, Predacons or not. Megatron revived a whole army and Optimus and Ratchet had little problem slicing and dicing them all back in season 1. Dark energon is really overrated. It’s worthless actually. Megatron is a fool.

Anyway, as a nice quote from G1 which we know TF series can’t get enough of, Shockwave climbs on Starscream’s vehicle mode and together they can escape. We know Starscream is strong enough to carry Shockwave. He had no problem flying Knock Out around. Shockwave probably thinks that Starscream’s dangerous move was illogical, but Starscream just tells him to shut up.

What happens next? They try to free Knock Out and the Vehicons of course. The more the merrier. With Shockwave around, Knock Out thinks twice about who is gonna be the winning team here and doesn’t stab Starscream in the back over some petty thing. A petty thing I would call the emergency brake writers pull when A: Starscream gets a friend. Or B: Two male characters get some really nice chemistry.

I personally have no problem with Knock Out basically being a spineless Starscream who believes in nothing but his looks. What I have a problem with is the way he is treated. He is fucking dangerous and came pretty close to killing some members of team Prime. However, “No Autobot except Cliffjumper dies in this series by Decepticon hand” syndrome prevented that. He doesn’t believe in any of the Autobots’s morals. He doesn’t care if humanity gets wiped out. He has no honor, no loyalty. He contributes absolutely nothing in the fight against Unicron. The Autobots shouldn’t have treated him like a longtime member of team Prime. He shouldn’t have gotten away scot-free at the end of the movie as if he was actually good! It’s so unsatisfying and completely unearned! Breakdown, Starscream, even Dreadwing would have been better candidates for the turncoat. But nah, fuck actual character, Knock Out is cute and funny! He shall be good now! WRONG! Knock Out is a chicken shit opportunist, who will follow the faction in power. He would have submitted to Unicron if Unicron wasn’t about complete annihilation. Something like that shouldn’t be rewarded. If RiD did one thing right, it was showing Knock Out to be uncaring about Autobot stuff and just racing around on earth. So. Phew. Rant over. We will have none of that shit here. Decepticons and Autobots are at a standoff. And Bee won’t pull his dumb “Do you believe me or your own eyes?” shit either. Instead we do something else.

Arcee knows that Starscream follows somewhat of an honor code. He had saved her from Airachnid and spared her life. So she tries to actually bargain with him. While the other Autobots are more like “The heck are you trying here, Arcee?”, she starts talking about whether Starscream really wants to abandon Cybertron and lose it to destruction, this time irreversible. After all, he had put so much effort in reviving it, getting the keys and all. Bee maybe catches on and strokes his ego and Starscream is like “Whoah, what you guys say isn’t even that wrong...!” Shockwave is skeptical, Knock Out just wants to be safe, but everyone comes to the conclusion that together, Autobots and Decepticons, they might have a chance. And so they do their all to fight for their home. And with “do their all” I mean it. They use everything. The Autobots free Soundwave from the shadow zone and if there is one good thing about Soundwave, it’s that he follows Starscream’s orders. Without Megatron, Starscream is the leader of the Decepticons, just like he had been in season 1. Also the prospect of beating Unicron out of Megatron’s body might motivate him too.

So they fly with the Nemesis to Primus’s anus and get battle ready. 

In order to give the Zombiecons the smallest attack surface, they position themselves accordingly. Every Iaconic artifact gets used. Immobilizer, phaseshifter, shield... the Nemesis’s cannons... It’s a crazy fight and everybody is contributing. And then Starscream says “I would have never thought I’d die side by side with a grounder” to Knock Out and Knock Out responds with “How about side by side with a friend?” and... Maybe we even get some nice Autobot/Decepticon teamwork. Some really nice, fanservice-y shit. But the battle is hard and even with the Predacons joining them, they are about to be overwhelmed...

Until Prime and Wheeljack show up. Unicron finally enters the battle himself and Optimus and him start an epic fight surrounded by Autobots, Decepticons, Predacons and zombies. It seems like Prime will actually win and the morale is high. Until Unicron throws him to the ground and stabs him, Megatron screaming in his head. That’s not how Megatron had intended for their eon-long fight to end. He is overcome by guilt and regret. After all, his tinkering with Unicron’s blood had caused this outcome. Him, being nothing but a puppet, killing the one he once called his friend. 

The Autobots are devastated and unbelieving. The Decepticons are more like “Oh no, I guess...” Then Bee pulls his leader potential out of his aft since it’s time not for gods and Primes to define destiny, but for the average man! He quickly advises everyone to focus on Unicron and keep him occupied, never letting him target just one and overwhelm them, but having an advantage thanks to their quantity. Wheeljack holds Primus’s spark box like a hot potato asking what to do with it now and Bee says, they’ll get it where it belongs. So all of our good flyers are supposed to get the box to the core. Predaking, Skylynx, Darksteel, Soundwave, Starscream eye each other like “Is that a good idea?”, but there is no better plan. One of them holds the box while the others flank him, protecting him from any potential Zombiecons slipping through the now far weaker protection of the remaining bots. Unicron becomes aware of what is happening and follows them. With his super ultra speed he quickly catches up and the flyers have to throw the box from one to the other in order to get it out of Unicrons reach. Once more they show how important camaraderie, teamwork and friendship is... eh... even if all the flyers are Decepticons and Predacons, lol... Like... Like this is a GOOD moral, okay?! Different species working together, even though they were evil or kinda evil... there is worth in life, even if said life wasn’t always pure.

Eventually, one of them opens the box and throws it in a last ditch effort towards the core, reviving Primus. The sparks burst towards the sky and Unicron’s spirit is ripped from Megatron’s body, carried to who knows where... whatever Primus deems right.

Now, everything is good, isn’t it? Well, not for Megatron. He doesn’t have a place on the new Cybertron and chooses the exile. But Starscream is having nothing of that. Cybertron is theirs to take now, isn’t it? The Decepticons agree and Bee and the Autobots are like “Really?!?”, while the Predacons are like “Whatever... don’t try shit with us, though.”

Megatron is absolutely against any more carnage and says the war had been a mistake. Starscream can’t believe what he is hearing. Everything he ever did, was for nothing? All the losses? All the beatings? He tries to convince Megatron and tells him what he had done in his name. Cloned more Predacons, tried to avenge him. He is loyal for fuck’s sake!! He is like Megatron has always wanted him to be! Now that is all wrong and he had suffered uselessly?

Megatron just says, that Starscream had wasted his time. Then he wants to fly off, but Starscream holds him back, grabbing his arm. How can Megatron leave him now?! Megatron pushes him away and hurts his wing so he won’t get any ideas of following him before he transforms and flies away. 

Starscream is devastated. He has a breakdown. He reaches for his hurt wing and Knock Out is the first by his side, hearing him cry: “I can’t be alone again!” Knock Out shakes his head, smiling faintly. “But you have us.” Indeed. Even Soundwave was just disillusioned by Megatron’s sudden antics. There is no use following such a coward.

Autobots and Decepticons form a shaky peace agreement for now, everyone having to deal with the losses of their leaders and their almost destruction. The tone is somber, but Cybertron lives again. It is time for a new beginning...

[popculturebuffet]

Of Moons, Millionares and Mothers Part 2: The Ballad of Duke Balloney or “I’m Flintheart Glomgold and I Always Will Be!” (Commission for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people. I”m Jake, I review stuff and today continues my look at Ducktales season 2 story arcs, of Moons, Millionares and Mothers. And while this arc as a whole is paid for by WeirdKev27, due to the Arc’s length, 17 parts including 15 episodes and 6 comics (2 of which will be in the same review), this one’s special as he’s using his patreon review every month to do so. If you too want me to review something of your choice simply hit up my ask box or join my patreon at patreon.com/popculture buffet. You get access to my discord, to pick a short when I do a group of them for characters birthdays, help me hit neat stretch goals like my next which is reviewing a darkwing duck episode a month, and best of all EXCLUSIVE REVIEWS. And I just added one this saturday of a carl barks story centerting around wigs, legal battles and attempted murder, both by our villian.. and by our heroes...

I will never get tired of that panel nor the boys inexplicably finding a blowgun. Point is it’s there if you want it at THIS LINK, but enough plugging so I can help pay the streaming bills and keep doing this... let’s get to the meat of things shall we?

This episode begins the second arc of this retrospective, The Glomgold Arc. And this arc was inevitibly going to come to this blog for two reasons. The first is that I have made no secret, in fact i’ve shouted it as loud as I can the neighbors are concerned, that I fucking love the 2017 Version of Flintheart Glomgold. 

Glomgold is Keith Ferguson’s best role, tied with Lord Hater obviously, but it is indeed a tie. No one but Keith could’ve pulled off glomgold’s combination of ego, ham, and batshit insanity. He just makes the utterly stupid and wonderfully ludicrious things that come out of the mans mouth sound so damn natural with such an unearned confidence. It’s very clear that Frank had Keith in mind when putting this version of everyone’s faviorite South African Billionare pretending to be a Scottish Billionare and wisely built the characcter around him and his immense talent. I was not familiar with Keith at all, wasn’t even aware he voiced hater before this show but damn if that hasn’t fully changed. 

Glomgold was also just in general a brilliant update of the character: While I know a lot of duck fans weren’t happy with this version at least at first. As the action figure sitting on my shelf that once road in a car with my david hasslehoff baywatch funko pop I have entirley due to my love of baywatching,  this insane music video hoff did in the early 2000′s, and just in general how gloriously rediculous the man’s life is when you stop and think about it for a second from a pay per-view concert that ended up falling on the same night as The OJ Chase,  to his kung fury cameo , to his weird insetence they never had sex on baywatch desspite mounds of video evdience and the fact the show was buit around the bulk of it’s cast’s sex appeal, to the fact the model of his pecs used for the spongebob movie was sold in an auction and on and on... I was going somewhere with this...

Oh right as the action figure, and previous praise, shows I am not one of these fans: The original isn’t bad, in fact one of my faviorite life and times chapters that i’ll be covering this week and talking about later in the review has him as the main antagonist and a pitvitol figure in Scrooge’s life in the worst way possible. Rosa GETS what’s needed for Flinty to feel specail: to have him be an evil mirror to scrooge, what he could’ve been had he kept down the path he started down in Africa. A ruthless, amoral asshole who will do ANYTHING to get rich. 

