#okay yeah maybe i took this with very specific intentions. what of it

[bittsandpieces]

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

every once in a while, i have an urge to sit down and write an entire essay about The Purge franchise, specifically through the frame of reactions from people who either have not watched the movies or watched them while pissing on the poor.

because oh my fucking god do those reactions send me into a violent tailspin of irrational anger.

"the purge doesn't make logistical sense"

okay so have you ever heard of fiction? the train in snowpiercer doesnt make logistical sense either. it doesnt have to because its a vehicle in which to tell a story.

"people wouldnt just commit violent crimes because its legal now."

no they wouldnt. do you know that the first movie takes place on the 6th purge? do you know that story about frogs and boiling water?

"no one would ever agree to this. politicians couldnt implement this."

yeah so the fourth movie - The First Purge - is actually a prequel that explains how and why it got implemented.

see as a result of a general economic crisis, a new political party called the NFFA (new founding fathers of america) came to power, and two years into their political term, they ran "an experiment" and that experiment was the purge. the first purge took place on staten island; residents were offered $5000 to participate which comprised staying on staten island and letting the government put a tracking chip in your arm. there was also the opportunity of making more money if they "participated further."

people didnt all agree with this. thats a whole ass thing in the movie and the protagonist literally leads protests against it. it is a controversial thing. the NFFA literally have a sociologist as the face of it, one who talks to news reporters and assures people she and the experiment are apolitical.

the experiment is also fucking rigged. the government really send in roves of neo-nazis to kill citizens as a way of showing how "successful" the experiment is. it was never an experiment.

"but why would people believe that the purge is a good policy?

have you ever heard of propaganda?

throughout the films, there are constant displays of the propaganda the NFFA use to keep the citizens believing in the purge.

the NFFA are constantly lying to the citizens about the actual truth about the country. they often talk about how the stock market is doing great as evidence of a stable economy. there are fake experts in white lab coats lying to you about the purge being a good idea.

these movies are not subtle. they tell you outright that the government is lying to the people.

jesus fucking christ, in the third movie, part of the plot is the fact that in response to corruption being revealed, people are turning against the purge and protesting. dante bishop is a goddamn anti-purge activist.

"crime rate year round wouldnt go down because of the purge, that doesnt make sense "

yeah no shit sherlock. thats literally a defining theme in the entireass franchise. the government is lying. they actually use the purge as population control because theyre fascists.

in the first movie, the NFFA claim the country is basically crime-free and that the unemployment rate is 1%. do you think james demonaco wrote that with the intention of you believing it to be true? have you considered that maybe you were meant to be like huh, thats suspicious?

the first movie is the least overtly political, but one of the defining themes is in regards to the performative nature of the purge and the way it is mythologised.

"all crime is legal. so what, can i commit tax fraud?"

the rules of the purge are made up of. the entire idea is performative. the NFFA are not beholden to these rules; if it benefits them (or if not doing so poses risk to them), they will arrest you for "crimes" you committed during the purge.

in the third movie, The Purge: Election Year, they change the rules because of the risk charlie roan poses to them. roan is a senator running for president on an explicitly anti-purge platform and there is a very good chance that she will win the election, so they revoke the immunity (its still illegal to murder them) granted to government officials during the purge because they plan to kill her.

the NFFA do not care what citizens do during the purge, as long as it is not threatening to them.

"how would they even know if you killed someone an hour after the purge ended?"

they wouldnt. they also wouldnt care.

see above.

"the purge is stupid. people arent inherently violent."

no. no theyre not. thats the fucking point of these films.

they are not subtle films. they come with a free portable toilet so you can watch them without pissing on the poor.

what did you think the plots of these movies were? if the movies were not directly engaging with the concept of the purge and what it actually means, what the fuck do you think the movies are about? do you think the movies are just 90 minutes of indiscriminate violence?

[in1-nutshell]

Hello Hello, so I have this image in my head of a human buddy leading a Cybertronian through a bunch of nature and their positivity and interests in all things green convinces them to appreciate it to. There’s very much a big creature and little creature type of friendship with buddy using their small size (compared to Cybertronians) to tease them

Ohhh! Love that Big bot and small buddy dynamic! Since you didn't say what continuity of Transformers or any specific characters, I took some random characters and randomly picked one of them. If you want another specific character just request when the inbox is open again.

Hope you enjoy!

Human Buddy showing some nature to Grimlock

SFW, platonic, Human reader

RiD 2015

It was a boring day at the scrap yard. The team was taking things a bit easier as the Decepticon activity had gone down. Less patrols and more free time. It didn’t take too long for some members of the team to grow restless of being stuck in the scrap yard. The best solution was to simply go out for a drive.

Well, everyone could except Grimlock.

“C’mon Bee! I’ll even wear my disguise so no one can see me!”--Grimlock

Bumblebee looking at the dumpster fire of a disguse that Grimlock is referring to as a disguse.

“Yeah… just wait until Strongarm or Sideswipe come back and have them tow you.”--Bumblebee

“Why can’t you do it?”--Grimlock

“I’m not planning on throwing out my back struts just yet.”--Bumblebe

Buddy decided to help with that problem.

“Psst! Grimlock!”--Buddy

“Buddy?”--Grimlock

“Shh!”--Buddy

“Oh okay. What’s up?”--Grimlock

“We are going out at night. Just you and me.”--Buddy

“Cool!—”--Grimlock

“Shh!”--Buddy

“Where are we going?”--Grimlock

“It’s a surprise Grimmy. A good surprise!”--Buddy

Soon enough evening came in, and Buddy was ready to execute Phase 2 of their plan…

Sneak Grimlock out without anyone knowing.

After a series of silly shenanigans Buddy had successfully gotten Grimlock out of the yard. How did they do it? They don’t even know, its just their luck.

“C’mon Grim! We’re home free!”--Buddy

“Do you think anyone is going to notice us gone?”--Grimlock

“Nah. It’ll be a bit before anyone really notices anything.”--Buddy

Bumblebee reading his data pad and stopping.

The ‘Dad’ Sense is tingling.

“…Somethings wrong…”—Bumblebee

Now their next stop.

Grimlock had offered to give Buddy a ride as they were reaching rougher terrain.

“You need some help there?”--Grimlock

Looking at the big rocks

“… If you don’t mind…”--Buddy

After a bit of walking the two reached a small patch of green. The long blades of grass tickled at Grimlock’s pedes.

“Hey, put me down a sec. I’m gonna show you the surprise!”--Buddy

Buddy stood in the waist high grass then started running a bit in the grass. Little lights appeared.

“Wow!”--Grimlock

“Fireflies Grimlock! Here’s your surprise!”--Buddy

“What’s a firefly? Wait, are they going to hurt you?! Are they safe for bots?!”--Grimlock

“…Buckle up Grimlock. I’m about to info dump so much buggy knowledge on that Dino brain of yours…”--Buddy

As Buddy started ranting all about the little buggy’s, they instructed Grimlock to gently wave his tail over the top of the grass. More little lights appeared with the movement of the grass.

“This is fun!”--Grimlock

“I know right! So much better than hearing Bee trying to come up with a catchphrase in secret!”--Buddy

Meanwhile with Bumblebee.

“…Somehow I feel insulted…”--Bumblebee

They eventually laid down on the grass and began looking at the stars. Buddy soon began ranting about fun facts about fireflies and some astronomy. Grimlock, while he didn’t understand everything, he listened intently.

“What star sign do you think I am Buddy?”--Grimlock

“Hmm… I don’t know maybe a—”--Buddy

“Grimlock!”--Bumblebee

“No not that—”--Buddy

“Buddy, I know you’re there too! You two are coming back to the scrapyard with me!”--Bumblebee

“…”—Grimlock and Buddy

Grimlock tossing Buddy in his servos and running the opposite direction.

“GRIMLOCK RUN! HE’S GAINING ON US!”--Buddy

“Get back here!”--Bumblebee

“You’ll never take us alive!”--Buddy

“Wait what?!”--Grimlock

“Don’t worry Grimmy, I got us covered! Now run!”--Buddy

[galactiquest]

Hi call me blueberry anon or just blue!

I was hopin to ask with Vash and Knives with an Angel!reader g/n.

Like you know when Vash and Knives show their true selves and reader dont give a shit because they literally have giant ass wings and multiple eyes yknow like one of those biblical accurate angel but more human.

If its too specific just ignore this JDJKDKDKDK (ps when i said show their true selves i immediately thought of those wolf alpha vids on tiktok)

Hello Blueberry Anon~ I'm sorry that this took longer than usual to get to, I promise I wasn't ignoring or forgetting this request! College woes... (´Д｀)

I think this is a super cute idea and I'm always a sucker for a chaotic angel or devil or any sort of creature really. (Probably why I enjoy writing about Vash and Knives being little beasts so much LOL)

Vash and Knives x Angel!Reader: Heaven

Content warnings: None, but the descriptions of multiple eyes/wings might be offputting to some. Otherwise just fluff!

Vash

I take Vash as someone who's really accepting of everyone else's differences--even to the point where he'll feel a sort of disdain towards his own differences because of it.

But when he learns about your otherworldly nature? He's immediately curious. He really can't help himself.

He wants to ask a lot of questions. How do you hide your wings? Are humans afraid of you? Do you have any sorts of powers? Does this mean you're immortal--wait, are you here on a mission?!

Whether you indulge him or not in answers is up to you. He won't pry (but he might whine a little if you tell him it's a secret).

Now that he knows you're different, he wants to embrace it as much as possible. He's always trying to compliment how soft your wings are, how radiant and sparkling your eyes are, etc.

I think this especially goes for the '98 iteration of Vash--the "did it hurt when you fell from Heaven" pickup line. Feel free to respond with "yeah, actually, a lot" to get him sputtering and scrambling to apologize.

Knives

When you explain it to him, he's very quiet at first, running all possible responses through his head. What he doesn't say (but is thinking) is that he's thankful you're not human (because admitting he loves a human is an utterly impossible feat!).

He also hopes, deep down, that since you're inhuman, you might better understand his intentions for a world without humans. (Of course, if you're the kind of angel who's sent to help humans, this goes against your direct orders... cue troubles!)

He has a deep respect for your otherworldly self, being not of the planet himself, so he takes a lot of time to study and understand you to the fullest.

He's especially intrigued if you have repeating features--multiple eyes, pairs of wings, floating motes of flame, spinning golden rings, that kind of stuff. He really enjoys symmetry and repetition. (Vash does, too, but he'll appreciate from afar.)

He encourages you to take your "natural" form more often, rather than sculpting yourself into a more humanoid form. If this more "natural" form is imperceptible/cosmically incomprehensible to him, he won't mind. (Okay, he might be a little sad if he can't see you in all your blazing glory, but he won't make it obvious.)

I think there's definitely a case here for a "fallen angel" type deal--you've fallen from the sins of humanity, and now you've joined up with Knives in order to restore what should have been. Or maybe you find more worth in each other...

End notes: I finished this up on mobile so the formatting might be off. I promise I'll fix it tomorrow!

[sukibenders]

Pen was done dirty too making her do those things for all of you to hate her. Marina was a mean woman

Okay maybe it's because I'm not feeling well at the moment and just woke up, but I had to reread your post a few times and still have a little trouble understanding so bear with me. It's very funny that people will use Penelope's life, specifically with her family and others at the Ton, specifically Cressida, as justification for everything. Is it sad that she was treated that way? Yes. And am I happy that she at least got a happy ending, disregarding how it played out? Yeah, sure. But none of what she goes through is any justification for ruining people's, vulnerable women at that, reputation and lives and making a profit off of it. You can paint as many sympathetic notions for Penelope as you want, and that fact won't change. Especially when Penelope herself admits that it's hard being a woman at that point in time but yet it's easy for her to make their lives harder, make the lives of those she's never even associated with personally harder just because her life is less than stellar? Marina had a difficult life, continues to have one, and yet she still took the time to try and push Colin in Penelope's direction even though, from what we can assume, Penelope hasn't even visited her or made any contact. Hmm, yeah that really screams mean woman energy. And, I'm not going to lie, and not necessarily saying that that was your intent behind this post, but it's especially irking how quick people are ready to hate on this black character with little to no social or financial ground to stand on, who harmed herself just to get away from all the harm around her, but yet paint this yte character who, even with some difficult moments in her life, is still, not only, financially and socially cared and provided for (with and without her being married because people love to paint Penelope as being impoverished when she literally was a part of high society), has the love and support of a family (to whom played a part in some of her grief), and still gets her happily ever after. But I'm supposed to feel more sympathy for the latter?

Yeah, Penelope does get done dirty in some ways, but you're lying if you try to paint it as worse than what happened (and what will potentially happen with) Marina.

[mewmaru]

Masters of All Time Breakdown

I wrote all this in my notes, I’m gonna do two parts: this, then a rewrite which is gonna take a bit.

So I decided to watch Masters of All Time. My thoughts will be below. First, I noted everything I liked, and everything I didn’t. I did this as I watched the episode to try to get details as accurately as possible. So now here are the notes I took during the episode, and my thoughts afterwards.

