On Witches, Wizards, and Wild Ones: A Conspiracy Board from the Walls of the Witch of the Wondering Path
Ahoohoo and crackle crackle!
This is an attempt of untangling some threads, stretching out their red yarn and connecting one thing to another or maybe to nothing at all. A series of notes and questions on what we know, what we may know so far, or at the very least what we have been told. The purpose is mostly to try and determine who might be behind the assassination attempt of the station of the Witch of the World’s Heart, before the Coven of Elders convenes, but also some other stuff, because these sorts of things balloon out quite quickly when one is combing through transcripts for clues. And also a dragon??
I shall analyze and speculate from what we have been told, knowing some inconsistencies may be characters concealing truths, interpreting them differently, or that some inconsistencies will be born of this beautiful improvisational medium. I will also do so knowing that Brennan is playing a long game, setting up characters and plot threads for a future he does not entirely know yet.
Settle in with your warm drinks and campfire blankets everyone, this is 12 page paper.
THE CURSE(S)
There are several appearances of curses in both the Children’s Adventure and the first arc, often characterized by an exhalation of dark smoke.
In the Children’s Adventure: While not confirmed as a curse, when Grandmother Wren leaves (to a meeting with friends that the wizards don’t know about, to see where the missing Eoighorain might be) to what is presumably a meeting with the Coven of Elders, she returns with a bandage tied around her forearm. But it does not look too horrifying and it is not soaked with blood. She describes the trip as eventful and necessary. (Possibly at the castle of Indri, the Witch of the Wind and Stars, as the conclave will be the second meeting there in a century.)
In episode 8, 2 days before Steel arrives to bring Suvi home, Grandmother Wren returns to the cottage after leaving to try and figure out why Soft and Stone have not come yet. She went to a place that they had told her was safe, and someone was there waiting to hurt her. Grandmother Wren tells Suvi “They’re gone now.”
Grandmother Wren looks ill; her hair is white and her hand is described as black and red and withered, burnt and cracking with blood streaming down from a wound that can’t set. Her breath is ragged, weak, and quick. The curse is described to Eursulon as not strong, but clever. He also learns that the curse uses her pain to keep the itself in place; that it gets stronger the more she tries to feel and deal with the pain.
After the children work together to trap the curse and heal Grandmother Wren, Suvi recognizes the mist of wizardly teleportation magic outside. The girls just barely see Grandmother Wren’s footprints outside the door, but do not see anyone else’s, nor any other signs of entry. Suvi is able to tell that the magic is not Grandmother Wren’s.
After investigating this caught curse, which Grandmother Wren at first believed was the work of the wizard, she determines the curse was expecting a wizard, and did not believe its origins were of this realm. She also says it should have killed her, but it didn’t, because they were expecting someone else.
I was surprised re-listening that Grandmother Wren believed this portion of the curse expected a wizard. I think this curse may have been on an item capable of teleportation magic (no second set of footprints) perhaps meant for Soft and Stone, but when its target became Grandmother Wren, a contingent effect was triggered, or this is another curse altogether perhaps mingling with the larger curse on both her and Ame. Grandmother Wren thought Soft and Stone were spending the summer trying to find out who their true friends were - perhaps the Coven of Elders were also testing who they could trust. While “They’re gone now. Do you understand?” implies Grandma Wren whooping their ass 6 ft under the ground, she hadn’t figured out who cast it yet at that point, which leads me to believe that they were not present. The origin not being of this realm makes me think the origin of the curse is The Stranger.
In Ep 01:
Here we discover the larger curse on both Grandmother Wren and Ame, when they realize a curse has robbed Ame of her memories and knowledge, of her station and of who she could trust and prevents Grandmother Wren from telling her about the Coven of Elders or calling herself the Witch of the World’s Heart. Grandmother Wren breaks through the curse (but not breaking it proper) as it tries to “stop the coronation” by willing the house, and all that is hers to Ame.
After, Brennan tells us “Grandmother Wren can no longer speak as she concentrates on magic, she has not fought off this curse”
Taro addresses the Granddaughters of Wren and tells them “The curse is powerful, but the secrets that Wren shared still live. You have been cursed too” and then, speaking of Wavebreaker, “But there is a key, a key to find where they are being kept, and a key to cut them free when found. There is a source with the power to disenchant and scry”
GrandaughterS of Wren - is Suvi afflicted by any part of the curse, or was Taro’s “you” only addressing Ame? Taro also says Wavebreaker has the power to find where the secrets are being kept, and the power to scry but this is not currently reflected in the statblock…but more on that later when we talk about the Stranger’s possible connection to Wavebreaker.