It’s just often that isn’t emphasised enough and he’s instead just another one of the millions of generic assholes trying to get scrooges money sometimes with hired goons...

Not only that but Frank really COULDN’T have him at full effectivness. See an arch enemy in the Silver Age, which STARTED the same year Glomgold Debuted no less, wasn’t a big deal. They were still considered your deadliest foe but they’d often, much like Flinty be shuffled into the rogues gallery, show up for an issue to meance the hero, then either escape, get thrown in jail only to escape from that easily later, or be presumed dead. The last one I bring up because it happened to Magneto a LOTTTT pre-claremont. For Fuck’s Sake Charles have those teenagers train to look for a body once in a while!

Original Flinty was built for that, and brilliantly so as Barks had a talent for it , as seen by the fact The Beagle BOys, Flintheart and Magica have stuck around ever since and even in comics overseas where Flintehart is replaced.. it’s by Rockerduck who Barks ALSO created. The 87 Show followed the same formula, which was just as standard for 80′s cartoons. It’s why Megatron took until his toy was canceled the movie to shoot starscream in the face. 

The problem is villians evolved and the expecation became more that a true arch enemy had to be a true threat. While Frank and Matt COULD’VE made Flintheart a real and honest threat, he also would’ve had to make him a Big Bad. The probelm was those seats were clearly taken: while i’m pretty sure some ideas came as they went, the main story beats were clearly planned out well in advance: Webby being a clone was always the plan, as was FOWL, Darkwing being a fan of a fictional Darkwing who became the real thing, and Della being on the moon. So he presumibly carefully choose each season’s big bad... and thus Season’s 1-3 would be full up wise. Season 1 had Magica, who he made into a TRUE threat, yet left the door open for her to return as she did, Season 2 had Lunaris who even if they hadn’t fully thought him up, they probably had thought up the moonvasion, and Season 3 was what they’d built the series towards with FOWL. 

Details probably changed, it’s very clear to me they were likely going to have all three buzzards be important and ended up deicding to pivot to it just being Bradford over time. But given how well they though tout the general framework, I highly doubt Flinty was ever considered as a seirous big bad.. and I know i’m saying this in an arc that tried to set him up as one, but i’m getting there simmer. 

So they could wait for a season 4 that might not happen.. or make him a recurring villian. So Frank and Matt decided to do that and leaned into comedy. Centering him around keith who Frank worked with previously on Wonder and thus knew he could play a hammy manchild like no one else, they simply leaned into the goofier aspects of his personality. His being similar to scrooge became him being an intentional and blatant knockoff. As Scrooge himself perfectly summed up in episode 1 “The poor man’s version of me.. which to be fair still makes him insanely rich”. 

It’s another reason to really love this version as while yes, they did make him a bafoon.. he’s a wonderfully, redicuously layered bafoon: He still contrasts scrooge perfectly, manically hammy to Scrooge being calm, especially around flinty, blantatly crooked to Scrooge’s died in wool honesty, and wasting money on revenge instead of spending it on his actual company. There’s more obviously but some i’m saving for the review. 

Not only that but his insane schemery has a rhyme and reason to it: He attacks Scrooge every week like the saturday morning cartoon villian he is, but his schemes are always unwieldly and massively stupid, and he always goes with the first draft. It’s something the team enforced: the first version is what they role with because that’s how his sad brain works. He also is obssed with sharks and explosives, the former being given a suprisingly heartfelt and unsuprisingly insanne origin story towards the series end, and works them into every plot no matter how much itm akes no sense. He’s pure ego, pure stupid and pure fun. 

So yeah circling back to him being the big bad, I felt he was made one for this season for two reasons: the first is while a lot of fans (raises hand) enjoyed this version, some didn’t like how inept he was, so this would give them a breif bit of Flintheart being a genuine threat again. The other was frankly... they didn’t want to play their hand. Lunaris WAS the big bad... but fans would get supscious if there was seemingly no true threat on the horizon. Magica popped up in episode 4. We didn’t know her full plan yet true, but all we needed was lena SAYING HER NAME and fans of any other version of teh Disney Ducks would instantly go “Oh shit there she is”. So fans would now have the expectation of a main antagonist.. but would be instantly supscious of Lunaris and Penumbra if there wasn’t one for the first third of a season it took to them, and it’d leave a gap in the story to not have someone driving the plot on earth. 

So Flinty got an upgrade.. a slight one and we’ll talk about the eb and flow. And thus he got a proper origin. Now granted they could’ve planned this too, but this one’s harder to tell as the curse you me gag could’ve been a clever setup or could’ve just been a one off gag they somehow turned into an entire episode. So Flinty got an arc.. and a comedic foil, the other reason this was inevieble, and Kev’s faviorite character, Zan Owlson. So how did it work out for them? Well we’ll begin that journey under the cut. 

We begin our story a few months ago.... on every level really: the months ago shadow war aired when this episode originally good, the months ago I reviwed Shadow War (which via counting I found out was my 200th episode not counting Patreon. Nice), and most importantly for this story, the four months ago before the present day of Season 2. 

Glomgold saying curse you me as he fell into the bay during the Shadow War.... only for once in his life he dosen’t somehow get out of it unscathed and instead passes out, almost drowning. He’s found by Fisher and Mann, two fisherpersons... Mann is specific about that due to being a woman despite the obvious irony. It’s a good gag. Flinty acts like he normally would.. hostile, demanding that they know who he is.. and while they don’t.. neither does he. 

Cue credits and cue present day. Via a newscast with Roxanne we learn what I mentioned earlier: It’s been four month and Glomgold’s been missing. The general mood.. has been about what you’d expect. 

Yeah Roxanne turned on him real fast. I genuinely wouldn’t be surprised if it was because he later openly bragged about stealing scrooge’s money during the shark thing on live tv at some point, making Roxanne look terrible for enabling him and for blatantly supporting him earlier. I mean.. how else do you get a corrupt journalist to do anything decent. 

But with Glomgold gone SOMEONE’S gotta replace him.. and that someone is Zan Motherfucking Owlson. Top of her class at Mouseton Univesity, Owlson is the show once again updating things: previously they added Mark Beaks to the Rogue’s Gallery as he contrasts the 50′s (scrooge ) and 80′s (glomgold) idea of billionares from previous versions of the property being a modern tech weasel. Though instead of just one thing Owlson represents a few: The most obvious is she’s a woman of color: Having a black woman in such a high position of power is something disney would’ve outright vetoed in the 50′s and 80′s. Here it’s well accepted as it always should have been. It also feels like a delebrate move on Frank’s part: There weren't’ any major african or african american coded characters in season 1, despite the show being very open and accepting, so that needed to change. The other is frankly outside of Brigtaa MacBridge, whose also weirdly absent from this series for some reason and has taken Fethry and Rockerduck’s place as the most major overseas duck character to never get adapted, there are hardly ever any females on Scrooge and his richer foes level. He’s had the occasional female rival or suitor, but only Brigittta had staying power and while I love the idea of her, another person as rich as scrooge whose willing to spend more and has a crush on him, she badly needed an update as she’s essentially Adventure Era Amy Rose in a grown ass woman’s body. 

Owlson also provides a diffrent dynamic in that she portrays the ideal of what we’d want from a ceo: She’s honest, works hard, earned her way as square as scrooge did, gladly donates to charity and is extremely charismatic and intelligent. Granted most CEO”s are nothing like this but still, she’s what we WANT them to be. Using the money not for themselves or taking big paychecks but to help people. She also provides something Glomgold needed: a straight man. While he has one in Scrooge at times, Owlson unlike both of them is a fully functional resonable human being. Scrooge, while a good person deep down, can be reckless, impulsive and greedy, and Glomgold had a tarzan like experince with sharks, goes on to name his dummy son sharkbomb, and tried to murder Scrooge on live television twice that we know of. She’s the calm, snarky, put upon sane person trying to reign in the crazy shark explosion man. 

Owlson dosen’t get a ton to do here, but that will change and she does get a decent amout in the final scene. But what she does here establishes who she is and how sh’es FIXED Glomgold industries; She’s shut down the vast number of money sinking scheme related departments, set ups everal charities, and is even setting up a new one with Scrooge, Dimes for Ducklings. In short she knew exactly what was needed to fix the company and it’s image and did so in FOUR MONTHS. Probably even less given they had to be sure Glomgold wasn’t coming back right away. I guarantee he’s faked his death like 10 times just to try and kill scrooge. They have to make sure it’s real first.  As one last note before we move on, Owlson is played by Natasha Rothwell, a producer and writer who i’ve only seen outside of this in Love, Simon and Sonic the Hedgehog.. that is a weird combo of things that mean a LOT to me I haven’t been able to bring up here again. 

We find the tv this was all playing on on the docks with a non-anthro segull pecking it while a bunch of fisherpersons go about their day. We also get this guy. 

Add him to the list of spinoffs I want THE LIST OF SPINOFFS JAKE WANTS: 1. Darkwing Duck 2. Donald, Daisy and the Kids 3. The Sabrewings 4. Tailspin Reboot 5. The Flintheart Glomgold Show 6. A Sequel Movie 7. This Guy Punching A Fucking Fish 

So you might be wondering when any of our main cast are going to show up.. and why the fish puncher isn’t in said main cast. Well that’s about now as Webby and Louie are fishing. Well okay more acuratley webby is fishing because she genuinely enjoys it and Louie is tagging along so he can nap on a boat while Webby paddles him around. That plan is threatnned by her spear fishing and he suggests using rods instead, but they need bait for that. 

Naturally, given we need to get this plot going our heroes run into Duke Baloney, aka an amnesiac Glomgold. Understandably, both of htem think this is some sort of scheme at first because waiting for someone related to Scrooge to stroll by his fish stand for some sort of shark themed trap, especially since he’s right near the water so he dosen’t have to worry about keeping them hydrated like that time he dropped one from a plane onto scrooge’s board meeting with two chainsaws strapped to it. But .. it’s not. While we the audience saw him amnesiac, and at first I thought that spoiled the episode... it really dosen’t. He still ACTS like himself on instinct, so your not sure if he faked it as part of some elaborate scheme or is really gone till this scene shows that, no he really isn’t there. And the how is simply in knowing the guy: Glomgold is not good at subtley. He has disguises and such, but their never remotely convincing. He could NEVER pull off  actually being a humble fish monger nor have gone four fucking months without yelling at scrooge or remotely contacting him. There’s also the fact Fisher and Mann 100% belivie in duke and back up his very real story of being dredged out of the bay. There’s also his south african accent, which actors including David Tennant himself have admitted is one of the hardest to pull off but Keith does swimingly, which is a hint.. but only on rewatch or for those who know his comics origins. 