Also before I get started, I want to make this clear: no hate if you like this episode. I’m glad you’re able to enjoy something that was legitimately painful for me. It has a really neat concept, and that’s part of where my disappointment comes from. This isn’t a personal attack on people who enjoy the episode, just me explaining why I hate it. Let’s get into it!

Everything of note that either makes no sense, or points out a writing flaw in other points of the series

Why would clockwork even let Danny do this? Yes, he’s hesitant but Clockwork has been shown to only interfere if absolutely necessary, and seems to think most things happen for a reason. This is one of the things you could excuse though because erasing Vlad’s powers I guess seems like a good idea? But Clockwork should know that something big will happen in result, that fuck Danny himself could not be a ghost or stop existing at all, like yeah Sam and Tucker won’t be infected but they may not even know him at all? At least Clockwork is like yeah you’re gonna learn thing the hard way but eh. Idk you could excuse this one but still doesn’t make sense to me.

How the fuck didn’t Danny realize how big of a difference one small change was gonna make. Like, his parents being ghost hunters and like, still together? Did he not realize that Vlad not having ecno acne was going to change a lot? The incident separated him from Jack and Maddie so him actually still being in their life could change a lot???? Like idk I get Danny’s just a teen but did he learn nothing from The Ultimate Enemy

Twenty years later Jack still has the ecno acne; we don’t have an exact say on why Vlad’s went into remission but it likely had to do with ghost powers and years of hospitalization, was Jack not hospitalized? Wouldn’t he be dead from it?

Okay this one is a big gripe for me. WHY DOES JACK PLASMIUS LOOK LIKE VLAD PLASMIUS? Was that specific strain of ecno acne the vampire inspired strain or something because Vlad’s design is very intentional with his specific character, its personal to him. Jack would most definitely not have made himself look like that, especially with how he tried to do good at first. Like????

Jack hating ghosts makes sense in this world, honestly I wish Vlad shared more of a hatred for ghosts in our current timeline cause that would make a ton of sense “if it wasn’t for ghosts I wouldve never lost the love of my life” where’s that anger with Vlad?

VLAD BEING A FARMER DOESN’T FUCKING MAKE SENSE. Okay so like, you take from Bitter Reunions how he says “I didn’t have any old moves, all those years in the hospital robbed me of that” after being tackled holding a football implies he may have wanted to play football. That’s a stretch? Well his entire house is decked head to toe in packers memorabilia, and in the college photo we see HE’S WEARING PACKERS COLORS!!!! He couldn’t do an active career like football after being hospitalized, but if that never happened, why fucking. FARMING? DAIRY FARMING? HUUHHHH. WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM?

“I didn’t destroy the past, I destroyed the present!” YOU FUCKING THINK? WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GONNA HAPPEN that like nothing else would change except Vlad not having ecno acne? Okay this one’s just a nitpick and I’m aware of that lol, Danny’s just a teen I know he wasn’t thinking about the consequences

WHHYYYYY does Vlad still live in the same castle? I know he’s the new dairy king whatever he owns that castle in the present cause he’s rich as sin, how did he become the dairy king? Maybe its explained? I’m writing this as I watch

Why does Vlad have grey hair? It became grey because of the incident. Speaking of, why does Jack have black hair? Make it make sense

Yeah this is a complaint because you’ll see. Vlad is clearly in love with Maddie, truly. He seems to genuinely care for her. I know later they just make him controlling for no reason which I’ll get into but like, it’s nice to see him actually care for her and her care for him too.

Why is Vlad super anti ghost? One of my “compliments” is how I think Jack hating ghosts makes sense. And tbh in the true current, Vlad having a hatred for ghosts for the same reason would make sense, he was disfigured, hospitalized, and he never got to confess to the girl he loved the most. In this world, Vlad has no good reason to hate ghosts unless he for some reason knows Jack is a ghost? We see that before any changed to the timeline are made, Vlad was a bit annoyed with how Jack and Maddie got along, maybe it has something to do with that? I dunno. I feel like this choice was made just so they gave Vlad a reason to be controlling. But Vlad is only the way he is because of the incident bitter and resentful of a life he never got to have, so why the fuck is he just controlling and mean? Why when he has everything he wants, is he still a dick? Because he’s just like that no matter what because the writers didn’t want to add anything thought provoking about how Maddie and Vlad could’ve actually been good for each other. No, Vlad’s evil no matter what blah blah blah

AND ANOTHER THING. Maddie is shown to have other personality traits then liking ghost hunting, like, Jack is the one super obsessed. She’s the one that gets annoyed that Jack makes it his everything. Who knows, if she had a life without Jack, would she have continued her thing for ghosts? Thought provoking questions this episode won’t answer. This was again just a choice made so Vlad could be controlling.

Vlad immediately forgives Maddie because he doesn’t wanna doubt her oh gee maybe its cause he actually loves her. Nahhh we can’t have that.

How did Maddie build an entire underground ghost Lab that Vlad didn’t notice. Also how does she still have the suit

Whyyyyy would Vlad slander Jack to Maddie? Is the personality they wanna give that Vlad was always jealous of Jack and Maddie’s relationship? I mean, I guess so? I guess this one could make sense but it makes me wish we knew more about their trio’s relationship in college besides what we see and how Jack describes it; Vlad did always seem like a third wheel, I guess this one could happen but as I said, just makes me wish we had more context as a whole, could make this action make more sense

Why is Vlad in his suit all of a sudden. Did they forget what episode they were doing. Did they just straight up forget. Also it’s the middle of the night why isn’t he in pajamas or something. Huh.

I just hate the narrative Danny Phantom has as a whole with how some characters are just meant to be together so other pairings have to not work or be bad in some way. How about thought provoking stuff about how the relationships that seem destined to be actually good have some solid rivalry? No? All other parings don’t work just because even if it means mischaracterizing? Kay.

I had a thought here about Vlad’s anger at Danny not making sense but I don’t remember what it was. Maybe relates again to the ghost hating thing making no sense. Idk my brain cells are dying.

“None of this should be happening” “I like it this way” what this way? Being with Maddie? I mean yeah? I mean did the writers forget that Vlad doesn’t have the knowledge of his baseline current self here?

Because I hate it so much just another point to say I hate Vlad’s behavior here. He’s just evil and manipulative no matter what? Why? Just because? Because that’s Vlad Masters? Are we forgetting that his usual behavior is very much a product of his rage and bitterness about a life that was robbed of him? Or am I just giving the “evil villain” too much credit. This is pissing me off

Things I liked about the episode:

I think the bit at the beginning with Danny’s parents embarrassing him was silly, entertaining

I like Vlad’s attitude of like “oh you’re giving me chills” just his sassiness lmao

I like getting to see more insight into the day of the incident, Vlad trying to confess but being stopped by Maddie, that was neat

Seeing exactly what caused the incident was neat, too, that it truly was Jack’s fault

It’s kinda funny that we can tell Jack didn’t name Danny cause he thinks the name is dumb

I do like we get to see Jack chose the name Jasmine, as he mentions having a cat named Jasmine

I liked seeing Vlad say like oh Danny I knew you could do it, neat to see him acknowledge that Danny can be pretty smart, even if he kinda forced his hand here

I’m too tired to go into detail, so I’ll do it later but Jesus Christ this episode sucked. It had good things about it but so much shit just didn’t make sense and was just a blatant mischaracterization of Vlad

Alright I’m finally back to this after a couple of weeks, the episode seriously drains me that much, wish I was kidding. As stated in a previous post this episode makes me so angry that it has the power to make me dissociate and feel physically ill. Some of my comments are nitpicks, and I’m aware of that. I hate the episode so I’m just angry about even little things, I know that’s weird, lol. But, I thought I’d share these nitpicks anyway.

The notion that Vlad would be evil no matter what just doesn’t make a single lick of sense considering how Bitter Reunions builds him up to show that his anger and well, bitterness stems from being robbed of the life he never got, and his desperation to have that life now. Maybe I’m just biased but Jesus. Some people will try to claim that Vlad would still be evil therefore deserves no sympathy on like, posts and videos about him and if someone starts their comment with “but in masters of all time”, the rest of the comment is immediately static to me.

I do want to make it clear the things Vlad does due to his anger is not acceptable (I’ve even got an analysis of his character in the works that addresses this further), I just see so much potential for him to be better, and Masters of All Time could’ve been that episode. To show that he’s truly a victim of circumstance that is overwhelmed by his anger and jealousy, that these events truly shaped him into the not so great person we see in the show, but that he didn’t /have/ to be evil, that if given the life he wanted, the one he felt he deserved, that he could’ve been better.

I also think this episode missed the mark to be more creative design wise. Jack could’ve had his own ghost form! That would’ve been so cool! I also would’ve LOVED to see more of the college trio’s dynamic. Were Vlad and Jack truly best friends, or was that just Jack’s rose tinted glasses? I know it’s a kids show from 20 years ago but damn they could’ve done more here. I think this episode could’ve benefited from being another 40 minute special, although I know that’s unrealistic. Just a sorta, how I’d do things thing.

That’s basically it from me in terms of the episode. But, only for now. I plan to rewrite the episode, soon! Including some of my own HCs about the college trio, and who Vlad could’ve been if the incident didn’t happen, and how Jack and Maddie could’ve been! How this could’ve been a more thought provoking episode as a whole. I may even do some drawings :3 I’m excited to share my thoughts on what we could’ve had. But, keep in mind they will simply be my ideas, and not a definitive “the writers should’ve done this instead”, just my hcs and such. This is my first sorta DP writing post, but hopefully not my last. I enjoy sharing my thoughts like this, and I know some of my YTTD ones have reached a good bit of people, so I’m curious as to how this’ll be received.

Again, yeah, I’m biased, I hate this episode, I nitpicked. This is not at all a defense of every single bad thing Vlad has done, just my opinions on why the choices made here don’t make sense.

[craqueluring]

Hi!!! <33333 Love your blog as someone who sometimes has difficulty grasping metaphors in hannibal because they all talk so weirdly and english is not my first language and sometimes im genuinely dumb </33 anyway i wanted to ask you what do you think was going inside hannibals when he took mason verger to will’s house, abondoning will even though he was unconcious in enemy grounds, and fed his dogs mason’s face?? Like what is he thinking “hi honey welcome home hope you like my surprise you wanted to punish him right tee hee <3” and will just gets turned on by this? LIKE WHATS GOING ON?😭😭😭😭😭 its one of my fav scenes and i dont even get… like the meaning of it, or their motivations, or what it worked as a metaphor? Like if could you maybe share your opinions on that scene or maybe an analysis would be nice? want to hear your thoughs 🥰 thank you so muchh hope u have a nice day!!

(there is a tldr at the end of this!)

okay first of all thank you for all your kind words they absolutely made my day <3333333 i so appreciate people asking me for my thoughts on specific scenes like u dont even know. and LOL yes that scene is really weird and when i first saw this i had to talk it through with my friend bc i was like…. yeah wait what WAS he thinking? LMAO but here is my best answer:

this whole episode is basically will taunting hannibal (telling mason hannibal wants to kill him, putting a "snare around [his] neck", asking hannibal if hannibal can tell what will's intention are, telling hannibal he did this because he was "curious what would happen," etc). i could even go so far as to say hes giving hannibal a taste of his own medicine. i find the decision to make a hannibal lecter-esque scene of will preparing his homemade dog food (which ive always assumed was randall tier's remains) directly before he gets picked up by mason a curious parallel, maybe even making a point that will is starting to act like hannibal? or just foreshadowing that will's dogs are gonna be fed some weird shit later lol, or both.

anyways, the scene of mason being high on whatever hannibal gave him, and cutting his face off and feeding it to the dogs before getting his neck broken, is directly taken from the actual book. i think theres a few different things that are significant about hannibal deciding to do this specifically in will's house, though:

first is theatricality, obviously. hannibal loves shock value. 

second, it could be a symbol of hannibal's unending and pervasive presence in will's life and mind — this is the first time we've seen will and hannibal in will's own home at the same time. hannibal’s presence in will’s life extends to will’s home. i think the only other time we see them together in will's home is when hannibal saves will from the verger estate, and will rejects hannibal.

third, alana has always said that will's dogs represent the best of will. by hannibal making mason feed his face to will's dogs, this could be like hannibal "tainting" the best parts of will. soaking into every corner of his mind, his life, his soul. also to my point, hannibal says that he "broadened [will's dogs] palates, as [he] broadened [will's]." — there is no corner of will's life that hannibal doesn't touch. 

however, just as that scene could be representative of hannibal having a very large amount of power over will's life, the rest of the episode could be representative of will having just as much power over hannibal. hannibal was quite literally helpless in that straitjacket, a direct result of will's actions (unless hannibal is a magician too and knows how to escape one… which i honestly wouldn't be surprised by). and only escaped because will cut him free. similar to how will was helpless in prison, and only got out because hannibal let him go. will can be a puppet master just like hannibal. they are in equilibrium, to a point. before, will was always on the short end, being manipulated by hannibal, being in prison, etc, but in this half of the season we see them (almost) being equals. as hannibals says earlier in the episode, they understand each others minds, and so hannibal has "the capacity to deceive [will], just as [will] has the capacity to deceive [hannibal]."