We also learn in Episode 15, once Ame recovers her memories, that the Stranger had attacked Grandmother Wren at the Grove of the Well— a place sacred to the Coven of Elders, a month prior to her bed rest. She also tells Ame “For some time now, since you were a very little girl, in fact, he has been moving upon our world in a way that I cannot quite see.
Is part of the curse helping to obscure The Pilgrim Under the Stars, The Man in Black, The King of Night, The Stranger from Grandmother Wren? Did he start moving in such a way shortly after she took in Ame as her apprentice (which she was “cutting a bit close”) and the succession of her station was in the process of being secured, not going the way of either Scalvi, the Witch of the Watching Fire or Oruna, the Witch of the Wide Blue Sea?
In Ep 14:
In episode 14 when Eursulon breaks the curse on Ame we are told “Whatever entity placed this curse on Grandmother Wren and Ame put a spell so nasty that it was standing in front of successive contingent effects. That there’s like, a nested series of spells within Ame, and you’re excising all of them. But the big one that Ame was aware of was hiding some others”
The curse afflicting Grandmother Wren at the end of summer, seems to be the larger curse affected both her and Ame. The children only excised and trapped one part of many of the curse.
The curse is described as something sliding and clicking, liquid poison filled with a puzzle, turning from the inside, made of shadow. something that twists and rotates and expands and pierces. The curse is also holding onto something as it leaves - Ame is able to grab and safekeep the knowledge the curse attempts to steal from her on a Nat 20 wisdom save, and then collapses to the ground and expectorates black bile that smells of iron and blood, like Eoighorain, with a 9 on her constitution save. Her breathing remains strong, not ragged (unlike Grandmother Wren). We are told, through Suvi’s identify spell, that the bile is not the curse itself, but was behind the curse - something hidden there, meant to kill Ame if the curse were to be broken
Does the bile smell of Eoighorain because its a contribution he made to the curse (he is a known entity to the Coven of Elders), or a signifier of a power both he and Ame are affected by? We learn later, in Episode 16 when Steel discusses Eoighorain with Suvi, that this smell is not common amongst shapeshifter’s, but a scent she has only ever smelled from him.
When Steel arrives she says that the longer Ame remains in her unconscious state, the more whoever created this spell would be able to track her.
More on this in the next section- but is that why Indri, the Witch of the Wind and Stars was able to send a message to Ame in the Citadel so easily?
THE COVEN OF ELDERS
In Episode 23, Mr. Soup tells us that Grandmother Wren was at odds with the Coven for many years— there was a plan she did not want to go along with, and had been searching for a long time to find a way to convince her sisters to do something else. We also see glimpses of this in Episode 15 in Grandmother Wren’s conversation with Mirara, the Witch of the Waning Moon. It’s a safe guess that this disagreement has to do with Wizards and the Citadel.
What Sly has divined regarding the upcoming Conclave (which we are told in glorious metatheatrical fashion in Episode 23 that “All things occurring as they have been seen. With perhaps one or two tricks, just to keep the story interesting.”)
That if Ame does not go to the North Pole in 3 days, the Coven will meet without her and that they will try to destroy her and in doing so the stations of Witch of the World’s Heart
One of them will make an argument that Ame’s existence threatens the nature of magic in Umora. The majority of times Ame wins that argument, it is because magically if they were to get rid of her station they would probably have to get rid of another.
If Suvi is not there as her advisor, Ame will die
We also know from Grandmother Wren that there is much the coven can do without full unanimity (but presumably would be far less powerful to do so), and the Coven is bound by laws of mutual respect and there will be tremendous repercussions if one insinuates that any of the other stations are not incredibly significant to the nature of magic itself.
But which of the members of the Coven of Elders might want the station of the Witch of the World’s Heart gone the most? WHO IS IN CAHOOTS? Is The Stranger involved? Is Eoighorain? Who has the most against wizards?
Marara, the Witch of the Waning Moon (Mirara? The transcripts use both spellings.)
The death of light, the end of might, the all consuming dread of night.
This is the obvious first suspect.