Louie isn’t convinced which is fair: even if Glomgold isn’t good at this sort of thing, he’s still tried it a lot. Webby however correctly figures he has amensia. So the two simply try talking to him. Fisher and Mann do get a bit dickish laughing off the idea he’s possibly Glomgold.. despite the fact you know you dredged him out of the fucking water 4 months ago.. and if you actually looked at the news, would see Glomgold disappeared around the exact same time you found Duke. It just annoys me because otherwise these two are great characters: Friendly loveable fisherpersons who love their job, have no comeptiviness and genuinely want to help their friend duke. The encounter does have them seeing a fancy money clip Duke has but with no other options they leave for now. 

But while Duke has forgotten who he was... bits of glomgold still stir within him. And that starts when Duke spots the McDuck Industries fishing boat, the best fishing boat on the sea, something his friends are okay with.. but Duke naturally isn’t. So while Duke was a calm sane fisherman before the true glomgold in him is on full display as he comes up with insane schemes involving fish and explosives, before presenting a rather insane scheme to his friends involving getting engineering degrees and other stuff.. it’s as poorly drawn and wonderful as you expect from him. But what’s telling is that he reigns it in when his friends show obvious concern with his actions... something Glomgold would NEVER do. For one he dosen’t have friends. For another, he doesn’t care about anyone else’s feelings or thoughts. 

By now Webby is also championing that Duke is a diffrente person.. which is true. Duke is Glomgold stripped of his hate and resitment towards scrooge. He’s who the man COULD’VE been had he not sworn eternal vengeance on Scrooge. Louie is doubtful that he’s amnesiac still.. but neither can quite figure out the full story so it’s time for research.. and for Webby to accidentally knock Louie into some lobster traps.. which given he’s spent the entire episode assuming an amnesiac man isn’t that despite all the evidence to the contrary, he earned that. That said these two were the perfect choice for it: All of the boys have a bit of skeptic in them, and we already had a plot with Huey being skeptical.. and even he would’ve given up by now as would dewey since he only has a pinch at best. Webby.. has none. She can question motives and stuff sure, but at her heart she’s a kind forgiving soul who belives the best in everyone. And.. its’  paid off fo rher. Look at the whole Lena situation, she believed in her, even while Lena was actively manipulating her,.. and it truly changed her, convinced Lena to do the right thing despite the cost, to choose love over the abusive monster who made her. It’s the only missed opportunity in the episode for me. Character wise it has exactly the 8 it needs to tell the story and focuses heavly on the five it truly is about. But not having Webby bring up Lena when we don’t hear her mentoined AT ALL during her absence (though to the shows credit they did a good job showing Webby still had never remotely given up), and it made the wait more agonizing and would’ve made her motivations hit even harder: that she belives in duke because she believed in lena and it was real. And while this thank christ isn’t remotely romantic, the point does stand: She wants to see the best. 

Louie is a conman by nature so he only sees the worst, the weakest in people, the things he can use to take htem down or take hteir money. He can’t fathom someone doing good because he can’t fathom HIMSELF being good. And that.. says a lot.. but he’s accepted himself as a shady conperson who cares only for himself.. even if that’s not the truth. His inclusion here enhances his own arc much like Huey’s role in quack pack enhanced his. It shows that deep down Louie dosen’t think much of anyone.. and probably not himself. That he has to be shady and greedy to survive when that’s not tru. Sharper than the sharpies yes but also square.

One last bit before we moved on  I just found out though: The Crew originally had this as a straight up origin story: no kids, none of the rest of the duck family, except presumably Scrooge’s parts here, just Glomgold’s struggle with amensia and his past leading to who hei s now. Honestly I think that version could’ve worked, but likely given disney seems TERRIFIED of making a show starring an adult without a chlid and had to be talked into the child light Golden Lagoon, that was a non starter but I think it still works fine. I also foudn this out via a twitter thread of Frank’s rewriting history that goes in deep on teh production of each episode. Had I known this existed before writing this one, I would’ve used it for the other two arcs and most dangerous game night, but I intend to read through it so I have everything on the table from here on out. 

For only the second time in her long career of researching stuff though, Webby has hit a dead end. Mostly because she couldn’t find anything on Duke.. and NOTHING on Glomgold’s past pre-Duckburg. The most she has is his visa...

I want to frame this on my wall.. and someone is actually seling id cards out there, so I want this one at some point. It’s not Disney because they don’t care about fan merch like this, but then that just means they don’t get the money because they didn’t think of it or put the work in then huh. 

But yeah with nothing else our heroes go to the only person they know who knows him well...  Scrooge. 

Meanwhile Duke has .. this... I just.....I can’t put words to this truly bizzare surreal dream sequence.. it involves Glomgold going insane, the kids dancing on a bagpipe, and owlson is there.. despite the fact that Glomgold should have zero idea whot hat is. I think the kids mentioned here but even then, he somehow knows exactly what she looks like.

Otherwise good stuff and it’s raining hard as Duke goes in. Fisher and Mann have formally added him to their sign, and warmly welcomed him in and Duke says “this is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me I think” which is probably true. and makes what’s coming all the more heartbreaking. 

But before what’s coming Duke has another thing coming.. Scrooge who the kids brought to talk to him. The two talk casually, the kids watch not knowing.. and then Scrooge comes back to them. Turns out Webby was, unsurprisingly right on the money, Flinty does have amnesia, and unlike what Louie thought.. he isn’t inherently evil. Duke is just duke.. and Scrooge has no intention of fixing the amnesia. And while that SOUNDS bad.. his intentions are noble: Glomgold.. was a throughly miserable person. He was never happy and never would be till Scrooge was dead by his hand and that was never going to happen.  It isn’t even taking an enemy off the board: Flinty is only a threat on occasion. Scrooge clearly ENJOYS their conflict: it may annoy him from time to time, but he clearly enjoys upstaging the guy. And as he points out, it’s not a brain injury or anything: Glomgold is practically immortal as Louie put earlier, and Scrooge outright mentions Glomgold’s taken a LOT of explosions to the face. So he’s in no real danger physically or emotionally.. he’s happy. He has friends, a calling he truly enjoys. There’s another reason too but we’ll see that in the final scene. 

So Duke is finally happy... but it doesn’t last... the kids go out but a storms a coming, and Duke selfleslly heads out to save them.. only to get hit on the head and fall in the ocean again. 

It’s here we get the 2017 version of Glomgold’s origin story. We did kinda get one with life and times, as we saw his first meeting with scrooge and why he hated him, long story short with the long story coming later this week Glomgold left Scrooge for dead and Scrooge’s response was to come back, kick the fuckers ass, tar and feather him and utterly humilaite him, leading to Flinty swearing vengance. 

But while I love that version..t his one is just as awesome if not better. And it’s without having Scrooge ride a lion. Here we instead meet Flinty as a child Scrooge’s age... and as a shoeshine boy. Yup just like Scrooge Duke, Glomgold’s birth name, was an industrious young boy with big dreams. He also had unwieldy schemes from minute one, but Scrooge saw in this lad the same fire he had and tried replicating his own origin. 

The problem was... the different context ruined it. Scrooge was paid by an equally poor ditchdigger the us equilvent of his pay: still useless in scotland, but a good lesson in hard work and not being swindled. Scrooge tried that... as the richest duck in the world and without giving flinty the same amount of money. 

So Duke/Flinty took umbrage at this yelled at scrooge.. and pick pocketed his money clip. In the only bit taken from the rosa version of their first meeting, Scrooge never realized he’d met flinty already. There and then duke came up with his first true, and first insane scheme: Save the money and use it to mold himself into a richer, more scottish version of scrooge dedicating his life to one upping him and killing him. A “single white female” type thing as Frank put it. 

It’s.. utterly brilliant... taking Glomgold being a knockoff as mention and just running with that... making Glomgold a LITERAL knockoff. This was indeed the plan all along: A way to have him be both south african and scottish and it was brilliant. It also gives him more depth and more tragedy: He COULD’VE been the next scrooge.. but instead of being his own man or learning any of the hard lessons scrooge did he doubled down on never learning anything and getting vengeance on an old man’s well meant but accidently classist gesture. 

So Glomgold reawakens and while it first looks like he’s going to save the kids... he instead throws Webby into the raging sea, and steals their fish. Webby is heartbroken and Louie asks him “what about duke.” His response is heartbreaking as it is character defnting

“I”m Flintheart Glomgold and I always will be!” the lightning shot, the cackle..i t’s just such a damn good moment that underscores the tragedy of the episode as Glomgold’s new friends are horrified by what he is now and what he was always meant to be and Glomgold leaves to go stalk scrooge once again. He indeed is Flintheart Glomgold and always will be.. because he threw the decent person he could’ve been away. He’s miserable.. because he can’t let go of his rage or ego and just move on from something that happened to him when he was ten! He has to be in his 60′s now! Glomgold may think Scrooge is his worst enemy.. but it’s really Flintheart Glomgold.... and it always will be. 

So naturally his first actoin is to storm into his company and scream at scrooge. How he found him there... honestly not a huge suprise it’s his company and he likely knows how to find scrooge anywhere because he’s a creep like that. Scrooge and Owlson’s reactions are both worth a look at:

Given Glomgold bursts into an already annoying meeting of Scrooge trying to get the dimes part knocked down to nickles (and likely lower before that given he mentioned Pennies earlier), to accuse Scrooge of trying to trick him by appearing as a boat in his dreams her bafflement is both understandable and hilarious. Like she probably HEARD what Glomgold was like but gennuinely didn’t belivie it and her face is just now frozen in a look of “oh my god they were not exagearating what fresh hell is this”. 