as for their motivations:

multiple times in this episode, hannibal is trying to gauge how willing will would be to kill with hannibal. "would you join me at the table?" when talking about eating mason verger, and killing him being a "savage pleasure [they] can share." each time, will avoids the obvious propositions. hannibal taking mason to will's house could also be him trying to gauge how will would react when they are in the same room with a potential victim (if will would share the 'savage pleasure' with him?). at this point, i dont think that had ever happened before. will killed randall tier alone, lied about killing freddie alone, shot hobbs alone. they've never been together in this situation. and aren’t in this situation again until the dragon fight. hannibal probably brought mason to will's house knowing this would happen, and so he could really gauge how will feels about killing together, or at least in hannibal's presence.

not to mention will obviously wants mason dead. will likes doing bad things to bad people because it makes him feel good. thats why he makes that face in 2x07 when he has a gun to hannibal's head in hannibal's kitchen, and why he makes that same face when he has a knife to hannibal's throat earlier in this episode. i could maybe go so far as to call him a sadist. he likes having that feeling of power, as he tells abigail in 1x12. 

i think this is why he looks "turned on" (lol) as you said. he enjoys seeing bad people in vulnerable positions, especially when he holds the power. i think hannibal knows this, too. maybe this was some kind of gift from hannibal? maybe he didn't want to kill mason without will present; giving will the chance to kill the man he knows will hates so much. but also because hannibal, of course, was curious what will would do.

but now will is curious what hannibal will do as well, so he tells hannibal to "do what [he] thinks is best for [mason]," and hannibal obliges easily. he doesn't choose murder or mercy for mason, though, and breaks his neck and leaves him alive in that terrible state. will looks… pleased? by this, i think. (again, sadist). he and hannibal smile at each other as hannibal walks to mason to break his neck. hannibal seems pleased as well at will's reaction and the outcome of the situation.

as i said before, they are, in a way, equals for the first time in this part of the season (which is also symbolized by them being happy little cannibals together at the end of 2x10). this episode is partly them getting to fuck with each other and will reciprocating the fuckery that hannibal was disproportionately doing to will before this point, to be crass. will is, as alana says in 2x06 "playing a game, and he's not scared. not anymore." hannibal bringing mason to will’s house was part of the game they’re playing with each other.

TLDR: hannibal taking mason to will's house could be for theatricality, a symbol of hannibal's presence in will's life (even invading his home), and tainting the "best parts of will" (his dogs). as for hannibal's more personal motivations, hannibal is gauging how will would act while they are in the same room with a potential victim (first time this ever happens, and last until dolarhyde), and possibly be a gift from hannibal because he knows will wants mason dead? as for will's feelings in this moment, he was definitely feeling good because a "bad thing" was being done to a "bad person" and he likes being in that position of power. will putting hannibal in the position (straitjacket in the verger estate) where will has that power over hannibal is will fucking with hannibal, and yet again lets himself get so close to killing hannibal, because he enjoys the feeling. hannibal reciprocates this fuckery by bringing mason to will's house. they are both orchestrating these situations because they are both curious about what will happen, and they are doing this as equals.

edit: not the first time theyve been together with a potential victim, i forgot about clark ingram, but it is the first time theyve been together with a potential victim which ended up harmed/dead by either of their hands! unless im forgetting someone else lol

[destinygoldenstar]

The Island Apocalypse Theory (Total Drama Island 2023 is a plot for world domination)

“Now lets meet the victims-I mean CAMPERS.” -Chris McLean

Yeah, that sums up this entire show.

So you all know how you feel about the reboot by this point. Either you love it or you don’t. But you know what the worst thing about the season is?

OTHER than Ripper.

OTHER than Episode 5.

OTHER than Chris’ new voice.

It’s the plot hole of HOW THE F IS WAWANAKWA BACK?!

We saw the island sink in All Stars and that’s why Paketiew took place in a new robot island… thing. 

You would think there would be an explanation for this of any sort, even if it’d be a stupid one-

Nope. It’s just back. Don’t question it. 

It’s easy to just dismiss this and move on, call it something like ‘bad writing’.

But if you know me, you know I DON’T leave it at that. And I’m here to tell you that NO. This decision was NOT bad writing, as I wholeheartedly trust Fresh TV’s executives and their ability to fix what’s so obviously broken! (This sentence is complete sarcasm)

So I am here to exploit that the lack of explanation was INTENTIONAL, and is build up towards something outrageously huge as the climax of all of Total Drama! You see, Wawanakwa NEVER sank in the first place. Chris faked the whole thing.

It is the main base of Chris McLean’s ultimate plan to brainwash the entire world and start the zombie robot apocalypse.

AXEL KNEW.

So here is THE ISLAND APOCALYPSE THEORY:

(This is me rambling something stupid. Do not take this seriously. It’s not legit… or is it?)

We need to take this theory all the way back to All Stars. In the finale of the season, due to hot springs Chris placed, the entirety of Wawanakwa sank at the bottom of the sea. Thats exactly they moved to Paketiew to make that season possible. But we’re gonna save that for later.

Let me tell you why the island sinking in the first place is BS. (Other than on a writing standpoint)

You see, realistically, islands are created from volcanic eruptions from the sea. Therefore, made of molten rock. Hot springs are NOT volcano related, actually. The only way an island can sink is if it is dissolved by erosion. However, this takes MILLIONS of years, and obviously that's not the case here. In fact there are multiple islands wit hot springs that stay in tact perfectly fine. So already, there's NO WAY the island could actually sink by artificial hot springs.

If god can't do it, McLean certainly can't either.

But lets say Wawanakwa is a floating island. Okay... my point still stands. If that were the case, the island would tear apart and separate across the sea in chunks. It would NOT sink. If they said "The Island is being torn apart", then it would make sense. But no, that's not what happened.

You get my point. Wawanakwa NEVER sank. There's no way in hell it could.

BUT WAIT, you may be wondering, if the island never sank, why did the island sink on TV?

You can blame one specific person: Chris McLean, THE most evil character in all of Canadian TV. I'm not joking.

Chris McLean is not only the host of the show, but he is also the executive who has taken over everything. It all started with executives hiring him just for a cute little gig... but then they realized they gave him way to much power, and by that point there was nothing they could do to stop the inevitable.

Chris made a CGI version of the show, and cut off the reality at the very moment the sword was pulled out by Mike (or Zoey).

That sword was the moment the cameras were cut.

From there, it was the perfect illusion so that nobody could find out what came of Chris after that, and what he did to everyone on that island.

As for those people on the island, Mike, Zoey, Gwen, Cameron, Heather, and Alejandro, they have... an unfortunate fate. But I'll get to that later.

Fifteen years later, we have no clue of Chris McLean's backstory or why he does what he does. We don't know where this man came from.

Maybe that's why we don't know the true motivations behind his plans for world domination.

Chris could've just been a hotshot egocentric celebrity and that's the end of is character. And he would be one of the nicer celebrities out there. BUT NO. He's not just cocky. He's not just a sociopath. He's not just a victim of bad writing from Revenge onward.

This man, from the very beginning, is straight up EVIL.

So what is his plan?

He plans to use Total Drama to brainwash the entire world and start a robot apocalypse with himself as the only survivor.

It's where the parody angle of Survivor comes in.

That's right. From the VERY BEGINNING, this has been Chris McLean's motive, and this is how it all started.

We know that Chris did not fund the show at first. That was a bunch of executives. In fact, they had Blaineley in mind for the role of the host. And as much as we all hate Blaineley, she probably should've accepted the job. By refusing the job, she just gave power to somebody who is going to destroy everything.

So yeah, you can blame Blaineley for the death of humanity.

Did Blaineley know they were gonna hire Chris if she didn't accept the role? No. There's no hint that she knew. She's pretty much oblivious. BUT, it makes her role in World Tour justified, as during her elimination, she tried to explain her POV on the subject matter, and she gets cut off by Chris shoving her off a plane.

She also so happens to crash badly and break every bone in her body so she can't speak. OOPS, WHAT A TOTAL ACCIDENT ON CHRIS'S PART. GUESS SHE CAN'T SPILL ANYTHING THAT WOULD EXPLOIT CHRIS'S TRUE INTENTIONS.

Also a bear gnaws on her head in Episode 24... she has memory loss now. That's why she's wearing pink in Ridonculous Race. Yes Ridonculous Race is important.

So now Chris is the host of Total Drama on a deserted Island, and he has the support of the network for funding.

Perfect.

He's already gained his base of operation for his plan, and is already starting the prototypes of his robot creations. How do I know this?

You know the animals in Island. They seem to have way more personality than animals should, considering animals aren't sentient. (Or are they?)

We as an audience, watching a cartoon, can perceive this as normal cartoon antics. And that's what Chris wants you to think so you don't see that these animals are actually robotically brainwashed by cheap devices.

I say cheap because there's a bit in Episode 6 with the Screaming Gophers and a bear. Izzy found a costume and scared her teams for the LOLS. How did she know where to find a bear costume?? (Yep. Izzy isn't crazy. She is vital to this. (And you know what video I am referencing.)) It's obvious to say she's just crazy and this is a gag and she's totally not onto Chris. And Chris totally didn't realize she was onto him and shut her up by trying to kill her.

Oh yeah, and there's also the real bear that Owen found. When Owen ripped off that hair on the bear, and the bear acts normally again. He freed that bear from Chris's control. Chris had to replant that hair after the episode to hide things.

Where even is Chris’s base of operations for all of this? How about that reveal in the Island Special where it was revealed the island wasn’t actually an Island?! THAT WOULD BE A GOOD BASE.

And now the big thing: The contestants. The Gen 1 cast. (And soon, the Gen 2 cast are gonna be in the same category) They are Chris's first victims of his plot.

I went into depth about how this cast becomes exploited on TV and how the show is an allegory on how reality shows and fame can corrupt someone as gullible as teenagers. Even with this theory, that's still relevant. These teenagers are getting screwed up mentally by the show.

This is exactly what Chris wants. Chris takes teenagers, slaps stereotypes onto them, and puts them in front of the camera to brainwash them into being the perfect little robots for is propaganda. I went into depth before on some of the characters individually and how this relates to them, but if I went into everyone, we'd be here all day and Tumblr doesn't provide a hundred tags in a post.

The Gen 1 cast became his victims most obviously. Even when they're not in the game, they can't leave. They're stuck in a resort, or they're stuck in Aftermath. Aftermath is a prison disguised as a TV program. They're not brainwashed magically, YET, but they are psychologically raised to be contestants.

You know the story, Chris scams the victors of Island into giving up the money so everyone can participate in Action.

Huh. Action takes place on an abandoned film lot. A lot full of equipment to create the perfect film plot to take over the editing of the show. HUH. I'M SURE THAT'S JUST A COINCIDENCE.

So Chris has his materials, and now he needs the International influence to get in a good enough position to start his plan in full motion. This is why he does World Tour and welcomes two new cast members. You know, it's just a little experiment. You know, one's an uber fan of his, there's nothing going on here.

There's also the matters of villains in the show that Chris frames. I still think it's framing, but Heather and Alejandro are vital villains in all of this. Villains that CHRIS created for the show. Notice I didn't mention Courtney, who sued her way onto the show and threatened Chris's power. She doesn't count. That's why she's on the Heroes team in All Stars at first. If Chris framed Courtney as a villain off the bat, someone who threatened HIS image, it would make HIM look bad.

But back to Heather and Alejandro, I've denied that Chris rigged the game so Heather could move on. But I'd like to apologize because you guys might be right. Heather just wasn't aware of this and thought she was smart. Alejandro as well is being rigged into being a finalist because Chris just so happened to disqualify Sierra for an accident. Yeah that was coincidental. Totally.

Heather and Alejandro, right off the bat, become Chris's pawns to get people's attention on his show. In fact EVERY character Chris plans to use for this, are people who either ARE villains, or are forced to be in some way. Owen, Duncan, and Gwen. Two of them become Vultures. These characters are important.

Also speaking of a robot apocalypse, what happened to Alejandro at the end of World Tour, that Chris put him through?

OH. RIGHT.

By the time of Revenge, Chris is in a comfortable position to expand his playing field and add new cast members in to expand on his army-I mean TV show. So enter Gen 2.

Gen 2 is also in the category of being Chris's victims. They also share the same fate as the Gen 1 cast that I will get to.

The only character who has any ability in THIS cast to realize what’s going on is Dawn. She got cut off when she tried to exploit the enemy among them. BY CHRIS.

In that episode, you can assume she was going to talk about Scott, which would make sense...

BUT we NEVER actually hear what she was ACTUALLY going to say.

She could’ve very well been trying to exploit Chris. THAT’S why Chris cut Dawn off.

This cast gets to see what has come of Wawanakwa and what Chris has been doing with the radioactive waste. Obviously, this is a basis of Chris's plot out in the open and being exploited. It is HERE. Right in THIS SEASON, where Chris planned originally to start it all and start his world domination and the apocalypse he so desired.