If that’s not a witch well on the pathway to wickedness, I don’t know what is.
The Witch subclass says of The Coven of the Wicked: “Members of this coven like to paint themselves as misunderstood victims, but it’s not tragedy that turns a witch’s heart to darkness—it’s the inability to let go of their suffering. A wicked witch might claim to be an enemy to all the world, but they always have one kind of person in particular—usually related to their past self, and what soured their magic—that they despise above all else. When you become wicked, choose a virtue that is anathema to you: courage, fairness, generosity, innocence, loyalty, kindness, optimism, prudence, selflessness, or being in love. Beings that display this virtue are especially tempting targets for your ire.”
Like…you can’t have a piece of such juicy and gorgeous and cool design like the Coven of Wicked (and the rehabilitation therein) and not have a wicked witch in your story!
Additionally, Marara’s domain is the Witch of the Waning Moon. The death of light, the end of might, the all consuming dread of night. The moon wanes as it goes from full to new. When Ame meets her on the road, to light her way to the cottage, the harbinger of her arrival is a candle on the verge of going out.
Mirara’s domain speaks to cycles, to the fall of the mighty and to the fear of the unknown. It is also of the night, possibly putting her in natural cahoots with The King of Night who also hates wizards. The conversation he has with Eursulon and the conversation Ame sees in the water between Marara and Grandmother Wren, both in Episode 23, certainly mirror each other.
She is also often accompanied by wind, which speaks to Indri’s domain, the Wind and Stars, another one of night.
Indri, the Witch of the Wind and Stars
Of frost and stone, of ice and throne, the ruler of the self alone.
Indri’s domain is the wind and stars, a domain that also overlaps with an appellation of the Pilgrim Under the Stars. In the letter to Ame she tells her she knew Ame has assumed her station from how the stars aligned. She has an apprentice we know little of. She also did the most to reach out to Ame to arrange a meeting.
Did she reach out to Ame so it was more likely she would attend the Conclave?
The ice fairies say when they find Ame and Suvi in the bathroom, “long lancing spells and vexing hexes of old were made to pierce and plunder through the guises and guile of wizards”
Were they able to reach her because Ame was easier to track when she was unconscious under Indri’s spellwork? Is it because she does not like wizards and is practiced at secretly penetrating their defences? The ice fairies were particularly silly, one being evidently foolish. Were they perhaps sent by Indri by way of her apprentice, who is lonely and excited to meet another Great Apprentice? “Hexes of old” does imply that Indri may be practiced at getting through Citadel defences.
Does Indri have any pull over celestial movements? When discussing that summer and Eoighorain with Suvi, Steel says “all of that changed as the celestial path shifted ever so slightly. And that slight slight shift meant that all of a sudden, you could teleport anywhere, pretty much unstoppable, very easily.” Grandma Wren also speaks of stars to Ame like they have personalities. Could Indri have eased the way for the eras of easy teleportation? Did she ever go on long and friendly flights among the stars with Grandma Wren? Is her witchcraft more divinatory? I think Indri falls on the side of wanting to stop wizards, but something in my gut says she does not want to see Ame dead.
Hacaea, the Witch of the Woodland Green
The holly branch, the towering oak, the limb and leaf an thorn her folk.
We know little of Hacaea so far, but I think she’s absolutely in cahoots mostly because she would have perhaps one of the greatest motives to hate wizards and want them gone, on account of the whole them turning a great forest into a huge snowy, mirror-y desert and a wizard tower who’s aerith depository is probably doing kind of fucked up stuff to the biome. We know she does not have an apprentice and I think Brennan singling her out as the one Ame could imagine hanging out with was in part was that it would hurt more when she’s in ASSASSINATION CAHOOTS. Might have sent Ame the letter on bark.
Grimoire, the Witch of the Wild Hunt
Where beasts have tread and monsters fed, the bloody fang and maw hath led.
We also do not know much about Grimoire. We know she has an apprentice, and has so far been characterised as much more feral and concerned with catching and eating things. She might have also sent Ame a letter on bark. I think there is more with her connection to monsters and possibly to Gaothmai, and Eoighorain?? Certainly there is more to her than meets the ear. Again I think Brennan could have been trying to be tricky in his comments about her, trying to make her seem less important early on than she will be.