She tries to be professional and introduce herself but he just brushes her off and yells at Scrooge blaming him for being forgotten (”You literally forgot yourself), with Owlson also considering calling security. She only dosen’t because Scrooge points out he’ll tire himself out eventually and as usual for their jousts, is not remotely threatened or worried. He’s just..sad. And getting back to his reaction.. that’s what’s telling about his plan. He probably KNEW this would happen. He in his heart knew Duke Balloney would be gone soon, and he’d have to deal with Glomgold again. It helps soften the implicatoins: it wouldn’t last and fraknly if it did Scrooge would probably have people check on him regualry to make sure he was okay. He’s not a monster.. he just wanted Flinty to be happy for five minutes and to not ruin that out of some misplaced sense of right and wrong.. when the right thing was to simply let the man be happy till it inevitably blew up. 

Glomgold however, furious at being forgotten and cast aside has decided to take a huge poorly thought through gamble and challenges scrooge to a classic Scrooge comics trope between the two, but with higher stakes: A contest to see who will be the richest duck in the world by the end of the year.. and given Christmas happens right after this i’m just assuming he means a year from now. Winner gets both companies and fortunes. Scrooge scoffs at this.. till Flinty pulls out the clip, taunting him with how he did it and “If I can beat you once scrooge i’ll beat you again”. And this, Flinty revealing he stole from him and he NEVER KNEW it or realize it, enrages scrooge enough to agree and to take him seriously... meanwhile Owlson.. just tries to get actual work shit done and just forges their signatures. Look she is a woman of color in the business world with genuinely good motives... she’s probably used to using white nonsense to get things past two idiots having a peeing race. 

Final Thoughts:

This episode is truly excellent and like Most Dangerous Game Night! i’d forgottne just HOW good it was. The pacing, the comedy, and the character work is all on full blast and i’ve gushed plenty enough about how great an origin story is. it’s a character piece that explains why this doofus is the way he is and that is what holds him back. 

Next time on MMM: Louie’s back as he pulls a ghostbusters to make quick money and Storkules starts rooming with Donald with predictable results. 

If you liked this review consider joining my patreon and i’ll see you at the next rainbow. 

[eoleolhan-a]

I am STILL on my MonProm bullshit bc I’m grinding through Monster Camp so let’s do some more headcanons! This time it’s gonna be Jin’s opinions on the some of the more prominent characters from the two games, and what I think their relationships (platonic or otherwise) could be like. Obviously these are just my opinions, anyone who has any of these muses is free to disagree, ofc. I won’t include player characters (yet, maybe once Reverse comes out I will update) since the PC personality is kind of fluid to interpretation and change based on the player. There are spoilers for both Monster Prom and Monster Camp regarding main and side characters.

This is in alphabetical order just to make it easy to navigate.

Aaravi

He doesn’t trust her, straight up. She’s a monster slayer with a history of targeting demons and even with her therapy and growth in Monster Camp he’s wary. He’s worried she would turn on him and try to slay him too. He steers clear when possible but could learn to trust her if he could see her progress with monsterkind more directly.

Batniss

He really doesn’t know what she’s talking about most of the time. The main character thing is weird to him, but at least she’s interesting. He respects her combat skills and her archery prowess.

Calculester

He thinks Cal is cute, in the way someone thinks a puppy is cute. He’s just so clueless sometimes it’s endearing, like watching a baby giraffe take its first steps. On the other hand, though, something about this sentient computer robot is a bit uncanny. Since Cal is generally so nice, though, he tries not to let the whole “potential robot uprising/singularity” thing bother him.

Dahlia

He has absolutely no interest in being anywhere near Dahlia because of her reputation as a warmonger. He thinks she’s dangerous and doesn’t want to risk being the one who gives her the idea to try and invade the 2nd Circle. He absolutely doesn’t trust her, and is honestly a bit afraid of her. If he were able to give her a chance (ie probably forced to do school or camp things with her, or if they had mutual friends for some reason) he could grow to appreciate her determination and at times enjoy her exuberant personality. She has the capability to grow on him if given the chance.

Damien

Similar to Dahlia, he distrusts Damien. He knows of the LaVeys, and as mentioned in my big ol 2nd Circle/Cubi lore post sees their whole “we made love popular” reputation as a bit unearned (because I’m sorta canon divergent, but see that post for the details of that). He also doesn’t want anyone from the 8th Circle’s royal family to get anywhere near the 2nd Circle lest they try to take that over, too. He would also probably resent having to go to school or camp with a prince from Hell juuuust a bit, especially since Damien is considered one of the coolest/most well known students/campers. He would be envious of Damien’s wealth and status since that’s something he lacks, which colours Jin’s perception of him. He doesn’t know about Damien’s softer side, so he sees him as abrasive, dangerous, and annoying. Like Dahlia, if he were to give him a chance though he’d grow to like him, especially his fondness for hairstyling and makeup since Jin enjoys the latter (and being fashionable in general). He does, however, reluctantly admit that Damien is indeed hot even if he is an annoying LaVey baby.

Dmitri

Jin doesn’t really know Dmitri but he knows of him. He doesn’t really care about whatever the Coven is doing, but hey at least Dmitri is a hot vampire who never seems to wear a shirt. He doesn’t mind seeing him hanging around because he’s easy on the eyes. Jin would probably find his dramatic villain monologuing and cape swishing a bit funny.

Faith

Out of the Coven members he would probably like Faith the most. She seems pretty relaxed and chill, and he would respect her intelligence and skill as a witch. In general he appreciates the Coven’s colour scheme and fashion sense, though.

Hex

He thinks Hex is straight up irritating but if he was high then he’d probably like their company more.

Hope

His feelings towards Hope are similar to Faith. He isn’t all that bothered with their Coven shenanigans but does respect them. He would be confused by all of the Hope reincarnations but he doesn’t have much of a problem with her. She seems nice enough.

Interdimensional Prince

Although he can be kind of weird at times (maybe even a bit creepy) Jin has to admit the idea of being whisked off to another dimension by some handsome anime-alien-looking prince is kind of appealing. He would like the attention and ego-boost it would cause if the Prince ever flirted with him.

Joy

Jin would enjoy her company. They’d probably get along, but he does find her “main character saving the world” thing to be a bit Intense at times. Despite that he think’s she’s smart and cool and likes being around her, especially given how wild some of their classmates/campmates can be.

Kale

They smoke weed together and vibe. That’s all. 10/10.

Leonard

Jin wants to kick him in the face so hard that he flies into the sun. -10/10.

Liam

Usually he likes Liam and likes being around him. He appreciates his creativity and sense of taste, but sometimes Liam can be a bit pretentious and annoying. That’s fairly manageable though, and sometimes he’s quite the breath of fresh air compared to some of the more exuberant characters he encounters. Jin would especially enjoy indulging in fancy, rare artsy gourmet food so Liam could take pictures of it and he could eat it.

Milo

Out of everyone, Jin is fondest of Milo. Their sense of style, taste (wine and cheese platters? yes please), flirtatious streak (and not to mention good looks) would have Jin swooning. He would also find their personality a lot more calm in comparison to some of the other monsters at camp. The only annoyance would be Milo’s constant attachment to their phone and their somewhat self-centred nature. It takes attention away from Jin, after all. Competing egos.

Miranda

Jin likes Miranda most of the time. Sometimes he thinks her royal merfolk ways are a bit confusing, and he is a bit distrustful of foreign royalty in general but less so of Miranda; he doesn’t see any reason why the Merkingdom would attack the Cubi or really have much to do with them at all, but he knows that royal life can be vicious. He does find it interesting to hear about the culture and society of the Merkingdom, though. He also appreciates her manners and poise. Plus, they’re both pink so he’s a bit biased in that regard. Sometimes he does find the more murderous aspects of the Merkingdom a bit unsightly, and it can be a little frustrating at times trying to explain commoner things to her. He doesn’t like that he would sometimes feel a bit condescended or spoken down to by her, but sometimes this has more to do with his perception than anything she would be saying or doing.

Morty

He likes looking at Morty but his personality is a bit too self absorbed and intense even for Jin. Still, he appreciates the confidence and the sex positive energy. Sexual tension always makes rivalries better so Morty is a perfect candidate for Camp Rival Camp in Jin’s opinion and his presence is at least entertaining and engaging. Also he quite likes the heart-hole shorts, a bold fashion statement.

Polly

Polly is fun to be around. She can be boisterous, but at least she knows how to have a good time. Jin also likes that she isn’t bloodthirsty or a war criminal or something, so in theory they could just hang out like normal monsters/people. It doesn’t hurt that she can get good drugs, too. 

Scott

Scott is a himbo, Jin likes himbos. Case closed. In all seriousness, he would find Scott endearing because of his good nature and cheerful personality. Sometimes his airheaded antics can be a bit annoying, but he knows Scott means well. Jin thinks Scott would be a good friend because he seems honest, loyal, and kind. Those are also qualities that would make him a good date, plus he’s a big cute wolfman who Jin wants to pet in more ways than one.

Valerie

He respects the hustle and the on campus hook-up for all sorts of oddities. Plus she’s Vera’s sister, and he has mostly positive feelings about her so by relation he thinks Valerie is pretty alright. Also soft because cat.

Vera

Vera is intimidating but he respects her, in a sense. As someone who isn’t affluent he’s more wary of her scams and often disapproves if he thinks it’s taking advantage of vulnerable people, but so long as she’s scamming rich people he’s down for it. He definitely thinks she’s smart and an interest conversationalist.

Wolfpack

Bad, stinky, 0/10. Only tolerable because of their connection to Scott but otherwise obnoxious.

Zoe

Last but not least, Jin would like Zoe. He’d appreciate her creativity and particularly her ship fics. They would have a good time talking about crushes, who should date who, and the latest books in their respective favourite series (or perhaps shared shows or books). She also tells Leonard to shove it and since he wants to punt the kappa into the sun he likes that a lot.

[anonthenullifier]

Post Hoc

An “And They Were Research Collaborators!” AU

Inspired by this post - “we invited an eccentric billionaire to our fake wedding in the hopes of getting a free present, but then they said they would come and now we have to have an actual fake wedding for them to attend.”

Abstract

The current research seeks to marry the fields of quantum mechanics and social-cognitive psychology to present the first study of its kind to apply quantum probability to prosocial behavior. Helping behaviors of the elite one percent were tested using a novel paradigm that involved the low-impact, positively valanced behavior of gift giving for a wedding. It was hypothesized that the monetary amount of gifts provided would align with pre-determined factors of entanglement informed by the literature. The hypotheses were partially supported. The application of quantum theory to psychology is discussed as well as the unique and unexpected extraneous variables that should be included in future models.