He's turned Ezekiel into a zombie. He's turned Dakota into a monster. He's on it...

And then the police show up.

Yeah Chris's plan gets foiled here. That's why he's gone mad in prison thinking he failed.

But he still had a pawn up his sleeve to save him and get his plan into full force: Chef.

You'd think that since Chef is with Chris through and through, that Chris had brainwashed him too, right?

NO.

Chef knew this and was on board with Chris’s plan due to equal pay.

BUT Chef is starting to have doubts and is going to have a full blown redemption arc.

So Chef is someone who used to be in a war. We know that much. He also seems to recognize Izzy who has similar combat training to him. Huh...

It’s almost like they knew each other in that war!

I don’t think Izzy was in the military, if she was alive she was a baby most likely. So maybe she was part of the war crossfire and Chef is her savior, and she KNOWS Chris’s plan, thus is disgusted by Chef’s choice to side with Chris. 

Or another way, Izzy mentions reincarnation in Action. Does she know her past life and it was with Chef?

When Chef thinks he kills her in Episode 2 of that season, he says, “Not again...”

Did Izzy DIE in this war Chef was in?

More importantly, what was this war about?

Why does Area 52 have Aliens in them? Why is Chris okay with taking teenagers here?! Are the Aliens related to Chris?! Is Chris an alien, and that’s why he’s doing this?! (Probably not, but maybe)

ALSO, the challenge was to retrieve an artifact from the aliens! I WONDER WHAT CHRIS NEEDS THAT FOR! OMG ‘THE EX FILES’ IS THE MOST PLOT IMPORTANT EPISODE IN ALL OF TOTAL DRAMA...

Also wow Gwen. You gave Chris what he needed to destroy everything and everyone you love... 

Gwen ruins everything.

Oh gosh now I have to talk about Dramarama even if I've never actually watched it and never will... here we go.

SO, Dramarama as Chef as a babysitter of daycare of toddlers that so happen to be the Gen 1 cast.

Dramarama is not canon. But it IS canon at the same time. Here’s why:

The show itself? Dramarama? That’s fake. That was set up by Chris. This is ALL CGI, and a part of Chris’s scheme to brainwash people to consuming his content and act as a smoke screen for his crimes. 

But the Chef part. I think he actually DID work at a daycare, just NOT with the OG cast as the toddlers he cared for. REAL toddlers, those are what Chef cared for. This is where Chris pulled Chef out from the gutter and got Chef to work with him for a better life. No more war. No more babies. No more loud noises. There would be nothing but order and proper service if Chef joined the dark side.

And Chef is all about order and service, so yeah. See DJ stepping out of line, Chef’s gonna try and get him, and when DJ quits Action, the animal curse is a punishment to get him involved anyway.

Dramarama, though Chris’s reference for this smoke screen show, is also a factor in why Chef acts... nicer in the reboot. That show is one of Chris’s mistakes that will lead to his downfall in his plan in the reboot’s new season(s?). Chris exploited memories Chef had and what they have DONE to the teenagers in these toddler roles. It really makes a man think. 

That’s why in the reboot, if my theory is correct, Chef is going to be the driving force of the rebellion, and turn on Chris McLean in a redemption arc for him.

That stare in the reboot intro ain’t a couple stare. That’s a light side vs dark side stare.

Also going back to these toddlers... they are also robots. No getting around that. But they are also the people Chris TARGETS to brainwash into his robots as his generals.

Did he succeed with all of them? NO. He did not. I will get to these people who didn’t.

BUT that leads me to the casts: The OG cast, the Revenge cast, and the Paketiew cast.

What happened to them?

I hate to break the news to you, but the OG and Revenge cast... they don’t feel so good.

It is safe to assume that if the island didn’t sink, but Mike, Zoey, Gwen, Cameron, Heather, and Alejandro were on it at the time, then they have ALL become the first victims of Chris’s robotic plans for them to start his apocalypse.

These six characters have been KIDNAPPED, and forcefully brainwashed into robots to serve Chris. You wonder where the interns are in the reboot. THESE characters. They’re the interns now. That’s why Chris killed the interns from the executives.

Is that what Blaineley was talking about?! How many people did Chris MURDER to make this happen?!

Mike, Zoey, Gwen, Cameron, Heather, and Alejandro have all turned into mindless slaves, and are on their way to destroy everything. We have NOT heard anything from these characters and what happened to them. So yeah. They’re goners. 

Since All Stars is two years since Island and the reboot is fifteen years since island...

Yeah. THIRTEEN YEARS. This show just got a lot darker.

Have these characters aged? I don’t know. The Winter Soldier didn’t age when he was brainwashed, and the brainwashing I’m thinking of is similar to this, so...

We might not actually have thirty year olds if we see them.

BUT WAIT, THESE ARE NOT THE ONLY CHARACTERS WHO HAVE BEEN TAKEN OVER.

Ezekiel and Dakota, I think it’s safe to say they’re been taken over as well. They’re failed experiments of Chris’s plan A, and he can’t risk anything.

There’s also the All Stars cast in general who were flushed. Chris designed the toilet. He has control of it. He can very easily take over all these characters once they’ve outlived their usefulness. (I mean what else are these balloons for other than to imprison them to be brainwashed later?)

So that’s Mike, Zoey, Gwen, Cameron, Heather, Alejandro, Ezekiel, Dakota, Lindsay, Lightning, Jo, Sam, Sierra, Courtney, and Scott almost certainly captured.

Am I missing somebody from All Stars?????? Eh, I can’t think of anyone. (I’ll get to this.)

And there’s one person we can add to the certainty pile and that is Izzy.

Why? Again, Izzy KNEW. She found out about Chris’s plan right away, and acted crazy to keep him from catching on that she knew. She was going to use the show to make a plan to stop this. 

Whether or not her methods of doing so make her the good guy of an evil madman is up to you. 

Point is, her plan failed. Chris realized she knew, and had to get her out of the picture. How does he do that?

Simple. Spend the money on the hot tub and crash the plane, making Izzy get brain damage from the impact. Therefore, she can’t process herself, and she’s gone as a threat.

But is she really?

In this same episode she talks about making a time machine.

HUH. I WONDER IF THAT’S FORESHADOWING A PLOT POINT ON HOW TO DEFEAT CHRIS.

She also makes a cameo in All Stars and sees through Mal. It’s safe to say she’s been taken over. 

How did Chris even get camera’s in Mike’s head anyway?

Was Mal Chris’s original creation for his robots? Did Mal sacrifice his sanity to save Mike with the split personality?! (Well the MPD in this show is offensive either way, but for the theory’s sake, let not)

I don’t think Mike won guys...

But wait, how did Chris even get this tech, let alone perfected it?

Paketiew Island.

Here is the craziest part about this entire theory. We know Paketiew Island is a robot island made by Chris that hosts a ton of robots, almost explicitly designed for an apocalypse.

Chris filmed his OWN PLAN as a plot device to brainwash everyone into thinking the plot itself was fake and wouldn’t happen years later.

He used Dramarama to grasp that concept to the audience to shut their brains off further so they don’t question it.

This is LITERALLY the effect of that scene from the LEGO Movie.

“Wait did he just say PUT TO SLEEP?!”

“Tonight on ‘Where Are My Pants?”

“What was I just thinking? I don’t care.”

But wait, wouldn’t the Paketiew campers, who have seen this, be onto Chris anyway?

Yeah. They would.

IF THEY EXISTED.

(NOW I think I’ve lost you all)

You know WHY the Paketiew campers are SO unrealistic?! It’s because they are CGI models Chris designed to exist ONLY in that season and be used as placeholders for his propaganda. 

Yes. You heard me right. EVERY MEMBER OF THE PAKETIEW ISLAND CAST DOES NOT EXIST.

AT BEST, they are already turned robots who are spies for Chris McLean on approaching their master plan. Maybe they are teenagers who did exist and were kidnapped, BUT their personalities in Paketiew Island are ALL FAKE. DESIGNED BY CHRIS.

The ONLY fragment that does is Leonard who appears in Ridonculous Race. But it’s easy to assume he’s CGI as well as Tammy who is his copy. They are both robots by Chris, and when Don realized this, he ditched them in the desert.

Speaking of Don, he just SO HAPPENS to have the same voice as Chris in the reboot! 

And in Action, Chris could also do accents. Huh, I wonder what his REAL voice this WHOLE TIME was.

And by the reboot, everything’s perfect and Chris doesn’t have to hide his voice anymore.

So wait, Don is Chris in disguise?! 

Or are these two RELATED?!

We don’t actually get Don’s last name, which is odd for a celebrity character in this show. Or did Don change his name to hide his identity from his evil twin?!

Don and Chris are identical twins, and Don is the good twin. Don is the one who may not have realized Chris’s plans before All Stars, but when Leonard comes in, he realizes what’s going on, and needs to use his race to make a team to put a stop to McLean.

Thankfully, he has two cops on his side, and members from Total Drama, such as Noah, Owen, and Geoff.

With this in mind, these three are certainly SAFE from Chris’s apocalypse for now. These guys have aged into their thirties, and are unsure what happened to the others. Noah’s introverted, and Owen has failed multiple times to be in contact with Total Drama anyway, so it’s safe to say these two are oblivious to what happened. Geoff’s major connection was Bridgette, and he would have PTSD if Bridgette was captured, so it’s safe to say Bridgette’s okay too.

So that’s four TD characters who are most certainly safe from Chris’s plans, and once they’ve figured out everything, they COULD return to try and stop this to defeat Chris once and for all. 

There’s A LOT of great characterization that could happen here with these guys, especially with their arcs in TD itself. Noah could finally get off his butt and be a scheming hero, Owen could get revenge for his mistreatment on the show, and Geoff could be THE mentor character with the knowledge on the show’s corruption. Lord knows a LOT of these reboot characters need that.

But there’s one more character I’m putting in the safe pile, and that is Duncan.

I WILL EXPLAIN RIGHT NOW.

YES, Duncan was in All Stars, and is in prison. Surely, if Chris had captured everyone else from the All Stars cast, he has his hands on Duncan too. 

And he would have. But I said, “Everyone who was FLUSHED”

What is the ONE non-finalist-appearance character in All Stars that did not go down the Flush of Shame? Duncan.

He didn’t get flushed because he was arrested. Chris arrested him and threw him in prison instead, as Chris wanted nothing to do with him.

Well that’s stupid on Chris’s part, right? Why not just brainwash Duncan then and there? Why go through that trouble? Especially when you keep the guy around and TRACK HIM DOWN WITH A TERRORIZING ROBOT.

Chris DID have an eye on Duncan, and WAS going to add Duncan to the brainwashing pile. After all, Duncan had everything Chris was going for, a rebellious teenager with great strength, street smarts, and skills in the crime area. He seemed like the perfect minion, right?

If he was actually loyal to Chris.

Red flags started when Duncan quit in World Tour, but the kick of the bucket was Duncan betraying Chris’s storyline for him. Chris FRAMED Duncan to become this redemption arc from villain to hero. His own criminal baby is now a good guy, therefore Chris is a good guy...

And then the burning of the house happens.

Yeah Duncan wasn’t gonna be loyal to Chris, and he could get away, SO... throw him in jail. No need for him anymore.

But that would end up being a BIG MISTAKE. ANOTHER factor in Chris’s eventual defeat.

By throwing Duncan in jail, Chris made it so that Duncan AVOIDS getting brainwashed into a robot and Chris’s slave for the apocalypse. Thus, a crafty delinquent got away, and is alive in a cell, and will be released to figure out what exactly Chris had done.

...whoops.

“I did NOT think that through!” -Storks

Oh yeah, also in Canada, someone who is charged for arson can spend at least 5 years in prison. BUT I would assume Chris would want Duncan locked up as long as possible, so the maximum of Duncan’s sentence would be ten years.

Going by my calculation, what is the gap between All Stars and the reboot?

Thirteen years.

That’s really close, and definitely enough time for Duncan to be grieving in PTSD and find out about the reboot happening.

Whether Duncan undergoes an actual redemption arc or becomes a full on villain who sides with Chris, is a completely different topic.

So we have a host and five characters who know about the upcoming apocalypse, and are prepared for Season Two. With the whole season out in one day, they are ready as ever to locate and strike.

And this very reboot, is Chris McLean’s climax to his plan. By this point, the ENTIRE WORLD is dependent on reality TV, and Total Drama. Evidence is from MULTIPLE characters in this reboot.

Priya’s parents are fans who gave birth to her so she could be on the show. Her whole life IS the show. 

Millie is spiteful of the current generation and their appeals. (She’s right, y’all are just mean)

Julia is a HUGE influencer with loads of fans who praise her for being a piece of garbage like Heather. She even enjoys the idea of being called a villain. She’s AWARE of the stereotype!

Damien’s friends influenced him to join the show, which means they are fans and are a part of the scheme. Damien is a precious puppy who is too pure and he needs to be protected at all costs.

Nichelle is a movie star who is a part of television.