THE STRANGER
Who has held his breath since the dawn of time, the Pilgrim Under Stars, the Man in Black, the King of Night. Who attacked Grandmother Wren at the Grove of the Well and who has been moving across the world in a way Grandmother Wren could not see since Ame was a very little girl, who came to the cottage the moment after Grandmother Wren passed when the station was at its most vulnerable and requested entry, and who does not like wizards.
The strings I am most interesting in detangling here, are his possible connection to Wavebreaker, and his connection to roads which we know are incredibly significant to Grandmother Wren’s wards.
In Episode 7 of Children’s Adventure after the cast each takes a turn describing a detail of Wavebreaker Brennan narrates “So you have this moment together in the hottest days of summer as this suit of armor hands you this thing”. The next scene, after taking a moment to roll some ability scores, is at night.
Suvi then rolls a 3 on a perception check, “So with a three in perception, you look and see that you were mistaken. You look deeper at the shadow and it's just a shadow. But it was a scary shape from one of the trees”
Ame investigates the spot the next day.
Taro had said back in Episode 01 “It will help you find whatever is keeping these secrets, and perhaps whoever took them.” What if that connection goes both ways for a powerful spirit with so many titles? One who has taken care to obscure himself from Grandmother Wren?
In Episode 23 once Eursulon entered the fire, eventually travelling from the Citadel to actual Gaothmai, the Stranger caught up to him enough to have a conversation real fast.
As evidenced above (if that figure of shadow is indeed The Stranger, but the point still stands anyways) he is also connected to the motif of roads.
The final line of Episode 01 (which as the last line from the first episode, carries extra emphasis):
From episode 21:
From episode 22:
But in speaking of roads we must remember,
The iron shoe of horses. 3 iron nails sprung out of a signpost. Could a connection to the Stranger cause Eoighorain’s blood to smell like iron?
EOIGHORAIN
In my folders of screenshots, within the one labelled conspiracy, this one is named “the unexplained Eoighorain fragment.” As I mentioned before, Brennan is playing the long game- placing pieces on the board, but he could not yet know all the ways they could move. Eoighorain is placed like a question mark, with great manoeuvrability. He could go one way or another. Too many NPCs think him untrustworthy and it makes me wonder if he is the flashy distraction of a magic trick so we don’t see what the other hand is doing.
This one goes down a few rabbit holes.
We learn much about Eoighorain in episode 16 from Suvi and Steel’s conversation but also, from the diagrams (which are 150 years old, made in the first 50 years of the Citadel) of garrans, which are a creature of the world of spirit. We learn that Eoighorain’s name means “Of Garran” or “Son of Garran” and that iron was always at the forefront of his smell, with the party speculating that the iron is perhaps used to bind him.
In Episode 15 Grandmother Wren tells Ame she has doubts about how loyal Eoighorain ended up being. Steel tells Suvi in episode 16 that she discovered recently, in the weeks preceding the start of the campaign proper, that Eoighorain was alive, and this is why she sent the books including the diagrams made to smell like him to Grandmother Wren, in an act of admitting defeat and hoping she would be able to find him where she could not.
She says she saw him at Fort Keiran, doubts herself, and then sounds sure.
Why was Eoighorain at Fort Keiran? Because the revolutionary forces of Gaothmai are fighting the Citadel? Because he is working with the Cauntaranacht now and perhaps always was? A secret third thing? Was it even him after all? Was Steel about to say that exact same scent? Was their revolution successful and so their forces hold much more power in Gaothmai now? Is that one of the reasons the war is spinning up again?
We see Gaothmai ourselves only briefly, in Episode 23. Eursulon, after falling and landing in an unfamiliar deep forest, meets monsters caught somewhere between spirit and mortal, left to fester— simian feline monstrosities, somewhere between a baboon and a panther with diseased scaly and mottled hide. Brennan describes it like a yard with attack dogs in it, who attack because of his citadel badge and who eventually leads him to Kalaya.
(And sidebar I think he sees a dragon?? Is the war spinning up again because of a dragon? Was part of the Coven’s plan raising a dragon to raze the Citadel and everyone else? Was that how the world burned before? I just realized now that Eursulon saw a dragon and I am spinning up about it for sure.)
But back to Eoighorain, and Steel thinking that he caused the death of Soft and Stone, who Steels tells us were prolific double agents with connections in both Rhuv and Gaothmai that pay dividends to this day.