AO3 Link

Chapter 1: Introduction

This room, just like all other rooms, is predictable. What at first appears a hodgepodge of chattering people quickly dissolves into order. Clusters of academics dot the rows of pleather chairs, each department banning together to save seats and gossip about who just got turned down by that one reviewer again or why Mathematics is currently not speaking with Chemistry. This in-group favoritism does not stop here, however, these smaller groupings branching into larger ones, the right side of the room, closest to the doors, are the physical scientists, and then there is an almost straight line of empty seats going from the front of the room to the back, cross over it and you reach the social scientists, similarly grouped by department, similarly chatting about successes and failures in attaining funding and how the tepid fifteen year feud between criminology and political science just heated back up with a passive aggressive email. 

Vision technically is sitting on the correct side, about two rows from the other psychologists, but he does not mind the self-ostracism since sitting in the back of the room allows him to better observe the meeting unfold into a dance of egos and sharp wit. Or so he assumes, this is his first all staff meeting with the Marvel Institute, but it is far from his first academic gathering, and people have a tendency to follow patterns. Next to him, contrary to where she should be seated based on the flow of allegiances, yet in line with some of the literature on prosocial behaviors, Natasha slouches, one foot on the back of the chair in front of her, eyes rolling at the heated story coming from the front right corner of the room. 

“Is there a special significance to the meeting today?”

She leans her head back and smiles at him, not unlike the snarl of a panther that has just happened upon a gathering a defenseless baby monkeys. “Oh yeah, people are going to be so pissed.” 

Some people find negative events, well, negative, while some relish in the misery of others.  Natasha is a proponent of the latter, the cutthroat nature of their job the perfect environment for her to thrive, something he has been envious of since they first met through mutual friends in graduate school. For what it’s worth, Vision has never been one for even casual schadenfreude. “Why is that?”

“Steve,” one of the main administrators of the think tank who also happens to be on a bowling team with Natasha, “said the board is threatening to cut funding if we all don’t start collaborating.”

Vision mentally scoffs, not really at the idea of collaborating since he intends to work closely with demography and sociology once he’s better established, but at the way the administration is speeding past all other avenues of empirically sound persuasion straight to the tactic most likely to cause defection. Perhaps he should send them a summary of the key findings in the area. “What are they going to do, throw our names into a hat and choose at random?”  

“Please don’t give them any ideas.”

An authoritative tapping of heels silences most of the gossiping. The head of HR steps up to a podium at the front of the room, her well-tailored pencil skirt, white silk shirt, and fuchsia cardigan creating an overall persona of power as she clears her throat into the microphone.  “Can I have everyone’s attention please.” At this point, there is nothing to argue about, so no one counters, voices dropping off into a wary silence. “Today’s meeting will be brief on my end,” a sardonic hooray comes from somewhere in the social sciences. She ignores it with aplomb. “If you recall, at our last companywide meeting, it was requested by our donors that you all,” patronizing tones are not an ideal way to get people on board, another thing he may need to add to the research brief for HR, “needed to embrace the trend of multidisciplinary research and give the Marvel Institute an even higher standing in the world today by providing even more cutting edge ideas.”

Natasha interrupts his attention with a whispered, “Ten bucks she’s about to tell us about another memo.”

He whispers back, “That seems a guarantee.” HR has already sent five memos this week ranging from appropriate attire for the workplace (someone had the audacity to wear flip flops on casual Friday) to cleaning out the fridges in the common space, to some useful ones like new grant sources and the changes to the workplace harassment policies. But it’s only Wednesday so there will be at least 5 more and Vision only takes Natasha’s bets if he has at least a 68% chance of winning. “I believe I will save my money.”

A shoulder nudges him, “You’re no fun.” Vision scoots an inch to the left.

“Immediately after this meeting, I will email you all a memo of what I am about to share.”

As usual, his calculations are correct, the ten dollars happily remaining in his pocket. “Being no fun for the win.”

“Shut up.”

The woman addressing the room straightens her spine, voice dropping into what she likely hopes is the best pitch for compliance. “The board of directors have mandated that every,” she pauses as grumbles begin to surface from all parts of the room, whispers of dissent and bemoaning of academic freedom, a privilege all of them in this room waived (for the most part) when they went into the private sector. She remains unfazed by the slow roiling of animosity, re-beginning and then ending the comment with her head still held high. “They have mandated that every employee must develop a multidisciplinary project with someone else working at the institute.” 

Out of the grumbling sprouts the first open dissent, the head of Computer Science, a lean, well-dressed man, stands to offer his thoughts. “Listen, why don’t you all tell the board to shove their mandates where they belong, because…”

Natasha’s whispering distracts Vision from the end of the comment, yet again, “That’s the other Victor.”  

“Oh.” On his first day he was informed that there was already a Victor working at the Marvel Institute, a man who is so vastly influential, revered, and hated that it might be in his best interest to dissociate from his birth name. Which wasn’t a huge issue. In graduate school he quickly took on the moniker Vision, not by choice, necessarily, but he did not protest the nickname. He hadn’t gone by it since getting his doctorate, determining Victor sounded more professional, yet now that he can watch the other Victor it makes complete sense why Vision was the one asked to use a different name. This Victor is impassioned, powerful, and utilizing the exact body language and tone to compel people to follow him. 

Victor finishes his speech with a hefty, controlled punch to the air, “You will never pry my intellectual freedom from me!” A few amens! rise from both sides of the room. 

“Well,” the head of HR grips the edges of her cardigan, tugging it closer to her body as she bristles at his tone, “no one is taking your freedom. You are free to choose the topic of your study and free to choose the person with which you will be working.”

Victor rolls his eyes and his whole body follows, “So this,” he raises his hands to add air quotes to the next word, “freedom you speak of is conditional?” The woman nods slowly, eyes beginning to look a little cornered. “Fine, then tell the board I already collaborate with Chemistry, Robotics, Engineering, and sometimes even with Physics when I’m desperate.”

“Yes, well, that is wonderful to know, and we thank you for your compelling work, except,” the cardigan is pulled even tighter as she prepares to drop what Vision assumes is going to be the talk of the hallways for a long time, “the board has set the requirements so that you must work with a colleague in a department that is more theoretically and methodologically different from your own. I have a list in the back of the room with acceptable multidisciplinary pairings.” If Vision had realized the handouts would be behind him, he would have sat in the back corner because at the moment every single person is staring at him, well, technically they are staring past him, but it feels the same. “A good rule of thumb is that you must work with someone who has an office in a different wing than your own.” 

“This,” a second dissenter stands, this time from Vision’s side of the room, the fur stole slouching around her shoulders giving off the image of a widowed socialite more so than the world-renowned researcher she is, “is preposterous and a clear sign of distrust and animosity from the board, not to mention a bit draconian of a measure this early on into the initiative. How can we, as independent scholars, be asked to work under such shackles, thrive under the oppressive weight of what people with no understanding of empiricism think is best?”

Vision will give credit to the head of HR, face remaining stoic despite the (not completely unearned) vitriol slung her way. When her hands finally release the wrinkled hem of her sweater, her voice takes on the non-questioning tone parents pull out when all hope seems lost, “Yes, we are forcing you to work with someone new. Yes, we are limiting some of your freedom, but you all use the funding of our donors, enjoy the bounty that this company gives you, have all the newest technology and programs, and for once, you are being asked to do something out of your comfort zone. If you don’t want to do it, fine, but know that it means you will lose your development funds for the next quarter.” 

Nat breathes out, “Told you,” in between this revelation and the next.

“We don’t care how big or small your study is, it can even be a pilot study or a grant application, but you will work together and you have to find your partner today before leaving this room. Have a nice day.”  

She scurries out of the room, leaving them in stunned silence, a rarity with academics, until a mousy man with disheveled hair and a solid stoop to his shoulders walks up to the microphone. “Um so, yeah, we,” he waves his hand around the room to show them the army of interns standing at the doors with clipboards clutched in their hands, “will write down the collaborations you all set up. We only need your names, departments, and a three to ten word description of your idea. Thanks a bunch!”

No one moves, the part in the sea of chairs remaining firm as eyes begin to shift, assessing first if anyone is going against the orders and second, who might be approachable. Vision angles his knees confidently towards Natasha, “I believe we could find a compelling empirical question between our two areas.”

“I’m actually going to work with Sam.” 

Dumfounded, Vision turns to see the colleague in question sending him a jolly little smile and a victorious wave, unable to fully reckon with the sense of abandonment swirling around his head. “But, but you are the only person I, I know…”

The factoid slides away with an easy shrug, “He and I have had an idea for a while, figured we would use this as our opportunity to finally do it.” Which is fine, Vision won’t stop people from collaborating and he, if he considers it logically, can better grasp how Sam’s research on identifying psychological risk factors in the military marries much better with Natasha’s research on advanced mechanized weapons than Vision’s own work in helping behaviors during extraordinary circumstances.  It is a nice melding for them. But, all things considered, it still means that Vision is at a loss. “Just think of this as a way to finally meet people.”

“But I don’t—”

“You know if you had just come out for happy hour and actually met people, I wouldn’t have had to do this.” Predatory smugness rests easy on her lips.

He has only turned down three invitations, all for the sake of unpacking his boxes and organizing his apartment and avoiding the awkwardness of small talk. That is not something worth such a heavy punishment. “Perhaps we can work as a trio?”

Nat’s hair tap dances along her shoulders as she turns down the offer. “Steve sent the memo to me last night, if three people work together, all have to be from different departments.” 

“Wonderful.” Vision joins the rest of the people in the room, sympathetic system in full gear, heart pounding and head a little woozy while he scans the faces around him, not recognizing any of the people on the side of the room he needs to pick from. “Do you have any recommendations?”

“I do, actually, come on.” Blindly Vision follows the red-head, weaving in between the chairs, trying not to make eye contact with any of the desperate faces that sail pass. “Hey,” he spent so much time watching the speckled floor tiles that Vision almost slams into Natasha’s back, “found your partner, as promised.” 

In front of them sits a petite woman, her dark hair falling well below her shoulders in loose waves, the layers of her weathered black clothing blending in with the pleather of the chair. Unlike Vision’s own nerves, she looks impressively unperturbed. “Oh yeah?”