And Axel.

Yeah, you KNOW Axel is vital to all of this.

Axel is a part of the military and is prepared for the apocalypse. She KNOWS what is about to happen. THIS is why she tried to take charge of her team and start a revolution before it’s too late. And Chris had to shut her up by rigging her elimination. Yes, her elimination was rigged, I’m convinced. 

I don’t know exactly what they plan to do with Axel, but it’s certainly important of a role she has. 

You KNOW she’s been onto Chris when she has a cardboard cutout of Shawn. SHAWN DOESN’T EXIST.

This cast is the very last step of Chris McLean’s plan. Now that they have the groundwork for a basic TD season, they are blindsighted, and now Chris can use this new season to take them over and start the apocalypse on the ENTIRE WORLD.

UNLESS, these teenagers are actually going to be the SAVIORS of everyone. And they’re gonna be the ones to defeat Chris McLean and set the old casts free to live out normal TV-free lives.

And they’re starting to become AWARE of their situation they’re in.

Damien is an obvious one as someone oblivious to the entire thing.

MK knows how to access the tech and can see things.

Julia’s fingers.

The robotics of certain challenges.

SEVERAL FORTH WALL BREAKING LINES:

“Wait, WE’RE on TV! Does that mean we’re not real?!” -Wayne, Episode 4

And basically this entire scene in Episode 9:

“What are teams? A bunch of people that compete against each other?”

“Yes.”

“No man, they’re friends. Being forced not to be friends. And I say enough of that!”

“Is there any way to speed this up?”

“I secretly join both alliances into one big seven person alliance, and we’re voting YOU off!”

Yeah, I’m sure that SOUNDS stupid of an idea to the others. AT FIRST. It totally won’t be an idea later. (I love Zee.)

So to set the groundwork on all of this, I can briefly go over who would be the saviors, and who wouldn’t. Cause not everyone will.

Already, Axel is on Don’s side. Like I said, her role is major enough that the show has to kick her out before she can do anything. She’s the one who’s prepared for this and is the biggest asset.

I feel like Nichelle could go either way, as she’s now revealed to be a fraud under TV, which is disgraceful. She could get her fame back, or she could find a different way to be a fighter.

Damien is not aware of the game, and decided he is here to stay. This is HIS time to be a competitor for an even bigger prize: safety for everyone. Again, Damien is precious.

MK... well she clearly has skills that can help, but she also probably won’t want to side with Don. She’s a thief who does her own thing. She’s only gonna want to look out for herself.

Zee... well, I already phrased the scene. This stoner character is gonna end up being the mad genius in the savior’s side.

Julia I feel is a definite Chris side and if she gets cancelled for TD, she’d willingly give Chris her brain. Her entire life is based on her social media following with how many phones she has, which plays a contributing factor for Chris. And she’s very much aware of villains in this show, and that she is a villain. That’s her only label now. 

Millie I feel like they’re setting a redemption arc for. Yes she hates our generation, but she’s also come to value her relationship with Priya. She’s getting character development. I feel like she’d be tempted by Chris, but she’d ultimately make the right choice and side with the rebels.

Bowie... yeah I love Bowie, but I feel like he’s gonna side with Chris.

It’s mostly because of this line:

“This challenge is definitely going to be my villain origin story.”

Whether or not Bowie is actually a villain is subjective. Personally, I think he has more dignity than Duncan. However, he is aware his actions are wrong, but he does them anyway because that’s how this world works. He can’t think about other people when so much is on the line. Course, he does care about people, Raj and Emma obviously, but though he’d probably give his crown to them, he isn’t giving everyone that privilege.

After the finale, he probably would side with Chris. But I don’t see him doing that with Raj in the picture, so I think it’s more likely this line is foreshadowing him getting captured and brainwashed into a robot. 

Kinda breaks my heart to split up the gays like this.

BUT if Raj isn’t brainwashed, he could be a factor of a “I know you’re in there” moment. That could be cute.

And lastly Priya. 

Yeah Priya’s the protagonist of the reboot. In the same vein as Gwen.

If my theory is in play, Season 2 would have a Hunger Games Catching Fire ending where the protag breaks the barrier separating them from the games and reality, and the rebels come to save half of them while the other half is captured by the bad guys. 

Priya’s entire life was Total Drama and winning it. Well, she did. Now what? Sure she could do the medical school she dreamed of, but once she realizes Chris won’t allow them to leave Total Drama, she’s gonna be having an identity crisis and a half.

(And also question her parents like seriously who gives birth on a mountain at their own free will?!)

I also think her friendship with Millie is important for both of their stories. Millie is aware of this generation’s setbacks, and would definitely be aware of the setbacks of the show. Priya wouldn’t. Or, at least, she’d have a hard time accepting that. That could be interesting drama.

It could also lead to really neat interactions with Noah, Owen, Geoff, Bridgette, and Duncan. And also Sanders and MacArthur would be a part of this because, you know, they’re cops, it’s their job to take care of this. It’s like the tributes from The Hunger Games Catching Fire, but they’re actually fleshed out characters. (No offense Hunger Games, I love you)

No matter what, Priya is an extremely vital character in this story, and is gonna be the bridge in between Total Drama and real world drama. 

My last point is that lets assume the reboot is structured like The Hunger Games. Book one was the game itself. Book two was the fallout after the game and the sequel game, ending with an escape. Book three is the rebellion and the apocalypse.

We know for a fact that the reboot is getting a second season. We have zero idea of a third season, and I think it depends on how well the two seasons do. (It looks like it’s doing really well from this season alone, so I have hopes)

This supposed third season would likely be the grand finale of Total Drama, which is NOT the game, but everyone trying to overthrow the game and rescue everybody from the REAL enemy. 

This is The Walking Dead, but with robots, and with a happier ending (because kids show, we can’t end the story with everyone dead after all).

I am not even a fan of zombie apocalypse stories, but it would be neat to see this shallow TV-brainwashed world fall apart and for people to get back up again and see what really matters. 

It would be a satisfying conclusion to ALL of the Total Drama generations.

And also get Chris a satisfying life sentence in jail. It’s what he deserves, if not worse.

Now, Total Drama MAYBE wouldn’t end with this, they could do an epilogue spinoff of all the generations adapting to normal life. Kinda like Steven Universe Future. But for the main story, I think it would solidify Total Drama as THE Survivor.

BUT HEY, THAT’S JUST A THEORY. A TOTAL DRAMA THEORY.

(This is likely never gonna happen, so don’t take anything here seriously)

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: November 2023

Ooooooh it's getting cold and snowy out here in Ontario! Perfect weather to stay in, curl up, and read/watch/play something.

……….FILM……….

Bottoms (2023) The heightened reality could've been made apparent a little sooner but other than that, no notes. Weird and fun in a way I haven't seen in a while. Big fan.

How The West Was Fun (1994) It took me about 1 hour and 10 minutes to get into this but it finishes strong. And so many great jackets! Ugh I love a good belt buckle.

……….TELEVISION……….

The Crown (Episode 6.01 to 6.02) Okay this is my first dip into the series but having lived (just barely) through a lot of this, I feel like I got caught up fairly quickly. Really feels like the focus is on Diana instead of the Queen, yeah?

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (Episode 1.01 to 1.06) Not what I was expecting and really refreshing for it! The animation varies wildly from episode to episode and I assume it's intentional buuuut sometimes it doesn't quite work for me. If I finish it and enjoy it enough to warrant a rewatch, I'll definitely try it with the Japanese dub.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Mosa Lina by Caleb Gamman This looks like a fun game and, more importantly, the video is a thoughtful divergence into the topic of "genre". Gonna be thinking about the ideas in here for a while. VIDEO

This Woman Deconstructs 100-Year-Old Books To Restore Them | Obsessed | WIRED by WIRED I could watch book restoration all day and I hope this becomes an ongoing series or she starts her own channel. VIDEO

7 Deadly Art Sins by CJ the X Vital watching for any creative type. Don't compare yourself to others (different from learning from others), don't hesitate starting that project you have in mind, and don't be afraid to create stuff you don't like cause it's an opportunity to reflect and grow and move towards making something you do like. Also promise me you won't call it content. VIDEO

Chicago Doesn’t Own Its Own Streets | Climate Town by Climate Town If you ever hear a city councilor mention selling public infrastructure to a private company, send them this link or vote them out. VIDEO

……….READING……….

A Few Fiends To Tea by Virginia Coffman (Complete) Picked this up secondhand for the cover (obviously) and the promise of a dying man using his remaining time to enact some vigilante justice on serial killers. Pulpy fun, right? Well it mostly reads like a mid century romance with a few interesting exchanges peppered throughout. Oh well.

Silver Surfer by Slott & Allred Omnibus by Dan Slott and Michael Allred (Complete) This is what comics can be. Funny, sad, silly, and sincere, all while telling superhero stories that don't exclusively rely on punching to solve conflict. This reads like the best of Doctor Who and I love it all the more.

Delicious in Dungeon Volume 1 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) It seeeeeeeeems like the series is wrapping up so while I wait for the final volume's release I figured I'd start a reread. Knowing where it's going it's fun to see how established the setting and characters are right out of the gate. Just so great and I can't recommend it enough.

……….AUDIO……….

Wag the Doug (Podcast) This is for a very specific audience (folks living in Ontario, Canada that are invested in provincial politics) but if you're a part of that demographic then it's a great way to loosely keep up with what's going on.

……….GAMING……….

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 Crew is infiltrating a funeral where they know Princess Ozma will be attending. I think their plan is still stuff from the coat check but maybe they'll change course along the way. Never know what I'm going to get with this crew.

Wonderland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) Got to run this quite a bit this month and testing is going well! Similar tone but very different sort of play from Oz and Neverland and I feel like that's a good thing.

And that’s it. See you in December!

[sunnykeysmash]

Ok so, the new trailers got me curious, especially here with the whole... trap thing.

Let's just go on a little chill journey about it together, no strings attached.

So... something I do casually to pass the time while deep in sunny fixation is keyword searching in episode transcripts, to see if there's fun connections I can do. So naturally, I look up "trap", to see where else it comes up outside of Gets Romantic and Flowers for Charlie (the first two episodes that come to my mind when talking about traps).

What I found was an interesting connection between three specific episodes:

Mac is a serial killer

Dennis looks like a registered sex offender

Flowers for Charlie

And I wanna go through it. Kind of in random order because I don't know how to structure this (lmao).

Now, these episodes obviously have come out in seasons throughout the years, with the earliest two on s3, and I'm gonna be talking about things I think might happen in relation to these episodes. Parallels, metatext, about things that haven't aired yet. So I may be wrong. Let's get that out of the way. Usual disclaimer, get out now if you don't like rambling, and I'm not responsible for building anyone's expectations, that is on you. This is how I have my own fun. Let's move on.

But talking about these episodes in such a way requires me to acknowledge macdennis as something that's been not only intended, but planted, am I gonna be arguing that this was all intentional the whole time? ...No. ...Yes? Maybe. This pains me to say more than it pains you to read, believe me.

Now by planted I don't mean they ever really planned to have it happen necessarily. I'm talking about the trap aspect of it all. The will they, won't they. The question, the mystery of what's inside the crate. You get me.

I wanna start from the fact that there's fifteen severed heads in the fridge. Severing heads being a metaphor very prevalent in season 15 as we've seen, but especially...

And that's the scene.

Yes, I'm aware.

I'm done. I was in character before, but I'm me now, so you can tell me how good I was.

Oh, okay. Well, you just cut in front of 15 other actresses.

You're welcome. I took a gander at 'em and... ( sever head gesture )

Plus, I do feel like that's what the character would have done, and I've been in character all day. As a matter of fact, don't want to brag, but I've been in character all week.

Fifteen, like the seasons? It could be they were hoping to reach that number to break the record, just like Charlie is shown doing at the start of DLLARSO, attempting to break a record to see how long he can hold his breath for.

Dee: What is going on in here?

Mac: Just laying low and breaking world records. Don't even think about breathing, b¡tch.

Dennis: All right, so here's the deal. Got rid of that child molester. The sеxual predator guy? Yeah, he's gone. He's out of the situation, so my problems are solved. You had a thing too, right?

Dee: Mac's dad. I want your dad out of the bar.

So three things, breaking records, the second Dennis leaving (you know, Dennis Double Life thing), and I do think Luther might be dying this season, as well. It seems to line up to me... we know Mac is going to "collect his inheritance", which he wouldn't really have unless a parent died like Charlie's. He also walked out, so.

But that's impossible, that's season 3. I thought so too.

So I want to bring another example of severed head onto the table... Chardee Macdennis 2. Season 11.

They're asked to sculpt "clues" for the game, and what does each of them sculpt?

Mac: "Cupid's arrow". Which Charlie keeps calling a penis, and which looks strikingly similar to a RPG missile to me, I'll add.

Frank: A heart. Like the heart shaped lock?

Dennis: A woman's head in a freezer, which he says, and I quote, represents "the preservation of love forever and ever".

Keep in mind, there was no theme given for the sculptures, the whole goal was for the teammates to guess what the other was sculpting. Now why are they... love themed?