Grandmother Wren tells Ame in Episode 15 that Eoighorain was one of the outside members of the Citadel to alert the Acadator to the presence of agencies, jokingly referred to as the League of Whispers, which were dedicated to the downfall of the Citadel from within. She also says “When Steel came to collect Suvi at the end of that summer, the primary targets of their investigation were dead or missing.”
Additionally in the Children’s Adventure:
Steel tells us in Episode 16 that the mission Soft and Stone were on the summer that they died was searching for a dangerous sorceress named Nahani. This was the first time that instead of her and Eoighorain protecting Soft and Stone, he alone was charged with their safety. When Steel returned to collect Suvi she came back with scars on her face, and a new cloak.
Why was Steel left behind? Was she needed by the Citadel elsewhere? A matter of trust? Is she telling the truth? Did Soft and Stone leave Steel behind so she would not know they were possibly acting against the Citadel? Because they knew she would not betray it? Was she really not there, or is that a cover up? Is guilt one of the forces that pulled her to be mother to Suvi? I don’t really think she killed them but I am not discounting that possibility.
I think Steel believes this wholeheartedly, but I don’t for a second.
Stone is a very prolific abjurer, who also studied divination. Just saying.
Additionally,
This little nugget in Gaothmai perked my ears up the first time it was said. Ket, you say? Like Suvirin Kedberiket? Like Aman Kedberiket? THAT WAS A CHOICE BRENNAN. IN A WORLD WHERE NAMES ARE VERY IMPORTANT, IN A CULTURE WHERE NAMES ARE KEPT SECRET. IN A NATION SOFT WAS A DOUBLE AGENT FOR. WHO, 2 YEARS BEFORE SUVI WAS BORN, FREED A NUMBER OF SPIRITS, ONE OF WHOM WAS KALAYA, WHO THEN SETTLED DOWN IN GAOTHMAI. AND HE HAS A COLLEAGUE WHO IS THEORETICALLY A REVOLUTIONARY FROM THERE. A COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT. Anyways I think Soft is from Gaothmai.
In conclusion: ?????????????????? I’m really excited for arc 3 because I really love witches and I don’t really know what up with Eoighorain, and I adore but do not trust Steel (but what else is new) and I do think there’s a dragon in Gaothmai apparently?? And I think The Stranger has a connection to Wavebreaker and I think Soft is from Gaothmai and I really don’t know if I can trust Indri or not but I hope we meet her apprentice and some more ice fairies.
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also. i was thinking abt ur analysis on soysauce duo’s relationship, and how macaroni and mk’s relationship has that more direct progression in terms of caring about each other/mentorship, and also that it gives me a very nice opening to talk about my favorite line in s4: “Nice tail, kid,” from macaque in 4x09.
just. like. that’s the first nice thing anybody’s said about this terrifying new monkey form, and it’s so important that macaque says it. in a past season, that would’ve been a taunt, but here it’s about as close to sincere as macaque ever gets, and how it shows that the character development from s3 has stuck, that he isn’t just here to be a dick. yaknow??? <- frantically gesturing at a red string board with the clown wig firmly fitted on
*nods at board and takes her own red strings from her pocket* yeah, yeah exactly
they're relationship is literally "hey kiddo" (derogatory) to "hey kiddo" (affectionate). every insult that Macky threw at MK in the past (which was really just a backhanded compliment), now hold sincerity and geniune compliments to it. and you know what? THEY'RE DYNAMIC ALSO FLIPPED!!!
like, if you think about it, both MK & SWK's dynamic and MK & Macky's dynamic have flipped. it's Macky now who's trying to reach out and be friendly with MK still distrustful and throwing barbs (which Makcy takes in stride bc....fair is fair tbh) and yeah 100% agree that Macadoo's comment on MK's monkey form being the 1st positive one is a big deal and super important.
the previous ones coming from:
Ink!MK, who used that form to highlight how dangerous MK is to his friends and the world and will be the catalyst to its end;
Sun Wukong, who ignored the issue and was trying to placate MK. which, to be fair, was needed because Mk was not in the right mind, but SWK's mitigation (i think is a better word bc Wukong did acknowledge but was trying not to make a big deal out of it) ended up aggravating MK further because, once again, he feels like his pain and issues are being deflected.
and MK's friends, Pigsy, Sandy, Tang, and Mei, who were also overwhelmed by the events but weren't even sure how to react to MK's new burst of power.