Nat steps aside and pushes Vision closer to the woman, “Meet Vision, from Psychology.” Then she disappears leaving him alone with his collaborator.

“Um...” The woman’s gaze is steady and slightly unnerving. Vision finds himself shifting on his feet, expecting her to stand and then realizes that it makes no sense that she should have to make herself less comfortable to greet him. A new purpose discovered, Vision lowers himself onto the seat two away from her, allowing the comfort of one empty chair for easier conversation. “Hello, I’m, um, Vision.” he sticks out his hand, gray matter flopping uselessly around instead of pulling up all the research he has read on how to make a strong first impression.  

She grips his hand, giving it a solid shake and a, “Figured. Wanda,” before her fingers dive into the pockets of her sweater, and Vision’s, likewise, retreat to tangle in his lap. “So you a clinician like Sam?”

The most logical question would have been a broader, more open ended option like What do you study? for which he has a prepared 30-second elevator pitch he can ramble off in his sleep. He almost does it too, assuming that was the flow of the conversation. Luckily, he catches himself before his misstep, “No, I am a social-cognitive psychologist.”

“Which is?” 

This is a very different elevator pitch, one he has not given in a long time. “Oh, yes, so it simply means that I empirically examine the way situations, external factors, and other people influence an individual’s behavior, beliefs, and thoughts.” 

“Nice. Must be interesting.” 

What had been perceived friendliness at the onset wilts slowly into a polite disinterest and Vision feels oddly more comfortable for it, slipping into his usual comments meant to eschew the common misconceptions of his field. “Please do not be alarmed, I am not reading your mind nor analyzing your every behavior right now.”

Her lips form a marginal curve, falling back into a pucker that matches the scrunched skin of her forehead as she studies him.  “You know, I once had a roommate in college who was convinced I could read her mind because she misread my major. Even bought me a ouija board to help me do my thing.” Now it’s Vision’s turn to be confused, trying to figure out what she could study, since spiritual studies isn’t something to find at this institute. “Physics, Vision...I’m a physicist.”

“Oh,” a low, embarrassed chuckle comes out, “oh that makes far more sense than where my mind went. How long did you let her think that?”

“Based on the occasional emails we send, I think she still believes it.” 

The instant Wanda offers an uncertain little smile, he can feel his own mouth mirror it. “Well, if you are not going to interpret my star sign, what do you do?”

“I primarily focus on quantum mechanics with a specialization in optics.” The explanation stops and Vision tries to nod encouragingly, faintly aware of quantum theory due to a rainy Saturday in grad school when procrastination clearly took on a desperate hue, but that’s not enough to really understand what she does or what their collaboration can be. “I do a lot with wave functions, entropy, and lasers”

“Fascinating.” This doesn’t help him any, lasers not a big methodology in psychology.

With introductions out of the way, they reach a standstill, staring at each other, well, looking at each other and then looking away, Wanda choosing to study the sticker peeling off the chair in front of her while Vision glances towards the exit. This is exactly what people are angry about--being forced to find a common ground when collaboration, in Vision’s experience, always goes better when it happens naturally from two researchers who have similar but slightly different theoretical views on life. Vision tries to place himself back to his day spent going down the quantum rabbit hole, attempting to find anything that might bridge the gap between his world and the woman in front of him. Except he has nothing.  “It has been roughly twelve years since I took a physics class.”

“About ten for me since I had intro to psych.”

An unsurprising parallel, one he won’t let derail his thoughts, “From what I recall, quantum theory is all about predicting the movement and behavior of particles?”

“That’s the gist of it,” based on the way she says it, it seems that he is approaching the dark room of their collaboration with what might amount to an eraser sized flashlight on the last legs of its batteries. “Most of what I work with are unstable or ambiguous particle systems.” 

This Vision latches onto, feeling his thoughts growing a bit brighter. “I strive to predict behavior, often in unstable or ambiguous situations.” 

A few moments pass before realization erupts on Wanda’s face. “So quantum cognition?”

“If that is a real area.”

He’d like her, “I think so,” to be firmer, more excited, maybe?

“Well wonderful.” It is a start. With most collaborations, he has an idea of how the other person’s theories and methodologies differ from his and where they might meld. That is not currently the case. “I must confess that, other than a couple of review articles, I am not well versed on anything quantum related. Regardless, empiricism is universal and I am certain we could construct a relatively simple experiment where we examine traditional psychological theories of a particular behavior against, um…”

Wanda grins, finishing his thought. “Quantum probability. See who’s better.” He almost points out it’s not a competition, but holds back, uncertain how she might take the comment. “I think it at least sounds good enough to get us out of this room and let me get back to writing my grant.”

This seems doable and a mite exciting, though he can already sense a light panic at not understanding what he has agreed to. “I think we should maybe take some time to read up on the current literature on quantum cognition, perhaps send key articles to each other and see if that sparks any ideas. We can meet later today or tomorrow to hash out a workable study?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Three hours later, Wanda leans back in her chair, a low-grade headache knocking at her temples. The literature on quantum cognition is straightforward when it comes to the mathematical probabilities at play, what is troublesome is the often paradoxical findings and competing thoughts on human behavior. It’s not even the paradox that is frustrating, chaos is near and dear to her heart, a thrill running down her spine whenever she gets to watch the discombobulation of particles as they attempt to settle into their final reality. The moment where all realities are possible is her favorite. No, really it is the human behavior part that concerns her. The articles Vision sent along included experiment after experiment where people chose illogical actions that will harm others. Sure, occasionally there has been a study where they actually help, but it’s depressing to see confirmation of the state of human behavior. Growing up in a war-torn country and seeing the depths of human evil is part of what pushed her towards particles and molecules. That is an entropy she can enjoy, one that won’t set off bombs in apartments or shoot children in the street. She can bask in the glory of not knowing what the end result will be when no lives are at stake. How a man like Vision, who’s face just screams I’m so terribly sorry can study this is really confusing. Not as confusing as the fact that she has now read twelve explanations for the prisoner’s dilemma that all argue different things. 

Wanda shuts her laptop and shoves it in her bag. 

The building is divided into two wings, each wing then divided into six floors housing departments segregated based on closeness of discipline. It means she has to walk extra slowly from one side of the complex to the other so the scalding tea sloshing dangerously close to the edge of her mug doesn’t spill over. 

She waves stiffly at Sam as she passes his lab, a little salty at the betrayal of her friends, and continues down the hall, glancing through the windows of each room until she spots Vision. 

The psychologist is bent over his desk, face resting in his hand with the glow of the computer casting slanted shadows on his face. Wanda stands in the doorway watching him, trying to will him to glance up at her, but he only squints and moves closer to the screen. She shifts her bag behind her, switching the tea into her left hand. “Hey,” her greeting precedes the knock, both of which startle the man into a rigid stance. “You busy?”

Vision tries to reassert his calm, hands flattening the invisible wrinkles of his navy sweater. “No.”

“Awesome.” The expectation is he’ll invite her in, a researcher’s lab holier and more sacred than most people’s homes, only he doesn’t move, palms still attempting to dominate the phantom creases. What she doesn’t want to do is talk over the chasm of the lab, so she takes control, entering the room, a mixture of awe, jealousy, and fear forming at the spotless space. Despite the impressive cleanliness there is only one chair and he is currently sitting in it. “Figured we could talk, um,” the only available place is a table, her bag and cup coming to rest on the gleaming surface, “you know, make sure we’re on the same page.” 

“Of course,” Vision waves her to come in farther, his arms crossing casually, and then uncrossing, seemingly trapped in a state of superposition about how to act in the presence of another person in his space. His polite “Please,” finally collapses his uncertainty into a stiff-backed position, with one arm on his desk and the other resting on his crossed knee. 

Wanda accepts the invitation and perches on the edge of the table, legs swinging idly through the air. “So any thoughts so far?” 

“Some.” This remark implies more is coming, so she waits, fingers curling around the edge of the metal table, trying not to stare too hard as he scoops up a pile of stapled packets. When Vision stands it is fascinating to behold, his body unfolding forever, her neck twitching at the instinctual need to crane up with his progress until he is at his full height, which even from her position on the table, is still much taller than her. Somehow she hadn’t noticed this before or how it seems to amplify the clear discomfort her presence is causing him right now. The pile of papers is lovingly placed about a foot from her, allowing her to see the tell-tale structure of peer-reviewed articles. “I have been attempting to not only understand the fundamentals of your area,” the exhaustion cutting his words makes her feel a bit better, worried that only she was struggling with the cross-disciplinary readings. “While also attempting to think of behavioral analogs to the ideas.”

This is what she was hoping for, her end of the project is pretty much set regardless of behavior, the theory relatively stable minus confirming certain things with him. “I’m all ears.”

“All right, so superposition,” Vision picks up a dry erase marker and writes the word in uniformly sized and spaced teal letters. “I believe I understand the gist of what Schrödinger—”

“I like to call him the cat guy.” The attempt at breaking the tension flutters to the ground where he momentarily stares, “It was a joke...” Now he provides a polite snort, turning back to the board so she can’t see the rest of his reaction. 

Any annoyance or disappointment from her attempted levity is short lived, the uncapped teal marker in Vision’s hand waving as he speaks. “The whole thought experiment is based on superposition, that until a decision is made, all possible options exist together.”

“Correct, the cat can be both alive and dead until we pop open the box and collapse reality.” There is more to it, a laundry list of deviations from this basic component, but she doesn’t think muddying the explanation with qubit states or decoherence will be useful for their brainstorming.

The marker kisses the board again, his voice punctuated by the squeak of the silicone polymer, his ideas flowing into a visual while he speaks. “I’ve been trying to think of it with behavior and it could be like if I were to ask you this,” he underlines the question on the board, scrawled in the most perfectly legible writing she’s ever seen. “Are you happy? Until you answer the question,” a Yes and No join the phrase on the board, “you would exist as both happy and not happy.”

For a beginning example it is okay, though they will need a more nuanced approach in their own research if they ever want to publish it. “Yes, to you I would be both happy and not happy until reality exists and the superposition collapses. But, like the cat in the box, I personally would know my own reality, it’s just you, the researcher that wouldn’t.”