I just want to say right out of the gate, I don't know what everything means, I'm more so here to draw parallels that I've noticed. I think it's interesting that everyone can draw their own conclusions too.

So, to summarize all three episodes:

In Mac is a Serial Killer, the gang see Mac acting weird, so they start suspecting he's a serial killer.

(I do want to point out Carmen scratches Mac (during sex), which is one parallel with Dennis, but not my overall point.)

Frank and Charlie scour for clues in Mac's apartment, while Dennis tries to use Dee as bait to catch the serial killer. Frank gets a confession out of Mac's mom, and then the gang starts to hatch a scheme (which they call a trap) to "catch" Mac about this, and drive a confession out of him. The truth though, is that Mac is dating Carmen, and doesn't want the gang to find out.

In Sex Offender, Luther is finally out of jail and is visiting a bunch of people. Mac and Charlie see that Luther has a list with their name on it, and panic thinking he's been killing these people and is gonna kill them next. What is really happening though, is that he was actually making amends with the people listed (something that comes back in S16!), and had a surprise prepared for Mac, who "ratted him out". The B plot has Frank moving out because he thinks he can do better than Charlie, so he gets with Bonnie, his "bang maid". Both Charlie and Mac hatch a plan (again called a trap here), a romantic dinner, with very different goals. Charlie wants Frank back and to expose his mom as a cheater (in a situation that actually reminds of the s15 dinner, with the turd in the soup), Mac wants to pair his parents back together so they can raise "happy boys". In the end, Luther gets with Bonnie, which coincidentally does drive Frank back into Charlie's arms, but in the end Luther gets carried away by police. Additionally as we've discussed, there's a second Dennis in this episode, a fake, who is threatened into leaving at the end of the episode.

In Flowers for Charlie, scientists are running an experiment on Charlie who becomes their lab rat, while Dee Mac and Dennis are dealing with a rat problem in the bar, discussing ways to catch and kill it. Charlie starts thinking he's too good for his friends and notices that "they've been using him", Frank enlists the help of the Waitress by setting up a dinner between them, hoping Charlie's deep infatuation with her will pull him away from his new life and the corner he's turned and back to Frank, and when that doesn't work, Frank tells Dee Dennis and Mac that he wants to "drag him back down into the sewer where he belongs". Dee thinks she's stuck to the rat glue trap, but after the rat eats the cheese and scurries away unaffected, thanks to Frank's help she finds that by letting go of the trap, she becomes unstuck. In the end we find the experiment didn't make Charlie smarter, only more arrogant, and perhaps more fascinatingly some other things, like he believes to be a mathematical genius, and writes:

X = 9 + 9 = Box... that's where the cat is.

(9 + 9, like 18? Like the seasons we have confirmed, 18?)

And more.

And in the space of an hour, the subject has lost all interest in a woman with whom he had been in love for years, because of a perceived upidity relative to himself. Perhaps the most interesting were the series of side effects that he believed himself to be having. Uh, debilitating aches and pains. It was all in his mind.

According to this, the more arrogant someone is, the more he forgets about the people he loves, and the more he suffers various pains. Therefore, you need to knock someone down a peg to remind them of their feelings, and make them feel better.

In Mac is a Serial Killer, at the end, Mac is also accused of being two people.

Charlie: I'm sorry, Mac. You can't keep running from this thing. You gotta face this head on! (whispers) I'm gonna get you off this. Don't be afraid to show me your ugly side. All right. Put that away, Frank. You don't need a chain saw. You're talking to an innocent man. All right, Mac. I'm gonna ask you now 'cause I'm tired and hungry. I want to go home. I want to wash my hands of this whole stinking mess. Did you or did you not snap into an alternate and distinct personality... causing you to go on a serial killing rampage?

Mac: What? No.

Charlie: What? Yes, you did. You... All right, Mac. You're crazy, right? You're a crazy person. Sometimes you're two people. Let's see the other guy. Let him out.

Mac: Let who out?

Charlie: The serial killer, Mac! Let the serial killer out!

Mac: I'm not a serial killer!

Frank: Then why all the shady behavior?

So, what is the trap... so far, we've seen that you trap someone either to set them up with someone else (the romantic dinner in DLLARSO, but also the trap in Gets Romantic, and also when Dee sets them up in Break Up by using a lady with giant breasts as bait!), or to draw a confession out of them (like in MIASK, but also Catches a Leprechaun). Perhaps both, at the same time, as there may be multiple people scheming the same thing with different end goals, or different things with the same end goal. Either way, that's the conflict of the trap.

Brief intermission to talk about another episode where the trap comes up. Charlie's Home Alone.

Charlie empathizes with a rat, and saves him from a trap.

'Cause I know what it's like to be caught in a trap now, and it's not okay. I won't let you get caught in a trap, okay?

Takes him in his hand, and eats him (DLLARSO also has talk about Luther looking like he eats people, but I don't have a thought on that yet aside from basic cat eat mouse type stuff, also not everything is Something, but I digress!).

Later a real trap is introduced as part of the rituals, and Charlie steps on it and must free himself. The release lever is at the bottom. He frees himself, but once Brady has the ball, he has to step right into the trap again.

This stepping in and out, again it reminds me of Dennis in Gets Romantic, but since it was a season 13 episode, it may also be Glenn about the show.

But here's something I think, just to spice it up, I think the trap may also be, more in general, a relationship. Right? Dennis has been in one (with Maureen), didn't like it, yada yada. Now Mac talking about banging, that's one thing. Mac getting in a relationship? Suddenly he's ruining everything, getting locked in, that's different. And the scene between him and Dennis in Flowers for Charlie, implies to me that we have two rats and one bait, that the trap involves two people. Like a relationship. Now am I married to this idea, pun not intended? Not really, but it's possible.

Either way, the trap is something that catches rats. Thanks to Flowers for Charlie, both Mac and Dennis can be rats, due to said dancing scene...

Dennis: He scurried away.

Mac: All right, well, when he comes back, I'm gonna smash him up good. Dennis: No, no, Mac, come on. We're smarter than that. That's just gonna spread rat blood and disease all over the place. It's not about brute force. It's about seduction. See, I'm gonna place some enticing tunes for the little guy. And then I'm gonna bait this glue trap with some Brie cheese.

Frank: Because drawing a confession out of someone... is like doing a beautiful dance... a beautiful dance with a chain saw.

When Charlie is framed as the rat in Flowers for Charlie at the beginning, he's dead set on getting the cheese he can't have, and has no interest in the one under the green light. Which reflects the chase. Like cat and mouse.

This experiment, that's being talked about as groundbreaking and that will revolutionize the field, is all about making the subject feel smart due to the constant encouragement, but the subject really isn't.

Mac is not the serial killer. He's not smart enough. He's a dumb person. And dumb people are not capable of serial killing.

In Chokes, it's said that Dennis will see through the ruse, because he's smart, but the truth is that he didn't, because he isn't. It's Mac that heightens his confidence, and it always has been.

And in the sideplot of Flowers for Charlie, Dee Dennis and Mac end up watching "cat and mouse" cartoons to understand how to solve this rat problem. But... a cat was never introduced in the episode prior to this?

The mouse always wins. There's... there's, like, no winning with mices. Cat keeps getting hurt. He gets hurt. Well, it's dangerous, yeah. What the hell are you guys doing? We're trying to watch cat and mouse cartoons to find out how kitty cats deal with their rat issues.

But historically, the cat has always been Dennis... the cat in the wall (through framing and dialogue), and then ongoing with like the painting in s15 and the dead cat in the room and so on. This cat may get out of the wall, or he may die in there. That duality belongs to Dennis. But how can he both be a cat and a mouse? No, I don't have an answer, but perhaps it's up to confidence. If you bring it down low enough for both Dennis and Mac, they're finally both little mouses, and you can catch them in your trap. Not that the trap ever works? In all episodes where it comes up, it either fails (Flowers for Charlie), is painful (Charlie's Home Alone), complicates things (Gets Romantic), or a combination of those (Serial Killer and Catches a Leprechaun).

It's also about method.

How do we lower this guy's confidence, how do we reach rock bottom.

In Flowers for Charlie, Mac's solution is to bash the rat.

In Mac is a Serial Killer, they want to draw a confession out of Mac by torture when they catch him. Using a chainsaw even.

And in Dennis Looks Like a Registered Sex Offender, Dennis takes a good beating because he's mistaken for an awful man that looks like him, as per Dee's plan.

And this in Mac is a Serial Killer:

Dennis: This is the fun part, Dee. This is the part that we've been working up to. This is what all the work has been for. We're gonna follow our victim. And then we're gonna jump her. And then I'm gonna strangle her and you're gonna chop her into pieces.

Dee: Okay, but what are we really gonna do?

Dennis: Huh?

Dee: We're not really gonna kill her. What are we gonna do?

Dennis: Oh, yeah. Oh, shit. That's a bummer. Yeah, you're right.

Dee: Let's just follow her for a little. We'll throw a good scare into her. Figure out what to do later.

Plus, in Charlie Catches a Leprechaun, which is another episode in which a man gets captured with the goal of driving a confession out of him...

Mac: Nasty little son of a b¡tch, isn't he?

Charlie: There's, like, a real bite to him.

Mac: You know what I think we should do? We just rough him up a little bit. You know, just get the truth out of him, just a little bit.

Charlie: It's a great idea.

Mac: We don't want to bruise him up, I just wish we had, like, a hose or something. You know, we could blast the truth out of him. Right?

Charlie: That'd be good...

Setting aside the episode insisting a lot about ancient authentic irish traditions and other parallels I don't have time to get into, this ALL reminds me of course of the plan from the castle about the irish doctor in S15, you know, pour scalding liquid from the murder hole (a predecessor to the glory hole!) and char him.

Dennis: Yeah, so you'll lure him under the hole, where I will, uh, douse him with boiling oil or hot tar or really any scalding substance.

Frank: Wait, you're gonna char the guy? Gonna char him up?

Dennis: Yeah. I'm not gonna kill him or anything, but it's got to be hot enough to be annoying as shit, right? You know what I mean?

Frank: Yeah. Burn him.

Dennis: Uh, he's gonna get burned. But, I mean, Charlie's got to see him lose his cool, so we can expose him as the child-abandoning monster that he really is.

In s15 later, Dennis talks about that incident as "taking care of him". We all giggled at the gay implication of that, but the thing is, Mac is a Serial Killer and Dennis Looks Like a Registered Sex Offender both play with that duality of meaning, as well.

Dee: Could you come take care of me?

Charlie: I'll allow it.

Mac: Uh, yeah. Yeah, I can take care of you.

Dennis: What were you planning on doing to Sandy?

Mac: What do you think, dude?

Dennis: Well, according to this phone transcript, Mac... you were going to "take care of her"?

Mac: Yeah. Take care of her.

Mac: He told me these are people from his past, and he's got to take care of them. And once he takes care of them, he's gonna take care of me.

And it really is like that sick extended metaphor where on one side we have Mac and Dennis, on the other we have death. Same as Dennis' Double Life. You know, "give me dong or give me death". That you can either love someone, or kill them. It reflect the concept of the trap, I think.

But speaking of which...

Frank: Stay away from my bang maid.

Charlie: Damn it, Frank! This isn't about them... Charlie... or Mac or anyone else... this is about you and me, bro. This is about dudes living together, hanging out, sharing their bed and their life...

Mac: No. That's not what this is about! This is about people meeting back up after many years and sparks flying... and families getting back together and raising little boys so they can be happy again!

Much like Clip Show, that same duality. On one side living with Mac (dudes living together, plus Charlie and Frank are often a parallel for Mac and Dennis), on the other, raising Brian Jr (families getting together and raising little boys).

Charlie: Shut up, Frank. You don't know what she wants any more than she knows what you want. You know who knows what you want? I do. I've always known what you want. And I can give you want you want. Just let me give you what you want.

I don't like jumping into specific event predictions because I always get them wrong, and I don't find any fun in that. And while the trap and rats meta is real, I may be completely off with it here. I just like drawing connections.

But speaking of traps and ruses, here's another bit of dialogue that comes to me, in times of need.

Charlie: I see you all fell for my ruse.

Dee: What ruse? You asking us to go on a hike with your dad, and us saying "yes"?

Charlie: Oldest trick in the book.

Dennis: Asking someone to do something?

Charlie: Exactly.

Dee: And then, them doing it?

Charlie: Precisely, yes.

I think traps usually are something you hatch to uncover a ruse.

That's why in all of these examples, the goal of capturing someone is to draw a confession out of them. But they don't work that way, because what the capturer and the captured hold as truth doesn't align. Mac is a serial killer, they expect him to confess to serial killing, but he was just dating Carmen. Catches a leprechaun, they expect him to admit that he is, but he really isn't. Even in Worst Bar in Philly, another ep where they kidnap a guy, they are trying to extort a fake review from the journalist.

So if the trap succeeds, it'll have a different result than intended by who hatched it, and uncover a truth that wasn't the expected one. Just based on statistics, I guess...