and then you have Macaroni, who, if we remember, was unaware of the events that just transpired (at least, i think he was unaware bc he made a joke about Wukong being a lazy ass, which would be a low blow if Macartney was aware of everything in 4x08). all Macackle gets is MK pleading at him to stop with the taunting and THEN JUST GIVES UP ON WHAT HE WAS SAYING BECAUSE HE'S EXHAUSTED AND FEELS USED AND BROKEN AND CONFUSED AND MAYBE IF MAC DOES TAUNT HIM AT LEAST ONE THING OF HIS LIFE IS TYPICAL AND-*gets taken off the stage*
*comes back but now covered in scratches and blood* sorry, uh, what was i saying?
ah yes,
the fact that it is Macandy who comments on it (he is shown to be shocked about it and knows that something is up) and just a simple "uh, you have a tail now," it's "nice tail by the way."
no questions about how it happened, no concern over what transpired. just an acknowledgment of it and a positive one which is the complete opposite of what MK's been shown because it is the part of him that is supposed to be bad and chaotic and the Harbinger. it can't bring good or be something hopeful....can it?
also, ISN'T INTERESTING HOW MACAQUE'S COMMENT ON THE TAIL IS POSITIVE AND NOT WHAT SHOULD BE ASSUMED OF MONKEY!MK'S PURPOSE JUST LIKE HOW MK'S PERSISTENCE FOR MACKY'S HELP FURTHER LED TO MACKY REALIZING THAT FATE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT AND SCREW THE THREADS DESTINY AND THE WORLD GIVES YOU AND-*gets dog-piled*
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Asky gamo: https://www.tumblr.com/chill-vibes-but-rainbow-panic/756389448749547520
Characters:
5 for everyone's favourite theatre gay, Dante Vernon
6 for Theo
21/22 (pick one) for Leila
✨Bonus Characters✨:
For both Flim and Flam 24
Ik at one point you said that you've read the Giver, so 4 for Jonas if you remember anything abt it
1 for Darkwing Duck
let the paragraphs begin!/j
Characters <3 (OG Ask Game)
1. Why do you like or dislike this character?
(This is going to be a paragraph be prepared)
So first of, Darkwing's honestly just really funny. He is the smartest idiot you'll ever meet (The 'breadcrumb on the bridge' scene lives rent free in my head iykyk). He has such a based disguise, but somehow also no swag (at least three villainesseses have fallen for him regardless). He survives purely out of luck and children's-cartoon-protagonist-powers. He saves lives every night and no one respects him. His name is Male Duck. THE character of all time
Also, Darkwing has quite...interesting morals. Like, he isn't gonna kill people, but he also doesn't really care, if they just so happen to die (this is canon)
He's also incredibly self-absorbed, to the point it can interfere with how he interacts with other people (though he's also masking his insecurities and trauma, which on that note, I'm a sucker for a sad backstory), but that doesn't mean he doesn't care
With that said, MAN Darkwing CARES. That man got a family in the span of one day, and was immeditaely ready to die for them. Even if he can be clouded by his own ego, he loves Launchpad, and he loves Gosalyn, and he loves being a hero, and he loves being a dad, and he loves being a friend
His interactions with Nega-Gosalyn uhwefiohusdf you can not expect me to be normal about that! I will never shut up about Darkly Dawns the Duck, or Steerminator, or Crisis of Infinite Darkwings, I simply can't
Not even mentioning the fact that, after years off being completely absorbed into his hero-identity and completely shutting himself of from society, Launchpad is the first person he trusts so completely, he reveals his identity to him. He doesn't just let him into his life as a sidekick, but explicitly as a member of his new family
But (and this is prob one of my favourite tropes any superhero-media can do ever), Darkwing is also shown to care about his villains, though more so in the comics, than the show
Of course - one of my favourites - "Dawn of the Day of the Return of the Living Spud". When Darkwing decides to call Bushroot by his first name, to just completely level with him as a person. The situation requires urgency and action, but he knows why Reginald can't do it. He has seen how far that man was willing to go for company, he knows how lonely he is. Darkwing can't force him, so he reasons with him, because Bushroot is not imcapable of being reasoned with. And then even once Posey has already been defeated, and so the stakes are no longer there, Darkwing checks up on him again. He obviously cares about how Reggie is feeling after this. Because while he might think the entire potato-wife-plan was crazy, he can understand how important it was to Bushroot, and how he was forced to kill the only living being he thought came close to being like him
Then there's of course also the entire thing with Quackerjack in "Toy with Me", and Claire humbling him with the idea that Quackerjack (and villains in general), are people beyond what Darkwing sees them as. And while he unfortunately never really got the chance to talk it out with QJ, both times Darkwing had that moment of "trust me, I get it"
(For Bushroot it was the loneliness, for QJ wanting to be better than everyone else)
And characters like Darkwarrior Duck prove that Darkwing is not above becoming a villain himself, if the circumstances were right. It shows that - to an extent ofc - being a villain or not depends on luck, and is not some unavoidable destiny
In some aspects, he's not all too different from them
I love Darkwing Duck, I know that may not have been obvious /j
4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?