Her words are given careful consideration before he responds. “I hate to use this phrase, but…as a social psychologist,” a little leeway can be given in not categorizing him as a pompous, egotistical academic since he does seem genuinely distressed at sounding just like a pompous egotistical academic, “I am not certain I wholly agree with the assertion that people know their own emotions or even thoughts. For instance, we can shift the probability of your response by adding another question. Like, um,” Vision turns back to the board, hand busy writing out another yes/no question, “this.” Pointing at the question is overkill, but he does it anyway. “If we were to ask someone Are you currently hungry? and then ask if they are happy, we have now changed what their response could be because they are now potentially thinking about how ravenous they are,” which she is in fact considering, something that she wasn’t prior to the example and isn’t particularly happy to have in her mind since it also reminds her that she forgot to eat lunch today. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to notice the change in her own mood, still professorating towards the board, “and this happens even though the two questions are meant to be independent.”

Wanda tosses aside her angry stomach and slides from the table, joining him at the board, mulling over the marker choices he has and deciding on the red marker he keeps off by itself. “This is actually in line with quantum probability, specifically interference, where the probability of happiness changes depending on other factors. You all use classical probability—”

A very meek correction is given, “I am also trained in Bayesian probability.” 

“Either way, both, for the most part, say things are commutative and order doesn’t matter. But we know it does. In quantum probability we take into account the order of events when we calculate probability.” For a peaceful moment, she considers the questions to be like waves, watching as the two exist together, undulating around and around until a reality is set. Then she writes it down, her slanted, questionably readable letters marring his pristine board. “This example would be what we refer to as destructive interference. Assuming the person is, as you put it, ravenous, it would eliminate the chance of happiness in the second question.  On the other hand, if a person was either not hungry or comfortably full, it could be a constructive effect, where it resonates and boosts the happiness.” 

“So, context matters.”

There’s a cunning smirk on his face when he says it, a tiny, unexpected danger entering his voice that she finds a little academically enticing. “Yes, it does, that’s one of the underlying components of quantum theory. We must examine the context of the behavior we are predicting, whether it’s particles, light, atoms, or even people.”

Vision steps back and leans against the table, studying the board with a casualness and ease he hasn’t shown yet, one she imagines he only has when working. “Now we are getting somewhere. My entire area of research is on how the context of a situation can shape behavior, especially in ways that seem irrational or counterproductive.” He seems the type to want to explain and control illogical actions, no one else would button their collared shirt all the way to the top otherwise. “Consider helping.” A far cry from food, which will hopefully stop her stomach from grumbling. “If you were to be walking down the street and saw someone lying on the ground, what would you do?”

“I, um,” it seems a trick, something she tends to assume is a characteristic of those who study human behavior or ethics, so she turns to face him more directly, leaning back against the white board and mirroring his casual stance, “would check on them.”

“What if there was someone already with them?”

Ethically she knows she should check, but she is also aware that, once or twice or a handful of times in the past, she has continued walking by such a scene. “I would likely slow down and assess if more help is needed.” 

“One extra person and it changes,” the marker moves through the air as he talks, “we know that helping is influenced by myriad factors —the presence of others, the feeling of ability to help, the ease with which you can get to help them, whether you know the person, if they have similar demographics as you, if—”

This list is no doubt endless, especially with how his voice revs up with each new factor. Even if he seems nice, decently well-adjusted, and non-threatening, she doesn’t want to spend hours listening to this. “Are you saying you want to test quantum cognition with helping behaviors?”

“Not necessarily,” displeasure seeps into his voice, and then it twists into uncertainty, “well maybe,” and then slides into something close to defeat, “I really do not know, I’m just trying to think through it all.”

A fair approach to take but she also doesn’t want to drag this collaboration out longer than need be, especially since it will take valuable time away from her primary research. “Well, is there a theory you want to test?”

He shakes his head, capping the marker and placing it down on the table, careful to cage it in with his fingers so it doesn’t roll away. “For my part, it is easier to decide the behavior and then identify the most appropriate theory.”

“Okay.” The easiest thing to do is to just tell him they’ll go with helping and be done She’ll check on him in a few weeks, see what he’s concocted on his end and then she’ll step in. Except part of her wants to use this opportunity to also throw a middle finger at the administration for forcing their hands and taking them away from what they are paid to research. She just doesn’t know if this man is the best partner for something rebellious. “What do you think about all of this, the forced collaborations?”

The question surprises him, mouth dropping open and arm lifting to respond, inadvertently releasing the marker to roll onto the ground and under the table. He bends to retrieve it, still looking a bit lost when he resurfaces. “I believe that multidisciplinary research is the future of all our livelihoods,” definitely not going to be the right partner, perhaps she should have gone for the political scientist that goes to every protest in the region, “yet they are not using ideal methods to encourage such collaboration and are essentially stirring discord that will not further their wants.” 

Maybe Nat wasn’t crazy to have paired them up after all. “What if we choose something ridiculous to study?”

“How...so?”

Wanda shrugs, hands diving into the pockets of her sweatshirt. “I don’t know, something that’s kind of stupid but still theoretically applicable.” Apathy paints his face while a flicker of horror at the defacement of science dances in his icy blue stare. “You’re new, right?” Slowly he nods, arms crossing as he does so. “Each year there’s this unofficial award that we all vote on, we give it to the researcher who managed to publish the most outlandish study in a decent journal.”

His face doesn’t change but he does stand straighter, looking like he’s about to sprint out of the room, except his voice is borderline intrigued. “Like what?”

“Last year someone published a paper on how the fonts that protestors use on their signs invoke different emotions in their opponents.” 

The topic dangles in the air, Wanda a patient fisherman waiting for him to grow curious enough to nibble. Vision’s fingers tap the inside of his elbow and then his shoulders drop. “What font made them the angriest?”

“Comic sans.”

He laughs. The sound starts loud, like he wants to give it his all, but then is cut short into a contained social politeness, presenting her a brief, joyous huff. “Well,” Vision collects himself, shoving his enjoyment away and fixing the unruffled hem of his sweater, “so long as we have a theoretically informed study, I will consider any suggestions you might have.” 

Nothing screams out to her now, and even if it did, she wants to wait, look through the news to see how far she might be able to push him on this olive branch. “Let me think on it.”

He concedes. “We can speak more on it when you are ready.”

“There you are!” They both turn towards the door where Natasha stands. “I’ve been texting you for like half an hour.” 

Wanda’s hands search through her pockets while she glances to an old, black-rimmed clock on the wall. “Oh shit,” no wonder she’s so hungry and no wonder Natasha is upset. “Sorry, it’s on silent in my bag.” 

“Well, come on. Sam’s saving us a table.” 

Wednesdays are $3 nacho night and the last time she lost track of time, the bar ran out of cheese and it took a week for Sam to forgive her. She rushes to her bag, tossing it over her shoulder and chugs her tea. “Let’s go.”  

She’s a few feet down the hall when she realizes Nat isn’t next to her and also, with a mild pang of guilt, that she never officially ended her meeting with Vision. Both of these issues are being rectified by Natasha’s commanding tone, “Vision, I swear to God, if you don’t come with us, I’m never talking to you again.”

Condensation pools and drips along the surface of the electric blue drink gripped between his palms, a treat from Natasha for finally “being a human and joining them.” The other three are comfortable and amicable with each other, at least six inside jokes already lobbed into conversation and they have only been at the high top for ten minutes.  “Okay,” Sam is technically his closest colleague. They are in the same department, they attend at least one weekly meeting together, but still a stranger. Regardless, every encounter thus far, including tonight, paints him as exceedingly nice, personable, and unafraid to take control of a situation, “tell me a fun fact you learned this week that is not work related.” Vision is grateful not just for the inclusive conversation starter but also for the parameter. “Wanda, go.”

“Oh, um,” a creamy cocktail sits in front of her, the array of rings on her fingers, which he had not noticed before, despite watching her write, clinking the glass each time she takes a drink, “I learned that Papua New Guinea has over 800 spoken languages.”

Sam’s approving, “Nice,” accepts the fact and Vision looks expectedly at Natasha, assuming any rational person will move the game clockwise. “Vision, my man, what you got?”

Vision freezes, mind suddenly blank of all the things he has read in the past week, attribution theory even oozing out and falling through the cracks in the tile floor. “Well…” what he had for lunch is the closest he gets to any sort of memory, leftover broccoli soup sloshing through his mind. “Broccoli is a man-made product, created through selective breeding of a common mustard plant.”

“Seriously?” 

All three stare at him as if he has sprouted another head and, in this moment, he believes that perhaps he should have taken the risk that Natasha would never speak with him again. “Yes, same with cauliflower, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts…” Finally, their attention leaves him, contemplation manifesting in fingers gripping glasses and long, slow sips of alcohol. 

Sam tips his pilsner in Vision’s direction, “You’ve changed my life.” A well-meaning and empty exaggeration. “Okay Nat, can you top that?”

The easy swill she takes always proceeds a victory, something Vision would welcome, gladly forfeiting the prize of attention and questions to her. “I was reading a news story the other day about how this couple decided to invite a bunch billionaires to their wedding, hoping to get free gifts from them.”

“Did it work?” Thankfully Wanda asks the question before he feels compelled to do so. 

“Apparently, they got gifts from almost half of them.” 

This has to be a function of the secretaries for said billionaires simply sending a gift in the belief this person must somehow be connected, because Vision imagines the secretaries would know any names that would deem an actual RSVP. “Do you think,” Sam’s drink is forgotten as he stares up towards the grubby ceiling of the bar, “you could just send an invite and get a gift, even without a wedding?”

“That would be fraud.” The moral correction comes out before his social mind catches it, three sips of life-endingly strong alcohol enough to lessen his inhibitions, apparently. 

Despite the legal and moral point, no one else at the table seems bothered at the clear violation of federal and state law. “But they’re billionaires, what would one little wedding gift really do to their wallets?” Wanda seems friendly enough, intelligent, driven, and a bit uncomfortably rebellious. This all means he shouldn’t be surprised at her thought, but he’s still a bit scandalized at the complete disregard and even exhilaration in her voice when she speaks of breaking the law. 

Then Sam doubles down on the suggestion. “Exactly. Unless everyone starts doing it, what harm does it cause?” And to think this man is governed under the same ethical guidelines as Vision. What would the APA think of such reckless disregard for the law? “But seriously, would it work?”