If the intended goal is really to hatch a plan to humiliate Dennis, char him or whatever, then what it may actually do is break his cold, calculated shell. But I don't know...

Frank, I am thinking on the physical level, the metaphysical level, the pataphysical level.

So we've all talked about meta and that's fun, but let's talk pataphysical too since Flowers for Charlie mentions it.

That's difficult, as there are over one hundred definitions of pataphysics according to wikipedia.

A few are:

"Pataphysics will examine the laws governing exceptions, and will explain the universe supplementary to this one"

"Pataphysics is patient; 'Pataphysics is benign; 'Pataphysics envies nothing, is never distracted, never puffed up, it has neither aspirations nor seeks not its own, it is even-tempered, and thinks not evil; it mocks not iniquity: It is enraptured with scientific truth; it supports everything, believes everything, has faith in everything, and upholds everything that is."

"Pataphysics "the science of the particular" does not, therefore, study the rules governing the general recurrence of a periodic incident (the expected case) so much as study the games governing the special occurrence of a sporadic accident (the excepted case). Jarry performs humorously on behalf of literature what Nietzsche performs seriously on behalf of philosophy. Both thinkers in effect attempt to dream up a "gay science" whose joie de vivre thrives wherever the tyranny of truth has increased our esteem for the lie and wherever the tyranny of reason has increased our esteem for the mad."

"Pataphysics is science, albeit one with an aesthetic sensibility; it regards “humor” and “the serious” with the same imperturbable gaze. "

"Pataphysics is simply an awareness that everything, including our very selves - is what we pretend it to be."

In other words, truth is not what's actually real, what we do or our past, truth is what we believe it is. Much like identity.

One more.

"You have seen that far from regretting the past I would simply suggest that we improve it…’Pataphysics will always be plunging ahead, precisely because it is static in time, and because time, itself, is retrograde by definition."

So if one is dissatisfied with their past, they can simply change it... by going there. This concept is played around plenty in Clip Show, but I want to talk about something else. I want to talk about Dee Day.

That is the episode where we take off Dennis' make up, but there's something else too.

This is where Dee talks about wanting to do a "retrospective" of her characters.

And the plan to make the ordinance pass, includes the gang stealing the councilwoman keys and setting her clocks back so she would miss the vote.

And look, we do have one flashback promised to us, in the bowling episode if I recall correctly.

"But is there any other canonical way of viewing the future (whether one calls oneself serious, in the profane or pataphysical sense of the word), than as a bouquet of imaginary Solutions – that is, potentialities?"

I forget if I've talked about potential in sunny. The seeds, the puppies, the eggs... always about the potential of life. I think it's fascinating. Like there is an infinite branch of ways in which macdennis could happen, right? And that's the potential. And by bringing it into the text, you're effectively killing it.

But are you, really?

The first time round is a bitter pill

But the second chance is better still

And then we find new seeds to sow

To grow our love we didn't know

There's always new seeds to plant...

But I'm not done with the pataphysical. Oh no, there's more.

There's also the fact that Flowers for Charlie talks about the structure and the foundation. When asked where the foundation is, they respond "on top", but Frank corrects them, on the bottom.

I have a feeling both answers are correct, just like both of Dennis' lives are true, and here's why.

Concepts that embody pataphysical include:

Antimony: An antinomy is the mutually incompatible. It represents the duality of things, the echo or symmetry, the good and the evil at the same time.

Clinamen: A clinamen is the unpredictable swerve of atoms that poet Christian Bök calls "... the smallest possible aberration that can make the greatest possible difference". An example is Jarry's merdre, a swerve of French: merde ("shit").

Syzygy: The syzygy originally comes from astronomy and denotes the alignment of three celestial bodies in a straight line. In a pataphysical context it is the pun. It usually describes a conjunction of things, something unexpected and surprising. Serendipity is a simple chance encounter but the syzygy has a more scientific purpose.

Absolute: The absolute is the idea of a transcended reality.

Anomaly: An anomaly represents the exception. Jarry said that, "Pataphysics will examine the laws governing exceptions, and will explain the universe supplementary to this one." Bök calls it "... the repressed part of a rule which ensures that the rule does not work".

Pataphor: The pataphor is a term for an unusually extended metaphor based on Alfred Jarry's "science" of 'pataphysics'. Whereas a metaphor compares a real object or event to a seemingly unrelated subject to emphasize their similarities, the pataphor uses the newly created metaphorical similarity as a reality on which to base itself. In going beyond mere ornamentation of the original idea, the pataphor seeks to describe a new and separate world, in which an idea or aspect has taken on a life of its own.

Once again this rings true for Clip Show in general, as a concept, but I would maybe dare say this applies to macdennis regarding many associated concepts such as the trap or the crate. In particular, Macdennis as a concept has been morphing and evolving separate to the textual plots, due to heavy metaphor use.

In particular, they're always placed in the role of married couple, in multiple episodes. Break up, Suburbs, Gets Romantic, Mortgage Crisis. It doesn't just say "you are like a married couple", it shows them behaving as one. Therefore, if looked at under a pataphysical lense, that's what they are. That's the reality of it.

Of course, since this whole spiel is born from one word in a single episode from season 9, there's no telling how much it actually matters. It may be a happy coincidence. Does it really matter? (Not in pataphysics).

In a similar sense, we spoke Mac into coming out as audience, because we believed in it as our reality.

And another thing, since I'm riffing a lil bit at this point.

But since Dennis has been intentionally led to portray two separate and apparently opposing realities, the audience is equally divided on him, and as a result both realities keep appearing as true.

So in DLLARSO Mac is stealing Dennis' car and using it without him knowing. If we go with the whole "Dennis' car is his identity" which is very dear and near to me and I basically think of as true at least since Misses The Boat (and this is a s3 ep, which is why I'm saying IF), I'm wondering how this extends in season 16.

Well for starters, we see Mac behind the counter twice just in trailers. That has been, typically, Dennis' spot as the bartender. Very rarely does Mac cross behind, even less so on his own. Notably, it happens in Mac Fights Gay Marriage AND Dennis Gets Divorced (which btw, these two parter titles make it sound like they're the two that got divorced lmao, but um).

Another way in which we see him possibly take Dennis' place (or walk in his shoes! wear his skin, whatever you want to call it), is by the fact Dennis is teaching him the DENNIS system (an altered version I assume?), like passing the torch on to him (and Dee, who wants that place in the gang hierarchy as well...).

Finally, something that may not be a thing at all, but he meets Chase in S16, only Chase thinks he already met Mac. Because Dennis gave him Mac's name in Stranded. I'm expecting some name shenanigans of some kind. (perhaps Mac will use Dennis' name? I'm not banking on that, but how's he gonna explain? that is, unless someone else already did, in his pursue to make amends... well, who knows. you know what they say about assuming)

It's funny because Stranded is an episode all about how saying no brings you misfortune, while saying yes brings you luck. And money. 10.000$ of them specifically, both in Stranded and, casually, the original amount won by Mac with the scratcher.

The amount that... after all the bills, ends up being only 14$ dollars. (like the seasons?)

Stranded is also interesting on its own... Frank avoiding the main road because he doesn't want to pay the toll... Okay, that's enough. Getting off track.

So, final notes, since this is a more speculative and rambly post, and I'm under the impression the metaphors discussed (rats, traps, severed heads...) aren't complete (meaning they're gonna expand on these more in S16), I'm very much hoping everyone chimes in with their thoughts and speculations... perhaps other episodes that you think may fit this... let's throw away the oars and get into it, like, who cares if it ends up wrong, you know? I may come back to this too after the season airs to see what else there was...

[bonesandthebees]

Yo,

So I was feeling bored and sentimental, so I went back and read through literally all of Clinic yesterday, and I think I noticed a teensy mistake.

In the main fic, when Tommy's under the dream interrogation thingie from 404, in the third dream (I think), Techno burns his hand. Tommy heals it, Techno starts pointing out his worst fears, etc. Anyways, we move on.

But in the Waking Nightmares side fic, when Tommy is explaining his dreams to Wilbur, he says that Techno cut his hand. And he also mentions that the dreams are ingrained in his mind almost flawlessly, so I doubt that's just good ol' Tommy missing a detail.

Idk it's just a silly little thing I noticed because that's the way I am, and just felt like pointing it out.

But seriously, tho, every time I go back and re-read Clinic, I still feel the suspense, even tho I know what's going to happen. Idk what else to call that, other than damn good writing. (Big ol' cheesy thumbs up to you :)



okay first off thank you for the kind words about my writing, I'm glad you enjoyed clinic so much :)

but I'm gonna go on a tangent for a second about my thoughts on you pointing this out to me. this is /nm, I know you didn't mean any harm, but I genuinely do not understand why people feel a need to point out tiny errors in fanfics like this. now in a situation where the mistake—whether it be an inconsistency or a typo or something like that—is bad enough to make the reader confused or possibly misinterpret the scene, then yeah, pointing it out to the author makes sense.

but you said it outright in your ask: you could tell that was just a mistake on my end. me accidentally referring to techno's injury as a cut as opposed to a burn was very clearly just a slight continuity error on my end. you knew what I meant. it didn't damage your ability to enjoy or understand either of the fics. and yet you took the time to write this whole message out to tell me about it. and I just don't understand the point. maybe you thought I'd want to know, but also I have friends who I can ask to read my works for me for errors like this. again, in a situation where the error is enough to mess up a readers understanding of what's going on, yeah, of course let me know. but in a situation where it's easy to understand that it's just a mistake, I really don't get why people feel the need to point it out to me?

this isn't specifically about you. I still get comments on one specific chapter of clinic pointing out a minor typo in the chapter. I finished that fic a year and a half ago. and people still. point. it. out. at this point I refuse to fix it out of spite. so that's also where a lot of this rambling is coming from.

I wanna emphasize, I'm not mad. I know you didn't mean any harm. but frankly, I write fanfic for my own enjoyment. I don't get paid for this. I don't have a professional editor or paid proofreader to go through everything I write to make sure it's publishing standard. it's just me, and sometimes my friends who are kind enough to read over my stuff for me before I post it. I don't care if I make a tiny error here and there, as long as the original intent is clear.

I'm sure a lot of other fic authors feel the same way I do about this. it's not something I'm fuming mad about or anything. it just bugs me because I don't understand the point. when I see an error like that in a fic, I just move on and keep reading.

anyway, didn't mean for this to get so long. you get my point. I'm not fixing that. you all know what I meant.

[andro-dino]

Okay it’s been burning on my mind and I don’t know if there is a solid answer yet but do you have any concept about how Sakyo’s parents died/disappeared?? I’m just really curious

Also would it be okay if I maybe share some Ryuga and Elliot HCs?? I know I asked before but I didn’t have a lot typed up yet but I have a little now and I would like to share them if that’s okie

oooo yeah oki this is interesting because the short answer is no, there isn’t a concrete answer, but long answer is: I have ideas.

Basically, after Ryoma got away from his home village and the dragon clan, he and Victoria moved to a different middle of nowhere place in the mountains so they wouldn’t have to worry about that. The issue is that their peace can only last so long. No matter what, it’s important that Ryoma is specifically killed. by who, there are two ideas I have. one, I cannot disclose bc it involves ideas and characters not created by myself that I have not asked about yet but have been meaning to, but the other is by the dragon clan, as an act of spite. Canonically established in the manga, the remaining members/villages of the dragon clan are spread out across the globe, and with that, I imagine that each community has their own culture and level of strictness. The one Ryoma comes from is very strict and severe and as such, doing something like he did, essentially decrying the clan and disobeying their established norms, is something that does not go unpunished, especially as (again canonically established in the manga) the kurayami family is a royal bloodline, so Ryoma is held to an even stricter and higher standard. Although it took several years, some members of the clan tracked him down, intending to enforce the consequence of his betrayal, and knowing his family wouldn’t go unscathed in this, insisted that he would hold them off while Victoria escaped with a young Sakyo. It was in that final battle, after Victoria and Sakyo had gotten away, that Ryoma was killed by the dragon clan.

After they escape, Victoria and Sakyo move to the city where Victoria raises Sakyo alone for the next few years. This is where the timeline would split in order to account for the differences in the manga and anime. For the manga version, Victoria actually doesn’t die, so Sakyo is able to grow into a much less edgy teenager having that softer parental guidance. Meanwhile, anime Victoria’s death is just kinda vaguely of natural causes. The specific thing that got her isn’t really important. Maybe it was an illness, maybe it was a freak accident, but the main takeaway is that is wasn’t of anyone else’s specific intention, and it was when Sakyo was around 8-10 years old, thus allowing him a much less stable process of growing up, which is why he’s able to become the little weirdo that he is in the anime.