I'm sure this also exists internationally, though I'm not sure to which extent, but here in Germany there's a pretty well-known children's book series called "Conni"
Most of these books are just about a young Conni either expieriencing new things for the first time and learning about them, or learning how to deal with new emotions
And while Jonas is definitely older than Conni is in most of these books:
1. I'm pretty sure if I take Jonas out of his "squeeky-clean" and organized society and put him in anything with too much action, he will explode
2. Because of the whole 'discovering new memories' thing, I think Jonas would actually quite profit from and enjoy learning about all these "mundane" things with Conni. He'd basically just get to have a semi-normal childhood
5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?
At first I was a little stumped at this one, but then it hit me like a truck
I Deserve to Bleed, by Sushi Soucy
That man carries so much guilt and blame within himself, he is Not Okay. He still blamed mostly himself after Kalagan blew up his home
I truly believe that after everything he did in the books, if Kalagan had abandoned his plan even a little early, and made up with Dante, he would have accepted it in a heartbeat, because he was so haunted by his actions, he would have done anything to get back what he once had
"Sympathy and love, we can extent to someone else
But it's harder, when you have to love yourself"
6. What's something you have in common with this character?
Oh, I should really re-read the books somewhen. I do have to admit, I don't remember that much about Theo, unfortunately (minus his arcs in the third book, but I have opinions about how those were handled by the plot)
Though from the things I do remember, his "secret" in the fourth book sticks out the most to me. The fact that he keeps thinking about his dove a lot, and tries to imagine what he could have done better
I'm also someone who tends to overthink on past scenarios, and how they could have been handled better/differently, especially if I think, I could have fault in said situation
21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?
I have yet to actually write a proper MM-Fic tbh, so I'm using this oppurtunity to talk about Good Uncle Sly a little bit
Because as I have said once before, I'd like the Kalagans to connect with the Misfits a little bit, using something that they share (for Theo it's family expectations, Ridley using caution and distrust in order to keep people safe, etc.)
For him and Leila, I would get them to connect over their respective times in the orphanage. Because no one in these books who went to an orphanage came out alright (/lh)
So I guess, in one way or another, you could say I like writing a bit more about Leila's trauma. I think trauma exploration in characters is always fun
24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?
I've mentioned this before in passing, but definitely Kilroy and Kincaid, but also Olly and Izzy
Like, Flim and Flam are not evil! At best, they're mean. The worst thing they did imo, was sell fake medicine, otherwise they're just petty scammers and jerks (and in their very first appearance, they weren't even scammers, technically!). But they are very much still schemy business boys
But of course, they have this inherent togetherness. It is literally baked into their characters, looking at their cutie marks; like, those boys were never gonna go off and each do their own thing
Like honestly? The whole thing Kincaid does, where he turns himself in to be with his brother, because there is no way to get him out? I could see Flim and Flam doing that
Though I'm throwing Olly and Izzy in here too, because the Kalagans are just slightly missing the very important showman-ship aspect Flim and Flam have. Like don't get me wrong, they are magicians, and they put on "shows", when they rob people. But the way the Goldens perform is just a lot more reminiscent, of how Flim and Flam do it, especially when it comes to overall energy and vibe. You could throw all four of them into the same routine, and they would ace it.
Also, both of them are rocking the Barbershop-Quartet fit; straw hats and striped jackets and all
And lastly, they are of course all rocking the Identical Twin Swag (well, Olly and Izzy are fraternal ig, but you get what I mean :P )
Thank you so much for the ask, Shadow! :D
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