For the second time, Vision jumps in more quickly than he should and with a far more sardonic tone than he intends, likely due to the influence of his ruffled feathers. “Still very much illegal but anything can be studied empirically.” Once the words are out, he immediately regrets it, not wanting to spur this conversation any more. It is possible (desired even) they ignore him, Sam already seeming to disregard his addition as he leans towards Natasha. Whatever Sam says is drowned out by a prickle traveling up Vision’s spine, his fight-or-flight response activating at the feeling of being watched. Slowly he turns his head towards Wanda, who levels a discerning, alcohol infused squint in his direction. “Yes?”

“Could you repeat that for me?”

“I, um,” Vision isn’t sure why she’s asking or why he feels like he should change what he said. “I stated that anything can be studied empirically.” 

As he finishes the sentence, Wanda’s lips tip into a wicked smirk. “What a ridiculous idea.”

[solitaire-dreams]

Miraculous: Secrets and Lies

*This theory was originally written after the events of Stormy Weather 2 and before the latest episode—Animaestro, I believe. Thus, predictions and assumptions are liable to change.

Season 3 has arrived and...it's been kind of a mixed bag right now. Anyone else? I don't want to get into my opinions on the episodes that have aired—or the synopsis of the upcoming ones—but analyzing where the series will go.

With the recent episode of Stormy Weather 2, or the 22-minute webisode, it brought character development back to the forefront. Many fans were annoyed that they tried to tell us these characters developed, rather than showing it. And while I do agree that they made it overblown, I was realizing before that Mari has changed as a character; subtly as it may be.

The original core traits of Mari's character development was having her grow from her shy, klutzy, and lacking friends; which the did. Whether proper steps were taken is up to you, but by the early episodes season 3, Mari has becoming more confident (best demonstrated by her becoming class rep), and she has the girl squad, consisting of Alix, Juleka, Mylene, Rose, and her really good friend of Alya.

Plus, she has been demonstrated to be on close terms with many of the other students.

And for physical capabilities, have you seen Weredad? Where Mari gets through all the traps to the rose WITHOUT turning into Ladybug? And she does a successful somersault? Yeah, she may have some klutziness, but that is leaps and bounds better then that seen from Origins 1.

Yet, the raises the big question: Where the heck is her character development going to go?

Judging from the common themes running through the first episodes of season 3, I think I have a pretty good idea; but for that we need to look at Lila.

Now that a redemption arc is (attempted) for Chloe, she cannot be the biggest antagonist to Mari at school as it would undermine this growth and make any future appearances as Queen Bee feel unearned. So, the first episode of season 3 Chameleon confirms to us that Lila is the new mean girl in town. And what is the biggest thing that tends to make us and Mari hate Lila?

Her constant lying causes her to manipulate people for her own gain, and when Mari discovered she was doing this, she began to detest Lila. Yet...and here me out...this is ironic because Mari's biggest character flaw is lying.

Wait, wait, wait before you angry comment it would be nice if you could hear (read) me out.

While Mari has become more confident in social situations and has better control of her limbs, situations that put her in panic mode cause her to lie. And not just white lie, but straight up outrageous complex lies you know will come to bite her in the back again later. This was very evident in two facets in Weredad and Chrismaster.

In Weredad, what sparks the main conflict is Mari being put in a situation where she believes Chat is beginning to suspect she is Ladybug. So, Mari panicking that her secret identity will be blown impulsively blurts out that she loves Chat and that's why she was here. This starts of a chain reaction of events leading to Tom's eventual akumatization; especially since she needs to keep piling onto the lie and force Chat into a tough situation. She falls further and further down this path because she is protecting a secret of Ladybug's.

In contrast, Mari lies in Chrismaster to protect a secret of her normal civilian form: in this case,  making presents for Adrian for the next 35 years. She initially lies when Chris backs her into a corner about what is in the trunk and blurts out the ridiculously seeming lie of being an elf of Santa. This snowballs into Chris believing Santa won't give him his present and getting akumatized.

So, it goes to show that Mari has a big problem with lying in the recent episodes, specifically when compared to more varied methods that she accidentally causes people to be used by Hawk Moth like Marianne, Nino's lil bro Chris, Alya's older sis Nora, Marc, and even her own father!

What is interesting to note is that while Lila and Mari do seem to lie a lot, they do for opposite reasons. Mari subconsciously lies when put into a stressful situation that threatens to expose a secret, and she doesn't try to hurt others. Meanwhile, Lila doesn't tell the truth fairly consciously to raise her status when it is not necessary, and she does not care about anyone getting hurt because of it.

These two methods parallel each other, but the different reasons don't change the fact people tend to get hurt through these lies. Making it vaguely ironic that Mari calls out Lila for her BS when she fibs a fair amount, too. And a great writing tool would be to call this parallel into question and force Mari to grow out of this flaw, proving she is better than the antagonist.

Though, that's just one character that is associated with lying, it's not like it's concrete—

“Kagami, given that she never lies,” ~ Backwarder

Oh, hey... Looks like we found another parallel. With Kagami being the main love rival for Adrian and a core part of her personality being bluntly honest, it highlights how Mari can fib and hide things. *FUTURE NOTE: Kagami's now iconic line where she straight up tells Chloe to back off is further evidence of her brutal honesty. So it is intriguing to note that the three main girls now associated with Adrian there is: the one who always lies, the one who never lies, and now Mari who lies in a panic. How honest a character acts is a running motif in their designs and I do not think it's accidental.

Granted, this could be interpreted to make Mari's attitude feel like the best out of the three—with lies from Lila hurting others, but Kagami's brutal honesty coming off sometimes rudely—yet I think Kagami now being the major rival for Adrian's affections (essentially confirmed because Backwarder has Mari worrying about Kagami getting closer to Adrian) manifests the attitude Mari will need to develop towards. Maybe not completely, though she needs to be more honest about her feelings.

Kagami even says it herself to Mari in Frozer that she needs to stop hesitating; i.e she needs to be more honest about her feelings towards Adrian or they will never get together. And yes, there is a distinction between lying and not saying anything at all. Though the other kind of dishonesty of withholding information is best suited for her Ladybug persona and this is where it connects back to Adrian. Because the beginning from the quote above was:

“Then when Adrien finds out you're not who he thought you were, he'll be totally disappointed because he hates lying; he'll fall head-over-heels in love with Kagami, given that she never lies,”

Adrian hates lying.

And that's not some minor trait, it is something to be prominent enough to be noticed by Alya and commented that lying could complete ruin Mari's chances with him. So, she has to overcome this flaw if she wants to get closer to Adrian.

However, the implications for their alter-egos is also important. This constant theme of the truth revolves more around secrets being kept as Ladybug hides many things from Chat. The series has demonstrated countless times that Chat is not happy with being kept in the dark; probably stemming from the fact he was raised in a sheltered household not knowing why his father was so distant, and his genuine desire to help people as much as he can.

This has been an especially prominent theme in Season 2 when truth ties in to trust; all coming at a head in Syren when Chat gets fed up about how many secrets Ladybug has been  and doubts her trust in him; even threatening to give up his Miraculous to manipulate Plagg into telling him what Ladybug was hiding.

The episode does border a bit into heavy handed with Chat's feelings, yet they are complete valid and understandable. The secrets Ladybug keeps makes Chat seem inferior to her (something he already gets enough as Adrian from his father) and leaves Ladybug in an even higher position of power than Chat.

(Looking at it, Nathalie and Gabriel have a lot of parallels with Chat and LB...God d*****t, I do NOT need another analysis: life expects me to actually be functional!)

Honestly, I have a few grievances with how their superhero team dynamic is portrayed, though I hope that means it is only going to grow into a stronger relationship and they can truly be a team.

Except...I don't think it's going to be all that easy. With Adrian/Chat's pent up feelings towards the idea of not knowing the truth, Ladybug having more secrets weighing down on her shoulders, and Mari's lies rising fast; the show is leading towards a dramatic explosion. Maybe it has to do with the Chat Blanc episode??? Not sure.

Regardless, I think the ideas surrounding secrets and lies are going to escalate into our heroine being caught in a lie that actually has lasting and deep impact on the people around her. And by heroine, I mean Mari.

For this moment to have the biggest impact and tie into the most characters, this blow up needs to happen while she is Mari; if it has to be chosen between civilian form or hero form.

While Lila does have drama with both Mari and Ladybug, she is in an easier position to damage Mari and it is known now that Lila isn't exactly Mari's fav person. Plus, Kagami has no connection to Ladybug and her honesty would act as a foil to the lie(s) when exposed.

If executed correctly, this concept could develop a lot of characters. Kagami could have more narrative person as Adrian has a reason to get closer to her and her mindset would be validated by anyone else as the most correct one in this scenario. Alya could have some basis for a conflict with Mari instead of the lackluster attempt tried in Chameleon; either by the secret affecting her, or her search for the truth as a journalist (truth again...hmmm...) would cause her to not support Mari's actions. Lila would be able to get the upper hand on Mari, because even if her lies were exposed, she could play it off as them being fundamentally the same in that situation—a liar disliking another liar, and question how it could make Mari any better than what she thinks Lila is. Adrian would finally have his first major conflict with Mari since the gum incident and be forced to consider the actions of everyone around him (specifically if the lie involved him in some way). Lastly, Mari of all people would come to the conclusion that her habitual lying in her civilian form (at least for things that do not involve her hero identity) is a flaw she needs to fix, because it hurt all the people around her.

This proposed plotline could do wonders for creating character development for multiple cast members and multiply to even higher lengths if it affects Ladybug's attitude. Maybe ending in her opening up to more of the secrets about the Miraculous to Chat, reciprocating the trust given to her; and the new burden of all this truth that Chat now has to keep could lead to Chat/Adrian taking more responsibility; a criticism often leveled at his character.

Wow, that was way longer than expected; but I hope this isn't in vain.

Tl;dr: Most of the major characters around Mari's age (Mari/Ladybug, Adrian/Chat, Lila, Kagami, even Alya) all have this constant theme of their characters being involved with the truths and lies; with every non-antagonist being associated with desiring truth...except for Mari /LB. So far, Mari has been panic lying at every corner, and it has caused two akumatizations already. Thus, I propose that with the new obstacle needing to be posed for Mari's character development, it will centre around her overcoming this impulsive fibbing; having a major climax where one of Mari's secrets is exposed and her having to deal with and grow from the fallout. Maybe it won't happen...

But that's just an analysis. A show analysis that I really want to be true. Thanks for reading!