Anyways, YES OF COURSE‼️‼️‼️ I love Elliot and Ryuga together they make me very happy I would always be open to hearing more about them <3

[hoshibait]

question in relation to blumiere/count bleck: how do you imagine he met the others? any specific headcanons or based off the game?

like many people, i imagine he met his team during his search for timpani.

i do love the theory that nastasia was saved as a bat stuck in a trap by blumiere. and later coming back to him and dedicating her devotion to him out of love and loyalty. reminds me of the first half of a japanese folktale i read back in middle school. crane's return of a favor i believe it’s called? i wouldn’t be surprised if that was intentional. except i guess it’s angsty for a different reason. that being unrequited love on nastasia’s end. also, weird parallel to blumi being saved by timpani and falling in love??? what is it with this game and someone almost fucking dying and falling in love with the person who saved them?

regardless, i believe he nursed her back to health and the two of them become close friends. hell i like the idea of blumiere considering nastasia a best friend.

as for o’chunks, i go along with the basic common agreed backstory that he used to be a general of an army from some faraway land. with one of his advisors sadly betraying him and thus causing the fall of his army to an enemy team. i do hc the fact that blumiere was a manipulate dickhead with o’chunks. i do find it disturbing that it’s implied that he preyed on his depression and helplessness to get him on the team. but hey honestly, it makes it more interesting, adds onto blumiere’ s character, and weirdly fits for him in my hc for him. you gotta remember all of bleck’s team is just a squad of mentally ill bozos relying on each other.

i sort of combine mimi’s theories altogether to make one backstory. i do remember someone proposing something interesting. isn’t it strange how francis built a “pixl” identical to tippi? that was basically a robot? she still has pixl qualities though. what if the witch mentioned in carson’s stories is related to francis in some way? i do believe the witch could’ve been experimenting making some sort of rogue pixl related to shape-shifting abilities. what about the robot part i mentioned though? maybe the witch was also into robotics??? look i’m trying my best here man.

regardless, i think mimi’s true origins is hard to fully decipher. i can imagine that even she doesn’t fully know or likes to talk about it due to horrible identity issues and lost sense of self. i’d like to think she ran away from her origin place, wherever that may be, with a dazed and disoriented mind. blumiere just happened to find her in a guarded off forest somewhere, and it just kind of took off from there. i wouldn’t say he preyed on her psychologically like he did with o’chunks, considering mimi just wanted a place to stay and have some sense of belonging somewhere.

oh, dimentio, i gotta actually talk about him on this blog now.

yeah this little shit just kinda came across the gang one day. i can imagine blumiere being like “erm okay what a creep” until he read in the dark prognosticus that there was a figure like him involved in the prophecy, so only until then was he let in. i like to imagine at some point dimentio put them in dimension D to show them what he could do, which just intrigued blumiere even more. (because seriously what exactly is dimension D and why does it deez /slap)

as for his origins, hoo boy.

so carson mentions how the magician that created the pixls had a family, right? and how he had a family and all? and they all succumbed to some sort of fate. except the son? i know it’s mildly implied that dimentio can be this mysterious character, or at the very least related to the magician SOMEHOW. i do find the obscurity of dimentio’s origins fun though. although i do agree that dimentio is somehow related to the pixls and the magician like many people do.

and we already know about mr.l in game, so i won’t talk about him

thanks for the ask! this was really fun to talk about!

[medicasino]

SINCE I KNOW THEM.... 3 and 15 for da hyacinth please

HEHEHEHHEHEH the Cinth......... okay this will be long as hell im so sorry bestie

SO.

3. Their playlist. Drop their playlist (or, if it's extremely long, the most fitting songs on it) and include specific lyrics from each song you consider to be the most fitting. Explanation not required but you can if you feel like it! Do not care about cringe. It is fun.

MUSIC TIME???? indulging me???????

okay her playlist is SO long but illl drop a couple of the Most Fitting ones! i think i've done something like this before but i never did an explanation. im shy sharing explanations on main bc i dont want ppl to think im cringe or get super inspired but fuck it lets go

"Sensitive to fate, not denial / But hey, who's on trial? / It took a lifespan with no cellmate / The long way back" and "You've come to love me lightly / Yeah, you come to hold me tight / Is this motion ever lasting / Or just shutters pass through the night?" - Evil by Interpol (Very great song with super fun lyrics,,,,,, basically a reminder of "ah, i can't love anyone or be loved, it won't last because i'll have to hurt them")

"Winding down our emotions / Family and friends becoming ghosts to dream of / And pass on, time will erase / Every faith, every name / We are alone, no one to blame" - Bernadette by IAMX (another banger! this one is slightly loosely applied EXCEPT for these lyrics because wuh oh ur not allowed to have friendships, ur evil remember? thats ur only purpose in life to cause ruin and be alone)

"I know that you mean so well / But I am not a vessel for your good intent / I will only break your pretty things / I will only wring you dry of everything / And if you're fine with that / If you're fine with that / I will poison all your happy thoughts / I will love you like the ashes in my cigarette box" - Tongues & Teeth by The Crane Wives (See above stuff . im getting very shy now so the following may not have as many explanations im shyyyy and i dont wanna be crucified for music choices)

"Is it all just smoke and mirrors? / Am I a victim of your theatre? / Retribution for your bliss / I consumed it all, just like a tick / You're me improved, it makes me sick / You turned my heart into a fist / You need to know how I have felt / I'll drag you down with me to hell" - Scroll of Sorrow by Machine Girl (no more explanations sowwy i got shyyyyy ;w; but this song is WILD and i love it. very Hyacinthcore)

think thats about it for lyrics i feel inclined to share im. very shy about sharing lyrics actually bc i dont want to disrespect the creators of the songs but i did look into these ones to make sure theyre not super personal before i shared (if they are and i missed that i apologize ;;w;; and i will remove them if so)

Okay now time for my original ideas

15. What would their theme song/leitmotif be titled? What would it sound like, if you have an idea?

UM GOOD QUESTION i havent really thought of that yet! But since her story is gonna be turned into a video game hopefully I should probably think about what her theme's gonna be called LOL. Maybe something relating to her role as the literal embodiment of evil or like a reference to how she doesn't really have free will but definitely HAS the ability to think and hates what she's forced to be. as for what it sounds like, OH DEFINITELY orchestral-style breakcore with glitches. Very volatile and unstable but surprisingly sorrowful with melodic areas, if that makes sense?

[perpetual-fool]

-

This one is particularly ramble-y. I've noticed that my thinking is disorganized.

I had a moment of feeling pretty good. Was watching someone play this game, Lunacid. It's uh, an action RPG, not quite like anything I'm familiar with but the closest comparison I have would be Demon's Souls. Anyway, I think the deal was that what I saw all made sense? The world is sufficiently fantastical and nonsensical that it didn't create any expectations to be betrayed, and the path of progression was very straightforward. There's a lot of standard RPG mechanics: there are enemies which respawn, killing enemies gives you XP and sometimes loot, leveling up makes your character stronger. But in particular, weapons level up too. (Not really how it works, but it seemed like it based on the first few minutes of gameplay.) And I feel this is significant, weapon XP is also gained from destroying breakable objects. So for instance, you could load into an area, break a few boxes lying around, reload the area and repeat until you've maxed out your weapon XP. That is, things are allowed to work the way they appear to work; no big list of exceptions because the consequences didn't work out the way the developer intended. ('Intent' is something I'll get to.)

But yeah, I was feeling uncharacteristically good. And I was having a wave of reasonable thoughts about some issues I had been ruminating over. Like, a lot of the stuff I feel about about, I shouldn't, because it was a direct response to how I was being treated. (Which is tangentially related for reasons I don't know how to explain.)

So I bought the game. I feel okay, but it's not the high I was hoping for. Largely, the game does actually 'make sense' by not having enough structure to be 'wrong'. Like, their isn't enough (explicit) lore to be inconsistent. And it's somewhat rewarding to be playing for an experience that doesn't feel like you're supposed to win. Verisimilitude. Say, there was this.. magic combination maze* with this mysterious book at the end. And I'm not sure what the issue was, maybe my character didn't have high enough INT to read it? But I just couldn't read it. I didn't have whatever it was I needed to unveil this secret, so the game just wouldn't tell me. It kept its secrets. (*combo maze: there is a room with multiple paths, each path leads you back to the same room, if you take the correct sequence of paths then you will be led to the exit instead. For instance: Zelda 1 lost woods) Similarly, there are enemies immune to physical damage, and there's no guarantee that you'll have a weapon which deals non-physical damage. The game will happily let you get in over your head and drown. Though granted, they put up a sign to warn you and gave you a couple 'teleport to safety' crystals for free. But there are things you can't do and fights you can't win. Which brings me to the inciting issue.

I can't beat the final boss. Straightforward explanation is that I built my character poorly. The problem is that the bosses regenerate heath. I think that's a brilliant game design choice for unrelated reasons, but my character just doesn't have the DPS. I went all-in with Dexterity to use bows, but the bows aren't particularly good.

Now I'm confused. And it's not really the game that I'm confused about. Like, it's pretty clear the developer didn't ensure every build was equally viable, and I just need to make a new character. And it kind of seems like what I'm really confused about is my default assumption that the game is right and I am wrong. If I think something is bad, I must just not understand it. (Which is a nasty bit of corrupt logic probably taught to me as a child.) But I think really really what I'm confused about is 'intent-result conflation' gaslighting. Like, it's been relatively common that I'll ask someone why they did something, laying out how they specifically took actions that would ensure that the bad thing happened, and they give a non sequitur non-defense like "well it's not like I wanted the bad thing to happen". Implicitly, "that wasn't my intent, therefore it didn't happen". So, 'surely the developer didn't intend for bow builds to be completely useless on bosses, potentially luring players into wasting 50+ levels on Dex and wasting 12 real-world hours of time for the actual human player, so it must not be happening'. Except, it's not laid out like that. The misfiring in my head is because intent and result is considered the same thing. Not that that's a new concept to me. But at the moment it's like my brain won't accept it unless someone else also confirms it. And I've literally never heard anyone admit something like "I wanted X, but I was wrong about Y, so Z happened'. Or heard any sort of discussion about making sure intent and result are aligned.

I dunno if needing others' approval for my beliefs is something I can fix on my own or not.

And tangent, I did some sorting of my computer files. Once I worked out where everything should go it's very fast. There's no going item by item pondering where each thing go, I just look at the type of thing it is, it goes with the other things of that type. Any my thinking should be equally fast, equally straightforward. But this simple problem spins into a tangent of a tangent and I don't even know what problem I'm trying to solve. And while that's happening there's three different things that need doing and I have no idea how I'm going to transition to that. And why anything?

At the least, I presume fixing my mental health is the most important thing right now. whatever that means.

[loopy777]

if arthedain had managed to thriumph decisively over the witch king, and the entire north reunited under the kings of a reborn Arnor, how do you think their vassals the hobbit's of the shire would have developed differently than in the actual timeline? would they have become a people much bigger on trading and such with the other parts of the nation, or would they have remained a semi separated people, swearing fealthy to the same king as all the humans, but not much more?

Yeah, I think the Hobbits would have remained pretty consistent. In 'The Hobbit,' they're described as shy of the big people, and in LotR it's a big deal that a group of them went as far as Bree. They clearly like their little patch and don't see any reason why the world needs to be bigger than that. Heck, the Hobbits don't even want any new books- they like books full of things they already know, arranged neatly and without contradiction. They are an uncurious bunch as you could possibly imagine, except when it comes to their neighbor's business. The Shire doesn't even have much of a government. The Mayor doesn't do much more than preside at banquets. The local law enforcement is mostly concerned with keeping outsider-troublemakers out and tracking errant farm animals.

I don't think we can entirely ascribe this attitude to a legitimate fear of the outside, as the roads had only been described as unsafe when Sauron was specifically causing trouble. It was considered shocking that Bilbo encountered the trolls and a reason for people to take action to pacify the growing evil forces again. And, of course, in LotR the final war of the age was about to happen and the Ringwraiths were targeting Frodo. It's not like the Hobbits would have at some early point looked at the goings-on in Bree and found anything to really fear.

Looking at the author intentions, as I like to, Tolkien clearly wanted the Shire and the Hobbits to be the nostalgic ideal from his childhood memories, preserved against everything but the evil outside forces of No-Progress Progress. I think there's also a little satire in there when it comes to the little melodramas amongst the neighbors and families, an element that I don't think carried through to his storytelling in any of the other settings in LotR. (The Hobbit gives a little of that to Laketown as well, arguably, but I don't think it's as thickly applied if it's there at all. I think the Master is merely characterized as corrupt but the overall tone just keeps things lighthearted.) I kind of like that, as it gives the Shire a very different kind of feel not just in what is being depicted, but how. It's a completely different world, much like how the Tom Bombadil portion feels of a different nature than the rest of LotR.

That said, I don't think this needs to be an absolute if you want to play with things. Arguably, a benevolent but slightly petty community the size of a nation might draw in the Shire, since it would fee just like home. Or, perhaps a Hobbit (a Took, most likely) could go on an adventure and wind up drawing their friends or family -- or maybe the whole Shire -- into some intrigue that would open up the borders a bit and show off some humans who aren't dirty clods. Or maybe some humans would want to move into the Shire, since it's so nice and chill, and the Hobbits okay it as long as the humans are polite.

As long as there's food, I think the Hobbits will be okay.